When it comes to the big, important stuff – having jobs, our health, and a great marriage – Adam and I know that we are unbelievably lucky.  That said, man oh man, this week was annoying.  The snow has been relentless, I wore my favorite sweater to work only to get to the cafeteria and douse myself head to toe in balsamic vinegar, Adam had to have both of his big toe nails emergently removed, and my car has a flat tire.  When it rains it pours*.  I’m pretty sure I have never been so glad for a weekend!

There was a lot of stress snacking going down this week that I didn’t do the best job of photographing, but I am going to recap the most delicious things…

breakfast

Iced coffee on the train and plain yogurt with peanut butter at my desk.

I had a ridiculously amazing coffee combo this week…  Cold-brew with chocolate milk and toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!

So insanely good.

Are you admiring my nails?  Scroll to the last section of this post.

snack

GH Cretors elevated our snacking game by sending me a big box of the two flavors from their new organic line – Simply Salted and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Note – the popcorn was sent to me free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Pre-popped popcorn can never really compare to freshly popped, but these are definitely the best bagged varieties we’ve ever tried.  They are nice and crisp.  Adam – who likes to pretend that he doesn’t like popcorn – was crazy for them, so that’s saying something.  We preferred the Simply Salted because the EVOO was good, but not quite as flavorful.  Both are organic and kosher and have 40 calories per cup.

I surprised my sore husband with a giant, sweet latte.

I got myself a rocky road latte as well.  Meh.

We tried the hazelnut torte bar from Lindt’s new “Creation” line.

Now I want the crème brûlée flavor!

I’m still loving the Ice Chips.

Lemon was a very nice way to transition back from lunch to work this week.

lunch

Fage with raspberry and butterscotch peanut butter.

The citrus fruits shown in my lunches this week are fresh Mandarins from Trader Joe’s that were wonderful.  Very sweet and juicy with almost no seeds.

Baked yucca fries from the cafeteria.  I had about double what’s shown because I started eating before I sat down.

They were paired with the salad that ruined my outfit.

TJ’s egg white salad and popcorn.

The egg salad was practically inedible; whyyyy was there so much turmeric??

Popcorn, Applegate Farm sliced turkey, mini Jarlsberg, and olives.

The tasting plates were fun, but I was missing my yogurt bowls.

dinner

If you judge a dish by how good it tastes cold and leftover, straight from the casserole dish – I definitely do! – then my pizza mac and cheese was a real winner.

Adam heated his serving up, but he also recommends that you try the recipe.

Chipotle night.  I ate a giant rice bowl with chicken, veggies, and pretty much all of the toppings.

Our neighborhood is pretty much a food wasteland, but I think Chipotle would be Adam’s first pick even if we lived somewhere with more going on!

This was our best dinner of the week:

Roasted broccoli and kalettes (aka kale-Brussels sprout hybrids).

Southern pickle “fried” chicken.  <– I am so proud of this one; check the recipe sidebar!

I served mine on a toasted, open-faced sandwich with a bit of mayo.

Last night we had fabulous kale salads.

I massaged a bunch of kale with Sepo sauce in the morning and then tossed it with roasted broccoli, cubed avocado, and roasted coconut chips when it was time for dinner.

We were supposed to have chicken on top of our salads but I accidentally left the remaining tenders sitting out on the counter overnight so instead I had a grilled cheese sandwich while I wrote this post.

fancy nails

So my jazzy nail polish?  Actually nail wraps from Jamberry.

One of the girls I used to cocktail waitress with is a Jamberry consultant (her sales page is what I linked above) and she sent me a sample kit so I could try them out.  I am pretty amazed by how easy they are to put on; really not tricky or time-consuming at all, maybe almost as easy as slopping painting on polish.  Plus they are very cute!  I will definitely buy some to try again.

P.S. Thanks to Way Back Machine, I was able to find my old employee profile (click to enlarge) –

Omg!