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salmon in a bowl with orzo and olives
August 1, 2023

Recent Eats + Outings

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

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Hello, hello! How is it already August?

We had some (unwelcome) excitement this weekend when we didn’t have power for 36 hours due to some big storms that blew through the area on Saturday afternoon! The good news is the heavy duty backup battery Matt researched + bought for our sump pump held strong and we did not have 2 feet of water in our basement like last time we lost power for this long (<- see number 4 in that post for an insane photo of the flood)…

It was unfortunate timing to not have a functional fridge as we were hosting a BBQ on Sunday afternoon/evening for some friends to celebrate Matt’s birthday, but we made it work. The grill was working fine, after all, and we mostly just stayed outside and thankfully it was not too hot out (unlike last week).

To keep the food fresh, Matt got a bunch of ice and stuffed the fridge with it, which worked well although our fridge ended up being a very soggy situation by the time the power came back on super early Monday morning because of all the ice slowly melting (it was all in bags, but they weren’t totally leak-proof and there was a ton of condensation too)!

I took the kids up to my parent’s house for most of Sunday as they had power and that way Matt was able to do his thing at the house to get things ready for the party without children all over him.

We had fun – my dad set up a sprinkler in the backyard and the kids loved it, and I brought stuff so Wes could have his nap there, too, so we didn’t have to rush home (and also because our bedrooms were quite hot without a/c).

child playing in sprinkler

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As for the party, Matt grilled up some burgers and hot dogs for us, and we also had some boiled corn and tons of watermelon, which I forgot to get a picture of!

I started with a burger with some sautéed mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, and pickle, plus some corn:

burger on a plate with mushrooms

And then moved on to a hot dog, plus some unpictured watermelon. We had pie and ice cream for dessert but I forgot to get a picture!

hot dog with mushrooms and ketchup

It was hot sleeping in the house Sunday evening so not exactly a restful night; we were thrilled when we heard the power come back on at 4am on Monday morning!

Summer has been feeling both slow and fast for us. This is already the last week of summer camp for Riese, and our final week with our part time nanny who we’ve had since Wes was 5 months old.

We have a big transition coming up to completely out of the house childcare and as I mentioned in my recent day in the life with a 2 year old post and I am very ready for it! It feels like it’s time for that new phase.

But first, we are going to head up to Pittsburgh for a couple weeks to hang out with Matt’s parents and bridge the gap between camp and school starting back up!

We’re leaving Friday, but Matt unfortunately will have to come back to DC for most of next week for a work event – womp, womp. He’ll be busy during the days, but I’m kind of (very) jealous he’ll be home with the house to himself in the evenings…

Anyway! Let’s get into some recent eats and fun outings.

Recent Eats of Note

We’ve had some good eats lately at home!

First up was this Asian-y noodle dish with tofu that reminded me of my Creamy Peanut Butter Noodles. It was a Blue Apron (<- FYI that’s an affiliate link and they have a big flash sale happening this week if you’ve been wanting to give them a shot) meal – we’re still getting their boxes most weeks to help make our evenings easier!

asian noodles with tofu

Another yummy Blue Apron meal we had recently was this salmon with orzo and olives. I love a good lemon-y orzo and olive situation!

salmon in a bowl with orzo and olives

I also made one of our family faves recently, my Honey Mustard Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks. I don’t use the slow cooker that often in the summer but this dish had me wondering why not – it’s so nice to do all the prep earlier in the day and then not have to worry about dinner in the midst of evening kid chaos!

chicken drumsticks in slow cooker

I used frozen drumsticks and just thawed them for about 30 minutes beforehand so I could easily get them out of the package. Came out great (I added more sauce after this pic)! Enjoyed with some sautéed garlicky spinach and rice.

chicken drumsticks, spinach, and rice

Recent Outings

I’ve had some fun outings in the past month! I spent an afternoon at a winery with some friends recently (without kids) which was lovely – we went to Potomac Point Winery which was new to me and beautiful!

potomac point winery
grapes on a vine

We ended up inside since it was quite hot out and I spent so much time outside in the heat during the week walking around and at playgrounds and such with the kids that I was totally happy to be inside in the air conditioning.

potomac point winery

Another recent fun outing was a special lunch with my mom at Cafe Milano in Georgetown for her birthday! We went on a day when I had childcare, just the two of us, and it was really nice to have some time together.

tuna tartare from cafe milano

The food at Cafe Milano is phenomenal, too. Above is the tuna tartare that I started with, and below is the lobster pasta dish I had as my entree. Both would wonderful!

lobster pasta from cafe milano

One other outing of note that I remembered to take pictures of: a girls’ night from a few weeks ago with my friends Jen and Kristin.

We tried a new to us spot called Seamore’s in Arlington and the food was quite good! Oysters + bubbly to start, my favorite:

oysters from seamore's arlington

For my entree I had a salad with scallops on top. Very yummy!

salad with scallops on top from seamore's arlington

My friend Jen and I have been having fun going to yoga classes together – we sometimes go before our girl’s nights with Kristin, but we didn’t that night due to logistics on my end. But we did make it to a really fun weekend class together recently that had a lot of fun handstand playtime involved!

Here’s a pic from after class when anyone who wanted to was invited to stick around and play with inversions. I’m getting better at balancing without needing a wall!

anne mauney doing a handstand

And that’s all I have for you today! I’ll leave you with a couple kid pictures – first up is Wes with his spray bottle, which is his latest obsession. He likes bringing it to the playground and out on walks and spraying all the things:

child with spray bottle

And as for Riese, I’ve been working on my French braid game – getting decent at them now with all the practice (Riese has been very into braids lately)!

One last thing before I go – I’m excited to share that I was interviewed for the Food Blogger Pro podcast earlier this summer and the episode is now live! I’ve been a fan of that podcast for so many years – since before having kids! – and it was such an honor to be invited to come on as a guest.

I had so much fun chatting with Bjork, the podcast host, about all things blogging and life from my 14 years (!) in this industry! Check it out if you’re interested: Ep. 419: Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging with Anne Mauney.

Have a great week, friends, and I’ll see you back here on Friday with some recipe inspiration!

And in the meantime, check out my Summer Salad Recipes and Tasty Recipes with Summer Fruits + Vegetables round up posts for some cool and crunchy food ideas for this warm weather.

Until next time, friends!

- anne
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9 comments
  • Anne Taylor Lathrop August 1, 2023 · 12:37PM:
    Anne, I loved your post today! While that same storm that took your electricity passed through Iowa, we had some powerful winds that knocked our 100+ year old beautiful backyard shade tree over on our garage roof! Late summer storms really pack a punch! It is so wonderful that despite all of the modern shiny toys that come along, one of the best ever is still the simple lawn sprinkler. Generations of fun! I really want to try the Slow cooker honey mustard chicken tomorrow! My dilemma-I need to use chicken breasts because my husband and 5 year old daughter won’t touch any part of the chicken but the white meat breasts. Two questions- Do you think I should add some vegetable or chicken broth or something else to combat dryness? I love the idea of the honey mustard flavor cooking in for so long, so I do not want to dilute it too much. I am also thinking of cutting the bone in breasts in half to match the smaller sizes of the drumsticks or thighs and to keep portions manageable. I have not slow cooked on bone chicken breasts before. Good idea or no? Thanks!
    Reply
    • Anne Mauney, MPH, RD
      August 1, 2023 · 1:39PM:
      So sad about your backyard shade tree! Re: the slow cooker chicken, I think it would work just fine with chicken breasts instead. I don't think I'd add any broth as the sauce is so good as is, and there's a decent enough amount of it that it will keep the chicken breasts saucy. I haven't tried slow cooking bone in chicken breasts before, either, unfortunately, but again I don't think there would be any issues to use those!
      Reply
      • AnnE Taylor August 4, 2023 · 12:19PM:
        Honey mustard chicken breasts in the slow cooker turned out so well. It is definitely going on our fall menu rotation as well! Next up- the fruit smoothie.
        Reply
        • Anne Mauney, MPH, RD
          August 4, 2023 · 1:31PM:
          Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let us all know it worked well! Did you make any modifications in terms of cooking time or anything?
          Reply
  • Ana August 1, 2023 · 1:22PM:
    Fun to read about all your doings! Hbd to Matt. Glad you managed to party despite the no power situation 👍🎉
    Reply
    • Anne Mauney, MPH, RD
      August 1, 2023 · 1:36PM:
      Thank you!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner August 1, 2023 · 10:03PM:
    A wonderful update, Anne, thanks! Lots of great stuff (other than the power outage, of course). Safe travel to Pittsburgh!
    Reply
  • Carla August 2, 2023 · 11:06AM:
    HI Anne - our power recently went out too and we were SO WORRIED about water in the basement with the sump pump not working. Fortunately, the power came back on before it was an issue. My husband and I were just talking about needing a battery back-up, can you share the one you purchased?
    Reply
    • Anne Mauney, MPH, RD
      August 2, 2023 · 2:10PM:
      Sure, it's the Goal Zero Yeti 3000x. It's awesome. Not cheap but wayyyyyy cheaper than a generator or battery wall or the other solutions people pitched us originally.
      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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anne mauney

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!

When I’m not writing or cooking for fannetastic food, you can find me running, coaching nutrition clients, or on an adventure with my family. Feel free to reach out - I'd love to hear from you!

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