Category Archives: farmers’ market

by | August 27, 2010 · 10:06 am

Merlot and Fire!

     Farmers’ market! There’s nothing so wonderful – except a farmers’ market that’s not 95 degrees! I had a nice cool breakfast to start my day with.

A Monsta. Duh. 5+1/3 cups of spinach. I have 5 servings of veggies in my before 8am. Boo to the Yah!
Enjoying my Monsta with a view.
Life is good. God is great 🙂
     I spent a lot of the day doing laundry, cleaning my room and the house, and doing all the things I’ve missed while I was gone for over nine days. Getting my room and house in order helps me feel like I have control over my life, and helps de-stress me. Cleaning is so therapeutic! And I’m weird. You all know that by now :).
     After breakfast, I did a little interning for the talent manager, visited the bank to deposit some checks, and headed out to the farmers’ market.
Need eggplant recipes! Anyone???
A jungle of kale and chard. I’ve tried the kale, what do I do with chard?
Normally I’d buy some flowers, but nothing grabbed me today.
Here’s the bounty I returned with. I LOVE VEGGIES!!!!
Lunch was a Kitchen Sink Salad with about 2 cups of mixed greens, a whole chopped red bell pepper, 3/4 of a cup of lentils and some homemade balsamic dressing.
     After sweating through the farmers’ market, I headed back to the wonderful comfort of air conditioning and finished my current book, “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay. The book was breathtaking until the halfway point, but really petered out by the end. Actually, it was really disappointing. I feel like the author stopped caring and just decided to add some busywork to add some extra pages. Oh well.
     Next up was some chopping in preparation for dinner!
Slicing kernels off of corn, dicing cooked potatoes and sipping merlot. I had a rough night ;).
Dinner was delicious corn chowder, a glass of merlot and an amazing script. I have lots of memorizing to do! It’s so nice to get a script you really can connect to. The last one I felt so strongly about was Summer Campbell, which I just filmed. I have high hopes for this next one :).
     The night was spent sipping merlot, eating a freshly picked farmers’ market dinner and sipping on merlot. Oh yes, and roasting marshmallows.
Roasting marshmallows/setting skewers on fire. Same thing!
     Now it’s 11pm and I have to sign off and head to bed so I can wake up at 6am for a beautiful run on the beach up in Santa Barbara! I feel so blessed in life right now. Thank GOD for his peace and balance 🙂
What’s the most therapeutic activity for you?

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Filed under farmers' market, fire, green monster, kitchen sink salad, marshmallows, Sarah's Key

by | August 6, 2010 · 9:14 am

I Fall Down, Go Boom :(

     Twas a long, long day. All was well until I was leaving work, then I tripped and busted up my knee on the stairs, and proceeded to whimper and sniff all the way home. Now I’m blogging with a fatty ice-pack on my knee, and a small glass of red wine that my roommate poured me to help me feel better.

     I started off the day with a Monsta.

5 cups of spinach, 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/3 of a VERY ripe banana, 1/4 of a cup of frozen blueberries, a few frozen strawberries, and the juice of a lemon and a lime. The ripe banana REALLY made a difference – really cut out the spinach-y taste and sweetened it up.
     We went on another amazing hour-long hike down to the bridge and back. I LOVE HIKING!!! Afterwards, I refueled with some multigrain and flaxseed water crackers, and a few prosciutto-mozarella-basil slices.
YUM! Lots of protein and some great whole grains!
     I went to work with one goal in mind: to get a free lunch at the farmers’ market. I succeeded! Kinda…
Rainbow chard! Must try soon!
So many things I’ve never heard of!
I ran into my friend Duck-Duck and he joined me on my revolutions for samples. I made about four circles, sampling peaches, plums, sweet breads, apples, orange slices and honey. And that was lunch.
     I wasn’t very full after that lunch – surprise surprise, so I stopped by Paciugo for a child size brown-sugar-waffle-cone, and amaretto chocolate chip to get a few more calories in. As the day wound to a close, I went to Teavana and got a jasmine tea with no sweetener added, and sipped on that while reading “Nick and Norah’s Infinte Playlist” by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan: my current book–>movie. It’s actually turning out to be a good read! 
I loves me some jasmine tea!
     Then I fell. The day was ruined and now I’m going to feel sorry for myself, watch some crappy TV and keep sipping my red wine. I’ve upped my allowance to a small glass a day at most. It’s good for my health – CNN told me so.
Have you ever had a sample lunch? One of my favorites (and also unhealthiest) is Costco!

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Filed under Costco, fall down, farmers' market, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, ouch, Paciugo, Teavana, whimper

by | July 9, 2010 · 10:28 am

Weight Watchers?!

     Ahhh, I love my Friday! That’s right, I am DONE with work for two whole days! My dad’s birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll be spending the next two days with the parental unit, spoiling him like crazy. Wait, I also get to have indian food and beer when I take him out for his birthday lunch? I didn’t know that! What an unexpected surprise!

     As always, I started my day with a Monsta!

2 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/3 a banana, 1/4 a cup of frozen cherries, and the juice of 1/2 a lemon.
      I woke up ridiculously perky, and ready to get back on the trails! We did the same trail as yesterday, and I brought my camera to document.
  
The marine layer was thick, and the air was very chilly and lovely. We hiked 2.86 miles in about an hour, and took our time to enjoy the views.

     After the hike, I had a mini-lunch of protein pasta:
This was some Barilla Plus with marinara sauce and a little goat cheese.
     This mini-lunch was followed by… ANOTHER mini-lunch!
THIS was whole wheat pasta with bell pepper, spinach, zucchini, marinara sauce and more goat cheese. The first pasta was protein, this was whole wheat. Total balance :).
     A little fro-yo seemed necessary after the sweaty hike up the hill, and the double serving of hot pasta!
A small chocolate, peanut butter and cake batter yogurt, topped with strawberries, brownie bits and cookie dough.
     Today was…. wait for it…. FARMERS’ MARKET DAY!!! Prepare yourselves: picture overload ahead:
ORANGE and YELLOW raspberries?? Why were they not offering samples? I’m dying to try them!

Carrot overload and fresh corn. I love summer!
 So many flowers!
Local and organic: My favorite way to buy!
     We picked up a bunch of different veggies, fruits and fresh eggs for upcoming recipes:
Spinach, mixed baby greens, potatoes, parsley and oregano, broccoli, corn, a massive onion, strawberries, fresh eggs and honey.
I’m very confused… the last time I made my chimichurri sauce, I requested oregano, but I think they gave me marjoram, because today the vendor gave me something I didn’t recognize. Any input? Can you tell if this is oregano or marjoram (14th picture down – I couldn’t link the specific picture) ? HELP!
     For dinner I made Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder with all the fresh farmers’ market ingredients. Yes, this is a Weight Watchers recipe that I stumbled across, but it’s a good one!
Some adjustments I made to the recipe: I used unsweetened soymilk instead of regular milk, used 6 small potatoes instead of 1 yukon, added a little more celery and red bell pepper than recommended, and DRENCHED it with TJ’s Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce. This recipe took a total of 20 minutes to make, including husking the corn! 
All of the ingredients were fresh from the market, and made the soup taste like it was JUST picked, which it probably was :).
     I had to scarf down a bowl of this soup in 5 minutes in order to get to work on time. I still wound up a few minutes late. Whoops. I figured a small gelato would help me get over my tardiness-guilt.
This had rocky road, mint chocolate chip, and amaretto chocolate chip. It filled all the air-holes in my stomach from eating the chowder so fast. Yes, I had two frozen desserts today! Yes, it was so worth it!
     Work consisted of packing boxes, unpacking even more boxes, and a friend stopped by to hang out and help me pass the time without going completely crazy. Before I knew it, I was headed home. At home, I was welcomed by something that I NEVER have… WINE!
This is Brochelle Rose. It’s a known fact that I do not like wine. That is, I didn’t like it until I met this wine!
Me gusta mucho! I find that red wines are too heavy, white wines are too vinegary, but this is a perfect blend of soft and sweet, and almost feels like it has a little carbonation!
     I had two glasses of the wine, watched two episodes of Glee, and am now ready to spend the next two days spending some quality time with the parental unit, enjoying their lovely company. Have I mentioned yet that I have the best parents? It’s just a fact. Yeah.
Any big plans for your weekends? If you need ideas, I recommend painful hikes and bike rides! 
🙂
     

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Filed under chowder, farmers' market, frozen yogurt, green monster, tutti frutti, weight watchers

by | July 2, 2010 · 8:28 am

Mediterranean Delicacies

     GOOOOOD Thursday, all! I hope you got to start your day off as wonderfully as I did!

This Monsta was nothing but FRESH! 3 cups of fresh spinach, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, 1/2 a cup of fresh blueberries, fresh lemon juice, 1/2 a fresh banana and some fresh ice! 🙂
     I had a full day at work, but the good news is that it’s now officially July, which could mean only one thing… FREE GODIVA (If you belong to the Godiva Rewards Club, you get a free piece every month). Yes, I track time through chocolate. What’s wrong with that?
Godiva is kind of a diva. It doesn’t like to be photographed and always comes out blurry – it’s a defense mechanism.
     I didn’t make breakfast after the GM, so I had to snack on the Clif bar I had leftover from Tuesday.
     I was planning on going to the farmers’ market for lunch and feasting on the samples, but when I stepped outside in my all-black ensemble (mandatory for work) I realized that it was about 90 degrees, and the parking lot where they hold the market would be quite painful. Instead I went to Lazy Dog for a farmers’ market-inspired meal.
This is the Mediterranean Veggie Foccacia Sandwich. Grilled eggplant, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, sliced onions, fresh goat cheese, and sun-dried tomato hummus on rosemary foccacia bread. Oh yeah, and french fries :).
     I had half the sandwich and half the fries, as well as a few edamame on the side. I was so full, I didn’t even have the room to stop at Paciugo! After an hour back at work, I did need to have a little See’s, just to keep me awake!
Scotchmallow, apple pie truffle, dark peppermints and a tipperary bon-bon.
     I got home around 6:30pm and it was still very warm out, so I sat out back with a glass of Magners and listened to Owl City’s new/old song “Brielle” while watching the sunset.
A nice, crisp cider for a warm night out – perfect! An Owl City soundtrack to accompany the view? Priceless!
     Dinner was the remaining half of my sandwich, with a chocolate soy ice cream sandwich for dessert. 
So. Full.
     I’m going to be crashing super early tonight in preparation for tomorrey! There will be lots of pictures, lots of words, and lots of happiness! 
Have an amazing Friday! I’ll see you here tomorrow night 🙂
(A compilation of artwork my coworkers and I made 🙂 We be creative.)

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Filed under farmers' market, Godiva, green monster, Lazy Dog Cafe, See's Candies, work