Monday, June 17, 2013

Beach Trip!

Since we are not going on vacation (TO SPAIN DID I MENTION THAT) until late September, we decided we'll try to have at least one mini-trip, even if it's just a day trip, each month this summer. We were thinking about doing a day trip to the beach last weekend, but ended up deciding it would be better to go the night before so we weren't doing the drive there and back in one day.

On Friday afternoon, I picked Ben up at work and we headed out.  Two minutes later, before even getting on the highway, we were waylaid by a hit and run rear-ending! Someone actually hit the car behind us, and the momentum pushed her into the back of my car. Before I even knew what was happening, Ben had leapt out and was writing down the license plate number of the car that was speeding away. It was a hard hit - hard enough to give me some whiplash that was still a little achy the next day - but amazingly there is no damage to my car whatsoever. We stuck around for an hour regardless, waiting for the police to arrive and take the report, since Benjamin had witnessed the other car and could provide a description. They ran the plates and confirmed that the guy has a record and likely no insurance, which is a real bummer for the other lady, whose car had some significant damage.

So anyway!  After that we were on the road for real. We arrived in Wilmington just before 8:00 and ate at The Bridge Tender Restaurant, which was quite good. In fact, Benjamin told the waitress his scallops were "fucking awesome," and then kept bringing them up again and again the rest of the weekend. I didn't take any pictures of the entrees but dessert was also excellent. I got this brownie sundae thing that was easily big enough for two people.


Benjamin got blueberry cobbler which he also enjoyed.


We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Wrightsville Beach, which was fine. 

On Saturday we drove down toward Carolina Beach, about a half hour from Wilmington. We stopped for a delicious breakfast at the Surf House Restaurant. I got an amazing breakfast hash with black beans, pulled pork, roasted potatoes, etc.


And Ben ordered the standard breakfast of bacon, sausage, grits, eggs, toast.


And then finally we were on our way to the actual ocean.  We ended up having trouble finding parking, and kept driving all the way to Kure Beach, a little bit south of where we intended to go. It was pretty crowded but we got a good spot.


My legs are roughly the color of the sand, I noticed.




The waves were huge!  We spent a lot of time floating and swimming in the ocean out beyond the surf, which was really nice.  I don't know that I've ever been in the ocean when I couldn't touch the bottom.  I was a little concerned a shark was going to eat my legs, but it worked out.


After a couple hours we'd had enough and drove back to Raleigh, making it home by late afternoon. Since we generally do almost nothing Friday night/Saturday morning, it seemed like we hadn't even missed anything by being away from home, and still had plenty of time to catch up on TV and run errands and all the usual weekend stuff. 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Taco Salad

I've been trying low-carb for the past week or so in an attempt to win a weight loss competition that's going on with a group of my friends. It's been surprisingly easier than I expected, and much more effective.  A winning combination!  I've been eating a lot of salads. One good thing about salads is they take about 15 minutes to throw together for dinner, even a complicated one like this:


That is lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, and morningstar farms fake burger crumbles seasoned with cumin.  The dressing is the creamy ancho ranch from Viva Vegan. So easy and good!

In other news, I booked airfare to Spain on Tuesday night, and already have our car reserved and all the hotels arranged, despite the fact that we are not leaving until September.  I want it to be nooowwwwww!!!  This weekend we are going to the beach for a little trip, though, so there will probably be pictures of that forthcoming.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Socca Pizza

I made a new thing!

I've been hearing a lot about socca recently, a flatbread made with chickpea flour, and only last night did it occur to me that it's probably hot right now because it's gluten free. Well, who cares, because it's terrific and really easy. The only ingredients are chickpea flour, water, salt, and olive oil.  A LOT of olive oil - 1/3 cup. I used the recipe in Bean by Bean and she warns you not to cut the amount of oil, but seriously. I think I'm going to try 1/4th cup next time.

Anyway, so you mix up the batter and pour it into a hot, oiled cast iron skillet and then bake it. You can eat it plain, but you can also turn it into pizza, which is what I did. After 20 minutes in the oven, I took it out and topped it with chopped dried figs, blue cheese, and caramelized onions.


It was awesome, and even easier than regular pizza!  This is definitely a new item for the regular rotation.