Tag Archives: beans

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lonely Island

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Let’s be honest – being married to a surgical resident sucks.  Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of Adam that he’s such a smartypants and I love that he gets the opportunity to do something meaningful that excites him, but if I had my druthers I think we would both be beach bums working together at a part-time job somewhere.

We don’t have any time now.  After 11 years together (and 6 years of marriage) we somehow still really like each other so living as two ships passing in the night, as I said, sucks.

It’s not great for blog content either.  Adam was on night shifts all this week and I was home alone which meant I ate cereal and/or popcorn most days.  Not a ton of healthy living to share!  And it didn’t help that when I pulled up my photos  to write this post half of them were horrendous and were promptly deleted.  Here is what I do have to share…

Work lunch 1.

DSC07843

Fresh mango,

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and a Passion Fruit Noosa.

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This was the first time I had ever tried passion fruit not in juice form.  I liked the crunchy seeds!

Work lunch 2.

DSC07892

Peach Noosa,

DSC07894

topped with fresh blueberries,

DSC07898

and Linwood Ground Flax Seed with Cocoa, Strawberries,  and Blueberries.

DSC07896

The flax was part of a box of samples I recently received to review.

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It was quite good; you couldn’t taste the berries but it had a nice hint of chocolate.  I keep meaning to bring flax back into my life so the samples came at a great time.

Pink smoothie.

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Chocolate peppermint soy milk with frozen strawberries.  Adam is obsessed with this combination.  The only plus to nights is that he is home with me in the morning for breakfast.

Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar.

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This didn’t have the best texture but it did a great job of keeping me full.

Gummi Koalas.

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These are Adam’s favorites but they couldn’t hold a candle to my new obsession with Haribo Juicy Bears.

Blissinger’s Dulce de Leche with Sea Salt bar.

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Yuck!  Way too salty.  I’m hoping that the husband ends up liking it because it was quite expensive and I could only eat one square.

Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults.

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This one I have no complaints about 🙂

Oven baked fries.

DSC07888

With evoo, truffle salt, and dried rosemary from my grandma’s garden.

Iowa Girl Eats’ Chicken Chili topped with extra-sharp cheddar, low-fat sour cream, and pickled jalopeños.

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I skipped the brown sugar, doubled the onion, and added some liquid smoke.  Adam loooooved this, and he says he hates chili.

Leftover chili stuffed in a baked potato.

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With more cheese, sour cream, and jalopeños, and roasted broccoli on the side(s).  This was cheesy amazing.  We need to make baked potatoes more often.

Do you feel like you get enough time with your significant other or does work get in the way?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Snowmageddon

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Hey there!  I hope all of my East Coast (US) readers are keeping warm!  Long Island didn’t get hit as badly with snow as predicted, but getting to and from work on Friday was definitely pretty insane.

Here’s some of what I ate when I wasn’t shivering…

Lunch packed for work on Friday.

DSC07115Leftovers of my spin on Hoppin’ John on top of leftover farro,

DSC07122with cola candies,

DSC07120and tangerines.

DSC07117I actually ate the tangerines on my train ride home, alongside a nice, warm espresso.

DSC07127Coffee was very loved this weekend.  I also had a cinnamon brown sugar iced latte from Dunkin Donuts {love, love, loved},

DSC07153DSC07150and a hazelnut iced coffee – with sugar, skim milk, and a dash of vanilla creamer – from Bagel Boss {I can’t really speak to their bagels but I’m obsessed with their iced coffee}.

DSC07170Aaaaaand a different iced latte from Starbucks that I didn’t photograph because it was getting ridiculous.  Yes, I recently became extra in love with coffee.  No, I won’t switch from iced no matter how cold it gets.

A delicious dinner on Friday night.

DSC07134I made “miso stoup” for the first time and was thrilled with the results.  Not totally traditional, but with ingredients we had on hand.  And extra “chunky” because it was our whole meal and not just a side.

DSC07130Miso Soup, Basically  serves 2 – 3

  • 3 cups chicken broth  (you could totally use veggie broth if you want to keep things vegetarian)
  • 3 heaping Tbsp miso paste
  • 2. 5 oz firm tofu, cubed
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 pint sliced shiitake mushrooms
  • .6 oz roasted seaweed, crumbled
  1. Bring broth to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add miso to broth and whisk until no lumps remain.
  3. Add remaining ingredients to pan and simmer an additional 3 – 5 minutes.

DSC07139We loved it.

Not so delicious fondue for dinner on Saturday night.

DSC07155We split a lemon cream pie martini that wasn’t terrible.

DSC07157And for fondue we ordered the sharp cheese,

DSC07160and the caramel pecan chocolate (though I’m fairly certain they left out our caramel).

DSC07161DSC07164Both were fairly meh.  The bread cubes were terrible and we only got two each of the other dippers so if you liked something you couldn’t even try it again because then the other person didn’t get any.  We cashed in a Groupon to Simply Fondue and even with the $ off it was still pretty darn expensive.  Boo.

Random but good things include:  A bowl of Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

DSC07147A Suede Imperial Porter from Stone {I couldn’t taste the honey but the floral scent was amazing},

DSC07132And a big bowl of popcorn with truffle salt.

DSC07167DSC07165Oh jeez, the truffle popcorn.  Insane.  Usually Adam turns his nose up at my bowls of popcorn but this time he was more than happy to share.

Yesterday we did a late, great brunch.  My guava mimosa was quite tasty.

DSC07173We were visiting friends in Williamsburg and they took us to Simple.  We all had wonderful meals.

DSC07177I got the Vegetable Burger – Sautéed spinach, mushroom, zucchini, pepper, onion, garlic.  It was more of a pile of veggies than a burger, particularly once I ordered it sans bun.  It was also delicious, especially when topped with Danish blue cheese.  And the fries on the side were nice and crispy!

P.S. You have until 2 pm EST to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

Week Long Wrap-Up; But I Am Le Tired

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In spite of actually getting enough sleep for the first time in ever, I was astonishingly tired this week.  Like too tired to play on my phone when I got in bed at night, which is huge for me.  Probably related to the astonishing amount of junk I ate this week, most of which I didn’t have the energy to photograph.  Or perhaps just living like a grown-up finally sinking in.  Nonetheless, when I thought about writing a “Weekly Wrap-Up” post on Thursday, I crawled into bed instead.  FYI – I did select the book winners and they’ve already been contacted.

le work eats

Some breakfasts and lunches shown here.  I did not do a great job of packing this week.  We had two free lunches in a row, but unfortunately neither offered a ton that I could/would eat.  And I tried to buy lunch in the cafeteria one day and it did not go well at all.  There were several days where I was cranky all afternoon and then snacking like crazy the minute I could get my hands on food.  Like the day I ate an entire bag of fruit gummis on the train…

DSC06613Leftover chana masala with tangerines.

DSC06557DSC06562DSC06560Lunch from our holiday party.  Salad, shrimp, and rigatoni.  With a side of present in our great gift exchange.  I didn’t snap any pictures, but my boss brought in Baked by Melissa for dessert and that was fun.

20131217_13460820131217_135956Jalopeño-cheddar cream cheese bagel with fresh pineapple.

DSC06589DSC06585DSC06586My coffee of choice this week was an iced Americano with extra espresso, skim milk, and four sugars.

DSC06601Yogurt, mango, and peppermint divinity that knocked my socks off.

DSC06626DSC06630DSC06628le work outfits

DSC06462DSC06566DSC06591DSC06602DSC06623DSC06632le dinners

I didn’t have it in me to cook and we ate too many meals out this week.  It would have been fine for the fun, except of course they were largely terrible.  Thankfully my desire to get in the kitchen seems to be renewed by my week of bad restaurant meals.  <– I say as I eat cheese and crackers and a beer for dinner

We went to a Cuban place in Park Slope as a belated birthday dinner for Adam.

DSC06567DSC06574I got a painkiller to drink, which wasn’t half bad.

DSC06572DSC06571But I misread the menu and ordered a chile relleno that was stuffed with calamari.  I don’t eat calamari.  The waiter was out-of-control terrible so we were not surprised when he didn’t comment on my plate going back to the kitchen mostly untouched (not that this mistake was their fault!).

DSC06577We made a dessert effort with flan and tres leches, aka flan and a kitchen sponge soaked in scm.  Yuck!

DSC06579At least we enjoyed our company immensely!  And the walk back to the car was gorgeous and we picked me up a jaloepeño cheddar bagel that was delicious.

DSC06582We tried again another night with a Groupon I bought for a Mexican spot in Roslyn.

DSC06614DSC06616We shared a truffle mushroom quesadilla that was perfect.

DSC06618And my 2nd go at chile relleno was much better, if still not great.

DSC06619Another night we stayed home but got Chipotle.

DSC06609I was irritated with the amount of guacamole she glopped on at first, but once I realized it was in fact $2 and not free I was glad that they didn’t skimp.

DSC06608I’d been having a love affair with their chicken but somehow this rice bowl just didn’t knock my socks off.

The best thing we ate all week was the night we stayed home.

DSC06595Leftover chana with onion relish and a big scoop of plain Greek yogurt.

DSC06599le snacks

A cookie to stay on theme while we watched “Frosty.”

DSC06635A lemonade milkshake.

DSC06642I used way too much lemon juice to vanilla ice cream and this was actually inedible, but it was fun in theory and an idea I plan on trying again in different proportions.

DSC06647A Buffalo chicken quesadilla (former freebie) from Red’s.

DSC06637DSC06640White chocolate peppermint frozen yogurt with cheesecake chips and snowcaps.

DSC06691We also tried the Scotchy Scotch Scotch (on top of chocolate peanut butter swirl) from Ben and Jerry’s.  I took a few bites and Adam swooned over the rest.  This flavor is definitely for butterscotch lovers.

DSC06690This Cider Boys Magic Apple, apple strawberry hard cider, was outstanding.  I want to try the cinnamon flavor like crazy.

DSC06694le weekend in the city

Yesterday we headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

DSC06649DSC06651DSC06656DSC06659I can not even tell you how gorgeous the city was this weekend; I squealed with delight every time we rounded a corner.  Also it was 65 degrees and I was in sandals!

We were in Manhattan because Au Bon Pain invited me in to try some of their new holiday menu.

DSC06670DSC06663Note – Au Bon Pain provided me coupons with which I could try the new menu free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for writing this post.  All opinions are my own.

Here are the current ABP special menu additions –

Chicken, Mushroom and Swiss Sandwich– all natural chicken, spinach, Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms and tomato spread on a sprouted grain roll

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake – holiday mini bundt coffee cake filled with cinnamon spice and topped with walnuts

Egg White and Mushroom Frittata Breakfast Sandwich – egg whites, sautéed mushrooms, spinach and cheddar on a sprouted grain roll

Gingerbread Cookie – A hand decorated cookie rich with molasses

Greek Vanilla Yogurt and Triple Berry Parfait

Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread – chocolate dipped shortbread sprinkled with peppermint topping

Pumpernickel Bagel – bold and distinctive flavor from rye flour and molasses

Thai Coconut Shrimp (gluten free) – a blend of petite shrimp, red peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots and lemongrass in a coconut and curry broth with a touch of spice

Adam and I shared so we could try three things.

DSC06668The Chicken, Mushroom, and Swiss Sandwich.

DSC06672DSC06675They were out of the rolls so ours was served on cibatta bread.  I thought this was good, but I’m not one to get too excited about a chicken sandwich.  Adam loved it.  He ate part of my half and even considered getting a second one.

The Thai Coconut Shrimp soup.

DSC06678DSC06679This one I liked more than the husband.  The flavor was full of lemongrass and not too spicy.  Very filling for only 170 calories in a medium bowl.

The Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread.

DSC06681We both loved dessert.  The shortbread was so thick that it was the main flavor instead of chocolate or peppermint, but thankfully it was quite a tasty shortbread.  Each cookie has 390 calories which I didn’t think was too bad considering how big they are.

It was dark after we finished eating and the lights were even better on the walk home.

DSC06683DSC06687I ❤ New York

P.S. Bonus points if you know what the title alludes to!

The Rest Of The Weekend

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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!

My Weekend, A Book Report {Giveaway}

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I had a lot of fun this weekend.  When I decided to write about my weekend I was excited.  The food was very good.  There were a lot of foods.  Adam was so fun to be with…

Ahahaha!  Don’t worry, there will be no 2nd grade book-report-style writing here.  I do have two new books to share with you though.  And the verb “share” was used literally in that last sentence – there’s a giveaway at the end of this post!

DSC06522Both of the books mentioned in this post were provided to me free of charge to review.  The publisher also provided a 2nd copy of each book to share with my readers.  All opinions are my own.

Just a few things to note:

  1. Please click on the headings/book titles for links to the publisher’s website.
  2. I did have another, non-food, book that I wanted to talk about.  I read Susannah Cahalan’s “Brain on Fire” during my commute last week and I flipping loved it.  “Brain on Fire” is a memoir about her struggle with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.  Cahalan is a journalist, and she did a great job presenting the scientific aspects of her story in a clear, and accessible manner.  Plus she made me cry; I kept having to blink back tears on the train!

Picture Cook – See. Make. Eat.

DSC06530Instead of a list of instructions, “Picture Cook” breaks down its recipes into step-by-step pictures (though the bottom of each page does include a list of ingredients for clarity’s sake).  I liked the look of the artwork a lot; the pictures are clear but cute.  The book also includes some handy tips,

DSC06535and stream of consciousness-esque recommendations for things like raita, pizza, and omelets.

DSC06539I made two recipes from it this weekend.  The instructions were a snap to follow – it was much easier to glance at the pictures than read through instructions while I cooked.  The dishes were delicious, though it is worth noting that I increased the cooking time for both recipes.

We made Home Fries on Saturday.

DSC06481DSC06486Which we served with ketchup and a sunny side up egg.  Yolk makes the best sauce.

DSC06495DSC06489The recipe called for precooking the potatoes in the oven, which was much better than microwaving them first like I usually do.  We thought the amount of spice was perfect.

On Sunday I tried my hand an Chana Masala.

DSC06546DSC06542Served with white rice and onion chutney.

DSC06550This was the second or third time we’ve made chana masala at home and this recipe was by far the quickest and easiest, but the final dish was still our favorite.  Adam loved it.

Homemade Condiments – Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients

DSC06526A sauce can really make or break a dish, so I was excited to add a guide to homemade condiments to my culinary bookshelf.  The book has recipes for ketchups, mayos, mustards, dressings, dessert sauces, and more.

Each recipe comes with a list of recommended uses, which I thought was a nice touch.

DSC06528Over the past week I made three different sauces, with varying success.

Orange-Miso Dressing went in my cooked cabbage and got two thumbs up.

DSC06366DSC06387The sauce had the right balance of savory miso to sweet orange.  It reduced perfectly but I think it would be great “raw” on a salad as well.

Maple Tarragon Vinaigrette went on a salad and sadly got one thumb down.

DSC06404DSC06416I felt like I could never get it to emulsify and even though I cut the recommended oil almost in half the final dressing was just too oily for my tastes.

The Caramelized Onion Chutney on our chana masala got two big thumbs up.

DSC06519DSC06552Another sweet and savory, the balance of flavors in this one was perfect.  My only complaint is that the onions started to burn (on the lowest my heat can go) before the recommended cooking time was even halfway through.  I was expecting the husband to hate the chutney because he’s not a raisin fan, but he raved about it.  I would love to make another batch to spread on grilled cheese sandwiches.

The Giveaway

I have a copy of each book to share!  Simply leave a comment on this post stating which book you want to win by 2 pm EST on Thursday, December 19th.  If don’t want to chose between the books you may leave two comments, but each reader is only eligible to win one time (i.e. two winners will be selected, one person cannot win both books).

Weekly Wrap-Up; Burritos And A Birthday

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I’m (almost) through my 2nd week!  How long do you think I’ll have to be back at work before I stop counting?  My guess is at least a month.

About the title… The birthday was Adam’s.  My husband turned 28 on Wednesday so for the next 6 months I’ll stop being the older woman.

adam4That picture is from BDL; i.e the years Before Doctor Life.  He is on a very busy rotation now so unfortunately we didn’t have time for anything too festive.  He got a disgusting amount of Taco Bell and we watched “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”

The burritos were from Red’s All Natural.

reds all naturalThey recently sent me some free-product coupons so that I could try out the goods.  All Red’s products are 100% all-natural, preservative-free and made with antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat and rBGH-free cheese.  I love the company’s philosophy and practices and I liked the burritos too (though admittedly not quite as much as their ideals).

So far I’ve tried two varieties.  I microwaved one burrito and baked the other.  The nuked one was a little mushy, but not at all chewy like some lower-quality tortillas tend to get in the microwave.  The one I baked got perfectly crispy and nice.  Both had good ingredient combinations but sadly I found the flavors to be a bit one-note.  It is also worth pointing out that the burritos are giant, more than 500 calories each which is a lot for one meal component.  However, they are also very, very filling – I shared both of mine with Adam because I could not finish.  If you have someone to split with they are a great option but if you are purchasing them to eat alone just be mindful.  <– they also have 5 oz burritos available in some varieties!

Overall, I am giving the two I tried a positive review (just not glowing).  I am looking forward to trying some of the other varieties and I will definitely be sharing them on the blog when I do.

Fashion Friday

A new polka dot dress, from the Gap.

DSC06344I tilted my head funny in the picture, but I actually got several compliments on my bun piled high on my head.

DSC06398I usually don’t button my cardigans, but I liked it here.

DSC06448Another new dress.  It’s cuter in person than in the picture.  The husband loved it and bought it for me with some of his birthday money ❤

DSC06422The Gap sales rack has been very kind to me this season.  Even with my newbies, however, I’ve pretty much gone through my entire closet in the two weeks, so we’ll see how long “Fashion Friday” continues to last.

Breakfast

Cookie Dough Balance Bar.

DSC06363I think they changed the recipe again.  It’s not quite as glorious as my old memories, but a big improvement over the really gross ones I was finding a year or so ago.

Giant coffee.

DSC06424I was cashing in on a freebie so I went all out.  Venti, non-fat, iced latte with 2 shots each gingerbread, white chocolate, and (extra) espresso.

Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar.

DSC06445I never eat this flavor because it feels so seasonal, but it is one of the best.  The mint is nice and cool.

Lunch

Monday.  Looks like breakfast but was actually lunch.  Quaker Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal.

DSC06340And the big apple a big apple.

DSC06341I’ve got to buy more oat go-cups; this was super portable and easy to just fill up with hot water in the cafeteria.

Tuesday.

DSC06357Pizza with mushrooms and black olives.

DSC06360And grapes.

DSC06361These grapes are HUGE.  They’re a seedless “holiday” variety.

Wednesday.

DSC06390More leftovers.

DSC06397Tangerines.

DSC06393I promise, that cabbage was so much better than it looks.

Thursday.

DSC06432More grapes.

DSC06430And an everything bagel thin with leftover smoked tofu and light havarti.

DSC06425I left this “raw” and the thins are definitely much, much better when toasted.

Snacks

Just like last week, picture lots of lunch assembly bites.  This first one was an after dinner treat though.  Looks like a root beer float…

DSC06374But actually it’s Vanilla Porter with French vanilla ice cream.

DSC06371I was pretty proud of this idea but it probably would have been a little better in milkshake form with a mix of beer and milk.

An Andes tree.

DSC06347This was weirdly exciting.  I’ve really been craving mint lately.

These gorgonzola cracker crisps have been a favorite for munching.

DSC06402I love how big the serving size is here.

Dinner

Best dinner of the week, hands down.

DSC06381Soy Boy organic Smoked Tofu that I sautéed in evoo.

DSC06384With shredded (frozen) cabbage that we cooked in canola oil with salty peanuts and fresh edamame.  We dumped in a bunch of miso orange dressing at the end and let it reduce, and the whole thing was heavenly.

DSC06387I never seem to repeat meals any more but I do really want to make this again.

Salad and a burrito.

DSC06413Romaine with groats and maple tarragon dressing.

DSC06416Red’s Turkey Burrito.

DSC06410DSC06418This was the one I microwaved.

Cereal night on Adam’s birthday.

DSC06436Two servings of Love Crunch Gingerbread Granola with vanilla almond milk and sliced banana.

DSC06439Plus a big glass of eggnog during “The Grinch.”

DSC06443This meal was missing vegetables, but that just didn’t feel festive!  Thankfully this was the day I had my veggie-heavy lunch.

Chicken Burrito.

DSC06451Apparently that was the only picture I have from last night?!  I meant to eat it with salad but ended up having cheese and crackers instead.

Do you have any exciting plans for this upcoming weekend?

Weekly Wrap-Up; How Is It Mid-November?!

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I keep thinking “I can’t believe it’s October!” but actually we are in the middle of November.  This year is flying!

This week makes another wrap-up that is pretty light on content/photos.  We are in the middle of yet another big life change and I’ve been all over the place.  All over the place, figuratively speaking.  Literally I’ve been in the apartment.  On the couch.  Eating.  Have I mentioned that none of my pants fit?

Here’s some of what I’ve been eating (and eating, and eating)…

I discovered that my leftover salted caramel cream cheese macaron filling makes a pretty awesome fruit dip.

DSC05754I even gave it its own recipe page.

DSC05764With green apple.

DSC05766And since there was clearly more dip than apple, I also dunked in some TJ everything crackers.

DSC05768So good.  There was a lot of this snack this week.  Another day I topped the caramel with a dollop of my cinnamon maple pecan butter.

DSC05779Spoonful by spoonful, the pecan butter container is getting pretty empty!

I loved this chocolate raspberry breakfast.

DSC05792TJ European Style Low-fat Chocolate Yogurt topped with fresh raspberries, a scoop of Cascadian Farm Dark Chocolate Almond Granola and a spoonful of cinnamon maple pecan butter.

DSC05799And cold (we were out of ice) coffee with skim milk on the side.

DSC05797I planned on using SCM in my coffee but it exploded everywhere when I heated it in the microwave.  Just as well because the chocolate yogurt was pretty sweet.  I was impressed with the yogurt, I’ll have to check out some other varieties of their European style.

I’m going through some of my old recipes to reshoot the photos, and this week I made my pesto pasta casserole.

DSC05747That picture’s not too great though, is it?  And I used a bottle of pesto from Trader Joe’s that we both hated and it basically ruined the dish.  Boo.  But on the positive side, I think this was the very first TJ product that we didn’t love.

Another old (old blog!) favorite, turkey cheese crisps.

DSC05723Classed up with crumbled blue cheese and a drizzle of honey when they came out of the oven.

DSC05724The honey was sent to me from Golden Blossom Honey.  {This product was sent to me free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.}

DSC05703The GBH is a 100% American-made product with a signature patented blend composed of extra-white clover, sage buckwheat, and orange blossom.

DSC05727My blue cheese and honey crisps were definitely a better dish than the original.  The honey earned two thumbs up from me; the flavor was unique, but not savory the way I find some orange blossom honeys to be.

Our fridge is very bare, and I finally ate the frozen meal I bought the day we moved in, a Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake.  Plantains, roasted sweet potato, black beans and kale with a spicy ancho sauce served over 7 Whole Grains & Sesame Pilaf, amaranth and polenta topped with a pumpkin seed garnish.

DSC05811This is on my top-5 list for frozen entrees, both flavor and texture are great.  Not quite large enough for dinner for me though.  I planned on eating it with this truebar,

DSC05804but it was disgusting so instead I ate a slice of seedy bread with Smart Balance Light and smoked gouda.

DSC05807Much better!  Though I was still feeling snacky after dinner and ended up eating a bag of Smart Fries as well.

DSC05812I love those.  I need to get to a 7-11 asap so I can buy more.

One night we got take-out from Jessie’s.

DSC05786My fries with blue cheese for dipping were the best part, but my sandwich was pretty good too.

DSC05790They have a fun group of Turkey Day inspired specials right now!  My sandwich was turkey with stuffing and cranberry dressing on top.  I want to go get the salad special soon, it has cornbread stuffing croutons.

The best sandwich of the week was one I made myself.

DSC05772A slice of TJ seedy bread (one cut in half since this bread is much larger than the kinds I usually eat) with Applegate Farms smoked turkey, cream cheese, blue cheese, grape Crofter’s, and banana peppers.

DSC05775So many good flavors.  Having banana peppers in the house for sandwiches has been fun.

Number 1 food of the week?

DSC05783Lavender and Salted Caramel Macarons.  Obviously.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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

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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?