National Doughnut Day

by Emily

Here’s a random and horrifying fact – I turn 30 next month. What?! How is that even possible when it feels like 1990 was only 10 years ago. (<– it wasn’t. it was 25 years ago. like I said, horrifying.)

As I move my way up the hill at what feels like breakneck speed – next stop: over it – our summer is off to a pretty great start. It’s hard to do things like maintain a weekly brunch and farmer’s market tradition with someone who works 25+ hour shifts on the weekends, but Adam is a total trooper and we still manage to have a good time. Plus, the day I was alone I did errands at three different grocery stores so, you know, I lead an exciting life.

breakfast

Did you all celebrate National Doughnut Day? I woke up an hour early so I could hit up Doughnut Plant on my way to work.

They were giving away a mini cake doughnut (with sprinkles!) with all purchases. It was delicious.

I also got a skim iced matcha and a strawberry and cream doughseed.

The strawberry glaze was tart and juicy and the filling was vanilla bean pastry cream, all together it was the best doughnut I’ve ever eaten.

During my never-ending errands I ate a protein bar,

and a clover-brewed West Java roast with ice and skim milk.

Plus, you know, you another coffee at my next stop.

lunch

I spent my workday on Friday in a breastfeeding education conference. There wasn’t as much information about maternal intake and milk composition/supply as I had hoped, but the information about the benefits of breastfeeding, particularly in premature and small for gestational age infants, was quite interesting. Plus, they provided lunch.

Marinated veggie sandwich. And I brought my own Mentos for dessert.

The candy, plus lots of coffee, were essential; even if the material is of interest to me I have a very hard time sitting still to listen for hours in a row.

On Sunday, we brought the puppy into DUMBO.

We got coffees at Brooklyn Roasting Company – skim Maple Shay for me.

And then walked over to Smorgasburg for lunch. The three of us shared duck buns.

And an arepa.

Aka acorn cake topped with Oaxaca cheese, chipotle mayo, and cilantro salsa. Good, but I think I like pupusas better.

snack

Do you remember Slush Puppies? So much better than Slurpees.

This was horrible, but it was fun to try the throwback snack, even if I did have to carry around that burning cold packet for the rest of our walk.

We are both impressed with Angry Orchard’s seasonal summer honey cider.

Impulse buy much?

Lindt’s Hello line is on point. Both bars were amazing; the pink one really did pop!

Coffee and a cookie.

Molly’s Milk Truck coffee with almond milk and cinnamon plus a sticky strawberry jam sandwich cookie from Whole Foods.

dinner

Chicken and veggie soup.

Every piece of this minus the broth came from our freezer but it was still flavorful and yummy.

Chicken broth // TJ’s chicken and vegetable goyza // rotisserie chicken // bok choy, shitake mushroom, red pepper, and green onions.

Spicy eggs for my single lady dinner.

Scrambled with collard greens and sweet corn plus shredded cheese, smoked paprika, and tons of sweet chili sauce.

And crispy peas on the side.

Who’s surprised that we ate Chipotle for dinner last night? No one? Good. 🙂

26May2015

Seoul Food Style

by Emily

We got to spend time with several Buffalo friends, we went on some great walks, the puppy seems to be feeling a little better, and all in all it was a great weekend. I’m missing a few shots, but here are most of my favorite eats…

breakfast

Giant iced coffee, always.

That one has fat-free sweetened condensed milk and skim milk. The SCM is leftover from a failed recipe trial, but Vietnamese-ish iced coffees are better than hot fudge root beer float popsicles (good in theory but I can’t make it work!) any day.

I tried the milk bread from TOUS les JOUR.

Nice and vanilla-bean-y.

Another day, another coffee.

I asked Starbucks to put the marshmallow whipped cream and milk chocolate from the S’mores Frappuccino into my skim latte and they happily delivered. The taste was good but I was unbelievably ill by the halfway mark, I cannot even imagine drinking a full Frappuccino.

Plus Adam and I split a Pulsin’ maple peanut bar.

It was vegan and made with pea protein and the nutrition stats were pretty good – 12 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber with 11 grams of sugar. Not a bad breakfast for a busy morning of errands.

lunch

Lunch in Koreatown. I set my mouth on fire with a kimchi bun and cooled it down with a (pink!) Harmless Harvest coconut water.

Afterwards we shared dessert at Grace Street, our new favorite snow spot.

We shared a machta latte.

And a black sesame shaved ice with scm, boba, and mini marshmallows.

Between the tapioca balls and the partially frozen marshmallows, this had so much chew!

“Dinner” for lunch. We almost never cook a full meal in the daytime so this felt pretty fancy.

Roasted broccoli with truffle salt,

and “Cooking Light’s” Farro with Honey-Garlic Roasted Tomatoes.

We added chopped turkey bacon and rotisserie chicken to the farro to make it a little more substantial. Also I skipped the thyme (the bacon made up for the flavor), used fat-free feta, and subbed sherry for sherry vinegar.

snack

21st Amendment brews at the Gotham West Market.

The market space was gorgeous and we want to go back for ramen and/or tacos soon but guys, holy crap, we paid $17 for two cans of beer!!! At least, after a lot of walking along the piers, they were refreshing.

Can cookies at Schmackary’s become an every weekend tradition?

This time we split a giant, chewy funfetti cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and tons of sprinkles.

We’ve been loving fruit-infused water lately; having a big jug in the fridge makes me much more likely to pour a glass.

This week was lime and mint and last week was mint and grapefruit, which was even better.

Corn was popped.

Enjoyed while Netflixing approximately eight billion old episodes of “Criminal Minds.”

A girlfriend and I had planned on going to Rice to Riches ever since the first summer we moved here and Monday the time was finally right. I got a cookie cream rice pudding with mocha crumbles. We both liked the pudding but thought it would be more enjoyable served in a bowl instead of a trough.

My fancy cup was a skim cortado from Happy Bones, so that was fun. And we took a great walk across the Williamsburg Bridge.

dinner

Our friends’ adorable baby girl just turned one and they invited us to her Doljanchi, a Korean 1st birthday party tradition.

The buffet was great,

but the best thing ever was getting to catch up with all of the med school friends (and their babies!) that we’ve been missing.

Saturday night we had an absolutely amazing dinner at The Marshal, a Hell’s Kitchen farm-to-table spot that focuses on seasonal, local goodies. Bonus – the waitstaff are all insanely cute!

I got an Earl’s Tea to drink – chilled Earl Grey Tea, Peace Vodka, Catskills Provisions raw honey, lemon, and orange cream bitters.

We started with scallops – bourbon planked herb crusted Massachusetts jumbo scallops with caramelized lemon and assorted local herbs.

And Arcadian Pastures deviled eggs – ramps-infused yolks, micro-wasabi, and crispy duck prosciutto.

None of the appetizers really knocked our socks off (good but not the best ever) but the duck prosciutto was definitely smoky and amazing.

Our meals, on the other hand, were mind-blowing. Adam got a bacon-wrapped pork loin that he loved so much he didn’t speak for the rest of the meal and I did a trio of farm sides.

Roasted Bulich Farm snow while mushrooms, herb butter, Upstate white wine // Sautéed Lancaster Farm dandelion greens, red pepper flakes, grapeseed oil, Finger Lakes white wine // Satur Farms sweet potato and kale au gratin. The gratin was out of this word; it was so rich I couldn’t even finish it.

We were too stuffed to do more than pick at dessert, but we couldn’t skip it!

Bittersweet chilled chocolate fudge in NYC honey with honey comb, bee pollen, and Blue Marble vanilla ice cream.

The Lower East Side has always been my Manhattan haunt of choice, but lately Hells Kitchen has been rocking our socks off! NYC readers, what’s your favorite neighborhood?

25May2015

Staycation 2015: NYC

by Emily

Once we got home from St. Thomas (a week ago now,) our vacation turned into a staycation and the fun continued. We got in a bunch of cuddle time with Webster, caught up on tv, and spent three straight days walking and eating. On Friday we walked 6+ miles around the Upper West Side in one afternoon. I know this post is running late, but that is because it is GIANT. By sharing everything, leaving lots of leftovers, and through sheer force of will, Adam and I managed to try a ton of the restaurants on our “to-eat” list during our last days spring vacation. I know I say that 8 different things in this post are “the best,” but I’m not exaggerating, these spots were all really outstanding.

BAOHAUS

Baohaus serves some of the most inventive buns in the city. We’ve gotten the Coffin Bao with fried chicken and chili sweetened condensed milk in the past and it was on point. This trip we stuck with the Birdhaus – All natural fried chicken brined 24 hours, served with Haus Seasoning Salt, lemon-garlic aioli, crushed peanuts, Taiwanese red sugar, and cilantro.

Plus tea from the shop next door.

My milk tea had boba, grass jelly, and pudding.

Bibble & Sip

B&S is an adorable little llama-adorned coffee shop on 8th ave just south of the park. The baked goods looked great but we honed in on the lavender latte. The floral flavor was perfectly balanced by the (skim)milk, though I wish we had gotten iced.

Chuko Ramen

Chuko is a modern-looking ramen spot in Prospect Heights. This was actually our first official ramen experience, but I’m still feeling pretty confident in saying that this is the best in Brooklyn.

Every dish had such umami. We started with a shrimp bun with garlic tartar sauce.

And crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce, peanuts, and pickled jalopeños. The crunchy leaves were to die for.

I got the veggie miso ramen with chicken, though they had the option to go full vegetarian.

It was ridiculous. The noodles were chewy, the broth was robust (and vegetarian!), and the poached chicken was unbelievable soft. It came topped with sweet corn, greens in truffle oil, mushrooms, a soft-boiled egg, and chili oil. This bowl was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted so it tells you a lot about the generous portion size that I couldn’t finish it.

Corner of Vermont

Corner of Vermont is a little shop on 5th in Park Slope that is Buddy the Elf’s dream – everything they sell is laced with maple syrup. Black Bear Sugarworks‘ divinely smoky and complex maple syrup. We were swooning over everything we tried, even the little cups of straight syrup they hand you at the door. Adam got an amazing maple soft-serve and I got a maple soda.

Plus we had a maple bear, the single best piece of maple sugar candy I’ve ever tasted. The fantastic syrup gave it a great start, but also because the candy was so fresh the mouthfeel was perfect – the candy held up to the bite and then melted in your mouth.

Dough

These doughnuts are ubiquitous at this point – they sell them at Whole Foods and my hospital’s tiny coffee counter – but they are worth the treck to Fort Greene because they are a trillion times tastier straight from the source. The dough is slightly sweet and not too dense and the glaze on my salted caramel chocolate was ridiculously chewy and deeply dark chocolate-y.

Grand Central Station

Café Grumpy makes us anything but grumpy, they have one of our all-time favorite expressos. My skim macchiato was great.

And the giant salted caramel macaron I paired with it also put a smile on my face.

Hibino

Hibino is a gorgeous sushi spot in Cobble Hill with a great selection of (many local varieties of) seafood and tofu that they make in-house. I got an iced roasted barley tea which was unsweetened and very refreshing.

We got seaweed salad which came with wakame and red and green seaweed. Adam loved it but I could not do the unseasoned seaweed; there are very few vegetables I don’t like but red seaweed now tops the list.

Of course we tried the the cold house-made tofu, which came with scallions, ginger, and dashi (a kombu, or kelp, broth). The tofu was strangely flavorless and very creamy.

And I went with the vegetable roll for dinner.

The orange piece on the left was me being brave and trying uni – raw sea urchin! It was good, very velvety.

Nunu Chocolates Café & Tap Room

Nunu is a Brooklyn-based chocolate company that makes a caramel bar I’ve been obsessed with for years. Their newest location is Park Slope serves homemade chocolates, Blue Bottle coffee, and a pretty decent selection of draft beers.

They also offer a chocolate and beer pairing, which is what we came in for.

I am sad that I didn’t take notes because we loved every bite and sip but at this point I can’t remember what anything was. Surprisingly, our favorite thing was a spicy beer that Nunu collaborated on with a local brewery.

Pure Thai Cookhouse

PTC is a Hell’s Kitchen spot with delicious, authentic Thai food. Serious Eats raved about it and it’s been my Thai go-to since trip one. The space is tiny but the vibe is casual and the service is crazy quick. Their noodles are great, but I went with a rice-based special, Kao Ob Talay.

Steamed jasmine rice with crabmeat, jumbo shrimp, taro root, shitake mushroom, onion, scallion, cilantro, ginger, and garlic soy sauce.

The bites with sweet crabmeat and chewy shitake were take-your-breath-away good.

Schmackary’s

Schmackary’s is a cookie bakery and coffee shop in the Theatre District. Their menu changes daily/seasonally and includes spectacular things like s’mores, sweet corn and bacon, and blueberry cobbler. We got a butter pecan that was legit the best purchased cookie I’ve ever tasted – browned butter / toasted pecans / butterscotch.

I ♥ NY!

23May2015

Weekly Wrap-Up; Back At It

by Emily

I know this post is behind schedule (and I swear, I really am going to share all of the tasty things we ate at the end of our trip!) but the first week back at work after a vacation always feels so looooong. It doesn’t help that the poor puppy is sick – and it really doesn’t help that he is on 2 weeks of a twice-daily medication, in addition to his twice daily seizure medication! No matter, he has the fuzziest face on Earth and I wouldn’t trade him for the world.

Here are some of the eats from the week that I wouldn’t trade either…

Coffee, always

A double-strength batch of Community Coffee French Roast served over ice with Hint of Honey Almond Milk.

Halvah yogurt bowls

Plain Greek yogurt with crumbled marble halvah mixed in and juicy summer fruit on the side.

Spinach pesto on everything

Mixed with shredded chicken and bow tie pasta (my mom and aunt always serve pesto with bow ties so that’s how I do it too!).

Next to really amazing salads topped with turkey bacon dressing and balsamic roasted grapes.

And mixed with shredded chicken atop a truly epic toasted cheese sandwich.

Chipotle, again, always

For dinner I improved the rice-veggie ratio by serving my bowl on a big bed of arugula dressed with bbq sauce.

And the leftovers made for the most exciting lunch I’ve ever packed.

I am so ready for the weekend!

27Apr2015

Last April Weekend

by Emily

Weekend Top Five:

{1} Smorgasburg is becoming a weekly event for us.

Grady’s cold brew is the best.

I got vegetable ramen with truffle oil.

And we got sugar on snow from Snowdays.

They serve it with a doughnut and a pickle! I’ve wanted maple snow candy try ever since I read about the Chippewa doing it in Caddie Woodlawn.

{2} Brunch at Bareburger.

I got a bellini.

And a Guapo Chop salad – romaine, queso fresco, pickled jalopeños, spicy pico de gallo, guacamole, tortilla chips, and avocado basil dressing. Plus there were gorgeous watermelon beet slices on top.

Plus cold-brew, obviously.

It wasn’t as amazing as the first time but you can’t beat that cup.

{3} Williamsburg love.

Sweet Leaf for coffees.

And our first trip to Oddfellows for ice cream.

Pecan pie and toasted marshmallow for me. It was amazing, second only to Ample Hills.

{4} Cookies!

Chocolate chip mug cookie.

Taro mochi.

I put it in the fridge and it was extra chewy and wonderful.

{5} We finally found good Chinese take-out in our neighborhood.

The take-out options around us are all pretty abysmal, but when a new spot popped up on GrubHub we decided to give it a try. I got bean jelly noodles with chili oil and sour and spicy cucumber.

They were delicious and we would totally order from there again.

24Apr2015

Weekly Wrap-Up

by Emily

The five best things I ate this week…

(1) Coffee boxes

Blue Bottle.

Stumptown.

These guys never let me down.

(2) This snack assortment

Baby carrots, seaweed salad, a Honey Belle pear, and a Pixie tangerine.

Bonus – I went to a catered seminar on physical assessments for malnutrition and they brought in surprisingly good salads from Smash Burger.

(3) Oatmeal bowls

Wild Beary flavor with maple almond butter on top and a Gold Nugget tangerine on the side.

The berries and cream oat bowl I made myself was better though.

Rolled oats, malted milk powder, chia seeds, freeze-dried strawberries, and dried blueberries. Plus sweetened sour cream on top.

(4) Green curry with bulgar

This was the best thing we ate all week.

Ground turkey sautéed with garlic, ginger, green onions, and probably something else that I’m forgetting // collard greens and celery cooked in rice vinegar with salt and a bit of sugar (sort of try for the pickled greens served at Pig and Khao) // green curry paste and light coconut milk // served on bulgar.

Now that I’ve gotten my hands on jarred crushed ginger again my food has gotten so much better.

(5) Asian-ish rice noodles

This would have been the second best thing we ate, but it desperately needed crushed peanuts on top.

Ground turkey that had been marinated over night with green onions, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, canola oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple bourbon // baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms, and red bell pepper cooked with Sriracha, ginger, and a pinch of sugar // rice noodles cooked in chicken broth.

Marinating the meat in so many acidic things gave it an amazing texture, though I realize that it doesn’t look all that pretty. I have a bag of the chopped veggies prepped in the freezer so we can quickly make this meal again soon.

The worst thing about this week? The weather! Why is it so cold again??

22Apr2015

Gussied Up Mac & Cheese {Recipe Redux}

by Emily

From the Redux team: Go through your pantry, cupboards, freezer, or fridge; what ‘treasures’ have you found? Pick an ingredient/spice/condiment that’s been hanging out for a while and give it the attention it needs. Share a healthy recipe made using your new-found pantry prize.

One thing that is always present in my pantry is boxes of (whole grain) macaroni and cheese. Yes, the old-school kind with the powdered cheese. We like that the pasta is already portioned out – three to four servings-worth versus a 1 lb box – and only takes 6 – 15 minutes to cook depending on the brand, making it almost too easy to bypass to turn to take-out. We always have spices/sauces on hand and frozen chopped vegetables in our freezer, so we are always prepared to gussy up a box of mac for a quick and easy dinner.

Typically I like to pair the mac with canned smoked fish (another item that is a pantry must-have for us), but since I wanted to share this “recipe” with the wider Redux audience I decided to go vegetarian this time with a can of beans.

The great thing about this dish is that it is so easy to customize to accommodate what you have on hand. I tested the recipe with canned items but obviously you could sub in fresh varieties no problem. If using fresh broccoli, just precook it and add it with the other vegetables. I recommend ignoring the directions for adding milk and butter to make a cheese sauce and using sour cream instead, but if you don’t feel like buying sour cream this would still work if you made the sauce according to the back of the box.

Mexican Mac & Cheese, serves 4

6 oz box macaroni and cheese
2 heaping cups frozen broccoli
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
15.5 oz can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup diced mild green chiles
(optional topping suggestions) caramelized onions, hot sauce, shredded cheddar, chopped avocado

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. When 3 minutes remain in the cooking time, stir in the broccoli and cook it along with the macaroni. Strain the cooked pasta and return to the pot.
Add sour cream and cheese packet (no milk or butter!) to the pasta. Stir in sauce, along with olives and chiles. Carefully fold in beans.
Divide pasta among 4 bowls and top as desired.

What items are always stocked in your pantry?

18Apr2015

Eggcellent Eats

by Emily

We bought tons eggs and dye for Easter this year, and of course, never did a darn thing with them. The dye is in our “holidays bin” for next year, but the eggs had to be cooked. And so, I enjoyed hard-boiled eggs as a meal almost every day this week.

I was also all about the Cara Cara oranges and Medjool dates. It’s starting to taste like summer!

stuff

I started Ruth Reichl’s first autobiography on the train and I think I’m in love.

She is so funny, and I love any story about food!

We were insanely busy at work all week and I’m dying. That’s why this post is a day late (and is short about 10 more coffee and candy pictures), because I did sessions with 18 patients on Friday – many of them with gestational diabetes – and when I got home I just wanted to lie down.

breakfast

I made an awesome cold-brew blend this week: Community Coffee French Roast and BRC Peru with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice.

Served on ice with S’mores Milk and skim milk.

So good.

I am almost through my Nonni’s Biscotti sample shipment and I am going to buy more when we’re out.

They are yummy, even when not dipped in coffee.

I discovered the magic that is dates dipped in peanut butter.

lunch

Kimchi noodle bowl.

The Cara Cara was the best finish for my perfectly burning mouth.

I brought TJ’s cashew butter and tahini kale chips and crispy broccoli snacks (<– they’re back!!) to crunch on top of salad bar.

With a big scoop of macaroni salad.

This tasting plate wins best lunch of the week.

Dates / turkey bacon / hard-boiled egg / crispy broccoli / orange.

But this triple – chocolate oatmeal bowl wins a close second.

Rolled oats with a heaping Tbsp of hot chocolate mix, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate chips.

And this busy day “lunch” was a loser. Vanilla soy milk at 11 am.

And Easter candy at 4pm when there was finally a lull.

dinner

Omg. Kids! I made the tastiest stroganoff-inspired noodle bowls ever. Adam and I could not get over them.

Served in heaping scoops on egg pappardelle.

Yummy Stroganoff-ish Pasta, serves 4

Heat 1 Tbsp evoo in a large skillet over high-medium heat. Add 20 ounces sliced white mushrooms, and a big pinch of salt, and cook until the mushrooms have lost their juices and browned, stirring regularly (10 – 13 minutes). Deglaze the pan with a healthy pour of cream sherry. Remove mushrooms from pan and reduce heat to medium-high, adding an additional Tbsp evoo if needed.
Add 1 lb lean ground turkey and two large shallots, chopped to the pan. Season with pepper and 1 Tbsp smoked paprika. Cook 5 minutes, stirring regularly and breaking up the meat into small pieces with the side of your spatula. Stir in 1/2 Tbsp ground garlic, 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until meat is cooked through (5 – 7 more minutes).
Reduce heat to low and stir in 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream.
Serve on top of pasta of choice.

The leftovers were still great.

Served on top of spinach salad. Plus, those of us who can eat chocolate had Lindt caramels for dessert.

We had cobb salad.

Baby spinach with balsamic / roasted asparagus / turkey bacon / avocado / TJ’s cave-aged blue cheese / hard-boiled eggs.

And egg salad.

Eggs with shredded carrot, chopped green pepper, mayo, pickle relish, garlic mustard, dill, tumeric, smoked paprika, and s & p. With great seeded crackers my parents sent us for Easter.

And roasted broccoli and green beans.

Egg salad is good – and I wasn’t even tired of eggs yet! – but roasted green beans are always the best part.

Then we finished the week out with Chipotle.

Enjoy your weekend!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pasta

National Doughnut Day

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Seoul Food Style

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Staycation 2015: NYC

BAOHAUS

Bibble & Sip

Chuko Ramen

Corner of Vermont

Dough

Grand Central Station

Hibino

Nunu Chocolates Café & Tap Room

Pure Thai Cookhouse

Schmackary’s

Weekly Wrap-Up; Back At It

Last April Weekend

Weekly Wrap-Up

Gussied Up Mac & Cheese {Recipe Redux}

Eggcellent Eats

stuff

breakfast

lunch

dinner