Our grocery newly had three drinks from Lucky Ox so I, of course, bought them all. We liked but did not love the salted lemonade.
Black eyed pea salad is always a hit in our house. This iteration had BEP, yellow bell pepper, Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, pecans, and green pepper Cholula (10/10, I’d put this on anything).
The year we got engaged we watched so much Scrubs while eating pizza that I mentioned it in my wedding vows so when we started the new season/reboot (we loved it!) did so over pizza. I had a marinara/vodka sauce/pesto slice and a potato white slice.
Plus a warm ranch celery salad – sauteed celery and green onion dressed with plain skry, Kewpie mayo, brine from Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and smoked paprika.
No post from me last week because we were on vacation in Texas! We went to Meow Wolf in Dallas and Houston and also visited Austin. It was a fabulous time and we ate some of the best food of my life (including the best bbq, the best burrito, and two Michelin starred meals!).
Some highlight since we’ve been home…
This week’s coffee. I am picky about bottled coffee but this Nescafe espresso concentrate is pretty solid.
One morning I paired it with a Barebells Vanilla Milk Drink; good but not great, it was better than the soda but too sweet (7/10).
Good loaded skyr bowls this week. This one was plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, pineberries, and Oat Haus cookie dough granola, and edible flowers.
This one was plain skyr, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, maple syrup, and all the berries.
I got my hands on the cherry float Coke Zero so of course I made a float with vanilla ice cream and whiskey cherries. P.S. My current soda ranking is cherry Coke Zero > cherry Diet Coke > cherry float Coke Zero > Diet Coke.
Paired with cherry cola Squashies!
Dinners this week were all (loosely) Greek-inspired. Meatballs (ground turkey baked with panko, baba gannouj, tabbouleh, salt, pepper, and egg) / asparagus sauteed with lemon, dried basil, salt, and pepper / potato salad (peewee potatoes with sauteed celery and red onion, feta, lemon zest and juice, evoo, skyr, mayo, smoked paprika, and white pepper).
Baked eggs with feta plus sauteed zucchini, Bahama Bomb tomato, and red onion with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Scooped with pita chips.
Salads. Spring mix, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, roasted chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, baba gannouj, roasted garlic hummus, and Trader Joe’s dolmas.
Baked black bean tacos. Black beans (food-processed with walnuts and sauteed mushrooms, green bell pepper, green onion, and taco seasoning) baked in Mission flour tortillas with tons of sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and homemade ranch (plain skyr, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning and hot and sweet jalapeno pickle juice).
Turkey Reuben totchos. Alexa potato puffs / Swiss and gruyere cheese / sauteed ground turkey with homemade Russian dressing / sauerkraut. Plus roasted zucchini.
We are less than two weeks from Valentine’s Day so I am obviously thinking in theme foods. I’m saving the conversation hearts for the 14th but cinnamon gummy hearts have been a top-tier snack.
Chocolate-covered cherry smoothie. This combo is one of my forever favorites – frozen sweet dark cherries, chocolate protein powder, and chocolate milk.
See also – chocolate-covered strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries with vanilla protein powder and chocolate milk.
See also+ – I mixed this Barebells wild strawberry protein soda with chocolate milk. This was good (and I loved the caffeine inclusion) but not great like their protein drink we tried in Scotland.
Broccoli Cesar salad. Roasted broccoli, sauteed green onions, and homemade pretzel croutons (Trader Joe’s bread baked with evoo, salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder, and gochugaru) tossed with homemade Cesar dressing (food processed plain skyr, Kewpie mayo, Dijon mustard, evoo, lemon juice, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, capers, anchovies, and black pepper). Plus baked chicken served on top of Cindy’s Kitchen artichoke and parmesan dip.
Tofu Cesar sandwich. Toasted Trader Joe’s ciabatta topped with baked super-firm tofu and shredded romaine lettuce tossed with leftover Cesar dressing. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, horseradish, rice vinegar, and lemon juice.
A mish-mash but it worked sandwich – toasted ciabatta / dip / Farm Rich baked mozzarella sticks stuffed with buffalo sauce and marinara / tuna salad (canned tuna, sweet heat bread and butter pickle chips, skyr, Kewpie, pepper, and smoked paprika). Plus Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggie mix sauteed with ginger and pepper.
Turkey meatballs and baked baby zucchini [plus a side of mozzarella sticks]. The balls were baked; ground turkey with panko panade, red curry paste, hoisin sauce, ginger, shallot, macadamia nuts, and egg.
We survived the coldest week of the year! Here were some highlights…
A good skyr bowl with Crofter’s blueberry jam, Olyra blueberry bites, and fresh blueberries.
A better skyr bowl with cinnamon, honey, vanilla powder, blueberries, and honey granola.
These fun-flavored chocolate were good but not great like we expected them to be.
These milk chocolate covered gummy bears on the other hand? 11/10!
Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and added parmesan to that layer. Served with avocado and a quick-pickled cucumber salad.
Great homemade pizza. Store-bought grilled whole-wheat crust / sauce = Trader Joe’s pizza sauce gussied up with tomato paste, 2 bulbs of confit elephant garlic, and dried basil / oyster mushrooms sauteed with salt, pepper, and butter / mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Served with roasted cauliflower.
Packaged chicken meatballs (mine are better) with leftover sauce. Plus asparagus sauteed with pecans and parmesan.
Eating Chalk 