Wits, Wagers and Wine

Thank goodness for HGTV 30 minute shows. I love it when I get to the gym and can run while I watch those totally addicting shows. I got sucked into one and a half episodes of Curb Appeal Block Edition. This time during my run I also started doing some hill intervals. It felt so wonderful to be able to run “hills” again and to be able to run FAST like I used to be able (well, fast for me).

Full body workout next: focusing on chest, back, shoulders and doing a bunch of squats. It felt good to do the squats and not feel the trembling in my legs like I often do when I take a break. I did some ab work to finish up and did a bunch of yoga stretches to stretch out.

Gym Stats:
Time: 1:43
Calories Burned: 722 

My lunch was a nice, warm, hearty treat on a cold Fall day. The leaves are turning, the air in Portland was foggy but I had yummy Indian food in my belly to warm me. I’d picked up a quickie meal from World Market the other day (once again I’d gone there for one thing and left with 5).

Alu Muttar: curried potatoes and peas in gravy. I topped it over the quinoa for the perfect lunch. The quinoa was about 200 calories and the alu muttar was 160 calories a serving (two servings in a package). Low calorie but totally filling.

For dinner Michael and I went to my cousin’s house for games, vino and couscous! I brought a bottle of wine to the party and Anna was making dinner when we got there. It smelled so delicious!

Anna lived in Morocco for a few years so she wanted to make us a couscous dish that was common there. It was onions, apricots and chicken cooked in a skillet, then mixed with the couscous and topped with almonds.

You would think that it would be overly sweet with the apricots and honey but it wasn’t. It was the perfect bite of sweetness that was subtle and not overpowering. I liked it a lot! I could taste cinnamon in it too and something else I couldn’t place…

We ate good food, drank good wine and chatted. After dinner we played a new game that Anna had. It was called Wits & Wagers. It was so much fun. It was like a trivia game but with betting–which Michael loved because he’s a poker guy. It was a blast.

Can you guess who won? Yeah, the guy that wins at poker. 😛 Anna made dessert: vanilla pudding with whipped cream, raspberries and blackberries. It was a lovely, light dessert.

I’ve missed game nights! I used to do it so much more often and I love game nights. Michael and I are plotting to host our own very soon.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite board game?