One of the hilarious things about this time of year is all the Christmas parties we end up going to!

One of my favorite parties to attend every year is the party held annually by my friends Carrie and Kristin (they alternate their homes each year) which gets all us girls together for some food, drinks and FUN!

Isn’t Carrie’s tree beautiful?

The theme was “A Tacky, Wacky, Crazy, Kitschy Christmas” so it was our duty to wear something to fit the mood.

Since I don’t own an ugly sweater, behold, Josh’s silly football Santa hat with green ball ornament earrings

Court rocked her antlers!

Before we headed to the party, which is an hour away in Lexington, I snacked on a piece of bread with peanut butter.

This held me over really well but eventually I got hungry and checked out the spread.

I started with some pita chips and hummus.

Carrie steamed some edamame, which was really good and lots of people snacked on it throughout the night

Over the course of the night, I had several more bites of pita and hummus plus a few drinks!

Some vino blanc…

I can’t remember the name of this next one but it had champagne in it and tasted a little bit like a cosmopolitan! It started with a P, what was it?

Ah yes, Poinsettia.

I’m so glad we used the smaller champagne flutes, that definitely helped me keep things in check.

This was some sort of pomegranate drink that Kristin made. I definitely don’t recall the name of this one. But the Poinsettia was my favorite.

We also did a good deed at the party, which ended up being a very fun activity for me. I wrote out two cards to soldiers at Walter Reed hospital.

I think all the girls really enjoyed it too!

Then there was some wastebasket-ball (which I ended up winning).

Some karaoke

And a gag gift exchange, where Court and Amy scored their very own Snuggies!

Beth’s was pretty classic too.

We stayed way past my bedtime but honestly, it was so much fun I didn’t want it to end. But I proceeded to sleep most of the way back to the Ville and crashed as soon as I got home.

Thanks Carrie for hosting such an amazing party. I really enjoyed myself and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Do you attend Christmas parties? What do you enjoy the most about them?

For me, it was a combo of the belly laughs I shared with friends and writing the cards for the soldiers. I hope it blesses whoever gets them

I need to hurry and finish getting ready, so this is just a quick post on the run!

After my morning of cooking, I ate a juicy pear before meeting up with Becky for a 50 minute walk.

Back at the homefront, I ignored my rumbling tummy for a few minutes so I could shower and give my hair some extra time to dry before making my lunch!

Double fiber bread + hummus, veggies, and mustard . . . one of my standby combos!

I’ll let you in on all of the details of the party when I get back tonight (or in the AM if I’m too sleepy!).

Enjoy your Saturdays!

~Meredith

Just a quick note on this week as I am in the middle of finals (if there are any organic chem. wizards reading, can I please borrow your brain on Tuesday? It would make my stress level decrease 10 fold) and I haven’t really got the time to write anything out. This week was good though. I made hummus (recipe below), pita chips (aka cut pita, leave in oven @400F for ~10 minutes) and ate subway, a few salads and other healthy like things. All in all a good week!
I hope if you too are suffering from final-itis things are OK, and just think a week or so until freedom!

Hummus
1 can chickpeas (19oz), drain liquid in to a bowl
1 (or 3) clove (s) garlic, crushed/chopped
1 tablespoon oil (olive, or otherwise)
Cumin as you like

Pour chickpeas into a bowl with garlic and oil (and cumin). Break out the hand blender, blend until desired constituency is reached (adding reserved liquid as needed, I normally don’t add much) and enjoy with pita chips!

How fitting that Day 100 at site should also be Thanksgiving.  No entries the past few days because I was sick and then traveling to Tamale, but as soon as I got there a full-fledged cornucopia of cooking awesomeness blossomed.  It started before I got there, on Thanksgiving Eve, with the baking of TWO pecan pies and an apple pie.  Then, Thanksgiving morning, I made Betty Crocker blueberry muffins and the DOC’s Coffee-Almond Streusel while Matt made 30 eggs&tomato/onion/moringa. The muffins were perfect, as everything out of a box should be, but the streusel left something to be desired (besides the missing almonds).  It had a strangely dense, grainy texture and was burned a bit on the bottom while the inside remained a bit underdone, and the cake itself wasn’t very sweet, although the topping was.  Next time I’ll go for Yogurt Coffee Cake.

Later that day I was in charge of the Stove-Top stuffing (five minutes, yess), the cherry pie (all of these courtesy of Craig’s family, bless their hearts) and the dinner rolls (I wanted it to be just like Thanksgiving at the Mayo household).  I even made a menu so we wouldn’t forget the peas or the stuffing or the cranberry sauce (like we always do at the Mayo household) and taped it on the wall for all to see.  The pie was crust-from-a-box, filling-from-a-can so all I did was to assemble it, but I modified the DOC recipe for Basic Roll Dough by leaving out the shortening & egg and got rave reviews.  They were maybe a touch too sweet, and not quite Bertucci rolls, but everyone liked them a lot.  Success!! And I made sure we did not, in fact, forget any crucial side dish.

The rest of the menu included turkey (of course), ginger/honey-roasted chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, half a gallon of gravy, stuffing, peas, cranberry sauce, cheesy scalloped yams, sautéed eggplant, green bean casserole with real house-made onion rings on top, sweet potato pie, and a delectable wagashie (locally made cheese)-tomato-basil salad.  For appetizers beforehand we also had Shauna’s amazing homemade hummus and fried yam chips/bread.  No one could eat as much of the main meal as they wanted because they all ate too much hummus.  It was great.

Dessert came like four hours later because everyone ate so much, but there were all the abovementioned pies plus an unbelievably delicious cheesecake-pudding dessert. That was my favorite part, hands down.  Didn’t need to eat again until the next day.

For our (so far twice) traditional end-of-year dinner party for myself, my boyfriend and our two colleagues, I gleefully turned to Isabella Beeton’s guidance for ‘Dinner Parties in December.

Of the two options presented (a dinner for 6 or 10 people), I pick-and-mixed selections for each course.

The final menu:

Home-made crackers, guacamole, hummus, cream cheese and Brie

(OK, not from Beeton, but I needed to keep rumbling stomachs satisfied as they arrived.  One of my colleagues brought a Taiwanese acquaintance, who found most of this rather exotic.)

~

Mulligatawny Soup

~

Roast Turkey, Sausages and Roast Vegetables

~

Apple Tart and Coffee

As I wanted a non-meat first course, I opted for Vegetable Mulligatawny Soup.  I couldn’t get my hands on vegetable marrow and there was no way in hell I’d cook with veal knuckles as Isabella Beeton advises, so the final recipe was borrowed from elsewhere (see link below).  I thank her for the inspiration though – I’ve never tried this soup before and everyone really enjoyed it.

The second course was satisfyingly hunger-pang salving and delicious.  I ate a vegetarian version of turkey, but the others polished off the real thing with gusto.  The sausages were homemade – ‘regular’ sausages as we know them are not so common in Germany, a country which takes its sausages quite seriously and would scoff at our so non-artiste (in comparison) breakfast sausages.

The Apple Tart was a big hit.  The custard was not thick enough to set solidly in the tart when I poured custard over the apples before serving, so it oozed enticingly onto plates when the tart was divided up.  It was incredibly tasty and a delectable accompaniment to the coffee.

Just a note for anyone following the original recipe from the abridged book – part of the recipe is based on the previous recipe in the original version– unfortunately, the previous recipe has been taken out of the abridged version.  Luckily the complete unabridged book is available online, so I found the full instructions there (www.mrsbeeton.com)

Having a suggested menu presented in the one place definitely made the dinner party planning so much easier.  Naturally, I still managed to find ways to stress myself in the preparation stage (a crack in the processor blending bowl caused by me dropping it had to be craftily taped up with duct tape before blending the soup.  God bless duct tape and Blue Peter).

I’d love to try out each of her monthly dinner party plans throughout the coming year.  As they’re based on seasonal produce, each one should be entirely different and special.

Definitely something to look forward to!

Mulligatawny Soup: http://www.indianfoodcooking.com/indian-vegetarian-mulligatawny-soup-recepies.html (Note: Isabella spells it ‘Mullagatawny)

Isabella Beeton’s Recipe: http://www.mrsbeeton.com/06-chapter6.html (Recipe 174)

Sausages: http://breakfast-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/homemade_sausage_from_lean_ground_beef_or_turkey

Apple Tart: http://www.mrsbeeton.com/27-chapter27.html (Recipe 1233)  Custard: http://www.mrsbeeton.com/10-chapter10.html (Recipe 404)

Crackers – Basic Recipe

2 cups of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of baking powder, ¼ cup of butter, ½ cup of milk (or half cream, half milk), 1 egg

Mix flour, salt and baking powder together.  Then rub in butter with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs.  Add the milk and egg.  Mix until it forms a dough (add more flour or milk if necessary).  Knead dough and then roll it out thinly.  Use a round jar-head or biscuit cutter to cut into circles.  Prick across each circle 3 times with a fork (to prevent crackers from puffing up when baking).

Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 8-10 minutes, until light brown and crisp.  Allow to cool before serving.

Note: Poppy seeds, grated cheese etc. can also be added.

Michelle Karam hosts Mediterranean Medley.  On her first webisode, she prepares hummus.  Learn more about the MCCN host from her culinary training to her cultural roots at:  http://www.multiculturalcooking.net/en2/about-us/87

In continuing the Q&A session…the next question on the agenda is why and how did I come to be vegan?

I figure if you know me in real life or read on a semi-reg basis, you know how I eat.  Vegan shmegan.  I’m not big on labels, and my food preferences are more motivated by how my GI system reacts, not so much my personal feelings on consuming animal products.  That said, this answer requires far more extensive background info, so I’ll start from the beginning. 

My mom is (was) a vegetarian and raised the family (me and my two younger sisters) on a diet with minimal meat involvement.  My dad wasn’t overly carnivorous, and since she did the cooking, she made what she ate.  No complaints here.  I was a tofu loving baby, the proud product of hippie parents, and I preferred carrots and broccoli to almost everything else – so much so that I have an orange nose in most photos from my infant years.  True story. 

Eventually chicken and fish found their way into the hippie household, but my poor non-veg dad never got red meat unless he BBQ-ed it himself.  To be honest, I was completely unaware that I wasn’t eating real bacon, and to this day I’ve never had an actual beef hot dog.  I never felt deprived or anything, though, because you should have seen the meals my mom made!  Not just dinners either, I had packed lunches and snacks that all my friends envied.  (This is one of the perks of being the first born…as processed crap was virtually absent from my school eats)

Another key aspect of my background was my abnormal GI system and how that played a role in my life.  Seeing as how poop wasn’t a common discussion point throughout my childhood years (shocking, I know), I had no idea what was and wasn’t “normal.”  However, I do remember one visit to the pediatrician’s office when I was ~13 years old in which I was complaining about frequent cramps and stomach upset and the doctor told me to not eat a few hours before or after I was going to exercise.  Excuse me?  What kind of advise is that!?!  Especially for someone who was playing multiple hours of soccer a day.  On weekends when I had several soccer games, what time slots does that leave me exactly?  3 AM and 10 PM?  Ph, ok.  Perfect.  Thanks Doc. 

Sarcasm aside, I was really finding it difficult to keep my stomach calm when eating before/after soccer games.  And yet not eating wasn’t a realistic option given the energy that weekend long tournaments required.  Let’s just say, when eaten days on end, bananas and Gatorade can get real old. 

Anyways, after I left home for college, I quit soccer and discovered a whole new world of dorm food.  For a while Lucky Charms replaced Raisin Bran and French Fries and Tater Tots were staples when late night munchies hit, but almost immediately after, I recognized how crappy and lethargic I felt.  These new and exciting eats were suddenly not as thrilling, and combined with my retirement from competitive soccer, this alteration in my diet started to take a toll on my health.  Not surprisingly, it was around this time that I began to notice changes in how my body responded to various foods.  I felt bloated and in pain a majority of the time and it got to the point where I was more than uncomfortable.  My GI system was actually inhibiting how I was living my life! 

Since denial is my coping mechanism of choice, I pretty much ignored it as best I could (a fact I’m not so proud of).  “Grin and bear it” …with a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. 

My Aha! moment (as Oprah would say) was when my mom was visiting me near the end of my freshman year of college and she noticed several bottles of my pink chalky side kick in the trash can and proceeded to ask several Qs…cut to a few months of GI appts (endoscopy, colonoscopy, etc.).  Long story short I discovered I was not only lactose intolerant, but I had IBS (with extreme colonic inertia).  Well.  Great.

I can’t even describe the way this affected me at first.  As a former poster child for milk consumption, I hardly knew where to begin.  Cheese wasn’t as hard to say goodbye to, but milk!  Geez.  Milk was something I wrestled with for a while before coming to terms with it.  Eventually, Lactaid came to my rescue and I slowly but surely worked out how to survive dairy-free. 

After a while of living sans lait, it really wasn’t a big deal.  Turns out there are tons of lactose free items if you know how/where to shop.  Plus, my stomach was far less rebellious once I started to take care of what I put in it.  Uh, duh!?

After years of experimented with my body to see what it could and couldn’t handle, I have worked out a nice little system.  As you may have noticed, I occasionally have Greek yogurt (although less so lately), and sometimes I use whey protein powder (again, very sparingly).  Since I have now been living without dairy in my life for over a decade (wow, I’m old) I’ve pretty much worked out the kinks and I know when and where I can cut the corners and get away with it, and when I shouldn’t push it. 

And then there’s the IBS. 

Yes, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is a tricky beast that deserves it’s own post entirely, but I will condense it for you.  There is no specific definition because the symptoms range with each individual, but for the most part IBS involves a combination of abdominal pain with alternating constipation and diarrhea (for me, it’s mostly just the former).  Often times it feels like my gastrointestinal tract is rebelling against food in general.  Without rhyme or reason.  Seriously. 

After learning more about IBS from my GI MD, I began a quest to find the recipe for a less painful existence.  As I said before, the presence of GI issues was (unfortunately) fairly constant throughout my childhood, and something I was eager to reduce.  To combat these annoying and disruptive symptoms I tried (try) to eat things that are less irritating, which tends to be minimally-processed, wholesome, plant based foods.  Since I was never a big meat eater (I only ate chicken and fish), eliminating these components from my diet was surprisingly simple.  I’m not trying to dismiss or depreciate this step in my path toward veganism, but in all honesty, it wasn’t difficult for me. 

I guess it all started with the discovery of Whole Foods towards the end of my time at UCLA.  The prepared foods section exposed me to a smorgasbord of meat/dairy free items.  Initially this consisted of soy alternatives, but gradually I learned how to prepare a few things (like tofu) on my own and reduced the amount of processed non-meats I was consuming.  When I moved to Philly for nursing school, I found that my life was more of a time crunch than I ever expected, but I still managed to use my full kitchen to my advantage.  I cooked 90% of my meals, packed all my lunches, and still fit in the time to get a nursing degree on the side.  It wasn’t until I moved to NYC that I got more adventurous with my kitchen trials.  Having tofu mastered, I began to attempt tempeh and seitan dishes, as well as various new grains.  Through it all fruit and vegetables remained a constant.  I can’t recall the last day I went without an apple.

Then I found the food blog community. 

At this point I was eating both meat free and dairy free (with the occasional aforementioned exceptions) but still hadn’t made the full transition to veganism.  How often did I eat eggs?  Rarely.  But my stomach had no issues digesting eggs or egg products, so why eliminate them from my diet? 

I don’t really care about labels, so identifying myself as “vegan” was never my intention in changing my diet.  My goal was (is) to eat in a healthy way that satisfies my taste buds while not angering the rest of my gastrointestinal tract.  I’d like to think that I have gotten pretty good at that.  Thanks to the food blog world, I am MUCH more mindful about what I put in my mouth, I am more open to try new things, and I am inspired by others who share similar goals in the way they eat. 

Admittedly, I’m closer to being vegan now than I was when I first started this blog (and first wrote that “about me”), so if you read on a regular basis, you may think I am 100% vegan.  It’s rare that I eat eggs now, and even Greek yogurt has slipped off the radar, but it’s too confusing to go into all the specifics of my diet without writing an essay (see above).  If my stomach is ok with what goes in, I’m ok with it.  And that’s all it comes down to.  Sure, I still have flair ups (IBS is far from black & white), and I still eat crap when I crave it (are Balance bars vegan?), but for the most part, I try to keep my eats clean and my stomach is all the happier because of that.

As far as my vegan-ness outside the blog world, well, I’d rather tell a coworker straight up that I’m 100% vegan, than launch into all the loop holes.  Can you imagine trying to explain to a complete stranger exactly why I’m ok with a chocolate chip Clif bar, but don’t want a chocolate chip cookie? 

Now, I will say, there is one other factor aside from IBS that has me sticking to my semi-vegan lifestyle and that is the “green” aspect of eating a plant based diet.  I grew up in the Bay Area, surrounded by people who were (are) proactive in spreading earth friendly practices.  On top of that, my wonderful hippie parents have always taught me about how my personal actions affect the environment.  All of this has helped instill in me a sense of responsibility for how my own behavior affects the future of the planet.  And if all it takes for me to decrease my carbon footprint is a few small changes (and if one of them – veganism – happens to be better for my health at the same time, so be it), it seems like a pretty obvious choice, right?

Anyways, I hope this was insightful.  I love learning about how others arrived at veganism, so there you have it.  My so called (vegan) life.

And since this IS a food blog, here are a few of yesterday’s snacks. 

Keep in mind the fridge is running on empty (haven’t restocked since returning from Thanksgiving on the West Coast), so I was definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel to put together some eats.

I have work this weekend, but I’ll be back to answer more questions (and regular food blogging) tomorrow.

This afternoon I met friend and fellow blogger, Meredith, at Whole Foods for lunch and grocery shopping. I got this beauty at the salad bar:

Baby spinach, garbanzos, green peas, corn, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, carrots, beets, curried lentil salad, tofu (amazing), red pepper hummus, wheat berry salad, and a stuffed grape leaf. I love getting a little bit of everything when I eat at Whole Foods. It seems that no matter what I put in those cardboard containers, the flavors always seem to mix perfectly.

After eating we walked around the store and did a bit of shopping. I stocked up on tofu, tempeh, So Delicious coconut milk creamer (on sale!), and a few bulk items. I didn’t buy any produce today since I just joined a local organic buying club. Starting on Monday, I will be getting a mixed box of organic produce every other week. I can’t wait to see what will be in the box! Have a great weekend everyone.

Today I had a lunch date with Jessie, of Vegan-Minded Blog. We decided on one of my fave places:

Whole Foods!

We definitely wanted to do some shopping too, but first we headed to the salad bar for some lunch.

Want a peek?

I don’t even remember everything I put in here, but I’ll try!

Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, green pepper, carrots, Thai tofu, another kind of tofu, corn, some sort of cranberry couscous thing (I think?), spicy veggies . . . and a big pink glob of beet hummus!!!

I like using the hummus instead of salad dressing.

As I told Jessie, I love the WF salad bar because I can get such a variety of veggies! Living alone, I only buy a few types of veggies at a time because too many and I won’t be able to eat them all before they go bad . . . which is why you see the same things day after day on my blog! The salad bar at WF provides a nice break from the monotony.

After eating and chatting we did some shopping! I was super good and got only 3 things:

my fave frozen waffles

tempeh that is cheaper at WF than Publix

Hazelnut Coconut Creamer on sale for $2!

I am super excited about trying this coffee creamer. I loooove hazelnut and I love that this was on sale (and therefore justifiable!) even more!

Of course there were a few “almost” buys as well: vegan cheese, chocolate peppermint soy milk, and Tempt ice cream that was on sale for $3.50 . . . which was especially tempting after seeing Jenna eat some the other day!

Unfortunately I just couldn’t justify it on my student’s budget . . . but I did ask my parents for a Whole Foods gift card for the holidays so I can hopefully go back and buy the things that I really want (but aren’t really necessary).

What grocery store items have tempted you recently?

~Meredith

I feel like the weekend is never going to start. I was hopeful when the morning zoomed by, but this afternoon has been dragging.

As usual I was excited to head to lunch. But when I got home I had no idea what I wanted to eat. So soup it was!

I made a hummus, laughing cow, and red bell pepper sandwich to go with it.

There was so much food I almost couldn’t finish it all. Almost.

My afternoon has been hectic and I had been stressing about time until now. Now I am not sure what to do with myself for the next 30 minutes.

I have also been munch on the rest of my KitKat from earlier in the week.

I just couldn’t let it sit in my desk over the weekend.

Does anyone have any fun plans for the weekend?

I don’t. Just going to rest and relax….and maybe bake. We’ll see.

I woke up LATE for my doctor’s appt. Wow, this is the third day in a row that I’ve claimed to have gotten up late. Maybe my Thanksgiving break laziness is catching up. Well I had to chomp on a piece of toast w/sf jelly before leaving the house. I have to eat something in the morning.

To the doctor I went. Why? Well, this isn’t the most pleasant topic but it is what it is. Do you guys have digestive issues? I know I do! Ugh. It’s the most annoying thing ever. Lately, I’ve been feeling really bloated and I cannot go to the bathroom for the life of me. Neither my doctor or I can figure out why. I eat plenty of fiber in my veggies, I exercise, I drink water, I don’t eat processed foods (well except yogurts and cottage cheese), I don’t eat high sodium foods, and the list goes on and on. I do everything “by the books” and yet, still having digestive issues. So, this morning I went to my doctor and she gave me a bunch of medicines to try including:

• Simethicone 80mg (for gas, bloating, pressure)
• Ducusate Sodium 100 mg (stool softener)
• Milk of Magnesia (saline laxative)
• Citrucel (straight up fiber)

And so we’ll see how all this goes…

After the doctor, I went to the gym. I had a 1 bar of  Nature Valley’s PB Granola Bar beforehand. I did some upper body weights and abs. I haven’t done a good ab work out in a while. Today’s session was much needed! Now, I shall snack on a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.

Meanwhile I’m going to make some lunch. I’m thinking bok choy and tofu soup. Nice and warming considering it’s starting to flurry a bit here. Good thing I got two new scarf sets and a sweater I ordered them from Old Navy two weeks ago when they had a really good sale. I think everything was 25% off if you used your Banana Republic/Gap/Old Navy card. I ordered 3 pairs of jeans too (1 from each of the three stores) and NONE of them fit I’m still happy with what I got though. Besides, I did buy six pairs of jeans last week. Did I have to buy them? Absolutely! All my other jeans fit very baggy to the point where I can pull them on w/o unbuttoning them. And someone claims that my “butt disappears” in my old jeans. Lol.

EDIT

I made my lunch and it turned out to be a success! Bok Choy and Tofu with a touch of low so soy sauce and a 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce. My daddy would be proud (he’s the chef at my family’s restaurant).

bok choy and tofu 1) in pot 2) in bowl

Mid afternoon snack of homemade hummus and cucumber slices. Yum! And a faux cheese cake mixture of low fat ricotta cheese and pumpkin butter.

Hummus (serves 6, 1/4 cup per serving, 65 calories per serving)

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained, reserve liquid

1 garlic clove

1tbsp of lemon juice

Put the drained beans, garlic clove and lemon juice in food processor. Start with 10 tbsp of the reserve liquid. Blend. Add more liquid as necessary. Salt and pepper to taste. I also added paprika and chili powder on top before I ate it.

hummus (dusted with paprika and chili powder) and cucumber slices

ricotta and pumpkin butter

]]> http://babyvanilla.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/im-a-sad-pumpkin/ Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:22:59 +0000 Vanilla http://babyvanilla.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/im-a-sad-pumpkin/

*Sigh*

I don’t know why this is happening to me.

I don’t know how this is happening to me.

The court was horrible. I did answered the questions well and didn’t fall into their traps when they questionned me.

Unfortunately, it’s not the case for my mom:

But that’s not her fault. She doesn’t understand french very well (okay she totally sucks with any language other than chinese) and can’t express herself clearly, ie:

The Child protection services lawyer: -’Mrs, do you care about your daughter?’

My mom: -My daughter doesn’t need the doctors intervention.

The CPS lawyer: -After hearing the mother, we can now see that the parents are not taking their responsability and letting their daughter in danger by…”

You know what I mean? I’m aware that her answer sounded like the typical ‘bad mom’ in TV shows, but I know she meant to say: ‘Leave my daughter alone, I love her and it hurts me seeing how upset she gets because of you.’

It’s not fair.

She barely understood a thing, seemed so lost and looked so stupid!

I feel so bad.

And my lawyer is an ass. She didn’t show my new health results to the judge. They were high enough to prove I’m not in danger, and that my health greatly improved. She even asked me questions that weren’t relevant and weren’t going to help me at all. My mom is pretty sure she doesn’t care about my case at all (she called me at the last minute to ask me about the situation). In fact, she’s friend with those doctors. Next time she calls, I’ll fire her.

The judge didn’t give the sentence yet. But we all know what is gonna be.

I lied to you:

I said I wouldn’t cry.

But I did.

I went to my math exam after that, and I must admit it wasn’t a good idea. I barely had time to finish my copy and almost cried in the classroom.

I know you guys didn’t understand 99% of what I said. It’s pretty complicated. Something I did in the past, something I had in the past/still have/always will, something I don’t what other to know of but that’s essential to tell if I want to prove them wrong…Okay I’ll stop, your heads are spinning.

Aside from this shit, I have a question for US/Canada shippers:

Can we have customs problems if we ship food within US/Canada??

I’ll leave you with some yummy eats. I always try to include some posivity since I know there’s some people that doesn’t read the long paragraphs and just look at the pictures…(yeah, BUSTED!)

Pumpkin oatbran

With applesauce and almonds

With chopped apple and PB

Do you guys prefer nuts on top of your oatmeal or PB?

I think I prefer nuts…PB is better on toast

Close-up on the burned almonds (I know, I’ll never change…)

‘Triple Orange foods’ Swiss Oats 

No orange flavor…

Pumpkin, Peach and Apricots…

3 orange foods, hence the name x)

Click on the title for the recipe, or just check the ‘recipe’ page

My Pumpkin Yogurt

This time, I didn’t burn the almonds.

New invention!

‘What is this stuff?‘, you guys are asking.

Well, it’s hummus.

But made with black beans instead of chickpeas

I love the color.

Would’ve been perfect for Halloween.

I have tons of homework. With all the court/law/doctor thing, I think I’ll crack up soon. They just don’t get how this is affecting me negatively.

But I’m more worried about my mom. She’s so depressed and feels guilty because she didn’t do well in court. She lost a lot of weight (I won’t say numbers, but holy crap!) and has no appetite. We’ve been eating pizzas (thank Lord they have a good deal) and eating frozen meals because she doesn’t have the motivation to cook.

I must admit I’m not helping her much…I didn’t really talk to her since the court thing. I feel a little bit of anger because she really looked stupid in front of the judge…I’m going to the mall with my friends today, maybe I’ll get a gift for her or something. Any ideas?

xoxo

Vanilla

The judge didn’t give the sentence yet. But we all know what is gonna be.

Happy Friday gorgeous people! I can already sense that this post is going to be all ova the place. Get ready.

I’ve already had my Friday morning workout, and I promise I’m working on the cell phone pics of the Jerz Guids. The first one I tried to capture actually caught on to what I was doing! Not willing to succumb to defeat, I tried again with another unsuspecting victim:

Clearly, I need to work on this. I'm sure he loved that mirror, though.

You can’t even tell how Guido he was. You just have to trust me.

Back to Thursday, though. I could barely pull myself out of bed. Having woken up Wednesday at 5am and then going to bed Thursday at 1am, my body was completely exhausted. I womanned up, got ready for work and was at my desk by 8:35am for a little breakfast:

Festive.

With my daily coffee, I tried the gingerbread Clif. Although delicious, soft, chewy and cookie-like, it’s not as good at the pumpkin pie flavor. However, I recommend both. And they’re much better than the cranberry orange nut bread flavor. If you were wondering.

I was chugging along with my day and then at 10am, WHAM. I felt nauseated, dizzy when walking, headachey and generally disgusting. For the rest of the work day I tried to convince myself it was all in my head. Such a lie.

At one point I snacked on a banana:

With a magazine, naturally.

I’m of the belief that food is the cure for all. I’m not sure why I think that, but I find that most times it helps.

Lunch was a packed hummus, tempeh, romaine salad:

Bizarre lighting.

And a very arty apple:

Love the plates here.

After lunch (which wasn’t eaten until 1:40-ish), the health went downhill. I felt worse and worse. Despite my boss’s encouragement to go home, I remained ornery and pushed through the last couple hours.

The walk to the train was not fun. I thought I was going to fall over and throw up on someone. I found relief while sitting, waiting for the train:

Me and my boot, waiting.

Keeping myself amused, obviously:

Still waiting.

The treacherous trek home included a CVS trip and a market perusal.

Again, I turned to food for a solution:

A snack plate.

This is a mere representation of all the Newman’s Own Organics protein pretzels, carrots, peanut butter and hummus consumed. I staged that especially for you.

Not particularly wanting it, but feeling that something dinnery was necessary, I warmed up some Amy’s:

Unrelated, but I removed the hot pink polish last night.

It didn’t make for a pretty picture:

This was later doused with Cholula.

Feeling better already, I figured, why stop?! Up next:

Weetabix with almond butter, raspberry preserves and almond milk.

When mashed together, this created a dough that was ridiculously good. The Weetabix flavor is reminiscent of a cake cone, so once mashed with everything above and allowed to soak for a few minutes, this was absolutely to live for. Do it.

An hour or so later, I really wanted popcorn. The closest thing I had to that was Kashi Go Lean. How sad! I’m normally irked when people show little palmfuls of food, but this is exactly how I ate it:

Sarah, this one's for you.

Multiply that by 127 and that’s how much I ate.

During all the snacking and lounging, I watched Vh1’s 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs. Amazing. Also, MamaJ and I were texting the whole time.

Her mom, Nannykins, is staying in Cinci with the fam for a month or two. Nannykins hails from Canada and after the pic messages I received, I now fully understand why I am the way I am. I get it from my grandma.

At the age of 83, Nannykins is still bossy and working it:

Killin' it in Forever21.

MamaJ even texted: ” You should have seen her in the wedged pink shoes.” I’m bummed I’m missing out on this!

As I’ve said before, I also get it from my mama:

MamaJ's new hat. SO. FIERCE.

It all comes together:

Feeling like poo, but still doin' work.

That’s three generations right thurr.

This weekend is going to be spectacular! There are so many blogettes and dimey men to meet that I can hardly contain myself! You bet I’ma listen to Nannykins when she tells me I’m not having fun unless I’m getting into trouble.

Have fabulous weekends, everyone! Love you!

Ciao for now,

Kailey

QUESTION: Who are you most like in your family/ after whom do you take? (Or, asked non-properly, who do you take after?) Also, out of curiosity: Do you wear hats? I don’t, but think I should get into that!

Why is it that when I go shopping for christmas presents I always find things for myself?This happens to me almost every year. I go out searching for something to give to the ones I love and BAM! a pair of shoes I can’t live without appears before my eyes or CRASH! I just ran into a rack of jewelry and that necklace would go great with BANG! this shirt that is 30% off.

This happened to me yesterday when I went to TJ Maxx to peruse the store for a gift for my father. Of course, I had to look at shoes. If I haven’t mentioned it here yet, I am a total shoe whore and I buy shoes with reckless abandon. Luckily, there were no amazing shoes that I had-to-have yesterday. There was a perfect carry-on bag that I was wanting to find for our trip to Germany in May. It was too cute to pass up and you have to love, love, love the cheapo prices at TJ Maxx.

Of course, finding the bag was not enough! I had to buy the two cute pairs of stockings that I have been searching for to match my black sweater dress and a pencil skirt that I’ve been hoping to wear into the winter season.

Don’t worry, it wasn’t just all about me. I did find  a couple of small gifts for a couple lucky people. The great thing about shopping is that it is a great calorie burner. Right? Right!! So my lunch break yesterday wasn’t just an exercise in using my Visa, but helped me burn off my lunch too!

I wanted to share with you some things that I have been loving lately. With my knee all messed up and not being able to run, I have had to get more creative with my workouts. Luckily, I have still been able to do two workouts that I totally enjoy. P90X and the stairmaster/climber.

P90X yoga is a total butt-kicker and I can’t recommend it enough. I also do the core synergistics workout and the ab-ripper X workout pretty frequently. Tony Horton is pretty cheesy, but he cracks me up!

Surprisingly the stairmaster/climber at my gym has not been hurting my knees. It hurts when I go down stairs, but not up. A perk for my gluteus maximus! Have you done this baby at your gym?

This bad boy will really start to get the sweat dripping in no time. I usually am on it for 20 minutes. I keep in non-monotomous by doing 2 minutes facing forward and 2 minutes to either side so that I am crossing one foot in front of the other. I have seen people do it backwards, but I don’t need to be that girl at the gym that falls of the stair climber. I’ve already fallen off a treadmill once. I wouldn’t recommend it.

As far as food I just tried a new trail mix from Trader Joe’s because my favorite one was not in stock. Have you tried this yet?

This Tempting Trail Mix is to die for. Well, maybe not die for…but it’s really good and you know what I mean. It has peanuts (I usually throw them away), cashews, almonds, chocolate chips, PB chips, and dried cranberries. I had to stop myself from eating the whole bag yesterday.

Now, my next favorite thing I don’t think I could live without. Did you guess it? I’ll give you a hint….it is creamy and it spreads well…

If you guessed Sabra hummus, you guessed right. I love this stuff. When I can’t make my own hummus Sabra is my go-to brand. We go through hummus here in the Schacalieu house like bandits.

I wasn’t only talking about hummus when I said smooth and creamy though. I actually have two favorite things in this category. Introducing my favorite peanut butter…

Smart Balance is the best! They just came out with a new kind that is sweetened with agave nectar and has 33% less sugar than other brands. It is also vegan, gluten free and lactose free. There are no nasty trans fats and it has 1000mg of Omega 3’s per serving. I love putting 1tbsp of PB into my oatmeal. It makes it soooo yummy.

So there you have it! Some of my favorite things and some Christmas shopping.  I hope you have a glorious Friday! Don’t forget to enter my first give-away! Only a few days left!!

Only more day to go, and classes are over for the semester. I’m so looking forward to sleeping past 6 am during the week!

But let’s start at the beginning this morning. I woke up, and was in the mood for the most basic of breakfasts – cereal and milk.

I had planned on going the single flavour route, but once I opened the draw, I decided to combine a couple.

I combine some Kashi Cinnamon Harvest and Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal, then poured on the moo.

You better believe there was a glass of Happy Planet to go along with it.

Mom changed the tablecloth in the dining room. Time for the Christmas one!

I packed up my bag, put on a face, and was out the door into the chilly air. I make my way to school (completely uneventful, thankfully), and arrive at my last Psychology lecture for the semester on time. Then we sit…and wait….and wait. No prof. 5 min go by, 10 min go by, still no prof. Around 15 min go by, people start leaving. I take out my laptop to entertain myself, but after 30 min, I give up and leave. I have no clue if he ever showed up, but the class was never cancelled, so I can only assume something happened this morning that kept him from class. Of course, I wish I would have known – I could have used the sleep in!

Instead I made my way over to the SUB, the over to my faculty building to prepare for my presentation in my afternoon class. I also started in on lunch.

A simple peanut butter & grape jelly sandwich on Silver Hills Squirrelly Bread.

Carrot and cucumber, with the usual hummus.

Some extra fancy mixed nuts – cashews, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, and brazil nuts.

An ambrosia apple.

And for some reason, I had a weak moment, and picked up this gargantuan chocolate dipped peanut butter cookie. Yeah, I know…what was I thinking?

I pulled everything out for photos, but put most of it away, since I wasn’t actually hungry then. LOL.

So let’s see…I had the sandwich, then ate the veggies & hummus a couple hours later. A few nuts were munched on here and there. And yeah, I ate half the cookie before my class. The apple came home with me though.

We had our very last class for my Land, Food, and Community class, where all of our groups gave our presentations on our Food Security in Vancouver Schools projects. We were the 2nd to last group (out of 6) to present in our section, so it was a loooong session. I feel alright about it – it could have gone better, but it wasn’t horrible. The good thing is, we are allowed to make changes/corrections to our PowerPoint presentations before we actually submit them on Monday, so we can fix up the things that aren’t perfect.

After all of that, I was on my way home in the dark and cold. Good thing I had the other half of my cookie to entertain me on the bus

Even though it was Thursday, pizza ended up on the menu tonight. A crappy, frozen pizza. Booo.

I think this was a Delissio Pizza. It was made on a garlic bread crust.

The toppings appeared to be pretty standard – pepperoni, green pepper, onion, and mushrooms.

I was hungry, so I gave in and grabbed a few slices.

Wow, I’m hoping this never ends up on the menu again. Now, we all know I’m all for the garlic bread. I could eat that all day long and be happy. But not as a pizza crust. Something about all the garlic, and grease and whatever else was going on there did not make for a happy tummy. I retired to the couch after that to digest and watch Survivor & CSI.

I was feeling guilty about shunning my apple from earlier, so it made an appearance with some sharp cheddar and a mug of tea.

I could have done without the pizza, and just had this and been happy. C’est la vie.

Now I must find my way to bed. I still have one more early wake up call before I can officially deem classes over. There’s rumour we might even get a flake or two of snow tonight! Yay!

Oh, and I missed this yesterday, but I need to wish a happy belated 37th wedding anniversary to my parents. Do you know what they did yesterday to celebrate? Went to IHOP for breakfast. Ah, the life of the retired. Too cute.

Alrighty, I’m out. Night!

Jueves is almost over, and we all know what that means… casi viernes!

NYC got a little loco today and busted out the 65° and sunny weather. In Decemeber.

I warmly welcomed the winter sol because this city’s weather gods have been sort of schizo lately.

As in, there’s a chance of snow this weekend.

And there was a monsoon yesterday. But we’ll get to that later.

I awoke on Wednesday morning in a snackie state of mind. I sort of sprung out of bed (and by sprung, I mean slowly rolled) and immediately commenced grazing. Pre-breakfast and—gasp—pre-coffee, my taste buds were exclusively interested in snacks.

I did a little work in the way of pretzels, peanut butter chips and raisins before making the executive decision to channel my snackage into a legitimate breakfast.

I figured the pretzels might kill the breakfast vibe—and be kind of awkward in milk—but I threw a handful of PB chips and a handful of raisins over a bowl of Kashi Honey Sunshine and almond milk.

I know the raisin addition doesn’t change the fact that I’m a breakfast repeater—but I’m mildly addicted to Honey Sunshine right now. Con PB chips? I’m not sure this is ever going to get old.

As I’ve said, I’ve never really been a cereal person. I think this, in part, is due to the fact that cereal never keeps me full for long. Enter vida-changing Honey Sunshine, which has done an oat-worthy job of keeping me full horas after breakfast.

I’m not sure if this is because (a) Honey Sunshine has mysterious fullness-achieving superpowers, (b) the raisins, PB chips and/or nut butter spoons are doing the heavy hunger lifting or (c)  I’ve only recently started eating my cereal out of the grande bowls and am likely eating double/triple servings.

It’s likely all of the above—though I’m fond of theory A.

When cereal fullness subsided and snackiness resumed, I had one of the least attractive honeycrisps I’ve ever consumed.

(I realize that rhymed. For once, it was not intentional.)

I judged it for its dull pigmentation—but its honeyness and crispiness ultimately made me forget its ugly ducklingness.

Lunch, too, was snackie in its own right.

In a whole wheat wrap: thick layer of chive cream cheese, spinach, balls, mustard and hot sauce.

Its snackiness? Despite its legitimate mealness (I hope I never have a writing job that necessitates the use of real words), it’s inherently snackie due to its origin.

Sí, you’ve likely seen this jalapeño popper wrap before. I followed mi chica’s instructions to a T to ensure amazing jalapeño popperness, and all I have to say to is OHMYGAH and gracias.

I can’t wait to embrace what is sure to become a full-fledged addiction.

On the side, I had some zucchini.

Bueno, but I can’t wait to have a kitchen so I can reunite with my beloved grilled green cheetahs. The toaster oven’s really not cutting it.

Snackiness continued by way of Newman’s Cinnamon Sugar Soy Crisps.

I saw the beginning and end of that bag in a single sitting. This was allowed since it was a SnackFace day.

No, really. Yesterday was actually a SnackFace day because that hot date I mentioned was with NYC’s newest resident-snacker.

I’d intended to meet her after work for a nice long stroll over to the Tribeca restaurant, Mocca Lounge, where we were heading for dinner and drinks. Unfortunately, weather.com warned me that it was going to monsoon during our planned walk, so Plan A was a no-go. (Actually, weather.com just said it was going to rain. I told Kailey it was going to monsoon because I prefer more descriptive words. Karma, being the B that she is, actually presented us with monsoon conditions later that evening. Lo siento, chica.)

Plan B had Kailey brave the treacherous NYC transit and meet me in Tribeca. We embraced and then got to business.

That’d be the amazing happy hour vino, which went down easier than agua. For this reason, cuatro rounds were had.

Sips were broken up by non-stop intellectual stimulation. In fact, we were so busy sipping and soulmateing that we didn’t even look at the menu until our waiter’s umpteenth attempt to take our order.

We decided to be the snackie foodies that we are and share our comida.

This obviously involved a Mediterranean platter.

Grape leaves, ensalada, hard-boiled egg,

Amazing mystery dip, hummus and the best falafel balls ever.

Seriously, look at that green monster.

Oh, and we may have discovered the world’s fattest, fluffiest, most incredible pita bread.

We got a round dos because when you discover perfection, you embrace it.

And then I peer-pressured Kailey into splitting the non-vegan Mediterranean Quesadilla—which featured goat & mozzarella cheeses, roasted eggplant and hummus.

This was AMAZING. And I’m so happy that mi SnackCara (SnackFace en Spanglish, duh) is being a lenient vegan when need be so that she can fully experience all NYC comida has to offer.

After, uh, seis horas of eating, drinking and being the merriest foodies in all of NYC—we looked outside to realize that it was actually monsooning. Being the chica inteligente that I am, I did not bring an umbrella. I made it down one block of my five-minute walk to the train before begrudgingly hopping in a cab.

Monsoon aside, it was a wonderfully snackie noche, and I can’t wait to see more of my new-to-New York amiga! Expect mas Snack Diaries over the next few weeks. (True story: Somebody regularly Googles “snack diaries” and ends up at my blog. I hope that, whoever you may be, you enjoy your Google search coming to fruition.)

Amor,

Sarah

Sometimes I get one thing stuck in my head, and dinner gets made around it.

Last night, I was stuck on the hummus I had made.  So I cooked up some chicken and couscous, and made this plate of veggies

Add in some toasted pitas?

Heaven.

I eat a lot.  But I rarely eat till it pains me.

Last night, I was loving dinner so much I didn’t realize I should be done till the fiance (who is almost a full foot taller than me, and therefore can eat a lot more) said he was stuffed, and I was trying to get another helping.

Whoops.

Worth it.

Today I taught over at the private school I sub at.  Was kinda spacy on the whole “making breakfast” part of the morning and ended up with this

Breakfast of champions?  And I found almonds in my bag (I use the same bag every time I sub, and keep important things like aspirin, snacks, and stickers in it.  They alllll come in handy)

When I got home (I was only there till 12:30ish) I made… Well, I have no idea quite what it is.  It’s food, in a bowl.

From bottom to top it was spinach, couscous, green beans, olives, and parm.

Whatever it was, it was tasty.

The green beans btw are from a giant costco bag-they sell 5 lb bags of frozen organic veggies for 5.99 there.  Which is a better price than good frozen green beans would cost, regardless of if you care about organic or not.

And, you know, I may have had one or two of these

Question:  So, last night I felt super compelled to heat up the pitas for dinner, so that it was a warm dinner, I think cause in my head warm food = dinner.  Cold food feels more like lunch.  Is this a weird me thing, or does anyone else feel that way too?

We bought A LOT of stuff today for the AGSDN holiday party! Beverages, utensils, plates, napkins, cups, a wreath, votives, decorative pine cones, tablecloths, a garland . . .

Good thing we’ve had some successful fundraising this year at our weekly Farmers Markets!

I had a light lunch around 11:30 before really hitting the books.

graham crackers, carrots, apple, hummus

My community nutrition final is tomorrow at 9AM, and I’m feeling nervous! I did really well on the last one (highest grade in the class!) but I always worry that as soon as the exam is placed in front of me my mind will blank and I will forget everything I’ve learned! I haven’t had that happen before, so I don’t know why I keep worrying about it . . . just paranoia, I guess!

One of the study questions was along the lines of “What food additives does the CSPI recommend people avoid but the FDA say is safe?”

So I headed over to the CSPI website and found THIS.

I have never tried this product before, but I’ve been curious about it and seen it on different food bloggers’ sites. Meat alternative made out of mold — the pictures on their packaging just doesn’t seem so appetizing to me anymore!

I’m definitely going to do a bit more research on this, but I’d love to hear your thoughts! Who has tried it? What’s the flavor like? Did you experience the reaction they are talking about?

~Meredith

I’m glad you all enjoyed my “tipsy photo” I think I was just so happy not to be at work, speaking of which tomorrow is my last day and then I break up for a week YIPPEE!!!!  I promise there’ll be more posts then too.  I’m starting to get in the Christmas mood now, we’re putting up the tree and decorations at the weekend and then of course next week it’s Christmas shopping.

This morning I enjoyed a breakfast wrap with scrambled egg, spinach, tomato and a dollop of light mayo.

Work lunch was some minestrone soup and a slice of seeded break with red pepper hummus, served on my new Christmas plate.

And snacked on a kiwi fruit.

Today’s exercise I braved the swimming pool.  Swimming in Summer is much more appealing than in Winter, but once I get in the pool I don’t mind so much.

Dinner was my favourite fish, salmon marinated in a honey mustard dressing, which was also drizzled over the salad.

THURSDAY’S TV ADDICT

I normally go on about my favourite TV shows on at the moment, but I wanted to show my favourite music video instead.  I may have mentioned in comments how I’m obsessed with Lady Gaga.  I just love this video, the song, the outfits even the dancing.  With all the different costumes and make up she wears I think she looks more beautiful in the shots with minimal make up, anyway I hope you enjoy.

Taylor

Hey, y’all. I started the morning off well.

Unbelievably, we have entered upon the last month of the year! It’s been a great one…and I can’t believe all that has changed in my life! The blog has been such a wonderful hobby since I began in June. Among other things, I got married this year! Certainly an accomplishment and joy. I also have learned so much from other bloggers about what it looks like to live a healthy life through food, and it’s certainly different for everyone!

Here are my top 5 food discoveries of 2009.

5. Roasted Pumpkin/Squash Seeds

• A heavenly snack with an addicting crunch

4. Kabocha

• Thanks, Heather

3. Walnut Pesto

• Perfection on sandwiches, buckwheat noodles, etc.

2. Sweet Potato Fries

1. Homemade hummus

• I never knew how easy and fantastic hummus can be when made right at home. I love not dropping $4.50 on a tub as well I make this weekly now and love it on TLCs while I am making dinner or on sandwiches.

What are your best food finds of the past year?? Have you discovered anything you can’t live without?

Hello beauties! What a wonderful discussion was had yesterday! You’re all bossy, gorgeous and need to embrace it everyday. Love it!

As I mentioned yesterday, I once again did the morning workout. It was fantastic. I was  in and out and then it was finished for the day. By the afternoon, I kind of forgot I’d even done any real exercise.

A mistake I’m probably making is waiting a solid two hours post-workout to eat anything. I’m pretending that’s not a problem. Janetha will probably tell me otherwise.

Breakfast was a reliable addiction and a newbie:

I'm the neighborhood bicycle in the Odwalla neighborhood. Everyone gets a chance.

Chocolate chip peanut reminded me of  a Kudos bar sans the chocolate coating. Essentially, it was gasmic.

Work was super busy yesterday. As on Tuesday, I had to call numerous chefs. One chef was even opening a restaurant yesterday. I wished him luck. As if he needs that from a complete stranger.

Between calling people, leaving many voicemails and going through three years of magazines in search for a certain advertiser, I hadn’t much time to think about eating until 1:30pm. I was far past hunger.

I quickly dashed down the street for an organic salad bar from this tiny little health food store. It was incredible:

Kabocha goodness staring you in the face.

On the mix: romaine bed, kabocha with onions, broccoli head, acorn squash piecelette, brussels, barbecue tofu (fried and amazing) and a bit of balsamic. To accompany the salad, I sliced a dying Fuji:

Performed surgery and lobbed off the brown bits.

This kept me plenty full for a few hours. And then there was office cake. It was someone’s last day and I gladly accepted a piece of chocolate layer cake with ganache icing. After a few bites, though, I thought I was going to hurl. I’m so not used to the richness.

After work, I finally got around to what I’d been looking forward all day–an official first date with the beautiful Sarah. It took a stab or two at getting the correct subway, but before long, Sarah and I were sitting at a dimly lit table and ordering wine.

Like any good date, we were gabbing nonstop. In fact, we sat down for dinner at 6pm and didn’t leave until 11:30. Fierce, indeed. Even fiercer was the vino:

A white that was far too easy to drink. Perfection.

And the food? Outrageous. We split this Mediterranean sampler appetizer:

Hummus, baba ganouj, tomato thing, salad, falafel, dolmas, egg, pickles.

We were both completely in love with this fat pita bread:

Thick, warm, chewy. The best pita I've ever had.

And because I’m in New York and couldn’t resist the chance to try a Mediterranean quesadilla made of grilled veggies and goat cheese, we ordered and enjoyed this beauty:

Topped with hummus, this was beyond gasmic.

The date was so fabulous I don’t even know in which restaurant we dined. All I know is that it was phenomenal and my company was even better. I am so thankful I get to be in the city and create Snack Diaries with Sarah.

The transit home was treacherous. It was pouring and windy and I had no idea where I was going. A ton of waiting and construction was involved:

After 12am. Tired. Date buzz waning.

At 1am, I finally changed into my pj’s, washed my face, brushed and flossed my teeth and hit the hay, pita belly still intact.

We’re almost to Friday, honeybuns! Woopwoop! Have a joyous Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Kailey

QUESTION: What makes a good first date?
All I need: good food, good conversation, good sense of humor. Unfortunately, those last two rarely are found in men. Oh singledom, why must I be so picky?

P.S. If you love hilarious things, brews and vino, please head over to lovely Danielle’s giveaway!