Tag Archives: berries

Bulgogi, Burger, Babka

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We had a wonderful NY weekend, complete with trips to Red Hook, Brooklyn and Astoria, Queens!

Some highlights…

Blueberry muffin frozen coffee. Coffee blended with frozen blueberries, frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, and butter extract.

Humble Cafe iced matcha latte with guava syrup. This was fantastic. Plus a matcha mochi cookie.

Homemade chocolate banana iced matcha. Water and milk blended with frozen banana, chocolate protein powder, Dutch-processed cocoa powder, and brown sugar, topped with a shot of matcha.

Chocolate sandwich cookie from Baked.

I have been coveting From Kora since 2020 and they finally have a storefront so we tried a little of everything. Ube Babka Swirl with and ube butter filling / a special – laminated pastry with short rib, mushrooms, and bearnaise / Chocolate Chunk Cookie / Leche Flan Ni Lola, a brioche doughnut topped with caramel and some of the best flan I’ve ever had / Coffee Cruller / Calamansi Rosemary Cornbread Sable. Our standout favorite was the babka followed by the sable. It all traveled/kept well.

Between the Bagel Seoul Meets Bagel – a toasted everything with American cheese, spicy mayo, bulgogi, and kimchi. This was amazing; it was Adam’s favorite thing of the weekend a close second to the babka for me. The owner also handed out delicious bulgogi arancini and Nutella banana pudding. P.S. my photo does not do justice to how huge this was!

Red Hook Tavern. We, of course, got the burger but were actually a bit disappointed; our patty was overdone and we didn’t love the volume of raw onion.

On the other hand, their cavatelli with oxtail ragu and garlic breadcrumbs is one of our favorite pastas in the city.

Spicy California Roll Bowls With Crispy Rice

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I’m at work today but starting bright and early tomorrow — I am on vacation! I am eating a take-out burrito bowl while I type but here is some of what I ate before we ran out of groceries…

Smoothie – frozen banana, blueberries, and cherries, Greek yogurt, honey, water, matcha, and vanilla protein powder.

We tried a new to us clear protein drink and were fans; this was nice and thirst-quenching.

Trader Joe’s Crunchy Curls and Everything and the Elote dip are a snack dream team.

Obviously I bought this Dubai chocolate sundae gelato. The mix-ins were a little sparse but I topped it with extra pistachio butter and chocolate shell!!

Beans with beans. Crispy beans – baked cannellini beans with evoo, panko, corn starch, salt, urfa pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder / with spicy green beans – steamed and then sauteed with evoo and butter, chopped kimchi and piquante peppers, walnuts, salt, white pepper, and sugar.

Taco turkey bowls with brown rice / baked cabbage with evoo, salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning / taco and nacho Quest protein chips / ground turkey sauteed with Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder / sharp cheddar / sauteed bell pepper and green onion with lemon / and I topped my bowl with Blind Betty hot sauce.

Spicy California roll bowls with crispy rice. Crispy rice – leftover rice baked until crispy with dark soy sauce, chili crisp, sugar, and sesame oil / salad – cucumber, avocado, green onion, and imitation crab with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ponzu sauce / furikake.

Pistachio, Passionfruit, Pickles

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Some things from the weekend…

This pistachio butter was perfect in an iced latte.

Also in an ice cream sundae! Jeni’s darkest chocolate with pistachio butter, Heritage Flakes, and Trader Joe’s chocolate shell.

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with blueberries and tons of fresh passionfruit.

We did not care for this Trader Joes tarragon chicken salad wrap. The flavor was hollow; we split it and neither of us wanted to finish our half.

But I did quite enjoy their packaged southwest salad.

We got take-out from the Burger Spot for the 1st time so we ordered a bunch of things to try — Country Veggie salad – chopped kale, cabbage, avocado, cucumbers, cranberries, red onion, and a homemade veggie patty with cilantro ranch dressing / fries and onion rings (their sauces were all a 10/10!) / chicken parm sandwich – chicken fillet with marinara and mozzarella on ciabatta / and the special chicken burger with pickled jalapenos, pickles, coleslaw, cheddar, and bourbon sauce. We will be back!

We also had a shockingly good meal at Little Beet – herby rice with charred broccoli, smoky maple carrots (some of the best vegetables I’ve ever eaten!), baked tofu, and chimichurri.

Savory oatmeal bowl. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds / frozen broccoli sauteed with gochujang, ginger, fish sauce, and gouda / fried egg / chili crisp.

Blackbird Blueberry

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Highlights from the weekend…

Buzz’d Express Coffee‘s monthly special is a cinnamon roll latte.

Dessert-y yogurt bowl – plain skyr with Trader Joe’s chocolate shell, crunchy peanut butter, cookie dough granola, and tons of blueberries.

We both love those these Whole Food’s sour citrus slice candies.

Dinner at Blackbird. The food was great, the lighting was not. Among other things we had a wonderful salad with medjool dates, almonds, pecarino, and a mustard vinaigrette. And homemade pasta with short-rib ragu!

Sourdough pasta with food-processed roasted bell pepper, green onion, jarred piquante peppers, evoo, and walnuts. Plus cheese. And roasted cauliflower on the side.

Potato hash with poblano peppers, bell peppers, green onion, urfa, and gochugaru. Plus roasted Chinese eggplants with a spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter, gochujang, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, white sugar, and water) and sesame seeds.

Brinner Winner

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We did breakfasts for dinners this week. Here was everything I ate on theme…

Coffee, obviously. Sweetie Pies on Main makes some of our favorite lattes in Long Island. These specials were crazy – tres leches and tiramisu!

Cereal [milk latte]. Espresso plus skim milk I infused overnight with Cocoa Pebbles.

Orange juice. I wanted to be on-theme but I hate juice so we made cocktails. OJ with vodka and amaretto plus a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some Target rainbow sherbet seltzer.

Smoothie. Blueberry pancake smoothie. Frozen blueberries blended with cottage cheese, butter extract, maple syrup, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, and water.

Blueberry muffins. I think these protein mini muffins are disgusting in a delightful way.

Yogurt bowl, obviously. This was plain Greek with blueberries, blackberries, and cookie dough granola.

Egg and cheese biscuit. Hometown Bakeshop‘s build-your-own breakfast sandwich. We got a cheddar biscuit with two over-medium eggs, cheddar-jack cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked aioli.

Avocado toast. Whole-wheat bread toasted with butter topped with smashed avocado (with lemon, salt, and gochugaru) and cold-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus sauteed purple asparagus.

Cottage cheese bowls. Topped with cucumber salad (sesame seeds, gochugaru, rice vinegar, and sugar) and baked chicken meatballs (panade, hoisin, gochujang, oyster sauce, and white pepper). I ate several meatballs before they could make it to my bowl!

Oatmeal. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds – 10/10, it is perfect out of the microwave – topped with a fried egg, chopped baby broccoli sauteed with lemon and garlic, spicy caramelized peanuts (sugar, salt, white pepper, evoo, gochugaru, and togarashi), and chili crisp.

Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel salad. This was my best idea of the week. Arugula dressed with garlic Dijon dressing and horseradish Sriracha aioli / sharp cheddar / beef bacon / homemade bagel croutons (Bagel Joint sesame gochujang bagel tossed with evoo, salt, white pepper, and gochugaru and baked) / six-minute eggs.

Pickle Honey Mustard

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It was an eclectic but tasty week. P.S. My best meal was at The Tyger catching up with out of town family (two sets of aunts and uncles!) – best bite was specifically the “Morning Glory,” stir-fried water spinach, with chili, garlic, and shrimp paste – but I took a long walk first and didn’t have my camera. Some highlights…

Smash Foods sunflower butter and strawberry jam bites. These are in my top-five favorite “bars.”

I always have to eat at least one yogurt bowl a week – plain Greek with blueberries, blackberries, and Heritage Flakes cereal.

I think every baked good is better mixed with plain Greek yogurt! This was a cookie dough chocolate cake (plus 99 Acres chocolate sunflower seed butter and blackberries).

Boba tea from Gong Cha. I did an iced black milk tea with black and white bobas <– the mix is definitely the way to go.

Turkey cheeseburger meatballs (ground turkey, salt, white pepper, panko bread crumbs, cream, ketchup, sesame seeds, chopped pickles, and sharp cheddar) with baked fries (tossed in smoked paprika and ranch seasoning) and the best snap peas (sauteed until almost charred with crumbly gouda, walnuts, and gochugaru).

Nachos! Whole Food’s honey mustard kettle chips with gruyere, gouda, chopped cornichon and sweet gherkin pickles, sauteed poblano pepper and green onion, and tofu cubes (marinated in pickle juice, baked, then sauteed with the best sauce – Trader Joe’s dill pickle mustard, gochujang, rice vinegar, honey, and a bit of water). Plus roasted broccoli.

Loaded tuna salad – canned tuna, chopped pickles and Trader Joe’s sweet and hot jalapenos, crunched honey mustard chips, pickle mustard, mayo, and Greek yogurt – with baked green beans.

Chewy

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A short post for a short week. My parents are coming to visit today! And I took tomorrow off to do fun New York things.

The two things worth photographing from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…

Tofu pasta. We did one package of super-firm tofu with 2 cups of flour, salt, and an egg and an egg yolk. These were quite doughy and I probably wouldn’t make them again but they were fun to try. We tossed them with sauteed baby broccoli and a pad see ew style sauce.

My new top tier yogurt bowl – plain skyr with blueberries, granola, and marzipan. The crunchy chewy combo was perfect!

Word Salad

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We don’t always have a weekly dinner theme (often!) but I do have several queued up in a row. This week was SALAD…

Fruit salad skyr bowl. Plain Siggi’s with blueberries, blackberries, mango, and kiwi.

Candy salad! A mix of Nerds Easter items and sour tropical Mike and Ike’s (<– wonderful).

Dinners are listed from least to most favorite (though we quite enjoyed them all). Shredded tofu salad. Super firm tofu (shredded and tossed with evoo, hoisin, and gochujang and then baked until crispy) with roasted cabbage, scallions, bell peppers, and peanut sauce (chunky peanut butter, lime juice, rice vinegar, horseradish Sriracha aioli, sugar, and a bit of water).

Lox bagel inspired salad. Romaine, roasted garlic dijon dressing, hot-smoked sockeye salmon, Biena everything chickpea snacks, capers, cucumber, and pickled red onion.

Nacho chicken salad. Baked chicken, poblano pepper, tomato, scallion, black beans, sharp cheddar, Quest nacho cheese and loaded taco flavored protein chips, plain skyr, mayo, lemon, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Plus roasted cauliflower.

Loaded tuna salad. Canned tuna and smoked trout with mayo, dijon, salt and pepper kettle chips, scallions, sweet baby gherkins, and Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalapenos. Plus a big pile of roasted green beans.