{meatless mondays : quinoa pasta w/ sauteed ramps, simmered pear tomatoes, & fresh english peas}

17 Jun

that’s a mouthful, and a really long title for a blog…but that is essentially what is in this dish, and to leave out any part just seamed wrong.  those are all amazing and wonderful things and when you put them all together you get this incredible dish :

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super healthy, keeps well in the fridge, easy to make, delicious… cute. 🙂

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i mean, seriously though – it’s cute… sure – it’s pasta, but it’s cute. 😛

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i’ve mentioned this pasta before – i love it for a bunch of reasons, including the fact that it is non-gmo, organic, and gluten-free. Continue reading →

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{do your best little rain dance…}

16 Jun

…for colorado, please.

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we are on fire… again.

i hear it’s getting better, but a major downpour from the gods would be much welcomed at this point!!

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{just some jams i have on repeat lately… and maybe a random foto of my cat}

14 Jun

i maybe have bounced around my apartment a few times dancing and singing along…

and alanis is just awesome – plus this song just makes me feel thankful for a lot of things…

and here’s callee – finding the only sunbeam in the house at the time :

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she’s so damn cute!!

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{“sui generis” in produce : the cherimoya}

12 Jun

in case you’re wondering : sui generis 

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have you ever seen or even better, eaten one of these beauties?!  this is the lovely cherimoya {pronounced “cher-uh-moi-uh”}…

i love how she is shaped like a heart… and yes, i totally think this particular fruit is a “she” – i don’t always feel that way, but i did about the cherimoya… what a unique and interesting and wonderful treat this was!  and she was definitely a lady!

when one first brings a cherimoya home, it’s a totally different colour than in this foto… that is to say, if it hasn’t ripened yet.  this particular fruit in the above foto is fully ripe.  typically when you buy them from the store, they are more on the green side… it takes 2 or 3 days to have it ripen up at home… it almost becomes like an avocado when ready to eat.

beauty comes in all colours, shapes, and sizes…

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they aren’t exactly cheap, weighing in at easily $5-$6 for one fruit… but my goodness, is it worth it! Continue reading →

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{just some pics from june}

11 Jun

the temps were absolutely perfect last week – 70-80 degrees during the day and cool nights that require only a light sweater, but flip flops are comfortable.  the smell of the grill lingers in the air, the frangrance from the various blooms waft from every angle, the sun is warm, the air is warm, the days are long… and that means i take lots of little walks.

here’s a few shake-it app inspired fotos i snapped last week while wandering around my ‘hood…

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devouring the best pastrami sammy EVER – from masterpiece delicatessen in the highlands… my new favourite spot!!

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my neighbourhood kind of reminds me of new york…

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enjoying my first latte in about a year… {half caff, only – definitely iced!} Continue reading →

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{natural insomnia aid : audrey michelle’s tart cherry tonic}

10 Jun

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a little secret about me : i have battled with insomnia for about half my life.

i’ve gone back and forth in my head — “claiming it” by owning it and being honest {as i’ve done here}, invoking the law of attraction by saying “i sleep great!” – both seem to have the same effect… i’ve tried melatonin, valerian root and other random herbs, about 5 different kinds of mattresses, yoga, prayer, meditation, sleepy tea, alcohol, and a variety of other remedies to help in my battle.  i even tried some feng shui to encourage the right energy during bedtime… i tried one or two prescription drugs but absolutely hated the side-effects and the dopey feeling the next day… one of them even gave me wacky lucid dreams, almost nightmares… i once tried to “donate my body to science” by participating in an insomnia-related study, but i didn’t qualify because i hadn’t tried enough prescription drugs… over-the-counter remedies help in the short-term, but that stuff is so bad for your liver and i also worried about dependency… i have to board up my windows and sleep with a mask usually, and that is in part due to my late work hours… i know i’m reasonably young but i’m not getting any younger and i’m at that age where this kind of crap is super important to me now.  i don’t need to get 8-10 hours every night, but what i do need is to STAY asleep during the night.

enter the title of this blog… Continue reading →

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{pretty purple artichokes}

6 Jun

why are artichokes so amazing?!?!?!?!!!!!!

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and beautiful?!?!?!?!!!!!!

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i bought a handful of these little purple ones the other day… Continue reading →

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{meatless mondays – pretty rainbow chard}

3 Jun

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prior to sauteing up a healthy batch of beautiful rainbow chard {i make mine with a little EVOO and diced shallots},  i like to sit back and admire the colours and patterns this wonderful vegetable creates…

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puts a whole new meaning to “eat the rainbow” eh?!

😉 Continue reading →

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{vitamix juice w/ dates, pears, green lettuce}

31 May

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i threw a lot of random stuff in this one…. {choosing organic where possible}

– 1 small clementine, peeled

– 1/2 pear, stems and seeds included

– 2 pitted dates

– a few banana slices

– handful of romain lettuce

– orange juice

– almond milk

– some raw protein powder

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you just never know what colour to expect… but the taste is always amazing!

i’m a huge fan of using dates for sweetening.  usually all you need is one or two per 12 oz. serving.  they are inexpensive and the vitamix can handle it! just make sure to buy pitted dates!  the lettuce flavour was a little stronger in this compared to good ol’ spinach, but i had run out so i had to replace *something* green… 😉

have a great weekend!

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{balsamic bellavitano cheese}

30 May

sooooo – my stats have suddenly started dropping lately.  i don’t really want to focus on it too much, but i find it odd that out of nowhere, i’m getting less and less “likes” when for a good while there i was getting more and more and people were finding and following my blog… i just find it odd… any insight you all may have is appreciated.

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meanwhile, i’m going to keep writing amazing blogs.  i love doing it for me, but i also do this as i hope to inspire others to try new foods and recipes and to create their own!    food is fun.

this blog is about another specialty cheese that i discovered at whole foods market a couple weeks ago called balsamic bellavitano.  it is one of the most delicious cheeses i’ve ever had – and i’ve tried a lot of cheeses!  this is a reserve cheese with a little nuttiness and hints of fruit in the flavour.  i love how they wrap it in special paper…

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… just makes it so fun to open up 🙂 Continue reading →

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{shedding layers – but gaining a 500th follower!}

28 May

hi friends.  i’ve missed you…

i don’t really have an amazing story to explain my absence as of late… sometimes i randomly take a little time off from blogging to adjust to the ever-changing events life can throw at us… i hope you are enjoying the sun and had a nice kick-off to summer — grilled up some BBQ, got in the pool, graduated, and/or all of the above!

anyway, i’ve been “metaphorically”  shedding layers and such for a few months now… going through a lot of change in A LOT of ways!… but when i started seeing little balls of wadded up hair begin to overtake my carpet, i knew something had to be done…

i love my kitty, callee… she is beautiful.

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and sweet and squishy and a plethora of other things… and i’m fairly certain she is a norwegian forest cat… i’m not totally sure because she is a rescue and was abandoned {so sad!} and so the pound did not know much about her… but the point is, she has a LOT of hair!!  and it’s that time of year when they begin to shed like crazy – thus the hairballs all over the carpet…

i decided to give my cutie callee a brushing the other day… check it out : Continue reading →

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{messages from manhattan – “wake up!”}

17 May

i’ve decided to start something new – a “feature” on my blog.  i’m going to call it “messages from manhattan” and it will showcase fotos of various sayings or quotes or the like that i noticed and fotographed all over the city during the time i lived there…

here’s one of my all time favs :

New York City

wake up!  and have a great weekend.

{oNeLoVe}

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{i miss sunrises}

15 May

i mean, i don’t miss waking up for them, per se… but i miss their beauty, their diversity, their colours, their peace…

every morning for about 4 months i got up and fotographed the sunrise.  my schedule at work began to change so i stopped doing it… i’m sort of missing them right now because colorado has some of the coolest skies!

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03.06.12-web Continue reading →

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{ways artichokes are like humans}

14 May

it’s artichoke season!!!

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and thank goodness for that!!!!  i wrote a blog or two about them last spring… i just love these beautiful babies. although they do take an awful lot of work to prepare for such a little amount of actual flesh… it’s SO worth it – the scrumptiousness waiting inside doesn’t quite compare to any other…

it got me thinking about how artichokes are kind of like us, like humans…

i know you may be chuckling thinking how the heck can i be like a green pokey vegetable?!  well… the way i see it –

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an artichoke looks like a flower.

just like us 🙂 Continue reading →

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{grilled cheese and tomato sammy featuring sauteed spring ramps}

13 May

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hey – how was your weekend?

i feel like mine was full of epiphanies.  i feel like i turned over a new leaf. maybe it’s because i really feel like spring has ACTUALLY finally sprung here in colorado.  we had snow to kick off the month of may, and last week was our “spring” full of rain – now we are in the 80s.  so typical.

i feel like new life is here and with it, new ways of looking at it.  i’ll dive into that more later… for now, let’s talk about baby leeks – AKA “ramps”…

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when i see ramps showing up in the produce section, i know spring is here! Continue reading →

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{i miss my mama}

10 May

happy mother’s day, judi!

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i miss you more than there are words for.  i celebrate who you were as my mother every day.  on your anniversary this year, i was strong – no tears… i even went to work – i smiled and thought of your smile all day.  but this week has been rough. i couldn’t figure out why my emotions have been so high… sometimes it just hits me, yanno?!  i miss you more than ever, it seems.  i’m a “big girl” now, and all i want is my mommy.  i want to ask your advice, introduce you to people i meet, have lunch with you, buy you sweaters and scarves, make you smoothies, paint your fingernails, and brush your hair for you.  i also miss giving you back-scratches.  i know i always complained about doing that for you, but i would do it as my full time job now if i could – and nothing seemed to make me fall asleep like a back-scratch from you… i miss the littlest things.   i don’t wallow in sadness when i miss you… i mean, it hurts – they lie when it says it gets easier with time… it actually gets harder, one just finds ways to cope.  but i do find that some moments are extraordinarily harder than others…

i always say your death was “bittersweet” because i just can’t find another word to help me accept that it happened. even 20 years later – i don’t know who i’d be if it didn’t happen, and i don’t know how happy or healthy you would’ve been if it didn’t… so all i can really do is be extra grateful that YOU were my mother in this lifetime.  that for 13 glorious years, you were the one tucking me in at night and making silly “bear” faces in the car on roadtrips to visit family. all i can do each year on mother’s day is remember the wonderful things you did for me as my mother.

i’ll close with a few of the reasons and memories i have that made you the best mom ever : Continue reading →

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{may 9 & 10 – annular solar eclipse}

9 May
Fun
TOTALLY FEELIN’ IT!

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{super cool sea beans}

8 May

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i’m going to bet not many of you have seen these little guys.  in all my 9 years of being around specialty produce, this was a first for me.  i like to look over the produce section this time of year and see “what’s new.”  that’s how i discovered kohlrabi…

Continue reading →

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{fabulous flax seeds}

7 May

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once upon a time not long ago – for like four months, i was a pretty strict vegan.  i just wanted to try it out… see how i felt.  i will do it again, for sure  – but for the most part, i just eat what my body tells me to and sometimes that includes organic, humane animal products.

when i was eating vegan i wondered how to get my omegas in my diet because i noticed when i took fish oil it gave me heartburn and i didn’t like the way it tasted.  i haven’t gone back to fish oil since discovering flax oil. now – it’s not anything new to me, i’ve always known about flax…  i just didn’t supplement with it until recently when it was suggested to me that i take it versus the fish oil.

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omegas are good for our hair, skin, nails, heart, blood, and brain… among many other things.  they help us stay “lubricated” and give our skin a lovely glow.  i take flax oil by the capsule daily, but i love being able to buy the whole seeds in bulk such as this…. Continue reading →

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{meatless mondays : seasonal english peas simmered in a san marzano sauce}

6 May

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a co-worker suggested i try this recipe when i said, “what should i do with the delicious english peas i bought today?”

it’s a pretty basic recipe – with a special ingredient of cinnamon… which i must admit, i don’t really ever use in my cooking – unless a recipe specifically calls for it.  i don’t keep in the pantry or anything… although, i am really wanting an organic spice rack – should anyone be wondering what to randomly gift me 🙂

what i love about this recipe is the simplicity – and i was surprised at how nicely the cinnamon complimented the overall dish.  the key is always adding a little at a time… the rice also brought the dish together – i used simple jasmine rice for this dish.  i like the texture and flavour.

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ingredients :

– organic authentic san marzano tomatoes {canned}

– fresh garlic

– olive oil

– ground cinnamon

– basmati or jasmine rice Continue reading →

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