Foodbuzz

Thursday, October 29, 2009

almost halloween.

z had been gone all week on a volunteer trip in Mississippi, so Saturday night, we walked to "Ben's Next Door" for dinner. I got an Abita Purple Haze and z got a "super cold" Heineken. They served mini corn muffins with butter, so I had to have one. Cute and tasty. To start, z got the house salad and I got the Crispy Tomato with Mozzarella with balsamic reduction, extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper, and sea salt. It was sooo freakin' good, but because of my cooking class I wasn't super hungry. z gladly finished the rest of it. For my entree, I got the small house salad (z finished this off for me too) and z got the Brined Fried Chicken with coleslaw and “perfect” mashed potatoes (I got a nibble of both sides; yum). I thought about getting dessert, but z suggested we go somewhere else. We walked by an ice cream shop but I was too cold, so we looked for live music. Nothing was catching our ear, so z suggested we open a bottle of wine and listen to jazz. OK BY ME! We opened a 2002 Denira Red (my awesome parents brought me two bottles of wine and a cute Yosemite t-shirt from their California adventures). We listened to "Sketches of Spain" - Miles Davis and talked on the couch. It was a lovely evening!

We stayed in bed until about 10 (wow) and then headed to Starbucks for our Sunday morning breakfast of coffee, pastries and the Washington Post. We sat in Mt. Vernon Triangle (in the sun of course) so I could keep an eye on the kitten that lives under the Historical Society of DC museum. After reading the paper, we decided to actually go in to the museum that we see all the time. The Abe Lincoln gallery was pretty neat. Lots of different representations of Lincoln and in the middle of the room, there was a HUGE map of DC on lighted floor tiles. z loves map, so obviously we were on our hands and knees finding things :)

I love Sundays.

This week - over scheduled again.

Monday - work, bootcamp and the Greene Turtle for Monday Night (Redskins are terrible) Football with some buddies.
Tuesday - work, dishes, bathroom cleaning, late night z time.
Wednesday - early to work (that means a Starbucks treat for me) because z is insane/gets up at the crack of dawn had to go to work, laundry/food network at my parents, back to the hood
Thursday - date with h-pants, eggplant parm, sugar-free jello, grey's with exercise commercial breaks, and Halloween party prep
Friday - girls night in
Saturday - h-pants and B are having a Halloween costume party. z and I are doing a couples costume haha! More on that later...

In other food news:
-I have finally transitioned to Unsweetened Soymilk after 6 years of drinking soymilk. I don't know what I was so scared of. I'm never going back to the added sugar.
-I roasted an acorn squash this week and ate it with agave and cinnamon - yay Fall!
-I eat an insane amount of Gala Apples. They're the cheapest best at my grocery store.
-I got an Arugula-Spinach Salad Mix this week...I have never liked arugula and don't know why I'm trying to trick my taste buds. Nope. Don't like it. I'll stick to spinach and romaine.
-I'm back to eating a banana a day. I went a week without them and just felt odd.
-I'm making orange-chocolate cupcakes for Saturday. All you do is replace the water that the recipe calls for with orange juice. I'm still not sure what icing I'll be using, but I'm excited to try them out...
-I also really want to make these chocolate covered pretzel rods, but don't have a reason to...yet.
-There has been a bowl of candy on my desk for about two weeks, but I've been VERY good about not eating it (though I did have a nasty mini-moonpie the other day; gross).

Ok, that's all for now.

Hopefully as the week goes on...there will be photographic evidence of these things :)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

souper dooper recap.

Quick recap.
this is the rooibos tea (from auntie m) in my cute little french press!
It has such a beautiful color.
Carrot, apple, lemon juice. The lemon made it tart and delicious!

This is potato-cauliflower soup I made with my mom last week. We sauteed onions, celery, potatoes and cauliflower with very low sodium chicken stock. I used the immersion blender to make it smooth and creamy! Didn't taste it though...(not vegetarian). These are the two low-sodium soups. The other is a brown rice and lentil vegetable soup using water instead of stock.

Saturday was a crazy day! Got up at 745, hopped on the metro to SW and got a DC driver's license, ahhhh!! Then I got in my car and drove to NE to pick up a package, then headed to the gym, took a quick shower and got back on the metro.

I took a vegetarian fall soup class at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda. It was so much fun.


Louisiana Gumbo with Tofu and Okra



Sweet Potato Bourbon Soup with Pecans

Vegetarian New Mexico Chili





In order to get a glass of wine, all students were required to turn in their knives. I gladly handed mine in!

The lovely soups made by some lovely people!

Oh wow! Goober alert!! (That's the instructor in the back!)
I had a really nice partner (who had two really nice daughters). It was a pleasure working with this class, and I can't wait until I get to make three more soups next month!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

real age.

I just took this long quiz http://www.realage.com/ and they told me my real age was 29 based on my health, family history, nutrition, risk, etc.

bogus - I'm totally a 25 year old.

cold hands.

This post is going to be mostly pictures because I'm trying to watch last Thursday's Grey's Anatomy (with a blanket and a cup of hot organic apple cider).


Last week:


Blueberry "cheesecake" oatmeal from Carrots 'n' Cake:
Snacky(raw almonds, O's, dried cranberries):


Lunch (spinach, mozz, tofu, carrots and pickles):

Dinner (thanks to Heidi):

I'm "special"

Dessert:
Unfortunately, this was followed by a large handful of chocolate-covered peanuts! Oops...


Yesterday morning I went to watch Tony play in a wheelchair basketball tournament in Boyds. Lots of family showed up which was awesome! They lost the two games I saw, but it was amazing and inspiring...GO CAGERS!

I came home, cleaned up, then curled up on the couch for a mini-nap before the gym. At the gym I did a 15 minute hill workout on the treadmill followed by stretching, abs and planks! I've conquered the one minute hold, but want to see if I can go for more...someday.

After the gym, I relaxed a little, showered and then headed to Z's for a quiet Saturday dinner and a movie :)

He had the candles lit when I got there and we went into the kitchen to cook...together.
Delicious pasta with sauteed red/green peppers and onions mixed into a spicy red pepper pasta sauce, topped with shredded mozzarella. Delicious! We drank a bottle of Malbec (from Argentina).


Z put some olive oil and black pepper on the bread and then baked it. When it came out, I rubbed a fresh clove of garlic on each slice!
I didn't take a picture of dessert, but Z made an ice cream sundae for two! Vanilla ice cream, fresh raspberries and warm hot fudge! He's the best!!
Don't you love my placemat?? The pizza was really tasty and I have a ton leftover for this week!

I'll leave with you with this picture. Reason for documentation? I felt so trendy haha but was so comfortable. I love my one and only pair of lo-tops!
I think that's all for now. Back to Grey's...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

It has been pointed out to me that I have been a major blog update slacker! There are plenty of reasons for this including, lack of time, making the gym a priority, no desire to stare at a computer after work, and did I mention lack of time?

I am now working back in Maryland which means my commute is long again. I would say its 40-45 minutes on a good day depending on traffic. I'm trying to become "zen" about it and realize that I made the decision to leave my on-site gig (15 minute commute). Being back in Maryland means a lot of good things: visiting with my family, seeing heidipants for lunch, seeing my other Maryland friends, working across the street from a Whole Foods AND making my relationship with Z a lot more like...a relationship :)
I don't really even know where or when to start my recap from...I guess I'll start from today and move backwards? That's logical to me.

I'm going to Stained Glass Pub with Mom, Dad and Grandma "B" and Auntie "M" tonight for half price pizza. Yum! EDIT: I went to SGP for cheese and veggie pizza...and a salad.
At dinner, my aunt brought me a present! An awesome Gandhi magnet and a bag of loose Rooibos Tea (I've been wanting some...so I think she read my mind!).

Today I bought hot sauce at Whole Foods and pickles at Giant. I've been having odd cravings lately...

I went to Whole Foods last night after work to pick up some groceries (and a $9 salad bar dinner). I got some baby eggplants, agave nectar, roasted yellow peppers, hearts of palm, kalamata olives, bulk almonds, baby spinach, lots of greek and regular yogurt, lots of flavored tofu, low-sodium chicken broth (for the soup making party my mom and I plan on having), vegetable tempeh, 365 cheddar and mozzarella, HUGE jar of 365 salsa, 365 blue corn chips, Drew's Honey Dijon Dressing, and Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. I have no self control in that place...





Friday night I met up with Amanda and Rapha for some Panera and the List (wearethelist.com). It was an enjoyable evening (except for the rude, drunk old people that were flinging their bodies across the dance floor and scaring away all the children, ughhhh).

I went to New York over the weekend because Margarette (Mo) was visiting from South Carolina. I took at 9:30am MegaBus on Saturday morning and made it to Manhattan by 2pm. Not bad. Erica, Rachel and Mo picked me up which was sooo nice of them (and it saved a lot of time). We went to Burrito Poblano for chips/guac and nachos! MMM Then we headed to Kate P's place for dinner. Her kitten Humphrey is freakin' adorable. I ate some fresh salad and delicious rolls with REAL butter (it has been a while). I also drank 1 1/2 glasses of FRANZIA.
Later that night, we drove to Hawthorn (Erica's house) and had a great bonfire with musical singalongs and fireworks on the side! It was so nice. She has two pups, Madison and Clyde (the Conehead). They are Scottish Terriers, but they're WHITE. Weird, but adorable.
The next morning we had Starbucks (grande soy misto, one shot of pumpkin) and a pancake breakfast (no bacon for me!). We headed to a beautiful park with gorgeous views of the Hudson River. We walked around, climbed trees and listened to a story. What a glorious day! We headed to JFK Airport to drop Mo off. Erica and Rachel were nice enough to drive me back into the city so I could catch my 6pm bus back to DC. I did a little shopping (ATL) and walked to Penn Station to wait for my bus. It was thirty minutes late, but we still got back right before 11. I walked home, quickly unpacked, ate some brown rice with my homemade parsley-walnut pesto and got ready for bed. I couldn't sleep because I was paranoid about ticks from our nature walk. Good thing I didn't fall asleep because I got a call at 11:38pm from a certain boyfriend of mine who was also traveling home from NYC:

"Are you asleep?"
almost.
"They aren't running the yellow line today"
oh no, where are you?
"Chinatown"
come on over.
"ok see you in a few"

He's so cute and I'm glad we had a spontaneous sleepover. Precious.

Other things worthy of a blog update:
-I haven't missed Bootcamp since I started it a few weeks ago. It is a super intense workout and even though it's painful, I love it.
-I still don't like my job, but I'm learning to deal with it.
-I made butternut squash ravioli/dumplings. Roasted the squash. Scooped the guts. Mixed with cinnamon, salt and brown sugar. Stuffed them in my Nasoya Wonton wrappers and baked them. Yummy lunch.
-I haven't been eating my usual amount of salads and fear that I'm replacing them with not-so-good foods. I better get that in check (after the pizza tonight, of course).
-I'm maintaining my weight at 127 which feels DAMN good. Gotta keep it up.
-Z and I are going to the E Street Cinema on Thursday to see "WILLIE NELSON AND WYNTON MARSALIS PLAY THE MUSIC OF RAY CHARLES" on the big screen. Should be pretty awesome. It's at 8 but I'm going to try and see if Z wants some happy hour sushi before the show...yum.

I am stuffed beyond belief. It's time for me to get ready for tomorrow and then hop in bed!

More later.

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aardvarks are also known as "earth pigs."

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