Weekly Wrap-Up; Lots Of Repetition

Let’s start with dinner first and work our way backward, since lunches were all some form of leftovers from dinner.  Usually my meals are all over the place, but this week there was a lot of repetition.

dinners

 

First – and this is the meal that spawned the lunches – we made pineapple stir-fry over brown rice.

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We kept things very simple which I think was a major improvement over stir-fries we’ve made in the past.  Pineapple, broccoli, and straw mushrooms with baked tofu (400* for 40+ minutes, drizzled in honey and soy sauce) in a quick sauce of pineapple juice, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and corn starch.

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Usually I get sick of our stir-fries after the first few bites, but this dinner I enjoyed the whole way through.

One night I made easy eggs.  I don’t remember what Adam ate, but definitely not this; he’s not the biggest Korn corn fan.

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2 large eggs scrambled in evoo with corn (Trader Joe’s frozen fire-roasted corn, that I adore by the way.  Cooked with a little sugar and Sriracha), dried basil from my grandma’s garden(!!), and shredded parmesan.

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Eggs are so nice for dinner.

You already saw our roasted garlic pesto with bow-ties and spinach.

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The husband got all of the leftovers and I was very jealous.

Last night we got all fancy and shared a cheese board for dinner.

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We did minneola,

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green pear,

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Pink Crisp apple,

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Blue Diamond Sesame Seed Artisan Nut Thins (former freebie alert),

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and of course, cheese.

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The cheese guy at Whole Foods was so helpful to us.  Plus he let the husband have a million samples, so Adam was basically in love.  We decided to go with one hard and one soft.  A 3 year aged Gouda,

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and a Soignon goat brie.

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Both were fantastic.  This meal was so much fun!

lunches

 

I have two lunches to share this week, both stir-fried rice.  I know that on Monday I drank a third sugary iced coffee in leu of lunch, but I cannot for the life of me remember what I ate on the fourth day?!  Whenever we would discuss food recalls in class I always thought it was silly that people had such a hard time completing them, but now that I’ve stopped daily blogging it has become much harder to recall my meals!

First up, a traditional.

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Leftover brown rice with pineapple, peas, carrots, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and 1 large egg.

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The pineapple got sort of caramelized and was fabulous.

Next, fried rice that was a bit out of the box.

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Leftover brown rice, corn, spinach, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, rice, vinegar, and 1 large egg.

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I really thought that this iteration was going to be amazing but somehow the flavor ended up being pretty dull.

snacks

 

A friend had some good news to share early this week, and we celebrated with beer and bubble tea (of course).  The beer was that nougat beer I keep prattling on about, so I’ll just show you a picture of my gorgeous tea.

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Strawberry black tea with boba and lychee jelly from Hanco’s.

Another afternoon, the family took a walk to get ices.

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I went with a sour cherry and cola water ice.

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Not as good as the strawberry-cola combo I had the last time.

Now evening treats.  The froyo place near our Whole Foods gives a discount if you bring a receipt from the Starbucks next door and that’s what spawned this idea – the sort-of affogato.

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A little bit of vanilla froyo topped with a drizzle of fudge sauce and a solo shot of espresso.

Finally, caramel corn.

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I cannot stop eating this, so I guess it’s time to give you the recipe.  It is too simple.

Caramel Corn, serves 1 – 2

  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 – 6 cups (popped) popcorn
  • salt, to your tastes

Heat the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until melted.  Stir in SCM and continue to cook until thickened, 40 – 75 more seconds.  Drizzle over prepared popcorn and salt to your tastes.

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I’ve made this recipe in larger batches and you can too; all you have to do is keep the ratios the same while increasing as needed.  The leftover caramel corn stores great in a sealed container on the counter for up to 5 days.

breakfasts

 

Like lunch, these pictures are all pretty similar.  In fact, the base of these three breakfasts stayed the same the whole week!

Overnight oats: 1/4 cup dry oats, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk; stored in the fridge overnight in an almost-empty nut butter jar (~1 serving left).  Topped with blueberries before serving.

The only thing that changed was the jars.  Barney Butter Crunchy Almond Butter.

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Jif Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Spread.

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Skippy SuperChunk with Honey.

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All delicious, but the last was my favorite because that’s my favorite butter.  I’ve got to get working on more jars!

So there you have it; lots of eggs, rice, corn, and oatmeal.  Which food made a lot of repeat visits on your plates this week?

Weekly Wrap-Up; A Trip To Ohio

Last week was quite a good one for me.  I passed my Registration Exam and then flew to Ohio to visit my grandma.  Good times all around!  It was also a busy week, so please excuse the many gaps in my reporting (for example, my grandma served me dessert at least twice a day, every day of my visit and I think I managed to snap a photo of just one sweet bite).

Dietetics students – feel free to leave a comment/shoot me an e-mail if you’d like some more details on the studying process for the exam.  Otherwise, here we go…

Breakfasts

{1} A tropical smoothie.

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I blended up frozen mano chunks, oj, and Müller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

{2} Berry topped cereal.

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Kashi Honey Puffs and Nature’s Path Bran flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, blueberries, nectarine, and a sprinkle of sugar.

{3} Yogurt bowl day one.

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Chobani 2% Apricot Greek Yogurt topped with sliced banana and red plum.  Not only did a find a few good, new flavors of yogurt while in Ohio, but these plums were the best (read: juicy without being drippy and nice and sweet) I’ve ever had.  The apricot flavored Chobani was nice as well.

{4} Yogurt bowl day two.

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 Liberté Peach and Passionfruit Non-fat Greek Yogurt topped with more fantastic red plum.  Liberté makes Greek yogurt now?!  My heart practically leapt out of my chest.

Lunches

Lots of meals out in this category, much fun was had.

{1} California Pizza Kitchen, Queens.

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Adam, ever the traditionalist, shared a slice of his Roasted Garlic and Chicken Pizza with me.  The pizza was yummy, but I went with a salad.

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CPK’s Thai Crunch Salad is a thing of wonders, the edamame, peanuts, and wonton strips give it great crunch.  And that giant plate was a half portion!  Adam and I both ate some at lunch and then there was enough leftover for him to eat the next day as well.  This meal was actually eaten the day before my exam.  The husband quizzed me a bit over our meal but largely I took things easy that day; either you know it or you don’t!

{2} Bareburger, then 16 Handles, Long Island.

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After I passed my exam, a very sleepy husband took me out to celebrate.  He worked all night, then came home and drove me to my test, so it was perfect to go somewhere that loved bears for lunch (my nickname for him is Bear).

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Bareburger is a NY chain that focuses on organic, humanely sourced foods.  Their meat options include wild boar, elk, and ostrich!  I went “boring” with a turkey burger.

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The Maui Wowie (sans bun) was far from boring; it was topped with smoked mozzarella, turkey bacon, grilled pineapple, fried onions, fire-roasted red pepper, and buttermilk ranch.

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It was freaking delicious and we want to go back again {and again, and again!}.

You can’t celebrate without froyo.

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We went to 16 Handles afterward and rocked my face off.  The topping options were out of this world.

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I got pecan praline yogurt (!!!) topped with Coney Island Crunch trail mix and bananas foster banana chips!  Re-dic-u-lous.

{3} Bakehouse, then Jenni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Troy.

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Bakehouse is a fantastic bakery and cafe in Ohio.  My grandma took me there the minute I stepped off the plan and we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch.

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I had a cup of gazpacho,

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and we split a Vegetarian Sandwich.

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Cheesy-good was definitely the theme of this visit.

We digested by walking around and looking at Troy’s newest sculpture installations.

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They were sooooo realistic, my grandma definitely tricked me a few times into thinking we were heading towards real people.

Then we went for Winan’s for dessert because…

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they sell little containers of Jeni’s ice cream!

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The black coffee flavor was perfection.  I’ve been reading rave reviews of Jeni’s in magazines and blogs for years and now I totally get the hype.

{4} First Watch, Dayton.

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I had never heard of First Watch – a breakfast/lunch only spot – before but they served up quite a fine half salad/half sandwich combo for lunch.

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The Santa Fe Salad was nice and spicy (and also flipping loaded with chicken, no one person would possibly want that much on one salad),

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and any place that serves turkey reubans along the traditionals wins my heart.

{5} My grandma’s kitchen, finally a home-cooked lunch.

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A bit of avocado, a cob of my spicy, cheesy baked corn,

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and chicken salad.

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Nana’s chicken salad – made with mayo, sliced grapes, and toasted pecans – is one of my all-time favorite dishes.

Drinks and Snacks

{1} Mango Hi-Chew.

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I am just too glad to be back in the city where there are Hi-Chews at every corner store.  Mango was nice and juicy, but I won’t be satisfied until I find the yogurt flavor I used to love.

{2} Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snack.

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My seaweed consumption has gone way down now that I’m not packing lunches for school so this was a nice treat.

{3} Maple-Glazed Pecan and Sea Salt KIND Bar.

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My bar consumption is also on the decline, but this flavor was by far the best KIND bar I’ve ever had.

{4} Bourganel’s Nougat Beer.

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A friend took me to Bierkfraft – an awesome bar/beer merchant in Park Slope – to celebrate my new credentials and we discovered our new favorite thing.

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I grabbed this Bourganel Beer Nougat on a whim (always try to drink booze that tastes like dessert, that’s my motto) and it was out of control.  Normally I leave a lot behind when I drink a beer, but this bottle was drained before it could even get warm.  My friend adored it as well; we ended up buying a second bottle to split after our first round!

{5} Kahlua Ready-to-Drink White Russian.

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I have looked for these bottles all summer after spotting one in a magazine and I finally hit pay dirt in Ohio!

Dinners

{1} Sushi.

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The night before my exam, I got take-out from A-Chiban.  Mango-inari, fish tempura, and a veggie roll.

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The mango was slimy and terrible, but everything else was good.

{2} Spicy.

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Spicy, cajun shrimp over angel hair,

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with tossed salad and citrus green beans.

{3} Casserole.

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Cucumber and tomato salad, cornmeal-breaded baked summer squash,

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and creamy chicken casserole.

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Among the ingredient list for the casserole were swiss cheese, white wine, and stuffing.  My grandma is an amazing cook.

{4} Plane food.

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My kiku apple was crunchy and sweet, and the leftover chicken salad served on cranberry poppy-seed bread made for an amazing sandwich.

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My sandwich was on the small side, but not to worry, I bought chips (um, and pizza) at the airport!

Do you have a favorite dish that a certain family member will always prepare for you?

Weekly Wrap-Up; On The Go, Mostly

I have got to get these posts up more regularly; I have way too many pictures!  I tried to condense the best I could, but I have a lot to share.  I’ll try to keep my text brief to make up for the thousand(s of) words.

date night

I made the most of one of Adam’s elusive days off and took him into the city for a date.

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Greenpoint’s 5 Leaves provided perhaps the best meal we’ve eaten since the move.

I got a War of the Rosés to drink.

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Lillet rose, hibiscus syrup, sparkling rosé, orange bitters, sugar cube.  I would to go back for the drink menu alone; the Thor Collins is right up my alley.

I made a vegetable plate dinner out of an appetizer and side order.

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Chopped Black Kale Salad,

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w/ spicy anchovy dressing, aged gouda & hazelnuts.

Roasted Baby Squash.

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w/ dandelion pesto.  Both of my plates were divine and I ended up with more than enough (leftovers!) to eat.

For dessert we ventured across the bridge to the Big Gay Ice Cream shop.

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I got a bourbon ice cream and praline cookie sandwich.

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It was good but not OMG-good where I felt like I needed to eat the whole thing.  Adam’s Monday Sundae was definitely consumed in full though.

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twist ice cream/nutella lined cone/dulce de leche/sea salt/whipped cream.

kale, it’s what’s for dinner

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We scrambled my leftover chopped black kale into eggs with roasted corn, and parmesan cheese.

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Plus roasted kale chips on the side.

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This meal was so simple but so pleasant.  Corn in eggs rocks my socks off.

sweet corn, sweet, sweet corn

Even better than corn in eggs, is corn that arrives fresh at my doorstep.

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Please note: this product was provided to me free of charge.  All opinions are my own.

Amaize Sweet Corn is a rare bread of corn that is now available in select cities (including Buffalo).  Amaize Sweet Corn is created using traditional, natural breeding methods through hybridization (meaning it’s never genetically modified).  It is sweet and crunchy enough to eat straight off of the cob – I took a nibble and loved it – but I roasted mine instead.

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Discovering that you can roast corn in your oven might be the best thing that’s happened to me all summer; it is so flipping easy and mess-free.  I cooked my 1.5 cobs with Sriracha mayo and shredded Parmesan and the heat/salt went perfectly with the extra sweetness.

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For our protein we had “spinach soufflé eggs.”

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Just frozen spinach, chives, and Parmesan scrambled into eggs, but I whipped a little low-fat sour cream into the eggs before adding them to the pan and the texture was a total dream.

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this week’s breakfast

I’m still loving the Kashi, but this week’s ceral is Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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It has good fiber and protein for staying power (5 and 4 grams respectively) and the flakes have a bit of sweetness.  Like the front of the box, I had my 1.5 servings with blueberries, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a drizzle of honey.

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I swear, there really was cereal under that mound of berries!

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food on the go

I was out of the house (alllllllll day) a ton last week so many of my meals were purchased/eaten out.  Some were better than others.

Whole Foods hot bar assortment.

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{B} The corn salad and tortellini that were hidden under the broccoli were nice, but the vegan Asian options on the left both had a strange aftertaste.

Starbucks Chicken and Greens Caesar.

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{A} Other than the high saturated fat (5 grams) the nutritional stats were pretty good (19 grams of protein, 340 calories including dressing) and the lettuce was nice and fresh.

A small Indonesian Peanut Saute from Noodles & Co.

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{C} I paid extra for “extra vegetables” and I still only had 4 pieces of broccoli.

Jr vegetarian burrito (rice, black beans, sautéed mushrooms/onions/green pepper, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, corn salsa) with queso and chips from Moe’s.

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{A+} Free chips and offering a jr-sized burrito earns them two thumbs up; I love Moe’s.

A little bit of tart froyo with the best peanut butter and toffee toppings (cheesecake, butterfinger, heath, reeses pieces, white chocolate, caramel) from Yogurtland.

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{A+} They are doing a Looney Tunes partnership so my spoon was shaped like Bugs Bunny.

Buffalo chicken slice from Pino’s.

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{B-} The crust was too thick and spongy.  From a nutrition standpoint, it’s great that the chicken isn’t fried and the cheese is very sparse but… I miss Zetti’s!

Webster’s Buyday

On August 12th we celebrated our 2nd year with Webster in the family.

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He and Adam split a (grass-feed, very expensive, awesomely marbled) steak.

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I tried to get pictures, but the man of honor housed his portion in about 2.5 seconds.

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We love him so much and are so glad he’s a part of our lives!

a new favorite thing

This is random, and I don’t have a good picture, but it must be shared.

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If you use a lemon dulce de leche popsicle as the “ice” in your plain seltzer it will be the best thing you’ve ever put in your face.

my parents are the best

My mom and dad are the coolest, and they spent the first week of August vacationing in Amsterdam.  They sent us a fun box of goodies when they got home –

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These wine gums have the perfect texture and the neatest packaging.

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Adam and I found actually eating this sprinkle stick thing to be terrible, but it was super fun to carry around.

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These gorgeous milk chocolates – like all European confections – put American chocolate to shame.

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And I can’t get an accurate picture, but this cardigan was the most fabulous shade of neon pink.

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when I dip, you dip, we dip

Blue Diamond recently sent me some crackers.  Yes, the nut company.

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Please note: this product was provided to me free of charge.  All opinions are my own.

Blue Diamond’s Artisan Nut-Thins® are a gluten-free cracker alternative.  They sent me Multi-seed, Flax, and Sesame to try.

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The serving size feels generous for 130 calories and the flavor I’ve tried was nice.  The texture is crunchy without being crumbly, so they are perfect for dipping.  So I paired the Multi-Seed Nut-Thins with a dip!

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Homemade Sour Cream and Onion Dip.

  • 1 cup caramelized onions  (I recommend using this method)
  • 2 Tbsp chopped chives
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup low-fat sour cream
  • 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Fold all ingredients together in a large bowl until well-combined.  Reserve a few chives for sprinkling on top if you wish.

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It was amazing, evidenced by the fact that I ate the entire bowl by myself in less than 24 hours.

Do you celebrate any pet-centric holidays?

Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Book

This week I’m going to do some book reviews.

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Full disclosure – I was not paid to write this post but all three of the books were sent to me free of charge to review.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Book 1 – Austrian Desserts: Over 400 Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes and Candies by Toni Mörwald and Christopher Wagner

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Overall Thoughts:  I am thrilled to add this to my collection; I love a nice weighty cookbook!  This book is packed with recipes, divided neatly into sections like “Cake, Tarts, Schnitten, and Strudel;” “Cookies and Candies;” and “Ice Cream, Sorbet, Granita, and Parfaits.”  I don’t have any background in Austrian baking, but the recipes are written in such a clear, straightforward way that I would feel confident tackling any of them.  There are a few history blurbs but overall the writing is to the point, which I appreciate.  The color photographs are gorgeous.

Recipe:  Sour Ice Cream with Lime

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Recipe Reflections:  With just three ingredients – low-fat sour cream, simple syrup, and fresh lime – this is the easiest ice cream I’ve ever made.  But the ease didn’t make it any less tasty.  Sweet and sour were perfectly balance here and the mouthfeel was nice and creamy with no ice crystals.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

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What I Want to Make Next:  Lavender Ice Cream, Plum Kolach, and Buttermilk Mousse with Honey.

Book 2 – CopyKat.com’s Dining Out at Home Cookbook 2, by Stephanie Manley

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Overall Thoughts:  This is the 2nd book from CopyKat.com that seeks to recreate recipes from popular restaurants.  There are recipes inspired by more than 60 restaurants, including Starbucks, Sonic, and Cheesecake Factory.  The book is divided into sections by types of foods, i.e. “Drinks,” “Appetizers,” “Desserts,” and so on.  I don’t really eat at most of the restaurants featured here, but if your family regularly eats out at (popular chain) restaurants and is looking to cut back this book would be a great starting point.  There are no photographs but you don’t need them as a starting point anyway because the dishes are all things you’ve seen before (that’s the point!).

Recipe 1:  (Panera Bread) Broccoli Cheese Soup

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Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never tried the original, but we flipping loved this recipe.  The soup was sooo thick and perfectly creamy but without being too heavy.  The flavor was astonishingly “meaty,” and the vegetables all reached the perfect texture – soft but not mushy.  I used fat-free half & half instead of full-fat and I recommend this substitution.  Adam and I both thought this was the best soup we’ve ever made.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

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Recipe 2:  (Cajun Cafe) Bourbon Chicken Tofu

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Recipe 2 Reflections:  I went with chicken instead of tofu here but feel like I still got a good idea of the recipe.  This wasn’t bad, certainly, but we did not enjoy it as much as the soup.  The sauce got very salty if you let it reduce too long, and we had already subbed in low-sodium soy sauce.

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What I Want to Make Next:  (The Melting Pot) Wisconsin Trio Fondue, (P.F. Chang’s) Lettuce Wraps, and (Red Lobster) Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

Book 3 –The No-Cook, No-Bake Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes for When It’s Too Hot to Cook, by Matt Kadey

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Overall Thoughts:  This cookbook has 101 oven-free recipes and includes color photographs of 80 of them.  It’s divided into four sections – “Breakfast and Brunch,” “Starters and Sides,” “Main Dishes,” and “Desserts.”  I really appreciated how healthy all of the recipes in this cookbook were.  Usually I make substitutions to lower fat, calories, or sodium when I cook, but I couldn’t find a single recipe in this book that it seemed necessary to alter (for health reasons that is, I did make some pantry-related substitutions).

Recipe 1:  Mango Fool

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Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never eaten a Fool before, but this basically ended up being flavored Greek yogurt.  The ginger and orange juice definitely helped boost the mango flavor into something extra-special.  This took about a minute to come together, and I plan on making it again.

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Recipe 2:  Avocado Fruit Salad

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Recipe Reflections 2:  My fruit all looks a little pink because I had to substitute frozen berries when my blackberries caught a case of mold.  I also subbed  almonds for walnuts.  I can’t say that I loved the savoriness of the avocado, but I did enjoy it more than I was expecting too.  The overall blend of textures and flavors was fantastic; this felt very fresh and zingy.

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What I Want to Make Next:  Machta Mango Shake, Cucumber Seaweed Salad, and Tex-Mex Chipotle Beans.

Do you like to cook straight from recipes or do you prefer to wing it in the kitchen?  Where do you tend to get your recipes – cookbooks, food blogs, or family and friends?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Sweet and Spicy

This “week’s” wrap-up actually spans most of two weeks.  I know I went MIA (sorry, mom!) but I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately.  We have a lot of personal stuff happening this month and most of it is frustrating.  But there is good stuff this month too – like my 28th birthday and an upcoming trip back to Buffalo!

For having eaten two weeks worth of meals (plus, I am sooo not one of those “I’m too sad to eat” folks!), I don’t have a ton to share this post.  We did a lot of take-out and none of it was blogworthy, or even edible; we threw out a really annoying amount of food.  But even though the take-out situation in our neighborhood is dire, I do have some really tasty things to recap….

fruit salad for the fourth

I went all patriotic and made a lovely red white and blue fruit salad with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and sweetened shredded coconut (all mascerated with a little sugar and lime juice).

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It would have been even more lovely consumed on the 4th, but we got busy moving and ended up eating red, white, and blue on July 6th.

The salad was especially nice with skim milk and Impact Maple Oat granola.

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these tasty dinners were also eaten after Independence Day

I’m not sure what I was picturing because I knew we had to drive to PA and back, but I bought stuff for the grill to eat with our fruit salad.  Neither of these meals were eaten before the 7th, and we still haven’t fired up the grill, but they both sure were tasty.

Everything hot dogs and sautéed swiss chard.

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I added way to much Worcestershire to the chard and it was sort of terrible, but we ate it anyway to get our greens in.

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But the dogs were amazing.  I got the “everything dogs” idea from a Good Housekeeping.

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Turkey dogs in toasted buns topped with onion cream cheese sauce – yellow onions sautéed in butter with low-fat cream cheese stirred in, plus a little light cream to loosen up the sauce – and poppy seeds.

Patty melts with kale chips.

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Whole-wheat bread with 1.5 Trader Joe’s turkey burgers, ketchup, and sliced cheese.

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The burgers were a higher fat % than what we usually buy and they sicked me out to cook, but the patty melts in the end were very good.

The kale chips were amazing.

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I always used to burn kale chips into tiny shards of cancer but I did some Googling and think I finally found the right method.

getting saasy

The nice people at Saas Hot Sauce sent me some bottles of the hot stuff to review recently.

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Please note – these products were sent to me free of charge to review.  All opinions are my own.

Saas is a LLC started in 2010 by a group of students looking to raise money for charitable donations (particularly to help protect traditional cultures around the world).  It comes in Original and Onion and Garlic.  They use no chemical additives or stabilizers in their sauces.

I love the company’s values and practices, but I have to say – this stuff is hot!  A little drop definitely goes a long way.  I am a spice lover and it was pretty intense for me, so while I do recommend Saas products, if you have a wimpier mouth please be careful.

For some reason the hot sauce just screamed “quesadillas!” to me, so that’s what I made for dinner… several days in a row.  Original Saas went in hot wing quesadillas.

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Shredded rotisserie chicken mixed with Saas, blue cheese dressing, and mild cheddar.

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Onion and Garlic Saas went in black bean quesadillas.

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Smushed black beans with Saas, salt, lime juice, and sharp cheddar.

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All of the cheesy triangles were quite pleasing; quesadillas were definitely a good idea.

two more home-cooked dinners

First, a mac-n-cheese style casserole of farro (the 10 minute bag from Trader Joes, so easy!), cheese sauce, and swiss chard.

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I made the cheese sauce out of roux, light cream, sriracha, black pepper, sharp cheddar, and parmesan.

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We both liked it but if I make the dish again I would add more spice, you need a lot of flavor to stand up to the stronger taste of the farro.

The best meal of this post is the next one, and it was super easy and healthy too.  Bbq kale and white beans with cheesy corn.

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For the kale, I filled my 8×12 casserole dish with torn dinosaur kale, then topped it with a can of cannelloni beans, some chopped onion, and a bottle of honey bbq sauce before baking in a 350* oven.

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I wrapped our corn in foil and threw it in the oven with the kale.  Mine got a layer of Sriracha mayo, parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper before it was foiled.  Delicious!

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If I had known how easy it was to cook in the oven I would have been making corn all of the time.

glug, glug, glug

Lots of excitement in the beverage category this week.  I found several new favorites.  First, we headed over to Sweet Adele’s one afternoon for bubble tea.

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They also have amazing looking fruit slice candy that I want to go back for immediately.  On that visit I got a lavender milk bubble tea.

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What?! The flavor was more sweet than floral but it was still very exciting.

Also exciting was 7-11 day, aka July 7th (7/11).

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I got a small cherry/cola for my free slushie.

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There is just no topping the cherry/cola combo {more on that later}.

Finally, I found my new favorite Polar flavor.

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I know I have a new favorite every week but seriously, green apple seltzer is amazing.

empanadas in the city

On Saturday Adam had a coveted weekend day off so the three of us headed into the city.

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Let’s be real – blurry or not, this is the best picture anyone will ever take of Webster and me.

dog in a bag

We walked pretty far from the car to our final destination and the dog was such a little trooper about riding in my purse!  He was so adorable we could barely handle it.

The walk was worth my aching shoulder because we ended up with a great meal.  The PR team for Nuchas contacted me and asked if I would like to come by for lunch.

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The following meal was provided to me free of charge to review on the blog.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Nuchas, started by Argentine-born Ariel Barbouth, is a empanada company in the city.  They have a food truck, a Time Square kiosk, and a catering division.  They bake their empanadas instead of frying them so the goods are actually pretty healthy (and portable!).  They have meat-based, vegetarian, and even vegan options.

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Adam and I got four empanadas to share.

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See how they label them with a little embossed letter?  Too cute.

The Argentine.

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Pat Lafrieda’s ground beef, onions, peppers, scallions, potatoes & olives.  White dough.

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This one was all Adam, obviously.  He was a fan, and said it had good flavor without being too spicy.  There was a nice amount of meat too; they didn’t load it up with potatoes like some places try to do.

The Portobello.

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Portobello mushrooms, spinach, onions, mozzarella & fresh herbs.  Spinach dough.

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Again, good flavor and a nice amount of filling.  The cooked spinach wasn’t watery at all and this felt healthy while still tasting good.  This flavor was the husband’s favorite.

The Spicy Cheese.

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Assorted cheeses & caramelized onions.  White Parmesan dough.

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I don’t know what spices were used here, but I was a big fan.  This flavor was my favorite, but it is worth noting that it was too hot for Adam’s taste.

The Cranberry, Apple, & Nutella.

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Granny smith, cranberries, pear, nutella & chocolate.  White almond dough.

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It was fun to try a dessert empanada.  This was like a slice of apple pie with nutella on top, and really, what dessert isn’t better with some nutella on top?

All in all, we were very impressed with Nuchas.  We both plan on going back and spending our own money the next time we head into Time Square.

the sweet stuff

Three things to share this post in the sweets category; all will be happening again.

I spent a ton of money buying local yellow cherries at Whole Foods one day and then promptly forgot about them for the rest of the week.  By the time I got to the bag, the cherries were still edible but too soft to really be enjoyable, so I baked them into a yummy dessert.

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I modified this recipe from Eat, Live, Run to make a single-serve cherry clafoutis.

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I could not even believe how simple this was to make.

My birthday is next week, and some of my favorite family members sent me this fun package to celebrate.

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Danny Macaroons are actually made locally in NYC (which means we can get more, whee!).

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The flavors were crazy, and included chocolate-dipped, Bailey’s, chocolate, and other fun combinations.  This salted caramel macaroon was the best cookie I’ve had in my life.

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There were two salted caramels but I ate them both before Adam even got home from work.

Finally, there is an ice shop near our apartment and we are officially obsessed.

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They have a million flavors and they are all exciting.  Shown here is toasted marshmallow with key lime cream ice.

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That’s a small by the way; such a good deal for $3.  Marshmallow was great, obviously, but last night I had the best thing ever and now I’ll never be able to order anything else again – cola and strawberry water ice.  <— to die for

What is your very favorite flavor combo for frozen treats?

Weekly Wrap-Up; My Apartment Is Packed But I’m Still Here

I know this is a short “week,” but my laptop has been out sick since last Friday and I’m excited to have her back.

The days since I last posted have been crazy; moving requires a lot of work!  And since we had to pack up so early I’ve been living out of a duffle bag in my own apartment.  The food situation has been pretty ridiculous.  Also, I said a lot of goodbyes this week and they all involved alcohol.  The dog has been judging me.

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Breakfasts

Cinnamon Pecan Special K with skim milk.

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I’m glad that cereal is so tasty, because it was one of the only foods left in the house.

The day I tried to go without cereal (and use up some odds and ends) I ended up with…  skim milk, ~2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk, and malted milk powder.

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It wasn’t bad, but I won’t be making it a regular breakfast either.

(Non-alcoholic) Drinks

Not so good, was the Honeysuckle Pear Drink Chia.

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The flavor combo had such potential, but I would not have purchased it if I had noticed that it contained stevia and monk fruit extract.  You know what is already sweet?  Honeysuckle and pear juice.  Why not just leave the ingredients at that rather than adding (the terrible flavor of) sugar-free sweeteners?

Very good, was the Honest Fizz Orange Pop.

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I realize there is stevia in this one that I’m not complaining about, but this was delicious.  The flavor was a perfect match to Crush Orange Soda, just a tiny bit less sicky-sweet.  I will definitely look for it again.

Flipping amazing, was the Cucumber Melon Polar Seltzer.

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If you see this – buy it!  It smelled so much like a watermelon!  My co-worker tasted it and we both agreed that it was the best seltzer we’d ever had.

Lunches and Dinners

Like I said, pickings were slim, so dinner was either brinner – aka breakfast for dinner –  or food from a restaurant.

The last slice of Finish the Fridge Frittata with a white nectarine.

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I was loving nectarines earlier this summer but lately I haven’t had much luck getting one that isn’t squishy.

The best “yogurt” bowl I’ve ever made.  Frozen blackberries microwaved with a little sugar on the bottom, Chobani 2% Banana Greek Yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese in the middle, and granola on top.

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I was heartbroken when I realized I couldn’t make another one of these bowls until after we finish moving.

On Monday, a friend and I drove up to visit to friends who relocated to Rochester after graduation.  We had a really nice day, including lunch at Aladdin’s.

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My spread was the vegetarian combo.  I chose Dolmades, Babaganoush, and Spanikopita.

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The food was amazing and we got to sit right along the canal, so the view was too.

On Tuesday, my sweet coworkers took me out for an early goodbye dinner.  We started the evening at Cantina Loco.  I didn’t really enjoy my first experience at Cantina Loco but I am very glad that my coworker knew enough to drag me back.  Everything was delicious, especially the pitchers of margaritas.

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And the Nachos Locos.

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They were covered in pork but I was a trooper and picked it off because the nachos were just that good.

For dinner I ordered the California Fish Taco – Crisp Fried Fish, Cabbage Slaw,
Pickled Onion, Spicy Sauce.

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Delicious!

We went to Founding Fathers afterwards and I am kicking myself for not going sooner.  Great bartender, great drinks, and apparently great free popcorn that I somehow didn’t notice.  Among other things, we had a shot that was basically a liquified snickerdoodle!

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The bartender asked trivia questions all night, which I loved.  I even gave him two new questions to add to his rotation.  What do you call this “?!” punctuation mark?  [Answer at the end of this post]

One night I got a spicy cajun quesadilla from The Spot.

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The prices are a little high, but the Spot’s food is quite good.

Last night’s dinner was my final slice of Zetti’s.

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My white broccoli pizza was delicious, a good way to finish out my Zetti’s addiction!

See you next week!

Answer – an interrobang

Weekly Wrap-Up

I’ve stopped doing daily posts for the time being, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped eating – and occasionally photographing – delicious things.  Once we’ve moved and things have settled down I’ll try to post more regularly, but for now I want to at least do a weekly wrap-up of some of the more scrumptious things I’ve eaten.  I’m going to borrow the style of Kath’s Lately posts for these.

A lot is missing, I don’t have any lunches and several slices of pizza went uncaptured, but here are some of the highlights from last week…

Breakfasts

I bought an amazing container of fresh blackberries early in the week and enjoyed them greatly.  They started getting soft so I put the last few servings in the freezer and I’m very much looking forward to reheating them.  First up, Dannon Oikos Café Latte Greek Yogurt with blackberries and a blend of peanut and coconut butter.

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Cinnamon Pecan Special K with Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and more blackberries.

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This cereal is so tasty; it’s got a granola-like texture but with far less calories.

A Dr. McDougall’s Peach and Hemp Oatmeal, eaten at work with a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

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This oatmeal couldn’t hold a candle to my beloved Quaker cups.  It was quite gummy and strange, though I did eat all of the bites with hazelnut butter on them 😉

Snacks

I finally got a chance to try some of my shipment of the Larabar ALT lineLemon Pound Cake and Peanut Butter Cookie.

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The verdict was – I’m a fan; though I’ll admit to being less excited to try the other two flavors.  The texture was gritty sand, but in a great way, and the flavors were spot on.  I shared the lemon bar with a coworker and she said to tell y’all she liked it a lot.

On Monday, Adam, a friend, and I drove over to Williamsville to check out one of our new froyo spots – Red Mango.

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I did plain tart with tons of popping boba.  They had kiwi boba, a new experience for me.  Confession time though: I couldn’t finish that whole cup!  Who am I??

Dinners

Also on Monday, we spent the evening with another group of friends, saying goodbye to a doctor who was heading off to California.  As Adam and his friends all head off to their residencies we are having to say a lot of goodbyes.  We ate dinner at Mezza.

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A Shish Tawouk wrap – cubed marinated chicken breast, garlic spread, sweet coleslaw, and French fries, all wrapped together and grilled – with a Feta Fattouch salad.  My food was delicious, as was the diet coke with strawberry vodka I sipped from the bar.

We drank at Blue Monk before heading to dinner and I tried my first taste of mussels.

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I’ve always been wimpy about shelled seafood, but they were fantastic!  It helped that they were cooked with Ommegang Witte, lemon, leeks, garlic, parsley and cream.

We also ate dinner out last night.  I’ve wanted to try 99 Fast Food for years and Sunday after work it was finally my time.  Unfortunately all of the pho was made with beef broth so I couldn’t partake, but I did have a nice meal of tofu broccoli ginger stir-fry.

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We tried a Vietnamese Pudding for dessert.

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It was more of a drink than a pudding, red bean with sweetened coconut milk.

On Friday night I hurried home from work so we could get a little gussied.

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My bosses generously gave me their tickets to the Mash Bash, an army-themed fundraiser.

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I was literally the only person in the room not in green, so embarrassing!

There wasn’t a ton of food there that I could eat, but each ticket came with two drinks and Adam ate my share of pulled pork sandwich.

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Most of my home-cooked meals flopped this week, but I did have one success with a little help from Coleman’s Mustard.

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The company sent me a tin of powder to try {free sample, please note!}, along with a recipe for dressing –

Colman’s Chili Vinaigrette

  • 4 tbs. olive oil

  • 1 tbs. white wine vinegar

  • 1 tsp. Colman’s Original Powdered Mustard

  • 4 “splashes” mild green Tabasco sauce

  • ½ cup lemon juice

  • 2 tsp. honey

I whipped up a batch for salads; a spring lettuce based topped with English Cotswold cheese, buckwheat groats, and roasted asparagus.

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It was a good week!

A Final Trip To Toronto

We are leaving Buffalo in just three short weeks (there is a post on that to come!) and we’ve amassed a long list of “must-do’s” before we leave the area for good.  Topping our list was a final day trip to Toronto.

We headed North on Wednesday and ate, and walked, and ate some more!  Adam and I both decided that it was our best trip this year.

We started our travels at the St. Lawrence Market.

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How had I not heard about this foodie heaven before?!  It was a Canadian Reading Market or Faneuil Hall, packed with goodies.  Adam got freshly made potato and cheddar pierogi with fried onions and sour cream.

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I went with macarons.

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They were beyond swoon-worthy.  Maple toffee and Crème brûlée .

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The texture was perfect, and yet, the utterly amazing macarons were not even the best thing I ate all day.

From the market, we drove to Bloor Street, where we parked and continued on foot.  Usually we head to Bloor St. for froyo, but today we had a new destination.

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BNC Cake House has been on my to-do list for two long years, ever since I starred this post from Callie in my Google Reader.  Her description of Pat Bing Soo, or shaved ice, has basically haunted my dreams – “A bed of shaved ice … topped with red bean paste, assorted fruits, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and condensed milk.

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You guys, it was even better than I was hoping/expecting.

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The sweet condensed milk and tangy vanilla frozen yogurt melted down into the shaved ice and melded into something amazing.  The best analogy I have for the texture is to liken it to the Dairy Queen frozen hot chocolates I was obsessed with all year.

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We ate every single bite.

To finish the day, we walked over to Koreatown for some grown up food at Pho88.  Actually, I kept my sugar-buzz going just a bit longer with an egg yolk soda.

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I tried this drink for the first time way back in 2009 (that link goes to my old blog! when we were living in Brooklyn) but thanks to Pho88’s menu I finally know what’s in it:  club soda, egg yolk, and condensed milk.  I adored it, the flavor is lightened-up egg cream.

I ordered grilled chicken and spring roll vermicelli for my meal.

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I couldn’t eat much of my chicken since I’m not really a dark meat fan but that was fine, I mostly wanted to use the noodles and veggies as a base for all of the fabulous, spicy sauces sitting on our table.

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I may have left food on my plate but Adam’s was practically licked clean.

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He got grilled pork chop and rice with fried egg and he described his meal as “perfect.”

Perfect is how I would describe the day!  We laughed as we wandered through Koreatown that our very favorite way to vacation is to spend the days walking and eating.  Goodbye for now Toronto, I’m sure we will make our way back someday!

Have you ever tried pat bing soo?  What is your favorite vacation activity?