New Noosas

by Emily

I’m free (again)! After a short return to work I’m back on vacation for the next week, woo-hoo!

Honestly? I need a vacation. I was only back at work three days but I stayed late for more than an hour on Thursday and Friday and now I’m tuckered out.

Thankfully I had a few exciting things to get me through my week. Like a luscious line up of fun new beverages: Black Hand nitro cold brew / Secret Squirrel Vietnamese iced coffee / La Colombe triple draft latte / Maeil caramel macchiato / Harmless Harvest strawberry coconut water.

And an extra exciting package of product samples from Noosa.

Noosa yogurt is already pretty much angel pudding, so when they offered to let me try their new line of Noosa Mates (yogurt with premium mix-ins) I jumped at the chance.

They were even better than anticipated! Loved them all. I was happy with the portion of both yogurt and toppings and each one has between 240-270 calories. Banana Chocolate Peanut with Guittard chocolate chips and salted peanuts.

Honey cranberry almond with pepitas and granola.

Coconut almond chocolate.

Maple ginger with candied ginger and gingersnap crumble. I wasn’t expecting to like this because I think that I think that ginger is too spicy, but it was delicious! The candied ginger was chewy and delightful.

Honey pretzel peanut.

I ate some fun stuff on my free days too. Like doughnuts (which were just awful, but how cute is that pink wall?!).

And a trip to Red Hook.

We had key lime pie from Steve’s.

And crab sandwiches from Brooklyn Crab. Snow crab roll with Cholula-orange aioli.

Alaskan king crab roll with warm butter and chives.

Plus cole slaw.

And a Passion Paloma with mescal, passionfruit puree, and grapefruit soda.

Plus we stopped at Baked for coffee and brought home a grasshopper bar for dessert later in the week.

After a long span of eating every meal out, I was excited to make us a fancy dinner.

Smoked turkey kielbasa with onions and bell pepper.

Plus pommes aligot <– super cheesy potatoes. I loosely followed this recipe. I had to lighten up a few ingredients to accommodate what we had in the fridge (less butter, 2% milk instead of cream, low-fat three cheese cheddar blend) and it was still insanely yummy.

I served my leftovers piled all together in a bowl with smoked paprika maple mayo on top.

By the end of the week I was so exhausted by my three days of work that I got Chipotle instead of cooking anything! Rice / sautéed veggies / chicken / pinto beans / corn salsa / spicy salsa / sour cream / cheese.

Have a great weekend!

31Jul2017

New York Staycation

by Emily

To finish out my birthday week, my parents came into town for a quick visit. It was great to get to spend time with them, and we had a tons of fun in the city.

With travel, we got to spend about four days together. Our big walking day started in Brooklyn and included a trip across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Brookfield Place and the Occulus, Chelsea Market, a stroll through Greenwich Village, and time in Washington Square Park.

We also had a fantastic northern Long Island day, complete with the Roosevelt House, Lavender by the Bay, a fresh raspberry pie, and a sunset on the water.

Our meals were all wonderful, but sooo poorly lit, so sorry in advance for the blurry photos. Here were the food highlights, alphabetically…

Brigadeiro Bakery. My parents loved them as much as we do! Adam and I shared coffee, oreo, and key lime pie.

Crabby Jerry’s.

We shared coconut shrimp. And I had a surprisingly delicious blacked salmon Cesar salad.

Mile End Deli. You have to get poutine.

We also had an heirloom tomato salad with avocado and pistachio ramp pesto.

And I had the grandpa sandwich – smoked turkey, turkey leg rillettes, pickles, and mustard, on rye.

Pineapple Express. The dairy-free pineapple soft-serve was wonderfully creamy.

Russ and Daughter’s Café. Kippered salmon and smoked salmon spread with everything bagel chips.

Latkes with sunny side up eggs and the best ever Nova smoked salmon.

And we shared halvah ice cream with sesame and caramel for dessert.

Savauge. We shared sourdough with house-cultured butter.

Roasted cauliflower with broccoli pesto and spiced pistachios.

And I had the single-best chicken of my life. With hen of the woods mushrooms, broccoli rabe, and brown butter.

Thomas’ Ham and Eggery Diner. I had a wonderful egg sandwich with swiss, avocado, and housemade chicken sausage.

Van Leeuwen for ice cream. We also had a great scoop at Ample Hills.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

24Jul2017

Freedom!

by Emily

I’m on vacation! Friday was my last day of work for 11 glorious days! I prepped for vacation by eating all of the ice cream last week 🙂

For a work-week this past week was not a bad one. Adam and I were off together on Wednesday and got do some Lower East Side wandering. And over the weekend we did some Long Island exploring. Plus I met with friends for brunch. And ate all the aforementioned ice cream.

Last week’s flavor themes: (Stumptown) coffee // ice cream // cheese // corn // egg. Highlights…

Brunch at The General Greene. I had the farro bowl with pesto, roasted sweet potato, avocado, and a poached egg.

Black Brick Coffee just might be our new favorite spot. It’s a neat space and my Stumptown latte was ridiculously good.

Trader Joe’s new coconut cold brew coffee is pretty tasty, especially with chocolate milk.

Vanilla bean yogurt with blackberries, granola, and chocolate tahini.

Plain Greek yogurt with black plum and Oreo cheesecake.

Sandwich with curly fries. Spicy chicken / mayo and mustard / lettuce / pickles.

Because I don’t eat enough nachos at home, they were a special in the cafeteria this week. Pinto beans and cheddar with olives, corn, bell pepper, and onion.

Our Long Island exploration took us to both Farmingdale and Babylon. We had a flight of craft beers at Lithology. My favorite was the honey rye with rosemary, followed closely by the sour farmhouse ale.

We also did lunch at Swell Taco.

My burrito was giant and packed with grilled chicken, refried pinto beans, rice, veggies, salsa fresca, sour cream, and Monterey jack.

I’ve seen multiple foodie instagrammers try to say that Ben’s compares with Levain <– NO. PSA – this was not good. These cookies were greasy and terrible and I threw mine out after two bites and still had a stomach ache.

We checked out the Filipino goodies at Johnny Air Mart and snacked on calamansi soda and Polvorón shortbread.

Bubble tea from Vivi. Grapefruit Yakult with crystal boba and coconut jelly.

Brigadeiro Bakery taught me that I actually don’t like ice cream as much as I think because apparently brigadeiros are my favorite dessert. <– they are a condensed milk candy so that’s not that surprising

Stumptown coffee soft serve with sprinkles and cookie dough at Scoops.

Birthday cake soft serve with sprinkles at Milk Bar.

Cookie dough with toasted coconut soft serve at Stew Leonard’s. This was both the best soft serve and the best edible cookie dough we’d ever tasted.

Sweet milk and browned butter pecan ice cream at Malai.

BBQ chicken salads. Baby romaine with ranch / cheddar / cucumbers / leftover cole slaw / shredded chicken with Korean bbq sauce.

Bean and chicken bowls. Sautéed onions and green pepper / cheddar / shredded chicken with cilantro sauce – cilantro, roasted jalapeño, canola oil, honey, and salt / pinquito beans from Susie Q.

The beans were a kit sent to me to review. They came with a premixed seasoning packet (mild red chili, onion, garlic, and select spices) so they were a snap to prepare, and much tastier than canned beans. They kept their shape after cooking and were firm but not chewy or mealy. <– I would buy these with my own money

I know these eggs look god-awful, but they were amazing. Scrambled with unsulfured chicken hot dogs / kimchi / and cheddar.

Dinner at Colonia Verde. This restaurant is insanely gorgeous, Adam and I were in heaven.

I drank the Patient Extra – Cachaca, Luxardo Maraschino, grapefruit, lime, and citrus bitters, which was fabulous.

And ate duck confit tacos and grilled sweet corn salad with carmelized pepitas, cotija cheese, and mint.

P.S. It’s my birthday today!!

28Jun2017

Butter Pecan Mochi

by Emily

Apologies for another late post! Honestly? When I get home from work I get into bed fully dressed with a snack for at least 30 minutes and sometimes I just don’t get up again to do anything productive! I know I haven’t really blogged about some of the big recent changes at work, but suffice to say I am tired. <– but also really happy to be busy and getting some exposure to new things

Some of my favorite bites from the [last] week…

Watermelon kefir is an excellent idea. P.S. When I went to the Lifeway website I discovered that they apparently make an eggnog kefir and now it’s pretty much all I can think about.

I was all about the premade coffees this week and they were surprisingly delicious. Starbuck’s dark roast iced coffee.

Caribou vanilla iced coffee.

Cafeteria baked potato bar. With sour cream, cilantro, cheese/sauce, and salsa.

Yummy yogurt bowls. Coffee Chobani with chocolate tahini, maple granola, and walnuts and an eve apple.

Blood orange Chobani with Heritage Flakes and sunshine raspberries.

Whole Foods hot bar = black bean sauce broccoli, green beans, curried cauliflower, pasta salads, sweet chili tofu.

Plus I tried their mocha ice cream in butter pecan and black sesame. <– this might be my new favorite thing

Blue chip nachos! With corn, cheddar, black beans, and fresh tomatoes. I dipped them into roasted tomato salsa.

I bought a bag of rolls at our grocery’s bakery ($1.69 for a variety pack of six?!) and we became obsessed with turkey and cheddar sandwiches. The key is spreading the bun with a mix of mayo and gojuchang.

I made a simple veggie and tofu bowl that was our favorite dinner of the week.

Chopped raw bok choy with TJ’s sesame soy ginger vinaigrette / TJ’s teriyaki baked tofu / crispy edamame – tossed with evoo and salt and baked at 400* for 20 minutes / black sesame seeds.

Leftover sesame noodles with chili oil with baked tofu and crispy edamame.

A dinner in parts: Adam had to take a super quick trip to Delaware this week and I worked out my schedule to tag along. We started with Mile End in Brooklyn for appetizers. Garlic knish.

Brussel sprouts salad (with a mix of raw and roasted!) with labne, sumac, and honeycomb and pumpernickel powder. It was amazing.

Mid-dinner dessert stop for churros with dulce de leche at the new DeKalb Market Hall.

And finally Grain in Newark. I had a great whiskey sour.

And the best crab cake sandwich of my life; it was absolutely packed with crab meat, no filler to be found.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

5Jun2017

Japanese Kit-Kats And Trader Joe’s Nitro Cold Brew

by Emily

Highlights from the week included…

Trader Joe’s nitrogen-infused cold brew, my new favorite bottled coffee. It was so creamy and velvety!

Check out that head (photo taken after I added cream).

Yogurt bowls at work. Plain Siggi’s with maple quinoa granola, chia seeds, brown sugar, and homemade raisins. <– if I had included three favorites in my title this bowl would have been #3! P.S. the raisins were much improved by a night in the fridge.

Banana Chobani with Heritage Flakes and a piñata apple on the side.

Snack attack. There were curly fries in the cafeteria this week!

I finally got my hands on some crazy-flavors Japanese Kit-Kats – butter cookie and pudding. I would have liked both better with milk chocolate versus white but they were fun to try.

Iced chai latte (that was way too spicy for me and ended up going in the garbage) and yummy honey caramel candies.

I made a big batch of pesto and it was the cornerstone of most of our adult dinners last week. Failed adulting dinners were cheese and crackers eaten in bed. Pesto = basil, garlic, salt, olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan. Most of it went into pasta bowls – whole wheat shells with shredded chicken and roasted zucchini, topped with more cheese and pine nuts and fried garlic panko bread crumbs for crunch.

I also set aside some pesto for some truly epic egg sandwiches.

Brioche bun / with pesto on one side / and gojuchang mayo on the other / with two fried eggs with a slice of fontina cheese melting in between. <– ridiculously good and loosely inspired by the egg sandwich at Santina.

With roasted green beans with more garlic panko.

Saturday after work I met Adam for Southern fare at Pretty Southern. We ordered both sherry drinks because cocktails with sherry are wonderful. Carlita’s Colada – Palo cortado sherry, coconut cream, pineapple, and lime and Sunshine Way – Fino sherry, blackberry, pineapple, lime, and mint. The coconut one was the best.

We shared all of the things for dinner. Chicken strips with the most amazing housemade pickles.

Bourbon butter biscuit. <– this was soggy and meh

Fantastic mac and cheese with crispy fried onions on top.

And a griddled sandwich with pimento cheese, tomato, and pickled jalapeño.

I’ve got a busy but fun week ahead, please think calm thoughts for me!

30May2017

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

by Emily

Three-day weekend highlights, including lots of new “bests”…

Unicorn smoothie! The layers were acai and pitaya with coconut water and plain Greek yogurt.

Bananarama smoothie. Frozen banana, plain Greek yogurt, a hot chocolate packet, and Banana Wave Banana Milk. <– free product review alert: the banana milk is a vegan milk made of banana puree, soy, oats, and other ingredients. One serving contains as much potassium as a small banana as well as 29 vitamins and minerals and 1200 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. One cup has 150 calories, 4 grams of protein, and 5 grams of added sugar.

Black bear, aka Otha‘s coffee concentrate with housemade chocolate milk. This shop was adorable and we want to go back immediately.

Du’s Donuts. Adam’s all time favorites.

Lunch at Llama Inn.

I had soft-boiled eggs with delicata squash, charred scallions, pumpkin seeds, and chimichurri sauce.

We got our own desserts, flan for Adam and key lime pie for me. Best key lime pie of the decade, it was enrobed in toasted meringue!

Lunch at Pig Bleeker. We had a Salty Spritz – vodka, St. Germain, and apricot, with a salty white wine rinse, and a Champagne Sherry Cobbler that was the all-time best drink we’ve ever had – Fino sherry, fresh citrus, and champagne.

I got a fried chicken thigh sandwich with Pig Beach mustard sauce, house pickles, mayo, and hot sauce. The meat was smoked before it was fried and it was by far the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.

Durian mochi.

Malter Chronkite from Mister Dips, a malty chocolate-dipped cone.

Spicy crunchy tuna sushi bowl. Brown rice with ginger, rice vinegar, seaweed, and black sesame seeds / canned tuna fish and smoked trout with Sriracha and mayo / quick pickled cucumbers / fresh avocado / panko and fried garlic toasted in butter / Sriracha on top.

Chopped romaine salad with honey mustard dressing, dill, sautéed mushrooms with garlic, shredded chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and homemade raisins.

I am on Saturday/Sunday so I’ve only got two days of work before a day off, woo-hoo!

27May2017

Bluefish Hash at Tygershark

by Emily

This week’s top five –

(1) Brunch at Tygershark.

I got the smoked bluefish hash (best meal of the week!) with fried potato, salsa verde, napa cabbage, shishito pepper, and an over easy egg.

(2) Doughnuts and coffee at Du’s Donuts.

They were Adam’s all time favorites!

(3) New yummy candies.

Maltesers // Milk & Cookies bar.

(4) Dinner and drinks at Atlantic Social.

I went with a girlfriend who was equally obsessed with Pork Slope. This wasn’t half as good (obviously!), but I did have a tasty bowl of chicken pot pie ramen.

(5) New favorite sparkling water.

It’s so good! We’ve tried pink grapefruit and strawberry-guava and loved them both, but do NOT like the raspberry lemonade.

Stuff from the week that wasn’t terrible but didn’t quite rate a number –

Brooklyn is the best –

15May2017

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons

by Emily

I had to work this weekend but somehow I ended up with a bunch of eats that were super good. Because they all included sugar and/or cheese? Probably! Here were the highlights…

Three fun new coffee cups. Halvah cotton candy on top.

Chocolate milk ice cubes.

Starbuck’s nitro cold brew. I loved the velvety texture but was not a fan of it being served without ice.

Pickings are slim at the cafeteria on the weekends but I put together a pretty good lunch plate. BBQ wings, veggie lo mein, roasted baby carrots, and cherry tomatoes with blue cheese dressing.

Mango yogurt with fresh mango on top. Guys, fresh mangos are so flipping good, how did I forget about them all winter??

Cookie and coffee break. From Bittersweet (a hopping Fort Greene coffee spot with no less than 7 cute doggies waiting in line when I walked in).

Another sweet snack, vanilla yogurt with chocolate peanut butter stirred in and mini chocolate chips on top.

Cinnamon dusted apple slices with sharp cheddar squares and chocolate peanut butter sticks.

Whole Foods hot bar dinner on an after-work shopping trip. Crispy potatoes, vegan meat balls, roasted zucchini, tabbouleh, and pasta salad.

Best meal of the week was this quick and easy dinner I threw together Friday night.

Salmon cream cheese wontons! I stuffed wonton skins with a mix of canned salmon, cream cheese, brown sugar, fish sauce, and minced ginger. Baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

They were creamy and crispy and delicious. Served with roasted green beans.

A close 2nd for best meal was our dinner at Lady’s, a newish Italian spot in Brooklyn.

The food was all fantastic – so fresh, and perfectly seasoned. Like this amazing salad with snow peas, sunflower seeds, and pickled radish. <– 2nd best salad of my entire life

We also started with hummus with crispy chickpeas, charred cucumber, lemon, and focaccia.

With a yummy local watermelon ale.

And for our entrée we shared pasta with crab,

and honey butter pizza dough with sea salt and Calabrian chili. The spicy-salty-sweet contrast was perfection. I had a glass of prosecco with that course and the pairing was wonderful.

I got a giant scoop of the new cheesecake flavor at Ample Hills for dessert. It was a tasty weekend!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: potato

New Noosas

New York Staycation

Freedom!

Butter Pecan Mochi

Japanese Kit-Kats And Trader Joe’s Nitro Cold Brew

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

Bluefish Hash at Tygershark

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons