Start Of A Three-Day Weekend

My clinic is closed on Friday in celebration of Independence Day tomorrow so today is the start of a three-day weekend for me.  Woo-hoo!  Adam has to work, unfortunately, but I am hitting the road and heading to Solomons, Maryland to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle at their cabin.  It’s been way too long since I last saw my cousins and I am very excited.  My aunt tipped me off that the “drink special” for the weekend is bourbon slushies so I’m pretty thrilled about that too.

Snacks and cafeteria lunches didn’t make it into this post so I’m skipping a good 45% of what I ate this week…

breakfast

Three things you need to know before we talk about breakfast:  1) I bought Rainer cherries and they have been sweet, delicious, and totally worth the $6 price tag.  2)  My coffee combo was solid this week – double-strength brewed Community Coffee Dark Roast with chocolate milk and fat-free half and half.

DSC08455

3) GoMacro sent me a sampler box of mini MacroBars in 11 fun flavors.  All MacroBars are USDA organic, non-GMO project verified, kosher, gluten-free and vegan certified.  I like that GoMacro company buys fair trade products and their boxes are biodegradable and made from 100% post-consumer corrugated waste.  All of the flavors I’ve tried thus far have been very homogenous in texture, smooth like a paste (but good and not gross like I’m making it sound here!) so they don’t crumble at all but they also don’t stick to your teeth or fingers which I deeply appreciate.

DSC08448

Please note – I was sent a box of mini bars free of charge to sample.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Chocolate coffee and peanut butter chocolate chip (protein pleasure).  My favorite flavor thus far, the base of this one is basically just like eating super thick peanut butter.

DSC08425

Cherries and cashew caramel (protein paradise).  This was my least favorite flavor, though it still was not bad, because it didn’t have much going on; when something calls itself caramel I’m looking for it to be pretty darn sweet.

DSC08452

Coffee, cherries, and sunflower butter + chocolate (protein purity).  I know the names are super cheesy but a full-size of this flavor does offer 10 grams of protein for 260 calories.

DSC08457

A big day, cherries, mozzarella stick, coffee, and almond butter + carob (wholehearted heaven).  Surprisingly, this was my favorite flavor, it had a nice sweetness to it.

DSC08492

Why yes, I did go through and pick out all of the “blank and chocolate” flavors first.

lunch

Maple mixture.  Maple Greek yogurt with KIND maple chia granola and fresh pomegranate.

DSC08420

The yogurt, from Green Mountain Creamery, was soooo smooth.  It’s just nonfat milk and maple syrup with live cultures.

On Wednesday, I prepped my lunch and left it on our butcher’s block in the kitchen while I went to get dressed.  Five minutes later, the dog had eaten my lunch.  He is a little monster but I still have absolutely no idea how he managed to get himself up on the block!  I kicked the dog (kidding!!) and rushed off without food.  The point of that long story?  I ate ice cream for lunch and it was fantastic.

DSC08467

DSC08470

Scoops is the new pop-up ice cream shop from Greene Grape.  My toasted green tea scoop (from Phin & Phebes) was extra fun with rainbow sprinkles.

Then it was back to yogurt.

DSC08485

Evolve Kefir‘s strawberry Greek yogurt was very pleasant with yellow plucot and KIND granola.

dinner

Pizza night.  We made four cheese pizza – low-fat mozzarella, fresh mini mozzarella balls, pepperjack, and sharp cheddar – on TJ’s whole-wheat crust and it was ridiculous.

DSC08437

DSC08432

Pizza.  But x2 because we ate the entire pie and we were so sick and it was so worth it.

DSC08442

Plus roasted veggies because we are healthy like that.

DSC08440

Kalettes (the kale + Brussels sprout hybrid which I’ve decided I don’t enjoy) and yummy zucchini.

Big salad(s) bonanza.

DSC08479

We tore up heads of TJ’s Smallish Gems Sweet Lettuce and topped them with champagne vinaigrette, sweet and spicy pecans, pomegranate, and cucumber.

DSC08475

Plus tuna salad on the side.

Casserole night was planned so Adam will have lots of leftovers while I’m away this weekend.

DSC08495

My Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta that I snuck a bit more veggies into with the addition of sautéed onion and yellow and orange bell peppers.

DSC08499

Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

DSC08496

Fun nutrition fact – there is a dose dependent inverse relationship between broccoli consumption and colon cancer.

real talk

I finished Bossypants and I laughed out loud on the train like a crazy person adored it.  The chapter where she responds to some of her internet critics had me in stitches.  Even the lines about feminism/gender politics in America/women in comedy that make you want to put your fist through a window if you think about it too much managed to be witty.  And now I really want to rewatch 30 Rock.

I bought this NY skyline bag from Fishs Eddy to store small items in my purse and it makes me happy every time I put on lipstick/grab a pen/check my cell phone, which is approximately 8 million times a day.

DSC08464

I finally started Orange is the New Black and I’m going to make my way through the season quickly but I’m kind of over it.  Is there going to be a season 4, because I feel like they need to wrap things up?  There are moments that are incredibly funny but in general this season is a bit too sad for me.  My kind of television sads come from the fact that Joss Whedon thinks all great romances have to end in a horrifying and sudden death, I’m not so keen on the children visiting a prison on Mother’s Day and being panicked by their parents dropping to the dirt during a lockdown.

Do you watch OITNB?  What are your thoughts on season 3?  <– no spoilers, please!

Williamsburg To Washington Square Park

Oh my goodness, what a great weekend!  Adam and I have been making the most of the summer days, and then some.  This weekend we walked around Williamsburg, across the bridge, up to and around Washington Square Park, and back, to the tune of 10+ miles in one afternoon!

DSC08179

DSC08177

DSC08207

DSC08188

DSC08185

When we weren’t moving this weekend, we were eating.  Here are some of the highlights…

A fancy-schmancy yogurt bowl.  2% Plum Chobani with two varieties of pluot and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

DSC08232

The cream was part of a homemade ice cream undertaking (look for more details – and a giveaway! – on Wednesday).

Coffee at Sweetleaf, a Rocket Fuel.

DSC08212

Aka cold brew with milk, maple, and chicory.  Chicory blended iced coffees are definitely going to play a big role in my summer.

Espresso and macarons at Bakeshop by Woops.

DSC08170

DSC08163

Kids, this place was so freaking cute.  And our cookies were amazing, chocolate and lavender chocolate.

Honey sesame soy milk box.

DSC08200

Adam and I tried to split this but the minute I handed it over to him he guzzled the rest of it down!

Cherry Cola Tic-Tacs.

DSC08189

I am incapable of turning down a cherry cola flavored item.  Fun fact – the last two photos were not actually taken in front of the same wall, I just seek out brick whenever I have the option for a photo.

Rice bowls at Korilla.  Korilla is basically an Asian Chipotle, but it is at least fifteen times more fantastic.

DSC08206

My bowl had sticky rice, the most amazing gochujang marinated chicken, sweet corn and snap peas, cheese, tons of red kimchi, and spicy but sweet Korean BBQ sauce.  Adam’s rice had bacon and kimchi in it and we were both swooning.

We tried the new limited-time offerings at Ample Hills.

DSC08150

DSC08155

The pride month flavor was yummy but we had to throw out the sandwich.  I think that Ample Hills generally makes the best ice cream on Earth but those soggy cookies were truly inedible.

A cone from Sundaes and Cones.

DSC08197

Lavender and black sesame were both great; those are flavors that could be kind of overwhelming but they were sweet and light yet still identifiable.

A quick red curry at home.

DSC08214

Rice noodles on the bottom // sautéed bok choy, white mushrooms and straw mushrooms, sweet onion and green onion, and sweet red pepper // sprouted tofu cubes roasted with lime, sugar, Sriracha, and liquid smoke // and red curry sauce with lime, light coconut milk, fish sauce, and minced garlic and ginger.

DSC08221

We both typically say that we don’t like red curries but we loved this so we should give the real version another chance.

Sandwich night on my lonesome while Adam was at work.

DSC08262

I toasted sourdough slices in the oven with Smart Balance Light and pepperjack and sharp cheddar cheese then sandwiched them around canola oil mayo and Applegate Smoked Sliced Turkey.

DSC08268

With roasted green beans on the side.

DSC08265

How are green beans – roasted with cooking spray and salt – so flipping buttery?!

Dinner at The Smoke Joint, our new favorite bbq spot.

DSC08141

They have Mother’s Milk at the bar, which wins them points.  Adam’s strawberry vanilla bourbon limeade wasn’t bad either.

DSC08138

Their juicy, tender, chopped bbq chicken comes with a side of pickles and spicy cole slaw.

DSC08146

And their smoky collard greens are meatless, so I got to try real bbq collards for the first time in my life.

DSC08149

I loved them!

If this upcoming week is half as good as my weekend I’ll be all set 🙂

Criminally Good

Is there some kind of “Criminal Minds” rerun support group out there?  I am a woman obsessed.  I need to finish the old seasons in a hurry so I can start going to bed at a reasonable hour again.

I’ll let the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves…

breakfast

My coffee combo for the week was on point.

DSC08076

Community Coffee’s Dark Roast (part of a set of free samples that I have continued to love) brewed double strength with low-fat milk, ice, and a scoop of dulce de leche!

DSC08088

One day I even paired my brew with a KIND salted caramel Popped Bar.

It’s obviously no fun that my husband regularly works nights and weekends, but it is nice that his schedule allows us to occasionally go on mid-week breakfast dates.

DSC08121

We enjoyed doughnuts – and matcha – and a walk before I had to go to work.

lunch

This week I was all about the sandwiches and I didn’t have many of my usual yogurt bowls so I had to make this one count.  Plum on plum!

DSC08071

Chobani’s new 2% Plum Greek Yogurt with chopped up pluots and KIND maple chia granola.  The yogurt wasn’t bad, but wasn’t as special as I had hoped; a pretty plain base with chunks of plum throughout.

I got an okay sandwich in the cafeteria.

20150616_115837

Sliced turkey and muenster cheese with mustard, lettuce, tomato, and peppers on an onion roll.

And brought a fantastic sandwich from home.  TJ’s sliced sourdough with Applegate smoked turkey, haloumi cheese, and olive oil mayo.

DSC08105

Plus an apple and sliced Persian cucumbers on the side for crunch.

The cafeteria came through on salad day.  Romaine topped with black beans, black olives, peppers, sliced carrots, cheddar cheese, tabouli, and ranch.

20150618_135502

With pita chips from the hummus bar (where I found the tabouli) on the side.

snack

Polar’s peach seltzer is amazing, practically juicy.  I’ve got two of the summer flavors waiting in my fridge too and I’m pretty excited about it.

DSC08089

Pb&j.

DSC08094

Guava cheese empanada on the train.

DSC08135

Latte from Café Dada.

DSC08124

Let’s be real, this was one of many coffee snacks this week but the pictures were getting repetitive so I’m only sharing the pretty one.

dinner

A kitchen-sink leftovers salad whose components ended up pairing together perfectly.  A big bowl of lettuce topped with TJ’s sesame soy ginger vinaigrette, Applegate chicken hot dogs, peanuts, edamame, and Persian cucumbers.

DSC08079

With cinnamon toast on the side.

DSC08083

Seriously, how good is cinnamon toast??

This meal was super simple but it was the tastiest of the week.

DSC08108

TJ’s frozen gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozzarella didn’t knock our socks off, but for frozen gnocchi that comes together in 7 minutes it was certainly fine.

DSC08111

But this spinach is one of the best damn things I’ve ever made.  Fresh baby spinach (8 cups worth that cooked down into practically nothing!) steam-sautéed with salt and evoo with low-fat sour cream, minced garlic, raisins, and toasted pine nuts tossed in for the last few minutes of cooking.

DSC08116

I seriously would not shut up about how yummy this was – I even paused “Criminal Minds” to rave about it!

Have a great weekend.

Dinner Bowl

Do you have a preference for tableware and/or flatware?  Whenever possible, I eat out of a bowl, preferably with chopsticks.  Probably because it’s easier to chase every last bite when the food can’t roll off of the plate!  All of my dinners this week were delicious and I think it’s not a coincidence that they were all served in bowls.

breakfast

This was a weird week for me, I ate breakfast – as in chewable breakfast, not just tons of milk in my coffee – almost every day.

Sonja apple.

DSC07905

String cheese and my last mango coconut almond thin.  {p.s. Kate won the giveaway!}

DSC07864

String cheese and a KIND Salted Caramel Popped Bar.  <– very tasty and packs 2 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein for 140 calories thanks to the blend of whole grains.

DSC07933

Don’t get me wrong, there was coffee too!  This one was TJ’s cold-brew with skim milk and toasted marshmallow syrup.

DSC07857

And this monster was a Starbucks reward freebie that I took full advantage of – venti skim iced latte with extra espresso.

DSC07891

lunch

Yogurt bowls for the win.  Adam and I are both head over heels for the KIND granola.

Local vanilla bean Greek yogurt with KIND maple, chia, quinoa granola and yellow nectarine, black plum, and blueberries.

DSC07854

Plain Fage Greek yogurt with KIND granola and red plum and yellow nectarine.  Plus a serving of Lindt Pink Explosion on the side.

DSC07926

Honey Fage with blueberries and TJ’s bran flakes.

DSC07898

And Tuesday I had catered lunch thanks to a malnutrition policy education that I attended.  Dessert was chocolate-covered marzipan that a sweet coworker snuck to me.

20150609_120735

20150609_121855

snack

A picture’s worth a thousand words.  Apparently I was all about the freeze-dried produce.

DSC07890

DSC07906

DSC07937

DSC07941

dinner

Another reason we both like bowl-style meals is that it’s nice to have our grain/protein/veggie components layered together rather than served in separate piles on a plate.  I like to get a little bit of each flavor in every bite.

Honey-chipotle chicken Chipotle style bowls.

DSC07912

This week’s dinners had a lot of components so I’m going to break them down bullet-point-style.

DSC07870

DSC07872

  • sautéed local Satur Farms energy greens – aka a kale, spinach, etc mix
  • sautéed onions and green peppers with cilantro and lime
  • TJ’s Cuban-style black beans
  • pan-fried chicken breasts that were marinated overnight in chipotles in adobo, honey, evoo, lime juice, sherry, minced garlic, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper
  • avocado
  • shredded cheese / low-fat sour cream / cilantro

We were out of the onion and pepper mix for day 2’s leftovers so instead I served all of the other components on top of big bowls of kale and broccoli sautéed with garlic and lime.  Still good!  We decided that my version was almost as good as Chipotle.

DSC07919

Our rice bowls were a more Asian-inspired.  They would have been better with a runny egg on top but I was pleased with how incredibly juicy the chicken came out.

DSC07946

DSC07948

  • brown jasmine rice
  • browned mushrooms
  • roasted broccoli
  • baked chicken that was marinated overnight in soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, Sriracha, canola oil, lime juice, sugar, and minced ginger
  • bok choy, celery, green onion, and cilantro sautéed with a bit of the sauce from the chicken

Even on my night out I ate dinner in a bowl.  I met friends at Hanoi and ordered the Veggie Spring Roll Bun – room temperature vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber, scallion oil, shallot, peanut, fresh herb, and nuoc cham sauce.

DSC07893

Would you have guessed that there would literally be a chopped up spring roll on top of the dish?  We were surprised, but agreed that it was darn tasty.  The best part of the meal was dessert though.  Maple soft-serve from Corner of Vermont.

DSC07897

We ate our ice cream on a leisurely walk down 5th ave in Park Slope and the whole thing felt wonderfully summery!

It Was High Time To Hit The High Line

Five favorites from the weekend…

{1}  New yogurt flavors

Siggi’s never lets me down; the new whole milk mixed berries flavor tasted great paired with blackberries and bran flakes for work lunch.

DSC07582

We also tried some goat’s milk yogurt from Coach Farm.

DSC07621

The honey flavor was nice – not too sweet or sour – but I always miss the thicker texture of Greek.

{2}  Chipotle, always

Rice bowl with chicken.

DSC07623

Enjoyed while watching “Criminal Minds.”  I think I’m finally getting Adam hooked on it too.

{3}  Green Juice

Spinach, watermelon, and lemon, from Juice Generation.  Yummy, though it was a little heavy on the fruit and light on the greens.

DSC07595

The cashier was a boy from Puerto Rico (an island near St. Thomas), it was nice to reminisce with someone from (near) home.  We sipped while we shopped at the new Flying Tiger – so cool!

{4}  Dinner at the Green Table

A small farm to table spot in Chelsea Market.

DSC07600

Drink: 77 Sour – Breuckelen ’77 whiskey, fresh lemon, local maple syrup, Hella citrus bitters.  It was delicious, the classiest whiskey sour of all time.

DSC07607

Eat: Vegan “Pho” – napa cabbage, bok choy, tofu, mushrooms, lime, lemongrass, chili oil.  The flavors were great, but I was glad they put Pho in quotation marks because there was not a noodle to be found.  We totally got pizza once we were back in Brooklyn.

DSC07610

Sweet: Chocolate Hibiscus Trifle – hibiscus Chantilly, pink peppercorn caramel.  The cake bites (which were gluten-free) were dry and terrible, but the hibiscus Chantilly cream was juicy and sweet, just like the apple ice wine I had with it.

DSC07614

We probably won’t be back – based on the size for price of the entrées – but I’m quite glad that we got to enjoy the drinks and dessert.

{5}  Watching the sunset on the High Line

We got a plum jasmine shaved ice from people’s pops to crunch while we people and sky watched.

DSC07597

Also juicy and sweet!  We need to get up there more often.

Weekend Wrap-Up; We Had Visitors

On the excitement front this weekend – Adam’s parents came to visit!  We are going to see all of my in-laws soon for Thanksgiving, but it was good to catch up with the parents now before the craziness of eleven of us under one roof.  We had them Friday night through Sunday afternoon and we got to show off LI.

lunches

Packed for Friday – an AriZona Oak Tea and 2% Fage with a big baggie of pomegranate arils and chopped fruit punch plucot.

DSC02522

I also bought mac and cheese and some greens from the cafeteria.

DSC02551

Heartbreakingly, I think this was my last yogurt bowl with plucots for this season, the produce sections have all seemed to have moved on.

We had so much fun last weekend that we did a repeat this Saturday and drove the husband’s parents up to…

DSC02567

Montauk!

DSC02593DSC02589

We went to the beach, the lighthouse, and of course, Lunch.

DSC02584

Adam and I shared a buttery hot lobster roll,

DSC02578

and a bowl of lobster chowder.

DSC02569

My favorite part is the whiffs of sherry.

And that’s not a foamy beer head,

DSC02572

we drank a chocolate egg cream for dessert.

DSC02577

You could tell that it was made with Hershey’s (a true EC has U-Bet), but Adam was still a fan.

We kept things low-key before goodbyes on Sunday and hung out around the house.  Take-out from Luigi’s fit the bill.

DSC02610

I had a side salad, a buffalo chicken slice, and a Magic Hat Wilhelm Scream that I split with my m-i-l.

snacks

Breakfast at my desk on Friday.  An iced Americano (with skim milk and cream) with a sticky-sweet Dark Chocolate Peanut Larabar.  –Ummm, and I just noticed on the site that Lara has new Pumpkin Pie and Gingerbread flavors!!  How do I find those immediately?–

DSC02543

Sweet = Haribo Licorice Wheels plus some of the Mini Gold Bears that my s-i-l sweetly sent us.

DSC02554DSC02625

Salty = TJ’s pea crisps.

DSC02617

Coffee from 7-11 is kind of amazing.

DSC02615

Adam and I are embarrassingly into the Almond Joy Creamer they have there.  And our location has pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pie creamer, and (free!) pumpkin spice syrup.  What, what?!

dinners

Dinners were the least exciting meals of the weekend.  Friday night we kept thing simple while we finished our last-minute cleaning.

DSC02557

A toasted sandwich of caramel apple swirl bread, herbed sliced turkey, light Havarti, and TJ’s sweet and spicy jalopeño jelly.

DSC02563

With baby carrots on the side.

DSC02562

Simple but good.

Saturday we went out to Tavern 18.

DSC02597

I had a beer that was pretty good.

DSC02600DSC02594

And a Thai Noodle Salad that was pretty terrible.

DSC02605

No veggies, no flavor, and I keep forgetting that I kind of hate Soba noodles.  I’m into pasta that is chewy, while Soba tends to fall apart in your mouth.

No complaints about dessert though!  The best thing about Tavern 18 is that it is spitting distance from Ralph’s Ices.

DSC02607

Dulce de leche and pumpkin pie for me.  I practically licked the cup clean.

I didn’t want my awful leftovers to go to waste, so I gussied them up into something moderately edible for dinner last night.

DSC02624

+ roasted broccoli and cauliflower and loads of creamy Sriracha sauce (tons of Sriracha whisked together with smoked brown sugar, mayo, and a little canola oil).

DSC02619

Hot sauce can hide a multitude of sins.

P.S. It is October first on Wednesday!  <– in other words, it is three days until I drink pumpkin beers and pumpkin spice lattes like crazy

Weekend Wrap-Up; Attack Of The Killer Sandwiches

Did everyone have a great weekend?  Mine was low-key but good; I got my hands on not one, but two of my top favorite sandwiches, so that was nice.  The weekend following a three-day weekend always feels a bit too short!  Assume many, many coffees went unphotographed.

breakfast

Iced coffee and I ate the top off of this cappuccino muffin.

DSC02242

I’m not really a muffin fan but I had been craving one like crazy all week and Friday seemed like a fun time to give in.

Peanut butter chocolate chip bar from GoMacro.

DSC02254

This came in my Urthbox but I would buy it again on my own.  Eaten on the go because I spent most of Saturday helping a friend move.

lunch

I packed a nice yogurt bowl for work on Friday, with sliced plucot and a Jax banana coconut water on the side.  The bananas foster yogurt was good, but a bit too sweet (note – if it’s too sweet for my tastes it is way too sweet for 90% of the adult population).

DSC02233

Plus brown sugar sea salt seaweed snacks and caramel apple Twizzlers for the afternoon.

DSC02231

Both snacks got two thumbs up.

Green juice from Foragers.  Kale, spinach, cucumber, pineapple, and mint.

DSC02266

I’ve been wanting to go to Foragers for ages so it was good to try out the juice bar.  They have so much fancy stuff, including this super-soft apple caramel I bought the husband.

DSC02270

I also scored myself a licorice.

snack

Chocolate-covered bears are always good.

DSC02285

I finally got to make the chia tea lemonade.

DSC02236

Quite nice!  I will definitely do this again.

Orbit gum loses its flavor and get’s hard too chew very quickly, but it’s neat that my gum is on theme for the month.

DSC02257

I handed my girlfriend a piece of gum, right after I let her use my apple scented hand sanitizer, and she cracked up.  I might be a bit obsessed.

dinner

We got take-out from Bareburger to go with our “The Office” marathoning.  I ate baby carrots in the car so I could get some veggies in.

DSC02243

We sat at the bar while we waited.  I got a peach julep slush.  swoon

DSC02247

My sandwich was grilled chicken topped with smokehouse sauce, blue cheese, sautéed mushrooms, turkey bacon, and fried onions.  {my favorite “burger”}

DSC02252

Ridiculous.  It is the Big Blue Bacon with modifications to make it pork-free, if you want to try one for yourself.

Adam worked overnight on Saturday and I got home late so I went with my old-standby dinner.

DSC02263

Plus turkey jerky… for protein.

DSC02260

I’m not even embarrassed, popcorn’s a whole grain.

Sunday we went to Fletchers.  {my favorite bbq}

DSC02274DSC02271

I got the chopped chicken sandwich, which I smothered in pickled jalopeños and their amazing bbq sauce.

DSC02277

Plus banana puddin(g) for dessert.

DSC02283

I just wanted to taste the pudding – we were planning on stopping for pie afterwards – but it was so flipping good that I couldn’t stop eating until I basically licked the bowl clean!

Weekly Wrap-Up; Appletastic

I don’t have a ton to share today – it’s only been two days since my last wrap-up and I didn’t photograph snacks at all – but what I do have is appletastic.  More than 50% of these eats involved apple in some form!  Let’s do this post old-school style…

Wednesday morning I made myself a go-cup of iced cold brew with vanilla almond milk.

DSC02177

A few minutes after I snapped that picture I spilled the entire thing in my lap.  Whoops.

It was a good day to lose my coffee because I had a nice breakfast already packed for work.

DSC02180

2% Coconut Chobani topped with two types of sliced plucot and some fresh raspberries.  I’m honestly not sure what I’m going to do when plucot season ends, they are my very favorite.  I’ve even gotten the husband hooked on them, finally.

I had an extra-busy morning at work playing catch up.  On Tuesdays I do coverage care on inpatient floors in the hospital so I’m not in the clinic.  Usually I only miss 1 or 2 new patients because that’s our slow day, but this week we got slammed, and I came in on Wednesday to several charts on my desk.  I spent the morning trying to call people to set up appointments but of course none of the numbers on file worked.  <– major flashbacks to my teacher days!

Lunch was apple walnut oatmeal with TJ’s freeze-dried apples.

DSC02187

Appletastic!  {I promise to stop saying that now.  At least for this post.}

I thought I was fine without my morning coffee, but I practically missed my train home because I was so desperate to get a cup.

DSC02190

Adam was working a 24-hour shift so I was on my own for the evening.  Fueled by caffeine, I had grand plans of hitting the gym and then cooking a respectable meal to leave in the fridge for the husband.  Really though, I ate two bags of microwave popcorn for dinner after reading this Buzzfeed sad Buffy Tumblr round up and crying so hard that I upset the dog.

Yesterday morning I had much more success with my java.  Coconut iced coffee – cold brew with Almond Joy creamer, skim milk, and coconut water – for the win.

DSC02197

Plus a KIND apple cinnamon & pecan bar.

Lunch stayed on theme.

DSC02194

An apple cinnamon raisin Fage with an acutal apple.  Plus I ate Good & Plenty and Diet Dr. Pepper at my desk while I charted at the end of the day.  I’m not sure what my deal is but I have been crazy obsessed with licorice lately.  I knew my lunch wasn’t big enough so I had also packed a seaweed snack for the afternoon but then I couldn’t bear to have anything but G&P.

Dinner came from the grill.  Our unseasonably warm weather has the upside that it encourages outdoor cooking.

DSC02204

Jennie-O recently sent me some coupons, so the timing was perfect.  P.S.  The timing is good for your too, Jennie-O is running a sweepstakes through September 14th.

DSC02201

Please note, I purchased the turkey with a free product coupon.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

My burger making skills?  Not so perfect.  There’s a reason that Adam is usually in charge of the grill.  I thought I had a genius idea, to make the patties out of just lean ground turkey, Worcestershire sauce, bbq sauce, and crumbled blue cheese. 

DSC02205

Without bread crumbs or some other binder, the patties were wet and strange and they never did quite become burgers.  Next time I’ll use one of their recipes.

Our Moa kiwi hard cider definitely took some of the sting out of my failure.

DSC02212

And overall dinner was pretty delicious.

DSC02217

These were the two best looking patties, if that tells you anything.  I ended up smothering them in more bbq sauce.

DSC02221

Plus corn on the cob – grilled in tin foil packets with evoo and truffle salt.

DSC02228

And asparagus – marinated in evoo and Bone Suckin’ mustard before it went on the grill.

DSC02223

Not bad, not bad at all.  And while I wrote this post I snacked on a small bowl of melted peanut butter (TJ’s chunky pb with chia and flax) with chocolate chips.

Can you even believe that tomorrow today is Friday?  Thank heavens for the short weeks that follow three-day weekends!