I'm Going to Jersey Shore Beeetch!!

So on Saturday (Aug 4th at this point), Mike and I headed out to Philadelphia where we stayed over at his parents for the night.  We also ditched the dog at their place muaha!  My father-in-law is by far one of the best cooks I know and he makes some of the best dishes I've had the pleasure of eating.  It must be something genetic in Italians, you just are a fantastic foodie when you've got Italy running through your veins. 

That night we had a white ravioli lasagna dish with ricotta and deliciousness in it, so so good.  The next day for breakfast we had a kicken' veggie frittata that kept us full all the way to Jersey.  My mother-in-law is also super great at thinking ahead and packing stuff so she had a bag of groceries, a medicine bag, beach chairs, etc. for us to take with us! Score! 

When we got there, we did some major shopping, I just had to stop at Whole Foods for some goodies and lo and behold, I found this vegan sushi roll I always see the hungry, hungry hippie eating.  I gotta be honest though, I really didn't like it unfortunately.  I think I'd rather just eat a veggie roll and call it a day.  

The Red Stripe was exactly what I needed though... I had many more throughout the week.. 

For dinner we went to the Terrace Tavern and Crab Shack because I saw advertisements for seafood pots and I just had to try one.. 

We started dinner off with cocktails, I had a mojito which was really good.  Mike opted for a "Dark & Stormy" which is Groeslings dark rum and ginger beer.  It was spicy and sweet, I dug it. 

Then came the steam pot.... 

Crab legs, corn on the cob, potatoes, mussels, clams, shrimp..

Wow... I couldn't eat it all so I shared with Mikey. He panicked last minute when ordering and got a broiled seafood platter which was good but not as amazing as mine!! 

I'm Alive!!

So I am super, way, way way, extremely behind on posting.  I went on vacation and clearly still think I am! This post is actually from the Friday before I even went on vacation which was mmm... the 3rd.. Oopsie! 

Moving on.... 

That Friday I went to see my hubster perform at the Steel City Improv Theatre and afterwards we went out to Mallorca for a fancy dinner (okay, okay, we had an expiring Groupon..)  Seriously though, Mallorca is in my top 5 favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh, my only complaint is that their vegetarian options are weak and unexciting. Boo. 

Salad was standard greens, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and what I assumed to be a thousand island dressing. 

The wine was super yums, I had a Chardonnay (my fav) and Mike had a Cab Sav I think. 

We had an appetizer of crab stuffed mussels which was super tasty...

I had some seafood pot with garlic sauce in it.. I dug it. 

Mikey, who usually gets like a steak or side of boar, opted for a delectable entree of stuffed salmon, I was really jealous.. 

I think one of my favorite parts about Mallorca though are the sides!! Super yummy veggies, rice, and potato chips!  I think I ate more of the sides than I did the entree to be honest.

But no worries, I had the entree for breakfast the next day before heading out on vacation!! 

Sorry that was super short and weak but once I am finally caught up and you see how many posts are coming, you'll understand my brevity. 

Liven' on the Veg

So by the way, if you're ever vacationing in Long Beach Island, NJ, they have the most amazing vegan restaurant right there. In fact, it's the only vegan restaurant on the island- good thing it's so good! 

It's called Living on the Veg which I have to say, being an Aerosmith fan, I totally dig the name! 

It's located on 2613 Long Beach Blvd in Beach Haven.  

It's kind of small, not much seating (especially if it's raining, then you might just want to get it to go). The menu is absolutely impressive however, they have fresh smoothies, fresh pressed juices, wraps, burritos, blue plate specials, salads, sammies, and other hearty entries to satisfy that raging appetite you'll have worked up after laying on the beach all day! 

The menu was a long board above the cash register so I did my best to take a picture of it in two parts... 

My mouth is watering reading over the menu again, I wish I had a place like this in Pittsburgh!!

 

Daily specials..

This sounded so delicious!! I wanted to get it, alas we went around lunchtime, no worries though I had tons and tons to pick from still! I wanted to eat it all!

Also- I would like to point out that any restaurant sporting Bragg's as a condiment is immediately a four star place to eat in my book. 

After much deliberation, Mike and I decided on the Smooth Operator smoothie to split. It was so fruity and sweet and the soy milk added gave it a delicious creaminess, we were sucking this down in minutes!

I ordered the Buffalo Caesar wrap which was in a word, divine. I have dreams about this dish sometimes. The tofu soaked up all the delicious hot sauce and the caesar dressing on it was just perfect. That, mixed with crunchy, fresh romaine lettuce this wrap was perfection in itself. 

And don't even get me started on the potato salad.... I'm broken-hearted that I can't have that everyday. I don't know what they use for dressing on it, but it is literately of the gods. I have half a mind to call them and beg them for the recipe. 

Mikey got the Southwest burrito with a side of coleslaw.  I really dug the coleslaw also but I think he liked my potato salad better, it just had that extra zing of flavor. 

The seitan was very flavorful and cut into bite size pieces so that it was evenly distributed throughout the burrito, and the rice on it was delicious. I took a bite or two but it was so spicy, I couldn't take anymore. Mike, who could eat a jalapeno whole without blinking an eye, thought it was perfect. I liked that it also had black beans in it- love me some beans. 

Take out items, I still kick myself for not grabbing a pint of that amazing potato salad. Sorry for the crappy photo, I was in a hurry.. boo! 

So if you're into healthy food, vegetarian/vegan food, or heck just freaken' good food and you're in the LBI area- you have to stop by Living on the Veg or you will forever regret it and I will put a voodoo hex on you. Don't think that I wont, I actually have a voodoo doll.. 

Bistro 14

One last vacation post... and then back to reality... 

Mike and I were enjoying the fact that we are childless so we decided to go somewhere more swanky for dinner one night.  We chose Bistro 14 which is located in the wharf area. It was BYOB so we brought a crisp white wine that we'd gotten at a local grocery store- they put it on ice or us which was nice.

They served some bread and butter to tide us over until the entrees came, it was really nice just being able to sit and chat, watch the sunset and drink wine with my boo. 

This is the bay of LBI, hard to get a good picture for some reason...

My dismal attempt at taking a photo of the sunset, also oopsie caught Mikey taking a sip of wine. 

Up first we ordered our appetizers from the raw bar, 6 raw oysters and 6 raw clams.  I was intrigued because I'd never even heard of raw clams as an option, and I was also super jazzed about the raw oysters because they're delicious. 

These. were. amazing. 

They came with lemons, cocktail sauce, horseradish, and this vinaigrette which was amazing on the clams. 

I'm a dumby and was too busy slurping up this deliciousness to remember to take a photo. Here... are the shells... haha

Mikey ordered crab cakes with green beans and fries, the fries were a-ma-zing for some reason. I'm not a fan of crab cakes anymore but he said they were delicious. 

I on the other hand ordered up a whopping dose of Omega-3's and got the grilled salmon. It was so buttery and melted in my mouth, it was served over an arugula salad with roasted tomatoes, drizzled with a vinaigrette. 

Alright- and that's a wrap kids!!! That only took me a month... I need to light a fire under my rear and get back to cooking!! 

Bad Blogger

I have been a super, super bad blogger recently. I've also been super, super busy so at least I have an excuse. We're heading out to the beach this weekend so I've been doing everything in my power and creativity to use all perishables currently in our fridge- I think I'm winning.

Dinners have been weird and random however- and definitely not picture worthy.

Breakfast this week consisted of PB & J's and coffee. Snacks were babybel cheeses and fresh, amazingly delicious peaches from my CSA box. Lunches were a mixture of leftovers and... things I found in the fridge (scary). Dinners... well those were.. also incredibly random. They've been chock-full of veggie and lean protein though, I remember eating uh... rainbow chard, corn on the cob, fresh green beans.. hmm..

But I did it! I have no guilt in wasting food before leaving for our trip!

In other news, I have finally reached the point in my stage of readiness to put in full throttle and lose some weight.  In my field, we learn that everyone is in some stage of readiness in regards to a change they must make.

1. Pre-contemplation: Person has not seriously considered taking action, the need for change is not forefront in their mind. 
2. Contemplation: Person is aware of issue and need for change, but has not made plans on actually making the change. 
3. Preparation: Person has thought about taking action and is making plans on how to achieve this goal. 
4. Action: Person is taking action and continues to take action. (It is very easy to slip from here back to an earlier stage) 
5. Maintenance: Person has been taking action continuously for a length of time and has plan and habit set to continue current action. 

We identify what stage our client or patient is and then cater their plan of care and goals to help move them through the cycle. It's pretty darn helpful. I'm currently in stage 4 so carpe diem- let's keep it coming! 

.......Just in time for vacation. Bah.. 

I promise to take pictures of what I eat on vacation though for two reasons. One, because that's super fun and 2) I have to hold myself accountable. 

ALSO- If you're in the Pittsburgh area and love adventures, theater, or just want to try something truly creative and really cool - check out this event: STRATA . 

I went last night and it was crazy, the whole event was impressive and well done. I would love to tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you- and I think that would hinder my path to personal enlightenment! ;)