Weekish Wrap-Up

The title is sort of a pun!  Because this post is pretty weak.  Get it??

I’ve been all over the place with my posting schedule lately but it just feels right.  Especially this two-day “week” because I’ve been total snack monster so I’ve eaten a full post’s worth of food.  Here we go…

Cold-brew coffee with low-fat chocolate milk.

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Oh, I noticed you admiring my nails {just go with it}, here’s a better shot –

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I know they aren’t perfect – and I cleaned up the edges a bit after that photo – but I was so flipping proud to have managed them at all.  My hands have made me happy all week.

Onto pictures you’ve actually asked for… welcome to my office at work!

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It is never as messy as my hair is in that picture {yikes!}.

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I haven’t done much decorating, but I have a few touches to make it feel like home (mostly reminders of Webster).

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But back to my mocha, that did not make me happy.  I bought a jug of chocolate milk and made a week’s worth of coffee… but I used the butter rum flavored coffee from Target and ultimately it is just too nasty to drink.  I ended up throwing out my whole batch!

I had this Dannon pecan drinkable yogurt on the train.

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I was really impressed with how creamy it was.

Work lunch.

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An apple,

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and leftover shrimp pad thai from the weekend.

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I still can’t believe we were able to make it taste so good/authentic.

Another lunch.  This one not nearly as photogenic.

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Pumpernickel with miracle whip, grape jam, banana peppers, sharp cheddar, and smoked turkey.

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A red pear.

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And a mini Honeycomb chocolate from Chuao.

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Snacks at work: Lots of tea from my Numi samples.

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Haribo liquid center fruit gummi candies.

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And a bag of Somersaults.

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Snacks at home: A packet of tuna salad.

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A ridiculous peanut butter fudge mug cake.

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And a mini Firecracker Chocolate from Chuao.

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I don’t know how they keep the pop rocks so fresh when they’re enrobed in chocolate but this bar had crackle!

Last night’s dinner was rice noodles with bean sprouts and tons of broccoli cooked in peanut sauce.

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Normally this is one of our favorite meals but this dinner felt very meh.

And that’s all she wrote! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lonely Island

Let’s be honest – being married to a surgical resident sucks.  Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of Adam that he’s such a smartypants and I love that he gets the opportunity to do something meaningful that excites him, but if I had my druthers I think we would both be beach bums working together at a part-time job somewhere.

We don’t have any time now.  After 11 years together (and 6 years of marriage) we somehow still really like each other so living as two ships passing in the night, as I said, sucks.

It’s not great for blog content either.  Adam was on night shifts all this week and I was home alone which meant I ate cereal and/or popcorn most days.  Not a ton of healthy living to share!  And it didn’t help that when I pulled up my photos  to write this post half of them were horrendous and were promptly deleted.  Here is what I do have to share…

Work lunch 1.

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Fresh mango,

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and a Passion Fruit Noosa.

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This was the first time I had ever tried passion fruit not in juice form.  I liked the crunchy seeds!

Work lunch 2.

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Peach Noosa,

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topped with fresh blueberries,

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and Linwood Ground Flax Seed with Cocoa, Strawberries,  and Blueberries.

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The flax was part of a box of samples I recently received to review.

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It was quite good; you couldn’t taste the berries but it had a nice hint of chocolate.  I keep meaning to bring flax back into my life so the samples came at a great time.

Pink smoothie.

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Chocolate peppermint soy milk with frozen strawberries.  Adam is obsessed with this combination.  The only plus to nights is that he is home with me in the morning for breakfast.

Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar.

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This didn’t have the best texture but it did a great job of keeping me full.

Gummi Koalas.

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These are Adam’s favorites but they couldn’t hold a candle to my new obsession with Haribo Juicy Bears.

Blissinger’s Dulce de Leche with Sea Salt bar.

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Yuck!  Way too salty.  I’m hoping that the husband ends up liking it because it was quite expensive and I could only eat one square.

Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults.

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This one I have no complaints about 🙂

Oven baked fries.

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With evoo, truffle salt, and dried rosemary from my grandma’s garden.

Iowa Girl Eats’ Chicken Chili topped with extra-sharp cheddar, low-fat sour cream, and pickled jalopeños.

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I skipped the brown sugar, doubled the onion, and added some liquid smoke.  Adam loooooved this, and he says he hates chili.

Leftover chili stuffed in a baked potato.

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With more cheese, sour cream, and jalopeños, and roasted broccoli on the side(s).  This was cheesy amazing.  We need to make baked potatoes more often.

Do you feel like you get enough time with your significant other or does work get in the way?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Feeling Fizzy

Hey there!  The weather has not warmed up yet (though we are promised a week of mid-30’s to come!) but, as predicted, I am in a much better mood* than I was during my last wrap-up.  My dietitan side wants to attribute my good feelings to getting in more produce this week!

*I am probably going to exclaim that “____________ was soooooo good!” a million times in this post and I feel the need to disclaim that this is not just my bubbly persona, I had lots of really tasty things this week.

Breakfast

Half of a Gnu Fiber Love Blondie Bar and a skim black tea latte.

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DSC07599I went with tea only because I had a coupon but I ended up thinking that it was quite nice.  The bar on the other, was very meh.

A short skim latte.

DSC07673I almost never drink hot coffee but in the moment it sounded good.  Probably because I was still thinking about how nice the foam was with my tea.

A fantabulous smoothie.

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Frozen blueberries, a frozen banana, Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 Tbsp Vanilla Bean and Espresso Barney Butter, and a Coco Café Coconut Water Café Latte.  The coffee + almond combo was perfection.

Lunch

Lunch 1.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Noosa Yogurt (pssst, all Noosa shown in this post are former freebies).

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I had never tried rhubarb before this but if it tastes in pie like it does in this yogurt then I’m sure I’d be a fan.  Plus baby carrots and green pepper with Bolthouse Farms Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing for dipping.

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And a Pink Grapefruit Cascade Ice Water.

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Oh gosh, the pink grapefruit, sooooo good.  I don’t even usually like grapefruit but this knocked my socks off.  This bottle was part of a very sweet box Cascade Ice Waters sent me this week.

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Being a fan of all thing fizzy, I knew I would like them, but I’ve been shocked by just how good they are.  I enjoy all of the flavors I’ve tried so far a bunch.

Lunch 2.

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A Mango Noosa with some toasted coconut on top.

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An Asian Pear and a banana fudge cereal bar (warmed, for the win!).

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And a Lemonade Cascade Ice Water.

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Super refreshing.  These drinks don’t taste “diet” at all.  <– usually my complaint with beverages other than diet coke.

Lunch 3.

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More veggies with dip.

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A mineola.

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And leftovers.

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…from a dinner you’ll see in a sec.

Dinner

Here’s that dinner I was talking about.  A poorly-lit date to Namaste that I’m going to share anyway because it was the best Indian food we’ve ever had.

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We went with a Groupon that let us get a bunch of courses.  Including wine.

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Riesling wasn’t actually the best pairing with my spicy food but I shared with Adam and he shared sips of his mango lassi with me.

Our Shrimp Bhuna appetizer was ridiculous.  The sauce was amazing.

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Dinner was great too.

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I a pile of Okra Masala next to rice that I topped with some of Adam’s Chicken Shahi Korma.

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Delicious.  My dish was perfectly spiced.  This was the best okra I’ve ever had and you know I love okra.

Plus they brought us creamy rice pudding for dessert.

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Namaste, we will be back! {again, and again, and again}

A quick and easy dinner at home.

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Herring salad – canned, smoked herring mashed with Miracle Whip, dijon, and pickle relish.

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Orange honey cabbage – shredded cabbage and chopped celery sautéed in evoo and then cooked with a sauce made of orange juice, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and corn starch.

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Plus dried clementines so that my plate didn’t look like it belonged to someone edentulous.

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I wasn’t feeling any of my piles, sadly, but Adam loved this meal.

The last dinner I have to share was a loser too.

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I topped leftover creamy mushroom casserole with truffle salt and a sunny side up egg but my favorite flavors weren’t enough to make up for the lackluster casserole underneath.  We shared this cutting board of pineapple as an appetizer and that wasn’t great either.

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Maybe I’m actually being picky this week?

Snack

Adam and I tried the new Butterfinger Cups.

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DSC07603Not fans; they were actually too spot on, the flavors were so recognizable as Butterfingers and Reese’s Cups that it was weird to be eating them mashed together.

Peppermint divinity candy, on the other hand, is always good.

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Thanks for sending it, parents!  P.S. Fellow NYCers – if you come across divinity candy somewhere in our fair city please let me know!

Margaritas!

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Made with Cascade Ice Margarita Sparkling Cocktail Mixer, a splash of orange juice, fresh lime, and tequila.

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I don’t even like margaritas (I drink them from one bar only, always with Herradura) and I thought these were out of control.

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I haven’t seen the Cascade Ice cocktail mixes at my store but I am buying more of this as soon as I can find it.

Homemade ice cream that was a total success.

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Amazingly, I managed to make the best coffee ice cream we’ve ever had.

Coffee Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, serves 4 – 6

  • 1 and 1/2 cups fat-free half and half
  • heaping 1/4 cup coffee grounds
  • 12 oz can evaporated low-fat milk
  • 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 Tbsp vodka
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup crushed Oreos  (we used Mega Stuffed by any kind works)
  1. Place coffee grounds and half and half into the base of your French press.  Stir.  Cover (do not insert the press at this point) and store in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
  2. Press grounds and pour coffee-infused half and half into a medium saucepan.
  3. Whisk evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and vodka into half and half.  Heat mixture until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Remove pan from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
  4. While the milk mixture cools, whisk 1/4 cup sugar into egg yolks in a large bowl.
  5. Slowly stream the milk into the eggs, whisking constantly.  Be sure to temper the eggs by starting with a very small amount of the hot liquid and gradually adding more.
  6. Return mixture to pan and cook another 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
  7. Place pan into a large bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until cool, 20 – 30 minutes.
  8. Pour cooled base into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  9. Transfer finished ice cream to a large storage container and fold in crushed Oreos.  Serve immediately or freeze.

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What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Three Day Weekend Wrap-Up

My first long weekend as a worker bee was fabulous.  Friday through Monday were packed with fun (and food!).  Adam and I managed to spend a ton of time together.  <– heavenly  Here’s some of what we ate…

breakfasts

Breakfast in Park Slope with Adam and a girlfriend.

DSC07434I got poached eggs with toast, hash browns, turkey bacon, and a mimosa.

DSC07435Sadly our meals were all slightly burned and boring.  Win some lose some.  The iced coffee we got from Cafe Dada afterwards was a total win.

DSC07440They have almond milk on their milk bar!

Speaking of almond milk, that’s what I put in my homemade iced coffee, cold pressed for the win.

DSC07491Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.  Plus some maple syrup.

DSC07493And almond milk went in my cereal too – Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with bunches of blueberries.

DSC07494That cereal has stayed my favorite for months.

Another day another coffee.  This time with a banana and fudge cereal bar.

DSC07475The bar was de-lish.  I am eagerly looking forward to microwaving one and eating it warm.

lunches

Friday’s lunch at the office.

DSC07417Leftover mac with sardines and broccoli.

DSC07423And a Wallaby low-fat Greek yogurt with strawberry.

DSC07420Hot bar date at Whole Foods in SoHo.

DSC07505I choose 2 vegan dumplings, a scoop of macaroni and cheese, and made a salad with mixed greens, balsamic, olives, and blue cheese.

Plus Adam and I split a Raspberry Chia Kombucha.

DSC07509dinners

It’s been crazy cold in our area recently and we’ve both been craving soup.  So I whipped up an Asian-inspired batch of the hot stuff.  With a creamy soft-boiled egg cracked on top.

DSC07464It was so good I even recorded the recipe.

DSC07460Asian-Inspired Soup; serves 2

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 fresh jalepeños, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions
  • 5 oz bok choy, sliced lengthwise in quarters
  • 1/4 tsp all spice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch each salt and pepper
  • 3 cups broth
  • 3 oz stir-fry noodles
  • {Optional toppings} Sriracha, sliced green onions, soft-boiled eggs
  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add jalepeños, green onions, and bok choy to oil and cook until softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
  2. Add all spice, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper to vegetables and stir to combine.
  3. Add broth to pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  4. When the broth has reached a boil, add noodles to pot and reduce heat to bring the soup to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until noodles are softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
  5. Serve and top as desired.

DSC07467Another night we went all fancy (sort of) with polenta (sort of) stacks.

DSC07477Layers 1, 3, and 5 were sliced polenta baked with dried basil and mozzarella.  Layers 2 and 4 were lean ground turkey sautéed with evoo, thinly sliced garlic, thinly sliced turkey pepperoni, and marinara sauce.

DSC07484The pepperoni totally made it.  Roasted broccoli on the side.

DSC07481And the last night of the weekend we did take-out from Yesterday’s Diner.

DSC07514Adam and I split a turkey burger with mozzarella and french fries.  We love their turkey burgers.  And it helps that they send a juicy pickle and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

snackage

This section is full of love!  Like this snack plate of super sharp cheese with Honeycrisp apple.

DSC07431Haribo Juicy Gold Bears became my favorite gummi.

DSC07446DSC07442The texture is perfect – chewy and firm with no teeth sticking – and they are sooooo juicy.

The rest of the treats are all mint based, since I’m having a total love affair with the frosty flavor lately.  The best froyo ever.

DSC07470Mint with chocolate crunch, yogurt chips, and hot fudge.

A fabulous first trip to Emack and Bolio’s with Adam.

DSC07498He got ice cream that he deemed the best he’s ever had and I went with a scoop of grasshopper pie frozen yogurt.

DSC07501We also got a chocolate egg cream that was the best we’ve ever had.  We want to go back immediately.

Finally, a vegan mint cream cookie sandwich from Babycakes.

DSC07511Are you a mint fanatic too or is it too toothpastey for you?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lots Of Leftovers

You saw most of this week’s eats yesterday, so this post is just to fill in the gaps.  What you’re not seeing – the coffee.  I was terrible about bedtime this week and the result was constant coffee consumption.  This work week ended up being particularly busy, so it was serendipitous that I was extra-caffeinated.

snacks

Numi Cardamom Pu-erh Tea with skim milk.

DSC07413Valentine’s style Junior Mints.

DSC07375Junior Mints are my favorite chocolate candy, second only to York and Pep bars, and these were shaped like freaking hearts!  Too exciting.

Popcorn with caramel and turkey bacon.

DSC07298Does that goodness need more explanation?

stuff I didn’t cook

Brunch at Biscuits and BBQ.

DSC07307DSC07299Adam went super Southern with chicken and waffles,

DSC07300while I got the bbq chicken sandwich.

DSC07303It was good, but I was expecting the meat to be pulled and smothered and I probably would have ordered differently if I’d known it wasn’t.  At least the serving was giant; Adam ate my 2nd half for lunch the next day.

We were mostly there for dessert anyway.  I read a review in the Times that said Biscuits and BBQ had some of the best key lime pie the reviewer had ever tasted.

DSC07305Yep.  Key lime pie is my favorite dessert and this was definitely one of the best slices I’ve had.  The only way it could have been better is if the traditional crust was a graham cracker crust – the way my mom makes it – because I like my extra-sweet with a side of extra-sweet!

Sushi take-out from Kisso.

DSC07327I went with two boring, cooked rolls (both with tempura!) but Adam said his chirashi was the best he’s ever had.

leftovers for lunch

Since I made a different recipe each night for my book review, I ended up with lots of leftovers for lunches.  Eating tapenade and tofu egg salad on my lunch break felt fancy!

A packaged lunch.

DSC07336Roasted seaweed.

DSC07338A Strawberry Apple Crusher.

DSC07341And some Bumblebee Spicy Thai Chili Tuna with crackers.

DSC07340I loooove that tuna, it is so flavorful.

An eggless lunch.

DSC07364Leftover eggless egg salad.

DSC07369Scooped with pita chips.

DSC07371With a side of green grapes.

DSC07373Crudités for lunch.

DSC07378Leftover lentil tapenade with celery and baby carrots.

DSC07391A giant honeycrisp.

DSC07385And baby Lindt HELLO bars.

DSC07382a dinner

The night I was left to my own devices in the kitchen I made mac and cheese and trees for dinner.

DSC07428Just a box of this adorable winter shapes mac and cheese with 0% Greek yogurt, smoked paprika, a tin of Bella cayenne pepper smoked sardines, and broccoli roasted with truffle salt.

DSC07408DSC07426Gussied up box macaroni is the best easy dinner.

What’s your go-to order when you’re channeling the deep South?  Adam does chicken and waffles while I like pulled chicken and fried okra.

Weekend Wrap-Up; Snowmageddon

Hey there!  I hope all of my East Coast (US) readers are keeping warm!  Long Island didn’t get hit as badly with snow as predicted, but getting to and from work on Friday was definitely pretty insane.

Here’s some of what I ate when I wasn’t shivering…

Lunch packed for work on Friday.

DSC07115Leftovers of my spin on Hoppin’ John on top of leftover farro,

DSC07122with cola candies,

DSC07120and tangerines.

DSC07117I actually ate the tangerines on my train ride home, alongside a nice, warm espresso.

DSC07127Coffee was very loved this weekend.  I also had a cinnamon brown sugar iced latte from Dunkin Donuts {love, love, loved},

DSC07153DSC07150and a hazelnut iced coffee – with sugar, skim milk, and a dash of vanilla creamer – from Bagel Boss {I can’t really speak to their bagels but I’m obsessed with their iced coffee}.

DSC07170Aaaaaand a different iced latte from Starbucks that I didn’t photograph because it was getting ridiculous.  Yes, I recently became extra in love with coffee.  No, I won’t switch from iced no matter how cold it gets.

A delicious dinner on Friday night.

DSC07134I made “miso stoup” for the first time and was thrilled with the results.  Not totally traditional, but with ingredients we had on hand.  And extra “chunky” because it was our whole meal and not just a side.

DSC07130Miso Soup, Basically  serves 2 – 3

  • 3 cups chicken broth  (you could totally use veggie broth if you want to keep things vegetarian)
  • 3 heaping Tbsp miso paste
  • 2. 5 oz firm tofu, cubed
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 pint sliced shiitake mushrooms
  • .6 oz roasted seaweed, crumbled
  1. Bring broth to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add miso to broth and whisk until no lumps remain.
  3. Add remaining ingredients to pan and simmer an additional 3 – 5 minutes.

DSC07139We loved it.

Not so delicious fondue for dinner on Saturday night.

DSC07155We split a lemon cream pie martini that wasn’t terrible.

DSC07157And for fondue we ordered the sharp cheese,

DSC07160and the caramel pecan chocolate (though I’m fairly certain they left out our caramel).

DSC07161DSC07164Both were fairly meh.  The bread cubes were terrible and we only got two each of the other dippers so if you liked something you couldn’t even try it again because then the other person didn’t get any.  We cashed in a Groupon to Simply Fondue and even with the $ off it was still pretty darn expensive.  Boo.

Random but good things include:  A bowl of Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

DSC07147A Suede Imperial Porter from Stone {I couldn’t taste the honey but the floral scent was amazing},

DSC07132And a big bowl of popcorn with truffle salt.

DSC07167DSC07165Oh jeez, the truffle popcorn.  Insane.  Usually Adam turns his nose up at my bowls of popcorn but this time he was more than happy to share.

Yesterday we did a late, great brunch.  My guava mimosa was quite tasty.

DSC07173We were visiting friends in Williamsburg and they took us to Simple.  We all had wonderful meals.

DSC07177I got the Vegetable Burger – Sautéed spinach, mushroom, zucchini, pepper, onion, garlic.  It was more of a pile of veggies than a burger, particularly once I ordered it sans bun.  It was also delicious, especially when topped with Danish blue cheese.  And the fries on the side were nice and crispy!

P.S. You have until 2 pm EST to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

Hello from a new year!  Like I said in my last post, I am very excited to have welcomed ’14.  We didn’t do anything exciting for NYE (we were in bed watching Vines by 11), but we started the year off right with a fun day on the 1st.

Resolutions, Past and Present

I didn’t set any resolutions last year, but since 2011 it’s been a yearly goal to read a book a month.  I missed January and February, but overall I did pretty well with 20 books read in 2013:

March

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen  (f)

The Bone Bed – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

97 Orchard – Jane Ziegelman  (nf)

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen – Dalia Jurgensen  (m)

July

The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Third Victim – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Alone  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

August

Hide  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Neighbor  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Next Accident  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

The Killing Hour  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

September

Fiction Ruined My Family – Jeanne Darst  (m)

October

Live to Tell – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Love You More – Lisa Gardner  (f)

Catch Me  – Lisa Gardner  (f)

November

Bones of the Lost – Kathy Reichs  (f)

December

Brain on Fire – Susannah Cahalan  (m)

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – Alexandra Fuller  (m)

Dust – Patricia Cornwell  (f)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed  (m)

This year I did decide to set a few new year’s goals for myself, though I won’t be typing them all out here.  Basically I want to lose some of the weight I’ve been steadily putting on the past three years / continue my book reading goals / and start chipping away at the continuing education requirements for my Dietetics registration.

Fashion Friday

Last Friday.

DSC06924Monday.

DSC06999Tuesday.

DSC07028A day off on Wednesday.

DSC07036DSC07034Welcoming in a new year at work on Thursday.

DSC07096DSC07103DSC07102Breakfasts

Since part of this post is from last year you won’t really see this go into effect, but I think I am going to make more of an effort to eat breakfast on workdays.  I’ve been getting insanely hungry every afternoon and I think running out of time for breakfast most mornings is partially to blame.

Giant non-fat latte with 2 shots each peppermint and white chocolate.

DSC07000Coconut coffee and a pear.

DSC07075The Vanilla Coco Cafe was delicious, even better than the original.

DSC07078My pear was tasty too, but eating it gave me such bad heartburn that I almost got off of my train to throw up!  I’m not sure what the deal with that was.

DSC07080Lunches

I made a big batch of roasted veggies this week, enough to pack for three days of lunches.  Butternut squash and green beans (and broccoli that I burned the crap out of so only 1-3 stalks ended up in each lunch).  I stuck with the winning formula of veggies + a fruit + candy the whole week.

Monday.

DSC06987Veggies with smoked almonds and Sriracha mayo.  Plus tangerines and Chinese candy.

DSC06995DSC06990DSC06992Tuesday.

DSC07004Veggies with pistachios and champagne pear vinaigrette.  Plus mint m&m’s and an Autumn Glory apple (<– they taste like cinnamon!).

DSC07011DSC07006DSC07008Thursday.

DSC07065Veggies with smoked almonds and bbq sauce.  Plus gummies from Dylan’s and another cinnamon-y apple.

DSC07074DSC07066DSC07071On Wednesday, Adam and I went into the city for lunch at Serendipity3.

DSC07046DSC07042The Christmas decorations were out of control, it was gorgeous in there.

We shared a frrrozen hot chocolate that was delightful.

DSC07048I got my favorite sandwich for lunch, the Summer Bries – smoked turkey, sliced apples, melted brie and alfalfa sprouts, served on raisin pumpernickel with Russian dressing.

DSC07049Yum!  I shared about 50% of my sandwich with the husband, but it was ok because I stole some of his curry sauce to drizzle on my salad.

DSC07053Snacks

I don’t have any pictures because I haven’t been bringing my camera to work, but let me just tell you – I’ve been eating so much freaking junk on the train!  Like I said earlier, I am super hungry all afternoon, and I end up buying food the minute I escape the hospital.  It is a bad bad habit.

Strawberry Champagne Polar to make work on NYE feel a little more festive.

DSC07014Actual champagne.  We drank Moet & Chandon on our honeymoon and now it feels extra special.

DSC07085DSC07088Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea with honey.

DSC07018Plain Greek yogurt with blackberries and maple syrup.

DSC07083Seltzer and a candy cane.

DSC07038Gummi cola bottles (Adam bought me an array for our anniversary), eaten nightly this week while playing Sonic.  <– best thing ever

DSC07026Dessert hour with Adam at Cafe Dada.

DSC07056We split a diplomat pastry,

DSC07062and both had cafe cortados.

DSC07059They use Blue Bottle Coffee as their espresso and it is divine.

Dinners

I don’t have pictures from Monday and Wednesday and without them I honestly can’t remember what I ate those nights.  I ate a small serving of mac and cheese from Panera on NYE, but I’m sure I had something with it and I can’t remember what!  When I used to blog every day I didn’t realize how much the act of picture-taking helped to cement the meals in my brain.

An easy favorite.  Farro topped with smoked herring, sweet sesame seaweed, Sriracha, and a soft-boiled egg.

DSC07023Black eyed peas for the new year.  In a skillet I randomly tossed together – BEP, green pepper, plum tomato, green onion, turkey bacon, smoked paprika, green Tabasco, and plain Greek yogurt.  On top of jasmine rice.

DSC07094Leftover farro, stir-fried with peas.

DSC07108I know I didn’t give a ton of dinner description, but I starting realizing just how long this post is!

Don’t forget to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

Weekend Wrap-Up; I’ve Been Married For Six Years!

Who else is excited for New Year’s Eve?  We don’t even do anything fun, but I’m looking forward to 2014.  Not that ’13 wasn’t good to me; our move went well and Adam and I both graduated and got good jobs.

And in the final weekend of 2013, I celebrated my 6th/11th year anniversary with Adam, and one of my best friends (from undergrad round I in Miami) came to visit me!

DSC06973She is a teacher in Florida and we do not get to see each other often enough.  We had a blast getting some time together in city this weekend.

When I wasn’t celebrating or giggling, here’s some of what I ate…

breakfast

Our favorite smoothie.  Frozen strawberries and chocolate peppermint soy milk.

DSC06931Whole Foods was having a sale and I was able to grab two final cartons of the soy milk before it disappears for the year.  Normally I’m a stickler for sticking to seasonal treats but this smoothie is so good it’s worth breaking the rules for.

Thai leftovers, cold from the container – aka the best way to eat them.  I added more (cold) rice after I took that picture.

DSC06936By the by, these were leftovers from Thursday night, not the Thai food I’m going to show you for Friday’s dinner.  Apparently I’ve been doing a lot of Thai!

A lazy Sunday breakfast.

DSC06949When Adam got home from his night shift, the three of us took a lovely family walk to the grocery stores for supplies and then we whipped up a great meal.

Eggnog french toast (on gingerbread swirl!) with maple syrup and blackberries.

DSC06955With turkey bacon.

DSC06959And cold brew coffee with a little skim milk and the last of the ‘nog.

DSC06953Cold brew is the best!  I think I finally found a recipe with a ratio that works for me.  {1 and 1/4 cups water and 1/4 cup grounds, soaked overnight then pressed}

lunch

Packed on Friday.

DSC06917TJ’s Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt with a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, quite the tasty combination.

DSC06919Plus a little apple.

DSC06922I’ve been finding the tiniest apples this year.

On a fancy and romantic date with the husband.

DSC06941Ha!  Yes, that is Whole Food’s hot bar.  So not super fancy, but pricy at least.  And I think everything we do is romantic; I legit consider going grocery shopping with my husband a date!  Besides, hot bar is delicious.

DSC06944I got veggies, salad with salmon, and mac and cheese.

On Sunday we all met for lunch at PJ Clarke’s near Lincoln Square.  I *had* to order a Bloody Mary – “Sister Mary Walks Funny: Juice of Tomato, Huy Fong Sriracha, Worcestershire, Sea Salt, Blue Cheese Olives.”

DSC06969Sadly it was all tomato, with barely any spice or vodka, but the blue cheese olives were fantastic.

Adam and I split the fish and chips for lunch.

DSC06970So good!  The meat was almost creamy inside the breading.  And it came with a Shiner Bock remoulade that we both adored.  I want to go back for the lobster roll!

snacks

I was given lots of chocolate to eat my way through.  A honey almond praline chocolate from Adam.

DSC06935And a Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chip dark chocolate bar from my stocking.

DSC06947I loved the idea of this bar in theory, but the chocolate was just too dark to pair with the chips.  Such a shame because I’ve been head over heels for the other Wild Ophelia bars I’ve tried.  I think my flavor preference is shifting towards milk chocolate.

I’ve been trying to make a good Greek yogurt “cookie dough” for ages and now that I have almond flour in my kitchen I think I’m finally getting close.

DSC06965I really dislike chocolate chips though, and always end up eating around them.  I need to try to find some other kind of morsel chocolate.

My fizz idea has been a winner from day 1 though.

DSC06939This was a lemon dulce de leche popsicle in vanilla seltzer with a splash of lavender syrup.

dinner

Mee Thai in Park Slope with my friend and her sister.

DSC06933This restaurant was new to me (all of our favorite spots from when we lived in PS before have closed) but thankfully we all loved our meals.  My Pad See Ew with mock duck was nice and spicy.

Lazy Sunday dinner.

DSC06978We came home from the city soaked with rain and salad and sandwiches were all we could handle.

Romaine with champagne pear vinaigrette, chia seeds, and smoked almonds.

DSC06981Smoked turkey and light Jarlsberg sandwiches with dijon and Sriracha mayo, on gingerbread swirl cooked in a little butter.

DSC06984Nothing too fancy but it did the trick.

I’ll see you next year! {hardy, har, har}