Fun Facts From The Weekend

by Emily

{1} The special drink at Café Bene this month is handmade strawberry milk! It’s called a “strawberry latte,” and as far as we could tell it is just milk and macerated strawberries. The husband and I liked it a lot.

That’s more than I can say for the S’mores Frappuccino, as the whipped cream did not taste like marshmallows.

{2} You can eat Kentucky Derby themed snacks even if you don’t watch the race and still have no idea who won.

This Dark Chocolate Walnut bar was yummy.

And I made Adam and I “Derby Shakes” on Saturday.

Milk chocolate gelato and toasted walnuts blended with skim milk, Jim Beam Maple Bourbon, and ice.

{3} Bareburger’s new menu includes a burger topped with pimento cheese, pickled green tomato, a fried egg.

I guess that technically fit in with our Derby eats too.

{4} The new Avengers’ movie was not bad at all. Even though it was long enough for us to need a refill on our giant soda.

It was very funny; several quips had the whole theatre laughing out loud. I think overall it would have been a lot more Whedon-y if it had been Natasha walking into the house instead in that final farm scene (<– intentionally vague so as not to give any spoilers).

{5} You should totally make my newest recipe at home – Spicy Salmon Roll Casserole.

It came together really quickly and Adam and I both enjoyed it. Served with Bon Appetit’s Thai Celery Salad on the side.

I’m looking forward to leftovers of both dishes.

20Apr2015

It’s A Miracle! {They’re Alive, Damn It!}

by Emily

This weekend…

…I tried MiraBurst

Aka Miracle Berries aka Synsepalum dulcificum, a plant whose berries don’t taste sweet on their own, but have a compound (Miraculin) that binds to sweet receptors on the tongue and makes acidic foods which are ordinarily sour be perceived as sweet.

Please note – I was sent the berries free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

You eat the pulp, not the seeds, and the effect lasts about an hour. They recommend trying the berries 1-2 at a time with foods such as citrus fruits, yogurt and kefir, and vinegar, so we set up a little tasting station.

It totally worked!! The limes and plain yogurt were both sweet and delicious. I could definitely see this working as a great way to get kids interested in trying new foods. I am excited to have the berries in my freezer so I can continue trying them out on different things.

…I also ate things that were sweet all on their own – cookies!

Many, yummy cookies. Like a chocolate chip cookie sandwich from Whole Foods.

And macarons from the tea place near my work. We tried milk chocolate marshmallow, Nutella, and cream brulee.

Marshmallow was the best, of course.

…We went to Smorgasburg

Per usual, we focused on duck buns and iced coffees.

We also went to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory – – and hated it. I have no idea how that place always has such a long line.

…I got a summery green pedicure

I sipped a delicious cold-brew iced coffee from Bareburger while I got my toes done.

That cup – squee!

…I ate leftovers that weren’t half bad

I drizzled leftover egg salad with Sriracha, served with leftover roasted green beans and buttered whole-wheat cinnamon swirl toast.

Roasting veggies is the real miracle, how can leftover green beans taste so good?!

…The dog ate wet food and this happened:

I tied his ears back so he could eat mess-free. What a cutie!

18Apr2015

Eggcellent Eats

by Emily

We bought tons eggs and dye for Easter this year, and of course, never did a darn thing with them. The dye is in our “holidays bin” for next year, but the eggs had to be cooked. And so, I enjoyed hard-boiled eggs as a meal almost every day this week.

I was also all about the Cara Cara oranges and Medjool dates. It’s starting to taste like summer!

stuff

I started Ruth Reichl’s first autobiography on the train and I think I’m in love.

She is so funny, and I love any story about food!

We were insanely busy at work all week and I’m dying. That’s why this post is a day late (and is short about 10 more coffee and candy pictures), because I did sessions with 18 patients on Friday – many of them with gestational diabetes – and when I got home I just wanted to lie down.

breakfast

I made an awesome cold-brew blend this week: Community Coffee French Roast and BRC Peru with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice.

Served on ice with S’mores Milk and skim milk.

So good.

I am almost through my Nonni’s Biscotti sample shipment and I am going to buy more when we’re out.

They are yummy, even when not dipped in coffee.

I discovered the magic that is dates dipped in peanut butter.

lunch

Kimchi noodle bowl.

The Cara Cara was the best finish for my perfectly burning mouth.

I brought TJ’s cashew butter and tahini kale chips and crispy broccoli snacks (<– they’re back!!) to crunch on top of salad bar.

With a big scoop of macaroni salad.

This tasting plate wins best lunch of the week.

Dates / turkey bacon / hard-boiled egg / crispy broccoli / orange.

But this triple – chocolate oatmeal bowl wins a close second.

Rolled oats with a heaping Tbsp of hot chocolate mix, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate chips.

And this busy day “lunch” was a loser. Vanilla soy milk at 11 am.

And Easter candy at 4pm when there was finally a lull.

dinner

Omg. Kids! I made the tastiest stroganoff-inspired noodle bowls ever. Adam and I could not get over them.

Served in heaping scoops on egg pappardelle.

Yummy Stroganoff-ish Pasta, serves 4

Heat 1 Tbsp evoo in a large skillet over high-medium heat. Add 20 ounces sliced white mushrooms, and a big pinch of salt, and cook until the mushrooms have lost their juices and browned, stirring regularly (10 – 13 minutes). Deglaze the pan with a healthy pour of cream sherry. Remove mushrooms from pan and reduce heat to medium-high, adding an additional Tbsp evoo if needed.
Add 1 lb lean ground turkey and two large shallots, chopped to the pan. Season with pepper and 1 Tbsp smoked paprika. Cook 5 minutes, stirring regularly and breaking up the meat into small pieces with the side of your spatula. Stir in 1/2 Tbsp ground garlic, 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until meat is cooked through (5 – 7 more minutes).
Reduce heat to low and stir in 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream.
Serve on top of pasta of choice.

The leftovers were still great.

Served on top of spinach salad. Plus, those of us who can eat chocolate had Lindt caramels for dessert.

We had cobb salad.

Baby spinach with balsamic / roasted asparagus / turkey bacon / avocado / TJ’s cave-aged blue cheese / hard-boiled eggs.

And egg salad.

Eggs with shredded carrot, chopped green pepper, mayo, pickle relish, garlic mustard, dill, tumeric, smoked paprika, and s & p. With great seeded crackers my parents sent us for Easter.

And roasted broccoli and green beans.

Egg salad is good – and I wasn’t even tired of eggs yet! – but roasted green beans are always the best part.

Then we finished the week out with Chipotle.

Enjoy your weekend!

13Apr2015

Homemade S’mores Milk and Weekend Brooklyn Love

by Emily

Adam and I had a pretty great weekend… in spite of me misplacing my – expensive! – favorite sports bra and spending half of Saturday in mourning. Seriously – I don’t change at the gym, I didn’t pack it on a trip, and we are very careful to check the machines for runaways when we do our laundry – where the frick is it?!! But when we weren’t checking and rechecking literally every drawer in the house, we did manage to have some fun.

highlights…

Homemade S’mores Milk

It’s official, I’m a genius. I put it in coffee, obviously.

S’mores Milk, makes 2 cups

Inspired by Tosi’s Cereal Milk. This recipe requires you to strain the solids out of the milk, you can use a fine mesh sieve but I used my French Press and that worked really well too. Smooshy marshmallows will not work for this, you need crispy ones; if you can’t find the Mallow Bits I recommend picking the marshmallows out of Lucky Charms!

2 cups skim milk or milk of choice
1/3 cup Jet Puff Mallow Bits
4 squares graham crackers, crumbled
2 Tbsp hot chocolate milk

Place all of the ingredients together in a container and stir to combine. Cover and store in the fridge for 8 – 16 hours.
Strain, discarding solids. Milk can be stored, covered, in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Cheesy Spicy Eggs

Coming up somewhere just behind coffee, diet coke, dulce de leche, and popcorn, corn cooked in scrambled eggs is one of my favorite meals.

This plate was TJ’s frozen fire-roasted corn, chopped spinach, and sliced shishito peppers (<– so much spicier than I was expecting!) cooked in coconut oil with eggs scrambled in and chunks of Kerrygold Skellig sweet cheddar tossed in at the end.

C’est Cheese in Port Jeff

C’est Cheese is always worth the drive up Port Jefferson for dinner.

We shared a beer sampler. The Framboise was my favorite.

A cheese plate. Adam loved the Tallegio and I was all about the 7-year Gouda.

And a grilled cheese with blue cheese and a raspberry-cranberry relish on marble rye. The cheese and jam combo made for the best bites of the night.

Snacky in Williamsburg

This weekend one of my lifelong best friends celebrated her 30th(!!!) birthday.

After the party, the husband and I had dinner at Snackys, one of my favorite Williamsburg spots. We shared a seaweed salad and a Chinese big bun stuffed with pickled vegetables.

And did rice bowls for dinner. I know the photos aren’t much, but my Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken Bowl was great, yummy sauce and big bites of kimchi.

Our 1st Smorgasburg of 2015

NYC people – if you haven’t done Smorgasburg yet you need to get your life together. They added a few new vendors this season and it is happy, foodie, perfection. We couldn’t find the Snowday truck but you can bet I’ll keep an eye out from now on.

We got lattes at Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Buns from Bite Sized Kitchen. I got red curry chicken with peanuts, cilantro, and fried garlic and shloots (topped with loads of sweet chili sauce).

And beer-battered cheese curds with truffle cheese sauce from Curd’s the Word.

Remember this post? The stupid sports bra is the fourth item I’ve ever lost… which would be a really good track record if 2, 3, and 4 hadn’t all been within the last year!

27Mar2015

Five Things Better Than Easter Candy

by Emily

Let’s be real – I’ve eaten a lot of Easter candy this week. Here are five things that taste better than Easter candy…

{1} TJ’s Espresso Pillows.

I realize that these are still candy, but they felt like a very fancy way to end my lunch hours. They are a bit smaller, and crunchier than typical chocolate-covered espresso beans.

{2} Homemade oatmeal bowls on the go.

1/3 cup rolled oats + 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries + 2 Tbsp malted milk powder + 1 Tbsp chocolate-covered cocoa nibs. I fill my bowl with hot water from the cafeteria (for tea) and have a yummy bowl of oats by the time I get back to my lounge.

{3} Peanut butter yogurt.

2% Plain Fage with my browned butterscotch peanut butter swirled in.

{4} Fresh blueberries.

This low-brow cereal bowl – eaten at my desk while I worked – was one of the best things I ate all week.

{5} The Duck, Duck, Gouda from Bare Burger.

A fried egg sandwich with duck bacon, gouda, and sweet tomato jam?? I was in heaven.

Have you gotten into the Easter candy yet?

23Mar2015

Pig & Khao & Bao

by Emily

New York gave us weather in the upper 40’s two days in a row and we had a fabulous weekend! We went to two new (to us) restaurants and adored them both. Here is a wrap-up of my favorite bites and sips, not including several more cups of coffee, several more cups of ice cream, and a windy but wonderful walk across the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

Carolina Honey Argo Tea.

This tea was honey perfection; I loudly “Mmmmn’d” at least five times before we had finished it. And bonus – Adam and I adore reusing the bottles.

Iced latte from Brooklyn Roasting Company.

A gorgeous espresso over skim milk, with raw sugar and a splash of cream. We fought over it on the subway. I also got another Maple Shay and learned that they will make it with skim milk and that it is even better that way.

Shaved ice at Snowdays.

We shared a sweet cream with salted caramel, fruity pebbles, grass jelly, and mochi. Snowdays is Adam’s favorite iced dessert option and mochi are my favorite iced dessert topping.

A stop at Sugar, Sweet, Sunshine.

I actually passed on the cupcakes in lieu of puddings –

Banana and chocolate chip cookie.

Baohaus rocked our socks off. Their lighting scheme was dim with shades of yellow, so I couldn’t get a good shot, but the buns were outstanding.

I got an Uncle Jessie: Organic fried tofu served with our Haus Seasoning Salt, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, cilantro, and Haus Sauce, and we shared a Coffin Bao: A large fried bao stuffed with our fried chicken topped with chili condensed milk syrup, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro. Chili condensed milk syrup is pretty much my love language!

Pig & Khao was even better. Adam says this was the best meal he’s had in months.

I had Vietnamese coffee.

And Shan noodles: ground chicken, turmeric, peanuts, fermented mustard greens, rice noodles.

Every dish had umami out the wazoo. I poured a bit of Adam’s chili oil – for dipping with his steak and eggs – into my broth and the burn was so worth it!

Green eggs at home.

Scrambled with fresh arugula and TJ’s fire roasted corn. Instead of toast, I had ice cream.

Jimmy Fallon can laugh at his own jokes, I don’t care, this is the best Ben & Jerry’s of all time: Caramel & Chocolate Ice Creams with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Peanut Butter Cookie Dough. Funny fact – I thought I hated iced cream up until a year or two ago.

I made a new salmon dish – Sweet and Spicy Cilantro Baked Salmon.

Recipe linked here. I was pleased enough with how it came out to make a recipe page.

With TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch (kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green and red cabbage) sautéed with leftover cilantro sauce and Wegman’s Thai peanut sauce.

This was worth dirtying up the food processor for.

Crossing my fingers that the weather stays “warm” this week.

17Mar2015

Pi(e) Day 2015

by Emily

Pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, is an infinite, constant number (i.e. the number goes on forever and it’s the same number for all circles of all sizes). π equals 3.1415926535897932384626etcetera,etcetera. Because of this, math-lovers and sugar-aficionados alike celebrate March 14 (3/14 = 3.14) as Pi Day each year. This year was extra special because it was a once-a-hundred-years opportunity to celebrate a full five digits (3/14/2015 = 3.14[.]15). Adam and I partook in both dessert pies and pizza pies to mark the occasion.

Pi Day

Adam and I knew that we wanted to go for the double, so we headed to Park Slope, where both our favorite pie place and pizza place reside. We were clearly not the only ones to have this idea –

After an hour+ wait, we did dessert first with pie at Four & Twenty Blackbirds.

Malted chocolate pecan for him and buttermilk chess for me. The crusts suffered a bit from what must have been a major uptick in production (Blackbirds was offering a 3 slices for $14 special) but the fillings were amazing as always.

Then we did slices of pizza pie at Pino’s.

Bbq chicken for me. Adam got more because he has π memorized beyond the first three digits 😉

Dinners in Bowls

I’m not so big on plates -I also prefer chopsticks to forks – and it feels like we eat the majority of our dinner out of bowls. Extra-credit if the food is layered into the bowl instead of served as a homogenous dish. Our dinners last weekend hit both counts.

We even ate dessert in bowls.

The ice cream was good, but nothing about it was “Tres Leches.” Boo.

Spicy sweet potato bowls.

baked yam
creamy Sriracha sauce – Sriracha, mayo, and honey
sautéed broccoli – in soy sauce and rice vinegar
sunny side up egg – fried in coconut oil

This was… not good. The idea was good, I think, but the broccoli was freezer-burnt and the potatoes were old.

Our bbq bowls were much, much better.

brown rice cooked in chicken stock
bbq pulled chicken – cooked in the crockpot with stock and smothered in TJ’s bbq sauce
collard greens sautéed with bbq sauce and turkey bacon
tons of caramelized sweet and red onions (cooked like this)
shredded sharp cheddar

We’re going to put our leftovers on top of salad later this week and I’m pretty excited about it.

DUMBO Fun

Drinks in DUMBO.

I am obsessed with Brooklyn Roasting Company‘s coffee and we finally made it to their roaster/café. I wish I had taken photos because the space was gorgeous and inviting, but we loved our beverages.

Iced Maple Shay for me = espresso with cream and real maple syrup. Amazingly, it was too sweet and creamy for me to finish.

Our next stop was the antithesis of maple and cream, green juice from Forager’s.

Kale, spinach, cucumber, and papaya. I will not be getting papaya again; I always like to include one sweet and juicy component in my green juice (carrot, apple, watermelon, etc) but the papaya did not bring any brightness to the party.

Williamsburg Fun

Sunday brunch and brunch dessert (<– that’s not a thing!) in East Williamsburg. We ate at Brooklyn Star where Adam was 99.9% sure that Emma Stone was at the next table. It wasn’t her, but it sure was her doppelgänger.

The bourbon bon bon – bourbon, iced coffee, sweetened condensed milk – was the menu item that called me in.

Nope! I love bourbon, and I love iced coffee, but apparently I don’t love them together.

My kale salad stole my heart though.

You can’t see it under the giant cheese crisp, but there was raw kale with lemon vinegarette, roasted peanuts, and golden raisins. Best kale salad ever. I know I say that every time, but this one was my new favorite.

We also got coffee at Sweatshop.

And the best sundae ever at Milk Bar. With crack pie soft-serve. The guy asked me if I wanted “hot fudge or cornflakes?,” and I answered “both.”

That was the correct answer.

Do you celebrate Pi Day? Favorite kind of pie?

6Mar2015

When It Snows It Blizzards*

by Emily

When it comes to the big, important stuff – having jobs, our health, and a great marriage – Adam and I know that we are unbelievably lucky. That said, man oh man, this week was annoying. The snow has been relentless, I wore my favorite sweater to work only to get to the cafeteria and douse myself head to toe in balsamic vinegar, Adam had to have both of his big toe nails emergently removed, and my car has a flat tire. When it rains it pours*. I’m pretty sure I have never been so glad for a weekend!

There was a lot of stress snacking going down this week that I didn’t do the best job of photographing, but I am going to recap the most delicious things…

breakfast

Iced coffee on the train and plain yogurt with peanut butter at my desk.

I had a ridiculously amazing coffee combo this week… Cold-brew with chocolate milk and toasted marshmallow coffee syrup!

So insanely good.

Are you admiring my nails? Scroll to the last section of this post.

snack

GH Cretors elevated our snacking game by sending me a big box of the two flavors from their new organic line – Simply Salted and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Note – the popcorn was sent to me free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Pre-popped popcorn can never really compare to freshly popped, but these are definitely the best bagged varieties we’ve ever tried. They are nice and crisp. Adam – who likes to pretend that he doesn’t like popcorn – was crazy for them, so that’s saying something. We preferred the Simply Salted because the EVOO was good, but not quite as flavorful. Both are organic and kosher and have 40 calories per cup.

I surprised my sore husband with a giant, sweet latte.

I got myself a rocky road latte as well. Meh.

We tried the hazelnut torte bar from Lindt’s new “Creation” line.

Now I want the crème brûlée flavor!

I’m still loving the Ice Chips.

Lemon was a very nice way to transition back from lunch to work this week.

lunch

Fage with raspberry and butterscotch peanut butter.

The citrus fruits shown in my lunches this week are fresh Mandarins from Trader Joe’s that were wonderful. Very sweet and juicy with almost no seeds.

Baked yucca fries from the cafeteria. I had about double what’s shown because I started eating before I sat down.

They were paired with the salad that ruined my outfit.

TJ’s egg white salad and popcorn.

The egg salad was practically inedible; whyyyy was there so much turmeric??

Popcorn, Applegate Farm sliced turkey, mini Jarlsberg, and olives.

The tasting plates were fun, but I was missing my yogurt bowls.

dinner

If you judge a dish by how good it tastes cold and leftover, straight from the casserole dish – I definitely do! – then my pizza mac and cheese was a real winner.

Adam heated his serving up, but he also recommends that you try the recipe.

Chipotle night. I ate a giant rice bowl with chicken, veggies, and pretty much all of the toppings.

Our neighborhood is pretty much a food wasteland, but I think Chipotle would be Adam’s first pick even if we lived somewhere with more going on!

This was our best dinner of the week:

Roasted broccoli and kalettes (aka kale-Brussels sprout hybrids).

Southern pickle “fried” chicken. <– I am so proud of this one; check the recipe sidebar!

I served mine on a toasted, open-faced sandwich with a bit of mayo.

Last night we had fabulous kale salads.

I massaged a bunch of kale with Sepo sauce in the morning and then tossed it with roasted broccoli, cubed avocado, and roasted coconut chips when it was time for dinner.

We were supposed to have chicken on top of our salads but I accidentally left the remaining tenders sitting out on the counter overnight so instead I had a grilled cheese sandwich while I wrote this post.

fancy nails

So my jazzy nail polish? Actually nail wraps from Jamberry.

One of the girls I used to cocktail waitress with is a Jamberry consultant (her sales page is what I linked above) and she sent me a sample kit so I could try them out. I am pretty amazed by how easy they are to put on; really not tricky or time-consuming at all, maybe almost as easy as ~~slopping~~ painting on polish. Plus they are very cute! I will definitely buy some to try again.

P.S. Thanks to Way Back Machine, I was able to find my old employee profile (click to enlarge) –

Omg!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: eggs

Fun Facts From The Weekend

It’s A Miracle! {They’re Alive, Damn It!}

This weekend…

…I tried MiraBurst

Please note – I was sent the berries free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

…I also ate things that were sweet all on their own – cookies!

…We went to Smorgasburg

…I got a summery green pedicure

…I ate leftovers that weren’t half bad

…The dog ate wet food and this happened:

Eggcellent Eats

stuff

breakfast

lunch

dinner

Homemade S’mores Milk and Weekend Brooklyn Love

Homemade S’mores Milk

Cheesy Spicy Eggs

C’est Cheese in Port Jeff

Snacky in Williamsburg

Our 1st Smorgasburg of 2015

Five Things Better Than Easter Candy

Pig & Khao & Bao

Pi(e) Day 2015

Pi Day

Dinners in Bowls

DUMBO Fun

Williamsburg Fun

When It Snows It Blizzards*

breakfast

snack

Note – the popcorn was sent to me free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

lunch

dinner

fancy nails