CSA and It's My Birthday!

After posting yesterday, I went out to my car to realize that it had been broken into - scary! I swear I locked my doors and the police that came said there have been a number of break-ins in our area and they think the people doing this have a special tool or something. Who knows, but my TomTom and Ipod are GONE and the papers in my car were all over the inside and on the street.


SO frustrating and disappointing, but my car doesn't have any major damage, so I feel lucky. Just scary that it happened right out front of my house. I guess you have to expect it to eventually happen...living in the city.


Moving on to brighter things...yesterday afternoon, I went with my sister, niece, and nephew to Breezy Willow Farm for our CSA pick-up. You pay monthly, and then each week, there is a different menu of items for pick-up. Check out everything we got!It was so cool to see all the fresh fruits and vegetables!We went around and gathered all of our goods - my sister and I split everything this week.
You even get a dozen fresh eggs and a loaf of homemade bread from The Breadery, which is a small independent bakery in Ellicott City, MD. We chose the Honey Whole Wheat. Mmmm.
During the weekly pickup - the farm gives all kids a popsicle or ice cream. My niece, Jenna, was wondering how this thing melted so quickly. It was all over her. :) My nephew, Justin, was having fun checking out the chickens.I thought this guy had a pretty stylish look.
Jenna got to feed the rabbits a little grass...and there were so many cuddly rabbits.But, this little guy won our hearts. Like seriously? One ear up and one ear down - you can barely see his eyes from all the fur? adorable.
After arriving home, I wanted to use as many veggies as possible. I chopped up asparagus, green onions, carrots, spinach,and garlic to stir-fry.I boiled some rice noodles, added shrimp, Peanut Satay sauce from TJs, and roasted peanuts for a delicious Shrimp Pad Thai dinner.Moving to today - June 4th - MY BIRTHDAY!!! Kevin made me a delicious birthday breakfast of whole wheat french toasted topped with fresh strawberries, powdered sugar, and a drizzle of agave nectar.YUM.


So far, my birthday has been perfect. Delicious breakfast, walk in the park with Oscar, 1 hour No Trouble Zones w/ Jillian Michaels, blogging while drinking coffee.


I am thinking about heading to the mall to cash in a fun gift certificate to VS and maybe I will get a mani/pedi. For lunch, Kevin is coming home from work and picking up a DiPasquales Brick Oven Pizza on his way. I am going to make a fresh salad using all the CSA veggies!


Later tonight, I am heading to my niece's ballet recital (the dress rehearsal) since we are away this weekend and will miss the actual recital - then out to dinner with my family to The Dogwood! I am SUPER excited about it, especially because Kevin and I had such a great experience the last time we went.


The excitement will continue tomorrow as we head down to Charlottesville, VA for my friend's wedding weekend. Should be a blast.

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Animal Bonding

This "not working" thing has been good in a bunch of ways, but one in particular is that we have been eating out less and trying to use up everything in the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.


Breakfast yesterday was an oldie, but goodie - Oatmeal made w/ skim milk, topped with sliced almonds, raisins, and a spoonful of natural peanut butter. Yes, you read right - PEANUT butter. I need to use up the peanut butter I have before I can justify buying more of my very expensive favorite - almond butter.
Dinner was simple, but filling and extremely tasty. Tofu w/ Broccoli. Every time I make a tofu dish - I think about how I cant believe I am actually eating and enjoying tofu. A few years ago, I would have thought I was SO incredibly weird. I baked the extra firm tofu as I usually do - press the tofu to remove excess liquid for about 20 mins, drizzle with Soyaki from TJs, and then bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 20 mins - flipping once.


For the broccoli, I sauteed the broccoli with a clove of minced garlic in a teensy bit of toasted sesame oil and PAM over medium-high heat. Once it started to brown - I added about a 1/2 cup of water and let that cook off/steam before adding a touch of Red Curry Paste, salt, pepper, red pepper, and about 2 TBSP of Soyaki.


Mix the tofu and broccoli together, then top with chopped, roasted peanuts. Kevin said it tasted like real chinese takeout. Score!


I realized that I haven't been giving my animals enough attention on this blog and they have been doing some pretty cute things lately. Please excuse the iPhone photos...I didn't want them to move if I went downstairs to get my camera.


It starts out innocently enough...Lucy curls up in Oscar's arms as he is sleeping on the bed in the extra bedroom.She is taking advantage of this rare opportunity to get close to him.Oh no...wait...Oscar awakens and almost strangles poor Lucy...
But Lucy quickly wiggles away and makes herself even more comfortable as she realizes that she is posing for the camera.
Seriously, could this be any cuter? I think not, but I am a tad biased. :)


Today is National Running Day, so I am planning to head to the gym for a run on the treadmill in a few minutes - too humid to be outside this late in the morning.


A little later, I am meeting my mom and sister for our first CSA (Customer Supported Agriculture) pick-up at Breezy Willow Farm in howard county. Cant wait to see the produce and other stuff!


Enjoy your Wednesday as I will be enjoying my last day in my twenties. Maybe I should do a bar crawl and drink all day in honor of my twenties. (j/k)

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