Turkey Week Eats

by Emily

I hope that all of my American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We didn’t do anything fancy to celebrate, but I sure was thankful for the four-day workweek! My million-point list of things I’m thankful for also includes this gorgeous city…

Random Thoughts

I made the toffee candy for a work birthday party, this time following the original recipe.

I think my version with graham crackers and pretzels is better, the saltines got a bit soggy.

I reread To Kill a Mockingbird this week in anticipation of starting Go Catch a Watchman and cried on the train at least ten times.

TKM is one of my favorite books but I had forgotten what a fabulous writer Harper Lee is in the few years since I had last reread it. Atticus is my all-time favorite character. I love him even more than Ghosh from Cutting for Stone.

“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

Daytime Eats

This week’s tea – Adagio’s Pumpkin Spice (former freebie).

With treats from the birthday party… including pie made with fresh coconut

Or with pumpkin applesauce and biscotti.

This week’s coffee – Community Coffee’s Breakfast Blend with skim milk and sugar.

Cafeteria lunch salads. Romaine, blue cheese dressing, carrot, cucumber, tomato, olive, pickle, black eyed peas, and pasta salad.

Romaine, ranch, carrot, cucumber, tomato, olive, pickle, corn salsa, cheddar, and chickpeas.

Romaine, blue cheese dressing, carrot, olive, tomato, cucumber, corn, cheddar, and cole slaw.

And home on Turkey Day I was thankful for yogurt bowls.

Plain Greek yogurt topped with cranberry sauce, pomegranate, chia seeds, and praline pecan maple granola. Best bowl of the year.

Nighttime Eats

I met up with girlfriends for drinks early in the week. Pork Slope never disappoints. They had Sorachi Ace, Adam’s favorite beer which is now my favorite beer. It just goes down so easily!

I also had a ridiculous fall shandy – gin, maple bitters, simple syrup, lemon juice, and cider.

Dinners were all about the bird! We cooked turkey breasts in the crock pot on Sunday and then shredded them into meals all week.

Turkey tossed with TJ’s whole-wheat butternut squash goyza on top of sautéed shredded Brussels sprouts with pecans.

Topped with gruyere cheese and cranberry sauce.

Turkey tossed with bbq sauce on a brioche bun (toasted with Smart Balance) with cranberry sauce and goat’s milk brie.

With roasted green beans on the side. Year’s best sandwich!

For Thanksgiving dinner we decided to go super traditional – nachos. TJ’s stuffing flavored kettle chips topped with turkey, gruyere, smoked paprika, and cranberry sauce.

With hericot verts roasted with shallots. So much better than the usual meal! Plus pumpkin pie,

aka Rogue’s Pumpkin Patch Ale.

Friday night, once the turkey celebration was over, Adam and I went on a dinner date in the Lower East Side. Coffee while we walked around Chinatown.

Ice cream at Ice & Vice. Milk Money = toasted milk, sea salt, and chocolate ganache and Shade = smoked dark chocolate with caramelized white chocolate ganache. I’m usually not one for chocolate ice cream but this was fantastic.

Then dinner at Mission Chinese Food. With complimentary dumplings to start.

I ordered the Tea Ceremony – matcha, melon, and fizzy wine.

We shared the green papaya salad with smoked chicken, green tomato, peanuts, and pickled tea leaves.

And I ordered the spicy peanut noodles, with cucumber, mint, and numbing oil.

They were chewy, savory, and beyond tingly; numbing oil is good but intense! The mint was really wonderful with the spice. All in all a good meal, though not as epic as the thousand-plus articles I’d read about the restaurant would have had me believe.

13Nov2015

This Week’s Top Five; Product Reviews Galore

by Emily

I didn’t plan on doing a bulk review, I just happened to use a lot of new product samples this week. It works out well for those of you who hate product reviews because you can just skip this post and miss a whole set at once.

Disclosure – all of the starred (**) items in this post were provided to me gratis to review. I was not given further compensation for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

Reminder – I only tasted one flavor each of the sauces and teas; I will continue to blog about the other varieties as I try them.

{1} Starbuck’s Chicken Santa Fe Sandwich

Not a freebie, just a product I’m obsessed with. I don’t even have them heat it up! The combo of crispy bell peppers, chewy flatbread, and creamy green-chile spread is so darn tasty.

{2} Pumpkin coconut chia yogurt bowl

This was the week’s best lunch, though that’s not much of a victory considering the fact that I ate cold pizza at my desk for lunch on two separate occasions. TJ’s coconut yogurt with pumpkin puree, roasted coconut chips, and chia seeds.

{3} Arbonne Essentials Protein Shake Mixes**

While I don’t think that protein powders are necessary for most people – you can meet your needs with whole foods! – I acknowledge that they can be a good option when you are in a rush or eating on the go. I am never going to bring eggs on the train but I can certainly pack a smoothie for my commute. Each packet provides 20 grams of vegan protein and 2 grams of fiber for 160 calories and 3.5 grams of unsaturated fat. <– mixed in a glass of cow’s milk that would provide more than 50% of my protein needs for the day.

Making protein smoothies is exactly what I did this week. Vanilla protein powder with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and ice.

The next day was the same, but with chocolate. And with a chocolate cranberry biscotti on the side.

These certainly did fill me up, I didn’t even have room for coffee one day. I thought the flavor was passable but not fantastic, but it is worth noting that these powders are sweetened with cane sugar and stevia and I generally can’t stand the taste of stevia. I haven’t tried the daily fiber mix yet but I will report back when I do.

{4} Adagio Teas**

Adagio is a company that sells loose-leaf teas sourced directly from Artisan farmers. Their product selection is divided up very helpfully, the website lists teas by type (white, black, oolong, etc, including a variety of tea blends) and they have several sampler variety packages as well as the option to purchase a small sample of each type of tea (and they list the cost per cup for each option). Also cool? There is a section of the site where consumers can design and list their own blends and there is an immense selection of fandom blends. I basically had a heart attack over all the Supernatural and Buffy options but I decided to stick with the simpler stuff for now.

Adagio offered me a gift certificate and I was able picked a variety of teas. I also ordered some paper filters to brew them in. <– I’m sold, the filters were easy to pack and worked perfectly.

I don’t usually drink a ton of tea (duh, I’m a coffee fanatic!) but I’m hoping including a cup or two in the afternoon at work will help me to get closer to actually drinking enough water each day. This week I packed my paper filters with Earl Grey Moonlight.

Since the tea is loose you can see the citrus rind and blue cornflowers in with the black tea leaves which I thought was fun. It was no coffee, but this was the best Earl Grey I’ve ever had. My sample pouch will make 10 very reasonably priced 20 cent cups. I’m looking forward to teatime next week.

{5} Bertolli Riserva pasta sauces**

The newest line from Bertolli is made with artisanal ingredients and no artificial colors. The 24 oz bottles retail for ~$5.99 which is comparable to other similar (but less delicious) options. Flavors include Marinara with Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, Balsamic Vinegar with Caramelized Onions, Asiago Cheese with Artichokes, and Porcini Mushroom with White Truffle Oil.

They all sound pretty wonderful to me but I decided to go simple and try Marinara first. Each half cup serving has 110 calories. Unfortunately each serving also has 450 mg of sodium (more than 20% of the no more than 2 grams of sodium most people should limit themselves to each day), but the sauce is so rich and yummy that a little goes a long way – we used the marinara in 5 dinner servings this week and still have a good third of the bottle left.

We let the sauce shine on a plain – but fantastic! – pizza first. TJ’s frozen crust topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, and torn fresh basil.

Then we gussied it up with veggies and meat for pasta bowls.

Roasted zucchini and tomato + sautéed ground turkey with basil and yellow onion + tossed with marinara / served on whole-wheat rotini / with sharp cheddar on top.

The final product was full of umami. These bowls were the best meal of the month!

What was your best meal so far this month?

24Oct2015

This Week’s Top Five {Giveaway}

by Emily

{1} Dates with old friends

A doctor friend from Buffalo came into the city for an interview so we gave him the quick New York experience – hand-pulled noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods eaten picnic-style in Bryant Park.

I got the spicy hot oil noodles, extra spicy, and they were brutal and delicious. Then we walked 10 blocks down to The Ginger Man to drink all of the beers.

The Ninkasi Noir was the best, a super roasty coffee milk stout. We also had mead!

My bff from 2nd grade lives here in Brooklyn, and this week her mom (aka my part-time mom my whole childhood) was visiting.

Not only did I get to catch up with good people, we ate delicious bibimbap.

We went to Dobeki, a Korean bbq spot in Williamsburg.

{2} Yogurt bowls

Pumpkin featured heavily, of course.

{3} Taco salad

We made homemade Chipotle bowls. Not to worry though, we also ate Chipotle!

Sweet romaine base + sauteed onions and peppers + ground turkey sauteed with shallots, garlic, lime, and spices + cheese and sour cream. Plus an assortment of pumpkin flavored beverages.

They were very good!

{4} Nonni’s new seasonal biscotti

Nonni’s sent me a very exciting box, featuring their (new)holiday biscotti flavors.

Please note: I was given these samples, plus another set of samples for a lucky reader, free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

New Seasonal Flavors:

Nonni’s Caramel Apple Biscotti are made with delicious apples, a blend of brown sugar and cinnamon, filled with caramel and delicately dipped in gourmet white icing.

Nonni’s Cranberry Cioccolati are made with sweet cranberries and delicately dipped in rich dark chocolate.

Seasonal Returning Favorites:

Nonni’s Pumpkin Spice Biscotti are made with real pumpkin, a blend of robust spices and delicately dipped in gourmet cinnamon icing.

Nonni’s Gingerbread Biscotti are made with real molasses, premium spices and delicately dipped in white icing.

I had Caramel Apple with an iced white chocolate coffee.

Pumpkin Spice with pumpkin applesauce and an iced coffee. <– I realize a pumpkin spice latte would have been on theme here but I’ve finally accepted that I think PSLs are disgusting.

Gingerbread with a maple latte.

And Cranberry Cioccolati with a hot chocolate.

I loooooooooved them. I’ve sampled Nonni’s stuff in the past and they really make the best biscotti I’ve ever had. The texture is perfect, I am always expecting crumbly and hard and am pleasantly surprised by how easy they are to bite into. I don’t think I could identify pumpkin and gingerbread in a blind taste-test, but they were yummy regardless and I was glad that they weren’t overly spicy. The caramel apple was my favorite, it had pockets of chewy apple bits and caramel! The icing on all of them was great, not too sweet and a nice complement to the rest of the bar.

~~{5} A giveaway!~~

Nonni’s said I could share the love with you guys. One lucky (USA-based) reader will receive a box with all four holiday flavors. To enter to win – simply leave a comment on this post telling me which flavor you are most interested in. Comments must be received by midnight on Tuesday, October 27th.

***Update – Annamarie won the giveaway. She has already been contacted. Better luck next time 🙂

9Oct2015

This Week’s Top Five…

by Emily

Eats

{1} My coffee combo.

Grady’s is the best.

{2} This yogurt bowl.

Siggi’s pumpkin / giant red grapes / TJ’s pumpkin o’s, chia seeds, and maple sea salt pumpkin seeds. With a persimmon on the side.

{3} An old-school turkey sandwich. Applegate Farms smoked turkey with mayo, sharp cheddar, and caramelized onions on a brioche bun.

Plus chips and grapes.

{4} Pumpkin pie smoothie.

Pumpkin puree, plain Fage, almond milk, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup. We both loved these!

{5} Nacho night.

Chips with low-fat Mexican cheese blend, roasted broccoli, and ground turkey sautéed with onions and red pepper.

Obsessions

{1} Movie I’m oddly excited for: The Krampus.

I am really not a horror movie girl but something about a Christmas horror movie appeals to me, probably the fact that Adam Scott is in it!

{2} TV show I can’t wait to start: Supernatural.

Season 11 started the same day that season 10 finally released on Netflix so our entire plan for this weekend is season 10. If we catch up we can watch the latest season as it airs.

{3} TV shows that continue to rock our world: our line up from last year is still solid.

Chicago PD, Rick and Morty, Fresh off the Boat, and The Middle all started off their seasons quite strongly. We’re also loving Longmire’s Netflix debut. Rosewood, on the other hand, was un-freaking-watchable.

{4} Book I need to buy: Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me?

I read Is Everyone Hanging out without Me? in about a day and reread it a day later so I know I’m going to love her newest book.

{5} Song I’m playing on repeat:” Jump Into the Fog” – The Wombats.

Bonus: I’ve had ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” stuck in my head all week. <– don’t play it if you’re at work!

1Oct2015

Goodbye, Apple Month

by Emily

Can you believe that it is already October?! Time has felt like it is flying ever since we moved back to the city but this year in particular is booking it. Never mind the fact that I am somehow 30 years old even though I still feel like high school was maybe six years ago tops.

breakfast

I kept this week’s coffee combo simple –

I wanted to be able to get a good feel for this stuff –

This was the perfect month to review* Rigoni di Asiago’s Dolcedì sweetener because it is made of apples! 10 kilograms of organic apples go into 1 kilogram of Dolcedì.

The liquid sweetener is USDA certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, and kosher, and can be used in the same ways you would use table sugar (1 teaspoon of Dolcedì would substitute for 1 teaspoon of sugar, a 1:1 ratio) in hot and cold drinks. It has 15 calories per Tbsp (table sugar has 15 per teaspoon). You can also use it in baking but I haven’t tried that yet.

The liquid is sweet but flavorless so it really doesn’t alter the taste of your drink – unlike honey and agave – and I found that it quickly dissolved completely into solution in my iced coffee. I don’t typically sweeten my drinks but when I do I would definitely use the Dolcedì again in the future.

Along with my sweetened coffees I had bars

and orchard apples.

We were not impressed with the scant variety available for apple picking but these ended up being some of the best apples any of the four of us have ever eaten.

lunch

Plain yogurt with blueberries and pomegranate, sea salt caramel apple granola and chia seeds, and an apple on the side.

Plus I brought in turtle pretzel magic bars for my coworkers and I totally snagged one for after lunch.

The other days I stuck with THIS for dessert –

Omg.

Kodiak flapjack on the go and TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apple slices.

I hated the pancake cup – it was like choking down raw batter – but those apples are amazing. I shared a taste with two coworkers who said they were the best they’ve ever had.

Plain Siggi’s with blueberries, strawberry preserves, and caramel apple granola and chia seeds.

The caramel apple chia combo has rocked my world this month, though I have had to start carrying floss in my purse to deal with errant seeds.

“dinner”

Dinners this week were exceedingly weak. Apparently our busy weekend of walking wore us out because Adam and I have been unbelievably tired. Like on Monday we got into bed at 7:30 pm tired. And then on Tuesday we took a nap before bed. I guess maybe I do feel thirty!

Monday I ate a Starbucks chicken Santa Fe sandwich on the train.

It was good, and thank goodness because when I got home I ate this strawberry Cow Tail under the covers.

Hence “dinners.”

Tuesday I at least legitimately included some vegetables in my snack-based dinner. Carrots with hummus.

Several rounds of pretzels with string cheese.

And roasted green beans.

This was actually a pretty balanced meal.

And Wednesday I cooked a grown-up dinner.

Can you call heating up a package of TJ’s Palak Paneer cooking?

I had to make the brown jasmine rice and roasted zucchini we served it with so I’m counting it.

With a dollop of goat’s milk yogurt on top. And my final La Brea Bakery review* on the side – flatbread.

They were all good but this was our favorite bread so far. It had that perfect naan texture, fluffy yet chewy. And the flatbread includes sprouted whole wheat flour (along with white flour) which made the flavor just a bit more interesting. A+.

P.S. Now it’s October it is finally Pumpkin Month!!!

*These products were provided to me free of charge to review. I was not provided any additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

28Sep2015

Apple Month Warmth

by Emily

Adam and I are trying to use every last bit of warmth from the summer and we spent the weekend doing city things and walking our hearts out. Also eating dessert daily, a habit that we reeeeally need to put the kibosh on once we’re hibernating through winter.

Saturday we took the train into the city and walked 30+ blocks up through Central Park.

We went to a few spots in the park that we hadn’t ever seen before, which was fun. But the way back to the train we did take the straight route down Lexington/Madison Ave because Central Park’s “Ramble” is very fittingly named.

Sunday we were even further north – The Bronx Zoo.

That’s a carousal selfie. We were there from 10 – 4, whew!

breakfast

Giant coffee from 7-11 with Almond Joy creamer.

The weird photo angle is because my entire desk was papered in protected health information. Last week was crazy busy at work. On Thursday I didn’t get more than 5 feet away from my desk until 4:30 pm.

Pb&j with green beans and apple slices.

With cold brew from Caffeino, a cute coffee spot in Astoria.

The coffee was roasty and smooth and the shop is right along the drive to our train so you’ll definitely be seeing that cup again.

Cold brew with chocolate milk.

Meh, to both parts.

lunch

Packed lunch for work. Chobani cinnamon pear yogurt with pomegranate seeds and Heritage Flakes.

Plus an apple that I picked myself! Our orchard haul has been quite tasty. The yogurt was only ok though, not a flavor I would buy again.

Packed lunch for the zoo. Turkey sandwiches with carrots and applesauce.

Plus we bought iced coffee, of course.

A trip to Bluestone Lane’s Upper East Side location – an Austrian coffee spot housed in a gorgeous church.

We got a flat white and an Aussie iced coffee and both were thick and creamy and amazing.

And split an avocado smash.

Yum. Amazingly, this was the first time either of us had tried avocado toast.

Dessert was a mini sundae from Sprinkles.

Salted caramel ice cream and marshmallow chocolate cupcake.

dinner

Roasted green beans and French bread baked with Smart Balance and light sharp cheddar.

Plus the last of the Coco SuperSeedz.

I wasn’t super hungry because I went to Four &Twenty Blackbirds with a friend after work.

Salted caramel apple! With espressos that we were less impressed with than the pie.

Saturday night I made a frittata from Cooking Light.

It took forever because I added a million vegetables to it and I snacked while I cooked.

40 minutes later (the directions said 10 minutes!)…

Frittata stuffed with roasted zucchini, arugula, and browned mushrooms and topped with swiss and gruyere cheese and mini heirloom tomatoes.

Plus arugula salad dressed in honey, evoo, and lavender salt, with sharp cheddar, pecans, and pomegranate.

I burnt the bottom of the pie but at least after some careful trimming it was still delicious.

Sunday night we ate Chipotle bowls which I forgot to take a picture of but you’ve seen an embarrassing amount of time before. With apple ciders.

And unseasonable froyo.

Pumpkin pie yogurt with Nutella and crunchy chocolate things. I think I’m ready for October, cold and all!

26Sep2015

Breaking Bread

by Emily

I didn’t do a very good job of making real meals this week, and I did an even worse job of photographing the junk I did eat, so this post doesn’t have much meat to it. <– that’s a food blog pun! I did receive a very exciting package of product samples that I need to gush about. Apparently man can live on bread alone…

La Brea Bakery opened in LA 26 years ago offering six artisanal hearth-baked breads – Sourdough Baguette, Country White Sourdough, Whole Wheat, Normandy Rye, Olive, Rosemary Olive Oil. In the years since they’ve won numerous awards, opened locations all around the world, and expanded their product line to include a variety of granola and breads (jalopeño cheddar loaf! raisin pecan loaf! garlic naan flatbread!).

I was sent some samples from their Take & Bake line – par-baked breads that you finish in your oven at home. They are available at grocery stores around the US. The breads take about 20 minutes to finish baking, and you are supposed to let them cool for 30 minutes before serving, but the whole process is very easy and hands-off. We put our loaves on a piece of parchment paper right on the oven rack.

I was sent the Plain Naan Flatbread which we have not tried yet. The flatbreads are kosher and are partially made with whole-wheat flour.

It is on the meal plan (ha!) for next week so I’ll let you know what we think then.

The French Baguette. The texture of this bread did not seem to be negatively affected by the freezing at all, the crust was crispy with just enough chew.

I ate my slices warm from the oven next to a Chipotle salad because I’m fancy like that.

And the Ciabatta Loaf. This was just fluffy enough to be perfect for toasted cheese sandwiches.

With smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, and strawberry jam.

All in all we really enjoyed the two loaves we’ve tried so far. They have a delectable taste and texture and the short ingredient lists make me happy. We would definitely consider purchasing these on our own.

Please note – I received the bread products free of charge to review. I was not provided additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

12Sep2015

This Week’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} My coffee combo.

Community Coffee with cocoa powder, maple cinnamon, cream, and milk.

The cocoa doesn’t really mix in with the cold coffee but it’s still good.

Now I want to do a coconut-cocoa coffee next.

{2} Bars.

Most nights this week I was soooo hungry when I got home and having these to grab saved me from some major hangry fits. Not that we still didn’t go get Chipotle instead of cooking two nights in a row.

{3} This lunch. Trimona plain yogurt with Heritage Flakes, chia seeds, and chopped emerald beauty and honey punch pluots. <– how great are those names??!

Plus a bourbon brown butter caramel and a salty caramel apple taffy for dessert.

{4} This fancy Thursday night dinner.

I sautéed spinach with minced ginger, garlic aioli, and evoo, then tossed in gnocchi and roasted zucchini.

Topped with this hot smoked sockeye from Trader Joe’s.

Best meal of the week! The salmon was wonderful; I love hot smoked because it has a similar flavor to lox but not the slimy texture.

{5} Caramel apple Peeps. OMG.

These were seriously delicious; are all Peeps this yummy?? They were puffy and not too chewy and they had a perfect balance of sour dust to sweet caramel fudge. I’m awarding this best purchase yet for Apple Month.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: product review

Turkey Week Eats

Random Thoughts

Daytime Eats

Nighttime Eats

This Week’s Top Five; Product Reviews Galore

This Week’s Top Five {Giveaway}

Please note: I was given these samples, plus another set of samples for a lucky reader, free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

This Week’s Top Five…

Eats

Obsessions

Goodbye, Apple Month

breakfast

lunch

“dinner”

*These products were provided to me free of charge to review. I was not provided any additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Apple Month Warmth

breakfast

lunch

dinner

Breaking Bread

Please note – I received the bread products free of charge to review. I was not provided additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

This Week’s Top Five