Sushi!

Okay, so yesterday I fell in love. With Chinatown.

It started off as a quest for inexpensive sea vegetables and udon noodles but it turned into so much more! It was terribly exciting, diving headfirst into the kind of market where every single label is either in Chinese or Japanese and not a single soul speaks a lick of English.

Granted, it did take me a long time to find what I needed given the whole 'labeling' situation, but I was in heaven. So many different things in such a small space! So much inspiration for new things to try! Surprisingly, there was also a Vegan Cafe right outside of the Chinatown T-stop! Offered that little nugget of information up to Boyfriend, and he's down to try it.

So. Dinner. After my new experiences, I wanted to go for an interesting dinner. Naturally, dinner ended up including Pico de Gallo as an appetizer, but its so delicious one really can't complain. We made sushi! Enough brown rice was made for two vegetable rolls, so Boyfriend and I chose our fillings easily. I wanted a regular vegetable roll with avocado (my favorite), cucumber, and carrot. Boyfriend wanted a slightly less conventional roll: he chose cucumber, carrot, and was hell bent on putting the Mexican flavored Pico de Gallo into the sushi roll. Go figure.

I took a picture of mine, as time was running out and we were both very hungry.

They may not look like much, but trust me when I say they were both filling and delicious. Anyways, its not breakfast time and we were definitely thinking IHOP. I'll take some pictures and you can drool over them later!

The long delayed post...

SO sorry for the delay, all. I hugely appreciate your patience when it comes to my laziness in updating. It is just that my weekend was SO busy (not really). I actually had a pleasantly lazy weekend, spent in Quincy.

I did a lot of nutritional reading on burdock and beets this weekend AND I was also able to take in the wonderful Indiana Jones marathon that graced my boyfriend's television. I had forgotten how good these movies are. Since this is my future profession, not just the archaeology part, but the kicking ass part as well, I figured it would be fruitful for me to do some intensive research on my field from the couch.

What enhances the Indiana Jones cinematic experience? I'll tell you. It is fresh, homemade pico de gallo. You can't go wrong. My boyfriend and I decided to whip up a fresh batch during Temple of Doom. It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. I know I never posted those pictures of the garbanzo bean burgers, but it was only because they were eaten before I could get the camera into the fray. Just know that they were both beautiful and mouth watering. To make up for the lack of burger photos, boyfriend did take a picture of the fresh pico de gallo (he's the better photographer).

Doesn't that look incredible...like...the most amazing thing ever? The amount of pico de gallo we eat is obscene. It goes on everything: the garbanzo bean burgers, rice, chips, salad, etc. I sometimes even eat it straight out of the bowl with a spoon! I will never tire of it.

I must say, as I am getting closer to going home I am getting progressively more excited. I even talked to the pizza maker from my old work today! For those of you who might not know me personally, I used to waitress at this small Italian restaurant in my hometown. My mother remains to be the Queen of Pizza, and this is the only person who has ever come close to her level of pizza-perfection. I was expressing how much I missed his pizzas, but also how I don't eat dairy anymore. Luckily for me, he reminded me that my favorite pizza on the menu (the salad pizza) is completely dairy free!

My dad spent part of his night getting my train ticket all in order for Saturday. My boyfriend will be dropping me off at the Boston Amtrak station in the morning. I shall update while I am en route (if there is internet...I think there is). My daddy will then be picking me up around 11:30! I am already so excited I feel like I just had a whole bunch of caffeinated diet coke!

Lazy Friday and Super Saturday!

Usually I find February to be terribly dull and I rejoice in it being the shortest month of the year. Now I know I failed at updating yesterday, but I was surprisingly not at school as long as I usually am. After my early class and going to the gym, my boyfriend picked me up so we could hang out, do some laundry, and cook dinner.

Dinner was absolutely delicious. Not to brag, but I make a mean pico de gallo. It is spicy but because the vegetables are fresh it is also a little bit sweet. We also lived a little bit on the edge and got some vegetable rolls (a cucumber roll, a carrot roll, and an avocado roll). It was nice to not make my own sushi for a change! I'm ashamed to admit that I may have eaten about a few (or eight) too many Newman's Own cookies (they make amazing dairy free cookies). Clearly I lack self control. The perfect ambiance to accompany our dinner? Goodfellas. Robert DeNiro is amazing, and I did have a laugh watching Joe Pesci.

After a night like that it would seem as though my weekend couldn't get any better. You would be so wrong. Surprise! My family came to visit me (except for my brother). My favorite thing is to have my family visit. I get terribly homesick when I don't see my family for too long (two weeks is my limit on too long, though I have gone longer). My sister is diving head-first into the college application process, and with an amazing offer from one of her top schools she needed to revisit Boston for a tour.

After the tour my parents took us out for lunch at P.F. Changs, and I got an absolutely delicious brown-rice Buddha Feast. It was five-spice tofu with asparagus, broccoli, and green beans. I have leftovers for dinner so I am beyond excited that I get to enjoy it twice. The thing I love about hanging out with my family is that it is always comfortable, and even if I am not home it FEELS like I am.

Another treat that simply ices the cake? Grocery shopping! Grocery shopping is honestly one of my favorite things to do. It is calming and filled with possibilities. My parents took me to Whole Foods and in honor of that awesomeness, I have decided to grace this blog with its first picture! The food looked so delicious sitting on the table, so I knew I had to document it.

Doesn't that look so amazing? I can hardly wait to start using it! I feel so spoiled with a weekend full of loved ones, clean laundry, and amazing food!

I'm not planning on leaving the house tonight (a bit too cold outside) so I'm going to stay close to the heater and study for the two exams I have this week and maybe watch a bit of Take Home Chef. Maybe February is trying to send me a message that it's not so bad after all...