Simple Eats + Spencer’s First Marathon (!!) – A Week in the Life

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the Hookom household.  My parents were on vacation on the west coast to celebrate their anniversary, so Maggie and I had the house to ourselves.  Since there were two fewer people around to eat our meals were a lot simpler this week. I started off on Monday with some white cheddar mac and cheese with peas.  I wasn’t feeling up for cooking anything too crazy, and have a soft spot for mac and cheese. It was exactly what I needed!

mac and cheese
White cheddar mac and cheese with peas.

It’s remained pretty cold here in Minnesota, with wind and rain to boot.  On Tuesday, Spencer and I took a trip to the movies and watched “Night School”.  It was pretty funny and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. For supper, we made my crockpot turkey chili recipe to help combat the cold.  We had a lot of leftovers since there was just the two of us, but it reheats nicely so I ended up eating it for the rest of the week.

turkey chili
Crockpot turkey chili–what it lacks in appearance it makes up for in flavor!

Despite the crummy weather, Maggie and I have still been making it out for our nightly walks.  I’ve had to accept that it’s just going to be dark on our way home, so I bought Maggie a glowing red collar.  Since she’s black, it’s almost impossible to see her out in the dark, but the collar definitely helps!

On Sunday, Spencer ran his first marathon, the Twin Cities Marathon!  He’s been training for the last six months or so, and it was awesome to be there to support him.  The race went from downtown Minneapolis near the US Bank Stadium to the capitol building in Saint Paul. After dropping Spencer off at the starting line, I hung out in a coffee shop for a couple hours before making my way to the finish line.  It was awesome to see so many first-time marathoners make it all the way to the end! The enthusiasm from the crowd and look on the runners’ faces when they finished was incredible. Spencer’s parents came to see him run too (they live in Wisconsin), so we met up to cheer him on at the end!  

Somewhat surprisingly, despite the fact that Spencer and I have been together for almost 4 years (in a week) our parents have never met.  Each time his parents have been in Minnesota my parents have been busy, or vice versa. Shockingly, my parent’s flight back from their anniversary trip landed shortly before Spencer finished his marathon so we were all able to meet up for an early supper at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  I had the garlic shrimp fettuccine which I was a little less than inspired by…Overall though, it was a great day and really nice for our parents to finally get to meet each other! It was a long end to an otherwise calm week…  Maggie and I still made it out for a walk in the drizzle when I got home though. :P

What’s your favorite go-to throw together meal?

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