I caught an episode of Down Home with the Neely’s yesterday while vegging on the couch and they were making dirty rice wrapped in collard greens. I knew I had to try and make my own version. I figured it was kind of like Southern fried rice so I could add whatever I wanted and pump up the nutritional content. Apparently, it’s called dirty rice because you’re supposed to use chicken livers which makes it look dirty. I decided to make a combo of dirty rice and rice and beans. Here’s the original recipe: Neely’s Dirty Rice and here’s mine below.

Btw, I just found out my camera has a setting for taking pictures of food. Cool huh? Can you tell the difference? (I can’t) My camera takes the worst night time pictures. I think it might be time to invest in a new camera, even though the one I have isn’t that old yet… Oh yeah, the recipe

Not So Dirty Rice & Beans

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 package sliced mushrooms
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 3/4 lb ground turkey
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken stock, divided
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt, pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes, dried herbs, to taste

Directions:

Cook rice in 2 cups of chicken stock.

Brown turkey in olive oil until cooked through. Add and sauté chopped bell pepper, onion and garlic until soft. Add sliced mushrooms. Add beans, spinach and rice. Season to taste. Add 1 cup chicken stock and simmer until slightly thickened. Voila!

Per usual, my mom and I hit up the shops on Black Friday. We didn’t leave until around 8:30 AM, but we got the most awesomest front parking spot upon arriving at South Coast Plaza. It’s not like we want TVs or toys, so it’s not really necessary for us to get up at 3 AM or worse… stand in line all night. Over the course of the weekend I ended up buying quite a bit of stuff, but there weren’t any really crazy deals. In fact, I was kind of surprised by how un-crowded the mall was. Oh well, more stuff for me!

Now I have to wait almost another 365 days for next year…

Ugh, I couldn’t find a bigger picture. But these are Prada and available on Bluefly.com as well as at Barney’s.

I love love LOVE these! I would kill for them. Like, literally. Does anyone need a hitwoman? I found them at first on the Coach website, but now they are mysteriously gone. I hope they’re not sold out. I also saw them at Macy’s but on in black. I guess I’ll have to go check out the Coach store.

Here are those See by Chloe boots I mentioned yesterday. Now that I see them again, they’re kind of a mix of my 7th grade Doc Martens and the new boots I got in Japan. hmmm

And finally, these aren’t boots, but they are hot

Manolo Blahnik Ankle Cuff D’Orsays. God, those are so me. It’s not even funny. Available at Bergdorf’s.

Right now however, I am obsessing over boots. No surprise there, I’m constantly obsessing over boots. In fact I got an awesome pair of over the knee boots in Japan and hopefully I will start doing some outfit posts. Anyway, I just saw these Alice & Olivia for Payless boots in Marie Claire and thought they were super adorable.

What do you guys think? I need something that is kinda tougher. Something either like these or maybe studded Doc Martens (like the See by Chloe ones)? I had a pair of Doc Martens in jr high (yes, when grunge was in the FIRST time) and they didn’t seem very compatible with my feet. You see I have a high instep and when I laced them up they were on the tight side and they’d leave sock indentations on my feet which itched like crazy. Weird right? Maybe this time I’ll wear them looser and maybe folded over?

Have you ever bought shoes at Payless? I can be a total shoe snob (thanks Mom!), but I bought shoes at Payless once – in elementary school. Actually I think I got 2 pairs and I really loved them. I remember a girl in my class was wearing these really cute shoes and I asked her where she got them and she said Payless. So I made my mom take me there and shoes were like buy 1 get 1 half off or something so I ended up with 2 pairs. They were both really comfortable, but they eventually wore out. I did wear them constantly though.  Maybe it’s time to give Payless another chance.

Check out these other boots I’m totally digging…

The 2 pairs above are Jimmy Choo and cost approximately 100 million times more, but I do have my 4th quarter bonus and profit sharing bonus coming up…

After my 3 week trip away from my apartment, I’ve returned to find my mail box overflowing with food magazines. Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food & Wine… all boasting shiny, crispy, delicious turkeys on their covers. Can you believe Thanksgiving in only a month away??

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Even more so than Christmas (ugh, the hassle of gifts) and my birthday. What can I say, I seriously love turkey. I look forward to it all year. If we’re lucky we’ll have turkey, maybe twice a year. Thanksgiving and then possibly on Christmas or New Years.

I remember going to Garry’s house one random weekend and was shocked that his mom made turkey. American people actually eat turkey all the time?? How could this be? I have other white friends and they’ve never made me turkey. Interesting. It was very good, but still not the same. The turkey we make at home is covered with bacon and the stuffing is a combination of rice and white sandwich bread. Our gravy is also usually canned. I’m not sure where these traditions came from, but it is the same way every year.

Anyway, to make a long story short… I just made myself a mini Thanksgiving inspired shepherd’s pie. Frozen veg mix, ground turkey, canned gravy, and powdered mashed potatoes. Voila! Shepherd’s Pie in an instant. That’s what happens when you come home to an empty fridge