I have never really liked meat. The idea of a bloody (or even well-done) steak with neatly criss-crossed grill marks on my plate has never been appealing to me, and I have basically limited my carnivorous intake to the occasional chicken breast. My boyfriend is a vegetarian, and I can go for long stretches of time without eating any meat at all. So why am I not a vegetarian, too, already?

Here are the reasons I’ve come up with (while sitting over a bowl of my mom’s famous beef stew):

- It still doesn’t seem to be quite accepted. If you’re invited to dinner at someone’s house or invited to a wedding or some other bash, it’s assumed that you eat meat. If you don’t, you either have to make everyone feel bad by arranging for a special plate or you have to forage for roots and berries among the side dishes.

- Some of my favorite dishes from childhood have meat in them. Sure, I don’t eat them now, but when I go home and my mom makes them, it’s sweet (and they’re still delicious). Knowing I couldn’t eat those anymore would kind of depress me. Wait, who am I kidding? It would totally depress me.

- One of my goals is to travel around the world, and I don’t want to have to limit myself in any way when I do that. Especially when it comes to eating local fare that may or may not come from an animal.

- BACON. Need I say more? Read More »

What do you do when you’re craving delicious, spicy quesadillas? Put down your car keys — there’s no need for Taco Bell (especially when you are sober…that stuff is nasty!). This awesome dinner for two is healthy, inexpensive and easy. No drive-thru required. Read More »

For some reason I feel a sudden urge to be vegetarian.

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Ew. Ew. Ew.

I always knew I was consuming extra calories when I had a bar night. But, if you ask me, if you can’t read the “Nutrition Facts” label, the calories don’t count. That’s why I refuse to buy full-fat Ben and Jerry’s, but don’t mind ordering dessert at Olive Garden. What you don’t know can’t hurt you, right?

If that’s your mantra, you may not want to click here.

This lovely little program lets you enter in how many drinks you consumed last night… and then tells you approximately how many calories you imbibed… and then proceeds to tell you how much food would be equivalent to that number.

Let me tell you, I wanted to cry after what was a reasonably low-key night, by my standards. Since I want to lose weight, I’ve been torturing myself with Smart Ones and steamed vegetables. Little did I know, I could have eaten three slices of pizza and a few donuts if I hadn’t downed a bottle and a half of wine last night.

It sucks, because you don’t always get full from drinking, and it’s hard to look at liquids as fatty foods. So many of us brush it off, gain the freshman fifteen, and have new beer guts for bikini season. Well, the new year is upon us, and it’s time for some resolutions. You want some motivation? Click the link.

[I swear this is not a PMS list -- though after compiling it I realized that's exactly what it looks like.]

This is my tribute, my thank you, my ode to certain foods for being so delicious (albeit not very nutritious) that I consume them in mass quantities and therefore am forced to spend far more time at the gym than I’d like. In no particular order the foods that I’d do anything for are:

1) French fries: Regular, sweet potato, waffle, frozen, deep fried to crispy, baked – I don’t care how they were cooked or in what form I get them, but I need them and I need them with like half of a bottle of ketchup. They’re vegetables though, right? No matter how much I eat, I always always always have room for fries, whether I order them or you do. I especially have room if you ordered them and I got a side salad.

2) Nutella: It’s really versatile if you consider all of the pairing options. Fruit like strawberries and bananas are begging for Nutella and it’is fantastic on bread or waffles or crackers. I am such a mixer that I also add it to ice cream and cake and you can use it in pies to line the graham cracker crusts with chocolately goodness (well, I do). Despite the mixing options, my favorite way to consume it: off of a spoon, straight from the jar. Read More »

Hit up any Chinese or Indian buffet and you’ll notice that a fixture of the line is fried rice — the kind that you can pile on your plate time after time and still enjoy with each new helping. It’s both delicious and addictive.

So wouldn’t it be great if you could make that rice in your own kitchen and avoid shelling out $8 for an all-you-can-eat meal of regret?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Here’s the good news: you can, and it’s easy. In fact, if you ever have stray vegetables or leftovers lying around (like I do almost… oh, let’s see, EVERY DAY), it’s even easier. Fried rice is incredibly forgiving—you can toss whatever you want in there, and it will still taste great.

So here’s a basic recipe, but feel free to play around with it! Read More »

I am not a vegetarian, but I really don’t care much for meat. I will eat chicken or ground beef a few times a week, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me if I go all veggie, all the time for a while.

Lately, it’s been so freaking hot where I live (hello, summer) that I don’t even want to turn on the stove for 30 seconds, let alone the oven. Remembering an awesome avocado and egg sandwich that I once had at a New York City deli, I devised this AMAZING veggie wrap.

You need: one wrap tortilla, half a fresh avocado, half a small tomato, one hard-boiled egg, one carrot, a couple tablespoons of cheese (type is up to you), a tiny bit of Miracle Whip, a tiny bit of pesto sauce, a tiny bit of honey mustard, and sprinkles of salt and pepper. Read More »

Nothing makes me happier than stir fry. For one, it’s sooo delicious. Two, it’s filling. Three? It’s ridiculously easy to make, and serves you for 2 dinners. Again, because I’m a weirdo and hate cooking meat in my tiny kitchen, this is listed without meat, but feel free to add chicken or beef if you so desire…

You need:

1 small can chunk pineapple

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

½ red onion, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

½ cup carrots, sliced/chopped

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup sugar snap peas/snow peas in pods

¼ cup almonds (can be omitted per allergies)

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce

Garlic powder

1 cup brown rice

(**1 large can chicken broth can be substituted for water if you want more flavorful rice) Read More »

After the grilled cheese post, I decided it’s only fair to advertise a favorite among my vegan buddies. A cheeseless pizza, topped with salad, is a perfect combination of appetizer and entree.

You’ll need:

½ cup mushrooms (if you don’t want to use fresh, use one can, drained)

¼ small eggplant, sliced

¼ small zucchini, sliced

¼ cup Black olives

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small can tomato sauce

¼ small onion, diced

½ red or green pepper, chopped

*season with oregano, basil, and garlic to taste

1 cup chopped romaine lettuce

1 cup chopped arugula

Balsamic vinaigrette

Wheat pitas (one per pizza)

For your own marinara: In a saucepan, heat approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil and brown diced onion, chopped red peppers, and add tomato sauce. Season with oregano, basil, and garlic to taste, and set aside. **If you don’t feel like making your own marinara, feel free to purchase a jar of pizza sauce and use that instead to save time. Read More »

Mmmmmm. If you like regular tomatoes, I personally guarantee that you will REALLY like baked tomatoes. If you’ve never tried them before, you are seriously missing out.

For one person, one small- to medium-sized tomato is plenty. You’ll also need some basil (fresh or dried), salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil, and a couple of tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

Cut out the hard upper center of the tomato and then cut the tomato either lengthwise or widthwise into slices that are between ¼” and ½” thick. Preheat the oven to 400, then arrange the tomato slices at the bottom of an 8”x8” square pan. Sprinkle them with a dash of salt, a little pepper, and some basil (fresh is best) to taste. Drizzle the tomatoes with the olive oil, and top them with the parmesan cheese.

Then pop those suckers in the oven and bake them for about 15 minutes. You’ll probably drool when you take them out, so be prepared!