Hot child in the city...

Hey Friends!

I don't know about anyone else, but I found today's heat to be absolutely oppressive.  Although I love the active nature of my job, traipsing around the city in the heat all day is not my favorite thing to do!  Both Monday and Tuesday ,I have come home from work so wiped out from the heat (and I'm not really sleeping at night for some reason?) that the second I sit down on my couch I fall into a semi-coma state for about an hour. I have to say, I definitely love a good nappy, but they are cutting into the productivity of my evenings!

Anyways, enough whining from me! After a weekend packed with meals out, I was ready for a fresh and simple meal for dinner last night. I made a fabulous marinated mushroom and asparagus salad that I stumbled across while perusing www.figandfork.com. It was an easy, filling, and delicious addition to my dinner of grilled salmon and sweet potato!

Summer squash, green onions, and garlic

Couldn't you just eat this?

My Dinner: Marinated mushroom and asparagus salad with broiled salmon  and sweet potato. I brushed the salmon with some whole grain dijon mustard before I put it in the oven. Yum.

PJ's dinner... with chicken, of course!

I would absolutely make this salad again. PJ doesn't love asparagus, turnips, or squash, so this was not his favorite recipe. My theory is that if he wants dinner, he is at my mercy! Muwahhhahaha...

Today for lunch, I tossed the leftover veggies with some greens and black beans to make a big ol' salad. It was delicious!

Marinated Mushrooms and Asparagus Salad
{gluten-free, vegan}

Adapted from Fig and Fork

Serves 6 as a side dish

1 pound of mushrooms (crimini or whatever is available), quartered
1 pound asparagus, bottom two inches cut off
1 turnip, waxy skin removed and then shaved thin using a vegetable peeler
1 bunch scallions chopped large
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced thin
a small bunch chives, cut one inch long
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil

Fill a large pot of water for blanching and bring to a boil. Add salt until it tastes like the ocean.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, coat a sauté pan with oil and turn to high heat. Add the mushrooms to the hot pan and let them sit for a minute to gain color. Shake them every minute or two to brown them on all sides. After five minutes and when they are deeply browned, add the chopped garlic and peeled turnip. Gently toss or stir a few times, then remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl. Add the vinegar and scallions. Toss and let cool.

Blanch the asparagus in the boiling salted water for two minutes. Remove and shock in ice water. Let sit in the ice water to completely cool, about two minutes. Remove and cut each spear in thirds on a bias and add to the mushroom bowl.

Dunk the capers in the blanching water for ten seconds. Remove from water, then chop and add to the mushroom bowl.

Finally add your fresh chives and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, and then toss one last time. Keep in the refrigerator until served. This will hold up well for three days.

**Note** I did not dip capers in the blanching water. Be careful not to get much of the caper juice in the salad and the taste won't be compromised!

http://figandfork.com/2012/04/13/marinated-mushrooms/

Today when I woke up from my siesta, I headed to a spin class. I wasn't totally in the mood for it, but there is one instructor at my gym who I love and this was the only class of hers that I will be able to attend this week. Somehow , I misread the time of the class and showed up 10 minutes late. Perhaps I was still in a sleepy fog? :) Fail. It actually worked out better for me though that my class was shorter; I wasn't feeling up to a long workout due to the heat.

While I was working today, I started to think about yesterday's yoga post. I have said many times how much I like yoga and that it has become the staple in my exercise routine, but I have yet to explain what I like about it.  Actually, now that I think about it, the first couple of yoga classes I took I didn't like at all. It had nothing to do with the instruction, but rather my inability to sit still and just "be". The classes were also a complete 180 from my typical exercise routine which consisted mainly of boring (but vigorous) treadmill runs. For the record, my dislike for the treadmill does not mean I think everyone should hate it! It is just an activity that I realized I was doing for the sole purpose of burning calories.

By the time I took my fifth yoga class, I was hooked. I started to enjoy the flowing poses and meditative aspects of the practice.I enjoy working towards challenging arm balances and feeling a sense of accomplishment when I master them. I look forward to doing yoga because I know how grounded and strong it makes me feel. This is an outlook I have NEVER had with respect to exercise. I was always working out so that I felt I could eat or in order to somehow change my body. I learned that activities that I enjoy can actually be exercise! Who woulda thought?!

With respect to keeping my body strong and healthy, I will share that as an added bonus, yoga has sculpted my muscles unlike any other toning program I have tried. My love for yoga truly has nothing to do with how I can change my body, but I'm not going to complain if my arms get toned!

I would encourage anyone who is on the fence about yoga to give yourself a good five classes before you make a decision if it is right for you. I'm glad I didn't abandon the practice after those first two classes.

Ok! Time for bed :)

xo

Sarah

Just another manic Monday...

Hi!

I hope everyone had a great Monday. I didn't sleep well Sunday night, so I didn't have the usual "pep in my step". Oh well, I got through the day! While watching tv on Sunday evening, I baked an AWESOME banana bread ( not to toot my own horn, but BEEP BEEP!). My mom has been baking this banana bread for years, and she has tweaked the recipe to make it a little more nutritious!  I had some friends over, and it was a crowd pleaser (especially served hot out of the oven!). Even my friend who doesn't like banana enjoyed it.

Ingredients

 Mixing!

That's right, it is a banana chocolate slice of heaven!

 Done!

The beauty of this banana bread is that it's easy and delicious, nutritious, and it freezes wonderfully! In order to cut the butter in the recipe, my mom adds a combo of greek yogurt and applesauce. She also uses part whole wheat pastry flour and part regular flour. If you want to up the nutritional content even more, you can add some flaxseed meal to the batter. This recipe in no way tastes as though there have been substitutions to make it "healthier" . In my opinion, the consistency and flavor  are better than that of a traditional nanner bread! Genius!

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

Adapted from Epicurious.com

2 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1-cup all-purpose flour and 1-cup organic

whole-wheat pastry flour)

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1-cup sugar

4 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

½ cup unsweetened applesauce (sweetened works fine)

1-½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3-4 bananas)

½ cup egg substitute or two large eggs

⅓ cup plain low-fat yogurt

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use 60% cacao chips but semi-sweet

works too)

½ cup toasted walnuts pieces (optional)

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.  Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add mashed banana, eggs, yogurt and applesauce; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.

Place chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and microwave in 30-second intervals until almost melted, remove and stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1-cup plain batter to chocolate, stirring until well combined. (At this point I stir some walnuts into the remaining plain batter). Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters together using a knife. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean (190 degrees internal temp).  (Mine took less time to cook. That’s why I always bake/cook using a trusty instant read thermometer.) Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

I have added a Chobani conversion chart from the brand's website that I think you will all love.

Great, right?

This was yesterday's breakfast. Sliced nectarine and almonds with half a sprouted grain english muffin that I topped with cottage cheese. I am obsessed with these english muffins. They are denser and have more flavor than a regular english muffin ( that is why I only ate half). As I was slicing up the nectarine, I started thinking about how delicious "in season" produce is. I was someone who before this summer ate 3 apples (I know... crazy) a day no matter what time of year it was. I. LOVE. APPLES.  I never really took into consideration that apples are only available a few months a year and that the rest of the time they are stored and coated with wax to keep them in stores all year round. This kind of grosses me out to be honest. I am certainly not taking a vow to abstain from apples until September, but I did make a goal this summer to incorporate more in season produce. I'm glad I did! I was already a fruit lover, but I had gotten into an apple rut. :) Switching things up has been great for my taste buds and for my wallet as in season fruit is so much cheaper! Score!

These are the sprouted grain muffins I buy.

When I returned from work yesterday, my plan was to hit up a yoga class at the gym. I ended up doing a web-based yoga class because the 3 minute walk to the gym just seemed too taxing! WAH. There are so many great things about web-based yoga classes including the convenience, price, and variety of classes offered. The site I use is www.yogatoday.com . Yoga Today was recommended to me over a year ago by a friend who also happens to be a yoga instructor. I had been wanting to practice yoga more frequently, but I found it difficult due to limited classes offered near my apartment and the high price of joining a yoga studio. This site solved all of those problems. There are three instructors featured on this site, and their instruction and class flow is superior to that of many live yoga classes I have taken in the past. The classes are filmed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which as you can imagine , provides a gorgeous backdrop for the practice! The site features a variety of yoga styles (Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara) and levels (novice, yogi,guru). There are three instructors; my favorites are Adi Amar and Sarah Kline. They lead most of the Vinyasa/Ashtanga based classes which are the styles I tend to gravitate to. I also like their teaching methods and class flow. For anyone out there looking to start a yoga practice, I would HIGHLY recommend this site.

Something to think about 

 Last Monday I actually made it to a live yoga class. The instructor said something that has stuck with me over the past week: " Do your best to take whatever comes at you head on. If you try to avoid whatever is difficult or challenging, you are just going to encounter the obstacle up ahead." I am definitely guilty of procrastinating the small and inconvenient tasks that I don't want to deal with. I typically find them frustrating and would rather pretend they don't exist! Guess what, almost NEVER do those responsibilities disappear. Instead, I walk around with a feeling of anxiety because of uncompleted tasks. I am striving this week to be cognizant of tasks that I may want  to dodge, and instead do my best to tackle them head on. I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Ok, time to go! I will be back tomorrow with some details on last night's dinner!

xo

Sarah

And another one bites the dust...

Hi!

Hrumph. Another weekend comes to a close! Mine was low-key and mostly spent hanging around the apartment in my pajammies :) I hope you all had a great weekend, too! Although my days weren't action packed, I'll share some highlights from the past few days.

I don't know about you, but I definitely consider Thursday evening as a part of the weekend. I think this started in college, however the association has continued on. Things have definitely changed a bit in that I usually head to a nice dinner instead of sipping vodka cranberries at the local bar. This Thursday, my friend Denice and I went to one of my fave restaurants in Jersey City, Madame Claude's. In addition to the amazing cuisine, this french bistro has a charm that I have yet to encounter at any other Jersey City (or NYC) eatery. It is TINY. I mean, you better hope you like the people you're sitting next to as you are essentially dining WITH them.  On Thursday nights,  the owner of the restaurant and his gypsy jazz band Manouche Bag play at the front of the restaurant. A night spent at Madame Claude's (especially a Thursday!) is guaranteed to be a fab time!

Definitely not my best photo. At least my outfit was cute, right?

This wine rocks. The first time I purchased it was because the label is so pretty. I understand this is not the correct way to choose a wine (judging a book by its cover is never good!), but this time is worked out. I LOVE wine and have tried many different kinds, but I have not had many (if any?) Priorat's. I love this vino! On a side note, the last time I went to Madame Claude's I bought this same wine and it never made it. I fell out of my car ( I am a bona fide clutz) at the restaurant and the wine crashed on the pavement. This Thursday, my baby thankfully made it safely to the table and into my glass!

better pic.

They have amazing escargot! Denice had never had it, but she was a champ and gave it a whirl! She loved it! I wanted to add a photo of her enjoying it, but all the photos came out blurry :(

Denice caught me with escargot sauce dripping down my face. Sexy.

Denice had the mussels which they are well known for.

I had the special which was an amazing monkfish with a side of rockin' rice. I can' t remember exactly what was in it. I know that there was definitely some coconut and curry. You'll have to trust me when I say it was De-li-cious!

Not the best pic of the band, but you get the idea! All in all, a fantabulous Thursday night!

 Friday I started they day off with a healthy breakfast!

And lunch... with a big heap of that tofu salad I posted about the other day.

This dressing is amazing.

Friday night, I went to a spin class over at the gym. I have to say, since I have done a few Soul Cycle classes, a regular ol' spin class just isn't the same. Despite the lackluster class, it felt great to get a serious sweat goin'!

 PJ and I had planned a make your own pizza night for Friday. Unfortunately, it turned into an order some pizza night as we both had schedule conflicts ( and were frankly to hungry by the time we got home!) to get creative with pizzas.

PJ brought home some wine and cheese for an appy'!

Sausage and pepper za' for him.

Truffled mushroom za' for me!

I whipped us up some spinach salads with pine nuts and a pesto vinaigrette!

Perfect Friday night.

Toby really wanted that pizza! We did let him munch on some crust how could you say no to that face!?

Now, I have talked a lot about how I strive to be mindful and moderate MOST of the time with food. However, PJ and I attacked those pizzas and I will say that I enjoyed every slice (all 4!). We watched "Friends with Kids" while we ate. It's on demand, go rent it right now. It was such a cute flick. The only downside was that due to the movie I had a dream I was giving birth to triplets. YIKES- not ready for that.

Saturday I stayed in my jammies ALL day and doodled around the house. I was going to head to a yoga class, but was enjoying lazing around with my coffee. Later in the day I did a web-based yoga class (I will share deets about these yoga classes this week!) and headed over to my friend Le-La's for what was probably the highlight of my weekend!

Saturday brekkie. Microwave eggs with fresh tomatoes and green onions. I also had half a vegan sausage (I bought them out of curiosity) and also some green monster smoothie (recipe in earlier post!). Even PJ (who loves all things meat) agreed that the vegan sausage was delicious aside from the slightly funky consistency!

Oh, and Toby enjoyed some yoga with mommy.

Ok, back to Saturday night dinner at LL's. Le-La is half Vietnamese and half French. I have had her mom's Vietnamese food a few times and each time it was out of this world. Le-La has grown up cooking the same foods, and she invited me over to teach me how to create a Vietnamese feast!

Yep. That's right.

 Ingredients!

Mixed up some ginger martinis! They were refreshing and AMAZING. Recipe we used is below. We added some candied ginger as garnish!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/zentini-ginger-martini-recipe/index.html

Nuk Mam- Vietnamese dipping sauce (fish sauce, sugar, jalapeno peppers, lime juice- delicious)

 

 Pork wrapped in banana peel used in summer rolls.

Skin cooks off.

Flank steak for Pho (actually pronounced "Fa"- I had no idea)

More ingredients...pork and shrimp for summer rolls. Scallions for Pho

Summer rolls!

Pho

Feasting!( Not all of those cocktails are mine for the record)

PJ conveniently showed up for dinner :)

What a fun and tasty evening! The true test will be to see if I can manage to recreate the meal on my own!

Today, Pj and I went to brunch with six of our friends and had a lovely time. I certainly ate and drank well this weekend!

Crab eggs beny!

Coffee. Yum.

Brothers brunching.

Alright, time to go hang and get ready for the week. I'm making an awesome marbled chocolate banana bread later! I'll post the recipe tomorrow!

Toodles!

xo

Sarah

Friday Faves

Hey Friends!

The weekend has finally arrived (whoop,whoop!). For some reason this week was over in a blink for me. Sometimes, I think I spend too much time waiting for the weekend, and not enough time appreciating the great things that happen everyday. I don't think I'm the only one who does this ( I know I'm not alone!) , but it's definitely something I want to work on.

So, my plan for friday is to review a couple of my favorite things. For my first "Friday faves" I am going to introduce two of my FAVORITE people in the whole entire universe, my parents. Today is their 32nd (sorry if I'm making you feel old mom and dad!) wedding anniversary!  I feel so blessed to have grown up with both of my parents alive and together, and it only seems appropriate to honor the day they married 32 years ago :)

My parents' relationship is rare in many aspects, one of which is that they have been together since they were 15 years old. They grew up in the same town and met in high school where they both shared a common love for music. Apparently, my parents and their friends used to gather around the piano in the music room (my dad is a pianist) and they would sing and play tunes. I have teased them ENDLESSLY about this and I don't know about you, but I have a very hard time visualizing this happening today!  I can think of other (more illegal) group activities today's high schoolers  would bond over...

Look at these two crazy kids (and that hair and those outfits!)

 I'm not going to provide a verbose history of my parents relationship, however I do have a couple of thoughts and observations I will share.

When I was younger, I didn't see my parents as actual "people", but only as two figures who were put on this earth just for me. As I have gotten older, I know that they are people with their own feelings and dreams, but the fact that they were able to make me feel as though I was the most special person in the whole world speaks volumes about them as people and as a couple. Although they still make me feel this way today, I am able to recognize what a unique and amazing relationship they have independent of me. Together ,they take life as it comes( and lots -0- "stuff" has come their way!)  and they get through it. The key word in that sentence is "together". Their relationship is too important to them to let lives inevitable challenges shake them .They are eachother's biggest cheerleader, and they are very best friends. When I was in high school and college, I clearly thought every boy I dating was "the one" ( I mean, who didn't?) Those relationships all ended with me in a blubbering heap on the couch wondering why I couldn't find that all consuming love I saw in the movies. One of those (many) times, my dad told me the most important thing in a relationship is that you are at the core, great friends. Sure there is romance and butterflies, but for the most part, that movie love is not real (womp, womp). In real life , there are times when the day to day routine and the occasional unsuspected event (good or bad) can make that "sparkle" less of a priority. When he told me this, I thought A) he had just made the most depressing statement EVER and B)  he had no idea what he was talking about and my parents must having a very boring marriage. Today, as a grown woman in a long term relationship of my own , I realize that my Dad was right. True love IS about the kisses and the romance and making each other a priority, but on the road of life having a partner that is your best friend is what will help you to persevere .With that said, cheers ( I am virtually toasting with my glass of wine!) to my amazing parents on their 32nd wedding anniversary! I am so lucky to have such an amazing couple to model my own relationship after.



XO

Sarah