Biscuits, Burgers, & Cupcakes

I don't think I ate one thing in Nashville I didn't like...surprised? I didn't think so. I love trying local restaurants wherever I go, and honestly, that's sometimes one of the best parts about a trip! {Clearly I'm not hiding the fact that I love to eat} Some of my favorite food experiences I had in Nashville, I just had to capture on film. The first night I was there we went to dinner at cute corner restaurant in a neighborhood near Cary's apartment called Burger Up. It's an "upscale" burger joint, but they use fresh organic ingredients for all of their food, and they also have 10 farms in Tennessee that source their meat, cheese, and produce.

Oh.em.gee y'all - YUM. I think it ranks #1 as my favorite meal while in Nashville.

This delicious drink was served in a mason jar {which of course I loved} and it tasted like a pina colada on the rocks. I forget what it was called but it was one of their drink specials that night and I couldn't pass it up.

The burger I got {well all of us got} was called the Woodstock. It had bacon, white cheddar, and Jack Daniel's maple ketchup. I loved that on the menu, by each item, they list which Tennessee farm all of the ingredients came from. The burger was by far the best I've ever had, and it was cooked to perfection. After dinner we were all so stuffed, and we debated splitting the krispy kreme donut pudding {umm, yes this was really on the dessert menu, yum} but decided against it for the sake of our poor arteries.  

For lunch one afternoon, we drove about 20 minutes down Highway 100 to visit the legendary Loveless Cafe. Loveless is best known for their ham, fried-chicken, homemade preserves, and biscuits {I didn't try the ham, but the fried chicken and biscuits, so worth the hype}. It's been a landmark since they opened over 60 years ago and they are a landmark recognized for their Southern food and hospitality. When they opened in 1951 {first as a motel}, they used to serve chicken from picnic tables on the front lawn to travelers on Highway 100.

They serve hot biscuits and homemade preserves to every table, and I wasn't complaining. For lunch I tried the hand-breaded fried chicken tenders, mac n' cheese, and fried green tomato's...with sweet tea of course! They don't skimp on the portion sizes, as you can see, and our waitress was shocked when neither of us finished even half of what was on our plates.

I had read/heard about Gigi's Cupcakes in Nashville when I saw it on a blog I was reading, and I knew I wanted to try them if we had the chance. After the marathon on Saturday, we made went to lunch and bought some cupcakes at Gigi's to bring home for an afternoon treat. It's hard to go to a cupcake shop and get just one. There's so many delicious flavors, I always want to try a couple! At Gigi's, I got the Champagne cupcake and the Kentucky Bourbon Pie. Holy icing {never seen cupcakes with more icing than those} The champagne cupcake was light and fluffy, and bourbon pie cupcake {which may/may not have been what I shoveled my face with after coming back from the bars on Saturday night} was a lot more dense, full of pecans and chocolate chips. Amazing.

If you ever get the chance to visit Nashville, I would not pass these three places up!

Currently Snacking On...

I know it can be hard to stick with healthy snacks, especially in an office when vending machines are readily available, and in my case, there's also a cafe downstairs in my building that stays open all day with frozen yogurt, candy, cookies, chips, soda, etc. I usually get hunger pains around 3:30/4 in the afternoon when it's nearing the end of the day and lunch is wearing of. Sometimes I give into my froyo craving or can't get the sight of gummy bears and mike n' ikes out of my mind and I decide I simply can't live without them that day, so I'll take a trip down to the cafe with my friend. But more often than not, I bring along a healthy snack for my mid-afternoon fix. Here are a few of my staples at the moment...

These Chobani fruit yogurts are great! Plain Greek yogurt is hard for me, but the fruit definitely helps. There are 14g of protein in one of these little puppies. Top with a little granola and voila! Perfect for Breakfast or a snack.

  

I got a free Luna Bar sample at my gym and I fell in love. Usually I'm not a fan of these because they always have a funny after taste, but these really are awesome. They also have mini ones which are perfect for a little afternoon snack of about 80 calories. The Peanut Butter one is my favorite.

These mini cheese's are great with a few crackers, a handful of almonds, or a piece of fruit.

Hummus is always in my refrigerator. It is a staple in my diet and it's delicious paired with these Kashi Asiago crackers or baby carrots. Yum! (The spicy flavor pictured is awesome - but I love Sabra brand because they have tons of flavors to suit anyone's tastes)

Fuji Apples are great because they stay fresh for a long time. They are crisp and sweet.

What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?



Green Monster

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a pretty lazy weekend, but it was nice to have sunny skies and temperatures that seem to be quickly moving towards mild Spring days {and now it stays light out until nearly 7 - woo!}

Today I wanted to share a great, healthy smoothie full of vitamins and antioxidants that is surprisingly delicious. Lately I've been working hard to eat healthy and incorporate more veggies into my diet while cutting back on processed foods and snacking. With Spring and Summer on the horizon, we will all be wearing clothes that are less bulky and less figure forgiving, so it's important to feel a bit more slim and trim when stepping into my warm-weather wardrobe.

I have found that eating a filling and healthy breakfast is key to starting my day off right. I love breakfast/brunch foods, and one of my vices is bagels. I wish I could eat bagels and cream cheese everyday, but clearly that would not do well for my eating habits or my waist-line. On the weekends, I splurge a bit and I love to go out for breakfast or brunch, but during the week I stick to some staples including oatmeal with blueberries, greek yogurt, eggs, whole wheat toast, or this smoothie. You can get in two cups of fresh spinach in one sitting without having to actually taste it! I like veggies, but it's a struggle to get enough of them into my diet everyday. I make an effort to drink this smoothie at least 3 times a week.

Blueberry-Banana Green Monster
{You can really mix whatever fruits you prefer into this, but I've found this to be my favorite}
- 1 cup almond milk {I use Silk Vanilla}
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1 banana
- Ice

Directions: Put the flax seeds, then spinach, blueberries, and banana in the blender. Pour in the almond milk, and put a few ice cubes in. Blend for about a minute and you're all set!

Give it a try - you might just get hooked! :)

Travel Tuesdays: Charleston, SC

I'm dying to visit...Charleston, SC. My parents have been to Charleston, and so have a few friends of mine and I've always heard great things. One of the blogs I like to read daily is Everyday Musings. Olivia lives in Charleston and always posts the most beautiful and inspirational photos from her daily life there. Not only does she post pictures of the scenery from around the area, she also shows off the amazing food that seems to be abundant in the little town. Definitely check out her blog, it's great and she really seems to capture the heart of Charleston. I've been talking to my mom about taking a family trip there this summer for a few days, and I think it's going to happen! I'm very excited, and I'm going to start keeping a list of things I don't want to miss while I'm there. Here are 5 things I definitely want to experience when I go -

1. Fuel Caribbean Cantina - Olivia always posts delicious pictures of her brunches and lunches at Fuel. Everything looks amazing and I would love to give it a try. It also doesn't hurt that they have a huge, lit up patio that looks like the perfect location for a few drinks along with fish tacos or a signature-house burger with sweet potato fries. Yum!

Source: Everyday Musings

2. King Street Shopping District - Antiques, restaurants, boutiques along the palm-tree lined street. Sounds glorious. Who doesn't love an afternoon strolling in an outside shopping district on a beautiful day? I would love to be there...right at this moment.

Source: King Street

3. Rainbow Row - This is a historical area of Charleston that was originally a center for merchants in the 1700's. They would have shops downstairs and live upstairs in the row houses. Overtime this area became neglected, but in 1931 Dorothy Legge began renovation on the home she bought, and painted it pink with a "Caribbean" color scheme in mind. Others followed suit and the renovation of this area was complete with a beautiful, new color palette.

Source: Everyday Musings

4. Cupcake Bakery and Sugar Bakeshop - Both of these look delicious, and I have seen several shout-outs on various blogs about how wonderful these little sweet spots are. Cupcake has a list of over 45 flavors to choose from. The PB/Marshmellow Fluff one sounds divine. Sugar Bakeshop has other sweet treats besides cupcakes, but the "Lady Baltimore Cupcake" is their specialty. Theyalso have a little garden attached to their shop where you can sit to have tea and enjoy your dessert. Sounds like a perfect afternoon treat!

Cupcake

Source: Deidre Zahl 

Source: Deidre Zahl 

5. Folly Beach - Folly Beach is a historical beach about 15 minutes outside of Charleston. It's home to a charming old lighthouse called the Morris Island Lighthouse, endangered birds, gourment seafood, and civil war history. They call it one of the last "old-timey and shabby" beaches in the area that's full of Southern charm.

Hopefully I will be updating in a few months about my actual visit to this beautiful, historical, Southern town.

Travel Tuesdays: New York City Edition

Back in November I went to visit one of my most favorite places in the world, really. I love New York City so much. Although I had been to NYC a few times prior to this, there were lots of firsts on this trip. It was my first time traveling by train (also traveling completely alone), it was my first time staying in an apartment in Brooklyn (Park Slope neighborhood - so adorbs) instead of a hotel in the city, and the first time I ate at some amazing restaurants and spent time in Brooklyn with some of my best friends from middle school. I fell even more in love. There is so much I truly love about that city - getting off the train and seeing a mass of yellow taxis around me and hearing them honking for no reason at all, immediately feeling independent as I traipse around the city with my suitcase waiting for my friend to meet me, herding through the streets with masses of people all around, street vendors, the lights at night, etc. etc. I could seriously go on and on. Going to NYC never gets old for me, and luckily I have some great friends that live there now and it makes it that much easier to visit! Here are some highlights from my trip this past November...

1. Tida and I went to Café Habana for brunch before picking up our friend Fatima at the train station. They're know for their huevos rancheros which I had never tried before - I am now a fan for life. Yum!

2. We went shopping around SoHo - yes, please. We were on a little mission to find the Kardashian's store, Dash, and we conveniently ran into it and took a little walk around inside. Not gonna lie - I was pretty excited.

3. Dinner at Bianca in East Village. This was one of the most charming little Italian restaurants I have ever been to. Not only was the food ah-mazing and the pasta homemade, but the actual place was a gorgeous, rustic, little hole in the wall. With classic white china, linen napkins, exposed brick, and rustic wooden tables, I was smitten. Check out the menu.

4. Touring Brooklyn! Basically our trip revolved around amazing food in NYC, but we did explore Brooklyn Park, visit the Williamsburg neighborhood to do some thrift store shopping at Beacon's Closet (so awesome and totally hipster of us, haha), and met up with another great friend Hannah at the Brooklyn Brewery for the afternoon. Spending so much time in Brooklyn was really a highlight of my trip because that's a place I had never been before on previous trips. I've seen broadway shoes, been through times square, and done all the sightseeing, but I truly enjoyed taking the time to enjoy another part of the city.

5. And...more amazing food. We went to Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn for brick-oven deliciousness. It  is known as a pizza institution, and it was founded in 1905. Best.pizza.ever. (and well worth the nearly 2 hour wait) We were told ordering cheese pizza is the best, because it's so amazing as it is, you don't want to ruin the authentic flavor with tons of toppings. I have to agree, it was perfect and needed nothing more. Later that day, we got ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. On Saturday night for late night drinks and a snack, we stopped by Cafeteria in Chelsea. It was so neat, (read their story here, such a cool concept) an avant-garde diner experience with upscale comfort food open 24 hours. Only in NYC.

With all the amazing food we ate, it's a good thing we walked a ton! I absolutely cannot wait to go back and visit again. If you ever get to visit, definitely take the time to explore Brooklyn, it's fantastic.