Food • Photography • Life
New (to us) Bridge!
Williamsburg Bridge
This July we were lucky enough to have some vacation days the hubbs needed to burn, so we took a quick trip up to Montreal. And — I know this means nothing to you if you don’t live in a city where you have no access to a car — I got to drive! A car! I was ridiculously excited to be back in the driver’s seat, where there is no car sickness. And I didn’t even kill us – or get a speeding ticket. Whoo!
Thursday
We stopped at a little bike shop/sandwich shop/craft beer and wine bar/local music venue outside of Lake George for lunch on the way up – this was our view. Life is hard.
Oh, Canada!
Our first stop in Montreal was the Plateau neighborhood to walk the eclectic shops and sights of Rues St. Denis and Mont Royal. Dinner was some raw milk cheese from La Fromagerie Hamel, foie and pork pate + cured meats from La Maison Du Roti, and a baguette + croissant from Boulangerie Les Co’pains d’abord eaten in the neighboring park. Delicious, and a perfect start to our adventure.
Friday
Friday, we were up fairly early and started the day with a trip to what we called “our” boulangerie for breakfast and Starbucks for the hubbs (Starbucks did not have my coconut milk – according to the barista, it’s hard to find in Montreal; luckily the boulangerie had almond milk).
And it was on to the Metro (which was easy to navigate) and off to the Hochelaga/Maisonnevue District to view some science and nature.
Montreal Botanical Garden, Insectarium, Biodome & Olympic Stadium
These attractions are all pretty much within sight of each other, and easy to knock out in an afternoon.
Botanical Garden
This was a nice garden, with lots of fruit trees and edible plants. The lunch at the cafe was pretty impressive, too.
On to the Insectarium, which was really impressive. Like, grownups squealing like children and at least one of them dancing around like a loon impressive.
We have never seen such a killer selection of live and pinned bugs from all over the globe. We could have easily spent the afternoon.
On to the Biodome, which was also great. The main exhibit was sloths, which were hanging out in a tree habitat right in the middle of the main area (the sloths were of course sleeping). The penguin exhibit was fantastic, too – a whole room of puffins + a room of larger penguins with enough room to swim and complain.
And since we were basically in the parking lot anyways, we checked out the site of the 1976 Olympics, Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
For our one big planned vacation dinner, we were lucky enough to snag seats at Joe Beef. Joe beef is a semi-casual joint with an old school-inspired menu (simple done absolutely flawlessly) in the eclectic Little Burgundy neighborhood. We had some time before our reservation, and checked out the Marche Atwater – a big public farmers market – and some of the little boutique shops along Rue Notre Dame.
Dinner was outstanding. We had the cheval (horse) tartare (our favorite dish of the night), foie pate, ribeye topped with cured ham and bacon, crazy delicious fries, and green beans in lobster sauce. Joe Beef gets a lot of hype – and a lot of hate – and to us, it 100% lived up to its praise. This place was crazy good. For example, the picture above is of the cheval tartare – which was amazing (soft, sweet, complex but delicate flavoring). You wouldn’t expect in a dish like that for the garnish to also be amazing, but those carrots were some of the best either of us had ever had. And they’re just simply roasted. Something I do at home all winter, and I have out at restaurants (and good restaurants) often. But damn, whatever it is that they’re doing at Joe Beef, they need to continue doing it.
After all of that goodness, we waddled our stuffed little selves back to the hotel and passed out.
Saturday
Old Montreal and Old Port
Today was a more “touristy” day spent wandering the picturesque cobblestones of Old Montreal and the renovated Old Port, with a trip up to Montreal’s financial district to compare their “downtown” vs our “downtown”. Big difference: the cleanliness. Over and over we were struck by just how clean Montreal is. And how even in the middle of summer, it doesn’t smell like bum pee and garbage.
We learned some of the history of Montreal at the Chateau Ramezay Museum, and checked out the Bonsecours Market.
We also stopped back up near the hotel for our first plate of Canadian poutine at the 24-hour hotspot, La Banquise. This place, which serves over 30 varieties of poutine, was packed full of young people and a bunch of fun to eat at. It didn’t hurt that the poutine was delicious. We didn’t really understand the draw before, but after splitting an order of ground beef & onion, we got it. This would be the best hangover food ever.
Saturday Night Fireworks
We were fortunate enough to be visiting Montreal during the 31st annual L’International des Feux Loto-Quebec, a massive 25-country fireworks competition held at La Ronde (Montreal Six Flags) at Parc Jean-Drapeau. We watched the team from Hong Kong set off an absolutely stunning display from on top of the Jacques-Cartier bridge.
After a shorter-than expected (3 mile) walk back to the hotel, we called it a (late) night.
Sunday
Mont Royal Park & Beer
On the way out of town, we drove up to the top of Mont Royal to check out the view.
And then we headed home via Vermont, to pick up some hard-to-find beer. We also had a ridiculously delicious brunch at Misery Loves Company, a nice little rustic chic spot where we ate some great char & roe tater tots, shrimp & grits and seafood benedict in downtown Winooski.
Since we were already loving Vermont, we opted to take the Lake Champlain Ferry back to NY. We need to plan a trip just to Burlington and the surrounding area sometime soon. That place was gorgeous and the half hour we spent exploring the waterfront before hopping on the boat was not nearly enough time to see all the area has to offer.
And that was our trip. It wasn’t long, but we had a great time.
Whoo hoo! It’s CSA time again! Time to shrug off winter’s recipe rut and reign spring’s exuberance with bi-monthly boxes of vegetables (and hopefully meat).
This year’s CSA is from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.
I purchased a half share, and will be getting a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and plan on ordering a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week. I also purchased a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard to stretch my culinary skills. The price of my CSA averages out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal. This total will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
You would think by now that I’d be used to flying blind when it comes to CSA season, since they rarely seem to post previews of upcoming shares, but I’m not. At least not going into this first week. Pickup this year is on Tuesday, so it looks like another summer of alltheveggies for half a week & utilizing the stragglers before they go bad on Mondays and Tuesdays. Such is the life of a CSA devotee. Boom and bust every week (or every other week, in my case).
Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 3
1 bunch English Breakfast radishes
1 bunch red mustard greens
1 bunch lemon balm
1/2 lb. yellow beans
1/2 lb. green beans
1 big bunch collard greens
1 head romaine lettuce
1 big bunch swiss chard
1 bunch basil
Lewis Waite Meat Share Box 2
1 lb. unidentified bone-in bird breast
1 lb. turkey breast
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. pork ribs
I also bought: eggs and (aged) raw milk cheddar as treats
How I Used My Share
I roasted this week’s radishes + the balance of week 1’s radishes and beets with grapefruit juice and served with pistachio butter as a side dish for the pork ribs, which I slow cooked with roasted garlic sriracha BBQ sauce.
Half of the basil wilted before I got to it.
Most of the lemon balm wilted the day after pickup.
I used some lemon balm and basil to dress up: watermelon salad, water, and sparkling water.
It turns out the unidentified bone-in bird breast was actually half a chicken, and I roasted it with a little basil butter and served with roasted lemon green/yellow beans.
I made a spicy chard salad to take to a potluck.
I sautéed the mustard greens with bacon, olives and rosemary and served alongside the turkey breast, which I chunked and crusted with plantains and buffalo sauce.
I made the ground beef into burgers.
I used the romaine in lunch salads.
I used some of the collards to make wrap sandwiches.
Leftovers: 1/2 a bunch of collard greens, 1/2 a head of romaine lettuce
My Favorite Dish From This Box
This week, my favorite was spicy slow cooked pork ribs. The roasted veg side was so-so, but the ribs were frickin delicious.
Whoo hoo! It’s CSA time again! Time to shrug off winter’s recipe rut and reign spring’s exuberance with bi-monthly boxes of vegetables (and hopefully meat).
This year’s CSA is from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.
I purchased a half share, and will be getting a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and plan on ordering a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week. I also purchased a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard to stretch my culinary skills. The price of my CSA averages out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal. This total will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
You would think by now that I’d be used to flying blind when it comes to CSA season, since they rarely seem to post previews of upcoming shares, but I’m not. At least not going into this first week. Pickup this year is on Tuesday, so it looks like another summer of alltheveggies for half a week & utilizing the stragglers before they go bad on Mondays and Tuesdays. Such is the life of a CSA devotee. Boom and bust every week (or every other week, in my case).
Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 2
1 bunch red mustard greens
1 bunch English breakfast radishes
1 bunch baby spinach
1 bunch purslane
4 heads garlic with stalks
1 big bunch collard greens
8 garlic scapes
1 small head romaine lettuce
1 bunch broccoli raab
Lewis Waite Meat Share 1 (to the right)
1 lb. some sort of bird leg
1 lb. turkey breast
1 lb. london broil
1 lb. fresh chorizo
Lewis Waite Challenge Share – 1st Delivery (to the left)
This month is fats. I got regular fat back and smoked fat back. I now have enough (rendered and chunk) fat to last for months. Whoo hoo!
How I Used My Share
I used the garlic scapes in every meal I’ve made in place of garlic cloves.
I used a couple radishes and a third of the baby spinach as a bed for roasted chicken thighs with peaches.
I ate the rest of the spinach in lunch salads.
I made southern style collards with some of the smoked fat back and confited the bird leg in rendered pork fat from the unsmoked fat back.
I also made pork cracklins from the unsmoked fat back.
I served the mustard greens with the chorizo and some potatoes in a nice hash.
I ate the lettuce in lunch salads. I threw in radishes when I remembered to.
I made purslane and basil pesto, which I served over the turkey breast with a side of roasted garlic cauliflower mash.
I grilled the London Broil and served with sautéed broccoli raab with onions and leftover roasted garlic cauliflower mash.
Leftovers: Beets, a few garlic scapes, a few now kinda sad looking radishes.
My Favorite Dish From This Box
My favorite from this box had to be the supremely Southern night – cracklins, confit bird and greens. Delicious, though the chorizo hash was a close second.
Whoo hoo! It’s CSA time again! Time to shrug off winter’s recipe rut and reign spring’s exuberance with bi-monthly boxes of vegetables (and hopefully meat).
This year’s CSA is from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.
I purchased a half share, and will be getting a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and plan on ordering a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week. I also purchased a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard to stretch my culinary skills. The price of my CSA averages out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal. This total will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
You would think by now that I’d be used to flying blind when it comes to CSA season, since they rarely seem to post previews of upcoming shares, but I’m not. At least not going into this first week. Pickup this year is on Tuesday, so it looks like another summer of alltheveggies for half a week & utilizing the stragglers before they go bad on Mondays and Tuesdays. Such is the life of a CSA devotee. Boom and bust every week (or every other week, in my case).
Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 1
1 big bunch swiss chard
1 bunch callaloo greens
1 bunch kale
2 bunches tazoi spinach
1 big bunch light Asian greens
1 big bunch beets + greens
1 bunch carrots + greens
How I Used My Share
I used half of the carrots, a little of the carrot greens, a leftover 1/4 bell pepper and the tazoi spinach in a stir-fry.
I used the kale and callaloo greens in a simple coconut curry bowl with leftover rotisserie chicken.
I sautéed the swiss chard with mustard and served with a bunless turkey burger.
I ate the Asian greens as a salad base for 2 days’ worth of lunches.
I used the rest of the carrots, carrot greens and beet greens in a Thai chicken bowl.
Leftovers: Just the beets. Not bad for week 1.
My Favorite Dish From This Box
This week, my favorite was probably the first meal I made – a simple stir-fry. I threw together some leftover meats (pulled pork and rotisserie chicken), half an onion, a few cloves garlic, a hand full of basil, 1/4 of a bell pepper, half a bunch of carrots, a hand full of carrot greens and 2 bunches of tazoi spinach with a quick sauce of coconut aminos, ketjap manis and fish sauce and stir-fried until everything was tender. This dinner was quick, tasty, and a great exercise in utilizing CSA greens. I love this time of year and it was a good way to exercise thankfulness. Plus, the fresh carrots were delicious.
This series of images was inspired by the new Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking image I created. I had forgotten how much I like to tinker with backgrounds and fonts and these little exercises gave me a chance to stretch those muscles a little. Why motivational quotes? Nerd Fitness, of course! This desire to stretch my creative wings coincided perfectly with the start of a six-week challenge cycle. Each day’s forum thread update featured one of these images, and they went over surprisingly well. So well, I’m posting them here in perpetuity for my Internet buds.
Note: These are not my original quotes (save one), I found them floating around the Internet. If you would like to re-purpose these images or use them on your own, please provide a link back to this page.
This month, I’m doing my Third Whole 30 – and this time, I’ve got reinforcements in the form of a few Nerd Fitness friends who are taking the plunge and committing to starting 2015 out on the right foot with me. Let’s take a look at a few of this week’s highlights! everyone ate this week!
kweber05 traveled this week, and kept on track with the help of snacks
She and I both went down the delicious pulled pork + cabbage route:
Fonzico made a delicious looking Chicken “Alfredo” made with zoodles and cauliflower cream sauce (basically pureed cauli, chicken broth, a little coconut milk and looooots of garlic), which I may have to copy.
I made Meatzas
I had an epic takeout dinner failure
And some resounding success meals out on the town
Week 3 turned out pretty good. One of us braved travel, another braved a Birthday, and the third dealt with being sick. And we all succeeded. Win-Win-Win. All the Win.
This month, I’m doing my Third Whole 30 – and this time, I’ve got reinforcements in the form of a few Nerd Fitness friends who are taking the plunge and committing to starting 2015 out on the right foot with me. Let’s take a look at a few of this week’s highlights! everyone ate this week!
This is a latecomer from last week: chicken spaghetti squash soup from Terra over on Nerd Fitness. She served this soup spooned over a large portion of spaghetti squash for herself and noodles for her family. Looks delicious!
Zoodles, zoodles everywhere!
Kweber05 made noodles with smoked pork and cherry bbq sauce
I had zoodles with caramelized onion meatballs (a Fonzico recipe – and it was delicious. I’ll be sharing soon).
Fonzico made paleo maki sushi!
Kweber05 and I had lazy cook nights:
Kweber05’s Pulled pork and egg hash with steamable sprouts in ghee.
My throw it in the oven and forget it meal – chicken thighs and brussels tossed with ghee, salt, pepper and a splash of (unnecessary, as it turned out, orange juice).
More Nom Nom Paleo goodness was had this week by me: I made her Spicy Tuna Cakes for dinner (with enough leftover for two lunches). And yes, those muffins are mitten-shaped.
Lunches!
leftover venison taco meat and greens salad with green bell pepper and radishes from kweber05
My apple/mint salad with pork chops
This weird concoction of sauerkraut, Ro-tel and chicken happened, and it actually worked together.
Work Snacks!
Snow peas and cashews from kweber05
My roasted cashews
And I jumped on the fancy drink bandwagon with raspberry and orange seltzer water. Delicious.
Week 2 was good. The W30 hive mind delved into zoodles, and we each found our own ways to be creative with flavor combinations. We all had strange food-related dreams (mine featuring The Doctor, cheesesteak, Kool-Aid and disappointment that no salad was forthcoming), but we worked through our issues and remained on target. Whoo hoo!
This month, I’m doing my Third Whole 30 – and this time, I’ve got reinforcements in the form of a few Nerd Fitness friends who are taking the plunge and committing to starting 2015 out on the right foot with me. Let’s take a look at a few of this week’s highlights! everyone ate this week!
Weekday work snacks! Plain almonds and fresh green beans from kweber05
Green Pepper/Radish Salad with Smoked Chicken from kweber05
Balsamic Beef Wraps with Sunshine Sauce from Fonzico
Dinner with extended family *can* be successful and *doesn’t* have to be full of anxiety as kweber05 found out – grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and a hard boiled egg.
Flavor boosters like salsa kick up breakfast and sanctum staples (kweber05)
Delectible looking shrimp pad thai with cabbage noodles and sunshine sauce courtesy of Fonzico
Fancy after dinner drinks (club soda, lime juice, oranges and pomegranate seeds) from Fonzico
More fancy drinks! Club soda with orange and lime from (kweber05)
Smoked chicken and avocado egg salad (kweber05)
Fonzico made Nom Nom Paleo’s Bagna Cauda and she reports that it was amazing. I’m totally making this next week.
Salmon with Nom Nom Paleo’s Cherry BBQ Sauce from Fonzico – this sauce is delicious! Kwebs also made this sauce this week, and loves it. I will have to get on the ball and cave to peer pressure soon!
And my favorite meals from this week:
My weekday lifesaver: green smoothie + coffee with almond milk.
Capicola with roasted brussels over the weekend
Ratatouille with merguez and a fried egg over the weekend
Instant Pot Pulled Pork with Spicy Roasted Parsnips
Instant Pot Green Curry Chicken with Carrots
Sesame Ginger Chicken Zoodles
And hive mind Sunday Steak dinners!
kweber05 had NY Strip with cabbage steaks
Fonzico had sirloin with chimichurri, peppers & onions, and a side of salsa and sweet potato with ghee
And I hit up Outback for a wood-fired sirloin & shrimp with grilled asparagus and a plain sweet potato
Week 1 was a success all around – everyone feels lighter and on the right track nutrition-wise, and aside from some crazy food dreams, general anxieties about mindless eating, and cigarette cravings, we are all faring well and on track for Week 2.
It’s almost the new year and I feel myself itching for some change.
January 1 is a fantastic jumping off point to enact some habit building and direction correcting to focus on this upcoming year, and I’m going to be taking full advantage of the seemingly universal hive mind urging me to start something new and redouble my efforts on goals that have fallen by the wayside.
Over the past month or so, I’ve been in a rut. I haven’t had clear fitness goals, so workouts have been directionless – and I haven’t really felt like making anything too complicated, so my meals have been kind of boring. And then came the holidays. This past few weeks, I’ve let my food intake go off the freaking rails and my body is telling me very loudly and clearly that I need a reset. I need to get back on track both food and fitness-wise and I need to find inspiration again. These things keep me happy and I’ve really let myself get away from them; that changes now.
In that vein, I’ll be doing my third Whole 30 in January and will be changing the way I do things a bit. Normally, I post my daily food and a recipe a week with a wrap-up at the end. I’ll still be doing all that this time, but I thought it might be neat to see what my partners in crime are up to as well. I will be completing this challenge alongside at least one person (*waves*) in my fitness support group – Nerd Fitness. We will be messaging each other with pictures of each meal and, if this challenge is anything like last time, for support and guidance when things get rough/we are unclear of what is actually ‘in’. Having a W30 buddy is invaluable – not only do I have someone I can nerd out with about recipes and ingredients, I have built-in accountability from someone I can trust to kick my virtual ass up one side and down the other if I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Internet side-eye is a powerful tool.
What Is Whole30?
Whole30 is a month-long hard reset for the body. Kind of like paleo on steriods. No sugar (even honey or stevia), grains, dairy or legumes. Just whole, natural foods – like meats, veggies and fruits. Nothing in a package. No soy. No extra crap. Read all labels.
This program is designed to break the back of sugar and carb cravings and give your body a balanced place from which to build healthy habits. It seeks to reset your metabolism, knock out systemic inflammation (that you may not even know you have) and zero out other gut health issues. Have random stomach pain like I used to? This may help balance that. Irregular? IBS? Feel like crap all the time? Can’t lose weight? Well .. this crazybananas plan might work for you.
My favorite part of the plan, aside from the reset, is the tough love.
From the W30 site: This is not hard – not like quitting heroin or beating cancer. Don’t even think about slipping – what you put into your mouth is always a choice. You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to eat – learn to stick up for yourself, peer pressure is for elementary school students. This will take effort but you will be better for it – especially if you’re a first-timer to cutting out grains and legumes. But … you can do this.
You know what? They’re right. In the grand scheme of things, 30 days is a small amount of time to deal with a little inconvenience. Unless there are roving bands of rapist donuts in your neighborhood; in that case, maybe stay inside and eat what you’re supposed to anyways. Rapist donuts are the worst.
You’ve Done This Twice Before … Why Are You Torturing Yourself Again?
I don’t look at Whole30 as torture, I look at it more as a chance to re-set my mealtime thinking away from whatever bad-for-me thing has clawed its way back into my diet (helllooooo, Holiday Season Indulgences – and that dream about a freaking sandwich I had last night) and a great way to kick-start my motivation to keep on track. A reminder, if you will, of how much better my body feels when I’m eating like I should be. As an added bonus, Whole30 is the best way I’ve found to light a fire under my butt and re-ignite my passion for food. W30 sparks my creativity and reminds me that by eating right, I’m not actually missing out on anything – I’m making conscious choices that will amount to a whole lot of good down the road. And you know what? I need that right now. These past few months have been less than stellar and I have big goals in 2015 – like huge, looming 12-mile OCR goals. I need to be at peak performance to be able to accomplish my goals and fueling my body mindlessly with crap is not how I’m going to get there.
Gastography 