Palm Seed Fun

by Emily

This post is running a little late because I am too – I have the day off! Working last Sunday earned me a long weekend today. It’s actually an extra-long weekend because I’m off Monday as well, I’m going to Ohio tomorrow to visit my grandma. Today, I’m going to have some fun with Adam and Webster.

Highlights from this week…

I didn’t snap any iced coffee photos this week, but I promise it was consumed in substantial quantities. There’s a chance I stayed up far too late watching Road Rules on YouTube one night. <– not worth the exhaustion, that show spent way more time on relationship drama than I had remembered.

Apple oatmeal, with an Asian pear.

My Filipino coworker brought me in some palm seeds and I bought them to good use. Chia pudding with palm seeds and banana.

Yogurt with palm seeds, Luxardo cherries, Cherrios, and an orange.

Another treat from the Philippines, polvoron, or powdered milk candy. They were fantastic, crumbly and milky in such a pleasing way.

More candy, Justin’s peanut butter cups (I’m still obsessed with these) and a milk popping candy. Sparkling water and diet coke are two of my favorite things and when you drink them together – as in at the same time, not in the same cup – they both taste even better.

Other snacks included apples we picked ourselves.

And the best microwave popcorn we’ve ever popped. This tasted almost as good as stove-popped.

We kept dinners super simple this week. Leftover smoked trout casserole, eaten cold out of the pan.

Salmon salad sandwiches – canned salmon with mayo, mustard, and pickle relish – on toasted TJ’s quinoa bread.

My most complicated night involved potato vareniki which cook in about 5 minutes. Tossed with shredded rotisserie chicken / sautéed celery / garlic kale / and a sauce made of cream cheese and chicken stock.

I’m off to go start my day off!

9Aug2016

Last Week’s Top Six

by Emily

Better late than never? I spent my weekend in a malstrom of giant bowls of stovetop popcorn and NCIS episodes and couldn’t pull myself away to blog. I’m currently watching NCIS but it will probably be awhile before I eat any more popcorn!

Last week’s top six…

{1} Australian iced coffee.

Cold brew concentrate, chocolate milk, ice, and a scoop of ice cream. I started several mornings this way.

{2} Product samples from Viki’s Granola.

They sent me some tasty granola to review. Banana walnut was my favorite. The granolas are gluten-free and have </160 calories per 1/4 cup. The texture was unique, they were much softer and less clumped that most of the other granolas I’ve tried.

Very nice in my yogurt lunches.

Especially with sugar crunch grapes.

{3} Compartes Birthday Cake Bar.

White chocolate with sprinkles and three types of vanilla bean, it tasted like cake! These bars are so worth the $10 price tag, I want to try more.

{4} Pasta salad, served cold.

Whole wheat bow ties / spinach pesto / heirloom baby tomatoes / baked tofu with balsamic / cubes of swiss and sharp cheddar. We almost never eat cold pasta salad and this felt fun and summery.

{5} Pimento cheese nachos.

Our favorite meal, with a southern spin. Zapp’s sweet pimento cream cheese chips, shredded chicken, red bell pepper, and candied pecans.

{6} Fantastic oven-fried chicken.

We made a version of this chicken from A Cozy Kitchen and it blew our freaking minds. With a garlic butter sauce instead of the spicy one. We plan on making another batch this week.

22Jul2016

Birthday Week Eats

by Emily

I turn 31 this Sunday so this week is my birthday week. My parents timed their summer visit for this weekend so I’m off of work today and Monday and I’m pretty sure the four-day weekend will be the best gift I’ve ever given myself. I also pulled out this stash of cake flavored stuff I’ve been hoarding all year –

The Airhead wins as my favorite, it has sprinkles in it!

My other eats included…

Coffee.

We’ve had some big changes at work – that squeezed even more work into each day – and on top of them one of my coworkers has been out all week and I’ve been responsible for covering both intensive care units. <– I have needed so much coffee.

I didn’t have time to pack lunch one day and I cobbled together a pretty great reuben-ish wrap sandwich in the cafeteria – sliced turkey, swiss, cole slaw, pickles, and thousand island.

Yogurt lunches reign supreme. Plain Siggi’s with blackberries and coconut butter.

Cake yogurt with KIND maple granola and blackberries.

Have you done Chobani’s “Find Your Flavor Soulmate” flow chart?

What combo does your heart sing for? My answers lead me to sweet and spicy but as much as I love some sweet with my heat spiced yogurt just doesn’t appeal to me. Sweet with sweet is much more my speed. Like this Almond Coco Loco Flip that knocked my socks off with how fantastically creamy it was.

Speaking of sweet… I am still completely obsessed with Justin’s peanut butter cups, in all forms.

And I made the David Lebowitz chocolate chip cookies so my parents could try them, not that there are many left!

Best meal of the week – I made a variation on this recipe with turkey bacon, chopped spinach, and fresh mint. It was still delicious as cold leftovers.

Salad night. Romaine with ranch / turkey bacon / shrimp / carrots / tomato / fresh mint / swiss.

Paired with chips and dip because I’m fancy.

I picked my parents up from the airport last night. JFK is a nightmare so we stayed in Long Island afterwards and grabbed dinner at a little diner near their hotel. I actually got a pretty yummy Greek meal.

Salad with spinach pie.

Have a great weekend!

8Jul2016

Duck, Duck… Bacon!

by Emily

This week Adam and I tried duck bacon and fell head over heels in love.

It’s probably a good thing that that package cost $14 or we’d be eating duck bacon for every meal!

Our other flavor theme was lavender caramelized almonds.

Love Our Nuts sent me a giant bin (<– free sample) and I put them to good use.

In a pan over medium-high heat dry toast 2 cups of raw almonds for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown. Add 1 Tbsp evoo, 2 pinches of salt, and 1/4 cup lavender sugar and cook 1-2 more minutes, stirring regularly, until the sugar is fully melted and the almonds are coated. Spread almonds on a greased cookie pan or sheet of tin foil until fully cooled before storing. If you want to try this recipe at home Love Our Nuts is actually hosting a giveaway right now, all you have to do is visit their social media pages.

I also had a lavender doughnut from Doughnut Plant.

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For this week’s coffee I cold brewed my Birch cold brew blend.

The tasting notes say caramel and chocolate finish so I stirred a dollop of caramel into this cup because why not?

I also had a really fantastic latte from Gorilla.

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And a Starbucks latte that didn’t actually pair that well with savory trail mix.

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Yogurt bowls for lunch. Plain Siggi’s with chopped plum and lavender almonds.

And fig with chopped plucot and KIND maple chia granola. Plus a so-so kombucha from Trader Joe’s.

Chocolate x2.

A coworker and I got tasty drinks at Grand Army after a particularly long day. This Trans-Siberian tasted like an adult Capri Sun! I also had a fantasmic peach sour beer.

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The night Adam was at work I ate Mexican leftovers in bed.

But the other nights were duck bacon extravaganzas!

Like this duck bacon, double cream gouda, and egg toasted croissantwich.

Served with a spinach salad with lavender almonds (dressed in evoo and lavender honey and lavender salt!).

Killer cheese plate.

Envy apple, baby carrots, orange and yellow bell pepper, lavender almonds, duck devils on horseback, gouda, and sharp cheddar.

Have you tried duck bacon yet?

1Jul2016

Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

Loves of Late

Family time: My parents were taking a quick vacation in Philadelphia this week and I took a mini road trip and drove up to spend the day with them! I love the Magic Garden mosaics.

TV: Rizzoli and Isles is on it’s final season and we have been loving it. It is the most unrealistic of the cop shows that I enjoy but it’s also very funny and heartwarming. All seasons are streaming on Hulu and I highly recommend going back to the beginning and giving it a watch. Also, the first three episodes of Documentary Now. Adam and I thought the 1st season went quickly downhill but the very first episodes are comedy gold.

Coffee: the beans we bought at Birch are fantastic, even when brewed in our crappy coffee pot at home.

Every time I go to Reading Terminal I hit Old City Coffee.

Also in Philly, I finally tried La Columbe.

Stuff: My new planner! I love new planners in general because I’m a dork but this one has shiny cut outs on the front. (from Blue Sky, fyi, but I couldn’t find it listed on the website)

I also just bought a shirt with cut outs on it, apparently that’s my summer trend.

The day I visited my parents we walked around the city all day and it was just so darn hot that we ended up buying me a new outfit so I could take the world’s most refreshing shower before dinner.

Eats

Coffee, duh! More cups than were shown above, obviously.

Terrible picture of the yummy pecan pastries a coworker brought it. She cut back on sugar which can leave baked goods overly tough but these ended up tasting like a pastry-scone hybrid.

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with chopped red plum, granola, chia, and sprinkles.

Oatmeal bowl – with dark chocolate cacao nibs, chia, and coconut butter. Plus an apple on the side.

Chia pudding. The fizzy coconut water was horrible, btw.

When in Philly, (chicken) cheesesteak.

Pocky stick snack.

Turkey cheese roll ups.

Dinner at Devon Seafood with my parents.

I had the bouillabaisse.

Chipotle night, midweek road trips tire you out. My burrito was stuffed with chicken, pinto beans, peppers, cheese, sour cream, corn salsa, and lettuce.

Best for last, the one thing I actually cooked myself!

White quinoa / red lentils with lemon, tomato paste, and ginger / roasted zucchini and garlic sautéed mushrooms.

Have a great weekend!

17Jun2016

Wrap Up, Guava Cheese Week

by Emily

Important things first, check out this fantastic photo I snapped of the dog:

He is my favorite!

This week’s meals were themed around one of my culinary favorites – guava and cheese. We put this carton of guava paste to very good use.

There’s some leftover and we have big plans for tropical smoothies.

I didn’t do the best job of taking photos this week – there’s at least one day missing from each meal category – but I did capture the really yummy stuff…

I didn’t make coffee at home so I had to get my fix from Starbucks and the coffee shop at work. We had a freebie ready on our registered Starbucks card so I got to go a little crazy.

Have you registered your Starbucks card yet? Do it! Even if you only stop in occasionally the rewards and perks add up quickly.

With an eggtastic sandwich.

With cheddar and turkey bacon on toasted whole-wheat.

And a really fantastic Larabar.

Hazelnut, hemp, and crunchy bits of cacao

This kombucha and seltzer were both on top of their game.

Sadly the mango coconut chia pudding from Trader Joe’s was not to my taste at all. I threw it out two bites in and headed to the cafeteria instead.

Oatmeal day. Chia, cashews, freeze-dried berries, and cookie butter on top.

Plus a sweet and juicy Smitten apple.

I even brought guava for lunch one day.

With white nectarine, granola, and the last of some plain Greek yogurt.

It was a very snacky week but the only thing I managed a picture of were these mini pb cups.

I recommend them highly.

Guava cheese week win – quesadillas!

We spread flour tortillas with guava pasta, smothered them in low-fat shredded mozzarella, and pan cooked them with a bit of evoo.

Plus roasted green beans.

These were basically the un-fried version of the empanada I’m obsessed with from the truck in downtown Brooklyn.

We also made pizza.

On TJ’s frozen thin crust (our favorite) with turkey summer sausage on top. Amazing.

Yesterday we happily skipped guava and cheese in favor of a date night dinner at Pig & Khao. This Burmese eggplant salad was one of the best dishes we’ve ever put in our faces.

Grilled eggplant, peanuts, dried shrimp, and mint, scooped with shrimp chips. Umami. Neither of us could stop raving about it.

My Khao Soi wasn’t bad either. Red curry, coconut milk, chicken, egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, and red onions.

Slurping long noodles meant I ended up head to toe covered in red curry but it was worth it.

I cooled down my mouth with the Ginpo.

Gin, grapefruit, cinnamon, and prosecco.

While we were in the neighborhood, we finally checked out the Magnum store. It’s the famous ice cream bars hand-dipped in chocolate and sprinkled and drizzled with your 3 choices from the toppings bar.

We got vanilla / dipped in milk chocolate / topped with gold flake, rose petals, and espresso sugar / drizzled with dark chocolate. It was good, the shell was wonderfully thick, but I was definitely glad Adam was there to share with me.

10Jun2016

Destination City

by Emily

this week I loved…

Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm. It took me forever to find a balm with both tint and spf but this one fits the bill perfectly!

A blog book review. Dawn Lerman’s My Fat Dad was sent to me free of charge to try/read for the blog. Her chapter on moving to New York City walked the reader through the different cultural food neighborhoods in a way that made my mouth water.

Living in a destination city. I had two different sets of friends visiting NYC for work trips this week. It was fantastic to get to catch up with them! However, I went out after work for dinner and/or drinks multiple times and I am flipping exhausted.

P.S. My favorite bar (Pork Slope in Park Slope) now has $1 jello shots, clearly I backed the right horse!

this week I ate…

Vietnamese-ish iced coffee.

A killer smoothie – with banana, blueberry, and avocado. So creamy.

Poppy seed bagel with olive cream cheese.

Oatmeal bowl. With cookie butter and a pixie tangerine.

Greek yogurt bowl with Cheerios and plums. I also crumbled a brownie in there (see below) and it was pretty fantastic.

Taboule salad from the cafeteria.

Whole Foods hot bar. Lots of veggies, rice with black beans and cheddar, and broccoli mac and cheese.

I needed a 2nd coffee snack more than once.

Turkey jerky.

Best ever brownies. Just this recipe without the fluff.

Baby carrots with great feta dip.

I had Thai food in Williamsburg with Adam and a girlfriend. Drunken noodles with mock duck that were as spicy as they were delicious.

We cooled our mouths down with soft-serve from Milk Bar. Fruity pebble soft-serve(!!) with fudge sauce and sprinkles.

Indian at the Grand Central food court. And yes, I realize that is a lame spot to take an out-of-towner.

Starbucks sandwich for a quick dinner on the train and then I went straight to bed!

I did make dinner at home one night! Whole-wheat vermicelli noodles with ginger and garlic chicken, shredded cabbage, bell pepper, and a tahini lime sauce. With cashews on top plus tons of Sriracha after the picture.

We snacked on a servings’ worth of cashews and sliced bell pepper while we cooked.

Good friends, good eats, it was a good week!

27May2016

Five For Ten

by Emily

I worked all last weekend so I didn’t take the time to blog. Good news – that means I have tomorrow off with a three day weekend! Here were the top five eats for the last ten days…

{1} Oatmeal for lunch

Prepackaged with vanilla almond butter and citrus on the side.

And a homemade mix with chia seeds and sliced almonds.

With fresh strawberries stirred in and melty cookie butter on top. P.S. Cookie butter probably should have gotten its own bullet point!

{2} The last of the Tahini Granola in yogurt bowls

With plain Greek yogurt and fresh blueberries and blackberries.

I need to make a 2nd batch of granola asap, it made the last two weeks of lunches an absolute delight. I’m going to give myself a lower sugar week with Heritage Flakes first though.

{3} Epic sandwiches

The cafeteria-assembled breakfast sandwiches were particularly epic but this turkey ‘which from home was nothing to sneeze at.

TJ’s quinoa bread with turkey and cheddar. I put the chips inside the sandwich for some needed crunch.

Cinnamon-raisin toast with smashed hard-boiled egg, veggie sausage, and Greek yogurt cream cheese.

Egg and cheese croissantwich.

I’ve decided I don’t eat egg sandwiches often enough, a gap in my culinary habits that desperately needs to be filled.

{4} Starbucks’ s’mores bar

Holy crap this was good!

I swear the graham cracker layer has coffee in it.

{5} Mexican-flavors dinners

Deconstructed tacos, aka taco filling bowls scooped with tortilla chips.

Shredded chicken, sautéed orange bell peppers and onion, cheese, plain Greek yogurt, and fresh cilantro. Plus brussels sprouts that I roasted with taco seasoning. <– so good

Another night we made chicken and zucchini enchiladas.

I don’t know why I never make enchiladas, these were so easy!

{Bonus} Near misses – don’t try this at home

These two seemed like they’d be great and instead were total let downs. I did not want a 2nd bite of this cookie dough bar.

And we were expecting to love Bunsmith, they have a cookie butter bun for god sake. And a boozy banana milk and spice cocktail.

Mega meh. The veggies in our bowls came out of a can and there was entirely too much rice. We’ll have to stay loyal to Bao Haus. In fact, it’s on the agenda for the three-day weekend!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: oats

Palm Seed Fun

Last Week’s Top Six

Birthday Week Eats

Duck, Duck… Bacon!

Weekly Wrap-Up

Loves of Late

Eats

Wrap Up, Guava Cheese Week

Destination City

this week I loved…

this week I ate…

Five For Ten