California is a big state

Yesterday afternoon I was wearing shorts at the beach. 488 miles and 8 and a half hours later, I pulled into my driveway where the snow was plowed into berms almost as high as my two story apartment building. It's so crazy that there's such variation in one state!

This weekend was definitely one of indulgence. Nearly 20 hours in a car led to the eating of a lot of unhealthy gas station snacks.

Some things I consumed in the car that I would not normally consume:

- Cheeze-its

- Jalapeno kettle chips

- Special K bar

- Peanut butter Snickers

- Regular Snickers

- Starbursts

- Honey roasted cashews

- Multiple servings of Diet Cherry Pepsi

- Gas station "iced latte"

- Pretzel rods

While all of these foods were perfect road trip food, I was definitely feeling a salt overload by the end of the road trip.

In addition to all of the delicious road trip snacks, I also indulged in (nearly) all of my favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara.

- Woodstock's Pizza: I have not found great pizza in Tahoe yet, so I had to get some Woodstock's with extra peppercinis.

- Daily Grind: I get the breakfast burrito with no meat and the cinnamon coffee. There was a huge mastiff there this weekend.

- Freebirds: It's always really busy, especially late night weekends selling burritos to drunk people, and I love their veggie nachos for those days when you want nachos for dinner. One order of nachos is huge! Split them with someone. Freebirds is in the heart of Isla Vista so it is always a great place for people watching.

- Coffee Collaborative: My favorite coffee shop in the Santa Barbara area opened right before I moved. I'm kind of a coffee snob, and this place has (in my opinion) the best coffee. The baristas are friendly, and they make caramel cold press coffee.

- McMaster's Steak & Hoagie: Best veggie "cheesesteak" ever! It's sauteed mushrooms, onions, and green peppers with mozzarella and marinara sauce. I usually make it a meal with fries because the fries are amazing. They're hand cut and fresh cooked and perfect. Also, the man who runs the place is the nicest man in the world.

Pictures of my food! How bloggery of me.

These fries say "eat me! eat me!"

While all in all it was a tasty trip to Santa Barbara, it was definitely a little unhealthy (I didn't even get into the number of beers, greyhounds, and fresh squeezed blood orange margaritas I drank) and overzealous. I went on a couple of decent bike rides, so I wasn't completely inactive, but I think that I can definitely lay off the salt, fat, processed food, and cheese for awhile.

I'm so domestic.

Right now I am housesitting for my aunt and her dog and cat. This is Railey the dog. Isn't she adorable? I don't have a picture of the Creamsicle the cat

because he doesn't like me.

I was supposed to attend a BL get-together. I whipped up some delicious and healthy treats. This is some "healthy" artichoke dip. Instead of mayonnaise, it has silken tofu and greek yogurt. This is blended artichoke hearts, jalepenos, tofu, and garlic. Then you mix in the yogurt, parmesan cheese, salt, and, if you like things spicy, a little cayenne pepper. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on the top, and bake. Unfortunately, I was unable to go to the BL happening that night, so I ate the dip myself on tortilla chips. Fancy! (The recipe came from 101 cook books, an awesome recipe site.)

This is what the counter looked like while i was cooking. You will notice all of the most important cooking ingredients. Onions, garlic, and lemon juice. Also, a bottle of kombucha, because my aunt was kind enough to stock the fridge for me before she left. I also made a dish that DJ Kelly Kel and I invented in a campground outside of Santa Cruz on our road trip. Since we managed to make it over a campfire using utensils scavenged from the world's sketchiest thrift store, it's pretty simple. Main ingredient: cous cous. Ooooh look! Green cous cous! Green (or any kind of cous cous, really) is mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, sauteed onions, garlic, and tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, and if you like it spicy, some (a lot of) pepper flakes. It's even vegan! Next time I think I'll try adding some lentils, and maybe making it with quinoa, so it can be gluten free.

The finished products (I especially love the uber classy cous cous dish):

Kitchen fail

I really wanted oatmeal this morning, but I didn't have any oats.

So I attempted to make an oat-meal like dish (milk, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg) with couscous.

It didn't work.

It wasn't terrible, and I ate it.

But it was not like oatmeal.

I rate it as an oatmeal facsimile failure.

Beat that, KJW

Tonight for dinner I made Carmelized Apples and Onions with Quinoa and Lentils a Greek Yogurt a Greek Yogurt Garnish.

I am awesome.

Things I bought today at the farmer's market

- Fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, and lavender

- Butternut squash

- Heirloom tomatoes

- Sweet potatoes

- Onions

- Serrano peppers

- Nectarines

- Salad mix

- Carrots

Things that I am going to make with this food:

- Rosemary sweet potato fries

- Vanilla mashed sweet potatoes

- Maple glazed butternut squash

- Spicy cheddar biscuits

- Lavender lemon pound cake

- Margherita pizza with whole wheat crust