Did I Mention I’m a Foodie?

Maybe I’m getting a little out of hand with all this Fall stuff so soon.

Oh well, SUE ME! I love it.

Stevie’s favorite meal of mine is Beef Stew, though I can not take credit for the recipe, that belongs to Paula Deen.

Why is there a picture of a gorgeous cat, you say? That would be my oldest cat Paula Deen. Now before you make that face, let me explain. Almost 5 years ago, I went into a Petco deciding that I wanted to foster a cat. I asked for whichever cat was in here the longest and that was Paula. Paula? A name for a cat? Kinda strange I thought. She was 2 years old and terrified of people. But what was I going to do, change this poor traumatized cat’s name? I couldn’t. The first few weeks did not go very well. She hid most of the time and did not enjoy being touched. Quickly though, she would join me on the bed, every time inching a little closer. We became best buds. I like to think we found each other. Being the broke college student I was, I only had network channels and the Food Network at that time. The food channel was often on as most of those hosts quite literally taught me how to cook. Paula Deen was one of them, say what you want about her now, but the woman can throw down. So there we were, me and my new cat Paula, watching Paula Deen and I though, damn it, you are going to be her namesake. They were both loud, loved to eat and were both plump at the time. It was fitting.

Moving on to the stew. Certain recipes, I believe, can not be faked. I lived off of packaged food for quite some time and beef stew was always an option. I did not realize how gross it was until I made the real thing and let me tell you, if you haven’t made this delicious creation on a cool evening, you are missing out.

Behold, the reason why Steve is marrying me:

I made sure to have tons of veggies throughout the day to compensate for this rich bit of goodness. Sometimes you need some good ol’ comfort food to soothe the soul after a Monday.

Yesterday, my beloved treated me to a impromptu dinner out at our next door neighbors, the phenomenal new restaurant The Bounty. Since we usually cook our meals, we haven’t had many opportunities to frequent this establishment but as I love my neighborhood of Greenpoint BK and I ADORE this restaurant, I had to plug it a bit. I have had every entree on their menu and it is all fabulous. Cooked with such care and beautiful, fresh ingredients, every bite is joyous. We both had the roasted chicken with onion soubise and arugula (my absolute FAVORITE veggie on the planet) salad and it was sublime. The service is another bonus, our glasses were never empty and we were welcomed warmly. We are blessed to have such awesome neighbors who happen to throw down in the kitchen. My parents raised me right and taught me not to take my phone out EVER at dinner, so I have enclosed a photo of this killer meal from their Instagram. Warning, this photo my cause excessive drooling. Thanks Bounty. See you ASAP!

While I devoured that chicken with no doggie bag to bring home, I luckily had some extra beef stew which makes great protein rich leftover which I had today after a solid tempo run this Wednesday Two-a-Day:

4.57 in 40:31

Yoga later with my fabulous teacher to round out the hump day. A pretty cat, stew and solid exercise to start the week. Life is GOOD!

What deliciousness have you cooked up this week? Remember that food is fuel and fuel is meant to be burned off!