NYC Ladies’ Trip + Pizza Night

Happy Father’s Day!!

It’s been a weekend full of fun for me thus far. Backing up to Friday, my cousin, best friend Meaghan, and I all met up at my other best friend Danielle’s house to get ready for a night out in NYC. We thought we’d be coming back to Jersey after going out, but D surprised us by getting a hotel room in the city for the night.

First, we checked into the hotel and got ready. We kicked off the night with some of my parents’ homemade wine…

…which eventually (and not all that surprisingly!) turned into this:

Keepin’ it classy. 😉

We had dinner at our hotel’s restaurant, Rare Bar & Grill, where I enjoyed this beautiful portobello mushroom burger:

The burger was topped with goat cheese, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, button mushrooms and a balsamic glaze. It was yummy!

After dinner, our first stop was the hotel’s rooftop bar, where the view was absolutely gorgeous.

 After spending some time there, we visited a couple other bars, one of which had awesome live music called Cafe Wha.

Meg and I also got to catch up with one of our college roommates, Marla:

We danced and laughed the night away, having many drinks and little sleep. Nights like those make for the best memories, and I love getting to see my girlfriends!

Inevitably, my Saturday turned into a lazy one. I hung out with family and teamed up with my mom to make dinner. We had store bought pizza crusts, and decided to make two pizzas on the grill: 1 with broccoli, ricotta, chopped tomatoes, and a white sauce; the other with shredded mozzarella, fire roasted tomatoes and sliced Roma tomatoes. After some Googling, I found a white sauce recipe from Completely Pizza to follow (original recipe here). I halved the recipe and slightly altered it, which made a perfect amount to lightly spread on the 1 pizza.

White Pizza Sauce

Makes sauce for 1 pizza/8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP light butter
• 1.5 TBSP flour
• 1/2 c low-fat or fat-free milk
• 1 TSP Italian seasoning
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• A sprinkle of salt & pepper

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and mix together. Slowly pour the milk in, using a whisk to mix everything together well. Add the garlic, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, and stir until well blended. Heat the mixture over the burner for a few minutes, frequently stirring until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat, then let it stand until it has the desired consistency to spread on the pizza.

Per serving: about 25 calories, 1 g fat, 1 g protein, 2 g carbs

Off to get ready for a family dinner at my grandma’s house. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!