Jelly in my Belly

hi guys!

Just thought I’d share that (with the help of some coworkers) I am close to finishing an entire bag of Jelly Bellys today!

Did you know that Jelly Belly uses real ingredients whenever possible…bananas, lemons, coffee, vanilla beans, etc. AND that you can eat 35 pieces for only 140 cals.  Am I justifying the fact that my belly is rumbling from the massive intake of jellybeans?!

I have decided that favorite Jelly Belly flavors are cinnamon and pomegranate. What’s your favorite flavor??? I hope not buttered popcorn, yuck!!

– jess

evol or love?

My friend Katie was visiting for the weekend, so a couple of my friends met her for a brunch in Historic Ellicott City at Bean Hollow. I ordered an egg salad sandwich and eggplant soup (never had eggplant soup before!). The soup was actually a really hearty vegetable soup that had eggplant in it- mmhmm.

Katie’s Lemon Italian Soda (lemon and vanilla)

Bridget’s messy, yet tasty Powerhouse sandwich.

Jen’s frooothhy coffee- please tilt head to view because I’m being super lazy this AM 😉

At the Giant by my apartment, I have seen evol brand burritos in the organic/vegetarian section and finally decided to give them a try. As the brand boasts, even though the burittos are frozen, they taste surprisingly fresh made! I’ll definitely purchase again.

During my lunch break yesterday, I was browsing food blogs for dinner inspiration. I came across a simple recipe by for Bacon Stuffed Avocados at the How Sweet It Is blog. I decided to make these, but with vege bacon. I typically buy Smart Bacon, but had to buy Morningstar this time because they were out of my Smart Bacon :(. The Morningstar bacon is actually pretty close to Smart Bacon in taste, so I was satisfied.

For my main dish, I made the usual zucchuni/squash pasta that seems to be a regular on my dinner menu. I was super excited that I found whole wheat bowtie pasta at Safeway- I never seem to be able to find this style in whole wheat!

Saute zucchuni/squash in olive oil and/or butter.

Add spices (salt, pepper, oregano, basil)

Cook until softed.

Mix with pasta.

Voila!

-jess

taco night

Shawna’s Mexican dinner for girl’s night was amazing!  She made taco bowls from whole wheat pitas cooked around a ball of foil in the oven- creative huh?! She had an array of toppings for our salads- shrimp, chicken, black beans, corn, peppers, onions, rice, olives, sour cream, guacamole… haha probably still forgetting something- oh and some lime juice and olive oil for dressing. We definitely pigged out on this one and managed to go through 2 of the large bottles of wine while we were at it. Luckily, my friend, Beth, brought a light dessert of angel food cake and strawberries.

Tonight for dinner I made a pasta variation from one of my favorite Giada recipes. I did not have green beans or cherry tomatoes on hand, so I substituted mushrooms instead. Also, I nixed the garlic this time and used lemon juice instead of lemon zest. The lemon in this recipe makes it so refreshing!

– Jess

scallops please

My girlfriends and I try to do a girl’s dinner night once every other week. We rotate who hosts it and who helps bring the wine, apps and dessert. It’s a great, affordable way to have a dinner out of the house and spend some much needed girl time.

Tonight Shawna is hosting and has decided on Mexican food. It’s my turn to bring an appetizer, so I decided to pick up some fresh salsa and make some guacamole.  I like a really simple guacamole because the taste of fresh avocado is sooo good without a mess of other ingredients.

I mashed up 3 avocados, the juice of 1/2 of a lemon, salt, 1 chopped tomato, some hot sauce (optional).

I made a dinner last tonight of honey lime scallops and fried goat cheese and spring greens salad.

The scallops I just pan fried for 4 minutes on each side and then I made a lime/honey/oil mix to sprinkle on top of them.

I heard you are supposed to use dental floss(non-mint scented I suppose) to cut goat cheese. I tried it out and it worked perfectly! No cheese stuck to the knife!

My boyfriend, Perry, was not a fan of the fried goat cheese, but enjoyed the rest of the meal. I think the cheese was too pungent for him.

I wasn’t overly filled from my meal. Around 11pm I was craving french fries!

Do you ever cook seafood yourself and just get a little turned off from eating it after being around the smell of raw seafood (seawaterish)?..maybe it’s just me?

-jess