Food for thought

I feel like saying "What a week!" but that seems a bit dramatic seeing as how I took yesterday off to celebrate a certain someone's 30th birthday. We spent the day running seaside (me) and mountain biking (him), napping on the beach and watching the dog chase countless birds through the sandy shore (and flopping comically into deeper than she predicted waves and puddles).

Maybe I should say, I'm a bit physically tired. I've run almost 12 miles in the last three days, which is more than usual by Thursday. And Monday's yoga class completely obliterated my muscles, in a good way. My legs and my poor feet just need a day to sit and relax, and I'm planning on doing just that for a good portion of my Saturday.

For now, as I dream of my lazy Saturday, my hearty shepherd's pie is in the oven and I'm busy perusing the internet. I thought this might be just the perfect time to share some of my favorite things, links and otherwise. 

1. I sincerely enjoy chopping mushrooms. I don't always love them in a dish, but preparing them is one of my favorite things. These shitake mushrooms were a pain to stem, but a joy to slice. They are firm and fresh feeling and way more fun than chopping chocolate. Bleh.

2. My apple corer/chopper has a new use- potato slicer! This works wonders and I just slice that weird core piece into two pieces and voila, homemade fries are done and ready to be baked! Or today, I peeled some potatoes and then ran them through the apple corer/chopper and then quickly chopped them for boiling. I love finding things like this to make my prep work easier!

I'm much more likely to cook wholesome foods if I can make the prep work more enjoyable and easier too. (But, as a note, don't be like me and chop your potatoes a day or two in advance and put them in a plastic baggie, yuck! I thought I was being so clever, but alas, I was not. Just chop before use or put them in a bowl with some water, they oxidize quite oddly- meaning- they turn a nasty brown color all over).

3. Speaking of saving time, I have been googling tips for storing my iphone headphoes for what feels like eternity, but has in fact only been a year or so. I get so frustrated trying to get them out of my bag all wound up around my sunglasses and pens. I have found a few ideas, but nothing I love as much as this one! I can't wait to give a try.

4. While I'm on the subject of iphones, (look at me segwaying like a pro! what what. Pro segway-er right here) I'm so very enthralled with this company's iphone cases. I want want want them all, especially their movie ones. This one is my all time favorite, I'm trying to convince myself to spend $35 dollars on it.. and not having much luck. Maybe next month!

5. Combining both the iphone stuff and the photos above comes my latest love, the app Snapseed. I got it for free a while back during one of those crazy 'get it while you can!' things and  I love it. It's such fun for editing pictures I take on my phone. I'm considering using it for other fun photo editing on my laptop as well. We shall see!

Enjoy the rest of the week!
-m