Starving Artist

… and not all that happy about it! This past weekend was definitely one to write down in the books as one of my top 5 weekends of all time. It was that much fun.

A post and pictures to follow tonight, but for now I’ll leave you with a recipe and (crappy iPhone) photos of my attempt at avoiding the impending jet lag that I’m sure will be setting in before I know it.

.

Breakfast Power Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup spinach (packed)
• 1 banana
• 4 oz apple sauce
• 1/3 cup blueberries (frozen)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp flax

.

Directions:

1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor/blender.
2. Pour into glass and enjoy!

.

.

.

.

It may not look all too appetizing, but I promise you it tastes really good, and it’s chock full of all the vitamins, protein, and fiber you need to start your day :)

.

I’m so sorry for the lack of posts lately, life = crazy busy.

I’m headed to London for a long weekend to visit a good friend who has been living/working over there for the past year. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures, and have some British food finds to share with you when I return. :)

Cheers!

.

.

One of the few quintessential Boston events that occur during the Fall is the Head of the Charles. The Head of the Charles is the world’s largest rowing event that lasts for 2 days and takes place on the Charles River. The girls and I had been looking forward to attending the event, but were unsure if the weather was going to cooperate for us. Luckily, I woke up and although it was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g outside, it was sunny and beautiful!

We met at my apartment for some apple cider mimosas (champagne + apple cider… so good!!), bagels and muffins. I made a batch of Pecan Apple Spice Muffins for the girls to enjoy! :) They were really easy, and with some healthy substitutions and add-ins, they turned out to be super flavorful and moist!

They started with Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread mix as the base…

.

.

And voila!

.

.

.

.

Here is the recipe for Pecan Apple Spice Muffins:

Makes 10 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread Mix
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider
• 3/4 cup Skim Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 4 tbsp of applesauce
• 1 apple (peeled & chopped)
• 5 tbsp chopped pecans
• 2 tbsp oats
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp water

.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, apple cider, milk, and apple sauce
2. Fold in the muffin mix, careful not to overmix.
3. Stir in 2 tbsp of the pecans, and the chopped apple.
4. Lightly grease the muffin tins, and pour in the mixture (I fill the mixture almost all of the way up to the top, so that there will be a larger top to the muffin).
5. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp of the pecans, the oats, honey, water, and brown sugar.
6. Top each of the muffins with the pecan/oat mixture.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.
8. Let cool and enjoy! :)

.

I served the muffins with some low sugar Apple Butter that I purchased at Honeypot Hill Orchards on our apple picking day.

.

.

.

We enjoyed our breakfast and bubbly, then set off to walk to the H of the C. Apparantly the champagne had gone straight to our heads, because none of us realized that the finish line of the race is in Cambridge, and we were in the Back Bay. We were on about mile 2 of our walk, when we reached the beginning of the race.

.

.

.

Then it dawned on us. We were still oh so very far away! We jumped into 2 separate cabs, and unfortunately encountered crazy cabbies who dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, so we were separated for the rest of the day. We finally figured out where we needed to go, and were able to enjoy some of the race.

.

.

Of course the sample tents were quite the highlight of our afternoon ;-)

.

.

Granola…

.

.

… and more granola! And some Slice of Life gummy vitamins.

.

.

For dinner we decided to check out the fairly recently opened Pazzo on Newbury Street.

.

.

I ordered the Chicken Piccata (obviously), but substituted pasta for the potatoes. The pairing just seemed odd to me.  You’re not able to sop up the delicious lemony sauce with potatoes, I feel like it needs a rice or pasta!

.

.

My meal was delicious, but unfortunately my friends’ portions were much smaller than my own, and for the price it just didn’t really seem worth it. I would probably only go back for their $5 appetizers at the bar deal, and would prefer Piattini for dinner (Pazzo doesn’t quite compare).

Despite our directional confusion (story of my life), it was a lovely day with the girls :)

.

My friends always love to tell me that I’m a closet dork, but now more recently say that I’m not so much in the closet any longer. I guess I can’t really disagree with them. ;-) So I’m obsessed with web design, could fix almost any problem with your computer, ritualistically watch cooking shows every Sunday morning, and love Hanson. Wait… backup…. Hanson?? Yes, I said it. Geek flag flying high. It’s been a love affair lasting 10+ years and I don’t intend on it ending anytime soon. I’ll spare you my pro-Hanson speech, and just say… they’re amazing. ;-)

I went to the Hanson and Hellogoodbye show last night at the House of Blues with my friend Steph. It was incredible and so much fun! Here’s a lil sampling from the show:

.

Taylor singing an acoustic oldie

P.S. I’m not the one obnoxiously singing in the background!

.

I had only been able to sneak a Carrot Cake Clif Bar before the show, so once I got home at midnight, I was starving. I hate eating that late at night, but it was definitely necessary so my stomach didn’t eat itself. I heated up some of the white chicken chili that I made on Sunday.

.

.

.

.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of chicken (cut up in bitesized pieces)
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 can white kidney beans
• 1/2 white onion
• 1 can of corn
• 1 yellow pepper (chopped)
• 1 4 oz can of green chilis
• 1 can of reduced fat cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell’s)
• 14 oz of chicken stock
• 1 packet of chili seasoning
• 3 tbsp FF cream
• Sour cream
• Cheddar or Jack cheese

1. Layer in the slow cooker the chicken, beans, corn, peppers, and onion.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the chili seasoning, green chiles, cream, soup mix, chicken broth, and 2 tbsp of sour cream.
3. Pour the mixture over the chili.
4. Set the slow cooker to low temp, and cook for about 6 hours.
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, cheese, and a sprinkling of chili powder (all optional).

.

Time for a Jack’s Pumpkin Spice ale while reading the much awaited November (aka Thanksgiving) issue of Real Simple. Joy!

.

A full day of work and a 3 hour (eeek) hair appointment behind me, the only thing that I feel up to making for dinner tonight is a big bowl of granola with milk. Gourmet, huh? Since that leaves me with not much to blog about, I though I would post about the most incredible lunch I had yesterday, and the duo that was responsible for it.

.

.

Nella Pasta is made up of the amazing team of Leigh and Rachel, who specialize in fresh handmade pasta. The word “nella” is Italian for “in the”, which refers to the girls’ dedication to creating their pastas with the most local and farm fresh produce that is available to them.

From their amazing specialty ravioli flavors (Nutella, butternut squash, and roasted red pepper to name a few), to their beautifully handcrafted linguine and capellini, you can tell how much detail and love goes into each individual piece of pasta.

I was lucky enough to try a portion of their pasta while at work yesterday. The dish I had for lunch was their rigatoni with maple glazed butternut squash and brown butter thyme sauce, topped with parmesan and toasted butternut squash seed.

.

.

SO AMAZING! These girls really know what they’re doing. The pasta was so fresh, still al dente, and the butternut squash, olive oil and parmesean gave it the perfect amount of flavor and texture.

I met Leigh through my good friend Neha, and I’m so excited that her dream is becoming a reality! Please take a look at Nella’s website for information on the Hingham and Prudential farmers markets at which you can find them!

.