DC part deux

Okay, so I need to dedicate part of this post to two unique dining experiences in DC.  The national mall is just a fabulous place to stop and chill out and eat.  In between museums, we were hungry...but as is the norm, no one wanted the same thing to eat.  Conundrum??  Not in DC.  Enter the food truck picnic.  There is a strip between the Capitol and the Washington Monument that is just food trucks.  They have everything there; chicken strips and fries, hot dogs, gyros, kabobs, iced cream, Popsicles, seriously anything you wanted to choose from was there.  Pasta and meatballs.  You got it!  It was amazing.  There is even a website you can go to (wish I had known this while we were there) where you can actually track the food trucks in the district. 

So everyone was able to pick out what they wanted to eat and drink.  What made this such a great lunch was what happened next though.  We wandered out into the green space and just popped a squat and had a picnic as a family.  Were we originals in that idea, of course not...but it was such a great moment and we just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful weather and most importantly each other.  It was so fun, both my girls wanted to do it again the next day if there was time. :)

Watching my girls run around and play tag (together...most impressive), feeling the sunshine and breeze and taking in all that DC is and means.  I always feel so humbled there.  So many types of architecture all put together and yet its not chaotic, its breath taking.  The energy in the people and the history.  Being in DC has always been a very powerful and emotional experience for me and I hope that my daughters can feel that same way one day.

This day of fine dining was also our day with the most walking.  You may remember the "death march" I mentioned in a previous post...well we did finish out the day with over 13 miles on the old pedometer.  My oldest was a champ, although she did switch to tennis shoes for the evening walk, my youngest was more then happy to see the stroller come out for the second half of the day.  This is where awesome meal #2 came in.  My hubby had heard of a restaurant up near the Capitol on the Food Network  called Good Stuff Eatery.  It is a burger joint that is known for their ah-may-zing milkshakes!!  As someone who lives in Cleveland, home to Iron Chef Michael Symon and his "off-the-hook, holy crap, totally amazing, please can I eat there everyday, worlds best, my FAV burgers" B Spot Burgers, I don't say this lightly at all...but GSE served up some awesome eats!  I enjoyed Spike's Sunnyside while my husband had the Prez Obama Burger.  Wow.  So good!  We also enjoyed one of their Vietnamese Coffee milkshakes...it was just crazy good. 

All this deliciousness was enjoyed in another outdoor setting, right in front of GSE which is close neighbors to a place called We the Pizza which smelled unbelievably good too.  There was a musician playing guitar who came over and serenaded all the kiddos with some kids tunes which was so nice. 

After dinner we walked back towards our hotel and checked out the Capitol Building from the backside...very cool.  Tried to hoof it all the way back to Lincoln but by the time we made it to the monument the little one was done for the day, so we turned around and headed back to the hotel..  Halfway back it started to rain.  It was the perfect ending to the day though.  We laughed as we rain from tree to tree trying to stay dry.  It was a long day, all 13+ miles, but it was a good great one. 

Before we left DC the next day we hit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and then hit the road to the next stop...Bethany Beach, DE., but that is for another post.  

the girls eating their freeze dried ice cream from the air and space museum.

I like big BOATS and I can not lie

Okay, so I went through a phase when I would try brand spanking new recipes and take pictures along the way of the process.  Last night, I decided to try a new one...zucchini boats.  Can I just say they turned out to be yum-o!  Success!  I didn't take pictures though mostly out of laziness.  My girls are not zucchini fans at all so I was making something completely different for them, then burned my finger, so needless to say pictures were put on the "back burner." 

I have seen these zucchini boats floating around on pinterest though and we had a few nice zuc's just waiting to be used at home so I went for it.  Used the recipe I found as a guideline for cooking time and temp...but made my own choices on toppers. 



pic of the leftover that I brought for lunch today

 

I know this pic isn't great but the boat was.  I sautéed some onions, green peppers, spinach and basil together with oil and S&P while the zucs parboiled.  Then gutted the zucs and added the pulp to the sauté mix.  I also cooked up a few Italian sausages which I cut up and added to the sauté mix as well.  Added spaghetti sauce to the whole thing, filled the boats, sprinkled with an Italian cheese mix and baked at 375 for 20 minutes.  YUMMY!!!!!  This will definitely be made again at our house.

It was so yummy, then afterwards my oldest and I took the pup on a nice long walk together.  I feel like we don't get as much one-on-one time as we used to as she is always busy with her various activities and friends...so I will take the time when I can get it. :)

Speaking of QT, posts this weekend will probably be more of the Wordless Weekend variety as we are taking the kiddos on a trip.  VERY excited.  We are heading to DC for a few days then off to the ocean for a day.  Not a major trip, but something for just us as a family.  My hubs and I look forward to there little getaways so much each year, its time that is so valuable as the girls get older. 

Have no fear...the pup will stay o her exercise regime while we are away as we have some EXCELLENT critter sitters staying with them.  And then when we get back it is game on for my workout routine.  The girls go back to school so we will be on a normal (well normal to us) schedule again so it is on like Donkey Kong!  Time to lose this extra weight!