I was right – snackage was needed! Kefir and Lynda’s Granola together with jam – AMAZING texture!! I had a second mini bowl because it was so darn good!
I also organized my blogging linens. My, I have a collection going now! I just got those boxes at IKEA and they were perfect for the job.
Matt and I met at the bakery at 5 for a meeting. We had big plans tonight – we were going to see the documentary Lunchline at Cville High. The event has been on my calendar for weeks. But when our meeting was over at 6:15 and we hadn’t had any dinner yet, AND because we have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow…we decided to head home.
And pack the car…
Talk about a human jigsaw puzzle…
We had hoped to fit both of these nice carrying receptacles into the car, but with that big table in there and no vertical clearance, we had to ditch them and empty the contents into reusable bags tucked into low places.
[We need a new car!!!]
We then decided to walk to the nearby pizza place for dinner. We were tired and didn’t feel like cooking.
But then I reminded myself we are over our Entertainment budget for March (already!). And that we had ingredients in the fridge that had to be able to turn into something.
Our internal deal was that we would stay home IF we could eat restaurant style!
Which meant a drink, a bread basket and a salad course.
We opened this Dogfish Namsaste ale that friends brought us a few weeks ago. It was delicious, but could have been sweeter for my palate.
And we got to work on a 15 minute dinner
And a nutritious one! Probably involving too many veggies
We made spaghetti with salads on the side!
The spaghetti was made with rotini, Nello’s Sauce, chopped olives and broccoli.
On the side – a taste of GH spelt bread and GH farmhouse white (both breads we needed to sample!)
But the salads were the best part
Leafy lettuce, red pepper, bleu cheese, olive oil, balsamic, lavender salt
Does this look like a restaurant portion? It was!! I ended up skipping my pasta! I decided I wasn’t even that hungry (thanks to double snackage!) and tucked my portion away for a lunch.
Salad + bread + beer were plenty
Think we’re going to make a mug of Pero to enjoy while watching The Office and then hit the hay!
We’re getting up at 5:30 and hauling ourselves + 60 loaves of bread over to the UVA grounds to slice some bread for 10 Miler runners! It’s one of Cville’s most famous races, so I hope we have lots of hungry runners to serve!
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
You two seem to compliment eachother perfectly! How do you do it?
Now you’ll not only be a married couple, but also a business!
I was just thinking that too. You guys are so cute and seem so happy. Please do a post on a huge fight to make the rest of us feel normal. Just kidding
You two do seem like a good match. I also wonder if you two ever fight, but then I look at me and the BF and we’ve been together almost 2 years and don’t fight. I won’t count the time I had a meltdown when we were painting the house we just bought. That was stress induced.
We have minor disagreements from time to time, but that’s it.
We occasionally bicker, but we never fight. We’re lucky!
I think it’s different for different people. My husband is really very different from me but he balances me out perfectly. I couldn’t imagine marrying someone who was just like me- my world would be constant chaos all the time!
Yess I agree on that too! you guys give a vibe of not only husband/wife, but also buddy buddies
Last October I ran a 10 mile in Minneapolis and I loved having a big hunk of GH bread at the end! I love that GH does that sort of event!
My Husband and I tried the Namaste beer tonight! What did you think? We really liked!
I only liked it OK – wish it were sweeter!
Mmm … pasta is on the menu at my house tonight as well
Enjoy your weekend!
I am going to run 10 miles too- I wish I was in Charlottesville so I could score some bread
I bet the runners will be so happy to see you! Enjoy the Office, I loooooved last night’s episode!
I had no idea you had so many linens!!!! Wow, that’s incredible, and definitely says something about how devoted you are to your passion.
Ahhh, I remember my car looking very similar when I tried to stuff as much as I could into it to move to my apartment. Let’s just say I was worried I would get pulled over for obtruction of view as there was a fabulous mountain of pillows in the passenger seat.
That pasta looks so good! There’s something about Rotini that makes it perfectly paired with spaghetti sauce.
The runners will love that!
Restaurant style at home sounds like such a great idea!
You guys need a small SUV, like a Honda CRV or Ford Edge. Much more room for carrying things, and yet, not dreadful for gas mileage.
I’m not interested in running the race, but yum would I like the bread. LOL
I like throwing things together. My boyfriend and i do our best to be creative and eat everything we have before shopping again. Which does lead to an overwhelming bill, but it works for us!
lol, all of your napkins/fabrics are so cute.
Those IKEA boxes look perfect for organization! I love seeing how well you and Matt compliment each other!
I need to take some budgeting tips from you! I recall a post a while back that I should look at again!
Think about a mini van – preferably American made – has tons of room and a comfortable ride.
I love bread and salad dinners
And I want to be one of those runners to have some bread in the a.m……
eating restaurant style at home….love it!
Way to go on the dinner-out, dinner-in style
Pasta and salad is one of my go-to meals! So easy to do
Have fun watching The Office! I didn’t used to like it, but lately I can’t get enough! Kevin is so creepy (and hilarious)
The fact that you realized you were going over budget on dining out and made a ‘dinner out’ at home? A great idea!
I love that you have so many blogging linens! What a cool idea! Probably wouldn’t work for me, since I’d stick them all in a box, forget what I had and then realize that I take crappy pictures anyway…but I think it’s so neat that you have them!
Kudos to you for realizing you were over-budget and staying in….good for you! And even more kudos for eating salad and not pasta!
I love making dinners at home feel more like a restaurant! Also, way to go for sticking to your budget–you’ll be happy later
Great quick fix dinner. Good luck with all your bread tomorrow. I think the breads going to fly out of their.
Namaste is so good. I grew up in Delaware where it is brewed so DFH is serious business here!
Which bread was better of the two?
Do you usually run this race? Or any races in CVille?
I love dining at home, restaurant style! Have fun at the CVille 10-miler! Is that the race that you have ran in the past?
I just want to let you know that I love ALL of your linens! They’re absolutely gorgeous!
Sounds like it will be a fun day of feeding runners! Enjoy!
OKAY I live up in NY and when we cook pasta, we call it the name that it is.
“We made spaghetti with salads on the side!”
No you didn’t! LOL! You made rotini. Don’t confuse dumb people.
You are correct. But spaghetti to me is always noodles with tomato sauce!
You’re gonna have t oget a van or something! Although you’ll probably get really good at puzzling the car after a few more trips.
Kefir. Love it. I made coconut milk kefir on my countertop. It’s 3 ingredients and goofproof and I dig it. Bacteria make me happy
And you have blogging linens AND organization. See, right there, I just love you. I mean, really, that is just awesome. I want your stash of linens and the boxes!
Kath, I keep seeing you have the lavender salt and I did not see a hyperlink on it (the normal clue to a product shout out). Do you make your own or is there one that you like.
Thanks and have fun tomorrow!
I got it at the San Francisco Farmer’s market
I need to try kefir. Being a dairy buff, I know I will love it! For what it’s worth, I would much rather eat at your place than any pizza joint!
That looks like a nice meal. I love the way that you keep yourself on track. I think that is great. Hope all went well with the run and the bread.
Hi Kath! So I’ve been reading your blog for a ling time buy for some reason it took me until now to comment! I’m a high school senior from Vienna in northern va and just found out tonight that I got into UVA! I can’t wait to come live in Charlottesville for the next 4 years and hope I’ll see you around sometime
I’ll make sure to pop into great harvest!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
What a nice dinner! I find its difficult to go out to eat and actually bvuy a decent meal I can eat, so I tend to do “restaurant nights at home” too – they’re so much fun!
I tried the Dogfish Head Namaste a few weeks back and had high hopes, but it wasn’t all that great. Definitely not worth the hefty price tag.
Have fun at the 10 miler tomorrow!!
Wow, you put that together in 15 minutes? That’s KERF for you:)
Where do you buy lavender salt from? I really want me some!
I got it from San Francsico
Sounds exciting! I keep looking for that special cleaner you used I ahve aton of spring cleaning to do and would love to know what it is
i really do love that you always find the energy to make yourself a restaurant style meal at home. it’s very awesome.
A restaurant-style at home dinner is such a cool idea!
Lucky runners getting some tasty bread. Wish you were coming to my race!
looks like the perfect dinner to me!
I love both of your expressions in the pics midway through this post. His while pulling bread out of the oven and yours sipping your ale.
If you ever get burgled and all that’s stolen are your blogging props… you’ll know it was me.
You guys have so much willpower for staying in instead of eating out. Once I get the idea of going to a restaurant in my head, I could never convince myself to stay in instead!
mmmm now i know what im gonna make for dinner!
that sauce looks scrumptious!
We bailed on the film too.
we didn’t leave the clinic until 6:50 and couldn’t get it together to push it without dinner (and WITH a raging headache, grrrr). Sorry to bail on you this morning! I hope it was great and next time we can take my car.
I love eating restaurant-style at home. That salad looks perfect. Though, I would have eaten the pasta, too.
I hope the event today goes well.
Your salads ALWAYS look amazing. I was wondering, what brand of balsamic vinegar do you use? I have tried many, but just recently found a real winner. FYI, The brand I use is called “Ariston”.
Enjoy the snow tomorrow. J/K
Boston Olive Oil Company’s is my current favorite. My sister got me some for my b-day. Williams Sonoma also makes some good thick ones!
Great title kath!
You can never have too many veggies.
I was drooling over the broccoli stalk, wishing I could grab it through my computer screen, peel it, and steam it Mama Pea-style. Yum!
namaste ale: I feel at peace knowing it even exists
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I wish I were part of that race!