We started out the week with a pretty horrific bout of food-borne illness, so that was fun. I spent several days not eating or eating Easy Mac and canned fruit, so this will be a short post.
The first thing I ate and enjoyed this week was this bowl of chocolate cereal with blueberries and pineberries.
And we managed to get it together for some great dinners the last two nights! Homemade chili (which I realize is a just bonkers thing to make on the heels of GI distress) plus beer bread with blueberry jam. Tons of shallots, yellow and orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, roasted diced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, chicken broth, cannellini beans, and shredded chicken breast. Topped with plain skyr, cheddar, green onions, and hot sauce.
Related – beer bread makes an excellent snack.
Cheesy breakfast tots sheet-pan hash. Adam said that the composition of this meal was not flattering, but it was delicious. All roasted on same sheet-pan – zucchini, green onion, poblano pepper, frozen potato tots, chicken breakfast sausage, eggs, and cheddar.
Our dinners all knocked it out of the park this week. Highlights…
This week’s coffee combo. Note – I give both a 7.5 for flavor but I did have to add half and half with the creamer to get it as creamy as I’d like and dark roast to the coffee to get it as roasty as I’d like.
This drink started out butterfly pea tea blue, then turned purple when I added lemon juice and seltzer, then turned swamp monster when I added matcha.
I have no idea where I found this Jamaican cookie-flavored protein drink but it was tasty and I would buy it again if I found it.
Grapefruit sodas; these both made for great cocktails.
Fun Asian Kit-Kats my cousin sent me from a trip.
Bubbie’s passionfruit ice cream mochi. Hands-down my favorite mochi brand.
Adam and I have both been loving yogurt bowls lately. This one was plain skyr, sugar cookie granola, chia seeds, persimmon, and blueberries.
Congee made with brown rice and turkey broth. Topped with meatballs (turkey with panade, garlic, gochugaru, and fish sauce), sauteed red chard, and chili crisp.
This bowl was a wonderful mishmash – leftover congee / sauteed fairytale eggplant / Korean steamed eggs / vegan tuna salad / green onion / sesame seeds / chili crisp.
Amazing tofu (Trader Joe’s sprouted extra-firm tofu, baked until crispy and then tossed in toasted rice powder, white pepper, and Sichuan pepper salt) / Ming Bings plant-based sausage egg and cheese bing (10/10 – will buy again) / roasted romanesco.
Breakfast from Simple Loaf Bakehouse – a giant, cheesy turkey cheddar jalapeño croissant.
Scrambled eggs with Dubliner cheddar and chili crisp. Plus cucumber on the side.
Mentioning these dried baby pineapples again because we are still loving them.
The vegan tuna salad I was obsessed with at the Charlottesville Whole Foods has finally made its way to Long Island.
Giant ice cream sundae. I topped Phish Food with melted peanut butter, sprinkles, granola, and cocktail cherries.
This Trader Joe’s Sriracha shrimp bowl remains my favorite frozen meal. It is so satisfying. I do always add more hot sauce and a bit of Kewpie though.
We got bowls and Cava and loved them. I got rice and honey harissa chicken with so many toppings I can’t remember them all. Plus the amazing pita crisps. Best of all – we hit the soda fountain and had diet cola mixed with blueberry soda!
Blogging a day early… My New Years Eve celebration of choice has always been going to bed at a reasonable hour and starting the new year refreshed. We are finishing our year with junk food and a nice bottle of champagne 🙂
The cinnamon bun Chamberlain Coffee didn’t have enough flavor for us but the grapefruit elderflower Aura Bora is my favorite.
We met up with friends for coffee, a Bayside walk, and crepes. Mine had red bean, matcha ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate sauce. Plus I got a jasmine tea with an ice-bear.
Mexican street corn popcorn. I don’t love pre-popped popcorn but this variety was well-seasoned and a bit spicy.
Caramel on caramel. Great caramels that my parents made and even better Reese’s caramel big cups (sorry guys, yours would have won against a lesser candy!).
We’ve decided these Ben & Jerry’s s’mores cookie dough bites were the very best buy/new find of the year.
We were impressed with this Trader Joe’s orange chicken rice bowl.
Trader Joe’s frozen fish sticks (these I would not buy again) with roasted broccoli and delicata squash.
Posting a day early because it’s our wedding anniversary (!!) and we are going out to a camera-free dinner!
Yummy things from this week…
I made cinnamon chestnut scones.
Gnubees lemon coconut fruit shake. Not super exciting but a pleasant flavor and a good pre-gym snack for us.
I really liked the new bananas foster Chobani Greek yogurt. It was a tiny bit too sweet for toppings but a really nice flavor. With persimmon, tangerine, and sugar cookie granola.
No one is surprised that I’ve expanded fancy holiday nachos to include red and green nachos for Christmas! These were loaded – and giant – and delicious. Potato chips / sharp cheddar / sauteed dinosaur kale / chopped broccoli rabe sauteed with tons of garlic / red baby bell peppers sauteed with Trader Joe’s sweet and hot pickled jalapeños / fennel duck sausage.
Sushi roll (ish) bowls. Brown rice mixed with roasted cauliflower rice and rice vinegar — we loved this and want to do it again / furikake / canned tuna and salmon with Kewpie and Sriracha / chopped baby cucumbers with sauteed orange bell pepper, rice vinegar, sugar, and Sriracha / avocado / sesame seeds / pickled ginger.
We turned our leftovers (cauliflower/rice, kale, garlic broccoli rabe, and duck sausage plus eggs, soy sauce, and Sriracha) into the best fried rice!
Highlights from the weekend (including some highlights of the whole damn year!)…
Eggnog dalgona iced coffee – after driving around with cocoa and the dog to look at lights this is our favorite holiday tradition.
Peppermint white mocha iced latte from Buzzed. We also shared an eggnog cold foam cold brew and were pleased with both. I wouldn’t go back all the time but I will definitely check out their next seasonal specials.
I’Milky oat milk iced matcha with chestnut creme. I was mostly getting this to be seasonal but we ended up both loving it – super balanced and satisfying.
Petit Chou tropical tres leches cake with a layer of jammy pineapple. I need to try more things from this spot.
Spudsy sweet potato snacks. I thought these would be like Chex Mix but they were actually the size of a small clementine.
Comfortland frozen eggnog (15/10) and a chocolate, coconut, marshmallow doughnut. This was the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten; the outside was sugary and crispy.
We also got the Everything Everywhere Tots at Once special – with cheddar, hot honey, marinated ribeye, gochujang aioli, ranch, chives, and everything bagel seasoning.
Brunch at Madre. This spot deserves the hype – the space was beautiful, the service was great, the food was all wonderful. We shared a Granddaddy Purp – sake, lavender, plum, cereal milk, and egg white. Gorgeous and delicious.
El Sancho – mezcal, apricot, campari, habenero, and cinnamon.
Jalapeño cornbread madelines with whipped honey butter.
The burger with gruyere and fennel slaw (didn’t make my top five but definitely in the top ten and Adam loved it).
And the brown butter french toast with caramel and roasted banana.
Scooping/dipping dinner. Baked wontons with togarashi / roasted broccoli / blended tuna salad – with smoked trout, mayo, and capers / pimento cheese dip – warm with honey and spiced pecans on top.
P.S. We checked out the Rockefellers tree and it was totally stunning and worth the crowd!
I hope all of my American readers had a lovely Turkey Day! My parents flew up yesterday evening and we got to spend the holiday together. They are here through the long weekend and it is going to be a great visit. I am feeling extra grateful for family time this year – my grandmother passed away earlier this month at 94 years old. I am obviously sad, but mostly I have been feeling thankful. Thankful that I had my grandmother until my late thirties and she remained her funny, gracious, smart as a whip self until the end. Thankful she died so soon after her birthday and we had all just gotten to see her. Thankful we had such a perfect last visit – I took her out for lobster and she ate every bite and we went to a family birthday dinner and she and I shared nachos and had a wonderful talk about her life and my grandpa.
I am also grateful for cheese and good coffee, both of which I got to enjoy this week! Highlights included…
Look at my impressive stash of on-theme snacks! I was very pleasantly surprised by the popcorn.
And drinks!
Wired Coffee‘s holiday specials include a tiramisu cold foam and it was just divine.
Plain skyr with fresh persimmon, maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and granola.
Roast‘s holiday specials are unmatched – Thanksgiving crunchwrap with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry jam, crispy onions, green beans, and stuffing / potato croquettes with cheddar, green onion, and a side of ranch. Plus homemade green beans – sauteed with garlic, lemon, and honey dijon.
This stuffing-inspired fried cauliflower rice was one of the best dishes I’ve ever made. Riced cauliflower stir-fried with smoked turkey, celery, yellow onion, portabella mushroom, butter, dried cranberries, spiced pecans, and eggs.
But the best dish of the week was Thanksgiving nachos. These nachos are at least a quarter of why my parents wanted to brave the cold and visit now. Trader Joe’s stuffing chips, white cheddar, swiss, gouda, smoked turkey, poblano peppers, and cranberry sauce. Plus sided of roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts.
Plus for dessert we ate Ben & Jerry’s pecan pie ice cream (I thought it was only fine, basically butter pecan, but my mom and Adam were fans) with homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
I signed up for an online CEU in GI Nutrition this weekend. The speakers were former UVA colleagues so that was neat! It was four+ hours on a Saturday though so I needed a fun breakfast – Adam and I split a Roast breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potato, peppers and onions, hot sauce aioli, and I added sliced turkey) and fries.
Starbucks’ new sugar cookie cold foam is tasty but not as good as chocolate or pumpkin. Sandwiched between shots of espresso and cinnamon dolce sprinkles.
I made a dalgona iced coffee with cinnamon and chocolate milk (YUM).
I paired Whole Food’s hot bar chicken tenders and charred broccoli – and a hard boiled egg – with every kind of dipping sauce (ranch, blue cheese, Roast house sauce, honey mustard, bbq).
Dinner at Sandro’s, which someone at work highly recommended for Long Island Italian.
It was good! I got garlic broccoli rabe and the Mafaldine pasta with pesto, tomato sauce, Stracciatella, and toasted pine nuts. This was so satisfying.
Eating Chalk 