Posts tagged as:

amy’s california burger

EO

by Eating Bird Food on November 30, 2009

This weekend was quite relaxing and fun. Isaac and I hung low and didn’t do any traveling, but we did do a little shopping and decorating.

I made a center piece for the coffee table that I had been dreaming about ever since seeing something similar at Anthropologie.

Hurricane glass, candle plate and vanilla candle from Target, white sand from Ben Franklin Crafts. Easy peasy.

We also decided to make two big purchases for our living room.

Before:

The TV stand was purchased for $20 from craigslist, along with all our other furniture, 2 years ago when we first moved in with one another. It was black and metal- it didn’t fit the color scheme of the room, it was low to the ground and it didn’t have a backing to hide all the wires. We also had huge speakers that were not covered. Overall, we needed an upgrade.

PS The above picture is deceiving. Although it may seem that I’m mesmerized by the football, I’m not really into football at all…

After:

Isaac splurged on a new receiver and surround sound system and I purchased the media stand. No more huge speakers and no more wires, besides the ipod connection cord and the computer charger that just so happen to be strung about in this photo. Plus, the wood of this stand matches the rest of our furniture (coffee table and book shelf). I also love that all the electronics, including the Wii and all it’s components, can fit in the cabinets!

Now I know this was a simple upgrade, but if your into this sort of thing you should check out a blog that I found called Young House Love- Two People Falling in Love with Their First House. A couple in Richmond, VA (where I live) purchased a house and completely re-did it and it looks fabulous now! They share design ideas. how-to tips and help others redecorate, plus they have some awesome details on having a wedding on a budget. I’m kind of addicted to their blog now because they have great ideas and they are funny- couldn’t ask for a better combination.

In other weekend news, my dad came to visit on Saturday which was fun. We hung out and chatted and then hit up Panera for some lunch. I got my standard- you pick 2: Mediterranean veggie, black bean soup, and an apple.

Isaac and I went out with some friends for drink at Commercial Tap House. As the name suggests, they have a lot beer on tap, including micro brews. Because of this, it’s one of Isaac’s favorite bars.

Sunday’s eats were notable.

Maca pumpkin oatmeal/oatbran.

Amy’s California burger on top of a salad of organic greens, carrots, tomatoes, red pear, and garbanzo beans. I drizzled on some tahini dressed after the photo. Twas delicious.

For a snack I had a healthy serving (and by healthy I mean hearty) serving of the sweetness- Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss Chocolate Peanut Butter “ice cream” that Isaac surprised me with.

They weren’t kidding when they decided to name this icecream Bliss. Enough said!

So, remember the Foodbuzz Festival Outstanding in the Field dinner? Ahh… the memories. Well, at said dinner, the only non-blogger at my table was Brad Black, the CEO of a company called EO, a manufacturer of premium soap and bath products with organic ingredients that are Paraben free, sodium Laureth sulfate free, sodium Lauryl free. Brad had samples at the event and thanks to Kath (who witnessed the sample thief) I was able to take home a sample of both of the French Lavender body lotion and bubble bath. I love the body lotion and keep the little bottle in my purse at all times. My hands are always feeling dry this time of the year so that worked out quite nicely. And, I tried out the bubble bath as well. It didn’t produce as many bubbles as traditional bubble bath does, but it smelled nice and the lavender scent was truly relaxing and really that’s all I need in bubble bath. The lack of bubbles was perfect because I actually hate getting out of a bubble bath when there are still bubbles left- I feel like I have to shower to get them off my body.

At the dinner Brad offered to send some bloggers EO products to try out. I was totally up for it as I’m always on the lookout for beauty/bathing/household products without synthetic colors, fragrances or harsh chemicals. (I recently switched to TOM’s tooth paste!)

Needless to say I was overly excited when these goodies showed up last week.

Restorative and Nurturing EO^® Wild Lime & Ginger Hair Repair

Volumizing and Balancing EO^® Rosemary & Mint Shampoo

Volumizing and Balancing EO^® Rosemary & Mint Conditioner

Rose Geranium & Citrus Hand Soap

Organic Lavender Sanitizing Spray

I’m totally pumped to try all the products however, so far I’ve only had time to use the shampoo and conditioner. Side note- I requested a sample of volumizing shampoo and conditioner because that’s what I always use- my hair needs lift! To be honest I wasn’t sure if the EO products would live up to other brands I have tried. But, it was awesome because these are definitely volumizing (I should take photo so you all can see). Also, I love the fragrance- so natural and fresh (if I could I would post a scratch and sniff here). All and all I’m very pleased with the duo. More reviews to come as I try out the other products.

Event update for Richmond readers (particularly VCU students). Remember a while back when I mentioned that received the PETA Vegan College Cookbook to review? Well, this Thursday Marta Holmberg, co-author of PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook, will be available for a cookbook signing and cooking demonstration (complete with free samples!) to show you just how easy the recipes are. All you have to bring is yourself and anyone else you can recruit to join you. Copies of PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook will be available for purchase at the event.

When: Thursday, December 3, 12:00 noon

Where: Barnes & Noble at Virginia Commonwealth University,

1111 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA

Cost: Free, plus free food!

I’m off to work. Enjoy your Monday!

-Brittany

{ 20 comments }

Sticking With It

by Eating Bird Food on November 4, 2009

The brittany gets back her groove plan is going well thus far. I had another green smoothie aka green monster for breakfast yesterday after hitting up the gym for some cardio.

This one was intensely green in color. I guess I added more kale than last time!

Green Smoothie

1/2 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 frozen banana
1 cup kale
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
4 cubes of ice

Place everything in the blender and blend on high until all flakes of kale have disappeared, giving your smoothie a lovely green color and tons of NUTRIENTS! So simple, yet delicious.

This morning I was all out of kale, had a big container of pumpkin that needed to be used and was craving something warm (our house is an ice box). Pumpkin oats it was. I didn’t get around to carving a pumpkin this year so here’s my attempt to make up for it:

(Can you see where I tired to do a tongue with the better n pb? Yea, it didn’t look right so I added a unibrow instead.)

Pumpkin Oats

1/4 oat bran
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp. ground flax
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
cinnamon to taste

Cook the oat bran, oatmeal in the water and milk (plus cinnamon) on medium heat by stove top. After about 5 minutes, or when the oats get thick enough for your tastes, turn off the stove and mix in the pumpkin and flax. Let the oats sit for a couple minutes, transfer into a bowl and add the toppings of your choice. I love to use nut butters, pumpkin seeds, nuts, raisins or coconut. Enjoy.

So, I’ve been bad food blogger and forgot to get pictures of dinner last night and today’s lunch. To be honest, I’m always less excited about taking dinner pictures because the lighting in our house stinks, the flash makes food photos look awful and nothing ends up looking very appealing. Which leads to my little secret- sometimes if we have leftovers of dinner, I’ll plate the meal again the next morning and take the photo. What a girl will do for a good picture!

Tonight it just so happened that my dinner ended up being rather photogenic. I had a romaine salad with avocado, tomato, cucumber, orange bell pepper, and my new favorite salad ingredient (roasted b-nut).

Topped with a little sea salt and some ground pepper. I had an Amy’s California Burger on the side (as a tribute to where I am headed in less than 48 hours!!!) Amy’s burgers are definitely my favorite frozen vegetarian burgers, besides my homemade bean burgers of course.

Also, I do have something cool to share. I received the Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook to review! I was excited to get my eyes on the latest Eat Clean cookbook as I enjoy it’s sister publications: Clean Eating Magazine and Oxygen (although it’s a little too muscle mania for my taste, it does have some good workouts).

Last night I snuggled into bed and did some quality Tosca cookbook reading. What I loved the most is that each recipe has a beautiful photo to go along with it. I’m a picture person and I kind of hate cookbooks that don’t have photos so this feature was #1 for me. I also liked that each recipe has the serving size and nutritional information (always helpful!). This isn’t a vegetarian cookbook by any means, but there are a few vegetarian recipes dispersed throughout and many of the meat dishes could easily be turned into veggie-friendly fare with a few substitutions. The best part is that all recipes are all made with wholesome ingredients and aren’t very hard to prepare, both of which are things I aim for when deciding what recipes to prepare. Since I just received the book just yesterday I haven’t had a chance to make any of the recipes (slacking I know), but after looking through it I’ve marked a few that I can’t wait to try!

If you’re interested in checking out Tosca’s latest cookbook, it’s available for pre-order on her website and should be at all major book outlets now.

I’m off to pack (!!!) and then do some yoga!

- Brittany

{ 17 comments }

I'm sleeping in….

February 17, 2009

Yes – so excited that today feels like Monday, but it’s actually Tuesday! Good way to start out the week. I’m going to make this post short because I just recently read this article and I want to try our their idea. What do you all think – has anyone found that getting more sleep [...]

Read the full article →

Perks of Being a Race Volunteer

August 24, 2008

Out of all the volunteer options during a half-marathon I picked the food tent because I wouldn’t need to get there before the race and I wouldn’t have to stay long after the race. It was a good pick for several reasons, but being paid in food was one of the biggest perks. Of course I [...]