Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

by Emily

It’s 2 in the afternoon, so allow me to say “good morning!” Does that sound strange to anyone? Adam worked nights Friday through Sunday so we’ve been keeping a vampire’s schedule. There’s been a lot of this –

I don’t like it when he’s gone, my sleep pattern is all out of whack and I definitely live like a teenager when he’s not around. Case in point – Saturday night I watched terrible movies (“One for the Money” and “Abduction”) and ate candy (Sour Patch Kids and chocolate-covered gummi bears) for dinner.

I ate a lot (a lot) of junk this weekend, but I did manage to throw some pretty gourmet meals in there as well. If last week was all about the jalapeño, this was the weekend of bacon!

breakfasts

On the go.

We had to eat on the way while running errands so I made us something portable. A terrible, god-awful smoothie.

Pumpkin, frozen kale, frozen banana, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and a bit of maple. This had such potential but the kale didn’t fully blend and chewing threw it was horrifying. I forced down 90% for the nutrients, but did not enjoy it.

My TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar was much better.

I thought the filling was great; sweet and spicy. And how cute is the labeling?!

We bought these when we were a little loopy from sleeplessness and Adam thought the pun was seriously the funniest thing ever. We spent the rest of the evening making variations on this joke – “A strawberry asks a pumpkin on a date… what happens next?”

Another kale fail.

I just could not win on the kale front this week. Again, these eggs had potential, but there just seemed to be sooooo much kale and we both hated them.

Offending eggs.

Delicious turkey bacon.

Side of grapes.

At least the other components were good. And I shared many bites of egg with the dog, who was such a good boy about eating his greens!

lunches

On Saturday two of our good friends from Buffalo (who are now living in Rochester for medical residency) came up to visit. We met up for a lovely lunch at Bareburger.

I got the Western Burger, with a turkey burger, sans bun. Smoked mozzarella / ~~country~~ turkey bacon / house-made Carolina slaw / smokehouse sauce / topped with a crispy, spicy pickle spear.

So fricking good! That hunk on the side was my pickle, which blew my mind.

A sandwich at home.

A whole-wheat bagel thin with turkey bacon, brie, and pumpkin butter.

This combo was ridiculous.

Plus the last of the grapes.

I have not been eating enough fruit this fall and it was nice to have something other than apples in the house.

dinners

More greens, more grapes.

A big pile of chicken salad.

Kale chips.

This was the only iteration of kale that I actually enjoyed this weekend.

The carb portion of dinner was consumed in the car on the way home from the store.

Adam and I split a TJ’s soft pretzel stick and loved it. Great chew!

I even whipped myself up a drink while I made dinner.

October is National Caramel Month and Sobieski sent me some samples of their Karamel Vodka to celebrate.

Note – I received the vodka samples free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Here was my attempt at a Caramel Apple Cocktail –

2 oz Sobieski Karamel Vodka
2 oz Sour Apple Pucker
splash Polar Granny Smith Apple Seltzer

The vodka was good, but next time I’d go with a 2:1 ratio of vodka to Pucker, the sour apple flavor was a little strong!

Soup’s up.

Last night we ate big bowls of my Loaded Potato Soup.

Truffles for dessert.

I’ve raved about Alter Eco’s Silk chocolate line in the past and they sweetly sent me some of their newest product – Dark Velvet Truffles.

Note – I received the truffles free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

The truffles, which are also available in Black, are organic, fair trade, and non-GMO. They are made with coconut oil, a more sustainable option than palm kernel oil (I didn’t taste any coconut flavor).

I thought that the truffles were great; nice and creamy! The husband hates dark chocolate as a rule, but loved the Silk bars so I will have him try one of the truffles and report back.

Have a great week!

11Oct2013

Do You Remember When People Used To Blog 3x A Day?

by Emily

Do you remember when people used to blog three times a day? Yeah … I can’t even handle once a week! I don’t have a wrap-up, but I did manage to get 2 – 3 items from each category, and the stuff I do have to share was all awesome. Here we go –

breakfast

1. Pumpkin pie (crisp?) in a bowl.

I topped some TJ’s low-fat pumpkin Greek yogurt (3/4 of the container or so; the serving seems oddly large to me) with some of my Simply Sweet Granola and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I made my oats a little too toasty, but I was very pleased with the yogurt.

2. Pumpkin Pie Through A Straw.

That’s right, I cracked open my first can of pumpkin!

I’ve made this smoothie for years and it is a total winner. The husband is usually not as into the pumpkin thing as I am and he likes this even more than I do.

3. Sundae on a Wednesday.

This was the most dessert-y of the “dessert” breakfasts but it was still pretty healthy.

Wallaby low-fat maple yogurt topped with Crispy Green bananas (former freebie), and melted Biscoff Spread.

snacks

1. Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults and a caramel macchiato.

I made so many updates to my coffee (a little more of this, a little less of that) that it was basically a big cup of espresso and caramel, aka perfection.

The crunchy portion of this snack was brought to you by this generous package I received from Somersaults:

I received this package free of charge. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

They recently had their top flavors certified as GMO-free and expanded their retailer list to include Target and Costco and they’re trying to spread the word about their good news. Fun snack facts – a serving of Somersaults has as much protein as a serving of almonds (with half of the fat) and they are a good source of fiber and vitamin E. Also they are Adam’s very favorite snack!

I thought that the Cinnamon Crunch (a new flavor this year) was great; a good blend of sweet and seedy.

2. Cinnamon Pumpkin Beer Bread.

Just Beer Bread made with a pumpkin beer and a layer of cinnamon sugar (we used cinnamon maple sugar) on top.

Quite good with schmear of butter.

3. An actual sundae.

Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla Honey Caramel Greek Frozen Yogurt with melted Biscoff Spread; I was all about the Biscoff this week.

I bought the frozen yogurt by chance (I needed vanilla frozen yogurt for my pumpkin smoothie and this was all I could find at the store near my house) and ended up adoring it. The flavor was so complex!

lunch

1. Sandwich success.

I’ve been planning this sandwich combo for weeks, ever since a serendipitous trip to Trader Joe’s.

A whole wheat Bagel Thin topped with Applegate Farms roasted turkey, TJ’s pumpkin butter, and a TJ’s mini brie bite.

The brie and pumpkin butter mash-up was just as good as I thought it would be.

Roasted green beans on the side,

and TJ’s Hawaiian Style BBQ Potato Chips.

This was a fun lunch to munch through.

2. A trip to Chobani Bar in SoHo.

A girlfriend and I took the train into the city from Queens. We snacked on Somersaults on the way in.

She had never tasted them before but was an instant fan.

A quick walk down Prince Street and we were at Chobani.

The space was very pretty, but strangely they had no seating. We ended up finding a nice spot on a sunny stoop.

I ordered a half-size of toasted coconut and pineapple. Plain yogurt topped with pineapple, toasted coconut, and Turkish hazelnuts. It comes with light agave nectar but I asked that they leave it off.

I was very impressed with my bowl; the pineapple was so sweet! My friend got the same thing and I did and she liked it too. We both agreed that we probably wouldn’t go back but that we were glad we went.

dinner

1. Mac and cheese, please.

This combo of ingredients made for one heck of a dinner –

While my mushrooms were browning…

I ate ~~some of~~ the rest of the bbq chips,

and opened a Pumking.

I agree with what I’ve read online, this year’s batch wasn’t the best. I really enjoyed it the first few minutes but after that I grew tired of the flavor. In fact, most of the bottle ended up in my cinnamon pumpkin beer bread. At least my dinner was good.

Salads on the side. A romaine blend dressed with a sprinkle of salt and 1 tsp each honey and olive oil.

My salad was technically on the bottom, not the side. I topped my greens with mac (Annie’s Shells and White Cheddar, with spinach, mushrooms, and Bela smoked sardines) and then topped my whole bowl with crumbled goat cheese.

2. Taco night.

I recently received a package from Ortega to help me celebrate National Taco Day:

I received this package free of charge. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

They sent along some recipes on which they collaborated with Chef Aarón Sánchez, including this vegetarian one –

I really liked the sound of it, but you know I had to put my own spin on the recipe.

Vegetarian Black Bean Tacos, serves 3

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
medium sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 jalapeño peppers, diced
15.5 oz can low-sodium black beans (don’t drain!)
1 packet Ortega 40% less sodium taco seasoning mix
9 Ortega yellow corn taco shells
4 oz raw baby spinach
3 oz crumbled feta cheese

Heat evoo in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, 5 – 7 minutes.
Add garlic and jalapeños and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Stir in beans (liquid and all) and taco seasoning mix and cook an additional 10 minutes. Mash up some of the beans with the side of your spatula while you stir.
Heat taco shells according to package instructions.
Stuff the bottom of each taco with spinach. Spread the bean mixture evenly among the tacos on top of spinach. Top tacos evenly with feta cheese.

We loved them! The beans were delicious, if I do say so myself. And the taco shells were wonderful; they seemed to hold together much better than ones I’ve used in the past.

life

1. The house.

Three full months of living here later, we finally bought shelving for the living room.

There’s not a lot on them right now (I managed to find spaces for all of our books in the office in the interim) but it’s nice to have one less blank wall.

2. The man.

I didn’t talk about it on the blog, but a month or so ago Webster had a cluster seizure. It was very scary, and more importantly, it meant that we had to start medically treating his epilepsy. He’s been on medication for more than a month now and he has been seizure-free the entire time (yay!).

Feeling better has given him time to focus on his other interests, like sitting with his butt up in the air like a total weirdo.

What’s going on in your life? Tell me something good from the last week?

5Oct2013

Last Week’s Highlights

by Emily

I didn’t have enough to share to call this a “wrap-up,” but I did want to blog a few of my favorites that managed to make it in front of the camera. I have some stuff happening in my personal life right now (some good, mostly bad) that I don’t want to share on the blog and I appreciate your patience with my limited posting.

leftovers for lunch

I made the most of restaurant leftovers with this compilation meal. The last of some Pad See Eiw with tofu,

a slice of focaccia from our Italian meal (it was still soft!!),

and from home a Pink Crisp apple with crunchy Barney Butter.

Lacking in veggies but quite good.

the pumpkin line-up

I’m listing these from bad to ~~good~~ great. Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte.

I mixed mine as 1/2 cup tea and 1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and hated it. Admittedly I made mine too weak, but I made Adam’s extra strong (with skim milk) and I didn’t like that one either. The flavor was just too “dirty” for me. But Adam loved both versions – and drank both our drinks in one sitting – and is excited for the rest of the carton so it’s not a total loss.

Froyo.

A tiny bit (this cup cost $1.75!) of pumpkin spice and cheesecake swirl topped with toasted coconut, graham cracker, and caramel sauce. This combo was a total winner.

Froyo was good, but nothing beats pumpkin ice.

Pumpkin on top with toffee crunch on the bottom. Usually I can’t eat a whole small cup but I wolfed this down and I think I could even finish two scoops of just pumpkin! My friend Kim informed me that Ralph’s Ice is totally a thing and now it feels even more exciting.

stir-fried mac

This was one of those mash-up meals that doesn’t seem like it will work but just does.

Leftover pasta – Annie’s mac and cheese with greens, edamame, and smoked trout – reheated in a skillet with evoo, tons of Sriracha, and a sprinkle of sugar; with one large egg scrambled in at the end. I know that the sugar sounds strange but I promise the final flavor is perfection.

Do you see that brown piece by my hand that looks like bacon? It’s not bacon, it’s smoked trout that got extra-crispy. <– swoon

saltine challenge

I surprised Adam with fancy sardines and since we had Saltines in the house it was time for a challenge.

You know from reading my rant that I’m a stickler for the rules so I have to admit – we both totally failed. Our mouths were still full of approximately 1.5 crackers each when the timer buzzed.

fancy fish

This dinner came straight out of EveryDay with Rachael Ray.

I even took a break from my rebellious side and followed the recipe exactly.

Well, mostly exactly, we skipped the brown rice and used baby bok choy instead of the big guys. But the end result was delicious.

Our glaze didn’t thicken the way it was supposed to, but the fish had a great, flaky texture.

And we loved the bok choy.

Adam has even requested that baby bok become a weekly staple!

dinner in Manhattan

On Wednesday, I was invited to a press event in Manhattan so I brought a girlfriend with me for a fun evening in the city.

{that’s sunset at Chelsea Pier}

The event was to celebrate the launch of Donatella Arpaia’s new kitchen line with HSN (http://hsn.com). The line is available starting this Monday (October 7th) so they held a gettogether to showcase some of the new products.

Here’s a little blurb from the press release –

The exclusive collection from the Iron Chef judge, restaurateur, author and culinary personality will include studded stoneware, table linens and Italian food items.

Named by Zagat as the “Hostest with the Mostest”, Donatella Arpaia has a reputation of fusing Italian tradition with modern, glamorous style. Her new collection brings added sparkle to the kitchen with a chic home pizza oven and luxurious rhinestone stoneware including platters, ceramic dishes and ramekins.

Additionally, Donatella has taken the guess work out of traditional Italian cooking with her authentic Italian food offerings, featuring a variety of fresh pasta sauces, flavorful pizza crust mixes and her award-winning meatballs. With food preparation and presentation already made easy, the collection is completed with sets of cotton placemats and napkins on tear off rolls.

We got off of the train with time to kill so we wandered around a bit before the event (hence the gorgeous sunset views from the piers).

I needed some veggies in my life so we hit up Liquiteria for juice.

I wasn’t loving all of the beets and ginger on their menu so I made a custom blend – spinach, kale, and pineapple. Amazing! But I had eaten froyo and a giant coffee (seriously giant, there was a mix-up and I ended up with 4 extra shots of espresso in my latte!) for lunch so with the concentrated energy in the juice I was practically buzzing by the time we got to the event.

The drinks we were handed upon arrival helped.

That is not a cherry (sadly), but a cherry tomato.

The event was held at Donatella’s restaurant, which was freaking gorgeous.

The lighting wasn’t kind to my crappy photography skills, but I did my best to take some shots of the pretty tables.

The tear-off napkins were very fun, though I don’t think that bedazzled cookware is exactly my style.

Most of the apps showcased products that will be available on Monday. I took a fried oyster to be brave,

but my first bite was all fried coating and I lost my nerve and threw out the rest before I ate any meat.

The pizza was very good.

The dough – which you just add water to and then bake – was the best part; chewy and flavorful but not too salty. My friend and I both gave the jarred sauce served with the pasta two thumbs up as well.

They told us to take cupcakes (from the fantastically sparkly display) for dessert.

They plan to add cupcakes (mixes?) to the line later this year.

My pistachio was tasty.

Afterwards we stopped in at the famous Cafeteria for a drink on a whim.

Our carafe of white peach sparkling mojito was refreshing but weak. But we were the only twosome in the room who wasn’t on a first date so the good eavesdropping more than made up for the lack of alcohol.

I hope everyone else had a nice week too! Did you do any good eavesdropping?

23Sep2013

Homer Simpson Approved

by Emily

Yesterday, Adam and I went on a day-date that would have knocked Homer Simpson’s socks off…

A day of doughnuts and beer!

We started with a trip to the Brooklyn Brewery.

On weekends, the brewery leads free tours all throughout the day. Adam loves beer, and I am weirdly obsessed with factory tours, so we knew it would be the perfect activity for us.

The tour took a little less than an hour and was awesome. We didn’t get to see a whole lot, but we did get to taste some hops.

Malty! Our tour guide was wonderful. The brewery is undergoing renovations currently, which is why we were not able to move around as much, but just standing and learning about BB’s history was a ton of fun. We heard a variety of anecdotes that were hilarious and even a little touching!

I was delighted to see several families on the tour, but, of course, for those over 21 drinking was encouraged.

Adam and I shared an Oktoberfest during the tour.

I liked my first few sips but felt like the hops built up and created an unpleasant aftertaste later on (the husband gave it two thumbs up the whole way through).

Afterwards we split a Cuvée La Boîte.

“A Belgian-inspired beer in the “Grand Cru” style, subtly infused with Lior’s unique blend of Mishmish N.33 (lemon, saffron, crystalized honey), fresh kaffir lime leaves, and rare Espe- lette peppers from the French Pyrénées.” When we asked the bartender about it she described it as “very sweet, very high-alcohol” – that sounds like me!

We both loved it.

With the taste of beer on our lips, we set out on foot for 1.7 miles through Williamsburg.

I will always be loyal to Park Slope, but Williamsburg is quickly becoming my 2nd favorite part of Brooklyn.

Our final destination was Dunwell Doughnuts, an all vegan doughnut and soda shop.

The space was adorable, but we were quite disappointed with the day’s selection.

You make more than 200 varieties of doughnuts – including S’mores, Rose with Dark Lavender, and Pink Lemonade – and half of your offerings are chocolate, chocolate with sprinkles, and chocolate with peanuts?!! So disappointing.

We shared a PB&J.

We argued a bit about the flavor, but Adam ended up loving it. I was impressed by the fancy jam filling (seeds and all!) but overall a bit underwhelmed.

At least we found other fun treats on our walk back to the car {shown tomorrow in my weekend wrap-up post}. And we hit up a pet-store near our house so Webster could get into the fun.

A doughnut for my hot dog.

Did/do you watch “The Simpsons?”

4Sep2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; Weekend Mostly

by Emily

I’ve been all over the place lately so there are a lot of gaps in my reporting. We ate a bunch of junk recently and most of it didn’t make it to the camera. Adam is on a slightly less time-consuming rotation this month and we have been making the most of our time together. Here are a few of the highlights since I last checked in –

{1} Homemade nachos.

I’ve been missing ETS since the move, but these nachos were delicious, and certainly much healthier than the ones with a pound of cheddar that I used to buy in Buffalo.

Leftover tortilla chips from a Moe’s run, baked with roasted corn, broccoli, and the last of the aged Gouda from our cheese plate.

{2} Rosemary beer bread.

Just my favorite beer bread recipe with a few Tbsp of chopped rosemary (from my grandma’s garden!) tossed in.

I had to buy a giant bag of self-rising flour so expect to see more of this.

{3} CrispRoot snacking.

Please note – CrispRoot sent me their cassava root chips to sample free of charge. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

CrispRoot is a company that makes ridged cassava root chips. They come in Sea Salt, Original, BBQ Bliss, and Thai Ginger. All of the flavors are dairy- and gluten-free, contain no trans fat, have 150 kcals and 6-7 gram saturated fat per serving, and have 2x the fiber and 30% less fat than most potato chips.

We were not fans of the Thai Ginger, but the other flavors we would definitely purchase on our own. I couldn’t taste much of a different between original and sea salt, both had a pleasing saltiness and good crunch.

{4} Baking fail.

I was attempting to make brown butter coconut rice krispies treats.

I don’t know what went wrong, but no. No.

{5} Chicken Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers.

This idea was such a win.

Click here for the recipe.

{6} Abandoned principles.

I have very strict holiday food rules. September is Apple Month. October is Pumpkin. December is Eggnog, Gingerbread, and Peppermint. November may overlap with October and December. I might have started hoarding pumpkin products last week, but you are not supposed to eat them until October! But then the PSL anniversary hype was so big, and I caved.

Grande, non-fat, white chocolate, pumpkin spice latte, you were worth my abandoned principles.

{7} Chinatown in Manhattan.

We split a Pat Bing Soo with red bean and strawberry jelly.

And drank coconut water straight from the source.

The only drink that can possibly beat a coconut with a straw in it is diet coke from the fountain, and even that’s a close race.

{8} Lunch with friends.

Some of our Boston favorites were in town so we ventured into Manhattan to spend the day with them. We had lunch at a spot near Times Square with rooftop seating. Adam and I shared everything because we’re so ~~poor~~ close. Cider, pierogi, and chicken fried rice.

We went to dinner at a place in SoHo that had the best food and the worst lighting. Adam and I split lobster truffle mac and cheese and I’m kicking myself that I don’t have a picture.

{9} Grand Army Plaza’s Farmers’ Market.

I think those pictures speak for themselves. I was practically in tears with liking those flowers so much!

What was your last major baking fail?

27Aug2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; A Trip To Ohio

by Emily

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.

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

{2} Berry topped cereal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

You can’t celebrate without froyo.

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

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.

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.

I had a cup of gazpacho,

and we split a Vegetarian Sandwich.

Cheesy-good was definitely the theme of this visit.

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

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…

they sell little containers of Jeni’s ice cream!

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.

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.

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),

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

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

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

and chicken salad.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

{2} Spicy.

Spicy, cajun shrimp over angel hair,

with tossed salad and citrus green beans.

{3} Casserole.

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

and creamy chicken casserole.

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

{4} Plane food.

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

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?

19Aug2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; On The Go, Mostly

by Emily

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.

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

I got a War of the Rosés to drink.

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.

Chopped Black Kale Salad,

w/ spicy anchovy dressing, aged gouda & hazelnuts.

Roasted Baby Squash.

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.

I got a bourbon ice cream and praline cookie sandwich.

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.

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

kale, it’s what’s for dinner

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

Plus roasted kale chips on the side.

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.

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.

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.

For our protein we had “spinach soufflé eggs.”

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.

this week’s breakfast

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

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.

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

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.

{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.

{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.

{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.

{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.

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

Buffalo chicken slice from Pino’s.

{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.

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

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

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.

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 –

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

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

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

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

when I dip, you dip, we dip

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

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.

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!

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.

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?

27Jun2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; St. Thomas

by Emily

In the middle of moving… we snuck home for a quick vacation! Adam starts his general surgery residency on Monday so we kept things very low-key, but it was great to be home.

The next few days will be fairly ridiculous, but it was worth it. Today (in like 20 minutes, gotta keep this quick!!) we head to the airport and fly to Pennsylvania. We get in around 10 pm, then have to drive overnight back to Buffalo. Then tomorrow morning, after a night of driving (in separate cars, natch), we have to finish packing. My to-do list for Friday is running off the page of my day planner. Then on Saturday we move to Long Island. Yeesh!

Like I said, I have to keep this quick, but I want a short record of our fun – – –

There were issues with our flight down and Adam and I had to sit separately on the plane, but they rewarded us with free drink tickets.