Weekend-Ish

I know I said I was excited for this weekend, but it turned out that I spent 95% of it in bed.  Adam has been really sick and I felt very blah.

I managed to go out on Sunday to get groceries for next week but that was pretty much my only accomplishment.

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We legit ate Chipotle for three meals in a row.

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I’m pretty sure we are those people at the Chipotle now and we can never go back again.

The following was my only main meal that wasn’t a rice bowl –

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Buffalo chicken pizza,

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and leftover kale salad.

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Kale, garlic dressing, avocado, and roasted coconut – it held up very well in the fridge.

Finally, while I was out I got the Crème Brûlée Lindt Bar.

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We were fans.  I’m looking forward to packing the other half in my work lunches.

That’s all she wrote!

When It Snows It Blizzards*

When it comes to the big, important stuff – having jobs, our health, and a great marriage – Adam and I know that we are unbelievably lucky.  That said, man oh man, this week was annoying.  The snow has been relentless, I wore my favorite sweater to work only to get to the cafeteria and douse myself head to toe in balsamic vinegar, Adam had to have both of his big toe nails emergently removed, and my car has a flat tire.  When it rains it pours*.  I’m pretty sure I have never been so glad for a weekend!

There was a lot of stress snacking going down this week that I didn’t do the best job of photographing, but I am going to recap the most delicious things…

breakfast

Iced coffee on the train and plain yogurt with peanut butter at my desk.

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I had a ridiculously amazing coffee combo this week…  Cold-brew with chocolate milk and toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!

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So insanely good.

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Are you admiring my nails?  Scroll to the last section of this post.

snack

GH Cretors elevated our snacking game by sending me a big box of the two flavors from their new organic line – Simply Salted and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

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Note – the popcorn was sent to me free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Pre-popped popcorn can never really compare to freshly popped, but these are definitely the best bagged varieties we’ve ever tried.  They are nice and crisp.  Adam – who likes to pretend that he doesn’t like popcorn – was crazy for them, so that’s saying something.  We preferred the Simply Salted because the EVOO was good, but not quite as flavorful.  Both are organic and kosher and have 40 calories per cup.

I surprised my sore husband with a giant, sweet latte.

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I got myself a rocky road latte as well.  Meh.

We tried the hazelnut torte bar from Lindt’s new “Creation” line.

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Now I want the crème brûlée flavor!

I’m still loving the Ice Chips.

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Lemon was a very nice way to transition back from lunch to work this week.

lunch

Fage with raspberry and butterscotch peanut butter.

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The citrus fruits shown in my lunches this week are fresh Mandarins from Trader Joe’s that were wonderful.  Very sweet and juicy with almost no seeds.

Baked yucca fries from the cafeteria.  I had about double what’s shown because I started eating before I sat down.

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They were paired with the salad that ruined my outfit.

TJ’s egg white salad and popcorn.

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The egg salad was practically inedible; whyyyy was there so much turmeric??

Popcorn, Applegate Farm sliced turkey, mini Jarlsberg, and olives.

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The tasting plates were fun, but I was missing my yogurt bowls.

dinner

If you judge a dish by how good it tastes cold and leftover, straight from the casserole dish – I definitely do! – then my pizza mac and cheese was a real winner.

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Adam heated his serving up, but he also recommends that you try the recipe.

Chipotle night.  I ate a giant rice bowl with chicken, veggies, and pretty much all of the toppings.

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Our neighborhood is pretty much a food wasteland, but I think Chipotle would be Adam’s first pick even if we lived somewhere with more going on!

This was our best dinner of the week:

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Roasted broccoli and kalettes (aka kale-Brussels sprout hybrids).

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Southern pickle “fried” chicken.  <– I am so proud of this one; check the recipe sidebar!

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I served mine on a toasted, open-faced sandwich with a bit of mayo.

Last night we had fabulous kale salads.

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I massaged a bunch of kale with Sepo sauce in the morning and then tossed it with roasted broccoli, cubed avocado, and roasted coconut chips when it was time for dinner.

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We were supposed to have chicken on top of our salads but I accidentally left the remaining tenders sitting out on the counter overnight so instead I had a grilled cheese sandwich while I wrote this post.

fancy nails

So my jazzy nail polish?  Actually nail wraps from Jamberry.

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One of the girls I used to cocktail waitress with is a Jamberry consultant (her sales page is what I linked above) and she sent me a sample kit so I could try them out.  I am pretty amazed by how easy they are to put on; really not tricky or time-consuming at all, maybe almost as easy as slopping painting on polish.  Plus they are very cute!  I will definitely buy some to try again.

P.S. Thanks to Way Back Machine, I was able to find my old employee profile (click to enlarge) –

employee profile

Omg!

Home Again, Home Again

I am feeling much better now, though the week did feel very long to me.  Here’s to hoping the weekend feels long too!  I have not been to the grocery store since a week before I left for St. Thomas, but somehow we made it through.

breakfast

Adam sweetly helped ease me back in to normal, non-vacation life by driving me in to work on Tuesday.  We made a doughnut date of it!

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Pecan praline beignet for me.  Doughnut Plant is great so it’s super fun that there’s a location right near my hospital now.

An apple and a hot chocolate.

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Less exciting than doughnuts, but still good.

Iced coffee with chocolate milk and a bar.

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I loved the Oatmega bar in theory, but unfortunately it was insanely fishy.  I just couldn’t do it.  I ended up going down to the salad bar for a snack in the late morning.

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Cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds packed a protein punch (8 grams of protein if you assume 2 Tbsp of each) to make up for the bar I threw away.

lunch

Salad bar and french fries.

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Baby spinach topped with cucumber, olives, broccoli, a marinated veggie mix, and balsamic dressing.  The blob in the left corner is fried plantains.

Salad bar and blurry Chipotle leftovers.

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Baby spinach with ranch and a bit of extra cheese, topped with my dinner leftovers.

Oatmeal day.  Quaker cherry pistachio oatmeal topped with coconut butter with a cinnamon applesauce on the side.

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This was the day I had my salad breakfast snack so I did manage to hit up the salad bar three days in a row, a feat that feels extra impressive when you remember that my stomach was still a bit iffy.

dinner

Chipotle night.  We legit eat Chipotle at least once a week, it’s a problem.

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Brown rice with sautéed veggies, pinto beans, chicken, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and all of the salsas.  The three salsa combo was key to helping me enjoy the brown rice (I really prefer white rice but brown is a whole grain so it has more protein and fiber).

We did a pre-dinner dessert date at Ample Hills.

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I didn’t love the red velvet, but their caramel and honey flavors are all deep burnt sugar good.

Adam was on call on Wednesday and I definitely made myself a big bowl of chia pudding for dinner.  Thank goodness for those lunch salads, eh?

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Gina’s recipe base – 3 Tbsp of chia seeds in 1 cup of Hint of Honey almond milk with a splash of vanilla and honey whisked in.  I topped my bowl with Girl & The Fig salted fig caramel and it was flipping amazing.

Last night’s dinner came straight from the freezer.  Salmon patties from Whole Foods plus asparagus and a mushroom medley from Trader Joe’s.

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The patties were unpleasantly dry so I made a dipping sauce of mayo, garlic aioli, pickle relish, and smoked paprika.

I drank a Genny Cream Ale while I cooked.

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And ate a zoo of gummies for dessert while we watched the “Parks and Rec” finale.

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Omg.  The P&R finale basically killed me – I loooved it.  Every single detail was perfect, down the very last second of the ending being a sweet moment from Ben.  LOVE.

Do you watch “Parks and Recreation?”  What’d you think of the finale?

Weekly Wrap-Up? Yes Please!

happenings

As promised, here is a picture of my gaudy new cell phone –

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I’m liking it more now that I’ve gotten used to the new system.

This week I gave an hour-long nutrition presentation at a women’s shelter near the hospital.  We talked primarily about added sugars, reading nutrition labels, and the plate method.

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I opened with an activity where we compared the sugar content of different beverages.

I started reading Amy Poehler’s memoir, Yes Please.  I am halfway through and completely smitten.

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It is just as hilarious and inspiring as you’d expect it to be.  And her relationship with Seth Meyers – he guest writes a chapter – makes me love both of them more if that’s even possible.

breakfast

Coffee and a chocolate coconut water.

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Latte and an Opal apple.

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Stumptown cold-brew box with turkey jerky and dates.

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Coffee (duh!) and yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows that the hospital administration had for employee appreciation day.

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They also had a bunch of cookies out, but it was 9 o’clock in the morning and one of the midwives brought in bagels for the clinic so I went with one of those instead.

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I definitely made the right choice, my pumpernickel bagel was splendidly chewy.  Also – I poured my marshmallow cocoa into my coffee after it had cooled down and it was ridiculous.

lunch

From home – yogurt bowl.

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Blueberries, Heritage Flakes, and a Dannon butterscotch Greek yogurt.

From the cafeteria – a turkey sandwich and baked fries.

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My sandwich had turkey, provolone, mayo, mustard, lettuce and red peppers and my fries had a side of blue cheese.

From home – another yogurt bowl.

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An Opal apple and plain Fage with amazing 18 Rabbits Caramel Apple Granola.

From the cafeteria – a giant chicken quesadilla.

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With cheese, chopped bell peppers, and sour cream and guacamole on the side.  I planned on only eating half because it was quite big, but it was so good I ended up demolishing the whole thing.

Dinner leftovers (see the scrambled egg night) on top of spinach with ranch, chopped carrot, and cucumber from the cafeteria.

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The salad bar packed lunch mash-up was perfect, I’ll have to remember to repeat it the next time I’m getting tired of my yogurt bowls.

snack

Adorable gummies from last weekend.

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Baby carrots and dip.

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I made an oatmeal chocolate chip mug cookie.  It was quite enjoyable but basically raw so not a recipe for sharing.

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Jarlsberg mini cheese.

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Chocolate milk.

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Coffee with almond milk.

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Sundaes that Adam and I made with this dream team:

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Girl & The Fig’s salted fig caramel is perfect.

dinner

Bibimbap bowls.  I couldn’t get a great picture, but these were sooo good.  Runny egg yolk goes wonderfully with spice.

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Jasmine rice with rice vinegar // baked tofu cubes // broccoli and baby kale sautéed with canola oil, a bit of sugar, and tons of Sriracha // chopped sesame seaweed // and a sunny side up egg.

We used the leftovers the next day for another Asian-ish dinner.

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Leftover rice and veggies stir-fried with sautéed onion, eggs, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.

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Plus “beef and broccoli” aka chicken with broccoli and cauliflower.

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I way overcooked the chicken and this was not very good.

I guess the next day was pretty similar as well.  I sautéed chopped seitan, corn, and spinach in evoo and Sriracha and then scrambled in eggs and part-skim mozzarella.

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It tasted so much better than it looked.

Chipotle in front of the tv on Friday.  We were supposed to go into Brooklyn but it was terrifically cold outside and changing into pajamas just sounded too good.

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Chicken rice bowl with sautéed veggies, three types of salsa, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce.  Plus chips.  There’s a giant diet coke just to the right of that photo

Have you read any actor memoirs that you loved?  I was a HUGE fan of Mindy Kaling’s too and I’m excited for Tina Fey’s next.

Weekend Wrap-Up

random facts

  1. I finished reading my latest book on Friday – Fairyland, a memoir about growing up with an openly gay father in San Francisco in the 80’s.  (Not much of a)spoiler alert – he dies of AIDS related complications.  I was wracked with sobs for the last quarter of the book.  Steve Abbot was a published author who kept detailed journals his entire adulthood and wrote copious letters to Alysia while she was in college, so she had a lot of source material to pull from which was nice; it was practically a biography within a memoir.
  2. A big chunk of Saturday is missing because we went on a fun foodie tour and I am devoting a whole post to it.  (coming tomorrow)
  3. We upgraded our phones on Sunday.  My new Galaxy is giant and tacky, obnoxiously gold.

breakfast

Adam and I tried the new raspberry white chocolate coffee from Dunkin’.

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Our opinions ranged from good to meh.  I still want to try the Starbucks version.

Cereal bowl.

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Cocoa Pebbles and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.  Pebbles have absolutely no flavor and were deeply disappointing.

Oatmeal bowl.

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Rolled oats – cooked in the microwave – with 1 heaping Tbsp each chopped pecans, raisins, chocolate chips, and brown sugar.  Plus milk on top.

Coffee from 7-11 with wasabi almonds.

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Yes, that was a terrible combination.

lunch

Chipotle!

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White rice / chicken / black beans / sautéed veggies / fresh salsa / tomatillo salsa / sour cream / cheese.  I would normally get lettuce but I split this bowl with Adam and he didn’t want it.  I’ve stopped putting the corn salsa on my bowls in general because even though it’s tasty it isn’t really necessary to pile another carb on top of a rice bowl.

Adam went to a post-ABSITE surgical exam party and brought home leftover mini pizzas.

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Paired with green juice.

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NYC Jamba Juices recently introduced a new line of 12 oz Cold-Pressed Juice bottles and they sent me a $10 gift card so I could try them out.

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I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

The juices contain no preservatives and three servings of fruit and/or vegetables and each full bottle has between 140 to 190 calories.

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Citrus Kick was way too spicy for me – Adam liked it but I just can’t do ginger – but I found Tropical Greens to be nicely balanced, neither two sweet nor too grassy.  (There are four flavors in total; the two I didn’t try were Orange Reviver and Veggie Harvest).

dinner

We had another stupendous meal at Russ & Daughters.

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The Breakfast Martini = Beefeater gin, jam, lemon juice, egg white, Pernod Absinthe, Angostura Bitters.

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I adore cocktails with egg white.  <– I was about to type that they will be hard for me to give up if I get pregnant!  I guess the alcohol may also be an issue.

I ordered the Eggs Benny, which came with Scottish smoked salmon and sautéed spinach on challah.

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No surprise, the eggs were perfectly poached and the hollandaise was loaded with flavor.  <– more reasons I’m not chomping at the bit for a baby

Sunday night we made a nice, but less exciting dinner at home.

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We were helped out by a jar of Sepo Sauce, a creamy garlic and horseradish spread that’s meant to be used as a dressing, dip, and/or sandwich spread.

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Sepfonifiq sent me a jar of sauce free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

The sauce has 150 calories and 2.5 grams saturated fat per 2-Tbsp serving, so it’s not any healthier than most typical dressings, but it packs a lot of flavor so you would rarely need to use any more than a serving.

We decided to go the bread and lettuce route.

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A sandwich of part-skim mozzarella cheese, thick-cut uncured turkey ham steak, and whole-wheat cinnamon swirl bread spread with Sepo Sauce and oven-toasted.

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A salad of baby kale tossed in Sepo Sauce and topped with roasted broccoli and sweet and spicy pecans.

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Plus we split a sumo mandarin on the side.

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Sadly, we hated the thick cut turkey, which kind of ruined the sandwiches.  We both got rid of the meat halfway through and ended up eating big desserts instead.  But we loooved the Sepo as a dressing and were both blown away by the salad.  I will definitely look forward to making that again.

Please cross your fingers that it’s not actually snowing in NYC right now?

Last Week’s Top Five

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{1} Coffee, always.

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The Hint of Honey Almond Breeze is coffee’s perfect companion.  (note – I prefer the original to vanilla)

{2} Dates with turkey bacon.

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I agree, everything on that napkin looks like a cockroach (dates one major downfall!), but the combination was delicious.

{3} Good lunches from the cafeteria.

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A winning tuna salad sandwich and a giant burrito with chicken, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and tons of broccoli that they sweetly let me add from the salad bar.

{4} Berry yogurt bowl.

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Fresh blues / Stonyfield Strawberry Oh My Yog! / Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.  I did not enjoy the sour, whole milk taste of the yogurt, but several coworkers tasted the cereal after I raved about it and wrote down the specs so they could buy some too!

{5} A meze plate.

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All from Trader Joe’s – dates / green and orange bell peppers / baby carrots / dolmas / olives / kalamata olive hummus.

Weekend Wrap-Up; My Camera Went MIA

Moving to Long Island has done something to my brain!  <– real talk, please let’s just pretend that this problem is a LI thing and not the fact that I turn 30 this year

Prior to 2013, I had lost/seriously misplaced one item in my entire life: a pair of flip-flops at a party in high school.  Also I had to have my dorm keys replaced in college after Adam kicked them into a lake, but those weren’t technically missing, they just weren’t accessible.  But lately?  I’m an absentminded disaster.  Last year, on my very first day at the hospital, I lost a brand-new scarf.  This December, I lost a brand-newish i-pod somewhere between my apartment and the gym.  And this weekend I misplaced my camera.  Not lost, thankfully, because it turned out that I had just left it in the husband’s car, but since he then drove that car to 30 hour shift this is my long-winded way of telling you that I don’t have a ton of pictures from this weekend.  I am missing a lot, especially since I didn’t deem things like the four slices of cinnamon toast I ate for dinner on Saturday instagram-worthy.

How often do you lose track of your stuff?  Someone tell me they left their baby on the bus so I’ll feel better!

breakfasts and lunches

Coffee!  This was a freebie so I went a bit crazy – a large iced latte with extra espresso.

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Those Starbucks workers get very snarky once you start asking for that much espresso.

Yet another good reason to have coffee at home instead.

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Starbucks iced (but from home!) with Hint of Honey Almond Breeze and fat-free half and half.

Fruit and yogurt bowls ruled my work lunches.  Grape Chobani with pomegranate and a Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar on the side.

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Stonyfield Chia and Red Berry Greek Yogurt with fresh strawberries and the last of the TJ’s Pumpkin O’s.

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Several coworkers commented on this lunch; I guess they aren’t used to chia?!

The best was clearly brunch at Rabbit Hole with a girl friend.  I got the Eggs Norwegian, aka a Benedict but with lox instead of bacon and served on a biscuit.

brunch at rabbit hole in williamsburg

Sooo good.  But the drink in the background was even better – Champagne, St. Germaine, and grapefruit.  We both got one and thought that they were just great.

snacks

We tried some fun drinks while we were in Chinatown.

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Yeeech!  The sugar cane was terrible.  But we only spent $1 so it was worth a shot.

Adam bought Gushers!!

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They weren’t as good as I remembered, but it was still a fun throwback.

Coffee is always good.

blue bottle

The Blue Bottle in Williamsburg made me my New Orleans with skim milk.  Frankly, I would have accepted almost anything at that point though – first my friend and I stopped at one coffee shop that was out of ice and another that poured me a giant glass of whole milk with a smidge of coffee in it.

dinner

I made us great pasta bowls one night.  Box mac and cheese gussied up with canned smoked trout, chopped spinach, sautéed bell peppers and garlic, and tons of caramelized onions.

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I doused my bowl in green Tabasco.

Adam and I finally got to try Pies and Thighs for dinner.

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I got the Chicken Biscuit.

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Fried cutlet with honey butter and hot sauce on a biscuit.

Plus a really amazing salad.

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Collard greens with avocado, pickled red onions, and smoked coconut.  Adam and I could not get over how delicious it was; I really want to remake it at home.

With banana cream pie on Nilla Wafer crust for dessert.

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Yum.   

Weekend Wrap-Up; Good Eats

So much good food this weekend! I’m only sharing my top five since I didn’t do a great job of photo-taking…

{1} On Sunday, we had an amazing brunch at Russ and Daughters.

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My parents are obsessed with the store, and Adam and I checked out their newish cafe this weekend and fell in love.

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Best Bloody Mary of my life!

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Made with caraway-infused vodka. It had a sludge of caraway and horseradish on the bottom and I know that sounds terrible to some of you but it was wonderful.

We got pickled veggies to start.

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They were great, especially those whitish sticks, which turned out to be fennel.

Adam got a bowl of tasty whitefish chowder (with toasted matzah!).

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And the Pastrami Russ – pastrami-cured salmon, muenster cheese, sauerkraut, mustard, and pickle on a pretzel roll.

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We adored it, but my Super Heebster Bagel Toast stole the show.

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Whitefish and baked salmon salad, wasabi-infused fish roe, and horseradish dill cream cheese on a thinly sliced bagel. We were swooning… especially once we ordered a second round of drinks!

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Best brunch of the year.

{2} I normally try not to drink coffee after 3 pm, but on Friday I caffeinated on the train and actually managed to cook a real dinner.

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A pumpkin and sausage dish from Rachel Ray.

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Instead of pasta I served ours on top of rice cooked in chicken broth, which was delicious.

With asparagus baked with pecans and blue cheese.

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Adam was swooning.

{3} I am pretty proud of Saturday night too (particularly because I might have eaten Chipotle take-out for not one but two of my other meals this weekend!).

I had defrosted some nice shrimp for a recipe I changed my mind about, when I decided to combine a few recipes for Bang Bang shrimp.

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The shrimp were tossed in cornstarch and salt and pepper and cooked in canola oil, then served on top of whole wheat mac and cheese, and under a sauce of mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar.

{4} We made the most of our trip to the city with stops for coffee and cupcakes.

Adam’s favorite coffee is Cafe Grumpy.

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I ordered him a flat white and he pretty much lost his mind over it.

We both think Sugar Sweet Sunshine has the best cupcakes in the city.

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Mocha and Oreo, yum

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{5} The best moment of the weekend was getting Adam to try Snowdays Shavery… and having him admit that it’s amazing.

Their shaved ice is like no other. It’s shaved instead of crushed and rather having the flavor poured on top the big blocks are already flavored so every bite is fluffy and infused with goodness.

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We got toasted sesame with sweetened condensed milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles. Fellow NYCers, now that it’s warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees this weekend, go get yourself some shaved ice!

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