I Love TV

As promised, a comprehensive list of the television I have loved.

It’s definitely worth noting that these are just the shows I really, truly, deeply love.  Adam and I watch a ton of tv and I really like “Modern Family,” “New Girl,” “Castle,” et. al. but they didn’t make the list of undying devotion.

I know a lot of people think that television is a waste of time, but it is the artistic medium that I find the most meaningful and moving – even more so than music, though a lot of what I love about television is closely linked with soundtrack.

the key:

  • {A} currently airing
  • {C} cops or military
  • {F} sci-fi or fantasy
  • {M} medical or science
  • {S} sitcom or comedy
  • {W} produced by Joss Whedon
  1. 30 Rock  {S}
  2. Battlestar Galactica  {M} {F}     Hated the finale but the use of music in this series was some of the best I’ve ever seen
  3. Bones  {M} {A}
  4. Brooklyn 99  {S} {A}     Surprisingly hilarious and the way they handle race, gender, and sexuality is perfection
  5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer  {W} {F}     If I had to, had to choose a favorite this show would be it
  6. Charmed  {F}
  7. Dollhouse  {W} {F}     The entire series is worth watching for the big twist alone
  8. Firefly  {W} {F}
  9. Futurama  {F} {C}     It’s not often that a cartoon will bring people to tears but the “Jurassic Bark” episode is universally lauded for turning on the waterworks
  10. House  {M}     Hate the finale – seriously, one of the worst episode of anything ever – but other than that it had great character development and growth
  11. Life  {C}     This show, on the other hand, had the best finale of all freaking time
  12. Parks and Recreation  {S} {A}
  13. Rookie Blue  {C} {A}
  14. Scrubs  {M} {S}     Before we started watching “Buffy” this was our favorite for years; I’ve seen every episode at least 10 times and it basically got us through teaching
  15. Seinfeld  {S}
  16. Stargate: Universe  {C} {F}
  17. Stargate: Atlantis  {C} {F}     Both Stargates did a wonderful job of creating characters that were everything you could ever strive to be while still being believable
  18. That 70’s Show  {S}     We were obsessed with Kitty and Red but we hated the final season so much that we actually never finished the show!
  19. The Nanny  {S}     Even now that the jokes are no longer topical they still make me laugh wildly

What are some of your favorite tv shows?  Did I list any you just can’t stand?

Weekish Wrap-Up

The title is sort of a pun!  Because this post is pretty weak.  Get it??

I’ve been all over the place with my posting schedule lately but it just feels right.  Especially this two-day “week” because I’ve been total snack monster so I’ve eaten a full post’s worth of food.  Here we go…

Cold-brew coffee with low-fat chocolate milk.

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Oh, I noticed you admiring my nails {just go with it}, here’s a better shot –

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I know they aren’t perfect – and I cleaned up the edges a bit after that photo – but I was so flipping proud to have managed them at all.  My hands have made me happy all week.

Onto pictures you’ve actually asked for… welcome to my office at work!

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DSC08326

It is never as messy as my hair is in that picture {yikes!}.

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I haven’t done much decorating, but I have a few touches to make it feel like home (mostly reminders of Webster).

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But back to my mocha, that did not make me happy.  I bought a jug of chocolate milk and made a week’s worth of coffee… but I used the butter rum flavored coffee from Target and ultimately it is just too nasty to drink.  I ended up throwing out my whole batch!

I had this Dannon pecan drinkable yogurt on the train.

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I was really impressed with how creamy it was.

Work lunch.

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An apple,

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and leftover shrimp pad thai from the weekend.

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I still can’t believe we were able to make it taste so good/authentic.

Another lunch.  This one not nearly as photogenic.

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Pumpernickel with miracle whip, grape jam, banana peppers, sharp cheddar, and smoked turkey.

DSC08345

A red pear.

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And a mini Honeycomb chocolate from Chuao.

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Snacks at work: Lots of tea from my Numi samples.

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Haribo liquid center fruit gummi candies.

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And a bag of Somersaults.

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Snacks at home: A packet of tuna salad.

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A ridiculous peanut butter fudge mug cake.

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And a mini Firecracker Chocolate from Chuao.

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I don’t know how they keep the pop rocks so fresh when they’re enrobed in chocolate but this bar had crackle!

Last night’s dinner was rice noodles with bean sprouts and tons of broccoli cooked in peanut sauce.

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Normally this is one of our favorite meals but this dinner felt very meh.

And that’s all she wrote! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!

Weekend Wrap-Up; Beers In Brooklyn

‘Twas a super weekend, even if I didn’t watch a single second of a certain football game.  We don’t have a cable hook-up!  I would like to see if I can find the commercials somewhere online though.

My meals this weekend were the like Seahawks, unparalleled winners.  Here’s some of what we ate…

lunch at work on Friday

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A Tart Cherry Noosa.

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An Asian pear.

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And a flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie.

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I made the cookies for Adam but they were so good that I ended up stealing another one when I got home that afternoon!  This recipe, but with Vanilla Bean + Espresso Barney Butter and half as many chocolate chips.

sweets and snacks

Cosmos.

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With Cascade Ice Cocktail Mixer, a splash of oj, and vodka.

DSC07761

The fancy one was actually Adam’s, mine had ice and a straw.

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But mine ended up being his too in the end; I am just not a cranberry person.

A serving of Red Velvet M&M’s (new flavor!).

DSC07822

They are very chocolate-y and also very headache-inducing.

A kid’s double scoop at Ample Hills Creamery on our date night.  I had Sweet as Honey on the bottom – Homemade honeycomb candy (made with honey from bees at Queens County Farm) in a sweet cream ice cream – and Gather ‘Round the Campfire on top – Toasted marshmallow ice cream with chocolate-covered graham cracker.

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I love this place!  The flavors were perfect.  I also tried a taste of the Peppermint Pattie and pretty much died.

cereal and milk {cereal and milk}

It’s back!

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I know the box says “new!” but the raisin Frosted Mini Wheats were my number one favorite as a child.  Also the only “sugar cereal” I can recall ever having in the house growing up.

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With Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and blueberries.

a recipe revisit

I wanted to remake my Berry Better Than Spaghetti recipe so I could reshoot the photos (not that the new ones are all that great!).

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I ended up making a few tweaks to the recipe too.  It turned out fantastic!

coffee love

Medium non-fat cinnamon brown sugar latte at Dunkin Donuts.

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I have been loving these lately but this one was too sweet.  Speaking of… has anyone tried the cookie dough or brownie batter donuts at DD yet?  I am seriously debating buying one.

Short nonfat caramel macchiato from Starbucks on errands.

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Our Trader Joe’s is always a madhouse and I love it when the husband is available to wrangle the cart for me because it means I can have coffee while I shop.

Iced coffee with almond milk from Café Dada.

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Love, love, love, love, love.  There is just no beating Blue Bottle.

brunch in SoHo

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A girlfriend and I met up at Penelope on Sunday.

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I had the Andrey’s Egg Sandwich – Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and peppers, topped with grilled chorizo fakin’ bacon and sun-dried tomato pesto on a fresh-baked croissant.  It was a strange order for me – I usually go with sunny side up eggs or something sweet – but very good.

beers in Brooklyn

Adam had the best date on Saturday, and I’m not just saying that because he got me tipsy!  I managed to find my top 2 favorite beers!  For reference, here’s my list –

Emily’s All-Time Favorite Beers Ranking

{1} Genesee Cream Ale

{2} Left Hand Milk Stout

{3} Heineken Light

{4} Red Stripe

{5} Abita Strawberry

{6} 21st Amendment Brewery Hell or High Watermelon

We started at Bierkraft, where I tried a Joe Mama’s Milk from Keegan Ales.

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I couldn’t taste the coffee at all, but this was nice and smooth.

Then we headed down to Dinosaur BBQ,

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where we found ($3) cans of GCA!

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I also had a Left Hand Milk Stout with my dinner.

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So much beer – for me – but it was all so good!

Dinosaur BBQ is actually from Upstate.  They make our favorite bbq sauce but we never had a chance to visit the restaurant while we were in Buffalo.  I was thrilled that a location popped up in our old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Adam and I split a sampler platter to start.

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Shrimp boil, chicken wing, deviled egg, and a fried green tomato.

I got a pulled chicken melt as my meal.  BBQ, caramelized onion, poblano peppers, and melted cheddar.

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I skipped my bun and cheese but quite enjoyed the chicken.  This definitely wasn’t the best barbecue we’ve ever had, but it wasn’t bad either.  And we would go back for the beer menu alone.

What are your top favorite beers?  Do you tend towards high or low ABV?

Weekly Wrap-Up; One Day Late

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.

DSC07179DSC07195Breakfast from the cafeteria.

DSC07228Kashi Caramelized Onion Hummus Crisps and an apple.  I enjoyed both.

Non-fat iced caramel flan latte.

DSC07243This 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.

DSC07281I 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.

DSC071830% Fage with mango and soursoup,

DSC07189a super juicy pear,

DSC07188dried clementines,

DSC07191and Duane Reade milk chocolate with toffee and sea salt.

DSC07193Tuesday, I ran out of time to pack.

DSC07220A Chicken and Greens Cesar from Starbucks.  I loved the use of kale in here, I didn’t know a Cesar could feel so healthy.

DSC07225And a Strawberry Apple Crusher from TJ.

DSC07221Wednesday.

DSC07230Hickory smoked tuna with crackers,

DSC07234and salted milk chocolate and a pear for dessert.

DSC07238For Thursday, a jar of fresh pineapple.

DSC07259A sandwich of Applegate Farms roasted turkey, dijon, and light jarlsberg on an everything ciabatta flatbread,

DSC07256and some sesame roasted seaweed.

DSC07263My 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.

DSC07206We 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.

DSC07197DSC07211With a side of roasted broccoli,

DSC07213and potatoes – mashed with butter, goat cheese, and tons of dijon mustard.

DSC07216It 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.

DSC07276Smokey tofu sandwiches were a total win.

DSC07265We 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.

DSC07268DSC07273Plus green beans.

DSC07271A restaurant night.

DSC07287Those 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.

DSC07291Oh 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.

DSC07289And 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.

DSC07199Do 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.

DSC07241We 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.

DSC07285I’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.

DSC07293Two 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.

DSC072445.3 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!

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

Hello from a new year!  Like I said in my last post, I am very excited to have welcomed ’14.  We didn’t do anything exciting for NYE (we were in bed watching Vines by 11), but we started the year off right with a fun day on the 1st.

Resolutions, Past and Present

I didn’t set any resolutions last year, but since 2011 it’s been a yearly goal to read a book a month.  I missed January and February, but overall I did pretty well with 20 books read in 2013:

March

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen  (f)

The Bone Bed – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

97 Orchard – Jane Ziegelman  (nf)

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen – Dalia Jurgensen  (m)

July

The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Third Victim – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Alone  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

August

Hide  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Neighbor  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Next Accident  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Killing Hour  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

September

Fiction Ruined My Family – Jeanne Darst  (m)

October

Live to Tell – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Love You More – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Catch Me  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

November

Bones of the Lost – Kathy Reichs  (f)

December

Brain on Fire – Susannah Cahalan  (m)

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – Alexandra Fuller  (m)

Dust – Patricia Cornwell  (f)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed  (m)

This year I did decide to set a few new year’s goals for myself, though I won’t be typing them all out here.  Basically I want to lose some of the weight I’ve been steadily putting on the past three years / continue my book reading goals / and start chipping away at the continuing education requirements for my Dietetics registration.

Fashion Friday

Last Friday.

DSC06924Monday.

DSC06999Tuesday.

DSC07028A day off on Wednesday.

DSC07036DSC07034Welcoming in a new year at work on Thursday.

DSC07096DSC07103DSC07102Breakfasts

Since part of this post is from last year you won’t really see this go into effect, but I think I am going to make more of an effort to eat breakfast on workdays.  I’ve been getting insanely hungry every afternoon and I think running out of time for breakfast most mornings is partially to blame.

Giant non-fat latte with 2 shots each peppermint and white chocolate.

DSC07000Coconut coffee and a pear.

DSC07075The Vanilla Coco Cafe was delicious, even better than the original.

DSC07078My pear was tasty too, but eating it gave me such bad heartburn that I almost got off of my train to throw up!  I’m not sure what the deal with that was.

DSC07080Lunches

I made a big batch of roasted veggies this week, enough to pack for three days of lunches.  Butternut squash and green beans (and broccoli that I burned the crap out of so only 1-3 stalks ended up in each lunch).  I stuck with the winning formula of veggies + a fruit + candy the whole week.

Monday.

DSC06987Veggies with smoked almonds and Sriracha mayo.  Plus tangerines and Chinese candy.

DSC06995DSC06990DSC06992Tuesday.

DSC07004Veggies with pistachios and champagne pear vinaigrette.  Plus mint m&m’s and an Autumn Glory apple (<– they taste like cinnamon!).

DSC07011DSC07006DSC07008Thursday.

DSC07065Veggies with smoked almonds and bbq sauce.  Plus gummies from Dylan’s and another cinnamon-y apple.

DSC07074DSC07066DSC07071On Wednesday, Adam and I went into the city for lunch at Serendipity3.

DSC07046DSC07042The Christmas decorations were out of control, it was gorgeous in there.

We shared a frrrozen hot chocolate that was delightful.

DSC07048I got my favorite sandwich for lunch, the Summer Bries – smoked turkey, sliced apples, melted brie and alfalfa sprouts, served on raisin pumpernickel with Russian dressing.

DSC07049Yum!  I shared about 50% of my sandwich with the husband, but it was ok because I stole some of his curry sauce to drizzle on my salad.

DSC07053Snacks

I don’t have any pictures because I haven’t been bringing my camera to work, but let me just tell you – I’ve been eating so much freaking junk on the train!  Like I said earlier, I am super hungry all afternoon, and I end up buying food the minute I escape the hospital.  It is a bad bad habit.

Strawberry Champagne Polar to make work on NYE feel a little more festive.

DSC07014Actual champagne.  We drank Moet & Chandon on our honeymoon and now it feels extra special.

DSC07085DSC07088Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea with honey.

DSC07018Plain Greek yogurt with blackberries and maple syrup.

DSC07083Seltzer and a candy cane.

DSC07038Gummi cola bottles (Adam bought me an array for our anniversary), eaten nightly this week while playing Sonic.  <– best thing ever

DSC07026Dessert hour with Adam at Cafe Dada.

DSC07056We split a diplomat pastry,

DSC07062and both had cafe cortados.

DSC07059They use Blue Bottle Coffee as their espresso and it is divine.

Dinners

I don’t have pictures from Monday and Wednesday and without them I honestly can’t remember what I ate those nights.  I ate a small serving of mac and cheese from Panera on NYE, but I’m sure I had something with it and I can’t remember what!  When I used to blog every day I didn’t realize how much the act of picture-taking helped to cement the meals in my brain.

An easy favorite.  Farro topped with smoked herring, sweet sesame seaweed, Sriracha, and a soft-boiled egg.

DSC07023Black eyed peas for the new year.  In a skillet I randomly tossed together – BEP, green pepper, plum tomato, green onion, turkey bacon, smoked paprika, green Tabasco, and plain Greek yogurt.  On top of jasmine rice.

DSC07094Leftover farro, stir-fried with peas.

DSC07108I know I didn’t give a ton of dinner description, but I starting realizing just how long this post is!

Don’t forget to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

The Rest Of The Weekend

Here is all the stuff that didn’t tie into yesterday’s book review…

Coffee break(fast) on Friday.

DSC06467One of the doctors brought us all in doughnuts but I stuck with my latte and coffee chia bar (even though this flavor ended up being gross).  Later I was laughing with Adam about how much much harder it is to pass things up now that I’ve gotten kind of fat.  Before it felt like “this is a time I’m not eating something yummy, but that’s ok because I look and feel my best because I occasionally don’t eat things that are yummy.”  Before I started my job I went a little crazy with the sitting on the couch and eating thing and now I’m trying to get back to my old, healthy self.  But now it’s like “I’m passing up on this doughnut but I still don’t look like I pass on doughnuts, I look like I rolled around in a pile of doughnuts like Scrooge McDuck and then just put my clothing on over the doughnuts that stuck!

<— anyone else get what I’m saying there?

Another Friday item, lunch.

DSC06456The last of the big grapes.

DSC06460And a salad of romaine with groats, edamame, peanuts, and peanut vinaigrette.

DSC06458It was so great having the pre-cooked edamame at the ready.  Thanks, Trader Joe’s.  And speaking of TJ’s…

We tried several tasty cheeses this weekend.

DSC06452DSC06473In grilled cheese!  On gingerbread swirl bread.

DSC06513We made one sandwich of each and then split them in half.  Chocolate cheddar cheese with Sriracha mayo and English cheddar with caramelized onions with dijon.

DSC06516So. Freaking. Good.  I don’t even plan on being a person who doesn’t cozy up with the husband in front of Gray’s with a plate of grilled cheese.  I just need to stop being the person who puts cheese on everrrrrrrrrything.

We cashed in a BOGO coupon at Starbucks and got turkey bacon, egg white, and cheddar sandwiches for breakfast before running errands.

DSC06469DSC06471This sandwich is one of the husband’s very favorite things but I ended up sharing the last 1/3 of mine with him.  I feel like there must be fake sugar in the English muffins; they have a strangely sweet aftertaste that throws off the whole sandwich.

I was supposed to do a review with Limoneira recently but things fell through at the last minute.  They felt bad and sweetly sent me a big box of lemons.

DSC06352Too exciting!  I had so much fun getting to experiment with the meyer lemons.  We made another batch of Dulce de Leche Lemon Popsicles, and did something really fun with the leftover “batter.”

DSC06475DSC06479Lemon egg creams!  Just popsicle mix (lemon juice, scm, and skim milk) with pink grapefruit seltzer.

We also made some lemon bars to bring to a holiday party we attended Saturday night.

DSC06505My mom always made these bars for me growing up but this was the first time Adam ever tried them and he adored them.  Not super Christmasy but they did have powdered sugar snow.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the cookbook giveaways!

The Bacon – Bringing It Home

It is {finally!} time to announce that I’ve started a new job.  My first official job as a Registered Dietitian.  <—yay!

I’ve actually known about this news for a while, but my hospital has an insanely long hiring process and I didn’t want to blog anything until everything was set.  I spent yesterday at an all-day orientation and today I get to go start being an RD.

I am going to be the Dietitian for the Women’s Health Center at a hospital in Brooklyn.

The above statement still sounds so surreal; I still can’t believe it’s only been a little over 2 years since I was freaking out about buying my first white coat.

lab coatPlease cross your fingers for me that I have a good first day!

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

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.

DSC04900I 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.

DSC04898I made my oats a little too toasty, but I was very pleased with the yogurt.

2. Pumpkin Pie Through A Straw.

DSC04934That’s right, I cracked open my first can of pumpkin!

DSC04939I’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.

DSC04967This was the most dessert-y of the “dessert” breakfasts but it was still pretty healthy.

DSC04970Wallaby low-fat maple yogurt topped with Crispy Green bananas (former freebie), and melted Biscoff Spread.

snacks

1. Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults and a caramel macchiato.

DSC04997I 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:

somersaultsDSC04643I 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!

DSC05000I thought that the Cinnamon Crunch (a new flavor this year) was great; a good blend of sweet and seedy.

2. Cinnamon Pumpkin Beer Bread.

DSC04961Just Beer Bread made with a pumpkin beer and a layer of cinnamon sugar (we used cinnamon maple sugar) on top.

DSC04959DSC04964Quite good with schmear of butter.

3. An actual sundae.

DSC04996Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla Honey Caramel Greek Frozen Yogurt with melted Biscoff Spread; I was all about the Biscoff this week.

DSC04993I 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.

DSC04944I’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.

DSC04954DSC04952The brie and pumpkin butter mash-up was just as good as I thought it would be.

Roasted green beans on the side,

DSC04950and TJ’s Hawaiian Style BBQ Potato Chips.

DSC04946This was a fun lunch to munch through.

2. A trip to Chobani Bar in SoHo.

DSC04992A girlfriend and I took the train into the city from Queens.  We snacked on Somersaults on the way in.

DSC04980She had never tasted them before but was an instant fan.

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

DSC04982DSC04983The space was very pretty, but strangely they had no seating.  We ended up finding a nice spot on a sunny stoop.

DSC04985DSC04988I 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.

DSC04990I 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.

DSC04921This combo of ingredients made for one heck of a dinner –

DSC04906While my mushrooms were browning…

DSC04910I ate some of the rest of the bbq chips,

DSC04905and opened a Pumking.

DSC04911I 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.

DSC04917Salads on the side.  A romaine blend dressed with a sprinkle of salt and 1 tsp each honey and olive oil.

DSC04931My 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.

DSC05008I recently received a package from Ortega to help me celebrate National Taco Day:

DSC04972I 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 –

taco recipeI 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. Heat evoo in a large pan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, 5 – 7 minutes.
  2. Add garlic and jalapeños and cook an additional 5 minutes.
  3. 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.
  4. Heat taco shells according to package instructions.
  5. 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.

DSC05014We 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.

DSC04890Three full months of living here later, we finally bought shelving for the living room.

DSC04886There’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.

DSC05004I 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!).

DSC04882Feeling 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?