Night Market in Philadelphia is this Thursday in Northern Liberties!

I love living in a place that hosts such a cool event. It is basically a traveling festival that happens every few months in hot spots in Philly. The city’s best food trucks come out, and there is beer and live music as well. We went last year and loved it. It was one of my favorite date nights ever, and getting soaked in a downpour at the end of the night just added to the fun.

We will be attending this Thursday, Raffi in tow. It is past his bedtime (the event is from 7-11 PM) but I’m hoping he falls asleep in the stroller as we walk around and enjoy the madness.

Here are the details:
When: Thursday May 24th, 7-11 PM
Location: Northern Liberties on 2nd st between Fairmount and George (2nd and Poplar)
Who: The city’s best food trucks and restaurants as well as beer and live music

See you there!

PS- No one asked me to share this event. I am just really excited about it and want you to join us there!

I often skip blogging because I don’t know how to focus my thoughts into one subject with one title. I just realized it’s my blog and I don’t need to have one title with one subject- I can write about anything I want. I started this blog as a random mixing of my thoughts (this is my very first post all about meeting Trig and not knowing what to do since he lived in Philly). When I felt inspired I wrote. Then I started losing weight while eating tons of good food and started sharing my food diaries and recipes. That morphed into everything food with recipes, restaurant and product reviews, and random food thoughts. When I got pregnant I shared my pregnancy stories as well, and now I share everything from life with baby to monthly updates to favorite recipes and menus. So here I go in my next phase of blogging…

My nonna turns 90 today. It is hard to believe that she is 90 because she doesn’t look a day over 75. She has hardly any wrinkles which she attributes to her very simple regimen of water and a good massage with Nivea cold cream. She can remember anything she wants, which I attribute to her daily jigsaw puzzles. She is an inspiration to me as is auntie, who works hard in everything she does, never complaining for a minute. We went to RI this weekend and celebrated nonna’s big 90 with a fancy dinner, 90 + 1 candles on her special sugar free cake, and lots of time with Raffi.

It was a really special weekend for many reasons. My cousin Rawan celebrated a birthday. My cousin A received her undergrad degree and my cousin Baz received his master’s. What a weekend!

I used to miss Rhode Island a lot more than I do now. I no longer miss the familiarity of having a favorite restaurant or riding the same streets I’ve known for 20+ years. I only miss my family. If I could pick up my house AND my city of Philadelphia and plop it in the center of Cranston, RI I would be happy forever and ever. It’s hard to be away when you’re so close to everyone and hate missing out. Even as a kid I wanted to know everything going on and be with everyone all the time. While it’s hard to be far, I feel thankful to have such a great husband who will let us visit any time, even if it means a hellish drive.

I usually don’t talk about my New Year’s resolutions with anyone, but now that we are almost halfway through the year I feel like sharing. My goal is to complain less and to be a more thoughtful and considerate friend. When I was pregnant I hated every minute of it and it was hard to make it through each day, never mind be a good friend. I missed a lot of important events, and while it was out of my control I knew I wanted 2012 to be different. So far I’m doing ok with both resolutions. My brain just doesn’t function in the way some of my other friends’ do. I never think to schedule in a phone call; I call when I have a free minute and miss my friend. I also hate complainers – life is good! – so I really want to complain less. I’m working on my goals every day, and hopefully I will end 2012 in a far better place than 2011 when I was queen of complaining and not the best of friends.

Menu planning through my Babycenter challenge had fantastic results. We are spending less at the market and I’m eating better. I’m also losing weight again which feels good. We bought the BOB Revolution jogging stroller from REI this weekend (15% off, thanks to a tip from a Twitter friend) and I already had two runs with it. Even though the runs were sad compared to how I used to run, it felt amazing. I am so happy to be back out there, even if I’m a turtle and can’t run for too long. I did 30 straight minute with no walking breaks on Friday with Trig’s encouragement, and I felt like celebrating. I love that running sweat.

Even though this post had no point, it feels good to get some thoughts off my chest. Expect more posts like this.

I’m sitting at my desk trying to work, but I keep peeking in on the monitor. Raffi has been up for over 3 hours and he NEEDS a nap. I really tried to tire him out after his too short 29 minute nap earlier (I think I had put him down a bit too early). We went to the park, got a balloon, blew some bubbles, walked around, played in the grass, sang some songs, read books, and had a little fashion show photo shoot for a post next week.

The kid wanted nothing to do with me during his shoot. He just kept playing with his toys and crawling around trying desperately to find every death trap. If there’s a wire in the room he has spotted it and is already on his way over to it. If there’s the tiniest bit of paper you bet it’s already in his mouth. I keep a clean house, but now it’s time to seriously babyproof and also make sure not a piece of dust remains on the floor for consumption. I don’t even understand how it works. How do I keep him away from wires when we need stuff to be plugged in so we can do things? We need a magical wire cover thing that is about 1,000 feet long to cover all the wire in the house. For now I am tucking wires here and there. When Trig went to grab Raffi earlier the sound machine was off. You’re probably thinking that we just accidentally forgot to put it on or something, but nope, we just have a crazy child. He reached his hand through the crib slats and down to the plug and unplugged it. Not sure how to resolve that one, aside from moving the sound machine to the other side of the room plugged into a different outlet.

He’s been sitting in his crib yelling at his monkey lovey for 25 minutes now and still isn’t asleep. He isn’t crying but he isn’t asleep. He keeps putting his head down and then sitting up to try and pull himself up to stand.

(Oh, whoops, there he goes. He’s standing now. OK, he’s back down again and yelling at Mr. Monkey again)

Anyway, it’s weird that when I know he’s in his crib and not asleep I can’t work. I try, but instead I just obsessively stare at the monitor every 42 seconds to see if he is asleep yet. The minute he’s asleep I relax and focus and get all of the things on my list done, but until then I’m a slave to the video monitor.

Off to pretend to work until he’s asleep.

ETA: 35 minutes later he’s asleep!

Growing up my brother, cousins, and I always begged my nonna, mom or auntie to make us “rolls with jam”. They were our favorite treat and seemed so special because they would make them out of a few simple ingredients in just a few minutes. Nonna always rationed them out to us (2/kid) but my brother would have the majority of them (as in, at least 6). They are still one of his favorite treats. Nonna calls them “omLETTE” and we always called them rolls with jam. I believe they should be properly known as crepes, but I will always simply call them rolls with jam.

I may have called my brother to make him jealous the night I made these.

These are a great dessert to make when you have last minute guests or feel like having a special treat. You can serve them they way I usually do, rolled up with orange marmalade and sprinkled with powdered sugar, or you can get creative. However you choose to eat these, it will be worth the few minutes of effort it took to make them. There are a few tips below the recipe; be sure to check them out.

And now I present, my favorite childhood dessert of all (besides ricotta balls)…. Rolls with Jam!

Rolls with Jam
Yields 8

Ingredients:
4 heaping tablespoons of flour
2 flat tablespoons of sugar
1 egg
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of lemon zest
“approximately” 1/2 cup milk (add as needed to reach the right consistency)
butter for frying
powder sugar to decorate

Filling:
Orange marmalade, or any other filling you choose!

Directions:
* Mix all ingredients in bowl
* Heat non-stick skillet to medium-high heat
* Melt butter in pan (1/3 teaspoon for each roll, just enough to spread in pan)
* Pour an almost full ladle of batter into the frying pan and immediately swirl the pan to cover the entire surface evenly with batter
* Cook until edges loosen and bubbling begins (approximately 45- 60 seconds- the edges will turn up)
* Flip. After about 30 seconds remove from pan and spread a thin layer of your filling over one half and roll up
* Sprinkle with powdered sugar
* Finally, eat as many as you can

Tips:
- The batter should be realllly thin. Add enough milk to reach that consistency.
- If you like things a little sweeter you can add a capful of vanilla extract to the batter.
- Don’t worry about the first couple not looking great… for some reason the first ones are never right!
- If you don’t want to use butter use something (Smart Balance, etc) because it makes the crepe brown nicely and helps the batter to be distributed evenly (slick pan).
- Any kind of milk you have in your fridge is fine.
- Don’t be afraid to adjust the batter after you see the first couple cook.. I usually add a little more milk if the crepe looks a little flat.
- Don’t add too much batter to the pan. One small ladle is enough- you want these to be really thin!

My favorite classic combos:
1. Low sugar apricot jam (it has little bits of peel in it and is just amazing)
2. Nutella + banana slices
3. Nutella on its own
4. Orange marmalade
5. Strawberry preserves (not my favorite at all).

These really make a big statement when stacked next to each other on a nice tray and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Your guests are sure to love them!!!

Good luck, and enjoy!

I steamed some fresh broccoli and accidentally overcooked it. I decided to turn it into soup, and that was a great idea! I simply added 4 cups of vegetable broth and some spices and let it simmer down. Then I used my potato masher to mash it all up. It was heavenly. PB loved it too! I had the bowl below and another half bowl.

I also made some baked chicken breast with artichoke hearts, Near East tomato lentil couscous, and steamed spinach. It was a great and healthy meal!!!! I had about 2 oz of chicken, 3/4 cup couscous, and 1/2 cup spinach.

Tomorrow we go to COLORADO!!! I can’t wait to snowboard big, snowy mountains. Of course, being the list making woman I am, my bag is already 75% packed.. time to finish the rest!

[Reminder: I am blogging my meals this week- every last bite- to show you how I eat and why I eat it. This is the extended reply to several Ask Me Anything questions I received.]

Good night!

Day 3:

Breakfast   
Lunch

Day 2:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner- recipe for Baked Breaded Eggplant

Day 1:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

And a LOVEly Weekend.

I am turning into my nonna.

Today I had one of her favorite lunches- pasta with canned tuna. I had about 2.5 oz of angel hair with a can of tuna in olive oil, drained. The oil from the tuna works as a great sauce over the pasta.

[Reminder: I am blogging my meals this week- every last bite- to show you how I eat and why I eat it. This is the extended reply to several Ask Me Anything questions I received.]

The water was put on to boil because I was just so hungry. I know the photo is hideous.

In the afternoon I took a 10 minute break to bake some muffins. This time I used 1 pear and really chopped it small, and I made the muffins in a mini muffin tin. I baked them to bring with us to Colorado tomorrow! PB and I are going with another couple to Beaver Creek (near Vail). We would love dining suggestions and more!!!

I think PB is ready to show off his newly acquired snowboarding moves (he is linking turns! and well!)

Back to the muffins. Of course I had to taste test two of them. They were just the way I remembered them… a bit dry, not very sweet, but perfectly satisfying. You don’t have to feel guilty eating these. Find the original recipe here.

Later in the afternoon I had some Oikos vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries, a couple of tablespoons of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, and 1.25 Weetabix biscuits. I almost skipped my snack this afternoon, but I got super hungry around 3. This was great… although I did miss the chocolate chips! I am one of those people who is sad when a delicious meal or snack is gone. Are you that way?

I have a really fun giveaway coming soon. Hint: it involves creative shoes… Get excited!!!!

Day 3:

Breakfast   

Day 2:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner- recipe for Baked Breaded Eggplant

Day 1:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

And a LOVEly Weekend.

Who recognizes that line? It’s from one of my favorite movies.. which depicts exactly the type of family both PB and I come from.

[Reminder: I am blogging my meals this week- every last bite- to show you how I eat and why I eat it. This is the extended reply to several Ask Me Anything questions I received.]

Yesterday I did not eat any chicken, beef or fish. I didn’t do it on purpose, it just happened. I was still able to consume 91 g of protein. You don’t necessarily need to eat meat to reach protein goals! I absolutely love fish. I eat chicken breast (always organic or locally sourced) because it is easy to cook and flavor in other ways, but I don’t like it that much. I rarely eat beef, except for the occasional bite of PB’s dish at a restaurant, or when trying tapas or family meals. We often have 2 or 3 days a week where we eat a vegetarian diet. We can still reach our protein goals on those days with just a little bit of thought. It is even easier when I consume yogurt or eggs on those days, like I did yesterday.

I know there is a lot of debate on the amount of protein a body needs in a day. I was always taught that we need 0.8 g/kg of body weight. For someone about my size, that equals to around only 50 g of protein a day. I know my body, and as an athlete (woah, I just called myself an athlete??), I need even more. The recommended protein intake for athletes is between 1.2 g/kg- 1.8 g/kg. To calculate your recommended level of protein, take your weight in lbs and divide by 2.2 (to get your weight in kg) and then multiply by either 0.8 or anywhere in the range of 1.2-1.8.

My goal is to get between 90 and 100 g of protein a day. That might seem really high for some, but I know that my muscles need it.

All that to say, like Erica, I am really focusing more on reaching that goal every day.

For breakfast this morning I settled on a protein shake to accompany the protein discussion. This shake had 30 g Jay Robb Chocolate Whey Protein, 1/2 frozen banana, 6 oz water, 6 ice cubes, and 2 tbs peanut butter. I am trying to pretend it is summertime so the summer weather will come sooner. I chose to have a shake instead of a formal breakfast due to time. I was in a rush packing this morning and trying to clean up before work, and a protein shake seemed like the quickest solution.

This was so satisfying, even without something to chew. I can’t wait for summer fruits so I can finally set up and use the juicer PB’s awesome friends gave us!!! It is sitting in the closet waiting patiently to be used.

Previous days’ eats.

Day 2:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner- recipe for Baked Breaded Eggplant

Day 1:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

And a LOVEly Weekend.

You KNEW someone in the family did something good when we were having breaded eggplant for dinner. If I could pick one last meal to have it would have to be my mom’s breaded eggplant, breaded chicken breast, and ravioli with cream sauce. Extremely decadent, but one of my favorite meals growing up. Usually, when we were having that for dinner, it meant that either something good happened at my dad’s office, my brother had a championship soccer game, or I brought home a sparkling A on a difficult project. I would help my mom bread all the chicken and eggplant, and steal pieces of the finished fried eggplant before dinner. Yum.

Today I try not to fry foods. We have fried in the house only a couple of times, and I would prefer to keep that number extremely low. The solution? Bake instead of fry!

For dinner tonight I made a very simple classic breaded eggplant- BAKED!

Baked Breaded Eggplant
Serves 2 as an entree

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant or two Italian eggplants
2 eggs
1 cup skim milk
Whole wheat flour
Whole wheat bread crumbs
Kosher salt + pepper to taste
1 tbs canola oil
Nonstick cooking spray, or olive oil

Directions:  
1. Peel the eggplant and slice into very thin rounds. Sprinkle with salt and place between paper towels. Place a heavy object over them to help draw out the bitterness. Leave them like that for at least 30 minutes.
2. Put three shallow bowls in a row. Pour about 2 cups whole wheat flour into the first bowl, the eggs and milk in the second bowl, and about 2 cups of bread crumbs in the third bowl. Beat the eggs and milk together, and add a dash of salt and pepper to each bowl.
3. Dredge an eggplant slice into the flour and tap to remove excess before placing in the egg/milk mixture. Cover completely and, using a fork, lift the eggplant slice out of the mixture and let excess liquid slide off. Place in the bread crumb bowl and cover completely, again tapping excess. Repeat with all eggplant slices.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Pour 1 tbs canola oil in a baking sheet and add the breaded eggplant slices in a single layer. Spray with cooking spray and place in the oven for 40 minutes, flipping each piece halfway through. Enjoy!

I had the dish you see above with no sauce, plus the salad below:

When I was little my mom always made omelets in arabic bread wrapped up in foil for trips to the beach. It was our lunch, and I never thought it was weird. To me, eggs are a perfectly acceptable lunch food, and I know that is also true in many countries. What are your thoughts on the subject? We are talking about important things here!

To get in some protein and vegetables today I made an omelet with nonstick cooking spray, 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, a huge handful of chopped cooked spinach, and 1 oz of organic shredded mozzarella cheese. It was absolutely delicious. I love high volume meals, and I bet many of you do too. By adding a lot of spinach, not only do I get some great nutrients, I also get a good size lunch!

In the afternoon I became very hungry and tried to delay it for a little while with some seltzer and hot water. I was finally able to step away from my desk and made myself an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin with about 1 tbs of peanut butter and 1/3 of a banana, sliced thinly. I absolutely love these Sandwich Thins. PB does too. Now when we go to the Wegman’s in Cherry Hill I buy several packs of Sandwich Thins and Flat Out wraps and we keep them in the freezer. The Whole Foods near our house does not carry either brand, and we do not go to Wegman’s very often. I am trying hard to streamline our grocery shopping, but we inevitably have way too many packs of dried fruits, cereals, grains (white rice, brown rice, couscous, basmati rice, orzo, pasta, whole wheat pasta, and the list goes one), and nuts.

When I moved to Philadelphia I thought I had outgrown this design from Target (they still have it for sale at a great deal). I had the whole set… dinner plates, appetizer plates, mugs, bowls etc. In my post-move high I trashed/donated almost the entire set, except for a few bowls and two mugs. I regret it. I think it is good to hold on to a few fun things from single life, like this set!

Update on my cut finger: It is extremely awkward to do anything, especially typing, tying shoes, and anything that involves getting my finger wet (which makes it throb oddly).

I am enjoying sharing my meals with you this week, but I have some recipes and restaurants I am itching to share, too!

*******
Two random tips today:

1. Organize (read: label) and reply to emails as soon as you receive them, when they are fresh in your mind. It will help you feel and stay organized and in control. I never have more than 20 emails in my inbox, and those are the ones that need major action (like planning a party).

2. In the same regard, do your dishes right away! PB had to teach me this one, but now I do all of the cooking pots and pans right away, dry them, and put them away (ok he does it a lot of the time, but when I am home during the day I do it myself). I love not having to worry about scrubbing a pot after lunch because I already did it!

*******

Yesterday?

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

And a LOVEly Weekend.

Today is Fat Tuesday.

Is it sad that I am celebrating it by putting chocolate chips in my breakfast?

Life has changed from the days of fun junk foods! Life is so much better now.

[I am blogging my meals this week- every last bite- to show you how I eat and why I eat it.]

This morning I ate a big yogurt BOMBA. Why? I was very hungry and had yogurt on the mind.

Chocolate chips were added in celebration. I had a heavy hand.

I also had more Post Shredded Wheat Vanilla Almond cereal and lots of fresh raspberries.

Raspberries are not in season and I feel guilty buying them, but I bought them anyway.

I measure my portions, did I mention that?

The magic formula: 1 container plain Greek yogurt + 1 serving cereal + 14 g choc chips + 80-100 g raspberries

The result? A perfect breakfast.

Dive right in.

Yesterday?

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

And a LOVEly Weekend.

Tonight?

Buddy Valastro of TLC’s Cake Boss will answer questions live via Ustream from 7-8PM EST. To RSVP, click here

Vote for the MOD SQUAD cake.