Five For Ten

by Emily

I worked all last weekend so I didn’t take the time to blog. Good news – that means I have tomorrow off with a three day weekend! Here were the top five eats for the last ten days…

{1} Oatmeal for lunch

Prepackaged with vanilla almond butter and citrus on the side.

And a homemade mix with chia seeds and sliced almonds.

With fresh strawberries stirred in and melty cookie butter on top. P.S. Cookie butter probably should have gotten its own bullet point!

{2} The last of the Tahini Granola in yogurt bowls

With plain Greek yogurt and fresh blueberries and blackberries.

I need to make a 2nd batch of granola asap, it made the last two weeks of lunches an absolute delight. I’m going to give myself a lower sugar week with Heritage Flakes first though.

{3} Epic sandwiches

The cafeteria-assembled breakfast sandwiches were particularly epic but this turkey ‘which from home was nothing to sneeze at.

TJ’s quinoa bread with turkey and cheddar. I put the chips inside the sandwich for some needed crunch.

Cinnamon-raisin toast with smashed hard-boiled egg, veggie sausage, and Greek yogurt cream cheese.

Egg and cheese croissantwich.

I’ve decided I don’t eat egg sandwiches often enough, a gap in my culinary habits that desperately needs to be filled.

{4} Starbucks’ s’mores bar

Holy crap this was good!

I swear the graham cracker layer has coffee in it.

{5} Mexican-flavors dinners

Deconstructed tacos, aka taco filling bowls scooped with tortilla chips.

Shredded chicken, sautéed orange bell peppers and onion, cheese, plain Greek yogurt, and fresh cilantro. Plus brussels sprouts that I roasted with taco seasoning. <– so good

Another night we made chicken and zucchini enchiladas.

I don’t know why I never make enchiladas, these were so easy!

{Bonus} Near misses – don’t try this at home

These two seemed like they’d be great and instead were total let downs. I did not want a 2nd bite of this cookie dough bar.

And we were expecting to love Bunsmith, they have a cookie butter bun for god sake. And a boozy banana milk and spice cocktail.

Mega meh. The veggies in our bowls came out of a can and there was entirely too much rice. We’ll have to stay loyal to Bao Haus. In fact, it’s on the agenda for the three-day weekend!

20May2016

Eating Madison Square

by Emily

This week’s flavor themes: coffee (always), cheese (almost always), lavender, yogurt, fresh herbs, and tahini granola (<– my newest, greatest recipe!).

We work all weekend – actually we work every day straight until next Friday – and we made the most of our shared Thursday off. And we went on a dinner date on Tuesday! Good times.

My seasonal allergies hit hard this week and I was a sneezy, disoriented mess so dinners were basically a disaster but my lunches were on point. And dinners were fun, just lacking in greens; the “healthiest” meal of the week was veggie-packed nachos!

foods that were good

This week’s coffee – Black Hand with lavender sugar. Very yummy with fat-free milk and half & half.

Also with the last of the Nutchello.

And paired alongside a lavender kombucha.

Important note – this pomegranate sangria seltzer tastes and smells exactly like Pez candy!

The serenity now blend from David’s Tea also deserves a mention, the spearmint is lovely.

Bonus – maple iced latte from Brooklyn Roasting Company.

My packed lunches were all about the tahini granola. With plain yogurt and berries.

Though one day I did have Chobani watermelon with fresh watermelon. If you haven’t had watermelon in a yogurt bowl yet, go for it, the combo is fantastic.

And yesterday we did a lunch date at Madison Square Eats. <– a food tent situation similar to Smorgasburg

It was great to sit outside and eat in the sun. We shared a salmon belly dosa waffle from Inday.

And a green papaya salad with lemongrass chicken from Hong Kong Kitchen. Served on a giant bed of lettuce.

But our true raison d’être was the Ice & Vice ice cream and Squish marshmallow collaboration. We had a scoop of Detention (malted vanilla with brownie and fruity pebble dust) with a toasted Birthday Party (sprinkles) marshmallow. Yummmm! Best marshmallow we’ve ever tasted.

The days I didn’t eat granola at lunch I had it as an evening snack! I’m a woman obsessed; that stuff is delicious. This was caramel Noosa with granola, melty cookie butter, and blackberries.

Speaking of evening snacks, the cookie butter is a very tempting thing to have open.

Take-out Pad Thai for dinner. This wasn’t even my weak take-out, this was Adam’s leftovers from a night shift. Like I said, dinners weren’t fantastic.

Pizza pizza.

Our dinner date at Pok Pok was a win.

That’s a tamarind whiskey sour. Enjoyed with complimentary chili lime peanuts.

The food is served family-style and the waitress recommended sharing three dishes so that’s what we did. Khao Soi Kai – Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with a secret curry paste recipe and coconut milk. With chicken on the bone and crispy noodles. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, and roasted chili paste.

Cha Ca “La Vong” – Vietnamese catfish marinated in turmeric and sour sticky rice, fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill, served on rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint, cilantro, and mam nem (fish sauce). The fresh herbs took this over the top! I have been loving the use of mint in our restaurant dishes lately.

Finally, Hoi Thawt – crispy broken crepe with steamed fresh mussels, eggs, garlic, chives and bean sprouts. This was my favorite dish, you can’t go wrong with fried eggs. I only recently started eating mussels but I really enjoyed them served this way.

We also had an amazing dessert. A clever play on Thai iced coffee, this was a condensed milk ice cream affagato in Stumptown espresso. With Thai doughnuts on the side.

Our homecooked dinner for the week was loaded nachos. Corn chips, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, pinto beans, roasted broccoli, sautéed orange bell pepper and onion, avocado, and tons of fresh cilantro.

The dog was pretty pleased with this too, because he got several bites of chicken and avocado during the assembly stage.

three exciting non-food things

{1} How long the dog is in this photo Adam snapped of us in bed.

{2} The Egg and the Spoon. I’m halfway done and loving it. All of Gregory Maguire’s books are enchanting but this story is particularly so. I’m going back and rereading every other page because the wording is just so beautiful.

{3} I convinced one of my friends to start watching Hart of Dixie and now she texts me regular updates about how great it is! I’m way too excited to have someone sharing my shame.

14May2016

Back At It

by Emily

We are back at the old grind. The first week of real life after vacation felt loooooong. It’s good to be back at work though, and great to be back with the dog!

Here were some of the best bites this week…

This week’s coffee was fan-freaking-tastic! Blackhand that I brought home from my trip to Richmond. It was super strong and roasty.

With strawberry watermelon Polar that’s my new favorite flavor.

I also tried the caramel almond Nutchello. It was pleasant but not as strongly flavored as I was hoping for.

Midmorning snack of baby carrots and wonderful red cherries.

Cafeteria lunch. They are making a fancy new hybrid burger that is half turkey half veggie; it was good! My korma veggies were not so good, I ended up swapping them for fries.

Yogurt bowl. Salted caramel noosa (<– yum!) with blueberries and blackberries and awesome gorp-style trail mix my aunt gave us. Plus a golden nugget mandarin orange on the side.

Better yogurt bowl. Plain Greek yogurt, berries, red plum, Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes, nature’s sprinkles (chia) for healthy fat, and Amy Sedaris’ sprinkles for joy.

This ridiculously adorable cookie from Starbucks made for a fun end of the day snack.

And carrots with caramelized onion dip was the perfect thing to crunch through while I cooked this week.

We also really enjoyed lemonade with pink lemon! Perfect with mint sparkling water. The lemons were orange on the outside, pinkish on the inside, and sweeter than their yellow counterparts.

Brinner for the win. Banana pecan pancakes, berries, and amazing turkey bacon, with maple syrup poured on after the picture.

Breakfast for dinner is always a good idea, but it’s a great idea when your drink and dessert are also on theme. We planned the pancakes because we both had coffee-flavored beers to try.

And we tried the crazy expensive, crazy good Compartes donuts & coffee bar. I thought it was totally worth the price.

Our other dinners were also winners. Nachos! Maple bacon kettle chips with TJ’s low-fat three cheese blend, turkey bacon, shredded turkey breast, broccoli, and green pepper.

And Greek salad night. Greens with Greek feta dressing, cucumber, tabouli, TJ’s stuffed grape leaves, and crunchy roasted chickpeas.

Last night we ate Chipotle and caught up on TV. <– kind of the best date night

26Apr2016

Was It Blogvious?

by Emily

Adam’s back, yay! Surprise? I tried to keep it under wraps for security reasons, so I hope it wasn’t blogvious (<– totally unnecessary portmanteau for obvious on the blog) that Adam has been out of town for the past month. He had a trauma rotation in Texas and the dog and I missed him like crazy! Now he’s back and we both have two weeks off of work and I plan on spending the majority of them holding his hand!

Foodwise, here were the weekend highlights…

Adam didn’t get back into town until late Sunday evening and I spent the better part of the day hyperventilating with excitement. I distracted myself for a little bit with Vietnamese iced coffee and a pedicure.

Fun fact – toe nail polish was my something blue in my wedding.

Another day, another coffee.

I usually skip over Gala apples but this one was very sweet and crisp.

Brunch with friends at Du Jour Bakery, my new favorite breakfast spot in Park Slope. The space feels totally open and airy and they have yummy iced lattes.

I ordered the brioche French toast with maple butterscotch, berries, and whipped cream.

It was good, but I need to accept the fact that I don’t really like French toast. My girlfriends got savory egg sandwiches that I think I would love.

Dinner at Pearl’s Bake and Shark, a newish Trinidadian spot in Williamsburg. My bake and jerk chicken was very tasty.

Aka pulled jerk chicken on fried dough, with pickled slaw and pineapple salsa. The chicken didn’t taste like the jerk I grew up with, but it was smoky delicious.

Bbq turkey salad at home.

Baby spinach dressed with creamy Greek dressing / avocado / cucumber / chopped turkey breast tossed in cola bbq sauce / brie / a sprinkle of smoked paprika. A great combo; the paprika was such a good addition.

22Apr2016

This Week I Loved…

by Emily

Yogurt bowls

Guava Chobani with Cheerios, walnuts, pomegranate, and blackberry.

More of the above, but with mango soursop as my tropical yogurt flavor.

Plain Fage with granola, chocolate covered cacao nibs, walnuts, a turtle pecan biscotti, pomegranate, and blackberry. <– best lunch of the week

Earl Grey Rooibos tea

Cookie butter

I ate a big spoonful as my after-work snack every day this week.

And I ate a delicious lunchtime oatmeal in the last of the Biscoff jar.

The expanded menu at Boba Guys

A girlfriend and I got Hong Kong Milk teas this week and were swooning! Best boba I’ve gotten in the city and they have housemade almond and grass jellies.

The fantastically fun supplies from Mochi Things

My mom sent me some snazzy stickers and pens for Easter and they are greatly improving my workday mood.

This lip stuff

Minted rose is obviously the best scented beauty product I’ve ever owned.

What rocked your socks this week?

15Apr2016

Superlative Eats

by Emily

This week’s…

*Best coffee*

Inspired by my absolutely decadently scented hand sanitizer, I stirred cinnamon and vanilla bean into my coffee (espresso blend with chocolate milk).

*Best oatmeal*

Rolled oats with chia and freeze-dried blueberries, topped with a hefty scoop of cookie butter.

*Best yogurt bowl*

Maple quark with Heritage Flakes and pomegranate.

*Best lunch*

Sandwich week. Spicy chicken on rye / Starbuck’s sandwich offerings are actually really darn good / Greek wrap stuffed with cucumber, tzatziki, and stuffed grape leaves. <– the wrap was from a lunch and learn, our formula rep did a great inservice on the new ASPEN enteral nutrition guidelines.

*Best dessert*

Work party for a coworker’s birthday. We had filipino ambrosia and I made brownies.

Fantastically ridiculous brownies! P.S. Amy Sedaris’ best-ever sprinkles are available here.

8Apr2016

First Week Of April’s Top Ten

by Emily

{1} Stumptown’s newest cold brew box – coconut.

{2} This week’s homemade coffee blend – chocolate milk and espresso roast.

{3} Giant veggie omelet for breakfast at work. They are made fresh to order and are by far the best dish coming out of the cafeteria.

{4} Garlic veggie pizza with a side of brussels sprout salad.

{5} Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with strawberries, praline pecan granola, walnuts, and chocolate covered cacao nibs.

{6} Oatmeal bowl. Oats, chia seeds, strawberries, and cookie butter. Simple, but this was the best oatmeal of the year.

{7} This month’s Skoshbox. There were chocolate-covered potato chips!

{8} Biscoff chocolate chip mug cookie.

{9} Trader Joe’s frozen “pizza.” The crust was a bit floppy but the sauce had good spicy kick to it.

{10} Creamy tomato turkey. Sautéed ground turkey with browned mushrooms, roasted plum tomatoes, tomato paste, sour cream, tons of smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Plus roasted zucchini. I made a truly excessive amount of this dish and even after a couple of meals there’s still some left for next week.

{Bonus} Non-food Entertainment Top Five

{1} “Hart of Dixie.” I finished it last week but it I’m still not over it, the storyline was just so fun! It was such a feel-good show, I really enjoyed watching something that wasn’t heartrending for a change (<– Whedon fan).

{2} Slate. The source of 95%+ of my news plus the amazing Dear Prudence advice column (<– her response to “Too High” was spot on!).

{3} Girls with Slingshots. Another soap opera! This webcomic series is on long-term hiatus but you can start at the beginning and read through the archives.

{4} Serious Eats. The source of 95%+ of my food-based news and cravings. This is one of the sites I check every morning during my train ride, I’d hate to miss an article like the Nacho Showdown.

{5} Taylor Swift’s hilarious Apple Music commercial.

4Apr2016

Last Week’s Top Ten

by Emily

{1} Swapping out my wardrobe to welcome in the spring-ish weather.

So today and tomorrow are supposed to be pretty darn cold, but the rest of the month is looking so nice that I went ahead and traded my summer and winter gear. Scarves and boots are still available but if we get a freak snowstorm I’m out of luck because all my coats are at the cleaners. It felt good to get that big project done.

{2} Enjoying coffee again.

Extra espresso in my giant iced latte? My health is officially back to 100%.

This upcoming week I did brew a batch so I won’t have an excuse to buy coffee out every day.

{3} Berry smoothie.

Maple kefir, dates, and frozen mixed berries.

Kefir was the perfect smoothie liquid.

{4} Dessert-y oatmeal bowls for lunch.

Oats with chia, freeze-dried raspberries, pecans, and strawberry shortcake M&Ms.

Oats with chia, freeze-dried raspberries, and a big scoop of Biscoff.

I bought a jar of Biscoff last Saturday and it is practically empty now – – I am the only member of the household who eats Biscoff.

{5} National Pecan Day is April 14th and Nonni’s sent* me some Turtle Pecan Biscotti to celebrate.

*Free sample alert – no additional compensation was provided for this post, all opinions are my own.

The biscotti was quite good next to my coffee – crunchy but not toothbreakingly so and a good balance of salty and sweet.

But even better crushed into my all-time best yogurt combo. Turtle pecan yogurt bowl: maple yogurt, toasted pecans, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, biscotti, and chopped plucot.

Or check out Nonni’s Pinterest page for some other pairing ideas.

{6} Binge-watching “Hart of Dixie” on instantwatch.

Yes, the show where Rachel Bilson plays a doctor in the deep south. And yes, it is totally a soap opera. But it is completely addictive! I am a woman obsessed, or I should say I was a women obsessed – I may have already finished watching all four seasons!

{7} Kombucha.

The Master Brew line from Kevita has been knocking my socks off.

Grapefruit was perfectly sweet and tart.

{8} Healthy sticks to scoop up less-healthy dips.

Baby carrots and green pepper in spinach and artichoke dip.

Apple slices in melted Biscoff and dark chocolate peanut butter.

Apple dippers in cookie butter are even more satisfying than licking it off of a spoon like I usually do.

{9} Taco brinner.

We loved our fish tacos so much the week before that I knew we needed a repeat.

This time our hard shells were stuffed with sautéed onions and peppers, shredded cheese, roasted tomatillo salsa, and scrambled eggs. This was practically the only meal I cooked all week, the other nights I mostly ate chips with cheese and salsa so I’d have time to watch my stories!

{10} Chuko Ramen.

I introduced a girlfriend to the joy that is their veggie miso with a soft egg and chili garlic oil on top.

It is the perfect dinner spot because Ample Hill’s ice cream is just a short walk down the block!

What are you looking forward to this week?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: berries

Five For Ten

Eating Madison Square

foods that were good

three exciting non-food things

Back At It

Was It Blogvious?

This Week I Loved…

Superlative Eats

First Week Of April’s Top Ten

Last Week’s Top Ten