rando

I've been a serious slacker when it comes to updating my blog. I've been eating out a lot more though, so here are some rando pictures of restaurant food:

Not sure if I posted the above yet? Duccini's pizza! Seriously, da best.

Fried tortilla with guac at this Mexican place in Georgetown Scott took me to.

Shrimp fajitas at said Mexican joint.

Smoked salmon salad at Meridian Pint. Hit this place up for brunch on Saturday, I dug it.

Seafood Risotto at La Tomate in Dupont for dinner on Saturday. I really like the menu here.

Scott and I at the Spanish Steps after dinner.

Mung bean and veggie pancakes at Cafe Green for brunch on Sunday.

And again, the raw cinnamon bun. Next time I think I'ma hit up there raw banana pancakes. I LOVE raw food! I can't wait to go there for dinner and get the raw pizza.

Sunday night, Scott and I went to dinner at Marx Cafe. We got other food I forgot to photograph, but this was the bruschetta and hummus. I liked both, despite the high gluten content.

Hopefully I'll have some actual recipes and helpful food information up soon.

chincoteague!

I started off the weekend with Scott by going to Busboys on Friday night. I got the meatloaf

And Scott got this tempeh panini thing. Since tempeh is fermented soy and not so bad for you, I took a picture.

The weekend in Chincoteague Island, VA was amazing. Chincoteague is quiet, quaint and gorgeous. I loved the old Victorian style houses and the fact that it wasn't a party town (like Ocean City). There are several independently owned shops. Both Sunday and Monday we hit up a coffee shop (I got water) that sold really beautiful home decor. Scott bought me a gorgeous bowl that I'll fill with food and take pictures of, to make my food appear more attractive. We got there Saturday and laid on the beach for several hours. This is one of my favorite things to do.  We played in the water some but it was kind of cold, and windy. For dinner we went to Bill's Seafood. I can't really vouch for Scott food (spaghetti) but my soft shell crabs were amazing. I got them broiled and they were really just perfect. I wanted to abandon my cell phone for most of the weekend so I didn't get many pictures. 

The next day we went to Sea Star Cafe. It is a stand that sells soups, salads and sandwiches. We got a couple so we could eat on the beach later that day. We spent all day on the beach and in the water. I got a crucial sunburn but I don't even care. Totally worth it. For dinner we went to Don's seafood restaurant. It was pretty bad. Of course I got pictures of the bad food and not the good food.

Cream of crab soup.

Seafood platter.

Not so good at all. But the restaurant was pretty run down, and there was an obnoxious drunk lady making an ass out of herself. So I liked it. How can you not enjoy that kind of towny entertainment?

Sunday we went back to the coffee shop, and back to Sea Star Cafe.

Sandwich with dijon, brie, swiss, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, and banana peppers. So good. I wish bread wasn't so terrible, I really dig sandwiches.

I really can't do the weekend justice in this blog post. It was just so gorgeous and super relaxing. I'm so glad we went and I had an amazing time. Once we were home we hit up Hanami for dinner.

I got the tuna tartar.

And an avocado salad.

Definitely one of the best weekends ever.

da weekend

The other night I headed over to Mike, Nick and Dale's house to make some tomato bisque. Why? Because Mike is in possession of my beloved Vitamix. I don't know why I call it mine, when clearly it is his, because I bought it for him. Anyway I made a new tomato bisque using:

-1.5 onions

-5 cloves garlic

-ton of butter

-4 heirloom tomatoes

-lots of basil

-1/2 cup spaghetti sauce of choice

-1 can diced tomatoes

-red pepper flakes

-pecorino romano

-lots of raw cream

I sauteed the onions, garlic and tomatoes before added them to the Vita with everything else.

While I was there Mike was also cooking. A Yes! Organic Market just opened in our 'hood and he found some mung bean pasta. I bought mung bean pasta this past winter and we were really stoked to find out it has an amazing protein content. So he made a pasta sauce by simmering the following:

-2 red peppers

-4 tomatoes

-1/2 red onion

-6 cloves garlic

-1 habanero pepper

-1/4-1/2 cup organic soy sauce

-1/8-1/4 cup sriracha sauce

-1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

-1/4-1/2 cup white wine

He blended it all up in the Vitamix until smooth and then added crab to it. And served it over the mung bean noodles.

It was pretty bomb. I added lots of pecorino romano.

This weekend I'm going to Chincoteague with Scott! They have wild horsies! How tight is that?! I'm really excited to go and get some beach action. Tonight we might go to Busboys and Poets. I'm really hoping it's nice enough to sit outside. Have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend! I'm actually really sad that Labor Day sort of signifies the end of summer. But this weekend will be awesome and there are lots of good things to look forward to in Fall...Renn Fest!

so not primal today.

I wrote this several days ago and don't feel like changing tenses or putting anything in chronological order so just be aware of that when reading the following.

Last night I went grocery shopping at Trader J's. I got some vegan items to feed Scott, since he never cooks on his own and usually ends up buying some fake, processed soy meat. This concerns me greatly. One of the things I bought was oats (gluten free). Most of the popular blogs I read (excluding the primal/paleo blogs) are all about oats. I think they kind of suck, but whatever. I decided to experiment. I did the ever popular overnight oats in a jar. I combined the rest of the almond butter jar (about a table spoon) plus more almond butter, half cup oats, half cup raw milk and some raw honey. I let it sit overnight.

I'll give it this: it tasted good. I was wondering if it's as filling as everyone says it is. I normally have something like this for breakfast

Two eggs cooked in butter with smoked salmon. And I normally am good until lunch time, around 12. Yeahhh, I was hungry again by 9:20. Stupid oats. Not to mention that I had the oats and 1 deviled egg (I made some deviled eggs to eat at lunch) and was still hungry. And, I felt bloated. And if I took my shirt off, I'd probably look bloated. So, while I may make Scott some oats for breakfast or as a snack or something (I couldn't really think of many other vegan ingredients that didn't offend me, except beans) I will definitely not be consuming them.

As an aside, I dominated some Chipotle for dinner last night. God I love Chipotle. I wish I had a popular blog so they'd send me free things, though I really have no idea how they'd even do that. Mail me some burritos, Chipotle! Or gift cards, whatever.

Steak bowl with veggies. No beans or rice.

Tonight is taco night! I freaking love tacos. I am making black bean tacos. I was going to have mine with chicken, until I opened the chicken I had frozen and it totally looked and smelled weird, so I tossed that shit. I wanted to buy dried black beans and soak them overnight to reduce the phytic acid content. But Trader J's did not have dried beans. This blew me, and I ended up just buying canned beans. Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure I accidentally bought the inorganic beans. Dammit.

vegan taco night

Finally! I can upload pictures again. I'll start from the beginning of the week. Tuesday night was taco night. Vegan taco night. Since I've been dating a vegan, I've inevitably also been doing more the following: eating out more, eating sweets (he just lives so close to Sticky Fingers), eating grains, eating beans, eating carbs, gaining weight. When I strictly eat primally (with the addition of raw dairy) is when I look my best. While I'm not too concerned with gaining a bit of weight, it does not make me feel (or look, obviously) my best. It doesn't help that I've abandoned going to the gym. I talked to my girl Tasha, who also hasn't been feeling the gym lately and I'm hoping we can do more outdoor workouts together, like hiking. In the meantime, I'd really like to get back to eating more primally. Not just because I'd like to get rid of the excess weight I've gained, but also because with the added grain consumption, I've been experiencing mild anxiety. Nothing like the anxiety I used to have, before radically altering my diet. But enough to make me feel uncomfortable, and enough to recognize that my body is telling me to cut it out.

Anyway, on to taco night. Clearly I wasn't about to use some fake, processed soy meat to substitute the real meat in tacos. I made black bean tacos. For the black bean mixture I added the following to a pot:

-2 cans black beans

-3/4 cup corn

-diced onion

-1 small can diced green chiles

-olive oil (ran out of coconut oil)

-chili powder

-cumin

I also sauteed some peppers and onion in olive oil and garlic, and added cumin. I made my own pico de gallo, because I love that shit. Tomatoes, lemon juice, onions, garlic, cilantro.

Taco bar.

And I had leftovers for work the next day. I just added the black beans to the peppers and topped with the pico.

Not a healthy as a primal meal but you could definitely do worse.

weekend recap

My weekend was pretty amazing. It started off with the dance party at the Velvet Lounge. Anytime dancing is involved I am enjoying myself. Sure, I'm white and can't do it very well, but this does not stop me from trying. WHAT'S UP.

Saturday Scott and I went to Asylum in AdMo for brunch. They had waffle fries! I haven't had waffle fries in years, so it was mandatory that we get some.

I didn't really look at the menu, I just ordered the special. I actually wish I would've looked at the menu, I would've ordered my fave brunch item: eggs benedict. Oh well. I got hash browns topped with peppers and onions, shrimp, eggs, cheese, sour cream and salsa. Not too shabby.

Scott got some vegan burrito or something not worth photographing. (In real life I am not this big of a jerk about his veganism. I think.) After that we headed to Georgetown to see Our Idiot Brother. It wasn't really what I was expecting but I really liked it.

I was expecting an actual hurricane on Saturday. Nope. It really just seemed like a bad storm. Later in the day we geared up to walk to Sticky Fingers. In the rain. Scott wore swimming trunks and sandals. I wore skinny jeans and Toms. It was uncomfortable. But I actually had a lot of fun walking in the rain to go score some vegan goodies (again, totally unhealthy but their treats are so good). When we got back we ordered Thai. I can't remember from where but I got the seafood combo. Scallops, shrimps, squids, mussels and veggies in a super spicy sauce.

It was really good. A nice gluten free, but not grain free dinner.

Really decently sized seafood. Dig it.

Then we ate some vegan treats.

Vanilla and red velvet cupcakes. Vanilla was better. God it was so good.

Sunday morning we hit up brunch at Cafe Green. It's all vegan and has several organic, gluten free and raw options. I love raw food. For breakfast I generally stick to savory meals, but most of them included fake food (soy this, soy that). So I went with the raw cinnamon bun.

At first I thought this looked like chocolate, and kind of measly. But it was delicious and super dense. Scott got some fake omelet that came with these amazing mushrooms, so I also ordered a side of shrooms. They were probably the best mushrooms I've ever had. I'm emailing Cafe G today for the recipe. They better share, or else. After that we went golfing! Like, to a driving range. I sucked real bad at first, but I started to get the hang of it. I had a lot of fun doing it and want to go back. We walked around Haines Point before heading home. I probably should've taken pictures of the water, it was such a gorgeous day.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning and making my sheperds pie (I use cauli instead of potatoes).

God butter is awesome.

Dinner last night, lunch today and have another tupperware in the freezer for a future meal.

So overall I had an amazing weekend. Here's to hoping the workweek is half as tight.

easy grain-free lunch

This post is totally uninspired. It's Friday, I'm bored at work and I want to get out of here! I'm going to a dance party that my friends are DJing tonight at the Velvet Lounge and I am so ready to dance my face off. I love dancin'. I'm not so great at it (I'm white) but I definitely like to do it. I was going to go to the beach tomorrow but Irene has gotten in the way of that. Instead, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Hoping that the storm is not too severe, that everyone remains safe and no one gets hurt, hoping the power doesn't go out, all while hoping I somehow get Monday off.  We'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I have a lil' recipe jam for all the people who say they don't have enough time to make food for themselves. I started this recipe for lunch at 7 am this morning, and I was putting it in (BPA-free!) Tupperware by 7:20.

-1 can organic diced tomaters

-half an onion

-4 carrots

-1/4 head of broccoli

-chicken

-butter

-spices (whichever you prefer, I used chipotle powder)

Seriously, this is as easy as tossing everything in a pot, turning it on medium high, covering it and letting it simmer. I prepared breakfast, tea, and water bottles in the meantime. I mean really, how easy is that? You don't have time...or you're lazy? Let's get real here.

I brought an avocado to top it with. Because avocados are tight.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the workday goes by fast for everyone. And that you're all safe this weekend. And that you all have tons of fun! DANCE PARTY!!!

dinnerz

Last night I went to Busboys and Poets with Dale and Renee. I'd really like to go there more often. They have awesome outdoor seating! And it's a couple minutes to walk there from my house. Renee and I started off with a bottle of red wine.

I'm making more of an effort to drink red wine because of its high resveratrol (an antioxidant) content. It can reduce the signs of aging, boost your immunity and some studies show it even helps reverse pancreatic cancer.

Renee got a yellow tomato gazpacho that was a perfect summer soup. Of course I forgot to take a picture. She also got some pretty bomb quesadillas



They were chicken quesadillas and full of veggies. I dig that.

I got the burger. I just took the bun off. Gluten free for this girl. Dale also got the quesadillas. Here's a picture of him drinking my gluten free beer

Not gonna lie, I got kind of drunk. And it was kind of awesome. I really like to just sit around outside, eat, drink and talk. It's one of my favorite things to do, and I'll be sad when it's too cold to do it. Fall is coming. I am trying to get stoked on that. Mostly I am stoked for:

• Halloween
• the leaves changing colors
• carving pumpkins
• wearing scarves, and pants
• buying cinnamon and pumpkin scented candles
• the Renaissance Festival!!!!!!

That's all I can think of. Summer is my favorite season. Anyway, I'm hungry so I'm gonna go munch on grass-fed ground beef as a snack.

EARFFFQUAKE

So, I have to address it. Yesterday's quake scared the shit out of me. I work in a big building in downtown DC on the 5th floor. I'm at my desk, when I start to hear a rumble. This is not uncommon, I think they are doing work on the floor above me. I start to feel something, nor is this uncommon. I think they're lugging these gigantic roller thingies down the hallway. Then the building starts to shake. Then I start to freak out. At that point I was terrified. No one knew what was going on. I ran out of my office without my shoes. Because really, who wears shoes at their desk? Someone shouts, "Dani, where are your shoes?!" So I run back to my office to grab them and my purse and get the hell out of the building. While taking the stairs, I got a text from my friend Mike asking if I felt the earthquake. Hell yeah I did. The text didn't make me feel much better. Thankfully, there were no damages or anything. I know a lot of people were joking on Twitter and Facebook. But that was seriously scary, and I'm sure terrified anyone who works in a large building. These joints ain't made to stand quakes!

So, after leaving work early, yet spending two hours on the metro to get home, I finally got there and started on dinner. It was pretty uninspired. I felt drained from the commute and other events of the day. I made roasted carrots, potaters and onions. As well as Jenna's "boyfriend approved" black bean burgers. Were they boyfriend approved? Yes, but even if he didn't like them I doubt he'd tell me.

The bun is really just for aesthetic purposes. Neither of us ate the bun.

Totally vegs. Really not bad. Obviously, I'd prefer a grass-fed burger made with some organic worchestirshire and a pastured egg (three ingredients, super simple, gluten and grain free!). But I'm always happy to cook for people. AND he brought me a cowvin bar from Sticky Fingers! They're a vegan bakery that I used to frequent when I was a vegan in high school. Even though they use completely terrible ingredients, they really do make some amazing food. The cowvin bar was awesome.

It's basically two oatmeal cookies with some frosting in the center. So bomb. I hear they make gluten free cupcakes now so I'll have to hit those up. Hope everyone has a great day!

foodz

I cooked my face off last night. I made a whole chicken. And a quiche of sorts.

The chicken actually turned out really well. Covered it in s&p, olive oil and Mrs. Dash OG seasoning blend. You know why I like it, other than the fact that it also tastes like Thanksgiving? It's MSG free, bitches!

Eggs, milk, tomatoes and onion sauteed in butter, raw havarti cheese and basil.

Dinner.

The juice/fat from the chicken was so good. Don't be afraid of or waste that shit. Remember that your body needs the fat. 

Peas cooked in butter too. Bomb.

For breakfast I had some of that egg concoction that I made with a bit of smoked salmon.

Tonight I'm making dinner for vegan Scott. Yes, this blows my mind too. Most of what he eats offends me personally. And concerns me. I'll be making black bean burgers because they seem like the best form of non-processed vegan protein I can feed him. I mean, at least beans are still a whole food. While I do not generally eat beans, or grains (still not going to, I'll go without a bun) I figure I'll suck it up. Beans aren't too terrible, you could definitely consume worse. While this primal princess obviously don't prefer beans, vegan Scott digs black bean burgers, so I figure this is the best option. I'll keep ya posted.