Let them eat cake!

 Can I just take a minute to rave about the cake my mom made for my Dad's birthday? It was SOOO GOOOD!!

Green Monster Smoothies!

One more quick post! After these past few weeks of delicious (but fatty) treats, I've been feeling sluggish and weighed down. So it's back to healthy foods and exercise for me! First off, the GREEN MONSTER SMOOTHIE. It's delicious, chocked full of healthy foods, and super easy and quick! I can throw all this stuff in a blender in the morning and drink it as I'm getting ready for work. Piece of cake! but not literally :)

See all those flecks of green? Yep, that's spinach!

Here's the recipe:

1 frozen slice banana

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 cup yogurt*

1 cup milk

4 cups baby spinach (more or less)

*I use plain Greek yogurt and add a dash of vanilla and Splenda for flavor!

North Carolina eats!

I haven't posted in so long! And trust me, it's not from lack of eating! I've been eating some amazing food lately, particularly on my 2 recent trips to North Carolina. Here's a quick review!

hushpuppies are my weakness.

On spring break, my sister, my best friend, and I stopped at this beachy restaurant in the middle of nowhere called Mulligan's. Seriously, there was pretty much nothing else around. But surprise! It was actually really good! I had grilled flounder with fries and hushpuppies, my friend Sam had a delicious looking crab cake burger, and my sister had a basket of shrimp and fried fish. Pure, beach bum yumminess!

Grilled brie and Tomato and an Open Faced Hummus sandwich.

Also, while out exploring one afternoon, we stopped for lunch at the Tipsy Teapot, a little hole-in-the-wall cafe/bookstore. There are shelves upon shelves of books and couches and armchairs strewn haphazardly all around the place. So fun! And the grilled brie and tomato sandwich was a completely new spin on a regular old grilled cheese. YUMMY!

Charlsey is like a wizard in the kitchen!

For a night in, my sister made this AMAZING taco-seasoned chili and mexican cornbread. It was the perfect balance of spicy and homey. Like southern comfort food mixed with modern tex-mex.

Green beer!

And of course, can't forget St. Patty's Day! Lots of green beer and traditional Irish nosh. I had a really yummy Shepherd's Pie, but I ended up scarfing it all down before I managed to get a picture!

Rip-tide! Green in honor of St Patty's Day!

And breakfast in NC was always a treat too! One morning my sister made us eggs baked in a sourdough loaf with green onions and LOTS of cheese. Even my little sister, who is one the pickiest eaters on the planet, loved this dish!

eggs baked in a bread loaf.

Oh, and Cookout is always worth a mention. They only have them in NC, and I'm so jealous because they're so good! They have tons of different flavors of milkshakes (and I mean good, authentic flavors, not chemicals), hushpuppies (!) and they're open to 4am. Come on people, bring Cookout to KY!

Sweet potato biscuit!

And last, but not least, this little drive thru diner at the end of my sister's road - Peaton's. They have all kinds of biscuits and breakfast foods, but I got a regular biscuit with egg and then a sweet potato biscuit with jelly. And oh my word! The sweet potato biscuits are TO DIE FOR. Literally, to die for. They're huge and oh so scrumptious. I'll tell you one thing, it's good I don't live in NC, with food like this I'd start packing on the pounds!