Black Bean & Corn Salad

I told Nikki about this recipe last night, and she insisted I post it on my blog to share! It's really great for summer cookouts. Don't think there will be many more of those left this year, so you gotta make it soon! It says "Salad" on the recipe, but it's much better as kind of a fresh salsa served with tortilla chips. So enjoy! :)

BLACK BEAN & CORN SALAD

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped (I like to use cherry tomatoes 'cause they're sweeter)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Place lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small jar. Cover with lid, and shake until ingredients are well mixed.
In a salad bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Shake lime dressing, and pour it over the salad. Stir salad to coat vegetables and beans with dressing, and serve.

Langhorne Slim rocked my socks off last night

I credit Brian Grimes for introducing me to this amazing band. We saw them at the Hi-Dive last night, and it was the best show I've seen in YEARS! Seriously, they blew me away. This guy sings with so much passion and energy -- it's awesome to find music like this in a world full of Jonas Brothers (insert gagging sounds here). Please watch the video & enjoy! Their new album is in stores, and every song they played last night was amazing. I'm completely hooked!!! :)

I Heart Pandora

www.pandora.com

It's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Almost better than greek frozen yogurt. Pandora is a free online music site where you can create your own radio stations without having to listen to any stupid commercials. You just put in a band you like, and it plays other bands with a similar style! Move over Tivo!! AND, you can rate the songs (thumbs up or down) to keep on customizing your station as you please. It's utterly brilliant, and I love it.

You can even get it on your iPhone too... if you're one of THOSE people. ;) (I saw a 16-year-old kid with one on the lightrail train today. I don't think I even need to state how I feel about that....)

Anyhew, check out Pandora (if you haven't already). OK - it's tied for first with the frozen yogurt now.

Training Motivation....

I've TOTALLY been slacking with my duathlon training. It's coming up NEXT MONTH, and I haven't done any running or biking in the past 2 weeks!! YIKES! I'm gonna get back in the groove again though -- I really want to do well in this duathlon. It's a 3.1 mile run, a 13 mile bike, then another 3.1 mile run. I've found some motivation on the Runner's World website (www.runnersworld.com) where they have tons of training tips & posts.

I really hope it gives me enough motivation to say "No thanks, I'm not going to have that 3rd deliciously-delicious beer, I'm going to get up early and run 3 miles in the morning". 'Cause that would rock. I'm gonna give myself some slack on the weekends (It's still summer, dang it!) -- but I have to stick to it this time. So if you talk to me and ask what I'm doing tonight / tomorrow / this weekend, please tack on to my answer "And does that include any running or biking, Beth?" Maybe it'll at least guilt me into doing it. ;)

Mudd Volleyball!

This weekend was SO much fun. Friday night we swam for the Bloom Again Foundation's annual Swimapalooza to raise money for disabled athletes. It was a 24-hour Swimathon -- I didn't do the whole thing though. :)

Saturday was the 25th Annual Mudd Volleyball Tournament to benefit the March of Dimes. It was so ridiculously fun, it was hard remembering that it was actually for a good cause. We played 5 games total, and won 2 of them. It didn't have much to do with skill though -- really just how well you could stay standing, and play volleyball in 1 1/2 feet of mud! It was quite the experience though, and I'm all in for doing it next year.

Needless to say, Sunday I didn't do squat. OK, I did my nails and made a Trifle. So I guess that's accomplishing something!

LIVE BAND KARAOKE!

Ohhhh yes - here we go!!!
As promised, here is the video of me rockin' OUT Pat Benatar-style in Atlanta for Live Band Karaoke. It was so much fun, I almost peed. I couldn't hear myself singing at all (it was pretty noisy, and they didn't have a speaker set up to hear anything back), so I just belted it all out. Check out the kudos at the end from the announcer dude too. A tad embarrasing, yet also hilarious. ;) Big thanks to Jake Sharon for his editing expertise on the video! Here's a link to his website, as he's a comedian as well as a talented video editor: http://jakeisfantastic.com/

Enjoy!!!

Backstage at Red Rocks

This weekend I got the awesome opportunity to run around backstage at Red Rocks for the Carlos Mencia show. I think the coolest thing about it was hearing the roaring laughter of close to 6,000 people. No wonder celebrities get big heads! It was kinda weird being one of the only chicks backstage not wearing platform shoes, with my boobs all hangin' out. Then again, I wasn't there to be a groupie. I can only imagine the shenanigans that go on when the rock stars are there... it must be magical and kinky, all at the same time.

Yet another reason work a little bit every day on getting closer & closer to being a rock star.

FIRST WIN!!!

OHHHHH HELLS YEAH!!! My softball team won our FIRST GAME last night!! It was so amazingly-awesome, I can't stand it. Everyone played great, and we even made a TRIPLE PLAY! It was a fantastic night for all of us, I must say.

So GO TEAM EVIL TWIN! You guys rock my socks off. Yeee hawww!!! :)

How awesome does THIS sound?? What a great summertime drink! Yum yum yum.

PINEAPPLE SANGRIA
Makes 8 servings.

3 cups pineapple juice

1 bottle dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

1 cup brandy (pear brandy is nice but not required)

1 ripe pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 cup pineapple soda

1 bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped

1 orange, sliced

In a pitcher, combine the juice, wine, brandy, pineapple, and soda with ice and stir. Pour into large wineglasses and garnish with the mint and orange.

More yummy cookies!

Had another experimental cookie-making time this weekend!
I used the regular chocolate-chip cookie recipe (on the back of a bag of chips), but instead of making plain Chocolate Chip, I added 1/2 bag of chocolate chips, 1/2 bag of butterscotch chips, and about 1 cup of unsweetened all-natural coconut shreds (from whole foods). The result was a delicious mix of sweet & tangy! So enjoy!

Also I think I realized the magical key to full and gorgeous cookies. Only SOFTEN the butter before adding it to the recipe, DO NOT MELT! I microwaved the butter last time to soften it, and went a little overboard. In order to not waste it, I used it anyways, and the cookies went as flat as Claire Daine's chest. Anyhew -- just remember that. I usually just measure from the tub of vegan butter spread, and it seems to work just fine straight from there, since it's already softer than a stick.

Make sense everyone? This will all be on the quiz next week.

Except for the part about Claire Daines. Only because that was WAY outta line. Natural boobies are the best! Way to not get the fakies, Claire. I commend thee. :)