Fitness Fanatic in the Making….

Hi Loves,

Hope everyone has been having a great night. I am, so yay. It’s amazing how some exercise can really lift my spirits. I was having a slow/frustrating day at work but then had a great yoga class and did a brisk two mile walk with Laura at Crescent Lake…we had intended to run today, but it was literally brisk and the sidewalk was wet and slippery so we both just weren’t feeling it. I do need to kick my training up a notch though since we are going to do a 5k by the middle of July. I still can’t run a mile straight, but I did push pretty hard on Saturday and tried to on Sunday as well. Sunday was rough though, my left shin and right knee (just to balance things out right? haha, boo.) were really hurting. Pathetic considering I’m only walk/jogging a 2 mile track. I guess it will come with time? I hope so.

I grabbed a quick dinner tonight: Chicken Apple Sausages. I love these babies and they are organic too! Yum. Topped with onions, kraut and Mr. Nick’s pear relish. Oh yes. I could probably eat this everynight…so much more satisfying than a hot dog, and this is coming from a hot dog luver! I also had a side of carrot “chips” and some Sabra babaganoosh.

Night to all,
~Jess

You got it, you got it, some kind of magic….

…hypnotic, hypnotic, you’re leaving me breathless- Paramore, I Caught Myself, Twilight Soundtrack version.

It’s been so gloomy today that I thought it would be appropriate to set my ipod on loop of the Twilight soundtrack. I wasn’t a super huge fan of the books (even though I did read all four) nor the movie (that I’ve seen twice, haha…some “not fan” I am) but I LOVE the soundtrack. In fact I LOVE soundtracks in general. I’ve always found it’s a great way to get introduced to a new artist that you might not have stumbled across otherwise. For example, after listening to this soundtrack I have realized that I need more Muse in my life, am intrigued by Mute Math and Blue Foundation. Also, did you know that Rob Pattinson also sings? It’s a bluesy kinda bit that I really enoyed. I’ve always prided myself on having a pretty varied taste in music, but I have been focused on more hard stuff as of late, so it was nice to get a swift kick in the soul searching butt for a change.

Music is a huge part of my life….nearly as big as food! so get used to seeing lyric post titles and my “reviews” or thoughts on bands, songs or the lastest show I’ve been too. I feel, as the name of this blog states, that we are nurished on more than just the food we fuel our bodies on, but everything we come across in our lives. More on my “Nurished on Life” philosphy to come once I finish my “about” page. I’m still working on getting the site set up to my liking, and since I’m currently posting from work this will have to be a sad and pictureless post.

I hope that no one was on the edge of their seats waiting to hear about my buffalo tofu and celery soup adventure last night. All in all, it was pretty anticlimatic. Here are the pictures, purly for honesty’s sake. Right out of the oven and then plated up with blue cheese and the celery soup.

The whole thing turned out pretty blah in both color, flavor and texture. It wasn’t bad, the tofu just needed another layer of flavor. Orginally, I had planned on marinading it in the wing sauce and then “crusting” it in powered ranch mix, but I was out of the last ingredient when I set about cooking last night so decided to for go it. The soup was good, and I will likey be having it tonight after such a damp and dreay day (yes, soup in the summer….I am a soup a holic, so you will probably see a ton of that on the site too). It reminded me of having my grandmother’s chicken and dumplings for some reason. It could probably use another flavor of some sort too…I might play around with some mix in’s tonight.

I’d best get back to work.
Love to all,
~Jess

Laaazy Weekend Wonderful

Hello loves,

I hope you all have been having a great weekend. I certainly have. To most it might seem mundane but it’s been the perfect no plans/get a lot of stuff done around the house weekend. I’m usually on the go over single weekend so it’s nice to just be home and: clean, organize, take the pup to the park, decorate oh and Cook! I’ll have today’s eats up later after I’ve finally brewed up my buffalo tofu and celery soup. Yes, I am finally making it this week after talking about it for the last three. Good things come to those who wait? I hope.

In the mean time here are some yummies from the week for you to oggle:

This dinner really focused on the black bean and sweet potato salad. I love making this, a recipe I addapted from one of my Atlanta Cousins.

Cube and steam the sweet potatoes (I used one potato with one can of black beans it it made about 4 heaping servings…adjust as necessary for your needs)
Cool the potatoes: To steam I just nuke them with about an inch of water for 5 minutes or s. Drain the water and then let them chill in the fridge for a while, if you are in a hurry like me, other wise just let them cool down to room temp
Toss with a drained and rinsed can of black beans, chopped purple onion and cilantro (I actually used shredded culantro in this batch, because the produce section had a really pathetic cilantro selection this week) a tiny drizzle of olive oil and the juice of half a lime. S&P to taste.
Enjoy! I dished this up with one of my dad’s leftover grilled honey mustard pork chops and a small helping of my delish guac. I’ll share that simple recipe another time, so check back soon!

These pictures really don’t do credit to how delish this impromptu flatbread really was. I made a down and dirty babaganoosh by roasting that lovely striped eggplant I had picked up at the green market the other day (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33714198&l=1f5fddda72&id=33401688). I just chopped it up, no peeling required- the skin was really tender and added a few cloves of whole garlic, tossed with a drizzle of EVOO and S&P. I quick roasted it up for about 12mins at 450 degreesF and then mashed it all up with my potato masher. Spread on a flat out wrap. Top with a grated string cheese (gotta love that portion control!) and broil. It was so good. So good I may have eaten the whole pizza in one sitting. Whoops.

All this talk of food is making me hungry…what a horrible side effect to having a food blog. haha, NOT!
I’m off to whip up some lunch then and get the veggies started for that celery soup.
Love to all,
~Jess

It’s a revamped kind of day!

Hello Loves,  funny meeting you here….

So, as I had mentioned last week on my xanga I have been considering moving my blog and changing up the content a bit,  and well, here we are! No worries, I will still have lots of random content and wacky things to ponder, a la “Chronicles of a Semi Abnormal life” (I’m working on a way to import those old posts, fyi…way to much good stuff in there to lose) but I want to focus more on my love of food and cooking. I’ll admit I’ve been inspired, first by Meghann’s blog (GraduateMeghann.com) and then many others I’ve found since then which focus on healthy eating and exercise.  I’m not nearly as diligent as those inspiring ladies, but I will be including more pics of MY good eats, whether created by yours truly, or just gobbled up by moi.  I will try to post daily, but no promises, ok? Just check back when you can, because I promise it will be worth your time!

Here are some of today’s yummies:

As a super late breakfast/early lunch I had Pita-Guac- Nachos using some leftover guacamole I made earlier in the week (I’ll post those pictures later, this is just a teaser, you know!) Stacey’s Pita chips, (which I adore!) and some grated string cheese (I’ve been using up the 0% mozz string cheese I bought and got sick of as string cheese, but I think it makes a great portion control method too!) and broiled them up in the toaster oven. Yummy and satisfying.

My early dinner was a Twisted Steakhouse Salad. I’ve been craving one of those spinach-mushroom-egg with hot bacon vinaigrette salads that places like Ale House serve but only had the mushrooms and egg in my fridge and didn’t feel like stinking up the house with bacon….so I sauteed some mushrooms and purple onion then wilted in some torn green leaf lettuce. I plated that then fried an egg (I broke the yoke, sad…sad) sat it up on top and drizzled it all a bit with some of my dessert quality balsamic (it’s actually the only kind I buy, can you say Yum?).  This is rather light fare, especially since I’m going to The Independent (one of my favorite bars in downtown) tonight so I also threw together a tiny grilled cheese with jalapeno humus and a few slices of the delicious plum tomatoes Publix has been carrying as of late.

Speaking of going out, I need to finish getting dressed.

Enjoy your Saturday night!
Love to all,
~Jess