Good morning, my friends! This weekend definitely had a theme: social and outdoorsy! Here’s what we were up to. 🙂
On Friday, Matt and I kept things low key since we knew the rest of the weekend would be busy! For the past few months I’ve been really dropping the ball on our dinners (because being pregnant = I don’t love food in the evenings, apparently), but I’m finally starting to get back to a place where I am motivated to actually make dinner again, and even occasionally plan something outside of our meal delivery kits, too. 🙂
Matt is excited by this because I think he’s tired of a) being the sole chef, and b) often having cereal for dinner because I am not in the mood to eat anything. The other night he was eating a grilled cheese with potato chips in the sandwich (yes, actually in the sandwich… I guess it added crunch!) for dinner and he was basically like: “Um, maybe you can be interested in dinners again? I need your help to eat healthy!” Lol. It’s all about making the healthier choice the easier/go-to convenient choice, right?
Anyway! On Friday I finished up work early and hit the grocery store in the afternoon for provisions for the weekend, including some dinner stuff! I threw together one of our really old “ready in minutes” favorites, Saucy Tomato & Artichoke Chicken. Basically, toss chicken breasts in a pan with a ton of fresh spinach, a jar of artichoke hearts, a can of diced tomatoes, and cook over medium with a lid on about 10 or so minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice and enjoy!
It was yummy and it felt good to actually feel organized about dinner again. Here’s hoping this is a trend and I’ll continue to be on the upswing!
On Saturday, we enjoyed a slow morning and then headed out with Ashe for a fun adventure: a hike with new friends!
My brother’s good friends Quincy and Koko have just moved to the area and we were looking forward to meeting after hearing so much about them! They also have a cute dog that Ashe got along with really well. 🙂
The four of us + the doggies had a blast hiking around on some of Arlington’s trails along the Potomac. It was a nice morning – very clear!
I didn’t get any good photos of the dogs because they were busy rampaging around, but they had a blast too. 🙂
We took the dogs with us to grab brunch afterwards at our local fave Cassat’s Kiwi Café.
I went with the ham and cheese omelette. Delish, although I think my all-time fave is still their mushroom, egg, and cheese quesadilla. 🙂
Matt and I relaxed a bit in the afternoon and then I got to work prepping dinner to take with us to our friends Steph and Alex who had a baby about a month ago! We were excited to see them and meet the new little guy. 🙂 I ended up deciding to make my Mexican Lasagna (with corn tortillas, minus the chicken and with guac instead of yogurt) – it’s easy to prep beforehand and then just toss in the oven at their place with minimal mess. Plus, it makes a lot so we could leave them with the leftovers to enjoy!
I also made a simple big side salad with some homemade balsamic vinaigrette.
It was a hit and we had a blast catching up with them! Their little man was quite mellow so apparently we got lucky and timed it well. 🙂
On Sunday, we had another morning hike planned! This time we hit up Scott’s Run Nature Preserve with our friend Shane.
It was crowded at the parking area/trailhead and on the main big trail, but thankfully we were able to get away from the crowds on some of the many offshoot trails.
After the hike, Matt and I cleaned up and headed to lunch at Mad Fox Brewery in Falls Church in honor of my running buddy Josh’s birthday! The rest of the group celebrated with a long run in the morning and I was so sad to miss it… I really miss those long run dates with friends! But getting to join them for a meal was a lot of fun, too. 🙂 I started with a tomato and kale salad that was amazing – really fresh and flavorful!
And then I got their breakfast harvest pizza (lots of veggies plus two eggs on top – normally over easy but I got mine over hard). I added bacon, too, because duh. 🙂
After a siesta back at home, we headed out for dinner with another group of friends – so fun to see so many people this weekend! We met up at Chatter in Friendship Heights in DC; it was gorgeous out so we snagged a table on the patio. I was in the mood for a big, fresh salad so I got their kale quinoa salad with salmon on top. Yummy! I also helped our friend Lauren with some of her sweet potato fries. 🙂
Great cap to a fun weekend! Matt and I enjoyed a nice long strong with Ashe last night – it was cool and dark out and so peaceful. Dog walking is way more fun when the weather isn’t crazy hot and humid!
I’m working downtown today and it’s back to business – this week will be fairly busy because next week is short with the 4th of July holiday, and then we leave for our week long Outer Banks beach trip with Matt’s family the week after that! Better get back to it. Have a great day guys!
Have you ever had a breakfast pizza before? I’ve had them with scrambled eggs on top before, too – so delicious!
