Category Archives: The Side Dish

Real Talk HLS ’12

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I’m a quiet, awkward individual. There really is no point in denying it. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with my shyness and to not get upset when people question my personality or tell me I can’t do something because I’m “too quiet”. I am who I am and my shyness does not make me any less of a person, designer or blogger.

photo courtesy of Meghann

Needless to say, I was just short of terrified for the Healthy Living Summit last weekend. Knowing no one there, I knew I was setting myself up for probably the most social outing of my life. It’s not that I don’t like being social or that I’m afraid to be social, I guess I’m just more comfortable being a wallflower. I like silence; it gives me space to be me and have time to think. There was no chance for silence this weekend (how can there be when you gather 100+ women together? haha) but I sure had plenty of thoughts going through my head all weekend.

I was scared of feeling lost, I was nervous about meeting people — and even though I was far from being the most vocal person there, the fact that I made it there was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I was in a city I’d never been with people I never met for three days! And if I’m to be perfectly honest, I had a tough time this weekend. The experience I had wasn’t what I expected and while it may not have been entirely full of laughter and rainbows, it was an experience that I will never forget or regret. There were a lot of lessons and things that I was able to take away from HLS, especially since I’ve given myself time to process my thoughts and feelings.

left photo courtesy of Kristin @ Food Fash

I thought about throwing up collages of photos and briefly saying something along the lines of, ‘I had lots of fun’, but that’s what every other recap of HLS is already saying. Something that I think is missing from these recaps was the pressure we put on each other. I can’t speak for anyone else but I personally felt pressured. I mean, we’re in a room full of healthy living bloggers, some of whom we’ve been reading about their lives for so long and we all have these similar interests and lifestyles. Yes, it’s exciting but at the same time, there is also this nagging feeling that you don’t measure up to them. This almost unconscious comparison is made and suddenly, the pressure is there. Could these feelings been creations in my own mind? Yes, but I also feel that I may not have been alone in this.

I felt pressured to be more outgoing, more thin, to eat more healthy and to exercise more. We can’t always stop that nagging voice in the back of our minds that makes us think or feel like this. This is how I felt the first half of the weekend at HLS. I don’t know all of these women’s stories or their lives, so I can’t judge or assume things about them. But there were some things that I saw and heard throughout the weekend that were far from healthy and that too made me uncomfortable.

photo courtesy of Tessa

Pushing past this, though, I really had a great time at HLS. I learned so much about blogging and I definitely left Sunday morning incredibly inspired. I was lucky to have roomed with Katie, Tessa and Rachel; they were all amazing and inspiring ladies. The cocktail party we attended on Friday night was full of fun, yummy snacks and a photobooth.

Saturday morning, we all woke up for an early start to the day. The day was jam packed with different sessions and a Reebok CrossFit workout. Let’s talk about this workout for a second…it was only five minutes long. Two days later and my quads are still burning! No other workout or run has ever left my legs hurting like this before. I think I need to try crossfit again. After our quick workout, the sessions for the day started. All the ones that I attended were so informative and I definitely learned a lot from then all. I particularly enjoyed the Blogging with Brands session and the Wild Harvest Keynote.

Katie, Rachel and I after CrossFit (photo courtesy of Katie)

After our sessions for the day, a bunch of us ladies went out for sushi and fro-yo. I haven’t had sushi since I found out I may have a possible seafood allergy. Even though I only had veggie rolls, the sushi was amazing! The fro-yo was even better. It was this super cute, small place called Berryline and they had the best original fro-yo I’ve ever had.

The last morning, there was a 5k around Boston that was so much fun. The run seriously flew by running with a huge group of people and admiring all the lovely sights. Boston really is a gorgeous city and I cannot wait to go back! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to attend HLS. I met some wonderful people and even though I struggle with a lot of my own insecurities, I feel a lot stronger and more confident because of it.

 

HLS ’12 {a small recap}

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This past weekend I went to Boston for the Healthy Living Summit, my very first blog conference. I honestly don’t even know where to start in my little recap here; it was a different experience than I expected and the weekend itself had its’ highs and lows. I left bright and early on Friday morning, tearing myself away from these puppy eyes…

…to head to NYC to meet Jamie and get on our bus to Boston. The entire bus ride I was a bundle of nerves and excitement. As soon as the bus entered Boston, I already knew that I was in love with the city. It might seem weird, but I think being near that city was one of my favorite parts of this weekend. Especially since I’ve never been to Boston, I really appreciated the beautiful scenery and the architecture (!!). I can’t wait to go back and have time to explore the city more.

Upon checking in, I was given a huge swag bag and some awesome Reebok sneakers. I was lucky to be sharing a room with three really awesome ladies; Tessa, Katie and Rachel. On Friday night, we decided to take a little walk around the hotel before heading to the cocktail party – we ended up on the MIT campus, which was pretty cool. The cocktail party was fun; there were so many people and I only recognized a few from blogs that I’ve actually read. It made me feel better when I heard that a lot of us attending this year were first time conference attendees. It’s so crazy to see how big the world of blogging really is because HLS was such a small representation of them all!

photo taken from Meghann @ Meals and Miles

I feel like so many of the bloggers attending HLS this year are going to be writing day by day recaps of this weekend, listing all the sessions and things that they’ve did. I’m not sure if I feel like doing that – feeling kind of lazy at the moment. Also, I totally copped out on my photography. I think I took out my DSLR maybe once. I was obviously into the convenience of the iphone camera :)

bottom left image taken from Katie @ Peace Love and Oats

And that’s all the energy I have for right now. This weekend flew by and I am completely exhausted. Time to face Monday…stay tuned for more of a recap with more photos and thoughts!

Foodie Pen Pals!

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Well, hello there! It’s been quite awhile. I’m sure that many, many of you thought I completely abandoned this little food blog. That’s not the case. And I have whole other blog post to talk about the past twenty-seven days of silence on Must Come Hungry.

But first! I joined the Foodie Pen Pals for the first time this month!

First, here is a little bit about Foodie Pen Pals:
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

Now onto the good stuff! I was lucky to have Adair, from Food Stained Hands, as my foodie pen pal.  This was my first time participating in FPP and it was so much fun. I had a blast putting together a package for Beth (who wrote a guest post about what I sent her, that I’ll include in this post as well) and waiting for my own package to arrive.

I apologize for the crappy images. They are clearly taken with my cell phone camera; unfortunately my DSLR was still packed away and I was too lazy to go find it :) But Adair sent me a jar of one of my favorite peanut butters! Seriously, PB&Co is one of the best peanut butters out there and I don’t buy the dark chocolate dreams enough. Thanks, Adair! Oh, and those are really cute, mini cookie cutters! I’m hoping to make some homemade “animal” crackers with them.

I also received a jar of maple roasted almonds to use to make my own almond butter. I’m sorry, Adair, but those almonds did not make it to the nut butter form. They were just so good that I have eaten most of them already :) Thanks for the treats, I really enjoyed them!

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I’d like to introduce Beth, my lovely foodie pen pal that was nice enough to write up a short, little guest post about her food package!

Hi everyone!  My name is Beth and I was the lucky recipient of Julia’s package for May Foodie Pen Pals. While I do not have my own blog, I am a reader of many running and food blogs.  I first learned of the Foodie Pen Pals program from Tasha who blogs at healthydivacooking.blogspot.com.  This is my first month participating and it was so much fun.  I had as much fun shopping for my Foodie Pen Pal recipient as I had receiving my own package.    The recipient of my package was Josephine at runfromtheheart.com

Now on to the fun stuff…I received Julia’s package on a Wednesday after work.  I am always ravenous when I get home from work so I excitedly tore into the box right away.  It was packed with lots of goodies and a sweet note from Julia, too!  I was especially excited to see so many good things from Trader Joe’s.  The closest TJ’s is over an hour from my house so I don’t get there too often but I love their stuff!


My package included:  Luna bars, chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds, Lentil Chips, 2 kinds of granola, Cookie Butter, and chocolate strawberry tea.  Julia couldn’t have sent a more perfect array of treats for me!  I eat granola nearly every day–either in the morning sprinkled over my oatmeal to give it a little crunch or in the afternoon as a snack with yogurt. And I love anything combining chocolate and fruit!

The first item I devoured…I mean sampled…was the Lentil Chips.  So delicious–I may have eaten the entire bag that night with a little help from my husband.  And I must make special mention of the Cookie Butter.  I had never had this before but let me tell you, it is truly heavenly!  It tastes like a cross between gingerbread and graham crackers.  So far I have eaten it with pretzels and also on apple slices–a yummy sweet treat!


I look forward to enjoying the rest of the items I have yet to sample.  Many thanks to Julia!  Not only did she sent me a fabulous package of goodies, but I also have found another great blog to follow.

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Thanks, Beth! And I’d like to thank Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean for coordinating all of this. Thanks again to Adair! :)

I’ll be back soon, I promise!

On writing a book and eating cookies.

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This week marks the ending of a very important journey of my college life; my senior thesis has been completed. Or better yet, it will be completed when I get around to writing the ten page paper that goes along with it all. That’s not due until the week of May 8th, so I’m giving myself a few days to recover from the roller coaster of this past month because man, I deserve it. I’ve pretty much been inches away from a breakdown but who knew that bouncing from stressed, happy, relieved, pissed, angry, hungry, anxious, nervous and nauseous that by the end of it I would just feel kind numb.

The big news: I wrote a book. Yup, a 109-page cookbook with full photographs of each and every recipe.  I would like to share some key things about this phenomenon, my process and some things that I’ve learned. I almost feel like running a marathon would have been easier.

I made and photographed all of the recipes; about ninety percent were cooked and photographed in my dorm room. On a coffee table no bigger than 2 ft by 2ft. With pillowcases and scarves as my cool tablecloths and props. A girl has got to improvise. And make frequent trips to Target to see if there are any new kitchen decor items on clearance.

I was able to use this book as an excuse to spend hours at the grocery store and Trader Joe’s every week. To say that I spent, on average, three hours a week grocery shopping would be pretty close to the truth. No matter how many times I felt like I had gotten everything on my list for the week, I always, without a doubt, forgot something.

It also made it perfectly acceptable to have dozens of cookies in my freezer at any given time and to then, in fact, have cookies for breakfast when short on time. From eating cookies for breakfast, I learned the important of a balanced diet. Meaning, if I accidentally ate cookies for breakfast, then I should try to eat more greens for dinner; because in the end, it all totally balances out. Trust me, because I’ve eaten quite my fair share of cookies this semester. I’ve also run my fair share of miles as well.

I was scared to use a tripod in the shooting of these photographs and therefore spent a lot of time leaping from chairs to couch in order to get the picture that I wanted; I only fell twice. Once on my dog, she got mad at me. I fed her peanut butter and all was forgiven.

I’ve learned that I’m capable of doing anything when I set my mind to it. When I first started this project, it was so daunting and I had no idea where to begin. Now that I’m finished, I’ve surprised myself with how well everything worked out and how rewarding it is to say that I’ve written and designed every single inch of something. Everything in this book is me; I put my heart and soul into it.

As happy as I am for this book to have finally been completed, it’s also bittersweet. I never felt so in control and driven to complete something. This has truly been an experience that I will always remember and hold on to. I thank anyone that has been with me from the beginning of this; especially my family. And don’t worry, I’m still going to be here on Must Come Hungry. I’ve fallen in love with this experience and I’m not ready to give it up! I’m ready to re-devote myself to this blog and share my kitchen adventures :)

Rainy, Awesome Weekend.

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He is an April Fool’s baby. We had some great plans this weekend to go into NYC but it was raining and freeeeezing. When it’s cold, I’m seriously the biggest pain in the butt ever. I don’t stop complaining and take on the appearance of a turtle as I burrow my head and neck as far into my jacket and scarf as possible. And I’m cranky to the billionth power.

So, imagine our extreme disappointment when we woke up on Saturday morning to find it pouring, windy and just barely forty degrees. I was all in for ditching our plans for staying in pajamas and the heat all day, I’m a great girlfriend aren’t I? But, the boyfriend insisted that we still try to make it a fun day and head into the city because there were things that both of us had been looking forward too.

You see, Joy the Baker was speaking and signing her new, amazing cookbook at the Brooklyn Kitchen on Saturday. Being a huge fan and avid reader of her site, I practically begged the boyfriend to let us go there on his birthday weekend. Of course, he agreed :) There were yummy, free snacks and free beer (the best kind according to boyfriend). I’m glad that I braved the cold weather because Joy was extremely sweet and a pleasure to listen to and meet. She even signed my copy of her cookbook!

The place was packed! But we were lucky to be close to the front of the line and didn’t have to wait too long. We left a little after 3:00 and I braved the cold weather again as we walked down the street to the real reason we dragged ourselves to Brooklyn on this rainy Saturday; the Brooklyn Brewery. I planned on taking the boyfriend there for his birthday celebration and to take a tour of the place. Well, we got there and there was a huge line waiting to get inside!

After a freezing thirty minutes, we were allowed in! This place was really neat and it was packed. We bought some beer tokens and stood in the longest line I have ever seen. Long story short, we got some beer and listened to some fun history about the brewery. We then decided it was too cold and realized we had been standing for the past four hours, so we wimped out and started to head for the train home! I think we’ll be back for another trip to the brewery when it’s not so miserable outside.

The brewery was extra interesting because we hadn’t eaten anything besides a few nibbles of goodies at the Joy the Baker book signing. We couldn’t wait to get home and have some dinner; we even cheated a bit and grabbed some ice cream at the train station before heading home.

We were pooped and it was barely 5:30.