Lena, Ann Arbor, MI

Before I make the move from Michigan to Madison, WI, I have been hitting up my fair share of local restaurants in the Ann Arbor area. Between leaving my boyfriend and some good friends behind, I have a lot of good-byes to say. And, of course, the best way to say good-bye is by eating one last meal together. Today I had the pleasure of going to lunch with my friend, Michelle. We went to a relatively new restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor named Lena.

After looking at a few "meh" reviews on yelp.com I was a little skeptical about the place but I was sufficiently intrigued by the menu to give it a try. Plus the lunch prices are much cheaper than the dinner prices - and the prices was a constant criticism among the various reviews (i.e. it was a "not worth the price" kind of restaurant).

Despite the mediocre reviews, my overall Lena experience was great! The restaurant decor was awesome and the wall was lined with semi-private booths which blocked your neighbors' conversations. Blocking other people's conversations has recently become especially important to me after going out to sushi with Scott (boyfriend) and having to listen to an obnoxious and very loud first date conversation right beside us. Anyway, I digress.

The wait staff were really nice and I loved the hostess's accent and the fact that she complimented my yoga pants that I try to pass off as fancy pants. It was a chilly summer day in Michigan and I wanted something to warm me up so I ordered a plain old decaf coffee thinking that I was going to get a plain old decaf coffee. Instead, I got an adorable decaf coffee.

Decaf Coffee at Lena, Ann Arbor, MI

I usually don't add sugar to my coffee to save some calories but how could I not with this sweet (literally) sugar crystal stir! It was a pretty good cup of coffee too, I might add.

Because I wanted almost anything on the menu, I asked the waitress to recommend the most popular entree. She gave me a few recommendations but then mentioned that the beef churrasco (grilled skirt steak over creamy sofrito rice with matchstick plantains and fried egg) was a dinner entree that was half the price at lunch. Sold! I love to be healthy but I also love a good deal and the beef churasco was exactly that. And I definitely cannot rationalize this as being terribly healthy. But after tasting it, this plate was was worth the indulgence. Since this is a health-centric blog, I will say that there are leaner cuts of beef. Skirt steak is one of the fattier cuts of beef you can get which makes it oh-so tender. A better choice would have been sirlion tip side steak. Oops! Forgive me dietitians for I have sinned. The rice was also, as the description promised, very creamy and tasty. There was also a sauce that they had put on top of the steak; based on color and taste, I think it was a cilantro sauce. Regardless of what it was, it complemented the dish very well. Though the vegetables were minimal, the overall plate was delicious and the presentation was a feast for the eyes.

Beef Churrasco at Lena, Ann Arbor, MI

One a side note, once again, I realize that this deviates from the objective of this blog but I am currently in transition in my move up to Madison. Once I am all settled into my new home I do hope to post healthy recipes I make in my shared kitchen. I'm moving into a coop so, yes, it really is a shared kitchen. I'm looking forward to both the move and writing healthy cooking posts. I'm sure the anticipation is killing everyone who reads my blog...I guess I owe Scott and my mom an apology :P

Just keep running

In addition to being in the kitchen, I am an aspiring runner but currently more of a leisurely jogger. As much as I hate to make the first post (after my introduction) about something that already deviates from the blog title itself, I am going to go ahead and do it anyway. Because running quickly becomes a very consuming sport, I will probably write about running as well as food. Besides, part of the fun of running is that you get to eat more!

In early June I completed the Ann Arbor, MI Half Marathon with my awesome running buddy Michelle. I am signed up for two more half marathons this year: the North Face (NF) Kettle Moraine State Park halfsie and the Madison, WI halfsie. After being out for about a month and a half for surgery I am on the express train to 15-20-miles-per-week station to be in okay shape for the NF halfsie in September. Here is my training schedule:

Thank you internet for providing me with this poorly researched (on my part) training schedule! I have not set a goal pace for myself - I just want to finish. I hope this schedule will allow me to do that without too much shin splint pain. Plus, I really love having a schedule to follow because, along with impulsively signing up for 3 half marathons after having a couple (...a few) beers, it keeps me running. I'm already up to 12 miles this coming week which I am excited about but dreading at the same time. Oh, I love-hate you running.

Welcome to my Kitchen!

I am a registered dietitian and currently a graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree in community nutrition. I love to cook but I'm not necessarily fantastic at it - just because I know about food doesn't mean I know how to cook it. What I do believe is that anyone, with a little practice, can learn to create dishes that are both nutritious and taste great (even me!). So with this blog I will attempt to make yummy, healthy, and maybe even innovative dishes that I hope can inspire others to cook more at home and incorporate healthy foods into their diet. I really think that by simply cooking more at home, people can improve their overall diets...an tossing in a little broccoli or kale never hurt anyone either ;)