“Ruff-I-OOOOOOO”

So as most of you know, us J girls love us some Yoga. Therefore, as a self proclaimed yogi and lover of all things light and joy, I was extremely moved by this simple yet profound quote on time and our …

YAYYYYY

This post goes out to my girl JULIA… CONGRATULATIONS on gettin’ engaged! YO GOOOO GIRLLL!!!!!!

 

Now we can all live vicariously to Julia’s planning! (future for me, past for jessica!) So excited! 

 

TELL THE WORLD YOUR STORY JULIA!

Gobble Gobble

Beluga Lentil, Quinoa, Persimmon, Voodoo Vinaigrette 

1/2 C Lentils 
1 small onion, halved
1 carrot, chunks
1/2 C Quinoa
2 Cs Veggi broth
1/2 Garbonzo beans,drained
1 fuyu persimmon (they taste like apples, they are awesome and currently in season) 
2 ripe tomatoes or handful of cherrubs cut 
1/4-1/2 C mushrooms
1/2 C basil
voodoo vin (recipe follows)

Lentils:
Combine lentils with onion, carrot, and celery and add 1 C of broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for approx. 15-20 minutes until lentils are just tender. drain and discard veggi’s

Quinoa:
Combine quinoa, 1 C veggi broth, and a pinch of salt; bring to a boil, cover, reduce eat to low and cook approx 15, until the water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up. Remove from heat. Fluff with a fork. Add mushrooms, cover, and let cool. 

Meanwhile…

Make Voodoo Vin. 

I always add less oil than recipes call for and more of the ingredients I know I love (for example, mustard, basil, garlic, and shallot in the recipes may have gotten a little more than called for =)) so, feel free to make this your own recipe! 

In a blender, combine the following:

2 tbl brown mustard seeds, toasted
2 tbl curry (french) powder 
2 tlb ground cumin 
1 1/2 tbl tumeric (don’t be scared of this spice due to its’ bright yellow appearance. It is actually pretty flavorless and tremendously good for you) 
1 C fresh cilantro
1/2 C Basil leaves
Juice of 2 lemons (1/4 C)
2 tbl Mirin (Jap. Sweet rice wine. No mirin? Use rice wine but add a pinch or two of sugar or extra teaspoon of honey to the dressing)
2 tbl honey or agave
1 shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed (*admit if you are a freakazoid and allergic to one of god’s smelliest and greatest flavors he has blessed us with) 
salt & peppa
1 C oil (recipe calls for canola but I used EVOO and only about 2-3 tbls. because its a much more potent flavor. You want to think about how dominate your oil’s flavors are before you go ahead and add a cup of it. Avacado, flax seed, coconut, walnut, etc .. scale way back. those are powerful. ALSO DO NOT ADMIT THE OIL. Contrary to popular belief. Oils can/are good for you. Good fats are ESSENTIAL, I repeat. ESSENTIAL, to our body’s functionality =)) 

To Prepare:

In a blender mix all ingredients except oil. slowly pour in oil on a low spend until dressing is emulsified. 

Back to the grains:

Mix quinoa, lentils, persimmon, tomatoes, garbanzo, salt, pepper, fresh basil, and voodoo together and YUM wholesome goodess has arrived!!  

 

A quick update on the life of a socialite

Lesson of the day:

so·cial·ite
noun
a socially prominent person.

With that being said. Let me update you on my weekend. 

 

 

Enough Said. 

#nogettingoffthecouchtoointense #imbetterthanmyboyfriend #teenageboysIgettheobsession

Chi-Town

This past weekend, I met my mom and two sisters in the windy city for some R&R, shopping, wine, and good food! It was DELIGHTFUL —

Here are several reasons why this trip rocked:

1. Puttin’ on the Ritz – My mama put us up here. She rocks, there is no doubt about it. Four star hotel, don’t mind if I do!

2. Great food! It’s Chicago, that’s a given right!? A tradition between my mom and my sister Katie is go to to Quartino. A fab-U-lous Italian restaurant with a great atmosphere and homemade pasta.. oh and awesome wines and spirits. We also had breakfast in bed! It was AWESOME! My mom did a great job spoiling all of us girls rotten =) Thanks mommy!

             

^ My breakfast in bed. Oh and yeah. that is real honeycomb. NO BIG DEAL

3. Shop until you drop. Literally. We shopped, and we shopped hard. I may have spent my annual income in one weekend. It was AWESOME. I got several new dresses, shoes, workout cloths, hair and beauty products, the whole nine yards! Below you will find the first ever Caucasian picture taken within Forever 21.

My sister Pam and I decided it would be fun to try on fancy gowns. this one was obviously a little large on me so it looks like I have a strange alcoholic looking pot belly. but enjoy!

4. It was my sister Pam’s BIRTHDAY her “30th”** it may have not been her 30th =) 

We went to the Pump Room to celebrate and by haphazard chance we were dressed in all black which seemed to be the dress code, as everyone in that entire restaurant was blacked out. The best part of this meal is when Pam SCREAMED in sheer horror when her beastly 6’4 boy friend surprised us all at our table. This is what her boyfriend looks like:

5.Evening at the Spa. Because we are classy, we were able to drink spa infused water and enjoy a luxurious stint in the hotel’s Sauna. It was LUXURIOUS.

So that’s my weekend. How was yours?!

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”- Yogi Berra

Our first post on the food page is pretty lowly, I am not going to lie. But hey, I am an independent, broke, 20 something with an empty fridge on a Wednesday night trying to create something worth eating. 

Diginoro stuffed crust (seriously, its Diginoro) with fontina, broccoli,summer squash, red onion, orange pepper, garlic (sorry jess!) goat cheese, and pesto! YUM

The Now Texan

 

 

Hi! I am Joanne, the first to leave the comforts of the Mitten and head down below the Mason-Dixie line to Texas (which I discovered you can also make the shape of Texas with one’s hand its just not as natural). The glorious Baylor University brought me down to these lands (hands-down THE best decision I have made since befriending this wanna be’s). After graduating from Baylor, I decided to leave Wacky Waco and move ATX, ACL, the Capital, or just plain Austin to be closer to love (oh mi amor!) 

Speaking of love, ever heard the saying: “The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” ? In a scientific experiment, I decided to see if there was truth to that saying and discovered a whole new art that I instantly became passionate about; cooking! (Oh and the saying is true, when trying to get to my man’s heart, stomach, cook him good food!) I consider my style of cooking to be the nutritionally delicious! A mix of flavors from the fresh Napa style, Bold Asian Fusion, and down right good comfort home-cookin’ styles(of course, I’m from Michigan, the state of crock-pot queens). I love to try new ingredients and see what I can come up with.  Take a look at our “FOOD” page for some of my and the other princess wannabes’ favorite and delicious recipes!

More than food, I love animals and the outdoors and I especially love mixing the two! Running, hiking, biking,walking, yoga-ing, you name it, I love it! (Lie — I hate Pure Barre, I tried it not once, but twice and thought for sure I was going to faint and/or die and had to leave early. There will be no third) I had two doggies; Sasha and Annabel; however, poor Sasha recently passed away. Annabellies is still kicking it with a big under-bite and a sausage belly. My goal is to one day become rich off of the cartoon I create around her *unique* physique and silly mannerism. Really though, she is spectacular. 

That is just a glimpse in who I am and what I am about! So follow us and stay tuned to learn more about the three most FAB-U-LOUS wannabe housewives you will EVER meet!