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June 5, 2019

Date Nights

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Hey friends! Matt and I got out for a date night last night – what a treat!

The new True Food Kitchen opened in Arlington a couple weeks ago so Matt and I decided it would be fun to check it out! 

We are still staying at my parent’s house and my mom didn’t have plans, so after getting Riese to bed I headed out to meet Matt for a late dinner on his way home from work. 

We shared an appetizer plate to start with our beers. The purple dip was an olive tapenade of sorts made with olives, parmesan, lemon juice, etc. and it was AMAZING. 

true food kitchen ballston appetizer plate

The hummus and the kale guac were really good too! I love that they give you pita + plantain chips + veggies to dip with – lots of variety is always more fun.

As for my entree, I had the salmon poke bowl, although I went a little too hard on the apps so I ended up bringing a lot of this home for later. 🙂 I actually just ate the leftovers as a mid-morning snack – hit the spot!

poke bowl true food kitchen

Matt had tacos for dinner, but I wasn’t in the mood for Mexican because I’ve been eating a lot of Mexican at home lately – tacos and burritos are always an easy go to for me.

We had shrimp tacos recently – just shrimp sauteed with Mexican spices + cabbage with some lime juice + feta + cilantro + black beans + Cholula chili garlic hot sauce (THE BEST – and not that spicy, just really flavorful). 

easy shrimp tacos at home

And we got another rotisserie chicken this week (check out my 11 things to do with rotisserie chicken post!) so I’ve been turning that into various creations as well, including this yummy burrito with guac, black beans, cilantro, arugula, and more hot sauce. 

easy rotisserie chicken burrito healthy

One last food highlight from the past week is from a date night on Friday! 

For the first couple weeks we were staying with my parents everyone was super busy – we were working late every night on house logistics and catching up on our actual work too, and my parents were either traveling or out and about. But the past week has been a little more low key – Matt has been crazy busy with work still, but my mom has been around and less busy and I haven’t had to do work in the evenings, so it’s been such a treat to have not one but two date nights in the past week! 

On Friday, we did the same routine as last night – I got Riese to bed and then left my mom with the monitor and headed out to meet Matt for a late dinner on his way home from work. He got there earlier than me and had started in on an appetizer platter with burrata (OBSESSED), really good grilled bread, veggies, etc., so I helped him with that and then we got two big appetizers to share because we weren’t starved – the chicken wings (delicious) and a simple salad (also delicious). 

The chicken wings were coated in more of a BBQ sauce vs. a hot sauce which I really liked, and the blue cheese dipping sauce was delicious too. 

I hope you guys are having a nice week, and I’ll see you back here on Friday for some Friday faves/things I’m loving lately!

Important question: ranch or blue cheese? For salads, I prefer ranch, but for wings I like the blue cheese dressing! 

If you could only eat at one restaurant (or cafe) for the rest of your life, which one would it be? This is a really tough one… I’d probably pick a place like True Food or Le Pain Quotidien or something that has a ton of variety (breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner, and all sorts of different options) and isn’t super heavy! 

p.s. Happy Global Running Day! Are you running today? I’m not because I want to give my legs (especially my ankles) a little breather after the 7 mile trail race over the weekend… I figure I celebrated early. 🙂 

- anne
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19 comments
  • Kori
    June 5, 2019 · 11:24AM:
    Mid-week dates always feel so special! All of the food looks and sounds phenomenal. We actually had shrimp and flounder tacos last night thanks to Matt's suggestion for fish tacos. They were wonderful! We, too, love that chili garlic hot sauce because it is so flavorful with just a light kick. We ended up having to buy original because we couldn't find the garlic variety. We'll stock up soon, though! I love ranch on a salad and blue cheese for dipping too. Both are amazing. I really don't know what restaurant I would choose!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2019 · 2:53PM:
      I feel like the original is not nearly as awesome! I always get sad when we can't find the chili garlic one!
      Reply
  • Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
    June 5, 2019 · 11:34AM:
    That's great that you've been able to go on some dates while staying with your parents. We try to go on one date/quarter. I know that is fewer dates than many other couples go on but seems like the right amount for us. Our son goes to bed around 6:30 so we get a lot of time together in the evening. I just have a hard time paying $15+/hour for a babysitter to watch the monitor... so once a quarter seems like the right cadence for us. For our Q2 date in May, we went out to my MIL's house and went out after he went to sleep. That worked out well so we will likely do that again. I am like you and I prefer ranch on salad but blue cheese for wings. And if I had to pick a restaurant I would pick a Mexican restaurant of some sort as there is so much variety on the menu (salads, nachos, tacos, tamales) and it's usually all safe for a celiac!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2019 · 2:54PM:
      Mmm yeah Mexican would be a good choice, especially because their breakfast game is strong too! I agree it's sooo hard to justify paying someone to sit in your house and do nothing... we are lucky to have my parents nearby!
      Reply
  • Ellen June 5, 2019 · 12:04PM:
    Not wild about blue cheese. Maybe it’s the strong smell or taste but can’t handle it. I didn’t realize today was Global Running Day. I usually run but not today. Temps are soaring at 100. A refreshing swim is more likely to happen.
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2019 · 2:54PM:
      Oof 100 degrees?! A swim sounds lovely :)
      Reply
  • Melissa C June 5, 2019 · 12:20PM:
    Same- ranch as dip, Blue Cheese for Salads. Love a date night any night! Sometimes it seems the spontaneous ones are more enjoyable than the " scheduled" ones, but the most important is making the time no matter how theose date nights come! After 22 years of marriage, my hubby & I still love date nights!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2019 · 2:56PM:
      I agree, love the spontaneous date nights! And you are right it's so important to make the time. We hadn't in way too long since we've been so busy with house stuff!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner June 5, 2019 · 3:04PM:
    Nice to see you able to get out with Matt twice in one week. What a treat!
    Reply
  • Beth June 5, 2019 · 4:00PM:
    Ranch all the way for me. Blue cheese just has this look/smell/taste that makes me wince. I would definitely choose a diner, I'm in NJ so :), for the same reason as you, a ton of variety. I can have breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, apps, salads, whatever I'm truly in the mood for. It was rainy/drizzly this morning so I did a HIIT at the gym on the treadmill. I set it to random at a high level. This way I can walk up big hills and then turn up the speed to run when it is flat. Love the variety and it's really helped me build up for running outside.
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2019 · 4:22PM:
      Way to go on the treadmill workout!
      Reply
  • Amy June 5, 2019 · 9:24PM:
    Where was the second restaurant you went to for your second date night? Love True Food and will definitely check out the new one. I’ve been to the one in Merrifield three times in the past few months. So good!
    Reply
    • Allison June 5, 2019 · 9:49PM:
      That’s Liberty Tavern isn’t it....I guessing by the construction....
      Reply
      • Anne
        June 6, 2019 · 1:20PM:
        Yep, good eye!
        Reply
    • Anne
      June 6, 2019 · 1:20PM:
      Liberty Tavern in Clarendon!
      Reply
  • Abby June 6, 2019 · 5:26PM:
    All of the food looks so good! Where is your dress/top (can't tell lol) from in the second photo of you? It is so cute!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 6, 2019 · 8:47PM:
      Thanks! It's a tank top - from Ann Taylor LOFT.
      Reply
  • Brittany June 10, 2019 · 1:28PM:
    I hope this doesn't come off rude, but I have noticed that you improperly use the apostrophe when you describe your parents' house. You always put the apostrophe before the "s" and when you're talking about plural (parents), you should put it afterwards. I'm so sorry, it's just been driving me nuts! : )
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 10, 2019 · 3:32PM:
      Ah, whoops! Thanks for the heads up!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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