Rainy Day Museum & Beers

After our day of touristy fun yesterday, we came home and got to work in the kitchen. I love when the whole family cooks together; it makes the meal that much more enjoyable! Various items included pork tenderloin with two different spice rubs, roasted asparagus, and quinoa pilaf.

This baby was my contribution. My mom already had some cooked quinoa on hand (she cooked it with vegetable bouillon to give it more flavor), and also had some fresh steamed broccoli, so this side dish came together in a flash. I just sautéed some garlic and onion with a little olive oil, then added the quinoa, some broccoli, and a handful of chopped, toasted walnuts. Once everything was hot, I threw in some chopped scallions and dried basil. It was super flavorful and filled with protein.

I didn't have any of the pork, of course, but everyone said it was delicious. For dessert, my mom baked off some pears with raisins, and served them up with a dollop of plain Chobani yogurt. Great way to get an extra fruit serving in for the day!

Tuesday

Today was another rainy day in central Vermont, and what better way to spend a rainy day than at a museum! Before heading out for the day, I made a quick breakfast that brought me back to my childhood - melted cheese. My sister and I used to make this all the time. You just toast a slice of bread (in this case, everything rye bread), then top it with a slice of muenster cheese and melt in the microwave or toaster oven for a minute or two. Melted cheese!

On the side I had a hefty serving of fruit salad.

After breakfast, Matt, Riker and I drove up to Burlington to check out the Echo Lake Champlain aquarium and museum. It was a small museum, but had a lot of fish, turtles and frogs, and lots of info on lake life.

Riker was captivated by the giant sturgeon swimming around in the tank. I love this pic!

After spending a few hours at the aquarium, we set out to find lunch and ended up at the Vermont Pub & Brewery, which is the state's oldest brewery. We started off with some oysters, and of course had to try a few of their craft brews.

We sampled six of their beers, but after sipping a bit of each one, I decided to order the coconut stout. It was really tasty, and paired well with my vegetarian reuben.

Matt and I opted to only get fries with one of our sandwiches so we could split them...if we both have fries on our plate, you can bet they will probably all get eaten. I need built-in portion control with these guys. A few fries had to be eaten though, because you see that little jar up there by the beers? That's house made stoneground mustard. And it's amazing. I slathered about a quarter of the jar on my sandwich and then dunked my fries in another mountain of it. So good!

Told you I was living it up this week!