C'est L'Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

I have always been a huge fan of this spooky holiday. I love the costumes, candy and scary decorations – what is better than seeing your friends, coworkers and peers dressed up like fools? Nothing!

I couldn't believe the weather we got in the city on Saturday. Snow? Already? nooooo :(

This year I dressed up twice – once as Goldilocks for a house party, then re-purposed this for a creepier costume for my office Halloween party. It was fun!

At the party I went to, someone had taken some serious time to carve mini jack o lanterns out of clementines & filled them with jello shooters. Too cute! There was also some yummy mystery punch complete with gators!

Over the years, I have made some interesting costume choices.

I was once a bunny (note: I was in my 1^st year of university here and clearly had little sense to dress appropriately!)

Followed by a gold digger (Kanye not pictured here).

my friend was gum stuck to a shoe!

Shelly the mechanic? Sober much?

Another year I was Mittens & Having 9 Kittens. (what? Lol)

I was once a member of the Canadian Mounted Police. And then a scary janitor?

And this year – (unfortunately I didn’t get a Goldilocks pic)

can you guess who we are?

How was your Halloween?

Eggplant + Zucchini Asiago Bake

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're all having a good week!

Yesterday, I asked for ideas on how to prepare an eggplant and a zucchini that I picked up from a street vendor. These are 2 vegetables that I almost never had growing up. Thus, I had no idea how to prepare them except to stir fry. 

 

A huge thanks to Gina; The Candid RD who inspired me to attempt my very first egglplant + zucchini parmesan! From her advice, I roughly followed a recipe from Eating Well, tweaking it based on what I had at home already.

Check it out here: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/eatingwells_eggplant_parmesan.html

Here is what I did. 

My Ingredients

• 3/4 of 1 eggplant
• 3/4 of a green zucchini
• 2 eggs
• A handful of my roommate's multigrain crackers, blended in the magic bullet
• A handful of grated asiago cheese (I didn't have any parm!)
•  pepper + oregano
• 1/2 a jar of tomato basil pasta sauce
• A handful of shredded montery jack - cheddar mix from Gristedes

How I did it

1) Preheat oven to 400.
2) Slice the eggplant & zucchini into disks.  
3) Whip the 2 eggs in a bowl with a fork or whisk. In another bowl, mix the cracker crumbs with the asiago.

.

please don't judge the stained cookie sheet :)

4) Dip each veggie disk in the eggs, then in the crumby-cheese mixture. Place on a cooking spray covered cookie sheet.

5) Bake for 15 minutes, flip them, bake for another 15 minutes. They should look like this:

 

6) In a square baking dish, pour in a layer of tomato sauce & add pepper / oregano.Layer the baked zucchini and eggplant on top of the sauce. Add more sauce and some cheese, then add another layer of baked veggies. Top with more sauce & spices.

7) Top with the rest of the cheese & bake for 15-20 minutes.The cheese should be bubbly / melty.

8) Enjoy!

It was pretty easy & turned out really well. I brought this for lunch today & will likely make this again!!

Tonight I am going to get a Halloween costume. Actually , 2 costumes - one for work & one for this weekend. Still unsure about what I'll be for the weekend!

Are you dressing up this year? Does your office have a Halloween party?

White Ruffy with Mushroom & Onion

Hi Everyone!  Happy Wednesday!

On Monday night I made dinner with the BF and as usual, it was super fun! I love making dinner together because we get to try new food and experiment in the kitchen while spending some quality alone time together. Also, wine is often (if not always) involved.

On the menu:

• Frozen White Ruffy from Trader Joes – I had never ever heard of this before. It was pretty inexpensive so I bought a bag. It came with 3 medium sized pieces (we ended up eating 2, but cooking all 3).
• Mushrooms & onions
• Tomato
• White rice mixed with hot sauce, mushrooms & onions 
• Pinot Noir

dice and cook with water, Worcestershire sauce, a spoon of white flour to
thicken it, maple syrup, s&p, and a bit of extra virgin olive oil

set aside

spray a nonstick pan with olive oil

add some spices - i used this fish magic one that BF had

once cooked, top with your mushroom mixture & let it sit on the heat for a few minutes

we had this with sliced tomato & rice mixed with the leftover mushroom / onion

Yummy stuff! The mushroom & onion mixture ended up tasting like gravy which was pretty awesome! I don't think that I would buy white ruffy again, it was a bit fatty and well, ruff for my liking. I much prefer the lighter taste of tilapia!

Last night I went to yoga again and it was incredible. Some of the full body twists felt like I was getting a deep tissue massage and I left the studio feeling like a million bucks. So glad I decided to try to get back into practicing regularly!

On my way home I bought these guys for $1 each. 

Can you help me decide what to do with them?! 

I never ever buy eggplant so I'm not sure where to start & I'd like to incorporate the zucchini in a fun and exciting way. I'll take any & all ideas :)

Later!

-Caitlin

Restaurant Review: Koi NYC

I had a client lunch at Koi NYC last week and it was incredible. Everything was great -  from the service, to the fancy bathroom to the amazing food - perfect. 

Check out their menu http://www.koirestaurant.com/

The décor was beautiful. 

sorry to scare you mr. bartender :)

 Best Japanese food I’ve ever had.

Creamy shrimp

crispy rice with a jalapeno on the top <3

Baked lobster roll. Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Flourless molten chocolate cake. Cute!

 

I loved this place but, I don’t know when I’ll get to return because the menu is a little bit spendy for my liking. I mean, $22 for 8 pieces of sushi? Ouch. BUT,  if you have it in your budget, I highly recommend going. (luckily this was a free lunch! )

I’m off to spend the rest of the evening on a couch. I had way too much fun this weekend & can feel my immune system giving up on me. 

Anyhoo, night everyone!!

Mexi-Medi Salad

You'll need these

.

 In your largest bowl, put in your favorite Mexican salad ingredients

Romaine, sweet onion, tomato, shredded cheddar, 1/2 an avocado

Add the good stuff.

With some hot sauce for good measure.

Repeat at lunch. + Fake chicken.

I'm headed to a happy hour at Wicked Willy's 

Wicked Willy’s is not the bashful type: its kitschy, pirate theme-park décor—replete with nautical knickknacks, netting, chandeliers, mini–pirate ships, and a grinning skull-and-bones—is just the garnish for the bar’s nightly frat party. Appropriately, the action is dominated by hypercompetitive games of beer pong and flip cup. 

Beer pong, here I come :) 

Have a good night :) Enjoy:

Cute & innocent

Crazy & possessed.

Time to Get Back to Yoga!

Hi Everyone! 

Tonight I am heading to hot yoga at Yoga To The People in midtown Manhattan. I have done the 90 minute class here, but tonight I think I will stick to 60 minutes based on my laziness level. If you live in the city, please do check it out. It is a great studio and it is very affordable. http://yogatothepeople.com/new-york/

Believe it or not, I used to be quite a yoga woman / yogi. Maybe it's time I get back into it?

Just a thought.. 

For lunch today, I tried something new. Smart Cutlets Classic Marinara.

pretty good!

 The box came with 2 cutlets - pretty big and 150 calories each. So last night, I grilled em up.

I put one away in the fridge for a rainy day

 Cooked up some veggies: mushrooms, spinach & frozen broccoli from Trader Joe's.

 

Sliced the up the fake chicken and added my cooked veggies. On top of this I added some extra marinara sauce I had in my fridge. 

This was a perfect lunch. It was satisfying and kept me full with the help of some plain Fage Greek yogurt & 1/2 an avocado on the side.

Gotta run to my yoga class!!

i've been in need of some zen lately :)

Have a good night!