Hello Friends!
I’m stopping in to chat with you about my lovely weekend! You might know that I’m moving this weekend AND starting back to classes this week…I’ve had some crazy early mornings driving to classes and late nights with packing, so I’ve had some awesome guest posts (with more to come!) to keep me somewhat sane.
Check out the guest posts if you haven’t already:
{Vegetarian Curious #7} Identity Crisis
{Teach Me Tuesday Link-Up #2} Meal Planning
School has been decent so far. I am taking two nutrition classes again and I can’t tell you how excited I got when I found out one of the classes is basically food science. Meaning we get to learn the science behind cooking and baking. Ear-to-ear grin here!! I’m also very happy to be walking all over campus again, despite the chilly morning temps!
Back to the weekend! I got to visit my friend Calee in Iowa again! My Blend roomie Katie also traveled 5+ hours for a super foodie-licious girl weekend (and had to operate the tricky Iowa gas pumps…).
I arrived Saturday to some homemade waffles. Calee made them the night before (um hello planning ahead!) and toasted them up for us. No offense to Calee’s waffles at all, but my favorite part was the fluffy scrambled eggs her BF Mark made!
We hung out a bit and played UNO while deciding on our plans for the weekend. Calee lives in Ames, IA which is pretty small, so we ended up heading to Des Moines a couple of times for restaurants.
Before heading to Des Moines though, we went for a run! I’m training for my first half-marathon and 2 miles was on the agenda and darned if I would miss my weekend run…especially since I was hanging out with runners! I did remember my shoes this time, unlike last time I ran with Calee.
It was a chilly run and I was sore the next day, but I do love running with friends! I usually run by myself so it makes it more interesting when there are people to chat with along the way.
We got all showered up and headed to a place that was cheap and that had Asian food…A Dong.
Yep we giggled at the name too. But it was surprisingly good for the price and didn’t have the greasy taste that a lot of Americanized Asian restaurants seem to have.
Calee took us to a health food store where I picked up a ginormous cookie. It was vegan by Alternative Baking Company and the first ingredient was whole wheat…and I thought it was about 240 calories. Not bad.
After eating the whole thing (with some amazing chai tea…I think I’m hooked on tea not just at bedtime now), I realized there was two servings in a package. One of those annoying things the food industry can do. I’d still buy (and eat) the cookie again, but I just like to have an idea of what I’m eating…and a 500 calorie cookie wasn’t in the plan for the day.
Calee and Mark also got me hooked on a series you can watch on Netflix…Portlandia. Just watch the first episode at least if you have a goofy sense of humor like apparently we do. I’m actually planning on watching it as I pack this evening!
Our beautiful, relaxing weekend ended at The Cafe in Ames.
We had to wait a bit to eat, and my stomach was grumbling for some food, but it was worth the wait.
I started with a salad (and coffee? weird combo?) that had a great vinegrette and a kind of cheese my stomach will accept..goat cheese.
One thing I loved about this weekend and eating out with these ladies was that we all are health conscious and Katie and I are lactose intollerant. I always feel like a pain in the butt asking for “dressing on the side” or “no cheese please,” but when everyone else is doing the same…I feel like I belong! (Don’t worry, working for tips myself for five years has taught me to tip very well!)
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| Katie and I |
I also had my first corn pancake..which tasted a bit like cornbread…duh Amanda. It was really good and I still have one to eat at home. I thought it was humerous that the pancakes they served there (they have a limited menu) were made with corn and Calee was talking about corn all weekend because of a book she’s reading. When you live in Iowa or Nebraska (like me), corn is its own food group. 😉
So grateful we got to get together, even though the timing made it kinda crazy with school and moving and life…it was worth it!
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| Mark and Calee |
Thanks Calee and Mark for letting us stay with you and for the pictures. 🙂
*~Amanda aka Semi-Health Nut~*
For more of my WIAW posts, head over here.
Linking up to the lovely Jenn at Peas and Crayons:
thank you so much for coming! BTW The Café is actually in Ames. It’s just down the street from my yoga studio. We go there all too often…
AND Mark will love that you loved his eggs. Of course. Because he’s the cooking genius (and the waffles might have been better if I didn’t toast them and let them sit forever).
haha oops will change that to Ames! And your waffles weren’t bad, but I just LOVE scrambled eggs and those were particularly awesome! 😉
good to know! Those eggs are amazing. I found out that the chickens are super-spoiled rotten and the farm is a sustainable practice farm. They’re “TJ Eggs” in case you’re curious. I think the chickens were responsible for the flavor more than Mark. 😉
thank you so much for coming! BTW The Café is actually in Ames. It’s just down the street from my yoga studio. We go there all too often…
AND Mark will love that you loved his eggs. Of course. Because he’s the cooking genius (and the waffles might have been better if I didn’t toast them and let them sit forever).
good to know! Those eggs are amazing. I found out that the chickens are super-spoiled rotten and the farm is a sustainable practice farm. They’re “TJ Eggs” in case you’re curious. I think the chickens were responsible for the flavor more than Mark. 😉
haha oops will change that to Ames! And your waffles weren’t bad, but I just LOVE scrambled eggs and those were particularly awesome! 😉
Iowa looks absolutely beautiful (as I’m sure Nebraska does as well)!
Also, I need his secret for super fluffy scrambled eggs. Since it’s the only way I like to eat eggs, I want to make them perfectly 🙂
I know right!? Amazing eggs! He added almond milk…not sure if that’s part of the trick?
Iowa looks absolutely beautiful (as I’m sure Nebraska does as well)!
Also, I need his secret for super fluffy scrambled eggs. Since it’s the only way I like to eat eggs, I want to make them perfectly 🙂
Looks like you had a great time! Glad you could take a little break in the midst of hectic school and moving 🙂
It was a great relaxing weekend! 🙂
Looks like you had a great time! Glad you could take a little break in the midst of hectic school and moving 🙂
So jealous of your mini-reunion! Looks like TONS of fun.
I LOVED the Alternative Baking Company cookies I have tried–the chocolate one is like a chewy brownie, seriously–but both they, and another company I love (Nana’s) always have at least two servings in a pack! I am pretty sure I could make a cookie just that large–and hopefully as tasty?–for that many calories. (Probably a lot less!)
Also, it is SO nice to dine out with people who are similar to you in food choices and preferences. It definitely eliminates potentially awkward situations. I’m glad you ‘own’ your healthy lifestyle and also your lactose intolerance! [I haven’t tried goat cheese since I found out about mine…but goat’s milk yogurt is OK, so I am optimistic. I just don’t really dig cheese all that much, so I haven’t been worried about it.]
Pretty much I’ve found out I can eat most white cheeses, cottage cheese (which I guess is white cheese lol), and greek yogurt (yay for testing at Blend!). I for sure know what I need to AVOID which are yellow cheeses and plain dairy milk. It takes some testing (some not so fun), but it’s good to be able to eat SOME dairy! 🙂
So jealous of your mini-reunion! Looks like TONS of fun.
I LOVED the Alternative Baking Company cookies I have tried–the chocolate one is like a chewy brownie, seriously–but both they, and another company I love (Nana’s) always have at least two servings in a pack! I am pretty sure I could make a cookie just that large–and hopefully as tasty?–for that many calories. (Probably a lot less!)
Also, it is SO nice to dine out with people who are similar to you in food choices and preferences. It definitely eliminates potentially awkward situations. I’m glad you ‘own’ your healthy lifestyle and also your lactose intolerance! [I haven’t tried goat cheese since I found out about mine…but goat’s milk yogurt is OK, so I am optimistic. I just don’t really dig cheese all that much, so I haven’t been worried about it.]
I know right!? Amazing eggs! He added almond milk…not sure if that’s part of the trick?
It was a great relaxing weekend! 🙂
Pretty much I’ve found out I can eat most white cheeses, cottage cheese (which I guess is white cheese lol), and greek yogurt (yay for testing at Blend!). I for sure know what I need to AVOID which are yellow cheeses and plain dairy milk. It takes some testing (some not so fun), but it’s good to be able to eat SOME dairy! 🙂
YAY! I’m late to the party but so reading this tonight made me so happy. Loved our little reunion and can’t wait to see you ladies again soon! So happy you included my blonde moment too… 😉
haha yes I took the opportunity to make fun of you 😉
Love ya lady and excited to see you soon!
YAY! I’m late to the party but so reading this tonight made me so happy. Loved our little reunion and can’t wait to see you ladies again soon! So happy you included my blonde moment too… 😉
haha yes I took the opportunity to make fun of you 😉
Love ya lady and excited to see you soon!