Scallops a la Caitlin

Hi!

I can't believe tomorrow is Monday! I feel like I need 2 more days before heading back to work.

Here is something I made BF and I for dinner a little while ago - I LOVE scallops and always forget how easy they are. To go with these, I made a garlicky white wine sauce, corn and green beans. Really good!

How to make this:

1) Rinse & pat the scallops dry. Sprinkle with salt.

2) In a small pan, heat olive oil & garlic over very high heat. 

 3) Carefully place scallops in the super hot pan. Make sure they don't touch!

4) Cook each scallop for 2 minutes or so and then flip them over. Resist temptation and don't move them before flipping or you wont get a crispy crust.

perfect!

5) Gently take the scallops out of the pan & keep the stovetop on, lowering the temperature to medium-low heat.
6) Add white wine, more garlic, a bit of butter, veggie broth, a bit of flour to thicken, lemon juice and garlic salt.

whisk in the pan scraping all the little burnt bits off of the bottom

7) Stir and pour over plated scallops.

BF's dinner

Super easy and yummy!

This weekend felt busy - lots of drinking and partying. I'm super duper exhausted and feel my are eyelids getting heavy! I'm off to bed now.

How was your weekend?

Birthdays & Sushi

Hi!

Happy almost Friday (thank god)! 

The weather in New York was so perfect this week so sitting at my desk was extra challenging. Luckily today I was able to get out and walk along the Hudson River at lunchtime. This week I HARDLY did any cardio. My workouts this week:

• Monday - mat based Pilates and a 30 minute walk
• Tuesday - intense Vinyasa flow yoga
• Wed - just a leisurely walk to BF's apartment from the office: about 30 minutes
• Tonight - Total body conditioning at NYSC. This was the first TBC class I've ever taken that had a cardio aspect to it! I did burpees for the first time in a looong time
• Tomorrow - planning to do spin at lunch!

This weekend is my BF's bday and I couldn't be more excited. He has decided to have a birthday boozy brunch on Saturday. He's just the best and I am the luckiest girl to have spent the majority of my time in the city with him. I love that he wants to do something so fun to celebrate.

I'm still not sure what to get him for a gift. Any ideas? 

I've promised to cook him some type of chicken as part of his gift and I'm super nervous (for those of you who don't know, I do not eat meat except for fish). I would love any ideas for that as well! Last time I cooked him chicken, I used lemon, rosemary and garlic. Apparently it was good so here's hoping for a successful meal!

Speaking of successful meals, let's talk sushi. There is a place near my apartment called Hanabi. My neighborhood has a ZILLION sushi places and they're all awesome. 

Hanabi is a bit different - the sushi is not spectacular, but its pretty darn good and reasonably priced for the Upper East Side.  I find myself getting the same thing every time I go! I order: 

- 'Sweet 16 Roll' - tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, carrot, topped with spicy lobster

- Spicy Salmon - my go to

- Steamed shrimp shumai - these little guys are so yummy. They're about the size of a quarter. 

Check out their menu - http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/hanabi/

  

Looks good right? I might have to get some this weekend.

Other than BF's bday I'm not sure what I'm going to do. If the weather is nice, I will probably go to the public pool near my apartment to cool off.

Let me know if you have any bday gift or meal ideas!

Hope you have a great weekend.

Wisdom Teeth Oatmeal

Hi there! This past Friday I had my 4 wisdom teeth pulled. Compared to other procedures I've had done, the pain was a lot more manageable than I had expected. 

The biggest issue I have had? Finding stuff I can eat that I can actually stomach while on pain meds that won't irritate my sore mouth! Over the weekend BF did a great job being a nurse. He made smoothies, mashed potatoes and kept the vitamin water flowing :) I've been feeling like I haven't had anything fresh or real all weekend (except for fresh smoothies care of BF and soup from a carton.)

This morning I tried something a little more adventurous and I was actually able to eat (almost) all of it! 

Wisdom Teeth Oatmeal

You need:

• Quaker oats quick 1 minute oatmeal. About 1/4 cup
• Zico Chocolate Premium Coconut Water
• Blueberries (handful)
• Strawberries (3 or 4)
• Nut butter

Prep your quick oats in the microwave

Grab your handy dandy magic bullet & add fruit

Add a bit of Zico - my new favorite thing!

Just a little bit - drink the rest :)

Blend it all up!

  Add your berry and coconut water mixture to the cooked oatmeal, stir & add peanut butter. Voila! It tasted better than anything I've eaten in a while.

Mmmmm - Muffin idea?

Enjoyed this with my first coffee since Thursday!

 And just because - here is a picture of my kitchen!

 More importantly, here is a picture of Eloise!!

So angelic :) She was also a great nurse!

 I am off work today but have a meeting downtown at 2:30 that I have to go to. I'm happy that my face isn't too puffy or bruisey!

Can you recommend anything (besides soups and smoothies) that I should try while I'm healing?

Have you tried chocolate coconut water? Are you addicted?

East Village Saturday

This past Saturday, BF and I decided to enjoy the nice weather by exploring Alphabet City.

He lives in the area and I absolutely love the neighborhood. We picked up lunch, a couple beers and set out for Thompson Square Park for a picnic & quality people watching time!

A little live music makes everything 10x better

Yummy veggie wrap, a pickle and chips! 

Perfect Bud light lime weather!

 After we ate lunch, we were caught a few rays and then decided to explore a street art competition surrounding the park. The participants hung huge canvases on the outer fence and did their thing while spectators watched. Very cool!

 

He was using a zillion different spray paint colors

Holes cut in the fingernails so the trees behind showed through!

Add caption

A nice little getaway without actually leaving :)

How was your weekend?

i.love.it.here.

I love living in New York – when you’re stressed out, you can just walk around the city and see amazing things. Here are some cool things I’ve seen lately J

30 Rock :)

The New York Public Library

From the Empire State Building

St Patrick's Cathedral 

view from my friend's rooftop in Brooklyn

At night.. 

I haven’t posted in a loooong time but I started a new position at my company, it didn’t end up working out and I’m moving onto a new role. Basically, I’ve been busy! I’ll be posting more often over the next few weeks – promise. 

New things!

Hi There!

I've been MIA lately - super busy at work with my new position and having lots of fun on the weekend :)

I thought I'd share a few great new things I've discovered lately (and 1 not so great item!)

1) Gardein Lightly Seasoned Chick'n Scallopini - This 5 pack is a great go-to when I need to throw together a quick lunch for work. Since they're not heavily seasoned, they taste good with pretty much any type of sauce + veggies. They cook up in about 5 minutes and keep me full through the afternoon. At 90 calories, these are a great addition to my Get Skinnier in 2012  plan. Check them out! 

 

2) Citarella Puttanesca Sauce (literally, "whore's style" spaghetti sauce source, teehee) - This rich tasting pasta sauce comes from my local Citarella grocery store. I love going in there; everything is so fresh and has a homemade feel. This sauce is made of whole tomatoes, black olives, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, anchovies, fresh garlic, sea salt, fresh basil and spices. Puttanesca sauce is so good, I don't even mind that it's a bit sluttly.

3) Yogi tea -  I go through phases of drinking up to 6 cups of tea a day and phases where I drink zero. Yogi has a wide selection of interesting blends that I decided to try. I bought a cold prevention pack and a box of stress relief. Although some of them taste a little funky, I believe in the placebo effect of their claims. Even if they don't do what they say, at least I'm staying hydrated.  Before buying these, I had only ever tried their "Smooth Move" herbal *ahem* digestive tea while doing a cleanse. It works pretty well (teehee again)

 

Now for something I wasn't so thrilled about...

4) Marinated Coconut Curry Tempeh - Maybe I didn't cook these properly? Maybe I just don't like tempeh? Or maybe, or likely, they suck. They tasted terrible. Don't buy these. Just don't.

 

Have you tried any of these products? What about tempeh? Did you like it?

I went to pilates today and it was just as tough as I remembered. Tomorrow I'll either do some cardio or perhaps a bit of yoga. I have been getting into the groove of making exercise a priority. Having the vacation (and daunting idea of being seen in my bikini by coworkers....:S) has really made me stick to my promises to myself. I have been cutting carbs during the week and working out extra hard as often as possible. On the weekends, I still do what I want ie) drink beer / eat pizza / stay up late, but I think I'm making moves in the right direction!

Happy Monday!

Sometimes, BF makes me dinner

I'm a lucky girl - my boyfriend is a good cook. 

Last weekend he made me dinner and it was amazing. We had lots of chopped veggie, chilli tempura shrimp (I can kiss those goodbye from now on:S) and delicious baked salmon.

incredible chilli sauce from Whole Foods & some Pinot Grigio

Who was the last person to make you a meal? Who do you like to cook for?

Vienna, Bratislava & Prague!

What do these places have in common? Really good food & lots of fun things to do!

Vienna -

famous chocolate desserts

amazing anti pasta plate - i skipped out on the ham, but my friends said it was great!

pumpkin risotto - amazing

 

Austrian summer

delicious Viennese breakfast

 

Bratislava -

our welcome platte

 Prague -

vegetable lasagna

amazing cheesy salad with balsamic reduction

 

fancy restaurant :)

built in the 1500s

 

they have gluwein everywhere!

salad made with love :)

pumpkin ravioli

What incredible cities, I can't wait to go back :)