tiny bubbles.

well, it's a wonderful day in the neighborhood friends! thanks to my lovely emilia, i have discovered hiball energy drink which (insert drum roll please!) has NO citric acid...citric acid gives me heartburn, so i avoid it at all costs and believe me when i say that literally everything has citric acid in it, especially beverages, so it's a BIG day. i haven't tried it yet (because i need to find them first at a grocery near me) but i will keep everyone posted - carbonation! - can't wait!

[image via thespiritworld]

'tis the season

well, i am just about as happy as a girl could get...both the blueberries AND the raspberries are turning ripe this week in our garden, my bland gluten-free cereal will sing with delight in the morning!

+++PLUS+++
the rest of the garden (including weeds...!) is coming along quite nicely as well, check out the bounty from today, YUM.

[photos by kristy for thingsihearttoday]

lil vacay.

randomly went to the mountains this weekend with my friend tara and her family. they have a cabin just outside of rangeley, maine and it is dubbed "the lodge" by people who refuse to call it "camp" because it is 4-star ready. it was a long weekend full of fun and food, YUM, did we eat and get stuffed to the gills. we also went on a kick-butt hike to the summit of saddleback mountain and surprise - There Was SNOW! how crazy?!?! needless to say while we did not contribute all of these wine corks to the jar above...we added quite a few, so today i am in recovery and laundry mode, will be back tomorrow with something new - MWAH!

kids love me.

april 30, 2008 - my nephew brody turns 5 and i am officially WAY older than i like! brody is one of my top 5 favorite people, he is blessed with a sense of humor and is oddly tall for his age...he is the boy version of me at 5! so to mark his official i'm-a-big-kid-i-can-ride-a-bike-and-go-to-school birthday, i promised to make anything he wanted for a cake (last year i made mater from cars the movie and the year before a monkey...so, he shoots high!) he chose the mystery machine from scooby doo which is his major obsession. i hobbled around the kitchen and made this even though it was not gluten-free (i accidentally had a bite) and the temperature was not conducive to frosting, here are some pictures which count as my application for ace of cakes boot camp...i need to learn some real skills, but for now i kinda fake it!

[photo by kristy for thingsihearttoday]

sunday cocktail.

with the sun out and warm weather creeping in, it feels like a summer preview has begun in the east...i am relishing these last days before the spring rain starts (cross your fingers & maybe it won't!). so here is the new cocktail that i am dying to try, hopefully i'll get my paws around one this week while i am off from work and in new york city. i saw it on a reality show and props to bethenny for inventing a genius concoction - behold, the...

skinny girl margarita

* 2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)
* (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
* A splash of fresh lime juice
* A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

serve on the rocks and garnish with a lime and a salt/sugar mix...YUM.

[recipe via bethanybakes]

dinner.

ok, so i swear that this is not a food blog! BUT i am obsessed with avocados this week, i think it's the spring fever setting in, i want salad & salsa & sunshine - oh my! so tonight i made a simple fork-mashed guacamole, stirred in a little salsa and topped with 2 poached eggs, cilantro and a dash of hot sauce...one word - YUM. i am still struggling with my sinus problems and i'm about 2 minutes away from completely losing my voice, so pardon the skinny posts this week as i rebuild my immunity;)

pizza pie.

YUM. today i was wondering what to have for dinner. i picked up a gluten free rice crust pizza at the market earlier in the day - plain cheese - so i raided the fridge to see what i could pile on top for goodies. the decision: lotsa sweet onions, garlic, red & orange bell peppers AND bacon! i cooked up the bacon first and then added the veggies along with some red pepper flakes (note! i would drain some of the bacon fat before adding the veggies next time, this time i ended up putting the veggies on a paper towel to drain after they were completely cooked). i cooked up my frozen gluten-free delight and then piled the bacon & veg on top - watch out, you may become addicted to this! the good news is that i have plenty of leftovers and what i don't put on pizza, i will mix into some brown rice that i cooked up in some vegetable broth while i was standing at the stove anyway. happy weekend everyone :)

snack of the day.

this is my new favorite salty indulgence: corn nuts! who knew? my mom and i were perusing the natural food aisles at our market today and this was in the serve-yourself-pour-in-bulk section. we opened them up on the trip home and had to FORCE ourselves to close the bag up! it's like eating fritos without the guilt that happens when you dig your salt covered paw back into the chip bag for another and it has the crunch of, well, a baked corn kernel. i had my salt intake for the week within minutes, and i am more than ready for more...

choco loco.

"caramels are only a fad. chocolate is a permanent thing."
~ milton snavely hershey

so, last thursday - post-doctor's appointment - i went to the market...i needed rice milk and safe snacks for this new phase of my diet switch-a-roo-o-rama. i was talking on the phone with my friend tara in the snack aisle and interrupted her to say - "WAIT - there is a chocolate bar with my name on it!" i was NOT hallucinating, it was 3400 phinney bars by theo chocolate AND my last name is phinney, so excitement and purchase of said bars followed to my delight.



once i made it to their website, i was really beyond excited because the company and products are amazing in philosophy and yumminess factor - BIG hearts. i found out SO much that i'm not sure where to begin....so i will share some fun bullet points:

#1 - theo was the first roaster of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa beans and the only roaster of organic cocoa beans in the United States
#2 - the name of the main company theo (they make the 3400 phinney bar) comes from the latin name of the cacao tree - theobroma cacao, food of the gods (and it really is!) and their followers/connoisseurs call themselves theonistas! they congregate here, where you can also find up to date info & recipes & such
#3 - their packaging features artwork & illustrations by Zaara @ kittenchops and it is just the cutest thing (you've probably seen her work on starbucks packaging before)
#4 - the name of the 3400 phinney bar comes from their street address in seattle, but i find it funny that it also rhymes with their founder joe whinney's name!
#5 - they have some of the best flavor combos i have ever heard of, such as:

dark chocolate:
fig, fennel & almond (this one is vegan!)
nib brittle (tried it, YUM.)
bread & chocolate
coffee(tried it, YUM.)

milk chocolate:
hazelnut crunch
vanilla
chai
coconut curry

#6 - they give tours & do wine pairings...if you're in the area, do it and let me live vicariously through your experience (3400 Phinney Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98103).
#7 - they were recently (february) featured in oprah's O magazine...'nuff said.

in conclusion, i think i would at least try anything with my name on it once, but this i would buy again and again and if i ever held an event worthy of swag bags, they would be in it. finding new ways to go green and support fair trade products are easy to do when they taste so darn good...eat up!

“my therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what i start. so far today, i have finished 2 bags of m&m's and a chocolate cake. i feel better already.”
~ dave barry

(images by kittenchops via theo chocolate website)

slurp soup.

well, i had a somewhat overwhelming experience today when shopping for groceries (on top of the fact that it was a zoo there because tomorrow is easter and i forgot this fact)...how does one make the transition to a basic vegan except for pork allowance, without the soy option & a gluten-free starting point?? in all honesty, i know that i can have my low-reactive foods on a rotating schedule, but i have to eliminate and then reintroduce them first - which is a real pain. so i became inspired by leeks and baby vidalia onions in the produce aisle and warmed up on this windy day by making a soup that was YUM to the last drop. (perhaps it would have been extra delicious with a cup and a half of heavy cream mixed in, but i'll try NOT to think about it!)

DISCLAIMER: i am NOT a chef, i do NOT measure and my palette is NOT trained, i'm just regular & love food...proceed with caution & enjoy! (also, i decided to document this after i started cooking - apologies for the cell phone pics, i'll try harder next time to be prepared)...

slurp soup
3 medium leeks, halved & thinly sliced (rinse thoroughly!)
3 baby vidalia onions, halved & thinly sliced (i had never seen these before at my market - think large scallion looking small onions at base and long green shoots, if not available use any sweet onion or shallots)
bell peppers, chopped small to match size of above items (mixed colors: red, orange, yellow, i had mini-sized peppers, but any work that you like)
6 large to medium garlic cloves, minced...YES that many!

add ingredients to a large skillet along with 3 tbl. butter, 2 tbl. olive oil, & salt & pepper. saute ingredients until they soften and let off their own juices, add 1 cup of chicken stock and continue to cook until veggies cook up soft as you like.

spice up this mixture (to taste) with: tarragon, curry powder, ginger, celery seed (just a pinch), cumin now

pour skillet-full-o-yum into a large soup pot (i guess you could also just start this in a large pot...i apparently enjoy extra dishes!) and add more chicken stock & about a cup of rice milk (or substitute whatever you like), chicken stock amount is to your liking (less if you like a stew, more if you like it brothy!) then for fun, i added about a cup to a cup and a half of quinoa (keen-waH!) for texture & protein. at this point let the contents get back to a rolling simmer and allow quinoa to cook up.

THEN, taste...assess...add more spices because the veggies are spiced up so yummy, but the broth waters down the taste, so add more as needed (& remember a little dried spice goes a long way BUT if you have fresh, for pete's sake use that instead!). i poured my finished hot soup over some cooked shrimp from the market and think it would have been extra yummy with an avocado garnish atop the wonder-ness (along with some cilantro infused creme fraiche, if you are so inclined/allowed...RAR!) it has a lil kick and made my evening comforting.

(the mini peppers, SO cute!)

post.script. - the quinoa can be a bit of a stock sponge, so feel free to ad stock the next day if your soup has turned into quinoa pilaf overnight!

the chills.

"life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. how do you know this is the experience you need? because this is the experience you are having at this moment." ~ eckhart tolle

it's snowy & slushy & cold in the east, i am currently seeking a groundhog to tell me something new about spring! so i mentioned the other day that i just got a job & i'm excited to share that i am working at a pre-school for developmentally challenged kids. it is fun, exciting & making me tired (even though the hours not not what i consider to be full time!). so that has been taking me away from hunting out the things i heart lately, but i SWEAR if you saw these kids you'd realize that all the fashion, fun & delicious recipes in the world are not more important. so while i build up my stamina to work, plus blog, plus clean my room & pay my bills, please be patient and i will be more productive on the weekends...i promise to try!

SO, in terms of the new job i was sharing the overall story of how it came about last night with one of my lovelies and she said - you have to tell people that, so i will because it's pretty amazing (to me). i wrote a day or so ago about the eckhart tolle book that I am reading, A New Earth. it's about great things like letting go of your ego and shutting down the mind chatter (both negative & just plain unnecessary) and while it is new age by genre, it's a whole new outlook for me. i won't get preachy, but if you are searching for directions, try this as a road map starter kit! so i was going through this extended, yucky gluten testing and was without job for 6 weeks. last thursday, i had my test and came home and decided to find a job & have NO expectations, no qualifiers, no exclusions based on location, embarrassment, etc.

i was ready (and so were my very patient parents...) i put it out into the world and planted it in my head...when i came home, my friend called - she had a job for me - only problem, it starts in the morning! i said ok - instead of saying, it's part-time, it's not my thing, i'm not qualified - i said ok, i'll try it, if it doesn't work i'll move on. i went on friday, and the owner asked me to come back monday, if i wanted i could come back all the next week and if possible i could just never leave - HA! job, check. friday while at my new found job, i got a message from another friend asking me to work an event over the weekend to the tune of $140, second job, check. things are shifting and as far i can tell the law of attraction is in play, it's everything i thought was a crock about the secret coming to fruition. believing in the new age, check.

i went to work monday and was put in charge of the just starting 6 week art immersion series...could you knock me over with a feather, yes. so good things are happening and i believe that it's because good things are going on in my thoughts and in my intentions. so i am reconnecting with art and creativity - first with this space which i am grateful to have and second in an unexpected place working with amazing little miracles who benefit me more than i can hope to help them. it's a little slice of therapy & patience, i am being forced to slow down and enjoy the view, i totally suggest tapping the brakes every now & then.

other suggestions include the gluten-free brownies i just made & ate - YUM!

a friday cocktail.

"i'll stick with gin. champagne is just
ginger ale that knows somebody."
~ hawkeye pierce, from M*A*S*H

so at the end of this first week (ok, it was a four day week, but I did post twice one day!) i think it’s time for a cocktail to celebrate a new found obsession in blogging, which contributes to my existing obsession of gathering and filing. also i wanna high-five myself for doing something for four days straight! really, these past 6 weeks were a challenge motivationally while i was all clouded by the gluten & i had doubts about whether i would come back to this page after my first day (as i expressed in my disclaimer during my first post!). big thanks & hugs to those quiet pushers out there who gave me the courage – i lift this cocktail to you, my lovelies.

SO, as i was looking for a mixture that spoke to me, i found this one from martha stewart - a blood-orange champagne cocktail – hello new friend! and it's fitting since i have been trying to incorporate new fruits & veggies into my life as of late and i actually tried a blood orange recently - in addition to fennel, citrines and parsnips (all are wonderful). holy YUM, a blood orange is juicy, tart and just the perfect shade of scarlet (i would very much like to have it as a nail polish someday) but ALAS it is a very simple concoction and guaranteed to posh up any girls night (like tonight!). cheers!




INGREDIENTS
(Serves 10 to 12)
- 2 1/4 cups freshly squeezed or frozen blood-orange juice
- 2 750-ml bottles champagne, chilled


DIRECTIONS
- Pour 3 tablespoons juice in each champagne flute.
- Fill flutes with champagne, and serve.

farewell, hello

ok, so those of you who know me, know that i went gluten-free around the holidays…then, after a chance meeting with a dietitian, i was told that it would be “irresponsible” to go gluten-free without being tested for celiacs – SO! as advised i went back on the glute. i have been glutenized and therefore a little foggy & a lot cranky for about 6 weeks now. originally, it was suppose to be two weeks, but because of what i fear may be a sign of incompetence to come at my doctor’s office i have been 6 weeks delayed from how great i had been feeling.

i started this two-week endeavor, after a crying jag or two, and tried to spin it as “the farewell to food tour.” i was certain that with the physical sickness aside, this would be a glorious time of french bread & chocolate cake (i kinda have a thing for chocolate cake!). i also thought that i would get in all the things that were touchstones of my previous existence, that i sort of missed – olive garden tiramisu, filet o’fish from mcd’s, ranch dressing, pancakes, etc. i quickly learned that trying to swallow something that you know will wreck you tomorrow is harder than meets the eye – if only i had realized this about tequila shots in college!

anyway, as i sit here and hope for the end to this exercise in gluttony i have to say that i have been saving up gluten-free food over these past weeks and i know exactly what i’ll be eating when i get done with my testing. the one ingredient that i have been saving for my post-tox menu is quinoa (it’s a lot of fun to say: keeeeen-waaaa!). i am going to pair mine with swiss chard & baked chicken (picture & recipe to follow, once i get to make/eat it), but below is a recipe for quinoa salad w. salmon posted on gluten-free girl that i think everyone will enjoy (regardless of your gluten persuasion!).

i am always inspired by shauna james ahern of the blog gluten-free girl. i read her book during the holidays and found it SO helpful & SO inspiring in ways that go beyond food. she is funny, smart & gosh-darn wonderful, i hope i can get out to seattle one day and enjoy her husband's ("the chef" daniel ahern) creations at impromptu wine bar (gluten-free as well!). eat this, read this, BIG hearts.

buy this;)

Quinoa Salad with Smoked Salmon and Capers, from Stephan Pyles’ Southwestern Vegetarian

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of quinoa
2 teaspoons of salt
2 1/2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock
6 ounces of sliced smoked salmon
1/2 cup capers, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons of sliced fresh chives

In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, heat the oil and butter until the butter melts and begins to foam. Add the garlic and quinoa to the pan and toast until the quinoa begins to pop, about two to three minutes. Add the salt and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook for fifteen minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat, pour the mixture evenly onto a cookie sheet, and refrigerate for up to one day.

Once the quinoa has cooled, add the salmon, capers, horseradish, and chives, and toss to combine well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.