Buckle up kiddos, this is going to be a long post.
Don’t worry though, it’s easy on the eyes.
Monday was a nice start to the week.
Eats of the day included a carrot cake smoothie, the second half of the casserole I made the night before, an apple, and a piece of toast with ricotta and fruits of the forest jam.
There were also some peanut butter blossoms in the student room that I sampled. Morgan, a second year, made them for everyone in order to announce her ENGAGEMENT! Just imagine what it’s like to tell a room full of 10 other young women that you got a diamond ring of the weekend. There were a lot of squeals, a lot of ooohs and ahhhs, and tons of hugs!
The highlight of my Monday was date night! Jack came down to Indy, picked me up, and whisked me away to The Melting Pot.
This place is divine. If you have never eaten here, you really, really should! I would advise making it an anniversary or a very special night because it is on the more expensive side but in all honesty, it is totally, 100% worth it. Trust me.
We were part of a special event at the restaurant. Being part of their Club Fondue we were invited to their new Big Night Out menu debut. The Big Night Out experience is the best way to do a meal at this place. It comes with four courses:
The first course: always some variety of cheese fondue.
This had an amazing cheddar flavor which went fantastically with the dippers which were granny smith apples, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, French bread, rosemary bread, and (my favorite) molasses bread. We wiped the pot clean.
The second course: always some variety of salad.
This was an incredible plate of veggies. The way the gorgonzola cheese, bacon, tomato, and dressing played off of each other was awesome. I could have eaten a whole other plate of it. Only complaint, if you can call it that, was that the salad was swimming in dressing. Enough left, you think?
The third course: always some variety of meats you cook table side in a broth.
We chose our usual “cooking method” which was Coq au Vin. Basically it is a veggie broth that is augmented with mushrooms, scallions, lots of garlic (we got an extra scoop because we love it so much), and burgundy wine. One side effect of this choice is that the pasta pieces and some of the meats turn a funny purplish color but it’s a great flavor booster. In addition to the meats you get a variety of sauces to accompany the proteins and red potatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli to cook. The sauces are amazing. You get the trio of plum sweet and sour, teriyaki, and a yogurt curry as well as a green goddess dip (one of my favorite things ever) and a creamy gorgonzola sauce.
The best way to tackle this course is to throw in the veggies first since they take the longest to cook. Next try cooking one piece of protein or pasta at a time and cutting it up into insanely small pieces so you can try each kind of meat/chicken/seafood with each sauce. You’ll gravitate toward certain combos eventually like potato and green goddess or steak with gorgonzola sauce or, as we always say:
“Teriyaki with anything.”
The fourth course: always some variety of chocolate fondue.
This is a flavor of fondue we have never had before but being chocolate/peanut butter lovers we were so taken with this selection. Immediately in love for sure. Our dippers included brownie and pound cake bites, a piece of cheesecake, rice krispies, bananas, strawberries, and graham cracker covered or Oreo covered marshmallows. Everything was perfect.
To drink we tried the wine and beer flights that The Melting Pot has come up with. Basically each course was paired with a specific beer or type of wine.
Each pairing was great. I’m not a red wine drinker normally but I liked both the reds in my flight well enough. My favorite wine was the second course Chardonnay. The way it worked with the salad was unreal. In terms of beer, I liked the fourth course chocolate stout. Jack’s favorite drink of the night was the glass of Gewürztraminer he ordered that we both sipped at all night.
Needless-to-say we had a fantastic night and we both left as happy, happy campers!
When we got home we set to work on making the French onion soup we had both been craving for a bit. May I just say that onions are incredibly bulky and moisture filled but boy do they just shrink up with heat.
This baby cooked overnight on low and in the morning we were both greeted with some stellar smells.
You know what else happened this morning: Jack made me breakfast in bed.
How sweet! He made peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes and topped them with Nutella and Biscoff spread. There was syrup on there too because he remembers that I am not a fan of dry pancakes. It was a wonderful way to start the morning. After we finished eating I walked to class (he returned to the bed to sleep some more) and learned all about stillbirth. Needless to say “grief week” is in full swing and it’s rather depressing. Basically the whole week of classes is dedicated to all the sad subjects we encounter as genetic counselors: patient grief and possible responses, stillbirth, and termination of pregnancy. No fun, though, if we’re being honest, necessary.
When I had finished class Jack picked me up and brought me back to the apartment for more Pretty Woman watching and lunch. We excitedly tried out the French onion soup (it was great though I would cut the onions differently next time) and Jack had a sandwich on the side while I had two pieces of toast smeared with ricotta and either fruits of the forest or fig & ginger jam.
Great stuff. Not ten minutes after finishing lunch Jack drove me back to the hospital so I could see a prenatal patient at 1p. We just barely made it on time but thankfully the patient was late. When we did actually conduct the session the family history was crazy! There were people everywhere and more problems than I could count. It’s sessions like these that make me nervous because family histories that big and complex are anxiety provoking. I need more practice.
After the appointment I went back to the student room did some work, printed off some articles, and eventually made my way to research club with Julie and Corrie. We learned about telomere dysfunction and it’s role in human cancers. It was interesting though that didn’t stop me from nodding off. I couldn’t help it. Once I ate my (unpictured) trail mix I just sort of went in and out the whole hour. It didn’t help that the lecturer was monotone and spoke so slow it was painful.
I walked home in the late afternoon/early evening sun talking to my mommy. It was a nice 25 minute trek. I noticed an inordinate amount of people out and about enjoying the day which made me smile. When I got home I killed a half hour then changed into gym clothes to tackle the treadmill for a good, old fashioned interval workout.
I started with this one above and ended up doing this one below. I also threw in a last 10mph minute sprint during my cool down just for kicks.
Once I hopped off the treadmill, sweaty as all get out, I did 7 minutes on the reclined stationary bike to break the 300 calorie mark. 300 is kind of my thing lately. Back in the apartment I refueled with a soup and salad combo. The soup: more homemade French onion. The salad: brown sugar baked beans on top of red leaf lettuce, roma tomato, carrots, celery, green pepper, and white onion.
Awesome. Seriously baked beans make an awesome dressing. No joke.
The evening was filled with Foundations class readings for Thursday and some case prep for my role play on Thursday of next week. Other than that, my night was filled with The Sing-Off, Sister Wives, and dessert.
I made another single serving peanut butter Oreo stuffed brownie bite and had it with Rocky Road ice cream and some chocolate and caramel sauce. Love in a bowl. News flash: I broke my ice cream scoop… Perhaps I am overly ambitious when I am getting the ice cream out of the carton.
Now my sweet tooth couldn’t wait all the way until my brownie came out of the oven so I had a hunk of 71% dark chocolate and a few Reese’s Pieces to tide me over.
Now for Tune Tuesday! I’ll admit I was originally planning another song but as I think a homage to my breakfast in bed boyfriend is in order there was only one song that was appropriate to insert here. Hope you like it.
Something else cute to watch: check out this little kids do all the possibly can to resist eating a marshmallow. It was part of an experiment you can read about here.
Beyond adorable right? I sure thought so. Glad someone else loves marshmallows as much as me!
Questions: Do you do intervals on the treadmill? Do you have a go-to routine?
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