Okonomiyaki (Japanese Cabbage Cakes) CSA recipe

Since I got so much cabbage in my CSA from Sun Gold Farms, I needed something creative to do with it. Luckily Sun Gold Farms sends us recipes each week and this one caught my eye.

What you need:

½ head (3-4 cups) chopped cabbage

1 tsp soy sauce 

1 tsp sesame oil

4 green onions, chopped 

4 eggs

¼ cup flour (can use gluten free)

sesame seeds

oil for frying

For sauce:

1/2 cup mayo

1 tbsp Siracha

1 tbsp soy sauce

Mix eggs, soy sauce, oil and flour. Toss with cabbage and green onions. Add circle of this mixture to frying pan and cook like pancakes, 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

 This was a really good, different recipe to try. The sauce was really good, and my boyfriend loved it. I served it with sausage which went ok, but you could really serve it by itself or with another kind of meat. It was a great, healthy meal that helped me use up my tons of cabbage that I had from the CSA!

Any cabbage recipes you can share?

Rhubarb Crisp...Pinterest Do!

I got a bunch of rhubarb from the CSA---my crop share from Sun Gold Farms. Click here to see what else came in the CSA! I pinned Rhubarb Crisp on Pinterest because I wasn't sure what to make.

The image above is the pin from Pinterest

Click through the first picture (the original from Pinterest) to see the recipe. It was super easy! I am getting more rhubarb in my CSA this week.........I'll have to find something new to make!

Strawberry plant, Community Garden plot update and my CSA

The second part of my guest post about Pilates is over on Whit Likes Fit today! Check it out here. I can't say enough how much I love her blog!

Check out my strawberry plant in its first year! Fresh little bitty berries.

I have this plant on my balcony in a hanging plant bag and its turning out pretty good! Although they are tiny they are tasty!

 Here is snap of my community garden plot this year. In the first row I am growing spinach. There is an heirloom tomato plant behind that and on the left of it is an arugula plant, in line with the other two verticle rows or curly kale and Russian kale. In the back I have a zucchini plant! Look below--

 The plant is huge already and I have a zucchini growing already!

The above image is the goods in my CSA---a community supported agriculture share. I belong to Sun Gold Farms, a local farm in the Portland area. They actually deliver my crop share to my work on Thursdays! This week was the 2nd week and we got rhubarb, cabbage, strawberries, fava beans, onions and popcorn. Popcorn is the ear of corn you see there by the rhubarb, and you can actually shuck it and throw it in a paper bag and it will make popcorn in the microwave! Awesome! I tried it and check it out:

Pretty awesome! And it tasted great, like air popped popcorn:)

Does anyone else have a CSA or a community garden? What goods have you gotten so far? Stay tuned to see some of the recipes I try with the CSA!

Sharing my love of Pilates

As you know I love Pilates, am an Instructor, and recently starting teaching an outdoor class in Portland on the rooftop terrace of a high rise building. You can read about it here. I am so excited to also tell you that I am guest posting about Pilates over at Whit Likes Fit today! Whitney is a fitness enthusiast who shares her daily stories of work-outs, healthy food, gardening, country music, home endeavors and more! But mostly her work-outs and recipes. I have so many things in common with her, including our love of Pilates. We actually met in a Pilates class a couple of years ago! She asked me to explain a bit more about Pilates and why I love it and know it produces results. Please go over and visit her blog today! While you're there, check out some of her other posts, you won't regret it:) 

Weekend Breakfast---Omlette's

Shane 'accidentally' taught himself how to make omlette's a while ago when he forgot to attend to his scrambled eggs and they started looking more like a pancake, so he turned them into an omlette. This weekend he was sweet enough to make me one with zucchini, goat cheese and chives!

 Yummmmm.....

He made himself one with just cheddar cheese.

Any good omlette recipes out there?

Juice Juice Baby

I love my Juicer! I got it for my birthday in March---read about my first experience making juice here! I am waiting for my cropshare from Sun Gold farms to arrive and plan on using lots of the veggies to juice. In the meantime I have been buying fennel as a new veggie that I don't normally eat to add to my juice. Here is my recipe:

Fennel (about a half of a large bulb should work)

2 cups Spinach

1 apple

1 lemon

1 large handful of mint leaves (from my mint plant)

I love putting my juice in my mason jar. It just tastes better that way!

Do you juice? If so, please share your favorite recipe! Now that berry season is coming up I'd love to find some good berry juice recipes that also incorporate veggies that I need to eat more of!

Wildwood Restaurant and Bar

I have always wanted to try this restaurant, known for its commitment to using local farms for its ingredients. It sits on the edge of NW 21st and Overton, with an outdoor patio as well as a sleek interior with a bar area. I think the higher prices deterred me from coming here in the past, but we were out celebrating passing my Pilates Certification exam so we decided to splurge!

 Starting things off with a 'Tendency to Slip' with grapefruit, soda and rhubard syrup

 "Lost in Baja" with rum, lime, serrano chiles and cilantro

 We loved the small outdoor patio

 This appetizer was the best appetizer Shane has ever had a restaurant in Portland before. It is bacon wrapped scallions with a delicious sauce that includes tiny slivered almonds and garlic. YUM! Anything is better with bacon, but this was exceptional.

The Russet Potato Gnocci with Swiss chard in the gnocci, accompanied by snap peas, carrots and mint. This was really yummy and obviously was homemade gnocci. Tasted very fresh.

 Round two of drinks: I got the Disco Volante, which was grapefruit, gin, campari and soda, and Shane got the Pyramid

 This was my entree. It was a fancy type of sausage with greened mashed potatoes, asparagus and a rhubarb compote. It was so delicious!

 Shane ordered the half chicken, which had lots of Indian flavors such as cumin and marsala. It had chickpeas, mint and a yogurt sauce. He really loved it.

 For dessert we got creme brullee--Shane's favorite

The bill was acommpanied by coconut macroons--a nice touch!

Since this restaurant is sourced by local farms, the menu changes almost daily. It is obviously they are using seasonal ingredients and I love that about it. Although they always have the chicken dish on the menu, the flavors change depending on what they've got. I enjoyed this place and would love to go back, especially since I noticed they do have a bar menu that is pretty affordable that lasts until 6:30. 

Have you tried any restaurants that are locally sourced such as this one? Let me know!

Casa Naranja

Casa Naranja is a fun spot to hang out on Mississippi Ave in Portland. It is literally an orange house, hence the name, and seems like an average tapas restaurant when you first enter. However, venture into the back patio and you have a new scene very unique to other bars. The area is filled with sand and there are hammocks around to swing in while you sip on drinks or nibble on tapas. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, and we were even invited to take our shoes off and dip them in the sand.

I went here with the local alumni chapter (XiXi) of Portland for my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. The XiXi Chapter has a monthly dinner club called Girls Night Out and we like to try new restaurants like this one. Amanda Kraft is the social chair and she is pictured below in the hammocks. Although we usually have a small group that shows up, it makes for a better way to get to know the girls. 

Patio area. These ladies are members of the XiXi chapter of AXO, the alumni chapter in Portland.

My drink is the Habanero Margarita and the first tapa I tried was bacon wrapped steak bites---so good!

Amanda tried these date balls drizzled in honey. They were sweet and delcious!

My second tapa was the garlic green beans. They were delcious!

Kelly ordered the hummus, which was really yummy. It was one of those types of hummus that was obviously homemade because it was kind of grainy instead of super smooth, and it had great spices.

Although we went for happy hour, Casa Naranja would be a great place to go later at night to have more drinks. It would be fun when the weather gets even warmer so we can wear flip flops in the sand! I love Mississipi Ave---there is so much else to do on this street besides eat here, you could make a whole day or night of it!

Rooftop Pilates classes!

I am a certified Stott Pilates Instructor and I recently began my own classes on the rooftop terrace of my highrise building in Portland! The space is ideal for a summer workout plan, with sweeping 360 views of Portland, an airy terrace that gets plenty of sun and breeze, with a peaceful atmosphere. 

 The snap was taken by a friend next door of our class taking place on the terrace. It is a side view so my clients are actually looking straight out at the city (or up at the sky for a lot of the exercises!).

The classes are fairly small so you can ensure lots of individual attention and I always take requests of what my clients would like to work on. It is an all levels class, and most students have been beginners so far but there are a few that have done Pilates regularly and I do give modifications for more difficult exercises. Class started a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love the space---it is an Instructor's dream studio! What a gorgeous atmosphere to work in.

If you would like to attend one of my classes, here are the details!

2020 Building Rooftop Terrace: 2020 SW Salmon St, Portland, OR 97205

Wednesdays 6pm

Saturdays 9am

Bring: $5 and your own mat

There is a doorcode that you will need to dial to be buzzed into the building. Please contact me ahead of time for that at pilateswithmandee@gmail.com. I have a few extra mats if you do not yet have one.

Thank you for your support!

You can read about some of my journey getting certified here.

Weekend Breakfast---Brunch at Montage

Of course most Portlander's have stumbled over to Montage under the Morrison bridge to try the famous Old Mac: the mac n cheese to die for. I've also tried their alligator and hush-puppies, among other famous bites. However, I just recently tried the brunch and was almost even more amazed! They have several different types of biscuits & gravy on the menu, including a biscuit sandwich covered in pork gravy that was absolutely rich and to die for. I tried the mushroom scramble with goat cheese and spicy potatoes, while my sister's friend tried the chicken fried steak. 

this drink is called the "Emergen-C U Next Tuesday" and is made with tangerine Emergency--yes the vitamin packs!

Bloody Mary!

Mushroom Scramble with red bell peppers, goat cheese and spicy potatoes

Omlette with same ingredients as the scramble

Chicken fried steak with eggs! Yum

This is the Biscuit sandwich. It has bacon, eggs, country gravy and onion crispies. It was so freaking good!

The BoBo--biscuits with pork bacon, pork sausage gravy and fried eggs. YUM. We think this rivaled The Reggie from Pine State Biscuits, just without the chicken.

My scramblec came with this HUGE biscuit. It was so good but so filling!

Soooo if you've ever been to Montage for the Old Mac, you know how good that can be. You should for sure try the brunch on the weekends!

Woodsman Tavern in SE Portland

I normally don't venture too far out into SE Portland, but after all of the reviews I heard about this restaurant off of SE Division St, I knew we had to go sometime soon. It was awesome that one Saturday morning Shane got a text from his mom inviting us to meet them at Woodsman Tavern that evening, and luckily we didn't have plans! We heard about this place on the news and knew that it had been rated one of GQ magazine's top ten restaurants, and that reservations are hard to come by. 

Seafood display---there are whole crabs and shrimp in there! Plus a view of the tavern:)

Lovely paintings of Oregon adorn the walls

I ordered some type of coffee martini because it was only 5:30pm and I was TIRED.

Everyone raves about the deviled eggs, and they didn't disappoint!

Shane and his dad had to get the oysters. They loved them.

This is my olive oil, rock shrimp, avocado, radish and arugula salad. It was delicious and very filling even though it looks somewhat small.

Pork Chop: man this was a huge piece of meat! The grilled leeks were also really yummy

The Trout. Oh Man. this was so tasty. They said it has been on the menu since they opened and always a hit!

Brown Butter Almond Cake for dessert. YUM! It was delicious.

This place was totally a Portland scene! The servers were 'so Portland' if you know what I mean. The food was out of this world. They also served cocoa dusted almonds with our bill, which I thought was a great little touch. I would love to go back to this place and try the Seafood Platter, which looked amazing! Has anyone tried this place?