I'm Almost Too Bored for Saturday

Are you following me? Why not? Come on, I'll be your best friend...

* So, my healthy eating plan is in full swing! I'm trying to cut back the number of meat servings I eat in a week and have been doing pretty well so far. This week, I made some delicious balsamic glazed chicken, had one beef fajita, and blackened chicken salad from Whole Foods. Everything else was veggie. The last one I just couldn't help myself- I love that stuff! Speaking of Whole Foods, they just opened a new flagship store off Park Lane (for all you Dallas readers) and it is inspiring. Everything is easy to find, the produce is clearly marked "organic" or "conventional" along with it's state/country of origin. They've got a bunch of great deals too since they're new. For even better deals, check out the Central Market a couple blocks away- they're topping WF by at least $1. Anywho, I spent a lot less than I thought I would but it will be worth it if I calculated correctly and don't have to go back to the store for 2 weeks.

* I am your new giant Jenga master- bow to me!

* Dear Murderville: I understand that you cannot be anything other than what you are, but can you explain to me why I was awoken by a baby screaming bloody murder outside at 4 in the morning? Shouldn't said baby be asleep, or at the very least in doors? To make things worse, it woke up my upstairs neighbors who took the opportunity to parade around their apartment and keep me up. PS- The crack heads who were carrying on across the street at 4:30 AM had the decency to go inside after 15 minutes. In closing, please keep you babies (and any other illegal number of tenants you have crammed in a tiny 1-bedroom) indoors at night and away from my window. That is all.

* "Did you try double knotting it?"- our imagined answer if you called tech support on your shoe laces. We may have had a few too many Murphy's Irish Stout as well...

* Jennie's word of the day is: pink socks (she is obsessed with her recently pink socks. I am a bit too considering they started life as grey). Her second choice in words is "mistakes" for those of you who cannot work pink socks into your conversation.

* It's all over the news, but I have just one question for Bombshell McGee the alleged former slut of Jesse James- "Exactly how are you not dressed like a Nazi?" Have you seen the pic? She claims this is not a Nazi outfit. Uh... I understand you're not very intelligent, but honey, it is.

* I finally learned something important from my Yahoo! homepage and immediately forgot it.

* Hogwart's is coming! As the movie/comic/life nerd that I am, I need to start planning my trip to Disney Florida asap. The new Harry Potter theme park opens June 18th. I'm so giggly it's ridiculous.



c/o married to the sea

Moooo-ve Over Monday!

So I've started writing this post much earlier than usual in an attempt to actually get it out (especially since I promised it to you yesterday). The original plan was to write something rough last night and polish it out today, but let's just say I got distracted (and by distracted I mean I drank a bottle of wine at my friend's house while watching Project Runway and helping her write her performance review- super fun but unproductive).

Work has been really slow lately, so I've been cruising the interwebs (not in a dirty way!) and wasting as much time as possible; another reason there is no excuse to not post something and on time! I was reading my mail and got excited to see I had a message from GOOP. I'm relatively certain I've expounded on the evil joy that is Gwenyth Paltrow's weekly lifestyle newsletter but couldn't find the tag for it (don't worry, there will still be plenty of links in this post). Long story short/in summary: She publishes GOOP weekly and topics range from travel to wellness to food to whatever. The food ones are my favorite (big surprise), though she's had great gift ideas for any (ANY) budget and fun tidbits about foreign locals I have yet to visit.

This weeks newsletter was all about vegetarian dishes.

[side note: While Paltrow has previously dabbled in vegetarian and macrobiotic eating, she now eats meat. Check out her amazing and simple roast chicken recipe here .]

Immediately I forwarded a copy to my favorite Veggie, then went back to read what I had actually sent. Ms. Paltrow has joined the McCarthy's (that would be Stella and father/Beatle Paul) in their vegetarian mission: Meat Free Monday. From their mission statement:

"Meat Free Monday is an environmental campaign to raise awareness of the climate-changing impact of meat production and consumption. Many people are unaware that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than the entire transport sector..."

Basically, by standing up and pledging to "go meatless" at least once a week, they hope to reduce the need for more grazing land, reduce greenhouse emissions, and promote healthy living. As many of you know, eating organic and as locally as possible (depending on my level of laziness) is very important to me. It seems as if this topic comes up every time I talk to my sister. As a future veterinarian (and current pescatarian), she has an insight into the production and health of meat in this country that I find invaluable and educational. The illogical system behind the slaughter of animals (don't even get me started) coupled with the "waste" of much of the worlds grain to feed animals but not people got me excited about participating in this mission.

Without planning it, or even really noticing, I tend to have at least one vegetarian meal a week. It couldn't be simpler to expand that thought to the whole day. Of course, I couldn't give up eating meat all together- I'm a firm believer in the food chain and the delicious power of BBQ; not to mention my hatred of many of the world's vegetables- but I do want to eat better and smarter. The resources available to us with delicious and nutritious vegetarian dishes is better than ever before. I hope you will check out the websites to learn more and pledge to do your part.

Meat Free Monday (UK)

Meatless Monday (USA)

Food Network- Conscious Cooking

I made this amazing macaroni and cheese dish the other day that I was going to share with you, but I forgot to download the pictures (and I'm pretty sure they didn't come out well either). So, that will have to wait. Instead, I'm giving you a recipe I saw recently that made my mouth water and begin the countdown to payday when I can make them. A big thanks to Giada De Laurentiis for bringing easy yet elegant food to my table. I can't wait to make these savory Goat Cheese w/Sun-dried Tomato Profiteroles . (Plus, I just like saying "profiterole"- pre-fit-e-rol)