Who knew?

So I was checking out Expedia.com this morning for last-minute deals for this weekend. Since we have a 3-day weekend thanks to our country's birthday, I thought, lets try something other than going down the shore or going fishing.

I figured I'd take my chances and see what was available for a great price locally. None of the "featured" locales were good - either too far, or too expensive, or they required a plane ticket, which wasn't on the agenda. So I decided to look through the "See more last minute deals in:" window to see if anything looked interesting.

London, NYC, Madrid, Orlando, Washington DC....and JERSEY CITY, NJ?????

REALLY?

So I had to look. I mean, its like a car accident. You don't want to look, but you have to!

Now, I've been a NJ resident for a majority of my life (minus that brief stint in FL). But never did I know Jersey City is a "destination" for anything other than, well, undesirables. I mean, do they even have anything other than hourly-rate motels?

I guess according to Expedia - yes!

Jersey City?? REALLY?

Who knew!

GO ME!

Well, I have to pat myself on the back. Little Miss I Don't Cook actually made a pretty good (in my opinion) and healthy dinner last night!

Inspired by Veggie Terrain, I actually made a variation of the Edamame & Black Bean Summer Salad.

My boyfriend wasn't too hungry, and I quite honestly, wanted something different than the run of the mill salad I've practically lived on. So we scoped out the salad above and decided that if we got rid of the cilantro (his kryptonite), it might be pretty good. I also added chick peas and black olives (YUM!) and can I tell you? IT WAS FABU!! I'll be honest and admit I forgot to add the scallions and didn't wait for the 2 hours for it to chill, but I'm not a big fan of cold corn, so really, it worked out!

I made 2 little bowls for us with a side of fresh French bread and water crackers and let me tell you, I was way proud of what ended up being a pretty healthy meal. And quite tasty too!

Sorry no photos - maybe I'll post some later if I remember to take them!!

Lookie what I found!!

A friend of mine was in the market for special straws for bubble tea. Since I'd never heard of it (and wondered why he needed tapioca pearls and special straws to make it), I Googled it and inadvertently found a great vegetarian website. Its called Veggie Terrain.

Now, I'm not a vegetarian - yet. I've been working towards it s-l-o-w-l-y. A couple years ago I tried going cold turkey, and I can now appreciate what smokers must go through when they try to quit smoking. A life-long omnivore with a father who has a talent, no, a gift for bar-b-que, giving up meat wasn't easy.

I renewed my efforts a few months ago, and its been difficult to say the least. I went cold turkey again for a few weeks - maybe a month tops. And then I just had to sneak a little meat. But instead of falling off the bandwagon (and being dragged behind it as I did a few years ago), I just realized that going cold-turkey wasn't for me right now, so I severely restricted my meat intake.

Now, I eat meat maybe once or twice a week - but only if I really (REALLY) want it. Some weeks I even go without! If there's something else on the menu that looks good, I go for that. Of course, when dad pulled out all the stops on the bbq front a couple weekends ago, I couldn't resist. But "quitting" isn't about beating myself up if I fall, its just about picking myself up and forging ahead.

SO...on that front, I found that site. So far my non-meat meals have been pretty pedestrian - pizza, pasta, salads, fruits. All things I love. Until I realize that that's it. I don't enjoy cooking (much) and I'm not much of a culinary experimenter. So I want it to be good, quick, easy, comforting and yummy! And not be all tofu and veggie burgers. I don't mind going vegetarian - but I don't want to to go all soy and weird either because I know me - I won't like it and then I'll fail.

So Veggie Terrain has recipes that look pretty good. Now I'm not (and most likely won't go) vegan (that's where you don't even eat animal bi-products like milk, honey, eggs, etc) but I do do cage free and organic. So those recipes (if you're feeling adventurous) can be re-altered back to using mayo, milk, honey or what not if that's your thing!

Anyhoo - I'm looking forward to trying the creamy dijon-dill potato salad...but the bubble tea? Yeah, not so much my friend!!