Weekly Wrap-Up; Burritos And A Birthday

I’m (almost) through my 2nd week!  How long do you think I’ll have to be back at work before I stop counting?  My guess is at least a month.

About the title… The birthday was Adam’s.  My husband turned 28 on Wednesday so for the next 6 months I’ll stop being the older woman.

adam4That picture is from BDL; i.e the years Before Doctor Life.  He is on a very busy rotation now so unfortunately we didn’t have time for anything too festive.  He got a disgusting amount of Taco Bell and we watched “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”

The burritos were from Red’s All Natural.

reds all naturalThey recently sent me some free-product coupons so that I could try out the goods.  All Red’s products are 100% all-natural, preservative-free and made with antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat and rBGH-free cheese.  I love the company’s philosophy and practices and I liked the burritos too (though admittedly not quite as much as their ideals).

So far I’ve tried two varieties.  I microwaved one burrito and baked the other.  The nuked one was a little mushy, but not at all chewy like some lower-quality tortillas tend to get in the microwave.  The one I baked got perfectly crispy and nice.  Both had good ingredient combinations but sadly I found the flavors to be a bit one-note.  It is also worth pointing out that the burritos are giant, more than 500 calories each which is a lot for one meal component.  However, they are also very, very filling – I shared both of mine with Adam because I could not finish.  If you have someone to split with they are a great option but if you are purchasing them to eat alone just be mindful.  <– they also have 5 oz burritos available in some varieties!

Overall, I am giving the two I tried a positive review (just not glowing).  I am looking forward to trying some of the other varieties and I will definitely be sharing them on the blog when I do.

Fashion Friday

A new polka dot dress, from the Gap.

DSC06344I tilted my head funny in the picture, but I actually got several compliments on my bun piled high on my head.

DSC06398I usually don’t button my cardigans, but I liked it here.

DSC06448Another new dress.  It’s cuter in person than in the picture.  The husband loved it and bought it for me with some of his birthday money ❤

DSC06422The Gap sales rack has been very kind to me this season.  Even with my newbies, however, I’ve pretty much gone through my entire closet in the two weeks, so we’ll see how long “Fashion Friday” continues to last.

Breakfast

Cookie Dough Balance Bar.

DSC06363I think they changed the recipe again.  It’s not quite as glorious as my old memories, but a big improvement over the really gross ones I was finding a year or so ago.

Giant coffee.

DSC06424I was cashing in on a freebie so I went all out.  Venti, non-fat, iced latte with 2 shots each gingerbread, white chocolate, and (extra) espresso.

Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar.

DSC06445I never eat this flavor because it feels so seasonal, but it is one of the best.  The mint is nice and cool.

Lunch

Monday.  Looks like breakfast but was actually lunch.  Quaker Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal.

DSC06340And the big apple a big apple.

DSC06341I’ve got to buy more oat go-cups; this was super portable and easy to just fill up with hot water in the cafeteria.

Tuesday.

DSC06357Pizza with mushrooms and black olives.

DSC06360And grapes.

DSC06361These grapes are HUGE.  They’re a seedless “holiday” variety.

Wednesday.

DSC06390More leftovers.

DSC06397Tangerines.

DSC06393I promise, that cabbage was so much better than it looks.

Thursday.

DSC06432More grapes.

DSC06430And an everything bagel thin with leftover smoked tofu and light havarti.

DSC06425I left this “raw” and the thins are definitely much, much better when toasted.

Snacks

Just like last week, picture lots of lunch assembly bites.  This first one was an after dinner treat though.  Looks like a root beer float…

DSC06374But actually it’s Vanilla Porter with French vanilla ice cream.

DSC06371I was pretty proud of this idea but it probably would have been a little better in milkshake form with a mix of beer and milk.

An Andes tree.

DSC06347This was weirdly exciting.  I’ve really been craving mint lately.

These gorgonzola cracker crisps have been a favorite for munching.

DSC06402I love how big the serving size is here.

Dinner

Best dinner of the week, hands down.

DSC06381Soy Boy organic Smoked Tofu that I sautéed in evoo.

DSC06384With shredded (frozen) cabbage that we cooked in canola oil with salty peanuts and fresh edamame.  We dumped in a bunch of miso orange dressing at the end and let it reduce, and the whole thing was heavenly.

DSC06387I never seem to repeat meals any more but I do really want to make this again.

Salad and a burrito.

DSC06413Romaine with groats and maple tarragon dressing.

DSC06416Red’s Turkey Burrito.

DSC06410DSC06418This was the one I microwaved.

Cereal night on Adam’s birthday.

DSC06436Two servings of Love Crunch Gingerbread Granola with vanilla almond milk and sliced banana.

DSC06439Plus a big glass of eggnog during “The Grinch.”

DSC06443This meal was missing vegetables, but that just didn’t feel festive!  Thankfully this was the day I had my veggie-heavy lunch.

Chicken Burrito.

DSC06451Apparently that was the only picture I have from last night?!  I meant to eat it with salad but ended up having cheese and crackers instead.

Do you have any exciting plans for this upcoming weekend?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Over The Bridge And Through The City

I don’t have a ton to share, but I’ve got to do it in reverse because lunches were leftovers.  It was a boring week, but I’ve got some news to share coming up soon and the next three weekends are slated to be fun.

dessert

My mom sent us the Haribo Smurfs.

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I thought they were cuter than the were tasty, but Adam was crazy for them.

This ice cream was more my speed.

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Coffee, Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz! is one of my B&J favorites that recently moved from scoop shop only to pints.  I normally hate chocolate chunks in ice cream but instead of being teeth crushingly frozen these are melty and crunchy with espresso.

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I ate this bowl with a giant diet soda while we watched “Teen Witch” and was in total heaven.

dinner

Green Curry Fritters from Cooking Light.

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We love this recipe.  I substituted ground turkey for chicken, skipped the sesame oil, and increased the portion size a bit, but otherwise followed the recipe.

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With a dipping sauce of ketchup, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, and brown sugar,

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and carrots on the side when my planned vegetable failed.

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Apparently spaghetti squash season is over.

Two bowls.

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My Turkey Reuben Mac & Cheese was a total recipe winner.

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And the greens we ate on the side weren’t half bad either.

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Frozen spinach and kale cooked in chicken broth with lemon juice and feta.

lunch

“Burger and fries.”

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Green beans roasted with pink salt and smoked paprika,

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plus an absolutely amazing sandwich.

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A green curry fritter on half a TJ’s soft pretzel stick with brie and pumpkin butter.

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The mix of flavors was out of this world.

Lunch to go – eaten on the subway in Manhattan.

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A sandwich repeat.

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A honeycrisp apple.

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And a serving of Dutch Cocoa Somersaults.

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The somersaults were my favorite component; they have a great roasty chocolate flavor without being sweet.

breakfast

Adam and I split a pumpkin pie bagel with NY cheesecake cream cheese from Panera.

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Just look at that streusel –

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This was delightful.

other

I bought the dog new food and water bowls.

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Such a silly thing, but they make me so happy!

A girlfriend and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday.

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I love this city.

I love this city.

I love this city.

Turkey Reuben Mac & Cheese

Is there nowhere that my love of turkey reubens won’t take me?

DSC05274This recipe is basically a turkey reuben sandwich in a bowl, except that it’s better than a sandwich because instead of bread you have a big bowl of pasta and you still get the rye bread taste thanks to the caraway seeds.

DSC05282You might notice that the ratio of ingredients seems a little different from most mac & cheese recipes – that’s because the sauce is less of a sauce and more of a big, gooey pile of melted cheese.  <– oh yeah!

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I know I haven’t been posting single meals much because of the weekly recaps (one’s coming tomorrow!) but this dinner was too good not to share immediately.

Turkey Reuben Mac & Cheese; serves 4 – 6

  • 7 oz macaroni noodles
  • 1 Tbsp dried caraway seeds
  • 5 oz thin sliced roasted turkey deli meat
  • 1 cup sauerkraut
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup fat-free milk
  • 6 oz shredded swiss cheese
  • 6 oz shredded gruyere
  1. Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain and set aside.
  2. While pasta is boiling, prep the rest of your ingredients.  Toast the caraway seeds, 1 – 2 minutes in a dry skillet over medium heat.  Dice the turkey into 1/2 inch squares; it’s easiest to stack the slices and cut them all at once.  Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the sauerkraut.
  3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan.  Whisk flour into melted butter, then cook an additional 2 -3 minutes to get rid of the “raw” taste.  You are looking for the roux to take on a slightly brown color and start to smell amazing.
  4. Working in 4 batches, whisk the milk into the roux, whisking out all of the lumps.  Raise the heat slightly and bring the sauce to a simmer.
  5. Stir the swiss and gruyere into the sauce.  When the cheese has melted remove the pan from the heat.
  6. Fold cooked macaroni, sauerkraut, toasted caraway seeds, and diced turkey into the cheese.

DSC05279Potential Alterations:

  • If your family eats beef, you couldn’t go wrong subbing out the turkey for some corned beef like the original reuben
  • As it’s written, this recipe is very thick and gooey; you can add up to an additional cup of skim milk if you like your sauce a little looser
  • I didn’t want to squeeze any more calories into this, but stirring a little thousand island dressing into the sauce definitely wouldn’t be a bad thing

Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

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 –

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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Delicious turkey bacon.

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Side of grapes.

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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.

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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.

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

A sandwich at home.

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

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This combo was ridiculous.

Plus the last of the grapes.

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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.

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A big pile of chicken salad.

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Kale chips.

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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.

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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

Truffles for dessert.

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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.

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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).

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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!

Weekend Wrap-Up; October Is Here!

It’s possible I’m a little excited about the arrival of Pumpkin Month.  Check out my stash –

weekendDSC04790DSC04795DSC04792So much squashy goodness!

Now a little bit about the end of September…

breakfast

I’ve only got one meal to share here, in contrast with the full “dessert” section (whoops!).  Adam had a “golden weekend,” aka both Saturday and Sunday off, so we spent our mornings catching up on sleep.

This breakfast was more of a brunch, but either way it was a winner.

DSC04761Müller Greek Corner Pineapple Passion Fruit Yogurt (former freebie) topped with sliced starfruit and a packet of Crispy Green Pineapples.

DSC04762Isn’t starfruit (also known as Carambola) gorgeous?

DSC04769Did you know that I used to sell starfruit when I was a kid?  We had a tree in our backyard and I would take the harvests to the local grocery stores.

The freeze-dried pineapples were part of a sample box from Crispy Green.

DSC04647I received these samples free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Crispy Green is a company that sells freeze-dried fruits.  They are vegan and certified kosher and the ingredient list is nice and simple – just fruit.  What really sold me was the texture, I swear that the apples and pears were almost juicy!  More on them in a minute though.

lunch

Veggies.

DSC04677Acorn squash.  I baked half of my squash for 30 minutes at 350*, cut side down, then flipped it over and filled the cavity with pistachios, raisins, and maple syrup, and baked for another 20 minutes.

DSC04683Plus broccoli that I roasted alongside the squash.

DSC04680And a red pear.

DSC04687So nice to have a mid-day meal that’s so packed with nutrients.

Less nutritious but still delicious, Taco Bell.

DSC04740I got a vegetarian Cantina Bell burrito and was actually very impressed.  The burrito had fresh corn and great guacamole.

The greatest sandwich.

DSC04710Sweet and savory, for the win.  Caramel apple swirl bread topped with Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, TJ’s Lite Havarti, and pickled banana peppers.

DSC04708The husband got and identical ‘wich and he raved about it.  Plus we shared more Crispy Green fruits on the side.  Asian Pear,

asian pearand Apple.

appleThey both were packed with flavor but so far Asian Pear is my favorite.

dinner

Mac remix.

DSC04696A box of Annie’s Shells and Aged Real Cheddar gussied up with TJ’s smoked trout, frozen edamame and a greens mix, and 1 oz of Chevre.

DSC04692I have pantry back-ups of all of the ingredients and a see a redo in our future.

A cider soaked meal.

DSC04728I marinated some extra-firm tofu in TJ’s Spiced Apple cider (plus honey and hot sauce) before burning baking in the oven.

DSC04730Shredded cabbage was sautéed in the tofu marinade and then topped with salty peanuts.

DSC04734And this lovely squash was sprinkled with salt and cinnamon and roasted alongside the tofu.

DSC04724DSC04738I filled in the space in the center of the plate with Dinosaur Roasted Garlic Honey BBQ Sauce for dipping.

A meal out on the town.

DSC04775We finished our two-day weekend with a dinner out on the town at Luigi’s.

We were brought an amazing basket of fresh bread.

DSC04776And we shared a Tuscan salad to start.

DSC04781baby spinach / breaded artichoke hearts / roasted peppers / gorgonzola dolce / pignoli nuts / balsamic vinaigrette

DSC04782I got handmade Papardelle with shrimp and lobster in a fresh plum tomato cognac cream sauce from the specials menu for my meal.

DSC04787DSC04784It was delicious!  The homemade pasta had great bite and the seafood was juicy and perfect.  Plus the portions were huge; I shared many tastes with Adam and still came home with a full serving of leftovers.  {Mom and Dad, we want to take you here when you visit!}

dessert

Adam went out to celebrate a birthday with his fellow interns and he brought me home cake.

DSC04698I’m not a huge chocolate fan but I’m a sucker for jam in the middle.

I brought him home vegan ice cream sandwiches.

DSC04719Tofutti is currently celebrating their 30th anniversary and they sent me some coupons.

DSC04712DSC04714I received these samples free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Ice cream sandwiches are Adam’s favorite and he was very impressed with how close to the original this (minty) version came.

DSC04718I thought the Cuties had great flavor and texture – and I’m not even an ice cream sandwich lover – but 180 calories for the small size seemed a little steep.

DSC04716I will definitely buy them again for the husband though.

To finish the post – the best thing ever.

DSC04772Adam and I split an ice the other day to celebrate the first day of fall.  Dulce de leche topped with pumpkin pie.

DSC04770Oh. My. God.  The pumpkin pie ice was ridiculous!  The best tasting ice I’ve ever had and those brown areas were crunchy streusel that was just over the top.  We were both swooning!

What pumpkin goodies are you excited for this month?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Mid-September

I feel like I don’t have anything to say here so I’ll just get to it.  You saw how clever my title was.

^breakfasts^*

Amazing oatmeal.

DSC04475DSC04474In the bowl were unsweetened almond milk, banana hunks, oats, chia seeds, tons of cottage cheese, and the very last of the sweetened condensed milk.

Food Emporium Trading Company Vanilla Granola with Almonds and Pecans in skim milk.

DSC04446Berry yogurt bowl.

DSC04467Wallaby low-fat vanilla bean yogurt with blueberries.

DSC04470This Wallaby was one of the best yogurts I’ve ever tasted!  The flecks of vanilla bean throughout felt quite fancy.

^lunches^*

Chinese food.

DSC04381Cheese and greens eggs.

DSC04400DSC04396Eggs scrambled with cottage cheese, greens (a frozen blend from Whole Foods), and 2% provolone.

Carrot salad.

DSC04384Matzo crackers.

DSC04439A sheet of Egg and Onion Matzo with Cabot Light Sharp Cheddar melted on top,

DSC04441and a sliced Jazz apple.

DSC04443Adam doesn’t like matzo prepared with egg (he’s crazy!) so we eat it as crackers in our house.

^snacks^*

Organic India is promoting their gift baskets for the upcoming holiday season and they offered to send me some products from their Tulsi Tea Line to review.

DSC04406Please note – these teas were sent to me free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for writing this post.  All opinions are my own.

So far I’ve tried the Green Tea, which cold-brewed beautifully.  Usually I’m not a green girl (it’s Adam’s favorite) but I loved this one.  The flavor is completely devoid of the acridness that I usually taste in green teas.  I used it in tasty tea spritzers.

DSC04412Green tea + Polar Mandarin Seltzer.

DSC04408Hot beer bread, straight from the oven, with Smart Balance Light.

DSC04451Cola hard candies.

DSC04459These guys have the best fizz!

^dinners^*

Different Chinese food.

DSC04341DSC04342Pasta toss.

DSC04394Bow ties with corn and broccoli, tossed in browned butter.

Thai crunch salad.

DSC04418Romaine topped with sliced chicken (marinated in TJ’s spicy peanut vinaigrette, then baked), edamame, shredded cabbage, salted peanuts, and more spicy peanut vinaigrette.

DSC04421DSC04416Veggie pizza.

DSC04424Melts.

DSC04458A big hunk of beer bread topped with trout salad (TJ’s canned smoked trout mashed with Miracle Whip) and 2% provolone then stuck under the broiler.

DSC04452The last dinner won best meal of the week.  This will be making a reappearance on the meal plan for sure.

Weekly Wrap-Up; St. Thomas

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.

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I felt very fancy with my in-flight Bloody Mary.

At Home

Most of our meals were out and about, but one night we got “chicken man” to eat at home.

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St. Thomas definitely had the first food trucks, we’ve been buying bbq chicken from a truck for as long as I can remember.

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I had chicken, cole slaw, a roll, and extra sauce.

Another night we had pie and prosecco.

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My mom’s key lime pie was great,

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but we were not fans of Cupcake Wine’s prosecco. Everything else I’ve tried from them has been on the sweet side but this was incredibly dry.

We liked the Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne (left over from our wedding!!!) much more.

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Enjoyed with take-out from China King.

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Adam and split cashew chicken and crab rangoon.

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On the Go

On Sunday we ferried over to St. John for Food Fair.

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I got a veggie patty (pronounced like paté),

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and a soursop juice.

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I’ve been wanting fresh soursop for months and this hit the spot.

One day I took advantage of the lack of open container laws and drank a Heinekin Light while we wandered downtown.

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And another Adam and I split an Udder Light shake from the dairy.

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If you ever visit St. Thomas, the local dairy makes the best milkshakes in the US.

Last night I got a painkiller at Fat Turtle.

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We met up with a good friend from high school and it was great to catch up.

Restaurant Meals

We had to go to Barefoot Buddha for breakfast; I like their Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich so much that I ate it the morning I got married.

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Adam and I shared a sandwich,

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and a Vietnamese latte.

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All of our other meals had good food, but better scenery.

Plantains at the place that used to be Fungi’s.

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Sandwiches – we split a jerk chicken and a local fried fish – at Megan’s Point.

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And a local fish sandwich at Sangria’s.

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Sometimes I can’t believe I chose to move away!

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