Spicy Dry BBQ Rub

Last Friday my sister and I finally got to do our Fun Food Friday together.  It had been a few weeks because of my sisters work schedule.  My boss had reservations at Petterino’s, which is a restaurant just a block from my office.  My boss had 1:00 reservations, and he had to cancel, so I asked if he minded if I took them (he’s a regular there) and not only did he not mind, he gave me money to pay for our lunch!  How nice was that?!

So let’s say we splurged on $16 sliders – not just any sliders, filet mignon sliders.  These were delicious.  Light bun, perfectly cooked beef, and yes, in case you are wondering, I ate the fried onions, pretty much the only kind I will eat!  I ate one mini burger and 1/3 of the fries and called lunch 12 points.

The kadults were working on Saturday, and usually I don’t mind staying in when they are not here because, well, it is rare that I get the house to myself – one or both is usually home.  But it was a gorgeous day.  I googled “hiking trails near me” and Moraine Hills State Park popped up.   I’d heard of it before, but truthfully thought it was a far drive for me, but I looked and its just nine miles.  I’ve lived 9 miles from this amazing state park for 16 years and am just now discovering it.

I think I walked for at least 90 minutes if not longer.  It was glorious.  I finished the day with over 20,000 steps, which for a Saturday is a lot for me!  I loved how the trails were easily marked, so you couldn’t get lost.  They even posted milk markers to the next landmark or restroom area – which is why I walked to the McHenry dam – it was 1.8 miles one direction from where I parked my car.  I brought a picnic lunch, watched people fish, brought a book to read and it was delightful.

I did a quick grocery shop at Meijer because it wasn’t too far from where I was.  I don’t normally grocery shop there and I wasn’t a huge fan of their produce prices, pretty expensive.  But I did pick up these giant bone in chicken breasts for $1.29 a pound.  I should have bought more and grilled up half a dozen!

While I don’t mind a good BBQ sauce chicken, Jacob is not a fan of BBQ sauce, so he requested a spicy rub.  I normally have several BBQ rubs in my seasoning cabinet, but I think either I’ve used them up already, or the last time Hannah helped me clean out my spice cabinet, some that never got used got tossed.  So I came up with this one.  I think the star of this rub is Penzey’s black and red seasoning.

Jacob gave this rub two giant thumbs up.  My Mom is coming over tomorrow and we are having ribs – I’ll have her try the rub before adding it to her ribs, because it’s a tad spicy, but since Tony used to tell me that I’ve burned all my tastebuds off with all the spicy stuff I eat, I am not a good judge of what’s hot and what’s not 😀

It was much hotter yesterday, so I did a quick 40 minute walk around my neighborhood.  It was both equal parts productive and lazy.  I wash, dried, folded AND put my clothes away.   Last night I made grilled romaine chopped salads with the leftover grilled chicken from Saturday night – that salad below is only 6 smart points and was absolutely delicious – a summer salad at it’s finest.  I put this on Instagram and a few people messaged me and wanted to know what was at the top of salad – some guessed grilled peaches, but it’s actully leftover roasted butternut squash.

I also finished Day 7 of Shaun T week.  Yesterday was by far the hardest – 14 different exercises each one lasting a minute long.  Thank goodness I was working out in an airconditioned house!  I sent this picture to my brother and sister after I finished, and my brother Charlie drew the thought bubble and sent this to me.  I need to put more art work on this wall, and Hannah put this on the wall and that’s where our decorating stopped at the moment.  “This life is your message to the world – let it be exraordinary!”  #love

We also played games and I dominated in banana grams – our family is serious about our board games and pretty competitive.

And I spent quite a bit of time in the hammock.  I never thought I’d like a hammock, but I love it – kudos to Hannah for buying it.  If nothing else, it forces you to slow down, not worry about what is on your to do list, and just sway back and forth, feeling the breeze across your face.  Life is good!

I think its BS that I have to work today – our firm is open.   The list of attorneys out of the office was nearly three pages long, so either it’s going to be a cake day because only one of my people are in, or I’ll be swamped working for everyone.  I guess we’ll see!

Make it a great day!