Two Traveling Tuesdays! :) From the Midwest to the Pacific coast!

I'm sure you have been waiting with baited breath for my next post...haha...yea right! ;-) Well I've definitely been busy with just spending time with Matt (and I've been sick). Since he's had to go into the field so often and then working long hours along with prepping for NTC we've decided to make the most out of our weekends together. So we've been exploring Colorado Springs a lot. Which has been really fun!! One weekend we decided to go to the zoo. And let me tell you...it was THE BEST zoo I've been to so far. Not only was the weather beautiful, but it was a smaller zoo with beautiful landscaping and up close and personal time with the animals. It was fantastic!

When you first walked in you were giving a token to "vote" on an endangered animal that they were going to donate money to and stuff. It was fun reading about all the different animals. I voted for the one with the least tokens because I felt bad. I believe it might have been the vultures? Or maybe it was something else. But nevertheless it was fun. So Matt and I started walking and the first thing we came upon were the giraffes! And you could pet them! I was so excited because I have never experienced that before. You could also buy some lettuce for them, but we just wanted to pet them. They came up to you regardless.


It was really neat. And there even was a baby!! See how small it was?? I felt bad because it just stood there looking dejected. But it was really sweet looking. I couldn't believe how small it was.

Maggies

From the giraffes we moved on through the zoo and saw many animals that reminded us of our own animals. Warthogs=Maggie, Meerkats= Tigger...and I can't remember what we spotted as Millie. :) Maybe a skunk...I don't know! hehe...

Tiggies

The interesting thing was the animals were so close that you could literally touch them if you wanted...of course not the tigers and dangerous animals. But these meerkats you could...although there was a sign that said they'd bite. So...we definitely did not touch them. :)

The most fascinating animals by far were the monkeys and apes. There were two sets of families. One family had a baby! They were so human like. But the funniest thing was one of the males would put his face flat up against the window and the kids would come along and do the same to him. He was so intrigued by this that he would get kind of confused when they walked away. I thought this was so funny!! We were there around feeding time so they were busy at some point eating sweet potatoes and carrots and different veggies.

The baby was really funny too. It would climb up the ropes and when it's daddy came along it would swing and try to touch him as it swung by. This angered the daddy at one point and it made this huge stink and went away, but he came back and the baby was again at it's antics. All of the monkeys were funny really. There were some that were eating and lounging at funny angles. I think Matt and I stayed in there for quite some time--even though it was smelly. :)

Here are some other pictures from our visit:

  

It was a great visit and I can't wait to take my parents there when they visit in October. And as you can see the view is beautiful!!! 

So that week I decided to go with a Midwest themed dinner. It's a recipe that I found which is a classic Chicago dish! It's called Chicken Vesuvio and although I know my father would HATE it (but secretly like it) because of how much garlic there is; I know that my aunt and mom would love it! It was really good and the only thing I'd change about it would have been that Matt would have been home to fully enjoy it. :-/ 

CHICKEN VESUVIO 

Serves 4 (for us 2) 

Ingredients 

4 chicken thighs (about 1 1/4 pounds), skinned*

4 chicken drumsticks (about 1 pound), skinned*

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

12 garlic cloves (YEA...it says 12)

2 large peeled baking potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges 

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 

1/2 cup dry white wine 

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 cup frozen green peas

*Note: I used chicken breasts because I had them. 

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle your chicken with 1/4 teaspoon (out of the 3/4 teaspoon) of salt and pepper and pour the oil into a dutch oven (or in my case a big pot...because I don't have a dutch oven). Heat the oil over medium high heat and add your chicken.  

Brown your chicken on each side. Getting a good crust on the chicken is important to seal in those juices later! Once brown, remove it from the pan/pot/whatever you're using.





Add your whole garlic cloves to the pot, saute them for about a minute or so. Until they are slightly browned.  And remove them.







Then add your wedged potatoes to the pot. Saute them for about 6 minutes or until browned. And once this has happened, add your chicken and garlic cloves back into the pot. Add the rest of the salt, your broth, white wine, fresh oregano, and the two minced garlic cloves (MORE GARLIC for my auntie!!). Bring all of this to a simmer.




Once at a simmer, cover and bake if you are using a Dutch oven. In my case I put everything into some Corningware. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is done and the potatoes are tender. At this point, add your frozen peas and bake for another 8 minutes or until the peas are tender.



I don't have a picture of the 100% finished product, but let me tell you. The chicken was so juicy and moist and the smell that went throughout the house was lovely! You can't beat the smell of garlic! :) It was extremely tasty and although the original recipe with the thighs and drumsticks was 448 calories per serving; I think this is worth it and I believe my version is probably less calories anyways. I only ate half of a chicken breast and about a half cup of the potato mixture. I can't say enough about it. I think this recipe with the chicken breasts would be great for company! It tastes fancy, but as you can see it's super easy! I really hope you try it! I served it only with a salad since the potatoes were the starch of the meal.

Here's the recipe: Chicken Vesuvio

So the week of Labor Day weekend was exciting. Mainly because I was looking forward to spending
four uninterrupted days with Matt!! Thursday night we decided to go "downtown" which turned out to be a bust because the place we went was doing some sort of samba night. Or something. And there was about 4 people there. Probably more, but you get my drift. So we walked around a bit then went home.

Friday we ended up randomly going hiking! It was College Colors day so of course we had to wear Aggie shirts. Needless to say, Jeni was wearing a cute Aggie Gamma Phi shirt, khaki shorts, hair down....and there we were hiking. :) It was so much fun though. The views were beautiful! We could see the Garden of the Gods from where we were; which is always pretty to look at.

There were a lot of fun trails and we saw a lot of dogs being walked, which we joked about bringing Maggie...who can't walk more than 1/2 mile without getting tired. She's in shape! But she's a bulldog. :)

Baby Cactus!

I believe we walked for almost two hours. We saw people climbing the rock walls, people biking. All sorts of activity, yet surprisingly we were alone walking most of the time and it was really peaceful!






After that we headed over to this castle over near Garden of the Gods. It's modeled Tudor style...which as we all know, I LOVE! It was a gorgeous place! They do afternoon teas and I want to check that out for a girls day with my mom!!




Saturday we wanted to go up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway. We called. All booked. Of course. Oh well. So we sat there wondering what we could do that day and little to my knowledge my sneaky Matt was planning something! He booked a room in BRECKENRIDGE! I was really uneasy at first because we'd have to leave the animals for the night, but we've done that before and it was fine. So I got excited and we packed up!

The drive there was beautiful! Especially through the winding Manitou Springs area and through some small towns. We hit a sort of plains/valley area and then all of a sudden BOOM gorgeous mountains and hillsides. Beautiful trees and then....glorious TEMPERATURES!! Yes...that says 48!! Brrrr!!!! :) I loved it!!

The place where we were originally going to stay UPGRADED us to their other property. Snazzy. I felt like I was a millionaire or something. It was a gorgeous property. Even without the snow! There was turn down service and lots of fancy directions for the property. The room though was delicious! And we took every advantage of everything! We used the fireplace, drank champagne, viewed the outdoor area on the patio. We went to the outdoor hot tub and gazed at the moon and the stars. It was great!! Later on we went around the town. There weren't a lot of people around so it was kind of like our own town! I would LOVE to go back. We may have to wait until after snow season though. Bummer.  Here are some pictures from the scenery and the room:

It was a lot of fun and we kind of wrote it off as our 2 year anniversary trip since Matt won't be here for that. :( Sad day.

Sunday we drove back a different way. This was unfortunate for my ears. I have very sensitive ears and now know that if we go back, I need to get my trusty Ear Planes :) It wasn't bad going there because we were going slower and not up into the mountains fast. On the way down it was 70 and we were descending pretty quick. Matt was really sweet and was going slower than he should so I would be okay. It was a pretty drive despite the ear problems. But now I know. :) We didn't do much Sunday, just relaxed and well Monday we did the same because I was NOT feeling well at all. I'm not really sure what I have, but all last week I felt really bad. And I still haven't gotten over it really. Monday we lounged though and that was nice to just relax.

For our Tuesday night dinner this week I went with the Pacific/Pacific Northwest type dish and did an Asian inspired Salmon! First of all, it's super easy and quick and the taste is amazing!

SALMON WITH HOISIN GLAZE

Ingredients

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce 
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil 
4 (6-ounce) skinless wild salmon fillets *
Cooking spray 
1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
Lemon rind strips (optional)

*Note: I used two salmon fillets and doubled the sauce for extra sauce and the marinating. 

Combine the first three ingredients into a shallow bowl, whisk together. I added some minced garlic for added flavor as well. Add your fish into the bowl and turn each fillet several times to coat well. Marinate the salmon for at least 8 minutes. I marinated mine for 4 hours! Definitely worth it! 

Once you're ready to cook the fish, preheat the oven to 400, take the fish out of the marinade, and place it on a baking sheet or like me into a shallow Pyrex dish. 


Bake for 8 minutes or until the fish is flaky and reads an internal temperature of 145 to 155. I garnished the fish with the sesame seeds. This is something you don't have to really do. It's a nice touch, but I just happened to have them so I did it. I did not do the lemon rind though. I think lime might be a good touch as well! 




To go with the salmon I made some rice and added sauteed green onions and mushrooms. It was really good!! 







The whole meal was absolutely delicious! I loved the salmon. I had half of one of the fillets and on Thursday I had the other half over a salad. The salmon was 255 calories per serving which included 1 fillet. I really recommend this salmon and I feel myself wanting more salmon with different types of marinades and such. I think it's good to get some fish in your diet every once in a while! I definitely think I'll try it more often now. 

Here's the recipe: Salmon with Hoisin Glaze 

I apologize it's taken me a while to get these two recipes up here, but this weekend was the perfect time for me to do so since Matt is in the field again. I haven't really done anything different than during the week. Except I've been trying my hardest to take it easy since I haven't been feeling well. I went to the usual Saturday tri-fecta  of Les Mills (Body Attack, Pump and CXWORX) and because me not being able to breathe properly and then having something possibly in my chest...well I felt like I was going to die. :) Of course, this also was the day I decided to walk to the gym since it was such a beautiful day...so I crawled home. Not literally. But it was a longer walk home than to the gym! :) Anyway, I hope you have had a great couple of weeks and after tomorrow hopefully things will be a little more calm around here. Until next time!! Take care!! :)