Local Soup

February 15, 2011 By Laura

When people think of roller derby, I doubt the first thing that comes to mind is “family.”

Families beat each other up…

However, one of the biggest components of my league is the family aspect. Becoming one of the Atlanta Rollergirls = 80+ new family members.

Getting injured is a great reminder of that! From the calls/emails/texts to the treats courtesy of a league-mate and baker, I feel like one lucky girl.

Last night I received another special delivery. This was from my teammate, Polly Atomic, and Local 3. Local 3 is one of the newest restaurants in Atlanta and has received some rave reviews. Lucky me – Polly and her husband, Chris Hall, are a couple of the founders of this fine establishment. 🙂

The delivery?

2 massive containers of soup: Creamy Tomato and Creamy Butternut Squash.

Chris even included straws!

I couldn’t decide which soup to try first… and then I thought

“Why limit yourself to eating one at a time?”

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Polly, Chris, and the awesome kitchen at Local 3!

Local 3 is definitely my first stop when chewing resumes!

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, I brought Mom some treats from International Bakery.

It is this little hole-in-the-wall Greek Bakery with a curmudgeon of a man behind the register and baklava so fantastic it could make you cry.

This dreamy box of goodness was a big hit. At least I hear it was good…

The trip did include a treat for me. This Greek bakery also carries a few authentic packaged goods, straight from Greece. I came home with a big tub of authentic Greek yogurt! OMG – it is so, so good. American Greek yogurt is good, but this is much ticker and rich – almost like eating a dessert.

***

I can’t wait to chew.

What is your favorite tiny local find?

Any cool ethic bakeries/shops to do some International food shopping?

Smooth Operator

February 8, 2011 By Laura

Day 2 of liquid diet.

Wasting away to nothing. Famished.

I kid, I kid.

Still broken. The whiplash part is worse today and my head is killing me. And I still look like a swollen Frankenstein-chipmunk:

Exhibit A

But I enjoyed some butternut squash soup with fennel, onions, jalapeños, and Sriracha sauce for lunch. Pureed, of course.

In a moment of psychic planning, I scheduled a photo shoot with Ed Selby last Saturday (the day before I wrecked my face). Ed is an awesome photog. He sent me an email a few weeks ago asking if he could shoot me. I was so excited and we set up a time before the season began. Smart, eh?

Below are a few of Ed’s shots. Pretty awesome, right? Through the magic of Ed and photoshop, you can’t even see the massive zit I had right between my eyebrows.

The Dr. said that when I feel better I can run and lift weights. Just no contact sports for a while.

Therefore, I’ve been plotting my body building debut. Kidding.

What I HAVE been plotting is my race schedule. I’m revising my 2011 goals to include 1 race a month.

I don’t know if I can stand the pounding enough to effectively train for the Publix Georgia Half in March, but I do really want to run a Half-Marathon again this year. In preparation, I’m committing to run a race each month beginning March 12th with an adventure race I am already registered for: Tough Mudder.

This is a 10 mile race with obstacles that will have me swinging across a mud pit, walking through fire, and running UP a slippery motorcross slope. Check out the obstacle map.

It is 4 weeks post-jaw break and it isn’t a contact sport… so I’m good to go!

2 weeks later is the Atlanta Women’s 5K. That’s more than 1 a month, but I need to make up for January and February. 🙂 All the finishers receive a flower at the end – how sweet is that?!

April 16th I will definitely do a race. Perfect way to celebrate surviving Tax Day. I was planing on Run the River. But I just realized that is also the day of the Gerogia Tech Pi Mile (Pi = 3.14… get it?) AND the Sweetwater 420 5K. The Pi Mile starts at 8a. The Sweetwater 5K starts at 10a… are you thinking what I’m thinking???

Tonight I am really excited to try the Garbanzo Bean Soup Angela@ Oh She Glows created.

One of the saddest parts about breaking my jaw was the thought of not being able to have hummus. I could eat it by the spoonful… but people would stare. Angela has solved that problem!

More on that when I make it this evening. 🙂

The smooth creation of the day so far was an Orange Cream Smoothie.

This Orange Cream Smoothies is a glass of creamy, vanilla-orange deliciousness. Reminiscent of those yummy push-up pops from the ice cream truck. 🙂

Orange Cream Smoothie

1 medium orange
1/4 C Greek yogurt
1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 banana
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1T Twister Power (sprouted omega blend)
1/2 packet of Stevia
Big handful of spinach
Water + Ice to taste

Throw it in a blender, mix until smooth, and enjoy!

***

Two 5Ks in a day would really only be a 10K with a really long break in the middle…

What races are you planning this year?

Have you ever done 2 5Ks in a day?

Broken

February 7, 2011 By Laura

I got a new camera just in time.

How else would I have been able to take this lovely Frankenstein-like self-portrit?

Those are stitches in my chin. There are 4. That is also a big glass ‘o vino in my hand. I deserved it. 🙂 What you can’t see is that my jaw is broken in 2 places.

We had a “Rookie Expo” this Sunday for derby. I fell. Chin-first.

However… I am actually lucky. My jaw is fractured in 2 places, but isn’t displaced. One fracture is in the lower left mandible and the other is in the right condyle. My chin is (obviously) busted too.

Here’s the most relieving part – since nothing is displaced, I don’t have to have plates screwed into my jaw or even have my mouth wired shut! I was having nightmares about eating nothing but chicken broth for 6 weeks.

I had to promise to take it easy and not chew anything for 6 weeks. Not even noodles. Helllloooo soup.

***

Other than some soreness and swelling, I’m ok!

Sooooo… anyone have a favorite creamy soup recipe?

TGIF

February 5, 2011 By Laura

I almost posted “TGIF.” Nothing else.

It had been a loooong week, but it did end well.

Dinner @ Sufi’s Kitchen tonight was really good. I got to catch up with an old friend and tried a new dish.

We ordered the Sufi’s Special as an app – sauteed eggplant with onion, garlic, chickpeas, and spicy tomato sauce. The server kept warning us that it was really spicy. It wasn’t. There was just a tinge of heat on the end.

Source: www.sufisatlanta.com

It was served with a fantastic flat bread (made fresh in-house). It was baked in a stone oven that gave it a perfect crunchy char. This was accompanied by the traditional dish filled with thyme, basil, mint, feta, butter, olives, walnuts, cucumbers, and radishes. My favorite thing about Persian restaurants is this hodge-podge dish. It is fun to try different combos with whatever app you order.

For dinner, they offer a Chicken Kabob Salad. Normally, kabobs are served over a giant place of saffron rice. The rice is good (I love saffron), but I’m not a huge rice fan so the salad offering was perfect. I loved the chicken – it was perfectly grilled. Plenty moist (ewwww… she said moist!) and still retained it’s lemony-marinade flavoring.

We ordered the Pomegranate Cheesecake for dessert at the urging of our waitress.

***Warning*** They give you the hard-sell bringing out the tray of pornographic irresistible desserts.

Pass on the dessert. It wasn’t worth it. Go next door to R. Thomas for that chocolate chip-banana cake instead.

Their wine list is sub-par… BUT you can BYOW and there is no corking fee.

I’ll take that any day!

No pics – we got caught up in conversation and flat out forgot. 🙁

Verdict: Worth a visit. Don’t miss out on the appetizers. Pass on the dessert. Next time I’m trying the chicken-pomegranate stew.

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This coming week is the Atlanta Rollergirls’ Debutante Brawl.

All are welcome! We can’t wait to debut our new rookies to Atlanta the world!

***

Apparently it is Super Bowl weekend. I don’t watch pro-football (love college ball… can’t get into NFL).

Who should I bet on???

The Best Chocolate Around

February 1, 2011 By Laura

The Atlanta Rollergirls 2011 Season is about to begin!!!

Who’s coming to the opener on Feb 26th?! The Sake Tuyas will most certainly defeat the Denim Demons in the 730p home opener. (Can you guess which team I’m on? 🙂 )

Get your tickets now – we will sell out.

If the 2 hour endurance practice we had last night is any indicator, this season will be a fast-paced, action-packed show!

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I am willing to bet we can agree on at least two things:

Rollergirls are awesome
Chocolate is delicious

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the combo is the Best of Atlanta.

ARG’s most bad-ass skater, Demi Gore, also happens to make the most bad-ass chocolate in Atlanta at Chocolate F/X.

If you are a meat-eater, eat the bacon toffee. Your mouth can thank me (errr… Demi) later.

Source: Chocolate F/X

The ganache-centered deliciousness will melt in your mouth. Cayenne FTW.

Source: Chocolate F/X

You can order online!!!

***

Your action-items for the day:

1. Order some Chocolate F/X for yourself on Valentine’s Day your Valentine.

2. Buy tickets to the ARG season opener. Watch Demi and the rest of the all-stars on the Dirty South Derby Girls team @ the 5p bout and the Sake Tuyas take on the Denim Demons at the 730p.

Its BYOB, people!

Inspiration

January 31, 2011 By Laura

Yesterday was a GORGEOUS day! It was nice to have a reprieve from the cold and ice even if it is grey and raining today. I ran around the park before dinner and it was almost too crowded to run. People-watching FTW.

Speaking of watching…

My friend Courtney shared a link to Food Gawker in the comments section yesterday.

I’ve long been a fan of the site, but it was a great reminder to visit another awesome sight: Food Porn Daily.

If you can look here without getting excited… kudos to you my friend. Don’t judge me. 🙂

It is from these sites, restaurant menus, and other blogs that I get the most inspiration. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a dish in one of these resources and run to the store for ingredients to make my own version.

Source: citynoise.com

Yesterday was one of those “buy all of these items you’ve been wishing you had on hand” days. We have a massive Farmer’s Market in Atlanta that has fantastic prices on veggies, spices, and wine. This place is epic. It is such a zoo so impressive that they have a strict “no cameras” policy.

It is easy to get carried away in there… and I’m proof. I live alone. There is NO reason I should leave there with more than $50 in groceries. Yesterday I almost hit $100.

In my defense, I was out of a lot of the basics.

And apparently I’ve been reading a lot of Indian recipes lately.

Garam Masala, curry, tumeric, cinnamon, coconut, ginger, tahini, chickpeas, chickpea flour (99 cents for a large container!)… it is going to be a fun week for cooking!

This is also going to work perfectly with my Recipe Pack Rat goals (does anyone else think “Rat Pack” when reading that?) – I have 5 Indian recipes saved and I already vowed to make Spicy Roasted Chickpeas.

I also would LOVE to try may hand at dessert hummus (how did I not think of this?!) by Evan at The Wannabe Chef.

Sunday morning I may have to try a Michelada. Thank you for a non-tomato hangover cure alternative, Tami @ Running with Tweezers.

Also purchased: a few squash varieties, wonton wrappers, pumpkin puree, San Marzano tomatos, too many oranges, bananas, jalapenos, poblanos, avocados, garlic, onion, kale, spelt flour, yeast, lentils, soba noodles, almonds, hazelnuts, dates, and roasted red peppers.

***

Suggestions for how to use all of this are welcome. 🙂

Apple Pie @ Breakfast

January 28, 2011 By Laura

This morning I received a call from my boss. He needs me to proof several (mucho importante) documents before they go to a client. We had the following conversation:

Boss: It is important that these are perfect.

Me: Sure – no problem.

Boss: Do whatever you need to do in order to maintain focus – read one, go for a rune, read one, go for a run.

Me: (LMAO)

🙂

Cool or scary that he knows this about me?!

Did I mention how much I love my job?

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Obviously, I need to be well-fed to complete this task. I’ve been looking forward to testing out the Apple Pie Oatmeal creation by Angela @ Oh She Glows.

I adjusted it a bit for my taste. I added the apples later in the process to ensure they held onto their crunch, and included ginger. Of course, I had to top it with PB because apples + PB go together like peas + carrots. Jenny.

Eating this was a Friday morning religious experience amazing.

Warning: Blurry cell phone pics coming to an end SOON!

Apple Pie Oatmeal

1/3 C oats (I combined multi-grain and Scottish)
1 tsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 C water
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 Braeburn apple, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 T peanut butter
1 T pumpkin seeds

In a small pot over med-high heat, mix the 1/3 cup oats, chia seeds, spices, milk, water, and applesauce. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring often. When the mixture is just beginning to thicken, add fresh apple pieces. Pie Oatmeal is done when the mixture thickens and the liquid is absorbed.

Pour into a bowl and add toppings of choice. I used peanut butter and pumpkin seeds.

***

How well does your boss know you?

Well enough to know midday running produces maximum concentration?

Chili Tuesday Tofu

January 25, 2011 By Laura

This may be a sign of weakness… but I am COLD!

Thank god I don’t live in Boston.

Down South is is rainy, dark, and cold. Someone please remind me of this when it is July and I’m whining about the heat.

After a looong day at work, I was excited to get going with round 1 of yesterday’s recipe intervention! Tonight I heated things up with a version of the Nutty Spicy Tofu from Foodie Fresh.

I know I said it would be to cookies, but I was short on time. And avocados.

Based on preference and ingredients, I did make a few adjustments. Baked tofu is almost fluffy, and I love the nut butter with the spice. This was damn good!

Aren’t you guys loving the blurry cell phone pics?

Chili Nutty Tofu (revised)

1 block extra firm tofu
1 T sesame oil
1 T soy sauce
1 T TJ’s Valencia Peanut Butter (or peanut flour)
1 T sesame seeds
1 1/2 T Thai-style chili sauce
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp paprika
fresh lime slices

Cut the tofu in half horizontally and press the tofu for 30 mins to an hour to remove water.

Mix the remaining ingredients (except the lime) in a medium bowl. Cut the tofu into cubes, add to marinade, and allow to marinate in refrigerator overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook the tofu on the baking sheet for 25 minutes.

Serve with sticky rice, cilantro, and lime slices.

And Japanese beer. 🙂

***

Verdict: Amazing! I have never baked tofu before (I always make it in a grill pan) and it turned out really well. The marinade gave it a good crust on the outside and the flavors complimented each other perfectly. I may add some orange zest next time for a little extra citrus zing!

Off to derby practice again! I wish I had a camera so I could post a pic of the killer bruise on my butt/upper hip. 🙂