Our Weekend Trip To Buffalo

We moved from Buffalo to Long Island almost 10 months ago now and we felt overdue for a visit!  Adam is on Spring Break this week so I took a personal day on Friday and we made the 8 hour drive back “home.”

It was a great weekend.  I’m still pretty sick so we kept things low-key and it ended up being a wonderfully relaxing trip.  And we still had time to cross off all of the must-do’s on our list.  We ate all of the food we were missing, walked down Elmwood, visited my old job to get all nostalgic and purchase some terrific toys, attended a baby shower for two dear friends, went out drinking with the whole crowd, and took a long walk around the park to look at the buffalo.

DSC09233

Here were the food highlights…

Bubble tea from Gin Gin.

DSC09210

I got vanilla-almond milk tea with tapioca and popping boba.

DSC09207

Thai Orchid for the best Thai food ever.

DSC09213

My tofu Pad See Ew did not disappoint.  So chewy!

DSC09216

SPoT for breakfast.

DSC09220

Iced coffee and a Mike’s sandwich on an everything bagel.

DSC09221

Juice at Ashker’s.  A blend of kale, spinach, cucumber, and carrot.

DSC09223

We split a duck feast at Blue Monk.  Duck Reuben and Duck Poutine.

DSC09228

And on the way out-of-town Danielle took us to Aroma for a brunch that would have been a weekly tradition had we known about it while we still lived in Buffalo.

DSC09238

That Buffalo Bloody Mary had gorgonzola and Frank’s in it!  And my salad came topped with artichoke hearts, calamata olives, fried leeks, tomatoes, shaved parmigiano-reggiano, balsamic vinaigrette and a poached Oles Farm free-range egg.

DSC09245

It was a fantastic, delicious visit.

The long car rides weren’t even that bad – honestly they were sort of fabulous – thanks to the audiobook I was sent to review.  Doing Harm by Kelly Parsons is an exciting debut novel about medicine and moral dilemmas in which a surgeon must confront, outwit, and overcome deadly threats to his patients and himself.  The audiobook is voiced by Robert Petkoff, who has voiced countless thrillers, including those of Michael Palmer.

DSC09203

This was our first time listening to an audiobook and I think we are officially hooked.  It made the time fly by.  Time for a book review…

cons –

  1. Some of the medical terms were mispronounced – fascia, parenteral nutrition, rhabdomyolysis – and it was distracting.
  2. The author was weirdly obsessed with hairdos; there was only one lone character, out of every single other character both big or small, whose hair we didn’t get a description of.

pros –

  1. The story completely sucked us in, we would sit in the car for at least five additional minutes whenever we reached a destination!
  2. The experience of being a surgical resident was very accurately captured, Adam couldn’t believe how spot-on the author managed to be.
  3. Most of the medical plot was fairly accurate as well.

Overall I’d recommend reading, or listening to, Doing Harm.

Do you ever listen to audiobooks?

Weekly Wrap-Up; All By Myself

Adam is on spring break right now so I gave him my free ticket voucher and he spent a week in St. Thomas with my parents.  They are all disgustingly in love with each other and had a fabulous time.  Meanwhile I was home alone but at least I had the dog.

webster

Furry cuddles totally got me through.  And I definitely took advantage of meals as a single lady.

breakfast

Fruit and yogurt bowl.

DSC09095

A strawberry Fage topped with fresh pineapple and cara cara orange.

A lackluster morning.

DSC09124

A bottle of iced coffee that I thought tasted artificial and threw out halfway through.

DSC09127

And a NuGo bar that was nowhere near as tasty as their salted pretzel variety.

DSC09128

Smoothie.

DSC09157

Coffee greek yogurt with frozen blackberries, toasted coconut, and chocolate milk.  <– Fantabulous

Smoothie 2 was frozen mango, blackberries, and spinach with coconut water.

DSC09191

Have you tried the ice cream coffees from Dunkin?  This was butter pecan.

DSC09180

I tried the cookie dough last weekend too and it was legit amazing.

lunch

Salad day.

DSC09111

Arugula with carrots, pea shoots, honey roasted almonds, buckwheat groats, blue cheese, dried blueberries, and vinaigrette.

DSC09101

Plus a cara cara orange and tamarind balls from home.

DSC09108

My coworkers are mostly all from the Caribbean as well and they were thrilled that I shared my tamarind shipment.

Oatmeal and apples.

DSC09148

Cherry Pistachio from Quaker.

DSC09149

And Cherry Vanilla from Big Slice.

DSC09153

This was the first flavor of these kettle cooked apples that I didn’t like.

Sandwich spread.

DSC09165

An everything bagel thin with strawberry jam, sharp cheddar, smoked turkey, and banana peppers.

DSC09167

Plus spicy peanut cucumber salad.

DSC09172

And raspberry candies and the last orange.

DSC09168

snack

Paper bag popcorn.

DSC09121

Prune chocolates my Russian coworker shared.

DSC09194

I ate this entire bag of Inner Peas in one sitting.

DSC09201

It was pathetic but also delicious.

I topped with cool tub of fig yogurt with white chocolate chips and toasted coconut.

DSC09196DSC09197

Cookie mugs rocked my face of this week.

DSC09087

I use this recipe, but swap the ratio of white to brown sugar.

DSC09188

Do ittttttt.

dinner

Salad night.

DSC09113

I had a TJ’s pretzel bread in the car as an appetizer.

DSC09097

Then topped a giant bowl of arugula and pea shoots with medium-boiled eggs, blue cheese, turkey bacon, shredded carrot, yogurt blue cheese dressing, and truffle salt.

DSC09117

And now medium-boiled eggs are my new favorite thing.

A combination of nibbles.  Pretzels straight from the bag.

DSC09131

A granny smith dipped in peanut butter and lavender caramel.

DSC09137

And baby carrots with red pepper hummus.

DSC09138

Green eggs and ham.

DSC09174

Eggs scrambled with okra, arugula, and swiss cheese.

DSC09177

Soup’s up.

DSC09185

This poblano and corn chowder was delicious.

DSC09183

And now we’re off to do fun spring break stuff!

Weeklong Wrap-Up; The Top Five

It took a week longer than I’d hoped, but I’m back to feeling 100%!  The alternative title for this post was “Cough Drop Chronicles.”

In the interim between this post and the last, I ate a ton of food but didn’t have it in me to capture most of it.  Adam and I made amazing, ridiculous nachos – maple bacon kettle chips baked with a blend of eight cheeses – but I shoveled them into my mouth before there was time to let them cool, let alone be photographed.  On Saturday I went to a wedding shower that served lunch – awesome lobster ravioli with big shrimp on top – but the only person I knew beforehand was the bride-to-be so I was too embarrassed to get out my camera.

Instead of a full post, here are my “top five” from the past week.

1. Liquid breakfast.  I was feeling my sickest on Monday and these three beverages were all consumed over the course of the same morning.

Green smoothie.  Frozen spinach, mango, and coconut water.

DSC09004

Lavender GT Kombucha.  I shared this with Adam and he actually liked it even more than I did.

DSC09008

“Mocha.”  Hospital coffee with a chocolate soy milk.

DSC09009

2. Sweet stuff.  These three desserts were the very best of the week but only the tip of the iceberg in terms of consumption.  I made it through by having a cough drop or hard candy in my mouth pretty much all waking 12 hours a day.

Nunu caramel dark chocolate bar.  <– made in Brooklyn

DSC09071

Whole Foods peanut butter sandwich cookie.  This was basically a giant, soft peanut butter cup.

DSC09081

Haagen-Dazs Caramelized Banana Chip Gelato.

DSC09057

3. Another beverage/sweet.

Arizona Fudge Float Sparkling Soda.  This was practically a can of egg cream!

DSC09076

4. Salmon and salad.

DSC09047

Coho salmon that I (over)baked with smoked brown sugar, soy sauce, and green onions.

DSC09052

DSC09043

Plus a cucumber salad of thinly sliced cucs, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.

DSC09053

5. Dinner at Pizza Loves Emily.

DSC09019

This Brooklyn spot was seriously adorable inside.

DSC09022

We got a lavender lemonade.

DSC09025

Crispy Sprouts.

DSC09028

apples, chilis, black sesame, fish sauce

DSC09027

And the Emily white pizza.

DSC09030

mozzarella, pistachios, truffle sottocenere, honey

DSC09032

Weekend Wrap-Up; Snoozy Saturday

My predicted “hours in the kitchen” did not end up coming to fruition this weekend.  Instead, I got the tail end of Adam’s cold and spent almost all of Saturday and Sunday in bed.  Saturday I got up twice to pee and once to eat a huge bowl of cereal and other than that I was under the covers until the husband got home for dinner!  I don’t have a ton to share in this post, but at least I got to snuggle with Webster!

Dinner from the Trader Joe’s frozen aisle.

DSC08807

Pad See Ew with veggies and tofu.

DSC08813

DSC08805And frozen asparagus cooked with lime juice and honey roasted almonds.

DSC08812

The asparagus was pretty mushy, but we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the noodles.  Sidenote – I impulse bought TJ’s “Inner Peas” at the store this weekend and was impressed with them as well.

My very last peppermint divinity candy.

DSC08803

I’m sure my parents won’t mind sending me more next December, right guys??

Sushi take-out from Kisso on Saturday.

DSC08817

I got the vegetarian special,

DSC08823

and an order of vegetable goyza.

DSC08825

The dumplings were great.  I shared with Adam because they reminded me of the dumplings we were obsessed with from Wegman’s hot bar.  Then we shared a bag of Juicy Bears 🙂

Sunday I made it out of bed and off to the store – with very necessary pit stops to shower and caffeinate – so I could make dinner at home.  My Turkey Reuben Mac and Cheese.

DSC08838

I subbed in Orecchiette for macaroni and added broccoli and truffle salt.

We had a round of creamy pink grapefruit spritzers for drinks/dessert.

DSC08829

Yum!

Outside of your college years, when is the latest you’ve ever slept in?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Equations With Pie

Happy Monday, all!  Did everyone else enjoy Pi Day on Friday (March 14 –>  3/14  –>  3.14)?  People usually celebrate the date by eating pie and/or pizza{pie}.  We went with the sweet variety, though now that I think about it we had pizza over the weekend too.

In random order, here are the eats I have to share…

lunch

Friday at work.

DSC08672

A pepperoni and cheese snack box,

DSC08674

and a GT’s Synergy Grape Chia Kombucha.

DSC08676

We got lunch at Noodle & Co. while running errands on Saturday.

DSC08724

DSC08725I got the Japanese pan noodles – caramelized udon noodles in a sweet soy sauce, broccoli, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, Asian sprouts, black sesame and cilantro.

DSC08730

I paid for extra veggies, which got me a whopping 3 tiny pieces of broccoli.  We were not impressed.

dinner

Easy dinner on Friday to leave room for pie.

DSC08680

Eggs scrambled with kale and corn.

DSC08683

Pizza on Saturday.  My half was topped with mushroom.

DSC08732

I got my veggies in the form of Sweet Greens.

DSC08722

Sunday was Chipotle take-out.

DSC08762

I planned on saving half of my meal for Adam (he was working the night shift) but I ended up eating every single bite of rice bowl and chips!

DSC08767

It doesn’t look like much, but my “meat” was sofritas – shredded tofu braised with chiles, poblanos, and spices – and it was delicious.

brunch

Au Bon Pain debuted a new seasonal Spring Menu on March 10th and they sent me a gift certificate so I could review their newest bakery item.  – please note: I was able to sample the new items free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own. –

Adam and I decided to do a late Sunday morning brunch.

DSC08743

Coffee – a skim, iced Caffé Viennese – and a Sweet Cheese CroisBun, aka their new croissant and sweet bun hybrid.

DSC08747

The outside was wonderfully flakey and sweet but the inside was what really shined.  The sweet cheese was sooooo moist – the main reason I usually don’t eat Danish is because they tend to get dried out, but this was amazing.  There was a sweet cheese and strawberry variety that looked yummy too.

I also got a Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad.

DSC08737

DSC08739Very good as well.  The seasoning on the chicken provided so much flavor.  Other options from the new menu include a Chicken Wasabi Wrap and Black Currant Iced Tea that I quite want to try.

snackage

Pi Day celebration from Four & Twenty Blackbirds.

DSC08686

DSC08678I got our slices to-go but the space was super adorable and I am dying to go back.

Oatmeal black bottom – I didn’t love the texture of the oats within the pie but Adam was a big fan –

DSC08689

Salted honey – custard with the perfect balance of salt and sweet –

DSC08692

Lemon chess – my favorite variety; packed with pucker –

DSC08694

We were both very pleased.  And we sat on the couch, holding hands, eating pie, and watching tv, so it was pretty much the best night ever.

And on Saturday I put the leftover lemon chess pie in vanilla bean Greek yogurt.

DSC08736

Perfection.

On Sunday, a girlfriend and I went to a gelato making class.

DSC08748

DSC08751DSC08753We came home with 4 pints each.

DSC08759

The class was fun, but I’m honestly not that thrilled with the taste/quality of my pints.  At least we went on a Groupon.

The highlight of my weekend – other than time with the husband, obvs – was getting my hands on this:

DSC08755

Diet cherry coke slurpee, for the win!  It tasted like dreams.  Even my friend, who’s not an addict like I am, said it was tasty.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Weekly Wrap-Up; A Giveaway Winner And Another Giveaway!

Hey there!  First things first, the winner of my Sandwich, Bagel, and Pocket Thins giveaway is – #30, laurajacobson.  {if you’re only here for the next giveaway keep scrolling to the bottom of this post!}

I haven’t talked much about work beyond posting some pictures of my office, so I thought I’d share a few updates:

a) Most of my coworkers love my purple hair.  Everyone has said that they wouldn’t have expected me to be the type of person to get a crazy color, which is funny because over the past decade I’ve gone purple or pink (or one really unfortunate shade of maroon) several times.

b) As of this week I’m going to be covering inpatient floors on Tuesdays.  I’ve been enjoying my job but it is very exciting to get back into acute care!  My heart belongs to tube feeds.  And since I’m just going where I’m needed, I’ll be able to get exposure to a little bit of everything.

c) It finally happened… one of my former students came into the clinic!!!  I saw her name on my list but didn’t put two and two together until she was standing in front of my door for nutrition counseling.  We both spent the first 10 minutes of our time reminiscing and freaking out. It was really fun to see how grown-up she was.

Now onto the food, in reverse. I had many really amazing new things this week and you’re in for a lot of gushing; you’ve been warned…

dinner

Fancy pasta.

DSC08575

Whole wheat noodles, sautéed shrimp, and torn kale tossed with lemon, parmesan, and fat-free half & half.

A total fail.

DSC08637

This was my attempt at okra masala, sans recipe.

DSC08642

Things were going well until I added a 2nd round of dried herbs and spices, rendering the dish inedible.  I ate a bag of gummi bears for dinner instead.

DSC08639

Plus my kale chips.

In celebration of upcoming St. Patrick’s Day, Fairway contacted me to see if I would like to try* their house-baked beer bread.  Yes, please!

DSC08651

The bread is made with NY local Blue Point Brewing Co. Hoptical Illusion IPA.

DSC08654

The bread was delicious – between sandwiches and toasted slices with cheese melted on top we finished the entire thing in two days! – but even more magical was what happened when I went to go pick it up.  Apparently I had never been inside a Fairway before, because, holy foodie heaven, you guys, I have found my new favorite grocery store.  Fairway was better than TJ’s, Whole Foods, and even {gasp!} Wegman’s.  The store was impeccably clean, the produce was the best I’ve seen all winter, and I spotted at least five of the products I’ve been trolling other stores for over the past six months.  There was even a hot bar!  I don’t think I saw any store brands so my wallet won’t let me shop their exclusively but I am very jazzed to add it to my grocery rotation!

As for the bread, I decided to stay on theme and make turkey reubens.

DSC08663

Beer bread, fresh sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing, and Applegate Farms Herb Turkey Breast and Emmentaler Sliced Swiss.

DSC08669

For our green on the side we did baby kale sautéed with dried blueberries and honey roasted almonds.

DSC08666

Such a good combo, the berries took it over the top.

And Thursday I was too lazy to make dinner soIatepopcornwhilewatchingtv,theend.

snacks

Recently Cow Wow reached out to me about trying* their cereal milk.

DSC08533

Cow Wow is low-fat, kosher, gluten-free, all-natural and organic.  They sent me three flavors in an adorable little lunch box.

DSC08527

DSC08532Adam and I split a Fruity Trudy Organic Low-fat Milk one night as a snack.

DSC08583

The flavor was spot-on for milk from the bottom of a bowl of fruity cereal.  I hate fruity cereal, so it was a little too spot-on for me, but Adam liked it.  I’ll talk about the other flavors lower in this post, but to enter to win a lunchbox of your own just scroll to the end of this post!

A super sundae.

DSC08592

Dannon Café Latte Frozen Greek Yogurt – the flavor was wonderful but the texture had the hollowness that low-fat ice creams tend to have –

DSC08588

topped with candied pecans and Spoonable Flowery Lavender Caramel Sauce.

DSC08585

Beer bread with cheese.

DSC08656

I didn’t even use the oven that time.  I microwaved it.  Like an animal.

And Blackberry Oikos with the last of the pecans.

DSC08610

lunch

Lunches vacillated between freaking awesome and very weak.  Monday was a strong showing.

DSC08566

An Everything Bagel Thin with Applegate Farms Roasted Turkey, a fantastic crunchy cheddar from TJ’s, and banana peppers.

DSC08558

DSC08560Plus a granny smith with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

DSC08562

Tuesday I bought a salad from the cafeteria and didn’t take a picture.

Wednesday was insane and I ended up not having time for my packed lunch.  Instead I just drank this Arriba Horchata Energy Drink.

DSC08624

I poured it over ice and it was ridiculous good.

Thursday I ate Wednesday’s lunch.

DSC08614

A Cara Cara.

DSC08617

And a Fage Coffee Fruyo.

DSC08621

This yogurt is my new favorite.  It blows every other coffee variety out of the water!  This was not enough food though (I forgot my other bag of snacks at home) and I ended up eating candy at my desk all afternoon.  Boo.

breakfast

Last Friday I finally got to try the new vanilla macchiato from Starbucks.

DSC08497

It was flipping fabulous and I’ve had one almost every day since.

Random sidenote – Now what I really need to try is this:

DSC08500

I want it so bad I can practically taste it but none of the locations I’ve been to have had it frozen.  I’m a woman obsessed.

A set of cinnamon.

DSC08569

Cinnamon Crunch Somersaults.

DSC08571

And a Cinny Minny Cow Wow.

DSC08573

Again, the flavor was a perfect match to the bottom of the cereal bowl.  And I do like cinnamon cereal so I was a fan.

A ridiculously fantastic breakfast sandwich.

DSC08597

An Everything Bagel Thin with sautéed kale, fancy cheddar, roasted turkey, and a fried egg.

DSC08602

It was tasty, filling, and it didn’t even take me all that long to make.

Cereal and milk cereal milk and fruit.

DSC08625

A great pear – TJ’s has been killing it with the bosc and d’anjou pears lately.

DSC08630

And my last flavor of Cow Wow.

DSC08634

The fun of chocolate but not too sweet for breakfast.  Chocolate Chip Cathy was my favorite flavor by far.  Though they also have a marshmallow flavor and if I can ever get my hands on it I’m pretty sure it will win my affection.

*both the bread and the cereal milk were sent to me free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

the giveaway

To enter to win your own lunchbox packed with three flavors of Cow Wow, simply leave a comment on this post by 8 pm EST on Monday, March 17th.

***Update – #10, latanya, was the winner.

Weekly Wrap-Up; Under / The Weather / Is Still Too Cold

If you couldn’t guess from the title, my complaints this week are: a) it’s too cold outside and b) I’ve caught a cold.  A.1 would be holy plastic, Batman, I’ve eaten a lot of packaged foods this week!

I’ve been eating {tons of junk} but not photographing so this will be a quick recap.  Thankfully speed helps keep my complaining in check!

breakfast

And I started my Monday off so well.

DSC08441

Smoothie  = Coco Café Vanilla Coconut Water Latte, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a scoop of peanut butter.

Tuesday went downhill.

DSC08463

Bagel with {tons of} cream cheese from a truck on my way to work.

And this morning I admitted defeat and got a giant latte with an extra shot of espresso.  Sidenote – I want to try the vanilla macchiato at Starbucks ASAP.

lunch

Monday.

DSC08446

GoPicnic Box.

DSC08448

And a Cara Cara.

DSC08452

Readers who live within a feasible distance of Trader Joe’s – go get thee a bag of Cara Cara Oranges this very minute!  They are sweet, seedless, and rocking my face off.

Tuesday.

DSC08457

An herb and garlic tuna packet scooped with TJ’s popped chips.

DSC08462

With more Cara Cara love.

Wednesday I felt so bad I actually called into work.  I slept for most of the day and then hit the bed hard again by 10 pm that night.  Boo.

Thursday.

DSC08474

A ranch tuna packet stirred into a mac and cheese cup.

DSC08478

DSC08475Tuna was good, the macaroni was disgusting.  The Cara Cara was fantastic, obviously.

junk

Please note – this post only shows a small sampling of the truly massive amount of junk I’ve been eating lately.  Speaking of which… I have these {ridiculously delicious, like seriously out of control good} pretzel bites on the train at least twice a week.

DSC08470

That habit needs to die, immediately.

I’ve also developed a pretty hardcore Good & Plenty obsession this week.

DSC08468

As far as candy goes, this is hardly the worst because you get a very satisfying serving for 180 calories and no fat.  But as far as being a healthy adult goes, I need to stop eating so much freaking candy.

Chocolate covered pretzels are also candy.

DSC08454

I actually ate these for dinner one night, but that was too depressing so I put them under this category instead.  I am clearly struggling with being a grown-up during the weeks when Adam’s working nights and I’m left to my own devices.

dinner

I ate cereal (and/or candy) for dinner most nights this week but did get in two nights of people food.  Like leftover pizza.

DSC08456

Topped with chicken, caramelized onions, and bbq sauce.

And last night Adam had business in the city so he swung by Brooklyn to pick me up from work for Date Night!  Swoon!!  We got in a freezing but enjoyable 2 mile walk, stopping along the way to split a green juice.

DSC08482

Kale/collards/romaine/cucumber/celery/parsley/green apple/lime.

Then we had a wonderful dinner at Calexico.

DSC08491

DSC08484We wandered into it by chance after our first choice for dinner didn’t work out and I am so glad that we found it.  We can’t wait to go back for margaritas and nachos.

For dinner last night, I did the black bean taco – guacamole, pico de gallo, cotija cheese, and “crack sauce.”

DSC08492

Plus the veggie special – fried brussels sprouts in chili and peanut salsa.

DSC08495

The food was fresh, inventive, and perfectly seasoned.  I know my pictures were dark and blurry, but I was afraid if I didn’t blog this meal I would forget about it and I definitely want to remember this place.  Calexico will be a repeat spot!

What bad habit do you need to start being more of a grown-up about?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Purple Hair Don’t Care

It’s been a fun weekend.  On Saturday I did this again –

DSC08412

DSC08411

Welcome back, purple hair, I’d missed you.

Things have been pretty low-key since I last posted.  Adam has an insane schedule for the next month and I was trying to soak up as much time with him as I could.

Plus we were pretty productive – we spent Saturday buying him 2 of the 3 pairs of shoes he desperately needs (new running shoes, comfortable shoes for the hospital, and days off shoes).  We even made a trip to the gym.  I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill, doing some half-hearted running intervals and incline walking.  I can’t go back for a few days – I can’t wash my hair until the color sets so I don’t want to sweat – but it was a good start.

Here is some of what I did on the food front…

breakfast

Iced Americano with fat-free chocolate milk.

DSC08358

Still obsessed.

Baked oatmeal with maple and pecans for Sunday brunch.

DSC08431

I loosely followed this recipe.  I cut back on the sugar and used candied pecans.

lunch

Thursday I had packed a lunch, but then when I went into the cafeteria to buy a drink the special called to me.

DSC08370

My baked potato with cheese sauce, broccoli, onions, and pickled jalopeños was delicious.  Not as filling as I’d hoped though, I ended up buying a snack later that afternoon.

DSC08373

Friday my abandoned lunch from the day before was already in my office.

DSC08363

Quaker Summer Berry Oatmeal,

DSC08366

topped with Big Slice Cinnamon French Toast Kettle Cooked Apples.

DSC08367

The apples were delicious, their texture was perfect.  I went to Target that very day to buy more.  Coincidentally, the oat bowls were on sale and I got more of those too.

snacks

Iced coffee from Café Dada.

DSC08408

Yum x infinity.  I salivate when I think about this coffee.

Adam and I split a rocky nut Snickers.

DSC08376

The marshmallow layer is crazy.

More sugar.

DSC08428

We are both completely obsessed with these Juicy Bears.  They are so juicy!

dinner

A fancy Friday dinner.

DSC08405

Salad – arugula with yogurt blue cheese dressing, shredded carrot, and Emmy’s Blueberry Cashew Super Cereal.

DSC08403

With groats, raisins, cashews, and dried blueberries the cereal really seems like more of a salad topper anyway.  Plus a reject piece of too small chicken from our new favorite recipe.

DSC08397

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken, serves 2 – 4

4 oz light feta cheese

  • 2 Tbsp capers
  • 10 queen sized pimento-stuffed green olives
  • medium lemon, juiced and zest (reserve both juice and zest)
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 Tbsp smoked brown sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.  Prepare a baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Place feta, capers, olives, and lemon zest into the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse until well-combined and no large chunks remain.
  3. Using a serrated knife, slice into the side of each chicken breast until you are a quarter-inch from the other side.  Basically you want to be able to open the breasts like little books.
  4. Open the chicken breasts and place into the baking dish.  Spread filling mixture onto one side of each breast, then close the “books.”  Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the chicken, then drizzle with lemon.
  5. Place baking dish into the oven and bake 40 – 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

DSC08379

Saturday’s dinner was less exciting.  More salad.

DSC08419

Arugula with carrots, blue cheese, sliced green olives, crumbled feta, and flax.

Plus eggs cooked with pizza sauce, more arugula and olives, and shredded Parmesan.

DSC08422

The olives seemed like a really good idea but in the end their juiciness was not appreciated in the eggs.

Last night I ate pizza for dinner.

DSC08436

Thank you, cheese, for being you!

Have you ever dyed your hair a crazy color?