Weekend Fun and Red Lentils
Forget Happy Hour, How about Happy Night?
I didn’t take photos of my eats this weekend. Mainly because it was boring (i.e. Oatmeal everyday for breakfast, another pita with tofu stuffed inside and cereal for dinner) Also, saturday ended up involving way more drinking than it did eating. I had so much fun though – my friend and I went downtown to go dancing, then went to a house party, which was suppose to be a dance party. Turns out, the said dance party was lame. The best part was the strobe light, which consisted of a guy covering then uncovering a light with his hand to the beat of the music. It was pretty comical. We left in hurry and did some more bar hopping. Turns out we didn’t really get to dance a ton, but we did get a lot of free drinks. I don’t go out that often, at least not to this extreme, so this was a treat. And the night ended with a long walk. On a random street we jumped at the chance to sit on top of a polar bear. I have no explanation, but I remember thinking it was the best idea ever at the time.
Doesn’t the bear’s eye make him look kind of mean? I assure you.. he was nice.
Clothes:
Needless to say, I was a little pooped out today so I haven’t done much of anything except lay around and search for fashion ideas online. I want to get a whole new wardrobe – I’m always feeling like I wear the same things because I hate the majority of my clothes. PLUS I GOT A NEW JOB. I found this out on Friday- woo hoo! So I definitely have an excuse to go shopping now.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I used to love to shop for clothes, now I am usually disappointed when I go in stores because I hardly ever find things I want. I feel like there aren’t a ton of stores that produce things I like or geared to the 20 something woman on a budget. Right now most of my clothes that I wear often are from H&M or Target. I love the style of Anthropologie, but they are just too expensive and I have never found anything I liked on the sale rack. I also like Urban Outfitters, but I can’t wear a lot of that stuff (especially to the office) – it just doesn’t look good on me, and I think their things should be better quality for the price. I’ve been considering ordering some things from the Victoria Secret Clothing catalog, but that is annoying too because you can’t try anything on. I find most stores at the mall to be marketing/designed for young girls or too mature looking. It’s just a on-going dilemma for me.. Where do you all shop?
Seriously, Where is the food?
I decided this post shouldn’t be devoted only to my binge drinking and shopping woes so I thought I would feature the recipe of a soup I made tonight. I love soup and I can’t wait for the cooler weather – I have quite a few soup recipes I can’t wait to make.
I have this bag of red lentils from a Mediterranean market that I have had for a while, actually I’ve had it since before I moved into my new apt – they moved with us. So as a result I had been searching online for different soup ideas that used red lentils. I couldn’t find any recipe in which I had all the ingredients so I decided to create my own. It was a quick and easy meal and it ended up tasting awesome. I really liked the addition of the butternut squash.
Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Soup
1 medium chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp of olive oil
1 cup of dry red lentils (washed and picked through for stones)
1 1/2 cups of chopped butternut squash – I used 2 small one peeled and chopped
6 cups of vegetable broth (divided 4 cups and 2 cups) – I used Pacific low sodium
Seasonings to taste: (I used a pinch to two pinches of each)
Dried basil, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Heat oil in a large soup pot, and sauté the onion, carrots and garlic for about 5 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add lentils, squash and 4 cups of the broth to the pot. Add the seasonings and let simmer for about 30 minutes.
The lentils soaked up a lot of the broth so at the end to make it less thick I added the extra 2 cups of broth. I like my soup to be less thick, but you could forego the extra broth if you like it that way.
That soup looks awesome!!
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Ohhh YUM!!! This recipe looks DIVINE and I, myself, have a variety of different colored lentils on hand, and have been SEARCHING my heart out for the perfect recipe! Thanks to YOU, I’ve most definitely found my heart’s desire! Yay!
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super cute dress!!! love drunken moments that seem funny at the time
the lentils look delish
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Sounds like a fun weekend – love that polar bear
I totally no what you mean about clothes shopping. I always wear the same stuff and tell myself to go shopping, but when I go I can NEVER find anything I like!
That soup looks incredible – you are very creative with that recipe! And thanks for posting the cookies, as well – I’m glad they tasted good with one less stick of butter
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Glad you had an fun weekend and congrats on the job! Your soup looks so warm and yummy. What wonderful combinations.
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Congrats on the job! Good luck finding some clothes. I am a 30 something so I can’t help in the 20 something department :/
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HA! Your post is hilarious. I love that picture of ya’ll. CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING A JOB! I totally get the clothes thing. Here’s where I go:
Forever 21 (I’m 27 but whatever) for tops and dresses
Nordstrom for denim
Banana Republic for business casual
Target for everything else
I love Anthropolgie too, but it’s such a rip. I can only really get a couple things from there each year.
Good luck!
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Sounds like quite a weekend! Love how you hopped up on the polar bear. V. seductive.
Congrats on the new job! If I could buy any clothes they would be Anthropolgie and Free People. Too expensive for a new wardrobe, though. Do you have Marshalls or TJ Max? They have good deals.
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It makes me feel old to even admit this, but I’ve started shopping at Ann Taylor Loft recently. Before that, all my clothes came from Express. I still love Express, but after you shop there for a while, eventually, you own everything.
I love Target, too though.
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congrats on the new job!
thanks for posting the soup recipe, it sounds amazing!
i LOVE your dress!! very cute!
we have NO shopping here in valdosta, but when i go to orlando i love to shop at forever 21, nordstrom, bebe (if it’s on sale- they’re pretty expensive too) and express.
online, i buy a lot of stuff from victoria’s secret– they have a lot of classic beautiful clothes that don’t really go out of style so it’s worth spending a little more for.
i ADORE target, too
happy monday!
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Congrats on your new job! Anne Taylor Loft can have some really cute business type attire for us 20-somethings. It can be a bit expensive but they’re clearance and sale racks are pretty good deals. Also, Kohl’s has some cute things! And as with everyone else, Target is awesome.
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Ahh going out dancing, and taking ridiculous pictures in the process. Story of my life.
CONGRATS on the job. What will you be doing?
I’m with you on the clothes and shopping thing. I want more clothing, lots more to be precise, but I don’t really want to spend tons of cash, nor am I overly impressed with a lot of the selection out there, at least not in this city. My wardrobe relies on Old Navy and Winners. I need to switch it up.
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Julz- I sure hope this soup lives up to your hearts desire. Please let me know!!
Heather- I do have both the TJ maxx and marshall’s – I like both, but often times it’s hit or miss whether I find clothes I like.
Jordon- I have tried Ann Taylor loft and I have a few things. I actually have a bathing suit from there that I LOVE!
Fitnessista – I think I might try Victoria Secrets now! Thanks.
Sara – Thanks!
Kristie – Dancing is one of my favs and pictures of the crazy nights of course. I’m going to be doing marketing – very similar to my old job, just a different product – educational software.
Totally agree with you on the clothes!
Everyone – Thanks for all the congratulations on my new job – I’m pretty excited
And thanks for the advice on places to shop as well. Most importantly, A HUGE thank you to all my readers and those of you that comment on almost every post. Reading you all’s comments make my day!
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Wow I am slow! Congrats on the job!!
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i live on lentils days at a time + whole wheat
to complete the protein
often go through 5 – 10 lbs uncooked a week
great energy food
+
lots of
parsley
kale
cabbage
turnip greens
carrots
many lbs a week at a time, all raw.. run in thru a
champion juicer and eat everything raw, except
the carrots i do juice
like to do that during the weekends couple times a month
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forgot to mention, plug all the foods in
http://www.nutritiondata.com
1 pound of each food.. but during a week
i can often go through 5 lbs of each food
very easily
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