With the Boyfriend, of course.

Here is my advice for men who are looking to plan a great date and score some major bonus points with the little lady: plan a date around her interests. It’s incredibly flattering to know that you’re paying attention and it guarantees she will have a good time. And unless you’re dating, I don’t know, Lady Gaga or some other wackadoo, chances are she likes some pretty cool stuff and you’ll both end up enjoying yourselves.

Personally, my interests include wine and old movies. The Boyfriend planned accordingly.

We started the evening at the Palace theater in Albany to see a screening of To Kill A Mockingbird. I love watching old movies at the Palace. It’s this grand old theater and I imagine this is what it was like to go to the movie theater when the movies first started. It’s just such a fun, classy atmosphere. I also have to give major props to the ticket people. Upon arriving we discovered the “cash only” rule and could only scrounge eight bucks between the two of us, which left us each a dollar short for a ticket. The ticket people took pity on us and charged us the senior ticket price of four dollars each, thus scoring some major karma for themselves.

I read the book in high school but never got around to seeing the movie. However, I loved the story, wanted to be Scout, and I have a secret crush on Gregory Peck, so the film was on my must-see list. The movie was incredible. The Boyfriend seemed to enjoy it, too, and I always give props to people who are open to watching old black and white movies. I was raised on Bringing Up Baby and Notorious, but I realize this is unusual. There was no Quentin Tarrantino or Michael Bay in the 40s or 50s.

When we were in college a friend of mine had the idea to re-read all the books they forced him to read in high school. While you’ll never get me near Lord of the Flies again and though I’ll be good without re-reading Ellen Foster, generally this turned out to be a good idea. To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the books he read for a second time and he quite enjoyed it. In truth high schoolers are way too busy freaking out about EVERYTHING to bother with understanding books anyway. Not that I blame them; I was the same way. But nowadays, rather than bemoaning the fact that I’m a nerd, I accept it. Nerds read books. Point me to the nearest copy of Harper Lee’s classic.

As we were walking out of the theater, The Boyfriend turned to me and said, “I imagine you exactly like Scout when you were little.” Scrappy and opinionated? I’d say he might be onto something…

The second half of the date centered around another interest of mine: booze. We went to the Wine Bar and Bistro on Lark, which I have been dying to get to. Without knowing it, we picked the perfect date spot! The Wine Bar is located in a warm and romantic brick-covered basement, accented with fireplaces, candles, and local artwork.

They also have a little something called Wine After Work (yes, please).

“You Know You Need It!!”

Since we went on a Monday night, we enjoyed $5 glasses of wine. I tried a Vouvray which is now a new favorite of mine.

A little sweet, but quite crisp and incredibly fresh. The Boyfriend ordered a glass of Chardonnay, but we both agreed that my wine choice was the winner of the evening. We weren’t planning on eating, but before I knew it I found myself ordering butternut squash ravioli with pancetta. I mean, come on.

The Boyfriend got a stew with chicken confit, bacon, sausage, and white beans, all with a side of garlic crostini. This was absolutely incredible.

As soon as the server set down the bowl he said, “Baby, you better take a picture FAST because this isn’t gonna last long!”

They also brought us a carafe of water right away, which is awesome since I drink water like a beast when I go out to eat. I definitely judge a restaurant by how much water they give you.

My blurry Valentine

With its intimate layout, the Wine Bar is decidedly ideal for couples, but I foresee a girls night out with my lady friends there soon. You can’t beat the $20 bottle Wine After Work deal, and the food is good, too. The glasses of wine are plentiful and the hassle of the workweek seem far away.

It was heavenly to slurp soup, sip wine, and chat with my love. I spied a little on the only other couple in the dining room who were clearly on a second date. They knew each other, but they were asking basic questions: Where are you from, What’s your family like, What do you do for a living? I was suddenly very thankful to be sitting across from someone who has known me for years, someone who has seen me cry and makes me laugh, someone who cheered me on at my college graduation and knows my friends. Someone my mother likes. Someone with whom I have a song and a dog and a common obsession with Criminal Minds.

First dates are nice. Anniversaries are pleasant. But a random Monday night out with your sweetheart is something to cherish.

Of Eastern New York, Albany got the least amount of snow in terms of accumulation, but from Tuesday to Friday it was cloudy and snowing or raining every minute of every day. Talk about needing some motivation and Vitamin D.

I tried to brighten the days with some color in the form of fruits and vegetables. It’s amazing how thankful I am for an orange when the ground, sky, and everything in between is gray.

That particular lunch also featured leftover pizza topped with hot sauce and pesto for a little excitement (I’m not even kidding, sometimes pesto is the most exciting part of my day.)

Here is my confession: I found this slice of homemade pizza in the back of the fridge and I admit that I cannot remember the exact date of its birth. But it looked fresh and (more importantly!) SMELLED fine, so it was added to the lunch menu. You can ask The Boyfriend: I am extremely sensitive to smelly things. If something smells off (pizza, produce, milk, your feet) you had best get it away from me pronto.

The random bit of pesto was from a Real Simple meal The Boyfriend had made the night before: Cod with Beans, Corn, and Pesto.

As you may have heard, The Boyfriend has been making fish lately.

The recipe is meant to have green beans, but when the boy came home from the store he announced that green beans were nowhere to be found, so he bought peppers instead. I was nervous about how the peppers would pair with the fish. Peppers are so flavorful and full of zing, whereas green beans are much milder. I said nothing though, which is unusual for me, but I am wary to criticize the hand that feeds me.

Let me tell you: The Boyfriend is 2 for 2. First the tilapia, now the cod. Success, my friends, delicious and fishy success! I was surprisingly full, without even eating a single noodle or slice of pizza.

Dinner was accompanied by a bottle of wine from our nice neighbors downstairs.

Dessert was accompanied by an episode of Criminal Minds (you can sneak a peek at Gideon and Hotchner in the background).

Following in The Boyfriend’s footsteps, I made a comforting Real Simple recipe for dinner the next night. (*I accidentally just typed “foodsteps” instead of “footsteps” — it still works, right??) I found this recipe in the magazine a couple of issues back and it just spoke to me. Seriously, how good does Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens sound? The recipe makes a big ol’ pot, too.

I hate to say it, but this was honestly a little bland for me at first. I ended up adding some smoked Cheddar to the pot, and I think I would recommend skipping the Brie all together in favor of a smoked cheese. I also added some red pepper flakes for a little zing. I will say that I am completely in love with barley though. It’s so comforting and has such a good flavor. Barley stew has the same qualities as risotto: warm, filling, and good for you. I do recommend this recipe, but just add that you should be open to added your own favorite flavors.

For lunch I had some of my barley soup. Holy deliciousness! You should seriously go get yourself a copy of The Best Vegetarian Recipes if only to make mushroom barley soup. I don’t even LIKE soup most of the time but this is amazing. I left my camera at home but I did snap a humorous photo with my phone. I give you Exhibit A, or Why I Desperately Need An iPhone:

Oh, yeeeeah.

My soup and yogurt-with-fruit combo did not hold me over for the seven hours between lunch and dinner so I snuck a Pecan Pie Larabar in during the commute home. Dear good people of Larabar: higher me to say good things about your company. I have high praises.

Dinner was the product of many cravings. Since I can’t stuff myself full of grilled cheese or pasta this week, I figured a hot and filling option was best. At first I wanted a repeat of last night — eggs, avocado and mushrooms. But then I wanted a baked potato. And then I remembered these Roma tomatoes I bought and need to use. So I created mishmash of all of these things in a Farmer’s Market Frittata. Frittatas are so tasty, so easy, and you can throw anything in them (like an abundance of vegetables in your fridge).

This photo only has 6 eggs, but that turned out to be too few — with all of these add-ins, I needed an extra three. I cut up a small potato (with skin — that’s where all the nutrients are!) and stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Next I chopped up half an avocado, two mushroom caps, a Roma tomato, and the last bits from a bag of spinach.

Here are the instructions: heat olive oil in a cast-iron or any oven-safe skillet, beat eggs in a bowl, add ingredients, pour mixture into skillet and cook over medium heat until the sides pull away slightly and the middle almost sets.

Not quite done! Heat the oven to 350 degrees, grate some cheese on top (I used a mixture of Cheddar and Parm) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the eggs are cooked through and the top is set.

Lunch was thrown together before work:

My review? Delicious! I love most Larabars, but this flavor is near the top. I was really excited when I saw them in Price Chopper this weekend.

After my snack I started work on dinner.

Stir fry! I didn’t mention this earlier, but I’m avoiding meat, too. Normally I don’t eat much meat at all, but lately I’ve been ordering meals with bacon on them or craving chicken on pizza. It’s weird for me and truthfully I prefer a diet light on meat.

The Boyfriend made (unpictured) sweet and sour chicken to go with the stir fry, but I went with marinated tofu.

We ate our dinner with brown rice and this incredibly yummy peanut sauce:

The sauce was a recipe from this book:

I’ve had this book for a few years, back from the time when I was a vegetarian. It’s extremely resourceful and I recommend it for anyone, from a newbie vegetarian to a cheeseburger lover who needs a reference cookbook on grains. I took the recipe for my mushroom barley soup from here.

The players:

Barley

Mushrooms, carrots, onions, and garlic. I let it all simmer together while we ate dinner.

The photo may be a bit unimpressive, but the smell was incredible. I cannot wait to eat this for lunch tomorrow!

So what is the result from my first day of hitting the “refresh” button on my system? In one day I’ve definitely inspired myself to get back on the meal-planning and veggie-eating wagon. The only bump in the road was about seven minutes ago when I was cleaning up the kitchen. I saw cookies The Roommate made this weekend and moved to grab one before remembering my challenge.

Not being one to deprive myself a treat, I searched for ways to calm my sweet tooth and decided to whip up chocolate banana soft serve. If you read food or fitness blogs you may have seen this wandering around the blogosphere. All you need is a frozen banana and a blender/mixer/food processor.

I used my immersion blender with decent results. A food processor is just better, but my kitchen already looked like this and I didn’t feel like lugging the thing out:

   

Delish! Jack and I ate dessert in the kitchen together. His tasty treat was the last licks of the peanut butter jar.

I’m off for an episode of Criminal Minds with The Roommies and then bed!