Key lime skyr with passionfruit, banana, and chia seeds; plus granola halfway through.
These guava crackers were weird in a wonderful way; super thin and crispy and a bit sweet.
Fun drinks – tasty spiced hibiscus bissap tea and soursop nectar.
I enjoyed my soursop in a margarita!
See also – rum and coke slushies. Frozen coke ice cubes blended with Cruzan rum and fresh lime.
We made some really great dinners, all of which received a healthy dousing of hot sauces. I stuck with these three for a Caribbean theme.
Coconut rice and beans – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, dark kidney beans, onion, ginger, habanero, and spices / curried fish cakes – canned tuna and salmon with egg, panko, mayo, and Jamaican curry powder / rainbow chard and celery sauteed with some fish sauce and rice vinegar.
Sauteed zoodles with pineapple pulled chicken (a loose take on this recipe).
Roasted kabucha squash with a very loose take on callaloo – frozen kale with coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, habanero, turkey, bacon, fresh crab, and spices.
And an egg burrito with extra veggies. This was only ok (who puts carrots on a burrito? And it needed way more hot sauce) but Adam’s egg and cheese sandwich was a work of art.
Cookie x cookie coffee wins. I 11/10 loved the Stew Leonard’s cookie dough flavored coffee and also enjoyed the Califa cookie butter almond milk creamer far more than I was expecting to.
Sliced Hunnyz apple (a new favorite) with honey, cinnamon, and chunky peanut butter.
Yogurt bowl with plain skry, vanilla bean paste, honey, persimmon, passionfruit, chia seeds, and vanilla almond granola.
See also, plain skyr with cinnamon, blueberry jam, persimmon, Mineola tangerine, and granola.
We spent an obscene amount of money on Taco Bell delivery for dinner one night so I tried to bring balance back to the Force with a green juice. Lol, unfortunately I grabbed the wrong bottle because this ended up basically being lemonade with aloe and chlorophyll.
We liked these Zapp’s honey mustard pretzels a lot. Not as much as Dot’s but more than their voodoo variety which ended up being too seasoned for us. Also, I use the adjective “jazzy” at least four times a week so clearly I had to buy these.
We loved these Trader Joe’s lentil and chickpea crisps. Great texture.
These Ben & Jerry’s s’mores cookie dough bites are my favorite thing I’ve ever eaten. I love everything about them but the truffles specifically are mind-blowing.
Leftover jalopeno cheddar hushpupies from Sweet Chick with honey and leftover crab dip.
The Burrito Blvd near our apartment has the best toppings; this rice bowl was 40% rice and 60% chopped zuchinni (my ideal burrito bowl ratio). Also chicken, corn, tomato, cheese, and mild salsa.
Homemade laab. I followed this recipe. We quite enjoyed it and were not sad to have sourced toasted rice powder. Plus sauted bok choy with ginger and sesame seeds.
Spicy, tomato-y chickpea bowls. I sauteed graffiti eggplant and sweet onion with fire-roasted diced tomatoes, harissa, and chickpeas. Topped with plain yogurt and fresh mint.
Homemade cashew chicken. I followed this recipe except that I swapped breasts for thighs and added red bell pepper. With brown basmatti rice and roasted broccoli.
P.S. We have exciting dinner reservations tonight for Omakase at Koyo. I’m not bringing my camera but from what I can tell online everything should be gorgeous (and delicious!).
Chobani pumpkin spice Greek yogurt with strawberries, granola, and chia seeds.
Noosa pumpkin yogurt with blackberries and granola.
See also – I really enjoyed this Elleno’s Greek yogurt with lemon curd.
As much as I love potato chips I also really like things that are pretending to be potato chips. Wilde’s chicken chips (this chicken and waffles variety is my favorite).
Biena’s Hawaiian bbq chickpea and veggie crisps.
Local pumpkin beers. Bronx Brewery’s Tattooed Pumpkin IPA (7.5/10) and Blue Point’s Big Mother Pumpkin imperial pumpkin ale (8.5/10).
Also local, also for spooky season – Sixpoint’s Screamsickle orange and vanilla hazy DIPA (8.5/10).
A fun date night – Adam and I went out to For Five Coffee for these tasty churro pancakes with dulce de leche drizzle, chocolate pearls, and horchatta ice cream.
Pumpkin Month pasta. Trader Joe’s butternut squash pasta with roasted zucchini, Seemore’s chicken kale pesto sausage, and Sauces n Love pink pesto sauce. [note to future Emily – we did not like the pink pesto!]
Fantastic noodles and veggie bowls. Whole-wheat vermicelli / nom choc / chicken breast cooked in the crockpot with soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime, ginger, and honey / roasted brussel sprouts / chili crisp.
Turkey reuben inspired sheet-pan hash. We loved this! Roasted potatoes and cabbage with smoked turkey, sourkraut, and homemade 1000 island dressing.
Siggi’s pumpkin spice skyr with blackberries and granola.
Trader Joe’s vanilla bean Greek yogurt with pumpkin puree, maple syrup, chia seeds, blackberries, and grnola.
Pumpkin pie smoothie. Pumpkin puree with milk, plain Greek yogurt, frozen banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, and mace.
Trader Joe’s scallion pancake / canned salmon with mayo and Sriracha / roasted zucchini / all topped with Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.
Roasted cauliflower and chicken salad – shredded chicken breasts, mayo, yellow mustard, honey mustard dressing, and roasted almonds slivers with Sichuan salt.
Breakfast burger sandwiches. Whole Foods’ plant-based burgers, gouda, and a fried egg on a whole-wheat bun with blueberry jam. Plus leftover cauliflower.
Is it supposed to be a balanced breakfast or a gourd-based breakfast? La Colombe pumpkin spice canned coffee plus Perfect Bar’s pumpkin pie seasonal flavor.
Lifeway pumpkin spice kefir. I am on a years’ long hunt for the eggnog version.
Trader Joe’s pumpkin Greek yogurt with plucot, chia seeds, and granola.
We liked but didn’t love Elysian’s Night Owl pumpkin ale.
Trader Joe’s Howling Gourds pumpkin ale makes it into Adam’s top five favorite beers.
And Southern Tier’s canned craft cocktail of their Pumpking whiskey and cola is officially in both of our top five for all-time-favorite beverages. I bought this months ago and squirreled it away and devestatingly I have been unable to find it again.
The nights we didn’t get take-out (we’ve had kind of crazy work weeks) we hit it out of the park with what we cooked for dinners. Super salad night – local lettuce with miso caesar dressing, bacon-flavored crunchy mung beans, Gardein vegan crab cakes, red bell pepper, and avocado.
Broiled salmon with a miso glaze plus baked green beans. Adam had his with rice but I went with bbq potato chips.
Emily Mariko style salmon bowls! Plus a side of smashed cucumber salad.
I’m late on this post but we had too many wonderful things last week not to share! Mostly lots of very (very, very, very) good restaurant meals. Three different days I got to take a super-long city walk (including a Central Park date with the husband!). Highlights include…
Breakfast at Ursula. We shared a strawberry chamoy pastry.
And a sopaipilla with grassfed beef, green chile, refried pinto beans, and cheddar.
Breakfast at the Blue Light Speaky Cheesy pop-up. The workers could not have been more wonderful here and everything was fantastic! We shared a sandwich with pesto scrambled eggs, goat cheese, blueberry jam, and arugula; a maple lavender latte (<– topped with orange zest, which apparently is my new favorite thing); and an iced Getaway Latte with sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Malted berry smoothie. Frozen cherries and strawberries with Greek yogurt, chocolate almond milk, and malted milk powder.
Yogurt bowl – vanilla skyr, pecan granola, chia seeds, blueberries, and cherry plums (<– both Adam’s and my new favorite fruit).
Cookie dough granola (<– amazing, the flavor is spot on!) with blueberries and chocolate almond milk.
Lunch at Bahn (<– best meal of the whole week!). Iced Vietnamese egg coffee.
Summer rolls with shrimp and mung bean sauce.
Rolls with crispy shrimp, beef jerky, green mango, Sriracha, and egg yolk cream.
Noodle salad with sizzling butter beef.
Dumplings from Mimi Cheng. Their monthly special is a collab with Pecking House and is stuffed with buttermilk twice-fried chicken and topped with the best chili crisp I’ve ever tasted.
Homemade(!) grain bowls. Farro with pesto, chicken pesto sausage, fennel greens, and sauteed celery and baby orange tomatoes.
Adam forgot his credit card at BKNY Thai so we went back sooner than we were expecting to. A serendipitous mistake because our take-out was 11/10. Fish cakes / dumplings with ground chicken, shallot, peanut, and preserved radish / beef Pad See Ew with extra Chinese broccoli.
Omekase at the Chemisty Room at Sushi Lab. We ate at the counter and the service was impecable. I only took a few photos but everything was delicious and gorgeous.
Dinner at Wen Wen. My daiquiri with rum, Cachaça, and birds eye chili was perfect and balanced.
We had numbing celtuce salad with garlic, red vinegar, and Sichuan pepper.
Hot honey popcorn chicken.
Cold sesame noodles with cucumbers and egg ribbons.
Beef noodle soup with pickled mustard greens and a 16-hour oxtail broth.
Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with maple, chia, praline pecan granola, and chopped aprium.
10/10 loved this new flavor from Over Easy.
On the other hand, this is a reminder for myself to stop buying this Oreo coffee because I do not like it. It tastes like a watery Oreo with no coffee whatsoever.
This Whole Foods almond milk ice cream was pretty good but not as good as non-vegan ice cream.
A breakfast bowl cheese fry situation. Trader Joe’s seasoned fries with mozarella, soft-scrambled eggs, roasted zucchini, and chicken breakfast sausage.
Chinese take-out!
So much Chinese take-out. Bok choy and mushrooms, fried tofu, sesame noodles, and a cheeseburger egg roll.
Eating Chalk 