Tag Archives: coconut

Merry Munching – Christmas Week Top Ten

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I hope all of my readers who celebrate had a very merry Christmas yesterday!  Adam, Webster, and I had a great day full of cuddles, present opening, cheese eating, and “Frosty” watching!

The best present of all?  Yesterday was start of a four-day weekend for me, I’ve got Friday though Monday off.  The weekend’s fun includes our 8-year wedding anniversary, so I doubt I’ll make time for any blogging.  See you next weekend!

Here are the top ten from last week…

{1} Brunch with friends

They introduced me to j’eatjet in Park Slope.  I had an Aperol Sidecar and a yummy breakfast veggie burger with swiss and a fried egg.

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Then I spent time slowly perusing the giant Whole Foods.

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With a Vietnamese iced latte at my side.

{2} Holiday themed breakfasts

These made for very pleasant mornings.  All with ice coffee with full-octane eggnog!

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That Nutrament was seriously the best eggnog item of the season.

{3} Strawberry chocolate mint smoothies

We love this combo every winter.

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Chocolate peppermint soy milk + plain Greek yogurt + frozen strawberries.

{4} Roasted veggie sandwiches for lunch

One of my nutrition co-workers is retiring next week so we took her out to lunch at an Italian place near the hospital.  I got a roasted veggie and mozzarella panini.

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And another day there were roasted veggies at the sandwich bar.

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I got them on a (giant!) wrap with tuna and cheese.

{5} Christmas morning sugar rush

I don’t have any pictures because we tore into the bags too quickly but my mom bought me two different cola-flavored gummies from German Haribo.

{6} Thai food in the city

I wish I’d paid more attention to the name of this spot (near Union Square Park) because the food was great.  I had a Malaysian iced coffee.

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And the Night Market Noodles – a combo of egg noodles and broad rice noodles with chili paste, bean sprouts, and a boiled egg.

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These were super spicy, aka perfect, I was crying with each bite.

{7} Halo Halo at Bago

I’m obsessed with Halo Halo so as soon as my cousin sent me this NYTimes link I added Bago to my to-do list.

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Their version is a tapioca shake with taro ice cream on top and red bean, palm seeds, and young coconut on the bottom.  It was fantastic!

{8} Kale, and eggs

We made wonderful sautéed kale with garlic, golden raisins, and blue cheese.

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Alongside eggs that were just horrible.  It turns out that ground turkey and pizza sauce do not belong in scrambled eggs.

{9} Christmas nachos

Apparently I’ve decided that nachos are holiday food.  This version was red and green at least.

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Chips with mozzarella, ground turkey, broccoli, and red bell pepper.

{10} Eggnog treats  <– I saved the best for last

Like the coquita cupcake from Brooklyn Cupcake.

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Coconut cake soaked in a creamy coconut milk egg nog with a hint of rum flavor and topped with a mascarpone whipped cream.

And the eggnog ice cream from Ample Hills is their best flavor yet.

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Creamy, eggnog, rummy goodness.

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas!

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December 1st hits and right on schedule my head fills with thoughts of sugar plums!  Or rather thoughts of eggnog and hot chocolate, I’ve never actually tasted a sugar plum.

It’s not as big as my pumpkin bounty, but I was still pretty excited to pull out my holiday goods stash.

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I’ve marked all of the eats in this post that qualify as holiday foods with a ** for classification purposes, also because it feels me with glee.  I’m missing a lot of photos (I ate a ton this week) but here are the highlights…

breakfast

This week’s coffee – Breakfast Blend with TJ’s low-fat eggnog**.

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Plus I had an “original” eggnog iced latte**.

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This week’s tea – Gingerbread**.

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With a caramel apple biscotti (former freebie).

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Or a gingerbread biscotti** (meta!) and a juicy pear.

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Or a slice of carrot cake my coworker brought in.

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It was a good week for workplace treats, another coworker brought me Filipino-style ambrosia from her Thanksgiving.

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It was out of control good; I made myself ill scarfing down that container.  Less sugar than the American version and loaded with palm seeds and fresh coconut.

snacks

Maple leaf iced latte from Sweet Leaf.

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Yummy, but nothing can top the Voodoo Child (their take on Vietnamese iced coffee).  We also had a really yummy Spanish iced latte at a café in Park Slope later in the week.

Holiday doughnuts** from Doughnut Plant.

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Chestnut and a marzipan star.

Holiday milkshakes** from Shake Shack.

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We tried gingerbread and chocolate peppermint.  They weren’t all that good but the penguins on the cup make my day.

Mini cupcakes from Sweet Haus Cupcake Café.

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We shared red velvet, salted caramel, and cookie dough.  Cookie dough = a literal scoop of cookie dough!

Hot cocoa Hubba Bubba** as an after lunches palate cleanser.

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I don’t know how they managed to make the gum so chocolatey!

Mug cookies for the win.

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Number 2 Pencil’s winner recipe with salted brown butter dark chocolate.

lunch

Brunch with Adam on Sunday.  We went to Greenpoint for Five Leaves.  I got a so-so Bloody Mary.

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And we shared an amazing braised duck pot pie.

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And an egg sandwich.

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The pot pie was succulent duck, root vegetables, and parsnip veloute, in an herbed crust with wilted brussels sprouts leaves.

Cafeteria food is listed from least to most enjoyable –

One day there was nothing that looked appetizing so I ate a spicy tuna salad package from the snack stash in my desk.  Plus cafeteria baked fries.

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Another day I ate Asian tofu and steamed squash and wished I’d stuck with my desk snacks.

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This tossed salad – with lettuce, ranch, pickles, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and pinto beans – was pretty good.

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And this taco salad was a winner.

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From the salad bar and the taco bar I assembled lettuce, veggies, cheddar, sour cream, salsa, and black bean and corn salsa.

dinner

Pizza-pizza.

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Turkey pepperoni and mozzarella balls on top of marinara sauce and a TJ’s frozen crust.

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With salads on the side.

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Arugula / roasted broccoli / balsamic, honey, evoo, and lavender salt / sweet and spicy pecans.

Pasta with veggies and sauce.  We topped whole-wheat penne with Bertolli mushroom and truffle sauce mixed with browned mushrooms, chopped spinach, and TJ’s vegan chorizo.

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With huge hunks of ciabatta slathered with Smart Balance.

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This meal was good several nights in a row.

Veggie miso ramen from Chuko.  With scallions, bamboo shoots, butternut squash, shredded chicken, soft boiled egg, and their fantastic sesame greens.

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I had a sore throat all week and this – plus a big scoop of honey ice cream at Ample Hills – was just what the doctor ordered.

I hope you’re enjoying your weekend!

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BEC, FTW

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Big life change alert – I have a new job.  As of Monday this week I officially transferred over to the inpatient nutrition team full-team.  I am very sad to no longer be working with prenatal clients on an outpatient basis but the job opened up I knew that it was time for me to get back to my roots with acute care.  My new job lets me work with and learn from other Dietitians on a daily basis and gives me exposure to a much greater scope of practice.  I’m excited about it.

My new job comes with a nice perk – free meals from the cafeteria, so you are going to see some big changes in my weekly lunches.  And this transition week was unbelievably busy so there were a lot of bites that missed the camera.  You’ll just have to picture a lot of snacking, both candy at my desk and copious taste-testing while preparing dinners.  Plus a lot more coffee, of course.  Here the bites I did capture…

breakfast

Coffee!  With a SweeTango apple.

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Or a Nonni’s caramel apple biscotti and a persimmon.

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Or a Fiber One cheesecake strawberry bar and a persimmon.

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This week’s coffee masterpiece was Grady’s Cold Brew with skim & vanilla almond milks.

lunch

My old team brought in a giant cake on my last day.  So sweet!

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I ate a serious amount of frosting.

Now that I’m “buying” lunch instead of packing my yogurt bowls {tear!} you’re going to see a lot of salads and sandwiches.  Romaine / ranch / cheddar / chickpeas / veggies / cole slaw.

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Romaine / ranch / corn salsa / peppers / maple pumpkin seeds.

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Plus chocolate a new coworker brought me.

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Yesterday I had a simple sandwich.  Toasted wheat bread, mayo, turkey, pepperjack.  Plus a carton of chocolate milk.

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Apparently I’m six.

dinner

In spite of the fact that Adam and I both had crazy weeks, our dinners were all winners.  We let the crockpot help out one night.  Chicken breasts topped with bbq sauce and fresh cranberries and set on low for 8 hours.

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We’ve made this dish three winters in a row now and it is always wonderful.  Served with roasted green beans and TJ’s sprouted California rice.  And a Warlock pumpkin stout.

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We used leftovers in our BECFR, aka Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Fried Rice.

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Rice stir-fried in olive oil with turkey bacon and chunks of cheddar and eggs.  Roasted cruciferous veggies on the side.

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I’ll toot my own horn – cheese in fried rice is freaking genius.  We tried to watch “Fresh Off the Boat” while we ate but I was mmmning so loudly that we kept having to pause.

Finally, a quick salad.

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Baby spinach / feta dressing / cucumber / pumpkin seeds / roasted coconut chips / avocado / turkey bacon / and goat’s milk Brie.

It’s been an exciting work-week but I am feeling ready for the weekend!

This Week’s Top Five; Product Reviews Galore

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I didn’t plan on doing a bulk review, I just happened to use a lot of new product samples this week.  It works out well for those of you who hate product reviews because you can just skip this post and miss a whole set at once.

Disclosure – all of the starred (**) items in this post were provided to me gratis to review.  I was not given further compensation for this post.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Reminder – I only tasted one flavor each of the sauces and teas; I will continue to blog about the other varieties as I try them.

{1} Starbuck’s Chicken Santa Fe Sandwich

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Not a freebie, just a product I’m obsessed with.  I don’t even have them heat it up!  The combo of crispy bell peppers, chewy flatbread, and creamy green-chile spread is so darn tasty.

{2} Pumpkin coconut chia yogurt bowl

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This was the week’s best lunch, though that’s not much of a victory considering the fact that I ate cold pizza at my desk for lunch on two separate occasions.  TJ’s coconut yogurt with pumpkin puree, roasted coconut chips, and chia seeds.

{3} Arbonne Essentials Protein Shake Mixes**

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While I don’t think that protein powders are necessary for most people – you can meet your needs with whole foods! – I acknowledge that they can be a good option when you are in a rush or eating on the go.  I am never going to bring eggs on the train but I can certainly pack a smoothie for my commute.  Each packet provides 20 grams of vegan protein and 2 grams of fiber for 160 calories and 3.5 grams of unsaturated fat.  <– mixed in a glass of cow’s milk that would provide more than 50% of my protein needs for the day.

Making protein smoothies is exactly what I did this week.  Vanilla protein powder with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and ice.

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The next day was the same, but with chocolate.  And with a chocolate cranberry biscotti on the side.

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These certainly did fill me up, I didn’t even have room for coffee one day.  I thought the flavor was passable but not fantastic, but it is worth noting that these powders are sweetened with cane sugar and stevia and I generally can’t stand the taste of stevia.  I haven’t tried the daily fiber mix yet but I will report back when I do.

{4} Adagio Teas**

Adagio is a company that sells loose-leaf teas sourced directly from Artisan farmers.  Their product selection is divided up very helpfully, the website lists teas by type (white, black, oolong, etc, including a variety of tea blends) and they have several sampler variety packages as well as the option to purchase a small sample of each type of tea (and they list the cost per cup for each option).  Also cool?  There is a section of the site where consumers can design and list their own blends and there is an immense selection of fandom blends.  I basically had a heart attack over all the Supernatural and Buffy options but I decided to stick with the simpler stuff for now.

Adagio offered me a gift certificate and I was able picked a variety of teas.  I also ordered some paper filters to brew them in.  <– I’m sold, the filters were easy to pack and worked perfectly.

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I don’t usually drink a ton of tea (duh, I’m a coffee fanatic!) but I’m hoping including a cup or two in the afternoon at work will help me to get closer to actually drinking enough water each day.  This week I packed my paper filters with Earl Grey Moonlight.

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Since the tea is loose you can see the citrus rind and blue cornflowers in with the black tea leaves which I thought was fun.  It was no coffee, but this was the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had.  My sample pouch will make 10 very reasonably priced 20 cent cups.  I’m looking forward to teatime next week.

{5} Bertolli Riserva pasta sauces**

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The newest line from Bertolli is made with artisanal ingredients and no artificial colors.  The 24 oz bottles retail for ~$5.99 which is comparable to other similar (but less delicious) options.  Flavors include Marinara with Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar with Caramelized Onions, Asiago Cheese with Artichokes,  and Porcini Mushroom with White Truffle Oil.

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They all sound pretty wonderful to me but I decided to go simple and try Marinara first.  Each half cup serving has 110 calories.  Unfortunately each serving also has 450 mg of sodium (more than 20% of the no more than 2 grams of sodium most people should limit themselves to each day), but the sauce is so rich and yummy that a little goes a long way – we used the marinara in 5 dinner servings this week and still have a good third of the bottle left.

We let the sauce shine on a plain – but fantastic! – pizza first.  TJ’s frozen crust topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, and torn fresh basil.

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Then we gussied it up with veggies and meat for pasta bowls.

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Roasted zucchini and tomato + sautéed ground turkey with basil and yellow onion + tossed with marinara / served on whole-wheat rotini / with sharp cheddar on top.

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The final product was full of umami.  These bowls were the best meal of the month!

What was your best meal so far this month?

Left My Heart In Montana

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I’m missing a lot of photos this week but the meals I do have to share were off the charts good.

lunch

Mostly I did lunches from the cafeteria this week, like a tasty broccoli and cheese baked potato whose cell-phone photo was an absolute horror.  Packed lunches featured a great fruit salad – Cara Cara Orange, strawberries, and 3 varieties of pluot.

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With plain yogurt and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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Fresh mint in sparkling water is my jam.  This “mojito” rocked our socks off.

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We’ve kept the dessert every day thing going.  One morning Adam took me to work and we tried the doughnuts at Elsie’s Parlor.  I got the Confettura Di Fichi – filled with fig jam and topped with mascarpone and toasted almonds.

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I loved the idea of this, especially because the fig jam and mascarpone were delicious, but the texture was terrible, way too dense.  If I thought of it was a muffin it was great, but as a doughnut I ate half and we moved on to a tried and true.

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Now that’s a doughnut!  My peaches and crème doughseed had just the right balance of fluff and chew.  Plus it was perfectly tangy and sweet.

Vegan ice cream from Sky Ice.

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Thai iced coffee and Thai young coconut went great together.

Ice cream from Oddfellows.

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S’mores with amazing caramelized white chocolate with toasted almond.

Guava-cheese empanadas.

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Enjoyed with Ruth Reichl’s novel, which I read in a day and a half and enjoyed even more than her memoir.  She is such a good story-teller and her food writing makes your mouth water.

dinner

Leftover Korilla knock-off bowls were still yummy.

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I stir-fried mine with eggs to make up for the missing one on top.

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Also I kind of burnt the life out of it, but this was still good.

It was fitting that I put this dinner on my heart plate because I loved-loved-loved it.

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A tiny roasted pile of every single okra I could find at the stores this weekend.

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Plus I snacked on this for extra veggies.

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Toasted ciabatta sandwich with turkey, turkey bacon, Colby jack, and Smart Balance.

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The cheese was extra-thin sliced and it melted to perfection.

We checked out Bushwick’s Montana’s Trail House and our best meal of the week ended up being the best meal of the year!

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Adorable décor, amazing service, and freshly made food – most of it local – with well-balanced flavors.

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Captain Stormalong – Standard Heartcut White Whiskey, Campari, Demerara & Topped with Downeast Cider.

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Riff Randell – Vodka, Krupnikas Honey Liqueur, Contratto Aperitif, Luxardo Maraschino, Acid Phosphate, Sparkling Wine.  This was the best drink we’ve ever had.  It was like drinking pure honey but in an amazing way.  Similar to a great honey meade I had in SF.

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We started with the charred green beans – which were topped with browned garlic and soft-cooked eggs and served on top of housemade ricotta.  This was the best dish of the year, the lemony ricotta was fantastic with the drippy eggs and charred greens.

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Then we shared the dinosaur kale salad – with feta, roasted carrots, and kale that was grown in the restaurant’s rooftop garden!

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And the fried chicken with honey butter and housemade hot sauce.  Best fried chicken ever; super juicy and every bite had a whiff of honey.

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Dessert – aka the course I saw on Instagram that made me move this restaurant to my “must-eat” list – was banana bread s’mores.  <– squee!

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Also they brought us complimentary shots with our bill because we’d been raving about every bite we took.  Love.  NYC people – get yourself to Bushwick, you won’t regret it!

I’d Have To Say April 25th

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This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates.  Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half.  The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

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Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie.  The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest).  They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

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An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival).  Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

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Doughnut Plant date before work.  The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up.  Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

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Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness).  The oats gave this a great consistency.

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That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target.  I’m obsessed.  I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week.  Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria.  Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

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The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria.  Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll.  I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side.  I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

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Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap.  I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

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Lunch date at La Bagel Delight.  We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

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On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots.  2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

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Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee.  Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together.  Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

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Guava cheese empanada.  I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

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Ice cream date.  We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

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Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted.  And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet?  Those ice cube stickers kill me.

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Maple latte.  With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

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I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again.  And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

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A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift).  I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

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That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

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Best meal of the week.

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We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

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Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

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Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side.  We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good!  Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg.  Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces.  My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

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We cooled down at Snowdays.  Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

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We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge.  It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

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I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side.  We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

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My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

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Plus a great salad.

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Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?

It’s The Weekend And I’m Not Crabby

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That title is a play on words referencing a tasty casserole I made this week, but real talk – I was super cranky this week and I only have a few snippets to share…

breakfast

Coffee and a watermelon Greek yogurt.

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I was hoping that the cafeteria would have fresh watermelon on hand to pair with it but honestly that flavor is pretty delicious on its own.

Iced Americano with skim milk and a splash of half and half.

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I asked for Americano with “light water” which seems to be my perfect order; mostly espresso without being just espresso.

Cherries and a cheese stick.

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Yum!

lunch

Tropical chia pudding.

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Chia seeds soaked in canned coconut milk with honey and vanilla bean paste with a smashed banana stirred in the next day.

Cafeteria sandwich.

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Tuna salad on multigrain with veggies and muenster.

Cafeteria Inception-style salad.

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Greens with oil and balsamic vinegar topped with shredded cheddar and cucumber and carrot salads.

snack

Self-explanatory…

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Most of our snacks revolved around our homemade no-churn vanilla bean ice cream. <— have you commented on the cookbook giveaway post yet??

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Topped with melted dulce de leche and Valencia peanut butter.

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And whirled into ridiculous milk shakes with Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

dinner

Last night we went on a date to the mall to buy Adam sneakers and me bras and underwear because apparently we have a serious case of the olds.  We did keep things young and fresh by getting a fancy dinner at the food court.

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That’s “Drunken Noodles” from the new Thai spot, I guess.  The veggies were tasty (there were amazing pieces of eggplant) but it was a pretty poor representation of the dish.

The rest of our nights centered around this Cheesy Crab Pasta Bake.

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You see the creeper in that photo?  That’s how you know it’s good!

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Cheesy Crab Pasta Bake; serves 6-8

  • 8 oz dry bow-tie pasta
  • 1 Tbsp salted butter
  • 1 heaping Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 4 oz shredded sharp cheddar
  • 4 oz shredded pepperjack
  • 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 4 sliced green onions (green and white parts)
  • (2) 6 oz cans crab meat, drained and picked through if needed
  • 3 oz crab seasoned chips, crushed
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prep an 8×8 inch casserole dish with baking spray.
  2. Cook al dente pasta according to manufacture’s instructions then rinse and set aside.
  3. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk flour into butter to form a roux and cook 1-2 more minutes until it has slightly darkened.  Whisk milk into roux and cook 3-4 more minutes until thickened, stirring out any lumps as needed.  Working in batches, stir cheeses into sauce.
  4. Reduce heat to low and stir Old Bay, fish sauce, lemon, and garlic into sauce.
  5. Remove pan from heat and stir in pasta, green onions, and crab, tossing until mixture is well-combined.  Pour into prepared casserole dish and top evenly with crushed chips.
  6. Bake 23 – 25 minutes.

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Served with spinach salad with champagne vinaigrette, pepitas, and roasted broccoli.

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Have a great weekend!

Williamsburg To Washington Square Park

by

Oh my goodness, what a great weekend!  Adam and I have been making the most of the summer days, and then some.  This weekend we walked around Williamsburg, across the bridge, up to and around Washington Square Park, and back, to the tune of 10+ miles in one afternoon!

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When we weren’t moving this weekend, we were eating.  Here are some of the highlights…

A fancy-schmancy yogurt bowl.  2% Plum Chobani with two varieties of pluot and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

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The cream was part of a homemade ice cream undertaking (look for more details – and a giveaway! – on Wednesday).

Coffee at Sweetleaf, a Rocket Fuel.

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Aka cold brew with milk, maple, and chicory.  Chicory blended iced coffees are definitely going to play a big role in my summer.

Espresso and macarons at Bakeshop by Woops.

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Kids, this place was so freaking cute.  And our cookies were amazing, chocolate and lavender chocolate.

Honey sesame soy milk box.

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Adam and I tried to split this but the minute I handed it over to him he guzzled the rest of it down!

Cherry Cola Tic-Tacs.

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I am incapable of turning down a cherry cola flavored item.  Fun fact – the last two photos were not actually taken in front of the same wall, I just seek out brick whenever I have the option for a photo.

Rice bowls at Korilla.  Korilla is basically an Asian Chipotle, but it is at least fifteen times more fantastic.

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My bowl had sticky rice, the most amazing gochujang marinated chicken, sweet corn and snap peas, cheese, tons of red kimchi, and spicy but sweet Korean BBQ sauce.  Adam’s rice had bacon and kimchi in it and we were both swooning.

We tried the new limited-time offerings at Ample Hills.

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The pride month flavor was yummy but we had to throw out the sandwich.  I think that Ample Hills generally makes the best ice cream on Earth but those soggy cookies were truly inedible.

A cone from Sundaes and Cones.

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Lavender and black sesame were both great; those are flavors that could be kind of overwhelming but they were sweet and light yet still identifiable.

A quick red curry at home.

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Rice noodles on the bottom // sautéed bok choy, white mushrooms and straw mushrooms, sweet onion and green onion, and sweet red pepper // sprouted tofu cubes roasted with lime, sugar, Sriracha, and liquid smoke // and red curry sauce with lime, light coconut milk, fish sauce, and minced garlic and ginger.

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We both typically say that we don’t like red curries but we loved this so we should give the real version another chance.

Sandwich night on my lonesome while Adam was at work.

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I toasted sourdough slices in the oven with Smart Balance Light and pepperjack and sharp cheddar cheese then sandwiched them around canola oil mayo and Applegate Smoked Sliced Turkey.

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With roasted green beans on the side.

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How are green beans – roasted with cooking spray and salt – so flipping buttery?!

Dinner at The Smoke Joint, our new favorite bbq spot.

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They have Mother’s Milk at the bar, which wins them points.  Adam’s strawberry vanilla bourbon limeade wasn’t bad either.

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Their juicy, tender, chopped bbq chicken comes with a side of pickles and spicy cole slaw.

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And their smoky collard greens are meatless, so I got to try real bbq collards for the first time in my life.

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I loved them!

If this upcoming week is half as good as my weekend I’ll be all set 🙂