Tag Archives: bar

Chili, Congee, Cookie, Chewy

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It’s March tomorrow, thank goodness! Did February feel even longer than January this year? Some things from the last week…

I searched for months for this chocolate chip cookie Nesquik to add to iced coffees and it ended up being very lackluster.

Meanwhile these Smash Bites are perfectly satisfying.

This pre-dinner snack was brought to you by the word “chewy.”

Yogurt bowl mix of the week – plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and granola and All Bran buds.

Dinners this week were all about comforting meals (and an excessive amount of unphotographed take-out!). Congee – brown rice slow cooked in chicken broth, topped with garlicy sauteed collard greens, silken tofu, chili crisp, and green onion. I loved the silken tofu texture/temperature contrasts in this.

Chili when it’s chilly! We made a huge batch with ground turkey, pinto beans, sweet onion, zucchini, yellow bell pepper, poblano pepper, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and a ton of seasoning. I pre-cooked my veggies by roasting them in the oven and it worked out great. We always add fish sauce and dark soy sauce to our chili. Topped with tons of cheese, hot sauce, and plain skry. With beer bread on the side!

Bars And Bowls

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Things from a yummy week…

Butterscotch instant coffee! I liked this better than their maple flavor but still wanted it to have more roasty oomph.

It was perfect in my fluffernutter coffee shake. With ice, skim milk, additional cold brew powder, vanilla protein powder, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and frozen banana.

I know I’m repetitive but this combination is perfect – plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate cookie granola.

Pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. I prefer the chocolate flavors but these are always good.

This minty chocolate Barebells bar was a 10/10. I love the layer of gooey mint; this is fully like eating a candy bar (with zero grams of added sugar).

Spinach and artichoke casserole. Sauteed frozen artichokes and chopped spinach with garlic and gochugaru, eggs, plain Greek yogurt, shredded chicken breast, lemon juice, cheese, and Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.

Chicken congee. Brown rice slow-cooked with vegetable broth, white pepper, ginger, fish sauce, and shredded chicken. Topped with chopped boy choy and Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggies sauteed with garlic, dark soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Plus tons of chili crisp. The veggie broth (which gave this its orange hue) worked great in here and I would use it again.

Pita Pita

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Some things from the past week…

We had the best coffee of our entire lives at Caphe Den. A (thick, delicious) phin brew topped with egg cream.

Homemade iced coffee with rose vanilla syrup.

Chia Smash chocolate peanut butter and raspberry jam bites are wonderfully tasty and satisfying.

I didn’t really like this brownie batter Noosa. Will I accept that I don’t like sweet yogurts? Never.

Reese’s Big Cups with gooey chocolate are the best candy on Earth; amazingly, they are even better than the chip ones.

Mochi breads from Croffle House. These were great. We got sweet potato, chestnut (our favorite), and pumpkin.

Pita pocket dinners! Cheeseburger-inspired. Sauteed ground turkey with green onions, pickles, and ketchup/mayo/yellow mustard/Greek yogurt, plus sharp cheddar. With sauteed broccoli slaw.

Tuna melt. A mix of canned tuna and smoked trout with Greek yogurt, mayo, pickle juice, capers, and green onion. With sharp cheddar and fried in an egregious amount of butter. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with butter, lemon juice, and garlic.

Mediterranean salmon. Frozen salmon patties with a homemade tzatziki (yogurt with lemon, cucumber, and ranch seasoning). Plus sauteed baby zucchini with capers and roasted red pepper.

Homemade pita chips! With roasted broccoli, honey nut squash (our favorite), red kuri squash (not for us, apparently), and salmon candy spread.

Plus a perfect take-out dinner. Memphis bbq rub popcorn chicken and cajun fries with peanut sauce steamed rice rolls. I also had some leftover broccoli and baby carrots with my dipping sauces (bbq and Cane’s – we stopped in to buy a Diet Coke and I wisely also purchased a single sauce!).

P.S. It is Pumpkin Month tomorrow!!

Brinner Harvest

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It is normal to have a weekly food theme, yes? This week had two – the 1st week of Apple Month and breakfasts for dinners! On-theme highlights included…

{Apples} Duh.

Over Easy apple cinnamon granola bar (7.5/10).

Health-Ade pink lady apple kombucha (8/10).

Trader Joe’s apple chips (9/10) with a caramel apple iced matcha – matcha with caramel, apple cider, and Spindrift lime and mint seltzer.

Jelly Belly cinnamon and apple mix jelly beans (8/10).

Caramel apple cocktail – apple whiskey with apple cider, lime mint seltzer, and caramel.

{Breakfasts/Brinners} Trader Joe’s coconut cold brew. I actually really don’t like this and need to stop forgetting and rebuying it every two years or so but one morning I had a cup with young coconut water and sweetened condensed milk and that was great.

A complete breakfast coffee shake – iced coffee with half and half, cold brew powder, brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, edible glitter, frozen banana, and Lucky Charms!

Matzoh brie. We used egg and onion matzoh and it was fantastic. I top mine with salt and sugar. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

Blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. This recipe but I used all-purpose flour, skipped the maple in the batter, and added a bit of lemon juice. These were great. I ditched my plate for a larger one so I could smoother them in maple syrup though.

Paired with the best green smoothie I’ve ever made – frozen spinach, mango, and banana, with hibiscus powder, vanilla protein powder, and water.

Egg burrito from Roast. Scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potatoes, peppers, onions and hot sauce aioli. Plus their sweet potato tots and (homemade) green beans sauteed with honey and mustards.

Paired with a fantastic mimosa sour IPA from Abomination Brewing.

Ming Bings plant-based sausage, egg, and cheese bing. With yellow squash and fairytale eggplant that I roasted and then sauteed with gochujang, tahini, sesame oil, brown sugar, and water. After the matzoh these veggies were my favorite bite of the week!

Bluebird, Blueberry

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Things from the weekend…

It is Apple Month! I started my Sunday, September 1st with a trip to New York Beanery for their caramel apple latte special.


And I, of course, have an Apple Month stash. P.S. Those fall Whole Foods hand soaps smell amazing.

Baklava flavored protein bar.

Burrata ice cream (only ok) topped with blueberry jam, honey, and aged balsamic (delicious).

Leftover creamy mushroom turkey pasta. I went back and topped with bowl with Sriracha and furikake. Goodles noodles are wonderful leftover.

Homemade cole slaw topped with baked chicken breast that I chopped and then tossed in a skillet with butter, honey, and several types of mustard.

Dinner at Bluebird Kitchen. We shared housemade chips with french onion dip and deviled eggs with gochujang mayo and furikake.

I had a Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner with Tito’s, lychee, grapefruit, and rose petals. The petals were in a rose-shaped ice ball!

And the best frozen pina colada we’ve ever tasted.

Lobster mac and cheese for dinner.

And we got the sundae for dessert – housemade vanilla soft serve, bruleed banana, chocolate
magic shell, sugar cookie crumble, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.

Sandwich Week Forever

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Sandwich highlights from the week…

Ice cream sandwich. Nightingale makes the best.

PB&J things. Smash Bites with chia seed jam. These were a bit savory-sweet and had a great texture; I ended up loving them.

Yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with crunchy peanut butter, blueberry jam, and blueberries and blackberries.

Chip City peanut butter cookie (perfect blend of chewy and crispy) stuffed with grape jelly.

Turkey. We baked thin patties out of ground turkey, seasonings, and parmesan cheese. On toasted whole-wheat bread with an artichoke spread (plain Skry, marinated artichokes, dijon mustard, and lemon juice). Plus roasted cauliflower.

Chicken. Chopped on hero – baked chicken breast (marinated in yogurt, gochujang, and oyster sauce), sharp cheddar, radish kimchi (crisped in a skillet with green onions and sugar), and Kewpie mayo. Plus roasted brussel sprouts.

Beef. Takeout from Roast – roast beef with mozzarella, horseradish sauce, garlic butter, and crispy onions on an everything ciabatta / shaved rib eye, mozzarella, and garlic aioli on a housemade onion hero / fries. Plus green beans that I steamed then sautéed with honey, mustard, and vinegar.

Crab. Rangoon-style filling (crab meat, green onion, sharp cheddar, sugar, sweet chili sauce, and cream cheese) on toasted whole wheat bread. Plus roasted zucchini.

Summer Salad

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Weekend things…

Kings Coast Coffee. I got a great iced latte with toasted coconut syrup.

Chocolate mint protein bars – NuGo and Barebell, both 9.5/10.

We give these Cheddies crackers two thumbs up; they are nicely cheesy and crunchy.

Fried brussel sprouts (leftover from a fantastic Friday night sushi dinner at Kissaki) with togarashi, sharp cheddar, and a fried egg.

Crunchy tacos from Burrito Blvd. With chicken, zucchini, corn salsa, tomato salsa, mild salsa, and cheddar.

Lido Kosher Deli is one of our favorite Long Island spots. It doesn’t hurt that we usually go after an ocean-front run on the Long Beach boardwalk! Pastrami stuffed into a knish can’t miss. They have great cole slaw and house-made pickles.

Summer salad plate – plum, plucot, Midnight roma tomatoes, fried halloumi, baked tofu (marinated in honey, vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, and harissa), honey, and za’atar chili crisp.

Comfortcana

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Things from this week…

We are on our second round of Wild Twist apples and I can say that they are my newest favorite.

I didn’t mean to do another birthday cake theme week but somehow it happened. Exhibit A – Oat Haus granola butter.

Eaten with plain skyr with plucot, blueberries, and cereal (Heritage Flakes and cinnamon Frosted Flakes).

Exhibit B – edible glitter (for cold foams) / Sprinkle’s cupcake cups / Barebell protein bar.

I hated the bar – both taste and texture were off-putting, nothing like their other flavors – but how gorgeous is this candy?!?

These berry (blackberry!) fruit gels are lovely.

Snack hour – honey mustard pretzel crackers (didn’t live up to expectations) with crab dip.

This week’s dinner theme was comfort food/Americana. Starting with “Polk Special,” aka a dish my husband’s family made growing up. Meat patties (I did ground turkey with panade, egg, urfa pepper, and smoked paprika) baked in condensed tomato soup and served on mashed potatoes (I followed this recipe but browned my butter). Plus roasted zucchini.

Leftover mashed potatoes and zucchini topped with egg tofu and sauteed mushrooms in a homemade chicken gravy.

Trader Joe’s frozen turkey corndogs (plus mustards for dipping). With green beans – steamed then sauteed with German mustard, yellow mustard, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar.

Disco fries! Trader Joe’s frozen waffle fries / tons of shredded mozzarella and sharp cheddar / garlicy baked chicken / gravy. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.