Curried split pea soup

Well heeellloooo!
It's kinda cold out. :(

I had all these light summery dishes in mind for the blog, seeing as how May is upon us. But New England has been nothing but chilly lately, and some of us have even gotten SNOW!!! Since I get the chills really easily, I decided to forgo the salads and such for some soup! Soup in MAY? Yeah well, work with me here, I'm freeeezing!

This soup is hearty and filling, but it's not overly heavy, due to it being vegetarian and quite healthy. So It warmed me up AND I didn't even get that "food coma of doom" that I sometimes get with steamy hot winter foods. The other great thing about this soup is that it's easy as toast, and can easily be adjusted to suit your taste. I'm posting the vegetarian version here, but you could add ham or sausage, or even chicken stock for more richness in a pinch! This version is quite flavorful however, and perfect with a grilled cheese or some garlic bread. Oooh... garlic bread.

Spiced lentils with kale

I am so in love with Indian food right now, I think I need a 12 step program. For the last maybe 5 months or so, I have been totally engrossed with researching, and trying out an abundance of recipes, most that have been exceptionally awesome. Today's recipe is no exception. Smooth creamy masoor lentils dotted with bits of spicy flavor, enhanced by mouthy little bits of vitamin rich kale. Ouhhh baby, it's delectable. (my favorite word currently.)

This recipe is easy peasy to make, the only possibly tricky part may be finding the lentils and some of the spices. Thankfully I have a wonderful local Indian grocer in my area (but no Japanese one yet... that's a rant for another day.) But it's possible to order these online if you REALLY find yourself in a fix! This recipe is so simple and one that I make often, so I'm sorta blogging it without even setting up the ingredients and taking pictures. Fail. Plus I was reeeeally freaking hungry - and forgot. I'm sorry!  Anyway let's lentil on!

Crockery Cooking - Mac and Cheese

Fiiiiiiinally, a day off! In my place that means loads of laundry, cleaning, and cooking enough to last the week ahead. Crockpot cooking is my savior in that I can just dump a load of stuff in there and forget about it for a while. I'm good at forgetting. Seriously though, I couldn't live without my crock.. I love it to pieces!

Mac and cheese is one of those things I have a love/hate relationship with. I haaaate the stuff out of the box, microwave cup, or what have you. However I loooooooove homemade, oozing with cheese sauce that I made myself. I don't really have much time however, to sit over the range making a roux, then painstakingly adding bits of cheese and whisking till my arm falls off. No likey. This recipe is one I modified from A Year of Slow Cooking , and satisfies that need for oozy creeeeammy goodness (and lord is it creamy) without having to micromanage your sauce. I love lazy stuff that just comes together.

Make it work!!!!

Let's face it. Fat girls have problems being fashionable. Even as a chubster I have felt the woes of being pushed out of hip juniors clothes, only to end up staring slack-eyed and gaunt at the women's selection of oversize blouses that look like my aunt tess would wear. Sad face.

Anytime any of my friends would want to wander into H&M, Forever 21 or Urban Outfitters, I'd just weave my way QUICKLY to the accessories, since I knew without a doubt that I'd be safe. No disappointments, lots of trinkets to be bought. But my mind was always on clothes. Sure a scarf here, maybe some leggings there. But a girl has to have more in her wardrobe than leggings and those damn ugly aunt tessie blouses! What do you do when you're shopping in a fabulous store that's sizes only go up to about a 12, and you are a solid 16?

MAKE IT WORK.

(insert crazy fanfare and ticker tape parade)

Thanks to one of my favooooorite fashion blogs ever, (Young, Fat & Fabulous) I, yes I PEOPLE, got up the courage to mosey my chubby fanny on into Forever 21, H&M and so forth, WITHOUT FEAR! In her post "Make it Work" (see the pattern developing?) She explains how it's completely ok to break away from the size chart, try on things you normally wouldn't, and make what you like work for you!!!! Skeptical? So was I. In fact I was downright pooping my pants.

First post and Johnny's Peking Tokyo go go!

Welcome everyone to my first little blog ever! I'm by no means a professional, (well maybe at eating..) but I really wanted to document my ever-growing interest in fooding, cooking, fashion and so much more! I hope you enjoy snark, smart-assery, and downright awesome food pics, because I will do my best to DELIVER! That being said, let's dive right into a place I've just become acquainted with.

Johnny's Peking Tokyo sushi bar is a little gem of a place stuck in a perfectly crappy Mystic strip mall. This place was highly recommended by B, (one of my bff's) and I knew the moment she mentioned that the owner gets fresh seafood daily from local fisheries and from N.Y., I had to try it. Being somewhat of a sushi snob, I was really excited to finally find some great sushi in this area.

Enough of this jib-jab. Bring on the FOOD!