MadeMerry

by Emily

I was not a stellar food blogger this week. I had several work lunch parties and I didn’t take pictures then. And it was a particularly heinously stressful work-week so adult dinners did not happen – one night I went out for drinks with a girlfriend, one night we ordered in pizza, one night I ate chips in bed and fell asleep fully dressed… you get the gist. I do have photos of a fun box of samples and the exciting ensuing snacks!

MadeGood reached out to me recently about trying their goods. They are a certified organic company that makes granola bars, granola bites, and crispy treats. Their products are vegan, kosher, gluten-free, and free of eight common allergens (dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg, fish, shellfish, and soy). PLUS they are made with a vegetable powder made of spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, and shitake mushrooms and the granola products provide 20% of the RDA for vitamins A, B1, B6, C, D, and E per serving.

Normally I am unmoved by snack items with “hidden” fruits and veggies – though I do totally understand why they can be helpful for picky kids! – but in this case I am 100% on board. The MadeGood products all had a savory quality that made them completely addictive! Adam and I both felt that the crispy squares were the best crispy treats we’d ever tasted! And the granola items struck a good balance between chew and crunch. In short – I am a new fan.

Snack attack highlights from the week…

Kanzi apple / chocolate banana granola bar / vanilla crispy square / kale chips / chicken Sriracha Epic bar.

Strawberry granola minis / mixed berry granola minis / raspberry amazin’ raisins.

Apple cinnamon granola minis / chocolate chip granola bar / seaweed snack / Pacific Rose apple.

Malted milk hot chocolate (two pouches because I like my hot cocoa Turkish coffee style) / Lady Alice apple.

I’m sad it’s my last week for eggnog in my coffee.

But I did use plain skim in this Limitless Cold Brew so I could taste the vanilla.

Some non-edible stuff {ranked from least to most exciting}…

It’s Christmas next week.

I am almost finished with Felicia Day’s memoir (and loving it) so I started watching her web-series The Guild and I’m loving that too.

Starting this morning Adam is on vacation for the next 10 days!

Next week is our ten year wedding anniversary!!

I am off part of next week too so we can celebrate together!!!

2Dec2017

Winners And Losers

by Emily

I ate some really yummy prepared foods this week but I did not do so hot cooking my own meals. I had the day off on Wednesday and I spent most of the day cooking/baking and it did not go well.

I tried to make Oreo marshmallow peppermint magic bars. No. I ended up with a molten stew of brown gook.

I couldn’t feed this to anyone but it actually did taste delicious and I did scoop a serving into a jar to eat with yogurt.

I also spent several hours making brown stock and then lentil and tortellini soup. This venture at least looked like food but it tasted like… nothing. We ate Chipotle bowls for dinner.

Here were some of the things I ate that did work —

This work lunch looks unassuming but it was truly one of the best things I’ve eaten in months. Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with cranberry relish and maple + almond butter granola.

Plain Icelandic-style yogurt with cookie sludge, a SnapDragon apple, and La Colombe.

Cherry vanilla Chobani with golden kiwis and Heritage Flakes.

Some of my snacks were fairly fantastic as well. Seaweed salad.

Turkey jerky.

Carrots and garlic hummus.

Kombucha.

Coffee Chai tea. Good Earth offered to send me a sample and since chai is my favorite tea and I love coffee I accepted. It was delicious! Just a bit spicy and roasty. I drank a cup at work instead of a 2nd coffee a couple of days and did not resent it.

Hershey’s caramelized creme gold bar with peanuts and pretzels. It was so interesting and tasty, way more complex than a regular Hershey bar.

Treats at Vanilla Bean, our new favorite Long Island spot.

I had a Nutella-studded brownie and a delicious iced latte.

I may not have cook-cooked dinner but my throw-together dinners were good. Trader Joe’s frozen section did not let me down.

Fish sticks with roasted green beans and blue cheese and spicy cocktail sauce for dinner.

I also made great “Thanksgiving leftovers” baked sandwiches.

Sourdough, sliced smoked turkey, cranberry relish, mayo, and lots of Kerrygold Skellig sweet cheddar.

With burnt broccoli that still wasn’t terrible.

Please cross your fingers for no more kitchen disasters for me!

27Nov2017

Thanksgiving Week

by Emily

I always have a lot to feel thankful for and last week was no exception. With working two weekends in a row and Turkey Day my schedule worked out perfectly for lots of fun free time with the husband! We had a great time in the city on his post-call day and were able to drive to Pennsylvania Thursday evening to spend the holiday with his family.

Highlights…

Fancy coffees –

Noble Tree iced latte at Nickel and Diner.

Stumptown Winter Cheer.

Vietnamese cold brew.

Fun city restaurants –

Supermoon Bakehouse!

So cool. We tried a banana split sundae twice baked croissant – caramelized sous vide whole bananas, banana caramel sauce, creme patissiere, and chocolate almond creme, topped with chocolate fudge, banana caramel, dehydrated banana, gold leaf, and torched meringue.

And a Golden Boy Doughnut – golden turmeric brioche filled with mild chocolate salted caramel, rolled in sugar and topped with a chocolate shard – aka the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten.

Crazy good ramen at Ganso. A girlfriend and I went after work one night and it was so fantastic that I went back with Adam the next day! The first time we shared blistered shishito peppers.

And I had triple shrimp ramen – with shrimp paste chicken broth, thick Sapporo noodles, chili-fried shrimp, dried shrimp, garlic chives, and moyashi sprouts.

The second time we had wings and beer.

And I had the Tori Shio – Japanese sea salt-chicken broth, toothsome Tokyo noodles, crispy chicken thigh chashu, ajitama egg, and greens.

On-theme eats –

Pumpkin yogurt with Heritage Flakes and a ~~mini pumpkin~~ persimmon.

Fruit and nut yogurt with toffee bits, pecans, and orange raisins.

A pre-holiday plate on Tuesday night.

Crock pot cooked turkey, Trader Joe’s cornbread stuffing, cranberry dressing, and roasted green beans.

Plus a cranberry beer!

Our Thanksgiving tradition…

Stuffing nachos! With turkey, cranberry, and lots of cheese.

Plus broccoli that I pretended was green beans.

My actual Thanksgiving plate.

Our contribution to the meal was peanut butter, butterscotch, toffee candy.

Have a great week!

10Nov2017

Pumpkin’s Still In Season

by Emily

This post includes three more days of vacation (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday); I eased back into the work-week after my trip. It’s supposed to be in the 20’s in NYC later today so now I kind of wish I was away on vacation again!

Highlights from the week…

Coffee!

Pumpkin spice my grandma brought me from Winans.

Pumpkin smoothie with Greek yogurt, maple syrup, cow’s milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

BBQ at Salt and Bone.

I got a ridiculous but tasty Percocet with aged rum, coco lopez, citrus.

And had turkey breast – 3 hour smoked with a butter sauce – cole slaw, and a few bites of Adam’s potato salad.

Thai food in Sunnyside. Fried tofu.

And drunken noodles that actually had enough veggies for my tastes.

One of our favorite winter traditions is visiting Winter Village at Bryant Park for a thick hot chocolate.

Gooey walnut chocolate chip cookie from Chip in Astoria.

Buckeye straight from Ohio.

We tried something fun from Minamoto Kitchoan – Sakura Gomora, sweet bean and mochi wrapped in a cherry blossom pancake.

Packed lunch – strawberry and rosehip kefir cup with a cupcake crumbled in! Plus a snap dragon apple.

I brought in chocolate cupcakes (from a mix!) with homemade cream cheese frosting and Amy Sedaris sprinkles for a coworker’s birthday.

Yogurt with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats.

Roasted fall salad – quinoa / shredded brussel sprouts / leeks / turkey bacon / sweet and spicy pecans / gold raisins / and oven-fried sage.

One of the co-founders of CHUT UP reached out to my about sampling their new line of condiments and I happily accepted, so those were featured in dinners for the rest of the week. All three flavors are made with minimal processing and no added sugars (and they’re tasty!).

I made a veggie-packed version of chana masala with the addition of celery and orange and yellow bell pepper.

Topped with apple and caramelized onion chutney.

And a dinner for dipping with blue cheese dressing and beet ketchup.

Roasted broccoli and a root veggie mix from Trader Joe’s (carrots, beets, parsnips, and sweet potato).

Baked chicken tenders crusted in panko after an overnight marinate in peri peri hot sauce, minced ginger, lemon, and brown sugar.

27Oct2017

Won’t You Brie My Neighbor

by Emily

Bites from the week…

I was on a FUN – aka sweetened and spiced – iced coffee kick. Dark roast cold brewed with brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and extra cinnamon.

La Colombe pumpkin spice draft latte.

Vanilla cold brew from Bowery Coffee Co with half and half.

Since we have multi-grain sourdough in the house I’m back to loving toast. With Smart Balance, strawberry jam, and cheese!

Yogurt bowl lunches. Pumpkin Chobani with toffee bits and sweet and spicy pecans and a Snap Dragon apple.

Pumpkin Noosa with a brown sugar cinnamon peanut butter packet. Plus a honey tangerine and a Sweet Thorn kombucha.

Maple yogurt with vanilla granola, banana chips, and tangerine.

Plus one day I got cafeteria sushi.

A quick but delicious dinner.

Roasted brussel sprouts and a sliced RosaLynn apple.

A toasted sandwich with smoked sliced turkey, pumpkin butter, and brie. The sandwich was so freaking good that I ended up making it again for dinner the next night too (except we were out of turkey so I added cheddar for a double-cheese dream!).

Pumpkin sausage pasta topped with cheese and fried sage!

I loosely followed this recipe from Rachel Ray. A few key changes – I toasted my pasta / I used half as much pasta (whole wheat bow ties) so there was a greater ratio of sauce / I used turkey maple breakfast sausages / I added orange bell pepper with my onions / I used extra stock instead of wine / I added cayenne pepper / I used fat-free half and half.

Best thing I ate all week? Banoffee (aka banana toffee) Magic Bars!

My coworkers loved them so much they asked my to post the recipe on the blog.

Banana Toffee Magic Bars, makes 24 squares

1/2 cup salted butter
15 sheets graham crackers, crushed
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup toffee bits
1 cup chopped dried baby bananas (from Trader Joe’s)
1 cup unsweetened banana chips
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place butter in a 9×13 inch baking dish in heating oven.
When butter is fully melted, remove dish from oven and combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Mix well, then press firmly into the bottom of the dish.
Sprinkle remaining ingredients on top of crust then top evenly with sweetened condensed milk.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned.
Allow to cool before cutting. I recommend storing these in the freezer and letting them come to room temperature to serve.

16Oct2017

White Gummi Slushie

by Emily

I worked the weekend (and had two weekdays off) so my schedule has been a bit out of whack. It is still basically summer temperatures here so we haven’t moved on to hot chocolate and soups but we have been loving the crap out of Pumpkin Month. Here were some highlights from the past 7 days…

Weekly coffee combo – Black Hand and chocolate milk.

This pumpkin spice kefir is super tasty.

Pumpkin Noosa with a TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar and a SweeTango apple.

TJ’s pumpkin yogurt with pumpkin spice Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats and a Starkrimson pear.

Key lime skyr with pomegranate and Heritage Flakes.

Adam and I got a midweek lunch at Sweet to Lick vegan cafe and we are completely in love. We had a terrific hero with bulgogi style setain, gochujang mayo, and pickled vegetables.

Plus the best chocolate chip cookies ever sandwiched around Oreo cream filling!

Detroit Friends potato chips (expo sample). These are some of the very best kettle chips we’ve ever tasted and their company is totally fantastic too – some of the potatoes are grown in a vacant lot in Detroit’s Hope District.

Orange slice candies. There’s a vitamin commercial where a woman squeezes an orange slice shaped gummy and it made Adam and I both immediately want to run out to the drugstore.

Campfire S’mores ice cream.

White gummi slushie from 7-11. We are obsessed, these are so good. I’m not sure what the actual flavor is (pineapple? or maybe white grape?) but they are juicy and delicious.

All-you-can-eat sushi buffet at Mizumi. We love it there, everything is super fresh and expertly prepared. I didn’t snap all of my plates but the highlights included crab cakes, inari, and seaweed salad.

Roasted squash and tuna quinoa cakes with cocktail sauce.

Veggie bowls. Shredded cabbage tossed in this sauce / roasted edamame / marinated hard-boiled eggs (marinated in gochujang, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar).

Mexican food at Oak House in Floral Park.

I had a Mezcal mojito.

And veggie fajitas with carrots, onions, squash, peppers, and mushrooms. They had chipotle Cholula at the table and we doused everything with it.

Plus Adam and I split vanilla flan and tres leches cake for dessert.

Have a great week!

6Oct2017

Oh My Gourd, It’s Pumpkin Month!

by Emily

I didn’t do the best job with photography this week but I wanted to post anyways to share my pumpkin stash!

Oooh.

Ahhh.

Woo-hoo!

Here were some snacky, squashy highlights from the workweek…

Coffee = Wicked Joe’s with 1% cow’s milk.

My hospital’s cafeteria has a sushi bar now. They don’t have brown rice or any vegetarian options so it’s not something I’d get for lunch every day, but this spicy shrimp tempura roll sure was fun.

Pumpkin spice Siggi’s with a Caramel Almond Pumpkin Spice KIND bar and a SweeTango apple.

KIND bar with a cranberry almond Noosa.

I’ve been loving turkey-cheese roll ups as a snack recently. Provolone, smoked turkey, and a bit of pesto rolled up and microwaved until warm and melty.

La Colombe latte can with a polvoron (a fantastically delicious milk cookie my coworker brings us from the Philippines).

Dragonfruit lemongrass kombucha.

I got a blog invite for the 2017 Healthy Brand Showcase. Adam and I tasted some yummy things (shared on my Instagram Live) and I came home with tons of samples. I’ll be sure to share when I try product I love.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

2Oct2017

Pecan Beer And Maple Sausage

by Emily

Adam and I both worked all weekend but on the plus side we had Friday off together first. And we have days off that line up this upcoming week too, woo-hoo!

Highlights from the (working for the) weekend…

On Friday, I blogged my last post from Loosie’s Cafe.

That’s a cortado. I also had an iced soy latte and a chocolate croissant while I typed.

For my homemade coffee I was back on the Wicked Joe train.

The cafeteria offerings are pretty sparse over the weekend, but I did pull together this tasty plate of macaroni and cheese and vegetable medley.

And I packed the last of my Apple Month goodies for snacking – TJ’s fruit bar and dried apple rings plus TJ’s cheese bites and an instant coffee package.

My outside of work snacks were all dessert based. These crunchy cookie Reese’s cups are our very favorite American-made candy.

We finally made it to Sundays in Brooklyn‘s coffee/dessert window.

Dairy-free dark chocolate soft serve with sugar crisps and toasted marshmallow. <– swoon

After work dinners were quick but delicious. And prep flew by with my weekend sip-while-you-work cooking cocktail hour. I made a spritzer with calamansi juice, Goldshlager, and club soda.

Abita’s pecan ale is super sweet and nutty.

We made fish sticks from scratch.

Salmon was on sale, so that’s what I bought, and it worked perfectly. Breaded in panko and baked, then dipped in cocktail sauce.

With broccoli on the side.

Another night we had breakfast bowls.

There was labne hiding on the bottom / topped with roasted tomatoes and sauteed onions with sumac and olive oil / roasted delicata squash / a fried egg / and maple chicken sausages.

P.S. Pumpkin Month started yesterday! I can’t wait to share my stash in Friday’s post.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: apple

MadeMerry

Winners And Losers

Thanksgiving Week

Pumpkin’s Still In Season

Won’t You Brie My Neighbor

White Gummi Slushie

Oh My Gourd, It’s Pumpkin Month!

Pecan Beer And Maple Sausage