Juicy

Another Free People perk is that it's a minute away from the Whole Foods Andrew works at. After my shift this afternoon, I stopped in to visit and got myself some fresh juice. Cucumber, kale, chard and lemon. Next time, I may throw some apple in there for sweetness, but this very green drink made me feel so good.

Celebrate us

I can't believe I've been dating this fella for two awesome years already.
We celebrated the other night at our favorite restaurant, Painters.
(which I've referenced before, here!)

We ate pulled pork nachos, fish tacos, and chicken marsala. Seriously delicious food.
And then I came across this magnificent thing,
apple cider sangria. I really loved it.

We had a really nice little low key anniversary, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

<3

Weekend Update #1: Saturday

Hump day is upon us, but I am still celebrating last weekend. Sometimes it feels good to be stuck in the past. My favorite girl Amy and I went pumpkin picking at my favorite patch on Saturday. It was really good not only to see her, but to partake in one of my favorite activities of the season with her. After our pumpkins were picked, Amy led me to this giant garage sale extravaganza happening not too far away where I was able to get my hands on some great vintage 7" records and LP's. A whole crate for $7.00! Going through them at home was exciting, there's some great stuff in there (think The Beach Boys, Paul Simon, The Beatles, THE MONSTER MASH. YES.) My boyfriend and I had a lot of fun sorting through these treasures, and then we went out to dinner with his sister Michelle who was in town at one of my favorite restaurants, Painters'. This place is seriously cool. It's covered in unique artwork, a lot done by local artists, and it's all for sale. Too rich for my blood, but the food is also incredible (pulled pork nachos? c'mon). I got a veggie vegan burger and fries, and we split said nachos. The menu is seasonal as well as the beer selection. I got a yummy pumpkin ale. Love that brown sugar & cinnamon rim. My favorite thing about Painters'?
The tablecloth is fresh butchers paper and every table has a cup of crayons so you can COLOR!
Needless to say, Saturday ruled!

Fall Festivities!

I have been seriously slacking.

The end of summer was pretty uneventful, however. I was right smack in the middle of a big transition, or a few transitions rather. But here I am, new job, positive outlook, and ready for fall. A friend of mine recently compared me to the ever changing season, and though some might think that sounds unstable, it's not. It's great. Every year around this time I can really mark my growth and I see more improvements through slightly more constructive behavior. Things are good. I am happy, really and truly. Das it.

Last weekend, Andrew and I along with a few friends went to the Long Island Fall Festival. I've gone every year for the last five. It's definitely an indication of summer's end, and it's a lot of fun. Festival food, rides, and craft vendors (that SADLY, I did not get to browse this year, since we went on Friday night before they arrived. But it's cool.)

Lauren, whose wedding is so soon and I'm so excited about it!
Babe.
Mozzarepa? So much yes.
(I don't even care that the Gothamist article decided to add "copious amounts of fat" to the ingredients. Shit's delicious.)
Fall favorite!

Matt!
Some friends we made while walking around the park.
So, autumn is officially here.
What are some of your fall traditions?
More of mine to come. (Note: Very craft heavy!)

What I ate

I can't resist chocolate chip cookies. Or any cookies, really. With a tall glass of milk, it's just the most perfect night time snack.

After a particularly blah day, I treated myself to sushi for one. I deserved it, and I felt super great afterward because I wasn't embarrassed or anxious to be eating by myself. I went to Hoshi in Stony Brook and ordered a crunchy spicy tuna roll and a Philadelphia roll. Both delicious, though next time I'm going to think outside of the bento box and order something completely new to me. Gotta keep expanding those horizons.
Because Andrew and I live together, and he's a star employee at the Whole Foods in our neck of the woods, I get a discount card! I went on a mini shopping trip the other night for some coconut oil and pumpkin seeds and such. Saw these babies sitting on the very top shelf of their section and brought them down to my cart. Fall is fast approaching, and I think these bars might become my healthy alternative to all of the pies and pumpkin cream cheese muffins and pumpkin breads that are going to start making their way to coffee shops (that is not to say that I won't be sampling all of those treats.. pumpkin time is the most wonderful time of the year). Delicious.
Another Whole Foods treasure is Guayaki yerba maté. I've been weaning myself off of caffeine, but yerba maté contains a naturally occurring, "clean" caffeine, so I figured it'd be okay to cheat a little bit with this. The bottled kind wakes me up, but for some reason these cans make me feel euphoric for at least an hour. Weird? Maybe. Awesome? Yes.

Okay check this out:
- 365 brand Oats & Flax instant oatmeal
- Fresh cut strawberries
- 1/2 tbsp. coconut oil
- Sliced almonds
- Sunflower kernels

I brought all of the ingredients to work with me and mixed em up at lunch. Definitely fueled me with enough energy to make it through the rest of the work day and then some. Super food!

I've found myself making open face tomato sandwiches for the past few days. I did this all the time when I was a kid because of Harriet the Spy. She really opened my eyes to a lot, but especially this great simple snack.

Rainy day dinner

I picked up a can of Trader Joe's organic vegan split pea soup just to have as a quick meal, but it turned out to be the best split pea soup I've ever had. Two thumbs way up.

trader joe's does thai

i'm a big fan of thai food, red curry chicken especially. to be honest, i haven't ventured much further into thai cuisine because i love red curry so much (paired with thai iced teas. heaven). i was reading ainsley's entry on trader joe's yellow curry and became so excited at the prospect of cooking my own thai inspired dinner that i took the 15 minute drive to trader joe's that day to get started. i guess it was obvious, but not to me, as i was surprised that they also make red curry sauce (which already uses coconut milk as an ingredient instead of adding it additionally, so i saved a buck). i also modified the recipe and added some chicken as i am carnivorous and i felt my dinner needed some protein. this is kind of how i did it:

peel and slice three small red potatoes, add about 3 oz. shredded carrots (eyeball it, it really just depends on how carrot-y you want your dinner), boil in a pot until cooked

transfer to a large saucepan and pour 1/2 bottle of red curry sauce over the mixture. stir and let simmer on low heat.

if you're feeling adventurous, add pineapple! i mixed about 2 tbsp. crushed pineapple to this for that authentic thai flavor.

it'll look like this!

in a separate pan, cook up some chicken if you want. i bought some thinly sliced chicken cutlets and cut them into smaller bite-sized pieces. once that's ready, pour some more sauce over the chicken to taste. then transfer to the carrot and potato pot.i'm now going to have to apologize for the half-assed job i did photographing this. upcoming entries are going to include real live digital photos, instead of using my iphone/instagram for documentation. but back to the recipe! i served my red curry chicken over trader joe's microwaveable brown rice. serves three, andrew and his mom both told me it was delicious :)

(the rice, for reference. photo from cooking with trader joe's. this stuff comes in handy for almost everything. stays in the freezer and it ready in 3 minutes. convenience!)

this was a delicious, adventurous recipe that i will definitely be making again. i even had some red curry sauce left over and threw it on top of some whole grain couscous and tofu for a quick, healthy dinner tonight. if you try it, i hope you enjoy it!