More fun than taxes
Hey hey 🙂 It’s meeeeee again. 3x today!
I only like to blog when I have a lot to say, so I guess I’ve had a lot to say today? 😉 Don’t you fret –I won’t start clogging up your Google readers or get all cray cray on ya.
Today has been super productive- I woke up at 6:30 ready to go! Started the day with my a 20-minute yoga podcast (Hip Opener #1) via YogaDownload.com and then munched some b-fast.
Brown rice farina with blueberries + an egg with nutritional yeast and green salsa
I have a slight obsession with the Trader Joe’s salsa verde. I usually like mouth-burning fire-shooting-outta-your-ears salsa, but it’s very mild- I could drink it :) [and may or may not have eaten some out of a bowl like soup]
The to-do list was ninja-kicked today:
-Breakfast and blog
-Post office
-Book proposal (halfway done!)
-Write about pole dancing
-Taxes
Welp, except for taxes. We have an extension since the Pilot just got back from deployment and my tax genius couldn’t meet with me until Friday. NBD.
So instead, I headed to the mall to spend the Express cash that I *had* to use 😉
The Pilot’s outfit for the Gatorade launch was from Express (and he looked so, so seksi), and when he bought it they gave us $75 in Express cash.
Above are the goodies I picked out today:
-2 rompers (one black, one navy flowered)
-a polo for the Pilot
-White button up
-Clubbin’ shirt
All for $96 after the Express cash and discounts!!!
-The navy dress on the right was $20 from the Gap. It’s one of those stores that I almost never go into, but will sometimes find hidden treasures.
{I love to shop, but am also a super savvy shopper- you can read some of my fashion budgeting tips *here*}
Some recent eats:
Swiss chard wraps with sunflower seed pate:
(Totally forgot to take a pic of the finished wraps. Oops)
To make the pate, I added soaked raw sunflower seeds:
a roasted red pepper, 1 T nutritional yeast, garlic powder, lemon juice, sea salt, cayenne and fresh basil to the mini food chopper.
Whirled away until creamy and glorious:
and spread onto Swiss chard leaves topped with broccoli slaw. It was extremely messy to eat and extremely delicious.
It’s booty-shaking time over here, and when I get back, I’ll be making some of these bad Johnnies for dinner:
Every time I make scallops, it’s an epic fail. If you have any tips, please send them my way!
Have a lovely night <3
xoxo
Gina
Today’s workout jam: “Howl” Florence + The Machine (AWESOME for climbs with tempo work- increase the resistance during the verses and pick up your speed during the chorus)
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I am absolutely in love with Express! Love the buys! 🙂
Scallops are the best seared in a pan with a bit of olive oil. If you need to thaw out the scallops, make sure to pat them dry after rinsing. Warm up some olive oil in a pan and cook them on one side for 2 minutes. Don’t stir the scallops or move them. You’ll see a tiny bit of a caramel colored crust; then you can flip it and cook for 2 more min. Scallops don’t need to be cooked that long!
Exactly what I was going to say! I squeeze a bit of lemon juice on them while they cook too. They really soak up the flavor. Yum, now I want scallops.
Gina, good on you for the rompers! They scare me, even though I’ve never tried them on before. You should do a Fashion Friday post dedicated to rockin’ the romper–you can even use that as a title. I give you permission. 😉
I’ve been looking to buy a romper for months! I think I need to go to Express. Those little balls look amazing 😀
Do you think the salsa verde from Trader Joe’s is salty? I bought some awhile ago because I love all things green salsa and it was so salty I could barely stand it. And I love salt. First thing I have ever bought from TJ’s and haven’t liked.
i love salt. maybe that’s why i like it so much??
Cute Finds! And fun posts today! I need to make some amazeballz before I fly to visit my fiance this weekend for easter…they look like they would travel really well!
Haha! I just told my husband that I had 3 express cash coupons to use…correction…that I HAD to use 🙂 I then told him that these coupons are rare (lie) and only come out once a year (another lie). Hey..whatever works. 🙂
For scallops, make sure the pan is very hot, add butter or oil and the scallops are patted dry. Salt & pepper, sear till golden (a couple min), flip and sear the other side. Good luck!
I also fail at scallops — good luck!
Aah Express — I was searching their website today for a dress to wear to Jason’s uncle’s wedding. I’m one of the verse readers so I need something nice!
they had a really cute one with rose on top, grey on the bottom and a sash belt 🙂
Oh, I totally want to go do some damage at Express now!! 🙂
your title tells the truth right now and all I can think about is shopping on my lunch break!! loving the pattern on what I assume is the club shirt! 🙂
Love great deals! I haven’t been to Express yet this year, but I did hit up Ann Taylor, Loft, & Vickies for some great deals. DSW has some super cute shoes right now on sale too. I picked up a pair of sexy red ones and a cute pair of wedges. I never shop so this is huge!
Scallops= screaming hot pan (medium high heat) then add little bit of (1/2 tbsp) olive oil and 1/2 tbsp butter (balance good flavor). Swirl pan. Add thawed scallops (make sure you rinse the scallops and remove the little tough part that is attached to them then pat dry with a paper towel before putting in pan.) Cook 2 minutes on one side then flip and cook additional 2 minutes. Season & serve. [The scallop is ready to flip when it is easily moves from the pan. If you have to try to hard to flip it, it is not ready yet. 🙂 ]
oh i need to buy dresses! well first i need to have a rockin body, and then buy dresses. blah.
I’ve never made my own scallops before, hope someone can help!
Sunflower seed pate? Yes please 🙂 I totally eat salsa out of bowls like soup too… We literally go through at least a quart every few days just because of me. My husband thinks I’m insane. He’s probably right 😉
glad to know i’m not alone 😉
must make that sunflower seed pate it looks to die for!
HI!! I have made scallops a bunch of times! I have not been reading your blog for too long so forgive me if any of these options do not fit your dietary preferences!
My go-to method is to do them in a pan on the stovetop and to just put butter and garlic in a pan. I cook them in that and sprinkle some more garlic and usually some cajun seasoning on them.
I have also done them with apple juice in the pan. That I only did once and it was a little more difficult to watch against some burning of the scallops. But it left them with a nice taste.
You can also try to do them in a pan with some EVOO.
No matter how I cook them, I turn them frequently during the process.
A friend cooks them in the oven. She puts them in a glass pan and then puts some butter/oil/etc in the pan with them. I don’t know what she cooks them at but I know she flips them.
cajun seasoning sounds like it would be incredible on them!
thanks so much for saying hi, and welcome to the little blog
Tips for scallops:
1. Buy fresh– never frozen or previously frozen. They’re injected with a solution which makes it very difficult to get a proper sear on.
2. Get your pan SUPER hot *before* adding oil/butter. Be sure to not use a nonstick pan as the high temps will destroy the coating.
3. Use coconut oil, or half coconut and half butter, which is stable at high heat. Olive oil will start smoking with the high temps and will make them taste funny. And don’t hold back on the oil or they will stick. Most of it stays in the pain, so no worries.
4. Pat them dry and then salt them and then pat them dry again.
This is my method for fool proof seared scallops! 🙂
awesome tips- thank you!!
wish it were easier to find fresh scallops in az- pretty much everything is frozen or previously frozen
Great buys! Can’t wait to try out the “ballz” recipe
Oh that pate looks awesome! love the flavor choices you used!
And what a fun stash from Express. I know how it is when you just have to use up cash or store credits…a very big “problem” to have 🙂 love those kind of problems. hah!
Scallops…deathly allergic, no help to you.
3x a day…you go girl!
I went to TJs today and they said they stopped carrying the Wild Salmon Burgers – sadly – but to check back they might get them again some day – — Wholefoods keeps raising their prices and work os so low paying here – what is happening?! We dont have Wolrld Market here, but it looks like Fresh Market which is an awesome store—they dont have that here either. Taxes dont even remind me abou tthat whopper check I had to mail the government!
buenos aires has some legit shopping areas girl! you would have loved it! i didn’t wanna come back yet…the only thing i’m excited to be back about is my green juice and going to wf’s and tj’s!
LOVE those scallops!! I always pan fry with a little oil and watch closely!!! When they start to get translucent they are usually done!
Yummy sunflower pate recipe! Thanks for sharing.
How was the salmon jerky? We make our own with the salmon we catch up here in Alaska, but some out of state folks think it’s weird because it’s so different than lox.
still haven’t tried it… i’m a little scared haha
I am so in love with those rompers! Everything you got is adorable; totally Jealous of your finds!
I agree with all those tips on scallops (and yes, they have to be cooked RIGHT to be a dream or otherwise they are a rubbery mess/epic fail).
1) I use ghee — clarified butter (I am mostly vegan but this must be the exception), clarified butter heats up to a much higher temperature than butter w/o burning (indian food stores)
2) get the ghee REALLY hot (almost smoking)
3) scallops have to be thawed (completely), padded dry with paper towel and sprinkled with salt and pepper on both sides
4) pop into smoking hot pan, sear for about 2-3 min on each side. DONE! Great caramelization and sweet taste/flavor with the clarified butter.
to make it seksi: red pepper flakes.
awesome tips – i should totally try it with ghee next time!
I love Express too! I love it for Mike, I always find him great shirts there as well! In fact Im going shopping Thursday and might get him a couple shirts for his easter basket ; )
I like rompers, but some just do not look good on me, some make me look frumpy, lol!
You have to check out my recipe for Coconut Crusted Scallops. It’s truly amazing and so easy to make.http://www.saywhatyouneedtosayblog.com/2010/08/teenage-dream.html
Love your finds at Express. Stores are so good at getting us to spend more money with their store “Cash”… I mean.. how could you not spend it .. ALMOST like free money!
Cute clothes! I want to go shopping for spring/summer. PS I love working out to Florence – drumming song is also a great high energy song. They are awesome!
You got a lot of pieces for $96! I am impressed!
thanks!!
So glad you posted your Express buys! I have been on the hunt for a cute romper, and I love the ones you got!
I love the new clothes!
It’s really difficult to get frozen, processed scallops to turn out well. Use fresh + a HOT pan + don’t stir (they’ll release/won’t stick once a crust has developed, and it will just take a minute or two!). I use butter, but you can use any high-heat stable oil (so long as it doesn’t have a strong flavor). Save your olive oil for vinaigrettes. Oh, and don’t throw too many in the pan at once, either, or you’ll end up steaming rather than searing.
Yum, I know what I want for dinner tonight!
I LOVE Express! We don’t have one here in Canada but I’m going shopping in Detroit this weekend and I can’t wait to hit it up and get my Express fix!! Love your new finds! 🙂
I have made scallops, oh, two times in my life, but they are tasty when I have made them. I usually just thaw & drain them, then “marinade” in spices, olive & vinegar, maple syrup -whatevs and do in a pan with a little oil or butter.
I love both of those rompers! I wish we had Express in Canada! 😛
i’m very jealous you get to shop so often!! Your clothes are adorable Gina!
okay, i don’t have any snazzy scallop recipes, but my mind was blown when i found out what scallops look like before they’re packaged for eating. have you ever seen ?!! they have like, 64 (BLUE) eyeballs. no joke. O_O hahah just had to share 😉
I was always scared that salsa verde was extremely hot by nature – so glad to find out I was wrong!
And I agree with you about Gap – it’s VERY hit or miss.
I went into Gap on Sunday…and bought THAT EXACT dress! So cute 🙂
Love the clothes! I keep seeing these ballz, I think I really need to give em a try (finally!)
I’m with you on salsa. I need my mouth to be on fiyah!
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p.s. I love the three posts a day!! Keep it up!
For the scallops… Tip #1 – I always make sure when using defrosted scallops to get ALL the moisture I can off w. paper towels & then use Ina’s method below (without the sauce part). She’s the searing masta! 😉 I put a link of mine below to show you how my scallops turned out using her method (but with WW pastry flour) ;D PS I wish you could be my sylist! I always love all your clothes !!! You have the eye my friend.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/scallops-provencal-recipe/index.html
http://whatscookinwithmary.blogspot.com/2010/08/mediterranean-orzo-salad.html
Love the purchases! You’re getting me excited to hit up the outlets in Hilton Head this weekend!
Love the outfits & the eats look delish! I’ve always wondered about scallops too, so I am keeping an eye on the comments for sure.
I love Express! I haven’t been in such a long time. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend.
Hooray for clothes shopping!
I just bought some protein powder so I can finally make some ballz for the first time!! Can’t wait to try ’em
let me know what u think!
Seriously in love with all the spring clothes I’m seeing everywhere. Even more in love with scoring such awesome deals. Must. Shop. Soon. 🙂
Made your Amazeballz for the first time today and LOVED THEM!