Eat Your Heart Out Because Here's What We Ate!

I know you've had a hankering for this post - to see what Chef Gabe and I actually cooked. Well, it was out of this world fantastic and totally gluten and dairy free.

He's been cooking up a blog post of his own all about our adventures, too! So check out his BLOG over at Wordpress for all of the juicy details including recipes and more!

We picked vibrant veggies and a medley of fresh fruit to satiate our palettes. 

Menu

Gazpacho

Apple Cider Vinegar & Mustard Chicken

Mushrooms

Balsamic Potatoes & Green Beans

Banana Custard with Fresh Strawberries

Gabriel, nothing can conceal our large Italian schnazes no matter how hard we try!

We blended tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, parsley & garlic to make our gazpacho.

Ta da!

Drizzled with a bit of olive oil and seasoned with some salt. It was muy delicioso! 

Next step: Prepare the chicken!

Note - don't sacrifice your style in the kitchen. Spruce up your cooking experience with a fabulous apron. It adds a sense of class & fun to your kitchen!

That's right - Chef Gabe is so talented that he can even make a rubber chicken into this:

Now into the oven and voila!

Here's the best part - Dairy Free, Gluten Free Banana Custard made with simple ingredients:

Bananas, Corn Starch, Brown Sugar & Almond Milk

Our fabulous food deserved a fabulous table design. Our food had a lot of color and I wanted to keep our table decor fresh and clean and allow our food to show off. I chose the simply elegant white hydrangea and kept our color scheme to the cool blues and greens. 

Thanks for joining us. Gabe and I had a blast.

After dinner, we went for a walk downtown and caught some SERIOUS fashion offenders. You will not want to miss tomorrow's post.

Love,

Eat Your Heart Out! A Look at Fashion & (Gluten Free & Dairy Free) Food with Chef Gabe Giella

I have been privileged to know Gabe for many years now. In fact, our track record makes it appear as if I have been following him around the country! We always end up either at the same school (Franciscan University of Steubenville), in the same state (New Jersey), or in the same city (Chicago)! Even though he is relocating to Massachusetts, I am confident that we will one day cross paths again.

We have had quite a history and we're convinced we are long lost cousins. Our families are both from the same small town in Italy! We worked together in 2007 as Event Set Designers and our combined creativity launched us into further success.

2006

2007

2007

Gabriel is now a personal chef - and a stellar one at that. He writes his own blog where he collects his entertaining ramblings and musings about life and food. 

We combined forces this past weekend to bring you a deliciously stylized culinary experience!

Get ready. This is big.

Even a trip to the grocery store deserves your best style! Years ago, before the "Jersey Shore" craze, MTV aired a small series called, "True Life: I Have a Jersey Shore Time Share." This was the beginning of the "guidosphere" as we knew it & boy did they have some words of wisdom to share! One guido's advice is rather pertinent to this situation. Picture this being said in your most outlandish Jersey accent: "We didn't find love down here at the Jersey Shore. It's like my ma always said, I guess you gotta find it at the grocery store or Church or sumthin."

Moral of the story: EVEN GUIDOS know you gotta look good grocery shopping!

On Gabe: Shirt - Hollister, Shorts - Italy

On Gina: Dress - H&M, Belt - ?, Necklace - Thrifted in Houston, TX, Bag - H&M, Shoes - Target

I have a severe intolerance to gluten and dairy. Gabe's challenge was to make us a meal that was both G-free and D-free. 

We did all of our shopping at Whole Food's. Because of my severe dietary restrictions, Whole Food's is the best place to accommodate my diet with what I need!

Want to know what's inside those bags? Stop back on Tuesday to see this whole meal get put together. You won't want to miss it!

To find out more about Chef Gabriel Giella, click here. 

Friend Friday :: Size is an Issue!

Hello and welcome to another installment of Friend Friday. This has been such a great way for all of us bloggers to communicate on current issues in the blogosphere. Katy Rose, moderator of ModlyChic, sends us pertinent questions each week. We all link up and answer them on Friday! If you are a blogger and are interested in joining, you can check it out here.

We are discussing the ever sensitive issue of size. Dress size, shirt size, hip size, etc. Any way you look at it, size is an issue. 

But does size really matter?

1. Should someone's size stop them from fashion blogging or having a voice in the community?  
Absolutely not! Does this even need an explanation? It must be broken down in terms of human dignity. Each person in the universe from the beginning of time has got it regardless of race, religion, ability, and yes, even size. In fact, what we need MORE of is women of all shapes and sizes to gain confidence in the fashion community and promote their beauty. 

2. In your opinion, can the term "curvy" and "plus-sized" be used interchangeably when it comes to fashion?
I don't know. Plus-sized seems to be a pejorative term, but I know women who would not be considered plus-sized, but are definitely curvy. What about Jennifer Lopez? or Scarlet Johansson? They are most definitely curvy. Can they be used interchangeably? I really don't know. Let's ask a woman who would be considered plus-sized and has been beat up on by the mainstream media what she wants to be called.

3.  Many people make the argument that catering to plus sized women would promote being overweight as "okay".  What do you think?  Should more designers be catering to plus size women?
Designing fashion for plus-sized women does not promote being overweight. I'm sorry, but everyone has to wear clothes. What are plus-sized women going to wear if stores don't carry their size and if designers refuse to make fashionable styles for them? Notice I said fashionable styles - not an oversized t-shirt in kitty cat pattern. Nakedness is not an option for anybody. The alternative of NOT designing for these sizes is something we should be WAY more concerned about - because that means denigrating women who don't fit a model's shape to be confined to their homes or subject to fashion that doesn't promote their true worth as a beautiful woman.

4.  Should the mainstream fashion industry be showcasing more plus size models? 
Yes. That's it. Just yes. 

5. For you personally, how do you view your size, the struggle with it through the years, your ideal size, etc...
I definitely have body image issues. I think everyone does - regardless of what size category one falls into. I've been my own version of what I consider to be plus-sized. But it's a disillusion. My weight has fluctuated throughout the years due to a number of different circumstances - usually due to serious health issues. My senior year of high school came with a devastating bout of Mono where I was bed ridden for 3 months and slept 20 out of 24 hours in the day. When I recovered, I lost 20 lbs in two weeks. I kept it off half way through my freshmen year of college. That was the smallest I've ever been. By the time I was a sophomore in college, I had put on 30 lbs! This was partly due to a semester in Europe where all I ate was bread and wiener schnitzel for 4 months. That was the heaviest I've ever been. Eventually, I lost about 15 lbs of that weight, but I wasn't satisfied.


I came to realize my issues with food when I was a senior in college. I overate out of boredom and the sheer fact that "I can eat whatever I want and no one can tell me different!" Healing came through a program of support called The Light Weigh. I lost about 8 lbs and gained control over my eating habits.


After graduate school, I started to gain weight again and was always sick. It was finally in February of 2010 after some serious health complications that I was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease and an intolerance to dairy. Since then, I've slimmed down a bit and my whole life has changed. My doctor literally saved my life. It wasn't too long before I would have taken a leave of absence from my job and landed in a hospital bed - but that's another story. 


No one, including myself, will ever overcome their body image issues unless they see themselves with the dignity and beauty they were created with at their inception even though the world says it is different. And, well, that's an every day struggle.

P.S. Have you seen this GIVEAWAY? Contest ends tonight! 

Thanks for joining me -