Caroline Dines

This Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Little Compton Rhode Island to kick of the summer season with my family! It couldn’t have been a nicer weekend and I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed yourselves as well wherever that may have been!

Sunday morning began with an early (before breakfast!) run. I don’t normally exercise on an empty stomach since I have heard that this can be counter productive. I did manage to get in a half a banana and a little bit of soy nut butter (not pictured) before hitting the pavement. This held me over nicely and made the run enjoyable, not unbearable like it can be when you are really hungry! I think the quality of my run also had something to do with the beautiful scenery and my brand new Mizuno’s! I love the new color and can’t believe that I lasted this long!

I also felt pretty powerful with my new bondi band. Knowing that I have run 26.2 miles successfully powers me through a 7 mile run no problem!

My cousin Meg and I both ran 7 miles (a new PDR for her!) and were loving life when we returned. I managed to run mine in 1:00 exactly which puts me at about a 8:50ish pace which I was pretty proud of.

Needless to say I was ready for breakfast by the time I had stretched out and cooled down a bit. I didn’t want a big one because my appetite is always more suppressed having just run a longer distance. So what better than a big glass of ice water and a tub of Pineapple Chobani topped with my Mom’s homemade granola?

I guess it can only be made better being eaten with a snoopy spoon that brings me right back to my childhood! I always dig this out of the back of the silverware drawer when I am at my Nana’s. It’s kind of tradition.

After breakfast, we all changed and readied ourselves for the beach. Lunches were packed, sunscreen was applied and the car was stuffed full!

The whole crew made it including my Nana who just had a knee replacement last month! I was so impressed with her progress and pleased that she was able to be a part of such a gorgeous beach day, since she is not one to sit at home and loves the beach just as much as I do!

Once we set up shop, it was time for utter relaxation. Nothing better than this in my opinion. I even managed to go swimming (stayed in for about 15 minutes, in the surf!) which makes coming back to a warm towel that much more enjoyable.

Of course lunch was a high point of the day and the highlight of my lunch should have been these Food Should Taste Good chips. You see I received a box, a HUGE box, of all the different varieties last week and have been planning to mention them on the blog ever since. I had yet to try the multi-grain and so decided to incorporate this small bag into my lunch. My Mom and I had agreed to split them but she ate lunch first and kind of forgot to portion her chips out and instead ate all but one and half chips! I can say that the one chip I did eat tasted amazing and I am glad that I have many more bags to go through. This company has it figured out. Real ingredient, awesome flavors and a truthful product name. These are definitely my “go-to” chip. That being said, in all fairness I did bring the chips for my Mom to sample so I guess it’s alright that she enjoyed them.

It’s also completely excusable because she gave me half of her homemade potato salad to bulk up my spinach and chicken salad.

The potato salad was from Cooking Light and was different than other varieties in that it didn’t contain a mayonnaise based dressing. I believe it was simply rice wine vinegar, a little oil and some herbs that made the flavor pop! The potatoes really soaked up the flavors and after reading an article in Women’s Health that highlighted cold potatoes as a “hunger buster” (due to the special kind of starch they contain which resists certain digestive enzymes), I think I will be incorporating a lot more potato salads this summer.

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Added to the mix were some cornichons, you can never go wrong with a pickle!

And as a special treat, the first local strawberries of the season. Oh yea, this is what a strawberry is supposed to taste like!

After a long day in the sun we returned home to get ready for an evening of festivities. I quenched my thirst with some Iced Tea that we had made up earlier in the morning.

I have found a new love for homemade iced tea. It’s so easy, customizable and cheap! Why not?

After showers, croquet was set up and enjoyed by many.

While I normally love a game of croquet, I was busy getting things laid out for the celebration about to ensue. My cousin Charlie is graduating from high school next weekend and we had planned an extra special gathering in his honor. I brought some Fromage Blanc produced by the Foxboro Cheese Co. purchased at the Copley Farmer’s Market. The flavor was lemon honey and while I was nervous that it might be too mild for my family who tends to like bold flavors, everyone raved about it. Success!

I served it with TJ’s water crackers. At 90 cents a box, they’re a pretty good deal and I happen to have a real affinity for simple water crackers.

The other noteworthy purchase of the night was actually bought in the village of Little Compton at Wilbur’s General Store. We went in search of “Diet Tonic Water” because we had a craving for Gin and Tonics but honestly none of us really wanted any artificial sweeteners in our tonic. I was so happy when I found this four pack of “Naturally Light” Indian Tonic Water. The bottle contains 40 calories and has just a lesser amount of fruit sugar added to it. Sounds good to me!

Added to a little shot of gin, a squirt of lemon and lime juice, some ice and you have the perfect summer beverage!

Cool and crisp.

The theme for the night was “cook-out”. Pretty typical Memorial Day fare. However, we added my Mom’s freshly made hamburger buns.

All the fixings including Nana’s famous Coleslaw, baked beans, and my aunt Beth’s corn and black bean salad which had fresh basil added to it. Yum. This salad made me excited for corn on the cob!

And local beef from Bethel! I decided to have a half a burger since I wasn’t starving and wanted to enjoy the other sides. Beans of any variety happen to be one of my favorites.

Just as the sun was setting we brought out the Texas Sheet Cake and sang a Happy Graduation (to the tune of Happy Birthday) song to my cousin. The perfect conclusion to a well executed meal.

This morning we awoke bright early to another gorgeous day. Sadly we all had to go home today but we had one last goal and that was to take a ride in my Dad’s new (to him) boat!

I started out up front where my Mom and Meg are pictured here but soon retreated back with my Dad since I was scared by how fast we were going! I love going fast but I am just not used to such a powerful boat yet. My Dad was quick to say we weren’t even at full power yet…yikes!

To say my Dad was happy would be a complete understatement. He has been waiting his whole life to have an awesome boat and was completely in his element! So happy for him!

We’ve always had older boats (like picture 1960’s style) that were fun when they worked but generally un-reliable. I think this summer we’ll be taking lots of boat trips so get ready for more appearances by “The Black Tern”. 

After taking the boat out and packing up the car, it was sadly time to return to the city. I poured myself a bit of iced tea into the tonic bottle and corked it off for the ride home. While I was sad to see the weekend come to an end, I am so excited for the rest of the summer. I can’t believe tomorrow is June 1st (Happy Birthday Darin!); nice to think we still have it all in front of us!

This morning I woke up still full from last night’s office party. The food was a little “too” good (if that’s possible) and I didn’t feel hungry for breakfast. Just before leaving for Hingham, I had a clementine and literally two bites of cottage cheese. This with a big glass of water was enough to fuel me up for some serious shopping! We hit the Derby Street shops in Hingham which are both overwhelming and really exciting at the same time. I was pleased to find some fabulous Christmas presents and also a few items for myself on major sale! Just as I was starting to fade with hunger pains, we moved over to Whole Foods which is actually at the same complex as all the retail stores (such an awesome concept!). As I was perusing the salad bar for lunch, I sampled this spicy chutney. I love free samples.  

It was tough to make a decision since the soups, hot bar, and deli looked very enticing at this particular Whole Foods. I ended up going with the salad bar which turned out to be a “fruitful” decision. The stars of this bowl were the following:

• Red Quinoa with Roasted Almonds, Feta and Dried Blueberries
• Shanghai Dumplings
• Sweet and Sour Tofu
• Cabbage Crunch Salad

I really enjoy salad bars, since I am so into mixing flavors together. The quinoa was definitely the best (blueberry and feta?!), followed closely by the sweet and sour tofu. Everyone made fun of me because my bowl was the “heaviest” of the salads that were purchased. It was under a pound so, whatever, I was hungry!

After this filling lunch, we continued shopping in downtown Hingham. Both my parents grew up here so we did a little cruise through the neighborhood which stirred some emotions and brought up happy memories for all. After such a long day of shopping we were all beat and decided to retire early to my Uncle’s house for some munchies and wine. My aunt offered me a glass of this lovely Cote du Rhone from France and I eagerly accepted.

The scene for the rest of the evening looked something like this. Here is my cousin Meg and Nana enjoying some “cozy time” on the couch.

My Nana is famous for her cheese dip which made a BIG appearance at the gathering tonight. We polished off the dish fairly easily. 

There also may have been a log of cranberry goat cheese that somehow disappeared within 40 minutes. My family likes cheese, what can I say.

After all these snacks, I wasn’t that hungry but I made room for my Aunt’s Aprciot Lamb Tagine and Cous Cous. The lamb had been simmering in the Crock Pot all day so it was so literally falling apart.

We also had my Mom’s Local Beef Lasagna (kind of a random combo, but it worked) which was heavenly.

A fresh salad made with apples and blueberries was the perfect addition to get my green fix.

And the final piece de resistance, my Mom’s Texas Sheet Cake which she makes every time we are together. It was particularly fudgy tonight though.

Since the main reason for our gathering was to celebrate my Uncle Rob’s birthday, I thought it suitable to include a picture of him in his favorite get up. He kind of thinks he’s Napoleon, don’t ask. Happy Birthday Robbie!

EDITED FOR A VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE! It’s SNOWING for the first time! We all just ran outside and threw a couple snow balls around. It’s quite wet and will most likely be gone by morning but we took it as a “festivus miracle” and enjoyed every minute of it!

My day started off bright and early with a quick trip the doctor. I managed to shove in eat this lovely crumpet with jam before running out the door.

And a huge mug of tea was necessary to help me swallow. The doctor’s visit was worth it I guess.  I found out I DON’T have strep throat which is good but disappointing because I would have been able to take medicine to cure this awful sore throat that has plagued me for the last week! They told me that it was most likely a viral infection that should run it’s course. She told me I could take loads of Ibuprofen and use Cepacol to numb the pain. Has anyone ever used Cepacol (numbing cherry flavored spray)? I advise against it. It basically made me gag so bad my eyes watered and left my whole mouth feeling uncomfortably numb. I think I’ll stick with Ibuprofen and loads of good tasting throat lozenges, thank you.

Lunch was quick, just like breakfast. I was on my way out the door, to run errands in Cambridge, and didn’t have much time. Oh well, my little tasting platter held me over well.

The best part was definintely the pickles. These guys are from TJ’s and wicked salty! Love that. I also grabbed another Ak-Mak and string cheese for the road.

After being out and about all day I was starving by the time I got home. I ate another string cheese (light TJ’s brand) to hold me over while I prepared dinner. Tonight’s dinner has been in my mind for the past two weeks. It was actually inspired by Simply Life’s post on Spaghetti Squash. I have always been intimidated by this vegetable and figured it was time to conquer my fear. I put the entire squash in the oven at 375 degrees for a little over an hour.  I pierced the skin with a sharp knife multiple times before baking. When the squash was nearing the end of cooking, I scrambled some Grass Fed beef in a pan with a little salt and pepper. I then added one jar of TJ’s organic marinara sauce and a can of sliced black olives. After scooping out the seeds from the squash, I was left with just the “spaghetti” part. This was fun! I used a fork to pull it all away from the skin. It was a lot easier than I thought, and made real spaghetti strands! I guess I should have guessed that it would look like this but I was impressed. I served it up as I would any pasta dish.

OH MY GOD! This dinner just brought new meaning to my life. O.K. not to be overdramatic but seriously! I think I actually prefer this to real spaghetti! How cool is it to get your veggie this way? This was my kind of comfort food, perfect for a cold and rainy night.  I am thinking next time of making a Spaghetti Pie…oh the possibilities!

Now this delicious meal was hard to top but a little dish of J.P. Licks Chocolate Chip Cookie Fro Yo just about did it. It also did wonders for my sore throat. I might need just a tad more.

My weekend in Maine concluded with a family gathering to honor my Grandfather who passed away this April. My Grandmother, Great Aunt, and two of my aunts came for the day which went from being gloomy and overcast to sunny and warm (an unexpected treat which meant we got to dine on the porch instead of inside).  I started my day by eating a hearty bowl of steel cut oats that my Mom cooked up the night before. We topped them off with a scoop of apple butter and some sliced almonds and splash of milk.

This bowl filled me up enough but when the candy corn hit the table as an “appetizer” of sorts I couldn’t control myself! Big surprise. I probably had 30 pieces total…too much sugar! Oh well I am not planning on buying myself a bag because I know that would be disastrous. This was my fix for now.

I did manage to save room for our lunch of soup and bread though. My mom made a hamburg and potato soup which was a different take on a traditional beef stew. She wanted to use the local grass fed hamburg that we had in the freezer instead of purchasing regular old beef. While it was very simple; the potato, carrot and hamburg in the light broth were just perfect for the autumn day with a summer feel to it.

I had two bowls this size with plenty of homemade bread on the side.

We also split a bottle of wine 8 ways. I had a little more than my fair share but certainly no more than one full glass. The wine was from Trader Joe’s (picked it up before heading to Maine, the land of no TJ’s!) and was sparkling white made from organically grown grapes and was produced in Spain. Everyone loved it and at 5.99 a bottle I will be adding this to my cart the next time I go.

As I have pointed out before, my Mother’s side of the family is famous for their desserts and at family gatherings we usually have at least two desserts to enjoy. Today my aunt made a Swedish style Apple pie (no crust on the bottom) which had fresh Maine apples and pecans (I think)  in it.  

I cut myself a good sized piece (wish I had cut more since it was sooo good). The “crust” which was more like a cake consistency on the top was made with oil instead of butter.

Having a smaller piece of the pie meant that I could justify two of these babies. Granny’s famous brownies that I have discussed before.

This weekend home was absolutely what I have needed and I am so glad that it included a visit from my extended family. They always go by way too quickly though and I can’t wait for the next time already. You can tell in this picture Darin was getting antsy to get in the car and get home (having a long three and half hour trip is no fun to anticipate).

Lucky for us our ride home was made more enjoyable by getting to be “leaf peepers” and check out the beautiful foliage.  This shot was taken just up the road from my house and it always reminds me of my Grandfather because it was his favorite place to visit in Bethel. Darin stopped so I could take some pics and enjoy a moment thinking of him.

Sorry for being M.I.A. all day long. It has been a peaceful and relaxing day around here which started with an awesome yoga practice. The instructor today mixed things up by adding half moon at the beginning and throwing in a few crows. I was successful in both of these poses which made me feel so great! It’s amazing what you can actually do if you just turn your mind off and allow yourself to go for it! I fueled up for yoga with a messy bowl of yogurt, panda puffs, banana, and almond butter.

While walking home from yoga in the bright beautiful sun, I planned out the rest of my day. Since it was so gorgeous and I wasn’t sure how many of these days we have left, I thought a trip to the park with some good reading material was in order. I brought with me a water bottle full of Iced Mango Green Tea, a green apple and a green bar!

This Greens plus chocolate energy bar was recommended to me by my good friend Dain.  I picked it up at Trader Joe’s last week and have been waiting for a good opportunity to try it. Today was perfect because I didn’t feel like eating a big lunch but knew that I needed to eat something good and nutritious after sweating everything out in yoga.

This bar tasted like a candy bar but better. Seriously! It was soft, chewy and the chocolate coating was to die for! The best thing was that it didn’t give you that awful sugar high afterwards and kept you full better than any snickers bar could ever hope to do. I will definitely be getting these again. It is the perfect bar in my opinion when you can’t eat lunch and need to supplement with something. With ingredients like Medjool dates, barley grass, organic wheat grass and Montana bee pollen, this bar is unique in everyway. The inside was almost as green as the grass I was sitting on.

I had the best afternoon laying in the sun and reading my new book! I am about 70 pages in and have learned so much already. I love her style; real, honest and helpful. For instance today I read about how to spot a mediocre restaurant. One of the tips that stuck in my mind is to try to avoid restaurants that have really ideal placement (like right next to a national landmark). These restaurants don’t have to try with their cuisine as hard as other restaurants because they have the advertising and the foot traffic no matter what they do. A little food for thought. When I came home from the park I quickly showered and got ready to visit the hospital for some business that I needed to take care of. After that it was time for work but I chugged an Amazing Grass shake just before heading in. I almost stopped at Starbucks for a Vivano Smoothie but decided the shake I could create at home would be even better and cost me less! Here it is: half water, half almond milk and one packet of Amazing Grass Chocolate.

Dinner fit in perfectly with the “laid back” attitude I have had all day. I used the left over Chunky Beef and Basil Tomato Sauce from last night and made a weird take on a quesadilla.

Whole wheat flour tortillas, pepperjack cheese and a little Pam in the pan helped pull it all together.

And for dessert I snagged one of these oatmeal raisin cookies that were donated to the house this afternoon.  Tomorrow I will be back at the farm and hope to get things back in working order around the apartment. I just lacked the motivation today to put away laundry, vaccuum or do any of the things that I normally do on a Monday. Oh well, it will all still be there tomorrow

After a somewhat boring day of food in my opinion, dinner needed to seriously step up in order for the day to be a success. I have been planning this meal since I saw Heather’s post on a “Healthier Cream Sauce” on Tuesday.

The ingredients for dinner are pictured below.  The spinach and goat cheese were used for a salad on the side. I cooked the sprouted grain penne pasta according to the directions on the box and was surprised at how quickly it cooked up. They warn you to not over cook it which is good because I would have left it longer since I am used to whole wheat pasta taking forever. The penne cooked up lighter than whole wheat pasta and had a delicious nutty texture to it.  I liked the fact that it was sprouted because I have read about the health benefits of eating sprouted whole grains as opposed to your typical whole grains.

To make the sauce I followed Heather’s process but used slightly different ingredients. You basically just throw everything in together and let it simmer down a bit. You seriously can’t mess this up!

Chunky Beef and Basil Tomato Sauce

14.5 oz. can of diced tomatos (I used no salt added TJ’s brand)

8 oz. can of tomato sauce (found in the pantry of the house kitchen, didn’t realize I would need the extra liquid)

1 tbs. garlic

3 tbs. grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. olive oil

large handful of torn basil (use as much or as little as you like)

1 lb. ground grass-fed beef (browned)

salt and pepper to taste

This picture was taken before I added the extra tomato sauce and beef.

Here it is right before plating. I browned the beef almost compeltely in a separate pan and then added it to the sauce just before it was done.

I kept tasting it while it was cooking and I couldn’t believe how it was turning out! I hate to say it but I have never made my own tomato sauce because I was scared that I would mess it up. Even when I was buying the ingredients for this I bought a jar of sauce just in case I needed it! I guess I should have realized that you can’t really go wrong with the ingredients listed above. My goal is to at somepoint create a sauce completely from scratch; using fresh everything! This was a huge step in the right direction though.

The pasta paired perfectly with this thick and chunky sauce. I would say that the sauce made about 5 servings? I gave Darin a big heaping spoonful because we both realized after he returned from a run that he hadn’t eaten anything today other than a bite of my bread and that coffee! This freaked me out when I realized it and made the dinner earlier than normal so that he could eat something hearty. He had plenty of opportunities to eat it’s just funny that it never really crossed his mind.  When I brought him his plate back to the apartment his eyes lit up and all he said was “wow, thanks!”. I just smiled.  I honestly don’t understand how someone can go without eating all day, it’s not like he didn’t have the chance! It just doesn’t make sense to me. I guess this proves opposites really do attract

Holy cow (pun intended), this burger was amazing! It was made with the meat I purchased at the Farmer’s Market weeks ago (I froze it).  I am a huge believer in buying local, grass fed meat since watching the movie Food Inc.  This burger added proof of what I already knew; grass fed is better in all regards! added salt, pepper, chili powder, and some garlic powder for fun.Then I hand shaped 4 patties (1/4 lb. each) and threw them in a skillet on the stove top since I have no grill.  I sprinkled a small amount of Parmesan cheese  on top while the burger was cooking on the second side. The bun was another one of Matt’s creations which took the burger to the next level.

For the vegetable component a small salad of baby spinach and baby carrots was served alongside. I don’t normally buy baby carrots because I prefer to eat the whole thing and find it tastes better. These were purchased because I am hoping they might encourage Darin to eat more of them.

For dessert I had about a 1/3 of a cup of TJ’s Plain Frozen Yogurt. This stuff is the best. Seriously. Tart tangy and not loaded with any artificial anything. It’s fro yo in it’s purest form.