soundZtastee

Moving Time

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Morning-

I finally made the switch over to wordpress last night so check out the site in its new home!

http://soundztastee.wordpress.com/

Still working out kinks but it should be fully functional by the end of the week.

xoxo,

Nicole

Baked polenta

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:48:00 +0000

Unfortunately not everyone made it out so well, my CSA farm was completely under water after the wrath of Irene.

Before:

Fortunately everyone made it through the storm unharmed as did a good amount of the harvest. Unfortunately, today the FDA ruled that any produce under flood waters could not be sold or consumed-so no more deliveries for the remainder of the summer/fall. Of course this is a major bummer, I love fall vegetables and was dreaming off new creations. However, that's the great thing about Community Share Agriculture and supporting our local family farmers. Despite this major set back which could have bankrupted any other farmer, we know that ours will be slightly better off thanks to our promised financial support.

On to tonight's dinner-baked butternut squash.

I think this one toped Sunday's dinner of baked butternut squash pasta.

Yield 2

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup cornmeal
~1/2 butternut squash puree
1/8 cup shredded parmesan cheese
a dash of cream
1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 350*

Bring broth to a boil, once boiling immediately add in cornmeal and vigorously mix with a whisk. Once boiling resumes, turn to a simmer and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes or until thick. Add in pureed squash, splash of cream, and parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly and finally add baking powder. You can also leave out baking powder and enjoy as a creamy polenta.

Grease 2 ramekins and add polenta mix. Bake to desired consistency, for me about 10 minutes.

I allowed to cool, added vegetables, and an over easy egg-my go to lately.

Oh so good!!

Later,

Nicole

Baked Butternut Squash Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:49:00 +0000

In the end the storm didn't do too much damage to NYC. In my area there were a few branches down, some residual water, but otherwise, not so bad.

In Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs there was lots of flooding and a tornado watch. My grandmother is without electricity at her house as is my uncle and his family.

Last night I fell asleep around 1 am, too much energy thanks to all the news coverage. We also had a tornado warning until 5 am and I was debating if I should sleep in my room or in the hall. In the end I passed out in my bed after to speaking to Matt who is currently in sunny California. 5 short hours later I was abruptly woken up by the fire alarm in my building. My roommate rushed out of our apartment to see if neighbors were evacuating, no one. We debated going downstairs but given no notice on the intercom system we went back to bed. Just a short while later the alarm when off again, but no word from our apartment and it didn't seem so bad outside. Once more I tried to fall asleep but then my phone start buzzing like crazy with everyone checking up on me. I gave up on sleep and grabbed breakfast.

The rest of the morning and afternoon were spent reading, once I was able to pull myself away from my book I decided to walk around. There were so many people up and about. Apart from a bit of rain it was so refreshing outside. Clean, crisp air, and with only a few cars driving about it was pretty quiet.

With the cooler weather, and maybe ready for this dreary August to be over (17 inches of rain fell this month, that's a record breaking number!), I had fall on the mind. Fall to me means all things pumpkin or squash, hayrides, and apple picking. Mmm, maybe I'm not so ready for the last two, but I'm ready to bring on the winter vegetables!

Thanks to my resourcefulness :) -I have plenty of winter squash in the freezer. I pulled out some butternut squash and thawed in the microwave. 5 minutes on high, stirred, cooked for 1 more minute. Now what to do with it...

Tonight, it was a Baked Butternut Squash Pasta

Ingredients:

-6 oz of winter/butternut squash (mine was pureed from last summer, can also find frozen at the grocery store)

-serving of pasta (whatever kind you would like, I used linguine because it's what I had on hand-macaroni would do well with this dish)

-tablespoon olive oil

-1/4 cup of onion

-1 garlic clove

-1 tablespoon of cream

-vegetable stock

-1/8 cup of parmesan cheese (I think, sorry I didn't really measure)

-breadcrumbs to sprinkle before placing into the oven

Heat oven to 350*. Boil water and cook pasta according to package. Meanwhile, in a frying pan with medium heat add oil, once hot throw in garlic and onion and cook until tender.

Throw in the squash and cook for another minute stirring occasionally. Add cream (could also use plain greek yogurt), and vegetable stock until it reaches your desired consistency. I added a couple of tablespoons. I wanted to keep the sauce thick but spreadable-if that makes sense. Take away from heat and add cheese, stir thoroughly.

Drain pasta and add it to the frying pan. Again mix everything together. Grease a ramekin and transfer pasta and squash mixture. Sprinkle with a bit of seasoned breadcrumbs and a bit more cheese.

Place into 350* oven for 7-10 minutes, then switch to broiler for 1-2 minutes to get nice and crisp on top.

I will be making this dish lots this fall. An easy dish for 1 person and can easily be modified for a larger group. To me it also just screamed fall, just what I wanted. The only thing missing was a pumpkin ale. Note to self, keep an eye out for pumpkin beer!

Night,

Nicole

PS-Kinda wish I had cable tonight. Everyone on facebook switched from discussing the hurricane to talking about the MTV VMA's. My mom had to be the one to tell me that Beyonce is pregnant, now that's just sad.

PPS-My mom is watching because my teenage sister is watching and she's in the room.

Not Your Momma's Home Fries

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:17:00 +0000

Given a sweet potato I usually cut it up into wedges and pop under the broil for a quick "french fry." But with a bit more time on my hands and no where to go thanks to the weather, I decided to make home-fries but using a sweet potato to kick up the nutritional value.

Not Your Momma's home fries

Yield: 1 large serving, 2 small

1 sweet potato cut into small cubes

1 bell pepper (I used a lilac pepper)

1/2 of a small onion

clove of garlic

oliver oil to coat pan

-Heat oil in pan, add potatoes (they will take the longest to cook).

-Once potatoes begin to soften, stir occasionally, add the remaining ingredients.

-Cook until crisp.

-Transfer to plate and paper towel to drain excess oil.

Viola! I ate up my potatoes with an over easy egg, yum.

Time for some more reading-at the moment it's been mostly for pleasure. Currently reading Cutting for Stone, I highly recommend, it's very engaging and the writing is phenomenal

Catch ya later,

Nicole

The calm before the storm

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Madison and 5th ave looked a bit different this morning:

As of 5:45 am yesterday morning I was packing my bag and preparing to leave the city fearing for the worst. More than 24 hours later I'm still in NYC. My gut told me to stay-and one should go with his/her gut feeling, right? Well I'm prepared for the worst-have my batteries, flashlight, water, dry food, etc.; but still hoping for the best!

I also plan to make use of a weekend stuck inside by reading lots and beginning grant/fellowship proposals. Sounds fun right!?!

I began the morning with a nice iced coffee and stretched my legs by taking a little walk/run to and through Central Park (yay my knee is finally on the road to recovery!!).

Came home did a little bodyrock and finished off with a brief pilates session for a nice stretch.

Had a nice simple lunch-burrito and asian coleslaw:

I had intended to also roast some vegetables for dinner but couldn't avoid my sweet tooth so instead of healthy vegetables (which I will still cook later) I wiped up a batch of cake batter blondies-but what else is a girl to do when stuck inside? Well I guess there is work...

Stay dry and safe,

Nicole

Fail

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:23:00 +0000

The plan this weekend was to catch up some blogging but then on the cab ride to the bus station to catch a ride to Philly I realized I left my laptop charger on my bed. So much for trying to get some much needed reading done this weekend. Then on top of it my camera's batteries died. Fail!!

Oh well, better late than never.

Thursday night I had dinner with Matt, the last for a month. He left for California on Saturday for another medical school rotation.

We made use of my CSA lime basal (this stuff is amazing, smells just like lime), peppers, and a few other ingredients picked up for the market and threw together a Thai inspired clams dish.

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 small onion (or in my case half of a very large onion)

-2 tablespoons minced ginger

-1 bell pepper

-crushed pepper, add to your liking

-1 16 oz can light coconut milk

-1 cup dry white wine

- 1-2 pounds of clams

-juice of 1 lime

-handful of basal

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan. One oil is hot add garlic, onion, ginger, bell pepper, and crushed pepper. Cook until limp, about 3 minutes. Add in coconut milk and wine, stir, bring to a boil. Add clams and cook an additional 3-5 minutes (clams should be open at this point if not cook for 1-2 minutes longer). Add lime and basal and stir.

Serve on top of a bed of rice.

Later,

Nicole

Sunday Eats

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:15:00 +0000

I was dragging most of Sunday and the rain did not help at all.

I started off my morning with a filling bowl of oatmeal. It's been sometime since I've had oatmeal but the dreary weather had me craving a large bowl.

Lunch consisted of pizza and a salad

went back for the other half.

After some writing I was craving something sweet and decided to whip a batch of skinny cookies from Carrots'N'Cake.

I then finished cooking for the dinner I was suppose to be hosting at Ryan's house.

Again the menu was inspired by my CSA goodies for the week. Lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant resulted in a Greek inspired dinner.

First corse-cheese plate, grapes, etc.

Main-Baba Ghanoush ,

Greek Salad,

and Roasted Seafood Orzo-inspired by this recipe.

For dessert I attempted this dimply plum cake with peach sorbet. Oddly my plums sunk to the bottom of the dish-weird.

I had very little appetite last night and was just overall exhausted. I ended up eating only a few grapes, a small portion of dinner along with a glass of wine, and skipped dessert all together. Maybe it was my larger lunch? And again my workouts have been pretty tame the last 3 weeks so I guess my appetite has really died. I'm pretty okay with that and am wondering if I want to go back to such intense workouts once my knee improves. I really like the idea of short intense workouts as inspired by BodyRock.tv with a couple of days of longer cardio thrown in the mix. Mmm, we shall see...

Later,

Nicole

Brooklyn Flea

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Hey Bloggies,

This weekend Amanda paid a visit to New York and during her visit I dragged her to Brooklyn to experience the Brooklyn Flea. Destination #1 was Williamsburg for their Smorgasburg.

There was so many options but once I saw some with a pupusa I basically ran for that tent.

Amanda and I shared a platter. I had a spinach pupusa and she had the traditional with pork. Loaded on top with pickled cabbage, jalapeno peppers, the works.

We walked around the waterfront a bit, mostly to find a bathroom...

and then we were back for round 2, I was looking for something sweet and while there were several options I listened to my stomach which was content and instead had a sip of Amanda's float.

It was the "Sink the Pink" which consisted of watermelon, ginger, mint and lemon sorbet. It was different, not sure if it was my favorite thing in the world.

After getting our fill we headed over to Fort Green for the traditional market and did a lot of browsing but saved our money and left without a purchase. Well we both ended up buying a passionfruit mint limeade that was ridiculously delicious. I wish he cup was never ending!

Such a fun way to spend a Saturday!

Nicole

This week in food

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:07:00 +0000

Sunday, zuchinni fritters with dill dipping sauce:

Monday, dinner with Ena. On the menu...eh something mexican inspired? My CSA last week consisted of tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, and such so it was definitely a mexican kind of week. For Ena's dinner I decided on mexican mushroom burgers with saffron rice on the side. But silly me forgot to snap a photo of the final product :(

As a result the cooking steps will have to suffice.

Attempt #1 at making salsa verde for the week = an incredibly watery salsa. Forgot I should have only added a cup of water instead of two as the recipe called for :(

Attempt at making saffron rice. Faired slight better here but think the rice could have still been a little more flavorful, need to find a better recipe.

Added some roasted zucchini to pump of the vegetable volume.

The end result equals yellow rice thanks to the turmeric but maybe I needed more saffron?

The queso came out pretty amazing though. Made use of this recipe except I used plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

Tuesday night = fish tacos with Matt. No complaints about this meal, everything was delicious! However, I once again forgot to photograph the final product, I guess I'm just too excited or hungry to eat :/

For the fish we used flounder and then topped with coleslaw.

For the slaw:

1/2 head of cabbage finely chopped

1/2-1 whole avocado

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 jalapeno pepper

5 tablespoons lime juice

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Also attempted salsa verde again, much better this time around, though it still could have been a little less watery. I guess that depends on your salsa preference.

Wednesday=John's Pizza on Bleeker with Susan and Dana. Can't believe I've lived in New York for so long and I've never been! Pizza for me is basically a no no due my recent tomato allergy development but I couldn't resist trying out the famous establishment, so I popped in 2 Benadryl and indulged. So glad I did, by far some of the best pizza I've ever ate!!

That's it for now...but how is it only Thursday? This week is going by so slowly...though not exactly wanting to rush August along so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

Laterz,

Nicole

The Bad Samaritan

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Hey bloggies,

It is a sad state our world is in and it both angers and saddens me. Forgetting about the financial crises our own country faces and it’s potential implications I’ve come across dozens of other news stories this week that just make my skin crawl.

Somali is facing one of it’s worst famines and only made worse in areas ruled by the Islamist group al-Shabab who banned all foreign aid until about a month ago just to replace the ban upon word that the UN referred to the crises as a famine rather than simply a drought. Right, because it’s not clear to the rest of the world that when people can’t grow food as a result of a drought that famine won’t follow, not to mention the hundreds of pictures of the emaciated bodies.

And talk about corrupt governing, the group requires any charity group willing to set up a feeding center pay a project fee ranging from 4000-10000 USD.

The second story this morning was that of the Bad Samaritan, in reference to the riots in London. Check out the video here of boys seemingly willing to help out an injured young man to turn around and rob him, absolutely disgusting!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14487982

We can come back from all of this right? There are still good people left in this world right? Who are not just about the next paycheck, the newest fashions, etc? London officials blame social media and increased commercialism for all of their problems, do you agree?

Back later for regular posting,

Nicole

5 minute vegan chocolate cake

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Last week I came across this recipe for a 5 minute microwaved chocolate cake. A way to satisfy my sweet tooth in 5 minutes, I'm down! But...I wanted a cake with my own little twist.

A 5 minute guilt free cake.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (regular flour will do)
2 tbsp sugar (or agave)
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 mashed banana (or another egg replacer such as flaxseed egg)
3 tbsp almond milk
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
A pinch of salt
1/2 vanilla bean (can also use vanilla extract)

For 2 smaller cakes divid ingredients into two separate mugs, mix and microwave for 2 minutes on high. For 1 larger cake mix all ingredients into a mug or small bowl and microwave 2 minutes for a molten cake (will have drippy chocolate in the middle and bottom) or extra 30 seconds for a firmer cake.

My egg substitute...also added some chia seeds.

I also added sprinkles to mine for some fun.

Yummy...thanks Nags for an awesome cake!!

Nicole

Laid back weekend

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:09:00 +0000

Hey Bloggies,

Hope you're having a great weekend! Mine has been pretty chill, thanks impart to the rain which has kept me inside. I had planned on attending the Friendly Fires concert in Central Park this afternoon, but waiting in line for 2+ hours to end up standing in the rain, well, it just doesn't sound as fun as it did in the past. And I have experienced quite a few events in the rain.

Friday night I met up with friends for the Ra Ra Riot concert in Prospect Park.

I really enjoyed the first band, Buke and Gass. Gass referring to their unique self made instrument which is a combination of Bass and Guitar-very cool.

Funny faces during intermission.

For the most part I enjoyed Ra Ra Riot's set, great instrumentals and I love the lead's vocals. That said it was a bit too long (I know that's not usually a complaint) but I think there were some songs they could have left out which were added to extend. As a result there were a few slow moments and songs that sounded somewhat the same.

After the show we headed to Union Hall, but unfortunately as soon as we arrived I was overcome with the need to sleep. I hung out until 12 and then called it a night...still had to commute back to Manhattan.

Saturday I slept in, headed to lab for a bit, read, worked out briefly, and then headed across town to meet Sarah and her boyfriend Tim. Tim frequently reads the blog, hi Tim!

We met up at Kashkaval for an early dinner so the two could make their Broadway show. This was the 4th or 5th time I've been to Kashkaval but it's alway pretty dark so this was the first time I've been able to photograph my eats.

We went with their Melbec (which I think is my favorite wine ever!) a tapas plate and a turkey meatball plate.

With evening rain I decided not to head back to Brooklyn for the Ailey 2 dance performance and instead wandered around Borders at the Time Warner center, they were having their going out of business sale :(, and then stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few items.

Ok back to reading, attempt at some writing and maybe lab? Again it's been a laid back weekend but after the last 7 weeks of go go go it's nice to hang around the apartment.

Catch ya later,

Nicole

Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:10:00 +0000

What better day than Friday for a random post.

1. Did anyone watch the first episode of season 4 of Jersey Shore? Better yet has anyone watched The Situation's workout video? It's available on Netflix for instant watch.

I do say watch rather than do because it's not a good video, but a good laugh if you're looking for one. The man spends more time running his mouth than working out, and is form is way off on many exercises which is more likely to lead to an injury than the development of your own "situation."

2. I'm excited for Kayne West and Jay-Z's collaboration record, it's going to be monumental!

3. Knee update: I've been keeping it pretty easy with lots of walking, pilates, stretching, and upperbody weights only. I also started to ease into low intensity workouts on the elliptical. I think I can handle another week off but I really miss my spin classes.

Any big plans for this weekend?

Nicole

Purple

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Post title alternatively called "Things that taste yummy but don't look so pretty."

At this week's CSA there was once again lots of color but with purple basal, lilac peppers, and eggplant, the color of the week was undoubtably purple!!

I came home and made another impromptu pesto throwing in lots of basil, a handful of pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and garlic scapes. There is a crazy amount of olive oil needed so I'm excited to try this protein filled pesto with low or no olive oil version next time around.

Also sad that the pesto looked more brown than purple in the end. Ignore my nail polish.

Using my sweet potato pizza crust I made a pesto pizza with spinach, banana peppers, and lilac peppers on top. This was absolutely delicious, but again didn't look so pretty.

Looks slightly prettier here, no? I guess for a better visual I could have made the crust round.

Whatever it was yummy!!

New music-Maverick Sabre, wasn't expecting this voice out of this guy.

Later,

Nicole

Pier 25

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Once again I'm behind in posting...don't know where the week has gone, not that I'm complaining!

Last weekend was AMAZING! I was able to spend time with all my favorite people including Dana who is visiting from Texas, I've really missed that girl!! Saturday we explored the extended High Line, grabbed sushi to picnic in the park, and ended the evening with an out of this world dance performance at Central Park Summer Stage.

I spent Sunday afternoon and evening with Matt who is back in the city for 3 short weeks before heading to California for a month. We ended up exploring pier 25:

and played a round at the newly constructed mini golf course.

We went back to my apartment to cook dinner. In the meanwhile we snacked on some aged gouda, olives, and red peppers:

As usual during the summer, I looked to my CSA share for inspiration.

And viola lemon and dill salmon:

with a stuffed summer squash.

More to come.

Nicole

Pump up the veggies

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:23:00 +0000

Look at the colors of summer!

There was so much at this week's CSA. Eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes (the first of the season), cabbage, swiss chard, red onions, fennel, summer squash, and parsley:

I was so excited to get home and dig in! The swiss chard was calling my name, but I didn't want to simply saute.

I decided to make a sauce/pesto of sorts. I sauteed the swiss chard a bit and blended it with olive oil and parmesan cheese. The photo is a bit blurry because the sauce was still hot and it kept fogging up my lens.

I used the sauce to give a little kick to Italian bread sticks.

They were pretty good, but could have used a bit more spice, maybe some hot pepper next time?

I ended up sautéing more swiss chard along with radicchio, and egg whites.

So so so easy to eat well during the summer!

2 more days until Friday! This weekend can't get here fast enough!!

-Nicole

The 27 Club

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:04:00 +0000

Happy Monday!

This Monday it was particularly hard to get out of bed and get going. I didn't get back to the city until a little after midnight so a 6 am wake up call was out of the question. The weekend itself was laid back but such a blast, oh well, 4 more days until the next!

I didn't have a chance to address Amy Winehouse's death, but what sad news. Though it was no surprise that she was a heavy drug and alcohol user, she was still an amazing talent.

And as brought to my attention by Amanda's dad yesterday, Winehouse, is yet another to join the 27 club, which began in the 1970s with the deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison who all died within a few months of each other and at the age of 27. Leaving them in the "27" or "Forever 27 club." The list later included Kurt Cobain who died in 1994 along with many many others.

Janis Joplin:

Kurt Cobain:
Jimi Hendrix:

Jean Michel Basquiat(New York artist and musician):

Again such great talent gone to waste.

Sorry to start the week with such a somber post, will be back later.

Nicole

Another weekend in Philly

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Well, that title is a little misleading, it wasn't just another weekend in Philadelphia, I actually met my mother's (who was adopted) biological sister. She came up for the weekend with her boyfriend.

It was too hot to stick with our original plan so we decided to keep it easy, grab an early dinner and walk around a bit. We went to one of the many Marathon restaurants. I was going to go with a simple vegetable salad but at the very last minute decided to add on calamari.

My mom and sister went with club sandwiches, they looked amazing so I had to snap a photo.

I've been craving yogorino since my first visit during the July 4th week. Since we were only a few blocks away we went!

It was a winner! I went with the pistachio and sprinkles once again.

Me, my mom, sister, and my mom's sister Margo:

After saying goodbye I met up with my friends Amanda and Sarah for a girls night! Which meant facials:

Drying as you can see I can't really smile:

Girls night also meant brownies, yum!

And kitty play! Well watching the kitties play...well, maybe sleep!!

This morning we went over to Little Pete's for brunch. I got a huge spinach omelette, which I was able to eat about 3/4 of, it was huge!

Later,

Nicole

Red Currant Sorbet

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:47:00 +0000

Currently blogging this post from Philadelphia's 30th street station while waiting to meet up with my mom, love free wifi!

This week I got an early start on the food part of my month challenge. This week's first, red currants.

I quickly looked around the food world for a tasty currant recipe but ended up going with my original idea-sorbet, mostly because it was easy and quick!

Simply removed currants from the stem (about 3/4 of a cup), washed them of course, and brought the currants to a boil along with a 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup of water, and 1/4 cup of sugar (if you aren't a fan or tart or sour increase the amount of sugar you add).

I allowed the mix to come to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes. I then allowed the mixture to cool, mashed the currants and mixture through a strainer and added to my ice cream maker for about 30 minutes.

Love the neon pink color, and that's all natural, no dyes or anything!

Makes 2 servings. Enjoy!!

-Nicole

This week in review

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:28:00 +0000

Wednesday afternoon I message my friend Ryan to see if he wanted to meet up for a movie in the park. He said yes and as luck would have it Wednesday was the only cool day of the week, yay for us!

I opted to walk to the park since I've been keeping high impact activities minimal, and again so glad I did-I was met with the most beautiful sunset.

The movie this week was "The Kids Are Alright." The movie was pretty good, I don't know if it was deserving of the oscar nomination for best picture, but not a bad way to spend the evening.

Thursday I made it to the Neely's new restaurant in the city, Neely's Barbecue Parlor. Now while I hate to give a bad review, I was not won over. Granted my options were limited (side note for my long time readers but I am now eating poultry once again, see bottom of post for details) since I wasn't interested in pulled pork or ribs.

I made reservations early in the week knowing the place would be busy, they have only been open for a week. After giving my name we waited a few minutes and were taken to our seats. At first I was very impressed with the decor. The interior was made up of several different rooms that were made up to appear like different houses. Very creative and I felt very much at home, actually I felt like I was at my grandmother's house, minus the shaky table we had, she wouldn't stand for a shaky table. The service was great as well, very hospitable, and pretty fast.

I had already looked over the menu before coming so I was able to quickly order a glass of wine, the catfish appetizer, and a collard greens side. A few moments later we were brought cheese straws, water served in a mason jar (love that!), and our drinks.

Dinner quickly followed.

The collard greens were pretty good, not great, but good, as was the catfish, but I could have left without the macaroni and cheese which I was able to grab a bit of to sample. It didn't do anything for me. As for the ribs, according to Ryan the rub was decent but a bit salty and he didn't feel like the meat was tender enough.

We eyed over the dessert menu but decided to call it a night. After seeing a few raving reviews for the red velvet cake I wish I had shared a slice but the thought isn't enough to drive me back. I think NYC has enough other BBQ/southern spots that yield my attention.

-Nicole

***I made the decision to do so 2 weeks prior to my trip to Peru. I had 3 weeks were food options were going to be limited, in part because I was hiking 5 of the days and then again because I knew it was preferred that we ate with the children at the school I was volunteering and again I wasn't sure what would be served. Further my reason for cutting chicken out of my diet in the first place was due to farming practices in the United States. In Peru and particularly while at the school I knew where my meat was coming from (they raised the chickens at the school) and knew what they were and were not being fed (ie antibiotics).

Since returning to New York I've continued to occasionally incorporate poultry into my diet, but it's always from a local source and organic. At restaurants I have kept to my pescetarian diet.

Since I brought up Peru, what better time then now to show cute pictures of the boys from a recent school play.

The Good, the bad, and the ugly

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:12:00 +0000

I made it to the knee doctor today, and the verdict, I have PF syndrome. Caused for me because my left patella is positioned slightly higher than a normal knee. The cure for my knee pain-rest and physical therapy to straighten hip and quad muscles.

At first I thought this was a sentence worse than death! How am I to go an unknown amount of time without cardio? But instead of rushing out of lab for a 6 pm spin class, I took my time cleaning up, came home, and cooked a decent dinner. I then went cooking/baking crazy followed by a self guided bout of pilates. I haven't done a routine on my own in sometime which required me to really think about each movement and which exercise I would move to next. I was more focused and centered during my 30 minute session than I have been in sometime. Maybe the knee pain came at a good time, really forcing me to focus on clean eating and other aspects of life. Get some more reading done, play around in the kitchen a bit more, and become centered once more. And yes this is how I spent my Friday night. That and talking to a boy. I completely forgot until talking to said boy that I was actually suppose to attend a happy hour tonight, oops...all the same I don't think I was missed.

Anyhow, time for bed. I'm off to Philly once more tomorrow.

xoxo,

Nicole

T.G.I.F.

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:38:00 +0000

My mind's tired

I've worked so hard all week

Cashed my check

I'm ready to go

I promise you

I'll show you such a good time

Come on baby let's get away

Let's save our troubles for another day

Come go with me we've got it made

Let me take you on an escapade (Let's go!)

Nicole

Look at them now

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Look who has new music!

Source

The Kooks! I fell in love with this band about the same time I fell in love with the Arctic Monkeys. Their new album doesn't hit the UK until September 4th, but for now I'm thoroughly enjoying the single "Is It Me:"

Okay onto the personal news. Challenge update!

New physical activity-jumping rope. I decided to jump rope for 20 minutes Monday and Wednesday morning and worked up quite the sweat, my legs were actually pretty tired the next day.

New recipe/food-cucumber soup. Not going to lie, wasn't a huge fan of this recipe so I won't share the recipe, maybe I'll give it one more go but will add a banana to sweeten it and treat it as a smoothie?

Plans for tonight:

1. Dinner at new restaurant, can't wait to review tomorrow

2. Some form of low intensity workout, likely pilates and a walk. I'm so bummed to miss my Thursday urban rebounding class but my knee is acting up something terrible, to the point where I've actually made an appointment for the doctor tomorrow-something I probably should have done a long time ago :(

3. Baking-I have so much zucchini so I think I'll make a bread or cookies? And roast some for a salad tomorrow.

4. Reading

5. Pass out :)

One more day til Friday!!

Nicole

Boy Bands

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Hey all!

How did Monday treat you? Mine was pretty much the norm minus crazy insomnia that had me up at 2:40 am unable to fall asleep :( Hopefully 2 hours working the CSA, a killer workout, and a late night in lab will lead to a face plant on the pillow tonight.

Dinner last night was AMAZING! I've been eyeing Mama Pea's french fry creations for the last week and decided to give the coconut curry variety a try. I followed the recipe exactly except I used fresh ginger.

They were absolutely heavenly, didn't end up using the BBQ sauce for dip-page, it would have ruined the flavor profile. Maybe I'll try her dip next time? I'm also getting dill this week from the CSA so I might give another version a go.

I threw together a simple salad to have with the fries along with a dijon mustard based salad dressing.

A bit later to satisfy my sweet tooth I threw a bagel thin with cashew butter and chocolate chips under the broil to get everything warm...mmm.

New Music Tuesday-The Wanted "Glad You Came"...British/Irish boy band. The song is kinda catchy right, what do you think?

At the same time they kinda want to make me laugh...very typical boy band no?

What's your favorite boy band of all time?

Ciao,

Nicole

To the movies

noreply@blogger.com (soundZtastee) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:32:00 +0000

Hey Bloggies,

Didn't make it back into the city until 9:30 pm so I skipped a workout, ate some cereal instead and went to bed. I did accomplish my other goals for the day...can't win em all.

On to a more interesting update. You may recall that during my volunteer time in Lima, Peru I found out that the children attending the boys home/school in which I worked, had never been to a movie theatre. Not so surprising given their economic state, but a 10 year boy should be able to experience the simple joys of action on a big screen. My volunteer coordinator made it her mission to get the boys to a showing. Last week I found out that she was able to secure a bus, the missing piece in her mission, and they went!

The smiles say it all!!

-Nicole