This Is The Past Week

The week since I last posted included – a 6 am-start work day with a blissful 3 pm return home // a limp, due to a minor biopsy on one of my toes // a free trip to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum thanks to a Smithsonian “Museum Day” promotion //  a one day weekend with a Sunday at work // two trips to the Gotham West Market // the return of most of my fall tv shows! //  dessert once a day at a minimum // tons of cuddle time with Webster // etc, etc.

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{highlights}

My current coffee favorite – espresso on ice with a chocolate milk carton.

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Harmless Harvest coconut water with a peanut butter chocolate chip Zing bar.  Two thumbs up x2.

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Maple brown sugar Peeps.  I know I’m disgusting but I kind of loved these, they are gritty in the best possible way.

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Iced hibiscus apple cider at Argo Tea.  I was limping through Manhattan on an especially hot day at this hit the spot.

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Sushi burrito.  Stuffed with brown rice, tofu, spicy tobanjan mayo, carrot and daikon pickles, seaweed salad, and red pepper.  Their marinated silky tofu is the best tofu I’ve ever tasted.

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Hail Mary.  Root beer and rum for Adam and housemade cherry cola with whisky for me.

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We shared two veggies – fried green tomatoes,

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and fantastic charred greens (with anchovy crumbs, plum molasses, and buttermilk).

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Mostly we were there for dessert.

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“Mile-high” funfetti cake with salted caramel buttercream and giant housemade sprinkles!

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Bareburger.  I got a collard greens Caesar salad and buffalo chicken bites.

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Last night we made a Southern-flavors-inspired buttermilk-laced feast.  Apple cider for cooking fuel.

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Oven-fried buttermilk chicken tenders and roasted green beans with homemade honey mustard.

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Buttermilk pie in a Biscoff cookie crust.

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YUM!

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Extra-Long Weekend

My long weekend plus 1 (Friday through Monday) was an absolute delight.  I got a full day off with the husband and most of three days in Ohio with my grandma.  Four days of good food and great company!

Friday, Adam and I headed to Mizumi for all-you-can-eat sushi buffet.

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I had that plate x 10 thousand.  Not only was it plentiful, this was the best tasting sushi I’ve had yet in Long Island.

Late that afternoon we attempted to take the dog into Brooklyn for a picnic.

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I’m married to a doctor, so we made it about ten minutes before Adam got called back home to do something for work.  Just as well, because traffic was brutal.  A couple of hours later we left Webster at home and had a people-only dinner at Hail Mary.

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It was too dark for pictures but we’ll be back soon because the meal was amazing.  A high point was my housemade cherry cola with whiskey.

My Ohio visit was perfect.  It’s always great to see my grandma and I managed to get in time with my aunt and uncle and a cousin and her fiancé too.

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Nana is a fantastic cook and everything I ate at her house was delicious (and beautiful).

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Plus we enjoyed some good meals out, including personal pizza with basil and green olives.

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And wonderful spinach quiche.

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We went out for several lattes, explored cute Ohio towns, and took in a movie (“Sully,” because it didn’t occur to either of us until afterwards that a movie about a plane crash probably wasn’t the best choice a day before my flight!).

And now I’m home safe with my boys, and only have four days to go in my work-week.

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Apple Picking Outing

I had to go into work on Sunday but Adam and I fit a weekend’s worth of fun into Saturday.  We drove two hours upstate to Twin Star Orchards for an afternoon of apple picking.

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We did a complimentary cider tasting first.  And enjoyed a wood-fired pizza – with fancy mushrooms and truffle oil – for lunch.

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We came home with fewer than 10 apples (they actually just let us take our bag for free!) because we don’t have any grand baking plans, but had a great time walking around the orchard.

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Date night was a new sushi spot in Great Neck.  We split seaweed salad and edamame to start.

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I got a meh veggie roll and a fantastic spicy crab roll for dinner.

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They were out of the mackerel Adam wanted so they gave us free red bean ice cream with our bill.

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New candy bar for dessert.

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The popping candy didn’t have much get up and go but the milk flavored cream was very pleasing.

New take on an old casserole.  I made smoked trout noodle casserole.

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I loosely followed Martha’s recipe for the sauce.  With whole-wheat rotini pasta, tons of sautéed mushrooms and chopped celery, smoked trout, and dill and smoked paprika.  Topped with smoked gouda and crushed sour cream and onion potato chips.

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Served with a new (to us) beer, coconut caramel chocolate brown ale.  I don’t usually drink ales but this was unique enough to hold my interest, at least for 3/4 of the bottle.

What’s new with you?

It’s Apple Month!

Can I show off my apple-themed haul??  I’m quite excited about it.

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And fittingly, we are driving upstate to go apple picking this afternoon.

So far the gum has been my favorite, though I haven’t tried any of the ciders yet.  I went out for drinks with a friend last night and had a regular (red apple) Angry Orchard that was unpleasantly sweet so I’m hoping green apple has some tartness to it.

Apple pie bar and a Gala apple.

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Caramel apple bar with green apple sparkling water and some honey peanut butter.  With an Asian pear.

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Caramel apple pie cheesecake from work.

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I did eat a few things that weren’t apple-flavored.  Like a giant plate of buffalo chicken pizza!  With salads from the Whole Food’s bar, Caesar, kale, and corn.

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Blueberry cheesecake smoothie.  Frozen berries, vanilla almond milk, cream cheese, and lemon syrup.

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Green bean dinner bowl.  This turned out way better than I was expecting, especially because the green beans were a bag of fresh beans that got tossed into the freezer last week when they started getting old. They would have been too mushy roasted, but were perfect with an egg on top.

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Sautéed green beans tossed with turkey bacon, mustard, and lemon juice // pan toasted whole-wheat panko // fried egg // smoked paprika.

Everyone go eat an apple!

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Road Trip Adventure

Two of our favorite people recently moved out of Brooklyn for Traverse City, MI and our last three days were spent on an epic journey road tripping to their gorgeous wedding.  We spent two full days in the car and only one day in Michigan but it was totally worth it to see one of my oldest childhood friends get married.

We were a bit worried about the 30+ hours we had to spend driving but it honestly ended up flying by.  We had my fully-stocked i-pod, a funny book on tape, and brand new scenery outside our windows.  Plus we are stupid in love with each other and probably could have just talked for 28 hours (I definitely fell asleep towards the end!) and had a good time.

Five out of six meals Friday and Sunday were eaten in our car, mostly junk food.  Here were a few of the culinary highpoints…

Apples with peanut butter.

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Carrots and dip.

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Not one, but two, marshmallow flavored lattes!!

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Cola gummies.

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This total throwback.

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The gas station cashier got such a kick over how excited we were to find Surge.  Unsurprisingly, it didn’t taste as good as I thought it did as a kid.

We ate very well in Traverse City too.  Breakaway for coffees.

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Espresso that actually happened to be roasted in Brooklyn!

Lunch and drinks at Rare Bird Brewery.

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Adam and I split macaroni and cheese with roasted duck and salad with roasted beets and spiced pepitas.

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The food was good but the drinks were better, I had a locally brewed ale that tasted like key lime pie!  Plus an apple sour beer.

Ice cream at Moomers.

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White chocolate Oreo and black cherry.  We actually had this twice in one day because our friends did an ice cream cake for the wedding.

Late bar food dinner at Workshop Brewery our first night in town.

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Nachos with beans and ancho chicken.

I’m off to spend the day with my husband!

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Four Day Week Top Five

I’m not at work today!  Or tomorrow, or the next day, or the next!!  Even better, I get to spend every second of the next four days with my husband, who just came back from a trip out of town.

Nothing is as exciting as this long weekend, but here are five foods from the week that were thrilling in their own right…

{1} Compartés bars.  They are crazy expensive but I am completely obsessed.

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The Salty Malty bar was one of the best chocolates I’ve ever eaten.

{2} Taco salad.

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Romaine, carrots, chopped tomato and onion, corn, cheddar, salsa, sour cream, olives, and hard-boiled eggs.

{3} Junky fast-food style chicken wrap from the cafeteria.

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Totally delicious and definitely not nutritious; this is why I mostly pack my lunches for work even though I eat for free in the cafeteria – the salad bar is available but nine times out of ten I’m going to pass it up for something I can eat with fries.

{4} A product review from Sonoma Syrups, whose goods contain no perservatives or artificial flavors or colors.  The syrups can be used in alcoholic drinks and baking, but no one is surprised that I tried them out in iced coffee.  Sea Salt Caramel isn’t quite as robust as a scoop of dulce de leche, but it definitely made a better coffee than the Starbucks’ caramel macchiato.

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The Vanilla Hazelnut was tasty too.  A 2 Tbsp serving of the syrups has </100 calories and is strong enough to flavor a 10 ounce cup of dark coffee.

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And Meyer Lemon was yummy enough that I didn’t even wish this iced tea was coffee!

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Heads up PSL addicts, they do have a pumpkin spice syrup.

{5} Meze meal.  I met a girlfriend for drinks and dinner mid-week.

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I ordered spanakopita, smoked cremini mushrooms, and hummus with warm chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs.  The spanakpita was meh (we both thought it tasted like something you’d buy frozen at Trader Joe’s) but the hummus was great.

Enjoy your weekend!

Food To Stay

I’m posting a day early because my week ends a day early – I’m off today and then working through the weekend.  Unfortunately at 6:30 am I am already behind on my long to-do list, so I’ll try to keep this post short.

Highlights from this week…

Cafeteria sandwich day.  A wrap with turkey, cheddar, and veggies.

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Plus fries.

Coworker potluck lunch to celebrate the three of us with summer birthdays.

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My plate had sweet Filipino spaghetti with tofu, rice pilaf with dried fruit, and homemade falafel.  We also had 1 million +1 desserts.

Yogurt bowl with vanilla Siggi’s, chopped plum and nectarine, and maple peanut butter.

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The peanut butter is fantastic, we’ve been eating a lot of toast.

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Usually paired with these sugar crunch grapes.

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A final snack highlight was these dill almonds.

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I just tossed almonds, evoo, a pinch of salt, and several shakes of dried dill in a skillet until they were toasty.

Chipotle.  We may have eaten Chipotle 2 out of 3 days this week.

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I’m not exactly winning at dinnertime meal prep motivation lately.

I did make this yummy tossed-together dinner though.

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Leftover pasta with TJ’s turkey summer sausage, peas, red bell pepper, and sharp cheddar.

You guys know that I don’t often do beauty product reviews on the blog, but this pitch was sent the week I turned 31 and I was feeling vulnerable.

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I’m so glad I accepted because I ended up being impressed with the ToGoSpa products.  Rather than creams or gels – which, let’s be real, I’m too lazy to deal with – their active ingredients are packed in collagen gel pads you stick on your face.  P.S. they are paraben and dye free.

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I was afraid to smile when I took my selfies (see the horror show below) but I soon realized that the EYES pads actually stay put really well, I spent the 15 minutes with them on my face working around the house and they didn’t budge.  Bonus – the wording on the packing made me smile: “for best results, take them out of the package and put them on your face!”

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per usual, I was not provided further compensation for this post and all opinions are my own

I’ve tried the Ice Water and Green Tea ones so far, because I definitely sport dark circles thanks to my NCIS obsession.  True fact – it is really, really hard to take a flattering picture sans makeup, on a camera (so no front-facing option), and afraid to smile.

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You get the idea.  I can’t say that my face looked markedly different but the area under my eyes certainly felt much nicer.  I definitely plan on continuing to use the treatments.

Last Week’s Top Six

Better late than never?  I spent my weekend in a malstrom of giant bowls of stovetop popcorn and NCIS episodes and couldn’t pull myself away to blog.  I’m currently watching NCIS but it will probably be awhile before I eat any more popcorn!

Last week’s top six…

{1} Australian iced coffee.

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Cold brew concentrate, chocolate milk, ice, and a scoop of ice cream.  I started several mornings this way.

{2} Product samples from Viki’s Granola.

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They sent me some tasty granola to review.  Banana walnut was my favorite.  The granolas are gluten-free and have </160 calories per 1/4 cup.  The texture was unique, they were much softer and less clumped that most of the other granolas I’ve tried.

Very nice in my yogurt lunches.

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Especially with sugar crunch grapes.

{3} Compartes Birthday Cake Bar.

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White chocolate with sprinkles and three types of vanilla bean, it tasted like cake!  These bars are so worth the $10 price tag, I want to try more.

{4} Pasta salad, served cold.

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Whole wheat bow ties / spinach pesto / heirloom baby tomatoes / baked tofu with balsamic / cubes of swiss and sharp cheddar.  We almost never eat cold pasta salad and this felt fun and summery.

{5} Pimento cheese nachos.

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Our favorite meal, with a southern spin.  Zapp’s sweet pimento cream cheese chips, shredded chicken, red bell pepper, and candied pecans.

{6} Fantastic oven-fried chicken.

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We made a version of this chicken from A Cozy Kitchen and it blew our freaking minds.  With a garlic butter sauce instead of the spicy one.  We plan on making another batch this week.

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