Meatless March & A Contest Giveaway!!!

So, yeah...I am playing around with going meatless. I guess playing around equals no meat in January and now a meatless March. I can really tell a difference in how I feel when I don't consume meat. However, I want a chicken tender in the worst way...don't judge me!

I came across a blog called Vegan Heartland and Matthew has a really good thing going on over there! There is a contest he is hosting with a wonderful meatless giveaway with all of the favorites...tofurky, gardein and other yummy offerings...I really want to win, but alas, I will share the link with you and if you win I will just crash your house for dinner. Deal? lol!

The link to the giveaway is below! Good luck...ok, I only half meant it...don't judge me! :)

http://moreleaflessbeef.blogspot.com/2011/03/meatout-2011-giveaway-extravaganza.html

Cha...cha...cha...cha...cha...changes...

Wow! What difference a day (or months) make.

I am still a self-proclaimed foodie, but my life has turned me on to another journey of eating cleaner and healthier. I am exercising, eating well and the results have been amazing, but that's another blog post :) I will still frequent my wonderful local establishments, but I will make much healthier choices wherever I go!

Let's get the party started and dig a little deeper!!!

Stay tuned!

You are staying tuned, right? lol

Shea's Express!

Oh Shea...
You complete me.

Shea's Express (Click Here for Map)
415 Church Street
Huntsville, Alabama 35801

I absolutely adore Shea's Express! A wonderfully peaceful place on this side of heaven! Everything I have ever tried here, I have absolutely loved. They serve breakfast and lunch only, so you have to get there early or plan a nice lunch here!

My friend and I ventured over to Shea's as her final hurrah before she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! Yep, we overdid it...yep, it was well worth it! :-) At our "final supper" we were treated to the Maple Glazed Chicken Sandwich, sweet and smokey collard greens, a mesculn green salad with Maple Balsamic dressing and dessert...cookies and cobbler! As an added treat, they serve the most wonderful Mint Julep Sweet Tea. Ahhh...and as you know from a previous post...I am a certified sweet tea addict. I love Shea's...did I say that earlier? LOL! Pictures below! :-)

Now, I have to dedicate a moment to the most delicious salad dressing that I have ever had in my entire life. Maple Balsamic. Oh, how I adore you! It is the perfect mix of sweetness with the twang of acidity from the balsamic vinegar. I have really tried to figure out how I can re-create that at home. I asked for the recipe, but they laughed. THEY LAUGHED. *sob* Ok...seriously...I am still wondering what I need to do to get the recipe for that maple balsamic dressing. I need it in my life PRONTO. :-)

Earth Fare: the healthy supermarket - Huntsville, Alabama!

Sooo...change is good.
If your life is improved by those changes,
then change is REALLY good!


Earth Fare: The Healthy Supermarket (Click Here for Map!)
5900C University Drive NW
Huntsville, AL 35806

I may just break down like Chris Brown did when he attempted to sing Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" on the BET Awards in 2010. :)

I have been doing a little research about the things I eat. I really want to know what it is that I am putting into my body and why it does what it does when it gets there. I would like to pride myself by saying that I am a "veggie girl" and that I love vegetables of all kinds and I can do without meat alot of times. Does that make me a health nut? Not even close. I have never been a skinny girl (nor do I want to be)! Healthy is the destination for me! I have learned that the things we eat are laden with many preservatives, chemicals and ingredients that should never be put into our bodies in the first place, yet, in this day and age, it is almost impossible to find foods that are without these things. Enter Earth Fare!!! I learned about this place from a good friend of mine who has one near her in Raleigh, North Carolina. She put me on notice that they were building one here in Huntsville, Alabama! Oh joy! I was overly excited about them coming to town as I began to research and learn about what was good and not good for me to eat. I even entered a contest on their blog and won a gift card to begin my journey into healthy eating!!! WOOOT WOOT!!!

I had just recently watched a couple of great documentaries (Food Inc., King Corn...etc.) and I realized that some of the things I eat really upset my stomach, cause me to overindulge and was just plain awful for me. I eat salads...but the dressing was horrible! I eat vegetables, but my method of prepration was eliminating all of the vitamins and nutrients that make those veggies good for me. SO...crash course...unlearn what you know and relearn it all over again so that you get the most out of what you consume!

FOR ME, and I say this because many people may argue my point...but FOR ME...I have problems with Splenda and artificial sweeteners. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) reak havoc on my system and cause me to overeat. Hydrogenated soybean oils make my stomach ache and I am sure that many other additives really do a number on me.

At Earth Fare, they do the research for you and items that have these ingredients are not even in their stores! They have healthy choices for whatever you crave and you can rest assured that these things are free from many harmful ingredients that are not good for you!

I am just beginning my "cleaner food" journey and it has been difficult, but my tummy is much happier for the change! Some foods have no substitute and I am trying my best to live without them, but I have fell victim to going back to the same standbys and I end up paying horribly for it. Will I ever learn? Let's hope so! However, on a good note...I had the first peanut butter and jelly sandwich that did not make me want to cry 20 minutes after consuming! YAY for small victories!!!

As a girl on a budget, I go there for many items, but I also check out what is on their shelves to see what the "good foods" are, and I may purchase them at a lower price somewhere else. Perhaps one day I will make that my one stop shop...but when you are pinching pennies...this tip may help you as it helped me! Some of their items are higher in price BUT they have great coupons and great sales! Choose wisely and plan accordingly and join me on my cleaner food journey!!!

Ode to Sweet Tea...

Hi. My name is Nichole. And I am addicted to Sweet Tea...

All: Hi Nichole!

Ok, as I have mentioned before, I was raised in Ohio. Mom did not really give us lots of sugary beverages, and if we had soda, she kept it clear or fruity...like Sprite or Hawaiian Punch (unless we were with Dad and we got a "suicide" where you mix every flavor from the fountain and kill yourself drinking 12 flavors all at once!) Well, my point is, growing up, tea was hot, in a cup and served with a little bit of sugar, honey and maybe lemon. Now, when I came to Alabama for college almost 19 years ago...

I. Was. Not. Ready.

Well, in every sense of the word...the adjustment was not easy, but as for my beverage selection, I was introduced to such flavors as: Grapico, Sun Drop, Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale and alas....Sweet Tea. Be still my aching heart...

*cue whimsical romantical music*

It was love at first sip AND served with every meal in the Cafeteria. I've heard it called "The Table Wine of the South" and God bless whomever decided to lose half their sugar supply in a gallon of iced tea! AND there are many places that dare you to try their version of it...ranging from Mint Julep, Green Tea, White Tea and even Half-Lemonade/Half-Sweet Tea, better known as an Arnold Palmer or an Uptown. There is even a Sweet Tea Vodka!!! It's not half bad, actually...I have a friend who loved it and drank it up pretty swiftly! (I had to remind him that it was still Vodka! LOL! There were no incidents or injuries! HA!) As a precaution...yes, it's bad for you if you have any care for your sugar intake, no, you should not partake in such a sugary treat daily, however, having your daily dose of sweet tea is a haaaard habit to break! I cannot even go into details about the evils that McDonalds has bestowed upon us...LARGE SWEET TEA for a DOLLAR?

*moment of silence*

Well, I am trying to recover from being a Sweet Tea addict and it will be increasingly difficult as the summer heat and temperatures here in Alabama are barreling towards us. As a rule, I try not to keep excess sugar around as it always seems to mate with a pitcher of water and tea bags. I try my hardest to drive as fast as I can past McDonalds...and I hold my breath between 2-4pm when Sonic has half price drinks on sale. Yes, I have it pretty bad *sigh*

Pray for me...

Madison's newest gem!!!

It's interesting how you journey here and there
and the one thing you are looking for is right
under your nose!

The Budding Chef Bistro (click here for map)
4155 Sullivan Street
Madison, AL 35758
256 - 325 - 2766

After a nice afternoon walk, a friend and I were ready to grab lunch. We both live in the Madison, Alabama area and we thought of a couple of places close to our respective homes. I remember seeing that the cooking school in Madison now served lunch during the week and that was all she wrote! New adventure! YAY!

I knew that the Budding Chef was in fact a cooking school that hosted classes for people of all ages, even for parties and team building...but what I didn't know is that this would be one of THE BEST culinary experiences I have ever had! As Chef Merle and Chef Diane said...it IS all about your dining experience as a whole! Well, they truly delivered! I only ask that you save me a seat once the word gets out...luckily for me, I literally live around the corner, so I can walk to the restaurant! :)

On this exciting adventure to The Budding Chef Bistro, we ordered The Herb Crusted Salmon Salad (which is definitely a meal in itself...it comes in a huge colander *gasp*)with a delicious Balsamic Vinaigrette and bread de jour, The Southwest Chicken Panini with tuscan chips and dip. The chipotle mayo on the panini was to die for! Strawberry lemonade and a shared slice of homemade Strawberry Cake! (Pictures Below!)

The food was delicious, the service was top notch and the atmosphere was relaxing and warm! I would highly suggest this wonderful place to everyone who will listen! I cannot wait to head back...the soup list is incredible and I hear the Cream Cheese Pound Cake is good enough to fight over...we'll just have to see about that! :)

Ode to Home ~ General Tso's Chicken

General Tso, ancient Chinese General from the Qing Dynasty...your chicken is delicious, I wish you were alive to try it when they came up with the recipe only 40 years ago. Mmmmmm...

My House (no map...nope)
My Street
My City, Alabama

So the urge struck me again. I felt like cooking and actually take on a challenging dish and you can't get more local than in your own kitchen! Well, come to find out, it really was not that challenging but there were a few steps. I had the taste for Chinese, General Tso's Chicken, to be exact...so I made it at home!

General Tso's Chicken is a sweet yet spicy chicken dish which consists of fried boneless chicken in that sweet and spicy sauce. It is a Chinese Buffet favorite and it goes WELL with rice and broccoli, which I also made! I got the recipe from another blog called "Appetite for China" (Click HERE for recipe) and with a few slight modifications, I created a very similar dish to what you would get in your local chinese takeout. My changes were chicken breasts for the chicken thighs, vegetable oil instead of the flavored oils, no seseme seeds or scallions, red pepper flakes instead of whole peppers, candied ginger instead of ginger (it's what I had on hand) and apple cider vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar. I took pictures of my ingredients so that you can see that you may actually have these ingredients in your pantry already! The finished product was DEFINITELY worth the steps and you may just surprise yourself as this is kinda "date night" food. Well, if you use half the amount of garlic...perhaps! :-)

GO FOR IT! Cook something! If you can read, you can cook!