Pumpkin Pie Facial Scrub

by Emily

It turns out that we threw away most of our Halloween decorations in the move, but I have managed to jazz up the apartment for the season in a few small ways –

A hand towel here, a plastic pumpkin there, and we do plan on carving jack-o-lanterns.

Plus I’ve taken the pumpkin theme into my beauty routine,

with Pumpkin Pie Facial Scrub.

Pumpkin is a great ingredient to use in products that go on your face (and in your face!) because it’s loaded with antioxidants and vitamin A and C.

I’ve seen a lot of DIY scrubs on Pinterest and other blogs, but they mostly utilize sugar or salt as the scrubber. These larger grain options aren’t great for face scrubs because the crystals can actually make tiny tears in your skin. Baking soda is a great exfoliant that is gentle enough on your skin to be used daily.

This scrub contains pumpkin, which means that it will have to be stored in the fridge between uses. I separated mine into single-use containers (dressing cups) for convenience.

You can play around with the amount of scrub that you make, just remember to keep the baking soda and pumpkin in a 3:1 ratio.

Pumpkin Pie Facial Scrub, makes enough approximately 12 uses

3 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp honey

Mash all ingredients together until well combined. Store in the refrigerator.

21Oct2013

Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

by Emily

It’s 2 in the afternoon, so allow me to say “good morning!” Does that sound strange to anyone? Adam worked nights Friday through Sunday so we’ve been keeping a vampire’s schedule. There’s been a lot of this –

I don’t like it when he’s gone, my sleep pattern is all out of whack and I definitely live like a teenager when he’s not around. Case in point – Saturday night I watched terrible movies (“One for the Money” and “Abduction”) and ate candy (Sour Patch Kids and chocolate-covered gummi bears) for dinner.

I ate a lot (a lot) of junk this weekend, but I did manage to throw some pretty gourmet meals in there as well. If last week was all about the jalapeño, this was the weekend of bacon!

breakfasts

On the go.

We had to eat on the way while running errands so I made us something portable. A terrible, god-awful smoothie.

Pumpkin, frozen kale, frozen banana, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and a bit of maple. This had such potential but the kale didn’t fully blend and chewing threw it was horrifying. I forced down 90% for the nutrients, but did not enjoy it.

My TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar was much better.

I thought the filling was great; sweet and spicy. And how cute is the labeling?!

We bought these when we were a little loopy from sleeplessness and Adam thought the pun was seriously the funniest thing ever. We spent the rest of the evening making variations on this joke – “A strawberry asks a pumpkin on a date… what happens next?”

Another kale fail.

I just could not win on the kale front this week. Again, these eggs had potential, but there just seemed to be sooooo much kale and we both hated them.

Offending eggs.

Delicious turkey bacon.

Side of grapes.

At least the other components were good. And I shared many bites of egg with the dog, who was such a good boy about eating his greens!

lunches

On Saturday two of our good friends from Buffalo (who are now living in Rochester for medical residency) came up to visit. We met up for a lovely lunch at Bareburger.

I got the Western Burger, with a turkey burger, sans bun. Smoked mozzarella / ~~country~~ turkey bacon / house-made Carolina slaw / smokehouse sauce / topped with a crispy, spicy pickle spear.

So fricking good! That hunk on the side was my pickle, which blew my mind.

A sandwich at home.

A whole-wheat bagel thin with turkey bacon, brie, and pumpkin butter.

This combo was ridiculous.

Plus the last of the grapes.

I have not been eating enough fruit this fall and it was nice to have something other than apples in the house.

dinners

More greens, more grapes.

A big pile of chicken salad.

Kale chips.

This was the only iteration of kale that I actually enjoyed this weekend.

The carb portion of dinner was consumed in the car on the way home from the store.

Adam and I split a TJ’s soft pretzel stick and loved it. Great chew!

I even whipped myself up a drink while I made dinner.

October is National Caramel Month and Sobieski sent me some samples of their Karamel Vodka to celebrate.

Note – I received the vodka samples free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Here was my attempt at a Caramel Apple Cocktail –

2 oz Sobieski Karamel Vodka
2 oz Sour Apple Pucker
splash Polar Granny Smith Apple Seltzer

The vodka was good, but next time I’d go with a 2:1 ratio of vodka to Pucker, the sour apple flavor was a little strong!

Soup’s up.

Last night we ate big bowls of my Loaded Potato Soup.

Truffles for dessert.

I’ve raved about Alter Eco’s Silk chocolate line in the past and they sweetly sent me some of their newest product – Dark Velvet Truffles.

Note – I received the truffles free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

The truffles, which are also available in Black, are organic, fair trade, and non-GMO. They are made with coconut oil, a more sustainable option than palm kernel oil (I didn’t taste any coconut flavor).

I thought that the truffles were great; nice and creamy! The husband hates dark chocolate as a rule, but loved the Silk bars so I will have him try one of the truffles and report back.

Have a great week!

18Oct2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; Jalapeño Business

by Emily

Lots of repetition on the food front this week – eggs, cheese, kale, and jalapeño were the featured players! And this is another recap that’s light on content; lots of take-out and several late nights (and therefore late mornings) are to blame. I’ve got the 10 items I did manage to photograph ranked increasingly by greatness.

{1} Pumpkin oats.

Sadly this item was so far from greatness as to just be bad. The bowl had such potential: oats, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, chia seeds, cottage cheese, a smidge of vanilla extract and maple syrup, coconut, crunchy Barney Butter, and pumpkin.

It was terrible. The pumpkin was sooooooo savory and squashy. And this was a fresh can of Libby’s too!?

{2} Baked tomatoes with egg and cheese with a side of kale chips.

This was a recipe from Cooking Light but I threw away the magazine and I can’t find it online.

The dish turned out very well but apparently I’m not a huge fan of baked tomatoes.

{3} White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M’s.

Regular m&m’s don’t really thrill me but this seasonal variety (along with the mint dark chocolate) is delicious.

{4} Taco night.

Leftover taco shells topped with Ortega Thick and Chunky Salsa and stuffed with eggs – scrambled with spinach and jalapeños. We continued to be impressed with the taco shells and the filling was delicious, including the little bit of extra I stuck on the side of my plate.

We definitely need to do taco night more often.

{5} Chicago Mix.

Adam and I were obsessed with the caramel and cheddar “golden mix” from the popcorn shop and the Buffalo mall and this will substitute nicely.

{6} Eggs for breakfast.

Eggs scrambled with sautéed kale, cottage cheese, and Parmesan.

Plus a baby apple.

This was a winner, and you’ll see most of the components again in #7.

{7} Cheesy mac.

Annie’s Mac and Cheese with peas, Parmesan, and eggs (scrambled with cottage cheese and jalapeño).

Stirring the eggs into the pasta was so genius, I’m never serving macaroni the traditional way again. And the parm was grated by hand, making this feel extra fancy.

{8} Whole Foods hot bar.

Kale salad with a bit of mac and cheese. Plus fried plantains for dessert.

Ugh, plantains are too good. So sweet and chewy.

{9} Everything bagel with jalapeño cheddar cream cheese.

This was from La Bagel Delight, a spot in Park Slope that makes the best bagels in the city. They blend the cream cheese in shop, look that those giant hunks –

Fabulous.

{10} Homemade nachos with candied jalapeños.

How could nachos with candied jalapeño possibly not be the single best thing I ate all week?

Some roasted green beans,

piled next to nachos. Late July Multigrain Chips with 2% sharp cheddar and candied jalapeños.

Yummmmmmm.

What was the single best thing you ate this week?

11Oct2013

Do You Remember When People Used To Blog 3x A Day?

by Emily

Do you remember when people used to blog three times a day? Yeah … I can’t even handle once a week! I don’t have a wrap-up, but I did manage to get 2 – 3 items from each category, and the stuff I do have to share was all awesome. Here we go –

breakfast

1. Pumpkin pie (crisp?) in a bowl.

I topped some TJ’s low-fat pumpkin Greek yogurt (3/4 of the container or so; the serving seems oddly large to me) with some of my Simply Sweet Granola and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I made my oats a little too toasty, but I was very pleased with the yogurt.

2. Pumpkin Pie Through A Straw.

That’s right, I cracked open my first can of pumpkin!

I’ve made this smoothie for years and it is a total winner. The husband is usually not as into the pumpkin thing as I am and he likes this even more than I do.

3. Sundae on a Wednesday.

This was the most dessert-y of the “dessert” breakfasts but it was still pretty healthy.

Wallaby low-fat maple yogurt topped with Crispy Green bananas (former freebie), and melted Biscoff Spread.

snacks

1. Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults and a caramel macchiato.

I made so many updates to my coffee (a little more of this, a little less of that) that it was basically a big cup of espresso and caramel, aka perfection.

The crunchy portion of this snack was brought to you by this generous package I received from Somersaults:

I received this package free of charge. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

They recently had their top flavors certified as GMO-free and expanded their retailer list to include Target and Costco and they’re trying to spread the word about their good news. Fun snack facts – a serving of Somersaults has as much protein as a serving of almonds (with half of the fat) and they are a good source of fiber and vitamin E. Also they are Adam’s very favorite snack!

I thought that the Cinnamon Crunch (a new flavor this year) was great; a good blend of sweet and seedy.

2. Cinnamon Pumpkin Beer Bread.

Just Beer Bread made with a pumpkin beer and a layer of cinnamon sugar (we used cinnamon maple sugar) on top.

Quite good with schmear of butter.

3. An actual sundae.

Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla Honey Caramel Greek Frozen Yogurt with melted Biscoff Spread; I was all about the Biscoff this week.

I bought the frozen yogurt by chance (I needed vanilla frozen yogurt for my pumpkin smoothie and this was all I could find at the store near my house) and ended up adoring it. The flavor was so complex!

lunch

1. Sandwich success.

I’ve been planning this sandwich combo for weeks, ever since a serendipitous trip to Trader Joe’s.

A whole wheat Bagel Thin topped with Applegate Farms roasted turkey, TJ’s pumpkin butter, and a TJ’s mini brie bite.

The brie and pumpkin butter mash-up was just as good as I thought it would be.

Roasted green beans on the side,

and TJ’s Hawaiian Style BBQ Potato Chips.

This was a fun lunch to munch through.

2. A trip to Chobani Bar in SoHo.

A girlfriend and I took the train into the city from Queens. We snacked on Somersaults on the way in.

She had never tasted them before but was an instant fan.

A quick walk down Prince Street and we were at Chobani.

The space was very pretty, but strangely they had no seating. We ended up finding a nice spot on a sunny stoop.

I ordered a half-size of toasted coconut and pineapple. Plain yogurt topped with pineapple, toasted coconut, and Turkish hazelnuts. It comes with light agave nectar but I asked that they leave it off.

I was very impressed with my bowl; the pineapple was so sweet! My friend got the same thing and I did and she liked it too. We both agreed that we probably wouldn’t go back but that we were glad we went.

dinner

1. Mac and cheese, please.

This combo of ingredients made for one heck of a dinner –

While my mushrooms were browning…

I ate ~~some of~~ the rest of the bbq chips,

and opened a Pumking.

I agree with what I’ve read online, this year’s batch wasn’t the best. I really enjoyed it the first few minutes but after that I grew tired of the flavor. In fact, most of the bottle ended up in my cinnamon pumpkin beer bread. At least my dinner was good.

Salads on the side. A romaine blend dressed with a sprinkle of salt and 1 tsp each honey and olive oil.

My salad was technically on the bottom, not the side. I topped my greens with mac (Annie’s Shells and White Cheddar, with spinach, mushrooms, and Bela smoked sardines) and then topped my whole bowl with crumbled goat cheese.

2. Taco night.

I recently received a package from Ortega to help me celebrate National Taco Day:

I received this package free of charge. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

They sent along some recipes on which they collaborated with Chef Aarón Sánchez, including this vegetarian one –

I really liked the sound of it, but you know I had to put my own spin on the recipe.

Vegetarian Black Bean Tacos, serves 3

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
medium sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 jalapeño peppers, diced
15.5 oz can low-sodium black beans (don’t drain!)
1 packet Ortega 40% less sodium taco seasoning mix
9 Ortega yellow corn taco shells
4 oz raw baby spinach
3 oz crumbled feta cheese

Heat evoo in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, 5 – 7 minutes.
Add garlic and jalapeños and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Stir in beans (liquid and all) and taco seasoning mix and cook an additional 10 minutes. Mash up some of the beans with the side of your spatula while you stir.
Heat taco shells according to package instructions.
Stuff the bottom of each taco with spinach. Spread the bean mixture evenly among the tacos on top of spinach. Top tacos evenly with feta cheese.

We loved them! The beans were delicious, if I do say so myself. And the taco shells were wonderful; they seemed to hold together much better than ones I’ve used in the past.

life

1. The house.

Three full months of living here later, we finally bought shelving for the living room.

There’s not a lot on them right now (I managed to find spaces for all of our books in the office in the interim) but it’s nice to have one less blank wall.

2. The man.

I didn’t talk about it on the blog, but a month or so ago Webster had a cluster seizure. It was very scary, and more importantly, it meant that we had to start medically treating his epilepsy. He’s been on medication for more than a month now and he has been seizure-free the entire time (yay!).

Feeling better has given him time to focus on his other interests, like sitting with his butt up in the air like a total weirdo.

What’s going on in your life? Tell me something good from the last week?

5Oct2013

Last Week’s Highlights

by Emily

I didn’t have enough to share to call this a “wrap-up,” but I did want to blog a few of my favorites that managed to make it in front of the camera. I have some stuff happening in my personal life right now (some good, mostly bad) that I don’t want to share on the blog and I appreciate your patience with my limited posting.

leftovers for lunch

I made the most of restaurant leftovers with this compilation meal. The last of some Pad See Eiw with tofu,

a slice of focaccia from our Italian meal (it was still soft!!),

and from home a Pink Crisp apple with crunchy Barney Butter.

Lacking in veggies but quite good.

the pumpkin line-up

I’m listing these from bad to ~~good~~ great. Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte.

I mixed mine as 1/2 cup tea and 1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and hated it. Admittedly I made mine too weak, but I made Adam’s extra strong (with skim milk) and I didn’t like that one either. The flavor was just too “dirty” for me. But Adam loved both versions – and drank both our drinks in one sitting – and is excited for the rest of the carton so it’s not a total loss.

Froyo.

A tiny bit (this cup cost $1.75!) of pumpkin spice and cheesecake swirl topped with toasted coconut, graham cracker, and caramel sauce. This combo was a total winner.

Froyo was good, but nothing beats pumpkin ice.

Pumpkin on top with toffee crunch on the bottom. Usually I can’t eat a whole small cup but I wolfed this down and I think I could even finish two scoops of just pumpkin! My friend Kim informed me that Ralph’s Ice is totally a thing and now it feels even more exciting.

stir-fried mac

This was one of those mash-up meals that doesn’t seem like it will work but just does.

Leftover pasta – Annie’s mac and cheese with greens, edamame, and smoked trout – reheated in a skillet with evoo, tons of Sriracha, and a sprinkle of sugar; with one large egg scrambled in at the end. I know that the sugar sounds strange but I promise the final flavor is perfection.

Do you see that brown piece by my hand that looks like bacon? It’s not bacon, it’s smoked trout that got extra-crispy. <– swoon

saltine challenge

I surprised Adam with fancy sardines and since we had Saltines in the house it was time for a challenge.

You know from reading my rant that I’m a stickler for the rules so I have to admit – we both totally failed. Our mouths were still full of approximately 1.5 crackers each when the timer buzzed.

fancy fish

This dinner came straight out of EveryDay with Rachael Ray.

I even took a break from my rebellious side and followed the recipe exactly.

Well, mostly exactly, we skipped the brown rice and used baby bok choy instead of the big guys. But the end result was delicious.

Our glaze didn’t thicken the way it was supposed to, but the fish had a great, flaky texture.

And we loved the bok choy.

Adam has even requested that baby bok become a weekly staple!

dinner in Manhattan

On Wednesday, I was invited to a press event in Manhattan so I brought a girlfriend with me for a fun evening in the city.

{that’s sunset at Chelsea Pier}

The event was to celebrate the launch of Donatella Arpaia’s new kitchen line with HSN (http://hsn.com). The line is available starting this Monday (October 7th) so they held a gettogether to showcase some of the new products.

Here’s a little blurb from the press release –

The exclusive collection from the Iron Chef judge, restaurateur, author and culinary personality will include studded stoneware, table linens and Italian food items.

Named by Zagat as the “Hostest with the Mostest”, Donatella Arpaia has a reputation of fusing Italian tradition with modern, glamorous style. Her new collection brings added sparkle to the kitchen with a chic home pizza oven and luxurious rhinestone stoneware including platters, ceramic dishes and ramekins.

Additionally, Donatella has taken the guess work out of traditional Italian cooking with her authentic Italian food offerings, featuring a variety of fresh pasta sauces, flavorful pizza crust mixes and her award-winning meatballs. With food preparation and presentation already made easy, the collection is completed with sets of cotton placemats and napkins on tear off rolls.

We got off of the train with time to kill so we wandered around a bit before the event (hence the gorgeous sunset views from the piers).

I needed some veggies in my life so we hit up Liquiteria for juice.

I wasn’t loving all of the beets and ginger on their menu so I made a custom blend – spinach, kale, and pineapple. Amazing! But I had eaten froyo and a giant coffee (seriously giant, there was a mix-up and I ended up with 4 extra shots of espresso in my latte!) for lunch so with the concentrated energy in the juice I was practically buzzing by the time we got to the event.

The drinks we were handed upon arrival helped.

That is not a cherry (sadly), but a cherry tomato.

The event was held at Donatella’s restaurant, which was freaking gorgeous.

The lighting wasn’t kind to my crappy photography skills, but I did my best to take some shots of the pretty tables.

The tear-off napkins were very fun, though I don’t think that bedazzled cookware is exactly my style.

Most of the apps showcased products that will be available on Monday. I took a fried oyster to be brave,

but my first bite was all fried coating and I lost my nerve and threw out the rest before I ate any meat.

The pizza was very good.

The dough – which you just add water to and then bake – was the best part; chewy and flavorful but not too salty. My friend and I both gave the jarred sauce served with the pasta two thumbs up as well.

They told us to take cupcakes (from the fantastically sparkly display) for dessert.

They plan to add cupcakes (mixes?) to the line later this year.

My pistachio was tasty.

Afterwards we stopped in at the famous Cafeteria for a drink on a whim.

Our carafe of white peach sparkling mojito was refreshing but weak. But we were the only twosome in the room who wasn’t on a first date so the good eavesdropping more than made up for the lack of alcohol.

I hope everyone else had a nice week too! Did you do any good eavesdropping?

1Oct2013

Weekend Wrap-Up; October Is Here!

by Emily

It’s possible I’m a little excited about the arrival of Pumpkin Month. Check out my stash –

So much squashy goodness!

Now a little bit about the end of September…

breakfast

I’ve only got one meal to share here, in contrast with the full “dessert” section (whoops!). Adam had a “golden weekend,” aka both Saturday and Sunday off, so we spent our mornings catching up on sleep.

This breakfast was more of a brunch, but either way it was a winner.

Müller Greek Corner Pineapple Passion Fruit Yogurt (former freebie) topped with sliced starfruit and a packet of Crispy Green Pineapples.

Isn’t starfruit (also known as Carambola) gorgeous?

Did you know that I used to sell starfruit when I was a kid? We had a tree in our backyard and I would take the harvests to the local grocery stores.

The freeze-dried pineapples were part of a sample box from Crispy Green.

I received these samples free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Crispy Green is a company that sells freeze-dried fruits. They are vegan and certified kosher and the ingredient list is nice and simple – just fruit. What really sold me was the texture, I swear that the apples and pears were almost juicy! More on them in a minute though.

lunch

Veggies.

Acorn squash. I baked half of my squash for 30 minutes at 350*, cut side down, then flipped it over and filled the cavity with pistachios, raisins, and maple syrup, and baked for another 20 minutes.

Plus broccoli that I roasted alongside the squash.

And a red pear.

So nice to have a mid-day meal that’s so packed with nutrients.

Less nutritious but still delicious, Taco Bell.

I got a vegetarian Cantina Bell burrito and was actually very impressed. The burrito had fresh corn and great guacamole.

The greatest sandwich.

Sweet and savory, for the win. Caramel apple swirl bread topped with Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, TJ’s Lite Havarti, and pickled banana peppers.

The husband got and identical ‘wich and he raved about it. Plus we shared more Crispy Green fruits on the side. Asian Pear,

and Apple.

They both were packed with flavor but so far Asian Pear is my favorite.

dinner

Mac remix.

A box of Annie’s Shells and Aged Real Cheddar gussied up with TJ’s smoked trout, frozen edamame and a greens mix, and 1 oz of Chevre.

I have pantry back-ups of all of the ingredients and a see a redo in our future.

A cider soaked meal.

I marinated some extra-firm tofu in TJ’s Spiced Apple cider (plus honey and hot sauce) before ~~burning~~ baking in the oven.

Shredded cabbage was sautéed in the tofu marinade and then topped with salty peanuts.

And this lovely squash was sprinkled with salt and cinnamon and roasted alongside the tofu.

I filled in the space in the center of the plate with Dinosaur Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ Sauce for dipping.

A meal out on the town.

We finished our two-day weekend with a dinner out on the town at Luigi’s.

We were brought an amazing basket of fresh bread.

And we shared a Tuscan salad to start.

baby spinach / breaded artichoke hearts / roasted peppers / gorgonzola dolce / pignoli nuts / balsamic vinaigrette

I got handmade Papardelle with shrimp and lobster in a fresh plum tomato cognac cream sauce from the specials menu for my meal.

It was delicious! The homemade pasta had great bite and the seafood was juicy and perfect. Plus the portions were huge; I shared many tastes with Adam and still came home with a full serving of leftovers. {Mom and Dad, we want to take you here when you visit!}

dessert

Adam went out to celebrate a birthday with his fellow interns and he brought me home cake.

I’m not a huge chocolate fan but I’m a sucker for jam in the middle.

I brought him home vegan ice cream sandwiches.

Tofutti is currently celebrating their 30^th anniversary and they sent me some coupons.

I received these samples free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Ice cream sandwiches are Adam’s favorite and he was very impressed with how close to the original this (minty) version came.

I thought the Cuties had great flavor and texture – and I’m not even an ice cream sandwich lover – but 180 calories for the small size seemed a little steep.

I will definitely buy them again for the husband though.

To finish the post – the best thing ever.

Adam and I split an ice the other day to celebrate the first day of fall. Dulce de leche topped with pumpkin pie.

Oh. My. God. The pumpkin pie ice was ridiculous! The best tasting ice I’ve ever had and those brown areas were crunchy streusel that was just over the top. We were both swooning!

What pumpkin goodies are you excited for this month?

27Sep2013

Long Week Wrap-Up; Pizza Pizza

by Emily

Whoops. I guess it’s been longer than usual since I’ve done a wrap-up. And I don’t even have a ton to share; we ordered take-out pizza this week and through a miscommunication ended up with a lot of pizza so that’s mostly what we’ve been eating.

Here are some of the other things that made it on to the meal plan…

breakfasts

A morning meal on the go.

An Erin Baker’s Caramel Apple Breakfast Cookie. The flavor was good but I didn’t feel like it kept me full enough for the calories.

Another breakfast that fit within the Apple Month Theme.

A slice of toasted Caramel Apple Swirl Bread with Smart Balance Light.

With a Müller Greek Corner Mango Yogurt (former freebie) topped with tons of blueberries on the side.

I picked up the swirl bread a million different times at Target and I am glad I ended up walking away with it.

More blue.

Kashi Honey Puffs cereal and blueberries floating in a serving of Lifeway Coconut Chia Kefir.

lunches

Hot bar from Whole Foods.

Health: 2 types of prepared salad topped with baked salmon and sautéed mushrooms. Happiness: 2 soy nuggets and some extra-cheesy mac and cheese.

Very good, but still – I miss Wegmans!

Sandwich and salad.

A simple spinach salad with raisins, peanuts, and balsamic.

Two types of sharp cheddar on white bread with Miracle Whip, cooked in the oven for easy clean-up.

These lunches were a nice break from the pizza.

snacks desserts

Cream filled chocolate chip cookie.

How nice does that scene look? I ate my cookie, sipped my diet soda, flipped through Glamour, and watched a girly movie.

Ben and Jerry’s Rockin’ Blondies ice cream (available only at Target).

My new favorite flavor.

I actually could live without the blondies (they seemed too small somehow) but the brown sugar ice cream was basically the best thing ever.

beverages

More tea spritzers.

Jasmine Tulsi (former freebie) with Mandarin Polar.

Fresh Horchata.

From OMG Taco in Williamsburg.

I flipping love Horchata and I feel like I can never find it.

We did a lot of walking that afternoon and I also had a Cherry Cola Zevia.

It was good, but not my new favorite like I thought it was going to be.

dinners

A mish-mosh meal.

A jazz apple, a Banana Cream Dannon Oikos with honey and salty peanuts on top, and a slice of beer bread broiled with cheese.

You would think that the melty cheese would have been the best bites but actually it was the yogurt, the banana cream was super thick and luscious.

Sushi night.

A green salad,

and a spicy shrimp and avocado roll.

The roll was only ok, we keep ordering from a spot near our house that has no delivery fee and I’m never that impressed.

Breakfast Casserole.

Basically a french toast bake but with sharp cheddar and smoked salmon taking it to the next level.

Adam raved about this one.

Soup’s up.

Broccoli-Cheese soup from Cooking Light,

with bbq kettle chips for crunch.

The soup came together in a snap. I ate one serving and then Adam ate the other three that same night so I guess he liked it!

What is your favorite flavor from Ben and Jerry’s?

26Sep2013

Insta-Wrap-Up; II

by Emily

Here is some of what happened on my instagram account in the last month. I don’t have a ton to share; I don’t use instragram all that much. I should really try to use it more, it makes a nice little photo album.

Drinks on the water at the pier.

That vodka soda cost me a whopping $11, yikes!

Dog face.

He’s such a cutie. But really this is my favorite Webster photo from the last month –

His fuzzy chest poking out of the covers is just too much.

My face.

On the drive to Williamsburg for donuts and beer. That sweatshirt is insanely comfortable.

Robert Moses Beach.

I went with a friend – – in New York – – in September – – and she had on jeans and a sweatshirt and I had a cardigan and scarf over my dress… still managed to burn the absolute hell out of my legs!

When was the last time you had sand between your toes?