The soup was pretty good and the cheese straws were fantastic. I did lots of nibbling while we finished cooking the soup.
Sooooo cheesy and good.
Both recipes were quick and easy and we loved how clear the directions were. I flipped through the whole cookbook while choosing recipes and was impressed with the clarity of everything. Plus, several version of roux, Batiste Family Bread Puddin’ with Praline Rum Sauce, and Believe Dat Bananas Foster? You know this is a killer cookbook. Which is why I’m offering a book to one of you.
For a chance to win a copy of Taste of Treme, leave a comment on this post by noon on Thursday, January 10th.
Note – I was sent the Taste of Treme cookbook for free to review. All opinions are my own.
I stayed up way too late last night waiting for Adam to get home, but that didn’t stop me from crossing not one, but two items off of my birthday goal list. See, who needs New Year’s resolutions?
But first, I made us a fancy weekend breakfast.
Actually, first I put Uggs (and a fleece I found in the dirty clothes section of Adam’s suitcase) over my pj’s to go out to Starbucks to buy Adam a coffee.
I’m a frumpy good wife.
After the public embarrassment, I made us eggnog french toast.
Two slices of whole wheat bread soaked in 1 large egg + 1 white, a big pour of eggnog (~1/2 cup?), 1 tsp of vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. After a quick visit to a hot skillet greased with butter, I topped my slice with berries.
And maple syrup.
Delish! I wish eggnog was a year-round treat so I could make this french toast again.
My iced coffee was from my fridge, not The Spot, but I like to reuse my cups.
1 cup of Chameleon Cold Brew with a lot of Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and a little of sweetened almond and cashew cream.
The cup was okay but the cream was disgusting and the rest of the carton went straight to the trash.
Also in the garbage? This honey basil seed drink.
The frog egg texture worked for us, but the flavor did not.
My to-go lunch was much more successful.
A riff on the black-eyed pea salad I want to eat for the rest of my life; black beans with chopped green pepper, pineapple salsa, and the last of the Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar.
Not as good as the original, but still worth eating. And it helped me achieve one of my birthday goals…
First on the list? Building a snowman!
This was my 2nd snowman ever. And my first was a inches-tall affair, decorated with buttons that were subsequently stolen, when I was three years old and in the states for a funeral; so I’m not sure that counts.
We used green pepper pieces from my lunch for eyes.
It seemed like the perfect museum to attend with a small child, but Adam and I were ready to go well within an hour. I’m glad I went, but I never want to go back.
I got some produce into the afternoon in the form of juice.
Kale, spinach, carrot, and apple. It was tasty but sadly light on the greens.
Dinner was popcorn at a movie! A cheddar and caramel mix from a specialty shop in the mall.
I really wanted this one,
but Adam and I shared (3-1, my favor) this size instead.
We saw “Parental Guidance” and thought that the snacks were better than the show. Also, I’m very sad to report that we saw “This Is 40” on our anniversary and hated it. Jude Apatow, I so want to love you! Apparently we are not quite ready for kids?
What was the worst movie (or best!) you’ve seen recently?
I did not end up watching tv last night but I didn’t go to bed for hours either. I also did not eat my coconut butter snack.
Instead I had it for breakfast.
The Artisana Cacao Bliss packet was delicious! The taste and texture reminded me of crumbly chocolate frosting. Plus it was super filling. I have two more of the packets and I’m very much looking forward to them. And yes, that is a soda in the back of the picture; breakfast didn’t happen until near noon. As it always goes the day after a migraine, my eats were all over the place today.
I got up late in a daze, made some important school calls, and then rushed out of the house to run time-sensitive errands. By the time I made my way to Wegman’s it was after 4:00 and I was starving. Hot bar to the rescue.
Asian wokery veggies, watermelon, and pineapple.
A little bit of sweet and sour pineapple chili chicken plus a Thai chicken spring roll.
And I snagged these adorable cupcake gummies from the bulk bins.
They were like little vanilla-berry pillows.
Dinner round 1 was a taco salad.
A romaine base topped with chopped green pepper, black beans, a handful of crushed Beanitos, chopped Cabot 50% light sharp cheddar, and a big scoop of Wegman’s pineapple salsa.
I gave my bowl a 30 second nuke in the microwave a few bites in and it made it even better. I think I prefer Wegman’s version of the pineapple salsa to Newman’s Own’s; the sweetness and the spice are both a little less intense.
Dinner round 2 was lightened up chips and dip.
2 servings of ruffles,
and a bowl of Fresh Fage French Onion Dip.
I’ve been craving french onion dip (with freshly caramelized onions!) for days so I decided to try my hand a lighter version. I included the recipe for the dip at the bottom of this post. It was really delicious!
Both were good, but I have got to cut back on the sugar. I have been soooooo hungry this week and it’s driving me crazy.
Adam has been out-of-town the past few days and he gets back tonight = yay!!!!! We have two fun days planned this weekend and I can’t wait.
Fresh Fage French Onion Dip, serves 1-2 (Or more, if you’re into smaller – i.e. 2-3 Tbsp – servings. For 1-2 people this recipe makes a large enough bowl of dip to really scoop your chips into.)
Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and oil to heated pan. When butter is completely melted, stir in the onion and pinch of salt. Cook 5 – 7 minutes until onions caramelize, stirring occasionally. Remove caramelized onions from heat and let cool for 1 – 3 minutes before adding to yogurt.
Place yogurt in a large bowl. Add onions, Worcestershire, onion powder, and remaining salt and stir until well-combined. Serve with carrot sticks or ruffled chips.
What is your favorite kind of dip? I’m a buffalo chicken dip girl myself, gotta embrace the homeland!
I am working my way through a migraine and I want to hurry to bed with a magazine. An episode of “30 Rock” may or may not happen first though…
Yesterday was the worst day of the year (hardy har; see what I did there? it’s not really hyperbole because there have only been three days). I was cranky and out-of-control-hungry all day long and the only things I managed to do were stuff my face and sulk. I vowed that the 3rd would be better than the 2nd, and even with my migraine today was a good day. Woop.
I did start with a good breakfast.
1 serving of Cascadian FarmBerry Cobbler Granola topped with 2 handfuls of blueberries and blackberries, a sprinkle of toasted coconut, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.
For lunch I packed some old beans. They were jolly good. <– are you slapping your knee yet? 3/4 cup black-eyed peas with a big handful of chopped green pepper, a small handful of smoked almonds, and 1 oz-ish chopped Kerrygold vintage cheddar; seasoned with salt and a few dashes of green Tabasco.
The mix of flavors and textures in this quick salad was so tasty and satisfying. Definitely a dish I need to recreate when I’m packing lunches for my big girl job for the rest of the year my life.
*no photograph available* I ate at least 10 mini candy canes during my shift and gave myself the worst sore throat. It was a slow day and I didn’t get much sleep so sugar was the only way I could stay awake. Terrible.
And I’m just now realizing that the massive sugar intake is probably what led to my migraine. Goddamnit.
I was already starting to feel off when I headed home from work so I picked up a slice of Buffalo chicken pizza for dinner.
With blue cheese, plus a mound of baby carrots from home.
I really could have split that giant slice with Adam (that is in fact 1 Zetti’s slice cut in half, not two normal-size slices) but he’s not here and I have no self-control so I ate the whole thing!
I hope everyone had a great first day. I started my year the best way possible – a long morning in bed with my husband and dog and an afternoon spent cleaning every trace of 2012 away from the apartment. He vacuumed and put away Christmas decorations and I organized and put away the Christmas presents. I also did some electronics cleaning; my cell phone, bookmarks, and google reader are sparkling. I even cleaned up my desktop.
Tomorrow I just have to organize my school stuff from last semester. I’ve got to start getting ready for the next (last!) semester; I go back to school in 20 days!
We started our day with smoothies for a late breakfast.
For two: 1.5 cups Silk Soy, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil went into the blender.
Lunch came in snack plate form. Roasted green beans.
And a sweet plate.
Sliced honeycrisp,
smoked almonds,
and the last cherry cheesecake brownie.
The mouthfuls with almond and brownie were great. I am not going to post the brownie recipe because it is cobbled together from a few sources but I am working on something similar that should be amazing.
I also had a small coffee – with lots of skim milk and vanilla sugar – when we went to Wegmans in the afternoon.
We may have made a grocery trip, but dinner was still pieced together from random things left in the fridge. Thankfully, it ended up being delicious.
Cornmeal crusted tofu.
I marinated pieces of 3/4 of a block of extra-firm tofu in Stubbs BBQ sauce all afternoon and then tossed the pieces in cornmeal (aka raw polenta) and corn starch and sautéed them in a bit of canola oil. We loved them, the crust was perfection! I dipped mine in honey.
Roasted asparagus.
With cooking spray, salt, and a bit of lemon.
Lucky quinoa salad.
I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, tossed it with 1 cup of canned black-eyed peas {for New Year’s luck!}, the leftover bbq sauce from the tofu, and some chopped green pepper. It was like a quick and dirty hoppin’ john.
For dessert we opened up the chocolate cream biscuit cookies we bought at Vineeta.
One serving each and I’m excited to eat the last three tomorrow. They were quite good.
We spent the last two days making memories and building our own traditions. We missed our family like crazy, but other than it was one of our best Christmas days ever. It helped that most of our new family traditions involved eating lots of tasty food!
One event I hope not to turn into a tradition was December 23rd’s 3 am grocery trip. We had a slight misstep with the baking I did for my co-workers’ Christmas gifts. One of my pies burnt to a crisp and I had to go buy a replacement gift in the middle of the night. Also, we ate the salvageable half of the burnt pie… at 3 am.
I made my Hello Dolly Pies and they were delicious. I hope everyone liked them!
We exchanged gifts at our company holiday breakfast.
Our bosses took us out for a delicious meal at Mythos. I had never been there before but I’m still sure that what I ordered was the best thing on the menu. A burrito with turkey, eggs, potatoes and cheddar, smothered in hollandaise.
It came with berries and Greek yogurt on the side and everything was delicious. I ate half and brought the rest to Adam who loved it as well.
We ran a few errands when Adam picked me up from breakfast and we ended up going on an adventure. Vineeta International Market has been hiding under my nose on Grant for months!
We had a grand time wandering around and came home with lots of goodies.
Including the Thumbs Up cola we shared.
Then we trimmed the tree.
We couldn’t buy a big tree because the dog is a monster but we enjoyed this little magical grow tree I bought Adam for Hanukkah.
And then we had pie.
Gaaah; can this be a yearly tradition? That pie is so fricking good.
So was the eggnog seltzer I sipped on all day.
I had a salad for lunch.
Romaine with peanut sauce, buckwheat groats, chopped honeycrisp, and cheddar.
Plus the last of the sugar-plum candies.
We did pizza for dinner.
Why mess with our usual traditions?
Then we stayed up late watching “How I Met Your Mother.” We’ve decided that’s our new tv marathon of choice.
This morning (Christmas!!) we slept in late like a couple of old people. It was pretty great. The dog started his morning with sirloin and bacon wet food.
And I started mine with toffee.
Plus a glass of eggnog with nutmeg.
Then we got all fancy with breakfast.
Seriously fancy. Check out we bought at Wegman’s –
Lobster for Christmas breakfast? That can definitely become a tradition! We cooked turkey bacon and then used the skillet to sautéechopped lobster tail in butter. Then we scrambled in egg whites (leftover from the pies, plus one yolk) and baby spinach.
It was quite good. And lunch was a winner as well.
We used this Christmas tree pasta that my co-worker gave me.
I sautéed sliced mushroom, chopped red peppers, and baby spinach in butter and evoo. Then I tossed in pasta, a big dollop of Nayo, and a huge handful of shredded cheese.
For dinner we went over to our friends’ house for a party. We brought over a good dip, and terrible chips for everyone to try.
The White Chocolate Peppermint Pringle’s looked so nasty that there was no way Adam and I could pass up the experience of trying them for a measly $2. Pro tip – freaking terrible, aka totally worth the money to try.
My dinner plate.
Tons of salad with mashed potato and mac and cheese. With homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.
I ate about half. Plus a candy cane.
That cane was actually my hook in a candy cane fishing game we played. We went through a series of challenges from Minute to Win It. Hilarious.
Adam and I won! Woot!
We took a long walk to get home and stopped for sushi on the way back.
I had two pieces of inarai (tofu skin) but some amazing fried thing. It was the perfect way to end a great holiday.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
P.S. Here’s a video of Webster opening his Christmas present. You’re welcome.
Hello, hello! The days I’m excited to blog are always the same days I’m utterly exhausted. Go figure. Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors but also a 9+ hour day at work. Instead of posting last night I had a total tantrum and passed out fully dressed… so here is a 2-day recap.
Remember when I said “Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors”? You know, like five seconds ago. Well, my day went eggnog –> candy cane –> gingerbread; bam!
Nog based overnight oats for breakfast.
I put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds in the fridge overnight, then Saturday morning I added 1 sliced banana and a big dash of Christmas sprinkles.
So festive and delicious. Also, holy frick, I love chia seeds so much.
This is Clif’s best seasonal flavor by far. The bar has the perfect amount of peppermint.
Gingerbread was a cupcake surprise from the husband.
He had an appointment near Fairy Cakes in the afternoon and he brought me home a gingerbread stout cupcake with cream cheese icing.
It was ridiculous good, maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had! The cake had a great ratio of spice to sweet and was so fluffy and moist. I shared one big bite with Adam but downed the rest with gusto.
The rest of the day’s eats were out of season, but still good. From fall I borrowed an apple and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.
I split the beer with Adam and ate the apple on my own.
I guess nachos are actually appropriate for any season, right?
We loved them. He was a little iffy on roasted brocoli as a nacho topping but it was delicious. And I was worried about that type of cheese versus a regular cheddar, but that ended up being perfect too. And the pineapple salsa is hands-down the best jarred salsa I’ve ever had.
Blah, blah, blah, and then I started having a fit and had to go to bed. I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep during the weeks Adam was gone and I’m still really freaking tired.
Sunday was a super hungry day and I ate a ton of crap. A brunch of sorts, was low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts and honey,
a few pieces of toffee candy from home,
and several handfuls (about 3 servings or 250 calories worth) of dried turkey.
Working with crowds of Christmas shoppers is exhausting but also really rewarding. Five different people today thanked me effusively for my help and that was a really good feeling. Actually, one super hot guy told another customer that I was fantastic and I about died!
Adam picked me up after work for a fun treat.
Bubble tea from Gin Gin! Best bubble tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a lot. I got a medium red bean milk tea with regular and popping boba (the purple one is Adam’s taro).
We both swooned over how good they were and finished our drinks in the car long before we made it home. And we called my mom on speaker on the drive and drove her crazy scraping through our ice for errant tapiocas!
Dinner was pizza.
And we shared a beer.
We were gearing up for a long night of baking.
I’m giving my co-workers all pies for Christmas and we are not even close to finished still. Sorry, husband!
I have a holiday breakfast with work tomorrow and then I’m spending Christmas Eve on the couch with Adam. I have two days off in a row for the holiday and I am so excited to spend them with my boys!
We are four days away and it is starting to snow! We might have a white Christmas after all. Also, the world didn’t end today; yay.
Sorry I missed a post last night (after going on and on about how I was “back,” natch) but I was still running errands as the clock neared midnight. Two crazy days in a row are over and I’m ready to recap.
Thursday’s brunch included two of my best savory recipes.
I know it’s cold out for iced coffee but I couldn’t resist the chance to pair my favorite coffee with my favorite winter flavor.
I worked 9+ hours and was sooooooo hungry when I got off. I would have loved to go straight home for dinner but we had errands to run so I ended up getting Moe’s instead.
But who would complain about Moe’s?
I got a naked burrito (aka a cheaper rice bowl) with rice, black beans, sautéed onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, lettuce, corn salsa, cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream.
Plus chips with queso.
I ate all of the queso, 2/3 of the chips, and 3/4 of the bowl.
When we finally made it home (more than 12 hours after I left!) there were presents from both sets of parents.
My mom sent us homemade toffee.
It was the perfect bedtime snack.
Friday I started with a salad. Romaine topped with 1.5 chopped turkey burgers, shredded cheese, a dollop of guacamole, buckwheat groats, and honey mustard dressing (I accidentally used way too much dressing and it was kind of gross, boo).
Also half a honeycrisp with 1 Tbsp each peanut butter and Biscoff spread, melted.
And I drank a Guava Rockstar Punched at work.
<– yum
I have the best bosses on earth and they surprised us with pizza for dinner mid-shift! It was too exciting. I had a a veggie slice and a buffalo chicken slice.
Mr. Pizza has the best crust in Buffalo.
And I won this candy bar.
When I got home I made myself eat fruits and veggies first though. A handful of baby carrots.
My hair – I’m still leaving the tub purple after every shower and my new hair is a bit lighter than the original photo I showed you guys. I will have to have Adam snap a picture the next time I’m home during good light.
Christmas – we are not going to visit any family, boo. But Adam and I are going to have our first ever Christmas with just the two of us; it’s time that our little family started to develop some of our own traditions!
If you celebrate, where are you spending Christmas this year? Do you and your significant other have any of your own holiday traditions?
Eating Chalk 