Healthy Eats: M Street Kitchen

Since I moved into my own apartment a few months ago, my mom and I try to see a movie or have dinner once a week to play catch up. It's been fun to explore Santa Monica for new restaurants to try, especially with so many Californian cuisine options. Westside locals are hot for anything organic, vegan or diet friendly, and M Street Kitchen is no exception.

At the edge of the oh-so-hip Main Street just minutes from my apartment, M Street Kitchen has heated outdoor seating and a cozy, layered indoor area. Our sinewy, dread-locked waiter had to have been a model and paid the utmost attention to us despite the place being packed. I had a glass of the riesling (my standby) and my mom found a jazzed-up version of her favorite drink, "Shakin' Lemonade": ketel one, lemonade, and rosemary served in a jar (how very LA).

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Stuff That Sausage! Or, Mushroom Appreciation Day

When I was a little girl, there were several vegetables I would not under any circumstances allow in my food. My parents tried to sneak them in to sauces, chopping up onions, chives or mushrooms into tiny bits in an attempt to dissuade me from my oh-so-healthy diet of macaroni and cheese. No matter how small the diced veggies were, I could taste them a mile away. "This has onion in it!" I would cry angrily, and proceed to pout for the rest of the meal. (What a charmer.) Mostly I've come to realize that my disgust for onions and mushrooms came from the texture ("too crunchy, too rubbery, get it away from me," etc).

This might be why my parents are still shocked to the core whenever I eat onions or mushrooms (often). I will add grilled onions to almost any dish and ever since my adventures grilling with Quinn and Daniel I've been doing the same with mushrooms. I add sliced white mushrooms to my healthier version of Fettuccini Alfredo, recreate my goat cheese & shiitake omelet from John O'Groats, and sautee large portobello caps in the balsamic-dijon marinade Daniel came up with.  The other night I  took my mushroom obsession a step further. As I sipped on some girlie moscato white wine and danced around in my kitchen with Scream 2 on in the background, I made sinfully bites of sheer happiness: stuffed mushrooms.

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Iron Chef Potluck #1, Volume 4: Jodi's Gnocchi with Spinach & Peas & Ted's Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Jodi and Ted are not only the cutest couple possibly ever, but they both came to the potluck bringing their A-game. Fortunately for our kitchen space, they brought their dishes already prepared, but unfortunately for ME, I don't know exactly how they made them. However, I do know this: they were absolutely divine.

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Fraiche Happy Hour

Blog Note: Due to my recent relocation to a studio apartment in Santa Monica (!!!) and the expenses that follow, Culinary Therapy will be entering a period of finance-management. Don't fret dear readers, now that I'm mostly settled into my new digs my infrequent posts will be a thing of the past. This just means that I'll be sampling more happy hours and adding more recipe posts to the mix. 

Last week, my friend Jamie and I had a happy hour date at a restaurant I've been meaning to try, Fraiche in Santa Monica.  As I perused my new "happy hour finder" app, I discovered that not only is the hip foodie locale only a few blocks from my work, but they have a happy hour Monday-Thursday 5:00pm - 10:30pm, Friday-Saturday 5-6:30pm. As we settled in for some epic girl-time, we ordered a glass of their red and white house wines ($6) and took a glance at the menu.

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