S’Mores And S’more

by Emily

Since I worked the weekend, I had Tuesday off this week, woo-hoo! I used the time to get my holiday gift shopping 100% purchased, wrapped, and packed for shipping, woo-hoo x2!

daytime eats

This week’s tea – Chestnut. This was my favorite flavor yet; not as good as coffee, of course, but still pretty sweet and roasty. And the smell is unbelievable, I got a yummy whiff every time I opened my desk.

With an almond cookie from my co-worker.

Or s’mores trail mix.

Wheat squares cereal, salted brown butter dark chocolate, sweet and spicy pecans, and these fancy marshmallows my aunt and uncle sent me for Hanukkah.

That s’mores box was gone within 24 hours.

This week’s coffee:

Also I enjoyed a Winter Cheer (Stumptown cold brew with mulling spices!) with a cocktail grapefruit (a mandarin and pomelo hybrid that has the tang of a grapefruit without the bitterness).

And one morning I made us pink smoothies – plain Greek yogurt and orange juice with frozen grapes, blackberries, and pomegranate.

I only have one work lunch photo this week, we have been slammed and I ate hurriedly at my desk while I worked so I mostly stuck to pizza.

But Tuesday at home I did eat a tasty yogurt bowl.

Plain Greek yogurt with the last of the cranberry sauce, fresh pomegranate, chia seeds, and Maple-icious Pecan Granola. I’m going to miss that sauce.

nighttime eats

First things first – I started almost every dinner this week with an appetizer of a big hunk of ciabatta schmeared with Smart Balance.

Also cocktail hour with this dream team:

Adam bought me those ridiculously exciting Luxardo cherries for my birthday and I’ve been hoarding them for winter cocktail hours ever since.

Monday night we harnessed the power of the soft-cooked egg yolk and made easy but amazing bowls.

Mine was roasted green beans, maple chicken breakfast sausage, and a sunny side up egg on top. Best meal of the week!

The leftovers weren’t half bad though, scrambled eggs with chopped sausage, frozen spinach, and TJ’s sticky toffee cheddar cheese.

Speaking of, I know it sounds ~~a little~~ a lot weird, but if you see that cheese a Trader Joe’s, buy it, the sweet and savory combo just works. Full disclosure though, it does have dates and raisins in it.

Wednesday and Thursday we ate giant Chipotle-style salad bowls.

Baby romaine base // sautéed onions and peppers // sautéed chicken that was marinated in ginger, garlic, chipotle, lime, honey, and canola oil // avocado // shredded cheese and sour cream.

If I could figure out how to make those fabulous lime-y chips at home we’d be able to stop going to Chipotle!

P.S. Happy birthday to my (funny, handsome, smart, kind) husband!!!

20Nov2015

BEC, FTW

by Emily

Big life change alert – I have a new job. As of Monday this week I officially transferred over to the inpatient nutrition team full-team. I am very sad to no longer be working with prenatal clients on an outpatient basis but the job opened up I knew that it was time for me to get back to my roots with acute care. My new job lets me work with and learn from other Dietitians on a daily basis and gives me exposure to a much greater scope of practice. I’m excited about it.

My new job comes with a nice perk – free meals from the cafeteria, so you are going to see some big changes in my weekly lunches. And this transition week was unbelievably busy so there were a lot of bites that missed the camera. You’ll just have to picture a lot of snacking, both candy at my desk and copious taste-testing while preparing dinners. Plus a lot more coffee, of course. Here the bites I did capture…

breakfast

Coffee! With a SweeTango apple.

Or a Nonni’s caramel apple biscotti and a persimmon.

Or a Fiber One cheesecake strawberry bar and a persimmon.

This week’s coffee masterpiece was Grady’s Cold Brew with skim & vanilla almond milks.

lunch

My old team brought in a giant cake on my last day. So sweet!

I ate a serious amount of frosting.

Now that I’m “buying” lunch instead of packing my yogurt bowls {tear!} you’re going to see a lot of salads and sandwiches. Romaine / ranch / cheddar / chickpeas / veggies / cole slaw.

Romaine / ranch / corn salsa / peppers / maple pumpkin seeds.

Plus chocolate a new coworker brought me.

Yesterday I had a simple sandwich. Toasted wheat bread, mayo, turkey, pepperjack. Plus a carton of chocolate milk.

Apparently I’m six.

dinner

In spite of the fact that Adam and I both had crazy weeks, our dinners were all winners. We let the crockpot help out one night. Chicken breasts topped with bbq sauce and fresh cranberries and set on low for 8 hours.

We’ve made this dish three winters in a row now and it is always wonderful. Served with roasted green beans and TJ’s sprouted California rice. And a Warlock pumpkin stout.

We used leftovers in our BECFR, aka Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Fried Rice.

Rice stir-fried in olive oil with turkey bacon and chunks of cheddar and eggs. Roasted cruciferous veggies on the side.

I’ll toot my own horn – cheese in fried rice is freaking genius. We tried to watch “Fresh Off the Boat” while we ate but I was mmmning so loudly that we kept having to pause.

Finally, a quick salad.

Baby spinach / feta dressing / cucumber / pumpkin seeds / roasted coconut chips / avocado / turkey bacon / and goat’s milk Brie.

It’s been an exciting work-week but I am feeling ready for the weekend!

13Nov2015

This Week’s Top Five; Product Reviews Galore

by Emily

I didn’t plan on doing a bulk review, I just happened to use a lot of new product samples this week. It works out well for those of you who hate product reviews because you can just skip this post and miss a whole set at once.

Disclosure – all of the starred (**) items in this post were provided to me gratis to review. I was not given further compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Reminder – I only tasted one flavor each of the sauces and teas; I will continue to blog about the other varieties as I try them.

{1} Starbuck’s Chicken Santa Fe Sandwich

Not a freebie, just a product I’m obsessed with. I don’t even have them heat it up! The combo of crispy bell peppers, chewy flatbread, and creamy green-chile spread is so darn tasty.

{2} Pumpkin coconut chia yogurt bowl

This was the week’s best lunch, though that’s not much of a victory considering the fact that I ate cold pizza at my desk for lunch on two separate occasions. TJ’s coconut yogurt with pumpkin puree, roasted coconut chips, and chia seeds.

{3} Arbonne Essentials Protein Shake Mixes**

While I don’t think that protein powders are necessary for most people – you can meet your needs with whole foods! – I acknowledge that they can be a good option when you are in a rush or eating on the go. I am never going to bring eggs on the train but I can certainly pack a smoothie for my commute. Each packet provides 20 grams of vegan protein and 2 grams of fiber for 160 calories and 3.5 grams of unsaturated fat. <– mixed in a glass of cow’s milk that would provide more than 50% of my protein needs for the day.

Making protein smoothies is exactly what I did this week. Vanilla protein powder with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and ice.

The next day was the same, but with chocolate. And with a chocolate cranberry biscotti on the side.

These certainly did fill me up, I didn’t even have room for coffee one day. I thought the flavor was passable but not fantastic, but it is worth noting that these powders are sweetened with cane sugar and stevia and I generally can’t stand the taste of stevia. I haven’t tried the daily fiber mix yet but I will report back when I do.

{4} Adagio Teas**

Adagio is a company that sells loose-leaf teas sourced directly from Artisan farmers. Their product selection is divided up very helpfully, the website lists teas by type (white, black, oolong, etc, including a variety of tea blends) and they have several sampler variety packages as well as the option to purchase a small sample of each type of tea (and they list the cost per cup for each option). Also cool? There is a section of the site where consumers can design and list their own blends and there is an immense selection of fandom blends. I basically had a heart attack over all the Supernatural and Buffy options but I decided to stick with the simpler stuff for now.

Adagio offered me a gift certificate and I was able picked a variety of teas. I also ordered some paper filters to brew them in. <– I’m sold, the filters were easy to pack and worked perfectly.

I don’t usually drink a ton of tea (duh, I’m a coffee fanatic!) but I’m hoping including a cup or two in the afternoon at work will help me to get closer to actually drinking enough water each day. This week I packed my paper filters with Earl Grey Moonlight.

Since the tea is loose you can see the citrus rind and blue cornflowers in with the black tea leaves which I thought was fun. It was no coffee, but this was the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had. My sample pouch will make 10 very reasonably priced 20 cent cups. I’m looking forward to teatime next week.

{5} Bertolli Riserva pasta sauces**

The newest line from Bertolli is made with artisanal ingredients and no artificial colors. The 24 oz bottles retail for ~$5.99 which is comparable to other similar (but less delicious) options. Flavors include Marinara with Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar with Caramelized Onions, Asiago Cheese with Artichokes, and Porcini Mushroom with White Truffle Oil.

They all sound pretty wonderful to me but I decided to go simple and try Marinara first. Each half cup serving has 110 calories. Unfortunately each serving also has 450 mg of sodium (more than 20% of the no more than 2 grams of sodium most people should limit themselves to each day), but the sauce is so rich and yummy that a little goes a long way – we used the marinara in 5 dinner servings this week and still have a good third of the bottle left.

We let the sauce shine on a plain – but fantastic! – pizza first. TJ’s frozen crust topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, and torn fresh basil.

Then we gussied it up with veggies and meat for pasta bowls.

Roasted zucchini and tomato + sautéed ground turkey with basil and yellow onion + tossed with marinara / served on whole-wheat rotini / with sharp cheddar on top.

The final product was full of umami. These bowls were the best meal of the month!

What was your best meal so far this month?

9Oct2015

This Week’s Top Five…

by Emily

Eats

{1} My coffee combo.

Grady’s is the best.

{2} This yogurt bowl.

Siggi’s pumpkin / giant red grapes / TJ’s pumpkin o’s, chia seeds, and maple sea salt pumpkin seeds. With a persimmon on the side.

{3} An old-school turkey sandwich. Applegate Farms smoked turkey with mayo, sharp cheddar, and caramelized onions on a brioche bun.

Plus chips and grapes.

{4} Pumpkin pie smoothie.

Pumpkin puree, plain Fage, almond milk, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup. We both loved these!

{5} Nacho night.

Chips with low-fat Mexican cheese blend, roasted broccoli, and ground turkey sautéed with onions and red pepper.

Obsessions

{1} Movie I’m oddly excited for: The Krampus.

I am really not a horror movie girl but something about a Christmas horror movie appeals to me, probably the fact that Adam Scott is in it!

{2} TV show I can’t wait to start: Supernatural.

Season 11 started the same day that season 10 finally released on Netflix so our entire plan for this weekend is season 10. If we catch up we can watch the latest season as it airs.

{3} TV shows that continue to rock our world: our line up from last year is still solid.

Chicago PD, Rick and Morty, Fresh off the Boat, and The Middle all started off their seasons quite strongly. We’re also loving Longmire’s Netflix debut. Rosewood, on the other hand, was un-freaking-watchable.

{4} Book I need to buy: Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me?

I read Is Everyone Hanging out without Me? in about a day and reread it a day later so I know I’m going to love her newest book.

{5} Song I’m playing on repeat:” Jump Into the Fog” – The Wombats.

Bonus: I’ve had ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” stuck in my head all week. <– don’t play it if you’re at work!

5Oct2015

Hello, Pumpkin Month!!

by Emily

It’s possible that I have a pumpkin purchasing problem…

Just maybe, though the pumpkin spice chap stick does make it seem pretty likely! Also I’ve eaten something pumpkin flavored at least once a day for the past four days. And October First I had something pumpkin at every single meal.

breakfast

Pumpkin spice latte.

I kind of hated it. I thought the spice was really overwhelming and I ordered my drink with 1/2 of the flavor pumps (plus an extra espresso shot and caramel drizzle on top) so I can’t even imagine a full-strength PSL.

Iced coffee with chocolate milk.

With a yummy GoMacro bar.

Pumpkin cheesecake doughnut from Dunkin.

Yuck city. These beverages were more my jam.

Sometimes we get a fountain soda when we go to the store. Sometimes we got to Starbucks for clover brews. And some magical days I get diet soda and an iced coffee and basically float through the grocery store in excitement.

Café Grumpy makes us anything but grumpy.

Adam’s flat white was better than my macchiato, especially once I clumsily oversugared it.

lunch

Chobani Flip with my last orchard apple and a TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar.

Plus dessert from the giant bag of Russian candies a (now former) coworker delivered me to say thank you for her retirement gift.

Plus I scarfed roasted broccoli with TJ’s Sriracha ranch the minute I got home because apparently this lunch didn’t fill me up at all.

The next day I ate practically the same meal and was full all afternoon.

Thank you 14 grams of protein in my Siggi.

With TJ’s pumpkin o’s and a honeycrisp.

Dinner leftovers – pasta and veggies. This photo is of Adam’s plate because I ate my (smaller) serving out of the Tupperware.

With TJ’s chocolate pumpkins for dessert.

We liked the orange ones and were lukewarm on the rest. Washed down with an alcoholic root beer that was freaking life changing.

Best root beer (boozy or not) either of us have ever tasted.

We had a phenomenal brunch at LIC Market.

I had the duck hash! Crisp potatoes, red onion, peppers, dried cherries, and pine nuts with two fried eggs.

I love duck so flipping much. And this was the best iteration of the meat I’ve had yet. We gave the meal as a whole a 9.5/10.

We got up and out of the house to make it to brunch crazy early and then we had the entire afternoon for fun stuff, mostly more eating and lots of drinking. Grand Central Terminal is Adam’s favorite spot in the city so we spent the morning window shopping there while sipping iced coffee with homemade chocolate syrup from Irving Farms.

Plus Jacques Torres Chocolate handed us samples of fantastic hot chocolate.

I will be back for a full-size cup once the weather gets a bit colder.

Then we wandered down Lexington Ave to Ginger Man to check out their seventy draft beer options.

Clearly flights were the only way to go. Our sour line-up was amazing. The pub had a great vibe, we will definitely be bringing all city visitors there.

dinner

Pumpkin pasta for the first night of October.

Rachael Ray’s recipe with whole wheat shells for penne, basil for sage, chicken breakfast sausage for sweet Italian sausage, and swiss/gruyere for parmesan.

It was tasty, even the dog got a little bowl with extra pumpkin puree.

The humans had roasted veggies on the side.

Trader Joe’s seasoned brussels sprouts and broccoli and cauliflower with smoked paprika.

We drove to Queens in the rain for dinner at Burnside Biscuit.

Worth it. Check how fancy my julep was.

Dinner was pimento mac and cheese with a side of shaved collards.

We went to Gossip Coffee for a “nightcap.”

Gorgeous space serving delicious, roasty cold-brew. And they had rice pudding.

We shared Oreo and cheesecake, both of which were fantastic.

Crab fried rice.

Yum! Adam would say that stir-frying is the cooking technique I’m best at. This dish was wonderful. Leftover brown jasmine rice with garlic, ginger, rice vinegar and fish sauce / peas, mini heirloom tomatoes, sweet red pepper, onion, and basil / eggs and canned crab meat.

This was the first time I’ve used tomato or basil in fried rice at home and both were welcome additions.

Burger night to finish the weekend.

Spinach salad with Sriracha ranch, maple rosemary roasted sunflower seeds, and roasted baby zucchini.

Turkey burgers on TJ’s brioche buns with mayo, sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, and tons of caramelized onions.

These were the best burgers I’ve ever made/eaten. The crunchy bacon and sweet onions totally made this. We got our pumpkin in for dessert.

Pumpkin pie and cookies and cream yogurt with Nutella, sprinkles, and chocolate candy toppings. A sweet way to end the weekend.

Are you going ga-ga orange gourd this month? Any pumpkin must-haves I haven’t done yet?

1Oct2015

Goodbye, Apple Month

by Emily

Can you believe that it is already October?! Time has felt like it is flying ever since we moved back to the city but this year in particular is booking it. Never mind the fact that I am somehow 30 years old even though I still feel like high school was maybe six years ago tops.

breakfast

I kept this week’s coffee combo simple –

I wanted to be able to get a good feel for this stuff –

This was the perfect month to review* Rigoni di Asiago’s Dolcedì sweetener because it is made of apples! 10 kilograms of organic apples go into 1 kilogram of Dolcedì.

The liquid sweetener is USDA certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, and kosher, and can be used in the same ways you would use table sugar (1 teaspoon of Dolcedì would substitute for 1 teaspoon of sugar, a 1:1 ratio) in hot and cold drinks. It has 15 calories per Tbsp (table sugar has 15 per teaspoon). You can also use it in baking but I haven’t tried that yet.

The liquid is sweet but flavorless so it really doesn’t alter the taste of your drink – unlike honey and agave – and I found that it quickly dissolved completely into solution in my iced coffee. I don’t typically sweeten my drinks but when I do I would definitely use the Dolcedì again in the future.

Along with my sweetened coffees I had bars

and orchard apples.

We were not impressed with the scant variety available for apple picking but these ended up being some of the best apples any of the four of us have ever eaten.

lunch

Plain yogurt with blueberries and pomegranate, sea salt caramel apple granola and chia seeds, and an apple on the side.

Plus I brought in turtle pretzel magic bars for my coworkers and I totally snagged one for after lunch.

The other days I stuck with THIS for dessert –

Omg.

Kodiak flapjack on the go and TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apple slices.

I hated the pancake cup – it was like choking down raw batter – but those apples are amazing. I shared a taste with two coworkers who said they were the best they’ve ever had.

Plain Siggi’s with blueberries, strawberry preserves, and caramel apple granola and chia seeds.

The caramel apple chia combo has rocked my world this month, though I have had to start carrying floss in my purse to deal with errant seeds.

“dinner”

Dinners this week were exceedingly weak. Apparently our busy weekend of walking wore us out because Adam and I have been unbelievably tired. Like on Monday we got into bed at 7:30 pm tired. And then on Tuesday we took a nap before bed. I guess maybe I do feel thirty!

Monday I ate a Starbucks chicken Santa Fe sandwich on the train.

It was good, and thank goodness because when I got home I ate this strawberry Cow Tail under the covers.

Hence “dinners.”

Tuesday I at least legitimately included some vegetables in my snack-based dinner. Carrots with hummus.

Several rounds of pretzels with string cheese.

And roasted green beans.

This was actually a pretty balanced meal.

And Wednesday I cooked a grown-up dinner.

Can you call heating up a package of TJ’s Palak Paneer cooking?

I had to make the brown jasmine rice and roasted zucchini we served it with so I’m counting it.

With a dollop of goat’s milk yogurt on top. And my final La Brea Bakery review* on the side – flatbread.

They were all good but this was our favorite bread so far. It had that perfect naan texture, fluffy yet chewy. And the flatbread includes sprouted whole wheat flour (along with white flour) which made the flavor just a bit more interesting. A+.

P.S. Now it’s October it is finally Pumpkin Month!!!

*These products were provided to me free of charge to review. I was not provided any additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

21Sep2015

Weekend Top Five

by Emily

{1} Apple picking upstate.

The selections were pretty weak – they only had two varieties!

We picked small bags and then moved on to the brewery.

They had housemade cider and wine slushies so that part of the day was a bit more exciting.

{2} Pecan Pie Bar.

Omg, kids, this candy was ridiculous good.

I’m not even embarrassed that I ate it two months early – pecan pie month isn’t until November on the Emily is crazy calendar – because this is my new favorite thing.

{3} Friday dinner at home.

Leftovers scrambled into easy eggs.

Turkey hot dogs, roasted broccoli, and spinach.

With cider from Wolfer Estates.

It was good but not my favorite.

{4} Saturday pizza night.

TJ’s red pepper, provolone, and pearl mozzarella wood-fired pizza.

With roasted zucchini.

I burned the life out of the pizza but roasted squash is our end of summer favorite.

{5} Sunday night Thai food with friends.

We went to Siam Orchid, a tiny little spot that makes the best Thai food in Brooklyn.

My drunken noodles with vegetarian duck were on point!

10Sep2015

Royal Weekend; Highlights

by Emily

Normally I am a Brooklyn girl, but over the three-day weekend I spent some time loving Queens. One day for Flushing and one for Astoria. Also Adam and I both had Monday off and we spent the day eating our way from Chelsea to SoHo!

Here are the highlights, minus several ice cream stops and several more coffees…

Doughnut date!

Chocolate salted caramel from Dough and a latte from Blue Sky.

Fancy yogurt bowls.

Plain Siggis + 2 types of plucot + chia seeds + crumbled graham cracker pie crust.

The crust was leftover from a failed s’mores cookie batch I attempted last week.

Brunch with a girlfriend at Burnside Biscuits. We both got Salty Dogs.

And I got a classic (duck fat!) biscuit with a sunny side up egg and sharp cheddar.

Related:: Adam and I went to Sweet Chick for a dimly lit dinner and had duck sloppy joes. Also two different cocktails with sherry!

Sandwiches at BEC = bacon, egg, and cheese.

I got a Junior with turkey bacon.

Sandwiches at Blue Ribbon. I got the pulled bbq chicken with cole slaw on top.

BRFC feels pretty chain restaurant/fast food but the sandwich was delicious. The bun was meh (I rarely eat the bun on a sandwich like this anyway) but the chicken was juicy with some perfectly charred crispy bites.

Presso Coffee is the cutest and their maple lattes are on point.