I have a picture this week for High Five for Friday! It was fun throughout the week to think, "Oh! This might be a highlight of my week; I'd better take a picture!"

1. Andy and I went hiking on Saturday. This is something we really enjoy doing, but it's easy not to make time for it. We visited Red Top Mountain State Park. I've passed the exit for it off of I-75 N a million times and have been intrigued, so it was nice to finally check it out! The hiking was very nice, and there are enough trails that I think we'd be game to go back! 
2. I splurged on a 6-pack of this local seasonal beer, and it is deLISH. We like Red Brick, and this brew doesn't disappoint.
3. I had a cooked a fair amount of meals last week, so on Monday I just pulled out all the leftovers and we had a smorgasbord! It was a pretty random assortment of food, but it was all tasty, and it was fun. (Though I was hungry by bedtime, so I'm not sure all those carbs served me too well...)
4. On Thursday I had to run some errands after work, but they were fun errands! Even the traffic cooperated with me. I got to go to some of my favorite places: Ansley Wine Merchants, The Cook's Warehouse, and Whole Foods. I was picking up stuff to celebrate Andy's birthday, so more on that later, but I found these gems at Whole Foods: purple bell peppers. Who knew?!
5. I've been enjoying reading on my Kindle Paperwhite!!! I just flew through Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Has anyone else read it? I'm not entirely sure what I thought...

I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday!

My mother will probably fall out of her chair when she reads this, but I really like chard.

  via liz west on flickr

One week I it caught my eye at the grocery store in the organic section. It didn’t have a price but for some reason I just had to have it. It was so beautiful! Giant dark green leaves, brightly colored stems, and huge! It seems like something from another time to me, like it should have been growing with dinosaurs roaming around among the stalks. I brought it home and Googled “how to cook chard” and came across a wonderfully simple method that comes out delicious every time.

I got the recipe, such as it is, from Make With Your Hands.

7 swiss chard leaves 2 tbs. minced garlic (~6 cloves) 1 tbs. virgin coconut oil 1 tbs. filtered water

Wash, de-stem, and slice the chard. Heat coconut oil and brown the garlic. Add chard leaves and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add water and cook for another minute or so until the leaves are wilted down to your liking.

The best trick I got from her recipe is how to cut the chard: de-stem it and then fold the leaf you have left in half, cutting it into inch-wide strips. I use much less garlic than she calls for (mostly because I am too lazy to mince that much) and it still tastes great. I like that chard doesn’t get as gloopy as cooked spinach. It still has some bite to it. It’s simple and awfully healthy. Unfortunately Andy doesn’t like it, so I either have to cook it for myself in addition to another vegetable or just wait until he’s not around for dinner!

What are some of your favorite healthy side dishes?

I’m linking up to the Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods at BeautyandBedlam.com!

Sunday turkey burgers (from frozen) on English muffins Brussels sprouts salad* via Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers cut-up mango

Monday ham (bought on Manager’s Special) Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese ($0.30 with a coupon!) salad

Tuesday Team Trivia with friends at Tijuana Garage

Wednesday Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken (frozen) fried rice cut-up vegetables

Thursday (I’m working late, so gotta keep it simple!) pita pizzas salad

Friday spaghetti with turkey and spinach meatballs via Home Cooking Memories frozen veggies

Saturday (Celebrating Andy’s birthday!) beef brisket (haven’t chosen a recipe yet!) mashed potatoes vegetable of Andy’s choice peach cupcakes w/ brown sugar frosting* <a href=”http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/08/peach-cupcakes-with-brown-sugar-frosting/” target=”_blank”>via Smitten Kitchen</a>

What’s on the menu at your house this week?

I found High Five for Friday through my blog friend The Amateur Librarian and I really like the concept. Like the menu plan, it just gives a flash of insight into someone's life via things that made them happy. So often in the blogosphere we post about controversies or things that get us riled up or serious, thoughtful topics, so it's nice to have some whimsy for the weekend. So, without further ado, my High Five for Friday!

1. On Sunday there were FIVE coupon inserts in the newspaper! FIVE! I got the paper for over a year with a Groupon I found that made Sunday delivery a great deal, but when the Groupon pricing ended I didn't feel like I would save enough with the coupons to justify it. So I try to keep an eye on Southern Savers' weekly coupon insert preview to decide whether I'll buy an individual paper. Usually there are one or two inserts, so when I saw 5 I practically ran out the door to get one! I've been feeling a little weary of couponing lately but clipping that many great coupons made me feel reinvigorated to put them to good use.
2. I've hardly had to cook at all this week, which as much as I like to cook is a nice break sometimes. On Sunday we shared a nice dinner out with friends at a tapas restaurant that features half-price bottles of wines on Sundays, and on Tuesday Andy and I went out to eat for my birthday! Wednesday we each went to a meetup that provided food, and last night was a gathering at his work that had enough appetizer-y foods to satisfy us.
3. This week is the World Swimming Championships! I was a competitive swimmer for almost a decade and sometimes I still miss it. NBC broadcasts at least a few select hours of pre-recorded coverage, and I was able to watch some on Monday evening. It seems like it would be boring watching people go back and forth across a pool, but I'm so steeped in it that I can't help getting sucked in. I get excited when the races are close, and I love ogling their perfect technique. Rowdy Gaines' commentary is also comfortably familiar. Lucky for me there is more coverage on Saturday!
4. A co-worker of mine shared a blog she had found that had several lists of suggested things to buy at Trade Joe's (here, here, and here). Apparently a lot of people are intimidated by Trader Joe's. I've never felt that way personally, but it was still fun to see a really varied list of things that someone else loves there. I had $29 left in my grocery budget, so I made a list of the TJ things that sounded good to me and decided to go get as many of them as I could for that amount! Usually I am angsty about making sure I come in under my grocery budget (which is not necessarily the point), so it was fun to just kind of "splurge" and buy things that will be good but weren't strictly necessary. (If you're curious as to what I got, check out my Instagram. Maybe I'll write a separate post about them sometime.)
5. Andy has been trying different methods of brewing coffee. We have quite the collection of gadgets! A pourover setup, a French press, an aeropress (well, and a drip coffee pot that we should probably just get rid of...). On Wednesday night we set up a pitcher with some cold brew (pretty much what it sounds like: you let some coffee grounds steep for a long time in cold water, then press and drink!). It's ready to try this morning and I am excited to taste it! Iced coffee is awfully appealing in the summer.

What have been the highlights of your week? Anything fun going on this weekend?

I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday!

My books wishlist on Amazon is pretty ridiculous.

Right now it has 69 items, and no matter what I do it seems to hover right around there. I may read one or two of the books, but since I’m so engrossed in book blogs and other bloggers and tweeters who also like to read, I’m constantly adding more, and so I’d say it usually skews to growing rather than shrinking. If you imagine that most of those books are around $10 for the Kindle edition (some are more, but others would be less so it would average out), I would need at least $700 to satisfy my book cravings! (Well, not to mention the amount of time I would need…)

On the flip side, I have ALWAYS been a fan of the library. When I was a kid, my mom would take me there weekly to check out STACKS of books. And it was one of my pleasures as a tween to be left to wander among the young adult shelves and pick out whatever I wanted. We even had a favorite librarian, Mr. B, who manned the video section. (Yep, VHS.) So as an adult I’ve always included the library on my charitable giving shortlist. Recently someone from the Atlanta-Fulton Library Foundation emailed me and asked if I could give a brief statement about why I choose to support the library. I said that I pay for Netflix to watch TV and movies, and I pay for books from Amazon, but at the library I can get that much enjoyment for free, and so it’s worth it to me to pay a little bit into to make sure I can continue having that option.

Here’s how I’ve started to approach using the library: I pull up my Amazon wishlist in one browser tab and the library catalog in another. I pick a book (at random usually) off the wishlist and search for it in the library catalog. If there are over 100 holds on (which is not unusual for a recent release) I leave it on the Amazon list because it’s probably worth my while to just buy. But if I has fewer, I’ll place a hold on it. I love doing holds because no matter what branch has the book in, you can request where you want to pick it up. There’s a branch near my home and one near my work, and you can also return books to any branch, so it’s awfully convenient. I’ll place a hold on usually 3 books at a time and wait until they’re all in to pick them up (for maximum efficiency). I get the books for a month and I can usually finish all 3 in that time (though if I can’t I could always renew online pretty easily). I return them as I finish, though, just so I don’t inadvertently start owing fines. And, voila! I’ve just removed 3 items from my crazy to-read list for free!

How do you approach your to-read list? Is the library a special place for you?

I’m linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at WeAreThatFamily.com!