Memorial Weekend Recap + Black Bean Rollups Recipe

Today we thank all of those who have sacrificed for the freedoms the rest of us are enjoying. I try to keep that in mind as we enjoy our weekend and listen to Rolling Thunder as it goes by.

We have had a very busy, but fun weekend. Today, sadly, will be all about getting homework and chores done, so no more partying for me, but that’s ok. Back to the real world.

I’m linking up with Tara and Erin for my weekend recap and with Deborah and Tina for their meatless Monday. (If you are here for the vegetarian recipe, skip to the bottom and ignore the big plate of meat…)

Friday kicked off nicely with a delivery of a bag of Sartori cheese. I’m a Fit Foodie Ambassador and Sartori is one of their extremely generous sponsors! I’ll be honest – I’d run just for the cheese. Yes, it’s that good.

I also managed to get in a 4 mile speedwork run in the nice cool weather.  My speed was not particularly impressive, but it was good to work on turning over my legs a little faster than I have been.  I have just a few weeks until I start training for my fall events, so I’m trying to pick up a bit of speed and do some HIIT workouts before the mileage starts building again.

Then, of course, we went out for dinner and beer. Ahhh.

Saturday, we were rewarded by absolutely perfect weather. It was one of the days that I LOVE living here. Warm, sunny, and low humidity.  We took advantage of it by spending the day at a friend’s party.

I took along one of my favorite appetizers: black bean tortilla rollups. I’ve spent the last few years simplifying and “healthifying” the recipe (see below for recipe). I still need to figure out if there’s a better tortilla option though.

Good beer, good friends, good weather.  What more could you want?

Apparently, an entire plate of beef.

Yeah, another friend brought the most amazing Brazilian beef and set the plate of bite sized pieces right in front of me. I’m pretty sure I didn’t eat the entire plate, but umm, yeah most of it became mine.  So good!  Unfortunately, I don’t eat a lot of red meat, so I was not so happy about it later.

I woke Sunday morning to a message from Cynthia asking me if I was joining them at Athleta Georgetown for yoga. It was a Sweatpink event and I wanted to go, but I really did not want to roll out of bed.  But I did, and I did not regret it.

I got to hang with Deborah, Mar, Cynthia, Colleen and Coco who I already knew and got to meet Jenny, Kathryn, and Alexis for the first time.

Even better, I also got a great workout (I’m kind of sore today LOL). I may have come home with a few new items of clothing as well. Ahem.

Then it was gutter cleaning time. All I’m going to say about that is that it’s the most disgusting chore we have to do on our house. Ugh.

Friends came over for dinner and drinks, but we were all pretty wiped from the party the day before. I may have had cheese and cake for dinner. Don’t judge. It was good.

To round out my evening, I got a surprise from a friend. She showed up with a friend of hers and his MOTORCYCLE.  Apparently at our 20th anniversary party, I’d told him I wanted to ride his bike. So, he showed up and took me for a ride. It was awesome! I could totally be a motorcycle babe!

How was your weekend? Are you having fun today or is today your day to get ready for the real world again?

Don’t forget! Tomorrow is Tuesdays on the Run and the topic is “Compression”. Do you use it? Do you think it works? What are your favorite products.  Tell us!

And here’s that recipe I promised!

Here’s how I cheat because I’m always making this right before we go to a party:

1. Buy refried black beans. The Harris Teeter organic ones are nearly as healthy  as canned black beans. (If healthy is your main goal, cook your own black beans instead of using canned.)

2. Use your food processor to chop the onions and the olives and then add the Neufchatel cheese and sour cream and process. (I have to then move it to a bowl as my food processor is too small to add the other cheese, but if you have a normal sized one, you could probably do it all in the processor.)

3. Skip the refrigerator step and assemble everything and then stick in the freezer for about 20 minutes. This will firm it all up and make slicing them a breeze!