Category: Food Talk

Salad-in-a-Jar: A Year Later

Lauren5 Comments

Breaking News: In addition to graduating college, my sister also recently got a new job and leased her first apartment!  Talk about some major life changes, huh?  My mom mentioned she was worried about not having money now that she has to pay rent and my mom told her “soon you’ll have to bring salad-in-a-jar to work for lunch!”  Um rude, Mom.  Because, here we are over a year later still rocking that salad-in-a-jar habit and I kinda LOVE it.

In case you, like my mom, think this is a sad times lunch that’s holding you back from what you really wanna do (ahem, eat tacos with guac at Chipotle every day), then I’m here to tell you that’s so not the case and if you’re into this salad-in-a-jar thing with me, here’s 5 more we’ve added to our arsenal since that post I wrote a year ago.  (But totally check out that original post for salad-in-a-jar tips!)

Superfood Salad // A very new addition but it’s a winner because it has what a salad needs to succeed… LOTS of stuff!  The more mix-ins, the better!  Make this in spring/summer when avocados are their creamiest selves… and also their cheapest selves.

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Greek Farro and Chickpea Salad // Fact: I adore a Greek salad.  It’s probably a combo of all the different textures and the salty feta that ropes me in every time.  You can really use any grain for this one.  We usually do barley because of that one time I accidentally bought two bags of the stuff and we’ll be eating it for the rest of forever.  

California Caprese Bowl // I wait all winter for this one that just tastes so much better in the summer when tomatoes are actually in season.  I once made it with thick-cut bacon and honestly preferred the regular stuff.   

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Spinach Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Apricot // The contrast of savory roasted veggies and sweet dried apricots is killer (in a good way!) plus this is one of my very favorite salad dressings.  

Fall Harvest Chopped Salad // I’ve mentioned this one before because the dressing is incredible but the roasted butternut (or sub something more in season), goat cheese, apple, dried cranberry combo is not to be overlooked.  

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In other news: I went on my first pre-work outdoor run this morning and it made me INSANELY happy.  That, plus hammock napping, garden inspecting, iced coffee sipping, Memorial Day planning and actual summer time temps means I’m on track to becoming my happiest self.  Howboutyou?

Recently Consumed

Lauren3 Comments

A list of things consumed by my head, heart, eyes, ears and stomach lately.

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Carrot Hummus at The Pig and The Sprout

We chose this spot for our Tuesday Date Night and when they posted a picture of this luxurious looking carrot hummus on Instagram that day, I KNEW I had to order it and see what was up with those “funyun” chips.  Turns out there’s no chickpeas involved in that hummus, hence the creamy texture and those chips DID have the exact flavor of Funyuns.  We dug it!

Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino

Forgot to mention our March book club read!  Probably because I really wasn’t into it.  Basic Plot: Grad student/aspiring writer borrows a very buzzed about book from her roommate and discovers it’s about HER (very troubled) past and was written by her long lost childhood best friend turned first love.  Ugh, just writing that description reminded how annoying this book was.  The entire cast of the book seemed to cater to this very selfish and immature main character and I was not about it.

Girls Final Season

The highest respect to TV writers who had reviews of the final season of Girls out the night of the finale.  It’s been weeks and I still can’t make sense of my feelings on the show in its entirety.  I meant to write about the finale and I didn’t.  I meant to post about my favorite episodes from all six seasons and I didn’t.  I meant to figure out why I’m so conflicted about this show and I haven’t.  I will say, that final scene between Hannah and Adam was easily one of my favorite moments of the entire series.  They said so much by saying so little and though it was heartbreaking, it felt right.  Also, I will continue to pretend “Goodbye Tour” was actually the finale because Hannah and Jessa reuniting (even if only temporarily) was so touching and the whole dancing scene interspersed with snapshots of Hannah’s future was really the only ending I needed.  Plus I really hated “Latching.”

Well that “quick blurb” certainly got away from me…

Broken Angels by Gemma Liviero

This book reminded me A LOT of both All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale, both in the setting (Europe during WWII) and the formulation (characters from different sides of the aisle whose stories eventually combine).  That being said, I felt the effect was damaged because I kept thinking “I’ve read this all before!”  And I liked the writing in both of those other books more than this one.  Still, I liked this one well enough and wouldn’t dissuade anyone from picking it up for themselves.

Sweet Corn and Zucchini Pie

Well I’ve mentioned this recipe on the blog approximately 7,000 times, sooooo HAVE YOU MADE IT YET?  If not, I don’t know what you’re waiting for, but I’m actually not waiting for summer to eat corn and zucchini.  JOEY cooked this for ME and even though we were short a few ounces of cheese, it was still SO GOOD.  So that’s probably why I’ve talked about it so many times.  Paired with the best sweet potato fries (Joey makes them so much better than me!) and I think this meal actually willed the sun out of hiding that day.

Beloved by Toni Morrison

GUYS.  OMG.  LITERATURE!  I tried to explain to Joey — in a lengthy and cocktail induced speech — the difference between what I read in book club and actual literature and how damn refreshing it was to know within seconds of starting Beloved that is was the latter but he was probably mostly hoping I’d just stop talking 🙂  But seriously, the writing is so poetic and the story is so deeply painful and beautiful and I don’t know why it took me this long to finally pick this novel up but I’m so glad I finally did.

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Happy Friday/Cinco de Mayo/Birthday to my mother-in-law!  We are celebrating all those things the best way we know how… with burgers, fries, beer and a Rockies game!  Bet you thought I was going to say tacos and margaritas, huh? 🙂  What are you up to this weekend?