Tag Archives: cottage cheese

Deux Decades = Twenty Years

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It was a great weekend. We spent some time in Ridgewood and also checked out the fabulous orchid show at the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Food highlights…

We bought this fancy grape jam in Hudson and I was excited to use to use it.

Like in a pb&j bowl with yogurt, cottage cheese, fresh blueberries, and smooth and chunky peanut butter.

And in an iced coffee (with vanilla cold foam).

The best coffee of the weekend had blueberries in it! I blended cold coffee with frozen blueberries, brown sugar, skin milk, and vanilla protein powder.

I also had a nice latte from Honeymoon Coffee (<– super cute spot). Enjoyed with some flan from a bakery in Ridgewood. We stirred some of the caramel into the latte and that was obviously great.

Evil Twin is our favorite New York brewery and this was one of our best trips to date – so many fun sours!

Cheesy tots. Baked potato tots with roasted cauliflower and tons of sharp cheddar. And Sriracha horseradish aioli, furikake, gochugaru, and sesame seeds.

Cafe Deux. I got their burger which was double Wagyu patties, house aioli, and cheddar with tons of fries. I also stole several bites of Adam’s soft-scrambled eggs and toast with local jam.

Plus we shared a great brownie sundae with their flourless chocolate cake and Cafe Panna vanilla ice cream.

Decades Pizza. The pizza was wonderful but I was drawn in by this drink – Pink Moon Sour = amaretto, contratto bitter, lemon, and marshmallow cream! The drink on the left was cold brew with honey, nutmeg, and soda.

We shared and loved a bunch of things. Our favorite dish of the night was the arancini with hazelnut pesto, Calabrian chili, and pecorino.

Roasted carrots and asparagus with whipped ricotta and pesto oil.

Mushroom pie – blue oyster mushrooms, garlic, cream, mozzarella, and parmigiano.

And a special pie with Calabrian chili and tons of green onions.

And we got fermented banana cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.

Our leftovers were perfect for Sunday dinner. Plus sauteed asparagus with toasted almonds, garlic, lemon, yellow mustard, and dijon.

Damn The Man

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For being the 1st week back from a vacation this week felt painless! Here were some food highlights…

Even our leftovers from dinner at Theodora were fantastic. This was laffa with lamb, tahini, amba, and shifka.

A grown up takes on a cafeteria favorite – two bougie Gushers-inspired candies. Both were great.

I loved these sweet cinnamon bun flavored protein pretzels.

It was Rex Manning Day this week so I baked cupcakes for work (because there are 24 usable hours in every day!). Peanut butter cupcakes (boxed yellow cake mix baked with milk substituted for water, butter substituted for oil, an extra egg, and 1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter) with chocolate frosting. They were fantastic, amazingly the texture was perfect.

And we, of course, ate a bunch of pizza and watched Empire Records! This plate was chicken and waffle (possibly my all-time favorite slice of pizza, the chunks of waffle felt artisanal and there was maple syrup!) and buffalo chicken. Plus spicy green beans (steamed and then sauteed with Sichuan peppercorn, gochugaru, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, yellow mustard, dijon, and Sriracha.

The rest of our dinners were on the theme of school cafeteria lunches! Like a take on Salisbury Steak. Turkey patties (with ground turkey, panade, grated white onion, dijon, ketchup, and garlic) with a tomato gray (roux, water, tomato sauce, dijon, dark soy sauce, and low-sodium oyster sauce). Served with roasted broccoli and potato tots.

Macaroni and cheese. My mac and three cheese muffins. I substituted extra-sharp cheddar for parmesan because it was all we had. We used Goodles Loopdy Loos.

Fish sticks. Cornmeal crusted served with cocktail sauce and a side of roasted cauliflower.

Stars And Smoothies

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Yummy things from the week…

Smoothie #1 – iced matcha, cottage cheese, brown sugar, and frozen mango and peaches.

Smoothie #2 – chocolate protein powder, water, black sesame paste, and frozen blueberries and cherries.

Cheese plate! Craize guava corn crackers, extra-sharp cheddar, and starfruit.

McConnell’s double peanut butter chip is our all-time favorite ice cream so we were pretty jazzed to pair it with their (quite tasty) pre-cooked chocolate chunk cookies.

Peanut chicken pizza. Two-ingredient pizza dough with an egg wash sesame seed crust / sauce – peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, and water / baked chicken cubes / quick pickled carrots and scallion / pizza blend cheese. Plus green beans sauteed with honey, mustard, and gojuchang.

Cottage cheese dinner bowls. Topped with marinated eggs, sunflower seeds, and quick-pickled cucumber.

Chicken and cabbage bowls. Roasted cabbage topped with Nước Chấm and tons of toasted peanuts / ground chicken sauteed with ginger, scallions, and soy sauce.

Dips and Sips

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This post is late because my laptop was in the shop. Things from the week/end, many dips and sips, 50% seasonal!…

Kings Coast Coffee Company‘s The Griswald – espresso with cinnamon and housemade oat nog.

Iced matcha latte with candy cane syrup.

Cheesecake-y smoothie – cottage cheese, vanilla protein powder, water, and frozen blueberries, cherries, and pineapple.

A take on our favorite seasonal smoothie – plain Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, vanilla protein powder, chocolate milk, and candy cane syrup.

Hint chocolate peppermint flavored water. Good but not something I would seek out again.

Chobani eggnog Greek yogurt with blueberries and Heritage Flakes (and tiny star sprinkles!).

I also had a really great bowl with fresh persimmons, blueberries, granola, and plain Greek.

I made extra chestnut cream cheese frosting so that I could scoop it with pretzel thins and that was a very good idea.

See also – Trader Joe’s blue cheese roasted pecan dip with garlic parmesan pretzels.

I tried two new-to-me Trader Joe’s prepared items – crunchy slaw salad and peanut udon salad – both 8/10’s; both had some nice spice and fresh vegetables.

This soup was so easy and so satisfying – baby bok choy sauteed with scallions and ginger, chicken broth, and Trader Joe’s mini chicken cilantro wontons.

Hedgehog roasted super-firm tofu – topped with a mix of thinly sliced scallions, gochugaru, sesame seeds, furikake, sesame oil, honey, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water – and roasted baby zucchini.

All Hallows’ Eats

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It was a yummy Halloween week!

Highlights…

You already know I had a cache of on-theme snacks.

Dunkin Donuts’ potion macchiato is marshmallow and ube flavored; obviously a great idea but unfortunately it was fairly underwhelming.

Skyr bowl with Cara Cara orange and double chocolate granola.

Pumpkin smoothie. Pumpkin puree, cottage cheese, frozen banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean powder, and water and ice.

I saved my best pumpkin beers for last. Blue Point Big Mother Pumpkin (10/10) / Fat Orange Cat Pumpkin Patch Kittens (9.5/10) / Abomination Forbidden Pumpkin (10/10).

Served with a brown sugar cinnamon rim!

Veggie rice bowls. Jasberry rice and riced cauliflower / Whole Food’s sesame seaweed cashews / avocado / chopped kimchi crisped up with a bit of butter and sugar.

Mac and three cheese muffins with baked chicken and roasted brussels sprouts.

Pumpkin pasta. Whole-wheat rotini topped with ground turkey sauteed with pumpkin puree, chili crisp, and cream cheese. Plus roasted orange cauliflower.

Black and orange big salads! Local lettuce / cucumber / homemade dressing – pumpkin butter, brown sugar, evoo, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and fish sauce / roasted kabocha squash / crispy rice – leftover rice tossed with chili crisp and black sesame paste and baked. We loved this.

Butterscotch, Coconut, Rye

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Some things from the week…

Inspired by the last weekend, I paired coconut water with sweetened condensed milk and strong iced coffee (Cafe du Monde with chicory).

Trader Joe’s new sourdough rye crisps are a top-tier snack, especially when paired with buffalo chicken dip.

Butterscotch Snickers! This tasted exactly like pecan pie.

Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and hot smoked sockeye salmon and canned sockeye salmon. Plus roasted broccoli with furikake.

Mac and cheese muffins / crispy baked super firm tofu / roasted zucchini / unseen side of Greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce.

Hometown Advantage

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The title is a quadruple threat pun – I had things from my current hometown in Long Island, things that remind me of my original hometown in the Caribbean, things made at home, and things from a place called Hometown! Some highlights from the weekend…

Breakfast at Hometown Bakeshop. Tres leches iced latte!

Plus I got an insane build-your-own breakfast sandwich – cheddar biscuit, over easy egg, turkey bacon, caramelized onion, pickled beet, white cheddar, and smoked aioli.

And I brought home scones too! Cinnamon roll-style and pistachio.

Cheesecake smoothie. Frozen strawberries and pineapple with water and cottage cheese.

Tony’s Lil’ Bits s’mores chocolates are great, a good combination of crunchy and chewy.

Takeout dinner from Coco’s Cuisine, a Jamaican place near us that we will be going back to ASAP. We shared stewed oxtail with sauteed cabbage and candied yam.

Fantastic jerk chicken with cabbage and perfect rice and beans.

Baked macaroni and cheese.

And Jamaican black cake (good, but we prefer the other style of Caribbean rum cakes).

Saturday night Adam and I went all out making dinner. Mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, roasted broccoli, and baked chicken with bbq sauce (a homemade Mediterranean bbq sauce with pomegranate and sumac!).

P.S. I wrote this post Sunday evening and we are about to head to a fancy Long Island dinner at the new(ish) Oak and Vine.

Beautiful Things, Berries, Bowls

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Things from this week – Doing: I had a good treadmill run, 3.25 miles at a 7:49 pace. I recently set a lofty goal of 2 miles at a 7-minute pace and I am having fun trying to work towards it. // Listening: Adam and I are obsessed with Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things.” I also recently fell head over heels for Milky Chance’s “Flashed Junk Mind.” I adore that whole album actually. // Eating: Highlights below…

Fruit-forward yogurt bowls this week (I need to stop, these yogurts were both good but I always prefer plain skyr best). Elleno’s pink guava Greek yogurt with blackberries, blueberries, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.

Painterland Sisters’ meadow berry 6% skyr with berries, 88 Acres’ cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter (9.5/10), and Made Good’s cocoa crunch granola (9.5/10).

Little Sesame caramelized onion hummus with Simple Mills everything seed flour crackers.

Served with baby carrots, of course. The crackers were a 9.5/10 but the hummus was too lemon-forward for my tastes.

Summer-y strawberry sparkling beverages.

Hawaiian/Li Hing Mui seasoned candies we brought home from Vegas.

It was Carnival back home last week and my parents sent me some goodies from Food Fair.

The banana coquito I blended with espresso, half and half, brown sugar, and frozen banana and it was delicious. Topped with sprinkles and nutmeg.

I am a fan of Yasso’s chocolate-covered Greek yogurt bites. Coffee was good but not as good as salted caramel.

Dinners in bowls are the best kind. Brown Jasmine rice / celery and scallion sauteed with ginger / roasted zucchini / Gyeran-jjim – Korean steamed egg, I make mine with just a bit of water with white miso paste and fish sauce / chili crisp.

Rice / zucchini / sauteed spinach with green onion, sesame oil, and sesame seeds / Trader Joe’s beefless bulgogi (high in sodium but delicious) / soy marinated egg.

Cottage cheese / soy marinated eggs / heirloom tomato / sliced cucumber – I let them sit in the leftover egg marinade for 20 minutes and they were great / North River crunchy yellow peas.

Not a bowl – I am going to finish out Thursday with nachos when I finish this post!