Mary – Page 23 – Fervent Foodie

Oh goat cheese.

May 9, 2011 4 Comments

It’s funny—I feel like I’ve been running nonstop the past few weeks, but these feet haven’t seen my tennis shoes in nearly a month. I hate that. I hate that sometimes life scoops you up in a nonstop whirlwind and you just can’t seem to break free–even for a half an hour—to take care of yourself.

Today FINALLY I laced up my sneakers and spent some quality time with the elliptical and the (GASP!) treadmill. The treadmill and I aren’t exactly BFFs, but I’ve found that when I read a book or magazine when warming up and cooling down, the treadmill really does hit the spot.

In other fitness news, I signed up for a Y membership which I’m pretty excited about. I’ve been hearing all about BodyPump, so I’m pretty pumped (wink wink) to try it out myself.

The dinner I made tonight wasn’t very tasty (bummer). So, instead of sharing a plate o’ blah with you, I chose to share the AMAZING dinner I had this past Friday night. After work Friday, the BF told me to pick ANY restaurant I wanted for dinner.

Ummm ANY restaurant?!!

My Urbanspoon Charlotte wish list currently has nearly 60 restaurants on it.. and that’s not even factoring in the small restaurants that aren’t listed on the site! Needless to say, this isn’t the sort of opportunity I take lightly. After much research, I decided on Mama Ricottas!

Mama Ricottas

Pulling up to the restaurant, you might not expect much. It’s situated at the end of a shopping plaza at a slightly awkward nook in the road. They have abundant outdoor seating, but at 6pm on a Friday night we were pleasantly surprised to not have to wait for a table.

First, we were greeted with FREE BREAD! Free bread = happy lady Smile

This bread was served up with olive oil with red pepper flakes. I love spiciness, so I was a BIG FAN.

Even though bruschetta was featured as an appetizer on the menu (and we ALWAYS order bruschetta), we decided to step slightly out of or comfort zone and go with the Warm Goat Cheese and Mascarpone Dip with grilled crostini:

This dip was OUTRAGEOUSLY delicious. Insane. Unfathomable. I wanted to jump in there and curl up in the warm cheesy goodness.

I dare say this dip ALONE is worth the drive from Ohio to North Carolina.

For the entre, we split the individual Penne al a Vodka with grilled chicken. This was half of the individual portion, which was the PERFECT size after having the appetizer.

This too was FANTASTIC! The vodka sauce had a kick to it, which I really enjoyed. Note that the family size portions are HUGE and also a great deal (if you’re in the mood to feast)!

Unfortunately we were too full for dessert, but no worries. WE WILL BE BACK!

Now all I can think about is goat cheese. Oh goat cheese. <3 <3 <3

Recipes

Finally

May 3, 2011 6 Comments

Today (finally) for the first time in I can’t remember how long I took the time to make myself up something tasty for dinner.

After going through an absolutely horrendous move and experiencing 9 days of the absolute worst customer service experience of my life, I figured I could use a little red meat in my life. Am I right?

A Cooking Light recipe for Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Chive sauce caught my eye recently, and I decided to play off of this idea and make a grilled steak and onion wrap with some of this intriguing sauce.

I grilled up some hunks of red onion and popped them onto of of a Tumaro’s low carb tortilla with 1/2 a slice of Sargento’s pepper jack cheese:

Next up: Horseradish-Chive Sauce!

I scaled back the sauce a bit and combined the following in a petri dish Winking smile

2 tbsp fat free sour cream
2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp of spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp chopped chives
Sprinkle of lemon juice
Salt to taste

Once the sauce was done, I grilled up some thinly sliced steak, sliced up about 3 ounces of it, and added that to my wrap.

I rolled the wrap up and popped it back on the grill to melt the cheese through, and dinner was served!

With a delicious side salad of course!

This sauce was deeee-licious!

The box unpacking is moving along slowwwwly, so I foresee my meals being on the quicker lighter side. My jeans will thank me Smile

Stats on the steak wrap with 1/3 of the horseradish-chive sauce: 272 calories, 17 Carbs, 15g fat, 23g protein, 7g fiber

Ramblings

A room with a view

April 23, 2011 6 Comments

I made it to Charlotte!

And guess what?

The moving truck is coming Thursday.

The moving truck is coming Friday at 8am.

The moving truck is coming Saturday at 9am.

The moving truck is coming LATE Saturday or early Sunday am…. Are you freaking kidding ME?!?!?!

The moving truck is coming LATE Sunday or Monday. Devil

Oh dear.

Let’s focus on SOMETHING positive. I now have a room with a view:

Restaurants

Pizza Porn

April 14, 2011 10 Comments

1 week til moving day! Eeeekkkkk!

As such, my meals have consisted of a few simple things.

Eggs… Thoroughly documented Fervent Foodie staple.

Salad. Taco Salad, Veggie Salad, Tuna Salad, Cobb Salad, etc.

Apples.

Pizza.

Pizzzzzzza.

Pizzzzzzzzzzzza.

Speaking of pizza, I had the fam over for an extreme night of packing last night, and picked up some Pizza Bogo for dinner. Tuesdays and Wednesdays they have a special where you can get ANY large for $5.95. ANY large.

Pizza BOGO has toppings that will blow your plain cheese loving mind, I tell ya! We’re talkin GOURMET Pizza.

I painstakingly narrowed it down to four larges. Prepare yourself for impending pizza porn:

The Veggie Works

Banana Peppers, Red Onions, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Black Olives, Cheese & Tomatoes

The Meat Works

Smoked Ham, Beef, Pepperoni, & Italian Sausage

Meat lovers rejoice. This was DELICIOUS.

The Bombay

Curry Tandoori Sauce, Cheese, Spinach, Banana Peppers, Tomatoes, Tandoori Chicken & Scallions

I really wanted to love this one, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. My mom thought it was pretty tasty though. To each her own Smile

The Milano

Roasted Garlic Oil, Spinach, Seasoning, Roasted Garlic, Cheese, Roasted Red Peppers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Chicken Breast & Balsamic Glaze

This was my personal favorite…

I’m a sucker for balsamic glaze…

I can only imagine the google searches that are going to bring people to my blog now that I have a blog post that uses the words “porn” “meat” and “lovers” Surprised smile

Haha… oh welll. The pizza sure was good!

My Favs, Ramblings

You know, like Madonna?

April 13, 2011 5 Comments

It’s kind of odd, but I’m looking forward to not really having anything once I move.

A fresh start.

I’ve sold my couches, my TV, my desk, my trashcan, and my pants for god’s sake.

Every night I come home, and I sit in my empty living room (on a pillow of course, because I’m an old fart at heart), and I lean back against the wall and take in the silence and nothingness. It’s oddly refreshing.

Calm and nothingness.

You remember back in high school at the end of each summer you had the exciting opportunity to reinvent yourself before the new school year? You know, like Madonna?

My biggest change occurred the summer after freshman year. I left that high school in June 1999 wearing an oversized men’s plaid polo with a mismatched striped long sleeve T underneath, baggy jeans, and my blue Airwalks. A mere two months later, I returned clad head to frickin toe in American Eagle. I had decided I was done being a skater girl. And that’s ok. But the thing is, that’s the sort of decision that can only occur over a summer away from the analytical eyes of your peers. It’s not a mid-school year decision.

I feel like this is what I need right now in my life. A fresh start.

Somewhere along the line I started loading all this weight on myself. Things that needed done, ways I needed to act, performance goals I needed to obtain, and the worst of them all is the emotional stress I naturally internalize. I hate conflict. Despise it actually. Hence my apathy toward politics. When faced with conflict, my natural reaction is to dissuade it as quickly as possible. Even if that means internalizing my anger or my unhappiness. Better in than out.

And that is just, well, mentally exhausting! I naturally try to carry the burden so others don’t have to. Until I reach the point of explosion, that is.

I know, without a doubt, that I will miss my family. And I’ll be sad, and probably lonely! Not to mention a little scared. Even with knowing all of this, I’m just looking forward to being ME and being FREE.

I want love my job and be challenged to grow by it. I want to move around (literally) and walk EVERYWHERE until my feet hurt from the exploration. I want to go to farmers markets, and eat clean delicious food, and cook my heart out, and do whatever sounds fun at the moment. Step outside my comfort zone. Learn more about ME.

You know, like Madonna 🙂

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