Almost August

The last night of July already?! Summer months pass so quickly. Not fair. Plus, this July has been pretty awesome!

I came up with a few new recipes:

  -  Italian Grape Salad

  -  The Breakfast Blob

  -  Cookies 'n' Cream Cake

  -  Banana Coconut Muffins

  -  FML Brownies

  -  Summer Berry Bread

Tried a bunch of new NYC restaurants:
  -  Sundaes and Cones
  -  Jane
  -  Silver Spurs
  -  Soft Serve Fruit Co.
  -  Birreria
  -  Blue Ribbon Sushi
  -  Risotteria
  -  Little Lad's
  -  Babycakes
  -  Grom
  -  Mercer Kitchen
  -  Cafetasia
  -  The Hill
  -  Barbuto 

(Uhh...my wallet just cried a little bit typing that list. At least they were all pretty good!)

Spent a few days exploring the city with Chelsey!

Made some necessary changes to this little blog...

Oh yeah, and I started the next step in my life...culinary school at the Natural Gourmet Institute!

I'm always sad to see a summer month go, but I'm pretty excited for August, as well. I have a feeling these next four months are going to fly by...and before I know it I'll be *trying* to enter the real world. It's gonna be quite a ride!

What was the highlight of your July? What are you most looking forward to in August?

Gruesli/Muesnola

I've mentioned before that my parents are just as big on cereal as I am. They eat a mix of brands every single morning with a banana and skim milk, so we're never short on boxes of the stuff. My mom likes to add raw oats, nuts and dried fruit to her bowl, so recently she combined the three in a huge Tupperware for convenience.

Since being home, my hand has been in here several times a day. It's kind of like a cross between muesli and granola, packed with good stuff: pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, mangoes and raisins, almonds and peanuts.

This morning for breakfast, I switched up the usual and poured myself a bowl of this stuff, topped with a small chunk of frozen summer berry bread and a huge spoonful of Blizzard Butter, which Courtney sent me a few months ago!

(Blizzard Butter actually beats PB&Co.'s White Chocolate Wonderful in the taste department, as much as it pains me to say that.)

I ate my breakfast al fresco. When I come home, being outside away from the taxis and craziness is always my favorite part.

Especially with two blond bombshells keeping me company.

Time to get this day started! Hitting the gym while it's still uncrowded, and then this afternoon I'm helping my brother and sister-in-law move into their new house! Enjoy your Sunday :)

Italian Grape Salad

This is my dad's vegetable patch.

He's very proud of it. The highlight? Tomatoes.

No shortage of lycopene in these parts.

Sometimes he invites his friends over to come see his tomaters. I'd make fun of him, but since I've never successfully grown anything in my life I guess I don't really have room to. Check out the monster one he picked yesterday:

Impressive.

Since we have such an abundance to use up, this afternoon I put together a simple summery salad as part of my lunch. I wasn't expecting it to come out as well as it did, but this one's a keeper!

Italian Grape Salad


Ingredients:
  -  2 large cucumbers
  -  2 large tomatoes
  -  1 cup seedless red grapes
  -  2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  -  juice of 1/2 lemon
  -  zest of 1/2 lemon
  -  3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  -  black pepper, to taste

Begin by peeling one of the cucumbers. Leave the skin on one, then halve, seed and dice. Dice tomatoes and slice grapes in half. Add basil and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper. Toss dressing into salad and add more pepper if necessary. Enjoy!

Initially I wasn't planning on adding grapes, but we had a huge bowl of them and I decided it might be an unusual change. It actually worked really well- they added a pop of sweetness to the other ingredients. I also used an heirloom tomato and a regular tomato, so there was a slight color and taste difference between the two.

I had this salad alongside a hummus-salmon salad wrap, which was the perfect taste complement. I love summer foods!

What's your favorite way to eat tomatoes? Do you like fruit in salads, or do you prefer them strictly savory? I love raw tomatoes, but I'm 50/50 on cooked ones. And I love fruit in anything and everything!

The Cookbook Cabinet

My mom has been collecting cookbooks since she and my dad got married nearly four decades ago.

She was a home economics major in college. Clearly, we have a lot of them.

When I was younger and she still cooked, I remember sitting at the counter and looking at the pretty pictures in them, wanting to learn how to make those dishes just because they looked so good. Unsurprisingly, I'd usually skip over the meal parts and go straight to dessert.

Now, though, I'm rediscovering those cookbooks in their entirety. Even if you don't know what you're doing, just paging through the beautiful photos and carefully created foods is inspiring.

This morning, I went through the cookbook cabinet and pulled out a few books I've always loved. I'm excited to go through them and start picking out stuff to make- even if  don't get an occasion to in awhile, it's fun to think about!

I still might not be completely comfortable with many cooking techniques, but just knowing what they are makes them seem a lot less daunting. Yesterday, for instance, we covered braising, pressure cooking, stir-frying and pureeing. We made mashed potatoes, carrots, squash and onions in the pressure cooker, apple-carrot puree, braised leeks, endive and fennel and a stir-fry with tofu, mushrooms and snow peas.

We're moving pretty quickly and there's a lot to remember, but I love it. I feel like I'm learning so much every day, and while I still don't know exactly what I want to do when I'm done with this program, I know I'm in the right place :)

Do you enjoy cooking? What's your favorite aspect of it- the prep, the process, the finished product? 

Feature Friday: Julie GoLean

Feature Friday time! Tonight's featured blogger is...

Julie, from Julie GoLean!

When I first started blogging a year and a half ago, Julie became one of my first "blends." Her blog is one of the most natural and personable ones I've ever read; each post is full of personality and reads like a conversation to her best friends. Plus, she's not afraid to be a little goofy and fun, which I love- she doesn't take herself too seriously, and her one-liners always make me smile!

The other thing I really love about Julie GoLean is her commitment and passion for a healthy lifestyle. She's all about the vegetables and always manages to come up with simple, nutritious meal ideas that are super easy to recreate. And reading about her workouts always makes me want to go pick up some weights and challenge myself- girlfriend is strong!

So go on over and check it out! Make sure you've got yourself a salad beast before, though, cause you'll be craving one soon...

What blogs have you been loving lately? Have you read any particularly amazing posts this week?

Peas and Thank You

Look what I have!

The other day, I bought my copy of Mama Pea's new cookbook, Peas and Thank You.

I've been mildly obsessed with the Pea family for almost two years now. (I mean, who doesn't want to live in a house full of chocolate chip peanut butter dough balls and pickles? Exactly.) So, I've been eagerly looking forward to this book's release ever since I first learned about it a year or so ago.

And it certainly didn't disappoint. Every single page is full Mama Pea's amazing recipes, complemented by hilarious stories and photos of Gigi and Lulu. It's not often that you can read a cookbook like a book, and its even more rare that you can actually laugh at said cookbook. I love it.

Since there's about fifty things in here that I want to make immediately, I'm bringing it home this weekend to hopefully test some recipes out on the fam. Plus, we have a dishwasher there...because after drying dishes for at least half an hour every day that I'm at school, there's no way I want to do that outside of it.

Speaking of which, I'm off- see you from PA this evening!

Have you read Peas and Thank You? Who's your biggest "blog crush?"

Beans and Fats

(Another pictureless post. My apologies, but I'm there to learn, not to play photographer!)

Today was bean and fats day for my class at NGI! In the morning, we started off with a beans demo, where the instructor showed us how to make several dishes:

  -  chickpea hummus
  -  black soybean salad
  -  edamame
  -  aduki bean strew
  -  red lentil soup
  -  baked beans

It's funny, because I've never been a huge fan of beans (or grains, for that matter), but prepared correctly, these were delicious. Soaking, cooking and preparing beans with the correct ingredients and flavors really makes the canned stuff taste like garbage in comparison. I think the hummus and stew were my favorites...the latter contained chunks of squash, too.

After our lunch break, we came back for a lecture on fats. It started off as more of a biology lesson about their molecular structure- which, I'm sorry to say, I had serious trouble concentrating on and understanding. Afterwards, though, our instructor showed us different oils and fats and explained their purposes in cooking and why certain ones were better than others.

During the lecture, we got a prime example of the real animal food v. fake plant food debate: vegan Earth Balance and organic butter. I've used Earth Balance in a bunch of recipes, but must admit that I've never actually read the ingredients...not too many "earthy" ones. I don't use butter very often, but I think that from now on when I do I might as well just go for the real stuff.

I'm taking it easy tonight, sipping on the Skull Splitter beer I bought a few weeks ago and packing for home. NGI takes a two-week break at the beginning of August, so I'm going back to PA for a few days. I miss Maggie! And my brother and his wife are moving, so I'll lend a hand with my sick guns....or something like that.

Hope you're having a great night- and happy almost Friday!

What's your favorite form of fat or fatty food? Chocolate. Nut butter. Fish. I could go on forever.

Sundaes and Cones

I've been eating a lot more ice cream than usual this summer. And it's kind of awesome.

Last night, Jillian and I had an elementary school date at Sundaes and Cones, an old-school ice cream shop with exotic flavors located in the East Village.

The interior is kind of retro, with a definite hipster edge. Although with flavors like wasabi and sesame, hipsterness doesn't surprise me. (I actually sampled the wasabi. It was weird, though I usually love the stuff.)

Plus, they have really pretty cakes to look at!

I had so much trouble choosing my flavor! It was between chocolate peanut butter, cookie dough, mocha chip, peppermint swirl and mint chocolate.

Eventually though, I went with mint chocolate, topped with chocolate sprinkles. Because I can't eat ice cream without them!

The ice cream was sooooo creamy and thick- the texture was almost elastic. Real ice cream. And I liked that they had shavings of real dark chocolate, instead of just chips. It made the flavors mesh together better!

Jillian went with a hazelnut cone, also topped with sprinkles. We're still in elementary school, remember?

By the way, thank you all so much for your insightful comments on last night's post. If you haven't read it yet, check it out- people left some amazing feedback on the processed v. whole foods debate!

So the real question is: sprinkles or no sprinkles? Or do you prefer another topping?

Whole Foods?

So today in school, we covered a rather controversial topic: meat and animal products.

If you've been following Une Vie Saine for awhile, you know that I don't eat meat, mainly out of personal preference. I don't find anything wrong with eating humanely raised and slaughtered animals per se (just my opinion, you can respectfully disagree), but I've never really loved the taste and the way animals are killed for human consumption in America just doesn't sit well with me. I'm a huge fan of seafood, though, and I eat dairy and eggs several times a week when out, just usually not at home.

What's interesting about NGI is that it's challenging some of the beliefs I have about food and what constitutes a healthy diet. The past few days we've been discussing the concept of whole foods and what that means- when you eat a food in its entirety, as nature provides it. In theory, that means that whole milk is better for you than skim, that chicken with skin is better than a boneless, skinless chicken breast, and that eggs should be eaten whole, never just whites. I'm still not entirely sure where I stand on this whole issue, but it's fascinating.

Furthermore, it's gotten me to thinking about vegetarian or vegan alternatives to animal products. I'm a regular consumer of things like non-dairy milks and processed soy foods, and while I genuinely enjoy eating them, from a health standpoint which is actually the better choice: the man-made "plant-based" stuff, or the natural animal stuff? It's a sincere question that I honestly don't know the answer to at this point. Ideally, of course, we'd always have access to the best-quality plant and animal foods, but we all know that's not the case, so what do we do? There are so many different opinions and studies on nutrition and food out there that I don't think we'll ever know the answer for sure. I think it will be interesting to see how these thoughts progress as I continue the program, though...my mind is already churning!

After our lunch break, we came back to the kitchen for a grain demo. The instructor prepared about ten different grains, including long grain brown rice, quinoa, millet, barley and kasha. I'm not a big whole grains eater myself (they're kind of boring and I'm too impatient to cook them), but learning the proper techniques to cook them really makes a world of difference taste-wise. 

At the end of the lecture the teacher also made mochi from sticky brown rice, which we topped with maple syrup and cinnamon...it was good, but to be honest, not my favorite! I like my sweets with a side of chocolate and extra sugar, not with brown rice. Diva over here.

Anyway, my apologies for the pictureless post. Hope you have a wonderful evening!

What do you think about the above issue? Feel free to respectfully disagree or voice your opinions!

What I Wore Wednesday II

Due to the extreme heat/school, I didn't actually look presentable most days this week. Here's the outfits that actually did make me look like a girl!

For going out on Friday night (the hottest day of the summer, explains the slicked-back hair...the only way to beat humidity!):

  -  Red halter dress: BCBGeneration, stolen from my mom's closet
  -  Metallic flip flops: Gap
  -  Earrings: Juicy Couture, a gift from a few years ago

For walking around the city on Saturday (the second hottest day of the summer):

  -  Black dress: Ann Taylor Loft
  -  Earrings: Juicy Couture, same as above
  -  Sandals: Sam Edelman, via DSW

For class/errands yesterday:

  -  Pink dress: Ann Taylor Loft (same as the black one above)
  -  Belt: H&M
  -  Sandals: ZigiSoho, via DSW

Today's ensemble (excuse the wet hair!):

  -  White skirt: Abercrombie & Fitch, circa high school
  -  Aqua tank top: J.Crew
  -  Wedges: Michael Michael Kors, via DSW
  -  Necklace: Ann Taylor Loft

(Side note: Though I hate shopping there, A&F clothes fit me better than any other brand I've ever owned. If only being in there didn't give me a headache...)

Clearly, I do a lot of my shoe shopping at DSW! There's a few locations near my house at home, and I cannot go in their without coming out with a pair. The Michael Michael Kors wedges were an amazing deal though- I think they were like $40 reduced from over $100.

What's your favorite discount store?