F00d + nails

Hellu, 

*Disclaimer: these pictures were taken over the course of a few weeks, this is not by any means every meal I’ve eaten… 

Starting off this post with a picture of a meal we made a week or so ago that was easy & delicious. My boyfriend and I went grocery shopping and found some ginger dressing (which I love), so when I threw together a salad to go along with our pasta- although it was a little unconventional, I added the dressing to it and it was so yummy. Tasted just like the little appetizer salads they give you at Japanese steakhouses! The pasta is gluten-free of course and was great with some Prego sauce and grated Parmesan on top (: 

Next segment here is what I’m gonna call the “indulgents” because although they weren’t necessary meals or even meals at all, they were still scrumptious! First thing, is he handsome or what? Wow. We got Chipotle out the other night before grabbing a few more items from the store (couldn’t wait to get back home to eat cause I had just left a 9-hour work shift and was starving). Also pictured is our Panera date from a little while back ^ if you haven’t tried their seasonal (only sold during summer months) Strawberry Chicken Poppyseed salad- let me just tell you that you need it in your life! I customized mine by taking out the pecans, adding spinach and avocado, and getting apple chips as my side. Babe did the half salad, half sandwich deal since they took away his favorite dumpling broth bowl *sad face* but we both really enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to go out to lunch together and not feel gross after like we normally do when we get fast food. On to the desserts! Babe stole my apron and I wasn’t even complaining- he rocks it. I butchered the chocolate chip cookies pictured btw… I didn’t have enough softened butter and the measurements were off, so the whole thing just tasted like butter. Yuck! Chopping one up into my ice cream was double naughty, but it cut through the butter taste a little bit. The blueberry muffins were bought from the freezer section pre-made and they were very good. The brownies though had to be the winner cause my man said he didn’t like brownies (cause he’s only ever had people make them all crunchy and hard), but I told him I’d change him into a brownie fiend with mine and I did- he loves them and even asked for thirds! 

Here’s me smiling through the butter-filled pain of ruining cookies ^ 

This bunch is all my doing ^ and all successes (thank goodness). First picture is a simple lunch I threw together for my boyfriend- just a sandwich and some peanut butter on Ritz. Then our still simple, delicious grilled cheese sandwiches with spinach and turkey cooked in. The next meal was one of my favorites: Udi’s gluten-free lasagna with meat sauce. Just as good, if not better, than the vegetable version! Definitely putting them both on our grocery list again as they’re quick and yummy AND family sized so we can both have seconds. Lastly in this group is a salad with chicken (similar to Panera’s) that I made with help from my loving boyfriend who cooked the chicken perfectly. It started with a pre-made salad mixture of lettuce, carrots, and cabbage, then I added fresh spinach, cucumbers, and apples. We put the chicken on top + I drizzled ginger dressing on mine. Perfect healthy dinner that filled us up and made our tummies happy! 

Gonna cut up the food pics with a few snaps of the color I had on my nails the week before ^ it was quite difficult to get the actual color captured on camera, but it’s basically a slightly transparent white with a bit of glitter in it. I applied 3 or 4 coats and then the clear top coat (this is when my nails were nice and long, RIP). I liked having them this way cause they almost looked like fake nails which I guess is weird to strive for when you’re painting real ones, but I enjoyed it… 

Back to the good stuff- more pics of my man! Just kidding (but not), more food ^ the first is the limited time cotton candy Slurpee my coworker brought in for all of us. I thought it would be way too sweet, but it was actually awesome! The rest are made by my one and only: a yogurt bar with blueberries, stir fry with ground beef, and lemon pepper salmon with herb rice/pasta. He’s amazing already, but still blows my mind with how he’s getting better at cooking each time. 

To end the food portion of this post, I’m going to share some not-so-great ones. Top ^ is a microwave meal enchilada. Now, my mom has made these homemade in the past but I’ve never tried them. Seeing they had a gluten-free one at Target, I thought (since the lasagna was really good) I’d give it a shot! Bad decision. It was chewy as all get out and just tasted like…sauce? Didn’t really do anything for me lol but you live and learn. The bottom pic was something I was much more excited about: an avocado bar. I had seen recipes for these everywhere and thought, with the last bit of an avocado we had, I’d try to make ONE myself. I’m glad I only made one cause it wasn’t good at all. Oh well- better luck next time I guess! 

Another week, another nail color. This is the one I’m wearing currently ^ and it’s just perfect for summer. My thumb nail broke real short at work the other day, so I cut them all down to match and now I have nubs and my hands look like that of a child. So why not put on a fun, bright color to cheer myself up? It’s a lovely fuchsia and really brightens my day when I’m wearing the same navy blue scrubs for 9-hours at a time (three days in a row). It’s starting to chip, but I have been working like non-stop since I put it on… I’ll probably be re-doing them this weekend or sometime soon I’m sure (: 

To end this post, I’d like to share some cute (and funny) pictures of the cats that hang around outside our apartment. The one on the right decided to wait for me to come home by sitting on the step in front of our door lol and the left, well that little noodle looks like he just got caught doing some underage smoking! What a couple of goofballs… 

I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks now, taking pictures of some things we’ve eaten/made and I really enjoyed doing it. Let me know what you guys think in the comments and as always, feel free to ask any questions. What have y’all been munching on lately? Hopefully not your nails 😉