Charlie’s Dad’s Quick but AMAZING Spaghetti Sauce

whew. That’s quite the mouthful.

Last weekend Charlie and I planned to cook his dad’s spaghetti sauce recipe and have a romantic Italian dinner for two.

á la Lady and the Tramp.

Okay, so honestly the first thing I thought of when Charlie talked about cooking a spaghetti dinner was this scene in Lady in the Tramp. Can you blame a girl!? Back in the day this scene made my 8-year-old heat melt to a puddle on the floor. Okay, if I’m still being honest, it still makes my heart melt.

Also, I’ve seen Lady in the Tramp approximately 239480203 times. It was one of Taylor’s absolute favorite’s growing up.

Okay, back to reality. I was super excited about cooking this recipe for several reasons. One, Charlie said it was delicious and I love delicious food. Two, as we’ve already established, spaghetti is weirdly romantic. Three, a man in the kitchen is insanely sexy.

I had a great time cooking with Charlie. He taught me how to properly use a knife, and I taught him that the palm of one’s hand is an extremely accurate measuring spoon. Also, the spaghetti sauce really WAS as good as he said it was. It comes together super quickly too.

Dad’s Quick but Delicious Spaghetti Sauce

For a vegetarian version, just leave the meat out and substitute Kalamata olives, red or green peppers, mushrooms, or other vegetables

Ingredients

One 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes, with the liquid 470 ml
One 8 oz can of tomato sauce 240 ml
One 6 oz can of tomato paste 180 ml
(NO garlic or seasoning in the above, just plain!)
1 lb or a bit less of very lean hamburger (or ground turkey) ½ kg or less
2 teaspoons olive oil 10 ml
One medium to large yellow onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil 5 ml
1 teaspoon dried oregano 5 ml
1 large bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 oz dry red wine (essential!) 180 ml

Instructions
1. Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Saute together in the oil until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the meat and saute and fully cooked. Drain off any fat or oil that you can capture.

3. Add all the other ingredients, stir together.

4. Simmer for 30-­‐40 minutes…or even just 20 minutes, if you are in hurry.

What’s the most romantic date you’ve ever had?

XOXO,

Jamie

My heart belongs to Joe-Trader Joe’s.

I’ve fallen hard for Trader Joe’s. When I go into the store I want to try literally every single one of their products because they all look so fabulous.

Funny story. Trader Joe’s is about a mile away from the house I’m living at for the summer, so I decided it’d be nice to walk there. I didn’t need anything in particular, but it sounded fun. I had a great phone conversation with my sister Taylor on the way to TJ’s and had a good time perusing the store. On the way back home though, it was dark, and scary, and I got completely lost…in a town I am completely unfamiliar with.

I called Emily (thankfully she picked up!!) and her, along with a little help from google maps, saved me. I wasn’t far from home at all

Here’s what I got:

Yes. You read that correctly. “Sugar, Chocolate, and Coffee Bean Grinder.”

SWOON.

I’ve been grinding this on top of everything!

My apple slices look a little like they’re covered in ground pepper, but nope! That’s sugar, coffee beans, and chocolate. Yum. Along with that, my lunch today was a tomato basil turkey wrap.

Snack today was plain yogurt mixed with stevia, the contents of my beloved grinder, bloobs, and TJ’s high fiber fruit medley cereal.

Sugar, coffee beans, and chocolate grinded on top of my morning oats.

I’m pretty obsessed.

What else can I use my grinder on!?!?!?!?

XOXO,

Jamie

A Far Away Land Called Connecticut

Picture this: I am sitting on the couch thinking of what to title this post and into my head pops that serious fairy tell narrator voice, “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away called Connecticut…”

And I start laughing hysterically.

That’s exactly how this post came into being. It is moments like those that remind me how much I love life. Laughing hysterically to yourself like a crazed lunatic<—It’s the best medicine.

Anyways, I spent the last two weekends in Connecticut with Charlie. Lots of good times were had and lots of good food was eaten which I will talk about shortly.

First I wanted to apologize for my absence from my blog. I put it off for so long that the thought of recapping what’s been going on in my life just became overwhelming. So I’ll try to keep this post short and focused on my time Connecticut. Here we go!

This is Charlie and I walking his dog Zannie. Zannie is the sweetest Australian Shepard ever. The first weekend, she was pretty jealous and cold towards me. The second weekend, though, she really warmed up to me.

Hanging out with friends, listening to music, and playing chess.

Just one of several epic breakfasts. Other notable breakfasts that went unpictured include omelets and french toast.

Charlie enjoying said epic breakfast on his amazing screen porch.

Out to dinner at the most amazing Indian restaurant. It’s called Utsav and here is a link to a New York Times review. I forget the name of what I ordered (and I didn’t take a picture of it partly because I was just simply enjoying my date too much and partly because I’m still kind of shy about photographing my food in front of Charlie<—he’s going to scold me for this), but it was o.m.g. die at the table good.

Last weekend we also cooked a romantic Spaghetti dinner featuring the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever tasted. Be looking forward to photos and that recipe in the near future

What’s the best restaurant food you’ve eaten recently?

XOXO,

Jamie

The Unexpected

Above is a picture from the absolutely beautiful bike path I’ve been running on during my stay here just outside of Boston.

A picture of the path itself. I love this bike path because there is a lot of shade and a lot of people. I feel really safe running because I’m constantly surrounded by others. Also, it gives me a sense of camaraderie. And not going to lie, I like passing people. Although admittedly, I usually only pass people who are walking…

This is the beautiful and ever so kind Emily whose amazing family welcomed me into their home this summer. Random fact about Emily: she often laughs at things that aren’t funny. Then she snorts when she laughs (a fact that she acknowledges proudly) and I laugh because of her snorting.

This is Emily’s family dog. His name is Simcha (prounounced Simka) which is Hebrew for “blessed event.” Simcha is very old, but can be quite fiesty. He is a super nice dog, but for some reason he hates Charlie (which I find hilarious).

PS- I TOOK THAT PICTURE WITH MY NEW CAMERA! It’s the Canon Powershot ELPH 110 HS. So far, I’m really liking it. Definitely not a DLSR, but pretty great for a compact digital.

Me taking pictures of myself? Well…I got a new camera! So at least it’s justified…this time.

This is a really cute local coffee place. They have so many varieties of coffee plus any pastry/muffin/cookie your heart could desire. They also make salads, sandwiches, and smoothies that all sound delicious. I would LOVE to own a coffee shop/bakery like this. Doctors have time to open/operate businesses right?

Right…

Just a little bit of the menu. All the food menus are to the right. The prices are really reasonable too which is great because I spend far too much money on clothes and books to support an expensive coffee habit.

My iced coffee has a man sprouting from it! Hehe I had the iced white chocolate chip coffee. It was pretty great coffee, but it wasn’t so good that I would get it again. There’s way to many flavors at this place to get the same one twice!

So, last week was my first full week at my research internship with the Eating Disorders Program at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. I had a really amazing week and have already learned so much. This past week I spent a lot of time transcribing therapy sessions for a casebook that one of the graduate students is writing. I’m really enjoying this work, but it’s a little overwhelming. When I listen to the therapy sessions I can’t help but think about the concepts in the context of my own life. In other words, the therapy sessions have been forcing me to do a lot of self-reflection, and quite frankly, it is harder than I expected it to be! Anyways, I’m actually looking forward to work next week, so that’s a really great sign!

XOXO,

Jamie

She Said I Think I’ll Go To Boston

ohhh how things change.

I remember being a senior in high school excited for my upcoming freshman year at Northeastern University in Boston. My angsty teen self would sit at the piano, banging out “Boston” by Augustana and singing deafeningly (much to my sisters’ dismay).

But…it turns out that starting a “new” life or becoming a “different” person  requires much more than just a new place to call home. Real change can only come through changing our beliefs and behaviors. As naive as I was though, I thought that going away to Boston for college would finally make me happy. I could finally be the confident, outgoing, pretty, skinny girl that everyone adored. Well…things didn’t exactly work out the way I planned. I got to Boston, and I was still the shy, awkward girl I’d always been. I’ve talked about my story in detail in many other blog posts, so I’m not going to rehash that all here.

What I will say though, is that I’m back in Boston! I’m still a little shy and still a little awkward. BUT I’m happy in my own skin and with my own personality.

Clearly, I’m a gem

I’m having a lovely time here in Boston. In the first two days of my internship, I’ve already learned a lot I didn’t know about eating disorders and what it is actually like to conduct studies in the field. My research internship is under the direction of Dr. Heather Thompson-Brenner who has contributed immensely to the literature on eating disorders. Seriously, Google her name on Google Scholar and read all her amazing work! She is also just a super nice person in general. I’ll talk in more detail about my internship as I get further into it.

Charlie, the new boyfriend I mentioned in my last post, visited me in Boston this past weekend. The above picture was taken at a T stop when we were en route to the Museum of Fine Arts. It was pouring rain and we were pretty much soaked all day, but we had a great time nonetheless. And we saw lots of great art. I felt very cultured.

BIG NEWS FOR COLLEGEGIRLCOOKING! I FINALLY STOPPED BEING SO CHEAP AND BOUGHT A NEW CAMERA! GET READY FOR A BLOG THAT ONCE AGAIN CONTAINS (SEMI) DECENT PHOTOS. You can expect such photos in 5-8 business days

XOXO,

Jamie