Weeknight Vegetarian

J and I have been working on meal planning and budgeting this month to put an end to those last minute trips to the grocery store on a random weeknight where we end up buying tons of stuff we don't need. We're focusing on buying products and ingredients that go into several meals, not just one-time-use things.

We're meal planning to 1. Save money - all those quick grocery store trips add up! 2. eat more whole foods and 3. Have lunches packed to take to work - no going out for lunch!

I made some quick black bean burgers for dinner tonight - I'm trying to focus on going vegetarian at least two nights a week without leaving my meat loving boyfriend hungry. He ate two and seemed pretty happy!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

1 can of black beans, drained, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup corn kernels

1/2 cup finely chopped veggies - I used onion, bell pepper and carrots

1/4 whole wheat flour

1/4 oats

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Sriracha

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Put the dried black beans in a bowl and smash with the back of a fork.

2. Mix in all other ingredients. Add more flour or oats if the mixture is too wet.

3. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 more minutes.

At this point you can pull them out, cool them and freeze them for later. I wanted them a little crispy, so I put them in a hot pan with olive oil for about 3 minutes per side.

I topped with tomato, avocado and more Sriracha.

Lately

Traveled to Nashville NC for Thankgiving

Then headed to Asheville for a weekend

Went to favorite bar and tried a new one

Finally went to Irregardless. So good.

Caught up with these guys...

...and these two!

Finished our bar

Decorated for Christmas

Redid my chalboard

Broke out my favorite boots (from high school!)

Christmas cards

Brunch outside in 70 degree December weather

Ombre hair for winter 

(ignore my look of concentration...)

I am counting down the days until the long break NC State gives it's employees for the holidays. It feels like everyone is starting to check out - I already have holiday parties on both my work and personal calendars up until Christmas. I'm only sad that J and I have to be apart for a week, but we will survive!

Working towards Christmas

Almost a year ago (December 26, 2011 to be exact - I have the receipt) my mom bought me a bunch of yarn and handed me a pattern from 1985 and told me the only thing she wanted for Christmas was for me to knit a stocking for my 10 year old sister. See, my grandmother knit me this intricate, red white and green, huge fair isle Christmas stocking when I was born. It even has my name knit into it - not stitched on top, but carefully planned and sketched out onto the actual pattern from 25 years ago.

Three years later, Chris got a matching stocking with his name.

Eight years later, Jenny got a matching stocking with her name.

Three years later, Emma got a store bought stocking. My grandmother has some serious arthritis and there was just no way she could recreate the stocking - I believe she had given up knitting a few years before Emma was born. I know it was hard for her to knit Jenny's stocking.

{Emma's name in stitches}

So ten years after that, Mom finally asked if I would knit Emma a matching stocking. My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 8 or 9, but I had never done any fair isle work. I understood the basic concept, but it was definitely an accomplishment to read and follow a detailed pattern.

{Christmas trees, candy canes, hearts}

{almost finished}

I think it is really more of a gift for my mom than for Emma. They will both be excited but Mom will be happy to finally have four matching stockings for her kids after 25 years!

Cheering myself up

Tuesday wasn't the best. Everything at work was tedious and dragged on, the gloomy rainy weather put a damper on my energy and by the time I left, it was already getting dark out. This time of year is not my favorite. Plus, J was originally off work tonight, then it turned out he had to go in. So what do I do when I'm bored, alone and kind of down? Cook elaborate, time consuming meals.

{the beginnings of cornbread}

{used two massive jalapenos}

{I won't say how many pieces I ate after this picture was taken}

I just bought a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and added a few things. Instead of the milk it called for, I added a whole egg and two tablespoons of greek yogurt. I put greek yogurt in everything I can - I love it - but it works especially well when it is substituted for eggs, oil or butter.

I also added cherry tomatoes, green onions, a huge jalapeno, chopped crispy bacon, black and cayenne pepper. 

Next up, roasted cabbage. This recipe has been all over Pinterest for a while and I had a head of cabbage that needed to be used, so I figured I would try it.

{cabbage with lemon juice, bacon, pepper, worcestershire, and olive oil}

{wrapped up in foil} 

{20 minutes later}

These were amazing. Super tangy and tender but still crunchy in places. I loved it, but I love all vegetables - we will see what J thinks when he gets home later!

Not pictured because it was so simple and I ate it so fast: baked chicken smothered in a mix of orange marmalade and cayenne pepper.

{wrapped up a little plate for my boy}

The Weekend

This weekend was three days long for me - my favorite kind of weekend.

{Friday night at Fox's with one of J's old friends}

{Ended Friday with some live music at GSP}

{Farmer's Market trip on Saturday with M}

{Sunday night wedding - congrats Kathy and Andrew!}

{My date}

{Lego grooms cake}

{Of course J had to get a little dancing in}

For some reason I missed highlighting last weekend. Here are a few pictures.

{tailgating with M}

{NC State game}

{decked out in our red}

{Ended Saturday with Vietnamese}

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. J's parents are coming this weekend and then we are headed to Asheville the weekend after Thanksgiving. I have to think about what I want to make this year!

I've Been Juicing

I keep saying that in conversations because it just sounds like I'm a body builder taking steroids and I think I'm funny. But really - I've been juicing all the produce I can get my hands on! My best friend M moved recently and gave us her juicer that she never used. My first thought was all the awesome healthy juice I could make to help us get more fruits and veggies in a day, but J immediately thought cocktails. Haha of course - he has big plans to make some ginger/cucumber syrup or something -we'll see if he gets around to it!

All the produce I bought to experiment. Oh, and beer to counteract all the healthy stuff!

I read that the best "bases" of any juice are carrots and apples, because they produce the most liquid and sweet apples cover the taste of any vegetables you throw in.

Not the prettiest

My favorite combo so far has been:

- One apple, with skin

- Two carrots

- One stick of celery

- 1/3 cucumber

- Juice of 1/2 lemon

Carrots turn the whole thing orange!

This juicer really sucks all the liquid out though! It sounds like an airplane, which is the only drawback, because I can't juice stuff in the morning when J is sleeping. See all that pulpy stuff left over? Dry as a bone. It is awesome and getting all the liquid out of whatever you put through it.

I promise it tastes better than it looks!

The Color Me Rad Race

On Saturday morning, me and three of my friends got up early and ran the Color Me Rad race in Raleigh. This is the race where you run a 5k, and at every kilometer, you get covered with a different color, so at the end of the race you are just a huge sweaty tired rainbow.

I didn't train or prepare for the race at all except running/walking maybe four or five times in the two weeks leading up to the race, and I am NOT a runner, but when I crossed the finish line I was like "What?!" - the race went by SO fast. They staggered the start times so there wouldn't be one huge crowd of thousands of people running at once - very smart. This also alleviated the parking lot/traffic problems when we were coming and going.

I got separated from my friends around the second color station - I walked though it because when I ran through the first station, I didn't get ANY color on me! You really had to slow down and let the people working there just throw color at you. It is just colored cornstarch, so it wasn't bad to run/walk through - it did get in my mouth a couple of times which was gross!

Before the race - nice and clean!

The race packet came with some sweet sunglasses to protect our eyes. Even though it wasn't sunny, everyone was wearing them while they ran. Some people had crazy outfits on - costumes, tutus, hats, etc. If we run in next year we definitely need to put a little more effort into our race outfits!

After - covered in colors!

I definitely had a fun time running it, but there are a few tips for next year:

1. Sign up earlier! I forgot and had to sign up late, and the price keeps going up and up the longer you wait. I ended up paying $40, which I can't really complain about because it was for Special Olympics, and I did have a really fun experience and got a cool t shirt out of it (NOT the one I ran the race in haha).

2. Keep your mouth closed! I ingested so much cornstarch accidentally by just smiling and laughing through the color stations...ack!

3. Put something serious in your blonde, highlighted hair! I coated my hair in leave in conditioner and olive oil for good measure, then french braided it as tight as I could with it being covered in slippery stuff. See that big  purple clump in the front of my hair? Even with my precautions, my bangs had a reddish hue for a few days. Which is way better than green or blue!