In the last two weeks, we’ve made some pretty big changes.
Here’s the long story short: Juan and I packed up most of our stuff into a total of four huge luggages and three carry-on bags, stored our extra things in Juan’s mum’s place, terminated our lease in our beloved Las Cañitas apartment, and then boarded our Delta flight to Washington, DC, where we’ll be at least until the end of the year.
(For those who are wondering, we relocated to DC because Juan got accepted into the fall internship at the Organization of American States (OAS), and I’m here to accompany him and try life in DC.)
We arrived in the US capital on Sunday, August 30th, first landing at the Baltimore Washington International Airport, after which we took a SuperShuttle straight to the up and coming Noma neighborhood where we checked into our lovely AirBNB room (which would be our refuge for the next few days) and were welcomed by our friendly hosts Kristi and Nathan.
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Once we got our bearings and showered, we then set out to get to know the city in blazing hot sunshine and got to work trying to find an apartment for the next few months.
Over the next few days, we’d wake up and search for apartments online (think HotPads, Padmapper, Craigslist and simply Google), then make phone calls non-stop until we’d get someone to show us an apartment.
We’d arrived in DC during a period where demand for apartment rentals is very high, and most owners and buildings prefer leases of at least six months or longer. Many of the listings we called were not interested once we said we were looking for a short-term rental period of three months in a furnished apartment, so we had even narrower options to choose from.
God is amazingly good though, and after five grueling days of searching non-stop for an apartment that both of us would love, we finally found a fully-furnished townhouse unit in West End, a pretty and central neighborhood just ten minutes by foot to Georgetown (one of the loveliest neighborhoods in DC).
We’re more than pleased with our new place – its great location, beautiful and tasteful furnishing, and ample space is more than we could have imagined.
Putting that down into words makes it seem like a lot of stuff, and while we’ve only been here for a week or so, it does feel like ages since we left Buenos Aires.
This past Sunday was the first day that I took my camera out and felt sufficiently relaxed enough to be in tourist-mode. There are still so many parts of DC that I haven’t yet explored properly.. And photos of DC that I have yet to shoot.
There are a thousand other things to be done, and among the enormous list of things to do I have in mind, one of them is finally catching up with the blog, and posting a bit more frequently.
Today I’ll leave you with a fuss-free, super simple recipe for mini caprese eggplant pizzas.
I’m talking about a meal that can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes – and is tasty and delicious enough to be enjoyed.
Best of all? It’s gluten-free and grain-free, so eat up to your heart’s content!
P.S. If any of you are in DC, please let me know! I would love to meet or make new friends here!
Mini Caprese Eggplant Pizzas
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 20 mini eggplant pizzas 1x
Description
A fuss-free, super simple recipe for mini caprese eggplant pizzas. I’m talking about a meal that can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes – and is tasty and delicious enough to be enjoyed.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggplant, cut into 1-inch thick slices
- 2 cups of gluten-free tomato sauce
- 20 slices of mozzarella cheese
- 12 cherry tomatoes, cut into 3 or 4 slices each
- 1 cup of freshly torn basil
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, for topping
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 deg. Fahrenheit (220 deg. Celsius) and line two baking strays with parchment paper
- Place eggplant slices in one single layer, in two baking trays
- Sprinkle a bit of salt over each eggplant slice, and then bake for 15 to 20 minutes
- Remove baking trays with the eggplant slices from the oven
- Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons of tomato sauce on each eggplant slice, followed by a slice of cheese
- Place a bit of torn basil and a few slices of cut cherry tomatoes on the cheese, then add a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese on top
- Add salt and pepper to taste
Notes
Barely adapted from: Eat Good 4 Life
- Prep Time: 7 mins
- Cook Time: 23 mins
- Category: Main Dish, Appetizer
- Cuisine: Gluten-free
Does the eggplant taste bitter? Most recipes I have seen require some kind of salting prior to cooking.
Hi Anna! This recipe also requires salting, but it’s more to release the water from the raw eggplant. The eggplant does not taste bitter, at least not in my opinion, especially since you have tomato sauce, mozzarella & basil on top!
I loved eggplant! I’ve been looking for an easy mini pizza recipe and I loved this one! I’m sharing on Pinterest 🙂
Hi Fabiola! Nice to meet you! So glad you loved this recipe! And thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Your place sounds perfect! With your positive energy things will always be good for you.
I’ve only visted DC; stayed at my friends house and loved it each time. What a great new adventure you’re on; looking forward to hearing more. 🙂 I’m also looking forward to trying your new eggplant dish! Thanks!
Hi Carolyn! Hope you’ll like these eggplant pizzas! And definitely will be sharing about my new adventure in DC on the blog!! 🙂
So glad you found a place in DC! Sounds like a great area too. My hubs and I lived there for a few years and KNOW how stressful it can be finding a place there, rent is crazy and good places are hard to come by. We miss living there so much. These eggplant pizzas looks so good and so healthy. Bravo!
Hi Chrissa! You’re completely right – rent is so crazy high!! We had to increase our budget for rent for quite a bit in order to find a furnished, temporary place! Did you use to work in DC? It’s a lovely city to be in! 🙂
Hello Felicia,
I am so happy that you managed to settle in so quickly and I thank God for His guidance and provision of a lovely place for your stay in DC.
Thanks also for the above recipe which is so simple and the mini pizzas are great in taste. Love them especially they are both gluten and grain free – just great for me 🙂
In the coming weeks, I really look forward to seeing more wonderful photos of the City you will be taking with your camera.
Cheers with lots of love,
Mum
★★★★★
Glad you like these mini pizzas mummy 🙂 Make them you’ll love them!
And yes, definitely will be taking plenty of pictures of DC and showing some of them on the blog 🙂
love you too!!
Congrats on your new move to DC! I’ve heard great things about the city and hope to see photos on your blog!
~Jackie
Thank you so much Jackie! will definitely post photos of DC (it is a beautiful city with so much to explore!) 🙂 Just posted photos in a post featuring Eastern Market at Capitol Hill! Hope you’ll enjoy those photos!
Congratulations, Felicia and good luck with all the moving, Felicia! These eggplant pizzas look adorable and so easy to make. Amazing recipe as always!
Hey Florian! We’re more or less settled in DC now… still getting to know our neighbourhood and the city but I’m so glad we’ve finally found a place we love! 🙂
These are so pretty and I am sure just as delicious!!
★★★★★
Thank you Tara! Indeed these mini eggplant pizzas are delicious! 🙂
Good luck with all the moving. This recipe is simple yet tasty.
Thanks for stopping by Peter! And thanks for the good luck!
Congrats, Felicia! Now you should add a parenthesis into your short description, hehe. 😉
★★★★★
Thank you so much Larissa!! I made the change in the short description already! Thanks for the suggestion! 😉