I had a butternut squash in my pantry that really needed to be used up. Since we were making barbequed burgers for dinner I decided to pull out my french fry cutter — but unfortunately the squash killed my blade on my cutter. I guess it wasn’t made for anything but potatoes. The butternut squash must be way harder than a potato I guess.
Nevertheless, I got some fries made then tossed them into the oven at 425º F for 40 minutes until they were golden.
I had a fun time in Washington D.C. despite the humidity and down pours of rain. Even though this was my 4th time in D.C. this was actually my first time staying over. The rest of my visits were just day trips with family. I was looking forward to all the things my husband and I were going to do over the course of 11 days.
We originally, during the conference, stayed at a hotel in D.C.’s Chinatown for the first 6 nights and then when the conference was over went to a vacation house for the next 3 nights with several of our friends. Then we stayed one night in Alexandria at another hotel closer to the airport the night before we flew back home.
While we were in DC we were able to visit several of the Smithsonian Museums, which included the American Art Museum, National Museum of Natural History, and the The National Zoo. We were able to see many of the Monuments around the National Mall as well.
ShopHouse generously sent me a couple of gift cards to try out their restaurant while I was in Washington D.C. Unfortunately, it took me all week to get there, but yesterday my husband and I were able to finally make time and headed over to Chinatown via the Metro for dinner to try out their bowls.
The ShopHouse really intrigued me because 1. EVERYTHING they prepare in their shop is gluten, wheat, and dairy-free! 2. It is a sister restaurant to Chipotle – and who doesn’t love Chipotle?! 3. The menu is inspired by traditional ingredients, flavors and cooking styles of Southeast Asian restaurants. And everyone knows I have a love affair with Asian inspired food! And 4. Their meats are Responsibly Raised®! So yeah, for all those reasons I really wanted to try out their restaurant!
Last night we took the ferry ride to Alexandria, VA and thought we would be able to visit all the cute little shops. Well how mistaken were we. It started to rain and rain and rain and then rained even some more! I had to buy an overpriced umbrella to stay somewhat dry even though my shoes and socks were a different soggy story.
Two places down from where I purchased my umbrella was Pizzeria Paradiso. Our friends took refuge there because 1. our friends were hungry and 2. since being indoors kept you warm and dry. Nevertheless, we decided it was a very good idea especially since our phones all went off alerting us of flash floods in the area till 11:30pm.
I ordered a nice hot cup of tea to warm up with when I noticed on Pizzeria Paradiso’s menu it stated they had homemade gluten free 9” crust for an extra $2. Not pre-made, cool!!! Now that really sounded great and prompted us to place an order for their Blanca Pizza which consisted of White Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatos, Baby Arugula, Basil, and Speck (very thinly sliced smoked prosciutto). I asked for them to put the Speck on only 1/2 the pizza since my husband is allergic to msg and sodium nitrates.
Eating out with a gluten allergy or intolerance can be totally challenging and that is putting it mildly. Let’s just say I am a research queen before I even leave for a trip just so I can find where my best options will lead me. I usually search the internet for local restaurants that serve gluten free entrees as well as which ones are walking distance from my hotel.
The first leg of our trip we stayed in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C. until July 2nd. The following restaurants were in this area and walking distance from our hotel.
$ = $10 & under
$$ = $11-$20
$$$ = $21-$30
$$$$ = $31-above
So I am in Washington DC at a Conference for the next several days. While I was downstairs in the conference center I met Brandon Nicol and a couple of his co-workers from MyFEDBenefits. They were reeling in people with their dice game for some lucky person to win a $25 visa card and while they were making it a lot of fun… I was sadly losing. I convinced them to let me to have one last throw of the die for the hopes to get a roll higher than 28. But of course the odds were stacked against me, and I lost once more.
But I want to send out a shout to say how wonderful and funny these gentlemen were. And if you need help with benefits these are your guys.
So what is it that they really do? Here is a blurb off their website:
At My Fed Benefits it is our primary goal to help Federal Employees throughout their careers to take advantage of the great aspects of their unique benefits package, help them to identify and avoid wasting money on benefits they don’t need, and assist them in getting to retirement with the standard and lifestyle they have earned and deserve.
With the ever-changing environment in the government employee sector today, it is confusing, complicated, and frustrating job for an employee to squeeze the most from the benefits they are offered. With the maze of websites, forms, forums, hotlines, etc, and the trend to reduce or eliminate human resources as a viable place to get assistance, obtaining reliable information in a user-friendly format is a thing of the past. That is where we come in.
Brandon Nicol is a Chartered Federal Employee Benefit Consultant — if you need information please give him a call or email.
PO BOX 1509
Jacksonville OR 97530
Cell: (541) 610-7843
BNicol@MFBHelp.com
MyFedBenefitsHelp.com
I can’t believe June 17th was my one year anniversary of Small Town Living in Nevada!! They say the first year is the hardest. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing from her on out!
Thank you to all my followers via WordPress, Facebook and Pinterest. Without you I would just be writing out loud to myself.
I made tacos the other night and had seasoned ground beef and smashed avocados leftover that needed to be used up. Tonight felt like a fun night for Nachos because who doesn’t like to transform leftovers into something different and just as tasty?
For my chips, I grabbed a stack of corn tortillas, quartered them and then fried them up so I could make the nachos. My daughter helped and was having a great time ‘cooking’ with me.
Here’s what will be needed:
I greased a cookie sheet and then started to layer my ingredients: beginning by spreading out a layer of chips, next layered with some shredded cheese. Next I placed a layer of black beans, and another sprinkle of cheese and then a layer of seasoned beef topped with more shredded cheese.
Pop the cookie sheet into a 500º F oven for about 4 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.
Remove from oven and serve with your choice toppings.
Fast, simple and definitely a crowd pleaser — and a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge!
Hi everyone —
I really need your help…. My photo is tied for 2nd place at 18 votes, yet trailing by 3 votes from being in 1st place.
Please vote for my Carson Valley Days photo that I submitted to the Record Courier’s Newspaper contest at: http://recordcourier.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=177176&s=78035164&i=1&m=X&sort=SORTORDER
It is photo #7 of my kids and of my friend Autumn’s children on the Wipeout ride during the Special Kid’s night.
You can vote everyday until voting closes on Tuesday June 30th.
Thanks in advance,
Michele
SOYJOY® asked me to try their bars and to share what my family and I thought with my readers. We graciously received all seven flavors (Dark Chocolate Cherry, Cranberry, Banana, Berry, Blueberry, Mango Coconut and Strawberry) to try.
What I loved about these bars: they are all-natural and certified gluten free. They are baked with high-quality, non-genetically modified ground whole soy and made with 100% real fruit and natural ingredients.
AND they are free of trans fats and hydrogenated oils, and don’t contain any artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. Plus, they don’t have any chemical additives, and the ground soy is GMO free. What isn’t to like? So these bars are definitely a suitable snack to reach for.
SOYJOY® bars were different than most of the bars I’ve tried in the past and maybe it was because of it being made with ground whole soy. While we had seven flavors to try — I opted out of trying the Banana flavor since I have a severe intolerance to Bananas and my older son wouldn’t get near the strawberry bars cause he is allergic to strawberries. Nevertheless, from what we did try we all really enjoyed the bars even though they were on the dryer side. While the Dark Chocolate Cherry bar was not a favorite by all of us due to it being way too dry, the other fruit bars were really tasty since the real fruit chunks made the bars moister, or at least it was how I perceived it.
So overall, my kids loved the Berry Bars as well as the Cranberry Bars the best while I like the Mango Coconut bar.
If you would like to try your own SOYJOY® bars you can go to their Store Locator and find the nearest location to your neighborhood.
*** Disclaimer: I received this product for free from SOYJOY®. I am not required to write a positive review. And all opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
