July Fourth 2015 At Solomen’s

by Emily

I had an absolutely amazing Independence Day with my family down on the river. It was a complete joy to catch up with my loved ones! My cousins both brought a ton of their college friends down with them so we had a bustling, entertaining crowd.

I was way too busy to take good pictures, but my aunt and uncle are both fantastic cooks and we ate like Kings all weekend. Think crab cakes, cheese plates, bourbon slushies, and key lime pie. 90% of what passed my lips was either crab, booze, or fresh-picked berries so you know I had a great time!

P.S. I was so freaking brave and I ate my first-ever soft-shell crab this weekend in Adam’s honor.

15Jun2015

Mary Moon

by Emily

Another great week came to an end. We are looooving summer around these parts. Amazingly, I got myself up and out of bed by 7 am both Saturday and Sunday and you wouldn’t believe how much time I felt like I had free to play. It was great to get everything I wanted to do done – errands and fun stuff – and still make it to bed at a mature adult hour!

breakfast

Cereal and milk (and coffee).

Smart Start cereal with blueberries and milk with a side of iced coffee.

I rarely eat cereal with milk because I usually have it on top of yogurt but it is darn good with fresh berries on top.

Another day, another coffee. Starbucks’ newest dark roast was quite tasty clover-brewed.

With a Sonja apple and an Epic protein bar.

I love the idea of the bars in theory, and the texture was great, but unfortunately I’m never a big fan of the cranberry almond pairing.

Finally, espresso from Brooklyn Roasting Company never lets us down.

As you’ll see below, this was not our only coffee that day, muwhahaha!

snack

Friday afternoon, just as I was racking my brain for a way to get a cookie on my way home without missing my train, my phone rang – the social worker was calling to let me know that a sales rep had brought us cookies!

How fortuitous.

The dog and I both think that cheese sticks make good snacks.

On Saturday we enjoyed popcorn and a movie.

This Churro flavored popcorn from Erin’s Popcorn was on point. {it was also a free sample, please note that I did not receive further compensation for this post and all opinions are my own} It had the perfect balance of cinnamon and sugar and was nice and crunchy. The husband, the true churro connoisseur, could not keep his hands off of it.

We snacked on it during Jurassic World, and I’ll just say that the popcorn was the best part of that outing.

Adam and I got hot and sunburnt walking around Smorgasburg and we split a cookie sandwich from The Good Batch.

Chocolate brown-butter cookie, vanilla ice cream, toasted hazelnuts, and Nutella spread. It was good but not great and we ended up not finishing it.

In contrast, we licked every last drop out of our ice cream cup at Morgensterns.

American egg and sesame caramel ice creams topped with Luxardo cherries. And now I know that I am obsessed with Luxardo cherries.

We had good coffee at Happy Bones. Adam’s flat white was intensely velvety.

But my skim lavender hot chocolate from Maman was even better. Not too sweet or soapy, and thick enough to feel decadent, even with skim milk.

Their gorgeous floral cups make me insanely happy.

Uggh, why is the Lower East Side so adorable?!

lunch/dinner

We went outdoors and grilled!

Lime seltzer with fresh mint and pineapple popsicle to drink.

With corn on the cob, asparagus, sliced halloumi cheese, and Applegate uncured chicken hot dogs.

The corn and the asparagus – cooked with a drizzle of olive oil and smoked paprika respectively – were roasted in the oven, only the amazingly squeaky cheese and the dogs (which were the best I’ve ever had!) were cooked on the grill. But we ate on the lawn with Webster circling our feet and it was pretty great.

We did brunch at Root &Bone that ended up being one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Every single item was perfectly executed. Even if Southern-style food isn’t your favorite I recommend checking this spot out.

For drinks we shared the Colonel’s Daughter – 100 proof bourbon, preserved peaches, Amaro Montenegro, and rosemary and a wine spritzer that I cannot find the description for or begin to remember.

We started with the crispy chicken biscuits which came topped with root chips and Tabasco jam and with a jar of pickles on the side.

This was hands down the best chicken I’ve ever tasted. I really hate the word succulent but it works the best.

Adam got the bacon benedict for his entrée and I went with the peach caprese – gooey pimento cheese croquette, charred peaches, pickled green tomatoes, baby heirloom tomatoes, and basil and molasses vinegar.

Not surprisingly, smoky sweet charred peaches pair really darn well with fried pimento cheese. We were swooning.

Sunday we had Chipotle for dinner, because we are very predictable.

My salad bowl had chicken, sautéed veggies, sour cream cheese, and mild, medium, and tomatillo salsas. I legit had a dinner planned and prepped but we walked 7.5 miles around SoHo and DUMBO and my feet were killing me! The sights were worth it.

12Jun2015

Dinner Bowl

by Emily

Do you have a preference for tableware and/or flatware? Whenever possible, I eat out of a bowl, preferably with chopsticks. Probably because it’s easier to chase every last bite when the food can’t roll off of the plate! All of my dinners this week were delicious and I think it’s not a coincidence that they were all served in bowls.

breakfast

This was a weird week for me, I ate breakfast – as in chewable breakfast, not just tons of milk in my coffee – almost every day.

Sonja apple.

String cheese and my last mango coconut almond thin. {p.s. Kate won the giveaway!}

String cheese and a KIND Salted Caramel Popped Bar. <– very tasty and packs 2 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein for 140 calories thanks to the blend of whole grains.

Don’t get me wrong, there was coffee too! This one was TJ’s cold-brew with skim milk and toasted marshmallow syrup.

And this monster was a Starbucks reward freebie that I took full advantage of – venti skim iced latte with extra espresso.

lunch

Yogurt bowls for the win. Adam and I are both head over heels for the KIND granola.

Local vanilla bean Greek yogurt with KIND maple, chia, quinoa granola and yellow nectarine, black plum, and blueberries.

Plain Fage Greek yogurt with KIND granola and red plum and yellow nectarine. Plus a serving of Lindt Pink Explosion on the side.

Honey Fage with blueberries and TJ’s bran flakes.

And Tuesday I had catered lunch thanks to a malnutrition policy education that I attended. Dessert was chocolate-covered marzipan that a sweet coworker snuck to me.

snack

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Apparently I was all about the freeze-dried produce.

dinner

Another reason we both like bowl-style meals is that it’s nice to have our grain/protein/veggie components layered together rather than served in separate piles on a plate. I like to get a little bit of each flavor in every bite.

Honey-chipotle chicken Chipotle style bowls.

This week’s dinners had a lot of components so I’m going to break them down bullet-point-style.

sautéed local Satur Farms energy greens – aka a kale, spinach, etc mix
sautéed onions and green peppers with cilantro and lime
TJ’s Cuban-style black beans
pan-fried chicken breasts that were marinated overnight in chipotles in adobo, honey, evoo, lime juice, sherry, minced garlic, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper
avocado
shredded cheese / low-fat sour cream / cilantro

We were out of the onion and pepper mix for day 2’s leftovers so instead I served all of the other components on top of big bowls of kale and broccoli sautéed with garlic and lime. Still good! We decided that my version was ~~almost~~ as good as Chipotle.

Our rice bowls were a more Asian-inspired. They would have been better with a runny egg on top but I was pleased with how incredibly juicy the chicken came out.

brown jasmine rice
browned mushrooms
roasted broccoli
baked chicken that was marinated overnight in soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, Sriracha, canola oil, lime juice, sugar, and minced ginger
bok choy, celery, green onion, and cilantro sautéed with a bit of the sauce from the chicken

Even on my night out I ate dinner in a bowl. I met friends at Hanoi and ordered the Veggie Spring Roll Bun – room temperature vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, scallion oil, shallot, peanut, fresh herb, and nuoc cham sauce.

Would you have guessed that there would literally be a chopped up spring roll on top of the dish? We were surprised, but agreed that it was darn tasty. The best part of the meal was dessert though. Maple soft-serve from Corner of Vermont.

We ate our ice cream on a leisurely walk down 5th ave in Park Slope and the whole thing felt wonderfully summery!

5Jun2015

Top Three Weekly Wrap-Up {And A Giveaway!}

by Emily

My favorites from the past week…

Top 3 Breakfasts

(1) Mango coconut biscotti* with my coffee.

*free sample courtesy of Nonni’s, scroll down to the last section for more info

(2) Smoothie. Hint of Honey almond milk with frozen blackberries, raspberries, and dates.

(3) Cold brew. Coffee concentrate cut with skim milk and maple water.

Tops 3 Lunches

(1) Thanks, Starbucks. A cherry, granola, and yogurt bowl that was quite tasty.

Plus a Almond Coconut KIND bar. An Airhead might have snuck in there too!

(2) Starbucks again. <– I didn’t have it super together this week. But their kale chicken Caesar salad is damn good.

(3) Apples and oats. Quaker Apple Walnut Oatmeal topped with Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter with TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apples on the side.

Top 3 Desserts

(1) Better than a brownie. Lindt’s caramel brownie bar.

(2) Hot fudge root beer floats.

(3) Shake, shake, shake. We had a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer and we weren’t afraid to use it.

Bourbon In My Coffee Breakfast Shake* = 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 2 oz maple bourbon, 2 oz iced coffee concentrate, 1 cup Frosted Flakes; serves 2.

*not actually consumed at breakfast

Top 3 Dinners

(1) Chipotle. My salad was on point – chicken, cheese, corn, sautéed veggies, mild salsa, green tomatillo salsa, and sour cream.

(2) More “Mexican” food.

Green chile and cheese pupusas. Now I need to get my hands on my first fresh pupusa.

Sautéed arugula tossed with avocado and crumbled kale chips.

(3) Asian-inspired. Every piece of this meal came out of our freezer but it was still one of the best of the week.

TJ’s chicken and vegetable goyza.

Frozen broccoli, celery, and spring onions that I cooked in canola oil then gussied up with a quick sauce (brown sugar, chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha, cornstarch) and some crushed peanuts.

Plus 1 Giveaway!

As I mentioned above, I was sent a free sample of the newest flavor of Nonni’s THINaddictives – Mango Coconut.

They are completely addictive – the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy and not too sweet to eat with breakfast (they have 100 calories per pack of three). I ate them with pretty much every meal this week.

Nonni’s gave me a chance to share the love with you guys too – Simply leave comment on this post before 10 am EST on Tuesday, June 9th for a chance to win your own box.

Not feeling lucky? In celebration of the new flavor, Nonni’s THINaddictives is hosting Summer Giveaway on Facebook – 50 winners will be selected to receive a free box of the new Mango Coconut THINaddictives. There is also a $1 off coupon under their coupon tab.

8May2015

Gesundheit!

by Emily

Oh man, has allergy season hit us with a vengeance. I feel just horrible! My throat hurts, my nose is runny, and my head is an achy, foggy mess. All of that complaining is to say – I missed a lot of pictures this week, many of them of candy and/or coffee because I pretty much had to have a liquid or hard candy in my mouth 24 hours a day. That said, I got to go on several mid-week dates with the husband and it was actually a pretty great week.

breakfast

Smoothie. Vanilla almond milk, frozen banana, blueberries, raspberries and dates, chia seeds, and a scoop of vanilla pudding mix.

Adam prefers his smoothies creamier than icy so I thought the pudding would help with texture but it gave the smoothie an offputtingly sweet taste.

Breakfast date at Doughnut Plant!

I got a tres leches doughnut (the best one on the menu),

and a horchata, a specialty menu item for Cinco de Mayo.

Plus a latte from Gorilla.

Mmmmn.

lunch

Soup for my sore throat.

With a Lady Alice apple.

Guava-cheese empanada.

With a grapefruit soda.

A sandwich from home.

Low-fat cheddar, mayo, and Applegate Farm’s bbq spiced turkey on TJ’s whole-wheat Tuscan pane.

Turkey sandwich from the cafeteria on yummy olive bread.

Plus dried nectarines a coworker brought in.

They were even better than dried apricots.

snacks drinks

Lavender milk tea.

Good but not great.

This “Simply Red” from Pork Slope was amazing.

House-infused hibiscus vodka, mint, lime, and soda. I am obsessed with mint lately.

Low-fat machta latte.

I told you there were going to be a lot of drinks!

dinner

Rice bowls.

For a super authentic Cinco de Mayo.

Date night at the new-ish Luke’s Lobster in Park Slope!

My lobster roll was heavenly.

And then we got a flight at Ample Hills for dessert.

It came in an egg tray and was amazing and delicious and I was basically dying.

That’s all I photographed. Have a great weekend!

4May2015

Fun Facts From The Weekend

by Emily

{1} The special drink at Café Bene this month is handmade strawberry milk! It’s called a “strawberry latte,” and as far as we could tell it is just milk and macerated strawberries. The husband and I liked it a lot.

That’s more than I can say for the S’mores Frappuccino, as the whipped cream did not taste like marshmallows.

{2} You can eat Kentucky Derby themed snacks even if you don’t watch the race and still have no idea who won.

This Dark Chocolate Walnut bar was yummy.

And I made Adam and I “Derby Shakes” on Saturday.

Milk chocolate gelato and toasted walnuts blended with skim milk, Jim Beam Maple Bourbon, and ice.

{3} Bareburger’s new menu includes a burger topped with pimento cheese, pickled green tomato, a fried egg.

I guess that technically fit in with our Derby eats too.

{4} The new Avengers’ movie was not bad at all. Even though it was long enough for us to need a refill on our giant soda.

It was very funny; several quips had the whole theatre laughing out loud. I think overall it would have been a lot more Whedon-y if it had been Natasha walking into the house instead in that final farm scene (<– intentionally vague so as not to give any spoilers).

{5} You should totally make my newest recipe at home – Spicy Salmon Roll Casserole.

It came together really quickly and Adam and I both enjoyed it. Served with Bon Appetit’s Thai Celery Salad on the side.

I’m looking forward to leftovers of both dishes.

24Apr2015

Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

The five best things I ate this week…

(1) Coffee boxes

Blue Bottle.

Stumptown.

These guys never let me down.

(2) This snack assortment

Baby carrots, seaweed salad, a Honey Belle pear, and a Pixie tangerine.

Bonus – I went to a catered seminar on physical assessments for malnutrition and they brought in surprisingly good salads from Smash Burger.

(3) Oatmeal bowls

Wild Beary flavor with maple almond butter on top and a Gold Nugget tangerine on the side.

The berries and cream oat bowl I made myself was better though.

Rolled oats, malted milk powder, chia seeds, freeze-dried strawberries, and dried blueberries. Plus sweetened sour cream on top.

(4) Green curry with bulgar

This was the best thing we ate all week.

Ground turkey sautéed with garlic, ginger, green onions, and probably something else that I’m forgetting // collard greens and celery cooked in rice vinegar with salt and a bit of sugar (sort of try for the pickled greens served at Pig and Khao) // green curry paste and light coconut milk // served on bulgar.

Now that I’ve gotten my hands on jarred crushed ginger again my food has gotten so much better.

(5) Asian-ish rice noodles

This would have been the second best thing we ate, but it desperately needed crushed peanuts on top.

Ground turkey that had been marinated over night with green onions, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, canola oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple bourbon // baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms, and red bell pepper cooked with Sriracha, ginger, and a pinch of sugar // rice noodles cooked in chicken broth.

Marinating the meat in so many acidic things gave it an amazing texture, though I realize that it doesn’t look all that pretty. I have a bag of the chopped veggies prepped in the freezer so we can quickly make this meal again soon.

The worst thing about this week? The weather! Why is it so cold again??

20Apr2015

It’s A Miracle! {They’re Alive, Damn It!}

by Emily

This weekend…

…I tried MiraBurst

Aka Miracle Berries aka Synsepalum dulcificum, a plant whose berries don’t taste sweet on their own, but have a compound (Miraculin) that binds to sweet receptors on the tongue and makes acidic foods which are ordinarily sour be perceived as sweet.

Please note – I was sent the berries free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

You eat the pulp, not the seeds, and the effect lasts about an hour. They recommend trying the berries 1-2 at a time with foods such as citrus fruits, yogurt and kefir, and vinegar, so we set up a little tasting station.

It totally worked!! The limes and plain yogurt were both sweet and delicious. I could definitely see this working as a great way to get kids interested in trying new foods. I am excited to have the berries in my freezer so I can continue trying them out on different things.

…I also ate things that were sweet all on their own – cookies!

Many, yummy cookies. Like a chocolate chip cookie sandwich from Whole Foods.

And macarons from the tea place near my work. We tried milk chocolate marshmallow, Nutella, and cream brulee.

Marshmallow was the best, of course.

…We went to Smorgasburg

Per usual, we focused on duck buns and iced coffees.

We also went to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory – – and hated it. I have no idea how that place always has such a long line.

…I got a summery green pedicure

I sipped a delicious cold-brew iced coffee from Bareburger while I got my toes done.

That cup – squee!

…I ate leftovers that weren’t half bad

I drizzled leftover egg salad with Sriracha, served with leftover roasted green beans and buttered whole-wheat cinnamon swirl toast.

Roasting veggies is the real miracle, how can leftover green beans taste so good?!

…The dog ate wet food and this happened:

I tied his ears back so he could eat mess-free. What a cutie!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: berries

July Fourth 2015 At Solomen’s

Mary Moon

breakfast

snack

lunch/dinner

Dinner Bowl

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Top Three Weekly Wrap-Up {And A Giveaway!}

Top 3 Breakfasts

Tops 3 Lunches

Top 3 Desserts

Top 3 Dinners

Plus 1 Giveaway!

Gesundheit!

breakfast

lunch

snacks drinks

dinner

Fun Facts From The Weekend

Weekly Wrap-Up

It’s A Miracle! {They’re Alive, Damn It!}

This weekend…

…I tried MiraBurst

Please note – I was sent the berries free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

…I also ate things that were sweet all on their own – cookies!

…We went to Smorgasburg

…I got a summery green pedicure

…I ate leftovers that weren’t half bad

…The dog ate wet food and this happened: