The Friday Five

1. What I’m Reading: I’ve been reading like a crazy person, going through at least a book a week! Don’t stop me now! Earlier this week I picked up a book my coworker is reading with her book club: In the Garden of Beasts. It’s taking me a while to get into it because, aside from being an actual story, it’s very factual. I have faith that it will be good!

2. What I’m Listening to: I love love love Sia!

3. What I’m Eating Drinking: I’m done with coffee now that I’ve had a love affair with an Americano: espresso + hot water in “true European style.” Here’s a handy guide on espresso drinks:

And on that note, PLEASE OBEY THIS!!

4. What I’m Pinning:

5. What I’m Planning: I leave for NYC TODAY!!! So far we have plans to go ice skating, visit the Museum of Sex (what!), eat pickles, and stop by the NYU Chick-fil-A. Eeeeeeeh! Maybe this time it won’t be closed like it was in August!

HAPPY WEEKEND! Please pray that I don’t freeze in NY!

Gnocchi Making Class at Bacco–A Go Charleston Deal!

Before we get started, I want to introduce you to Go Charleston Deals. Locally owned by Holly Roberson,  they offer a fabulous daily deal from one of Charleston’s businesses. I’m a huge fan of Go Charleston deals because each purchase not only gives the consumer a discount, but also stimulates the growth of Charleston’s economy. They support 3 of Charleston’s charities: Darkness to Light, Chase After a Cure, and South Carolina Special Olympics. When you purchase a deal, you have the option for Go Charleston deals to donate 5% of the sale to the charity of your choice. Everyone wins!

My most recent Go Charleston deal was for an Italian cooking class at Bacco in Mt. Pleasant. For just $32, we had over 2 hours of food, wine, and fun! Check it out!

Upon our arrival, we were served a few delicious appetizers prepared by Bacco’s Chef and Owner Michael Scognamiglio. Roasted parsnips, eggplant bruschetta, caprese salad and oh, a slab of parmesan:

While we nibbled, Michael demonstrated how to make the pasta. As a big group of ladies who like to chat, we had plenty of questions and Michael was happy to answer them.

Then it was our turn! We were paired up and given all the ingredients needed to make fresh gnocchi: 1 lb. of ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, and salt. We were also given gloves for sanitary purposes. This made drinking wine just a bit awkward.

First we mixed the egg and the cheeses.

Next we added the flour and salt to the cheese mixture to form a dough. We were told to make sure not to over knead!

Once a smooth ball of dough was formed, we cut it in six sections and rolled them into snake-like pieces, about 1 inch thick. Using our fingertips, we poked the dough in 1 inch increments to form the separate pieces.

We then cut between each indent to make the gnocchi! How cute are they?

The gnocchi was placed in a bag for us to take home. Meanwhile, our dinner was being prepared.

We had a short break, then returned to the dinner tables for a gnocchi trifecta and a glass of wine. All three sauces were incredibly delicious, but the tomato-based was my favorite. Though I have never eaten at Bacco, I am sure that if their menu items are as delicious as what I sampled, I need to get there quick. As should you!

After dinner, we made sure to snap a photo of a few of us with the master behind fresh Italian food! Do you like how Mia (left) is holding Michael’s waist? That flirt!

We all had a great time and were impressed at how easy it was to make the pasta. It is definitely worth making at home. The results are unbelievably fresh and will make you never want to purchase boxed pasta again. We’re hoping that Bacco will pair up with Go Charleston Deals for another cooking class. Are you reading Michael? We want more lessons!

Have you ever made your own pasta?

Have you ever taken a cooking class? What did you learn?

Have you signed up with Go Charleston Deals yet? GO!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. It is very rare that I touch a cookie that isn’t homemade. To me, that’s a sin. Homemade cookies are too easy to make to justify ever eating cookies full of preservatives and, dare I say, trans fats? Thanks but no thanks. However, when Nabisco decides to celebrate their 100th birthday with Birthday Cake Oreos, well, that’s a sin I’d like to commit.

Thank you Mary for blogging about this!!

2. FitSugar’s article on The Worst Pickup Lines Used at the Gym.

Tell me: have you ever picked anyone up from the gym? I can’t flirt at the gym anymore. I realized at my last gym, then when you flirt with someone and then realize you don’t like them, you have to see them ALL THE TIME. Yikes.

3. Serious Eats’ recipe for Steamed Salmon with Chard, Pine Nuts, and Raisins.

4. I haven’t had any meat or poultry in a 1 full week! I love this. I can’t say that I feel any different, but I’ve enjoyed increasing my fruit & vegetable intake as well as experimenting with new foods. The Morning Star spicy black bean burgers are SO good. Not sure why they call them spicy though…

5. Another thing I refuse to consume is soda. La Croix sparkling water is a great alternative. Their water is free of sodium, sweetener, and calories. My two favorite flavors are Lemon and Grapefruit.

               

6. I am by no means a coffee connoisseur, but I must say I really enjoyed my sample of Starbuck’s Casi Cielo coffee. It’s so smooth! The Spanish major in me also loves its translation: “Almost Heaven.”

7. This Golden Girls Valentine’s Day cards:

8. Last week ABC News 4 and Charleston Wine Pairings elite matchmaking service offered a contest for a free consultation and wine pairing. A few of my friends suggested I sign up and I thought, oh what the heck? Um, I won. YIKES. This could be so fun or so scary…!! Buffie, you better match me up with someone nice!! : )

Don’t forget to enter my Sweet Potato Popchips giveaway!! You have until February 21st at noon!

A Sweet Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Let’s celebrate with a giveaway!

As I’m sure you already know, I am a huge fan of popchips. Okay, I’m teeny person obsessed with popchips in a huge way. Popchips are all-natural, popped chips. They are made with potatoes, a little heat and pressure is added, and pop! It’s a chip. All that’s added is a flavorful blend of all-natural seasonings for a tasty, crispy chip with less than half the fat of fried chips. They contain no preservatives, no hydrogenated oils, and msg. What’s not to love?

Popchips are available in 3-ounce share bags or perfectly portioned 1-ounce, single serve bags. My favorite flavor of popchips has always been Barbecue, but I had a feeling that might change when they introduced their new Sweet Potato flavor. Amira at popchips offered to send me some samples and sure enough, I was right. It’s my new favorite! It’s sweet, salty, and crunchy – my favorite type of snack.

Flavors include:

Original Barbeque

Sour Cream & Onion

Sea Salt & Vinegar

Sweet Potato

Parmesan Garlic

Jalapeño

Cheddar

Salt & Pepper

Chili Lime

My favorites are sweet potato, Barbecue, and Salt & Pepper, and Cheddar.  If you like spicy foods, you’ll love the jalapeno! Imagine them with jalapeno hummus…Oh  my.

Up for grabs is a case of the new Sweet Potato popchips. For a chance to win:

• leave me a comment telling me which flavor popchips you love most (mandatory!)
• follow popchips on twitter:  @popchipssf
• tweet about this giveaway. examples:
  • examples: “I just signed up for @christinaorso’s @popchipssf giveaway” with a link back, or
  • “#eatsweet. tweet. repeat. http://popchi.ps/sweetflavor @popchipssf giveaway from @christinaorso”
• become a fan on facebook
• follow @christinaorso on twitter
• become a fan of Hungry Meets Healthy on facebook

**You must leave a separate comment for each entry.**

Giveaway ends Tuesday, February 21st at noon.

GOOD LUCK!!

Best Moments of the Weekend

*My healthy lunch from Ali Baba Deli: Pita bread, tabouli, fattoush salad, grilled vegetables, and pomegranate muhammara. Swing over to Daniel Island just for this muhammara. It’s one of the best things I’ve eaten.

I’m loving all the veggies I’ve been eating since I started being repulsed by stopped eating meat/poultry/eggs. It has been 5 full days and it’s so easy! I know I said I wouldn’t give myself a title, but if I did, I’d be a lacto-pesco-vegetarian, right? I’m eating some dairy and fish, but no meat, poultry, or eggs. Enlighten me.

*The lovely Starbuck’s cups.

*My facial from Facelogic. This was incredibly relaxing and my face now feels as soft as baby’s skin! I highly recommend Dina if you’re thinking about going to Facelogic.. I also purchased this Dermalogica starter kit that they used on me.

*A visit to TCBY for frozen yogurt! I had a strange, yet delicious combo. +

with

*The Vow. I thought the movie was really good, but not as passionate as, oh, say The Notebook? Does anything compare to that movie?  I shed no tears, but came close a couple times. Deep breaths and shoving gummy worms in my mouth fixed that.

*Winter decided to grace Charleston with its presence Saturday night. The cure for the blistering cold? Winter gear + beer.

Oh, and hot chocolate for good measure. I am unsure as to why I wore a hat, mittens, and a scarf, but no socks or real shoes. Clearly I was in a rush for the necessities. 

*Brunch with Rachel at Hall’s Chophouse. I love that before bartender Darryl handed me the menu, he asked me, “Beets, right?” Well, of course. I, for the 29862968th time, got the Blackened Salmon Salad with a side of beets.

*After brunch, Rachel and I went to HIP HOP CLASS. No joke. I didn’t fall! It was sooo much fun. Definitely worth laughing the whole time! Immediately after that, we did Body Pump. 2 hours of exercise on a Sunday? Heck yeah!

And just for giggles, let me tell you about the worst part of my weekend. On Saturday as I was leaning down to adjust my bike at the gym, I knocked my head into one of the handlebars. I smacked it so hard I gasped aloud and now have a bruise. Seriously, will I ever grow out of this clumsiness?!

What were the best moments of your weekend?

GIVEAWAY coming tomorrow! Hint: It’s going to be SWEET!

The Friday Five

1. What I’m Reading: Per the recommendation of the beautiful Holly, I started reading The Violets of March.

Book Description:  In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after. Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily's good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

I’m 1/3 through it and like it so far. In case you missed my post the other day, I absolutely loved The Lost Wife. Go read it!

2. What I’m Listening to: Coldplay featuring Rihanna – Princess of China

3. What I’m Watching: No new videos lately!

4. What I’m Eating: Um, not meat. As of Tuesday, I have a sudden aversion to all meat and poultry. I have no idea what happened, but the thought of it makes me want to gag. I am eating fish though. I have no idea how long this will last so I’m in no way calling myself a vegetarian. I am, however, exploring vegetarian options. I picked up these two products to try:

I really don’t know which vegetarian options are good, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

5. What I’m Bookmarking: Love this. Click to enlarge.