Labor Day Grillin’

Roundups

Labor day is around the corner and in case you haven’t already planned your menu, here are a few grilling recipes I’ve been drooling over. I’m spending the holiday with one last hoorah at the beach for a wedding so I won’t be grilling, but I’m definitely not ready to pack up the grill just yet.

Did you know Labor Day is really to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers? So if you work (and everyone does in some way) this holiday is for you!

Fun Labor Day Grill Recipes

Teriyaki Shrimp Burgers with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Grilled Corn Pizza with Zucchini Pizza Crust

Grilled Okra

Grilled Romaine

Grilled Peach Salad

And in case you’re looking for a little leisure reading…

Instagram & the Thinspiration Ban

10 Fruit & Veggie Packed Breakfasts {you can make ahead of time}

What Science Really Says About Exercise & Sleep

10 Non-Sandwich Lunch Ideas

Can Having a Baby Give You OCD?

Do Apps Make Kids Smarter?

What are you up to this Labor Day? What’s your favorite thing to grill?!

Quartino: Italian Tapas in the Windy City

HLS

After an evening of Core Fusion Yoga, it was way past time to try some Chicago grub.

Theodora, Kate, Sarah, and I headed to Quartino, an Italian restaurant specializing in small plate style dining. Tapas are small portions that make for great sharing (aka you get to taste a lot!). We had pizza, peppers, zucchini, and more- it ended up being one of the best dining experiences I’ve had.

We had a little time to kill before our reservation, so we opted to walk to the restaurant. This was actually my first chance to really see the city!

Chicago by night:

I spy a restaurant….

Starving is not even the word to describe how I felt when we finally arrived. Luckily we were seated quickly and devoured the bread & ordered wine. (Priorities, priorities.)

Italian bread with olive oil, Himalayan salt, and black pepper.

For drinks, we split a bottle of Soave- a crisp white wine that I really enjoyed.

Then the food started spilling out of the kitchen. Quartino brings out food whenever it’s ready, which is great because you get time to try each dish as it comes.

First up, roasted peppers.

Then came chilled grilled zucchini wrapped sundried tomatoes.

Polenta fries with roasted red pepper sauce. Tasted like fried polenta- nothing special. But the sauce? Fantastic.

Last but not least, the pizza!

We ordered the Quattro Stagioni with artichokes, roasted peppers, grilled zucchini, portabella mushrooms, & grana.

So full, so good, so delicious. If you’re lucky enough to be in Chicago, go visit Quartino. It’s delicious and so inexpensive!

The Many Definitions of Working

Lunch

I’ve loved hearing what’s in everyone’s bags! Looks like I’m not the only random one 😉

Pizza, pizza! Ironically this pizza was significantly better reheated than it was last night. Still not good enough to make me go back, but a definite improvement!

Mmm….pesto, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, red peppers…plus whole wheat crust & soy cheese.

And it stayed crispy in the microwave- a nice bonus! 🙂

I think it’s funny- the husband and I have completely different views of “work from home”. He also gets to work at home- but he works for a big company. He can choose whether to go into a real office, or work from his laptop at home. As long as he’s signed in, he’s “working”. Over the past few weeks I’ve spent at home, I’ve realized “working” has many definitions: sleep, gym, ESPN, PS2….and some work here and then. (He’d probably strangle me for saying that. But he knows it’s true. 😉 )

My experience has been quite the opposite…

Work At Home vs Unemployed

The difference may seem obvious, but to those that have never thought about it, it might not be so clear. I recently transitioned to working at an establishment to working at home, and I’ve come across a lot of other people that work from home as well (probably because I’m just paying more attention.)

The first reaction I get when people find out I work from home is something along the lines of “Your so lucky” or “It must be nice to have so much free time!”

Well I am lucky, but it didn’t fall in my lap- I had to work hard to make it happen and it’s no walk in the park. Second, free time? Yes, I make my own schedule, but I’m still working- not jobless.

I’ve had people coming out of the woodwork asking me to do things because I “don’t have a job”. Of course I don’t mind helping people out, but the same way you can’t leave your office for a few hours every day, neither can I.

Ironically, I spend more hours working now that I’m self-employed than I used to “at work”. When you work for yourself, you don’t get sick days, you don’t get paid vacation, and if the job’s not done, you don’t get paid.

Before when I was working at a clinic, when I got off, I was done. I could go home relax, cook, clean, do whatever. Now, I’m always thinking of something else I could get done (and I don’t mean the cleaning!)

Sure, I’m working more now because it’s new- eventually I’ll set “working hours”, etc, just like a “real” job, but for now, it’s 24-7.

FYI I’m NOT complaining- working from home isn’t for everybody, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂

If you work from home, what has your experience been like? How to people react to it? If you don’t work from home, what do you think of people that do?

Nut Cheese Please

Dinner

You might have figured out by now that pizza is one of my favorite go-to meals. Home made pizza crust is super easy to make, and you can literally top it with just about anything your little belly desires.

I actually made this dough over the weekend- then got sidetracked and never got around to making pizza. I warily tossed it in the fridge once it was done rising, and pulled it out today. Lucky for me it was still in good shape!

Pizza crust is unusually forgiving for a baked good. I’ve made it without measuring, without yeast, without oil, random ingredients here and there, and it’s always come out ok. And if it doesn’t, who cares? Smother it in delicious toppings until you can’t taste the crust anymore. 😉 (I even almost burned the house down once…and it was still edible ;))

This version might be my favorite so far:

Whole Wheat Flax Pizza Dough

(Double to make bigger pizzas- or to have extra- it freezes really well!!)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup bread flour

1/4 flax meal

3/4 c warm water

1 packet yeast (I used a little less- I had a randomly opened packet lying around.)

1/8 t salt

1. Combine water & yeast, set aside for ~5 min

2. Mix together dry ingredients

3. Stir in water/yeast combo

4. Knead for a few minutes. If it’s super sticky, add in more flour while kneading.

5. Put a little oil in a bowl, and roll ball of dough in it to coat all sides. Cover bowl and let rest in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size (1-2 hrs.) (You can use it earlier too, it just won’t be as fluffy- still good though!!)

6. Roll out dough to desired thickness & shape. Poke holes with fork tines.

7. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes. (I use a greased cookie sheet cuz I’m not cool enough for pizza stones. And I’m too lazy to preheat them anyways.)

8. Cover in toppings & return to oven until toppings cooked/cheese melted/etc etc.

Now comes the fun stuff: toppings!!

I decided to try a non-dairy cheese substitute for my pizza. It worked out great for the vegan eggplant parmesan, so why not try it for vegan pizza?!

First I soaked some raw cashews in water for about an hour or two.

Once they were soft I tossed them in the food processor along with a sundried tomato, lemon juice, basil, and a pinch of salt.

Voila! Nut cheese!

I used some plain old tomato sauce, the nut cheese, and some broccoli for my toppings.

A few minutes in the oven and dinner was served!

Verdict?

Fantastic. Seriously.

Just to make sure I really liked the nut cheese, and not just all the pizza stuff going on, I used some of the extra cheese on some crackers. (Trader Joe’s multigrain flax something or others.)

So so so good. I even made the husband eat a bite. He agreed it wasn’t bad- he still doesn’t understand that it was made of cashews. Much too foreign a concept for him. Men. Boys.

Prepare to see more pizza tomorrow. I have 2 more crusts waiting for me, and I already have an idea brewing for another version of nut cheese.

And common, you have to admit “nut cheese” is fun to say….

PS I had to leave my bike at the shop 🙁 Hopefully I can pick it up tomorrow night, but let’s be real, it’ll probably be Thursday.

Body Marking

Breakfast, Race

Well good morning!!! Err….afternoon!

Note to self: even if you’re one of the 1st to arrive at a race, do not park in the 1st parking lot if you plan on leaving at 8am.

Rewind:

My morning started bright & early- so early it was still pitch dark outside- to head to the Belews Lake Triathlon to put my volunteering skills to use. (Winding country roads in the dark with night blindness- quite interesting)

Coffee & breakfast were promised upon arrival, but just in case I grabbed a peanut butter bagel thin sandwich with sunflower seeds and my own coffee to go. Good decision- “breakfast” consisted of those oatmeal icing pie cookies that come in a box. I don’t know what they’re called but they were in every kid’s lunchbox in elementary school. And no coffee. Sigh.

Anyways, I was assigned to body marking!! I loved this station because I got to check out all the athletes (and their bikes!) and give the first-timers a quick overview.

500+ athletes marked in 2 hours- I gots skills. 🙂

When I was done with my duties, I headed down to see the water start & say hi to Kelly who was racing!! (She knocked it out of the park by the way!!)

It’s usually a pretty warm lake, but since it’s so early in the year, it was wetsuit legal today. I can’t say I was upset I didn’t have to get in the chilly water, but I was sad not to be racing.

By this point I was getting hungry for a more substantial breakfast, so I walked back to my car to head home. Umm not only was my car completely blocked in in the back row of the parking lot, the only path out of the parking lot led directly into race traffic for the biking and the running. Looks like I wasn’t going anywhere!

Except for being hungry it ended up being ok- I got to do some spectating instead! This was the 1st race I’ve been to that I wasn’t running in.

I got kind of nervous watching the super fasties come out of the transition area on their bikes- almost all of them had clipless pedals, and so many of them were having a heck of a time getting their shoes clipped in. It probably didn’t help that they were trying to do it going uphill. (Isn’t that cruel- the bike and the run both started up a steep hill.)

Then I headed to the finish line. The first person in was only 22- and he made it look EASY. Ha!