Almost October!?

I cannot believe October starts tomorrow. Time is going by way too fast!!! This is a picture I took two years ago in our first apartment together. We spent halloween night carving pumpkins, decorating cookies, and watching cute family halloween movies.

We like to live on the egde.

But really it was so fun and I definitely want to do it this year. Work today was great--we are starting our unit on Fall and there is no end to the creative fall-themed activities you can do with two year olds. Yay! I went to a new yoga class after work and it was so great, my legs were shaking at some points! Then we took the doggies for a walk. They are both going to the vet tomorrow and I am already feeling Mom guilt for taking them. They hate it and get so so anxious! Boo.

I am starting to feel a lot better, which is good because I have a busy week with lots of fun things going on!

Have a Happy Monday Pretties!

xx,

Pretty Penny

My Sunday Book Review: My Life in France

Ah Mrs. Julia Child. She is one of my most favorite people, and I don't even know her. I'm almost finished with her autobiography My Life in France, and it has been such a fun read!

Julia is funny, honest, and very humble. She tells the story of her love affair with French gastronomy, her marriage, and her journey that began as a home cook and eventually turned her into a household name. She makes me want to go back to Paris and eat my way through, and paints a lovely picture with each page.

This book is not just about food, but is about the passion for a country, its culture, and the entire process of cooking. From learning another language, to shopping in the markets and picking the right ingredients to puttering around the kitchen until you get it just right. Julia's voice shines through her story, and it is as if you are having a conversation with her. What a wonderful treat of a book!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Blueberry Flax Waffles

Happy Sunday everyone :)

Last night's dinner was sooo good. We went to La Sandia in the Stapleton area of Denver, and they were surprisingly really vegetarian friendly. There beans were vegetarian (a lot of mexican restaurants cook their beans with pork), and they had a ton of dishes for us to choose from on the menu. I had the fish tacos and Ben had veggie fajitas. I also ordered a prickly pear-blueberry margarita. For those of you foodies who follow Top Chef, La Sandia is actually Richard Sandoval's restaurant. He was on the current season of Top Chef Masters.

I love their little taco holders.

After dinner we came home and I had the WORST night of sleep. I had an insane allergic attack at one in the morning and could not stop sneezing. I managed to find whatever we had in the medicine cabinet that contained Benadryl and finally fell asleep somewhere between 1 and 2. Then I woke up at 5am and could not breathe out of my nose. Finally that cleared up, and I woke up again at 8am to Choco puking up leaves he ate outside and Ben cleaning it up.

It was definitely a morning that called for a huge coffee and some golden warm blueberry flax waffles. I used the same recipe as the apple cinnamon waffles I made a few weeks ago, but changed a few things. I made them in a belgian style waffle maker, and they turned out so fluffy and buttery. YUM!!

Blueberry Flax Waffles

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flaxmeal
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (we use 0% Stoneyfield organic greek yogurt)
1 cup light vanilla soy milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
1. Preheat waffle iron.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, and flax meal. In another bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Slowly pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Whisk until just combined. Gently fold in the melted butter and blueberries.

3. Grease the waffle iron with butter or cooking spray. Scoop out 1/4 cup of waffle batter, or the amount recommended by your waffle iron's manufacturer. Pour batter onto the hot iron. Smooth the batter to the edge of the grids with a spatula. Close the lid and bake until browned and crisp.

Enjoy!!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Productive Saturday with a side of Paleo Muffin

I am so very happy to report that I am feeling better and finally got some things done today. I hate being unproductive and have a serious case of cabin fever since I have been holed up and sick for the past two days.

First I want to update you on our pescatarian diet and how it is going. Our No Chicken-Chicken Broth was FANTASTIC and all I have been eating is the veggie soup Ben made with this broth. So glad, because this was the one thing I was pretty reticent to give up--every Jewish girl loves herself a bowl of chicken soup.

I honestly have not felt like I've been missing anything in the meat deparment, and we haven't run out of fun recipes and dinner ideas so far. Tonight we are going to a friend's birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant so I'll let you know how that goes!

My day began with a huuuge bowl of oats and a grocery shop for the coming week. Then I came home and had some veggie soup with whole wheat noodles and went to the Apple store because my computer has been acting funky. The genius guy was very helpful and I realized I had wayyy to many videos stored on my laptop and the poor little guy was yelling at me that it was just too full (The computer, not the genius guy). So I left the mall with 70 GB that I did not have previously, and the knowledge of how to back up my computer. Pretty priceless info I would say.

Then Ben and I went on a coffee date. We made a pact to "coffee hop" (is that a thing?) on the weekends and find new and exciting coffee joints around denver. I had a vanilla soy latte and we shared a delish paleo muffin. "Paleo" refers to a paelolithic diet. I just know this because we googled it. That's about all I know, other than the muffin was YUM! After that we went to the bookstore to get a book for me on Wordpress. I am currently transferring this blog to Wordpress (yay!!) which is the bigger, better version of blogger and will allow you guys to comment and explore my blog more easily. It is a lot of work but I am super excited to reveal it to you when I am finished.

I also feel like an internet cave-woman who has been hibernating for the past few years and literally knows nothing about websites or blogging, so bear with me!

Anyhoo, sorry for the all over the place post, but that's just the mood I am in I guess. It could be due to the Robitussin DM or the 2 shots of espresso.

Or both?

Have a happy saturday :)

xx,
Pretty Penny

Carrot Soup

Feeling a little better today and thanking my lucky stars I had these two days off of work. I'm still phlegmy with a yucky cough, but this lunch just gave me a boost of energy and soothed my throat.

I had a big bowl of carrot soup, courtesy of this recipe by Emeril Lagasse. Ben made it a few weeks ago and froze it. Isn't he sweet? I paired it with a thick slice of crusty Udi's bread, toasted with a little butter, and a hard boiled egg (not shown). This is an easy recipe, and is a great way to use up leftover carrots.

Carrot Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 apples, peeled, cored, and diced

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 cup white wine

1 quart chicken stock

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chopped chives, as garnish

Directions

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. 

2. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. 

3. Add apple and carrots and saute for 2 minutes.

4. Carefully add the white wine, chicken, stock, and cumin.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the apples and carrots are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. 

6. Remove from the heat and puree with an immersion blender or, in batches, in a blender. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. 

7. Garnish with chives and serve.

Happy weekend everyone!!

xx,

Pretty Penny

Yuckaroo

I overhead a preschooler use this word once, and it explains just how I feel today.

It turns out my little students gave me their awful little colds (I do teach them to share, don't I?) I woke up this morning with a painful sore throat and cough, and have been sleeping for most of the day. And reading My Life in France, of course.

Those who know me well know that I have an awful immune system when it comes to children. I guess this is my burden to bear because I love kids so much!! Last year I had three sinus infections and numerous stomach flues, and one year I even got pneumonia after a bad case of the flu. Ugh.

I finally opened my eyes for long enough to take a hot shower and write this post. My sweet sweet husband made me a faux chicken and veggie soup, so I am looking forward to eating that for dinner. He found chicken-less chicken broth at Whole Foods so I will let you know how it tastes.

My appetite has not been great and all I've had today was a blueberry banana smoothie and some leftover (and pretty dry) mac n'cheese. Yuckaroo indeed.

xx,
Pretty Penny

Baked Fish and Vegetable Packages in Sake Sauce

Wohoo I am done with work for the week!! Today was a little tough--all of our kids are sick so there noses were running all week and they were pretty exhausted and cranky today. Poor things :(

I don't feel so hot right now and have a really scratchy throat. I am downing wellness pills and emergen-C  and just praying I don't sick. ugh.

Last night we had a very yummy dinner. We made baked cod with veggies and farro on the side. I LOVE farro. It is chewy and nutty and so filling. We made the fish using a recipe that we learned from a couples romantic cooking class we took a few years ago. We didn't have all of the ingredients on hand (mushrooms, cilantro), but it still turned out splendidly. I love baking fish in parchment packets because it comes out buttery soft and packed with flavor every single time.

Baked Salmon and Vegetable Packages in Sake Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. Salmon filet (or any white fish)
2 medium carrot, peeled and chopped or julienned
2 zucchini cut into half-medallions
1 cup mixed mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp. Lime Juice
4 green onions, trimmed and cut into 2" lengths
2 Tsp. Cilantro
3 Tbsp. Sesame oil
1 Tbsp. chopped ginger
1 Tbsp. chopped garlic
4 Tsp. sake
Soy sauce to taste

Directions:
1. Cut four rounds or heart shaped pieces of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place baking sheet into the center of the oven.
2. Slice the fish thinly and keep cold
3. Heat oil in a saute pan and when hot, add the mushrooms. Sprinkle with lime juice and continue to saute for 1 minute.
4. Add the carrots, zucchini, garlic, ginger, green onions, and soy sauce. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
5. Cover one side of the parchment rounds with olive oil. Place equal amounts of vegetables on the rounds.
6. Cover the vegetables with slices of raw fish, slightly overlapping and covering the vegetables. Drizzle sake over the fish and season with salt and pepper. Top with cilantro.
7. Fold each parchment over to make a packet. Fold the edges to seal them tightly.
8. Place on the preheated sheet pan and bake about 5-7 minutes. Serve.

Tonight we are doing our favorite easy comfort meal--Annie's mac n'cheese with steamed broccolli. Today I had tofu, farro, and a ton of roasted veggies for lunch. So far this pescatarian thing is going really well!!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Forks Over Knives

This week is going by so quickly! Tomorrow is technically my friday because I have Thursday and Friday off (such a tough life I know).

So I have a few updates for you all! After we watched Food Inc. Ben and I became very interested in food documentaries, and watched Forks Over Knives. They actually held a viewing of this at UCLA when I was in grad school but I didn't end up going. It focuses on a whole foods, plant-based diet and how the western diet is basically causing a ton of chronic diseases like cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart issues. It was really fascinating and based on research done by a few very knowledgable and experiences doctors. It wasn't as graphic/sensationalized as Food Inc., but was pretty grounded in evidence, and another eye-opener.

So for the update...Ben and I have decided to try being pescatarian (no meat no chicken, just fish) for two weeks!!!! (I know what you think...are you guys crazy????). For me it is not really a huge change because I can't bring meat lunches to work anyways because of kashrut reasons, and I don't eat a ton of meat to begin with. We just really wanted to see how we can incorporate more veggies into our diet, and how to find non-meat protein sources.

We both had a lengthy discussion about dairy and eggs, because according to this kind of diet you really should avoid these as well, but let's get real: I could NEVER live without cheese, yogurt, or a comforting plate of scrambles eggs on toast every once in awhile. I mean even I have my limits.

So we started our pescatarian diet on Sunday and so far it has been great. I will try to post as many meals as I can to let you know how it is going.

Last night we ate homemade black bean burgers (recipe from the Veganomicon cookbook), roasted sweet potatoes, and sautéed spinach.

Tonight we are having cod with zucchini and carrots, and Farro. I will let you know how it turns out!

Happy Tuesday!
xx,
Pretty Penny

Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Happy Fall Pretties!

I am so looking forward to fall in Denver. We actually have seasons here--I'm talking chilly temps and gorgeous autumn changing leaves, something I am so not used to. I am already feeling a chill in the air and it makes me absolutely giddy. I am definitely looking forward to hiding in a chunky scarf and unearthing my boots and sweaters from our basement. So in the spirit of my favorite season,  I tried a this pumpkin bread recipe, and it did not disappoint!!

This delicious bread came out moist and bursting with flavor from the nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. I also used a new spice I got from Penzeys Spices called cake spice, that is made up of star anise, china cinnamon, and cloves. YUM-O!!

I adapted this recipe and made it a little healthier by using 1 cup of ww flour and 3/4 cup of oat flour. I also used apple sauce instead of oil, and added bittersweet chocolate chips (of course). I have to tell you that you will not miss the oil AT ALL. The applesauce and pumpkin both do a fine job of keeping it moist. You can add flax meal or walnuts instead of chocolate chips for a nuttier texture.

Happy Baking!

-Pretty Penny

A Sunday Book Review

So I finished The Storyteller last night. It took me two days to read this book because I could.not.put.it.down. I love historical non-fiction with a side of mystery, and a lot of Jodi Picoult's novels are like that. She just sucks you in from page one and you're a goner.

I had no idea that this book had anything to do with the Holocaust or WWII, but (without giving too much away) it focused on the Nazi Germany, and how so many SS soldiers escaped and moved to the US and basically started there lives over without any consequences for their actions. The book is written from the perspective of a few different characters which is a style of writing I love.

And of course somehow Ms. Picoult ties in a love story as well. Now go make some tea, clear your schedule, and read this book!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Saturday Fun & A Restaurant Review

I have had the most productive Saturday! I realllly wanted to stay in bed and read all day, but I got off my butt and ran some errands so I could free up my day a little tomorrow. I did my grocery shopping, laundry, and met one of my favorite people (Bre) to get a mani/pedi. It is still a thousand degrees here, so Iced lattes were also involved. We had the best chat, and it reminded me how much I love girl time.

I also picked up Sammy the Spider's First Simchat Torah for to read to my kids next week. The library ordered it for me from another branch. LOVE that! The whole Sammy the Spider series is SO cute.

I wanted to tell you guys about the awesome dinner we had at Watercourse Foods a few nights ago. It is an all vegetarian restaurant with some vegan options, and it was so yummy! We ordered veggie/tofu potstickers to start, then shared sweet potato/black bean tacos and a veggie panini that had beets and zucchini in it. This girl was in veggie heaven!

I really love Denver because there is literally something for everyone, especially if you are an organic foodie like me!

I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon reading The Storyteller (the Jodi Picoult book I picked up at the library). OMG I read three hundred pages yesterday!! I seriously can't put it down. Will let you know what I think once I am finished.

Happy Saturday Pretties!!
xx,
Pretty Penny

Libraries and Dogbabies=Perfect Day

Today was the perfect day! I had work off, so I slept in and had a big bowl of my yummy maple almond butter oatmeal. After breakfast I took the dogbabies for a nice 45 minute walk, then dropped them off at the groomer. They were sooo stinky! The groomer was having a little "dog grooming academy" going on today, so the girls who groomed the pups were actually in training, and I got $20 off grooming. Nice!

I then treated myself to a cool and creamy iced soy latte. The Peets Coffee near my house has this amazing coconut syrup that is actually only offered during summer, but the baristas love it so much that they requested to have it ordered year-round. Totally made my day, as I was craving a coconut iced latte! I snacked on van's granola bar with it. Yum!

Then I went to sign up for a library card (finally!). I absolutely cannot buy any more books because I finish them so quickly, and have no more room in our condo for them! The Cherry Creek library is so beautiful and modern inside...I was like a kid in a candy store. I spent about an hour there and went a little bananas.

I got some books to read to the kiddos during circle time. I really wanted Sammy Spider's First Simchat Torah but they didn't have it. They ordered it for me though, so I'm picking it up tomorrow!

I picked out these for myself. I chose Julia Child's autobiography "My Life in France", a book called "The Storyteller" by Jodi Picoult, and a cookbook called "Veganomicon" that I have been wanting to look at for a few weeks now. Who new that libraries had entire cookbook sections???? Life changed.

I just picked up the babies from the groomer, and they look and smell terrific! 

Choco is a little peeved that he had to get groomed.

Now I'm going to lounge around and read until Ben gets home. We are going to have a date night tonight which I am so excited for because we are trying out a new restaurant here called Watercourse Foods. Ben has been gone all week for business, so I'm looking forward to having some quality time with him.

Stay tuned for my review on dinner. Have an awesome thursday pretties!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Eye-Opener

Ben and I were really in the mood to watch a movie the other night, but nothing looked good, so we settled on a documentary called Food Inc. It was AMAZING, and pretty life changing. It focused on the few large corporations that have complete control over the food industry--particularly meat and poultry. They even went into chicken and cow farms (if that's what you want to call them), and I had to close my eyes during these parts. It is seriously horrifying the way these animals are treated. So spoiler alert: This movie can get a little graphic!

Food Inc. really validated why we have chosen to eat only organic, cage-free chicken and eggs. We don't eat red meat at home, and will definitely not be eating it out anymore :( I was shocked to find out about the veil that exists between our food and where it really comes from. I highly encourage you to watch this eye-opening film!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Soba Stir Fry

Hello Again!

I had to share the tasty dinner I made last night with you! I tried soba (japanese buckwheat noodles) for the first time, and I am hooked! Don't get turned off by the greyish color, these noodles are packed with flavor and have 6 grams of protein per cup. They also lose about 80% of their sodium when you cook them in unsalted water.

For this dish, I cooked the noodles, and while I was doing that, I stir-fried some veggies in an amazing miso sauce. This girl loves her veggies!

Then I mixed the veggies with the noodles and proceeded to eat one of the most unreal asian dinners I have ever cooked. Amen.

Ingredients for Miso Sauce:
1 tablsepoon oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon yuzu

I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light. It is originally used for fish. I changed it a little by adding Mirin and Yuzu.

Happy Cooking!
-Pretty Penny

Short, Sweaty Week and a Smoothie

Hey Pretties!

I am having such a good week! I can't believe tomorrow is my last day of work for the week--gotta love Jewish holidays! Today after work I went to acupuncture, then got my bangs trimmed (one of the downsides of having bangs--the upkeep!)

I came home SO overheated because the acupuncturist used a heat lamp on me as part of the treatment, the hair stylist used a hot blow dryer on my bangs, and did I mention it is NINETY degrees outside? Ugh. How was it flooding on Sunday and now it's boiling?

Anyways, I was sweaty and starving when I got home (not the best combination) and craving something cold, so I made this delicious blueberry banana smoothie:

I just took 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, 1/2 a banana, 1 cup almond milk, and 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder and blended it all together. It was creamy and delicious; the perfect "cool down" snack. And I got to use my new ball jar. It has a hole for a straw on the top, and this makes me very happy. It's the little things.

Hope you all have a fantastic evening!!

xx,

Pretty Penny

Potato Peel Pie?

Hi Pretties!

Hope you're all having a good Monday! I had a good day with the kiddos and a nice workout after work. Our power went out during the last hour of the day.This rain is doing some crazy things. I am going to try a new recipe for dinner tonight using soba noodles, so I will let you know how that goes!

I wanted to let you know about a really good book I'm reading. It's called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (say that ten times fast!) It is a beautiful novel set right after World War II and written in the form of letters between a writer named Juliet, her dear friends, and the members of a little town named Guernsey located on the channel islands. It is a great read if you like historic novels, and it delves into the hardships of WWII, while staying lighthearted and humorous. I haven't finished it yet but I am really liking it so far. I also found out that they may be making a movie based on the novel, but I don't think any movie can do this wonderful writing justice. So go read it!

xx,
Pretty Penny

Chickpea Curry

The weekend is almost over!! I am savoring every last minute. So are my doggies...

 They have been lounging all day.

Today has been such a great day. My yoga class was so wonderful, and more than made up for last week's disaster. It was also the first class I have done with barely any pain. Woohoo!!!

I came home, had a lovely chat with my sister on the phone, then got to work on dinner. I found a recipe on Cooking Light for chickpea curry and it just sounded soo good for this cold and rainy evening. I had to really doctor this recipe because it had no taste at all. I added about a tsp. of curry powder, 1 1/2 tsp. of salt, and some pepper and garlic powder to taste. I think the next time I make it I will sauté real garlic with the onions. Once I added the appropriate spices, it was delicious!

I ate the curry over brown rice. It was so good I went back for seconds. This was a great post-workout meal. Did you know that 1 cup of chickpeas has 15 grams of protein?

Time for dessert, a hallmark movie, a little reading, then bed! Yes, I am 80 years old.

xx,

Pretty Penny

Lazy Sunday

Ahhh. I love a lazy, rainy sunday.

This morning I went to Sprouts (love that place!) and came home to make lunch and bake cookies. I've been reading the Eat Live Run blog and in some of her earlier posts Jenna talks about these Super Charge Me Cookies. They sounded so good, and I really needed a new (healthy) cookie recipe that wasn't the same-old oatmeal raisin.

The recipe if from the Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan cookbook, but can be found here as well. I adapted it by using oat flour instead of spelt flour because that is what I had on hand.

 I love that this recipe uses almond butter and maple syrup. And chocolate of course!

Almost ready to eat!

Yum. Excited to pack one of these for lunch at work tomorrow.They came out deliciously sweet and very nutty. 

I'm off to a yoga class and will be back later to make a yummy new recipe for dinner, so stay tuned!

xx,

Pretty Penny

Bridal Shower Tea

I have something very pretty to share with you all...

This past April I was lucky enough to have two amazing bridal showers, one here in Denver, and one in San Diego. The latter was a tea-themed shower put together for me by my mom, my auntie Denise, my cousin Myrice, and Marlene (my best friend Giuliette's mom).

The shower was held at Claudia's Tea House, a charming and elegant tea room located in a private home in Del Mar, California. Claudia not only has a tea room and little gift shop, but has also created a life-sized doll house on her property as well. Claudia has fulfilled every little girl's dream, including mine, and it was so fun to celebrate my bridal shower here.

The room was decorated with pinks and florals, and a shabby chic banner that read "Penny & Ben"

Our engagement pictures were placed around the room in frames. It felt like my dream shabby chic dollhouse. There is even a little room for dress up, filled with big hats and feather boas.

Claudia printed an excerpt from my blog and placed a copy on each place setting. I was so excited to see Pretty Penny featured at my shower.

Claudia served delectable tea sandwiches and scones with jam and cream. There was plenty of tea, of course :)

Can you guys you believe this cake!!?? Cucpakes, rosette, and little monogrammed toppers--my life is complete. Did I mention this perfect treat was a carrot cake with pink cream cheese frosting? These women know the way to my heart.

Too pretty to eat, but too good not to!

Mama Bear and I. She is the true tea-drinker. No coffee for her, just black tea with lot's of milk. And maybe a square of chocolate with nuts :) I am so definitely her daughter.

There was also had a scrapbook station, where guests were able decorate a page. I used to love scrapbooking when I was younger. I feel like this blog is my grown-up version of a life scrapbook.

My sister, dad, and I. He came to visit right at the end. I'm holding flowers that Ben brought for me. He brought some for Mom too.

My groom and his wonderful parents. I am so lucky to have the best in-laws. Seriously, I actually LOVE them! And Ben is a carbon copy of his Dad. Crazy!

 We gave out little measuring spoons as favors.

I love the detailed labels. Anyone who knows me know that I LOVE a pretty label. 

Or any label really :)

The bride and groom.

Thank you mommy, Denise, Myrice, and Marlene for throwing me the most memorable shower a princess could ask for. I will never forget the sweet scones with jam, the fragrant tea, and the immense love in the room. What a special day.

xo,

Pretty Penny