This Week I Loved…

the start of apple month

September 1st means I go crazy eating all things {caramel} apple!

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And breaking into this stash makes me feel less awkward about my growing pile of pumpkin items.

everything by George Ezra

But especially “Blame It On Me.”

my breakfast combo

Fiber One reached out to me about sending samples of their newest product – Cheesecake Bars!  I am not one to turn down something that has 5 grams of fiber and tastes like cheesecake.

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They come in strawberry and salted caramel and they are freaking delicious.  Each moderately sized bar has 150 calories.  They certainly aren’t as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal, but I can handle the 3.5 grams of saturated fat occasionally for something quick that keeps me full through the morning and really does taste like dessert.

I paired a caramel bar with a caramel macchiato one morning and it was a bit too much but also amazing.

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But most mornings I kept my coffee pairing low-key, Community Coffee with cream and milk.

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Yum, I love it when we have (fat-free) half and half in the fridge.

yogurt bowls

2% Fage with strawberries and Heritage Flakes.

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Plain Skyr with cotton candy grapes(!!!) and sea salt caramel apple granola.

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Omg, kids, the granola was insanely good.  It took a lot of self-control not to go through and pick out all of the caramel bits.

salads

Loaded from the cafeteria.

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Greens with ranch, peppers, tomato, cucumber, black bean and corn salsa, green olives, cheddar, and Sea Salt SuperSeedz from home.  The pumpkin seeds gave this just the right amount of crunch.

At home.

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The little strawberry glass is holding strawberry beer – Abita’s* deliciously juicy Strawgator.

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And my “salad” – which had no greens because we ran out of spinach – was tons of chopped cucumber and sweet red pepper topped with TJ’s insanely spicy Sriracha ranch, shredded cheddar, roasted pecans, and a huge pile of pulled chicken with roasted garlic and honey bbq sauce.

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Also I ate Chipotle salad two days in a row.  No shame.

* apparently Abita makes a milk stout?!  I want it so badly I can practically taste it.

Weekly Wrap-Up, Weddings Have Great Food

breakfast

Coffee.  With Hint of Honey Almond Milk and a GoMacro Bar.

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Or seltzer and an applesauce.

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Or chocolate milk.

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Another morning I tried to do the coffee + chocolate milk combo but my cafeteria was out of milk so I just drank it black and I had a stomach ache for the rest of the day.

lunch

Yogurt.  Strawberry Fage with plucots and pumpkin seeds on the side.

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Oatmeal.  Quaker Summer Berry oats with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter on top and plucots on the side.

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Sandwich.  A monster from the cafeteria with spicy turkey and fresh mozzarella on a brioche roll.

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Leftovers.  Egg salad (see below), TJ’s Crispy Broccoli – which I dumped into the egg salad! – and an apple.

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snack

Salty.

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Sweet.

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dinner

I am missing many photos from the start and end of this week, but I did a pretty good job capturing the middle days.

Monday my camera was dead all afternoon and through the evening.  You didn’t miss much though, I ate two grilled cheese sandwiches in bed.  Then I ate a second dinner of Thai take-out.  Also in bed.  Related fact – I have been burning through episodes of “Body of Proof” at an alarming rate.  It’s bad; not just the fact that I’m watching the show obsessively, but the show itself, is bad.

Tuesday was frozen shrimp goyza from Trader Joe’s.

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We sautéed broccoli and bok choy with ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, and soy sauce and served our pan-fried goyza on top.

I woke up early Wednesday morning to hard-boil eggs for salad.

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This was eggs with minced red bell pepper, mayo and a healthy dollop of sesame gojuchang which gave the salad a great spice and a little bit of smokiness.

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With roasted green beans on the side.

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Roasted green beans have always been one of my favorite foods but now that I’ve started topping them with sliced shallots they’re on a whole new level.

Thursday night I was way less pathetic, but I still don’t have any pictures.  A Buffalo friend came into town and took me to a wedding.  The event was in LIC at The Foundry and it was beyond gorgeous but way too dark for food pictures.

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I ate hummus, cocktails, mini cupcakes, and all the other wedding trappings but the only photo I have is a blurry shot of my friend and me.

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Fun fact – I met her straight from work and I had to get dressed in a Barnes and Nobel bathroom.  I am the classiest.

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I took today off to spend the morning with my girlfriend before she drives home so I have this whole Friday ahead of me to watch Body of Proof do fun stuff in the city!

(Frozen)Yogurt

breakfast

Coffee!

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With caramel.

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Or with Hint of Honey Almond Milk and plums.

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Or a Clif Bar.

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Also one morning my coworker brought in yummy poppy-seed Danish.

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lunch

I had a really great sandwich with spicy sliced chicken, pickles, and fresh mozzarella from the cafeteria.

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The other days I did yogurt bowls featuring the new blended flavors from Chobani.  Coffee with plums and KIND peanut butter granola.

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Mixed berry with blueberries, raspberries, multi-grain o’s and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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And vanilla with more berries and bran flakes.

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The texture of the 2% yogurt was seriously creamy and good.

dinner

I can’t show you Monday/Tuesday’s dinner because it is my Recipe Redux for this month.  I will show you some of the tasty stuff we had with it though… Like roasted green beans on the side.  I added thinly sliced shallots and they got insanely crispy, crunchy, good.

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And frozen yogurt for dessert.  With all of the chocolate toppings.

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We liked the Nutella on top so much we ended up going back again the next night.

Wednesday was Webster’s Buyday (the anniversary of the day we brought him home) so we made a special dinner with some of his favorite foods – Nachos!  Chips with cheese, broccoli, cilantro, and chicken (pronounced chick-ON chick-ON in this house).

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He even had his own little dish.

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And of course we got Chipotle.

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Of course.

random thoughts

I am so freaking excited that Target is doing away with gender-based labeling in some of its children’s aisles!  When I worked at a toy store in college I hated when people would come in and ask for “boy toys” or “girl toys.”  This awesome graph sums up my thoughts pretty well –

gender based toys

I’ve already seen some pumpkin beers and it is taking all of my self-control to not start stockpiling.  I’ve told myself that I’m waiting until mid-September.

Poorly Drawn Lines is always hilarious but I feel like this week’s comics have been especially great.

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We had dessert every single night this week.  I want to nip that daily habit in the bud, but I also have fifteen plus new ice cream joints that I want to visit before summer ends.

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Lunch N Oats

breakfast

This week’s coffee (a mix of Community Coffee and Brooklyn Roasting Co) was iced with milk (a mix of vanilla almond milk and skim).  Sweetened with honey – meh.

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And maple – yum!

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And paired with watermelon juice.

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And an apple.

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lunch

2% Lingonberry Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped apricot and plum and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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The rest of the week was all about the oats.

Chocolate chip oats with peanut butter and diced apricot stirred in.  Plus goats milk maple caramels on the side.

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Coconut maple oats with purple rose plums(!!) and chocolate pumpkin seeds.

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And oats from home.  With freeze-dried strawberries, chia seeds, chocolate covered cocoa nibs, and chocolate chunks.

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snack

Delicious nougat bar my parents bought me at BRKLYN Larder.  Adam bought me Luxardo cherries for my birthday there too and I am so excited to start using them.

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Iced Americano with cream.

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Herbed turkey and Havarti roll-up.

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I ate several handfuls of prunes this week.  The snack situation was getting pretty bleak.

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But then we bought the new Reuben lays.

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It was amazing, if you were blindfolded you still would totally taste rye bread and thousand island dressing.  If they were kettle chips instead of the flimsy regular kind they’d be my new favorite.

dinner

Leftovers from Sunday.  Whole-wheat penne topped with sautéed turkey, mushrooms, and onions in marinara sauce.

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Eaten cold, out of the Tupperware, in front of the open fridge.  It’s kind of crazy how classy I am.

The next night really was pretty snazzy though.

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Lemon Pepper Baked Shrimp with shredded Brussels sprouts and barely.

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Recipe HERE, this cooks in less than 30 minutes.

Then we had big salads with red curry turkey burgers on top.

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Arugula blend topped with TJ’s Asian Sesame Vinaigrette, sliced cucumber, and baked shredded Brussels sprouts and broccoli.  Two notes – 1) baking the shredded B sprouts is my new favorite thing; 2) I bought TJ’s Thai-style chili and lime cashews to put on the salads and they were so spicy even I couldn’t eat them.

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The patties were lean ground turkey with tons of parsley and green onions, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, red curry paste, and ground ginger.  Cooked in coconut oil.

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We were supposed to have this meal two nights in a row but we snacked on the 1st round of patties while we assembled the salads (and the dog ate an entire patty that fell on the ground!) and there ended up only being enough leftovers for one.  Really I won out though because this chile rellano from TJ’s was darn good.

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Best frozen meal ever.

Finish this thought – this weekend I am excited to…

My Year Is Off To A Good Start

enjoyed all week

Coffees.  Also naps.

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Apparently my parents wore us out; I had a to take a nap before I could make dinner the first three nights of the week.

Diet chocolate soda from Polar.

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I know it sounds a little strange but we were fans.

Our leftovers from The Smith.  Eaten cold while standing in front of the open fridge.

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My mac and cheese was fantastic leftover and so was my mom’s Mexican corn.

A big box of free samples {free as in provided free of charge / no other compensation for this post / yada, yada } from Super Seedz.

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I wouldn’t have thought of pumpkin seeds as a favorite of mine but I’ve loved all of the flavors we’ve tried so far.  Flavor options include: Really Naked, Sea Salt, Cinnamon & Sugar, Coco Joe, Tomato Italiano, Curious Curry, Somewhat Spicy and Super Spicy.  They pack a nutritional punch – see the infographic (provided by the company) below – and Super Seedz are allergen friendly – peanut-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, fish-free, shellfish-free, soy-free and made with gluten-free ingredients.

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breakfast

After we dropped my parents at the airport on Monday, Adam and I went on a doughnut(plant) and coffee date before work.  Because apparently we hadn’t eaten enough crap over my birthday weekend.

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My strawberry-filled vanilla got two thumbs up.

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As did my maple latte from Gorilla.

Coco pumpkin seeds and cold-pressed watermelon juice.

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TJ’s came through on this juice, it was wonderfully refreshing.

Chocolate-cherry smoothie.

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Vanilla almond milk with coco powder, frozen cherries, and dates.  I enjoyed this combo and want to make it again soon.

Snack plate.

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A cheese stick, cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds, and a medley of grapes.

lunch

Chocolate chip cookie oats.

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With an apple and coco pumpkin seeds.

Sweet and spicy tuna salad.

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With grapes and cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds.

I didn’t have to provide my own lunch the rest of the week!  I attended a lunch-and-learn on malnutrition in surgical patients on Tuesday.

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They gave us education, salad, and yummy sandwiches with hummus and roasted eggplant.  And I mainlined coffee (with tons of milk and cream) when I got back to my desk.

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On Thursday the hospital threw an employee appreciation bbq.

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Very sweet!

dinner

Pizza, pizza.

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We used TJ’s frozen crusts and were so impressed with how they turned out.  Topped with marinara, mozzarella, and tons of garlic and onion sautéed mushrooms.

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Plus super simple salads on the side.

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Just arugula blend with ranch dressing.  They were a bit depressing.  But we also had beer.

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I carried this Southern Tier Compass all the way back home from Buffalo but unfortunately it was a bit hoppy for our tastes.

Burger night.

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I made my Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers.  They don’t look like much but this is one of my best recipes!

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With a trio of roasted veggies: Brussels sprouts, green beans, and broccoli.

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Served with maple bacon kettle chips, aka my favorite chips because they are the best chips of all time.

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They were doing a promotion and handing out mini bags at my railroad station and it was very exciting.

Last night I met up with a girlfriend for dinner in Brooklyn.  We checked out Elbow Room, the mac and cheese window at Morgan’s BBQ.

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Milk stout.

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Old School Mac – NY state sharp cheddar, béchamel, and garlic breadcrumbs.

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With collard greens that were spicy and vegetarian.  Dinner was good but dessert was better.

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Salted crack caramel and honey peanut butter ice creams from Ample Hills.  But they were supposed to have key lime pie ice cream available and they didn’t so now I need to go back immediately and it’s a problem.

Reunited And It Feels So Good

I had an absolute blast in Buffalo but this past week I have been so freaking excited to be home with my boys.  I usually miss them by the end of my workday so a long weekend away feels like an eternity.  I am lucky to have a husband and dachshund who are both so great! {/sap}

breakfast

Black and white coffee.

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Or Vanilla Chameleon Cold Brew with chocolate milk and an apple on the side.

Cereal with milk.  And blueberries.

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Plus Guava Mandarin Polar seltzer.

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I lugged that back from Wegman’s in Buffalo and it was so worth it.

Coffee-eee-eee.

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Always worth it.  I’d be lying if I said my birthday drink freebie wasn’t bringing me a lot of anticipatory joy.

lunch

Asian-ish.

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Microwave noodles and roasted seaweed.

Oatmeal bowl.

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Chai-spiced oats from Target with maple almond butter on top and 2 black pluots on the side.

Yogurt bowl.

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Vanilla Skyr Icelandic yogurt with blueberries, KIND peanut butter granola, and chia seeds.  This was so tasty; I need more of that yogurt immediately.

dinner

Adam was at the hospital when I got home on Sunday so we had to turn Monday into date night.  He picked me up at work and came bearing red velvet cupcakes.

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We went to dinner at East Wind Snack Shop by Prospect Park.

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We came in for the foie gras bao, which ended up being only ok.  For the cheap price the amount of foie gras was very fair, but I would have rather paid a bit more and gotten a better meat-to-bun ratio.

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But my Happy Buddha Vegetables were yummy.

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They describe this dish as “jasmine rice, fermented tofu, seasoning, and all sorts of vegetables.” I’m not sure what the green sauce was but it was worth going back for.  Then we walked to the theatre (our movie theatre) to see “Ant-Man.”  The character development was weak but the movie was still hilarious so we’re glad we went.

I didn’t have time to do a real grocery trip this week so the following two nights were admittedly a little weak.  This meal was fine but it’s not winning any prizes.

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Cheez-its, leftover roasted veggies that Adam made last week, and a turkey and Havarti cheese sandwich.

This meal was a bit better.  It definitely tasted good.

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We needed a carbohydrate side so we had beer!  Tusker is one of my all-time favorite beers, and pretty much the only lager I enjoy.

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With roasted veggies – asparagus, okra, and zucchini – with Applegate chicken nuggets.

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A copious amount of ketchup was added after I took that picture.

My parents come to visit tomorrow.  And Friday is my birthday.  I’m old, but excited!

This Week I…

…Made a Redux recipe that I can’t post yet so I don’t have much to share today.  Also we got Chipotle twice.

…Love love loved some of Polar’s summer seltzer flavors.

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You can’t go wrong with fizzy strawberry.

…Finished season 3 of OITNB.  I wasn’t a fan.  But of course I kept watching and will still watch season 4 next year.  I hated every single major decision Piper made this season!

…Tried the last three flavors from my GoMacro sample package.

Cashew butter (sweet rejuvenation) tastes exactly like a pureed cashew so your level of love for cashews would definitely affect your enjoyment of this bar.

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Peanut butter (protein replenishment) wasn’t my favorite; it was too boring.

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But banana + almond butter (prolonged power) was amazing; it tastes like a dried banana!  The texture works perfectly here.

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P.S.  My coffee this week was Brooklyn Roasting Co’s Peru blend cold-brewed with cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla bean.  So good.

…Ate a veggie and cheese omelet for breakfast the next day and it was like I hardly knew myself.

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I have to give the cafeteria credit though, this was delicious.

…Read this Buffy the Vampire Slayer article on Buzzfeed and wondered how it’s possible that anyone has a favorite character that isn’t Anya.  From any show ever, not just Buffy.  Though Kitty from That 70’s Show is also pretty wonderful.

…Ate some amazing yogurt bowls for lunch.

Soursop yogurt with plucot and white nectarine and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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Salted caramel Greek yogurt with KIND peanut butter granola and a white nectarine.

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Plain Siggi’s with plucot and yellow nectarine and a giant chocolate chip cookie.

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We baked Take a Megabite’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are fantastic!  And yes, I totally crumbled that cookie into my yogurt.

…Adore LL Cool J for giving me Lip Sync Battle.  Celebrities compete against each other in choreographed lip syncing madness and it is hilarious.  My love for Anna Kendrick grew exponentially when she killed it against John Krasinski, but Anne Hathaway’s “Wrecking Ball” is clearly the standout performance of the season.

…Packed for Buffalo.  Some friends and I are driving there for a visit today!

I’d Have To Say April 25th

This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates.  Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half.  The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

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Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie.  The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest).  They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

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An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival).  Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

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Doughnut Plant date before work.  The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up.  Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

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Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness).  The oats gave this a great consistency.

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That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target.  I’m obsessed.  I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week.  Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria.  Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

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The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria.  Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll.  I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side.  I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

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Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap.  I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

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Lunch date at La Bagel Delight.  We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

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On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots.  2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

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Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee.  Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together.  Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

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Guava cheese empanada.  I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

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Ice cream date.  We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

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Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted.  And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet?  Those ice cube stickers kill me.

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Maple latte.  With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

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I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again.  And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

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A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift).  I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

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That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

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Best meal of the week.

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We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

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Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

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Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side.  We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good!  Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg.  Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces.  My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

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We cooled down at Snowdays.  Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

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We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge.  It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

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I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side.  We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

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My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

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Plus a great salad.

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Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?