What I'm Loving Wednesday (8-29-12)

It's about that time for another WILW post, dontcha think?

1. Two nights in a row of cooking some of my favorite tried and true recipes.

Sloppy Joes, that I'm renaming Super Spicy Sloppy Joes. I used less spice and hot sauce than my recipe called for and my mouth was still on fire two bites into the sandwich.

Morning Star Copycat Black Bean Burgers with homemade guacamole and corn on the cob? Ohmuhgosh. I could eat this every single night.

2. This. This is what I call Heaven in a Cardboard Container. Have you tried any of Duff's (aka the Cake Boss's) Blue Bunny ice cream flavors yet? This Red Carpet Red Velvet Cake ice cream is to die for. I bought this on my dinner break while working a late shift last week and it's safe to say this is only thing that kept me going at my desk until 10pm.

3. A coffee mug filled with hot oatmeal. Don't forget the sliced bananas and chai seeds! This is how I've been starting my workday for the past two weeks. I've gotten in a poor habit of sleeping until the last minute and not having quite enough time to eat my breakfast at home. Solution? Bring my oatmeal to work in a mug! 

4. Oh look, it's my Lost Dog Cafe mug again! I sure do put that thing to use. After cleaning the oatmeal out of it, I fill it with what it's actually meant for- Coffee! These rainy days call for a warm and comforting afternoon snack like a hot cup of coffee and a chocolatey Good Greens bar (Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor). 

5. Out of all of this foodie goodness, the thing I am loving most about this Wednesday is that it's my last full day here in Charleston before my trip HOME!! Tomorrow evening, Greg and I will be hopping on a plane to Columbus for a full weekend of cake tastings, meetings with the caterer, engagement pictures and some much needed family time. I. Can't. Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aren't we precious? ;)

Childhood Lunch and Good Greens Bars

Good morning my lovely readers and friends. I have been trying to enjoy every moment of this weekend since I got off of work Friday afternoon. My company is in the midst of our busy season and work has been cray-to the-zee. I worked last Sunday, so used some of my comp time to take Friday afternoon off (hoarding saving the other half-day for later in the year!). 

I made myself lunch a simple lunch at home consisting of a childhood favorite...

PB&J! These have been on my lunch menu regularly for the past week or two. Paired with a sweet, juicy apple and I am one happy five-I mean-23 year old!

A couple bites into my lunch and I heard a knock at the door. Good thing I just so happened to be home on a Friday afternoon, because the UPS man had a special delivery for me!

I was recently contacted by Good Greens, a company based in my home state of Ohio that makes nutritional bars and powder, about reviewing their products. I had never heard of the bars, but was excited to learn they have partnered with the Ohio State University in it's effort to remove unhealthy snacks across the campus. Instead, the school will be replacing heavily processed snacks with nutrition bars like Good Greens' among others. It's so nice to see large institutions taking initiative to make a difference. We can all benefit from having less unhealthy snacks tempting us throughout the day. 

I was sent some bite-sized samples and some of their full bars in a variety of flavors. I couldn't just try one, so I nibbled on a few different flavors after my main meal. 

So far I really like the Chocolate Peanut Butter. The Mixed Berry and Chocolate Raspberry were much better than I expected, since I usually don't care much for the combination of chocolate and fruity flavors. 

The nutritional value of these bars is outrageous. In a good way! They are organic, vegan and gluten free so they fit just about any diet. They The best part of these bars is that a single regular size bar contains 100% of your daily dose of vitamins and minerals you need from fruits and veggies. 

Some other notable facts: 

-190-195 calories

-5 grams of fiber

-12 grams of protein

For now, these bars can only be found in select locations around Ohio, but you can order online too! Check them out if you're interested in trying a new nutrion bar. 

Find them on Facebook here. 

Banana Bread Snack Cake with a Cinnamon Glaze

Last week I stuck a few brown bananas in the freezer knowing I could keep them there to wait until it was time I make one of the 100 banana recipes I have pinned. Then about two days later, I noticed a whole bunch of bananas in the snack basket (one of the best things about my work) at my office that had turned completely brown as well. I wasn't about to let those babies get thrown away, so I made the executive decision to adopt them myself. I gave them a home in my freezer with the other browned bananas and suddenly I had just about enough to bake every single banana recipe I could want.

Since I would need to quit my real job to be able to bake as much as I wanted, I knew I needed to play favorites and only pick the recipes that looked exceptionally delicious...for now anyway.

First up: Banana Bread Snack Cake from the one and only Jessica at How Sweet It Is.

I subbed cake flour for whole wheat pastry flour simply because I didn't have any. Otherwise, I would have loved to use whole wheat for the added health benefits. I am not sure how this switch might have changed the overall outcome of the snack cake in terms of density or any other qualities. For better or for worse, the cake flour version seemed to work quite well.

These turned out just the way I expected. Sweet enough to be a cake, but not so sweet that you feel guilty eating some for breakfast or a snack. It is called snack cake after all. Not that you really need an excuse to eat cake for breakfast or for a snack, but at least you can feel better doing it when it's something like this. 

Another plus? The clean-up is extra easy because you can make these all in a single bowl. If you're anything like me, you consider the mess baking is going to make and look for recipes that require less equipment. 

I still have a few banana recipes up my sleeve to put the other frozen fruits to use. The snack cake was a good start, but I'm thinking something with chocolate in the mix will need to happen for the next one. Stay tuned!

Banana Bread Snack Cake
(Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is)

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients:
For the cake-
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted

For the glaze-
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
To make the cake-
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 baking pan and set aside.
2. In a medium/large bowl, whisk egg and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. Whisk until well combined. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir until just combined. Add butter and stir until evenly incorporated.
3. Pour batter into pan and bake 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
4. Remove from oven and cool about 5-10 minutes before cutting into squares. Drizzle glaze overtop and dig in!

To make the glaze-
1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Stir with spoon until smooth.

Another Day, Another Lunch at Purée

Purée has clearly become one of my new favorite restaurants. For someone that doesn't eat out more than a couple of times a week (mostly on the weekends), going to this café about five or six times already since it opened just a couple of months ago is pretty serious. 

I have pretty much ordered something different each time too. When I met up with Brittany at Purée last month, she ordered the Grilled Cheese. I knew it was a must for my next visit. 

The time had come yesterday, when Greg and I brought his mom and brother with us for lunch. 

It was everything I thought it would be and more. The wheat bread was perfectly toasted and the cheese was perfectly melted. The addition of white bean spread, tomatoes and kale kicked up your simple grilled cheese sandwich into something special. 

The sandwich was served with the side of the day, a black bean salad. It couldn't have been more perfect either!...except maybe a little more would have been good. I would have eaten an entire bowl of that stuff!

If you haven't been to Purée yet, I highly recommend getting yourself there. I am sometimes a bit hesitant bringing others that may not be into the whole vegan/organic thing, but everyone loved their meals and cleaned their plates down to the last crumb. It really does have something for everyone. 

A Restaurant Review - 82 Queen (Take 2)

On Sunday I mentioned my family's trip to 82 Queen to celebrate my mom's birthday. We arrived right on time for our reservation. Despite the rain, my mom's wishes were granted when the hostess told us we could still sit outside underneath the gazebo. 

We ordered a couple bottles of wine, one red and one white, then were served baskets of their amazing cheddar chive biscuits.

It took all I had not to dive in for more than just one. I knew I had a plenty more food and wine to keep me full for the rest of the night. 

It didn't take me long to decide on my entree: Lump Crab Cakes. The cakes were served on top of 'hashatash.' I only had an idea of what this was because of some menu research I did before hand (duh), but our server described it as a mix of red peppers, lima beans, corn, and onion. The dish all came together with Tabasco beurre blanc. Don't let the name fool you. Although it is made with Tabasco, it was not spicy in the least. 

Simply put, everything about this dish was incredible. I absolutely loved it. As good as the crab cakes were, the hashatash may have been even better!

One of the other entrees at the table were the Queen's Barbeque Shrimp and Grits. Brooke and Greg both had this dish and raved about it just as much as I did with mine. 

Then came dessert. Ohhhhh dessert. My favorite part. We ordered three different ones and split them amongst the table. 

My choice was the Bourbon Pecan Pie. I had this the first time I went to the restaurant and it wasn't a question that I needed it again.

We also ordered this banana split spin-off, served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate ganache (I don't remember the actual name). 

Greg was all about the key lime pie. It was light and refreshing compared to the others, but not quite indulgent enough to be my favorite. 

Overall, I cannot put into words how much of a great night this was. The food was obviously to die for, but combined with the company, it made for an amazing time. I am so glad I got to spend a nice evening out with my family, especially my mom, even if it was a few days late from her actual birthday. 

Where Have I Been?

Eating mid-day frozen yogurt to brighten up my crazy workweek. 

Creating my own salad at Triangle by adding the over easy egg from Greg's burger that he didn't want to my Harvest Salad. I was overall unimpressed with the salad, but the addition of the egg made it so much better. 

Strolling the Farmers Market with my family! This is one of my favorite ways to spend Saturday afternoons in Charleston.

Eating lunch at Black Bean Co...another one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. I love this place. The salad was perfect. Lots of toppings and lots of deliciousness. 

More eating (duh). This time it was a fancy dinner out to celebrate my mom's recent birthday. She chose 82 Queen. 

I had been there before and remembered how good it was. But this time was even better. It was definitely the best dinner out I have had in a long time. Not just for the amazing food, but for the company as well. (review on the food to come later this week!)

After a long, busy, visitor-filled past week, I am saying goodbye to the company this morning and spending the day resting. It's what Sundays are meant for after all!

Strawberry Shortcake

Has this week been crazy for anyone else, or is it just me? I feel like it needs to be the weekend already. I know, I'm dreaming. It's only Wednesday for goodness sakes. It doesn't help that my mom, sister and step-dad are coming in town this weekend. I am so excited that it feels like the week cannot end soon enough. 

If you need a mid-week treat like I do, I've got you covered. 

Strawberry Shortcake has all of the essentials:

1. Biscuits for my bread/carb cravings

2. Light, fluffy cream to sub in for my daily ice cream (or fro yo) fix

3. Berries to that are so sweet they actually somewhat satisfy my everlasting sweet tooth...and of course  they add enough nutritional value to make it all worth something!

Not to mention this dessert is pretty dang adorable.


Strawberry Shortcake
(Adapted from here)

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups Cool Whip or whipped cream
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks
2/3 cup milk

Directions:
1. Combine sliced berries and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate while preparing the biscuits (can be prepared up to about 4-6 hours ahead of time).
2. For the biscuits, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Cut in chunks of butter until they are about pea-size. Stir in the milk until just combined.
4. Knead dough two or three times on a lightly floured surface. Pat until dough is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into biscuits with round cutter and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
5. When biscuits have cooled about 5-10 minutes, slice each in half. Layer whipped cream and strawberries on the bottom half, and top with remaining half of the biscuit. Top it all off with more cream and strawberries if desired.

Sunday Blessings - Range of Emotions

This past week was filled with a lot of emotions. 

In case you missed it, first I had a great couple of days with my grandparents who were in town early in the week. Then I celebrated the first anniversary of the blog, but was also brought back to a painful time last year when I lost a good friend. It was tough having all of those emotions come back like it was just yesterday. I don't know if I will ever forget that feeling of shock. 

On Friday, Greg and I drove to North Carolina to help his parents move, which took most of the day on Saturday.

I can be a major slacker when it comes to moving. I admit it. I probably hurt more than I help sometimes. I don't think anyone actually likes moving, but I really hate it. 

Although there is just about nothing that ice cream can't make better. We stopped at a roadside creamery/farmers market kind of thing between stops for little moving motivation. I had to lick extra quickly because the summer heat had the ice cream dripping down the cone from the second it was handed to me. But rest assured, I ate every last drop of that waffle cone filled with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. 

We headed back to Charleston after all of that was said and done and grabbed Chipotle for din din. A bright and colorful veggie salad put a smile on my tired face. 

I was thinking it was about time I put in writing all of the things I am feeling especially blessed for again. Although the timing of this post  (after 11pm) barely qualifies as Sunday blessings, close still counts! 

I am blessed for my grandparents and the close relationship I have with both of them. I am so blessed for their unconditional love and support in everything I do. They treat Greg like one of their own grandchildren too, for which I couldn't be more grateful.

I am blessed for my friends who are still here on this earth and those who have gone to wait for the rest of us at our final home in Heaven. I am thankful for every last memory I do have especially with Morgan, and another friend from high school Emma, who passed away during my sophomore year in college. 

I am blessed for yet another safe weekend of traveling.

I am blessed for the little things in life, like ice cream and Chipotle, that make the dreaded tasks more bearable. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and have a blessed week!

Something Old and Something New

No, this has nothing to do with my wedding ;)

My grandparents were in town on Monday and Tuesday so of course I took them to some local spots for dinner.

First up was something new for me, Boulevard Diner. It's a well-known restaurant for most Charlestonians with two locations around the city. Being named a 'diner,' the atmosphere is just as you would expect. Super informal and a bit run-down.

After a weekend which literally could not have involved more eating out, I needed something HEALTHY if I was going to eat out again. The Boulevard Chef Salad sounded pretty close to perfect.

The bed of romaine lettuce was topped with ham, turkey, swiss, cucumber, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and egg. I chose the homemade balsamic marinated tomatoes for my dressing. I was hesitant, but it was awesome! 

Tuesday night brought us back to an oldie, but a goodie. Daniel Island Grille is our favorite place here on the island. I think that goes for pretty much everyone that lives here. It's got to be the longest standing restaurant on Daniel Island, as many of the other places seem to come and go in relatively short periods of time. 

Since I had a plateful of sauteed vegetables for lunch that afternoon, I opted for something different than my usual Urban Meyer Vegetable Wrap. Wanting to remain as healthy/nutritious as possible for the main entree, I decided on the Dan Marino Fish Tacos topped with pineapple salsa and a spicy mango sauce on the side. I splurged a little for my side dish and got the sweet potato fries. Too good to pass up!

I was a clean plater that night. It was all so delicious! I have had the tacos once before, probably about a year ago. Now after rediscovering them, I will be ordering them more often.

For as many times as I have been to DIG, GG ordered something I have never had. The A-Rod Southwest Tostado Salad looked great. And GG confirmed it tasted just as good as it looked!

The men (Greg and Paw Paw) had burgers which are always a hit (sorry, no pics). 

It was so nice having GG and Paw visit for a couple of days, even though I had to spend the majority of the time working. I am so grateful to have the relationship I do with my grandparents and can't wait to see them again over Labor Day in Columbus! 

I hope you all have a great Friday! 

A Year Ago Today...

A year ago yesterday was a big event in my life as it marked the first post of this here blog of mine.

A year ago today will always be in my heart for an entirely different reason. It has been one year exactly since the passing of my good friend Morgan. I can still remember the phone call, the disbelief, and the heartache of that time in my life.

I think about Morgan all the time and will never forget all of the times we spent together. I know she is in a better place, but I can't help but think of how much I wish she could still be with us today. 

Re-reading my post from last year reminded me again of how important it is to keep in touch with your friends and family and tell them how much you care. So today I challenge you to call at least one friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while. Talk for two minutes, talk for two hours. Whatever it is, just don't forget to say, "I love you." 

Have a great day everyone. I LOVE ALL OF YOU!