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. :)

What I Ate Wednesday: My First One!

Wooohooo I'm jumping on the "What I ate Wednesday" bandwagon!

Let me explain what "What I Ate Wednesday" is for those of you who read my blog, but aren't a part of the blog world (I'm talking to you, Mom):

Jen, from Peas and Crayons, hosts WIAW each week (Thanks, Jen!).  Basically, it's a big food diary sharing party, where bloggers from all over the blogoshpere post what they eat for an entire day.  If you don't get it, that's ok, just enjoy a day in the life of my tummy.:)  It's fun to share what I eat all day, because most of the time, I only post my dinner recipes.  

Everything I ate for this WIAW is from Tuesday, June 26, 2012.

Breakfast:
I usually eat breakfast when I get to work.  I bring in a little baggie of oatmeal and microwave it, then I add a big melty scoop of peanut butter.  It's delicious, and my coworkers always comment on how good it smells.  

8:30 am
3/4 Cup oatmeal
1 tbsp Teddy's Peanut Butter
Water

I didn't end up eating the orange, but I thought it made my breakfast look a little less sad.

9 am: 1 DD medium French Vanilla coffee- regular

Coffee can dramatically improve your morning in ~4 seconds.  Here is proof:

Just look at that pure joy on Tracy's face.

11 am:   I felt my tummy rumbling around 11 so I munched on some trail mix. 

Trail mix: raw almonds, raisins, and sunflower seeds

12:15pm
Around noon Tracy and I walked over to the MIT food court to eat lunch.  We love eating lunch here because it gets us out of the office for a little while.  I made a salad that morning, and filled it with lots of healthy veggies, and some cheese and meat to give it a little more substance.

Salad:
Green Leaf Lettuce
Napa Cabbage
Tomato (<--- I think I might be starting to like them!)
Cucumber
Carrots
Green Bell peppers
Shredded Low-Fat Mozzarella
Deli Turkey

Water &1 Clementine

2:30pm

At 2:30, I got hungry for my afternoon snack.  I brought in a tub of Chobani nonfat plain greek yogurt and added a little cinnamon for some added flavor.  It was satisfying and filling.

4pm 
2 Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate nuggets with almonds.  
Gotta have my little afternoon delight. :)

7pm
I made tofu stir fry, with steamed vegetables and roasted ginger turnips

I had to use our turnips before they went bad, so I chopped them up, tossed them in olive oil, sprinkled them with ginger, and popped them in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.  I don't usually eat turnips outside of Thanksgiving dinner, so it was nice to try them this time of year. 

After the turnips were roasted, I chopped up some tofu, sauteed it, and then threw it in a pan with rice, veggies, and soy sauce.  It was a delicious and filling dinner.

After dinner I had 1/2 a brownie from Busy Bee Bakery, the best bakery ever!

Happy Wednesday Everybody!  Hope you have a tasty and nutritious day!

Weekend in Vermont: Part 2

Without further ado, here's Part 2 of the Vermont Weekend!
Most of these pictures were taken by the very talented CJ.  :)


Friday night was spent refueling with food, relaxing with friends, and reliving childhood memories of catching fireflies in a jar.  In the words of my fairy-loving friend, it was magical.

On Saturday, we went to a waterfall that I've been going to since I was little.  We had a good time exploring the area, and going in the water, which was freezing!

Even though the waterfall seemed smaller than I remembered, everyone thought it was beautiful, and it was definitely a cool place to hang out. 

We left the waterfall right as it started to rain, and when we got back, we lost power in the camp! 

But who minds the rain when you have a view like this?

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, playing guitar, making food on the grill, and waiting for the rain to let up!

Later that night, a few Luna Moths came to visit us.  I had never seen this kind of moth before, these things were huge and friendly!  To be honest, they made me a little nervous.  I just didn't want it to land on me...even though they are pretty, it gives me the creeps to have something crawl on me! 

Overall an awesome weekend, and as usual, we didn't want to leave!  I truly Love Vermont!

Part of this "healthy living" blog is sharing the things that make me happy, and not just the workouts I do and the things I eat.  I believe happiness is essential to living a "healthy" life.  You can eat all the vegetables you want, but without happiness, you're not going to  feel good.  And feeling good is what makes it all worth it!

Weekend In Vermont: Part1

Hey Guys! Happy Monday!

I have a lot of catching up to do after my 3 day weekend in Vermont!  There is no cell service/internet/cable at the cabin in Vermont, so I've been completely out of the loop.  It's kind of nice to be so disconnected, especially when you are with friends.  Since no one had the distractions of Facebook, twitter, or text messages, we really got to spend quality time together.

Let's start with Friday.
CJ and I drove to Lebanon, NH, where we met up with our friends, Sean and Meaghan.  We grabbed some sandwiches at D'Angelo's, some bottled waters, and some American flag bandanas (you know, all the essentials),  and headed to hike Mt. Acustney. 

Side note:  I forgot my camera's memory card, so all these pictures were taken with Sean or Meaghan's Phones.  So I apologize for not being able to share everything from the hike! I'm still kicking myself for missing all the amazing photo ops.

We followed the Weathersfield trail, which is 2.9 miles each way (to the peak and back) and it is steep!  The entire trail was uphill.  It was very challenging, to say the least.  We were all dripping sweat, and had to take a lot of breaks along the way.  It was very important for us to stay hydrated since we were working so hard, and it was really hot out.  We went through tons of water!

There were a couple waterfalls along the trail.  We passed the little Cascade falls, the Crystal Cascade falls, and a few little streams.  The Crystal Cascade falls were really pretty.  It went for 80 ft!  We had fun throwing some sticks and rocks over the edge and listening to them hit the bottom.

We also saw tons of little frogs(toads?) along the trails too.  Here's CJ waiting to see if this one will turn into a prince. haha.

At Gus's Lookout we stopped for lunch.  It was such a nice view.  It took us about 2 hours to get to this point.  It was so nice to sit down and enjoy the view after such a challenging climb.  A turkey club never tasted so good!

We took some pictures before making the descent.  The way down wasn't easy!  We were fighting gravity the whole time, and you really had to be careful where you put your feet.  I think most of us almost twisted our ankles/knees at least once.  We made it down a lot faster then the way up, which was expected.  We were all very happy to see level ground!  The whole hike took us about 4 hours. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the trip which will include more waterfalls, scenic views, and fireflies! 

Wine and Beet Pizza with Friends!

What's the best way to beat the heat?  Invite some friends over, make a fancy artisan cheese and beet pizza, and then retreat to the one room in your apartment with an air conditioner and drink some wine! 

The amazing Annie chopping away (photographed by the multi-talented Shaina).  She made a killer coleslaw out of Napa cabbage, toasted sesame seeds (best flavor ever) balsamic vinaigrette, and lemon juice.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of it!

I used wheat pizza dough, and regular pizza sauce from a jar.  Earlier in the day I had purchased some artisan cheese from the Farmer's market near my work.  It was seasoned with tomato, basil, and garlic.  It complimented the pizza so well.

On top of the artisan cheese, I layered on some chopped CSA tomatoes, and beet greens.  We chopped and boiled the beets, and once those were ready, we threw them on the pizza as well.  I put a little more cheese on top, and popped it into the oven.  While it was cooking, we ran into my bedroom and cranked the AC.

The finished product.   Sprinkled with basil fresh from the windowsill.  Even more delicious when consumed in an air conditioned room!


Keep cool, everyone!