Wedding Recap

Exhausting weekend in San Diego, but we got Dan’s sister married and we EVENTUALLY made it home!

The ceremony was nice on the country club lawn.  It was overcast, but still a nice day!  After cocktail hour and photobooth fun, the party moved inside for dinner, dancing, and debauchery! 

Dinner was good.  3 options, I had the beef tenderloin (it was also the only GF option).  I ate all of mine and then the veggies off of Dan’s plate too.  There was a chicken and a veggie option too.  I think our whole table had ordered beef except his mother.

Not a dry eye in the room when Dan’s sister danced with their dad!

I guess I did get Dan to dance with his mom.  They only played 3 slow songs for the father-daughter, mother-son, and bride-groom dances.  So Dan opted for a line dance (he would kill me if he saw this photo posted).  Yes, we are from Texas, and no, we don’t line dance.

I danced with mom too.  I am not a dancer.  Nor can I believe song of choice was Sir Mix a Lot, haha!  She danced the whole entire night, so much that she didn’t even finish her plate of cake!

Dan’s parent’s surprise to his sister, getting her a purple candy buffet.   For sure the fanciest candy buffet I’ve ever seen!  For the record, I don’t think he’s actually part of their family, because his mom, dad, and sister LOVE sweets, like seriously.  Dan could take or leave candy or cake.  That night, he taste tested for quality control 😉

Dan’s parents throw a pretty swanky shindig!

Exhausting but a great time.  By time we left the country club it was super late and I was hungry again.  Nothing a run through Carl’s Jr. drive through couldn’t fix 😉  A long but great day!

Advertisement

Restaurant reviews: San Diego

George’s Ocean Terrace in  La Jolla.  I’d been to George’s before for dinner (but it was dark).  One of the best views in LaJolla, their rooftop patio is amazing (although it was overcast the day we were there).  Not a whole lot of gluten-free options.  I opted for the 5 spiced chicken salad and made a gf dressing sub.  It was ok, I was hungry 2 hours later.  Dan’s mom and cousin got the fish tacos and loved them, as well as their soup.  Not sure about the other 10 people who were with us.   They had dessert too, which they were raving about.  Views and service were terrific.  Most of our party was really pleased with the food.  I liked mine, it just didn’t stick with me.

Spaghetti Factory in San Marcos.  Rehearsal dinner was here.  The spinach dip was good (I just took a bite on a fork to taste).  They do have a gluten-free menu, although I didn’t find it all that exciting.  I got the baked chicken with gluten-free pasta.  The chicken was ok, the pasta was undercooked (I think it was the Heartland brand) and they forgot to bring the marinara sauce out with the meal.    Dan got one of their meals that had a bunch of different Italian dishes, he wasn’t impressed either.  Eh, it’s a chain restaurant, it wasn’t horrible, but I wouldn’t make a special trip either.   By time we got back to the hotel, I was starving, so Dan took me to Sprouts to get more food!

Victor’s Kafe in San Bernardo.  Lunch on Friday by myself, I got takeout here after I dropped Dan off at the country club.  It was GREAT!  Yelp rarely lets me down.  I had the Greek Chicken salad, large size, no pita.  It was super tasty and cheap.  Plus the guy working the counter was really nice and fun to talk to.

Azul in La Jolla.  We had brunch here the morning after the wedding.  Nice view of the ocean (although it was overcast again).  Service and view were great, so was the food.  For starters, they bring out fresh fruit and pastries.  To eat I had the sausage and eggs with cajun potatoes (they had to make them gluten-free for me).  Dan and his mom had the croissant french toast.  A few other people at our end of the table had some awesome looking omelettes.  Everyone loved their food.

The Godfather.  Saw this one in a book at our hotel and decided I was taking Dan there as a surprise (he loves mobster and mafia stuff).

It’s in a weird location, but don’t let the exterior fool you!  This is a NICE restaurant   They bring you fried zucchini to start (I can’t eat it, Dan had a little and said it was good).  Then we had caprese for an appetizer (Dan LOVES it).  We each had a dinner salad before the main course. Dan got one of the stuffed veal dishes, I got one of the salmon dishes.  He had so much food, he took a box home to his parents (his came with pasta and 2 huge pieces of veal stuffed with prosciutto,  cheeses, etc).  My food was good, but his was even better.

LOVED it.  Food was good, atmosphere was wonderful, very dim, cozy, and romantic, and the service was stellar.  One of the best displays of customer service I’ve ever seen by all staff that we encountered.  In fact, the guy bussing the tables saw me make a face when I got my salad and rushed over.  He brought me a new salad without croutons (which is how I requested it),  Our glasses were never empty.

Product review: Paleo Bread

Paleo Bread.  I’ve seen this product on Facebook through Julian Bakery for months now.  I was curious, but no way was I going to pay their shipping fees which are really steep (due to the product being shipped fast and frozen).

What is it?

It’s gluten-free, paleo (in some definitions) bread.  It comes either made with almond flour or coconut flour.

I stumbled across it at Natural Grocer last week in Cedar Park.  $10 a loaf, 16 tiny slices a loaf.  Don’t ask me why, but I bought 1 loaf of almond and 1 loaf of coconut.

Stats

Almond is 3 Weight Watchers P+ a slice.  The coconut is 1 WW P+ a slice.

Texture

The texture is dense and it’s chewy.  The almond more than the coconut.  Reminded me of a saturated brown sponge.

Taste

To me the almond was tasteless, dense, and almost in-edible.  I seriously had to choke it down.

The coconut was better, but not much.  At least I could swallow a bite without coughing/choking on it.

I tried them both toasted, untoasted, grilled.  Made a breakfast sandwich, grilled cheese, and a turkey avocado sandwich.

Verdict

Unimpressed.  I threw the almond away.  It was that bad.  More than half a loaf went into the trash.

I kept the coconut to keep working with it, because i’d spent $20 total on bread that was supposed to be fabulous.  I read some people were toasting it and breading things with it, but to be honest, I don’t care THAT much about breading anything to spend $10 on a loaf of weird bread, just to toast and grind it!

I won’t be buying either flavor again.  It’s pricey and it just plain doesn’t taste good or work well for much of anything.  I was skeptical, but this confirmed my suspicion.

That’s just my honest opinion 😉

Gluten Free Cheat Sheet

Great introduction to gluten-free.  I think this is a great starter for friends, family, etc of gluten-free people as well.  This appeared in today’s Weight Watcher’s newsletter as a featured article.

The Gluten-Free Checklist

Following a gluten-free lifestyle requires patience, creativity, and inevitable hard work. But for those who do have celiac disease or an allergy to gluten, it is all worth it. Here’s a cheat sheet for eating gluten-free.Naturally Gluten-Free Foods

• Plain milk
• 100% fruit or vegetable juices
• Fresh fruits & veggies
• Eggs
• Lentils
• Peanuts, tree nuts, seeds
• Fresh fish, poultry, meats (without marinade)

Gluten-Free Grains and Flours

• Arrowroot
• Cornmeal, corn flour
• Rice flour
• Potato flour
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Sorghum
• Soy, soy flour
• Tapioca

Potentially Gluten-Containing Foods
Be a detective—read labels carefully and when in doubt, call the manufacturer. Look out for ingredients such as Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, malt flavoring, vegetable starch/gum, modified food starch. These ingredients contain gluten and are commonly used in everyday foods. Additionally, watch out for gluten in:

• Beer
• Bread & other baked goods
• Cereal
• Imitation meat or seafood
• Processed luncheon meats
• Salad dressings
• Condiments & sauces, including soy
• Seasoned rice mixes
• Soups & soup bases
• Canned baked beans
• Medications & vitamins that use gluten as a binding agent
• Toothpaste

I am not Celiac. I do however, have a strong gluten-intolerance.  I had a blood test for the celiac testing, and a blood and stool for gluten-intolerance/sensitivity.  Many people with auto-immune disorders can benefit from being gluten-free and are often sensitive/intolerant to gluten.   I have Hashimoto’s as well as a few other conditions that may or may not play into my intolerance.

Things I like Thursday: Relay randomness

I’ve been MIA, but that is going to change!  I am going to get back to my bloggin time 🙂  I may have been gone, but accomplishing much in the time I was away!  Really the only thing I can remember is some of my Cap2Coast random stories.

• I stepped in dog-shit watching Megan come in on her first leg.  I didn’t know this.  15 minutes later, she’s toweling off and I think SHE is the one that smells like crap!  When I realized it wasn’t her, we all died laughing!
• One of my team-mates, who I had never met before, literally beat the shit off of my shoe.  I cannot believe a stranger touched my dirty shoe and cleaned it for me.  Nice guy.  Think we’ll keep him!
• I was able to meet and beat my expected leg times for all three legs.
• I got 5 “road-kills” on my first leg.  Even had my first one curse at me!  The girl was not pleased to say the least.
• I ran the 2nd leg in a sports bra.  Shocking, I know.  But I was wearing a night vest over it.  You will only see me running without a shirt in the dark and halfway covered in neon reflective mesh.
• First leg was too fast and I tried to slow myself down, but the adrenaline got me.  With the sun, wind, and hills, I should have backed off.  I am pretty sure this set up the later hammy issues.
• I overcame some super tight hammy issues on my 2nd and 3rd legs.  Once I got going, it got WAY better.  I am really pleased I beat my expected times, because when I started the 3rd leg, a replacement was getting ready just in case.  (that’s how awful I looked when I took off)
• I got chased by 3 dogs in the last half mile of my last leg.  One of them wouldn’t back down and was snarling and snapping at me like crazy.  There was lots of screaming, threatening, and then running like hell!  I’ve been chased before, but never like this.  On our 3rd leg, three of the six of us got chased, mine probably the worst.
• I took a whore-bath in the Rickster’s bathroom.  I ate breakfast on Saturday with wet hair and fit right in with the locals.  A little scary.
• You know that saying, don’t try anything new before or during a race?  Drinking a soda, even a diet one, after leg 2, BAD idea.  I thought diet 7-UP would make me feel better.  Not so much.  It worked for my pregnant BFF, thought it would work for me too.
• I was the most aromatic one in the van.  First the dog poo, then the sunscreen, then the bug spray, then sweat x3.
• I may have not smelled pretty, but at least I didn’t have any mosquito bites!
• I’m recovering now.  To be honest, I think relay recovery is more serious that marathon recovery.  Essentially it’s running several races in a short amount of time.  I’ve run once this week, going to do another one tonight.
• First recovery run was insanity.  LUNA run on Tuesday…the three girls who led the run were the same three that had just done the relay!  We were a sight, but the runners got to hear some awesome stories from the road!
• 1st place open-mixed champs for Cap2Coast relay!  2 times baby!
• 2nd place overall champs at Cap2Coast relay, also 2 times!

Cap2Coast Results

Friday we started the trek to Corpus Christi….

For the 2nd year:  2nd place overall, 1st place open-mixed champs!  2 vans, 6 girls, 6 guys, 223 miles! Running Gangnam style the whole way!

We are super stoked to maintain our mixed-open title and have that 2nd overall.  The first place team for the last 3 years is an open team (9 guys, 3 girls).

When it rains, it pours

It literally rained this weekend, but nothing close to what they said it would 😦  We REALLY need the rain and more rain makes my life at work way easier.  Especially with some of my new duties.

Friday night we spent a low-key evening at home. (well most of it).  Took my first ride in the Jeep to help Dan buy parts for a huge garage project he wanted to do, ate a nice dinner at home, and chilled.

Saturday, it was pouring when I woke up.  I took the car to get an oil change and went to the gym while that was happening.  Got DRENCHED on the way to the gym, which is maybe 1/4 mile, if that.  Then helped Dan work on his project a little bit and off to a party at some new friend’s apartment.  Good times, should have taken some photos.  He’s a great cook and he definitely showed those talents off!  We didn’t eat until 9:30, and we left not too long after that, because I was super tired.  Plus the host’s gf and I had to run Sunday morning.  I really like this couple, I hope Dan and I hang out with them more.

Sunday morning.  Woke up, ran, had a literal “run-in”, errands in Austin, finally got my glasses ordered,  helped Dan with his project, helped Dan deconstruct his project, helped calm Dan down about his project, laundry, roasted an AWESOME turkey breast (Savory Spice shop is WAY better than Penzey’s!), ran into ex-coworker at library (hoping I wasn’t seen), got quadruple charged not once but twice at the store!, tripped over the curb at the store and busted my toe open.

It was a very busy and challenging Sunday.  Going to get a massage today and make sure my “run-in” didn’t cause any damage.  I probably should be going to the Dr., but I am not in any pain.  Just scratches, soreness, and bruises on my right side.  I came out better than the idiot who hit me, he’s driving around somewhere with dents and a broken mirror.