Tag Archives: Booze

New Year, New You: Fake Cleanse

I’m doing a cleanse!

Sorta!

Listen, I’m never going to be a juice cleanse person. Cause this sounds terrible. (But I’m obsessed with the way she wrote it…)

I like my juice next to a plate of bacon and eggs, where it belongs.

Thanks, fineartamerica, for this cheesy breakfast picture. (Actual cheese not pictured.)

Thanks, fineartamerica, for this cheesy breakfast picture. (Actual cheese not pictured.)

But, at the end of the year, I was overindulging a bit more than I was just plain indulging. So I figured I needed to hit the reset button. That’s when I saw that Bon Appetit magazine is doing it’s annual Food Lover’s Cleanse.

Now, I’ve very recently been gifted with a subscription to Bon Appetit for my birdday (Ally is the BEST!) so I paid extra attention.

It seems that Bon Appetit has been doing this Food Lover’s Cleanse for a few years now. What it is is this:

  • Guidelines for healthy eating
    • Nothing on this list will surprise you. None of it surprised me. But it’s a basic reminder to increase your water, increase your vegetables and cut back on alcohol and sweets. What did surprise me (pleasantly!) is that they don’t want you to calorie count. They’re just about conscious eating. Conscious uncoupling with some bad habits and consciously coupling with better ones as is relates to what you eat. Sounds fair to me.
  • Recipes for their 2 week cleanse
    • From January 2-15, they have recipes every day to give you a lovely roadmap of how to do this cleanse. They provide you with the shopping list for two shopping trips that cover all the foodstuffs.
  • Daily Inspiration
    • Every day, BA posts the daily menu and a little write up. Affirmation + blog + instruction.

There are so many things that I love about this. It’s Bon Appetit, these people love food. They live for food. They “share life through the lens of food.” (Is there any other lens, really?)

So, they’re focusing on healthy eating practices that don’t cut out the things you love (dessert! snacks! some booze!) but includes things you do love (dessert! snacks! some booze!)

I wanted to do this cleanse. But I struggled as a household of one to figure out how to buy all the food and not waste all the leftovers. Many of the recipes serve 4 (sometimes 8) and I didn’t want to be wasteful.

But I’m so in love with the principles, I might marry them.

So, for the first two weeks of 2015, I’m trying to be a bit more mindful about what I’m eating. Cut back on the booze. Increase the veg. Hopefully, it’ll feel good. Hopefully, the principles will carry on beyond the first two weeks.

But let’s not get carried away…

 

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Book Club: Literary Snacks for Ladies

There are certain things that only ladies do when they hang out with other ladies.

  • Talk about boys. “He’s so cute, right? Is he cute? I like him so much. Does he like me? Does he notice that I looked at him a little bit longer than normal today? Cause I did. He should’ve noticed it. It meant a lot to me, and I can’t believe he didn’t notice it. He’s an asshole. I hate him.”
  • Talk about lady issues. I won’t go into details for all my male readers. And by male readers, I mean my dad. (HI DAD!!!)
  • Book club.

I’m pretty sure book club is a 100% female activity. Do dudes sit and talk about how they felt when Anna Karenina threw herself in front of the train?*

*I’m fairly well read, but Anna Karenina is not a book I’ve ever read. I’ve seen the Keira Knightley movie version though, so that’s how I know this. And, I’ve seen a Pulitzer Prize winning play about the book…sort of. I’m so fancy. You already know.

Also? Oops. Spoiler Alert.

Anyways, book club is a ladies occupation for ladies.

And this lady (me) hosted her lady book club a few weeks ago.

My friend Nora started the whole book club and, well, I’m glad she did. We’ve read a book I’d heard of but hadn’t gotten to yet (Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn) and read a book that I hadn’t heard of but boy, did it make me cry in the airport (Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala).

But the most recent book club, I hosted. So, I choose the book. It was One More Thing by B.J. Novak (no relation) and it was hilarious. It’s a book of short, humorous essays. Some were dry. Some were almost poignant. But, boy, did they run the gamut. It’s well worth a read. OR, if you’re doing a long car trip, it’s worth downloading and listening to. He’s got an incredible cast of voices like Mindy Kaling, Jason Schwartzman, Rainn Wilson, Emma Thompson, Jenna Fischer and more.

So, what to make for a lady event for ladies?

Well, I like the tortilla española. Why not build a tapas menu? Also,  please note, this is a drinking book club, so boozing required.

  • Tortilla española
  • Jamon serrano because I cannot find ANY jamon iberico here in America. SIGH.
  • Spanish cheeses
  • Apricot and Goat Cheese Bites
  • Peppadews inspired by Leon’s in Decatur, GA
  • Pan con Tomate
  • Olives
  • Beverages, like Red Sangria and White Sangria
Oh dang.

Oh dang.

The apricot and goat cheese bites were the newbies here and #realtalk, they were delicious. And unbelievably simple. Make them right now for whatever lady event you have. I bet even boys would like the salty-sweet combo that they have going on.

Beyond that, sangria is a perfect summer drink. It’s bright and fruity, but has a boozy punch. I gravitate toward the white versus the red, but the red is a much more robust beverage.

I guarantee. This menu? Ladies love it. Girls adore it.

Y’all should trust me because I’m not internationally known, but I’m known to rock the microphone.

Absolutely Fabulous Apricot, Goat Cheese and Almond Bites from YumSugar

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
  • About 2 teaspoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil leaves
  • 40 dried apricots, preferably blenheim
  • 40 almonds, preferably marcona
  • 2 teaspoons honey

DIRECTIONS

  1. Mix together the cheese and milk with a fork until spreadable. Thin with more milk if necessary. Add the basil and mix until evenly distributed.
  2. Spread a heaping 1/4 teaspoon cheese on each apricot and top each with an almond. Drizzle with honey.

Please note! If not using marcona almonds, substitute roasted salted almonds (the salt is key to the appetizer’s flavor).

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