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.
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.
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.
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!
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).
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.
Bahn by Lauren – Sesame ball with mung bean filling (9.5/10, almost as good as the one from Lucky King) and pandan coffee cake.
Glace – S’mores sundae. Brown butter vanilla soft-serve with hot fudge, marshmallow fluff, and whipped cream. We added peanut butter drizzle and did not regret it.
Brunch at The Dutch. My (non-epynonymous) Oaxacan Sunset had tequila, mezcal, cassis, lime, and hibiscus grenadine.
Deviled eggs with crab.
We shared the burger which was dry-aged with grilled onions, cheddar, and secret sauce on a sesame bun.
And cornmeal flapjacks with blueberry syrup and salted butter. These had the best crispy edges.
It is no longer coat weather in NYC, woo-hoo! Other highlights from the week…
Banana bread frozen coffee. Coffee blended with ice, cream, frozen banana, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter extract, and vanilla protein powder.
The rest of the week I did this cookie x cookie combo. The Javy cookies and cream coffee concentrate and Chobani cookie dough creamer were both good but not great.
Beautiful nougat candies my parents made for Easter.
This week’s dinner theme was sandwiches so of course I had some peanut butter and jelly snacks. Yogurt bowl – plain skyr with chunky peanut butter, concord grape jam, and blueberries.
Reese’s peanut butter and jelly big cups(!!!). These were 10/10’s (but still not as good as the chip ones!).
Egg salad. Whole-wheat bread with egg salad (hard-boiled eggs, mayo, Dijon mustard, plain skyr, scallion, poblano, and cornichons). Plus baby carrots and blueberries.
Turkey meatball. Brioche buns with Trader Joe’s pizza sauce and baked turkey meatballs (with pizza cheese, panade, and tons of garlic). Plus roasted broccoli.
Spicy chicken. Whole wheat bread, baked chicken (marinated in yogurt and Sriracha), chunky peanut butter, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalopenos, and sharp cheddar. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with caramelized kimchi and Dijon mustard.
Tuna smash-melts. Tuna salad (canned albacore tuna and smoked trout, capers, scallion, sweet gherkins, mayo, Kewpie, Dijon mustard, and paprika) and sharp cheddar on a brioche bun that I squashed in a skillet with butter. Plus roasted zucchini.
Somethings from this week, mostly on-theme and/or coffee…
No one is surprised that I’ve been buying Easter candies for months.
I also have been saving up lemon and coconut bars. The Melo bars are all 10/10 but the lemon flavor is actually my favorite. I also was very pleased with how lemony the 88 Acres one was.
Buzz’d Express Coffee‘s marshmallow Peep cold foam cold brew is maybe my favorite coffee of 2025.
I also made my own version with toasted birthday cake Peeps blended into an iced coffee with cream, sugar, vanilla bean powder, and vanilla extract.
Coconut water with dalgona-style espresso (9/10).
A spring-y cottage cheese bowl with leftover fermented banana cake, kiwi, blackberries, and edible flowers.
Trader Joe’s dried baby pineapples. These are nicely sweet and chewy.
We tried the rice paper noodles hack with brown rice spring roll wrappers (loved it, the chew was perfect). Stir-fried with Pad See Ew sauce, baked chicken, green onion, broccolini, and egg.
Buffalo chicken cabbage bowls. I made a cole slaw with green cabbage, green onion, tomato, Greek yogurt, mayo, dijon mustard, vinegar, white pepper, sugar, and blue cheese. Topped with baked chicken that I tossed in a skillet with butter, dijon, and Frank’s buffalo sauce.
Sheet-pan hash. Sprouted extra-firm tofu baked with brussels sprouts, yam, green onion, blue cheese, and Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans. I topped my bowl with honey and chili crisp.
Pizza night! Two-ingredient crust plus two ingredients (garlic and onion powder) / Trader Joe’s pizza sauce zhuzhed up with tomato sauce, roasted garlic, and urfa pepper / pizza-blend shredded cheese / sauteed mushrooms (a frozen blend with white, crimini, portobello, and shiitake) with green onions, gochugaru, and butter. Plus roasted yellow cauliflower.