new year, new food.

Happy Monday!  As we head into this new year, I've been making an effort to spend time in a new place, the kitchen.  Uh huh, you heard that right.  Last year I made a few soups and simple appetizers.  Now, don't get to thinking that I'm gonna get all crazy and whip up some 5 course dinner...yay, not gonna happen.  But I do plan on making even more of an effort on making meals this year.  Please do remember though, a cheese plate to me is totally a reasonable meal, so I'm starting out slow and these below dishes are giving me major inspiration.

{soup}, {bruschetta}, {watermelon}

comfort.

Oh hellllllo there, I am back.  Apologies for my little hiatus, but I got a bad case of food poisoning that literally knocked me on my back for a few days.  Wowza.  Well, thank goodness that's over and here I am.  And while I do my best to get back into the swing of things, here are a few cozy comforts that have been on my mind this week while my poor little stomach has healed.  Hope you are all feeling well.

{soup}, {bath}, {blanket}

avo avo avo.

I've been on an avocado binge the past month.  I just can't seem to get enough.  And then I spotted these two simple recipes using them (here and here) and well I guess you can say that the obsession will continue.

{one}, {two}

pressed cleanse.

I finished up day 3 of my cleanse last night and I'm feeling great.  Seriously, I did NOT feel hungry once.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it last time I did a cleanse, but it's actually hard for me to even finish all of the juice.  There really is that much of it (I was literally starting a new juice every two hours).  This round I did a Pressed Juicery cleanse and it was great.  I went to pick mine up locally so I got to modify the juices a bit to what I wanted.  The ones I picked were: greens 6, citrus 3, roots 3, citrus 4, greens 5, and vanilla almond.  I'm not sure if the vanilla almond even counts cause it pretty much tastes like dessert.  My cleansing days are far from over.  Next time I might even try it for 5-days (eeeekkk, but please don't hold me to that). 

{photos courtesy of pressed juicery}

dipped dishes.

Oh helllloooo there gold dipped dishes.  Where have you been my whole life?  I mean, is someone kidding me?!?  These need to get into my home immediately.  And what would I put on these beauties?  Well perhaps one of my all time favorite desserts, lemon bars.  My mom honestly makes the best bars (I need to steal her recipe).  Check out this new recipe I found that adds a bit of rosemary to the crust...yum!

{plates}, {bars}

happy monday.

Eeekkkk, is it Monday already?!?  Where did the weekend go, seriously!  Well we had a great one and I hope you did too.  We tried out a new restaurant that I think might become one of my faves, Bar Jules.  Simply amazing!  We spent Sunday afternoon sipping on coffee at The Mill and then walked down to Bi-Rite to try out their famous ice cream (can you believe we hadn't tried it yet? SO good).  Isn't it the best feeling to discover new amazing food and drink spots in your city?  I love it.  So, while I'm not ready for Monday to begin quite yet, I'll be dreaming of the treats we consumed over the weekend. (psssst...get my new long sweater here.  I'm obsessed with it.)

{dining outdoors at bar jules}, {my sweater}

dinner by me.

This might not sound like breaking news, but believe me it is...I made dinner last night.  Yep, all by myself (note: I did have to call my sister once to verify the cooking time).  Ha!  So, in case you didn't already know, my husband is the chef in this home...but he might have some competition now.  What I made wasn't anything fancy or crazy (I made vegetarian enchiladas), but I gotta say they were darn good.  And I actually kind of enjoyed being in the kitchen.  Here's to more dinners cooked by yours truly (but I'm not making any promises).  p.s. How pretty are these kitchens?  A girl can dream.

{marble}, {white cabinets}

summertime salads.

Summer means lots and lots of gatherings with friends + family...friends + family who actually have some outdoor space.  ha!  I love getting together for potluck style dinners in the early summer evening hours.  This year I want to try out some yummy fresh salads and these two are high on my list.  This tomato and watermelon salad looks so refreshing.  This mexican corn salad already has my mouth watering.  yum!

{watermelon}, {corn}

breakfast.

Truth: I'm not really a breakfast eater.  I know, I know...breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I'm trying to be better about it, but when I wake up eating is the last thing I feel like doing.  Ummmm, especially since I eat lunch around 11:30am, no joke.  So I'm slowly but surely working on it.  One of my favorite light breakfast meals has been greek yogurt with a bit of honey.  So so so good and hey, it doesn't require me to actually "cook" anything...score!

{yogurt}