Caroline Dines

Wow.  For being so discouraged last night, I had a truly awesome day all around. I should have known it was going to be great when I opened the fridge to find that I had finally made my way through the Almond Butter jar enough so I could eat my yogurt mess IN it just like Kath! Little did I know she was doing the same thing this morning with her oats

The jar was everything I expected and more. The added bonus for me, who doesn’t have a kitchen sink (in my apartment) is that I didn’t have to wash any dish! I was also very fond of the way I always had the proper amount of almond butter. What a genius idea! I have a baby sized Barney Butter which I think I am going to open tomorrow (from the Healthy Living Summit Swag bag). I have just been waiting for this one to be gone and now I can proudly say it is! Enjoyed to the last scrape!

After breakfast, I packed up and hopped on the T in order to get to the Haley House Bakery/Cafe for my second week of volunteering.

Here is the outside of the Haley House. It’s located on a beautiful, quiet street in Boston’s South End neighborhood. The first floor of the brownstone houses the bakery/cafe, the kitchen and the common area where members of the house’s live in community serve meals to the homeless and elders in the area.

The second two floors are for the 5-7 community members who sign on to live here for a year or more with-out pay. They manage the bakery/cafe and help faciliate the many group meetings that come through here each week. The house serves 40,000 meals per year (breakfasts for the homeless men and senior luncheons) they also have a food pantry, and offer permanent affordable housing in the area for eligible indiviudals.

One of the coolest services they offer happens at the Roxbury location. Local vegetarian chef, Didi Emmons, had the idea to teach indiviuals who are transitioning from drug addictions, homelessness, or incarcerations, how to cook healthy and nutritious food. This program gives people the tools to find a job in the food industry and at the same time helps build their self esteem and self respect. One of her quotes in a local paper was “This is social work, it just happens to be in the form of a restaurant”. How awesome is that? For someone like myself with a social work background and a passion for food I couldn’t imagine a better place to spend my Tuesdays.

Here is the small store front where I sit behind the counter.

And here is the kitchen and community area that is connected to the store front. Today about 20 senior citizens from the neighborhood came through the cafe stopping to buy a coffee and a scone from me, and then made themselves comfortable here.

As I “worked” I drooled over the cupcakes. Check out the toasted coconut on top!

And the beautiful Muffins (some of which are vegan)!

On the way home I stopped into the Copley Square Farmer’s market for some dinner supplies. Gorgeous skys and an interesting contrast in architectural styles.

Here’s my loot!

By the time I got home I was starving and had to throw down a quick lunch before my Physical Therapy appointment. Left overs did the trick with a tall glass of Iced Green Tea to quench my thirst. 

And just for fun here I am modeling my new Haley House t-shirt with their logo proudly displayed! Love it

Physical therapy was awesome! Did you expect me to say that?! I was diagnosed with Piriformis syndrome (just as I had suspected) but told that it is an easy ailment to treat and I will most likely be cleared to run the Tufts 10k! I am going to go in for some ultrasound and heat therapy for the next week and half, do some stretches at home and take a few more days off from running but after that I should be good to go. Apparently the muscle is just strained and needs to relax.  What a relief. After such a busy day I was exhausted by the time I began my real job but eating this HUGE salad gave me the energy I needed to get through the night. The salad contained the following which (veggies from the Farmer’s Market):

• green lettuce
• scallions
• red pepper
• tomato
• cucumber
• wonton crisps (in the house kitchen, didn’t buy myself)
• chicken
• CASHEW GINGER DRESSING left over from the other night.

Yummmm. The dressing made the salad but I think the veggies helped a lot too. It was a great combination of flavors with a lot of crisp and crunch.

Recently Darin and I have been somewhat obsessed with bulldogs. We have spent a lot of time watching funny youtube videos, thinking of names for our future bulldog and always stopping to pet those that we see out and about. Today on my walk to the Hailey House I spotted this painting in the window of a gift shop. I had to snap a photo for Darin

I am so pumped about my new volunteer position! I am basically in charge of the bakery/cafe for the afternoon which means restocking the cookies, scones, and muffins. Dishing out hot soup and selling wraps and salads. This excites me to no end! I have never worked in a restaurant or bakery or cafe for that matter which is very strange considering my love for food. This is the perfect opportunity for me to get my feet wet and I couldn’t be happier. I also get to run the cash register (those of you who know me understand how awesome this, as a child I had a huge old fashioned cash register that I played with and actually used to keep my money until high school when I finally got a bank account!). I was bummed that I didn’t get to take any pictures today but since it was my first day I didn’t feel like having that conversation just yet. I promise a post on the actual organization soon. One tidbit I will leave for you is that their slogan is “Food with Purpose”. Right up my ally!

Lunch was kind of non existent today. I had this bar on my way home and had a free Izze soda at the bakery and a mini corn muffin.

 The Hailey House is located in Boston’s South End neighborhood, it was an easy walk back to Copley Square where I was pleased to find a rather large and bustling farmer’s market!

 I didn’t get any brussel sprouts but I couldn’t resist the picture, they’re so funny looking growing on the “tree”.

 Here’s a little sign with an idea for a quick and easy soup! I didn’t buy the ingredients but I may on Thursday at the Coolidge Corner Farmer’s Market!

 Right in the center of Boston! Can you spot the GOAT CHEESE sign? That’s where I got a log of the best ever Basil and Herb Goat Cheese.

 I thought long and hard about whether or not to purchase some of these GORGEOUS sunflowers.

They were $10.00 for 5 and I just couldn’t justify it. Maybe I should have, it probably would have added a lot of cheer to the apartment but I have never bought flowers for myself and couldn’t see spending that much money on them! What would you have done?

 What I did purchase was an avocado (from a market just up the street that was not selling local food OBVIOUSLY), tomatoes, a pepper, honey crisp apples, and goat cheese.

For dinner I made another variation on the salsa/guac from last week.

• 1 diced avocado
• 1 diced tomato
• 1/2 diced red onion
• 2 ears of corn
• the juice of 1 whole lime
• salt and pepper to taste

I liked this a lot better than the mashed avocado. It was more like a fresh salsa but not hot at all.

 In an attempt to spice things up a bit or at least add a little more flavor, I shook some of this out on my chips and cheese before it went in the microwave. This is THE BEST chipotle sauce in my opinion. Darin’s brother-in-law Justin made it at his restaurant, Mirasol Cantina,  in Winter Park, CO. We use it all the time but only a little bit so it seems to last forever.

 YUMMMMMMM Dinner was filled with these collasal veggie filled bites!

 I would haved liked some greens in there but I forgot to buy some at the farmer’s market today so I went without. I got my fill just the same. The “salsa” was so fresh tasting. I thought about adding some type of oil to help the flavors come together but ultimately decided against it which I think was the right decision. Seriously all you need is a lime, no oil necessary!

I apologize for being rather slack this weekend with posting. To be completely honest, last night I didn’t really eat much of anything  and ended up feeling quite sick from the dreaded lobster roll. As a child I overdid it once on lobster and wasn’t able to eat it for about 10 years. As a result of yesterday’s lobster fiasco I think I may be banning the succulent bottom feeder once again.

This morning I woke up feeling no hunger again. Weird (it may have something to do with having a slight cold?!). I went for a run along the Charles which was glorious. There is really nothing I like better than a beautiful sunny run along the river. I did 4.5 miles I think in about 50 minutes which was good considering I am still recovering from my ankle injury. My hip hurt a wee bit but I’ll stretch through the pain

After my run it was time to shower and get ready for a lunch date in Cambridge. I met Meg C. at the Healthy Living Summit back in August and after chatting on line we realized that we have a lot in common and it would be fun to get together! She has been guest posting on her sister Anna’s blog, and I have been really enjoying what she has to say about running in particular! Meg suggested meeting up at the East Coast Grill in Inman Square which turned out to be an awesome pic that neither one of us had been to!

My friend Sarah is the hostess here so when we walked in we received a very warm greeting and were promptly seated right next to the kitchen. It was fun to have an action seat even if it was a little warm

The menu was quite eclectic and had many of my favorites: sweet potato fries, fried plaintains, fish tacos,  big salads topped with hearts of palm, etc. I wish I had been in the mood for something more adventurous but my stomach just wasn’t feeling up to snuff. I would have gone for the coconut crusted blue fish (special of the day), but instead I played it safe with the cornmeal crusted french toast.

Meg ordered a side of cornbread which I think we both expected to be a bit smaller! This thing was huge! Meg looks a little scared of it in this picture, I don’t blame her. She ended up eating not even half of one of them and bringing the rest home.

She also ordered the Monteray Jack Grits which came with grilled pineapple and banana. Yummmmm.

I thoroughly enjoyed my plate and ate every bit of it. The french toast wasn’t very “eggy” at all which normally I might be disappointed about but today it was perfect. I used all of the maple syrup and a good portion of the marmalade that came on the side. The fruit salad was delicious with fresh mango, blueberries and strawberries.

The East Coast Grill was awesome. Very funky vibe with a real laid back atmosphere (they even have a mix your own bloody mary bar!). I do think the best part of the meal was the conversation though. It was so great to meet someone that had similar interests and goals to mine. We chatted non-stop through brunch and then decided to walk to Harvard Square where I had heard they were having a Urban Agriculture Fair. It was the perfect afternoon for a walk around a beautiful city. The fair was smaller than I thought and we didn’t spend much time there but walked through on our way to the T Stop.

We did have time to stop for a free sample of Nantucket Nectar Blueberry Apple Juice though Delicious!

I said hello to the chickens…

…and admired the beautiful brussel sprout tree!

Sadly, I had to work this evening so I caught the bus back to Brookline. After figuring out exactly WHERE the bus picked me up I noticed a farmer’s market right where I was waiting. If you can spot the Kimball Farm sign in the distance, that’s where I ran to just before the bus came.

I wanted to pick up a few ears of corn since it’s so sweet and delicious right now. It’s all I had time to get before I saw the bus rounding the corner.

All in all it was a lovely way to spent a September day in the city. Meg inspired me to sign up for the Tufts 10k race coming up on Columbus day so I know I will at least see her again then if not sooner for a training run  

Every Thursday during the summer months and into October, Coolidge Corner hosts a Farmer’s Market.  I am fortunate enough to live within walking distance and have the time to go each Thursday to stock up on freshness! I set out around 1:00 p.m. thinking that it started at 1:00. It actually doesn’t open until 1:30 so I used the extra time to stroll through TJ’s grabbing a free bite of chicken wrap from their sample selection.

I did some banking and then decided the best way to enjoy this beautiful sunny day was with a J.P. Licks run. I have been seriously craving this since reading about the blog outing last Thursday. I decided on a kiddie size Yo Tango with rainbow sprinkles. The Yo Tango Yogurt is tart and tangy, it tastes a lot like plain yogurt which I actually really enjoy. It’s somewhat of an acquired taste but with the rainbow sprinkles on top I think it would please anyone’s taste buds. It’s all about balance right?!

I then made my way over to the market and perused the stands for a little while scoping out the scene and deciding what I wanted to buy today. Here’s what I saw:

And here’s what I decided to buy:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Corn
• Collard Greens
• Carrots
• Peaches
• Ground Beef

Everything that I purchased was grown organically with the exception of the corn which was grown in a transitional period which means that no pesticides or herbicides were used on the corn but the fields where the corn was grown has had pesticides or herbicides used on it in the previous year. According to my brother, who works on an organic farm, it is very difficult to grow corn without pesticides so I figured that this was the best option.

One more treat for the day: Dunkin Donuts Peach Iced Tea (unsweetened) my new love!

This past Friday my Cousin Meg and I busted out of the city since the forecast was calling for a beautiful 80+ degree day. We drove to Little Compton R.I. where our mutual Grandmother resides. After spending an utterly relaxing day at the beach we headed back to the city, however we had to stop at Walker’s Roadside Stand on our way out of town. Walker’s stand is attached to a pretty substantial farm that grows all kinds of delicious produce in the summer months.

While there I purchased:

• Cherry Tomatoes (sadly these seem to be the only type of tomatoes that are worth anything this season due to all the rain)
• Sweet peppers (yellow, green and purple!)
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• Sweet corn

I wasn’t able to put all of these to good use until last night when I came up with a stirfry of sorts including all of the items except the corn. I steamed the broccoli and green beans first and quickly stir-fried the peppers with some onion I had on hand, a little Olive Oil and some Virgin Islands Spice blend. I then added the broccoli and green beans to the mix and topped the whole batch off with some TJ’s pesto that I had mixed with balsamic, orange juice and a little Dijon mustard. The result was a fresh and satisfying combo with an ear of corn on the side. I couldn’t help but top it off with a sprinkle of goat cheese for some added kick! So tonight I heated the left overs and dug in.