Thirty Days of No Takeout. #30DaysNoTakeOut

Last week I stumbled upon this article in Health Magazine where they did a collaboration with Giada De Laurentiis . The goal was to do 30 days of no takeout. They’ve laid out an entire plan for a month, including a grocery list and a theme for each week. 30 Days of No Takeout would kill my social life, but I decided to take it on for a week. The plan gives you “homework” to do on the weekend, in the case of the Protein week that I picked, I had to roast a chicken. They also have you chop all the vegetables that you had purchased. It was easy, just time consuming since the chicken had to be in the oven for 2 hours, but it came out perfectly. I couldn’t believe how many dishes the chicken was in and how easy it was to make all these dishes each night complete with leftovers for lunch the next day.

I think my favorite dish was the Chicken Soup – it was incredibly easy and so flavorful. I didn’t have the cooked rice (they didn’t tell you to pre-cook it and it takes an hour!) so I added some veggie penne instead. Came out delicious and couldn’t wait to have it for lunch the next day.

This is definitely something that anybody can do – even if you don’t love cooking. Everything takes 20 minutes or less and tastes delicious and healthy. You won’t regret it! 🙂

From Top To Bottom:

• Giada’s Cobb Salad
•  Chicken Tacos
• Roast Chicken Soup

Brunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel

I had a lovely brunch at the beautiful Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel for my mother’s birthday.

The hotel is absolutely gorgeous from the striped ceiling to the champagne glasses. The service was top notch as well. While the food didn’t wow me as much as dinner usually does at the Polo Lounge, I still think the tortilla soup and lobster rolls really shined.

They have a jazz band on the patio for brunch, but I think the best room to sit in is the large room with booths.

From top to bottom: tortilla soup, scallops, smoked salmon hash, and summer sorbet dessert.

The Polo Lounge
9641 Sunset Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

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Bob Bob Ricard – London

I had a long layover in London and HAD to go to Bob Bob Ricard. Any restaurant with a Champagne Button is a restaurant for me. The button actually works, as soon as a pressed it a man, who I will call The Champagne Man promptly arrived to get our champagne orders. Within 3 minutes we had two beautiful glasses of champagne at our table. Definitely needed after an 11 hour flight.

Highlights of the meal included Baked Oysters Brezhnev with Parmesan and Black Truffle and Steak Tartare with Foie Gras, Capers, and Rye Crispbread. The decor is gorgeous but not stuffy. The service is lovely and helpful.

Bob Bob Ricard, 1 Upper James St. London W1F 9DF

http://www.bobbobricard.com/

 

Cole’s Brunch

I found out just recently that Cole‘s has bottomless mimosas on Saturdays and Sundays from 11-4. A good friend was visiting from out of town and we decided to have a little brunch for Easter. Not only do they have $12 bottomless mimosas but they have a Breakfast Dip (Cheese, Bacon, Egg) with Hollandaise  + Bottomless Mimosa Combo for $15 (ONE. FIVE.).

Not the healthiest thing ever but I worked out twice on Sunday. 🙂 The sandwich is delicious, it actually doesn’t really require the dip but I do recommend eating it with their delicious Atomic Mustard. Mmmmm! Definitely a great place to catch up with friends on a weekend morning. And obviously it’s hangover friendly.