ring ring ring, banana phone!

I’m so glad that my summer style was so well liked! I hope to see some of your styles too. :)

Today, I was in a very creative mood, which translates into recipe experimenting. Combine that with my interest in Greek food and the result?

Dolmathes!

But with a really odd twist. I don’t have access to grape leaves (they’re $10 for a jar in the store!) so I turned to the only alternative I could think of.Muscadine leaves, fresh of the vine!

The leaves are much smaller than the grape ones but they worked just as well… that is, after I blanched them, froze them, speedily pickled them, steamed them, and then finally doused them in olive oil for thirty minutes. They were way too starchy and bitter, but the combined effort seemed to finally turn them into the delicious wrapping for my dolmathes. I’m sure that if you have more patience than I did, you’ll only need to use one of those methods. Here’s the muscadine-version, in case you too are short of grape leaves:

6 muscadine leaves (the biggest you can find; prepare by one of these ways)
1/2 cup of short-grain white rice
1 tablespoon of feta cheese
1/4 cup of chopped sautéed onions
olive oil
salt
makes 6 “dolmathes”  (dolmas or whatever you call them!)
1) Once you prepared the muscadine leaves, lay them out on a flat surface.
2) Mix the rice, cheese, onions, a little salt, and a spoonful of olive oil together.
3) Place a small amount of the mixture on the middle of the leaf. Take the top and bottom part of the leaf and place them together. Then slowly roll the leaf until it forms the familiar dolmathe shape.
4) Skewer about three of your “dolmathes” on a toothpick and place in a cup or bowl. Pour enough olive oil into the container so it covers the dolmathes and sprinkle in some salt. Let them soak for about ten to fifteen minutes.
5) After soaking, remove them and dab off any excess olive oil. Enjoy! :)

Here’s the finished product with my signature sweet potato side. :)

  
Even though it took my a little while to get the right flavor and texture for the muscadine leaves so they were like grape leave, I really enjoyed them. I don’t know how much time you girls have, but if you’re bored one day, try this out. I hope muscadine leaves are easy for you to find!

Another thing I came up with today that you’ll probably more interested in?
The Perfect Banana Ice Cream Smoothie!

1 banana
4 scoops of vanilla ice cream
5 ice cubes
1/2 cup of milk
a dash of cinnamon
makes 2-3 servings
1) Blend it up! It’s delicious and filling so enjoy!

I really feel like I accomplished a lot today. I woke up a little earlier and made pancakes!

buttermilk pancakes with fruit and honey yogurt.

I’m not really a breakfast person. It’s not ED related or anything but I just never liked breakfast, unless grits count, but even then. This changed my mind. Pancakes are so yummy! :)

I spent a lot of time picking in the garden today.  There were so many zucchini and beans, ready for pickin’! It was mad cloudy today so it wasn’t hot or anything, but, boy, that bending really tuckers a girl out! My eyelids are closing as we speak… or as I type and you read! :) I was so exhilarated while I was picking today though. I had this warm, happy feeling inside!

But, before I go to sleep, I want ya’ll to remember this:
Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances. - Benjamin Franklin

Happiness depends upon ourselves. – Aristotle

Keep being strong! Have a great night/day. :)

thirty-seven.

Long time no seee! Sorry I’ve been MIA for the past few days. (Five days, good God!)

Unfortunately, I really have no reason.
I’m just lazy. :o

Before ya’ll come at me, I have cookies to share! Uhh, well, I really only have pictures… but lots of pictures!

Alright, let’s rewind to last Saturday…
SAT DAY.

Early mornings and I don’t mix. I haven’t woken up before 7:30 since August, so 5:30 ISN’T FUN. D: But my lovely breakfast was:

more homemade chobani-style yogurt with
a white chocolate macadamia luna bar, a
bosque pear and honey.

The SAT was okay, I guess. To be honest, it was kinda boring. We didn’t get started until 8:30, because people were late and there were a few stand-bys that needed to register. Once we got started, the proctor gave us breaks after every section. After the essay? Break. Right after the next section? Break. All the sections, even the very last ten-minute section, had breaks. It was so long. Long. Long. Long.
At least I had a Cocoa Mole Larabar to keep me company. :)

They let us out at 1:45. Yes, ONE FORTY-FIVE! Can you believe it? Gaaah, I wanted to strangle myself.
Too bad I couldn’t, since mi madre decided it was time to take el viaje a la casa de los abuelos.

Lucky for me, that meant Greek food in downtown Charleston on a Saturday night! Sorry I can’t offer any pictures, but imagine: gyro meats, spanakopita, roasted lamb, feta cheese, mmm! I got a sampler plate with all of the above. Definitely the greatest food known to man!

That is except for yogurt. Now, dear children, don’t get overexcited. :D

homemade chobani-style yogurt with walnuts,
strawberries, chopped dates and honey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

more homemade yogurt with a chocolate pecan pie
luna bar (warmed up!) and walnuts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

homemade yogurt with dates and honey.

I can’t believe I haven’t put dates in yogurt before! Literally, too good for words. I think it’s my new favorite topping, besides… well, all the rest.

On Monday night, in honor of my Greek adventure in Charleston, I pulled out the phyllo dough and made some spanakopita and those Barefoot Contessa Brussels sprouts. I (kinda) used this recipe for the spinach pie and it was beyond amazing. I had four pieces. Yeah, four. The phyllo dough was buttery and crispy, the cheese- warm but not too melty, and the spinach parsley and onion mixture- perfect. You’ll definitely see this in the future.

And, ironically, the best thing about the past few days was the rain! I really dislike rain- it’s all soggy and, well, kinda wet. D: But it means flowers!

raindrops! :)

Oh, and here’s today’s lunch:

spinach + mozerella quesdilla (made with two
tortillas!) with a side of those nummy sweet potato fries.

And I have some very belated thank-you’s to give out for these two awards!

gracias a Morgan (above) y McRae (below) para los premios. :)

I never really thought my blog would ever receive one award, let alone the three I’ve gotten so far! Thanks so much- it means pretty much the world to me! ♥ You girls are so great.

So, here’s the distributing:

First off, the award by McRae has some rules.
Here are the rules: 1) Add the logo of the award to your blog 2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs 4) Add links to those blogs on your blog 5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

My seven are as follows:
Sophia, Tina, Morgy, Stacey, Kiki, Squill & Debbie!
You girls can expect a comment in your latest blog posts, ASAP!

For the award given by Morgan, I'm going to limit it to two (mostly because the majority of ya'll have gotten it already!). And, keeping in spirit of the others who have given the award, I'll pick based on the bloggers that make me smile, excluding the ones that were given the award already. (okay, Emily, get on with it!) Squill & Tina.

Phew. That’s a lot of award-giving! I really appreciate the awards and I hope everyone else does too. :)
(Maybe I should make a super cool award and give it out too!)

Well, girlies, this has been a super long postie and I have an orthodonist appointment to go to, so I’ll catch ya on the flipside. Hang ten & keep it real.

Yeah, I’m a super cool surfer.

P.S. Little bit of a delay on commenting, but I' will most definitely get to it. ♥

thirty-four.

'Ello, lovelies! :) Hope everyone's having a lovely Tuesday. Get ready for a mondo-long post today 'cause I've got a bunch of tastiness to share!

Yesterday's Lunch:

hummus sammie with tomato, spinach, and sprouts
plusss ORGANIC SWEET POTATO FRIES
(in honor of Squill, fellow sweet potato lover ;D)

I used this recipe and, wow, I was so surprised! I expected them to be a little soggy and too peppery but, boy, was I wrong! They were so delicious that I had more for dinner (let's save that for later, okie dokie?)

Took a little stroll yesterday with the lovely blue sky. It's getting so warm and sunny that I can't stay inside. I found a second violet today:

I did a bit of SAT studying and discovered that there's no way in the world I'll use all these different words in my everyday life. I mean, come on- "chagul". I don't think I'll ever use it, unless I'm off in a foreign land and I desperately need a bag of goatskin.
"Excuse me, could I bother you for a chagul to carry my water in?"
Uh, no, don't think so. I think I'll just be dehydrated!

But I can't go hungry! So:

lil bit of dinner

more sweet potato fries and
a strawberry-feta-spinach salad.

plus, some honey chobani with pecan
granola, cinnamon, and honey.

+ the extra honey made this the absolute
best yogurt I have ever tasted!

Funny story for you guys. This morning at about five-thirty, while I was dead asleep, my dad couldn't find his keys. Instead of, you know, looking for them himself, he decide to drag me out of bed and send me on search for them. Not really a great idea, considering (A) no contacts/glasses on, (B) it's a taaad too early, and (C) they were in his BACK POCKET! :O
But when did we find out where they were?

An hour later.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Meanie World. Needless to say, I went back to sleep... until 11. :)

Snack:

OH MY GOSH.
best flavor everrr!

all of you, go to your nearest health food store and
buy one right now. it will make you so happy
that you'll forget you ran out in your bunny
slippers with your avocado face mask still on.

oh, and an izze. mmm, like drinking a fruit.
except with fizzy bubbles.



Lunch:



hummus sampler plate that I modeled after
a picture in a magazine I saw at Earth Fare:
cucumbers, peppers, sprouts, toasted bread
honeydew, kiwi and hummus.

Cracked open the books today to again discover words that I'll never use. Try panlogism! Does anyone see themselves in a conversation about the belief that the universe is acts of logos? Honestly, I didn't even know that there was such a thing before the Kaplan Review booklet told me so.

Such studying deserves equivalent foodage.

Dinner:

momma hippie's triple cheese mac'n'cheese. (x2 servings :o)
recipe from a 60's vegetarian cookbook.

if this isn't food porn, I honestly don't know what is!

Feeling really full right now. Not only did I have a giant dinner, I had a lot of snacks: yogurt, beet chips, a clif bar, etc.
I love being home! I eat so much better and I'm not tempted to do otherwise. I'm afraid to go back to school though. Sure, I have two weeks until then , but what's going to happen then? D: I want to keep doing well, but I don't know if I will. I keep thinking (relatively) positive so I think I'll be fine! :)

Time for nightie night. Have a great night/morning. ♥

thirty-two.

I give in rather easily.

Under the certain circumstances, it's normally not a big deal, but when I get stressed, I just give in. And by "give in" I think you know what I mean. D: Rawr.

Thank God that I'm home now. And, as my welcome home gift, my dad made YOGURT. :D

Yesterday's breakfast:

plain greek-style yogurt with kashi
black currant cereal, honey and mashed banana.



hello deliciousness.
and my first cup back home:
pomegranate green tea in my "georgia" tea cup.

And, my camera's all fixed up so the pictures are much clearer. That means I finally get to return to flowery picture collection:

the very last of the pear blossoms & daffodils.

Brunch today was my dad's own special creation: carrot-split pea soup. It's delicious! The carrots taste almost like sweet potatoes (my neeew obsession) and the peas have no pea-y taste.

Brunch:

and homemade bread with brie spread on.

I believe my parents are really hippies. My mom's gone to making bread (never buys any from the store!) and listens to Celtic tunes along with the Beatles. My dad's growing sprouts and making homemade yogurt. *looks up hippie in the dictionary and sees their picture* I should have known.

Meet another member of our family:

El Tigreee
He's the last surviving kitty of the household. :(

All the others have gone on into the great
kitty scratching post in the sky.

he's a bit of a loner though.
likes to kick it by himself.

The momma and I had a fun girl's day out and went shopping. What better shopping is there than the grocery kind? :) I found Snap Pea Chips. Weirdest idea ever but they are SO yummy. And another tasty junk food:

Suppa':

the madre and I hit up the chinese buffet.

one of two plates of chinese-y goodness.
so many types of delicious sushi and seafood.

Food wasn't the only goodie found today. Introducing my new cupcake bowl:

more homemade yogurt with a warm
white chocolate macadamia clif bar.

oh my goodness, best flavor ever.
I almost died.

Right now, I'm having a little late night TV time: 102 Dalmatians. Los perritos son muy monos.

Oh, and I thought I'd share a few of my other purchases of the day:

a $3.50 blue linen dress.

a $6 hot pink luella skirt.

a $15 purple free people dress.
(the color is much different- more purple-y)

Anyone ever heard of Plato's Closet? It has the best deals! I'm a huge Free People (and Juicy Couture) fan so I'm in a fantastic mood! (much better than last week's icky slump.)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday night. ♥

twenty-seven.

Happy Mardi Gras, girlies! :)

Don't go too crazy, tehe.

Oh, and I'm ready to strangle the word verification thingie. D: Will there ever be a solution?

Snack:



Chocolate Raspberry Luna Bar
:( Silly thing was past its expiration date.



I don't know why, but I really like this. :)

Lunch:



Sweet potato fries + ketchup, with corn.
Sorry, they're a little blurry.



Dinner:



Mardi Gras themed, of course!

Okra + Tomatoes, with sunflower seeds.

Louisiana-style Flank Steak with A1 Sauce! :D
I love A1. ♥ ♥
(It's possible the greatest thing since sliced bread.)



Dessert:



pumpkin ice cream on top of
a mashed&microwaved banana



Weather: :o

It was so pretty today: nice and blue... but something was amiss in the world.
There was NO yogurt in the diet of Emily today. :O

Uggg, the steak's starting to turn on me. Tummie and meat just don't get along very well. I'm going to take a quick nap to (hopefully) make it better.

And happy pre-Ash Wednesday.
I've got an all school retreat tomorrow and a nice *cough* not *cough* hour long mass to celebrate it.

Enjoy the rest of your night, girlies! :D