Cottage cheese with cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, granola, and pineberries.
A savory cottage cheese bowl dinner with sauteed zucchini and green onion, a fried egg, sunflower seeds, Milu everything spice, and chili crisp.
Something I will be making again – crispy baked butter beans and shredded super-firm tofu tossed with honey, butter, chili oil, and gochugaru. Served on top of sauteed shredded brussels sprouts.
We ate the leftovers (still great!) on salads with romaine and chicory blend lettuce, cilantro salad dressing, sauteed baby broccoli with garlic, and Dubliner cheese.
A loose take on callaloo with yellow onion, red jalapeño, frozen chopped spinach and kale, ginger, urfa, coconut milk, and tons of crab. Plus homemade dumb bread.
No post from me last week because we were on vacation in Texas! We went to Meow Wolf in Dallas and Houston and also visited Austin. It was a fabulous time and we ate some of the best food of my life (including the best bbq, the best burrito, and two Michelin starred meals!).
Some highlight since we’ve been home…
This week’s coffee. I am picky about bottled coffee but this Nescafe espresso concentrate is pretty solid.
One morning I paired it with a Barebells Vanilla Milk Drink; good but not great, it was better than the soda but too sweet (7/10).
Good loaded skyr bowls this week. This one was plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, pineberries, and Oat Haus cookie dough granola, and edible flowers.
This one was plain skyr, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, maple syrup, and all the berries.
I got my hands on the cherry float Coke Zero so of course I made a float with vanilla ice cream and whiskey cherries. P.S. My current soda ranking is cherry Coke Zero > cherry Diet Coke > cherry float Coke Zero > Diet Coke.
Paired with cherry cola Squashies!
Dinners this week were all (loosely) Greek-inspired. Meatballs (ground turkey baked with panko, baba gannouj, tabbouleh, salt, pepper, and egg) / asparagus sauteed with lemon, dried basil, salt, and pepper / potato salad (peewee potatoes with sauteed celery and red onion, feta, lemon zest and juice, evoo, skyr, mayo, smoked paprika, and white pepper).
Baked eggs with feta plus sauteed zucchini, Bahama Bomb tomato, and red onion with salt, pepper, and dried basil. Scooped with pita chips.
Salads. Spring mix, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, roasted chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, baba gannouj, roasted garlic hummus, and Trader Joe’s dolmas.
We survived the coldest week of the year! Here were some highlights…
A good skyr bowl with Crofter’s blueberry jam, Olyra blueberry bites, and fresh blueberries.
A better skyr bowl with cinnamon, honey, vanilla powder, blueberries, and honey granola.
These fun-flavored chocolate were good but not great like we expected them to be.
These milk chocolate covered gummy bears on the other hand? 11/10!
Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and added parmesan to that layer. Served with avocado and a quick-pickled cucumber salad.
Great homemade pizza. Store-bought grilled whole-wheat crust / sauce = Trader Joe’s pizza sauce gussied up with tomato paste, 2 bulbs of confit elephant garlic, and dried basil / oyster mushrooms sauteed with salt, pepper, and butter / mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Served with roasted cauliflower.
Packaged chicken meatballs (mine are better) with leftover sauce. Plus asparagus sauteed with pecans and parmesan.
Skyr bowl. With blueberries, and Cascadian Farm oats and honey granola.
These Haribo Soda Sours are my new favorite gummy. They remind me a lot of the Sodalicious fruit snacks from back in the 90’s (which were my very favorite — when our island got a K-Mart when I was a kid it was a big deal and I was allowed to choose one snack for fun, these were it).
Another throwback – these fruit and cream Quaker oatmeal packets are pretty darn good.
The prettiest sundae of all time. Frutero soursop ice cream topped with dulce de leche, sweetened condensed milk, sprinkles, and edible flowers.
Chips lentil puffs and salsa.
Dipping dinner – taquitos and roasted baby broccoli with salsa and homemade guacamole.
I made Korean marinated eggs and tossed super-firm tofu in the marinade and it turned out great. Served on savory oatmeal with kale (sauteed with gochujang, maple, rice vinegar, and lemon) and chili crisp.
Baked turkey meatballs, roasted cauliflower, and honey butter baby carrots (baked with evoo, salt, pepper, and gochugaru) topped with Trader Joe’s Zhoug and cilantro salad dressing.
This dinner was loosely inspired by shakshuka and eggs in purgatory. Eggs, extra-sharp cheddar, and parmesan cheese cooked on a tomato-y sauce (roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes sauteed with fire-roasted diced canned tomatoes, garlic, shallot, yellow bell pepper, urfa, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper). I topped mine with Zhoug and cilantro dressing and scooped it with sweet and spicy jalapeno kettle chips.
This week’s yogurt bowels were dessert-y. Trader Joe’s eggnog Greek yogurt with creme brulee granola and persimmon.
Plain skyr with chopped egg yolk nougat (it was amazing, like a marzipan cake) and blueberries.
Giant mango peelable gummy. 100/10. This was a perfect mango representation in gummy form.
Tuna salad. Canned tuna with bell pepper, water chestnuts, peanuts, ginger, Duke’s mayo, plain skyr, red curry paste, and lemon juice. Plus roasted cauliflower with a labne hot honey dipping sauce (labne, chili oil, gochugaru, and honey).
Pasta salad. Brami Protein Pasta curly mac / sharp cheddar / smoked turkey / roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes and zucchini with evoo, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.
Creamy tomato pasta. My sauce was blended then cooked sweet canned tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, gochugaru, roasted garlic, evoo, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, parmesan cheese, and silken tofu. Plus sauteed asparagus with bell pepper, water chestnuts, and sweet and spicy pecans.
P.S. My post is a day early because my work-week is ending a day early; I am off tomorrow to show my parents all of the NYC seasonal fun!
I have so much to be thankful for, the least of which is a very exciting cache of Thanksgiving-themed foods! All were great but the stand-out was the sweet potato peeling candy; it was delightfully strange!
See also – cranberry hot sauce my parents sent me from home. I added this to every plate this week.
And hot honey flavored Uglies sweet potato chips. These were surprisingly great, definitely the best sweet potato chips I’ve ever tried.
One of the best yogurt bowls of the year – plain skyr with cranberry sauce and Tom’s Perfect 10 creme brulee granola. Plus a very exciting bowl of berries – Super Jumbo and Sweetest Batch blueberries and Lolliberry strawberries.
Chicken salad with miso honey sweet potatoes. Shredded baked chicken tossed with celery, green onions, diced cucumber, Sichuan pepper salt, white sugar, minced garlic, onion chili crunch, peanuts, and sesame seeds. The potatoes were roasted then sauteed with honey, white miso, gochugang, and rice vinegar.
Stuffing-style fried rice. Brown rice seasoned with rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil / roasted riced cauliflower / sauteed mushrooms with butter and smoked paprika / sauteed yellow onion and celery with salt, pepper, and celery seed / sage / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans / dried cranberries / maple pecan smoked turkey / stir-fried with egg.
Roast‘s Thanksgiving crunchwrap is one of their best specials – with roasted turkey, white cheddar, cranberry jam, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and crispy onions. Plus a French onion grilled cheese for good measure – sourdough with short rib, gruyere, caramelized onions, mustard aioli, and garlic butter. And fries and wonderful homemade green beans – steamed then sauteed with toasted pecans, rice vinegar, brown sugar, horseradish, onion chili crunch, and cranberry sauce.
Thanksgiving nachos are our favorite holiday tradition! This year we did Trader Joe’s stuffing seasoned kettle chips / extra-sharp white cheddar / smoked turkey / green onion / sweet and spicy pecans / topped with cranberry sauce (and cranberry hot sauce!) / and fried sage. Plus sauteed brussels sprouts with a spicy fish sauce caramel (brown sugar, Sriracha, soy sauce, fish sauce, water, and cornstarch).
This week was very long. Also the 2nd to last week in the 2nd to last month of 2025??! Some things…
Yogurt bowls. Plain skyr with cinnamon granola and blueberries. We buy Sweetest Batch and Super Jumbos every week now and I am hooked.
French onion dip. Speaking of things we buy every week, we have both been having a dip obsession lately!
Juicy chewy candies. The Nerds are a 100/10, even better than the original gummy clusters.
Also in chewy things – these grape, green tea, and cheese ice cream bars.
Cheesecake Factory’s pecan pie pumpkin cheesecake is obviously going to be my Pie Month peak.
Take out dinner from Shanghai You Garden in 99 Ranch. Red bean sesame ball (and a pork floss mochi for Adam) / rice cakes with shredded chicken / fantastic scallion pancake / edamame with pickled cabbage and tofu // beef and rice from the Vietnamese spot next door
Fast-food style chicken sandwich. Brioche buns / house sauce – mayo, skyr, honey, yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, dill pickle mustard, roasted poblano bbq sauce, and lemon juice / baked chicken marinated in skyr, hot sauce, and dill pickle mustard / tons of pickles. Plus roasted yellow cauliflower and broccoli.
Double egg sandwich. More brioche and house sauce with a fried egg and a cheesy soft-scrambled egg.
Tuna salad with an Eastern European vibe. Canned tuna and smoked trout / mayo, skyr, Dijon, and tons of horseradish / green onion / pickled beets / hard-boiled eggs. Plus sauteed asparagus and Trader Joe’s cornbread crackers.
Eating Chalk 