Goodbye, 2014! Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

I cannot believe that it is almost 2015! Doesn’t it sometimes feel like life is flying by? I hate the idea of waking up late and tired in a new year, so our big plans for NYE consist of cuddling on the couch and trying to get in bed extra early.

Posting my recap a few days ahead of schedule so I can feel like I wrapped up one final thing…

breakfast

Yummy hot chocolate and an apple.

After coffee, obviously. Per usual, I was all about the coffee.

This giant (I had a freebie) was an iced vanilla latte with extra espresso.

I have been weirdly obsessed with vanilla all week and it’s making me kind of crazy; I don’t even like vanilla! You’ll see Greek and frozen vanilla yogurts below, and I’m pretty much going to die if I don’t find pudding this weekend. Hopefully this craving will pass soon.

lunch

Salted caramel Greek yogurt with coconut butter and an apple on the side.

Plus a vegan monster cookie sandwich from Babycakes. <– amaze!

And some jerky while I did my charting.

Tuesday I got lunch from the cafeteria that tasted better than it looked.

A strange Caesar pasta salad (it was chicken and dressing with pasta AND croutons?!) topped with mushrooms and broccoli from the salad bar.

Another day I brought in dinner leftovers.

Apple on the side; I had SweeTango and Kiku this week and both were great.

snacks

Chocolate! Some nice (this Coffee & Cream bar from Theo is gritty good),

and some inedible.

Sorry, Mom, this Christmas gift was too spicy.

Adam is now as obsessed with this fruit mix as I am.

But no one is as obsessed with vanilla as I am currently! Vanilla bean yogurt with some candy cane Oreos crushed in it.

And vanilla frozen yogurt with sprinkles.

This was literally the first time I’ve even ever tasted vanilla froyo. Who orders vanilla?! But today I looooved it.

dinner

A dinner in three parts – (1) Leftover, cold, spicy cashew chicken straight from the container.

(2) A tray of roasted green beans with truffle salt. I have been finding green beans to be particularly buttery tasting lately.

And finally, (3) a chile relleno from Trader Joe’s.

The chile looks a little rough but it was so yummy; cheesy without being too heavy.

We went with the TJ’s freezer section the next night as well.

Pad See Ew and orange chicken with broccoli.

We wouldn’t get the chicken again, but years ago we had the vegan version of it and loved it.

Tonight we were supposed to eat lentils with broccoli and coconut rice.

That bowl is in the garbage. Apparently I have forgotten how to cook lentils that don’t taste like dirt. It looks like I’ll be ending the year with take-out instead.

Happy New Year’s Eve!!

27Dec2014

Season’s Eatings; Christmas Wrap-Up

by Emily

Merriment and good cheer all around! I hope my readers who celebrate had a merry Christmas. Adam, Webster, and I cuddled around the fireplace (Netflix had a fireplace video complete with crackles!) and had a grand time.

It’s been a busy week of eating, so instead of the typical wrap-up I’m just going to share some of the amazing seasonal goodies I enjoyed…

Lump of Coal dark holiday stout. So good, we were impressed.

Yes, you see crackers in the background. We made a cheese plate for Christmas dinner and it was just wonderful.

Stumptown Winter Cheer Cold Brew split with the husband on Christmas morning. Also so good, festive but not too spicy.

A big batch of cold brew which I mixed with low-fat eggnog for ahh-mazing breakfast coffees all week.

Paired with holiday bars.

Mint sparkling water from Whole Foods that rocked my face off. Not as good as the strawberry variety, but a close second, especially when paired with a candy cane that my coworker delivered.

Gingerbread Greek yogurt for lunch. I enjoyed this even more than I was expecting to because it was sooo thick.

Awesome pasta. Leftover snow-shape pasta tossed with turkey bacon, sautéed mushrooms, onion, and kale, and hunks of creamy blue cheese Cambozola.

Egg ‘n’ Grog pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Basically creamy, sweet rum in a gingersnap crust. Heavenly.

Growing up, for as long as I can remember, my family would open stockings and then eat scrambled eggs with red and green peppers before opening Christmas presents, so you know what we ate for brunch on Thursday.

Bonus – two off-theme snacks that were too good not to share. The juice bar at Whole Foods is great, unsurprisingly, but the make-your-own option was surprisingly cheap. I recommend this combo.

This Crispy, Crunchy, Mixed Fruit – coconut, pineapple, mango, and jackfruit – is fan-freaking-tastic! I seriously could not stop eating it. Crunch City.

Does your family have a Christmas food tradition?

25Nov2014

The Slanted Woods {San Francisco}

by Emily

Wednesday morning we stopped at Peet’s for an eggnog iced coffee to go with my Ferry Building farmer’s market pear.

Then we made our way over the bridge through the pouring rain,

and up to Muir Woods for a stunningly beautiful hike.

We bought trusty $4 ponchos to get us through the 4+ miles in the downpour, but I wasn’t able to take many pictures.

Mostly we just got shots of Adam and me being goofballs.

We got completely soaked but still had a wonderful time.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to dry off before our late lunch at Coqueta, a Spanish tapas place that knocked our socks off.

My cocktail – cream sherry, Luxardo amaretto, sherry vinegar, Manchego, and golden raisins – was one of the best I’ve ever had.

We split a variety of small plates, all of which we enjoyed greatly.

Huevos Nacional – deviled eggs filled with spring pea, smoked pimenton alioli, on pickled saffron potatoes and olive oil poached bonito.

Housemade potato chips with shaved Manchego and vermouth vinegar salsa. A play on bagels and lox of smoked salmon, queso fresco, and truffle honey.

Wild and cultivated mushrooms with garlic, chili, and sherry.

And Catalan-style vineyard greens with a caper-raisin puree, raisins, pine nuts, and garlic. <– my favorite dish of the day

For dessert we did caramel popcorn with Manchego cheesecakes that were amazing caramel lollipops with a liquid cheese filling.

And churros with drinking chocolate and a mixed berry powder for dipping.

Every last bite of this meal was inventive, fresh, and freaking delicious.

After more walking,

a stop at Humphry Slocombe for fluffernutter ice cream with butterscotch sauce, (<– Adam got ice cream almost every day)

and a New Orleans style coffee from Blue Bottle,

we were ready to drink our dinner at 21st Amendment Brewery.

21st Amendment brews Hell or High Watermelon, one of my top favorite beers, so we were excited to taste our way through their menu.

We shared Hell or High Watermelon, Vina, Framboise Forte D’or, Belgian Chocolate Stout, and a yummy honey meade from a guest brewery.

Also, a giant plate of fried cheese curds.

Ridiculous! And we were completely sober by the time we finished the 4 mile trek back to the hotel.

Thursday morning I fueled up with a praline chestnut latte and a local apple.

Plus a great rose macaron that we picked up along the way.

But the super steep hills still totally kicked my butt.

We were supposed to spend the morning in Golden Gate Park but unfortunately the crazy rain scared us away. We ended up eating our way through Japantown.

And actually even getting some Whole Foods hot bar while we hid and tried to keep dry.

Thankfully our afternoon plans were an indoor tour/tasting at Anchor Brewery.

We had a great time and definitely recommend it.

The rain cleared up in the afternoon while we spent some time in Chinatown.

And Boba Guys served us the best bubble teas of the year.

My almond milk coffee with boba and housemade almond jelly was delicious.

Then we were back to the Market Building where we couldn’t resist a final Vietnamese iced coffee from Out the Door.

An ironic choice considering our dinner reservations.

The Slanted Door has been on my list for years and it did not disappoint.

Piña colada – El Dorado 3 year white rum, house coconut cream, fresh pressed pineapple juice, pineapple gum, and lime.

Adam got a truly fabulous steak and I did three veggie options for my meal. Fried kabocha squash – palm sugar & lime caramel sauce, thai basil.

A green papaya salad – pickled carrot, rau ram, crispy shallot, roasted peanut – that was my favorite dish of the day.

And the Catalan Farm spicy broccoli – braised tofu, lion’s mane mushroom. The spongy mushrooms were so cool!

We did another round of churros for dessert.

As well as a brown butter cake trifle with huckleberries, lemon curd, and hibiscus meringue.

The meringues were as tasty as they were gorgeous. A great way to end our fourth day!

20Oct2014

Apple Picking; Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

This weekend I got to cross something major off of my fall bucket list – apple picking!

I drove upstate to Lawrence Farms with some girlfriends and we came home with pounds and pounds of tasty apples.

I also snagged Adam and I two pumpkins for carving next weekend.

Check out my gorgeous haul (this is only a portion of it, the rest went into the fridge) –

So far, my favorite variety is the Candy Crisp.

Yum! We had a ton of fun and I definitely want to repeat this activity next fall.

I don’t have much to share for this post, just three things. I’m a bit under the weather and I spent almost all of Sunday tucked in bed.

Breakfast on the go.

A smoothie – water and meat from a Thai young coconut with canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, frozen banana, and maple syrup – and a Clif Maple Nut bar that I shared with the husband. The bar was much better than the smoothie, which did not emulsify at all.

Getting in my green before a dinner of orange hues.

Spinach salad with sweet and spicy pecans, dried blueberries, and buttermilk blue cheese, dressed with honey, evoo, and lavender salt.

The oil came home from Italy with a friend and it was fantastic.

Our main course was tuna casserole that I made and froze awhile back, so I don’t totally remember what was in it. Definitely tuna, barley, spinach, green onions, peas, water chestnuts, roasted garlic and mushroom condensed soup, cheese, and crushed Cheez-Its on top.

Plus carnival squash that we roasted with salt, smoked brown sugar, liquid smoke, and maple syrup.

Dinner was delicious. Sweet and smoky squash with cheesy casserole? You can’t really go wrong!

Best bite of the week goes to dessert from Ample Hills.

I got a kids’ cup of pistachio and honey and the flavors went together perfectly.

Hopefully I am over the hump with my sickness now. The temperatures are finally dropping here and I really don’t want a cold to go with the cold!

13Oct2014

My Giant Post Disappeared, OMG

by Emily

Uggggggggh! Welp the title kind of says it all. I spent more than an hour last night recapping all of the fabulous eats from last week and the post has disappeared. I’m dying, dying!

Photo-dump style, here are a few key players…

Amazing fruit salad with blueberries, strawberries, banana, orange, and toasted coconut.

Pumpkin yogurts for lunch.

Plus two cafeteria winners.

First pumpkin smoothie.

So much good candy, including trail mix with pb pretzels, raisins, and candy corn m&m’s.

Duh.

The best pumpkin brew of the season so far.

A salad bar lunch date at Whole Foods.

Smorgasburg eats! Duck buns and other good but not as good buns (peanut chicken for me and pork belly for Adam) smothered in amazing chilli sauce.

Plus an awesome good batch ice cream sandwich of coffee ic, caramel, and espresso beans on salted brown butter cookies.

A fantastically “fall” meal that Adam said made him feel like a forest troll. Shredded brussels sprouts sautéed with turkey bacon, roasted butternut squash, baby spinach, shredded chicken, barley, sweet and spicy pecans, honey mustard dressing, and pomegranate.

Delicious Greek Tofu Pie that I promise to retype the recipe for tonight.

That is most of it. I hate computers!

3Oct2014

Seven Sweet Snacks; Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

I don’t have a ton to share this week. I certainly ate enough – including a truly disturbing amount of potato chips – but I didn’t get a picture of much. All I have for you today is seven great snacks…

TJ’s nacho kale chips.

These are definitely the best variety of packaged kale chips that I’ve tried. Crispy but not crumbly.

Guava-cheese empanada on the train. Guava and cheese are the perfect pair, I don’t know how this combo was not more popular back home.

I really wanted to love the book in the background – a collection of essays from the former food writer for “Vogue” – but it was hard not to hate it back. Steingarten was hilariously wry and quite thorough, but his intense vitriol against all nutrition experts turned me off.

Cherry Pistachio Quaker Oatmeal with coconut butter.

Technically lunch, not a snack, but coconut butter on oats is too tasty not to rave about.

A Stumptown Cold Brew box with a Honeycrisp.

Uggh. My favorite coffee drink with my favorite apple variety was almost too much happiness.

We said goodbye to Apple Month with caramel apple floats!

Vanilla ice cream in Jones’ Carmel Apple Soda.

Then it was time for pumpkin. Like this pumpkin pie donut from Dunkin’.

This was actually not great – it was horrifying and neither Adam nor I wanted a second bite – but you know I have to mention all of the on-theme goodies I sample in the fall.

My pumpkin spice latte was a total win {#basic}.

I had a freebie so I went all out – venti iced non-fat latte with two shots of pumpkin spice, an extra shot of espresso, and salted caramel drizzle.

Have you had a PSL yet this fall?

26Sep2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Coffee Crazy

by Emily

Soooo, that title probably could have worked for any week this year, huh? What can I say, the addiction is not lessening. I will totally cop to the fact that I allot more of my budget to coffees than clothing or shoes {priorities}.

I have a good mix of meals to share today, including several that I definitely want to make again soon! I could not wake up enough in the mornings for any breakfast shots, but overall I caught a good amount of the week on film…

lunch

Fantastically thick and creamy yogurt. Coffee Fage Fruyo with a Honeycrisp and an AriZona Oak Reserve Tea.

Plus a red pear and a turkey jerky stick that I snacked on later.

Salad from the cafeteria.

Romaine topped with red onion, kidney beans, shredded cheddar, black olives, and too much blue cheese dressing. Plus bbq chips on the side.

Apple themed oats.

Apple & Cinnamon Quaker (which was gummy and not good) with a banana-applesauce and the last of my caramel apple candies.

Brunch. Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and a chocolate croissant.

I was randomly extra hungry on Thursday morning so I went down to the cafeteria for a late breakfast. I ended up getting slammed with follow-ups all afternoon and having to skip lunch, and serendipitously my late breakfast kept me from chewing off my own arm.

snacks

Gotta start with the coffee line-up! From worst to best. Starbucks Hazelnut Doubleshot was very meh.

But I was quite excited to spot this new item at Konditori –

I was a little sick of it by the end, but the coconut cream did a great job of keeping things creamy. Nonetheless, the winner = Blue Bottle.

These little milk boxes kill me and this was wonderfully creamy, sweet, and roasty.

Adam has a weird obsession with Au Bon Pain and he sweetly brought me home one of the pumpkin bunt cakes he’s been loving recently.

I’m just not a huge cake person, but I loved getting a surprise treat.

The last of the Talenti Sea Salt Caramel Gelato, topped with some melted (chunky/flax/chia)peanut butter from TJ.

I’m glad I tried this with the end of the container or I would have gone back and made more! Best combo ever. Adam’s a little wary of the chunky pb but even he thought this was good.

Leftover slice of mushroom and olive pizza.

Clover honey straw. <– please note: I wouldn’t normally eat this straight like a total sugar freak, but it split open while I was trying to pack it in a lunch

Coffee yogurt.

The strangest pairing of the week was also the best.

Nonni’s Banana Dark Chocolate Almond Thins spread with Port Sault cheese were delicious.

dinner

A fantabulously fall salad.

This was so flipping yummy that we ended up making it two nights in a row.

Baby arugula and spinach blend topped with maple balsamic, pea shoots, Port Sault cheese, pomegranate arils, sweet and spicy hazelnuts [baked with canola oil, honey, cayenne pepper, and salt] , and roasted delicata squash [with coconut oil, cinnamon, and curry powder].

The pizza on the side was this mushroom and black truffle flatbread from Trader Joe’s.

All-in-all, a great meal.

Wednesday night I went out in Williamsburg for a friend’s birthday.

No photos because I am socially awkward enough without the food photography, trust me.

And last night I threw together some fancied up macaroni.

Annie’s Shells and Cheddar with TJ’s smoked herring and some chopped up pea shoots.

Pea shoots do not belong in pasta, but Adam seemed to like it. I smothered my bowl in smoked brown sugar and Sriracha.

Have a great weekend!

22Sep2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; October Came Early in Montauk

by Emily

The husband and I had quite the nice weekend. <– do I always say that??! A day of errands and a day trip up to Montauk. We got to stick our toes in the sand!

We also had some tasty eats.

Here’s how most of the last two days looked…

Errands day opened with a late brunch bowl at home.

Apple Cinnamon Chobani topped with toasted coconut and pomegranate arils. There was also a big blob of Wild Friends Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter hidden underneath the fruit.

Snacks of the day included two types of goodies from Haribo,

and a Honey Crisp Crispin that I shared with the husband.

This is our absolute favorite hard cider.

I also hungrily tore off bites of pretzel roll on the drive home from grocery shopping.

I went late in the day and Trader Joe’s was getting slammed. Probably because the shelves all seemed to be brimming with new pumpkin goodies!

Dinner was an Apple Month special (unlike what’s coming in the rest of this post!).

A toasted sandwich of Applegate Farm Smoked Turkey, TJ’s Light Havarti sliced cheese, and TJ’s hot pepper jelly, on Pepperidge Farm Caramel Apple Swirl Bread.

Plus TJ’s nacho kale chips and baby carrots on the side.

This sandwich was so yummy; love the spicy-sweet pairing.

Our drive to Montauk was nice and speedy (only about 2 hours; a Montauk local told me that traffic to the Hamptons cuts back nearly 2/3 after Labor Day) but it did require a little coffee.

We shared some Vanilla Chameleon Cold Brew with skim milk and chocolate milk on the drive up

and we got more of the good stuff locally while we walked around a ritzy shopping area.

We did lunch at Lunch, a lobster roll place right on the beach.

Adam was all about the hot lobster roll.

He shared a few hunks of buttered meat with me (gah! yum!), as well as his cole slaw.

I know it’s only September, but there were two fantasmic sounding pumpkin items on the menu, and who knows when I’ll go back to Montauk, so I couldn’t pass them up. Pumpkin and crab soup.

And Post Road Pumpkin Ale with a cinnamon-sugar rim.

OMG.

After lunch, a drive to the lighthouse, and a quick stop at the beach, we got more beer at the Montauk Brewing Company.

Their tasting room was quite cheap – $8 for 4 pours – and you even got to keep your glass.

I will definitely order their Driftwood Ale if I see it on menus in the city.

A final coffee for the road – I love Hampton Coffee Company –

and we were on our way home.

We did dinner in front of reruns of “Chopped.” We went high-brow with the food so it would match up with the high standards of the Chopped judges.

Pizza Hut pizza and Cupcake Wine Moscato. Keeping it classy.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: coconut

Goodbye, 2014! Weekly Wrap-Up

breakfast

lunch

snacks

dinner

Season’s Eatings; Christmas Wrap-Up

The Slanted Woods {San Francisco}

Apple Picking; Weekend Wrap-Up

My Giant Post Disappeared, OMG

Seven Sweet Snacks; Weekly Wrap-Up

Weekly Wrap-Up; Coffee Crazy

lunch

snacks

dinner

Weekend Wrap-Up; October Came Early in Montauk