San Francisco here we come!

Since my early days of watching full house, I have wanted to live in San Francisco. Visiting is the second best option, so the b/f and I will be heading to San Francisco in the middle of April. Can't wait!!!

While scrolling through the SF girl by bay this week, I found out that we will be in town while Pot and Pantry will be having one of their Skill Exchange Workshops. We will most certainly be attending "the basics of food preservation," class in which we will learn about and get to taste jam! Yummo!

Check out their uber cute kitchen goodness here!

Fashion Love

First I would like to show lots of love for Lauren Moffatt's A/W '12 collection. I first fell in love with this designer last fall, when Anthropologie carried a few of her pieces. Her attention to detail is admirable, and I love the use of primary colors mixed with pops of metallics for her collection's palette.

As you can see in the photos this was not your average collection preview. Titled, "Old School," Lauren presented her boyish school girl collection in a classroom with the models attending to their work. I love everything about this collection! Finger's crossed Anthropologie carries some more of her stuff this fall so I can afford one her pieces!

Did I mention Lauren Moffatt is from Philly and for the first two seasons she made several hundred pieces in a 31 foot sailboat on the Hudson?

Mad props.

Photos found here and here.

Happy Weekend

The ladies and I attempted to go to The Institute for brunch this morning, but when we arrived it was closed and there was no signage outside! I have been wanting to try this joint out for a while. Not only does their "serious food" look awesome, but they have a grand selection of craft beer on hand. So naturally we headed to Cafe Lift (in the snow?!) which is only a few blocks away, and always, always gets the job done. And you guessed it, I ordered the cannoli french toast with pistachios, shaved chocolate, and sliced bananas.

Dessert for breakfast? yes please.

Lea ordered the breakfast burrito, Casey had the huevos (both came with special sauce), and Emilia had the eggs florentine. What a great start to the weekend!

Have a good one!

-Ash

Photos via yelpers (camera troubles)

Cleanse week 2 and 3 update

Tomorrow marks the end of the 21 day whole living cleanse. I admit I broke down a few times for coffee and Valentine's treats, but for the most part I stuck with the plan. I feel lighter, my stomach troubles have vanished, and I don't miss meat, granola and cheese as much as I thought I would.

I plan to continue making some of the vegetarian recipes I learned to make on this cleanse. I feel like it will be easier to monitor how much and what I am consuming after this cleanse. The most important thing I learned from this cleanse is that it is easier on your digestive system to eat smaller meals more frequently, rather than bombard your digestive system with large, heavy meals. You always here this tip, and ignore it, but it is soooo true!

For the 2nd week, I continued to drink juice in the mornings or make smoothies. For lunch I made the lentil soup, and snacked on spicy pepita seeds and carrots with mint pea dip. For dinner, I made the roasted winter vegetables.

Third week's menu:

Breakfast:

banana, soy milk, flaxseed +cinnamon smoothies

berry smoothie with pomegrantate juice and soy milk

steel cut oats with mixed berries and 1 plum

Lunch:

lentil soup (added leftover white beans and crushed tomatoes)

roasted beet and edamame salad for lunch

Dinner

quinoa with poached egg, carrot and cucumber

fall vegetable and quinoa has w/poached eggs

scrambled tofu w/curry, ginger, garlic, kale, yellow pepper, red onion.

snacks:

white bean dip w/carrots

black bean cookies (recipe here)

raw nut mix

All week 2 recipes, click here.

All week 3 recipes, click here.

This weekend I plan to make the rice noodles with broccoli pesto, and chick pea burgers for dinner one night.

All recipes and photos were found at wholeliving.com.

Have a happy, healthy rest of your weekend!

LWD November Edition

I persuaded this Italian lady to make her yummy meatballs and sauce for the November edition and I promised to make home made cavatelli to accompany her dish.

To check out the other courses that were made, visit the LWD blog. Maureen, our photographer, also posted pictures of the January Edition she hosted at her house. I seriously cannot wait for next week's dinner.

Until next time, keep on dining!

HAPPY BELATED VALENTINES DAY!

Sorry for being a little behind schedule. I've been a bit under the weather, and I am just getting to post Valentine's Day festivities now. Last Saturday, Erich took me to ELA, a new place in Queens Village that I have been dying to try since it opened. Everything was amazing! I would have to say the scallop noodles were the most interesting and tasty dish we tried. The consistency was similar to large rice noodles, but they tasted like scallops. They were served in a creamy brown sauce with broccoli, chorizo and trumpet mushrooms. Mmmmm! Also the hot chocolate chip cookie dough was amazing! Anytime I see semi freddo on a menu, I order it. The consistency of the vanilla bay semi-freddo was not as soft and airy as the semi-freddo I ate in Italy, however the firmness worked with the other components of the dish (shaved chocolate, pureed banana, and hot chocolate chip sauce). I would definitely go back. On Tuesday, "my partner in the cleanse," gifted me with chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter hearts with chocolate cake inside. Needless to say I broke my cleanse a bit this week....oops! (It was worth it.)

Whole Living 21 Day Cleanse-Week 1

Sunday marks the completion of the first week of the cleanse. I feel lighter, and my stomach is running like a well oiled machine. My goals for this cleanse are to learn new healthy recipes, and observe how my digestive system reacts during each stage of the cleanse. I suffer from acid reflux, but I have noticed over the past year or so that something else has been troubling my stomach aside from acidic foods and beverages. The diet for the first week was tough, but I noticed that all of the food and juice I consumed did not disagree with me, which is amazing! I think I will steer clear of dairy for a while, and drink soy or almond milk in the future. Below is what I ate for the first week, with substitutions I made.

For breakfast the first week, I ended up drinking vegetable tomato juice (low sodium) from trader joes, and a few smoothie combinations I made of my own. I did try a few of the whole living recipes, such as the green apple and kale smoothie, but the texture didn't come out right. If the magic bullet pureed the kale and apple fine enough, I am sure i would have liked the taste much better. I just could not get past the texture. I did make a tasty smoothie with pomegranate and lime juice, mixed berries and cucumber! A must try!

For lunch I made the butternut squash soup, and the kale slaw. For the soup recipe I had to sub the butternut squash soup for sweet potatoes because I was having trouble finding squash in my local grocery store. I also added a teaspoon of mild curry to give it a little kick. I admit I was a bit skeptical about this recipe because I usually roast vegetables that I use in soups to add depth of flavor, but this soup was surprisingly tasty. Next time I make it I would add vegetable or chicken broth.

For dinner I made, the steamed broccoli and squash with tahini dressing. So good! Again, I had no squash so one night I made roasted sweet potatoes, and another night I added avocado and cucumber to make the salad more hearty. I also made the roasted cauliflower and red pepper dish. When I roasted the cauliflower I added balsamic vinegar to the olive oil and fresh rosemary instead of parsley. Delish!

For snacks, I purchased raw trail mix with mixed dried berries, and I made the mint pea dip. I also toasted the pepita seeds in a little olive oil and added salt and cayenne pepper. This snack ended up being the perfect afternoon pick me up.

The 4th and 5th day my body felt super exhausted and weak, so I have decided to add small portions of protein to my diet for the last three. I definitely recommend this cleanse if you are searching for solutions to digestive issues. Wish me luck for week 2!

To get the full scope of the cleanse and a list of recipes, visit whole living.com.