Girl’s night in

One down, four more to go! I hope you all had a good Monday. Thanks to a relaxing Sunday evening watching Bottle Shock, a cute film about a wine showdown between early Napa Valley wines and the French wine establishment and drinking our own delicious domestic vino, Belle Vallée Pinot Noir (one of the best Pinot’s I have ever had, very round with lots of dark red fruit flavor and a long, lingering finish), I slept well and faced the day with lots of energy. It didn’t hurt that my boss was out of the office and I was able to really get through a lot of my work. I am thankful for bearable Mondays!

As I write this my husband and brother in law (and most of my Facebook friends!) are rockin’ out to U2 at Gillette Stadium. I gave up my ticket at the last minute because I had to work too late tonight and because apparently the people who went last night were in traffic until past 2 am. I would never be able to function if I stayed up that late on a work night!

In lieu of going to the concert, I worked a little late, went for a 6 mile run, and decided to have a nice relaxing evening at home with the girls. . . Smuckers, Scout, and Gossip Girl of course 🙂

On my run home I stopped to get a few groceries and refueled with something new:

Sunkist Lights pomegranate cherry smoothie

This drink was really good. It smelled and sort of tasted like a cherry popsicle. It is all natural and boasts  good amount of antioxidants and vitamins. Like with most juices, it was a little thick for me, and I definitely preferred it with seltzer water.

When I returned home, I had a whirlwind of activity in the kitchen. I like to try to make work lunches at the same time as dinner so that there is one clean up and when I am done I am really done. Since I already have a few portions of sweet potato oats at work for breakfast, I concentrated on making a filling, healthy lunch:

Romaine lettuce with roasted red peppers, radishes,and pickles, later topped with some tuna mixed with light mayo,chopped white onions, and chopped pickles

Once lunch stuff was put away, I moved on to dinner. Tonight’s menu featured homemade Thai curry shrimp and veggies over whole wheat couscous.

I started by chopping a bunch of garlic, ginger, and hot peppers and sautéing them in olive oil.

Once they were sizzling and fragrant I poured in a can of coconut milk and added two scoops of Thai red curry paste.

In a separate pan I thawed out some frozen vegetables, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, and string beans. I tossed the shrimp into the coconut and curry mixture and cooked them very slowly. Then I stirred in the vegetables.

The end result was delicious, but next time I would double the amounts of ginger, garlic, and red pepper. I loved the coconut flavor of this, but I think a little bit more of a kick would have been nice! Cooking is definitely the best part of my day! I had so much fun thinking up and putting together this meal and even more fun eating it 🙂 I bought my first apple cider of the season, so I am going to have a glass of that with some of my mom’s apple pie for dessert. Off to enjoy some bad TV.

Have a great night!