Tag Archives: oats

Americana Idiot

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My other song title option was “Like It Was 1980,” and if you don’t get that reference you are sorely missing out! This week’s dinner theme was Americana/nostalgia. We made Salisbury steak, tuna pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, and chili and grilled cheese sandwiches!

Highlights from the past four days include…

After-school snacks. Apple + peanut butter (I didn’t have mini marshmallows to make smiles!). This was a Sugar Bee apple and it was wonderfully crisp and sweet.

Important note – the Whole Foods unsweetened crunchy peanut butter is wonderful. It is some of the best I’ve ever had and certainly outranks the other options at this price point. Just peanuts and salt.

This week’s yogurt bowl combo was plain skry, blackberries, peanut butter, and Nature’s Path honey almond granola.

Love Corn bbq corn nuts. These have a very satisfying consistency.

Junior Mints minis are fantastic. They are like the popping boba of chocolate candies.

Fun in sparkling waters – Target caffeinated cherry cola and Ruby tart hibiscus. Both were an 8/10.

I had never actually tried Salisbury steak before but I loved it. We loosely followed this recipe but I used ground turkey and way more mushrooms. Plus roasted purple and Japanese sweet potato and zucchini.

I did not use Italian dressing in my tuna pasta though that is how I grew up eating it. Whole-wheat macaroni, canned tuna, roasted zucchini, edamame, extra-sharp cheddar, and balsamic vinegar. Maybe Italian is the way to go though? Adam and I both went back and topped our bowls with hot sauce.

Macaroni and cheese muffins. I used extra-sharp cheddar instead of parmesan and added mustard powder. Plus roasted broccoli.

Plus we had bbq Wilde chicken chips.

Chili = ground turkey, celery, white onion, fire-roasted tomatoes, fire-roasted green chiles, kidney beans, chicken broth, evoo, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. I topped my bowl with plain yogurt and hot sauce. Plus I made amazing grilled cheese sandwiches; the filling was a mixture of extra-sharp cheddar, marinated artichoke hearts, mayo, white pepper, mustard powder, and a pinch of sugar.

What’s With Today, Today

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So many things to celebrate this week, the eclipse and Rex Manning Day were both on Monday. We are on vacation starting tomorrow and I am READY – it took a lot of little treats (TM) to get through this week.

Some highlights…

This week’s yogurt combo – plain skyr, giant blackberries, and cookie dough granola.

I brought this birthday cake drink syrup back from my trip to Kingston. Not bad but too fruit-forward for my tastes. I tried it in iced coffee, iced matcha, lemon seltzer, and diet coke.

Chocolate-covered frozen cheesecake bites (9/10).

Dark chocolate peanut butter bites (10/10). <– I can’t remember where I found these but I would rebuy if I found more.

Our King’s does a fantastic chocolate cake with ganache, marshmallow, and cookie dough (11/10).

A Moon Pie to celebrate the eclipse. All I could find last-minute was a protein bar Power Pie which was actually delicious.

And I, of course, celebrated Rex Manning Day with pizza, brownies, and an Empire Records rewatch.

Roast’s special of the week – brisket, mac and cheese, crispy onions, and bbq sauce on a roll.

Homemade veggie and meatball bowls. Roasted cabbage, baby cauliflower, Japanese sweet potato, and red bell pepper / turkey meatballs with panko, fish sauce, half and half, ginger, urfa chili, gochugaru, and egg / peanut sauce with chunky peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sesame oil, sugar, and warm water / green onions and sesame seeds.

Peep This

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No post from me last weekend because I was away in Kingston! My cousin invited me to go with her and some friends for the weekend and we had a fabulous time. I had not seen her since her wedding last summer and it was so good to catch up! Also Kingston is super cute and packed with coffee spots and bakeries — I will be bringing Adam for a day-trip ASAP. And this weekend we are heading to PA to visit Adam’s family for Easter.

Some things I ate between trips…

This Chameleon Cafe Cubano Cold Brew was great. I wasn’t super impressed with the last few bottles I tried from them but this had good body and roastiness.

I found super juicy, ruby colored watermelon plums at Trader Joe’s so obviously my yogurt bowls this week were winners. Plain Greek with plum and salted caramel granola.

Plain Greek with plum, peanut butter, honey, and Heritage Flakes.

I am usually not a snack cake person but these Lidl milk & honey bars were lovely. Maybe I would also like Devil Dogs if they were served cold?

This boring photo is a reminder to myself that hummus makes a great after-work snack.

So much Easter candy!

P.S. Dad – the Brach’s jelly beans were great this year and totally worth buying. There is a grape flavor now!

See also – I infused Peeps into vodka. Served with lemon seltzer and edible glitter.

Dinner date at Youta Ramen. They have the sake jelly drinks!

We shared spicy cucumber salad (Persian cucumber, Serrano lime cilantro sauce, with sesame oil).

And Karaage (deep fried chicken with garlic mayo).

And I got the veggie ramen – truffle veggie broth, maitake, shitake, wood ear tempura, fermented bamboo shoots, and scallion – plus an egg and chili paste.

Brinner wraps. I sauteed Trader Joe’s soyrizo with red onion then scrambled in eggs and extra-sharp cheddar. Wrapped in a TJ’s lavash bread. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

Sandwich roll-ups on TJ’s whole-wheat lavash – baked honey harissa chicken, roasted garlic hummus, chopped cucumber and yellow bell pepper. Plus a raw bok choy salad with homemade miso vinaigrette (1 Tbsp miso paste whisked with 1 Tbsp warm water until smooth, 1 Tbsp each sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, 1/2 Tbsp Sriracha, and 3 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar).

Best meal of the week was these loaded baked potatoes. I rubbed the potatoes in evoo and salt and baked at 400 for 60 minutes without wrapping in foil and they were perfect. Topped with leftover soyrizo, roasted broccoli and red onion, and extra-sharp cheddar.

Pie Versus Cake

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Things from this week — It was 70 degrees yesterday and the dog and I took an afternoon walk sans coats! Adam and I started watching Farzar on Netflix – it is basically just Paradise PD in space but both shows are so funny I can’t even fault them. Thursday was Pi(e) Day and Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day – so many theme food opportunities.

Food things —

Cherry pie smoothie – frozen dark cherries, salted caramel granola, water, vanilla protein powder, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Yogurt bowl win – plain Greek, yuzu marmalade, blueberries and blackberries, and granola.

Iced matcha with yuzu marmalade and yuzu mandarin seltzer. <– I am hooked on this combination

Adam got a Zero Gravity Irish cream porter for St. Patrick’s Day so I tried their Power Jones IPA – 9/10.

I was so excited to find these puddings at 99 Ranch but we ended up throwing them out; they tasted like slightly milky gelatin.

Haribo lemon ginger chews. Better than gummy bears but not as good as the grapefruit slices.

Cake! We brought this home from Butterfield over the weekend. This sprinkled/cookies and cream frosting filled slice is one of my favorite desserts in NYC.

I searched for this limited edition Tillamook ice cream since last summer and it fully lived up to my expectations.

This Sriracha shrimp bowl from Trader Joe’s has consistently been my favorite frozen meal option for years now. I always top it with Kewpie and more Sriracha and it is so satisfying.

Roast’s St. Patrick’s Day sandwich special – corned beef reuben with swiss, sauerkraut, onion rings, and thousand island dressing on marble rye. Plus fries and rainbow cauliflower (Trader Joe’s frozen bag that I sauteed with evoo, salt, pepper, and celery seed – delicious).

Our best meal of the week took less than 20 minutes to make. Buckwheat soba / sauteed celery / Korean steamed eggs (made with water, miso, and fish sauce) / sesame oil, sesame seeds, and chili crisp.

A take on okonomiyaki – roasted cabbage and green onion, shredded egg tofu, white pepper, gochugaru, minced ginger, flour, baking soda, lime seltzer, and eggs. Topped with Kewpie and Sriracha.

Pizza Pizza Pizza Pizza

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Some things from this week that weren’t pizza (but are mostly fruit and/or yogurt and/or dessert) –

Cherry cheesecake Chobani yogurt and a sumo orange. 5.5/10 – I need to accept that I mostly prefer the flavor of plain yogurts. That said, I added granola and the texture was fantastic.

Loaded yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, a Reese’s caramel peanut butter big cup (!!), granola, and blueberries.

Berry smoothie. This was good, I don’t know why the dog looks so dubious. Frozen cherries and berries blended with water, vanilla protein powder, and matcha tea powder.

Trader Joe’s had several pizza-flavored crunchy snacks and obviously that spawned a whole theme week for dinner –

Pizza Party kettle chips. 7.5/10 – they were excellently seasoned but ultimately I didn’t love how tomato-y these were.

Pizza flavored baked crisps. 6.5/10 – these were a bit too airy for me but Adam was a fan.

Homemade pizza bagels. Everything egg bagels with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and turkey pepperoni. Plus some heirloom tomato.

Homemade pizza bites. This recipe – I skipped the basil but added turkey pepperoni, gochugaru, and ranch seasoning. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower and a homemade blue cheese dip (Greek yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, ranch seasoning, and blue cheese crumbles).

Supreme pizza inspired nachos. Pizza party chips with mozzarella, sharp cheddar, Trader Joe’s plant-based pepperoni, chicken parmesan sausage, red onion, green bell pepper, and mushrooms. This was a spot-on flavor match! Plus marinara/chili oil for dipping.

Actual pizza. We got takeout from Dario’s and loved it. Eggplant and ricotta / birria / spicy chicken and peppers. This was the best eggplant pizza I’ve ever had.

Tops

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Fun things from this week – we finished watching the series Detroiters and loved every minute, Tim Robbinson is a gem / I got up early on Friday to run before work and it left me in such a good mood all day / we had really good topping options in the house (see below) and therefore had really good snacks!

Oathaus cookie dough granola butter + Purely Elizabeth chocolate chip cookie dough granola.

Yuzu marmalade.

Highlights from the week…

I saw a lot of love for this vanilla Shamrock Farms protein shake online so I tried it in a coffee – delicious!

Iced matcha with yuzu marmalade and yuzu lemon seltzer.

Smoothie with frozen cherries, vanilla protein powder, butterfly pea tea, and chocolate milk.

Cookie x cookie yogurt bowls, plain skyr with granola, oat butter, and blackberries.

P.S. Family yogurt bowl hour!

No Meating seitan vegan jerky. This had great flavor but the texture verged on too chewy.

Apple whiskey with yuzu marmalade and seltzer.

This new Ben & Jerry’s flavor is a 10/10; all ice cream needs a pretzel swirl!

Rice cakes with Chinese broccoli, egg, seitan vegan chicken, and a pad see ew style sauce.

I liked this bowl so much I ate it for dinner two nights in a row. Baked chicken (we’ve been doing variations of this recipe and it always turns out perfect) reheated in a skillet with butter and buffalo sauce on top of homemade cole slaw.

Raspberry Rabbit

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Notes from the week – a) I made a big batch of baked meatballs – ground turkey with panko, half and half, fish sauce, gochugaru, egg, and sauteed green onion. b) We went to 99 Ranch and got a bunch of great snacks.

Highlights…

This week’s cinnamon coffee combo.

Iced matcha with fresh-squeezed orange juice and yuzu seltzer.

Two kinds of yogurt bowls. Plain Greek with 88 Acres dark chocolate sunflower seed butter, granola, strawberries, and jumbo blueberries.

And plain skyr with honey, black sesame paste, berries, and Heritage Flakes.

Two vegan protein options. Textured soy protein jerky and crunchy yellow peas.

Two kinds of bougie candy bars. Peanut butter crunch and chocolate mint cups.

Two kinds of chips. Seaweed Turtle Chips.

And white cheddar popcorn chips.

The new spiced raspberry diet coke is quite good (though it can’t compare to cherry).

White Rabbit candy ice cream cup.

Glazed meatballs with sauteed bok choy. I made a great sauce with oyster sauce, Sriracha, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, white pepper, and cornstarch. Plus sesame seeds and green onions.

Meatball sub. Toasted rolls with meatballs, Trader Joe’s pizza sauce, gochugaru, and tons of mozzarella. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi and pizza sauce. We always bake this gnocchi (20 minutes at 400 degrees) and the texture comes out great.

Speaking of texture – I was very proud of these chewy rice cakes. Frozen rice cakes (simmered in chicken broth, gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, garlic, and brown sugar) with sauteed celery and green onions, roasted zucchini, and shredded chicken breast. Plus chili crisp and sesame seeds.

Bowled Over

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No post from me last week because we were on VACATION. It was perfect! We went home to the Virgin Islands and got to start every single morning with a run and/or iced coffee and/or breakfast right on the water. Then we came back to New York and had a fancy stay at the Wall Street Hotel and an amazing meal at their restaurant (La Marchande).

Highlights from this week included…

Valentine’s things! Like heart-shaped candies.

Chocolate cherry protein bar from 88 Acres.

Chocolate covered cherry smoothie – plain Greek yogurt, frozen dark cherries, and chocolate milk.

Chocolate cherry cookies – this recipe with the addition of chopped cocktail cherries.

I paired this wonderfully pink peach apricot rose soda with vodka and edible glitter!

Do these winter citrus fruits count as on-theme because I love them? My last two juicy crunch tangerines were a bit lackluster though, so sumo mandarins have regained the number one spot in my heart.

Yogurt bowl with juicy crunch tangerine, canned peaches, blueberry jam, and granola.

Snack plate – pimento cheese dip scooped with mini cucumbers, baby carrots, and white cheddar popcorn chips.

This week’s dinners were all – a) fantastic and b) served in bowls. Butter chicken inspired tofu. Extra-firm tofu marinated in tomato sauce, olive oil, ginger, curry powder, and smoked paprika then sauteed. For the sauce I cooked the marinade with yellow onion, fresno chili, butter, tomato paste, and a big splash of half and half. Served with a quick cucumber and tomato salad (tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, pepper, and Sichuan pepper salt) and a blend of brown rice and riced cauliflower.

Cava inspired bowls. Leftover rice/cauliflower / leftover cucumber tomato salad / marinated grilled artichoke hearts / honey harissa baked chicken (we use this recipe as our base and it is perfect) / baby corn / Cava crazy feta dip.

Bowls very-loosely inspired by Bún thịt nướng. Whole-wheat vermicelli noodles / roasted brussel sprouts / tomatoes / chicken breast cooked in the crockpot with water, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, and ginger / topped with Nước chấm sauce and chili crisp.