Category: Dinner

Photo Shoot with Kapitol Photography and a Weekly Catch-up

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Hey there! TGIF 🙂 This week started out fairly busy, but calmed down throughout the week. As of the end of work today, though, I will be gearing up for a very busy weekend consisting of teaching, moving and doing lots of shopping.

You may remember me mentioning my coworker/friend, Tim, in my Stowe, VT recap. Well, he was up here for business again at the beginning of the week and decided to come up Sunday evening instead of taking one of those deathly early flights on Monday morning (don’t those flights always seem like a good idea when you book them? And then you are rudely reminded of how awful they are when your alarm goes of at 4am, right?), so we got together and grabbed dinner and drinks at the Yard House in Fenway. I thought it would be go to Fenway since Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake were playing there. It was packed, but since the Yard House is huge we didn’t have a problem getting a table. I was a bad blogger and didn’t take any photos, but Tim did take this video that I’ll share.

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It was pretty cool that you could hear the concert so well!

I was able to get up Monday for an early 3.5 mile run before work. After work, since Tim was still in town, we grabbed drinks at the Alibi Bar which is in the Liberty Hotel. The drinks were delicious!

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Since most coworkers were on vacation this week or out of town for client site visits, we didn’t have a big group dinner like we usually do. Some of us went to Gaslight in the South End. I was hesitant of going there because the one and only other time I had been was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had! From the service to the wine to the food, I was utterly unimpressed. It bothered me so much because I’m usually pretty easy to please and the Gaslight has really great recommendations. With that said, this past visit completely erased the former bad memories associated with the Gaslight. The wine was delicious and my dinner (Swordfish Roti–with couscous, heirloom tomatoes & cucumber gazpacho) was amazing!! Some of the best swordfish I have ever had. So happy they redeemed themselves!

On Tuesday, my sister met me at my new apartment after work. She was so sweet and brought champagne and treats! I’ve been avoiding moving or even thinking about moving (I’ve had my keys since August 1st and hadn’t even stepped foot in the apartment since then. Clearly I’m having issues with moving!), but having her there and seeing her be so excited for me helped to get me out of my pending move funk and actually make me excited! So much so that I started making my “need to buy” list. Yuck!

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The rest of the week was as they all are: work and teaching, but I did want to take some time now to show you the amazing headshot photos that I got back from my friend, Dan Brown (aka, Kapitol Photography). Dan and I went to college together and via Facebook, I realized that he is an incredible photographer. Not long after I started my blog, I realized that I wanted to get some professional photos taken so I reached out to Dan. He was more than happy to help! It took us forever and a day (ok, not really, but it took a while) to get a date that worked on both of our calendars, but after seeing the photos, it was well worth the wait. We headed to Acorn Street in Beacon Hill and then made our way to the Esplanade. Here are some of my favorites! I’m looking to pick one to use as my B2B headshot- please vote for your favorite in the comments! 🙂

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The two photos above were taken on Acorn Street, which is the most popular street to photograph in the city of Boston! It was absolutely beautiful and we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves the entire time we were there. We walked up and down the street and Dan got photos from all different angles, but these two were my favorite (very similar- I realize that 🙂 ).

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These two were taken as we left Acorn Street and made our way up and down various other streets in Beacon Hill. The brick buildings are my absolute favorite! How great would it be to live in Beacon Hill?! We also tried a bunch of serious face photos, but I looked terrible in them! I am just not one of those girls that can pull off the straight/serious face photos.

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We took these right as we were about to cross over the bridge and photograph on the Esplanade. I feel like these have the real “city” image so I like them for the background, but they aren’t my favorite in terms of strictly headshots. By the time we made it over to the Esplanade, the sun had unfortunately set a little more than Dan would have liked. I was really impressed with how he was able to know where to put me, how to have me angle my head and my body (did you know if you put both your hands right on your waist, vs. on your hips, it makes you appear thinner in photos? These are things us ladies should all know 😉 ) and how to maneuver his way around different places in the city to get the “right” shot.

We are going to do another shoot, but instead of focusing on the “professional, Boston living, work hard/play hard” side of me, we are going to focus on the fitness side of me. I’m super excited for that shot because it means I get to buy new Lulu, right?! Big thanks to Dan for taking time out of his busy schedule (he’s getting married in 2 weeks!!) to take these photos and allow me to share them with all of you! If anyone is interesting in having Dan shoot photos, he can be contacted through all forms of social media:
Facebook: Kapitol Photography
Instagram: kapitolphoto
Twitter: @KapitolPhoto

That about does it for me today! I am not sure how much I’ll be blogging throughout the next couple of days or so since I’ll be moving, but I hope to get some regular posts up next week!

Questions for you: What is your favorite Fenway bar? Where is the last restaurant you went where you had a horrible experience? Have you ever had professional photo’s taken?

Zucchini & Summer Squash Parmesan

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Hey there! Are you sick of me posting recipes revolving around zucchini and summer squash? I am 😉 This will be the last one- promise! I have just about used up all of the zucchini and summer squash that I grew in my garden, which is a really good feeling!

Both my mom and her friend, Jean (not to be confused with her other friend, Jeanne, haha), suggested that I make zucchini parmesan back when I posted my Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna recipe a few weeks ago, so I decided it was finally time to do that! I had a perfect zucchini to use (not too small and not obscenely big) and also decided to cut open one of the HUGE summer squash to see if it would be edible; good news- it was!

Even though the zucchini and summer squash parm would have been enough if they were just placed atop pasta, I’m trying to up my protein (still trying to figure out what protein powder to buy!) so I decided to make a meat sauce, too. Now, when I say “make a meat sauce” all I really mean is browning ground turkey and adding it to a jar of store-bought sauce. I swear, I will make REAL homemade sauce, but when you’re in a time crunch in the middle of the week, cheating a little is necessary. I also decided to add MORE veggies to the sauce because we can never have too many veggies, right? I put together the meat and veggie sauce right away so that it could simmer on the stove while I prepared the rest of the meal; this is a great way to enhance all the flavors and thicken everything up so it feels like you’re really eating homemade sauce.

Zucchini and Summer Squash Parmesan with a Veggie and Meat Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef, if you prefer)
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 large summer squash
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup green pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup broccoli, chopped
  • 1/2 a box of whole wheat spaghetti
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2-1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • fresh mozzarella cheese
  • herbs/seasonings

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1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the back. While that is cooking, chop your veggies and cook them until they are mostly cooked (about 5-8 minutes). Remove from the pan and add the ground turkey to that same pan and cook until the meat is no longer pink.

2. Add 2 cups of marinara sauce, 1/2 cup of white wine, veggies and ground turkey to a pot. Add about 2 tbsp of Oregano, in addition to any other herbs/seasonings you may want to add (sea salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, etc.). Keep the heat low and let the sauce simmer while you prepare the zucchini and summer squash medallions.

3. Slice your zucchini and summer squash into 1/4-1/2 inch slices (you want them to be thick enough to feel “meaty”, for a lack of better words).

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4. Whisk the eggs together in 1 bowl and add the panko bread crumbs to another. Take each piece of zucchini and summer squash and coat them in the eggs first and then the panko bread crumbs. Meanwhile, have a big pan (coated with EVOO) heating on the stove. I like to brown up each side of the medallions to “crisp” them up before baking them in the oven. I did about 3 minutes on each side.

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5. Once they are all browned, layer them in a casserole dish, placing thin layers of mozzarella cheese in between layers (you can never have too much cheese!). Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes, or until the zucchini and summer squash are cooked. Broil at the end for a few minutes to brown up the cheese.

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6. Place a serving of spaghetti on the bottom of a bowl, top with the veggie/meat sauce and then the zucchini and summer squash parmesan medallions. I also added some red pepper flakes because I love them!

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This meal was delicious! There’s just something about eating veggies from your own garden that is really cool, and fresh mozzarella makes everything better 😉 Already looking forward to leftovers!

Questions for you: What’s growing the best in your garden this summer? What type of recipe would you like me to make next?? I’d love suggestions!

Happy Birthday, Mom! (and other random things)

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Today is a very special day as it is Momma Gag’s birthday!!! I’m sure by the time she’s read this blog post, she has already had a day where she’s been spoiled by all of her friends, but she really deserves nothing less! I’m sure most of you regular B2B readers have seen my mom’s comments, which she does on almost every post, and I cannot thank her enough for her continued support in all my crazy adventures (there’s a new one that I’ll be sharing soon!!). I especially appreciate her always being there when I’ve “hit my wall” and call her in tears during the midst of a meltdown… there’s just something about talking to her that makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER! So mom, thank you for always being there for me and for being the cutest, sweetest, most fun mom around!

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(Like mother, like daughter… except I can’t even come close to holding my own around her!)

Anyway! I feel like I have lots of random things I want to share with you, mostly lots of pictures of sweet Emma at her 1st birthday party… gosh I just love that little girl. I headed home after teaching kickboxing on Saturday morning (I know, I know… you all probably think I go home all the time, but I hadn’t been home since the 4th of July! And, I love being home in Maine. Period. End of story:) ) and got caught in ridiculous amounts of traffic. Literally, I couldn’t even believe how much traffic there was. Shouldn’t people have been on the road early on Saturday to get to their vacation spots? Jeesh!

I finally made it to the party and couldn’t wait to snuggle all of my favorite babies! Zeke is literally a baby, not a newborn anymore. He has grown SO MUCH!

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And Sara seriously looks phenomenal. The “mom” thing looks great on her!

Emma was cruising around everywhere and watching her and Rozzie play together made me laugh so hard!

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Playing in buckets of ice… who knew how fun that could be?!

My favorite part was watching Emma go TO TOWN on her birthday cupcake!

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I so wanted to do the exact same thing, but people would have gave me weird looks so I contained myself 😉

After that, I met up with an old friend for dinner. We grabbed sushi and I would show you pictures, but there was really nothing picture-worthy about the food or drinks so I’ll spare you. The whole experience was hilarious, though, because nothing went right. One example, was when I asked the waitress what her favorite roll was (because I always do this when I go to restaurants- I want to know what the staff eats) and she responded “I don’t like fish so I’m not a good one to ask”. Ha! Why are you working at a sushi restaurant, then?! Anyway! Fun dinner other than that 🙂

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day in Maine. Summer without humidity is the most amazing thing! I had Danielle take pictures and videos for me that I used in my burpee post that I posted yesterday and then we went on a nice walk/jog around Shapleigh. It was fun to do that together!

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We spent some of the afternoon at the Mahoney’s pool (my favorite place to spend hot, summer days!) and then grabbed an ice cream before hitting the road. It made me remember how much I love ice cream 🙂

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And, that’s about it for my random musings/weekend catch up!

 

Oh, except for I forgot to tell you that my parents got a new kitten! Renee (little Renny, as we call her) is just the sweetest little girl ever! So fun to play with a kitten instead of a big (fat) cat like Charlie!
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Questions for you: Do you ask servers what their favorite meal is when you go to a restaurant? Have you ever gotten a cake in the face? What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Zucchini Boats

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Hi there! If anyone else has a garden this summer, then I’m sure you can relate to the abundance of veggies that are coming from that garden right now, right?! Unfortunately for me, the only thing in abundance is massively large summer squash. I mean, seriously? Look at the size of these things! It’s just not normal.

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Anyway! I’ve seen some zucchini boats floating around the blog world and internet world and since I had a decent sized zucchini (not obscenely large like the summer squashes above), I figured that was the perfect thing to make this week! I didn’t want to stuff it with ground chicken since I just used ground chicken in my Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna that I made last week, so my mom suggested that I buy uncooked chicken sausage, take it out of the casing and cook it on the stove as I would ground chicken or sausage. Mom, this was a great idea! Chicken sausage is so much more flavorful than ground chicken so it’s always a great addition to a veggie-filled meal.

I also cooked up my favorite veggies to have in any dish: onions, peppers, broccoli and corn. As I thought about what I could use to help keep everything together in the boats, as well as provide a little boost of flavor, I remembered another trick from mom: add cream cheese or any other type of cheese dip to veggies, because it makes it seem like you’re eating a rich, cream sauce when you’re not! Mixing red sauce and cream cheese was just what the dish needed! I highly suggest trying this recipe if you, too, have zucchini and/or summer squash growing out of your ears.

Zucchini Boats- Stuffed with veggies & a light creamy red sauce

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 3 uncooked chicken sausage links
  • 3/4 cup chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup chopped green pepper
  • 3/4 cup chopped broccoli
  • 3/4 cup frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup marinara sauce
  • 1 tbsp. cream cheese
  • herbs and seasoning

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1. Slice the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the seed part to create the “boat” that will hold the stuffing.

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2. Cut up the veggies and cook them in the pan. I always cook the onions first (for about 3 minutes or until translucent) and then I add the green peppers, broccoli and then corn. While these are cooking, I throw all sorts of herbs and seasonings into the pan: sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, etc.

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3. When the veggies have finished cooking, remove from the pan and add the chicken sausage (removed from the casing). Cook just as you would cook ground chicken. When it’s fully cooked, the veggies back in, as well as 1/2 cup of marinara sauce and 1 tbsp. of cream cheese. The cream cheese helps to make a nice, smooth sauce (learned this tip from mom).

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4. Once everything is combined, scoop it into the boats, top with cheese and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, broil for 5 minutes or until the cheese gets nice and browned.

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2 words: Holy.Yum! Such a healthy and light summer meal! Now I just have to figure out what to make with the 3 ginormous summer squash and 1 more good sized zucchini….

Questions for you: What’s your favorite recipe that incorporates zucchini’s and/or summer squash? I’m in desperate need of good ideas!! Do you have a garden? What’s your favorite summer veggie?

Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna

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Well, I think it’s safe to say that it has been a REALLY long time since I’ve posted a recipe for you guys! Between the hot, summer weather and busy, summer plans, cooking “real” meals has really gone by the wayside. Since I was around all day on Sunday doing my “Sunday” things (workout, laundry, blogging, cooking, etc.), and I had a summer squash and zucchini from my garden that I wanted to use, I figured it was a great time to cook!

I’ve been on the lookout for new recipes to use the veggies that I’ve grown in my garden. Athena recently posted a Summer Squash and Zucchini Ribbon Salad that is likely next on my list of recipes to try, but since my summer squash was on the bigger side, I realized that it might be better used in a lasagna to replace the noodles vs. a ribbon salad.

I didn’t really have a recipe in mind, but I knew the basis of a lasagna recipe: ricotta cheese, egg, meat/filling, and noodles (or, summer squash and zucchini in my case). With that said, I did double-check my idea of a recipe against a number of different websites. Man, there are A LOT of different lasagna recipes out there; some of them are so detailed and ingredient heavy, which was not at all what I was looking for. So, I went simple! And, you know what? You couldn’t even tell the difference!

I am a fan of lasagna with a lot of “stuff” in it, so in addition to the ground turkey and ricotta stuffing, I sautéed onions and mushrooms (in wine, of course!) and added in diced tomatoes. I didn’t want to overload the lasagna with too many veggies/flavors, but sautéed onions and mushrooms are such a good combination that I had to add them.

Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna

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Ingredients

  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • 1 large summer squash
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 3/4 cup chopped onion
  • 3/4 cup chopped mushrooms
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes (drained)
  • 15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar jack since that’s all we had, but I would likely do Italian instead)
  • 1/4 cup fresh mozzarella
  • 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup skim milk
  • herbs and seasoning to taste (I added some to the turkey while it was cooking, veggies while they were cooking, and the ricotta cheese mixture)

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Directions

1. Cut up the onion and mushrooms and sauté them with wine, minced garlic and seasonings.

2. Cook the ground turkey. When it is cooked through, add in a can of diced tomatoes (drained).

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3. Use a kitchen gadget (peeler or a slicer from Pampered Chef) to create thin slices of summer squash and zucchini. Make sure to pat the slices with a paper towel or place them on a paper towel to help absorb some of the water. I didn’t do this, and I ended up with a very watery lasagna!

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4. Mix together the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, shredded cheese, egg, milk and seasoning.

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5. Once everything is combined, start to create your lasagna layers: summer squash and zucchini ribbons, meat & veggie mixture and cheese mixture until all of the ingredients are used up. I put one last layer of shredded cheese at the top before baking at 350* for 30 minutes. To brown up the top of  the lasagna, I broiled it for about 5 minutes.

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This meal was a perfect example of a “healthified” home-cooked meal because even though the noodles were substituted with veggies, we still felt satisfied when we finished. Between the ricotta cheese mixture and ground turkey, there was enough sustenance to leave us feeling full, but not in a bloated/stuffed way.

Questions for you: Do you have a garden? Do you tend to cook less in the summer because of a busy schedule and hot weather?