Eat Nice

Some things from the weekend…

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with maple, chia, praline pecan granola, and chopped aprium.

10/10 loved this new flavor from Over Easy.

On the other hand, this is a reminder for myself to stop buying this Oreo coffee because I do not like it. It tastes like a watery Oreo with no coffee whatsoever.

This Whole Foods almond milk ice cream was pretty good but not as good as non-vegan ice cream.

A breakfast bowl cheese fry situation. Trader Joe’s seasoned fries with mozarella, soft-scrambled eggs, roasted zucchini, and chicken breakfast sausage.

Chinese take-out!

So much Chinese take-out. Bok choy and mushrooms, fried tofu, sesame noodles, and a cheeseburger egg roll.

Trader Joe’s Guajillo Salsa

Highlights from a tasty week…

Still in love with these pie cookies from Whole Foods – they are shortbread with jam (raspberry, pineapple, or guava!) and streusel; I’m obsessed.

Nacho night! Tortilla chips with cheese (sharp cheddar, swiss, and gruyere) and black beans topped with salsa, sour cream, radish, tomato, and spring onion.

Plus a green juice for health.

And a sparkling tequilla canned cocktail for fun.

Chicken and veggie bowls. Shredded chicken (a mix of white and dark meat, cooked in the crockpot), roasted zucchini, black beans, roasted bell peppers and yellow onion, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheese, radish.

Chilaquiles. Tortilla chips, chicken, peppers and onions, salsa, and cheese; topped with roasted zucchini, a fried egg, radish, sour cream, and Crystal hot sauce.

Sandwich Week

This is a delayed post because we got back from vacation and both immediately had crazy work schedules including weekend coverage. But I declared last week “Sandwich Week,” which meant that all of our take-out was actually on-theme!

First – vacation was amazing. Truly one of the best weeks of our lives. We road-tripped to Provincetown Cape Cod –> Boston –> Portland, Maine –> Hudson, NY –> home. We got lucky with beautiful weather, admired astonishingly pretty flowers/landscaping, and ate some of the best meals of our marriage. I don’t have a single photo to share but I will link to some of our favorites.

  • Cape Cod: Bookstore (great lobster rolls and view) / Scott’s Cakes (yellow cake with pink buttercream only, best I’ve ever tasted)
  • Portland: Bao Bao (our favorites – bang bang chicken salad, crab rangoon spring rolls) / Crispy Gai (wonderful Thai, plus cocktails) / Duck Fat (duck on duck on duck poutine) / HiFi (all-time best doughnuts) / Izakaya Minato (amazing crudo and okonomiyaki) / Time and Tide (inventive lattes)
  • Hudson: Breadfolks (all-time best pastries) / Gracie’s Lunchonette (our favorites – pink horchatta iced latte, tuna melt with freshly baked tuna) / Kitty’s (Adam’s favorite meal of the week; our favorites – potato chips with dip and salmon roe, crispy broccoli) / Lil’ Deb’s Oasis (caribbean/eclectic, one of my favorite restaurants on earth)

Second – Some non-sandwich highlights from the past week…

This week’s coffee combo.

It’s stone fruit season! I will be snacking on nectarines, peaches, plums, and plucots for the foreseeable future.

Malted blueberry smoothie. Frozen blueberries with chocolate milk, plain Greek yogurt, and malted milk powder.

I scored cake-flavored beer that wasn’t a stout and loved it.

Boozy cherry coke slushy – frozen cherry coke cubes, frozen cherries, Luxardo cherries, and vodka.

Breakfast for dinner with freezer-staples the night we got home. Hashbrown and Trader Joe’s gojuchang veggie mix with soft-scrambled eggs.

Plus a brinner cocktail with decaf iced coffee, amaretto, coffee liquor, and sweetened condensed milk.

Finally – SANDWICH WEEK! Definitely a little inspired by Trader Joe’s sourdough bread.

Roasted sliced turkey, turkey bacon, strawberry jam, honey dijon. Plus roasted green beans.

Soft-scrambled eggs topped with smoked salmon salad. That green pile in the back is sauteed shredded brusell sprouts with shallots and dried cherries.

Heirloom tomatoes, gojuchang mayo, smoked sliced turkey, turkey bacon. Plus baby cucumbers with Bitchin Sauce.

Shake Shack cheeseburger and fries. We also shared an oreo funnel cake milkshake that was surprisingly delicious.

Take-out from Roast – aka our ultimate sandwich experience. Their roast beef melt is my all-time favorite. With fries and roasted green beans.

Turkey cheeseburger-inspired trail mix. Meat stick, cheddar moon cheese, dill pickle flavored almonds.

Turkey cheeseburger-inspired salad. Local lettuce with honey mustard dressing, baby tomatoes, dill pickle almonds, dill pickle slices, turkey meatballs (seasoned with dill pickle juice and yellow mustard), sharp cheddar, and homemade croutons with furikake.

Aloe, Banana, Congee

Highlights from this past week include…

I made my first ever loaf of banana bread! I added tons of coconut caramel jam to a traditional recipe and we loved it.

See also – banana bread cubes on a Greek yogurt bowl with nectarine, cinnamon, and honey.

This bar + coffee combo was a 10/10. I also ate a mini York with it – perfection.

See also – I made a mint syrup for my iced coffees this week and it was great in this iced matcha latte.

Sooo many snacks! The highlight of which was these crab roe flavored broad beans. They were the perfect amount of crunchy and the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

See also – aloe drink and my two favorite seltzers.

Tyger leftovers (sauteed water spinach and pad see ew) stir-fried with eggs and peanuts. The leftovers were mind-blowing so we clearly need to go back ASAP.

I made fantastic brown rice chicken congee. Filled with chopped chicken thighs and spicy chopped kale and red chard. We topped our bowls with peanuts, green onions, and chili crisp.

Pesto, Pasta, Peanut Butter

Highlights from the week…

Smoothie A – frozen cherries with plain skyr and chocolate milk.

Smoothie B – frozen mango and blueberries with plain Greek yogurt, key lime juice, and honey.

I 100% topped skyr with a chopped-up Reese’s cup. Plus nectarine, chia seeds, and honey.

The Flowers of Life Kombucha did not impress – vaguely tasted like ginger and was not at all floral – but Adam and I both enjoyed the Concord Grape.

Sparkling yuzu matcha. I still can’t beleive that I only started liking matcha in the past few years.

I made egg casserole with shredded mozarella, roasted zuccini, and chives. And I made homemade dumb bread! Served with golden nugget madarin.

Leftovers (topped with chili crisp) with yellow heirloom tomato with salt and Korean chili flake.

Whole-wheat spaghetti with a homemade spinach and pesto sauce plus shredded chicken and extra parmesan and pine nuts.

Trader Joe’s frozen Tteok Bokki (rice cakes in spicy sauce) with chicken, zuccini, and mozarella.

Sprung

Spring is officially in NYC and the flowers could not be more gorgeous. Adam and I spent as much time as possible outside this weekend with a long walk through Greenpoint/Williamsburg on Saturday and a long walk across the Queensborough Bridge and around Midtown/Central Park on Sunday.

Some highlights from a beautiful, amazing, delicious weekend…

A rose iced latte from Remi. This was delicious!

Salted strawberry cold brew (plus espresso and a splash of skim milk) from Joe.

Lunch at Nura, which was drop dead gorgeous.

We started with Tajin peanuts and a yuzu kouign aman.

I had green shakshuka (plus a side of housemade lamb sausage).

Pablo Honey – calamansi and kumquat oleo, Honeybush Vodka, Cava // Future Tense – coconut, makrut lime, Poha Rice Gin, Oroblanco, seltzer.

Drinks at Roberta’s. It was so lovely to sit at their bar and we want to go back immediately. I had a fantastic Dead Head — Miele amaretto with house grapefruit cordial, bitters, and egg white. Plus a Guava Jam to go! – house coconut rum, Giffard’s banana, guava, and bitters.

Dinner at Glasserie was the best meal of the weekend. Carrots cooked and shaved raw // three types of mushrooms (each marinated differently) in broth.

Lamb with mustard and grilled eggplant. After this we had duck prepared two ways that was so stunning and scrumptious I completely forgot to take photos. <– we have leftover coming for dinner this week and I could not be more excited

Trader Joe’s Frozen Aisle Wins

TGIF! Highlights from this week included…

Perfectly ripe champagne mangos. In a yogurt bowl with plain skyr, chia seeds, and granola.

Blue Point’s Gelato Drip double IPA was good but not as good as I was expecting.

Synergy’s Bloom kombucha (with elderflower, jasmine, and violet) was twice as good as anticipated. Floral and sweet, it’s my new favorite.

Whole Food’s cinnamon roll chocolates were a 7/10.

But these Trader Joe’s frozen egg tarts were a 13/10! They could hold their own with any of the ones I’ve had from Portuguese bakeries.

Roast Sandwich shop sandwich-salad combo take-out with a theme – bbq chicken crunch wrap, bbq chicken crunch salad, bbq potato chips.

Trader Joe’s turkey corndogs and veggie and sunflower seed bites plus roasted orange cauliflower, broccoli, and romanesco (plus leftover fry sauce – which I order every time I get Roast, regardless of if I get fries).

I took a naked food of the Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes so I could show you guys what they look like. Then I dressed them up with Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.

Best meal of the week – hashbrown, roasted brussel sprouts, soft-scrambled eggs. Topped with a mix of fry sauce, chili crisp, and rice vinegar.

Damn The Man, Save The Empire

It was an absolutely fantastic weekend! We ate tons of good things, had a bunch of time together, and saw some gorgeous signs of spring all around the city. Highlights included… A long, gorgeous walk from Dumbo, across the bridge, around the Seaport, and up through Midtown.

Iced cortado from Interlude.

Brigadero iced latte from Cafe Patoro.

Vietnamese iced coffee from Lucy’s.

Iced matcha latte made at home.

Not surprised that I am into alcoholic seltzers now. My favorite so far have been from Trip and Topo Chico.

We made extra-chocolately brownies and rewatched Empire Records to celebrate Rex Manning Day 2022!

Affogato special from Caffe Panna – caramel and pistachio.

My leftover sesame noodles were even better stir-fried with extra eggs plus green beans and chili crisp.

We had lunch at Empire Diner and it was hands-down the best meal of this year so far.

I had a spicy Bloody Mary with everything bagel seasoning.

And a great cocktail with mezcal and fresh ginger.

Tuna tartar with avocado, ginger cilantro oil, white soy, frizzled shallots, and housemade chips.

I had the pastrami sandwich with melted swiss and horseradish coleslaw on marble rye. It came with the best mustard and the best herb fries I’ve ever tasted.