There are a million and one things I wanted to get done before we leave on our trip this Friday, and now that it is Wednesday, I am no where close to getting things ready. In between finishing up some work projects and checking emails before leaving, cleaning the apartment and packing, a bachelorette party this weekend, planning our move towards the end of June, working on some side blog writing-and-photo things, and Kyle finishing up his finals last week for school—it feels a bit insane over here! Thankfully, this vacation is coming at a good time and will force us to break away from everything and unplug. Although, a crazy part of me wishes we had just one more week so I could get a few more things done. But—I am happy and will be ready nonetheless!
Oh yeah, I don't think I actually ever said where we are going here. We leave for Copenhagen and Iceland for one week on Friday!!!!!
So this time next week, hopefully I (actually Kyle) will be driving around Iceland, running with the wild horses and eating gas station hot dogs, all while taking a million and one photos of the pretty landscape. CAN'T WAIT.
In January we started thinking about this year's travel and vacation plans and have been wanting to go to Iceland for a while now. We started checking flights, and I have seen multiple Iceland Air ads on the subway. Basically, if you fly Iceland Air you can fly to any city (within their flight schedule) and have a free Iceland stopover (up to seven days I think) at no extra cost. Copenhagen was one of the cheaper destinations (plus it's awesome) so we are going there for three days and then hopping on over to Reykjavik and driving around Iceland for a few days. I am so excited, and a little overwhelmed by all of the traveling around, but thankfully we have everything booked (lots of AirBnB's and our rental car is secured) so now it is just finishing up this week and we are free!
I may be missing from this space for a bit, but I will definitely be documenting the whole thing on Instagram and Snapchat! If I have wifi that is...
Chard is another one of those pretty veggies that just screams spring. I first had it while at a restaurant earlier this year and thought it was delicious. I cooked it with the leaves attached to the stems, but you can certainly chop it up into more manageable pieces if you like!
Shrimp Stir Fry with Rainbow Chard (serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 1-2 tbl soy sauce
- Half pound shrimp, cleaned and deveined
- 6-7 chard stems with leaves
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1-2 tbl. olive oil
- Half of small diced onion
- 1/2 diced bell pepper
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions: In a medium-sized bowl, combine shrimp, soy sauce, brown sugar, and a little bit of salt and pepper. (I use low sodium soy sauce so I have to add a little bit of salt. If you use regular soy sauce you may not need to!) Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add half of the olive oil. Add shrimp to hot pan, and saute, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are pink and cooked thoroughly, about 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add remaining olive oil to skillet and let heat for a few seconds. Add garlic, bell pepper, and onion to pan, and saute until onions are clear. Season with salt and pepper and a little bit of soy sauce. Stir in chard and saute for 1-2 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan and immediately cover. Allow greens to wilt and cook down, and then remove the lid so the water can evaporate.
Add shrimp back into pan and cook for 1 minute longer. Serve hot!