The vegetarian & the carnivore

Hi!!!

I haven't written a post in a long time but I have been quite busy lately! I've had friends visiting from Canada, busy times at work and lots of social events to attend.

As some of you may know, I don't eat meat while my BF loves it. As a way to show him that I care about him, I love to make him healthy and homey dinners once in a while. Most of the time when we cook together, it ends up being fish or pizza or something else non-meaty. 

I am still new to cooking chicken - since I will never eat it, I only prepare chicken when I'm cooking for someone else. That being said, you should  know that I really hate chicken and everything about it, but I really find it interesting that it is so versatile.

To make a vegetarian meal for me and a chickentarian meal for BF, I picked up:

a couple of chicken breasts, tofu (mine) a jar of pureed basil, roma tomatoes, herb & garlic goat cheese, some quinoa and both green & yellow zucchini. 

oh, and bud light :) 

I put the goat cheese, tomatoes and basil inside the chicken & shoved it closed. Olive oil & more basil on top.

Like my pretty ring? I got it in Prague :)

I cooked this for about an hour in the oven and made the zucchini + quinoa on the stovetop.

BF's plate

my plate. note, goat cheese on zucchini is fantastic

This is my idea of compromise.

Today I got to go to the pilates class at lunchtime near my office & was so happy. I LOVE the instructor and felt soooo good after leaving. Tomorrow, I have signed up for a Soul Cycle class after work. I love Soul Cycle a lot - it kicks my ass.

This coming Wednesday is my company's annual client party and I bought a very tight dress. So obviously I've been cutting calories this week / last week at work and picking up my workouts as much as I have time to do. I'm talking Green Juice for lunch, gallons of water + spinach with beets for lunch, the odd Simplifast here n there. Your tips for slimming down quickly would be greatly appreciated ;)

I need to get to bed early! Night :)

Pot o Gold

Hi!

Happy Monday! Last night I made a big pot of vegetarian chili for this week's work lunches. 

What was in it?

• pinto beans
• chick peas
• black beans
• crushed tomatoes
• marinara sauce
• hot sauce (lots)
• chili powder
• garlic salt
• salt & pepper
• yellow onion
• green peppers
• orange peppers
• corn kernels 
• olive oil
• garlic

 I threw it all in my giant-est pot for about 2 hours.

 Et voila! It was really good!

This is a great way to spread your grocery money over a week! Summertime makes me a very broke girl (with all of the excessive going out and whatnot), therefore healthy, cheap meals are a must. 

 Yesterday I decided to take a Total Body Conditioning class but before leaving my apartment at 5:30, I decided to drink a little 5 hour energy. Big mistake! The whole class I was dizzy and had too much energyyyyyyyy.  THEN I couldn't fall asleep until almost 2am. Blech never again. I felt like this:

If you've never watched this, you're welcome. Kenyans!

Anyhoo, I decided to take pilates at lunch today and it was fantastic. My whole body feels like it worked today. Tomorrow is Vinyasa yoga with my favorite teacher at NYSC. He's so cool :)

Have you tried taking energy drinks / supplements before a workout? 

Do you make big batches to stretch out your $?

I'm off to bed. Nighty night!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Happy Monday!

This weekend flew by! On Friday night I just stayed in with BF and we ate leftover Mediterranean food while watching  Workaholics (great show, check it out if you like ridiculous humor!). 

On Saturday, I went out to Hotel Chantelle for a friend's birthday. This place is great - it has a gorgeous rooftop (where we ate dinner), a bumpin ground floor with loud music and a loud, grimey basement perfect for dancing and sweating profusely - all tied together with a cool crowd. Overall, an awesome place :)

Tonight I decided to use up some of the random food I had at my apartment and make pineapple fried rice! it turned out really well and I made enough for lunches the rest of the week! Score!

I used: 

• long grain brown rice
• 3 brown eggs
• vegetable broth to cook the rice in
• trader joes teriyaki baked tofu
• trader joes soyaki sauce (the best!)
• frozen mixed peppers
• frozen green beans broken into little pieces
• chopped walnuts
• red chili flakes
• garlic salt
• 1 can of pineapple chunks in 100% juice
• the juice from the pineapple
• white onion
• 2 pieces of fresh garlic
• garlic olive oil

this stuff takes FOREVERRRR to cook but has a great texture

Tofu chopped into cubes, diced onion, chopped walnuts and of course, garlic!

After prepping the above, I did the following:

1. Before cooking other ingredients, I started the brown rice in a pot with vegetable broth. I really like this brand but it takes almost an hour to cook. So annoying but worth it.
2. Once the rice was almost finished I started by browning the onion & garlic in the garlic olive oil.
3. Added my frozen vegetables until they were a little burnt. 
4. Added the 3 eggs and let them cook. 
5. Add chopped walnuts & tofu until browned. Sprinkle with garlic salt and set aside
6. Opened the can of pineapple chunks (hate that word) and poured the juice into a glass. Drank half :)
7. Poured a bit of soyaki sauce and pineapple juice both into the rice and into the egg & veggie mixture.
8. Browned the pineapple
9. Add it all together and top with chili flakes & garlic salt et voila!

Dinner for 1 plz :)

This was really, really good. 

 Since this is packed with protein and good for you grains, it makes a balanced meal. I was full after eating about a cup of this creation! Obviously if you're going to do something similar, you can sub tofu for something else and eliminate nuts / garlic if needed. I rarely follow recipes so I'm not sure what amounts of each ingredient I actually used and will likely never be able to replicate it haha.

What are some of your go-to meals when you're trying to clear your fridge? Do you follow recipes? I have a couple cans of beets if anyone has suggestions :)

Springing Springity Spring Sprang

Hi There

Happy Wednesday :)

The weather in New York is getting better and better.  We didn't have a real winter (not a problem) and spring is here early! Today is was so warm that all of the patios were full at all the restaurants near my apartment - loved it. 

I stopped by a local produce stand near my place and picked up some goodies. I grabbed 2 boxes of strawberries, 3 red peppers, an avocado, and a bag of romaine  for $7. 

I threw together a little platter for dinner with strawberries, avocado with hot sauce and red peppers to dip in the greatest hummus on earth.

Ridiculously garlicy

To keep my healthy lifestyle "balanced", I poured myself a hefty glass of wine. After a long day at work I absolutely needed this.

It felt good to have a totally raw dinner. I rarely find myself eating entirely raw meals but it definitely left me feeling fresh and healthy :) In an effort to get ready for bikini season, I need eat this type of meal more often!

Today was I crazy busy at work. I've started my new role and it is pretty intense. I really like what I'm doing BUT it is totally different than my previous role. Let's just say it's a steep learning curve and I could use a corporate jet pack to get to the top. I have a lot to learn about being in sales: being bold, aggressive and extroverted is not totally natural for me. Day by day!

How do you get through a steep learning curve? 

What are your favorite raw dinners?

For your Wednesday enjoyment, a photo of Eloise on my messy table.

Easy Veggie-ful Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those once in a while comfort foods that can warm up even the coldest NYC belly. 

Unfortunately, its one of those things that I usually feel pretty guilty about eating. All of that cheesy, carby goodness can take back a week's worth of workouts in one plate. Luckily, it doesn't always have to be unhealthy and is worth the effort (and calories). 

My version is relatively easy, cheap and pretty fun to make - and its really, really good.

What you'll need: 

• lasagna noodles
• Parmesan cheese
• pre-shredded cheese 
• 2 jars of pasta sauce 
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 zucchini
• 1 tub of fat free ricotta
• a handful of mushrooms
• funion
• frozen peppers
• frozen spinach
• garlic salt, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper
• about an hour or two of your time

thanks Whole Foods!

Thaw the frozen spinach in a strainer, pat dry with paper town and stir into the ricotta cheese.

Chop and saute the other veggies in a bit of olive oil with the spices that you like.

mmmmmm

Starting with a layer of pasta sauce, layer veggies with a bit of cheese, seasoning, top with boiled + drained pasta. Add a layer of ricotta + spinach. Repeat until the dish is full.

Top with more cheese, sliced roma tomatoes and  more seasoning.

oooh layers

Bake at 400 until the top is crispy.

o baby

goes well with Red and Sriracha

My version has nothing on my mom's lasagna, but it is a pretty close second.

For a lighter take, check out my eggplant / zucchini parm bake here - Eggplant + Zucchini Asiago Bake

What's your go to comfort food? How was your weekend???

Dinner Date with BF - Honey and Walnut Crusted Salmon

Dinner dates with BF are always a treat. I brought back some honey from Prague and was looking for a fun way to use it in a recipe.

After some google-ing I found this easy recipe - Honey & Walnut Crusted Salmon

Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place skin side down on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Stir together honey and mustard; spoon over the top and sides of salmon. Sprinkle with walnuts and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until salmon is cooked to your liking. source

To kick up the flavor, I added some minced garlic to the mixture. So good.

We decided to pair this with some mixed stir fried veggies w/ the extra walnuts.

Yummy!

Why I love Vienna, part 2

 The food.

As a pescatarian, I was a little worried about finding things that I could eat in Austria. I had mental images of schnitzel, beef stews and sausages being serves by large angry waitresses.

To my delight, there were a number of excellent traditional options for me throughout the city and almost all of the waitresses / waiters I encountered were absolutely lovely. The best part of these options? Cheese was almost always involved.

my favorite - garlic soup with homemade croutons! i will dream of this soup.

vegetable bake with really good cheese

 One thing I really liked about restaurants in Vienna: almost every menu has friend Camembert with cranberry. Talk about a match made in thunder thigh heaven!

 I even had the chance to try traditional goulash at "The Goulash Museum" - the fish was not good, I didn't eat it. But the veggies & sauce = amazing.

Fish goulash.

Lunch at Palmenhaus. An amazing salad ^ Check out all of that feta.

 The cheese plates in Vienna kick NYC's butt in the cheese plate dept.

crazy. crazy. crazy.

I love how lattes come with a little glass of water everywhere in Europe. Why yes, I would love a bit of water with my coffee :)

More food to come in my next post.

For the long weekend I am going to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle. I am SO EXCITED to have  some warm sunshine beat down on me!

What are your plans for the long weekend?

Restaurant Review: Flowers Cafe

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’re having a nice week so far. It has been rainy and humid here in New York. Today the temperature was 65 degrees (or about 15 for all of you Canadians out there!). I’m not complaining – I prefer winter to stay away as long as possible.

Today I’d like to share a very special spot that BF and I found. It is located at Essex & Grand St, and is a great find for anyone who is looking to have a homey, healthy and adorable lunch. The food is affordable, fresh and overall worth checking out if you’re in the area. We have gone here twice now, both times I have left as happy as a little kid on a field trip.

When we went, I had a soup + half wrap combo featuring their homemade lentil soup (delish) and a half boardwalk wrap. BF made his own sandwich with turkey, he seemed pretty happy. They also have an extensive tea collection & the staff is very friendly! For such a small space (there are only a few tables) quite a few people come in and out picking up salads, bagels, coffee and ice cream. Overall, this made place made me feel like I was over at a friends place for lunch in high school (in the 70s) & their mom made me something special. I can't wait to go back.

Check out their menu in NyMag (funky item names) - http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/flowers-cafe/menus/main.html

The Boardwalk avocado, red onion, diced carrots, tomato, lettuce, & hummus or mayo. cold vegetables on toasted bread.

Bread Choices Include Our Fresh Daily 9 Inch Hero Breads: French, Semolina, Or Seven Grain, Wraps, Marble Rye, Whole Wheat, White.

Combo pick 2: including 1/2 of any sandwich, 1/2 groovy salad or cup of soup - $6.95 (amazing deal!)

cute!

a whole vegetarian section (vegan options too!)

amazing Mighty Leaf tea, I had tropical green tea. Anyone know where i can get this

fresh lentil soup

my boardwalk - amazing!

BF's turkey. He said it was yummy :)

Breathe. Salad will fix everything.

After my big Thanksgiving weekend, there is one thing I want – SALAD. Eating big meal sized salads for days in a row (at least 1 meal / day), I feel better about terrible eating choices I made on the weekend.

When I make a salad, there are few ingredients I almost always have / change up:

Romaine Lettuce

Cheese (usually goat or Parmesan)

A protein (either fish, nuts tofu, lentils etc)

All of the produce I have available to me

Vinegar! (I LOVE sour salad)

Sea Salt (I LOVE sour + salty salad)

Fresh chopped garlic  (the fighter of wintertime sniffy noses!)

Here a few I’ve had lately:

Roasted Chickpeas w/ parmesan, diced tomatoes & a bit of tofu. Sesame Soy ginger from Trader Joes.

mix with whatever spices you want, and a little olive oil

stir!

spread on a cookie sheet & bake at 400 until they're chewy and crispy. maybe even a little burnt!

  

 Burnt tofu that has been marinated overnight in TJ's Soyaki sauce with goat cheese, little heirloom tomatoes, walnuts, dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar.

And my classic go to - the vinegariest vinegar salad ever. Romaine with lots of white vinegar, 2 pieces of fresh garlic chopped, fresh lemon juice, lots of Parmesan cheese & sea salt. More deets on this guy here Its the Freakin Weekend Baby, I'm About to Have Me Some Fun

 

 

Yummy!

Tonight I am going to meet my wonderful Aunt for dinner. She is in New York visiting me from Toronto. Very exciting!

Later!