Wrapping It Up

by Emily

Thanks to the holiday day and compensatory days for working the preceding and following weekends… I only worked two days this week! Tuesday and Friday on and the rest of the week to do as I pleased, not a bad way to end 2016. Though now I do work both NYE and the first day of 2017.

It was also a big week in my personal life, on Wednesday Adam and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary (and 14th anniversary of being together)! We didn’t exchange gifts or do anything crazy to celebrate, it’s hard to get too excited when we are so darn close to 10 years. <– eeeeeeeeeeee!

Food highlights for the week – – –

Yogurt lunches. Dulce de leche Chobani with granola, plus a snapdragon apple and a vanilla latte can. Out of 10, the coffee and yogurt both get a 9+.

2% Fage with Soom chocolate tahini, sweet and spicy pecans, chopped apple, and chia seeds.

Dinner at Bubby’s. I met a girlfriend in Chelsea midweek and this is where we ended up. Neither of us ordered pie, but I had a great frisee salad with poached egg and sherry vinaigrette.

Iced coffee with princess emulsion (fancy vanilla extract that had a strong undertone of lemon and actually wasn’t great in coffee).

Fantastically roasty Terremoto Coffee skim latte was the best drink of the week, especially because I plopped a scoop of goat’s milk tahini ice cream in it a minute later.

Gelt!

On our anniversary – which we actually celebrated a day late because Adam’s schedule is insane – we cuddled on the couch and watched our wedding video with a split of champagne and the last eggnog iced coffee of the season.

We did dinner at Shalom Japan and I didn’t take a single picture. I did snap dessert – an ice cream date at OddFellows. Toasted marshmallow + amazing caramel chocolate toffee.

Best dish of the week = I made legit macaroni and cheese. Pimento cheese macaroni and cheese.

Whole wheat macaroni / sautéed green onions and chopped pimento / mornay sauce with sharp cheddar and raw milk cheddar / panko on top.

With spinach salad with red bell pepper, sweet and spicy pecans, and honey mustard, and roasted green beans with fried green onion.

See you next year! <– my favorite dumb joke

16Dec2016

Back At It

by Emily

With a crazy-busy week at work and a weather in the tens in NYC yesterday, we are definitely not on vacation any more, Toto!

Thankfully my day-to-day life takes place in the best city in America with the world’s nicest husband and the universe’s cutest dog so it’s really not too bad.

And I get to eat some pretty yummy food too. Flavors of the week – salmon, green beans, eggs, and egg nog…

This week’s coffee combo decked my mornings with boughs of jolly.

Christmas blend espresso roast with soy/nog. I also had a 2nd (and sometimes 3rd) cup at work everyday because going back to work after a vacation kind of sucks.

Vanilla bean yogurt with Bear Naked cacao + cashew butter granola. Plus a super juicy Pacific Rose apple.

Oatmeal with chia seeds, chocolate-covered cacao nibs, and gingerbread spice. Plus an apple on the side and a scoop of peanut butter on top once it was cooked.

Yesterday I had a ridiculously cheesy toasted turkey sandwich from the cafeteria that I was too busy to snap a picture of. And Wednesday the hospital served us a holiday luncheon, complete with the best steamed green beans any of us had ever tasted.

It was a week of sweets, including on-theme jelly beans.

Plus Brooklyn Cupcake. Guava cheese and coquito <– the best flavor.

I also ate all of the Oreo frosting off of this slice of red velvet.

I knew Monday would knock me out, so I got dinner started before work that morning. Strata with a super simple salad with honey mustard dressing.

The egg casserole was this recipe but with whole-wheat pumpernickel, maple chicken sausage, and a nutty raw-milk cheddar. The leftovers were great the next day too.

Wednesday Adam and I did a date night at the beautiful Sisters’ Restaurant. I want to go back for brunch so I get a better view, plus hopefully my food shots will be a little better.

We shared drinks – Nine Pin Cider for me – and two appetizers. Sweet potato fries with local maple crème fraiche and fried cauliflower and capers. The cauliflower was ahh-mazing. And we both decided the Nine Pin is the best cider on the market.

I ordered the salmon niçoise, more green beans for me! It was great, the fish was perfectly cooked.

More salmon for dinner yesterday. I made garlic salmon patties with sautéed bok choy with fried oyster mushrooms and a quick sauce of soy/honey/sriracha. I ate my second patty while I assembled our plates, with a creamy cocktail sauce for dipping.

Have a merry weekend!

2Dec2016

This Week’s Top Five

by Emily

December is here! The last themed-food month of the year (also the last month of the year, holy crap)!

Here were the top five from this week…

{1} Christmas-flavored coffees

Eggnog iced lattes have been rocking my face off, and I was also really into the holiday-spiced sweet cream cold brews this week.

{2} Triple Draft Latte from La Colombe

Delish! I enjoyed this can more than the store-made lattes I’ve gotten from this company. I never did eat that pomelo though, it’s been a busy week at work.

{3} Eggnog overnight oats

TJ’s low-fat eggnog / rolled oats / chia seeds / cinnamon and nutmeg / sliced banana.

{4} Quesadillas

I ate one every day this week! The hospital cafeteria kept having them and the one day I ate a different lunch I met up with a girlfriend for dinner and tequila after work. Pictured is a jerk chicken quesadilla with corn, bell pepper, and cheddar and pepperjack.

{5} Thanksgiving leftovers pasta

With turkey, roasted brussel sprouts, gruyere, and cranberry sauce.

Now I’m looking forward to a month of mulled spices, eggnog, gingerbread, and peppermint.

25Nov2016

Tastes Like Thanksgiving

by Emily

I hope all my American readers stuffed themselves silly yesterday (all of my readers really!) and made good memories with family and/or friends. Adam and I both had to work, so no festivities here, but thankfully I spent time with 3/4 of my family in St. Thomas last weekend. P.S. No post from last weekend, I didn’t take many pictures, but I did eat johnny cake with cheese and day drink almost daily.

In spite of being kind of lame on Turkey Day, I did manage to pack my week with holiday flavors – cranberry, green beans, turkey, pumpkin, and egg nog. Plus, apparently I’ve decided that chips are an on-theme holiday flavor!

Winter Cheer Stumptown with a cranberry clementine seltzer and a giant pomelo.

Cranberry turkey Wilde bar with a snap dragon apple and a cranberry cider seltzer. <– are we appreciating the cranberry seltzers I squirreled away for this week?!

Holiday spiced sweet cream cold brew.

Thursday felt like an appropriate time to get my eggnog goodies going.

Veggies with pita chips for scooping from the cafeteria for lunch. Tomato, green bell pepper, corn, cheddar, and beans.

Oats in a jar. I dumped hot oats with chia seeds and pepitas into the last of the chocolate tahini. Plus an ambrosia apple.

With more chocolate for dessert, I snacked on a cookie dough bar and a latte.

The cafeteria made a special Thanksgiving lunch. I had veggie lasagna, stuffing, and green beans.

Tuesday night – aka the first time Adam and I laid eyes on each other since last Wednesday! – we went out for dinner before making an overdue grocery run. I got a chopped salad with green chili lime vinaigrette, roasted corn, cucumber, jicama, and tons of avocado plus blue tortilla nachos with black beans, serrano salsa fresca, and Oaxaca queso sauce.

Post-dinner coffee to get me through Trader Joe’s. The aged Sumatra is tasty.

And the next morning I was able to get dinner going in the crock pot – cranberry bbq chicken that knocked our freaking socks off. In a slow cooker on low for 8 hours / chicken breast / maple whiskey bbq sauce / fresh cranberries tossed with minced garlic and a bit of sugar. I topped my bowl with some shredded cheese.

Served with roasted green beans and pumpkin beers.

I was the only RD at work on Thanksgiving and the day ended up being pretty exhausting. Thankfully I already had planned the ultimate lazy dinner – nachos. I kept things on theme though! TJ’s turkey and stuffing kettle chips / cheddar, swiss, and gruyere / turkey breast / cranberry sauce. With green beans in thyme honey balsamic vinaigrette.

Served with – just under the wire – the last pumpkin beer of the season.

Plus a nauseating amount of baking nibbles for dessert, we are doing a belated Thanksgiving with my in-laws this weekend and I’m bringing cookies.

What’s your favorite traditional Thanksgiving dish? I won’t judge you if you say nachos.

5Nov2016

Bites And Frights

by Emily

How in the world is it November??? I promise not to spend the rest of this year talking about how the year is running out, but it really is blowing my mind.

On the agenda before January? Christmas shopping, finding the perfect day planner for 2017, and plans for three out-of-town trips right in a row.

Presently, I’m waiting for Adam to get home so we can go to brunch. And these were the highlights from the past week…

I actually did a pretty good job with capturing things this week minus a plethora more of nachos and iced coffees. I tried a new blend from Birch.

Espresso and a KIND bar.

Coffee, chai latte, and an almond croissant.

I found a white chocolate seltzer for my Halloween lunch. It didn’t have much flavor, but my oatmeal was good – with chia seeds, chocolate-covered cacao nibs, and candy corn, plus I stirred in pumpkin puree and Greek yogurt cream cheese at the end.

Other lunches centered around this sweet box of samples from LÄRABAR. They offered me a chance to try their newest product – BITES, “truffle-like bites made from real food to satisfy your sweet craving.” The bites are vegan, gluten-free, kosher, and only use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa and coffee.

We tried three of four flavors (I’m saving mint chocolate for December, aka Peppermint Month) and were big fans. Cherry Chocolate Chip was enjoyable but not our favorite, I thought Double Chocolate Brownie was fudgy and great next to coffee, and Adam loved the fact that Chocolate Macaroon was coated in coconut flour.

I had a serving of brownie bites with a Noosa pumpkin yogurt and some gum drop grapes(!!) for lunch.

Coconut macaroon went with plain yogurt with yummy chocolate tahini on top.

This week’s snack highlights were nut and seed centric.

Also, of course, candy. Another product review, Magic Candy Factory sent me a super exciting sample –

That’s my name! I think this company is really exciting, you can choose from 100’s of shapes, or write a custom message, and MCF will 3D print you a gummy. The candy is vegan (no dairy, no gelatin), gluten-free, nut-free, and kosher. Most importantly, it’s delicious.

We tried sublime strawberry and Adam declared this his favorite gummy candy of all time.

Orange and black nachos for Halloween. TJ’s pumpkin chips topped with cheddar, olives, black beans, and shredded chicken.

Plus pumpkin beers and Peeps. Warlock was fantastic this year.

For the rest of the week, I made a big batch of pumpkin seed pesto. Served on pizza with cheddar and sliced turkey, I promise it was tastier than it looked. With a pea sprout salad.

And we tossed the rest of the pesto with pumpkin-shaped pasta, parmesan, shredded chicken, and roasted cauliflower. Almost nothing is better than pesto pasta.

Enjoy your weekend!

24Oct2016

Pumpkin Yogurt — Froyo — Beer

by Emily

This weekend was low-key but exactly what we needed. Inclement weather killed our Saturday plans (instead we ran some errands and caught up on tv) and Sunday I was scheduled to work. I’ve got Wednesday off in exchange for yesterday so my workweek will be two mini 2 day blocks <– nice!

Here were the weekend’s top eats…

We made a quick trip down to Rockville Center to check out Kookaburra Coffee. They had toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!! Fan-freaking-tastic in my triple shot iced latte.

Spooky yogurt bowl. Plain Fage with pumpkin butter stirred in, topped with chia seeds, salted peanuts, cocoa nibs, and a few candy corn.

I put a lemon cream popsicle in seltzer water with some whiskey. Creamy, fizzy, and boozy, the trifecta.

Pumpkin pie froyo, topped with pretty much all of the dessert-y toppings.

Cheese plate dinner. With dates, apple, and sautéed green beans with almonds.

The highlights were this paprika cheese from TJ’s,

and these Malbranche Mura Cha Cha matcha tea biscuits I was sent to review. The cookies are gluten-free and vegan and absolutely bursting with matcha flavor. Be forewarned – if you don’t like the tea you won’t like the cookie, Adam loves both.

Copycat Chipotle salad bowls. Romaine // spicy salsa // shredded cheese // chipotle honey lime chicken // sautéed onion and orange and yellow bell pepper // black beans // fire-roasted corn.

I sipped pumpkin beer while I sautéed my chicken. Both were delicious, 8-9/10.

I’ve got three different pumpkin iterations packed for tomorrow’s lunch!

30Sep2016

The End Of Apple Month

by Emily

This week I…

Tried two new products to review {see below}
Drank 6 cups of coffee
Worked 3 of 4 days and spent Wednesday in Manhattan
Loved the newest season of “The New Girl,” laughed out loud at “NCIS,” and felt totally over “South Park”
Ate three different plates of nachos

highlights…

Sparkling Ice offered to send me some of their new Essence Of sparkling water line. No sodium, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, just carbonated water and natural flavors. 10/10, they were very refreshing and I would definitely buy them on my own.

I enjoyed Lemon Lime and Tangerine alongside my coffee.

Caramel apple yogurt with cinnamon Chex and freeze-dried apples.

Caramel apple oatmeal bowl. Oats with chia seeds, apple, cinnamon, candied pecans, and Booterscotch M&Ms.

Buttermilk pie yogurt bowl, with a Cara Cara.

This “Red Hook” paleta from La Newyorkina was the single best thing we ate all month. Super-strong coffee with cookie dough from Baked.

Peking Duck Bing at Madison Square Eats. I knew if I kept trying these crepes I’d find one I loved. This one was stuffed with peking duck, scrambled eggs, hoisin sauce, and chili paste.

Lunch on a sunny sidewalk at Delicatessen.

We shared an everything salmon burger,

and the Mac Quack with duck confit, white cheddar, fontina, and caramelized onion.

But the best bites were the Duck, Duck, Goose Dumplings – smoked duck breast, duck confit, foie gras, cherry chutney, brown butter vinaigrette, and sliced almonds.

We’ve tried Pepperidge Farm Swirl Breads in the past and loved them (p.s. they have caramel apple and pumpkin spice seasonal flavors!!) but they recently upgraded the products with a wider slice and more visible swirl and offered to send some my way.

We loved the new version too. I typically only buy us whole-wheat bread and save the white stuff for a treat, and these swirl breads definitely taste like a treat. Plus, at 80 calories a slice with 3 grams of protein and only 4 grams of sugar, the nutritional profile isn’t too bad.

I made epic sweet and savory grilled cheese sandwiches out of the Raisin Cinnamon Swirl.

Bread with butter // blackberry jam // smoked sliced turkey // sharp cheddar and light Havarti cheese // turkey bacon // and a hot skillet.

Plus roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

And Smackintosh Hard Cider (from our trip to Traverse City) to drink.

Pumpkin Month starts tomorrow!

16Sep2016

Palm Seed Fun

by Emily

This post is running a little late because I am too – I have the day off! Working last Sunday earned me a long weekend today. It’s actually an extra-long weekend because I’m off Monday as well, I’m going to Ohio tomorrow to visit my grandma. Today, I’m going to have some fun with Adam and Webster.

Highlights from this week…

I didn’t snap any iced coffee photos this week, but I promise it was consumed in substantial quantities. There’s a chance I stayed up far too late watching Road Rules on YouTube one night. <– not worth the exhaustion, that show spent way more time on relationship drama than I had remembered.

Apple oatmeal, with an Asian pear.

My Filipino coworker brought me in some palm seeds and I bought them to good use. Chia pudding with palm seeds and banana.

Yogurt with palm seeds, Luxardo cherries, Cherrios, and an orange.

Another treat from the Philippines, polvoron, or powdered milk candy. They were fantastic, crumbly and milky in such a pleasing way.

More candy, Justin’s peanut butter cups (I’m still obsessed with these) and a milk popping candy. Sparkling water and diet coke are two of my favorite things and when you drink them together – as in at the same time, not in the same cup – they both taste even better.

Other snacks included apples we picked ourselves.

And the best microwave popcorn we’ve ever popped. This tasted almost as good as stove-popped.

We kept dinners super simple this week. Leftover smoked trout casserole, eaten cold out of the pan.

Salmon salad sandwiches – canned salmon with mayo, mustard, and pickle relish – on toasted TJ’s quinoa bread.

My most complicated night involved potato vareniki which cook in about 5 minutes. Tossed with shredded rotisserie chicken / sautéed celery / garlic kale / and a sauce made of cream cheese and chicken stock.

I’m off to go start my day off!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: chia

Wrapping It Up

Back At It

This Week’s Top Five

Tastes Like Thanksgiving

Bites And Frights

Pumpkin Yogurt — Froyo — Beer

The End Of Apple Month

Palm Seed Fun