Good morning!
Yesterday turned into movie day for Ben and me! First we went to see The Other Guys with Will Farrell & Marky Mark and…walked out 3/4 of the way through…it was BAD you guys! The pesky group of teenagers drinking vodka and pretending they were the only ones in the theater, thus talking at an enhanced volume the entire time, really pushed us over the edge.
Hey, at least there was popcorn. Look at that butter glisten! 
Later that night we picked up The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo while we were on a walk . Twisted and disturbing, you guys. But still pretty good. Ben loved it! I chalked our movie experiences up to .75 for 2!
This morning I got up at the crack of dawn and went for a 4 mile run. I’m happy to report that it still smells like summer out there. I swear I could smell burning leaves and the trees changing colors on my morning Mom walk a couple times last week, but today it was all lawn, summer dew and humidity. Yes! 
Dug into a big bowl of Apple Cinnamon Oats shortly after.
In the mix:
- 1/3 cup oats
- 2/3 cup water
- cinnamon, vanilla extract
- Stewed apples (diced apples, cinnamon, vanilla, agave nectar & splash of water, nuked for 1.5 minutes)
- Sliced almonds
Ever wondered how to get a good cube going? The definition of “cube” is: to cut a solid into cubes of 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
You can use these instructions for anything you want to cube, but I’ll show you how to do it with an apple:
1. Peel your apple
2. Cut the four quarters of the apple off the core.
3. Take one of the quarters and slice it into 1/4 inch wide slices.
4. Turn the quarter onto its side and make another 1/4 inch wide slice.
Your quarter should now be cut into four, 1/4 inch wide “sticks”.
5. Slice along the sticks in 1/4 inch increments so you have cubes.
See?
If you want to get really fancy, and not have any rounded corners, slice a quarter like above,
but discard the outer, rounded slice.
Turn the quarter on it’s side, and make a couple more 1/4 inch slices.
Discard the outer, rounded edges,
and cube per usual!
Cubing an apple literally takes 30 more seconds to do than if I were to just chop the apple up, and it makes everything so pretty, gosh darn it!
Use this technique on potatoes for your next chowder, cheese for your next pasta salad, or mango for Avocado-Mango Salsa!
Now go forth, impress your friends and family, and cube! 
On tap for today:
- Library and/or bookstore (going to get a Rick Steves Italy book!)
- Shoe shopping (STILL can’t find a cute pair of brown flats for Italy)
- Grocery shopping
- Blog work
Have a fab Sunday!
Your bowl of oatmeal looks like the perfect summer-to-fall transition meal! Mmmm
I just bought a cute pair of brown flats at Von Maur in DSM while I was home a week ago. The brand is Born. I have never bought that brand before but I asked the sales lady about brown flats and she directed me to a couple Born pairs. They are really comfortable and sort of a metallic brown so they can go casual or dressy. Very cute! They had some other cute pairs too! happy shopping!
I have a pair of Born sandals that are SUPER comfortable. Unfortunately, they are pretty trashed at this point, since I have walked in them so much. I would recommend checking out that brand as well.
Rick Steves is a travel guide genius! His website was a nice guide for me before my England trip this spring. He’s a bit goofy, really, but a intelligent source at any rate.
Writing a guest blog got away from me, unfortunately. I got busy with preparing for school, and then classes started last week. All the same, I can’t wait to see Italy pictures!
Rick Steves’ Rome book was absolutely perfect. I definitely suggest downloading his audio tours. You get to learn more than you would going it alone and you really an’t beat the low low price of free!! Just don’t put too much stock in his maps. They were not really to scale and ran us in circles a few times. The map included in you Roma Pass packet is MUCH better!
OMG yum! Your oats look like apple pie in a bowl! I need to try your recipe the next time I make oats considering I am a huge apple lover
These just got me craving some apple cinnamon oats!
We’ve been striking out with movies lately. I just heard that 500 Days of SUmmer is supposed to be a fantastic rent. It’s next on my list. Have you seen it?
Just started reading your blog so I’m not sure if the cute brown flats need to be comfortable for lots of walking, if so check out Privo by Clarks. I bought a pair for a trip to New York and they were great. I chose ones that were black and brown so I only needed to bring one pair of walking shoes.
Informative post. My husbans is obsessed with cubing food and making it look pretty. Me, I don’t care what it looks like as long as it tastes good! My style is more ‘rustic’.
I never thought about how “pretty” cubed apples are… but you’re right!
i agree w/ the consensus… cubed things look pretty! but i am usually too impatient to cube things. maybe i should start
I love watching Rick Steves on PBS! He gives great tips
How long do you put your oatmeal in the microwave? Do you usually do the same ingredients with this vs. on the stove?
[...] favorites include this 6" chef’s knife – fabulous for cubing food, chopping millions of veggies and cutting raw meat – and paring knives (I got this one at [...]