Weekend Wrap-Up; Beers In Brooklyn

by Emily

‘Twas a super weekend, even if I didn’t watch a single second of a certain football game. We don’t have a cable hook-up! I would like to see if I can find the commercials somewhere online though.

My meals this weekend were the like Seahawks, unparalleled winners. Here’s some of what we ate…

lunch at work on Friday

A Tart Cherry Noosa.

An Asian pear.

And a flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie.

I made the cookies for Adam but they were so good that I ended up stealing another one when I got home that afternoon! This recipe, but with Vanilla Bean + Espresso Barney Butter and half as many chocolate chips.

sweets and snacks

Cosmos.

With Cascade Ice Cocktail Mixer, a splash of oj, and vodka.

The fancy one was actually Adam’s, mine had ice and a straw.

But mine ended up being his too in the end; I am just not a cranberry person.

A serving of Red Velvet M&M’s (new flavor!).

They are very chocolate-y and also very headache-inducing.

A kid’s double scoop at Ample Hills Creamery on our date night. I had Sweet as Honey on the bottom – Homemade honeycomb candy (made with honey from bees at Queens County Farm) in a sweet cream ice cream – and Gather ‘Round the Campfire on top – Toasted marshmallow ice cream with chocolate-covered graham cracker.

I love this place! The flavors were perfect. I also tried a taste of the Peppermint Pattie and pretty much died.

cereal and milk {cereal and milk}

It’s back!

I know the box says “new!” but the raisin Frosted Mini Wheats were my number one favorite as a child. Also the only “sugar cereal” I can recall ever having in the house growing up.

With Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and blueberries.

a recipe revisit

I wanted to remake my Berry Better Than Spaghetti recipe so I could reshoot the photos (not that the new ones are all that great!).

I ended up making a few tweaks to the recipe too. It turned out fantastic!

coffee love

Medium non-fat cinnamon brown sugar latte at Dunkin Donuts.

I have been loving these lately but this one was too sweet. Speaking of… has anyone tried the cookie dough or brownie batter donuts at DD yet? I am seriously debating buying one.

Short nonfat caramel macchiato from Starbucks on errands.

Our Trader Joe’s is always a madhouse and I love it when the husband is available to wrangle the cart for me because it means I can have coffee while I shop.

Iced coffee with almond milk from Café Dada.

Love, love, love, love, love. There is just no beating Blue Bottle.

brunch in SoHo

A girlfriend and I met up at Penelope on Sunday.

I had the Andrey’s Egg Sandwich – Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and peppers, topped with ~~grilled chorizo~~ fakin’ bacon and sun-dried tomato pesto on a fresh-baked croissant. It was a strange order for me – I usually go with sunny side up eggs or something sweet – but very good.

beers in Brooklyn

Adam had the best date on Saturday, and I’m not just saying that because he got me tipsy! I managed to find my top 2 favorite beers! For reference, here’s my list –

Emily’s All-Time Favorite Beers Ranking

{1} Genesee Cream Ale

{2} Left Hand Milk Stout

{3} Heineken Light

{4} Red Stripe

{5} Abita Strawberry

{6} 21st Amendment Brewery Hell or High Watermelon

We started at Bierkraft, where I tried a Joe Mama’s Milk from Keegan Ales.

I couldn’t taste the coffee at all, but this was nice and smooth.

Then we headed down to Dinosaur BBQ,

where we found ($3) cans of GCA!

I also had a Left Hand Milk Stout with my dinner.

So much beer – for me – but it was all so good!

Dinosaur BBQ is actually from Upstate. They make our favorite bbq sauce but we never had a chance to visit the restaurant while we were in Buffalo. I was thrilled that a location popped up in our old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Adam and I split a sampler platter to start.

Shrimp boil, chicken wing, deviled egg, and a fried green tomato.

I got a pulled chicken melt as my meal. BBQ, caramelized onion, poblano peppers, and melted cheddar.

I skipped my bun and cheese but quite enjoyed the chicken. This definitely wasn’t the best barbecue we’ve ever had, but it wasn’t bad either. And we would go back for the beer menu alone.

What are your top favorite beers? Do you tend towards high or low ABV?

31Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Feeling Fizzy

by Emily

Hey there! The weather has not warmed up yet (though we are promised a week of mid-30’s to come!) but, as predicted, I am in a much better mood* than I was during my last wrap-up. My dietitan side wants to attribute my good feelings to getting in more produce this week!

*I am probably going to exclaim that “____________ was soooooo good!” a million times in this post and I feel the need to disclaim that this is not just my bubbly persona, I had lots of really tasty things this week.

Breakfast

Half of a Gnu Fiber Love Blondie Bar and a skim black tea latte.

I went with tea only because I had a coupon but I ended up thinking that it was quite nice. The bar on the other, was very meh.

A short skim latte.

I almost never drink hot coffee but in the moment it sounded good. Probably because I was still thinking about how nice the foam was with my tea.

A fantabulous smoothie.

Frozen blueberries, a frozen banana, Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 Tbsp Vanilla Bean and Espresso Barney Butter, and a Coco Café Coconut Water Café Latte. The coffee + almond combo was perfection.

Lunch

Lunch 1.

Strawberry Rhubarb Noosa Yogurt (pssst, all Noosa shown in this post are former freebies).

I had never tried rhubarb before this but if it tastes in pie like it does in this yogurt then I’m sure I’d be a fan. Plus baby carrots and green pepper with Bolthouse Farms Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing for dipping.

And a Pink Grapefruit Cascade Ice Water.

Oh gosh, the pink grapefruit, sooooo good. I don’t even usually like grapefruit but this knocked my socks off. This bottle was part of a very sweet box Cascade Ice Waters sent me this week.

Being a fan of all thing fizzy, I knew I would like them, but I’ve been shocked by just how good they are. I enjoy all of the flavors I’ve tried so far a bunch.

Lunch 2.

A Mango Noosa with some toasted coconut on top.

An Asian Pear and a banana fudge cereal bar (warmed, for the win!).

And a Lemonade Cascade Ice Water.

Super refreshing. These drinks don’t taste “diet” at all. <– usually my complaint with beverages other than diet coke.

Lunch 3.

More veggies with dip.

A mineola.

And leftovers.

…from a dinner you’ll see in a sec.

Dinner

Here’s that dinner I was talking about. A poorly-lit date to Namaste that I’m going to share anyway because it was the best Indian food we’ve ever had.

We went with a Groupon that let us get a bunch of courses. Including wine.

Riesling wasn’t actually the best pairing with my spicy food but I shared with Adam and he shared sips of his mango lassi with me.

Our Shrimp Bhuna appetizer was ridiculous. The sauce was amazing.

Dinner was great too.

I a pile of Okra Masala next to rice that I topped with some of Adam’s Chicken Shahi Korma.

Delicious. My dish was perfectly spiced. This was the best okra I’ve ever had and you know I love okra.

Plus they brought us creamy rice pudding for dessert.

Namaste, we will be back! {again, and again, and again}

A quick and easy dinner at home.

Herring salad – canned, smoked herring mashed with Miracle Whip, dijon, and pickle relish.

Orange honey cabbage – shredded cabbage and chopped celery sautéed in evoo and then cooked with a sauce made of orange juice, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and corn starch.

Plus dried clementines so that my plate didn’t look like it belonged to someone edentulous.

I wasn’t feeling any of my piles, sadly, but Adam loved this meal.

The last dinner I have to share was a loser too.

I topped leftover creamy mushroom casserole with truffle salt and a sunny side up egg but my favorite flavors weren’t enough to make up for the lackluster casserole underneath. We shared this cutting board of pineapple as an appetizer and that wasn’t great either.

Maybe I’m actually being picky this week?

Snack

Adam and I tried the new Butterfinger Cups.

Not fans; they were actually too spot on, the flavors were so recognizable as Butterfingers and Reese’s Cups that it was weird to be eating them mashed together.

Peppermint divinity candy, on the other hand, is always good.

Thanks for sending it, parents! P.S. Fellow NYCers – if you come across divinity candy somewhere in our fair city please let me know!

Margaritas!

Made with Cascade Ice Margarita Sparkling Cocktail Mixer, a splash of orange juice, fresh lime, and tequila.

I don’t even like margaritas (I drink them from one bar only, always with Herradura) and I thought these were out of control.

I haven’t seen the Cascade Ice cocktail mixes at my store but I am buying more of this as soon as I can find it.

Homemade ice cream that was a total success.

Amazingly, I managed to make the best coffee ice cream we’ve ever had.

Coffee Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, serves 4 – 6

1 and 1/2 cups fat-free half and half
heaping 1/4 cup coffee grounds
12 oz can evaporated low-fat milk
1/3 cup and 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp vodka
3 large egg yolks
1 cup crushed Oreos (we used Mega Stuffed by any kind works)

Place coffee grounds and half and half into the base of your French press. Stir. Cover (do not insert the press at this point) and store in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
Press grounds and pour coffee-infused half and half into a medium saucepan.
Whisk evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and vodka into half and half. Heat mixture until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
While the milk mixture cools, whisk 1/4 cup sugar into egg yolks in a large bowl.
Slowly stream the milk into the eggs, whisking constantly. Be sure to temper the eggs by starting with a very small amount of the hot liquid and gradually adding more.
Return mixture to pan and cook another 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
Place pan into a large bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until cool, 20 – 30 minutes.
Pour cooled base into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Transfer finished ice cream to a large storage container and fold in crushed Oreos. Serve immediately or freeze.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

16Jan2014

Livin’ Lean With Trader Joe’s {Book Review}

by Emily

I recently was contacted about doing a review of Jamie Davidson’s new book, Livin’ Lean with Trader Joe’s. Since January is the month of resolutions to eat better/lose weight/get healthy/et al, it seemed like the perfect time to share my thoughts with you guys. I even have a sample recipe for you.

Note – I was sent a PDF copy of the book to review, free of charge. All opinions are my own. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

About: The Author

Jamie has a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and has been teaching people how to eat nutritiously and conveniently for over 20 years. She is also the author of Quick and Healthy Meals from Trader Joe’s and Simmering Solutions, Healthy Slow-Cooker Recipes. I don’t believe that she has any formal chef training, but she is quite adept at putting together meals that are balanced and flavorful while still being healthy. While I think that Registered Dietitians should be the gold standard source for nutrition advice, Jamie’s background makes her far more qualified than most of the other authors of this season’s diet advice.

My Thoughts: The Book

Two thumbs up! Adam and I loved all of the recipes that we tried – they were tasty, healthy, and a snap to prepare.

The first few chapters of the book focus on Jamie’s advice for weight loss and healthy living, followed by a comprehensive collection of more than 150 recipes. As a Registered Dietitian, I think that her philosophy is solid. She promotes exercise and a balanced diet (note – “diet” as in a lifestyle or way of eating, not meaning a short-term, quick-fix “diet”) and doesn’t make outrageous claims. She does a great job of explaining why and how her recipes can help you lose weight.

Many of the recipes are simple assembly and prep, and if you are a more advanced cook this book may be too basic for you. But if you are struggling in the kitchen or have made a recent commitment to prepare healthier meals – whether you are looking to lose weight or just lead a healthy life – I wholeheartedly recommend purchasing this book.

The Goods: Recipes I Made

{1} Lentil Tapenade (Wrap).

This recipe combined some of Adam’s favorite flavors – lentils, olive tapenade, and feta – that I would not have thought to put together on my own. It took less than 5 minutes to throw together and we loved the final result.

The recipe was for a wrap, but we made a (double) batch of the spread and served it as part of a cheese plate instead.

Lentil tapenade, buffalo blue cheese kettle chips, green grapes, pesto gouda, and an amazing goat’s milk cheddar.

{2} BBQ Chicken over Polenta.

This was one of those basic prep recipes; not something I would normally look for in a cookbook but a great find on a late night when I would have ordered take-out (for 8 billion calories) but spent 5 minutes throwing this together instead (for less than 200 calories a serving with 16 grams of protein).

Served with green beans.

FYI, I did skew my serving ratio a bit towards chicken versus polenta.

{3} Really Low Fat Greek Yogurt Dressing.

Served on a salad, obviously. With romaine, smoked almonds, raisins, and pesto gouda. I liked the tang of this a lot. And I loved that there were only about 35 calories a serving, because the husband tends to coat his salads in dressing.

Served with…

{4} Eggless Egg Salad.

This was our favorite recipe of the bunch. It has a tofu base, but an avowed tofu hater wouldn’t know it was in there until you told them. I don’t usually put so many veggies in my egg salad (though I totally should) so I tasted this before I added in most of the produce and yep, it tasted just like egg salad!

This was delicious, and vegan to boot. Definitely a recipe I plan on making again. And you can make it too, since Jamie said it was ok to share the recipe with you guys (click on the image to enlarge) –

Did you make any health related resolutions this New Years?

11Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; One Day Late

by Emily

Usually I get these posts up by Friday, but that implies that I was moderately functional on Thursday night. This week, I was not. In spite of being insanely tired all week (I got into a bad sleep habit pattern that snowballed), I did do pretty well on the food front – breakfasts most days, fancy-feeling dinners, the works.

work

Speaking of work… It’s going well. I feel like I am fully settled into my position. I am definitely missing the inpatient setting a lot, but I do feel like I’m getting to make a positive impact. Part of the reason I’m so passionate about pediatrics (my long-term career goals center around nutrition support and pediatrics) is because nutrition is so crucial during periods of growth. Well, working with prenatal patients means I’m counseling adults who are growing{babies!}. My clinic sees a great variety of clients; among other things, I’ve gotten to deal with anemia, diabetes, hyperemesis gravidarum, and pica. I’m still waiting on vegan diets, eating disorders, and maternal pku.

On a less serious note, I decided to stop Fashion Fridays. I’m just not that fashionable. And I’m really not that good with my camera, which meant I was taking blurry pictures that weren’t highlighting the cool details that make me love my outfits. I doubt anyone but my mom will miss this feature, but I just wanted to explain why it was going away.

breakfast

Coconut Macaroon Larabar and a short non-fat salted caramel hot chocolate.

Breakfast from the cafeteria.

Kashi Caramelized Onion Hummus Crisps and an apple. I enjoyed both.

Non-fat iced caramel flan latte.

This wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be. I asked for no whipped cream and they skipped my caramel drizzle too.

Two servings of S’mores Krave cereal with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I didn’t like the original version of this cereal when I tried it last year but the s’mores kind is quite tasty. And for a “sugar cereal” it’s not even terrible, with 10 g of sugar per serving.

lunch

Monday.

0% Fage with mango and soursoup,

a super juicy pear,

dried clementines,

and Duane Reade milk chocolate with toffee and sea salt.

Tuesday, I ran out of time to pack.

A Chicken and Greens Cesar from Starbucks. I loved the use of kale in here, I didn’t know a Cesar could feel so healthy.

And a Strawberry Apple Crusher from TJ.

Wednesday.

Hickory smoked tuna with crackers,

and salted milk chocolate and a pear for dessert.

For Thursday, a jar of fresh pineapple.

A sandwich of Applegate Farms roasted turkey, dijon, and light jarlsberg on an everything ciabatta flatbread,

and some sesame roasted seaweed.

My coworkers were very curious about the seaweed; two of them even were brave enough to taste it, not that they ended up being big fans.

I didn’t have my camera yesterday, but I bought a slice of veggie pizza from the cafeteria for lunch. And, um, I also bought a doughnut for breakfast. I almost never eat doughnuts (I didn’t grow up with them) but I had randomly reeeeeeeeally been craving one so it was serendipitous that the cafeteria had cinnamon twists on the morning I couldn’t pack breakfast.

dinner

A fancy night.

We topped salmon with meyer lemon and this Dark Horse Smoked Brown Sugar before baking. We hardly ever make fresh fish at home and this was such a treat! The texture of properly baked salmon is swoon-worthy.

With a side of roasted broccoli,

and potatoes – mashed with butter, goat cheese, and tons of dijon mustard.

It was a great meal.

A tired night – I was too sleepy on Tuesday to even bother with dinner. Refer down to the “snacks” list below 🙂

A sandwich night.

Smokey tofu sandwiches were a total win.

We topped ciabatta flatbread with smokey tofu, light muenster cheese, and turkey bacon. The tofu was baked with a sauce I threw together – ketchup, maple syrup, and liquid smoke – and it turned out great.

Plus green beans.

A restaurant night.

Those are the complimentary yam chips that Laverne sets out, by the way, and they are fantastic.

For my meal, I ordered the Drunken Noodles with shrimp, extra spicy.

Oh boy, did they ever deliver on spice! The noodles were exactly to my liking, which is to say, almost unbearably hot! Adam took a tiny taste and was not happy. Thai iced tea helped me to cool down a bit.

And after dinner we went out for giant cups of froyo. Sadly, the evening took a sharp turn downhill from there. I made myself a much bigger froyo than I usually do, loaded up with all sorts of toppings, including, apparently, something that didn’t agree with me. Even if you’ve never thrown up after eating the spiciest meal of your life you can probably still picture it. I basically rolled around on the floor and screamed. <– sorry, husband!

snack

When I sent Adam to “the fancy store” to pick up salmon, he came home with this 26 month aged Beemster Dutch cheese as a surprise.

Do you see those salt crystals?! Love. We didn’t even use crackers, just ate big chunks all week long.

Vivaloe Watermelon Aloe. Surprisingly, Adam liked this even more than I did.

We both have been missing the variety of boba we could get in bubble tea in Buffalo and the chunks of aloe are a nice substitute.

Onto the chocolate portion of our show… My last Alter Eco Velvet Truffle.

I’m amazed these lasted so long in the house (they are outstanding), but it seemed like we just kept on bringing home new treats.

Like the Lime Splash Lindt bar that I obviously had to buy because, hello, it’s new.

Two thumbs up. And I know that the cover photo makes him look like a creeper, but I’m currently loving Grant Achatz’s memoir, Life, On The Line.

Finally, my (sugared up) take on Something Swanky’s Single Serve Skinny Brownie Batter.

5.3 oz vanilla Greek yogurt + 1 Tbsp brown sugar + 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar + 1 and 1/2 Tbsp almond meal + 1 Tbsp Dutch cocoa powder = brain exploding goodness!

6Jan2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Snowmageddon

by Emily

Hey there! I hope all of my East Coast (US) readers are keeping warm! Long Island didn’t get hit as badly with snow as predicted, but getting to and from work on Friday was definitely pretty insane.

Here’s some of what I ate when I wasn’t shivering…

Lunch packed for work on Friday.

Leftovers of my spin on Hoppin’ John on top of leftover farro,

with cola candies,

and tangerines.

I actually ate the tangerines on my train ride home, alongside a nice, warm espresso.

Coffee was very loved this weekend. I also had a cinnamon brown sugar iced latte from Dunkin Donuts {love, love, loved},

and a hazelnut iced coffee – with sugar, skim milk, and a dash of vanilla creamer – from Bagel Boss {I can’t really speak to their bagels but I’m obsessed with their iced coffee}.

Aaaaaand a different iced latte from Starbucks that I didn’t photograph because it was getting ridiculous. Yes, I recently became extra in love with coffee. No, I won’t switch from iced no matter how cold it gets.

A delicious dinner on Friday night.

I made “miso stoup” for the first time and was thrilled with the results. Not totally traditional, but with ingredients we had on hand. And extra “chunky” because it was our whole meal and not just a side.

Miso Soup, Basically serves 2 – 3

3 cups chicken broth (you could totally use veggie broth if you want to keep things vegetarian)
3 heaping Tbsp miso paste
2. 5 oz firm tofu, cubed
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 pint sliced shiitake mushrooms
.6 oz roasted seaweed, crumbled

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
Add miso to broth and whisk until no lumps remain.
Add remaining ingredients to pan and simmer an additional 3 – 5 minutes.

We loved it.

Not so delicious fondue for dinner on Saturday night.

We split a lemon cream pie martini that wasn’t terrible.

And for fondue we ordered the sharp cheese,

and the caramel pecan chocolate (though I’m fairly certain they left out our caramel).

Both were fairly meh. The bread cubes were terrible and we only got two each of the other dippers so if you liked something you couldn’t even try it again because then the other person didn’t get any. We cashed in a Groupon to Simply Fondue and even with the $ off it was still pretty darn expensive. Boo.

Random but good things include: A bowl of Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

A Suede Imperial Porter from Stone {I couldn’t taste the honey but the floral scent was amazing},

And a big bowl of popcorn with truffle salt.

Oh jeez, the truffle popcorn. Insane. Usually Adam turns his nose up at my bowls of popcorn but this time he was more than happy to share.

Yesterday we did a late, great brunch. My guava mimosa was quite tasty.

We were visiting friends in Williamsburg and they took us to Simple. We all had wonderful meals.

I got the Vegetable Burger – Sautéed spinach, mushroom, zucchini, pepper, onion, garlic. It was more of a pile of veggies than a burger, particularly once I ordered it sans bun. It was also delicious, especially when topped with Danish blue cheese. And the fries on the side were nice and crispy!

P.S. You have until 2 pm EST to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

3Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

by Emily

Hello from a new year! Like I said in my last post, I am very excited to have welcomed ’14. We didn’t do anything exciting for NYE (we were in bed watching Vines by 11), but we started the year off right with a fun day on the 1st.

Resolutions, Past and Present

I didn’t set any resolutions last year, but since 2011 it’s been a yearly goal to read a book a month. I missed January and February, but overall I did pretty well with 20 books read in 2013:

March

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen (f)

The Bone Bed – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

97 Orchard – Jane Ziegelman (nf)

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen – Dalia Jurgensen (m)

July

The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Third Victim – Lisa Gardner (f)

Alone – Lisa Gardner (f)

August

Hide – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Neighbor – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Next Accident – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Killing Hour – Lisa Gardner (f)

September

Fiction Ruined My Family – Jeanne Darst (m)

October

Live to Tell – Lisa Gardner (f)

Love You More – Lisa Gardner (f)

Catch Me – Lisa Gardner (f)

November

Bones of the Lost – Kathy Reichs (f)

December

Brain on Fire – Susannah Cahalan (m)

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – Alexandra Fuller (m)

Dust – Patricia Cornwell (f)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed (m)

This year I did decide to set a few new year’s goals for myself, though I won’t be typing them all out here. Basically I want to lose some of the weight I’ve been steadily putting on the past three years / continue my book reading goals / and start chipping away at the continuing education requirements for my Dietetics registration.

Fashion Friday

Last Friday.

Monday.

Tuesday.

A day off on Wednesday.

Welcoming in a new year at work on Thursday.

Breakfasts

Since part of this post is from last year you won’t really see this go into effect, but I think I am going to make more of an effort to eat breakfast on workdays. I’ve been getting insanely hungry every afternoon and I think running out of time for breakfast most mornings is partially to blame.

Giant non-fat latte with 2 shots each peppermint and white chocolate.

Coconut coffee and a pear.

The Vanilla Coco Cafe was delicious, even better than the original.

My pear was tasty too, but eating it gave me such bad heartburn that I almost got off of my train to throw up! I’m not sure what the deal with that was.

Lunches

I made a big batch of roasted veggies this week, enough to pack for three days of lunches. Butternut squash and green beans (and broccoli that I burned the crap out of so only 1-3 stalks ended up in each lunch). I stuck with the winning formula of veggies + a fruit + candy the whole week.

Monday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and Sriracha mayo. Plus tangerines and Chinese candy.

Tuesday.

Veggies with pistachios and champagne pear vinaigrette. Plus mint m&m’s and an Autumn Glory apple (<– they taste like cinnamon!).

Thursday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and bbq sauce. Plus gummies from Dylan’s and another cinnamon-y apple.

On Wednesday, Adam and I went into the city for lunch at Serendipity3.

The Christmas decorations were out of control, it was gorgeous in there.

We shared a frrrozen hot chocolate that was delightful.

I got my favorite sandwich for lunch, the Summer Bries – smoked turkey, sliced apples, melted brie and alfalfa sprouts, served on raisin pumpernickel with Russian dressing.

Yum! I shared about 50% of my sandwich with the husband, but it was ok because I stole some of his curry sauce to drizzle on my salad.

Snacks

I don’t have any pictures because I haven’t been bringing my camera to work, but let me just tell you – I’ve been eating so much freaking junk on the train! Like I said earlier, I am super hungry all afternoon, and I end up buying food the minute I escape the hospital. It is a bad bad habit.

Strawberry Champagne Polar to make work on NYE feel a little more festive.

Actual champagne. We drank Moet & Chandon on our honeymoon and now it feels extra special.

Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea with honey.

Plain Greek yogurt with blackberries and maple syrup.

Seltzer and a candy cane.

Gummi cola bottles (Adam bought me an array for our anniversary), eaten nightly this week while playing Sonic. <– best thing ever

Dessert hour with Adam at Cafe Dada.

We split a diplomat pastry,

and both had cafe cortados.

They use Blue Bottle Coffee as their espresso and it is divine.

Dinners

I don’t have pictures from Monday and Wednesday and without them I honestly can’t remember what I ate those nights. I ate a small serving of mac and cheese from Panera on NYE, but I’m sure I had something with it and I can’t remember what! When I used to blog every day I didn’t realize how much the act of picture-taking helped to cement the meals in my brain.

An easy favorite. Farro topped with smoked herring, sweet sesame seaweed, Sriracha, and a soft-boiled egg.

Black eyed peas for the new year. In a skillet I randomly tossed together – BEP, green pepper, plum tomato, green onion, turkey bacon, smoked paprika, green Tabasco, and plain Greek yogurt. On top of jasmine rice.

Leftover farro, stir-fried with peas.

I know I didn’t give a ton of dinner description, but I starting realizing just how long this post is!

Don’t forget to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

23Dec2013

Week Long Wrap-Up; But I Am Le Tired

by Emily

In spite of actually getting enough sleep for the first time in ever, I was astonishingly tired this week. Like too tired to play on my phone when I got in bed at night, which is huge for me. Probably related to the astonishing amount of junk I ate this week, most of which I didn’t have the energy to photograph. Or perhaps just living like a grown-up finally sinking in. Nonetheless, when I thought about writing a “Weekly Wrap-Up” post on Thursday, I crawled into bed instead. FYI – I did select the book winners and they’ve already been contacted.

le work eats

Some breakfasts and lunches shown here. I did not do a great job of packing this week. We had two free lunches in a row, but unfortunately neither offered a ton that I could/would eat. And I tried to buy lunch in the cafeteria one day and it did not go well at all. There were several days where I was cranky all afternoon and then snacking like crazy the minute I could get my hands on food. Like the day I ate an entire bag of fruit gummis on the train…

Leftover chana masala with tangerines.

Lunch from our holiday party. Salad, shrimp, and rigatoni. With a side of present in our great gift exchange. I didn’t snap any pictures, but my boss brought in Baked by Melissa for dessert and that was fun.

Jalopeño-cheddar cream cheese bagel with fresh pineapple.

My coffee of choice this week was an iced Americano with extra espresso, skim milk, and four sugars.

Yogurt, mango, and peppermint divinity that knocked my socks off.

le work outfits

le dinners

I didn’t have it in me to cook and we ate too many meals out this week. It would have been fine for the fun, except of course they were largely terrible. Thankfully my desire to get in the kitchen seems to be renewed by my week of bad restaurant meals. <– I say as I eat cheese and crackers and a beer for dinner

We went to a Cuban place in Park Slope as a belated birthday dinner for Adam.

I got a painkiller to drink, which wasn’t half bad.

But I misread the menu and ordered a chile relleno that was stuffed with calamari. I don’t eat calamari. The waiter was out-of-control terrible so we were not surprised when he didn’t comment on my plate going back to the kitchen mostly untouched (not that this mistake was their fault!).

We made a dessert effort with flan and tres leches, aka flan and a kitchen sponge soaked in scm. Yuck!

At least we enjoyed our company immensely! And the walk back to the car was gorgeous and we picked me up a jaloepeño cheddar bagel that was delicious.

We tried again another night with a Groupon I bought for a Mexican spot in Roslyn.

We shared a truffle mushroom quesadilla that was perfect.

And my 2nd go at chile relleno was much better, if still not great.

Another night we stayed home but got Chipotle.

I was irritated with the amount of guacamole she glopped on at first, but once I realized it was in fact $2 and not free I was glad that they didn’t skimp.

I’d been having a love affair with their chicken but somehow this rice bowl just didn’t knock my socks off.

The best thing we ate all week was the night we stayed home.

Leftover chana with onion relish and a big scoop of plain Greek yogurt.

le snacks

A cookie to stay on theme while we watched “Frosty.”

A lemonade milkshake.

I used way too much lemon juice to vanilla ice cream and this was actually inedible, but it was fun in theory and an idea I plan on trying again in different proportions.

A Buffalo chicken quesadilla (former freebie) from Red’s.

White chocolate peppermint frozen yogurt with cheesecake chips and snowcaps.

We also tried the Scotchy Scotch Scotch (on top of chocolate peanut butter swirl) from Ben and Jerry’s. I took a few bites and Adam swooned over the rest. This flavor is definitely for butterscotch lovers.

This Cider Boys Magic Apple, apple strawberry hard cider, was outstanding. I want to try the cinnamon flavor like crazy.

le weekend in the city

Yesterday we headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

I can not even tell you how gorgeous the city was this weekend; I squealed with delight every time we rounded a corner. Also it was 65 degrees and I was in sandals!

We were in Manhattan because Au Bon Pain invited me in to try some of their new holiday menu.

Note – Au Bon Pain provided me coupons with which I could try the new menu free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

Here are the current ABP special menu additions –

Chicken, Mushroom and Swiss Sandwich– all natural chicken, spinach, Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms and tomato spread on a sprouted grain roll

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake – holiday mini bundt coffee cake filled with cinnamon spice and topped with walnuts

Egg White and Mushroom Frittata Breakfast Sandwich – egg whites, sautéed mushrooms, spinach and cheddar on a sprouted grain roll

Gingerbread Cookie – A hand decorated cookie rich with molasses

Greek Vanilla Yogurt and Triple Berry Parfait

Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread – chocolate dipped shortbread sprinkled with peppermint topping

Pumpernickel Bagel – bold and distinctive flavor from rye flour and molasses

Thai Coconut Shrimp (gluten free) – a blend of petite shrimp, red peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots and lemongrass in a coconut and curry broth with a touch of spice

Adam and I shared so we could try three things.

The Chicken, Mushroom, and Swiss Sandwich.

They were out of the rolls so ours was served on cibatta bread. I thought this was good, but I’m not one to get too excited about a chicken sandwich. Adam loved it. He ate part of my half and even considered getting a second one.

The Thai Coconut Shrimp soup.

This one I liked more than the husband. The flavor was full of lemongrass and not too spicy. Very filling for only 170 calories in a medium bowl.

The Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread.

We both loved dessert. The shortbread was so thick that it was the main flavor instead of chocolate or peppermint, but thankfully it was quite a tasty shortbread. Each cookie has 390 calories which I didn’t think was too bad considering how big they are.

It was dark after we finished eating and the lights were even better on the walk home.

I ❤ New York

P.S. Bonus points if you know what the title alludes to!

16Dec2013

My Weekend, A Book Report {Giveaway}

by Emily

I had a lot of fun this weekend. When I decided to write about my weekend I was excited. The food was very good. There were a lot of foods. Adam was so fun to be with…

Ahahaha! Don’t worry, there will be no 2nd grade book-report-style writing here. I do have two new books to share with you though. And the verb “share” was used literally in that last sentence – there’s a giveaway at the end of this post!

Both of the books mentioned in this post were provided to me free of charge to review. The publisher also provided a 2nd copy of each book to share with my readers. All opinions are my own.

Just a few things to note:

Please click on the headings/book titles for links to the publisher’s website.
I did have another, non-food, book that I wanted to talk about. I read Susannah Cahalan’s “Brain on Fire” during my commute last week and I flipping loved it. “Brain on Fire” is a memoir about her struggle with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Cahalan is a journalist, and she did a great job presenting the scientific aspects of her story in a clear, and accessible manner. Plus she made me cry; I kept having to blink back tears on the train!

Picture Cook – See. Make. Eat.

Instead of a list of instructions, “Picture Cook” breaks down its recipes into step-by-step pictures (though the bottom of each page does include a list of ingredients for clarity’s sake). I liked the look of the artwork a lot; the pictures are clear but cute. The book also includes some handy tips,

and stream of consciousness-esque recommendations for things like raita, pizza, and omelets.

I made two recipes from it this weekend. The instructions were a snap to follow – it was much easier to glance at the pictures than read through instructions while I cooked. The dishes were delicious, though it is worth noting that I increased the cooking time for both recipes.

We made Home Fries on Saturday.

Which we served with ketchup and a sunny side up egg. Yolk makes the best sauce.

The recipe called for precooking the potatoes in the oven, which was much better than microwaving them first like I usually do. We thought the amount of spice was perfect.

On Sunday I tried my hand an Chana Masala.

Served with white rice and onion chutney.

This was the second or third time we’ve made chana masala at home and this recipe was by far the quickest and easiest, but the final dish was still our favorite. Adam loved it.

Homemade Condiments – Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients

A sauce can really make or break a dish, so I was excited to add a guide to homemade condiments to my culinary bookshelf. The book has recipes for ketchups, mayos, mustards, dressings, dessert sauces, and more.

Each recipe comes with a list of recommended uses, which I thought was a nice touch.

Over the past week I made three different sauces, with varying success.

Orange-Miso Dressing went in my cooked cabbage and got two thumbs up.

The sauce had the right balance of savory miso to sweet orange. It reduced perfectly but I think it would be great “raw” on a salad as well.

Maple Tarragon Vinaigrette went on a salad and sadly got one thumb down.

I felt like I could never get it to emulsify and even though I cut the recommended oil almost in half the final dressing was just too oily for my tastes.

The Caramelized Onion Chutney on our chana masala got two big thumbs up.

Another sweet and savory, the balance of flavors in this one was perfect. My only complaint is that the onions started to burn (on the lowest my heat can go) before the recommended cooking time was even halfway through. I was expecting the husband to hate the chutney because he’s not a raisin fan, but he raved about it. I would love to make another batch to spread on grilled cheese sandwiches.

The Giveaway

I have a copy of each book to share! Simply leave a comment on this post stating which book you want to win by 2 pm EST on Thursday, December 19th. If don’t want to chose between the books you may leave two comments, but each reader is only eligible to win one time (i.e. two winners will be selected, one person cannot win both books).

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: peppers

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Dinner

Snack

Livin’ Lean With Trader Joe’s {Book Review}

Note – I was sent a PDF copy of the book to review, free of charge. All opinions are my own. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

About: The Author

My Thoughts: The Book

The Goods: Recipes I Made

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work

breakfast

lunch

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Weekend Wrap-Up; Snowmageddon

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

Resolutions, Past and Present

Fashion Friday

Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Dinners

Week Long Wrap-Up; But I Am Le Tired

le work eats

le work outfits

le dinners

le snacks

le weekend in the city

Note – Au Bon Pain provided me coupons with which I could try the new menu free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

My Weekend, A Book Report {Giveaway}

Both of the books mentioned in this post were provided to me free of charge to review. The publisher also provided a 2nd copy of each book to share with my readers. All opinions are my own.

Picture Cook – See. Make. Eat.

Homemade Condiments – Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients

The Giveaway