there must be mushrooms in my head.

After seeing Morgan’s yummy tortellini, I was inspired to create my own. Grabbing the past due wonton wrappers (June 8, oh no!), here’s my ode to the delicious mushroom….

 
‘Shroom Wontons
1 package of button mushrooms
1/3 cup of queso fresco (mexican food store, tasty!)
12 – 16 wonton wrappers
water

1) Steam mushrooms and drain. Cut them up into as small as you’d like pieces.
2) Mix mushrooms with crumbled queso fresco.
3) Spoon a bit of the mixture into the center of the wrapper and fold however you’d like. (mine are sorta, kinda like a wonton)
4) Steam or boil until wrappers are transparent.
5) Enjoy! :)

Lately, I’ve been a little behind in the land of food pictures, but don’t despair! I have plenty food porn for your viewing pleasure.

spinach & cheese quesadilla.

blueberry yogurt smoothie.

zucchini slop jar with greek seasoning.

buffalo burgers with onion rings and steamed spinach.

These past three days, I’ve been busy cleaning out the family kitchen. I started out with the spice cabinet and ended with the closet cabinet. Wow. It. was. fun. It really helped me space out and just chill.

However, I made a startling discovery.

we have much jello.
it’s taken over.

We have a total of 10 jello boxes. It’s scary. Who knew that one place could have so much jello, except a grocery store?!

Note to self: trash the jello.

♥

you’re like my favorite underwear.

As much as I’d love to take credit for that title up there, I can’t. That wonderful phrase is courtesy of Liz Phair and her song “Favorite”.

The song is the inspiration for my post tonight, full of my favorite things! Following my post from the other day about my favorite summer fashion, I wanted to share some of my –other- favorite things, besides clothes and, of course, emgurt!

my favorite shoes (that I own): the hobbit shoes.

I felt the need to put “that I own” after that because if I could have any shoes in the world, it’d definitely be the sandals I wrote about in my last post. Buttt! On to the shoes I’ve got….
It’s true, when I where these, people call me tinker bell, but that’s no reason why I can’t love them. They’re so comfy! Best thing about them? I’m allowed to wear them during the school day, according to the school’s dress code! :) I really want to find some cheap black ones and put pyramid studs on them or get a pair of white ones and sharpie the bad boys!

my favorite drink:

IZZE! the best fruity flavor there is! (besides fruit, of course!)

ED never liked the idea of drinking calories- it was a “waste”- so soda and juices were out of the question. IZZE beats down that stupid ED idea and is really wonderful. I love their Blueberry and Pear flavors. Too bad they’re so hard to find around here.

my favorite band:family force 5

No matter what anybody says, I love these guys. Their music just makes me want to dance. Doesn’t hurt that they’re from Georgia either. ;)

my favorite flower:the daffodil

Ya’ll might have noticed, but I have a tiny, really small, minute love of flowers. Out of all that I’ve seen or heard of (or taken pictures of), the daffodil is, by far, my favorite.

my favorite clothing brand: free people, the headquarters of boho, free spirited style.

One day, after I’ve made billions from the mass marketing of emgurt creations, I will be able to afford the gorgeous dresses that Free People sells. Until then, I’ll be searching the racks of Plato’s Closet for one.

and of course (this is a food blog, after all!)
my favorite food!

  yogurt!

What’s more delicious than plain ole yogurt? Greek yogurt.
What’s more delicious than Greek yogurt? Fro-yo! :D
All yogurt is delicious, the creamier and thicker, the better! Drizzle some honey on or top it off with some blackberries- the possibilities are endless. It doesn’t end with the toppings, there are so many different flavors of yogurt that  to try them all in one lifetime is impossible. (Won’t stop me from trying!)

Alright, I’m off to watch The Clique, which, by the way, was filmed at my school! :)

I’ll get to commentin’ tomorrow morning.
Night girlies! ♥

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. :)

blast from the past.

Day one back at the cooking casa and I have a multitude of foods waiting to be cooked up. New fruits and veggies in season and ready to be eaten by me, all sorts recipes for me to try, even a grill all fired up… maybe not that far!

With all these choices, whatever could I choose?

Spanakopita! :D

When a food has served you so well in the past, you can’t just abandon it. Plus, it’s so delicious I had dreams about it the first time I made it. Which brought me to this startling conclusion:

Spinach = life.

And another amazing addiction? (ahaha, alliteration!) Fresh veggies from mi jardin! Yummy Italian slop jar with zucchini, tomatoes, and Vidalia onions. :D

Oh, and remember TangySweet I was talking about in yesterday’s post?

bam! pomegranate fro-yo with fresh blueberries. so friggin’ delicious that I’m craving some now.

And what would any vacation be without…

Alright, alright, I think my flower-photographing obsession is getting crazy. What on earth am I going to do about it? I should probably seek therapy but… never! I’m going to be a crazy flower portrait maker for my entire life!

Oh, and meet my new best friend: this is georgy jr, resident of the back field at mount vernon.
isn’t he just the cutest, with his wittle horns?

Oh, and do any of you lovely ladies (and gents, if you're out there) have any recipes you'd like to share? Tomorrow, I've got the whole house to myself so I'm getting ready for a cook-a-thon! Peaches, summer squash and mustard greens are piling up in the fridge, so maybe ones up that alley? Hit me with anything. :D

Have a nice night/morning! ♥

gardening 101.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
I’m home, I’m home, I’m home!
-excited jumps and squeals-

Oh, I think I might be a little excited to be back in the lands of Georgia. The ‘rents and I rolled in around 3 o’clock this afternoon from our cross-Atlantic coast road trip.

the little mommy monsta’ and me in dc!

If you’re ever in DC, hit up TangySweet, the best fro-yo place on the East Coast. The pomegranate is so delicious- ya’ll think you’re eating a real pomegranate. (Of course, I have pictures- expect them later!)

We were met with 95 degrees of humid, sunny weather.
Sweet Jesus! I was not ready for that.
Especially considering that Rhode Island’s been coasting along with a windy, dreary 50-60 degree climate these past few weeks.

But, hey, I’ve gotta suck it up ‘cause this was waiting for me:

time to getta pickin’

The tomatoes were hit with some sort of disease so they’re dying and the deer ate up the itty bitty cantaloupes and peppers my daddy had just put in the ground. :( He treated those peppers like they were his little children. Mean ole' deer!

These little critters are always welcome though:’cuse the messy pool- the ‘rents, I guess, forgot I was coming home and might want to go swimming.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting more and finishing all the commenting I got behind on. I’m so happy to be back in the kitchen that I don’t even know what to make first.

Glad to be back:)
lots of love ♥

forty-three.

‘Ello girlies. Can’t promise this will be an inspirational post or anything. I don’t even think it’ll be positive, but I’m determined to pull through! By the end of this post, I will be happy!

What’s with the negative attitude already, you wonder?
I got all pretty for a fork boy today and I didn’t even see him.

Yeah, laaaaaame. Maybe this is a sign from God… if so, I’m determined to ignore it!

My hair was so pretty too. My beloved roomie straightened it and as she said, “You look like an international pop star. He’s gonna die when he sees this.”
Except he didn’t ‘cause he never did.

Oh, and, in case you couldn’t guess it, Emily has moved from ‘I’m curious about you’ to ‘I’m seriously crushing on you’. Gah.

There’s a Mardi Gras dance tonight (little late, huh?) and I’m not going. I’m not a big dancing girl or anything, I just really really don’t want to go tonight. Reasons?
1) It’s windy and cold as hell outside.
2) As much as I hate to admit it, fork boy won’t be there, so I have no reason

Instead, I’m curling up in front of the comp to watch Gilmore Girls and bemoan Rory’s loss of Logan in the final season with my handy dandy fro-yo. Oh yes, big evening for meee.

A good thing though- fork boy has totally stopped the glaring. Now, it’s just awkward staring. Let me set the scene:

Fork boy: *stare*
Me: *catches him staring; expects him to look away*
Fork boy: *stare*
Me: *panic*
Fork boy: … *stare*
Me: *runs away*

 

Fork boy: *staaaare*

I feel like I have something weird on my face that he keeps staring at but no, no luck there.
I do not understand boys nor do I ever wish too.
I’ll stick with trying to get through Spanish 2H without having to talk at all.

 

I’m a lame-o (see mention above) ‘cause I have been so self-conscious lately and haven’t been taking my phone to lunch… well, I have, I just don’t take pictures ‘cause I feel like some one’s staring me down.

Oh wait, they are.

Anyways, I do have some bar pictures. [I' am still eating brekkie, lunch & dinner, don’t fear!)

To be completely honest, I really do not like this flavor.
It’s too dry and maybe me feel too jittery.

Like everyone else, I’ve heard the rumors about clif/luna’s eviiil
chemical taste but I haven’t actually experienced it.
until now.

Another bar that I really didn’t like. It sounded so tasty but
really, it’s just blegh.

And presenting the missing element of the Emily diet:

yooooogurt. :D
Not my favorite flavor, but  it’ll do.

Oh, and some evil demonic soul stole some of my yogurt. My special, I-got-on-public-transport-for-an-hour-and-a-half Chobani. They stole my –peach- flavor too.  Sure, I don’t like peach flavor all too much (ironic huh, me being from Georgia and all) but I just knew Chobani would renew my faith in the fleshy fruits.

Guess I’ll never know.
I seriously hate communal fridges. D:

Sharing time:

more roomie hair skills.
”i’m zee masta of zee flatz iron-a.”
yeah, she fails at a german accent. ;)

Have a nice Saturday night. Some one go live it up for me, while I wallow in self-pity like a lame-o, tehe.

loveyouall♥
your support is always so wonderful. *hugzz*

forty-two.

Let’s have some cake before I dish out some  stories from the life of Em.

look at me, I’m delicious fattening frosting. :)

Okay, so remember el chico that I was talking about in my last post?

Uhh, he hates me… a lot.

Before you go, “What!? No, you are crazy!”, lemme explain. Today, at lunch, two of my best lunch buddies and I were sitting down at the ‘peanut-free’ table… not sure why that needed to be included but anways! Our cafeteria has these weird round tables and –sometimes- the chairs between tables make it hard to walk through. Usually, nice people are like, “Excuse me, could you scoot in a little? Thanks so much!” It’s a really simple process and, really, how hard can it be to say excuse me?

Apparently too hard, ‘cause el chico just slams into the back on my chair WITHOUT saying anything. Needless to say, I was pissed. Normally, I wouldn’t really care, but it just so happens that there was an innocent looking little fork on the table that my hand just so happened to smash into when he pushed my chair.

It hurt quite a bit and it bled.
Just a little, but still.

I was bleeding.
And angry.
And hurt.
And a lot of other things.
But mostly, pissed.

One of my friends just looked at me and was like, “Uh oh… what are you going to do?” I didn’t even answer- I was so mad. I was bleeding for God’s sake and he doesn’t even say “Excuse me” or “Sorry”!

Short break between stories:

chai tea latte with a carrot cake clif bar.
my favorite snack combo, besides emgurt.

 

So, later today, as I was coming out of the Chemistry building, I saw him again, walking towards his dorm. To get to my dorm, I had to cross his path. Equipped with my newly bandaged hand, I was just going to play it cool and be normal.

That was until he glared at me, when he walked by.
Not just “glare”, but I mean glaaaare.
Like death-glare.

He literally walked by me, glaring, and then turned around to look at me, still glaring. Glare. glare. glare.
And no, I wasn’t mistaken. An upperclassman that was walking behind me was like, “Oh, that’s awkward... he must be really angry with her.”

I’m not really one of those people that gets freaked out by this. But on top of the fork-chair thing? I was in the “You have got to be kidding me” / “You are walking on thin ice” mood.
I mean glaring… come on! I don’t even talk to him. He was no reason to glare at me, let alone be angry with me.

Last year, I did talk to him, but this year, I just don’t because 1) we don’t have many classes together, and 2)  I’m lazy and shy... mostly shy.

I honestly have no clue what I did to him… I mean, was I the one that gave someone a fork injury ‘cause I can’t manage to say excuse me when I try to get by? That’s a negative!

Anyways, here’s some trail mix for the road:

imagine you’re eating this as you enjoy your blog reading.:)

I’ll be commenting tomorrow, girlies, I promise. I’m a tad busy lately (see those lame food pictures?) with school right now, so I’ll do the best I can. I love you guys bunches. ♥ You all leave such wonderful comments that I'm always overjoyed to read! I hope I can do you all justice and leave comments of the same quality. :)

Thanks for always listening to my ranting. (I seem to be doing that a lot lately!) If I had some Emgurt, I’d totally share but I’ve been lacking in that department lately. :( Oh well, imaginary Emgurt for everyone.

forty.

Sorry I didn’t post sooner! I was building up the suspense…

err, not really.

I was just getting ready for the boring school house. I’m back now (yuck!) and my internet’s working so expect comments tonight/tomorrow morning.

So…. *evil snicker* shall we start with some food pictures?

***seasonal flavor***
when I opened the wrapper, I was surrounded by the smell
of apples. yummy, fresh apples. mmm. :)

I just had to have this with some Emgurt!

some homemade pizza by the madre.
she mades the dough herself :D

BAKING #2
date, granola, walnut muffins. :)
mmmm, deliciousness.

the last night home: veal with steamed spinach and sautéed mushrooms.
mmmmmmmm! num num num.

last emgurt a la casa.
honey chobani with dates and extra honey!

cherry > apple
♥

Storytime!

Well, not that special story time. ;)

Last Sunday, mis padres y yo went to Savannah. :D It was mostly for me to take pictures but we did eat at our favorite restaurant up there: Tubby’s! Best. seafood. ever. I had cheese grits and fried oysters, with a bit of calamari on the side. Num num.

cows.

Okay, okay, I’ve tortured you long enough. Here’s the fortieth post special story. There’s two actually but one’s really quick and happy, while the other… isn’t so much.

Let’s start happy, ‘kay? I GOT MY PERIOD. WHOOOOOOOOOT. :D *dance dance dance*

*dance*

I’m happy but not. I’m glad that I have it but it hurts like hell! Before, when I had it, it hurt pretty badly (once, it landed me in the infirmary at 2 am) but never like this. I was up all last night and I was so tied this morning. I was falling asleep everywhere I sat down.

Story Number Dos! Perhaps it might be a bit triggering… no reading unless you’re okay with me mentioning my personal ED... a lot.

This is a little bit about my “journey”, if you will. I never talked about it, never even told my parents/closest friends. (actually I did tell one person, but that’s another story for another time.) I wanted to share it with you guys first, since I think you’d understand better than they would. It’s my way of getting my courage up to tell *at least* my mom, if not both the padres. I’ve got to admit, I’m afraid to talk about it, even a bit ashamed…? I just know I need to, because if I keep it to myself, I’m afraid I’ll start to think it’s okay. If no one but me knows, then no one can tell me it’s wrong, but if I tell somebody, anybody, they can reassure me that it’s wrong to want to be bony and sickly. I’ve been putting this off for a while now but there’s no time like the present.

I think ED started when I was in 7th grade, the transition period between just being a kid and kinda growing up a little. I started noticing things about my body, specifically my legs. I dunno why but ED has always targeted my legs. “They’re too fat! They touch at the top and wobble everywhere. Look at your huge thighs! You. are. gross.” Even now, I worry about my legs. I hate wearing shorts, because they hug your legs and always make me feel really bulky. Skirts were a middie for me, because they were flowy but showed off part of my leg. Jeans are okay sometimes but I always feel disgusting if I sit down in them because my legs squish out and look bigger. I was also starting a new school back then, so I was scared no one would like me because of how “fat” I was. (At my old school, everyone had known each other since kindergarten so I was never pressured.) I noticed how other girls were taller and skinnier. The silly thing was, I was one of them- I was one of the tallest, skinniest girls in the school, but I just couldn’t see that. I don’t know for sure whether or not I was at a low BMI then, because I never thought to weigh myself, but I did know that there was something differing about how I ate, dressed, looked, etc. I was paler and bonier- my ribcage was totally visible.
In 8th grade, I got my own personal camera. It really jumpstarted the obsession. I would take pictures of my legs in the mirror at the beginning of every month and compare them over time to see if they looked better. They never looked good enough. I always felt sick after I ate and I refused to eat lunch. Everyone just assumed it was because the food was bad. I started skipping breakfast and only ate dinner and a tiny snack. My parents were going through some rough times- my mom was in recovery from cancer and my dad had just been replaced at work. He was always busy and she was always tired. So no one noticed what I was doing and I loved it. I loved being able to follow my “dream”, or so I called it.
In 9th grade, I went off to boarding school and was bombarded by girls who only cared about their weight and how they looked. Honestly, no girl that year was satisfied with how she looked. That plunged me deeper into ED and my legs were, for the first time, small enough for him. I hardly ate at all. I skipped every meal, claiming it was too far to walk to the dining hall. ED told me it was okay that people thought I was antisocial and never spoke to me- I had my “pretty, thin legs”. (They looked like tiny grayish twigs.) When I went home for the summer, I was sad, sad that now, with my parents never letting my leave their sight, I couldn’t do the same, sick cycle. I gained all of the weight I lost back and started Calorie Count to get it off". I got down a few pounds and I was relatively happy. ED still told me I had fat thighs but, with my parents around me, I never gave in to him. As soon as they were away or I went somewhere with a friend, ED would win.
At the beginning of this year (10th), I got to my absolute worst. I went to the gym every morning, never at breakfast, skipped lunch, practiced field hockey for two tough hours , ate a tiny salad with skim milk and went back to my room to study. Calorie Count estimated that my calories (monthly average) were 593. I weighed 103, my “favorite “weight". I was so pale and bony that people started asking questions. I always told them I was sick and made up excuses. They always bought them.
Sometime around late October/early November, I got angry. Angry with ED. Angry with me. Angry with my parents. Angry with my friends. Angry with everyone. I was just angry. I made a blog and started posting a little bit, pretending like ED wasn’t a part of me. I told myself that I wasn’t going to be just another girl with an eating disorder. Deep down, I knew I was.
Then I fought with my best friends pretty badly in November, only a few days before my birthday. I told her I hated her and blamed her for terrible things. Part of me believed it. After I stopped speaking to her, ED started speaking less and less to me. I started to eat and gain weight. I committed to my food blog, earning the laughs of a few classmates as I snapped pictures. I still do. :)

That’s my story. Sorry it’s so long!! Hopefully, you guys don’t mind me sharing. It lifted a big weight off my shoulders and gives me the feeling that I can tell my mom- she’s going to understand, I think.

I’ll get to commenting tomorrow, ‘cause for now, I’m off to beddie bye. ♥