On The Move

by Emily

It was an odd week here because we are moving all of our stuff to New York today. Note – we’re not moving, all of our stuff is moving; we’re living out of suitcases in Charlottesville for the next month+. Anyway, I was afraid to dirty anything in the kitchen while we were trying to sort and pack so 90% of our food this week came in a take-out box.

Here were the highlights…

Coffee combo – Starbucks Komodo Dragon blend with sweetened condensed milk.

This month’s Snack Crate from Poland.

Poke bowl from Poke Bowl. Sushi rice with tofu, krab, cucumber, edamame, spicy mayo, seaweed salad, green onions, and onion crisps.

Dumplings from Got Dumplings. More seaweed salad plus tofu dumplings and curry chicken dumplings.

One night we did sneak away from packing to get dinner and play in trivia night at Firefly.

I had a mango margarita and totchos – tater tots with house-made cheese sauce, avocado, pico de gallo, black beans, and sour cream.

We are crossing our fingers for a smooth move today and then tomorrow we’re heading to Pennsylvania for some friends’ wedding. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

14Jun2019

I’m Not Crabby About It

by Emily

Highlights from the week…

Coffee combo = Trader Joe’s Kona with chocolate milk.

My snacks were all 10/10 this week! TJ’s newest candy bar – white and dark chocolate with mini gummi bears. I love the chocolate + gummi combo.

CoolHaus milk and cookie crumb. CH is quickly becoming my favorite ice cream brand.

A Monster smoothie at Juice Laundry – cacao, cashew butter, banana, dates, and almond milk.

Crazy good buffalo chicken pizza from Whole Foods.

My dinners were not bad either. I made crab salad! Lump crab meat with mayo, dijon, lemon, paprika, and celery. Served on butter toasted whole wheat hot dog buns. Plus sauteed kale with lemon, celery, and onion.

I turned my leftover salad into an okonomiyaki-esque crab pancake with flour, water, ginger, and eggs. Plus roasted green beans on the side.

Another night I stuffed a hot dog bun with two turkey dogs and ketchup. Plus rainbow cauliflower (a frozen bag from TJ’s sauteed with taco seasoning, lime, and butter) and potato wedge fries from Wegman’s hot bar.

Finally, we made cauliflower quesadillas that actually turned out pretty yummy. Plus a side of fajita veggies.

24May2019

Blue Bottle, Blueberries

by Emily

Five highlights from this week…

{1} I practically swooned over this yogurt bowl; I was more than ready for berry season. Greek yogurt with honey and vanilla bean paste / blueberries / granola.

{2} Blue Bottle New Orleans style iced coffee. <– my favorite in the boxed coffee game

{3} Mint Lemonade. Wegman’s kombucha line is good, neither too sweet nor too vinegar-forward.

{4} Bowls of super simple chili (just turkey, onion, tomato, and spices) topped with plain Greek yogurt and more hot sauce. Plus roasted broccoli with cheddar on the side.

{5} I 100% made the chili so we could eat it leftover on cheese fries. Waffle fries / chili / sweet red grass-fed cheddar / green onions.

20May2019

Tastes Of The Tropics

by Emily

Tropical tastes from the last week include – coconut, Cuban food, rum, soursop, starfruit.

The best things I ate last seven days…

Caramel spice latte in a can. My brain won’t accept that I hate coconut milk in coffee yet but this did smell amazing.

But I loooooove Kirt’s marshmallow ice cream blended into iced coffee.

These 7-11 gummies were rainbow sherbet, cotton candy, and starfruit flavored.

We ordered chocolates from Bon Bon Bon – an adorable candy shop in Detroit – and the packaging alone filled me with glee!

Plus the bon bons were inventive and delicious (and adorable!!).

Cocktails at Vitae, an amazing little local craft distillery. I had a Flower Sour – barrel-aged rum, lavender, simple syrup, lemon, egg white, and lilac.

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And we brought home a bottle of golden rum and made yummy cocktails at home too – rum, soursop, and club soda.

A duo of IPAs.

We had a sampler of beers at Random Row. We did not do well at trivia, but had a wonderful time.

Lunch at Ace BBQ. I had a biscuit with pulled jerk chicken and pimento cheese. Plus coleslaw and a grape soda.

Sheet-pan – aka one pan – hash. You cook everything on the same pan, starting with the hardiest vegetables and added the more delicate things as time goes on. This was Japanese yam, purple sweet potato, bell peppers, green onion, pinto beans, and cojita cheese.

Topped with baby heirloom tomato, cilantro, and homemade guacamole. This was fantastic!

And my leftovers – additionally topped with hot sauce and a fried egg – were somehow even better.

Thai chicken pizza. I made a sauce out of tamarind, peanut butter, and ginger and we topped it with shredded chicken, mozzarella cheese, and carrots, green onion, and cilantro.

Simple sandwich night – Trader Joe’s white whole wheat topped with mayo, yellow mustard, colby cheese, and smoked turkey. Plus baby carrots and chicken and waffle chicken chips!!

Adam had to travel near Richmond this weekend for work and I tagged along for dinner at Kuba Kuba, a great Cuban spot. Cafe con leche with condensed milk.

Codfish cakes with enchilada sauce, fried eggs, and Cuban toast.

And we shared flan and tres leches!

Best dinner of the week award goes to this plate – chicken salad made with toasted almonds and kimchi / potato pancakes with paprika and ginger / roasted green beans.

Have a great week!

14May2019

Flan And Floats

by Emily

Five fun things from the past weekend:

{1} My cousin graduated from VCU with her doctorate like a total badass so we had family in town for celebratory fun.

{2} We had an amazing meal at Little Star, culminating in the best flan I’ve ever tasted.

{3} My hair is pink(ish) thanks to this temporary tint spray. It is subtle, but there’s more color than I was able to capture in a photo.

{4} Adam and I had the best snacks. Wegman’s mint chocolate chip yogurt.

Super meta – smoked gouda pimento cheese dip scooped with pimento cheese chips.

We made root beer floats with what turned out to be the best ice cream of all time – CoolHaus’ The Best of Both Worlds vanilla tastes like a marshmallow dream.

{5} I made a tasty dinner. Chicken tenders (cooked similarly to this) with whole wheat panko and silk chili // dipped in homemade honey mustard // with honey glazed brussels sprouts.

We sipped on this surprisingly good Three Notch’d sugarcane pecan all while we cooked.

10May2019

Tahini And Tamarind

by Emily

Highlights from a yummy week…

Coffee, coffee, coffee.

It was Carnival back home while my mom was visiting us and she brought up the best tamarind balls I’ve ever eaten.

These dried baby pineapples from Trader Joe’s (unsweetened, unsulfured) are delicious.

Chocolate-dipped gummi bears.

Chocolate-dipped, cookie dough-wrapped ice cream balls! We are obsessed with these Wallops.

Double dose of double IPAs.

Simple sandwich night. TJ’s white whole wheat bread, Sir Kensington urfa chili mayo, smoked sliced turkey, havarti. With roasted green beans.

I made a tasty hash. Shredded potatoes with kimchi, leeks, green onion, and turkey bacon. Plus a fried egg.

This was the best meal of the week though.

Egg casserole – baked eggs with chives, sun-dried tomato, and mozzarella.

Broccoli salad – roasted broccoli and red onion / turkey bacon / raisins / sunflower seeds / maple tahini sauce.

19Apr2019

BBQ Chips, BBQ Beans, BBQ Nachos

by Emily

Highlights from the last week include several new (to me) things…

I don’t usually show my at-work meals, but I wanted to share one of the perks of working in the South – biscuit breakfast sandwiches in the hospital cafeteria. This had turkey chorizo sausage, a cage-free fried egg, and cheddar.

These Don’t Go Nuts granola bars have the best texture, almost like a streusel.

Other snack highlights include this assortment of bbq flavored crisped chickpeas and corn.

Chocolate beers and hibiscus drinks. I loved the s’mores beer, liked the tea, and hated the other two.

My aunt shared a recipe for Chicken Provencal Soup with us and we loved it for dinner. It’s packed with potato, diced tomato, onion, carrot, and celery. I dipped some naan in my broth.

We made fantastic bbq bowls another night. Collard greens and celery (sauteed with lemon, garlic, butter, and harissa hot sauce) // shredded chicken (cooked in the crock pot with ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar, cayenne, paprika, and red onion) // baby heirloom tomatoes // and smoked paprika candied pecans. Remind me to cook more collards!

We turned our leftovers into something fantastic with the help of these two products. 1) Hickory BBQ kettle chips that Boulder Canyon sent me to sample. FYI – Boulder Canyon chips are – certified gluten free – trans fat free -vegan – kosher – made with green energy. They had a good amount of smoke and tang and weren’t greasy at all. Bonus, my bags, at least, had tons of foldsies! 2) Borlotti beans that we bought at Mekelburg’s just because the box was so pretty.