WIAW: Staycation Eats

Happy 4th of July!!

This is my second WIAW (What I Ate Wednesday) so if you're reading for the first time, check here for an explanation.  Thanks to Jen over at Peas&Crayons for hosting this:




All food consumed here was from Tuesday, July 3rd 2012

I started my Staycation of right with a big breakfast sandwich prepared by Chef CJ, and a cup of New England Cinnamon Hazelnut Coffee.  I forgot to snap a pic of the breakfast sandwich! Woops.

Lunch was an amazing salad filled with CSA lettuce, spinach and cukes, I also added grated carrots, walmuts, tofu, and chedar, I topped it off with some balsamic vinegar.  Yum!

For dessert, I had a clementine.  I love these little guys.

Snacktime was a plate of crackers and roasted red pepper hummus.  It was the right amount of fuel for a trip to the gym.  At the gym, I two quick miles on the treadmill, and did a short arm and ab workout.

My run was slow and short, but it's better than no run! My ab workout consisted of a one minute plank, some reverse crunches, and leg lifts.  My arm workout included bicep curls, shoulder presses, upright rows, and deadlifts.

Dinner was a tasty one.  I chopped some zucchini into long and thin strips, boiled some linguini, and tossed the zucchini in for the last 3 minutes.  I served the linguini &zucchini with tomato sauce, and sauteed mushrooms.   I topped the dish with Parmesan cheese and  fresh basil leaves.

After dinner, I satisfied my sweet tooth with half a brownie from the Busy Bee bakery.  YUM!

Have a good holiday everyone!!

Mac&Cheese&Sausage&Peas Reci-pea

Hey Guys! Happy 4th of July eve!
My stay-cation starts today.  I took the rest of this week off of work to just hang out, go to the beach, and enjoy the (hopefully) nice weather.

If I'm not too busy soaking up the sun rays this week, I'm hoping to have a lot of quality time to blog. :)


What does it take for a meal to be complete?
Obviously opinions vary, but for me, I need meat(or meat substitute), a carbohydrate, a veggie, and cheese certainly doesn't hurt.

If this sounds like your recipe for a perfect meal, then boy, do I have a treat for you!

Let me introduce you to the best meal my brain has ever cooked up:

Mac & Cheese & Sausage (!!!) & Peas! (please excuse the not so great photo quality, my fancy camera was dead)

Pros:
Easy
Quick
Fast
Simple
Awesome
Tasty
Speedy

Cons:
a depressed feeling may occur when your bowl (or plate) is empty

A few weeks ago my Mom's coworker made a request for a Mac&Cheese&Peas recipe because I didn't have one anywhere on the blog! I was like "oh yea, I should probably make one since it's the NAME OF THE BLOG."  So, here it is!

Recipe:

1 box Annie's Shells and Real Aged Cheddar
3 Hot Italian Sausages
1 Cup Green Peas
1/4 cup milk


Directions:
Boil water for the shells.
While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the sausage.
Cut a slit down the sausage to remove the casing.  Break the sausage up in a skillet and cook until heated all the way through, and no longer brown.
Transfer cooked sausage to a paper towel to drain off some of the fat.
When the water is boiling, dump in the shells, after about 5 minutes, dump in the peas.
Bring to a boil again and cook for about 5-7 more minutes, then drain.
Follow directions on package to make cheese sauce
Add shells and peas back into pan, and mix with the cheese sauce.
When it's completely mixed together, add in the cooked sausage.
Enjoy!

 I'm obsessed with the way the peas nestle in the shells. <3

                             This recipe tastes best when eaten out of a disgruntled bowl.


Today is my very dear friend Meaghan's Birthday, so I wanted to say:
Happy Birthday, Meaghan!  I love you!

Upstairs on the Square: Mini Blogger Brunch!

Hi Guys!  I went on another blogger meet-up! Yay for blends!

On Sunday, I met up with two other bloggers (Tracy, and Sarah) for a little brunch date at Upstairs on the Square in Harvard Square.  Sara and Tessa were invited, but they couldn't make it this time, :(, it's hard to find a day that everyone is available!

I've eaten lunch at this place before for lunch, but I've been wanting to try their famous brunch for a while now.  So, when we were brainstorming places to go for our meet-up, I suggested Upstairs on the Square, and everyone liked the idea.  It's an adorable place, and the decor is so unique, it's definitely worth checking out!

 I got a cup of coffee to start.  Even in this kind of heat, I still love to start my day with a hot coffee.

The pinky's up because I'm a proper lady.

I snapped some pictures of the restaurant because it is just so cute.  We were saying how it would make the perfect location for a baby shower, bridal shower, or any other girly party.  It reminds me a little of Betsey Johnson's style.  We loved it.

For my meal, I got the fresh herb and goat cheese omlete.  It came with a small side salad and some roasted potatoes.  It was delicious, and very filling!  I could only finish half.

Tracy, Me, and Sarah

We had our waitress snap our picture before leaving.  So nice to get to know you better, Sarah!  Can't wait for future meet ups.  :)

Rhubarb Tart

Rhubarb is neat

Rhubarb is cool

I made a little treat

It might make you drool

It's easy to make

You just have to start,

one hour it will take,

Then you'll have Rhubarb Tart!

(I'm so lame....)

Printable Recipe
Ingredients:

Pie Crust:
1 1/4 cup  Spelt Flour
3 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Cold water
1/4 tsp Salt

Tart:
4-5 Stalks Rhubarb
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Honey
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Lemon Juice

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Chop rhubarb into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces, if really thick, slice down the middle
3.  Make the pie crust:
    Whisk together flour and sale
    Add in oil and water and mix until just blended
4.  Press pie crust into a 9" Pie dish
5.  Place the rhubarb pieces in a bowl and add brown sugar, honey, lemon juice and salt.
6. Mix until all rhubarb is coated
7. Arrange the rhubarb in the pie crust
8. Bake for 50 minutes

Serve with Greek yogurt, cool whip, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream

I topped mine with a scoop of regular greek yogurt and some fresh blueberries, the yogurt went perfectly with the tartness of the rhubarb.

Enjoy!

Biking to the Co-op: I'm so Green

Happy Thursday!
Thursdays are one of my favorite days of the week because I get to go pick up my CSA Share.  Yay!
This was a good week because I got a bunch of things that I'm comfortable with so I know I'll eat them.

No challenges this week!  Well, no challenge with knowing what to do with the food.  I did have a bit of a  challenge getting the food home, though.  I had to ride my bike to the co-op location, and then balance two shopping bags full of vegetables on my handle bars.  Luckily, the co-op is only a mile from my apartment, but I still had to do a lot of tricky balancing.  A few times when I got some momentum, the bags started swinging around, and I got a little nervous, but everyone made it home safe and sound.  :)
Moral of the story:  I need a basket for my bike.

Most of you probably know that I really like taking pictures of my CSA share.
It's fun, and the lighting is really nice around the time I get home.

So, please enjoy this veggie and fruit photoshoot:

Recap of this week's share:
1 pint Blueberries
1 head Bok Choy
3 Summer squash
1/2 lb Spinach
1 1/4 lb Pea pods
3 Cucumbers
1 head of Lettuce

Also, I have some fun news:  this Sunday, I'm going to another Boston Blogger Meet-up.  Me, Tracy, Sara, Sarah, and possibly Tessa are going to have brunch at Upstairs on the Square in Harvard Square.  I absolutely adore this place so I'm really excited.  If you are a Boston Blogger in the area, and would like to come, send me and email/tweet/comment!  The more the merrier. :)