Merry Christmas, Y'all!

'Twas the day after Christmas, and on the internet...just kidding, I went shopping today after having a very enjoyable Christmas Eve and Christmas.  I was so hungry, that I legitimately forgot to take pictures.  In addition, it'd be strange to do with my surrogate grandfather and uncle there.  So I took some selfies and a picture of my gifts.

Shirt: Azul, Skirt: Silence & Noise

Look at me, I did my makeup.  You can't tell though because bangs. Collar: American Eagle

Top Row: Sweater, Free People; Sweatshirt, Abercrombie & Fitch; bath & body stuff; pants, Free People (navy); sweat pants, Abercrombie & Fitch (red)
Middle Row: ASUS laptop; pumps
Bottom Row: slippers, Macy's; sweater, Anthropologie; polka dot shirt, BDG; blazer, H&M

I love all the gifts I received, but my favorite has to be the computer.  It is so beautifully efficient and I am actually a big fan of Windows 8.  I am typing on it right now!  Part of the package I wanted to give myself was an updated iPod, with songs I never listen to deleted and new music downloaded.  It is just the way I want it and I could not be happier.

For food, I eat the same dishes for Christmas every year.  In Polish tradition, fish is eaten for dinner on Christmas Eve, Wigilia, when most of the immediate family gather.  We had four different types of herring, a broiled lake fish, barszcz, pierogi, vegetarian bigos, eel, and smoked salmon.  In some houses, they make as many as 12 different fish dishes, but we don't have the space or means to.  I got to enjoy some South African white wine with my eel, bigos, and fish; the meal was delicious and gluten-free.  The whole pescatarian Christmas feast stems from Catholic religious tradition, where eating meat is undesirable on the eve's of major holidays.  In my family, we always offer coffee and tea with the desserts platter.  For me, there was my mother's flourless cheesecake and we also bought chocolate mousse cake from Eataly, this Italian masterpiece of a grocery store.

Then Christmas day, my aunt came over for some roast ham, potatoes, South African red wine, meat bigos, and leftover smoked salmon.  It was a pretty relaxed day.  I hope you guys had relaxing Christmases/holidays as well!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Burrito Bowl-Pies

I experimented in making my own recipe last week and here is the product.  I bring to you Burrito Bowl-Pies!  They have all the filling-goodness of a pie and the holding capacity of a bowl.  And you can eat the bowl as part of your dinner.  How cool is that?

The finished product with a glass water splashed with lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• 5 tortillas (corn because wheat sucks)
• 1/2 diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon of Old El Paso taco mix
• 1 chicken breast for the whole diner
• 1/4 cup of rice (uncooked)
• 2 teaspoons of La Preferida refried black beans per tortilla
• 1/2 teaspoon of cilantro paste per tortilla
• 1 teaspoon of Goya pico de gallo per tortilla
• Pinch of Mexican cheese blend per tortilla

All the ingredients.  Except the garlic paste; I never wound up using it.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cook the rice before you do anything else.  Caramelize the onion on a pan with olive oil.  Then "bread" the chicken with Old El Paso taco mix and pan-fry until half-done after you have removed the onions.

Your "breaded" chicken.

Cut a tortilla and wrap it into a muffin tin.

Cut...

...and wrap

 Add one teaspoon of rice for each tortilla.  Add a few chicken strips and onions.  Then cover in 1 teaspoon of refried black beans.  On top of that, put the cilantro paste and the pico de gallo.  Top with cheese.  Place in the oven for 15 minutes.  The tortillas should be ready to go become friends with your taste buds and tummy.

Before the oven.

Continuing with the spirit of experimentation (no, not that kind), I decided to give myself bangs and dress cooler and edgier.  Since this dish involved many layers working together to create something wonderful, this outfit reflects that spirit perfectly.

Hat: ASOS, Sweater: Free People, Necklace: Anne Taylor LOFT, studded cuff, Jeans: BDG

I'm also practicing taking pictures of my outfits and looking awesome while doing it.  Let me know on my Lookbook or comment on how I'm doing!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Stuffed Squash

Squash had not been a food commonly consumed in my house in NYC.  The only time I really ate pumpkins was in pie at Thanksgiving and that was about it.  Through the C.S.A. weekly box of vegetables, though, we received an acorn squash.  I had never seen one before and Andrew and Andrea were fans of roasting them and/or putting stuff in them.  So, I decided to use the "and" function.

Finished product!  Acorn squash stuffed with rice, scallions, carrots, colored bell peppers, and topped with Parmesan cheese

I wasn't expecting it to be so sweet on the inside, I was pretty proud of myself for preemptively adding spices like curry powder and turmeric to the rice to add some kick to the meal.  I admittedly added red pepper flakes which are quickly becoming my favorite flavoring.

With this meal, I would try to pair it with like colors.  I usually dislike yellow, but I have this one tank top from Free People that is to die for. I have a similar skirt that's corduroy with buttons from Forever21 and a BDG olive-green cardigan to match the colors of the squash skin and the scallions. I usually wear my Minnetonka moccasins as comfort-shoes, but sadly, I will have to retire them soon.  I'll probably just replace them with a similar pair from the same brand.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Bonjour, Montreal!

Taken from: BRFC

Sorry I've been MIA for the passed few weeks.  This school year has been hella busy and I honestly can barely find the time think and breathe for a moment (I was taking 7 classes and 6 of them had something due in one week, for example).  But I am back to blogging (I hope)!  During a long weekend we had at school, instead of going back to my first love, New York City, I went to a new place: Montreal, Quebec.  For some completely, previously uninformed reason, I had been a lover of all things Canadian (except for Beiber and Nickleback, but we can ignore those), so I was majorly excited to see everything that Montreal had to offer me for three days.

The weather was a factor that my friends and I completely forgot to prepare for.  I just brought clothes that worked for me during the mild fall temperatures of Ithaca, NY, not realizing that Canada had actually been located some...oh, I don't know...4 to 5 hours North-ward.  As you can imagine, this caused problems.  But I still managed to layer and dress adorably while eating some of the best food ever.

The first night, I did not take an outfit photo, but we went to this lovely sushi place called Ginger.  We found it completely by accident, too, which was fine, considering everything was amazing.

Our lovely sushi plate.

Lychee sour.  Best cocktail ever.

Given the fact that all we did was explore the neighborhood we stayed in.  For dessert, we found this beautiful pastry shop called Juliette + Chocolat, which had the best brownies ever.  Has a brownie ever melted in your lips like chocolate does?  Nope, not until you've had these.  They also had a gluten-free option, which made my heart sing.

My lovely friend Katharine sitting under the sign.

Mine is the one closest to the front.  But it was so good!

The breakfast I got here two days later.  Peanut butter, banana, milk chocolate on a gluten-free crepe with a double espresso machiatto.

For clothing, I wore a leather vest from H&M, a white shirt with a blue cat on it with the words "Casse Toi" from Urban Outfitters, BDG black skinnies, Minnetonka moccasins, and my grey snood. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but after 7 hours of traveling, taking pics is the last thing you want to do.

And since this entry is so long and involved, I will write it in installments.  Part two (day two) will come out sometime before Friday (maybe even ON Friday, who knows).

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Holy Crap, I Can Eat Pizza Again

The options for me to eat pizza on my campus have been ridiculously limited, as in, there is no wheat-free or gluten-free pizza.  UNTIL NOW!

Collegetown Pizza to Offer New Menu in Dryden Locale

By now, I mean, whenever CTP opens up again.  But either way, that is exciting news for everyone who is wheat-free and gluten-free, and since they have a special oven for it, cross-contamination will not be an issue.  Also, the quality of the pizza should be the same.  I'll let you know once I decide to go.

My outfit today?  I've spent most of the day in the freeze-box library called Mann.  So I wore black skinny jeans, a turquoise tank top, my BDG ankle boots, gray snood-beanie, Aerie hoodie, Urban Outfitters watch, Coach bracelet, and studded wrap-around bracelet.  I am so comfy and warm right now.

Chinese Food Pt. 4: Meals Served in Fruit

Hong Kong, which is a special region of China with its own laws and people, was one of my favorite places. It was the most westernized and beautifully laid out on a island with greenery a midst skyscrapers.  The nightlife was especially awesome, with certain areas just lined with bars and restaurants.  One restaurant we went to, you could actually watch as they prepared your food, which made me pretty excited.

He was making an egg-roll type thing except wrapped in greens instead of noodle sheets.

Now, I have never been a fan of mixing fruit with dinner items or meal items in general (don't ask, I'm just weird like that).  But the pictures of this fried rice with prawns inside a pineapple just looked so beautiful that I just had to try it.  Plus, I'm in a foreign land where I've been trying many new things, like various kinds of ice cream, duck feet, and regional drinks.  So I ate it.  And it was gloriously delicious.

Pineapple fried rice with prawns in a pineapple.

Since I was going out and doing some sight-seeing during the day, of course I wanted to look chic, but also comfortable.  Doubling up on slips is a great idea for this.  In addition, wearing muted colors compliments the brightness of the dish.

Along the Hong Kong skyline.  Purse (urbanoutfitters), dress and slip (free people), necklace (Chinatown, NYC)

And with that I conclude the 4-part series on China.  I will continue posting about twice a week, seeing as I have two entries backed up anyway.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Home-Made Pierogi: Working Food

Unfortunately, this idea was so spontaneous that I did not have the chance to use my camera, but I will use charming little illustrations from Pixlr to describe my meal and my clothes for this entry.

My friends and I got our weekly Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) box of vegetables and included were more onions and beets.  We have hard time getting through those, so we decided, "hey wouldn't it be a great idea to use them to make pierogi?"  And thus the idea was born.

Andrew, me and Steve all having an idea together.

Then we got down to business using a recipe from Celiac Teen.  There was so much work involved!  We had to saute some onions, mash some potatoes, soften some beets, and roll out some dough.  Now, with me, the thing about rolling out dough: I am horrible at it.  Every time, the dough would break, or it'd be too wet, so the rolling pin would get all soggy and sticky.  But after messing around with the tapioca starch, I got the perfect mix.  And after some boiling and pan-frying, the pierogi were born.

Potato, beet, and onion awaits inside!

So why do I entitle this entry working food?  Because it is the perfect food to eat after a work out, but a food that takes quite a bit of effort to make.  Thus, this outfit was born.

I like to work out in socks.  It helps me balance.  Tank top (Esprit), shorts (lululemon), gloves (Gold's Gym), and socks (unknown)

So the pierogi are delicious, I played with my kettlebell and then gave myself the nastiest bruise ever that night.  So, now I am attempting to not eat like a moron so that the house doesn't have a beluga whale living in it.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Chinese Food Pt. 3: Best Lazy Susan Dinner

Prior to our first night in Shanghai, we were horribly disappointed with the last too meals we had.  The last dinner place did not serve enough food fast enough and then when it finally came, it wasn't that great.  At the Beijing hotel, the food just wasn't delicious.

But then we arrive in Shanghai and had the most lavish set up on the lazy Susan ever.  Check it out.

Best dinner ever.

My favorite part were the rice noodles I piled on top.  The broth it was cooked in was absolutely perfect. In general though, Asian they manage to saute veggies in such a way that maintains the integrity of the crunchiness of the vegetable, like that pepper, for example.  So what do you wear?

Easy, breezy walking clothing! Bag (Urban Outfitters), tunic (Athropologie), hat (gift from my Twin), shoes (Toms), bracelet (found in my house)

We went to the Buddhist temple that day, which was absolute lovely but a bit too relaxing.  But I needed a cute walking outside to maximum comfort.  But also the subdued colors of the dress fade in with the rich colors that appear in the restaurants.  Plus, it'd be really hard to walk around the humid city in anything richer, so light and bright is the way to go.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Bombay Curry Pasta: East Meets West

Man, do I look awkward.

The last time I wore these pants, I was on the Great Wall of China.  They are from Free People and the top in the above picture is from Hot Topic and the bangle is from Lucky Brand.  The bottom outfit features a top from Ecote, the bracelet my mother bought me, pearls I bought in China the day before, and pink Converse I found in my house.

I am resting on a window on the Great Wall of China.  Don't hate.

So I decided to wear them again because of their epicness.  Also, because no matter how many times I wear them at work, everyone compliments me on them.  They are a very good ego-boost.  But this look is inspired by the rich patterns and textures of the east (or something like that).  Naturally, I wanted to pair it with the west and make a curry pasta with grilled chicken dish.

From the left: squash, onions, corn, bok choy on top of basil and green beans.  Next to it is veggie stock and corn penne.

I pureed the squash to make a type of sauce with onions and the basil stems.  The brown stuff is curry, coriander, and cinnamon (for extra flavor).

Here, I added the greens.

The finished product: now, featuring grilled chicken.

Um, wat.

On a super random note, this squirrel was trying really hard to get into a jar of peanut butter.  It ate through most of the lid before we scared it away.  Animals, man.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

The Melting Pot

So I'll be working on my four-part (yeah, decided it'd be 4 parts) series on Chinese food in China which will be posted every Sunday as I work on just uploading the pictures.  Why did I do this?  So I can make entries that happening in real time too!

Today, I decided to dress up a little americana.  Bandanas and denim are, what I like to think of, as cowboy staples and if the bandana is red, the tank top is white, and the shirt is blue, it makes the American flag.

Duh.

Yay for awkward mirror pics.  So what goes with an americana outfit in terms of food?  Of course something that represents the amurrican spirit!  The first thing that came to my mind, being an immigrant myself, was the idea of the melting pot.  And what better way to blend flavors together than to do a stir fry.  The recipe from Martha Stewart calls for more Asian flavors, like Chinese cabbage and ginger.  But we used beets leaves and string beans instead.  And the pork was not ground, but pre-marinated in chunks.  The rice noodles remained the same, but I changed the sauce to a soy, lime juice, ginger powder, and sriracha sauce mixture.

Look at all these fresh ingredients, guys

I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  But the self-made sauce definitely added a bit of a punch.  The noodles stir fried perfectly (something I was worried about) and they are amazing because they grab on to flavor so well.

So that was dinner last night.  I will post again in the next few days about some other stylishly delicious idea.  Have suggestions?  Feel free to comment or email.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Chinese Food Pt. 1: The Lazy Susan & Peking Duck Dinner

Usually when I have been on a tour with a group of people, we had menus when we went out to eat meals included with the trip.  These usually had also been at crappy restaurants where the food made me feel bloated and gain ten pounds in three weeks (thank you Planet Hollywood and Applebees.  This misfortune happened before I had any sense and reason when it came to eating).  But when in China, do as the Chinese.

The Chinese seem to like to share their meals.  Four people would get together, order four different meals, but everyone ate a bit of what everyone else ordered.  Which, I think, is a better attitude than looking at each order as my dish.  It is called "sharing a meal" after all!

I present to you: the Lazy Susan

The meal depicted in the above picture is not the one I am highlighting in this post.  But that same day, for dinner, we went to one of the best Peking duck restaurants in Beijing (apparently).  So I felt it was appropriate to wear a bird dress with a feather necklace.

Because surfing duck is awesome.  Dress: H&M, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Purse: Cooperative, Shoes: Converse, Bracelet: Found in my house

I wish I could exactly tell you, dear reader, what the food was.  But as far as I know, my favorite part was the blood-soaked tofu and rice pancake roll-up with the duck and cucumber and onion slices.  It was really good, but people in my group did not enjoy it.  I have no idea why that could have been.  Then again, I will eat most food as long as I am not in immediate danger of getting sick.

The duck roll-up is on the right.  This disaster used to look like:

Look at this awesome plating, you guys

So that was the first meal I had in China after being delayed in Detroit for almost a day.  I took pictures of all my meals, but some I will not show-case as they do sometimes include wheat products (I was getting such bad stomach problems from eating most things that I gave up and started eating everything.  Also, this blog focuses on wheat-free options for people, so my diet deviations will not be featured.  Unless someone asks).

More posts to come in the upcoming days!

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Experiments in My New Kitchen

Dinner

I felt so pro after plating this, you guyz.

I've been wanting to make a gazpacho for a really long time.  It's a really easy way to use up a lot of vegetables in a short amount of time.  And since it was "I wish I could sit in my underwear in front of an air conditioner" hot two days ago, this chilled soup is perfect.  I used V8 juice, a tomato, a zucchini, half of this monstrous cucumber I found, parsley (thought it was cilantro, my bad), one celery stalk, one jalapeño, one clove of garlic, and a quarter of this ridiculously large onion.  The flavors balanced perfectly, especially with the mistake of using parsley instead of cilantro.  Because of that, you couldn't really taste the spiciness of the jalapeño, which honestly, disappointed me a little bit.  On top, I put brown rice and slices of chicken and garnished it with parsley (that part was intentional).

I used the recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog, which is quite fantastic as she photographs every step and her show is quite charming.  Yet, I am quite jealous that all she does (it seems) is cook, blog, and take pictures.  I want that to be my life rather than working a 9-4 and trying to balance friends and work.

Breakfast

Does this almost look like it could be in anime somehow

Yesterday, Andrea, a housemate, was going to a dinner party and wanted to bring something from home.  I suggested cupcakes because cupcakes are gooey, yummy, and make the heart sing after eating them.  But I also really wanted breakfast food, so I decided, LET'S MAKE SCONES.  Which involves cupcakes.  Because most things in the Babycakes' book involves other things, like cookies and cupcakes.  There ninja-shaped cookie cutters, so we made ninja-scones.  I drew a circle of blueberries and caramelized bananas for some nutrition and color.  The almond milk was a perfect addition to a sweet breakfast.

So these are two things that I've been up to that do not involve ANY wheat or gluten.  Tonight, I am making mojitos and some kind of 1920s-esque hors d'oeuvres for my 1920's party.

Keep it yummy,
Jo

Home-Made Gluten-Free Pizza

I know I have not posted in ages, but school got the best of me.  I am back from the dead and alive as ever.  I learned over Spring Break that I have a wheat intolerance, rather than gluten, but I am still totally viable in eating (and cooking) gluten-free!

So over the semester, me and my boyfriend bought Bob's Red Mill Pizza dough mix and decided to be cute and make dinner.  We bought the mix, followed the instructions and put onions, garlic, and mozzarella on it, making the meal totally vegetarian-friendly as well.

So it isn't exactly round, but it was yummy.  So whatever.

That's our creation!  Unfortunately, the pizza stuck to the parchment paper which sucked a bit because peeling off parchment paper is the worst, but overall, it tasted it exactly like regular pizza, so our tummies were pretty happy.

This is Dylan eating pizza in my dorm kitchen.

I will try to do some other baking piece once I get more materials.  I really want to make the Babycakes donuts, but I don't have the right flours.  But I will post as soon as I do something else!

Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken

Happy New Year, everyone!  So, my father and I have been doing some cooking together and decided to try our first recipe from What to Cook and How to Cook It by Jane Hornby.I've been wanting this book since the summer when I stumbled upon it in Urban Outfitters (cook books at Urban, what?).

(Source: Amazon)

Anyway, today my dad and I tried making the "Roast Chicken with Lemon & Leek Stuffing" minus the leek stuffing because that involves bread and right now, I don't have plain toast.  The only toast I have is Udi's cinnamon raisin toast (which, by the way, is delicious as French toast).  I'm not going to post pictures of us making it because my dad hates that sort of thing and the book uses that kind of format.  So, I don't want too much copyright infringement.  But I will post a picture of the final product.

The chicken in the back, some steamed veggies in the front

The recipes in the book are legitimate.  My dad was worried that cooking the chicken at 400 degrees would completely dry it out and burn, but quite the opposite.  The meat was succulent, juicy, but will leave you tasting garlic and lemon for a while.  This is, however, an excellent dinner choice for those of us that want to avoid gluten.  You might notice that there is no starch but that's because my dad didn't think of anything that would go.  Even though I suggested little red roasted potatoes.  Because potatoes are awesome and go with everything.  Actually, I used to dislike potatoes after eating them for a straight month while in Poland, but now that I'm getting more creative in the preparation, they are becoming more delicious.

Well that's my first entry for 2012 and hopefully there are many more to come!