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Feta-ccuine
Yes, I love cheesy pastas.
Yes, I know they are not good for my insides or outsides.
Yes, I’ve created a solution.
Did you know you can make a cream sauce with a small amount of Feta cheese? It’s a good alternative to other creamy sauces because a little feta goes a very long way.
Feta Cheese Sauce
Makes enough for 3 servings (Heather + 2 for Mark)
Hangry Pants
Ingredients:
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 C Skim Milk (approximate)
1/3 C Feta Cheese crumbles
Directions:
The measurements are very rough, so play around with it. Start with less milk and cheese and remember you can always add more. Simply heat oil on medium heat and add the garlic. Cook the garlic until it smells good. Then add the milk and cheese, lowering heat to low, and stir until it’s thick.
I poured mine on some pasta with spinach.
Side Notes:
- Sorry to tell you this, but there was a blunder with the cost of my yoga mats. They are actually $54 each. I have no idea how to get specials via OpenSky, but I will try and let you know if I do.
- Check out Heather’s Faces of Beauty, a website devoted to showing that women are uniquely beautiful, just the way they are (no makeup or airbrushing). You can participate by sending a picture of yourself with little or no makeup and explaining what makes you beautiful. The hope is that seeing one another without makeup will inspire other women to see their natural beauty.
What makes me beautiful is that I try really hard to be myself, to think for myself and be content with myself. If you can’t be yourself, I don’t think you will be very good at being someone else. I also embrace my crooked fake tooth, red hair and freckles. 
- Don’t forget to enter the Tazo Tea Cook-Off Giveaway by leaving a comment on any or all of these posts. Random winner selected by me.
My Yoga Mat
My Dinner
I am trying to own that I eat chicken by showing you a chicken dinner. Sometimes it’s hard for me to share because I was strictly meatless for so long. But now, a few times a month I will eat chicken if I know and approve of the source. What do you own?
Super easy dinner of rice, chicken from Whole Foods, broccoli and Oh! Nuts Honey Roasted Cashews with a little sauce I put together.
I would estimate I used 1 T of mustard. 1 t agave and 7 shakes of the red hot for a two-person serving.
My Yoga Mat
I am now an OpenSky Shopkeeper. Check out the “Shop” tab under my header.
I know you have mixed feelings about this, but hear me out.
I am a blog reader just as much as you, and I know that at times OpenSky Shops can get a bit annoying. If I’m being honest I usually scroll right through that part of a person’s post. But,if you really think about the concept of OpenSky, it’s pretty cool. If a friend recommends something they love to you, aren’t you more likely to buy it than another brand of that same thing? I know I am not your actual friend, but if you read my blog regularly you might have come to trust my opinion and see similarities in the things I like and the things you like. So why not recommend things I love to you?
I think the annoyance comes from the way that products are sold. But because I don’t really think this is going to be a money making venture for me (see below on how much I will make), I don’t foresee me pushing products on you.
I really believe in the concept of OpenSky and hope you will keep an open mind. My promise to you is that I will only sell something I love and would truly be excited about telling my friend, mom or sister about. Okay?
So, what’s in my shop?
Well my shop actually opened last week, but I’ve been waiting to get one special item in there and that actually takes time if it’s not already part of OpenSky.
I’ve had the same Harmony Professional Jade Yoga Mat for four years when Mark bought me one for Christmas.
I love everything about it and have found that it’s the best for a long sweaty yoga! It’s cushiony without allowing you to sink in and you can grip into it without slipping. I think it’s because they are made from Jade mats are made with natural rubber (which, by the way, is tapped from a rubber tree just like maple syrup) rather than PVC or other synthetic rubbers.
Here’s my mat as seen on a hotel balcony.
I have a purple one, but it comes in a rainbow of colors and you can buy anyone of them in my shop! They cost $54 between $48 and $53 depending on the color (and I make about $7 or $8 $9.45 on each one), which is less than it costs to buy one from Jade. (Well, that was true for a hot second until they caught onto me). If you’re interested, take a look in my store!
So that’s all! I can’t think of anything else I love so much that I would recommend or sell right now, but I will keep looking. 
What are your thoughts on OpenSky. As someone with a shop of my own, I’d love your honest opinions on the “dos and don’ts. “
Less Than 10
Simple.
I love cooking without a recipe or a plan, and I really love cooking that involves just a handful of common ingredients, like tonight’s dinner. In fact, most things I cook involve less than 10 ingredients.
It’s not fancy or cutting edge, but it works.
Fettucine with Roasted Vegetables + Feta
- Fettucine
- Eggplant
- Zucchini
- Feta
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Salt
That’s it! Oh and the water to make the pasta. Anyone, even the biggest kitchen disaster, could do this.
Just roast the eggplant and zucchini in the oven at 425 for 25 – 35 minutes. That means just wash, cut and stick in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil.
Cook the pasta. Put water and salt in a pan, boil and add pasta. Stir. Remove in 8 minutes.
Cook the garlic. Put olive oil and chopped garlic in a pan on low heat. When it smells really good, stop cooking.
Put everything in one big bowl and mix it all around.
And the other wonderful thing about recipes like this is that the amount of ingredients is sort of irrelevant. If you have two eggplants and 1/2 a zucchini, go for it. If you only have a little feta left, that’s okay too. Anything will work.
See? So simple, but so delicious!
On another note…
I am good at following through. I meditated for 1 minute this morning while my coffee brewed. It went by so quickly that when my phone buzzed to alert me that it was over, I did another minute. So far, so good.
When I Got Off the Plane
This is a break in HLS posting to tell you what I did when I arrived back at LaGuardia and @markremo picked me up!
First, I looked outside and cursed how hideous it was outside. Chicago was really beautiful!
Next, I picked up my two checked bags and found my man!
We chatted about the weekend while we attempted the drive through the city to New Jersey. Eventually we gave up and sought solace in hummus.
Some of my New York blogging friends have recommended Hummus Place, so we checked it out.
This location (West Village – 99 Macdougal St.) is a teeny tiny restaurant with a pretty simple menu – they have hummus and pita, and a handful of other sides.
We ordered two kinds of hummus and the Health Salad – cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and parsley.
Hummus Masabacha topped with chick peas, olive oil and spices.
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Hummus Fava topped with whole fava beans, Tahini, organic hard boiled egg, olive oil and spices.
Everything was really delicious and I would go so far as to say that it was the best pita ever. Not an exaggeration. Well, it was the best I’ve ever had at least. First of al, it was warm so there are major points right there. And it was so thick and chewy! Yum.
The hummus was good too – warm and creamy, but I actually preferred the hummus at Hummus Place more because you can get a sampler and the flavors were more powerful.
We walked around after to enjoy the cool air that was such a relief from the recent heat and humidity.
Mark is dreamy.
Subway Yoga
Subway, one of the Healthy Living Summit sponsors, set up an awesome Core Fusion Yoga class at Exhale Spa on Saturday night. After Saturday’s events it was the perfect thing for me!
We met in the hotel lobby to board the bus and found that we were each getting a free cushiony yoga mat!
This was my first trip to Exhale even though they have then in New York, and I was really impressed with the calm and relaxed atmosphere.
John the instruction, on the other hand, was neither calming or relaxing. His upbeat energy motivated me to hold everything for just one more second.
Core fusion was pretty different from the style of yoga I do now, which is hot power vinyasa. In most of my classes we flow in the heat and also learn about the yoga teachings. This was more focused on the physical practice and holding poses for longer. Definitely a different kind of challenge, especially the lovely core work at the end in which I basically died on my mat!
Group shot of John + all the ladies!
Kristina, Nadine. Krista, Erin, Jessie, Anne, Katy, Lauren, Alison, Haya, Mary, Heather, Kate, Dawn, Liz, Alycia, Elizabeth, Danielle, Jelena, Candice, Stacey, Sara, Danielle
Don’t know about the other ladies, but I was grateful to have some yoga at the end of that long day!
I Heart Chicago!
Is that on a t-shirt?
Today was a whirlwind of activity, but I am happy to say I am here in Chicago for the second Healthy Living Summit! This is my very first time in Chicago and so far it’s fabulous – old with a mix of modern, beautiful and clean. I can’t wait to explore more tomorrow.
Anyway, as soon as I got to the hotel I needed to leave to get a drink. I was parched. I chose this local place because it seemed like the kind of place Mark would enjoy if he had been with me.
I also stopped at a Starbucks (there is one very close to the Congress Hotel). Yes, I know I am a huge dork, but I like them.
Next I headed to yoga with Val. On the way I spotted this tour group on segways.
Val and I rode our bikes in flip flops before standing on our heads. We don’t sweat, we glisten.
After yoga I met up with Kath and we walked over to XOCO, a Rick Bayless Mexian restaurant.
I had the Vegetables & Black Bean Soup with zucchini, potato-masa dumplings (oh heck yes!), black bean broth, spinach, avacado, serrano chile. It was spicy (even though it was just medium heat) with a strong onion flavor. I really loved the whole bowl, but my favorite part was the dumplings, obviously. Kath also asked for bread, which arrived warm, doughy and delicious.
For dessert I had a raw chocolate macaroon from Val. Oh, and if you are looking for things to do in Chicago be sure to check out her “Chicago Top 20″list.
When Kath and I got back from dinner we started stuffing the bags that all attendees will get. We made some pretty good progress and will definitely finish tomorrow. I can promise you, there is some yummy stuff in there!
See you all tomorrow for more Summit activities!!!!
And a huge thank you to our Summit sponsors!
Red Quinoa Lime Salad
This week’s ingredient for the Tazo Tea Cook-Off was Organic Red Quinoa
For this weeks challenge I worked with Tazo Cucumber White Tea, a white tea with cucumber and lime peel.
Hangry Pants
Red Quinoa Lime Salad
2 servings
- 1/2 C Red Quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 2 bags of Tazo Cucumber White
- salt
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 ear of corn
- Bring 1 cup of water to a boil with the two tea bags in it.
- Add the quinoa (leave the tea bags) and put on low heat. Cover.
- When the quinoa is softer and seems to have opened up, remove from heat and put in a large bowl (removing the tea bags)
- Grill one ear of corn (I used the Forman Grill)
- Remove corn from cob and add to the bowl with the quinoa.
- In a small bowl prepare the dressing by squeezing the juice of 1 Lime, 1 T of Apple Cider Vinegar and 1 T of Extra Virgin Oil
- Add salt to taste.
- Place in the refrigerator before serving.
- Before serving, cut avocado and place on top of quinoa salad.
Remember, this is a recipe contest and if I win I get a gift card for the kitchen supply store of my choice. The winner is the person with the most comments on a Tazo Tea Cook-Off post, so leave lots of comments if you’re so inclined.
And if you’d like to enter for a chance to win a wonderful tea package like this one, please comment on this post.
I am leaving for Chicago soon in just a little while! If you are going to the Healthy Living Summit, I will see you there.
This is me.
Come say hi! I promise I’ll say hi back.
