I want to dedicate this post to my love for salad. Oh green, leafy leaves how you taste so good and fresh. Topped with fresh vegetables + raw goat cheese and my heart melts. Please never leave me.

Yeah a little on the weird side, but that is how I feel right now and you have to express your emotions somehow! On another note, I am learning to enjoy the simplicity of life. Extravagant meals are always lovely, but simple dinners have grown on me. And this leads me to our simple dining experience at ModMarket.

Ryan and I both noticed this new little eatery and so we gave’r a shot. MODMarket is a simple place to enjoy a salad or flatbread (pizza). I was a little surprised by the menu – definitely only salad and flatbread – don’t expect anything but.

I chose the Build Your Own Salad and Ryan went with a half order of Goat Cheese Flatbread One thing I did notice is they offered gluten-free flatbread. Ryan’s portion was small and he wished he would have ordered the regular size. Inelaborate and tasty.

I would go back and enjoy another meal from there. The build your own salad was priced extremely well. A great lunch + family + reasonably priced restaurant. I will be interested to see if this place gains popularity. If you have a chance stop on in for a simple meal.

Let me know if you’ve enjoyed a meal from there!

Where in the world has Boulder Bite been?

Obviously I have not been around for quite some time. The end of this summer and start of school left me in an awkward predicament. I was home in Nebraska for awhile and then back in Boulder, living out of suit case and at Ryan’s apartment. I am quite thankful I was able to have a place to stay, but I am even more grateful to be in my own home.

Obviously a lot happens in such a short amount of time, I have many ideas and posts for the future so I hope you are looking forward to them as much as I am.

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Ryan and I ventured over to Pearl Street the other night to try out the new restaurant in town SALT.  Rumors have it that they spent around a million bucks fixing the old building up to make it what it is… and as we admired the renovations – I could imagine they probably did.

Long story short, but the previous restaurant in this location was Tom’s Tavern and it was once a hot spot for good burgers in Boulder… but my experience there last year was nothing short of horrible. No wonder it was up for sale and snatched up by a well-known chef of the area.

Anyways on to our meal, I was pleased with the menu, showcasing locally grown ingredients. The place was busy, as expected, and our service lagged because of it.

I did read a condensed history of salt on the menu while waiting for service, which was quite interesting.  On to the food…. I ordered:

Roasted Beet Salad + Soup Special of the night (tomato something..)

The soup was good. Decent flavor and you could tell it was fresh. The salad was tasty, but I felt it lacked the goat cheese it mentioned on the menu. Definitely was very sparse.

Main entrees included:  Roasted Vegetables + Burger and Fries

Obviously you know who ordered what. Ryan is a burger man while I inhale veggies.

Polenta on top!

Blurry pictures due to bad lighting. Ughh!

Overall I was pretty pleased with my dishes and Ryan was as well. Quite frankly, it was not anything out of this world. But  I imagine we will go back again down the road once it loses its “newness” appeal and hope that the service gets a bit better.

One thing that makes me a bit uneasy about restaurants is when they don’t offer a gluten-free menu. Our waitress promised if I told her to it needed to be gluten-free she would have the chef prepare it that way, but I like a little explanation of what they are doing different to the dish, than the normal one.

I did have somewhat of a stomach knot later that night and I am curious as to whether or not it was because my meal was not prepared gluten-free…. but that is the chance you take when eating out!

Give this place a shot if you live in the area.

I would like to hear about your experience.

Ahhh wow my life has taken a crazy turn. My allergies have been flaring up like crazy since moving into the new apartment….  because the previous tenant had cats! I am so allergic to those animals… I just try to avoid them at all costs. This apartment complex is suppose to be pet free too!! So sad people have to break the rules…

So now I am moving out and heading back to Nebraska to live at home with the parents for a few weeks until I get things settled in Boulder and then school will start on August 24th! (whether I am ready or not!)

The point of me ranting about all the drama is the fact that the blog has been suffering because of it. Sadly enough I haven’t had the desire or time to really put full effort into this baby. So please bear with me during this period. But while I am home I am going to try to post some things about my hometown and our local food scene in small town Nebraska.

Whelp I recently tried some Chocolate Hemp Milk and…. thought it was pretty gross. I typically have an open mind for new things but this product was a hard one to adapt to. I thought maybe I would get use to the distinct hemp flavor, but nope… it didn’t happen. I took this back to Whole Foods for a refund because it was almost $5 for one carton. Are there any hemp milk lovers out there? If so, did it taste a bit funky to you or did you instantly love it?

I had the wonderful chance to meet up with Cecile again down in Denver at Watercourse Foods. We both went for a great road ride on our bikes and then enjoyed some delicious salads. We also discussed starting a nutrition program together… more to come on that later

I’ve been eating out a ton lately becasue I have no food in my apartment. If you follow me on Twitter you will see my complaints about being juice-less + not being able to use my kitchen! So I have a few random eat outs from Boulder… I will just put up some pictures… becasue theose make blog posts so much better!

THAI TEA WITH COCONUT MILK @ Suki Thai

Does anyone know how to make Thai Tea at home… if so let me know because with coconut milk it is delicious!!

breakfast @ Lucile’s

Fruit Plate @ Lucile'e

Crazy Ivan’s Salad with Avocado in place of goat cheese @ Mad Greens

So I have been falling completely out of line with my typical eating habits lately. I have consumed a lot of dairy and way too much sugar. I need to start really paying more attention to what I am eating and staying conscious like I was before. But I need some more tips on how to cut even more sugar out of my diet! Any advice out there? I am starting a food diary tomorrow with Cecile – we created a google document for us to share – so we can see what we are each eating to help decipher our diets.

I am definitely very interested to see how this will work for us and if we stay accountable. We may possibly open it up to public viewing if others are interested or want to join in. Kind of like a community food journal! Let me know your thoughts on this!

Ending the night with a photo snapped of me of my new awesome apron I picked up at our local county fair in Nebraska!

While I love to write informative posts, I also love to share some of my eats and restaurants around Boulder for inspiration in the kitchen. I don’t know about you but whenever I see a menu I pick it apart and get ideas for some of my next creations at home. I have been busy moving and quite frankly don’t have the motivation to plop open my books and research my post. So today will be a collection of recent eats!

Did I mention I had the chance to visit Crested Butte CO this past weekend. Talk about beautiful… it was so hard to leave!

I also had the pleasure of meeting up with another food blogger, Cecile from The Spice of Strength, for lunch! We had a great time and it was so fun to talk to another person so passionate about healthy food choices. We dined at Boulder’s Sunflower Organic Dining Restaurant. Mmm delicious.

Started off with the vegan soup of the day… I believe it was a carrot ginger of some sort… not entirely sure. It was great. Very flavorful. I ate the whole roll that came with the soup as well. Gotta love those carbs! We both decided on the organic salad bar. It was a perfect lunch =  gorgeous day + great company + yummy food!

veggies + hummus + quinoa

I hadn’t had my juice yet for the day… so I splurged a bit and ordered one. ** Typically to save money I don’t order drinks at restaurants + Stick with water and lemon** I have always had great food and service at Sunflower and once again it was another perfect experience. Cecile and I chatted for 2 hours! We finally decided we better get going and make another dinner date soon. It was such a great meet-up and I am so thankful the blogging world brought us together!

Green Drink

Some other recent eats of mine include a Veggie + Hummus + Dijon Mustard Sandwich on Flax+Oat Bread from Great Harvest. Talk about freakin delicious bread. Great Harvest is always so filling and satisfying. I only ate half this sandwich and saved the rest for later.

This sandwich is so easy to make at home and a great idea for a quick lunch. Pile on tons of veggies with some hummus + mustard + other toppings you like and you have a very filling and healthy lunch! I couldn’t leave without trying the granola bar….buuutttt it wasn’t as tasty as I was hoping. I pawned it off to friends later that day.

One of my all time favorite treats is a Beach Bowl from Rush.   acai + guava juice + bananas + mangos + hemp granola + drizzle of honey (I always order double the acai) They recently started only putting one packet of Acai in their bowls and it just does not have the same flavor as it did with two. They are pricey but a delicious treat!

You can make these at home too! While I still cannot find guava juice anywhere… I substitute it with almond milk. Smoothies make the greatest summer snack + breakfasts.!

All right it’s time for me to finish unpacking and putting everything away! Hope you all had a great weekend!

I have been away from the computer lately. I feel I have needed a break to sort things out. I have been stressed lately and I am not sure why.…What do you do to relieve stress? Any suggestions?

As promised, here is my review of a local Boulder restaurant called BimBamBoo:

“Bimbamboo is a new Asian restaurant concept delivering a unique and modern spin on Asian food in Boulder, Colorado.

We offer a bold and distinctive fusion of Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean, Malaysian and Japanese flavors.

Whether you want a quick workday lunch or to linger over cocktails and dinner with family and friends, bimbamboo is a welcome adventure in taste.”

Not surprisingly I was craving sweet potato fries (uh my weakness) so we started off with an order to share. I was impressed and thought they had good flavor. It was an ideal summer night on Pearl Street and the decor of BimBamBoo contributed to the summer ambiance. I was also stoked to find out they had a vegan menu….

I ordered the Tofu Salad Bowl that was on the vegan menu with soba noodles. I am still not sure if this is the same tofu salad bowl offered on the main menu…. but I must say it was damn good! I was very happy with the mixture – soba noodles + romaine lettuce + bimbamboo slaw+ herbs + sprouts. The dressing/vinagarette was a perfect addition. This was very filling, but felt very fresh. I would not hesitate to eat this again!

Ryan had Bengali Grilled Wild Salmon + Tikka Masala Curry Sauce + Cool Cucumber-Mint Raita. Ryan was not as thrilled with his choice compared to mine. I think he was expecting something different from the description. I had a taste and liked the way the salmon was cooked, but I was not too wild about the other flavors. It was so-so. Ryan admitted he liked my Tofu Salad Bowl more than his.

Overall I thought my dish was good, but the service was not as great. We went for a long period of time with no water, which really bugs me. I loooove my water with dinner, so besides the water dilemma, all was good. We were told they make all desserts in house and even have vegan options. We were so full we opted out on a sweet treat.

Has anyone had desserts from BimBamBoo?  What’d ya think?

It’s a great restaurant for good noodle bowls + fresh options + plenty of food. I think I may hit this place up for lunch sometime soon.

Two posts in one day! Enjoy

As a part of our “New Restaurant Friday” we chose Happy Noodle House, which is located around 9th and Walnut. I checked out their website to read a little bit more about what their dishes may entail…

“Happy is fresh, unique and affordable Asian inspired cuisine paired with attentive and friendly service and unforgettable handcrafted cocktails.”

So did Happy Noodle House live up to this description? T

Maybe we should ask Ryan. He looks pretty darn serious To start, we were able to get a table without any waiting, which surprised me – as it was 7:15ish and a Friday night. I liked the simplicity of the decor. For being fairly small, the restaurant definitely allowed for maximum seating capabilities by seating people at long tables with benches. So you shared the same table with others, but it still felt private. They also had a large outdoor patio which looked great. We opted to sit inside because we didn’t want to wait …

We typically don’t order drinks when we eat out, but tonight I was craving something refreshing and summery + I had heard fab reviews about their cocktails. Our waiter recommended the Green Tea Pimm’s = pimm’s #1 cup + zen green tea+ liqeur+fresh muddled citrus. It was absolutely perfect. I smooshed up the mint (like you would with a mojito) and it couldn’t have been better! I was thoroughly impressed with that drink…Great recommendation!

Ryan ordered a Mai Tai and wished he would have ordered a beer – personally I felt the Mai Tai was wicked strong and Ryan even mentioned that as well. I would like to try some of their other concotions in the future.

Spicy Peanut Wok Charred Greens + Udon Noodles

I did enjoy their menu and our waiter was very helpful identifying the vegan dishes when I asked him. For their bowls and plates they had one vegan dish made with tofu but I was not in a tofu mood. Their small plates interested me more instead and of course I had to try some noodles… I mean come on it is the Happy Noodle House

Spicy Peanut Wok Charred Greens + Udon Noodles

I ordered the Spicy Peanut Wok Charred Greens + Udon Noodles + Crispy Greens. I ended up mixing the charred greens with the noodles to make my own little noodle bowl. I loved this, the flavor of the greens was perfect. There were peanuts mixed in with the fresh tasting greens and they made the Udon Noodles extremely flavorful.

Crispy Greens

The Crispy Greens dish was by far my favorite of the three. It was brussel sprouts, spinach and arugula quickly fried with canola oil + sea salt and a seven spice seasoning. They were so crispy and light, I devoured them. They reminded me a lot of bake kale chips, as they had a nice crunch to them. Mmm I highly recommend these.

Happy Ramen

Ryan had the Happy Ramen bowl = cha siu pork +green onion + braised mushroom + roasted garlic + watercress. Ryan said the mushrooms in this bowl were amazing. I had one and yes they were amazing – they were sweet but flavorful.

Overall Ryan said the dish was pretty good + liked the broth + noodles were tasty + somewhat plain in flavor. He noted that he would definitely eat it again.  Ryan did not use any of the Siracha or Hoisin sauce provided at the table. So I do believe those would be tasty in the bowl as well.

Fried Rice

About halfway through our meal we were offered a sampling of their Fried Rice. I did not find this on the menu. We both enjoyed the rice and ate all of it- okay so really I ate almost all of it.  I loved the texture of the rice because it had wheat berries mixed in along with spinach, sugar snap peas, shrimp and pork. I picked around the meat and ate the shrimp. I typically don’t go for fried rice options… but this one I may have to try again.

Overall, the service was fabulous, food delcious and very afforbable. If you are in the Boulder area I recommend stopping in and trying Happy Noodle House. They are new to the Boulder scene as of Feb. 13th of this year… and they just started serving lunch as well. We both agreed that we would definitely be visiting this restaurant again and recommending it to our friends and others looking for a great, affordable meal.

What a great addition to the Big Red F Restaurant Group!

Ironically enough, later that evening we ran into our waiter on Pearl Street. He told us that after they are done serving food at Happy, they keep the bar open until 2am. If you enter through the back entrance you can enjoy their drinks late. What a great tip! I would have never known this without him. So maybe I can enjoy my Green Tea Pimm’s after hours 

Are there any readers out there who have been to Happy Noodle House before? What was your experience like?

Yesterday was a busy day of road riding and running! It was a great training day for me. We took on Left Hand Canyon and Olde Stage, which are two decently tough climbs north of Boulder. My heart rate was going crazy on some parts of the ride… reaching 186 at some points. When my heart rate gets that high its hard for me to keep going.. I tell myself I need to quit. It was a great day for me pushing through my mind and physical ability.

crit race back in march

I am hoping all this training will get me in better shape for racing next year with CU. It is nice having Ryan to ride with to push me. He set a pretty intense pace for me to work with on the ride… so I was sucking air! After the ride we zoomed across to South Boulder, where Ryan bought a new kayak, and we did a quick 20 minute trail run. Ryan needed to test out his new shoes from Newton Running Company. He is interning for them this summer so I am learning all about these “special shoes”…Check out their website for more information -especially if you are big runner… these are suppose to help bring your times down.

Newton Running shoes are designed by runners for runners to mimic the advantages of barefoot running (chi running).

After all that exercise – we were starving! I was on a short time window so we had to get food faste. We did not get to try a new restuarant Friday night because I had to babysit early so we thought we would try to find a new place for an early dinner. We ended up at Moongate Asion Bistro on Pearl.

I am not really sure how I feel about the place. I have a hard time thinking that asian restaurants are “healthy.” Sodium, MSG and lots of fried food always come to my mind when I look at their menus. Since we were in a hurry and this was close to where we parked, we took a seat inside. The menu was just like any other Asian restaurant. Lots of sesame this, fried that.. but luckily I found  Vietnamese Rice Bowls. Another favorite of mine… rice noodles I ordered the Tofu Vietnamese Noodle Bowl and Ryan ended up with a Soft Shelled Crab entree.

soft shell crab

Portion sizes were huge. My tofu was in some type of weird, fried batter that I wasn’t too thrilled about and Ryan’s crab was definitely super fried. But what do you do I guess? We should have asked more questions about the menu before we ordered. It was tasty but mainly because I was hungry… I am not in a huge hurry to go back to Moongate. At least we can say we tried a new restaurant for the week!  Next week I hope we can put a little more thought into our restaurant choice. I would recommend this place if you do like Asian food and want huge portions for a reasonable price….

ingredients

I am still hunting down my recipe for those protein bars I made the other night. I swear it just disappeared! I make these fairly often enough I thought I could remember the amounts of each ingredient…. but nope. Luckily there are only 4 ingredients!

Last thought of the day. I ran across this awesome website for advice on what type of seafood is best for the region of the US you live in. I was stoked to find this information because I do like to eat fish… but I am always worried about what is safe to eat. It’s hard to find straight forward information regarding seafood…. I always get so confused!

do you know what fish is best to order ?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has taken the liberty of making printable, pocket sized guides to carry with you. So when you plop down at your favorite seafood or sushi restaurant you can now be informed.  I love, love, love this idea! I printed mine off for Central US… I actually want to go get sushi right now… just so I can use it     Ch – Ch – Checkkk it out!

It’s raining cats and dogs outside right now. So much for another road ride today! I have a Pampered Chef party this afternoon so I better go get ready for that. I am super excited to see all the great kitchen gadgets and food:) Have a lovely Sunday.

When you eat out at Asian restaurants do you have certain entree you always order? Do you limit yourself to only certain items on the menu in order to make healthier food choices?

For example I  used to always order Sesame or General Tsao’s Chicken….. but after looking up nutrition information on those meals… I now try to stick to rice noodle dishes,  items less fried and not drenched in sauces.

Boulder has been covered with clouds and random rain since yesterday. I feel like this tends to slow me down… and make me a little lethargic in the mornings.  Any suggestions on how to kick start your mornings? I am working on this whole “becoming a morning person” thing… and it is a challenge!

It’s been chilly here as well….I had to wear gloves on my bike ride up to campus yesterday! Along with the rain has come a huge increase in the flow of Boulder Creek. I live along the Boulder Creek Path and it is starting to overflow at some places along the winding creek path! It’s hard to tell from this picture, but it is splashing up onto the grass areas… which is not normal! Hopefully it won’t get to crazy as I have yet to have the chance to go tubing down the raging waters

Boulder Creek

After class yesterday was filled with errands and a scrumptious dinner. Ryan and I drove down to Westminster (a suburb north of Denver) to pick up a textbook from Front Range Community College. And goodness… I forget how expensive textbooks are until you have to purchase them.

We decided we were just “starving” on our way back to Boulder. I had been craving a certain sandwhich from a local restaurant lately… so we hauled over to Southern Sun Pub and Brewery in South Boulder.

This was our first time at the Southern Sun but the menu seemed relatively similar to their other restaraunt, Mountain Sun on Pearl Street. Ryan and I had one of our first dates at Mountain Sun Since we were trying to get our hands on anything food related… once we were seated (45 minute wait to get a table) we ordered a basket of their famous fries.  One of my food confessions is that I am in love with french fries. While I know they are fried…. they are without a doubt one of my favorite indulgent foods. But definitely – only fresh cut ones will satisfy my french fry fetish. And sure enough – Southern Sun delivered a wonderful basket of fries!

They were crisp, and we could tell they were fresh. They had a distinct smell to them unlike most fries from restaurants. While not necessarily the healthiest choice to start off a meal… they hit the spot on a cold, rainy day. We finished the basket off… a medium order… I couldn’t imagine how big the large order was! It had been multiple hours since we both had eaten last… about 6 hours actually…. which I typically do not let happen but today was just that busy.

Tempeh Reuben

I was unbelievably excited for my sandwich. I ordered the Tempeh Reuben (w/o Swiss Cheese). The tempeh is beer baked and then topped with sauerkraut, tomato, and a vegan thousand island dressing all squished together between rye bread. (it also comes with swiss cheese… but I am not a big cheese lover) I could without a doubt, eat this sandwich multiple times a week. When I was younger I would eat Reubens quite frequently, but I am not so keen on corned beef these days…So I feel I get my “reuben fix” without having to compromise by eating corned beef. I give this sandwich two thumbs up

Mushroom Burger

Ryan picked out the Mushroom/Onion Swiss Burger which was all-natural, vegetarian fed Colorado beef with no antibiotics or steroids. Kudos to Southern (and Mountain!) Sun for making such a great choice with their meat. Ryan said his burger was decadent… very tender and great flavor. I had a bite as well…. and have to say it was quite tasty… considering I am super picky about the way beef tastes. We both devoured our meals… chips and all!

If you are a beer connoisseur, you must stop in and try their house brews. They have a great variety and also carry great regional and national craft brews as well. Don’t forget you can get a house brew to go.. in a re-usable, refillable container! We were not really in the mood for a drink – nor did I have my i.d. on hand…. but sometime in the near future I hope to do a nice beer sampler there. Please check this place out I highly recommend their food, beer and friendly service.

Later on that night we took a trip to 24 hour fitness to do a good, but brief lifting/circuit workout, making sure we focused a lot on legs. I never did get that run in so hopefully it will happen today…. or possibly a road ride if the weather dries up. I am curious how you feel about eating out? Do you prefer to dine at locally owned restaurants, national chains or does it matter to you? Lastly, how do you feel the quality of your food is while dining out?