%%tags%% * Fervent Foodie

‘Twas my birthday.

Posted on Jul 13, 2011 | 15 comments

A few nights ago, the BF and I were discussing my upcoming birthday, and we realized that neither of us were quite sure how old I was going to be. Apparently, he bases his age off of how old I am, which I attribute to his burning desire to draw frequent attention to the fact that I am six months his senior and thus a cradle robbing cougar. Rawwwrrrrrrrrr! Cat face

Anyway… after several rounds of bantering back and forth, we came to an agreement.

I was officially turning 27.

Twenty-seven years ripe.

Twenty-seven years seasoned.

Twenty-seven years matured, if you will.

I’m pretty sure you’re officially “old” when you can’t remember how old you actually are.

So there I was, about to turn 27, in a new city, with no one to keep me company but a crappy (albeit tasty) tuna sandwich and a crap load of work to get done.

As fabulous as this sounded, I decided to be proactive with my Ladies who Lunch goal, and invite a few ladies in the area to lunch. Was it a longshot to invite a bunch of ladies I barely know to have lunch with me on my birthday? Perhaps. Was it awkward to put myself out there? Slightly. Did I send that email anyway? You’re darn tootin I did!

One short email followed by four quick responses and I was headed to Savor Café and Catering to have lunch with four fabulous blogging ladies: Jamie (Bibliophiled Away), Vanessa (Life Undeveloped), Julie (Willow Bird Baking), and Katie (Sweet Tater Blog).

I don’t know what came over me, but I hardly took any pictures during lunch! All I can say is the interior of Savor was eclectic and slightly rustic. The restaurant was small and cozy, with super tall ceilings, and exposed brick walls. Lucky for us we got there before the lunch rush because that line was out the door!

For those who were curious, yesterday’s post about the best birthday present ever came from Jamie. Seriously, how perfect?!

What’s not perfect is how much my hair hates NC weather! Also, thanks Vanessa for the pic!

Savor had quite a few options on the menu that sounded worthy of a birthday lunch, but since I had plans to end my big day with an Italian feast I decided to stick with the Savor Salad. It had mixed greens, tomatoes, carrots, chickpeas, and cucumbers plus some tasty grilled chicken on top:

The balsamic vinaigrette was so thick, I literally had to slather it on my salad. It was fabulous.

The ladies: Julie (Willow Bird Baking), Vanessa (Life Undeveloped), Katie (Sweet Tater Blog), MOI!, and Jamie (Bibliophiled Away).

When I got back to work, I had a little surprise waiting:

A birthday treat from the mama Smile

P.S., chocolate covered apples are AMAZING. Who knew?!

My mailman also brought me a card from my dad Smile

Like father, like daughter? Perhaps.

And my friend Tracy sent me a big ass tub of Frank’s Red Hot:

You may be wondering what the heck I am going to do with 756 servings of Frank’s Red Hot. To that I say don’t you worry Smile

< Insert 6 or so more hours of work here >

And it was time for dinna with the Man Candy Open-mouthed smile

We haven’t had an Italian dinner in quite a while, so my pick of the evening was Villa Antonio in Ballantyne.

I was so surprised by how fancy schmancy the restaurant was.

Even though the restaurant was very formal, it was by no means uninviting. Jarrod and I perused the menu, and were brought *free* bruschetta to munch on while we decided.

At this point I was pretty much in love with the place. Who doesn’t love free?!

Once we ordered, we were brought *ahem* *FREE* house bread and dipping oil:

Did I mention I love this place?

I wish every meal started off with two courses of bread Winking smile

While I sipped on a glass of Banfi Col di Sasso (a Sangiovese/Cabernet blend), we dug into our sausage and pepper appetizer:

Everything about this dish was perfect. The sausage was slightly spicy, the marinara sauce was deep and garlicky, the roasted peppers were sweet, and the cheese was melty heaven. This alone could have been a delicious entre… but ‘twas my birthday, so we certainly did not stop there!

After the appetizer, we were brought *FREE!!!!* lemon sorbetto to cleanse the palate. At this point I audibly exclaimed “I LOVE THIS PLACE!”. I can be slightly embarrassing when it comes to food.

For the entre, we decided to split a chicken and gnocchi dish. Half of the entre was the PERFECT serving size:

The chicken was layered with garlic, pomodoro, goat cheese, spinach, and mozzarella. And as if that weren’t enough cheesy goodness, the gnocchi was covered in a creamy gorgonzola sauce.

Absolutely divine.

Surmounted only by this large slice of chocolate peanut butter cake that followed:

Two happy diners:

Thanks everyone for the b-day wishes!

Digg Digg

Run and done(ish)

Posted on Jun 28, 2011 | 5 comments

The low down: This week marks week four of my self-proclaimed Kick the Knee Pain running program. I started off this new program with intervals of 2 minutes walking 1 minute running, and each day I run I bump my run interval time up by 1 minute. Sunday I completed 3 intervals of 8 minutes running and 1 minute walking.

Status: Other than some mild tightness in my knees, I haven’t had any knee issues so far!

Contributing “Success” Factors:

Buying new running shoes BEFORE starting to run.
Running primarily on softer surfaces (trails, paths, etc.)
NOT running every day and giving my knees a chance to recuperate
Being conscious of my natural tendency to heel-strike and focusing on NOT
Strength training. Building up the muscles in my legs and my core supposedly takes stress of the knees.

Conclusion: Boo ya.

*Note that stretching is not on the list above… feel free to leave angry comments about the importance of stretching. Maybe that will get it through my stubborn brain.

Short-Term Goal: Be at 30-minute running only intervals (i.e., no walking) with no knee pain by August 15th.

And now on to more exciting things… like this lovely tuna wrap I had for dinner Smile

Isn’t it perdy? This was a quick hodgpodge I threw together after work and consisted of:

1 can chunk tuna in water, drained
1 tbsp light HELMANS mayo (none of that miracle whip crap )
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 small dill pickle, chopped
Handful of romaine lettuce
Handful of grape tomatoes
S&P
Dried Dill
1 light Italian Flat-out wrap

This made for one gynormous wrap, that I basically inhaled. Along with some cucumber salad:

This should be called the Lazy Girl Salad. It consisted of 1 sliced cucumber, some white vinegar, and some dried dill. Easy peasy!

Tomorrow is Wednesday! And for the 92nd week in a row, I’m going to attempt to NOT forget it’s What-I-Ate-Wednesday. I even put a reminder in my phone Smile

Question of the evening: How do we feel about my giant head on the right hand side of the page?

Nix

Posted on Jun 16, 2011 | 1 comment

The first time I saw Nix, I got the vibe that it was some crazy heavy metal bar. A biker bar perhaps. Well, at least a place where short skirts and sleazy guys might hang out.

I mean, they DO have FLAMES in their logo:

Friday eats

Posted on Feb 4, 2011 | 4 comments

Sooooooo… it has been FOR-EV-ER since I last posted about workday breakfast-breakfast-lunch. I guess I just got bored posting about the same things over and over again. But today, I figured what the heck. It’s Friday. Let’s do this.

Breakfast #1

Mary’s oh-so-special eggs!

I absolutely adore this B#1 every day! Sausage, eggs, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic? Come on!

Don’t forget the dollop of ketchup of course

Stats on 1 Servings of my Special Eggs (sans ketchup): 189 Calories, 9g carbs, 9g fat, 23g protein, 1g fiber

Breakfast #2

Oatmeal!

I was in the grocery store the other day and ALMOST bought some strawberries so I could make overnight oats… But it’s so stinkin cold outside that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Man I miss them So for today, it was standard microwaved quick oats with cinnamon and brown sugar… maybe my OO’s will make a return next week!

Stats on 1 Servings of oats: 165 Calories, 31g carbs, 3g fat, 5g protein, 4g fiber

Lunch

And that brings us to LUNCH. Mini cheesy meat loaf and a yumlicious side salad with Newman’s Light balsamic dressing:

Maybe it’s a midwest thing….. but I seriously adore meatloaf.

It’s comforting.

It’s meaty.

It brings me unfettered joy.

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Stats on 1 mini cheesy meatloaf: 350 calories, 19g carbs, 17g fat (red meat, folks), 29g protein, 1g fiber

So what’s on everyone’s agenda this weekend? Here’s what I’ll be up to:

Eyebrow wax this evening (fun Friday night activity, no?)
Clean.my.house. Seriously. I’m living in filth.
Work.
Get some of my friends and family tax returns done… oh the joys of being a tax accountant
Buy the BF a bday present… I’m thinking outlet mall!
Possibly venturing out on a Luna Bar quest. Must find the new flavors STAT!
Super Bowl of course! Bring on the cheese!

10-Minute Taco Salad for One

Posted on Jan 7, 2011 | 3 comments

When I was a kid, there were a few dinners that I got off the charts excited about. Spaghetti, Meatloaf, Stuffed Cabbages, Steaaaaaak, anything involving potatoes, Paella, Hamburgers, Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese… ok maybe there were more than a few…. But one of the ULTIMATES was Taco Salad Night. Just thinking about it makes my tummy rumble!

Last night, in anticipation of my very own Taco Salad Night, I pulled 4 ounces of 93% fat free turkey breast from the freezer to defrost. I swear, freezing individually portioned meats (and meals) never ceases to bring me joy!

Four ounces of love:

All I could think about ALL DAY at work was TACO SALAD! I’m talking a serious unable-to-computate-numbers craving. I could barely make it til 5. Thankfully, my tasty taco salad for one cooks up in ten minutes flat—sooooo, I didn’t have too long to wait once I finally arrived at home.

Feast yo’ eyes!

First up, I seasoned the defrosted turkey breast up with a little salt and pepper and cooked in a sauté pan until no longer pink. Then I sprinkled on 1 tbsp of McCormick’s taco seasoning blend and a 1/4 cup a water, reduced the heat, and let the turkey simmer away until the liquid thickened.

Meanwhile, I put 1/2 a bag of romaine lettuce on a plate and topped with some chopped tomato, onion, banana peppers, 2 tbsp fat free sour cream, and the secret ingredient: 10 smashed up baked nacho cheese Doritos.

10 minutes to tasty!