Link Love #14

Congrats to the giveaway winner, Lauren! Please email me at Brittany@BarrAndTable.com with your mailing address to claim your prize!

Now it’s time for some more link love.. the internet is a wonderful place, yes? 🙂

Health

4 Reasons Your Gluten-Free Diet is Keeping You Miserable – Sarah Kay Hoffman

4 Reasons Your Gluten-Free Diet is Keeping You Miserable – Sarah Kay Hoffman
I Need Five Wake Up Calls Daily – Olive to Run
One Thing at a Time – Wellness Today
I Got Six-Pack Abs in Six Weeks. Here’s How I Feel One Year Later. – Derek Flanzraich via Greatist
10 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Results in the Gym – FitKnitChick

Fitness

Work It Out: 15 Minutes Is All It Takes – Sprint 2 the Table

Work It Out: 15 Minutes Is All It Takes – Sprint 2 the Table
Swing It WOD – Blonde Ponytail
5 Workouts to Help Increase Speed – Tina Reale
Slow Ascent Workout: Negatives In November – Lifting Revolution

Food

Creamy Eggplant & Caramelized Onion Dip – Minimalist Baker

Creamy Eggplant & Caramelized Onion Dip – Minimalist Baker
Toasted Brazil & Coconut Butter – The Smart Kitchen
Brussels Sprout & Sunchoke Salad – Love & Lemons
Quinoa, Kale, and Bacon Stuffed Butternut Squash – Rachel Cooks
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lentil Blondies – Ambitious Kitchen

Food for Thought

What was your favorite post from the past week?

What I Ate Wednesday #60: The. Best. Pizza.

This is not a joke. We found the best pizza in Baltimore. Saturday night Nathan and I decided to knock another restaurant off of our bucket list and headed over to Verde Pizza. This is another relatively new spot in town and we had pretty high hopes after seeing some amazing-looking pictures on their facebook page.

Margherita Pizza

Vedura Delizia – smoked bufala mozzarella, roasted butternut squash cream, zucchini, roasted red peppers, basil & evoo

Hard to argue with the looks of those pizzas, right? Right. So we made our way over.

The kitchen was pretty open and there were 2 chefs making the pizzas right up front. I always love watching the food being made!

Open kitchen

I sipped on a glass of Nero D’Avola as we waited for our appetizers. It was a great choice; very easy drinking, light tannins, and a little bit fruity. I loved it!

In case you don’t know what a glass of red wine looks like..

Appetizers

Tre Porcellini – Roasted vegetable trio of red pepper, eggplant, and mushroom,
served with homemade foccacia

The Tre Porcellini consisted of three roasted vegetables—that night they offered mushrooms, red peppers, and eggplant—served with homemade foccacia. They were all great, but the slightly-sweet red pepper was my favorite. The eggplant, however, had a little extra olive oil on it that was perfect for dipping the bread in!

Insalata Mista – Spring mix with grape tomatoes, EVOO, and balsamic glaze

We also split the Insalata Mista. Such a simple salad but all of the ingredients were so fresh. The grape tomatoes were like candy and the balsamic glaze was just sweet enough. We also got a little parmesan on the side to sprinkle on top. I would highly recommend that!

Pizza

The best way to test a pizza place is to get their margherita pizza. That was our original plan, but when my pizza-loving husband set his eyes on the menu, it was quickly decided that we would be ordering 2 pizzas. Another night to take home leftovers! [It’s kind of our thing now.. ;)]

Margherita – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, basil, EVOO

As soon as Nathan took his first bite he said he was immediately transported back to Gusta Pizza, our favorite pizza in Italy. The crust is so light and perfectly crisp. We loved the char on the outer edges from the brick oven, there was the perfect amount of the rich, flavorful tomato sauce, and the homemade mozzarella was so creamy.

Salsiccia e Funghi – Tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, sausage, wild mushrooms,
fresh ricotta, basil, EVOO

When I asked the waitress how the Salsiccia e Funghi pizza is, she replied “you know, standard awesome.” She was spot on. The sausage was just a little bit smokey which paired well with the meaty mushrooms. The dollop of homemade ricotta cheese in the middle might have been my favorite part. I don’t think I’ve ever had such creamy, melty ricotta before and I could have gone for more on top!

I know I said we made this bucket list so we could get to a bunch of restaurants before we head to California, but we are seriously considering heading back to Verde again. Can’t you see it in Nathan’s face? 😉

So pensive.

Food for Thought

Have you ever tasted a dish that transported you back to another time in your life?

What’s the best pizza you’ve ever had?

What I Ate Wednesday #36: It’s Really Real!

First things first, HUGEEEEE congratulations to our WIAW host, Jenn! If you didn’t see already, she spilled the beans the other day and I couldn’t be happier for her.

I’m less than 3 months away from my wedding and weekends have been completely taken over by plans. We have all of the big details done and now we’re just making all of the final decisions. It’s getting really real and Nathan keeps realizing he can’t back out anymore 😉 It’s already been over a year in the making and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition. But really, I can’t wait to wear my dress, party, and go on my honeymoon. Hey, I’m just being honest!

And speaking of the dress, Saturday was my first fitting; it fits almost perfectly and I’m in love. But that’s all you’re gonna get from me 😉 Afterwards, I headed to a baby shower to spend some time with these lovely ladies..

..and to celebrate the beautiful lady in the black flower dress. It was such a good time.. bellinis, good food, lots of chit chat, and most importantly, no games! Seriously, it was great!

Finally, I ended my day with a date night. Best part of all, other than the company, is that it was at Mr. Rain’s Funhouse; the restaurant at our wedding venue. It was a nice way to tie all of the crazy planning together to a nice, relaxing evening.

[Breakfast]
Slimmed down sweet scramble with fat free ricotta cheese instead of squash. A new spin I’ve been doing for a little extra kick of protein.

[Lunch]
Baby shower eats! Mini crustless quiches, bacon spirals, beet & pecan salad, artichoke crostinis, & a couple pear raspberry bellinis. I’m sorry I didn’t snap a few shots of the food, the hostess with the mostess did such a nice job.

[Dinner]
Started out with an incredible drink.. unfortunately I don’t remember exactly what was in it, but it involved rye, black tea, blood orange marmalade, bitters, and more. Completely out of the ordinary for me but so delicious and accented my entree perfectly.

I always appreciate freshly baked rolls to start a dinner, but even more, I love freshly baked pretzel bites! We also shared a charcuterie plate.. it’s kind of our thing. And there will be lots of charcuterie on the honeymoon!

Nathan got the burger and fries; it was cooked perfectly which is so rare to find these days. My entree choice was decided almost solely on the fact that it included kabocha squash which I’ve been dying to try but can’t find anywhere! The rest included roasted eggplant, bulgar wheat, olives, and lemon. It was so light and delicious!

[Snacks]
We skipped dessert after dinner because we shared a huge Levain Bakery style chocolate chip walnut cookie earlier in the day provided by the host of the baby shower. She really outdid herself with the food and it did not go unnoticed! And you should definitely make that cookie!

Tempting, right? 😉

Food for Thought

What is your favorite cookie? Is it a homemade recipe or from your favorite bakery?

What I Ate Wednesday #7 – Sunday Brunch

Sundays are definitely one of my favorite days. Morning yoga in the park, hitting up the farmers market, and on some special Sundays, we do brunch.

One thing you need to know about Nathan and me is that we love deals. Groupon and Living Social are my best friend. So much so, that people poke fun at me for work.. “Oh, you’re going out to eat? What kinda deal did you get?” I have no problem with this because as a foodie, trying new restaurants (for half price, mind you) is nothing less than awesome!

This past Sunday’s brunch was at Lebanese Taverna. It may not have been a new restaurant to try, but we absolutely love the food there, so when a deal popped up for brunch, we were on that like white on rice! Or hummus on pita.. you choose 😉

I realized when I went to put this post together that I didn’t take pictures of any of my food from Sunday, except brunch sooo here’s a quick break down!

Breakfast
Cinnamon raisin protein oats & quinoa. This recipe is coming soon and you don’t want to miss it!

Brunch
Lebanese Taverna deliciousness!

Homemade Bread
This is important enough for it’s own line. Have you had their bread?! It is incredible.

Red Sangria
Pomegranate wine, triple sec, brandy, cinnamon, basil, apples, and plums. I would order that every time!

Our Feast!
Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Lebanese Salad (cucumber, tomato, mint, & onion), Chicken Kabob, and Beef & Lamb Shwarma.

My favorite parts? The baba ganoush and beef & lamb shwarma. I could eat all of it. All day. Everyday.

Booza
An ice cream trio with Pistachio-Orange (my fave!), Vanilla Cardamom (Nathan’s fave!), and Honey (the overall crowd-pleaser.)

Clearly, it was too warm outside to let the ice cream pose for a picture, so naturally, we devoured it! Sorry. (Not really.)

Dinner
Leftover thai.. steamed bean thread noodles with fresh ginger, hu-nu, onions, carrots, baby corn, scallions,bean sprouts, pork, and bean sauce in a hot pot and a side of edamame. This comes from a place called Thai Arroy. It looks like a little whole-in-the-wall, but it is the best thai food in Baltimore!

Snack Time
Homemade peanut butter froyo. This is another recipe coming soon and definitely worth checking out! It’s so easy and much cheaper than going out 🙂

Like I said.. I didn’t do such a great job of taking pictures on Sunday, so now you’re subjected to a bad Instagramed phone picture. For this, I truly apologize.

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite Sunday tradition? Are you a Sunday brunch-er?

And don’t miss my giveaway; you have until tomorrow night to enter! You could win a case of the delicious CalNaturale Svelte! Yum!