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I've been sick and busy this past week so kitchen experiments have been super lame. Plus, I seem to have developed an obsession with Yelp. Yes, I'm late to that party, but whatever. Most of my restaurant reviews will be placed there, so be sure to check it out! Let's do a little photo dump catch up, shall we?

Last Friday (yeesh) I met up with friends for dinner at Epic Roasthouse to experience the 3B special (burger, brownie, beer). Remember my first visit? Well, this time I actually tried the other 2bs ;) Burger was ok, potato wedges were fab, brownie was insanely sweet, beer was delicious (went with the Speakeasy Prohibition Ale). Overall, good deal for $20, but not my favorite burger. Just saying.

Oh, did I mention I had a 10 miler on deck the next morning? HA! I had everything prepped and ready to go but woke up with a crazy headache and sore throat. WTF? I decided to push my run back to Sunday and ran some errands/cleaned instead. Hey, gotta be productive!

Also found some time to hang out on my rooftop with a friend that was in town from DC before making dinner. Please forgive me for this terrible dinner creation.

So awhile ago (pre-blog), I made Ellie Krieger's Macaroni and Four Cheeses. It was a veg out weekend and I watched her make it...seemed like a good idea. I love squash, I love mac n cheese. She said it could totally pass for mac n cheese. LIES. Jamie can confirm that. I think I made him eat the rest of the leftovers :\

Don't get me wrong, it's not inedible. It just isn't mac n cheese. It was squashy (I love squash), weird textured (not at all creamy), and pretty bland once you got past the squash taste. So naturally, I made it again on Saturday. Why? I like a good challenge. Plus, I had a little too much fun in the frozen veggie section at Safeway.

Spicy Squashy Mac

1/2 lb trottole, cooked to package instructions

1 15-oz package, frozen pureed winter squash, defrosted

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp chili garlic paste

1/2 c 2% Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/3 c parmesan cheese, shredded

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp heavy cream

Sriracha sauce

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add squash, chili garlic paste, chili powder and garlic powder. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Lower heat and stir in cheeses, salt and cream. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in pasta to coat and pour into a baking dish. Drizzle with some sriracha sauce and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

I did a bunch of modifications/omissions and it was still squashy in my opinion. Texture was improved, but just barely. Okay, it wasn't terrible, but let's just say I wasn't excited for lunches this week. At least I'm being honest and not trying to call it mac n cheese!!

Dinner fueled my Sunday morning 10 mile run/walk but o my, was it a disaster. I started out running, but was just so burnt out. Switched to a run/walk after about 4 miles and felt good about my decision. Almost called it quits around mile 7, but kept chugging along. Not sure that was a good idea since I was obviously getting sick. Did I mention it was cold and misty out? D'oh!

I redeemed myself this week by a) taking a sick day and b) making a tasty sick day sammich. Once I started feeling a little better, I moseyed over to the kitchen and whipped up some Mustard & Tarragon Tuna Salad

Nummy.

Mustard & Tarragon Tuna Salad

2 cans chunk light tuna, drained

1.5 tbsp whole grain mustard

1 tbsp light mayo

1/4 c dried cranberries, soaked in warm water and drained

1/4 tsp tarragon

1 small shallot, minced

pinch salt

pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Simple and delicious! I toasted some bread before topping it with the tuna salad, avocado and some ridiculously sweet grape tomatoes from the farmers market. YUM! Do you ever get cravings for tuna or chicken salad sammiches?? I do and I have no idea why.

The rest of my week was filled with leftovers and lentils...nothing too exciting. To spice things up a bit, I went to Japantown after work yesterday for a really late lunch/wandering. Stopped into the Najiya Market for some futomaki and wandered into the Peace Plaza for some, uh...peace. Found a bench to sit on and enjoyed my sushi and the afternoon weather. Snapped a few pics with the trusty iPhone (Hipstamatic app=fun) and called it a day.

How was your Friday?