Have some pretty DC rowhouses to hold you over until I actually do something useful around my apartment (which will hopefully be this weekend!)

I’ve been really loving my new bowls.  They’re gorgeous blue and white vintage rice bowls, and they’re the perfect size to hold a correct serving size.  Like a lot of Americans, my idea of what a “serving” of food is has become seriously warped, so I’m working on forcing myself back into line.  These pretty little bowls definitely help.

The first dish I ate out of them was a Teriyaki Chicken Salad, and here’s my half-assed recipe!

First, marinade about 8 oz. of boneless, skinless chicken breast in teriyaki sauce overnight.  Then saute the chicken in a little sesame oil, and cut it onto small pieces.

Then toast some slivered almonds in a pan over medium heat until they’re browned.  Set aside and let them cool.

Cook two packages of ramen noodles (throw out those salt-filled seasoning packets!  Eww!), drain, rinse in cold water to cool them off, and then add to a large bowl of shredded cabbage and carrots (I just buy a bag of “coleslaw mix” and dump that in a bowl.  Ta-da!)  Toss to mix together, and add the almonds and chicken.

In a small pot over medium-low heat, combine 1/3 c. cider vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, 2 T soy sauce, and 2 T honey.  Mix, bring to a boil, boil for one minute, and then remove from heat.  Let it cool slightly, and then pour over salad mixture, tossing to coat.

There you go!  The amounts listed will make 4 servings.

Yay! 

I went on another long walk this past weekend.  Only took one picture, though.

Petworth, with a wee bit of snow (and some more cute bungalows!)

Every time I go on one of my walks through upper parts of NW, I’m a little less thrilled to return to Mount Pleasant.  I’ve mentioned to numerous people that “Mount Pleasant is the nicest neighborhood I’ve ever lived in here in DC” (yes, even better than Foggy Bottom, my first stop here in DC–FB is an undergrad shithole, though you’d never guess it from the rents apartments there command)…it’s almost that it’s too nice.  I feel awkward surrounded by million-dollar rowhouses, nannies pushing kids in tricked-out strollers, and people who are my age but can afford to drop $1800/month on an apartment (while also being able to afford a car, and going to their family’s cabin or beach house every other weekend, while planning their annual trip to Europe or Asia or wherever.)

It’s weird, because in many of the more transitional neighborhoods of DC, I’m seen as a “gentrifier”, because I’m “white”.  I also happen to not have family money, or a government or consulting job.  Hell, I’ve discovered that some “income restricted” apartment buildings in DC have a minimum income requirement that is above what I make. *headdesk*

I’ve learned how to live on what I make, and I’m reasonably happy with it.  But I feel like I might be more comfortable in a less affluent neighborhood of DC…

It also doesn’t help that another one bedroom unit in Hampshire Gardens just went on the market, for $60k.  When I mentioned that to my mom on the phone, instead of getting the expected “NO!  Don’t even thing about it!”  She just said, “Well, you should probably hold off on buying something until you all sign a new cooperative agreement with the feds, or until after the presidential election.” (Because I have significantly more job security under a Democratic president than under a Republican)  Not helping, mother!

I bought some pretty little vintage blue and white bowls on Etsy, and they came in the mail today! Not only are they pretty, but they’re going to be great for helping me with portion control–the old bowls I’ve been using are GIGANTIC and really bad about making it too hard for me to way over-eat. So fingers crossed the new bowls help!

(I can’t claim this awesome picture–I snagged it off of Facebook)

One of my good friends from college got married on Saturday, and it was so much fun to see a bunch of our old college friends (many of them are still up in New England, but I hardly ever see them–I need to get better about that!), and I got to meet some of his friends, who all seemed wicked cool.

I was totally that chick who spent the whole ceremony getting choked up, and several of us were late to the reception because of a snafu with a rental car refusing to start…so we may have hit the bar pretty hard once we got there (hey, it was freaking freezing outside, and the bar had hot spiked cider!).  But all was good, and my friend was smart enough to put a bunch of us cynical, abrasive people together at the “sassy” table.  And there was lots of dancing, attempts to sing the Williams fight song (I’m not sure that many of us would have been able to remember all of the words even totally sober), and an “after-party” at our hotel.  All in all, an amazingly good time was had. 

(This one IS my picture)

Both my friend and her new husband are in Providence, RI for grad school.  It’s definitely a very cute town, but as several people put it over the weekend, it’s pretty much just a suburb of Boston these days, because it (like the rest of RI) doesn’t exactly have much of an economy any more.  From what I can tell, Providence is mostly kept going by its assortment of colleges, the state capitol, and people who commute to Boston for work.  But it does still have that very post-industrial New England feel to it that I sometimes miss (I think a lot of it is the architecture…love all the old factories and houses!)

I’m off to Rhode Island for a very brief trip for the wedding of one of my good college friends, so until I get back, have another picture that I took on my long walk last weekend

First off, I passed the intersection of 14th St. and Park Road in Columbia Heights, and discovered a random pop-up petting zoo right outside the Giant grocery store.  There were a lot of little kids having a ball feeding and petting the animals…and a lot of us 20-somethings were pretty excited too!

Then of course I had to walk by Hampshire Gardens (the cool 1929 co-op in Brightwood Park that I’ve been eyeing for a while, because units are wicked cheap–for DC)

Once I turned west on Kennedy Street, NW, I saw this cool little storefront for lease on the 500 block.  I think Kennedy St. NW has a ton of potential (and yes, I know I’m going to get screamed at for being a “gentrifier”–which is funny, because I’ve been priced out of the vast majority of DC myself!), and seeing that “for lease” sign made my crazy dream of opening a coffee shop pop up again…those front windows would be an awesome spot to sit with some cushions or something…

Farther west on Kennedy Street are a ton of adorable little bungalows. If I had any desire to live in a free-standing house (eww, outside maintenance and yard work!), I would totally want one of these!

And on my way home, I passed what is probably my favorite condo building in DC (I’ll never be able to afford to live there, but it’s so gorgeous)–it’s on 16th Street NW on the north edge of Mount Pleasant.

$215 for this ottoman thing.  *tilts head*

Ummm.  No, Overstock, NO.

But things like THIS are why I’d be totally willing to move to NYC.

(Also, bodega cats!)

This week, I made Half-Assed Veggie Tikka Masala.  It was yummy!

We got a burst of wicked cold weather here in DC, so I had no desire to stop at the grocery store on the way home from work.  Which meant that dinner had to come from what I already had on hand.  Thank goodness I’d grabbed a couple bags of frozen veggies the last time I was at the grocery store!

The recipe is based on this one, from Skinny Taste.  But I had no chicken on hand, nor any plain yogurt, nor any milk (What?  It just went bad!  I bought some the next day!)  So, it was very loosely based on that recipe.

Basically, making it went something like this:  dump half a bag of frozen broccoli/cauliflower/carrot blend, along with a bunch of frozen peas, into a pot, cover it, put the heat on medium, and let them defrost.  In a smaller pot, whip up two servings of brown rice.  Once the veggies are pretty much defrosted, dump in a small can of tomato sauce, at least a tablespoon of garam masala (lovelovelove that stuff!), and some chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and turmeric.  Let it simmer, and then divide into two servings (one went into the fridge, for dinner the next day), putting one over half the rice.  (And no, I really don’t measure seasonings when I’m adding them to my cooking–if I’m going off a recipe, I’ll eyeball the amount it calls for, and then adjust as needed)

Is it authentic?  Hell no.  But is it yummy, easy, and fast?  Hells yeah!

While I was cooking, this is what was going on in my living room:

Yep, Max loves him some boxes.