Chicken Sausage Carbonara

Today Michelle Obama (love her) unveiled the "Nutrition Plate" that is to replace the food pyramid as a guide to Americans on how their plates should look.

I, for one, am very on board with Michelle's mission of educating people -especially kids and parents- how to eat healthfully. It's probably the issue in which I’m most passionate. While planning healthy meals does take some time, creativity and money, its absolutely worth it. In my opinion, being healthy doesn't have to mean strict dieting and deprivation. I love and appreciate indulgent foods (example: Melissa's double chocolate birthday cake from yesterday). I just try to be aware of what I'm eating and make sure I don't over do it. Tonight I think I was able to roughly mirror the Nutrition Plate without too much effort.
Chicken Sausage Carbonara covers all bases!

Grains: whole wheat pasta
Protein: chicken sausage and egg yolks
Fruits: grapes and banana
Vegetables: peas
Dairy: Greek yogurt, feta cheese + cup of almond milk (debatably dairy)
I loosely followed Real Simple's pasta carbonara with spicy sausage but adapted to my desired portion size and items in my refrigerator.

(Recipe serves 2)
4 oz whole wheat noodles
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp olive oil
1 spicy chicken sausage
1 egg yolks
1/4 cup greek yogurt
splash of milk
1/4 cup feta cheese
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Cook pasta per directions, and toss in peas right before pasta is done. Drain pasta but reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Cut chicken sausage into pieces and cook in oiled skillet until browned. Mix yolks, Greek yogurt and milk, add to pot with pasta, along with the pasta water, cheese, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until sauce is thickened and coasts the pasta. Add in chicken sausage and serve. 

Melissa’s Birthday Dinner

My birthday gift to Melissa, (besides a hand-me-down novel) was dinner and a cake. I made her my favorite chocolate cake recipe from Ina Garden’s cookbook, since after all she has been my best friend since sophomore year of high school - even though we’re as different as night and day.

The last time I made this recipe I put the chocolate chips inside the cake batter, but this time I forgot!! So I dumped them on top of a still warm cake and topped it with the other, making a chocolate chip-chocolate cake sandwich.

Though I still think I prefer them in the cake, this method was very delicious. Per Melissa’s request, I made cream cheese frosting.

cream cheese frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


I made a light dinner of tortellini salad and fresh fruit. Thank goodness it was light, because my house was literally 85 degrees. The hardships of living without central AC!

The tortellini salad was comprised of:
1 box cheese tortellini (Trader Joes)
1 tomato, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 ear of white corn, cut off the cob
handful fresh basil, chopped
few mint sprigs, chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper and lemon juice

Pulled Pork Sandwich & Mango Soft-Serve

This Memorial Day felt like summer vacation used to feel. A random weekday with nothing better to do than go to the pool. As you’d expect, a family was having a cook out in the park next to the pool and it smelled amazing. So I decided today was a perfect day to try my hand at barbecue.
I always thought pulled pork had to take hours and hours, and cook in some kind of outdoor pig smoking chamber. Apparently not! All you need is a big pot, and a couple hours to look over the pork shoulder as it simmers away.

Cutting the pork into large pieces cuts the cook time down a ton, and it definitely didn’t take away from the tenderness.

It might look strange but that’s just the chicken bullion. I followed this recipe and would definitely make it again.

For a light and refreshing dessert on this 95 degree day, I attempted mango creamsicles.


I adapted mine from Bon Appetit’s Peach and Cream popsicles…but either the consistency of the mangos or the not-so-cold freezer forced me to make it soft serve.

Definitely not the end of the world because it was still SO good.

Mango Soft-serve:

2 mangos, diced
1/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
splash of milk

Make a quick simple syrup by adding the water, sugar and vanilla bean to a pot and cook until sugar is dissolved. Throw out vanilla bean and cool the syrup. Once cool, add all ingredients to a blender, then freeze in cups or ramekins for individual desserts.

Memorial Day Walking Tour

Our biggest adventures in DC usually happen on accident. They start out as innocent: a quick walk to Starbucks to catch the bus to Dupont Circle, we get impatient for the bus and decide to walk the whole way, and then there’s no looking back. This is how we ended up walking 11 miles on Saturday.

One of my favorite outdoor bars is the The Occidental outdoor lounge at the Willard Hotel downtown. We tried to kill some time by exploring the old Post Office Pavilion. The line was too long and full of boy scouters so we headed in a different direction until we stumbled on the National Botanical Garden.

It’s such a hidden gem, and it’s HUGE. There was a room dedicated to spices that were all displayed cutely in large fake flowers.


Those orange pods are cacao {future chocolate!} The garden was a beautiful little oasis in the middle of downtown.

Then a loop around the Capitol just for fun. When I’m exploring DC, I try to avoid groups of people in matching T-shirts as much as possible. This is easier said than done. In our efforts to avoid a group of singing, color-coordinating teens, we ducked into a nearby bakery, Paul’s.


Right outside, a group had gathered to watch a man speak about either Native American issues and/or veterans and war crimes. I really couldn’t tell.
Another 15 block hike back from the Capitol to The Occidental for a refreshment in their lounge patio.

Walk another 14 blocks to Commissary for their happy hour? Sure!

Hello, delicious watermelon margarita. On the walk home from Logan Circle, we saw the coolest corn hole set. Everyone has their unique way of celebrating Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day!
And Happy Birthday, Melissa!! Little does she know, I’m about to surprise her in bed with Starbucks.

Overnight Oats

I used to have oatmeal almost every morning, but in the summer a bowl of hot oats is too much to handle. This was a refreshing alternative! 
Right after dinner last night, I put together a bowl of “overnight oats” and left it in the fridge overnight to do its thing.

The mixture:
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup almond milk (or any other kind of milk)
splash of vanilla
pinch of salt


This morning I topped mine with half a sliced banana, frozen mixed berries (thawed), granola and shaved coconut. On the side, I had a glass of lemon water, which I read on back to her roots is supposed to be good for digestion and purification.
Speaking of healthy, I went for a run after work today (I’m trying to keep it up!). Unfortunately, running was hard today. Some days are just harder than others. So it was brief and ended with a 20 minute homemade workout in my room using moves such as this:

and:

Since dinner was still a couple hours away, I made an afternoon snack: cherry and grape tomatoes, torn basil, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar and basil olive oil. It felt indulgent because of my for goat cheese. Dinner tonight is at one of my favorite fast-casual restaurants! Surfside.

Goat Cheese Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Disney World!

I just returned from my first-ever (probably not last) trip to Walt Disney World.

We had a fun group



It sure is like nowhere else on earth. My favorite ride, by far, was Tower of Terror – I rode it three times!

Another highlight was Epcot’s Countries. We visited Germany for an Oktoberfest beer, a Werther’s caramel and chocolate dipped pretzel and Japan for some authentic sushi and sashimi.


The parks are great, it’s the people that need some work. It’s hard to ignore how well the food industry has these people wrapped around their finger. If you can convince someone they need an ice cream bar before breakfast, you must be doing something right – marketing wise. One of the restaurants we went to did have red quinoa cakes. I was impressed!

The last day in Florida was devoted to laying out by the pool, after a brief trip to Downtown Disney. –> Lego Seamonster.

It’s always nice returning home and loading up on groceries.


I decided to make goat cheese pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and pine nuts tonight, after finding the recipe here.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti
12-15 cherry tomatoes
2-3 oz goat cheese
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper
basil

Toss tomatoes in olive oil and salt before roasting on a sheet pan at 350 for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, boil pasta until al dente. Drain and return to pot. Add in a drizzle of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, half of your goat cheese, and parmesan. Plate and top with tomatoes, pine nuts, basil, remaining goat cheese and any remaining parmesan.
Yummm.