jenneatsclean

[jenneatsclean]

june 25th

breakfast: cold brew with splash of half & half and four pumps cinnamon dolce syrup + bacon gouda breakfast sandwich (@ starbucks)

lunch: baked salmon + steamed broccoli + quinoa and baby spinach

snack: caramel almond kind bar 

dinner: chicken, red bell pepper, summer squash sugar snap peas in panang curry sauce + jasmine rice 

[jenneatsclean]

june 13th

breakfast: cold brew blended with collagen and organic vanilla creamer + three chicken sausage mini-frittatas 

lunch: spinach feta chicken burger with melted colby jack cheese + roasted potatoes + roasted broccoli

snack: plain greek yogurt with a tsp. of honey and a big heaping spoon of almond butter (after work)

dinner: red lentil pasta + grass fed ground beef with marinara sauce + roasted cauliflower 

dessert: sliced mango

I feel really run down because of stress, but today I think I pushed through it pretty well. On a food related note, getting back into clean habits since Monday has already improved my overall energy level. I don’t always see a real 1:1 correlation between my diet and how I feel (and lord knows I’ve tried to find the magic solution since my UC diagnosis), so this is a nice surprise. Even if it isn’t food related, I’ll take any help I can get at this point :)

[jenneatsclean]

june 12th

breakfast: cold brew blended with collagen and organic vanilla creamer + three chicken sausage mini-frittatas 

lunch: grilled chicken breast + jasmine rice + asparagus

snacks: caramel almond kind bar and coconut green tea (mid-afternoon) + buffalo protein chip crumbs (while making dinner)

dinner: spinach-feta chicken burger with melted colby jack on top + roasted red potatoes + roasted broccoli 

[jenneatsclean]

june 8th

breakfast: cold brew blended with collagen and soy creamer + bacon egg and cheese on a plain bagel

lunch: korean beef bowl (korean ground beef + jasmine rice + cucumbers + sauteed spinach)

snack: hot buffalo protein chips + sourdough pretzel nibblers 

dinner: a slice of pizza 

I’ve been so out of it all week. Between working 11 hours Monday-Friday then coming home and doing the “second shift” of home inspection, mortgage paperwork, wedding shit... I’m just exhausted to my very core. It’s all good stuff, and I am excited! But it can be hard at times, too. 

[jenneatsclean]

june 4th

breakfast: coconut cold brew blended with collagen and soy creamer + two spinach-cheddar mini frittatas over sweet potato & bacon hash

lunch: homemade fajita bowls with mango habanero shrimp, roasted peppers and onions, corn salsa, brown rice and guacamole

dinner: pesto baked chicken thigh + red lentil pasta with marinara sauce + roasted broccoli 

[jenneatsclean]

june 3rd

breakfast: bacon, egg and vermont cheddar on sourdough toast + cold brew with half & half

lunch: freezer pizza with cauliflower crust from trader joe’s

dinner: homemade fajita bowls with mango habanero shrimp, roasted peppers and onions, corn salsa, brown rice and guacamole

dessert: this homemade peach crisp (and then i added blueberries)

Lazy day! Sean and I were a teeeeensy bit hungover, so went to breakfast with friends at Milkweed (highly recommend if you live in Boston). I kept it simple but that sandwich was soooooo good. 

Then, we came home to relax and I did some meal prepping for the week. I made cheddar and spinach mini-frittatas for breakfast this week and chopped/bagged some veggies before I got the urge to make a peach and blueberry crisp. (I hate wasting food and I had 2 peaches and half a pint of blueberries about to turn the corner). I halved this recipe to accommodate the tiny amount of fruit I needed to use and it scaled perfectly! Cookie & Kate has become a super reliable recipe source for me over the years. 

[jenneatsclean]

June 1st

breakfast: cold brew blended with collagen and soy creamer + oatmeal with almond butter and blueberries

lunch: tofu stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots over brown rice

snacks: peanut butter chocolate chip larabar (mid-afternoon) + 2 handfuls of hot buffalo protein chips (while making dinner)

dinner: sweet potato-bacon hash topped with 2 over-easy eggs

dessert: too many neopolitan wafers 

Sean has a soft spot for Manner “Schnitte” from living in Austria when he was a kid, and they are sooooo good that I can’t wait to just finish the damn bag already. Jet lag continues to kick my ass but we’re moving in a positive direction at least. 

Thinking about trying the 21-Day Sugar Detox? In the research phases now, will keep you all updated. 

[jenneatsclean]

[jenneatsclean]

May 31st

breakfast: bacon gouda breakfast sandwich + cold brew with whole milk and 4 pumps vanilla (@starbucks)

lunch: chipotle burrito bowl (brown rice, black beans, chicken, corn salsa, hot salsa, guacamole)

dinner: tofu stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower and carrots over brown rice

snacks: 2 handfuls of pretzel nuggets (while making dinner) + a whole bunch of neapolitan wafer cookies (dessert)

First day back at work! My jetlag was a little rough, but I was glad to see everyone and get back in the saddle. Had a super productive day when I get home, taking care of pulling documents for the mortgage underwriters and writing thank you notes for my latest round of bridal shower gifts. Sean unfortunately threw his back out so I finished the apartment cleaning he was doing and made us some dinner. 

I’ve been playing around with using frozen veggies instead of fresh to save some money, so I’ll pass along any tips/hacks I find along the way. I’m super picky about texture, but the frozen veggie mix worked really well in tonight’s dinner because it was all doused in this stir fry sauce anyway. 

[jenneatsclean]

Jenn Reviews... The Vacationers

The Vacationers centers around the Post family, consisting of two New York City writers and their nearly-adult children, which happens to be on the brink of collapse as they head to Mallorca for a two-week vacation. Also along for the ride are family friends Charles and Lawrence, a married couple anxiously awaiting the news that they’ve been selected to adopt a child.

I didn’t expect much from The Vacationers, if I’m honest. I picked it up before my Vienna trip hoping it would be an easy read that distracted me from my long traveling hours –which it was – but it also left me with that afterglow you get from a happy ending that manages to avoid being too sweet. 

I don’t want to divulge too many plot points, as Emma Straub unfolds many of the central conflicts skillfully over the course of the novel and I wouldn’t want to spoil them. Straub also manages to handle several cliché topics – losing your virginity before college, navigating the challenges of fidelity in a 35-year marriage – with significantly more skill than I expected. Overall, I think it’s a good choice for stuffing into your carry-on bag before you head to the airport. 4 out of 5 stars

[jenneatsclean]

breakfast: two sunnyside up eggs with ham + roll + espresso (@ café astoria)

snack #1: paprika chips

snack #2: glass of rosé champagne + apple strudel 

dinner: figlmüller’s schnitzel + grated potatoes with dill + glass of austrian sparkling wine 

dessert: nutella sundae + glass of prosecco (@ zanoni & zanoni)

So we finally had the first dining experience in Budapest that I wouldn’t recommend... to be honest, our breakfast and service at Café Astoria was weird and not great. 

In fact, I want to be dead honest and say that this entire day (the day before we left to come home) was tough. I had really bad anxiety, which I think was caused by total exhaustion from walking 5+ miles daily. I also kept thinking about everything that needed to be done with buying the house and planning the wedding and I ended up just being really miserable. As you can see, I kept having a glass of wine every couple of hours to take the edge off but that didn’t work and probably just made me feel worse. 

Anyway, we left Budapest around 11AM and took the train back to Vienna for one more night, so me and Sean just took it easy once we got back. Figlmüllers is a quintessential dining experience so I do highly recommend it, just make sure you make a reservation! The ice cream sundaes at Zanoni & Zanoni are also AMAZING so that will always be a mandatory stop on future Vienna trips. 

[jenneatsclean]

breakfast: three-egg ham and cheese omelette + café melange with a little bit of sugar 

lunch: elderflower lemonade + tall beer + half a lángos (hungarian fried bread topped with sour cream and grated cheese, SO BOMB)

snack: raspberry & pistachio gelato (split with Sean + aperol spritz 

dinner: matzoh soup with goose and hummus & pita (split with Sean) + roasted goose breast with fried potato dumplings and plum chutney + 2 glasses of pinos gris + cappucino (@ Spinoza Café)

late night drinks: a beer + whiskey sour + shot of whiskey + aperol spritz @ Szimpla Kert)

We had such a gorgeous day in Budapest. We started with breakfast at Szimpla Háztáji Boltocska then tried to go to the New York Café but there was a super long line and we just weren’t feeling that. So off to Fisherman’s Bastion we went! Fisherman’s Bastion is an absolute must if you visit Budapest because the architecture and views are a m a z i n g! I wish we had more time here so that we could go back to see a sunset there.

From there, we headed to a highly-recommended lángos stall near Arany Janos metro station which was sooooo goooood. Since the fried bread apparently wasn’t decadent enough, we decided to follow it with some gelato and a cocktail right outside of St. Stephen’s Basilica. After that, it was naptime so that we could be energized for dinner at Spinoza Cafe and drinks at the ruin bar (this time at night, which was beyond fucking cool). 

All in all, Budapest has been fantastic and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Off to grab breakfast now, then back to Vienna for our last night in Europe! 

[jenneatsclean]

[jenneatsclean]

breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs + ham and cheese braided roll + iced cold foam cappucino 

lunch: large beer at Szimpla Kert + grilled baguette sandwich with chicken, raspberry-onion jam and melty cheese (@ Bors Gasztrobár) + split a mango and strawberry ice cream with Sean

dinner: large beer + goulash soup (split with Sean) + chicken paprikash with egg noodles (@ Ladó Café) 

dessert: double white wine at Pontoon 

Budapest miiiiiiiight be my favorite European City I’ve ever visited? Sean and I have stumbled on so many amazing experiences already in such a short time. We loved the Ruins Bar we went to (pictured above), which was also having a farmer’s market when we were there. Then we both had the best sandwiches of our lives because we stumbled upon the inimitable Bors Gasztrobár.

Eating a giant sandwich and walking 3 miles in a few hours took it out of us so we had the most glorious nap, then headed out to dinner. Good central European food is really tough to find at restaurants in Boston, so we were in complete heaven at Ladó Café. From there, we strolled down to Pontoon which is a perfect little bar on the Danube where you grab a drink and a chair on the side of the river and admire the amazing way Budapest is lit up at night.

No idea what we’ll do today but I cannot WAIT to find out!

[jenneatsclean]

breakfast #1: emmental cheese on semmel + 2x espresso with splash of milk and sugar

breakfast #2: croissant with apricot jam + one egg scrambled with ham + bacon + coffee 

lunch: schnitzel sandwich + split a tall beer with Sean

dinner: aperol spritz + mezze platter pickings (marinated asparagus, parma ham, parmesan cheese, hummus, french bread) + sliced beef roast with mashed peas and potatoes + black forest parfait + quite a bit of white wine 

I woke up before everyone (I’m pretty well-adjusted to the time zone but Sean’s family is super jet lagged) and I generally need to eat right when I wake up, so I took some quick cold breakfast fixings up to the roof deck to read and enjoy the view. I have some photos of the view saved somewhere so I’ll have to put them up soon. Then once everyone was up, we had breakfast at Cafe Schwartzenberg (highly recommend!) then hopped on the train to tour Schönbrunn, the former Austrian imperial family’s summer palace. Once we finished there, we also hit the Upper Belvedere to see Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. 

At night, we had the party that brought us to Vienna in the first place. Sean’s family friends threw a massive party with dinner & dancing to commemorate several major milestones that happened for them in 2018. They’re Swedish, so they arranged dinner seating according to a Swedish tradition where we were all sat at tables where we didn’t know anyone. I was SO NERVOUS but it ended up making the evening so spectacular because we all made a bunch of new friends. 

Next up, Budapest! Photos + food diary to come. 

[jenneatsclean]

may 25th

breakfast: ham, egg and swiss on semmel (austrian roll) + double espresso with milk + orange juice

snack: single espresso with steamed milk 

lunch: salmon over zucchini, bell peppers and potatoes + giant pilsner

dinner: glass of champagne + sea bass filet over asparagus risotto + way too much red wine + bites of a chocolate cake, strawberry sorbet, and fried pancakes with plum sauce and powdered sugar 

Greetings from Vienna! This has been the craziest two days of my life so far...

The day we flew out to Vienna, we also put an offer in on a house in Boston. We had to buy plane wi-fi so that our broker could reach us with updates, and we negotiated the counter offer while sitting in the Amsterdam airport on layover. 

The current owner accepted our offer yesterday while it was the middle of the night here in Austria. So we are now one step closer to home ownership! Scheduling the inspection and finding an attorney while working off the crappy Wi-Fi connection in our AirBnB is tough, but this is such a big moment that I’m just trying to find the joy in all of it. 

Anyway, off to tour some palaces and eat even more schnitzel. Budapest tomorrow! Please keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly with the house. 

[jenneatsclean]