food

salads

by Lara on November 22, 2011

in crafty

Perfect timing to talk about eating healthy with the Thanksgiving gorge-fest in a few days!

I’m still sticking to my plan and ended up buying a scale so I can keep track of my progress. The one at the store said I had lost 6 lbs. It’s more like 4. I’m not complaining!

Anyhoo… I was spending a small fortune at my local health food store’s salad bar so, I went ahead and got a bunch of produce to make my own mini bar for the week!

baby tomatoes and pre-sliced mushrooms, shredded carrot, sliced bell pepper, shredded beets, cucumber, radishes, red cabbage and broccoli

not pictured: a box of baby spinach, low-fat feta, candied pecans, balsamic vinaigrette, and I blackened and sliced up a bunch of chicken tenders.

I finally used my food processor for something other than hummus. Those attachments are so much fun! This all took about 1/2 hour and will make things so much easier and cheaper.

Still doing the two eggs in the morning and snacking on Lara Bars, low fat string cheese, bananas, apple slices with peanut butter and dried apricots during the day.

Sunday, we decided on keeping red meat to one day a week. I’d like to make it less than that. I celebrated my good behaviour and a shitty week by cooking huge steak dinner. It was delicious and I’m not going to feel bad about it!

Speaking of not feeling bad, here’s everything I’m cooking (all by myself) for Thanksgiving:

rolls, 2 turkey breasts, green bean casserole, mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar & pineapple, crispy potato roast, stuffing, gravy, deviled eggs, potato salad, 2 coconut pies

I don’t even like Thanksgiving dinner but I will enjoy every bite!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

{ 3 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on June 8, 2011

in + & -

 

 

  • This past Sunday we went to Broad Appétit, a food festival in Richmond on Broad Street. Over 60 chefs from local restaurants set up booths offering $3 sample plates of 2-4 dishes from their establishments. The portions were generous, the street was packed, and the weather was perfect. My fave dish was the mango glazed prawns with a bean salad and beet sauce from an Indian place called Lehja. It ended up making 2nd place in the competition! I wish this festival was twice a year.

photo (and a great review) via

another review here

The only thing it needs are some divider tabs. How cute are these index stickers!?

  • I used to look up to these rock video babes for fashion, hair and makeup inspiration when I was little! Ha! My mom’s friend’s daughter was about 10 years older than me and a major hair metal chick – crazy black hair and perfect cat eyes. She ended up giving me her glow-in-the-dark leopard Chuck Taylors and a motorcycle jacket when I was about 12. She was my hero.
  • Hey y’all! You need to keep one of these in your purse! Just rub it on your foot where your shoe is irritating and voila! (It’s called either Rub Relief or Miracle Shield – I think they’ve changed the name.)

 

 

  • The Casey Anthony murder trial – I’m completely obsessed and she’s guilty as sin.
  • Because of this, my Nancy Grace impersonation is getting to be spot-on.
  • I’m gonna sound catty but whatever – I can’t stand seeing a major blogger “discover” something I wrote about 2 years ago and everyone goes apeshit over it. The end.

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antipasto

by Lara on April 17, 2011

in geek

it’s what’s for dinner!

Warm weather, walks, light snacking dinner. Today has been a good day.

Oh, and this is my favorite house on Monument Ave:

We also discovered a gorgeous courtyard with a secluded garden beyond. Want.

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Asian market finds

by Lara on October 22, 2010

in geek

Going to an Asian market can be really intimidating. There are so many things you’ve never seen before and most things have labels you can’t even understand. There are also so many different Asian countries, cultures and cuisines. The bf is half-Korean and has helped me navigate the Korean markets in Richmond. His mom has also taken us to some meccas in Nova. I usually go nuts over the candies. Here are some of my favorite things.

  • Mango jelly cups! You know how we have pre-made Jell-O cups? Well, at most Asian markets, you can find jelly cups. They come in much smaller portions, like Jell-O shooters, in plastic bags or giant tubs. We hit up a big international market in Nova this past weekend and I grabbed a tub of mango jellies. They’re vegan. The gelatinous quality comes from seaweed extract and little chunks of nata de coco (a process of fermenting coconut water) and they’re delicious! If you happen to hit up an Asian market, try to find the more opaque mango ones. Also, if you are vegan, double check the ingredients. Some that say “pudding” may have milk powder in them.

  • Hoddeok – Korean stuffed sweet pancakes. They’re a common street food and super easy to make. They’re like smooshed fried doughnuts filled with brown sugar and crushed peanuts. You can find the packages at most Korean markets. You can also make them from scratch.

  • Spicy Korean ramen – If you love spicy food, this ramen is where it’s at. My dad is insane for hot food and cooks with just the seasoning pack in these things now. I have to keep him stocked up. Ridiculous.
  • Gochujang - this hot pepper paste is a staple in Korean cooking. It’s used in marinating Korean BBQ and as a condiment. It comes in different levels of heat.

  • Candies and Milkita – I love the random flavors of Asian hard candies and gummies. Plum is my favorite. Milkita candies have a cute little cow and a creamy flavor.

  • Large pearl tapioco or boba. Bubble tea is a Taiwanese flavored drink with gigantic black tapioca at the bottom. You drink it with a huge straw. You can find the tapioca and flavored mixes to make your own, or cook (boil until soft) and add the large pearls to regular tapioca pudding for fun. They also come in pastel colors.
  • Noodles! Oh my god there are so many types of noodles! Rice noodles, buckwheat, egg… you name it.

  • Oyster sauce and other staples- use oyster sauce in Asian recipes instead of super strong fish sauce. It’s much milder and less salty. Great with sautéed bok choy, garlic and soy sauce as a side. Also invest in some good soy sauce and sesame oil. La Choy is Americanized garbage.

  • Bacchus energy drinks- If you like Red Bull, these tiny bottles of Korean energy drinks will knock your socks off!

  • Nylon washcloths- These things are awesome! I’ve mentioned them before for exfoliation. They’re coarse and scrub the heck out of your skin. They’re also long so you can get your back, develop a great lather, and they dry quickly. They’re about $3 and last forever.

  • Mochi – These are Japanese and are soft sweet rice powder cakes with a fruit filling! You can also find the ice cream versions in the frozen section.

  • While you’re in the freezer section, look for boxes of melon bars. They taste like the most perfectly ripe cantaloupe you’ve ever had.
  • Produce! Try out all the different fruits and vegetables for the heck of it! There are enough resources online to figure out how to cook with new things. Lychee fruit, musk melons, daikon radish, various mushrooms (bags of dried ones are great to keep on hand and reconstitute beautifully).

  • Frozen dumplings – These are hit and miss. I really don’t like the kimchi dumplings and some of the vegetable ones have been a mushy disappointment. It seems that you get what you pay for in most cases. There are so many different kinds. Just grab a bag and give ‘em a shot!

Well, that’s all for now! Go out and be adventurous!

{ 10 comments }

+ & –

by Lara on October 12, 2010

in + & -

  • Do you love paper goods? I just discovered Felt & Wire Shop. Such pretty things from all over, in one place! Love this wrapping paper. (I covered my funky linen closet shelves with fun robot wrapping paper secured with tape and then protected with clear contact paper. It’s held up great and is easy to remove.)

  • Speaking of, I really love to wrap presents. Here’s the gift for the bf’s sister’s wedding next weekend. I went a little nuts at Ben Franklin. We went crazy getting her killer serving pieces at every Marshalls and TJMaxx in town. She wants to entertain.

  • She-Ra turned 25! Next to Jem, they were my favorite dolls and I can’t believe I sold them all on eBay.

  • My rat’s lump on his chin is gone! There’s a wee scab left so I’m wondering if it was a cyst that burst. (gross, sorry) I’m relieved. Barnaby’s my favorite. He lets me scratch and rub him up and he cuddles. Toki hates me.

go Barnaby go!

  • Thankfully, there aren’t any major negatives burning my ass right now. I miss karaoke. I was always a ham at ballet recitals and school plays. I ad-libbed a lot.  A few beers, a few shots and… well, I really miss karaoke. My signature songs were Beastie Boys’ Get it Together, Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell,, and if you ask me to sing with you, I’ll sing anything you want, with gusto!
  • I do want to talk about how sick and tired I am of those commercials with the bitchy wives and wussy husbands. There are the ones for yogurt where a man can’t even look in his own fridge without his wife, hand on hip, calling “Babe?” in an imperious tone. He sheepishly looks down and shuts the fridge door. There’s also the washing machine commercial with the break dancers. The husband decides to bust a tiny move and make a bad joke. (I would’ve burst out laughing.) His wife cuts a look and he also puts his head down and says, “Sorry.” This is pathetic and makes me feel sorry for men who can’t just be themselves because of overbearing women holding their balls for them in their purse. I’m a raging feminist but that doesn’t give me the right to be a bitch. Sure I want respect and wish to be treated like a “lady”. I’m a feminist but I’m also Southern as hell. We all need to be careful what we wish for. There’s a quote by writer Jean Kerr:

The only thing worse than a man you can’t control is a man you can.

{ 4 comments }

+ & -

by Lara on August 9, 2010

in + & -

 

 

 

 

 

  • I’m seriously thinking about buying a foreclosure home. Not now (maybe in a few years) but I’m researching FHA loans and the entire process. It’s a serious long-term goal I’m setting for myself. It’s too far off for the bf to panic but my parents are being super supportive. Considering my mom was a real estate agent & FHA inspector and my father owns a construction company, I have access to tools, discounted supplies, advice and help. We’re a land investment type of family. I’ve stepped up my game on saving up for a down payment. I’m getting my ducks in a row all Suze Orman style over here! Whether we’d like to live in the home or flip it after some fixing up, this will all be based on situation, location and the state of the property (and the economy) upon purchase. At this point, it’s all about patience, saving up and research. Scary exciting stuff!
  • I finally went to the South of the James Farmer’s Market. I am in love with that place and so glad it’s going on until December 4th! I bought grass-fed beef from a local farmer for cheaper than at the grocery store. (It comes frozen and sealed so you can make it back home safely.) We bought beautiful heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, and had tacos and breakfast burritos. I’m getting flowers, bread and more next time! Perfect way to throw together a special weekend dinner and get yourself out of the house on a Saturday morning. Here’s a Flickr pool of Richmond farmer’s market photos.
  • This particular comic is wonderful! It compares Orwell and Huxley’s fears for our future. Yeah, we’re screwed.

  • For all you suckers out there (I’m one of them), aren’t these lipsticks adorable? Of course, after a few uses, they’ve lost their charm but good grief! So cute! $25 each here. (via and all over the web now because us suckers for cute… we are legion)

  • Oh hey! Did you notice I changed the look of my + & – posts? No big deal but I think it’s simple and cute!
  • This post from DI$COUNT about what luxury is to them… yes.
  • This entry from Postcards from Yo Mamma. Seriously, why? It happens to me all the time.

  • The bf went out of town two weekends ago. While he was gone, I picked up a box of his favorite chocolates. He brought me back French tarts from a bakery we love in Maryland. This is why I have my next entry in the minuses…

 

  • I don’t own a scale and judge my weight by my jeans. There’s no denying they’ve been a bit snug lately but the cold hard truth hurts. I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago and got weighed. I’m back to the most I ever weighed, about 2 years ago- 128lbs. Two years ago it was sitting on my ass drinking beer. This time, I barely drink, and it’s from sitting on my ass and bad food choices. This may not be a big deal to some of you but it’s kind of a big deal to me. I like the way I feel and look when I’m around 120. My body does not like this extra weight. My skin changes. I physically feel like yuck. I’m only 5’1″ and it means that if I don’t reign it in, I have to buy new clothes and I am NOT buying a new wardrobe because of laziness and shoving cheese in my face. Things have gotten real around here in the food department. It’s salad time but, I hate the gym. Hate it. I would rather all that sweat and effort have some instant results so, hard labor is more my style. Yard work, psychotic cleaning, etc. It’s on.
  • We had a big rainstorm on Thursday and on the sofa, while I was being a dork on my laptop and the bf was being a dork on his Xbox, we heard a loud pop. The bf saw a flash of light and the TV cut off then back on. We sat stunned for a second wtf-ing a lot and then ran to check it out. Water. From the ceiling. Leaking. On the 50″ plasma TV the bf bought himself after his tax refund. His baby. Fuck. It’s still working but of course something has been fried. How crucial? No clue. Thank god for renter’s insurance. I’m gonna make a call on Monday and see what we need to do. Oh, and the landlord needs to fix that leak.

{ 2 comments }

+ & -

by Lara on May 6, 2010

in + & -

+

  • Andrea from Toronto is one of my new favorite bloggers. She just participated in Cupcake Camp! I want to go!
  • Tretorn is a sneaker brand from Sweden that you don’t really think of very often, in the sea of huge sneaker companies. How cute are these slip-ons though? The Reva Nylons are pretty sweet too!

  • The Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio has an online store. This happy little monkey sugar bowl by Stefano Giovannoni is too cute!

 

  • Art blogs are the best sources of inspiration for me. I’ve mentioned one of my favorites before – My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. It’s modern, descriptive, interactive and just plain friendly. My other favorite is But Does it Float. I discovered it by accident and mentioned it in this post a while back and have been a faithful follower ever since. From to the titles of the posts to the images selected, it haunts me. All of the images are vastly different but they all strike a chord in me… something deep… dreadful and magical all at the same time. Check it out.
  • If you can somehow get your hands on some sweet stuffed Korean pancake mix (Hoddeok) give it a shot, or try a from-scratch version. They’re really easy and sooooo flippin’ good! Bad pic and I didn’t get a shot of gooey center. Oh well.

-

  • Trying to sell something on Craigslist is the worst. People are such flakes! I recently listed a big jewelry armoire that I’m not moving from my parents’ house. It’s been collecting dust and I figured I might as well get some money for it. I got a ton of interest and then when I responded to let the people know how flexible I was for a pick-up, no one got back with me to set up a time to come get it. Finally a super nice girl and I made a deal but I feel like a lot of my time was wasted by people who just like to waste time.
  • Mail-in rebates. I’ve heard a lot of statistics about how many people forget about them and the company ends up keeping the money that was owed to you through whatever deal you participated in. Well, I’m not one of those forgetful people. Sprint has been jerking me around for almost 2 months making B.S. excuses to not send me the $100 they owe me. From what I’ve heard from multiple people who have worked in the same industry… this type of behaviour is pretty much the standard. You really have to keep up on it. It’s finally in the mail now.

{ 2 comments }

uncommon

by Lara on March 13, 2010

in decor

I just discovered this online store called Uncommon Goods. Being lazy last night, I looked at just about everything on the site and found a few gems. Most of the stuff is not my style but here are some interesting items I wouldn’t mind having if money were no object. None of these things are exclusive to the site so, you may be able to do some digging on Amazon and find them cheaper.

5″ diameter tape effect porcelain vase

cardboard wall-mounted animal heads

bubbly fused recycled glass plates

swirling fruit bowl

looooove this fused glass tray by artist Orfeo Quagliata

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+ & -

by Lara on March 9, 2010

in + & -

+

  • Camelias are blooming and there are buds on some trees in Richmond!

  • Warmer weather makes me want to eat like this every day.

  • Like spirograph designs, I am really digging this string work for a wall. It would take a bit of time to map out a perfect circle and place all the nails neatly but it is so flippin neat and you could do any type of design in any color.

via

  • I love wall decals and I love rodents. These are adorable!

via – buy them here

get these here! I just got 2!

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  • Alzheimer’s. It sucks beyond anything I thought that sucked could suck. My mom is experiencing the beginning stages of it now. The double-edged sword of her already struggling with MS, is that it’s better that she’s immobile because she would probably wander off or set the house on fire. Right now, she gets fixated on things. For the past six months it’s been her checking account, which I manage. She can’t remember her balance, I have to tell her every day, she doesn’t believe me, we have to call the bank, she thinks there are mystery checks from unknown sources tucked away in drawers that I have to dig through every day to keep her from having a fit… all while trying very hard not to have a fit myself. Before the money stuff, there were mysterious things in the bed with her under the covers that I had to constantly show her weren’t there. There was the broken mirror she said she had cut herself with, the strange plastic bits, the wire wrapped around her finger, her thinking she had pulled her catheter out – all this and she knows intellectually that she can’t move but reality separates itself from her brain every day. This went on for 2 years until we figured out what was really going on. Like I said, it sucks.
  • Spring is coming! Can you feel it!? I have a few fashion requests for the general public. Can we all try to avoid wearing scarves when it’s hot outside and can everyone stay away from boat shoes? Oh, and dirty looking dudes in sleazy tank tops… stop the madness. Thanks guys.

{ 3 comments }

lady time

by Lara on February 26, 2010

in photo friday

Last night, I had the pleasure of enjoying a long overdue dinner with girlfriends. We had a blast. Drinks at my place got us warmed up for the walk to Balliceaux where truffle fries and sharing forks were flying. Who wouldn’t want a drink called the Tom Yum Yum?!

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