Things I'm Loving This Weekend

1. These Catfish tacos and pickled green tomatoes at Flying Fish. Yum!

2. Running downtown on Saturday with StarRunners. :-)
3. Farmer's Market. This week's delicious produce pick - figs! I never realized that they'd grow down here, but let me tell you, they are absolutely delicious!!!
4. Naps.
5. Chillin' by the pool.
6. Grabbing a slice at Whole Foods and snacking on Ben&Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie ice cream.

7. Crazy, Stupid, Love. Such a gooood movie!!! Steve Carrell seriously never fails to entertain (and can't complain about the dashing Ryan Gosling!). But seriously, I think it may be one of my new favorite movies.

 8. Just started reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I've been having trouble putting it down!

Recipe Time!

Ok, so here is the recipe for those AMAZING cookies I mentioned in my last post which I had made for the July b-day get-together we had at work. Unfortunately, it makes a big batch so there were extras... and they're irresistible. They would call to me from the cabinet when I got home from work. Honestly! The extra step of browning the butter is sooo worth it! It was a technique I had experimented with earlier when I made some blueberry muffins and it is incredible how much more buttery thing taste. Don't worry, browning butter made me nervous the first time too. If you keep a close eye on it though, you'll be fine. Trust me.

You should totally make these. Today.

 Coconut - Chocolate Chip Browned Butter Cookies
(recipe from joythebaker.com)
Makes ~3 dozen cookies (don't worry, they won't last long!)
Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and browned to about 3/4 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt (depending on how salty you like things)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/4 cup toasted coconut (I used unsweetened, but sweetened will work as well)

1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Spread out shredded coconut onto a cookie sheet and toast coconut for about 6 minutes, until browned and fragrant.  Remove from the oven, place in a small bowl and let cool.

2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  The butter will begin to foam. Once the foaming calms down, keep an eye on the butter.  The butter solids will begin to brown (and it'll start smelling absolutely delicious!).Once well browned, immediately remove the butter from the flame and place in a small bowl to stop the cooking. Allow to cool for a bit. 

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

4. In the bowl large bowl, measure granulated and brown sugar.  Add the brown butter and beat together, with a mixer on medium speed, for about 2 minutes. 

5. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  The mixture should be very smooth.  Add  vanilla extract and beat.

5. With mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients.  Beat until just incorporated.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to fold in the toasted coconut and chocolate chips.  This dough will be thick!

6. Spoon balls by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets (or freeze balls of dough for later use). 

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly soft in the center.  Remove from the oven.  Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Maybe I was just in the mood to bake this week. Or maybe I just love having muffins around. (They're so convenient for snacking!) So, I made these muffins adapted from a recipe I saw on the back of my bag of Bob's Red Mill ground flaxseed bag. 

Fiberlicious Muffins

(Adapted from a recipe by Bob's RedMill)

Makes ~16 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup flaxseed meal

3/4 cup white flour

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 c. shredded carrots

3/4 c. shredded coconut (mine happened to be sweetened)

1/2 c. raisins

3/4 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, mix the flours (white and wheat), flaxseed, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
2. Stir in carrots, raisins, and coconut.
3. In a small bowl, combine milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture everything is incorporated and moistened.
4. Spray muffin pan cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill cups 3/4 full with muffin dough. Then bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
I like to enjoy mine "as is" or heated just a bit in the microwave/toaster oven with a bit of peanut butter or jam. Yum! :-)

Off to running group this AM! Got to burn off those cookies, no?

Sweet Tooth

I dream of ice cream...

Sometimes I get a little nervous when I meet new people and they ask me what I do for a living. I'm afraid that word, "Dietitian" in many people's minds = 'one of those crazy people that always eats healthy and will totally judge me if I ever eat with them'. It's not true! Believe me! Yes, I do have to practice what I preach, but that does not mean I don't indulge in the good things in life every once in a while. Let me tell you, I love me a soft serve waffle cone with sprinkles, or a cupcake from Muddy's bakery, or a cheesy bean and rice burrito from Taco Bell. I just don't do it everyday.
You see, the real reason I'm telling you all this was to make a confession. I'm a dietitian and I have a sweet tooth. I mean it. Even when I was little I knew I had a problem. (Dad, I'm not sure I ever told you this... haha!) I used to sneak slices of Wonder bread (because to me as a little kid, "brown bread" was icky!) out of the pantry. Then, I would sprinkle sugar (that's right, sugar!) on top of that melt-in-your mouth slice of bread and tiptoe outside with to munch on it. In secret. Yep. That's how I catered to my sweet tooth as desserts were limited to me as a kid. We were only allowed to choose one dessert after dinner, but I was always complaining that I wanted more than just one dessert. So one night, my Dad decided he would let me eat as many desserts as I wanted. Of course, I indulged! I think ate at least 3 (maybe more!) desserts - ie. cookies, a popsicle, ice cream... That night though, I learned my lesson when I was rudely awakened by a nightmarish stomachache (and the subsequent loss of all my dessert goodies...)!  If only that would have cured me...

 Browned-butter chocolate chip coconut cookies = incredible!!

It has taken me a several years, and a few repeats of that night of overindulgence as a kid, but I may have finally learned a decent way to cope with my proclivity for sweets. I like to think of it as a sort of bank account. I choose to curb my sweet cravings throughout the week with fruit or chocolate milk which I keep around the house so that on the weekends, I can "cash in" on my dessert account and go big - like a bowl of ice cream with all the fixin's from YoLo or a decadent slice of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Corner just down the street. It's all about moderation, yo! The other key to keeping sweets out of my mouth, is simply not keeping them around the house. Especially cookies. They're dangerous. I would know.

Gazpacho: The Soup of Summer

After having such a uber-delicious first course of gazpacho and purple-pea hummus last week at McEwan's, Will and I have both had those dishes on our mind ever since! This weekend, Will wanted to recreate them... and recreate them we did! :-) And of course, we kept it just as local - using ingredients obtained from our very own Memphis Farmers' Market.
First, let's talk gazpacho. As usual, Will had all the logistics of soup/hummus creation under control. I just basically went along the ride, helping as was needed. In high school, I remember trying to make my own gazpacho one summer with little success, so I was happy he took over! The first step was to gather lots of peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and broil in the oven until nicely blackened.

Pepper Pile!

Next, Will "de-skinned" the peppers (while I worked on the hummus) and then pureed them in a food processor with some chopped onions, apple cider vinegar, salt, and fresh basil. Once everything was evenly blended and soupy, we poured it into bowls and topped with a basil flower-kissed round of goat cheese.  (Again, Will's idea!)

Gazpacho Close-up

Next up, the hummus. Will called it "Homeland Hummus" as it was his idea to totally remake a Middle-Eastern dish so that it would reflect only local ingredients of the South: black-eyed peas, peanut butter, and apple cider vinegar. We started with a pile of beans he had cooked up previously which were just reheated in a saucepan with a bit of baking soda (to break down the skins) and broth. Then, the warmed, now mushy beans were blended in the food processor with the other aforementioned ingredients, plus a bit of sea salt. Served up along-side our gazpacho with a few triangles of whole wheat pita and we had created a fabulous meal!

Our gazpacho and hummus definitely rivaled those at the fancy dinner we attended, but only better because this time around I have leftovers to enjoy the rest of the week! YUM!
Keep it cool y'all!

Queen of Clutz

Just like I've come to terms with the fact that I have big, unruly hair, I've also had to accept the fact that I am a bit of a clutz. Seriously. Some days I feel like the sidewalk, stairs, doors, and walls are out to get me. At first, I figured I'd grow out of it. I had a growth spurt in junior high where my newly developed long legs left me uncoordinated and unsteady on me feet. (Adding a set roller skates to the mix at "all-school skates" and you get the idea why I was never asked to "couple-skate"!). Surely, I would have learned by now how to be coordinated, but of course, no such luck. I'll always be a klutz. At one point in Cleveland I thought I may have to invest in knee and elbow pads I kept falling so much. For example, the very first time I went running with Charis, maybe one week after I had met her, I fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. Over the course of a year and half, I probably fell at least half a dozen more times and I've got the scars and wounded pride to prove it! Charis eventually learned to almost expect it on our runs. Haha. It gets worse when I'm nervous - like when I had to introduce myself to a room full of diabetes experts at this training conference we attended as interns and I knocked over my chair (twice!) in front of everyone!! Lol.

Milton!!

Now, for the real point of this lengthy background...! On Saturday, a funny (and albeit embarrassing!) thing happened while I was pet sitting. At the beginning of my shift I was handed a dog medium size dog named Milton. He was pretty chill, so I hadn't had to keep a real tight grip/eye on him while his owners shopped. Since I hadn't been there when his owners dropped him off, I didn't know what they looked like, but Milton was sure to recognize them! All of a sudden, as this young couple approached the tent, Milton jumps up, runs under the sign in table, and pulls me with him! Of course, since I was attached the other end of his leash and he passed under the table, I slammed into it and knocked the whole thing over! Coffee, dog biscuits, tips, and papers flew everywhere!!! Milton was totally oblivious to all the chaos he caused but his owners were definitely apologetic. Really, it was just me who was the embarrassed one! What a way to start my shift! Lol.
After the pet-sitting fiasco, I thought I had worked out all of my clumsy for the day... but no. As I was walking in front of my building, my sandal caught the edge of a heavy metal ring that encases these lights embedded in the sidewalk. I somehow managed to pull it out of it's hole and basically drop kick it. Owweee! I quickly glanced around, hoping no one saw me (I think I was in the clear!) and limped the rest of the way home. The top of my foot had a lovely goose-egg on it yesterday!
By now, I've come to expect to be embarrassed in front of others and to just get-up, brush off, and laugh at myself. If only my clutzy-ness wasn't quite so painful! Haha. The rest of my weekend was busy, busy, busy. That's a good thing though, I think! My running group had a get-together at the Celtic, which was a nice time to just chill on the patio with a cold brew. Today, Will and I attended a planning session for the Harvest Celebration, which is a big fundraiser for the farmer's market. It sounds like it is quite the shin-dig and as volunteers helping coordinate the event, we'll get in free. :-) The people that run the market are all super friendly and this seemed like a great opportunity to get to know them better. These days, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm starting to get my roots worked into the community - and making Memphis feel like home.

Not quite yet, but someday?!

Dinner in a Bowl!

Sometimes, I like to mix it up a bit - eating dinner on a plate all the time is just... boring. Sometimes, I'm just too tired and starved to make a divided protein + veggie+ starch meal. So, I end up eating many dinners like this one. Step one: open fridge. Step two: Randomly grab assorted leftovers. Step three: Throw random leftovers into a pan, saute with a little butter/oil, season, top with cheese (definitely a necessity!). Step four: devour! Here's what my fridge created the other evening.

Contents of this bowl...
-Sauteed zucchini
-Cooked corn off the cob
-Sauteed halved cherry or grape (is there a difference??) tomatoes
-Drained and rinsed black beans
-Salt and Peppa
-Shredded Cheese!!! (Seriously, no meal is complete without it.)

So delicious!
Afterwards, since I wasn't feeling quite satisfied (and I felt I needed to placate my sweet tooth!), I mixed up this:

-1 ripe peach
-1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
-Sprinkle of ground flax seed
-Dash of honey

Yum!! So, there you go. I admit that I am pretty lazy in the kitchen most of the week. It's just tough on days that I've worked all day and then gone to running group. By the time I get home, I'm about ready to either pass out on the couch or eat my arm I'm so hungry!! Haha. I just wish there was an easier way to convince my patients that healthy meals can be prepared at home quickly - the drive-thru is not the only solution!!

In other news, that aforementioned running group has been keeping me pretty sore (a good thing!). As some of the group walks during intervals, my friend Emily and I have been doing "drills" (ie. torture, haha). Drills consist of things things like jogging while picking your knees up as high as they go, or jogging backwards, or lunges, bunny hops, etc. Goodness! It's good though, that soreness reminds me I'm building muscle and getting a good work out!

I'm so happy it's Friday!!! I'm looking forward to some R&R!

The Distance From Farm... to Fork!

Well, the shorter the better I say! :-) Yesterday I indulged in my first ever 5 course meal. It was so incredibly delicious and filling, I think I am still trying to recover... Will's b-day is coming up on Thursday, so to start celebrating, I had made us reservations to this "Farm to Fork" dinner at McEwan's in town. These dinners are part of a series of meals geared towards making the most of the produce available at the market at that point in the season. Here's a bit of a recap of our dinner. (My terrible photography just doesn't do it justice!)
Course 1:

From right to left: Chilled gazpacho soup, sweet corn flan, and purple-hull pea hummus. (I so want to try to recreate the gazpacho and hummus at home! The flan, I'll leave to the pros... haha)
Course 2:

Heirloom tomato salad with balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, argula, watermelon, and basil sorbet (that's the little green ball at the top!). I still wish I could have had more of that sorbet. It was delightfully sweet, citrusy, and... refreshing!
Course 3:

Cornmeal crusted fried catfish with greens sauteed with spiced peaches. I loved the spicy-tangy-bitterness of the greens. Mmmm.
Course 4:

Flank steak over a chili infused creamy polenta. Confession time. I ate the majority of the steak. I know. I know. I'm a terrible vegetarian. But I just couldn't let this course go to waste! Plus, it met my criteria of being locally, humanely, hormone-freely raised. So, you'll let it slide this time... right?
Course 5:

My favorite part of any meal... dessert! Here, they had a roasted peach ice cream with local pecan homemade cookies. I'm starting to drool!

Of course I won't be doing any more 5 course dinners for a long time! Yet, it was a lovely time, fantastic food, and probably the most enjoyable way to support the Memphis Farmer's Market!

The Handsome Birthday Man!

10 Things I Did This Weekend

1.) Ate a fantastic salmon club (minus the bacon) at Side Street Grille. Sweet potato fries on the side. Yum!
2.) Watched Horrible Bosses. So hilarious! Definitely your typical-  guy friends doing dumb things and getting themselves in trouble - Hangover-style kind of movie.
3.) StarRunners at Overton Park. It was so much cooler to run along the shaded paths rather than the heated streets of Midtown.
4.) Memphis Farmers' Market of course. Shopping and pet-sitting as usual. :-)
5.) Bike ride with Will to Midtown and back to Overton Park. We went on a hunt for a stick to help hold up my tipsy basil plant.

Just takin' a break from biking with my new blue friend!

 6.) Homemade dinner - spiced pinto bean puree topped with stewed heirloom tomatoes and stewed corn. Yummy in my tummy! The super-nice family who run Mikmak Farms gave me a few heirlooms for free! So kind of them. :-)

So, so delicious!

7.) Chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake for two from The Cheese Cake Corner. A delightful little cafe just around the corner from me with some of the best late night dessert ever. 
8.) We checked out a new church in Cordova and ran into one of our coworkers. The people there were so incredibly friendly! It was nice to feel so welcome at such a large church. We might start going there more often.
9.) Shopping and a slice of scrumptious pizza at Whole Foods.
10.) Relaxing at home for the rest of the evening. Maybe making some granola tonight! :-)

Transplant

That's how one the girls in my running group described herself and her Memphis friends. This whole week I just keep thinking, "I really like that word". It is exactly how I feel. After my internship I uprooted myself from all that was familiar and totally transplanted myself here in the deep South... where I am still working on settling in my roots and learning and experiencing new things, like...
-Believe it or not, the cotton is still alive and thriving
-Vets will call me "ma'am".(Which feels so weird.) Plus, kids in school here are still expected to call respond to their teachers with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am".
-People can be very particular about their iced tea. If it's cloudy - it's no good. At least, that's what my patients are always complaining! Haha.
-Cornbread can seriously wreak havoc on a diabetic's blood sugar control...
-If it weren't for the AC in my apartment, at work, and in my care, I think I would have melted by now. Seriously.

Another reason I've been thinking about what it's like to live in/grow up in the South? I just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It's a bit of a thick novel (over 400 pages!) but it is definitely worth every sentence. The book is set in the 1960's in Jackson, MS and outlines the life stories of 3 women, one White, and 2 African American. They work together to write a novel (a novel about writing a novel?!) where the maids candidly share what it is like to work for the white women in their city - a potentially dangerous thing to do. So, I say, if you are looking for a good book to read before the summer is over? Check this one out. Do it. :-)

Out on a Limb

This has been kind of a crazy week! The reason for the craziness is this... I joined this running group called "StarRunners"! After lots of "hemming and hawing" I finally signed myself up and committed to running 5x's a week with everyone for the next 10 weeks. (I feel a bit like I'm back in cross country in college!) You see, here's the thing. I wasn't having much luck making many friends in any of the places I have found myself spending the majority of my time here in Memphis (ie. work, the farmer's market, etc). I also know that the people who I would like to hang out with and vice versa would likely share my interests... like running. (Go figure!) So, I bit the bullet, paid the training fee and joined the group, and guess what? I think I am making friends. :-) There are some really friendly people in the group and since I'll be spending a lot of time with them, I hope some may even last beyond the race, ie. the Cooper-Young 4-miler. The group also happens to offer training for the St. Jude half-marathon which happens in December, so I signed up for that as well! What have I gotten myself into! Haha. I think this will all be a good thing. It's made me get out, meet some new people, as well as give me a "hobby".
One of the entertaining parts of this whole thing is that we do 2 of the weekly runs at 6AM, which means I have to shower at work... It's not so bad. The nursing locker room is pretty secluded. However, the first day I showered one of the nurses came in and tentatively asked me, "Are you male or female?". WHAT?! Haha. I guess she was afraid one of the patients had wandered in to use the shower? Lol. Who knows.
Other things to note this week:
-I think I've created my favorite smoothie so far... banana peanut butter! (Maybe there's a reason I ended up in Memphis. Elvis and I have the same taste in food! Haha.)
-Running in 100 degree weather and 100% humidity is no joke.
-Have you ever found yourself in a "food jag"? I am totally in one right now. The food of choice? (don't laugh!) Hard-boiled eggs. lol. Maybe I haven't been getting enough protein in my life?
-Working on finishing the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett. So far, so good!!

Adventures in Eating Out: The Vegetarian vs. The Omnivore

I'll have my pizza with... meatballs?

So, I've been feeling a little guilty. I've been living in Memphis for about 7 months now and I have yet to hit up any legitimate BBQ restaurant yet... (and there are plenty to choose from!) Unfortunately, this means that Will hasn't really had the opportunity either (except for his top-secret trips to Tops, hehe). I give him a lot of props for never complaining when we split yet another veggie pizza, or one of the guys at the pool comes up to him at the grill to see what we're cooking to find an embarrassing lack of char-grilled carcass. A lot of times, it still works out though. When we don't split, he typically indulges in some carnitas. :-) A clever way he circumvented yet another meatless pizza meal this weekend was to order a side of meatballs - which I just felt that I had to share here! I think our waitress might have thought he was a little nutso, but he got his protein! This is the second time we had visited the Memphis Pizza Cafe and I've been pleased both visits. The extra thin crispy crust is great since it doesn't leave you feeling like you just carb-loaded like a marathon running the night before a race!

PS- In case you were wondering, those incriminating photos on F-book of me eating chicken (thanks Will! Haha) do not signal the end of my vegetarianism... only a one-time only detour for the sake of trying the "world's best fried chicken". :-) For now, I mean to continue to stick to my guns and fend for myself in the heart of BBQ country!

Blessings, Books, and Blueberries

Sometimes, I have to remind myself to stop and really appreciate the little things in life. Each a kind of blessing. Like...
-Getting a grande latte for the price of a tall because the barista put the drive-thru sticker on the wrong size cup or...
-A random couple handing over their extra unopened delicious batch of sticky buns while we were pet sitting at the farmer's market or...
-A neighbor holding to doors open for me as I navigate my bike outside. (Trust me, it's tricky!)
-Meeting honest, friendly people at this running group I joined or (as always) at the farmers' market. :-)

Last night, I finished the second book from my latest trip to the library - Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn. It wasn't quite what I had hoped but it was still enjoyable enough for a typical chick-lit kind of story where a girl is recently divorced/going through a mid-life crisis of sorts and must depend on her friends to help her get through and find new love. The best part of the book was seriously the end when she finally takes the time for some serious reflection and realizes that all her life she has been too quick to judge the people around her. This tendency leads her to lose some of her closest relationships,because you can't be happy unless you are willing to understand that people mess up and you have to be able to forgive. If I had to rate it, I'd probably give it 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

This weekend, I was in the mood to do a little baking and I had been really craving muffins. So, I went to joythebaker.com's blog and found this recipe for the most delicious blueberry muffins. Ever.

It's extra crumbly! But so delicious!

Brown Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins
(recipe from joythebaker.com)
Makes 12 scrumptious muffins!
Ingredients:
-7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
-1/3 cup whole milk
-1 large egg
-1 large egg yolk
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-2 cups fresh blueberries
For the Topping
-3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
-I also added about a tbsp of flax to the topping :-)
Directions:
1. Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.
3.Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.
4.Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl  Add milk and butter mixture all at once and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.
5.Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.
 6.To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

--

The whole 'browned butter' thing freaked me out at first, but I kept a close eye on it like she suggested and I think it turned out alright! I had mine with a cup of coffee and a banana before my running group yesterday. :-)

T.G.I.F!!

It's 10 AM on Friday and I'm... writing patient notes blogging! That's right! I've got the day off today and I am so loving it. I got to sleep in for the first time in what feels like ages. The best part of the weekend? I get to dive into this stack of books I scored at the library the other night! :-)

I already finished the little guy on top. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris is a cute little collection of short stories about animals. Kind of like children's stories but grown up a bit as the animals act as if they are functioning human adults dealing with problems in their marriage, or inter-species dating, or getting a miser as your secret Santa at Christmas (lol). I think one of my favorites is the one about a husband/wife duo of migrating warblers who complain about the locals as they vacation in Guatemala for the winter. None of the stories quite ends as I would predict, which made it a really fun little read!

So, you want to know what I learned to make at home this week? Iced coffee!!! One time I opened Will's fridge and saw that he had been keeping some coffee chilled in there. Ever since, I've been making a little extra in the morning and chilling it during the day. Then, I make one of these when I come home from work! So delicious!! Plus, it should save me a few bucks because indulging in Starbucks iced coffee frequently is a dangerous habit for my bank account!

Iced Coffee (to rival the stuff you get at Starbucks!):
-Toss a few ice cubes into a tall glass
-Fill glass halfway with chilled brewed coffee
-Add 2 tbsp(ish) Half-and-Half
-Add 1/4(ish) cup skim milk
-Add a few drops of honey and/or vanilla
-Sprinkle with cinnamon
Stir together well. Then kick off your shoes, settle down on your couch, and enjoy! :-)

Ode to Soy Sauce

I don't know how it happened. Maybe it was when Will made these sesame soy marinated eggplant slices one evening in Cleveland... but I am totally obsessed with marinating veggies with just a bit of soy sauce! It's just the perfect combination of deep flavor and saltiness that can make anything delicious! For dinner last night and this evening I had those same sesame soy marinated eggplant slices Will made based on a recipe by one of my fave cookbook writers, Mark Bittman.

That's the eggplant in the background :-)

Here's what I did to make these...
1.)Thickly slice a few (I did 4) small eggplants (peel them if they aren't totally firm)
2.)Spread the slices in a layer in a cookie sheet.
3.)Sprinkle with olive oil.
4.)Broil for 10ish minutes. Turning the slices over at around 5 minutes or so..
5.)While the eggplant cooks, mix together 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, minced garlic and pepper (You may have to double that for a bigger batch of eggplants).
6.)At 7 minutes or so, spread the soy-sesame marinade over the slices and let them finish broiling. (They should be pretty soft when they're done).
Enjoy!

BTW- This is basically the same kind of marinade I've used on broccoli with similar, tasty success!

--

Tonight I headed to the library and came home with another big pile of books! I didn't post a review this week, because the last I had picked up I just couldn't finish. :-/ This round promises to have a few winners though!!
Only one more day 'til the weekend! Since I worked the weekend/holiday I have Friday off. More than anything I am so excited to spend some quality time with my pillow. I can't seem to myself out of drowsiness fog I've been in. Now it's time to hit the books! Woot, woot!

Celebrating with a Bang!

To continue with our celebration of the 4th, Will and I headed over to a co-worker's house to enjoy some delicious grilled food and of course... fireworks! Kim and her husband went big and bought a ton of fireworks to set off after dinner. It reminded me of many summers in PA while growing up when my Dad would drive us over to Ohio to pick up some of our own firecrackers. :-) I think the little bit of a danger factor that comes with fireworks at home makes them much more exciting!

The 4th was also my holiday to work, so I spent half of the say at the VA. Which, I guess, is pretty appropriate! Serving our Vet's on the holiday!

This weekend I also tried out Kath Eat's Oatmeal in a Jar. I had been waiting to get to the bottom of my jar of almond butter just so I could have this for breakfast! Yum!

To the last dregs of almond butter in this jar I added my usual combo:
-1/2 cup oats
-1/4 cup yogurt
-1/4 skim milk
-A dash of honey
-A peach
-1/4 cup blueberries
"Fridge" it overnight, pull it out in the AM and enjoy! I so can't wait to finish my next jar of nut butter!!

Happy July 4th Weekend!

This weekend has been filled with so many of the things that make summer great...

• Farm fresh produce!

This week I stocked up on blueberries and... eggplants! :-)

• Hanging out poolside catching some rays while sipping on a Ghost River copperhead red...

• Taking the trolley downtown to watch a Redbirds game! Watching baseball = classic summer weekend activity!

• Ballpark munchies. :-)

BBQ Nachos for him. Veggie hotdog for me!

Fireworks!

-Ice Cream. Almost nothing is more satisfying on a steamy evening down South.

Rocky Road with cookie dough and oreos. Oh my!!

 Hope ya'll are enjoying the bests of summer as well!