100 foods to eat before you die

Have you seen this list on Facebook?  I decided to post here instead.  The initial prediction says that of the 100 foods on this list, most people would have only tried about 20 (or less) of them.  I've tried 44 items on the list so far (and there are items on the list that I have NO desire to ever try)!  What's your score?

1. Abalone

2. Absinthe

3. Alligator 

4. Baba Ghanoush

5. Bagel & Lox

6. Baklava

7. BBQ Ribs

8. Bellini

9. Birds Nest Soup

10. Biscuits & Gravy

11. Black Pudding

12. Black Truffle

13. Borscht

14. Calamari

15. Carp

16. Caviar

17. Cheese Fondue

18. Chicken & Waffles

19. Chicken Tikka Masala

20. Chile Relleno

21. Chitlins

22. Churros

23. Clam Chowder 

24. Cognac

25. Crab Cakes

26. Crickets

27. Currywurst

28. Dandelion Wine

29. Dulce De Leche

30. Durian

31. Eel

32. Eggs Benedict

33. Fish Tacos

34. Foie Gras

35. Fresh Spring Rolls

36. Fried Catfish

37. Fried Green Tomatoes 

38. Fried Plantain

39. Frito Pie

40. Frogs' Legs

41. Fugu

42. Funnel Cake

43. Gazpacho

44. Goat

45. Goat's Milk

46. Goulash

47. Gumbo

48. Haggis

49. Head Cheese

50. Heirloom Tomatoes

51. Honeycomb

52. Hostess Fruit Pie 

53. Huevos Rancheros

54. Jerk Chicken

55. Kangaroo

56. Key Lime Pie

57. Kobe Beef

58. Lassi

59. Lobster

60. Mimosa 

61. Moon Pie

62. Morel Mushrooms

63. Nettle Tea

64. Octopus

65. Oxtail Soup

66. Paella

67. Paneer

68. Pastrami on Rye

69. Pavlova

70. Phaal

71. Philly Cheese Steak

72. Pho

73. Pineapple & Cottage Cheese

74. Pistachio Ice Cream

75. Po' Boy

76. Pocky

77. Polenta

78. Prickly Pear

79. Rabbit Stew

80. Raw Oysters

81. Root Beer Float

82. S'mores

83. Sauerkraut

84. Sea Urchin

85. Shark

86. Snail

87. Snake

88. Soft Shell Crab

89. Som Tam

90. Spaetzle 

91. Spam

92. Squirrel

93. Steak Tartare

94. Sweet Potato Fries

95. Sweetbreads

96. Tom Yum

97. Umeboshi

98. Venison

99. Wasabi Peas

100. Zucchini Flowers

Casino Night

Last night, Chris and I attended the Junior League of Columbus' charity auction night "Casino Couture" at the Columbus Museum of Art (beautiful venue!).  There was a live auction (too expensive for us), silent auction (we were having too much fun paying casino games) and casino games (with fake money).  We rarely get the chance to get dressed up (the event was black tie optional) so it was nice to have a fancy evening out.  It was also great to have Chris meet some of the JL members and their dates.  All in all, a fun night out!

   

Layout Changes

Did you notice the new tabs at the top?  I've (finally) figured out how to add additional pages.  Feel free to explore and let me know what you think!  If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe (right side) to keep updated!

PS. Do you use a reader to keep up to date on your favorite blogs?  C uses Flipbook for the ipad and I use gmail reader...both great ways to keep updated with our fave reads!

Here we go again!

This week I signed up for another race, the CBus 10 miler on April 15th (same day I leave for a 4 day business trip....yes, I am crazy.  I'm kind of itching to do the Columbus 1/2 Marathon on May 5th but I graduate that day and THAT would be crazy!).  C, Brittany and I ran the inaugural race last year and even though it was hillier than I thought and I had a cold, it was still a good race, and good enough to do again, apparently.  I wasn't setting any last year PR's, that's for sure!  But to me, it's all about having a goal to work toward.

I kicked off my training this week with a couple of 3 mile runs and C surprised me with some new hot pink running socks!  

Cuddle buddies

Max and Lila, cuddling in my office!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We make a lot of soup around here (1-2 times per week in the cold weather months).  Sometimes I follow recipes and other times, the recipe is more like a guideline.  I received a request for our Broccoli Cheddar soup recipe so here it is (based off a Williams-Sonoma recipe).

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 heads broccoli, cut into florets

3 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)

3-4 kale leaves, stalk removed and torn into small pieces

salt and pepper, to taste

2 Tbs beer

6 oz Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1/4 cup Pargmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

In large soup pot, over medium heat, add olive oil, onion and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and slightly colored.  

Increase heat to high, add broccoli, stock and some salt and pepper, bring to a simmer.  Cook about 5 minutes, add kale for another 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Either transfer mixture into blender or food processor in batches until soup is pureed or use emulsion blender to puree (got one of these for Christmas...love it).  Add beer and cheese and stir over low heat until cheese is melted and ingredients combined.  Serve with fresh baked bread and enjoy.       

How do you make broccoli soup?

What I'm cooking

After a crazy-busy week last week, I'm looking forward to things calming down a bit this week.  I finished reading my last two chapters for my marketing class, leaving me with only the final project in that class, yay! My other class, Business Policy and Strategy, is another story...many more weeks of case studies, group projects, ect.

We had a productive weekend at home and I was able to get some bread dough rising, fruit and yogurt prepped for breakfast smoothies our menu planned and groceries bought.  Add to it a cleaned house, Friday night charity event, trying a new restaurant, BodyPump workout at the gym, two 3-mile runs and finished bathroom remodel and I call it a successful weekend!

Here's what we have on the menu for this week:

(Meatless) Monday: Quinoa fried rice
Tuesday- Coq au Vin Blanc (from our Sur la Table cooking class, adapted for the Crock pot)
Wednesday- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Thursday-on our own
Friday-Pizza night at home
Saturday-Junior League Casino Couture event!  I'm excited to enjoy a fun and fancy night out at the Columbus Art Museum with my JL ladies and our dates.

What's on your menu for this week?  Hope you have a great one!

Bathroom Remodel-Complete!

Yesterday we finally finished our little bathroom remodel...a couple weeks past my deadline but I'm super happy it's done!  In case you need a refresher, here's the "before":

We stripped the wallpaper, painted walls and trim, changed out the vanity, fixtures and mirror.  Here is the "after":

 Artwork I found on clearance at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I think it really pulls everything together:

Overall, I'm so very happy with the outcome.  It's much more our style and updated with brushed nickel fixtures...hopefully, this little project will help our house sell when we put it on the market in March!

Part-time model?

Apparently Lila has a part-time job modeling for Valentines day greeting cards?

Wishing you all a happy valentines day!

PS. Our V-day was pretty low key as I had class. C gave me a yoga mat and towel for hot yoga and I gave him a blazer and new coffee mug :)

Meal Planning and *an announcement*

I'm borrowing from my friend and fellow MBA'er Heather's blog and working to create meals out of our pantry/freezer and get them under control because *announcement* WE'RE MOVING! *end announcement*.  That's right, as much as we truly love where we live now, this summer we are taking on our next adventure (and living up to our blog's name) and moving to the Cleveland area (about 2.5 hours northeast of our current location) because Chris accepted a position there after grad school with the company he interned with over the summer.  Right now, we are in the process of finishing our degrees and starting the house selling/house buying process.  Now, you may be wondering about my job (or maybe not) and I've been blessed with the opportunity to stay with my same company, just in another role....sometimes things just work out :)

Remember our bathroom remodel, our move is the reason as we prep our little house for getting listed on the market.  So bear with us over the next few months because things are going to get even crazier here!

Meals for the week:

Sunday-Steak, asparagus, twice baked potatoes and black-bean brownies with strawberry yogurt (our early Valentine's day meal because of our class schedules)

(Meatless) Monday-Veggie Chili

Tuesday- Missy's white chicken chili (Yes, it's been cold here and making me crave soup)

Wednesday-Sonya traveling 

Thursday-Sonya in class

Friday-???

I'm not sure what Chris has planned for when I'm gone but I would bet $$ that he will get Chipolte at least once :)

Lila's new sweater

Finally had a few minutes to tackle a project that's been on my list all winter- a sweater for Lila.  Our little pups have a hard time keeping warm in the winter (and it FINALLY has turned to winter in Ohio, we've got snow and temps in the teens).  Max has a few sweaters (including one my grandma crocheted for him) already but Lila needed something of her own (and a bit more girly).  I roughly followed a pattern I found on Pinterst (I'm addicted, by the way) but our long dog required a few modifications:

Lila in her new sweater, not to happy to be modeling:

New hair-before and after

Yesterday, I was able to take a break from all the school work for a much needed haircut!  Here's a quick before and after for you:

Before, in my new glasses, (I know, it's not a great photo):

And after, so much better!  I *heart* my stylist Chelsea!  

New hair in action, we spent Saturday night babysitting for the twins while Danielle and Tim got away for dinner and a movie.  We enjoyed spending time with the twins and LOVE these little guys:

Asparagus pizza

Last week, I picked up a giant bunch of asparagus (one of our favorite veggies) and couldn't wait to give it a try on Friday night.  I try to only buy vegetables that are in season but I couldn't resist the asparagus!  We were planning on a low-key pizza and movie night so I did a quick google search and came up with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Shaved Asparagus pizza.  We made a few changes to the recipe-incorporating whole wheat flour into the pizza crust and omitting the scallions (because we didn't have any).   If you need a pizza crust recipe, we like this one. I REALLY enjoyed the final product and would highly recommend it.  In case you were wondering, shaving aspargus really isn't that hard, just run a veggie peeler from the end to the tip.  As you can see, ours is pretty rustic will all different sized shavings!

Shaved asparagus dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper:

Our finished shaved asparagus pizza:

The next morning, Chris popped a few pieces into the oven and topped with fried eggs...one of his favorite breakfast combos!

Baked oatmeal

 

So I had a question on my post last week about baked oatmeal so I thought I would share my recipe.  I bake a batch (or 1/2 a batch) of oatmeal on the weekend and then have a fast and easy breakfast on my busy mornings.  I've also made a version with steel cut oats, it varies every time I make the recipe! 

Baked Oatmeal (1/2 batch):

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/8 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 cups milk

1 teaspoon melted butter (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and diced (I run it through the grater on my food processor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease baking dish (8x8in) and set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk milk, butter, egg and vanilla together.  Then add baking powder, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar, mix well.  Stir in oats and then apples.  Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until oatmeal is golden brown and set.  Then I let it cool and place into the fridge until I'm ready to eat.  I heat it in the microwave and then top with sliced almonds, unsweetened coconut, and fresh berries. 

This makes enough for 3-4 mornings, which is perfect because I alternate with breakfast smoothies to mix it up.

Super Bowl fare (and meal planning)

 Chris and I hanging out at home for the Superbowl tonight so I thought I would share our game-watching menu (including this yummy black bean salad with corn and red peppers my friend Christie posted on her blog): 

Buffalo Chicken Dip-recipe from our friend Grant

Black Bean Salad 

Grapefruit Salad

Three Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

We've enjoyed the game (the commercials for me), the food and the cuddle time on the couch with Max and Lila!

Here's our menu for the week (it's a busy one):

(Meatless) Monday-Chris won't be home for dinner due to a team meeting so I'm having (above) black bean salad with quinoa.  

Tuesday-Crock pot roast

Wednesday-Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday-Chris has a school function and I'll be going straight from a late meeting to class so probably hummus and veggies en route for me.

Friday-Homemade Pizza

What is your go-to/on-the-quick dinner?