What I ate – Page 5 – Fervent Foodie

My Favs, What I ate

Well that was…. odd…

September 1, 2011 14 Comments

Tonight I pose an age old question.

If it looks like spaghetti and meatballs…

and smells like spaghetti and meatballs….

and twirls on your fork like spaghetti and meatballs…

does it TASTE like spaghetti and meatballs???

Hmmmmm……..

Tonight’s dinner was courtesy of 3 factors:

1.) Poor planning and insufficient food purchasing during my weekly grocery shopping trip.

2.) Insufficient time and energy to make a second grocery shopping trip.

and

3.) 3 random ingredients I happened to have on hand each of which was purchased (no doubt) during a hunger induced trip to the grocery store where lots of little odds and ends somehow ended up in my cart despite not being on my list and have since been sitting collecting dust (or freezer burn, as the case may be) in my kitchen.

So what’s a hungry gal to do?

Make spaghetti meatballs of course! Err… well sort of anyway.

I’m guessing most of you probably consider diced tomatoes to be a fairly normal pantry staple. I on the other hand LOATHE them (unless they are sufficiently masked in a recipe). So tonight when I dumped the can of diced tomatoes into the pot I seasoned it LIBERALLY with anything Italian-ish in hopes of covering up their weird tinny taste.

Then I popped six Trader Joes meatless meatballs into the sauce and let it all simmer away.

Next it was on to the Shirataki noodles. I first saw these on the Hungry Girl show on Food Network and have been anxious to try them ever since. Tofu noodles?? 40 calories for the whole bag??? How could you not be intrigued?

The instructions said to rinse the noodles, drain, then microwave, and pat dry. Easy enough! I followed each step diligently, and as I went to pop them into the microwave I caught a whif of this funky nose curling scent. I paused eyes scanning the room as I tried to determine what on earth had gone awry in my kitchen, and then I realized it was the noodles I was preparing to ingest. They smelled. Like garbage. No… Like rotting fish that had been sitting out in the sun for a few hours.

Do to the stench, I decided it’d be best to give the noodles an extra super thorough rinse. Funny how I was still more than willing to eat the noodles… I mean.. 40 calorie noodles, people! You gotta be willing to give a little with the take!

After nuking them in microwave for a minute I dried the crap out of them (and most of the stench) with a few paper towels.

I combined these 3 random ingredients on my plate, and VOILA!! I had spaghetti and meatballs! Or more appropriately named Tofu Noodle Substitute and Meatless Meatballs! Has a nice ring to it, eh?

Bet you’re wondering if it was any good huh??

Well this is what my plate looked like at the end of dinner:

Guess that pretty much sums it up! Clearly, the highlight of this meal was the meatless meatballs. They got pretty soft once cooked (but managed to still hold together). I might try baking them in the oven next time to see if they firm up at all. Regardless, I’d definitely give two thumbs up on the meatless meatballs!

And the noodles were… ehhhh.. It’s not that they tasted “bad” per se, but they had this really ODD texture. Really rubbery. I guess it just felt wrong in my mouth. Like my belly was saying “please, please, please for the love of all that is edible do not ingest those things!”

So I didn’t cuz when my belly talks, I sure as hell listen.

And now I think a cupcake is in order Winking smile

What I ate

My big fat weekend recap!

August 23, 2011 18 Comments

Brace yo selves. A whole heck of a lot went down this weekend!

Let’s rewind to the premature start of the weekend—Thursday evening’s Chow Down Uptown Food Truck Festival!

This was my second time hitting up the food trucks in Uptown Charlotte, and there were quite a few newbies!

As soon as I saw “meatball” on Clover Joe’s sign, I had to go for it. I’m a sucker for a good meatball Winking smile

Restaurants, What I ate

So simple, so tasty.

August 17, 2011 5 Comments

For as much as I like to go out to eat, and boy do I like to go out to eat, I too enjoy having a simple tasty meal at home. Tonight’s dinner was just that. So simple, so tasty. Since I talked myself out of running this morning (I guess I learned nothing from yesterday’s post), I wanted a quick and light dinner so that I could spend some quality time with my tenner shoes this evening.

After a quick fridge inventory, I decided a turkey wrap was the feature entre of the evening. 1 whole wheat Flat-out wrap, 4 ounces of Boars Head Turkey Breast, 2 tbsp Trader Joes creamy original hummus (MY FAV!!!!), some tomatoes, onions, and cucumber:

P.S. cucumbers are my new favorite vehicles for loading up with hummus. So friggin good… why did I not discover this combo sooner?!

I also had some lazy-gal’s cucumber salad on the side:

Since I go out to eat quite a bit on the weekends, during the week I shoot to eat as healthy as I can. The key for me is that “healthy” still has to equal tasty. If it ain’t tasty, I ain’t eatin!

It’s a wrap: 324 calories, 30g carbs, 9g fat, 39g protein, 13g fiber

As I sat on my balcony devouring this delicious dinner, I started thinking about how varied my meals are throughout any given week. Tonight I was feasting on a simple wrap—and Saturday night I feasted on French cuisine. Is it just me, or is it kind of crazy how much food there is to taste and experience in the world? It just kind of astounds me! I have problems. I know.

Speaking of that French Cuisine, Saturday night after Jamie, Vanessa, and I saw Harry Potter, we took a stroll over to Café Monte to get our grub on. I wonder how you say “grub” in French…? Grubeaux?

We had a bit of time to spare before our reservation, so we used a bit of it to oogle over the dessert case.

And then their expansive breakfast menu (must come back for breakfast soon).

Then headed to the bar for some cocktails because that’s what any self respecting lady does on Ladies Night Out.

Hello orange dress Smile

The restaurant was really cute inside and reminded me of some of the places I visited during the week I spent in Paris in college.

Speaking of that week, the one main thing I remember about Paris was how rude the people were and how much I hated the food. The only French word I’d learned was “poulet” (translates to chicken). So at every restaurant I visited I‘d scan the menu for poulet, then use the point and repeat technique to order my meals. Poulet. Poooooolettttttttt (insert rapid menu tapping here). No wonder the people hated me Winking smile

Luckily, the folks at Café Monte were very hospitable and also very knowledgeable about the menu items. Plus the menu was in English, so I didn’t have to search too hard to find the chicken dishes

Since I had a Living Social deal for the restaurant (Boo.Ya.), we decided to get crazy and order the cheese fondue for our appetizer:

Give me a loaf of bread, and I’m a very happy lady. Give me a loaf of bread AND a tub full of melty cheese and I may kiss you and beg to be your sugar mama. Do not be alarmed.

For our dinners, I went with the Chicken (poulet! pouuuletttttttt!) and Wild Mushroom crepes, Vanessa got some crazy looking fish dish (the Trout Amandine), and Jamie got the Lobster and Crab risotto:

I think we were all pretty happy with our meals. My crepes were really tasty, and I especially enjoyed the juiciness of the pulled chicken breast against the creamy madeira sauce. If the dish would of included sundried tomatoes it would have been a show stopper. That’s probably not very “french” though, huh?

After dinner, we decided it would only be proper to cap our night off with coffee and dessert. After nixing the desserts each of us weren’t feeling, we were left with the winner.

Carrot cake:

I’m not sure what carrot cake has to do with French Cuisine, but it was pretty darn delicious. Especially with the coffee!

On a side note, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter movie! There were some parts that were a bit cheesy and child like–but I had to keep reminding myself that these were SUPPOSED to be kids. Even though Harry had a 5 o’clock shadow and six pack abs and Ron and Hermione we making out every time they had five seconds to get a quick grope in these were the KIDS I’d been following for the past 10+ years… they’d just grown up a bit. *Sigh* … haven’t we all?

What I ate

He cooks as good as he looks.

August 1, 2011 15 Comments

What could be better than a home cooked meal?

Strike that. What could be better than a home cooked nutritionally well-balanced meal?

Correction: A home cooked nutritionally balanced meal for which your only task is to sip cabernet and take candid photos?

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m really really good at sipping cabernet 😉

OK… I lied. There’s one more task: to oogle over the chef’s giant cannons.

Is it just me, or does his head look small next to that thing?!

And not to brag (AGAIN), but this is what it looks like when the BF slices the veggies for our salads:

Yes… I’m serious.

If you are feeling SUPER nice, you could set the table. But it’s your call, really.

All tagether nah:

More eye candy for your viewing pleasure:

I LOVE beans on salads.

But I REALLY REALLY love pasta:

DSCF6914 \

And spicy chicken sausage:

DSCF6921

Any tomato sauce with cheesy noodly goodness:

Now, how do I convince him to get to work in the kitchen EVERY night?

Restaurants, What I ate

Time to eat your face off

July 4, 2011 13 Comments

I’m all for healthy eating, but I believe there’s a time and a place for eating a brownie the size of your face. Case in point: when your very first visitors come to your new town, you are obliged to eat your face off during the length of their stay.

So I ate. And I ate. And I ateeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

One of the added perks of having my first visitors was that it provided the swift kick in the butt I needed to get the rest of my crap unboxed from the big move.

The new home is FINALLY nice and clean and box free.

Never underestimate the joy a clutter-free home can bring Smile

Ok, so maybe it’s a little sparse… But you know, I actually prefer it that way. Less to clean, less to worry about, less things to absorb my energy.

And more room to just be.

I feel relaxed already. How about you?

One of the MANY foodie stops I made with my friends Tim and Jaci this weekend was Pike’s Old Fashioned Soda Shop.

Pike’s is tucked away in a little nook off of South Boulevard in South End Charlotte. The brightly colored umbrellas lining the patio, low strung lights, and old fashioned soda shop sign made me feel like I’d been transported back to the 1950s.

Once we walked inside, we realized Pike’s really lives up to being “old fashioned.” The walls were covered with old advertisements, the wait staff was incredibly friendly, and the faint smell of ice cream and homemade baked goods lingered throughout the entire place. Add to this a menu overflowing with dozens of old fashioned tasty treats, and I’m sure you can imagine the serious salvation that was going on in my mouth.

Jaci was a little bummed she didn’t bring her poodle skirt with her, but she and Tim were still able to force smiles for the picture Smile

It took us an exceptionally long time to order because each of us were going back and forth debating our decisions. Philly Cheese Steak? Onion Rings? How about the meatloaf? Ooohhh the homemade chili sounds really good. Blue cheese potato chips?!?

Tim went with an unpictured buffalo chicken sandwich—I snagged a bite of the crispy chicken on the sandwich and was a big fan of their buffalo sauce.

Jaci and I both decided on Burgers in Bowls. She created her own bowl with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and avocado:

I went with my new obsession (meat chili and coleslaw) and got the appropriately named Carolina Classic. It had a homemade meat chili, coleslaw, mustard, and onions:

This was pure heaven. I’m in love with this combination of the hot slightly sweet chili against the cool crunchy coleslaw. Pair that combo up with the smoky char of the fresh ground chuck and it’s a match made in heaven, I tell ya. I was never a fan of coleslaw until I moved to North Carolina and tried this combo for the first time. Now I cannot get enough!

Each of the three of us downed our meals with gusto. The waitress let out a little laugh when she came back to three near-sparkling empty plates. Full is an understatement, but we still felt obliged to try out one of Pike’s desserts. We took a quick peak into the dessert case, and even though the Key Lime Pie, cupcakes, and blueberry cobbler looked amazing, we were all drawn to the giant brownies on the top shelf. These brownies were large and in charge. Several inches thick and big enough to surely require two hands to eat. They looked just too darn good to pass up, so we agreed the hot fudge brownie bowl was the way to go:

I haven’t had REAL ice cream in AGES. I’ve found Charlotte to be a hard-core Frozen Yogurt town, and I’ve been searching high and low for some good old fashioned ice cream. This ice cream hit the spot—dense enough to eat with a fork, creamy, and perfectly sweet.

30 seconds later, we declared ourselves champions.

After our large lunch, we thought it would be nice to take a stroll in Freedom Park. A little sun, a little nature, and a little jump start on digestion Smile

This was my first time visiting Freedom Park, and I was pleasantly surprised by how large the park was and by how peaceful and serene it was. I can see myself coming here, sprawling out in the shade, and reading. Or napping. One of the two Smile

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