The Test

Today’s test: Will Ryan and I survive the night having eaten chicken that was one day past the expiration date? Only time will tell… 😉 

When I arrived home from work, I checked on the chicken before heading out to take Sadie to the dog park with Ryan. 

Checkin' on Chicken

Some of you have asked about the liner I use in the crock pot in the past, and it’s awesome and makes clean up a breeze. It is a slow cooker liner made by Reynolds and I buy them at my local grocery store (Publix). Highly recommended! 

Dog Park 

Our trip to the dog park was full of fetch! 

"Throw the Ball!"

Playtime

Dog Park Kisses

Smile!

Sadie could play fetch for hours. Ryan and I always wonder exactly how long we’d have to play for her to stop. We’re thinking three hours. (Seriously. If you have a vizsla, or know Sadie, you understand. 🙂 ) 

Pretty Pup

I purposely saved this picture for last, because I think it’s super cool: 

Speedy Sadie

After an hour or so at the park, we headed home to brave the expired chicken. 

Dinner 

Good news! Our expired chicken dinner smelled and tasted great and oh-so-fresh. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

“Sell by” date? What “sell by” date? 😉 

I didn’t want to take any chances wasting fresh or expensive ingredients on potentially bad chicken, so I stuck to the old stand by of throwing chicken in the slow cooker with chicken broth to cook all day. 

We had tasty BBQ chicken sandwiches that didn’t taste the least bit old. Let’s call them mature BBQ chicken sandwiches, shall we? 😀 

My Sandwich

On the side we had some green goodies. 

Zucchini

My Plate

No Ice Cream???  

It’s nights like tonight that I am very thankful we don’t keep ice cream in our apartment because I’m reallllly feelin’ like I could go to town on a pint right about now. Ryan and I both cannot be trusted around ice cream. Between the two of us, we’ve been known to polish off a half gallon in one day… without feeling sick. It’s a gift, I know. 

What food can’t you be trusted around?  

Aside from ice cream I cannot be trusted around jars of peanut butter. Truth: Ryan hides them from me.

You Pick: Bridesmaid Dresses

Get ready for some bridesmaid dress fun!!!

Question of the day: Which bridesmaid dress do you like best (not taking color into account)?

All of my bridesmaids will be wearing champagne dresses (or “sand” dresses if I pick one of the dresses below from the Liz Fields collection).

Dress One:

Dress One

Dress Two:

Dress Two

Dress Three:

Dress Three

I’m not sure if any of these dresses will be the dress I select, but I really like them a lot!

I’m also up in the air as to whether or not I want everyone in the same dress… or in different dresses but in the same color/material. I think I like a uniform look, but we’ll see!

Do you like all bridesmaids in the same dress or in different dresses in the same color/material?

Veggiefied

My lunch today was totally veggiefied!

Tuesday's Lunch

I topped a whole wheat sandwich thin with roasted red pepper hummus and portobello mushrooms.

On the side I nibbled on cauliflower and asparagus, roasted with garlic salt. It was d-to-the-e-to-the-l-i-c-i-o-u-s (Black Eyed Peas, anyone? 😉 ).

My Plate

Hummus and Mushroom Sandwich with Roasted Veggies

Sadie may be one of the biggest veggie lovers I know. I snapped this picture of her giving me the “feed me” look as I was packing my lunch today.

"Feed Me!"

Here’s a fun little information nugget: Sadie’s favorite vegetable is broccoli.

Morning Snack

My morning snack was a cheese-tastic microwaved quesadilla.

'Dilla

Easy snacks are my favorite and microwaving a Colby jack string cheese stick on a whole wheat tortilla is pretty darn easy. Why is melted cheese so much better than cold cheese?

How Old is Too Old

Question for you meat experts out there… Is it dangerous to eat chicken that’s one day past the “sell by” date? If it’s just gross, I’m okay with that, but I don’t want Ryan and I to keel over after dinner tonight.

I put my 2/21/10 chicken in the crock pot this morning and it smelled okay… but does that make it okay?

Do you always toss food that’s past expiration?

For me, I toss food depending on the type of food and the smell. Old milk – in the garbage! Old cereal – in my bowl! 😉

🙂

Weighing What’s Important

Wedding thoughts in un momento…

First, breakfast!

Today I had another yogurt and barley breakfast bowl (yes, I’m in love), but instead of using thawed frozen strawberries in the bowl like I did yesterday, I stirred in thawed frozen raspberries. I’m so adventurous, I know.

Raspberries + Yogurt

Raspberry Barley Breakfast Bowl

If you’ve never enjoyed barley in a sweet dish and have only had it in soups or savory meals, please give this a try. It’s chewy, slightly nutty and so delicious!

Workout

My workout today was sweat-tastic! I did 35 minutes on the treadmill, followed by 15 minutes on the elliptical with OK! magazine. I love my celebrity gossip!

My 35 minute treadmill workout looked like this:

• Min. 1 – 15: 1.0 incline, 6.5 pace
• Min. 15: 1.0 incline, 7.5 pace
• Min. 16: 1.0 incline, 6.5 pace
• Min. 17: 1.0 incline, 7.5 pace
• Min. 18: 1.0 incline, 6.5 pace
• Min. 19: 1.0 incline, 8.0 pace
• Min. 20 – 25: 1.0 incline, 6.5 pace
• Min. 25 – 35: 7.5 incline, 4.2 pace

I broke it up into three segments: steady state cardio followed by intervals, and back to steady state cardio again. It kept me entertained and made the workout go by quickly.

Wedding Planning: Weighing What’s Important

Throughout the wedding planning process, we’ve been adjusting our budget in certain areas to make room for additions in other areas.

I’ve received many different words of advice ranging from “Don’t waste money on a dress… you wear it once,” to “Definitely budget for your dress… it’s the one thing you’ll remember forever.” Clearly, different aspects of a wedding are important to different people.

Aside from food and drinks, what aspect of a wedding do you think is worthy of the most money?

To me, it is our photographer. It was so important for me to find someone we felt comfortable around and whose style was more candid than “pose-y.” I love pictures that capture moments and emotions and was determined to find a photographer whose photographs weren’t staged and someone who captured and love and emotion felt throughout the wedding day. I think (and hope!) we found a good one.

I think the area in which I’m most willing to cut costs is the flowers. I love flowers and think they’re beautiful, but they can be really expensive and other areas are much more important to me.

In fact, I’ve adjusted our flower budget to make room for something many people probably think is silly: chairs. I am obsessed with chiavari chairs!

Beloved Chairs

To me, they add an element of sophistication and such a nice, clean look to a reception room.

Reception

Pretty, huh?

My dad is so funny about the chairs… naturally he (like many) doesn’t understand why I love these chairs so much. Buuut, last night I got this sweet email from him:

Julie, I am at a black tie affair tonight in DC and the chairs, I think, are the safari (sp) you like. They are nice but I would have never noticed them if it wasn’t for you. Just fyi.  Love you, Daddy

I think he’s coming around. 😀 I love how he called them safari chairs! Truth be told, that’s what I thought they were called for months, too!

Though I do love these chairs, if something else comes up of more importance, I’m more than willing to forgo my beloved chairs. However, if I can cut expenses in other areas and the chairs can fit into our budget, bring ’em in! 😀