It’s Apple Month!

It was a good weekend.  The 4 miler race was fun (we walked at a leisurely pace and I ended up going for a run afterwards but I had a really great time hanging out with some of my coworkers who I don’t get to see often) and my shift on Sunday went off without a hitch.  And now it’s Apple Month!

My theme month food hauls will be a bit more subdued for now since I can’t push the leftovers off on Adam, but I still have to celebrate.

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And I kicked the month off with an apple cake doughnut from Sugar Shack.

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Other food highlights from the weekend include… Yogurt bowls.  Chobani vanilla and cinnamon with maple cashew butter and blackberries.

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My parents got me a giant box of fancy marshmallows for my birthday so that’s 90% of what I’ve been eating!  Standouts include this peanut butter dipped in chocolate.IMG_6225And this cake flavored marshmallow dipped in white chocolate and stuffed with birthday cake cookie dough!IMG_6237Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes are always exciting.  Or maybe Kewpie and Sriracha are exciting?IMG_6268I made that black eyed pea salad I’m obsessed with (original recipe = BEP, green bell pepper, smoked almonds, Dubliner cheese, Cholula) and ingredient shortages caused me to sub in tamari almonds and Sriracha which was even tastier.IMG_6245

 

 

Coconut, Coffees, And Chickpeas

Excitement from last weekend: I hung out with my extended family!  At their cabin on the river in Maryland where we went boating and ate fresh crab!!  And my boys were there!!!

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Upcoming this weekend: Nothing as exciting as seeing Adam and Webster.  Actually, I am working on Sunday.  And on Saturday I am signed up for a 4 mile race with several of my coworkers.

Food highlights from the week:

Trader Joe’s coconut cold brew.  The coconut is nice but this is too sour for my tastes.

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Triple Draft La Colombe cans are kind of ridiculously frothy.

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Yogurt bowl win.  Vanilla Siggi’s with chocolate hazelnut and almond butter and blackberries.

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This was a I got hungry while grocery shopping and couldn’t wait snack but it ended up being quite tasty.

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This double IPA is my favorite beer I tried all summer.  Honestly all of the things from True Respite look amazing right now, they have a sour beer brewed with Gushers?!!

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The best dinner I ate all week was the night my cousin had friends over and we had crab cakes and salad with fresh corn.  But this Greek-style salad wasn’t bad either.  Romaine / TJ’s Greek feta dressing / green olives / cucumber / roasted chickpeas / dolmas.

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And one night I made a yummy tasting plate.  Dubliner cheese / chicken and maple jerky hard-boiled eggs / dolmas / roasted green beans.

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BLT FTW

Life highlights from the past six days –

  • I survived my 2nd week without my boys.  Adam has been super sweet about sending me a million photos of the most handsome dog in the world!
  • I’ve had a ton of TPNs at work lately and I realized the other day just how comfortable I feel managing them now – I will never stop being grateful for this job opportunity, I have grown so much as a clinician the past year.
  • I saw, and loved, The Farewell.  Such a sweet, funny movie; I can’t recommend it enough.
  • I went to a free yoga class with one of my coworkers and loooooved it!  I had forgotten about just how much I enjoy yoga.  I haven’t been in several years and it seems my balance has gotten much worse but my flexibility has gotten much better – I got myself into camel pose easily and comfortably.

Food highlights –

All of the coffee.

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Hey Day Cold Brew.

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Black and white milkshake cold brew – Grady’s with vanilla bean powder and chocolate milk.

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Still obsessed with this chocolate chip cookie dough Perfect Bar that seems to only be sold at Trader Joe’s and has no internet presence.

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This mango and nut mix is perfectly spicy-sweet.

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This yogurt bowl was amazing.  Strawberry quark with pluots, maple cashew butter, and homemade chocolate chip cookie.

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I had a great assortment of gummy candies for the movie, lots of cola options.

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These s’mores mochi have graham cracker ice cream and and a marshmallow center and all three of us thought they were fantastic.

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Raspberry Short Kate!  Hardywood‘s newest IPA brewed with milk sugar and raspberry.

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Whole Foods hot bar – kale salad, cabbage crunch salad, carrot and harissa salad, breakfast potatoes, chicken sausage – with a side of chicken and waffle chips.

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A swoon-worthy sandwich – local heirloom tomato, turkey bacon, and kewpie mayo on a bun.

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BLT salad.  Sweet baby lettuce with champagne vinaigrette, heirloom baby tomatoes, bacon, Dubliner cheese, and hickory smoked peanuts.  Plus spicy roasted okra that my cousin made.

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Leftover salad with delicious crab cakes that my cousin made.

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Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes with mayo, sriracha, and a side of roasted green beans.

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Blue Bottle, Blueberries

Five highlights from this week…

{1} I practically swooned over this yogurt bowl; I was more than ready for berry season.  Greek yogurt with honey and vanilla bean paste / blueberries / granola.

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{2} Blue Bottle New Orleans style iced coffee.  <– my favorite in the boxed coffee game

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{3} Mint Lemonade.  Wegman’s kombucha line is good, neither too sweet nor too vinegar-forward.

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{4} Bowls of super simple chili (just turkey, onion, tomato, and spices) topped with plain Greek yogurt and more hot sauce.  Plus roasted broccoli with cheddar on the side.

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{5} I 100% made the chili so we could eat it leftover on cheese fries.  Waffle fries / chili / sweet red grass-fed cheddar / green onions.

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Bowls On Bowls

Seven wins from the past seven days…

{1} Peeps coffee creamer!!  It tastes like vanilla marshmallow!!!  But they should have made it pink.

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{2} Speaking of marshmallow, I made cereal bars with Trader Joe’s neapolitan cereal.  I brought them to a work event and they were a hit.  I used my go-to recipe but took things up a notch with the addition of vanilla bean paste.

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{3} I placed a super exciting order with the Mexican Candy Lady.  The standout so far has been these flan gummies.

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{4} Berry breakfast bowls.  Liebe strawberry quark (<– this was 10/10, btw, super creamy and delicious!) / fresh blackberries / granola / cacao bliss.

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{5} Cava bowls are currently our favorite take-out, there are a ton of toppings to choose from.  This was greens / tzatziki / crazy feta spread / harissa / roasted vegetables / grilled chicken / pickled onion / cabbage slaw / chopped cucumber / kalamata olives / and green harissa dressing.  Plus a side of really yummy house-made pita chips.

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{6} I made my own bowls too.  Roasted sweet potato / bok choy sauteed with garlic and green onion / candy salmon / fried egg.

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{7} A take on okonomiyaki – pancakes stuffed with roasted cabbage and corn.  Topped with mayo and Sriracha.

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Peanut Butter, Chocolate, And Coffee

I took a long weekend, hence the extra-late post.  Adam takes attending call in a nearby town once a month and this time I tagged along!  I went out for lattes at an adorable coffee shop, had truly fantastic Thai food, and got a flight at a local brewery (complete with a margarita flavored Radler served with lime and a sugar rim!), but mostly I hung out at the hotel room so I had to pack the essentials.

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You know, “the essentials,” peanut butter, chocolate, and coffee.

More on that peanut butter – B.Nutty offered to send me some samples and I jumped at the opportunity because, holy crap, white chocolate pretzel peanut butter!!  They also sent me Totally Toffee – made with honey roasted peanuts, toffee, milk chocolate, and almonds – and Blissful Blueberry – with blueberry and milk chocolate.  I haven’t opened the berry one yet but the toffee and pretzel flavors are both 10/10 delicious.

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All flavors are gluten-free (including the pretzel one) and trans fat-free.  I can’t stop eating them by the spoonful!

Also they’ve made great additions to snack plates and yogurt bowls.  Honeycrisp apple / cucumber / baby carrot / B.Nutty irresistible pretzel.

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Plain greek yogurt / blackberries / granola / B.Nutty totally toffee.  That’s Thai tea in the back.

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Other snack wins include… mocktails with club soda and bitters.

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This Peeps cereal that tastes like a bowl of straight up marshmallows.

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I don’t usually photograph the stuff I eat at work but I made an exception because this bbq Love Corn was so tasty.

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A whole set of Trader Joe’s wins – vegan jackfruit crabless cakes and bbq popped chips with roasted broccoli and homemade chili oil aioli.

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Have a great week!

 

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Gingerbread Galore

So many holiday flavors consumed this weekend!  <– Squee!  It was just kind of a great weekend in general – we had no major to-dos looming and the weather was fantastic.  We got to go to brunch with my cousin and her boyfriend and on a long walk with the dog.  Next weekend brings out of town plans so it was really nice to keep things low-key.

Highlights…

Forager’s coconut cream cashew milk cold brew.  It was yummy but way too filling to consume all at once.

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Starbucks’ Juniper iced latte – I recommend getting double the espresso and half of the syrup so it’s not too pine-y [holiday flavor #1].

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Plain Greek yogurt with maple, almond butter granola, and the last of the cranberry sauce.

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Brunch at Renewal was delicious, we will definitely be back.  I had a gin fizz with egg white and cream.

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Roasted brussel sprouts with garlic fondue and sherry gastrique / field greens side salad with grapefruit vinaigrette / fries with pimento cheese and aioli.

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Sugar cookie frozen yogurt and eggnog gelato [holiday flavors #2 and 3}.

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King of Pop’s gingerbread was the best popsicle I’ve ever eaten, it was like a cookie dunked in milk [holiday flavor #4].  Enjoyed at Hardywood where I also had a Christmas Morning – gingerbread stout with Black Hand Coffee [holiday flavor #5].

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This Sweethaus gingerbread cupcake with meringue frosting was the best baked good we’ve ever eaten, hands down [also holiday flavor #6!].

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Trader Joe’s cauliflower latkes for the first night of Hannukah [holiday flavor #7] with a chicken thigh take on this Mississippi Roast recipe.

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Leftovers Love

Highlights from this week were foods that were made of and/or inspired by Thanksgiving leftovers!  Potato, turkey, and cranberries abound!

Related – my department gave me candy for working the holiday which is kind of the sweetest.

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Caramel Chobani with almond butter granola and cranberry sauce.

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Smoked turkey salad sandwiches with roasted green beans.  Chopped smoked turkey, smoked paprika, cream cheese, mayo, and celery.  On a bun with cranberry sauce.

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Poutine!  Waffle fries, smoked turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, and cheese curds.

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Cauliflower gratin / turkey breakfast sausage and gravy / topped with a fried egg and chili oil.

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