Hey Guys. I hope your week is off to a great start. Today I’ve got a recipe for you – a burger recipe since the unofficial start to summer (i.e. Memorial Day) is coming up soon. I made these curry black bean burgers a few weeks ago and brought a few other veggies to the party so the black beans wouldn’t get lonely (hello sweet potatoes, plantains, carrots, and bell peppers). The result was a hearty, flavorful, and fiber-ful burger that I thoroughly enjoyed and am sure you will too. Keep reading to see how I made it.
Happy Monday Guys!
I went to Trader Joe’s a month or so ago, and close by was a restaurant I’d heard about called MetroFresh. I’m not in the area often so I thought about checking them out. When I looked up their menu online one thing caught my eye – a Jamaican jerk black bean coconut soup. Typically I’m not a black bean soup person but this one sounded so good. You know what else caught my eye? The $6 price tag for one cup. Craziness. I could buy all the ingredients I’d need to make the soup for that price and have leftovers for the week. I chose that route instead and I’m so glad that I did. I can confidently say that this is the best black bean soup I’ve ever had. It’s a little spicy with tons of flavor and hints of coconut and lime. I ate this with some boiled plantain for a flavorful and healthy, island-inspired meal.
Happy Monday Guys! As promised, I’m sharing details about all of the yummy food I ate while I was in Chicago.
Lyfe Kitchen
After our first full day in Chicago we went to Lyfe Kitchen for dinner, which was conveniently located right across from our hotel.
I got the Thai red curry bowl which I quite enjoyed. It comes with eggplants, broccoli, peas, peppers, and wheatberries in a coconut curry sauce. You can add a protein to it if you like, but I left it as is. I’m putting this on my list of things to remake at home for sure. It seems like it would be super simple. I also got a pomegranate lemonade to go with it which was a great choice. I’m always down for pomegranate lemonade and this did not disappoint. Their baked sweet potato fries with garlic parmesan and chipotle mayo were also a crowd pleaser.
Hey Guys! Happy Monday:)
Week 1 done! Can you believe it?! The first day was pretty awesome. I’ll start by talking about my commute. I couldn’t have asked for a better one. With the craziness that is Atlanta traffic, it took me all of 8 or 9 minutes to get to work (during rush hour). You can’t tell me my God isn’t real lol. 
Happy Monday Guys! How was your weekend?
Despite my impending move mine was pretty relaxing. I’ve been trying to parse out the tasks I need to complete so I don’t feel so overwhelmed at the end of this month. Last week it was securing movers and a storage unit. This week it’s donating clothes and shoes and some deep cleaning. Pray for me. Moving isn’t fun but I’m hoping to make this process only slightly painful as opposed to incredibly so.
But onto sweeter things. The final installment of this series is sweets, because I believe in ending things on a sweet note. I’m a sweets person so I’m always on the hunt for a place to get my sweet fix. If you’re in the triangle (or just planning a trip here) then read on to find out about some of my favorite places to get something sweet. Spoiler: Not all of these places are bakeries. In fact, most of them aren’t. So either bypass the menu altogether and go straight for dessert (no judgments from me), or make sure you save room for it at the end of your meal!
First up, donuts.
Carolina Glazed: Donut Shop
This donut shop is in a nondescript, little strip mall that you could easily miss. Don’t! They don’t have crazy flavors like some other donut shops around town but they do the classics quite well. They have creams and custards that you can fill your donuts with as well and the prices are very reasonable. My favorite things to get here are the red velvet donut holes (be still my beating heart – pop them in the microwave for a few seconds and they just melt in your mouth) and their maple glazed cake donuts. Make sure it’s the cake donut in particular as they do have a regular maple glazed donuts. 
Happy Monday Guys!
How was your weekend? Mine was nice and relaxing. A good friend and fellow graduate from my program invited me to a birthday brunch on Saturday. When I asked her what I could bring she said whatever I liked. After unnecessarily agonizing over it (yes, I have issues) I decided to try my hand at some healthier lemon blueberry donuts. They were a hit (*breathes sigh of relief* since I didn’t get to taste them beforehand – big no no!). I still have a little experimenting/tweaking to do before they make an appearance on the blog but it will be worth the wait. Promise:)
And speaking of brunch, I’ve got the next installment of “Chi’s NC Faves.” It’s brunchtime!
Any objections??
I didn’t think so.
Buffet
Now if you’re like me and you have trouble deciding what to order for brunch, then buffets are perfect. You can sample a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and before you know it have a plate packed with (hopefully) yummy food.
Happy 4th of July’s Eve Guys!
Any exciting plans for tomorrow? I may go to a BBQ and see some fireworks in Chapel Hill. I may also choose not to step foot outside of my apartment after coming back from the gym. Your guess is as good as mine. Who am I kidding, it’ll likely be option #2.
Anyway, in last weeks post I mentioned how I’ve eaten at some great spots in the triangle. Today, I’m kicking off a series, called “Chi’s NC Faves” to share some of my favorite NC restaurants to eat at since I moved here in 2014.