Friday Faves

Happy Friday friends!

So this past week I went to lunch with one of my besties who happens to be a former co-worker and another friend who is one of the most driven women I’ve come to know and who I met through said bestie where we collaborated on projects at said old job.

We started reminiscing, as ladies who lunch do, and talking about our old working together days. And it got me thinking about how lucky I’ve been in meeting so many amazing people of many calibers.

I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, a breeding ground for the winter Olympics (just check out this list of the FIFTY ONE Utahns competing this year!) and home of the 2002 Winter Games and hopefully the 2030 games! GO TEAM UtahUSA!

One of the highlights of that old job where I was the art director for our city regional magazine was that I met and photographed a LOT of Olympic athletes including:

• Gold medalist and Park City resident Ted Ligety, who you can bet I’m cheering for again this year (and who let me in on his favorite Park City Mexican joint.)
• Freestyle skiing Silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (who is expecting a baby!)
• And the recored holder for most Olympic medals by a U.S. Winter Olympian, speed skating Gold medalist Apollo Ohno (at 5’8″ he was a little shorter than me, but man, he is STILL so hot!) plus so many more.

But one my fave meetings was when I walked in to my hair stylist to get my hair “did” and who was sitting in the same I seat I would be occupying just moments later? Gold medalist LINDSEY VONN!

She smiled, I smiled back and said hello, and we became, like, instant friends. Soul sisters. I mean, we were like conjoined twins…for all of those mere seconds as she moved from the chair and I slid right in. Guys, I swear it was still warm.

In my head I’m thinking, “DON’T CLEAN THIS CHAIR! LINDSEY VONN SAT IN AND NOW I AM TOO!” I mean, my feet walked through the trimmings of her golden mane. She stared into the same mirror I did. We had the same fingers massaging our scalp!

But this chance meeting didn’t just happen once. It happened TWICE! A month or two later when I took my daughter back in to get her hair cut, LINDSEY VONN strikes again! She had just flown in to SLC from Florida en route to L.A. for the ESPYs and was getting her hair color done up right by my one and only Paula.

I’ve been around a lot of celebs (I lived in LA, remember?) where you always try to play it cool. But this time, I screwed up my nerve, acted fast, and asked for a photo of my Smudge with the gold medalist. All of us were beaming. Probably mostly Lindsey, because I mean, SHE was getting her photo taken with my Smudge after all.

I gotta find that pic somewhere on my literally 51,885 photos on my iPhone, because I think that was one of the years that didn’t transfer to “the cloud’ so I need to hunt it down somewhere on iPhoto. Pre-cloud, it’s literally my most challenging photo storage system ever. GRRR.

And while I LOVE the Super Bowl commercials for Lindsay’s Oympics video and Shaun White’s Olympics video —the music selection totally makes them!—this one below for Salt Lake City native Nathan Chen is my fave:

He IS a bad motha!!! And man, I am a freaking fan. I just wish his nerves hadn’t shaken him up last night…

Korean Recipes to Cook Your Way through the Olympics

Over Christmas and New Years, we traveled through Seoul, South Korea on our way to and back from Vietnam —okay we layovered, but we still had some awesome Korean food in the airport :) It’s still authentic if its in the airport.

If you’re thinking about adding a couple of Korean-inspired dishes to get you into the Pyeongchang spirit, here’s a few to try because I know I’ll be eating my dinners in front of the TV for the next two weeks. Who’s with me?

• this bulgogi (if you can’t find Asian pear, apples work too.)
• these Korean BBQ burgers  (3 ways!)
• this vegan kimchi fried rice
• these Korean rice bowls (so easy for meal prep)
• this Instant Pot Korean ragu
• this quick Korean spicy slaw
• these Korean pork chops
• what US athletes are eating for breakfast while in Korea

What Went Up This Week…

This week had a lot of recipe testing going down in the FC test kitchen aka my kitchen plus the recipes below going up on the blog. If you have any recipe requests, I’m happy to serve…just email me at [email protected].

• 28 Healthy Slow Cooker Soups & Stews to Make in February because couldn’t we all use some healthy and easy comfort food in our lives? Once again, that old crockpot saves the day.

• The Best Steak Marinade in 30 Minutes because this easy Asian marinade seriously rules, and you can’t beat a 30-minute marinade.

• Batch Cooking Basics for a Healthy Eating Meal Prep Plan get the 411 on easy meal prep from our Nourished Planner batch cooking basics!

Whew, I have the Olympic fever! So, I’m sure we’ll continue the conversation next week, but for now, let’s dig into this week’s Friday Faves!

The best commercials from the Super Bowl. The NFL Dirty Dancing mashup was my favorite, definitely followed by the Alexa ad. What was your fave?

And speaking of Alexa, did you wonder why that commercial didn’t wake your own Alexa up?

But people are torn over Justin Timberlake’s halftime show, and here’s why. (I for one was happily entertained #JTFOREVER

and…

The funniest tweets about the halftime performance.

The evolution of the Super Bowl halftime costume. Diana Ross slays.

I absolutely love this. What small changes would be on your list?

There’s a hair school for dad’s and daughters, and it’s pretty much the sweetest thing I’ve seen all week. Seriously, these dads are awesome.

This woman is a badass.

And so is this woman who draws portraits without even looking. HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

This is how Reese Witherspoon stays motivated. Love. Love.Love her.

Totally. Hooked. Have you played yet?

I’m not a Harry Potter fan but for those of you who are, you might be interested in this cruise.

This movie looks hilarious.

So does this one, and I love the self-confident, self-love message behind it.

Food TV and movies to watch on Netflix and Hulu this month. Get your chef-ing on.

I love this illustration of luxury foods by the decade. Is it true we’ll all be drinking merlot again soon?

My secret to actually succeeding at meal prep (and a special discount code for 60% off when you enter BATCHCOOKINGFC at checkout.)

Low-carb, Whole 30, Paleo, or if you just like yummy veg…this recipe’s for you.

I never thought I’d want to put this into a smoothie, but now I do.

This one-pot quinoa salad is on the list.

Speaking of bowls, I could really use a bowl of this feel good soup right about now.

Two cookbooks I’m cooking from this week for le blog, this one and this one, have the same goal in mind: SIMPLE cooking!

Forget diamonds, chocolate cake + red wine are this girl’s best friend.

And I REALLY want this no-bake pie. #cometomama

5 date ideas to try this month (that aren’t dinner and a movie).

And, how to host a romance novel book swap. I could do without the bows, but this looks fun, no?

Also, love advice from woman who have been married over 40 years. Yaaas!

which reminds me…

Here are 6 lover-ly treats I want to make:

• Strawberry Conversation Heart Cake
• Valentine Shortbread Cookies
• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Real Strawberry and Sparkling Rosé Gummy Hearts
• Pink Champagne Cupcakes
• Chocolate Mug Cake for Two

If you need a jewelry holder…

This boot transitions perfectly to spring.

This top is so cute. Love those sleeves.

This dress looks so flattering and springy.

And if you’re looking for a pretty LBD for V-Day, here’s one.

Okay, friends, let’s all get our cheering voices out for the RED WHITE AND BLUE! Have a fabulous weekend!

ALSO! If you’re into meal prep or planning, I’m giving you guys— MY personal Friday Faves—the 60% off discount code to get this for just $5.99 because I want YOU To start batch cooking too! CODE: BATCHCOOKINGFC

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