Love Love Love

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Things from the 1st week of February…

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.

Glowy Day

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The three best things from the weekend…

A nice IPA at Formosa Dumpling.

Brunch at Roberta’s. I had a solid Bloody Mary.

We loved the marinated cucumber with garlic, chili, chrysanthemum greens, and spicy seeds.

Buttermilk pancake with butter and syrup.

The burger (made from a house-blend of meat) didn’t make my top five but was good. Plus it came with crispy potatoes.

The best coffees of 2026 so far at Dayglow. A Warhol (orange and cream with espresso) and a coquito latte. We also had a fantastic cocktail.

Blueberries And Bears

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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.

No S’more Snow

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The three best things I ate this weekend…

1) Peanut butter and jelly dessert-y yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with chocolate honey crunch peanut butter, Crofter’s blueberry jam, a Michigan whiskey cherry, and honey granola.

2) Mez S’mores Cups are a 10/10. Perfect texture and not too sweet.

3) An easy roasted dinner. Brussel sprouts and super firm tofu with blue cheese, dried cranberries, and Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans.

Chopped Sandwich Dip

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Are my fellow New Yorkers ready for the weekend weather? I am not. But the highlights from my last week included two winner recipes!…

These Rolling Pin chocolates had a good filling but not enough of it; I thought the chocolate was too thick.

Obviously the fanciest thing I ate this week was this bowl of four types (pineberries, Sweetest Batch strawberries, Sweetest Batch blueberries, and super jumbo blueberries) of berries!

This brown sugar clementine Polar seltzer is nice, but some sips taste like pancake syrup in a disquieting way. P.S. I am drinking a Nixie black cherry lime sparkling water while I type and it is a 10/10!

Take-out tacos. Guac shop soft tacos with tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, cheese, and spicy aioli.

Chili when it’s chilly. We used ground turkey, sweet onion, poblano pepper, orange and yellow bell pepper, dark red kidney beans, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper, gochugaru, and smoked paprika. I topped mine with extra-sharp cheddar, plain skyr, and sweet and spicy jalapeños. Served with roasted broccoli and a toasted English muffin with blueberry jam.

See also – chili cheese potatoes. Baked potatoes and leftover broccoli with butter, chili, cheese, and zhoug.

Buffalo chicken twice baked potatoes! I re-baked them stuffed with mashed potato, baked chicken, cheddar, blue cheese, green onion, salt and pepper, butter, and Frank’s hot sauce. These were great. Plus baked zucchini, which is always great.

I bought special sauce Kettle chips, so obviously I had to plan a meal around them.

Chopped Sandwich Dip! The dip was far better than the chips. Diced baked chicken, dill pickles, sweet heat bread and butter pickles, garlic sauteed baby broccoli, cheddar, Milu Everything Spice, white pepper, Dijon, Dijonayo, Duke’s, and plain skyr. Scooped with the chips and baby carrots.

Coffees And Doughnuts

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Despite the weather this weekend we enjoyed a walking day in Manhattan! Highlights…

We didn’t enjoy this marzipan cap iced latte from Smiley Coffee (they don’t have skim so I used macadamia milk and it felt greasy) but we LOVED the experience of getting it.

On the other hand this coquito iced latte from Cafe Colmado was delicious.

I get the hype around the newly opened Homie’s doughnuts, our maple glazed was solid.

They can’t compete with the crueler though. The monthly special is lemon poppy.

Deux Luxe does make a delicious burger. We got ours with pickle and a side of fries.

Mimi Cheng‘s current dumpling collaboration is with Katz’s Deli and it’s fantastic. Dumplings filled with hand-carved pastrami, Swiss cheese, house-cured sauerkraut, and Reuben dressing.

Our favorite meal of the weekend was this dinner at home. My personal best egg sandwich – Stone and Skillet roasted herb and garlic English muffin toasted with butter / tangy dijonayo / sharp cheddar omelet. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with Milu Everything Spice, chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.

I bought the sando sauce almost entirely because of how it looks but it turned out to be delicious!

Eggs In The Second Week Of January

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Things from the 2nd week of the year…

Skyr bowl. With blueberries, and Cascadian Farm oats and honey granola.

These Haribo Soda Sours are my new favorite gummy. They remind me a lot of the Sodalicious fruit snacks from back in the 90’s (which were my very favorite — when our island got a K-Mart when I was a kid it was a big deal and I was allowed to choose one snack for fun, these were it).

Another throwback – these fruit and cream Quaker oatmeal packets are pretty darn good.

The prettiest sundae of all time. Frutero soursop ice cream topped with dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, sprinkles, and edible flowers.

Chips lentil puffs and salsa.

Dipping dinner – taquitos and roasted baby broccoli with salsa and homemade guacamole.

I made Korean marinated eggs and tossed super-firm tofu in the marinade and it turned out great. Served on savory oatmeal with kale (sauteed with gochujang, maple, rice vinegar, and lemon) and chili crisp.

Baked turkey meatballs, roasted cauliflower, and honey butter baby carrots (baked with evoo, salt, pepper, and gochugaru) topped with Trader Joe’s Zhoug and cilantro salad dressing.

This dinner was loosely inspired by shakshuka and eggs in purgatory. Eggs, extra-sharp cheddar, and parmesan cheese cooked on a tomato-y sauce (roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes sauteed with fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes, garlic, shallot, yellow bell pepper, urfa, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper). I topped mine with Zhoug and cilantro dressing and scooped it with sweet and spicy jalapeno kettle chips.

Dinner By Diner

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Three things I loved this weekend —

Frozen banana protein coffees. Coffee blended with frozen banana, skim milk, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and the last of the Trick Pony maple crunch peanut butter (we both ate it pretty much every day until it was gone!). I drank mine in almost empty marshmallow fluff container for a fluffernutter vibe.

Barebells Coco-Caramel Almond. The coconut was in the form of a cream layer and it was delicious!

A fantastic dinner at Laurel Diner. Adam generously shared chocolate egg cream and matzoh ball soup.

I got the Goldburger – double smash patties with smoked gouda, crispy onion strings, fire-roasted peppers, and hot honey truffle sauce on a dark pumpernickel bun. I loved it; doesn’t make my top five list but definitely top ten. With solid but not perfect waffle fries.