Tag Archives: cherries

Epsilon Alpha Tau

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No post from me last week because we were on vacation in Texas! We went to Meow Wolf in Dallas and Houston and also visited Austin. It was a fabulous time and we ate some of the best food of my life (including the best bbq, the best burrito, and two Michelin starred meals!).

Some highlight since we’ve been home…

This week’s coffee. I am picky about bottled coffee but this Nescafe espresso concentrate is pretty solid.

One morning I paired it with a Barebells Vanilla Milk Drink; good but not great, it was better than the soda but too sweet (7/10).

Good loaded skyr bowls this week. This one was plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, pineberries, and Oat Haus cookie dough granola, and edible flowers.

This one was plain skyr, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, maple syrup, and all the berries.

I got my hands on the cherry float Coke Zero so of course I made a float with vanilla ice cream and whiskey cherries. P.S. My current soda ranking is cherry Coke Zero > cherry Diet Coke > cherry float Coke Zero > Diet Coke.

Paired with cherry cola Squashies!

Dinners this week were all (loosely) Greek-inspired. Meatballs (ground turkey baked with panko, baba gannouj, tabbouleh, salt, pepper, and egg) / asparagus sauteed with lemon, dried basil, salt, and pepper / potato salad (peewee potatoes with sauteed celery and red onion, feta, lemon zest and juice, evoo, skyr, mayo, smoked paprika, and white pepper).

Baked eggs with feta plus sauteed zucchini, Bahama Bomb tomato, and red onion with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Scooped with pita chips.

Salads. Spring mix, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, roasted chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, baba gannouj, roasted garlic hummus, and Trader Joe’s dolmas.

Tots Of Love

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Highlights from the week…

On-theme Valentine’s snack wins. Alani Cherry Bomb (9.5/10).

Love Hearts Squashies (9.5/10).

Baked black bean tacos. Black beans (food-processed with walnuts and sauteed mushrooms, green bell pepper, green onion, and taco seasoning) baked in Mission flour tortillas with tons of sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and homemade ranch (plain skyr, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning and hot and sweet jalapeno pickle juice).

Turkey Reuben totchos. Alexa potato puffs / Swiss and gruyere cheese / sauteed ground turkey with homemade Russian dressing / sauerkraut. Plus roasted zucchini.

Agi’s counter inspired tots. Potato puffs / roasted yellow cauliflower / canned smoked trout tossed with leftover ranch / chopped sweet dill pickles / Ayoh Tangy Dijonayo.

Love Love Love

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Things from the 1st week of February…

We are less than two weeks from Valentine’s Day so I am obviously thinking in theme foods. I’m saving the conversation hearts for the 14th but cinnamon gummy hearts have been a top-tier snack.

Chocolate-covered cherry smoothie. This combo is one of my forever favorites – frozen sweet dark cherries, chocolate protein powder, and chocolate milk.

See also – chocolate-covered strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries with vanilla protein powder and chocolate milk.

See also+ – I mixed this Barebells wild strawberry protein soda with chocolate milk. This was good (and I loved the caffeine inclusion) but not great like their protein drink we tried in Scotland.

Broccoli Cesar salad. Roasted broccoli, sauteed green onions, and homemade pretzel croutons (Trader Joe’s bread baked with evoo, salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder, and gochugaru) tossed with homemade Cesar dressing (food processed plain skyr, Kewpie mayo, Dijon mustard, evoo, lemon juice, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, capers, anchovies, and black pepper). Plus baked chicken served on top of Cindy’s Kitchen artichoke and parmesan dip.

Tofu Cesar sandwich. Toasted Trader Joe’s ciabatta topped with baked super-firm tofu and shredded romaine lettuce tossed with leftover Cesar dressing. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, horseradish, rice vinegar, and lemon juice.

A mish-mash but it worked sandwich – toasted ciabatta / dip / Farm Rich baked mozzarella sticks stuffed with buffalo sauce and marinara / tuna salad (canned tuna, sweet heat bread and butter pickle chips, skyr, Kewpie, pepper, and smoked paprika). Plus Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggie mix sauteed with ginger and pepper.

Turkey meatballs and baked baby zucchini [plus a side of mozzarella sticks]. The balls were baked; ground turkey with panko panade, red curry paste, hoisin sauce, ginger, shallot, macadamia nuts, and egg.

Cinnamon, Five Spice, Old Bay

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Things from the week…

Wild Cherry Barebells bar, better than the key lime one but I definitely prefer the milk chocolate flavors.

This week’s apple snacks – kombucha and pink lady apple chips.

Delicious cookies – I made these brown butter oatmeal cookies and stuffed them with chopped up matzoh toffee candy.

Vermicilli bowls. Topped with celery and baby bok choy sauteed with ginger and scallions / nuoc cham / and baked turkey meatballs (with panade, egg, fish sauce, hoisin, white pepper, and tons of five spice).

Fish dip. Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout and canned tuna food-processed with plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, celery seed, mustard powder, smoked paprika, and white pepper. Dipped with matzoh and cocktail sauce chips and served with green beans sauteed with mushrooms, butter, Dijon, lemon, and Old Bay.

We all know I planned the meal around this cute bag of chips.

Chicken salad. Chopped baked chicken, honeycrisp apple, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapenos, walnuts, and sharp cheddar dressed with skyr, Duke’s, honey, and lemon juice. Plus baked pretzel bites and roasted yellow and purple cauliflower with salt and pepper.

Matzoh brie with leftover cauliflower. I always top mine with salt and sugar.

Sea Cliff

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It wasn’t an exciting weekend; Adam worked and I spent a bunch of time working on a project for work. We did go out for a Sea Cliff date Friday night after work though! Some highlights…

My coffee needed more coffee, but the flavor of the milk in Dunkin’s new cereal milk iced latte is a 10/10!

This root beer float latte was ok, but less successful. Dr. Brown’s root beer (good, but possibly not sweet enough for this), espresso, and sweetened condensed milk.

Yogurt bowl du jour, skyr with blueberries and Rainer cherries, with Trader Joe’s chocolate coffee granola.

Sea Cliff Shave Ice! We shared cola and coffee with ice cream, mochi, and condensed milk.

Dinner at Sarin (our favorite Thai spot in Long Island). Tod Mun Pla fish cakes that came with an amazing plum sauce.

Pad Kee Mao with beef.

Leftover fish cake / sauteed green beans that were oddly terrible (I didn’t eat them!) / Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes (one of my faves, super duper filling) with Kewpie and Sriracha.

Lavish Lavash

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Tasty things from the week…

Yogurt bowl! Plain Greek with blueberries, Rainer cherries, and cute Swedish gummies.

Iced matcha. With lime seltzer and strawberry and rose syrups.

Peach yogurt jelly gummies.

This baked chicken flatbread was the best thing we ate all week! Trader Joe’s whole-wheat lavash baked with evoo until crispy / topped with TJ’s Unexpected Cheddar / baked chicken breast / roasted red onions / and marinated artichoke hearts. Paired with great veggies – baby bok choy, brown beech mushrooms, and shallots sauteed with butter.

This taco turkey flatbread was also pretty good. Lavash / TJ’s shredded three cheese blend / ground turkey sauteed with taco seasoning / roasted veggies – yellow and orange bell pepper, white onion, zucchini, evoo, salt and pepper, Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Served with smashed avocado (mashed with salt, gochugaru, and TJ’s mango vinaigrette).

Paired with chips and dip.

Nacho night! Mike’s Hot Honey kettle chips / all of the cheeses / three grain tempeh sauteed with salt and gochugaru until toasty / snap peas sauteed with pecans, piquante peppers, gochugaru, cheddar, and honey.

This plate of leftovers was as yummy as it was orange. Leftover roasted veggies / leftover cauliflower okonomiyaki from Olmsted / leftover Indian take-out from Varli – butter chicken momo, house-spiced fries with cheese and minced chicken, and Baingan Bharta (spicy eggplant).

A Few Of My Favorite Favorite Things

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We spent the weekend doing all of my favorite things in celebration of my birthday! That included long Brooklyn walks, a trip to Caffe Panna, a trip to Evil Twin, and a run on the boardwalk!

Here were the highlights of the highlights…

Paloma the Bakery‘s black sesame croissant.

Ciao Gloria‘s tahini and jam bar.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop‘s carrot cake.

Elsa‘s guava daiquiri.

Elder Greene‘s Cherry Bomb – tequila, muddled luxardo cherries, amaretto, agave, and lime juice. Sadly we do not love their burger anymore.

Chuko Ramen‘s kale salad. With raisins, miso, and fried kale! And their ramen is this the best in the city.

Rolo’s cheeseburger. The best in the city! But honestly the wood-fired polenta bread and stracciatella cheese gave it a run for its money. This whole meal was fantastic; my favorite of the year!

Younger Than Dirt

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It was my birthday this week so I made some of my favorite things for dinners – nachos and weird salads!

Birthday nachos. Chili crisp Kettle chips <– these were fantastic, perfectly seasoned / shredded sharp cheddar and gouda cheese / crispy tofu (shredded super-firm tofu baked with gochugaru). I planned to add chili crisp on top but these tasted so good I didn’t want to mess with them! Plus lovely green beans (steamed and then sauteed with evoo, yellow mustard, honey, rice vinegar, and togarashi).

We had fancy dirt cups for dessert! Chocolate pudding / dirt = crushed Oreos baked with butter, sugar, sprinkles, and edible glitter / Haribo rainbow gummy worms.

And we champagne-toasted a la Tom Hanks. I used rosé champagne and added rose syrup to mine. These were actually really good!

Bacon egg and cheese on a bagel salad. Hard-boiled eggs with turkey bacon, sharp cheddar, green onion, and homemade bagel croutons (poppy seed bagel baked with evoo, sesame seeds, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika) dressed in skyr, Kewpie, Dijon, pickled jalapeno juice, salt, and white pepper. Plus roasted zucchini.

Caesar chicken salad. Baked chicken with Whisps parmesan crisps and homemade Caesar dressing (food processed Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon, evoo, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, capers, parmesan, and black pepper). Plus roasted purple and yellow cauliflower.

Loaded tuna salad. Canned tuna with green onion, poblano pepper, pickles, chili crisp chips, mayo, skyr, Dijon, and pickled jalapeno juice.

The only other things worth mentioning from the week were two really good smoothies. Blueberry cheesecake – frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, butter extract, cinnamon, cottage cheese, and water.

Berry chocolate – frozen cherries and strawberries, chocolate protein powder, Dutch processed cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and water.