5 Days till Easter

So Easter is in five days. Let's not forget the reason behind giving up something for Lent. I was supposed to be reflecting on abstaining from something in order to relate the sacrifice that Jesus made when he went into the desert for 40 days and nights before the Last Supper.

I have been reflecting, but not on that. I have been over focused on my diet's lack of meat and how I have been craving it every day. I seem to have missed the larger goal of enlightenment and taking the step to being that much closer to God. BUT I did practice self restraint and now know that I can cut something out of my life that I would eat/use almost every single day.

I am going to try to do this with various other things in my life that can be cut out, and hopefully wean myself off them permanently. Soda, shopping for things other than groceries, buying drinks for everyone in the group and any other spontaneous purchasing.

FIVE DAYS until I will be chowing down on ham, turkey, bacon, chicken, pork and hamburgers!!!!!!!!!! No worries, I'll feature one a day, but boy am I excited!

Day 21 Halfway there!!

Well, yet again I've slacked off and didn't have time to report in for almost a week. You didn't miss anything spetactular, plus its hard to top that Tilapia.

Ellen's wedding was this past weekend and I had the honor of singing at the ceremony. She was gorgeous, the ceremony was gorgeous and the day was AMAZING! The sun was out and it was the right temperate for a spring wedding! She used Carfagna's catering for her reception and the Manicotti was ok, could have used a bit more melted cheese on top. The potatoes were spot on and you can't go wrong with fresh green beans.

I'm in the mood to grill... that might happen today after work :)

McCormick & Schmick's!!

I had an enjoyable day today. I attended a meeting planning summit at one of my favorite venues in Columbus. The Conference Center at NorthPointe is a fabulous conference center that serves amazing food and has an even better staff. If you ever need to plan a social event contact Veronica and if its more of a corporate event along the lines of a conference or summit, contact Jamie.

The site is catered by Sodexo and the food at their club house is always fresh, delicious and their dessert is to die for :) Today I had grilled squash, zucchini and peppers with some roasted potatoes and broccoli soup. Being a vegetarian today has been better than the past couple!

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Update!!

I'm currently at McCormick and Schmick's at Easton Town Center. I'm hosting the SharePoint Roundtable event that Microsoft is sponsoring with ICC.

I am partaking in the most DELICIOUS Parmesan Crusted Tilapia I've ever had. If you're reading this, promise me that one day you will visit and try it. I am sold on Tilapia... at least this version of it :) Enjoy the picture below!

Day 9 Marco... to Day 14 NOT Pollo!

So I've slacked in the daily reporting... just like I slack with reporting to my budget manager. Sorry Brian! :) At least he knows its not just him... its reporting in general!! I'd like to attribute the lack of consistency to my cold. Cold, meet the world... now go plague someone else!!

The past week has been a very difficult week as far as temptation goes. Friends came to visit and of course they wanted to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse. Lets just take a moment to salivate over their delicious Parmesan Crusted Crusted Chicken. It is amazing, hands down one of my favorite dishes of 2010... right along side the OG's Chicken Pansotti. (I've maxed out on my capacity to love this right now and will get back to you on my obsession at a later date.)

I also had a meat free chipotle burrito bowl yesterday and that just wasn't as fun either. Qdoba is better, GO QDOBA!

Have you ever gone to the store and forgotten to purchase something you desperately needed for your meal that night? Yeah, me too. I visited two stores yesterday for two different reasons and both times forgot to buy some white cheddar cheese to make homemade goopy mac and cheese. Since I forgot this vital ingredient I was forced to use my brick of Monterrey jack. I have never used this as a melting cheese and will never, ever use it again. Why you ask? Because the damn stuff wouldn't melt! It was the stringiest cheese I've ever worked with, and I work with a lot of cheese. My dog's name is Colbie Jack... come on.

Ever the positive person, I kept right on stirring and adding milk and shredded swiss, mozzarella and parmesan. Let me tell you, it tastes pretty darn good if you can get past the stringy part.

Day 7 & 8 - Lemon Creme Cake Anyone??

I can not tell you how great it is to wake up in the morning knowing that lemon creme cake is sitting in the fridge, waiting oh so patiently, for me to savor each and every bite! The continuation of food from my awesomeness the night before started my day off pretty well... of course it all came crashing down later in the day, but that's a story for another day. For dinner I had my staple meal but subbed out the capellini for thin spaghetti. Thin spaghetti definitely didn't hold a candle to capellini.

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Wednesday hasn't been inspiring in the least. The vegetarian version of Chicken Fettucini Alfredo doesn't really taste as scrumdidliliumcious. Thats all I have to say on that subject... it took all my energy just to swallow the bland crap :(

I think I'm finally hitting my chicken depression point. The new car smell of my task has faded and I'm left with this huge craving to binge every little cluck-er, moo-er and oink-er that I can.

Day 5 meets Day 6 - Boring

Sunday was boring... I worked at the OG in the morning, didn't get tipped and spent the entirety of my earnings on an oil change. Nothing like coming home from work with an empty wallet :(

My only meal of the day consisted of capellini pasta topped with balsamic vinaigrette and shredded mozzarella cheese. It's my go to meal. When I have extra cash I splurge on cherry tomatoes. Boring right? I'm shooting for the sky today with my lunch of... broccoli cheddar soup and a salad with cranberries. Woot. woot.


What I would really like to eat is the Chicken Pansotti from OG.

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Update!

I totally earned a free pansotti for dinner tonight as I did an outstanding job supporting my service partner at work! Sub out the chicken for extra pansotti and voila, the most amazing dinner in existence! It was a great end to a not so great (money) night.

Day 4 - Chicken, Wine and Beer, oh my!!

Saturday could have been a disaster. Luckily, He was batting for me because veggie options were aplenty at Ellen's wedding shower. The egg salad was delicious and there was a little feast of fresh veggies and dip. Of course I regretted the broccoli choice but thats a story for another day :)

Wedding showers can be quite tedious depending on the couple you're showering with expensive gifts, but this one was fun and the atmosphere was great. Maybe it was because my entire table knew that within four hours we would all be enjoying Buca di Beppo food and drinks. At least, thats what I was telling myself. I was so excited but then saw how the entire menu combined all my favorite things with chicken, and forgot that it was family style serving.

For anyone who's never visited the awesome-ness of Buca, family style means that when you order a small portion, it feeds 3-4 people while their large feeds 4-6. Five of us girls teamed together and got a meal that definitely was filled with amazing looking chicken. I wanted so badly to mistakingly eat a few pieces, especially since the gal sitting across from me gave in and ordered a forbidden soda. BUT I did not give in and piled all of the enemy on a corner of my plate and substituted more sun dried tomatoes.

This was a bachelorette dinner and then we were taking the party down the street a bit to Big Bang, the piano bar. Ellen is the type of person who enjoys the shadows and dreads the limelight. Her sister promised not to buy anything too flashy, gaudy or raunchy for her to wear last night. The great thing is that I'm not her sister and got her the loveliest male member headband and lei. One of the other girls had created a list of items that Ellen had to complete by the end of the night. I'll sum it up by saying that she ended up with a condom on the headband, kissed a bald head, was presented with a pair of boxer briefs and the bar tender let her give him a blow job which she miserably failed.

Day 3 - Back on the wagon :)

I made sure I woke up in time to have a bowl of Cheerios just to make sure I wouldn't order the enemy in a sleep deprived haze. It worked and I made it through the whole day without even thinking about a chicken or cow. I've also come to the realization that I don't eat that much meat. At the very least, I don't usually buy it to cook with. I tend to boil some capellini pasta and throw together a quick bruschetta pasta. When I go out I usually order something along the lines of chicken, but when it comes to pizza or pasta, I am just fine with a good sauce and cheese, cheese, mozzarella and more cheese :) Too bad pizza can't be had every day :(

On a side note, I've been battling with my dog, Colbie Jack, on her new addiction to destroying one thing at a time in my house. It started with three holes in my couch, lost two pillows and I've gained a new decoration of a feather covered floor. Just recently Colbie has taken to a lesser evil in the form of ripping tissues and dryer sheets to pieces and scattering them across the living room. I keep threatening her with the wrath of Caesar but I think she understands that he really isn't that scary.



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Just got back from a blind date. Yep, a real blind date. We went to a little greek cafe in German Village. I had a teeny tiny greek pita pizza chuck full of yummy feta cheese and diced tomatoes. I thought for sure the skinny waitress was lying when she said it was small. But it was the truth, totally a mini pizza. I will definately go back again soon as it was more pub than cafe. I love me a good pub.

Day 2 - I did what????

Sooo my second day on the veggie train wasn't as smooth as day one. I've already cheated and didn't realize it till I was writing this entry. This morning, in my daze of Nyquil meets Killians (and kareoke at the local pub), I stopped by Tim Hortons with all intentions of getting coffee and a free doughnut. Boy did I mess up! I ordered and scarfed a Muffin, Bacon, Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich... not cool Lindsay, not cool! I didn't even realize that I had ate meat, my mantra will need to start a little bit earlier from now on. Don't eat meat, don't eat meat, don't eat meat or God will punish you!!! I'm sitting back and berating myself that I've fallen before I've even begun. I will have to do better in remembering that pigs, chickens and cows are to be treated as mortal enemies.

Day 1 - Ash Wednesday aka The Day I say au revoir to my best friend, chicken.

As my day started I found myself oddly cheerful and happy with my decision to abstain from meat over the course of Lent. Of course, this was at 8:30am and breakfast doesn’t usually consist of Chicken Alfredo with a side of Prime Rib. Please note the capitalization of my meals as this is due in part to my absolute love of food, and essentially, meat.

As the morning progressed I found myself consciously repeating over and over that lunch was not allowed to consist of meat. I knew that if I let myself forget, second nature would charge right in and suddenly I would have a mouthful of an Italian sub from Potbelly. Unfortunately, I accepted a lunch invitation that brought temptation in the form of Sesame Chicken (one of my favs!) Let me tell ya, it was rough watching everyone enjoy those little breaded pieces of chicken. Instead, I stuck to my guns and ordered the Vegetable Lo Mein. Now don’t get me wrong but I found the dish lacking substance. There wasn’t anything to sink my teeth into. Hopefully this is something that I will get used to and start to enjoy.