Tag Archives: cucumber

Flavors Of Fall

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Next week is the start of Pumpkin Month!!  But first, here’s a collection of “fall flavored” things –

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The maple Mars bar was a disappointment.  (Mom, sorry, it came as part of a Snack Crate, I cannot get you one).

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But the pecan pie granola was a delight, especially paired with a Trader Joe’s caramel apple Greek yogurt!

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More apple goodness, this Rave variety was crispy and sweet.

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And in other packaged goods new, I obsessively searched for this Oreo coffee creamer for the past 2 months before I finally got my hands on it.  <– worth it

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Pimento cheese and crackers at Grit.

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I put leftover bbq chicken on a yummy salad.  With butter lettuce, honey mustard dressing, cashews, and cucumber.

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This frozen meal from Trader Joe’s remains the best chile relleno of my life.

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My in-laws were in town a few days this week and we had a great time seeing them.  Including a trip to Asian buffet.  I had really tasty seaweed salad and the best egg tart I’ve ever eaten.  Here were my fist and last plates (with several in between!).

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Tahini Rose

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Highlights from this week…

The coffee stand at my hospital makes a fantastic iced latte.

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I put rose water and cream (and red food coloring) in my home-brewed coffee this week and it was pretty exciting.

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I bought these protein cookies expecting to hate them (but I can’t pass up anything that is supposed to taste like birthday cake!) and was very pleasantly surprised.

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Still loving this Trader Joe’s olive medley.

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Milk-filled snacks are the best.  Israeli chocolates and Korean cookies.

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I went to a bbq at my cousin’s house and brought flourless chocolate tahini cookies.  Just chocolate tahini, sugar, and egg.

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My buffalo blue cheese black bean burgers for dinner.

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With roasted broccoli, baby carrots, and a side of ranch.

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Plus two super fun summery and fruity beers.  Watermelon and pina colada goses.

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Buffalo chicken cheese fries = sweet potato fries / blue cheese and cheddar / shredded chicken with buffalo sauce / ranch.  Plus roasted green beans.

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A salad from Cooking Light.  We did arugula, shredded chicken, cucumber, roasted chickpeas, and parsley pesto.

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Last Day

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Holy frick.  It’s my last day of work today!!

It’s been a weird last week – I’ve actually been crazy busy because a coworker is out sick so I’ve been covering additional units.  Usually you don’t do much patient care on your final day, but I’m planning on squeezing in a pretty full morning before I start my exit paperwork.  Plus I’ve been wrapping up various projects, including an hour-long presentation on critical care nutrition guidelines that I gave to the residents covering the ICUs.

It’d be nice to have some time to decompress but the last two weeks of June are going to be insane with the move.  And in busy-ness that is fun, my parents are coming into town tomorrow for a final city visit.  And then Adam’s family is joining us to celebrate his graduation next week!

Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy!  <– name that movie

Here were the highlights from my last week of work…

{fun in bottled coffee}  Cold brew from Trader Joe’s.

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Pecan cold brew from Chameleon Coffee.

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{fruit forward snacks}  Fresh watermelon chunks with TJ’s cucumber watermelon mint Greek yogurt.

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The last of the ambrosia my coworker made me.  I for sure ate out every single piece of palm seed.

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{vegetables masquerading as chips/fries}  Roasted green bean “cheese fries” with ketchup and mayo.  I’ll be honest, I wanted Kewpie mayo for years and finally bought a bottle the month before this move and now I’m looking for any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to use it.

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Spinach and parmesan tzatziki dip scooped with sugar snap peas and baby carrots.

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{good foods and goodbyes with coworkers}  An after-work walk to DeKalb Market Hall for Ample Hills.  Baby I was Churned This Way.

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Lunch at Bolivian Llama Party in the Ashland.  I had a fried seitan sandwich and we split insanely good cilantro cheese fries.

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{New York must-eats}  A poppy seed bagel with jalapeno-cheddar cream cheese from La Bagel Delight.  <– eaten on the walk to work, key feature

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Shaved ice from Grace Street.  We swooned over black sesame ice with sweetened condensed milk, honey boba, and mochi.  <– all-time best boba and mochi in the city/world

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Hand-pulled noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods.  Extra spicy for me, with smashed cucumber salad.  The chew factor here is just perfection.

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I ♥ New York.

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Coffees And Cocktails

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Important things first – the pink and purple trees in our complex are amazingly gorgeous.

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This is the immediate view out of our front door and it makes me smile every day.

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My purple hair finally got too patchy to be cute, while remaining highly pigmented in a few spots, and my hairdresser had to make me super blonde to get rid of it all.

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I had a fantastic weekend – including a Lower East Side day, a Williamsburg/Bushwick day, and a Long Island day – and we ate all the things!  I love New York, I love New York, I love New York.

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We checked out OddFellows‘ new coffee and ice cream spot and I had an iced latte with toasted marshmallow milk.

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I also had a toasted marshmallow iced latte (good, but not as good, obviously) from Sweetie Pies on Main while we walked around Cold Springs Harbor.

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Japanese shaved ice from The Little One.  Strawberry sauce / sweetened condensed milk / roasted strawberries / coconut whipped cream.

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Arcade games and drinks at Barcade.  <– one of my favorite spots in the city even if I’m not very good at Pac Man or Tapper

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Craft cocktails on tap at Yours Sincerely.  Adam got a tasting flight and I had a Folsom Fizz with bourbon, cola syrup, and almond.

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Snacks at Smorgasburg.  Belgian fries with malt vinegar aioli and chipotle ranch.

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Noodle bowls at Just for Fen.  Can JfF be my new living room?  The space was so cute!

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And the food was wonderful.  I had smashed cucumber salad and spicy chicken rice noodles with housemade chili oil, pickled radish and cabbage, baby bok choy, scallion, cilantro, and peanuts.

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Dinner at Forrest Point.  On the patio!

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I had a fried chicken sandwich with jicima and blue cheese slaw.

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The few things we ate at home were pretty great too.  Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes are the best frozen meal of all time.  Served with baby carrots and bell peppers.

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I made us delicious rice bowls.  Brown rice / red, yellow, and orange bell pepper sauteed with onion and garlic / chicken breast slow-cooked in the crockpot with salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, garlic, lime, and orange juice and then shredded and broiled until crispy / sharp cheddar / TJ’s tomatillo roasted yellow chili salsa.

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Plus mojito milkshakes!  Cruzan rum / homemade mint simple syrup / lime juice / vanilla ice cream / ice.

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My Favorite Thing I’ve Eaten

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Top five from last week –

{1}  My favorite thing I’ve ever eaten!  Also the most “me” thing I’ve ever eaten.  Quad shot, iced, birthday cake latte (with birthday cake sprinkle sand!!) from Milk Bar.

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{2}  Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with the amazing Alphonso mango.  Plus a guava kombucha.

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{3}  BBQ from Fletcher’s.  I had smoked chicken and cole slaw.  Important note: they now sell their amazing sauce to take home. <– highly recommend.

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{4}  Bahn mi chicken salad.  With baby carrots, roasted broccoli, and Korean bbq kettle chips.

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{5}  Giant Greek salad bowls.  Local oak leaf greens from Greenpoint / TJ’s Greek feta dressing / heirloom tomato / cucumber / roasted chickpeas / dolmas.

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Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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I (Strawberry) Heart…

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The five most exciting edible things from this weekend  —

{1}  There’s a new cookie dough place in our mall.  The serving size was stupid big and they wouldn’t let us split the scoop into two flavors but it was delicious.  We went with  Oreo.

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{2}  I discovered a Sonic that’s not super far from our house.  How excited am I about strawberry diet cokes??

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{3}  I’m back on the coffee obsession train.  I was feeling a little under the weather last week and it was hard for me to drink anything roasty but thank goodness that’s over.

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{4}  The worker at Chipotle was extra generous with the fajita veggies and cheese and I ended up with a wonderful salad – romaine / chicken / pinto beans / peppers and onions / corn salsa / hot salsa / cheese.

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{5}  We went to Hanco’s and I had Vietnamese iced coffee with strawberry jelly hearts in it!  Plus a really fantastic bahn mi with vegan pork (tofu).

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P.S. Today’s my day off!  And it’s also Adam’s day off!!  And we are going into Brooklyn for lunch!!!

Chili Cheese Fries Because It’s Still Chilly

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Seriously, why is it so chilly still??  Over the weekend I dry cleaned our winter coats, packed up our sweaters, swapped boots for sandals, etc, etc, and then Monday morning it was a balmy 30 degrees.

Freezer-burn aside, I had quite a nice week!  Tuesday I took a personal day to spend time with Adam post-call and we tried some yummy spots in Bayside.  And I’m off again today because I work this weekend.

Here were the highlights from the week…

Chocolate glazed doughnut (from Dough) and a maple iced latte at Browny.

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Juicy watermelon wonder kombucha.

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Chia pudding.  Chia seeds / skim milk / maple syrup / vanilla bean powder / sliced banana.

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Peanuts are my favorite snack at the moment.

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Dinner out at Maria’s Mediterranean.  We got some complimentary bites to start, including the best olives I’ve ever tasted.

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Plus we ordered the chips and dip – housemade pita chips with tatziki / melitzanosalata, roasted eggplant puree / and tirokafteri, spicy feta spread.

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I got the spanikopita for my entree.

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And we tried something fun for dessert – ekmek, a bread pudding-baklava mash up with syrup-soaked shredded phyllo, custard, and whipped cream.

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I leaned into the weather and made us big steamy bowls of chili.  A loose version of this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats that is our favorite.  The baked beans take it over the top.

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I topped my bowl with sharp cheddar, plain Greek yogurt, and tons of Sriracha.

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Our leftovers turned into cheese fries!  Waffle fries / cheese – TJ’s 3 cheese blend / chili / bacon leftover duck.  Plus green beans for something green.

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And yesterday I made buffalo chicken meatballs.  Ground chicken / panade / buffalo sauce / egg / cream cheese / cheddar.  Plus sauteed carrots and celery to stay on theme.

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It’s supposed to warm up this weekend, woo-hoo!