Weekly Wrap-Up; Feeling Fizzy

by Emily

Hey there! The weather has not warmed up yet (though we are promised a week of mid-30’s to come!) but, as predicted, I am in a much better mood* than I was during my last wrap-up. My dietitan side wants to attribute my good feelings to getting in more produce this week!

*I am probably going to exclaim that “____________ was soooooo good!” a million times in this post and I feel the need to disclaim that this is not just my bubbly persona, I had lots of really tasty things this week.

Breakfast

Half of a Gnu Fiber Love Blondie Bar and a skim black tea latte.

I went with tea only because I had a coupon but I ended up thinking that it was quite nice. The bar on the other, was very meh.

A short skim latte.

I almost never drink hot coffee but in the moment it sounded good. Probably because I was still thinking about how nice the foam was with my tea.

A fantabulous smoothie.

Frozen blueberries, a frozen banana, Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 Tbsp Vanilla Bean and Espresso Barney Butter, and a Coco Café Coconut Water Café Latte. The coffee + almond combo was perfection.

Lunch

Lunch 1.

Strawberry Rhubarb Noosa Yogurt (pssst, all Noosa shown in this post are former freebies).

I had never tried rhubarb before this but if it tastes in pie like it does in this yogurt then I’m sure I’d be a fan. Plus baby carrots and green pepper with Bolthouse Farms Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing for dipping.

And a Pink Grapefruit Cascade Ice Water.

Oh gosh, the pink grapefruit, sooooo good. I don’t even usually like grapefruit but this knocked my socks off. This bottle was part of a very sweet box Cascade Ice Waters sent me this week.

Being a fan of all thing fizzy, I knew I would like them, but I’ve been shocked by just how good they are. I enjoy all of the flavors I’ve tried so far a bunch.

Lunch 2.

A Mango Noosa with some toasted coconut on top.

An Asian Pear and a banana fudge cereal bar (warmed, for the win!).

And a Lemonade Cascade Ice Water.

Super refreshing. These drinks don’t taste “diet” at all. <– usually my complaint with beverages other than diet coke.

Lunch 3.

More veggies with dip.

A mineola.

And leftovers.

…from a dinner you’ll see in a sec.

Dinner

Here’s that dinner I was talking about. A poorly-lit date to Namaste that I’m going to share anyway because it was the best Indian food we’ve ever had.

We went with a Groupon that let us get a bunch of courses. Including wine.

Riesling wasn’t actually the best pairing with my spicy food but I shared with Adam and he shared sips of his mango lassi with me.

Our Shrimp Bhuna appetizer was ridiculous. The sauce was amazing.

Dinner was great too.

I a pile of Okra Masala next to rice that I topped with some of Adam’s Chicken Shahi Korma.

Delicious. My dish was perfectly spiced. This was the best okra I’ve ever had and you know I love okra.

Plus they brought us creamy rice pudding for dessert.

Namaste, we will be back! {again, and again, and again}

A quick and easy dinner at home.

Herring salad – canned, smoked herring mashed with Miracle Whip, dijon, and pickle relish.

Orange honey cabbage – shredded cabbage and chopped celery sautéed in evoo and then cooked with a sauce made of orange juice, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and corn starch.

Plus dried clementines so that my plate didn’t look like it belonged to someone edentulous.

I wasn’t feeling any of my piles, sadly, but Adam loved this meal.

The last dinner I have to share was a loser too.

I topped leftover creamy mushroom casserole with truffle salt and a sunny side up egg but my favorite flavors weren’t enough to make up for the lackluster casserole underneath. We shared this cutting board of pineapple as an appetizer and that wasn’t great either.

Maybe I’m actually being picky this week?

Snack

Adam and I tried the new Butterfinger Cups.

Not fans; they were actually too spot on, the flavors were so recognizable as Butterfingers and Reese’s Cups that it was weird to be eating them mashed together.

Peppermint divinity candy, on the other hand, is always good.

Thanks for sending it, parents! P.S. Fellow NYCers – if you come across divinity candy somewhere in our fair city please let me know!

Margaritas!

Made with Cascade Ice Margarita Sparkling Cocktail Mixer, a splash of orange juice, fresh lime, and tequila.

I don’t even like margaritas (I drink them from one bar only, always with Herradura) and I thought these were out of control.

I haven’t seen the Cascade Ice cocktail mixes at my store but I am buying more of this as soon as I can find it.

Homemade ice cream that was a total success.

Amazingly, I managed to make the best coffee ice cream we’ve ever had.

Coffee Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, serves 4 – 6

1 and 1/2 cups fat-free half and half
heaping 1/4 cup coffee grounds
12 oz can evaporated low-fat milk
1/3 cup and 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp vodka
3 large egg yolks
1 cup crushed Oreos (we used Mega Stuffed by any kind works)

Place coffee grounds and half and half into the base of your French press. Stir. Cover (do not insert the press at this point) and store in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
Press grounds and pour coffee-infused half and half into a medium saucepan.
Whisk evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and vodka into half and half. Heat mixture until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
While the milk mixture cools, whisk 1/4 cup sugar into egg yolks in a large bowl.
Slowly stream the milk into the eggs, whisking constantly. Be sure to temper the eggs by starting with a very small amount of the hot liquid and gradually adding more.
Return mixture to pan and cook another 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
Place pan into a large bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until cool, 20 – 30 minutes.
Pour cooled base into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Transfer finished ice cream to a large storage container and fold in crushed Oreos. Serve immediately or freeze.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

28Jan2014

Around The Web; Aren’t You Punny?

by Emily

I don’t know how much this comes across on the blog, but I’m pretty much a giant nerd. I constantly make terrible pun-based jokes, I’m obsessed with all things Whedon, and I loved the “Stargate: Atlantis” series so much that I plan on naming my first-born after a main character.

Adam and I have not been a cool influence on each other; he forced me to take another look at “Star Wars” and the “Aliens” movies and I introduced him to “Buffy” and bad puns. We are a match made in ~~Comic-Con~~ Heaven.

Like a raccoon with things that are shiny, I like to gather up things that I find funny from around the internet to share with y’all. This edition is devoted to the dorky. {I even found one that was punny and Whedon-based, swoon!} P.S. The chromosome one basically made me pee myself with laughter.

source

Do you consider yourself a nerd?

27Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Is Winter Over Yet?

by Emily

Ugggh, this week. Let’s not even front, last week was ridiculous. Nary a vegetable to be found. There will be no “healthy living blogging” in this post, in fact, there will barely be blogging of any sort because I couldn’t be bothered to snap pictures of 60% of my week.

The insane snow and brutal cold just killed my will to live{a healthy lifestyle}. We’ve got another week of icy cold coming up, but at least my mood seems to finally be on the upswing!

Here is some of what I ate over the past seven days, though like I said, a lot of it -mostly cheese – missed the camera…

things that were ridiculous

“Breakfast” at the hospital.

And I washed that twist down with an 8 am diet soda. I usually don’t even like donuts – I’m not sure what my new obsession with these guys is – and I need to go back to eating them never.

A carbtastic “dinner.”

Annie’s Real Aged Cheddar Mac and Cheese – topped with more cheese – and a big bowl of popcorn.

A mug cake.

Number 2 Pencil really knows what she’s doing!

Thai turkey nachos.

Ruffled chips baked with sharp cheddar, green onions, and lean ground turkey cooked with ginger and green curry.

I know most people don’t think that everything works as nachos but the flavors actually went really well here.

An attempt at dessert from Martha’s Bakery.

The tres leches was both dry as hell and studded with canned peaches. No. I don’t know why we are having such a hard time getting a good slice of tres leches!

things that were (somewhat) healthy

The only thing that saved me at all was that Noosa sent me a very generous shipment of their delicious yogurts.

Here what the company had to say: “Unique, Aussie-style Noosa Finest Yoghurt brings out the decadent side of yogurt in a whole new way. It’s made in small batches, set, and infused with honey to give it a delicious sweet-tart tang, with a smooth, velvety texture that sets it apart from the throng.Noosa is made on-site at the family-owned Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, Colo., and is free of artificial ingredients of any kind. Noosa’s 100% natural fruit purees are made with the highest quality, best-tasting fruit on the market. It’s now available in nine flavors nationwide, including: NEW Tart Cherry, NEW Lemon, Passion Fruit, Blueberry, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Peach, and Honey.”

Here’s what I had to say: YUM! I had tried the honey Noosa in the past (and loved it) but the fruit on the bottom flavors have been blowing my socks off. They are just sooooo creamy and delicious. I’m not going to go through them one by one, because I have loved them all. My only complaints are that Noosa doesn’t make any low-fat varieties and yogurt is packaged in a very large serving, which means that this stuff ends up being a pretty big calorie commitment. However, it is a big serving for the calories and the yogurt is quite filling. I wouldn’t make this my only yogurt choice but I will definitely be buying more with my own money.

Here’s what Adam had to say: “OMG, YUM!!! Can I have more?!” It is definitely worth noting that the husband says Noosa is the best yogurt he’s ever had. He is 100% obsessed with it and has been plowing through the flavors at lightening speed.

Blueberry Noosa for breakfast.

I probably also had coffee with this.

Work lunch 1.

Raspberry Noosa with fresh blueberries and a side of Haribo Juicy Gold Bears.

The raspberry flavor was both Adam’s and my favorite.

Work lunch 2.

Honey Noosa with a Honeycrisp and a banana fudge cereal bar.

I microwaved the cereal bar for 60 seconds and it was insane, totally worth bringing in a plate to work for.

Casserole.

I had been looking forward to making this casserole – a mix of roasted broccoli, celery, sautéed mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, crumbled tempeh, brown rice, and light mozzarella – for more than a week, but the end result was so bland that I am not even going to share the recipe with you.

Boo.

My best coffee idea yet.

An iced Americano (with some skim milk) with fat-free chocolate milk. I don’t like “mochas” at all but when I add my own chocolate milk to coffee it is magical.

Lemon Noosa with toasted coconut on top.

This was basically crust-free pie, delicious crust-free pie.

How does the cold affect your healthy living goals?

21Jan2014

Three Day Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

My first long weekend as a worker bee was fabulous. Friday through Monday were packed with fun (and food!). Adam and I managed to spend a ton of time together. <– heavenly Here’s some of what we ate…

breakfasts

Breakfast in Park Slope with Adam and a girlfriend.

I got poached eggs with toast, hash browns, turkey bacon, and a mimosa.

Sadly our meals were all slightly burned and boring. Win some lose some. The iced coffee we got from Cafe Dada afterwards was a total win.

They have almond milk on their milk bar!

Speaking of almond milk, that’s what I put in my homemade iced coffee, cold pressed for the win.

Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk. Plus some maple syrup.

And almond milk went in my cereal too – Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with bunches of blueberries.

That cereal has stayed my favorite for months.

Another day another coffee. This time with a banana and fudge cereal bar.

The bar was de-lish. I am eagerly looking forward to microwaving one and eating it warm.

lunches

Friday’s lunch at the office.

Leftover mac with sardines and broccoli.

And a Wallaby low-fat Greek yogurt with strawberry.

Hot bar date at Whole Foods in SoHo.

I choose 2 vegan dumplings, a scoop of macaroni and cheese, and made a salad with mixed greens, balsamic, olives, and blue cheese.

Plus Adam and I split a Raspberry Chia Kombucha.

dinners

It’s been crazy cold in our area recently and we’ve both been craving soup. So I whipped up an Asian-inspired batch of the hot stuff. With a creamy soft-boiled egg cracked on top.

It was so good I even recorded the recipe.

Asian-Inspired Soup; serves 2

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 fresh jalepeños, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced green onions
5 oz bok choy, sliced lengthwise in quarters
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch each salt and pepper
3 cups broth
3 oz stir-fry noodles
{Optional toppings} Sriracha, sliced green onions, soft-boiled eggs

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add jalepeños, green onions, and bok choy to oil and cook until softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
Add all spice, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper to vegetables and stir to combine.
Add broth to pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
When the broth has reached a boil, add noodles to pot and reduce heat to bring the soup to a simmer. Continue to simmer until noodles are softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
Serve and top as desired.

Another night we went all fancy (sort of) with polenta (sort of) stacks.

Layers 1, 3, and 5 were sliced polenta baked with dried basil and mozzarella. Layers 2 and 4 were lean ground turkey sautéed with evoo, thinly sliced garlic, thinly sliced turkey pepperoni, and marinara sauce.

The pepperoni totally made it. Roasted broccoli on the side.

And the last night of the weekend we did take-out from Yesterday’s Diner.

Adam and I split a turkey burger with mozzarella and french fries. We love their turkey burgers. And it helps that they send a juicy pickle and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

snackage

This section is full of love! Like this snack plate of super sharp cheese with Honeycrisp apple.

Haribo Juicy Gold Bears became my favorite gummi.

The texture is perfect – chewy and firm with no teeth sticking – and they are sooooo juicy.

The rest of the treats are all mint based, since I’m having a total love affair with the frosty flavor lately. The best froyo ever.

Mint with chocolate crunch, yogurt chips, and hot fudge.

A fabulous first trip to Emack and Bolio’s with Adam.

He got ice cream that he deemed the best he’s ever had and I went with a scoop of grasshopper pie frozen yogurt.

We also got a chocolate egg cream that was the best we’ve ever had. We want to go back immediately.

Finally, a vegan mint cream cookie sandwich from Babycakes.

Are you a mint fanatic too or is it too toothpastey for you?

17Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lots Of Leftovers

by Emily

You saw most of this week’s eats yesterday, so this post is just to fill in the gaps. What you’re not seeing – the coffee. I was terrible about bedtime this week and the result was constant coffee consumption. This work week ended up being particularly busy, so it was serendipitous that I was extra-caffeinated.

snacks

Numi Cardamom Pu-erh Tea with skim milk.

Valentine’s style Junior Mints.

Junior Mints are my favorite chocolate candy, second only to York and Pep bars, and these were shaped like freaking hearts! Too exciting.

Popcorn with caramel and turkey bacon.

Does that goodness need more explanation?

stuff I didn’t cook

Brunch at Biscuits and BBQ.

Adam went super Southern with chicken and waffles,

while I got the bbq chicken sandwich.

It was good, but I was expecting the meat to be pulled and smothered and I probably would have ordered differently if I’d known it wasn’t. At least the serving was giant; Adam ate my 2nd half for lunch the next day.

We were mostly there for dessert anyway. I read a review in the Times that said Biscuits and BBQ had some of the best key lime pie the reviewer had ever tasted.

Yep. Key lime pie is my favorite dessert and this was definitely one of the best slices I’ve had. The only way it could have been better is if the traditional crust was a graham cracker crust – the way my mom makes it – because I like my extra-sweet with a side of extra-sweet!

Sushi take-out from Kisso.

I went with two boring, cooked rolls (both with tempura!) but Adam said his chirashi was the best he’s ever had.

leftovers for lunch

Since I made a different recipe each night for my book review, I ended up with lots of leftovers for lunches. Eating tapenade and tofu egg salad on my lunch break felt fancy!

A packaged lunch.

Roasted seaweed.

A Strawberry Apple Crusher.

And some Bumblebee Spicy Thai Chili Tuna with crackers.

I loooove that tuna, it is so flavorful.

An eggless lunch.

Leftover eggless egg salad.

Scooped with pita chips.

With a side of green grapes.

Crudités for lunch.

Leftover lentil tapenade with celery and baby carrots.

A giant honeycrisp.

And baby Lindt HELLO bars.

a dinner

The night I was left to my own devices in the kitchen I made mac and cheese and trees for dinner.

Just a box of this adorable winter shapes mac and cheese with 0% Greek yogurt, smoked paprika, a tin of Bella cayenne pepper smoked sardines, and broccoli roasted with truffle salt.

Gussied up box macaroni is the best easy dinner.

What’s your go-to order when you’re channeling the deep South? Adam does chicken and waffles while I like pulled chicken and fried okra.

16Jan2014

Livin’ Lean With Trader Joe’s {Book Review}

by Emily

I recently was contacted about doing a review of Jamie Davidson’s new book, Livin’ Lean with Trader Joe’s. Since January is the month of resolutions to eat better/lose weight/get healthy/et al, it seemed like the perfect time to share my thoughts with you guys. I even have a sample recipe for you.

Note – I was sent a PDF copy of the book to review, free of charge. All opinions are my own. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

About: The Author

Jamie has a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and has been teaching people how to eat nutritiously and conveniently for over 20 years. She is also the author of Quick and Healthy Meals from Trader Joe’s and Simmering Solutions, Healthy Slow-Cooker Recipes. I don’t believe that she has any formal chef training, but she is quite adept at putting together meals that are balanced and flavorful while still being healthy. While I think that Registered Dietitians should be the gold standard source for nutrition advice, Jamie’s background makes her far more qualified than most of the other authors of this season’s diet advice.

My Thoughts: The Book

Two thumbs up! Adam and I loved all of the recipes that we tried – they were tasty, healthy, and a snap to prepare.

The first few chapters of the book focus on Jamie’s advice for weight loss and healthy living, followed by a comprehensive collection of more than 150 recipes. As a Registered Dietitian, I think that her philosophy is solid. She promotes exercise and a balanced diet (note – “diet” as in a lifestyle or way of eating, not meaning a short-term, quick-fix “diet”) and doesn’t make outrageous claims. She does a great job of explaining why and how her recipes can help you lose weight.

Many of the recipes are simple assembly and prep, and if you are a more advanced cook this book may be too basic for you. But if you are struggling in the kitchen or have made a recent commitment to prepare healthier meals – whether you are looking to lose weight or just lead a healthy life – I wholeheartedly recommend purchasing this book.

The Goods: Recipes I Made

{1} Lentil Tapenade (Wrap).

This recipe combined some of Adam’s favorite flavors – lentils, olive tapenade, and feta – that I would not have thought to put together on my own. It took less than 5 minutes to throw together and we loved the final result.

The recipe was for a wrap, but we made a (double) batch of the spread and served it as part of a cheese plate instead.

Lentil tapenade, buffalo blue cheese kettle chips, green grapes, pesto gouda, and an amazing goat’s milk cheddar.

{2} BBQ Chicken over Polenta.

This was one of those basic prep recipes; not something I would normally look for in a cookbook but a great find on a late night when I would have ordered take-out (for 8 billion calories) but spent 5 minutes throwing this together instead (for less than 200 calories a serving with 16 grams of protein).

Served with green beans.

FYI, I did skew my serving ratio a bit towards chicken versus polenta.

{3} Really Low Fat Greek Yogurt Dressing.

Served on a salad, obviously. With romaine, smoked almonds, raisins, and pesto gouda. I liked the tang of this a lot. And I loved that there were only about 35 calories a serving, because the husband tends to coat his salads in dressing.

Served with…

{4} Eggless Egg Salad.

This was our favorite recipe of the bunch. It has a tofu base, but an avowed tofu hater wouldn’t know it was in there until you told them. I don’t usually put so many veggies in my egg salad (though I totally should) so I tasted this before I added in most of the produce and yep, it tasted just like egg salad!

This was delicious, and vegan to boot. Definitely a recipe I plan on making again. And you can make it too, since Jamie said it was ok to share the recipe with you guys (click on the image to enlarge) –

Did you make any health related resolutions this New Years?

13Jan2014

Insta-Wrap-Up; IV

by Emily

I’m overdue; it’s been more than a month since my last instagram share. Per usual, this post will feature a lot of dog.

sticky notes from the dollar section of Target {things I like}

sparkly socks – so warm! – from American Eagle {things I like}

a puny birthday gift that was perfect for Adam {things I love}

more humor, via Cafe Dada in Park Slope {things I like}

cold weather gear {things I hate}

Webster {things I love}

What is the breakdown of your instagram shots? I’d say I’m 50% dog love, 40% food, and 10% everything else.

11Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; One Day Late

by Emily

Usually I get these posts up by Friday, but that implies that I was moderately functional on Thursday night. This week, I was not. In spite of being insanely tired all week (I got into a bad sleep habit pattern that snowballed), I did do pretty well on the food front – breakfasts most days, fancy-feeling dinners, the works.

work

Speaking of work… It’s going well. I feel like I am fully settled into my position. I am definitely missing the inpatient setting a lot, but I do feel like I’m getting to make a positive impact. Part of the reason I’m so passionate about pediatrics (my long-term career goals center around nutrition support and pediatrics) is because nutrition is so crucial during periods of growth. Well, working with prenatal patients means I’m counseling adults who are growing{babies!}. My clinic sees a great variety of clients; among other things, I’ve gotten to deal with anemia, diabetes, hyperemesis gravidarum, and pica. I’m still waiting on vegan diets, eating disorders, and maternal pku.

On a less serious note, I decided to stop Fashion Fridays. I’m just not that fashionable. And I’m really not that good with my camera, which meant I was taking blurry pictures that weren’t highlighting the cool details that make me love my outfits. I doubt anyone but my mom will miss this feature, but I just wanted to explain why it was going away.

breakfast

Coconut Macaroon Larabar and a short non-fat salted caramel hot chocolate.

Breakfast from the cafeteria.

Kashi Caramelized Onion Hummus Crisps and an apple. I enjoyed both.

Non-fat iced caramel flan latte.

This wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be. I asked for no whipped cream and they skipped my caramel drizzle too.

Two servings of S’mores Krave cereal with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I didn’t like the original version of this cereal when I tried it last year but the s’mores kind is quite tasty. And for a “sugar cereal” it’s not even terrible, with 10 g of sugar per serving.

lunch

Monday.

0% Fage with mango and soursoup,

a super juicy pear,

dried clementines,

and Duane Reade milk chocolate with toffee and sea salt.

Tuesday, I ran out of time to pack.

A Chicken and Greens Cesar from Starbucks. I loved the use of kale in here, I didn’t know a Cesar could feel so healthy.

And a Strawberry Apple Crusher from TJ.

Wednesday.

Hickory smoked tuna with crackers,

and salted milk chocolate and a pear for dessert.

For Thursday, a jar of fresh pineapple.

A sandwich of Applegate Farms roasted turkey, dijon, and light jarlsberg on an everything ciabatta flatbread,

and some sesame roasted seaweed.

My coworkers were very curious about the seaweed; two of them even were brave enough to taste it, not that they ended up being big fans.

I didn’t have my camera yesterday, but I bought a slice of veggie pizza from the cafeteria for lunch. And, um, I also bought a doughnut for breakfast. I almost never eat doughnuts (I didn’t grow up with them) but I had randomly reeeeeeeeally been craving one so it was serendipitous that the cafeteria had cinnamon twists on the morning I couldn’t pack breakfast.

dinner

A fancy night.

We topped salmon with meyer lemon and this Dark Horse Smoked Brown Sugar before baking. We hardly ever make fresh fish at home and this was such a treat! The texture of properly baked salmon is swoon-worthy.

With a side of roasted broccoli,

and potatoes – mashed with butter, goat cheese, and tons of dijon mustard.

It was a great meal.

A tired night – I was too sleepy on Tuesday to even bother with dinner. Refer down to the “snacks” list below 🙂

A sandwich night.

Smokey tofu sandwiches were a total win.

We topped ciabatta flatbread with smokey tofu, light muenster cheese, and turkey bacon. The tofu was baked with a sauce I threw together – ketchup, maple syrup, and liquid smoke – and it turned out great.

Plus green beans.

A restaurant night.

Those are the complimentary yam chips that Laverne sets out, by the way, and they are fantastic.

For my meal, I ordered the Drunken Noodles with shrimp, extra spicy.

Oh boy, did they ever deliver on spice! The noodles were exactly to my liking, which is to say, almost unbearably hot! Adam took a tiny taste and was not happy. Thai iced tea helped me to cool down a bit.

And after dinner we went out for giant cups of froyo. Sadly, the evening took a sharp turn downhill from there. I made myself a much bigger froyo than I usually do, loaded up with all sorts of toppings, including, apparently, something that didn’t agree with me. Even if you’ve never thrown up after eating the spiciest meal of your life you can probably still picture it. I basically rolled around on the floor and screamed. <– sorry, husband!

snack

When I sent Adam to “the fancy store” to pick up salmon, he came home with this 26 month aged Beemster Dutch cheese as a surprise.

Do you see those salt crystals?! Love. We didn’t even use crackers, just ate big chunks all week long.

Vivaloe Watermelon Aloe. Surprisingly, Adam liked this even more than I did.

We both have been missing the variety of boba we could get in bubble tea in Buffalo and the chunks of aloe are a nice substitute.

Onto the chocolate portion of our show… My last Alter Eco Velvet Truffle.

I’m amazed these lasted so long in the house (they are outstanding), but it seemed like we just kept on bringing home new treats.

Like the Lime Splash Lindt bar that I obviously had to buy because, hello, it’s new.

Two thumbs up. And I know that the cover photo makes him look like a creeper, but I’m currently loving Grant Achatz’s memoir, Life, On The Line.

Finally, my (sugared up) take on Something Swanky’s Single Serve Skinny Brownie Batter.

5.3 oz vanilla Greek yogurt + 1 Tbsp brown sugar + 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar + 1 and 1/2 Tbsp almond meal + 1 Tbsp Dutch cocoa powder = brain exploding goodness!