Five highlights from a low-key weekend…
A perfect snack plate.
Plant-based jerky.
These gummies were – a) delightfully mini; b) some of the best textured candy I’ve ever eaten; c) how I fueled for a longer run; d) all of the above.
x2 double IPAs.
A super quick Trader Joe’s meal – cheese tortellini, cheddar, artichoke hearts, tuna fish and dorado, balsamic fig dressing.
Unsurprisingly, vacation was amazing. We went home for 8 days and had a fantastic time!
Transitioning back to real life is never as fun but here were some highlights from the last week…
A work snack with strong fluffernutter vibes. Vanilla marshmallows and a peanut butter granola bar.
Chewy Swedish candies from a Snack Crate.
Gelato with dulce de leche and crunchy chocolate.
An easy one-sheet-pan dinner. Riced cauliflower roasted with carrot, celery, and chicken soup sausage.
The best homemade pizza. A frozen crust from Trader Joe’s / marinara sauce that I cooked down with tons of garlic and chili oil, plus fish sauce / smoked sliced mozzarella / turkey pepperoni. Plus roasted romanesco.
An eclectic salad. Baby romaine with sriracha-mayo dressing, wasabi peanuts, sesame seeds, yellow raisins, and leftover romanesco.
Three highlights from last week – –
Really good bars. The Barebells are super filling and have a nice coating with no palm oil. The Whoa Dough are cookie dough.
We made Vietnamese egg coffees! Just phin-brewed dark coffee and sweetened condensed milk and an egg yolk beaten until fluffy.
Whole-wheat matzoh brei cooked in butter.
One highlight of the century – –
We’re on vacation! By the time this post goes live Adam and I both will have started a week off from work with no obligations except spending time with each other.
Highlights from the past week include…
I am a total sucker for anything labeled limited edition and I really enjoyed this double dark chocolate Perfect Bar.
Also very pleasantly surprised by the Trader Joe’s chocolate peanut butter mochi.
I made brownies for Rex Manning Day! This is my favorite, most obscure tradition. These guys had tons of chocolate chips and espresso powder in them and were fantastically fudgy.
Bahn mi chicken salad with bok choy with ginger and carrot plus taro coconut chips.
Thai take-out night – spicy chicken and long beans with veggie dumplings.
Roasted green beans with eggs, vegan pork floss, and chili crisp.
Leftover bok choy with the best pizza we’ve ever made. Just a frozen crust topped with tomato sauce gussied up with tons of garlic, chili crisp, and olive oil plus baby mozzarella and bresaola.
Turkey and cheddar sandwich (with black garlic mayo!) on toasted rye with roased brussel sprouts.
This was an exceptionally tasty week! My snacks were on point, we tried a fantastic new restaurant, and the dinners we cooked were total successes. Highlights include…
Brunch at Xilonen, a new vegetarian Mexican spot in Greenpoint. We were blown away by the scrambled egg tostada with salsa mache, queso, and a crispy blue corn tortilla.
Heirloom corn tamal, stuffed with sweet potato al pastor, and topped with smoked crema and poblano rajas.
Masa pancakes with maple and butter.
Dalgona iced coffee with black sesame vanilla bean milk.
An ideal snack array – sumo mandarin, salted peanuts, and lava cake kisses.
My parents sent us a box of St. Patrick’s Day goodies, including homemade clover sugar cookies.
Peanut butter chocolate chip Perfect Bar + boba milk tea mochi.
Boba-studded popsicles are currently my favorite snack category.
10/10 leftovers from The Meat Hook. The french onion dip was the best I’ve ever had.
Farro / glazed, baked tofu / sautéed bok choy and green onion / chili crisp / fried shallots (which we made in the microwave!!).
Soba noodles / peanut sauce (loosely based on this one) / cabbage / zucchini / ground turkey / chili crisp and smashed peanuts.
Oven-baked crispy chicken tenders (loosely inspired by this recipe) with brown sugar chili crisp sauce + roasted broccoli with fried shallots. I went back for thirds of that chicken!
I did not watch any Super Bowl (instead I started watching Woke!) but I did eat a giant plate of cheese fries! Other highlights from this weekend included…
Salted Caramel Perfect Bar with an iced coffee.
Iced Phin coffee with maple vanilla salted cold foam.
Ice cream for a snow day. Yes, I ate the pretzel swirl out of the entire pint in less than 5 minutes.
Leftover Thai noodles and chicken stir-fried with eggs and extra veggies (Trader Joe’s frozen stir-fry mix) and topped with Nowon chili oil.
Leftover Thai green beans with soft-scrambled eggs, veggie floss, furikake, and chili oil. <– this was the best thing I’ve eaten all month
It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas! Very excited about this year’s ridiculous line-up on on-theme items.
Highlights from this past week include…
Eggnog + Trager Brothers Coffee (<– the stuff from the hospital coffee shop in Virginia that I was obsessed with).
Plus I made an eggnog dalgona coffee!
A very pepperminty breakfast. I was expecting the peanut butter/mint combo to be strange but that Perfect bar was actually amazing.
Greek yogurt bowl with cranberry sauce, cinnamon, and butter rum trail mix.
Still really loving these cocktail hour truffles from Trader Joe’s.
We are even more excited about these buttermints that my parents HANDMADE!?!
Turkey taco night. Corn tortilla with homemade chipotle salsa / sautéed white onion, yellow and orange bell pepper, and poblano pepper / ground turkey / shredded cheese / sour cream / hot sauce. Plus a taco-less pile fillings on the side.
Taco bowl night. Everything from the previous meal plus cranberry sauce and minus the tortilla.
We took a break from tacos with take-out from our favorite Japanese place. Garlic sautéed veggies, tempura veggies and chicken, seaweed salad, edamame, and tofu.
We actually had a very busy Sunday but the title references something later in the post! Really, we had the best weekend ever. I know I say that every time Adam and I have a weekend together, but this one was my new favorite! We walked around the Lower East Side eating all of the things, took a long walk through Williamsburg/across the bridge, and made fancy sandwiches which we ate in bed while laughing hysterically at the latest SNL.
Highlights include…
Pumpkin things! Pumpkin pie Perfect bar with a Vietnamese iced latte.
Local pumpkin ales, which were good but not our favorites.
Caramel pumpkin yogurt with cashew butter and granola.
Love these seaweed chips!
I know this looks like a depression snack but these bbq kettle chips with melted Manchego were actually my favorite thing I ate all weekend.
Chip in Astoria has new seasonal fall lattes! We had dulce de leche and black and white cookie!
Plus a monster chip cookie.
We had the best parfait at Cha An. Tea jelly, fruit, mochi, brown sugar syrup, and green tea ice cream.
Dirt-pudding style bingsu from Lazy Sundaes!
10/10 meal at Thai Diner. Perhaps my new favorite spot? We shared Thai iced tea, milo hot chocolate with pandan marshmallows, and a spicy tamarind mezcal margarita.
Plus chicken phat see eiw (which was perfectly packed with basil and Chinese brocoli).
And spicy chicken and banana blossom salad.
Eating Chalk 