Wrap-Up; Will You Be My Valentine?

by Emily

Hi there!

Long time no blog.

I know I’ve ~~bitched~~ blogged about this before, but Adam’s schedule is killing me. And he’s on a particularly busy rotation as of last week – with an insane commute – and I’m kind of losing my mind. So I apologize for missing a post, but I just didn’t have writing in me. I also missed many photo opportunities this week. However, my valentine and I did have some great moments, so, in no particular order, is some of what I did capture…

emmy’s

Emmy’s recently stepped up their efforts to be environmentally and socially conscious and they sent me a box of samples to help spread the news.

From the company – Emmy’s Organics is a 100% vegan and gluten-free food company that prides itself on the quality, creativity & sustainability of the products it offers. The company uses only the finest non-GMO ingredients in everything produced. All packaging is made from biodegradable and earth-friendly materials. All goods produced are made in a vegan & gluten-free kitchen. For more information visit emmysorganics.com.

I opened, and devoured, the mint chip macaroons pretty much the second I got the box.

And the dark chocolate sauce was stellar on coffee ice cream.

The texture was wonderfully thick and smooth.

work lunches

Yogurt day.

Yogurt topped with fresh blackberries and a crumbled macaroon. The macaroon was coconut vanilla, my favorite flavor thus far.

And the yogurt was Greek God’s Honey Salted Caramel.

That stuff is crazy thick and the smell is out of control.

Boxed to go.

Minneola,

Crisp Apple Cascade Ice that I bought with my own money because I enjoyed my sample flavors so much,

and a go picnic box.

I got a bunch of these on sale the other day and I’m pretty excited about them.

Cereal and milk.

An apple and a chocolate chili macaroon – the first flavor I didn’t care for, way too spicy. And blueberry cashew super cereal which was loaded with buckwheat groats and dried fruit.

I bought a milk cartoon from the cafeteria.

new things

Birthday Cake M&M’s.

Meh. The flavored m&m’s, while exciting, are all way too sweet.

Lady Alice apple.

Sweet! The flavor is sweet instead of tart and the skin feels so much like an apricot.

Rockin’ Nut Road Snickers.

Sweet! The marshmallow was great.

pizza pizza

Isn’t homemade pizza just the best?

We topped Trader Joe’s garlic and herb dough with pizza sauce, light mozzarella, sliced green olives, and tons of sautéed mushrooms.

Green olives are my favorite topping.

Morton’s birthday

The Morton Salt girl celebrates her 100th birthday this year and the company sent me a giant tin stuffed with goodies to celebrate.

In 2014 they are introducing the industry’s first Garlic Sea Salt as well as gourmet-style grinders for sea salt, roasted garlic sea salt, and black peppercorn. Also, be on the look out for a brand facelift and these limited edition birthday packages.

Manhattan meals

We had brunch at Empire Biscuit that rocked our faces off.

Best biscuits ever! My (all butter, aka no lard) biscuit was topped with pimento cheese and black grape jam.

And to drink we split an iced Blue Bottle coffee.

Good God, I love Blue Bottle so much!

Another amazing, local coffee was espresso with skim milk from The Bean.

P.S. That was one of 4 coffees I had that afternoon. My coffee addiction is still raging.

Puddin’, from Puddin’.

Adam and I shared coffee pudding and dulce de leche pudding with salted caramel sauce.

This stuff was insanely rich but so good. We recommended Puddin’ to the family that took our table at Empire Biscuit and we ended up all showing up for dessert at the same time! They loved it too.

Dinner with a Groupon at S’mac.

We shared the Buffalo Chicken and the Parisienne – Creamy Brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms, and fresh rosemary.

The crusts were the best part of both. Adam is very jazzed about our leftovers.

What’d you do to celebrate Valentine’s this year?

7Feb2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lonely Island

by Emily

Let’s be honest – being married to a surgical resident sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of Adam that he’s such a smartypants and I love that he gets the opportunity to do something meaningful that excites him, but if I had my druthers I think we would both be beach bums working together at a part-time job somewhere.

We don’t have any time now. After 11 years together (and 6 years of marriage) we somehow still really like each other so living as two ships passing in the night, as I said, sucks.

It’s not great for blog content either. Adam was on night shifts all this week and I was home alone which meant I ate cereal and/or popcorn most days. Not a ton of healthy living to share! And it didn’t help that when I pulled up my photos to write this post half of them were horrendous and were promptly deleted. Here is what I do have to share…

Work lunch 1.

Fresh mango,

and a Passion Fruit Noosa.

This was the first time I had ever tried passion fruit not in juice form. I liked the crunchy seeds!

Work lunch 2.

Peach Noosa,

topped with fresh blueberries,

and Linwood Ground Flax Seed with Cocoa, Strawberries, and Blueberries.

The flax was part of a box of samples I recently received to review.

It was quite good; you couldn’t taste the berries but it had a nice hint of chocolate. I keep meaning to bring flax back into my life so the samples came at a great time.

Pink smoothie.

Chocolate peppermint soy milk with frozen strawberries. Adam is obsessed with this combination. The only plus to nights is that he is home with me in the morning for breakfast.

Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar.

This didn’t have the best texture but it did a great job of keeping me full.

Gummi Koalas.

These are Adam’s favorites but they couldn’t hold a candle to my new obsession with Haribo Juicy Bears.

Blissinger’s Dulce de Leche with Sea Salt bar.

Yuck! Way too salty. I’m hoping that the husband ends up liking it because it was quite expensive and I could only eat one square.

Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults.

This one I have no complaints about 🙂

Oven baked fries.

With evoo, truffle salt, and dried rosemary from my grandma’s garden.

Iowa Girl Eats’ Chicken Chili topped with extra-sharp cheddar, low-fat sour cream, and pickled jalopeños.

I skipped the brown sugar, doubled the onion, and added some liquid smoke. Adam loooooved this, and he says he hates chili.

Leftover chili stuffed in a baked potato.

With more cheese, sour cream, and jalopeños, and roasted broccoli on the side(s). This was ~~cheesy~~ amazing. We need to make baked potatoes more often.

Do you feel like you get enough time with your significant other or does work get in the way?

4Feb2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Beers In Brooklyn

by Emily

‘Twas a super weekend, even if I didn’t watch a single second of a certain football game. We don’t have a cable hook-up! I would like to see if I can find the commercials somewhere online though.

My meals this weekend were the like Seahawks, unparalleled winners. Here’s some of what we ate…

lunch at work on Friday

A Tart Cherry Noosa.

An Asian pear.

And a flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie.

I made the cookies for Adam but they were so good that I ended up stealing another one when I got home that afternoon! This recipe, but with Vanilla Bean + Espresso Barney Butter and half as many chocolate chips.

sweets and snacks

Cosmos.

With Cascade Ice Cocktail Mixer, a splash of oj, and vodka.

The fancy one was actually Adam’s, mine had ice and a straw.

But mine ended up being his too in the end; I am just not a cranberry person.

A serving of Red Velvet M&M’s (new flavor!).

They are very chocolate-y and also very headache-inducing.

A kid’s double scoop at Ample Hills Creamery on our date night. I had Sweet as Honey on the bottom – Homemade honeycomb candy (made with honey from bees at Queens County Farm) in a sweet cream ice cream – and Gather ‘Round the Campfire on top – Toasted marshmallow ice cream with chocolate-covered graham cracker.

I love this place! The flavors were perfect. I also tried a taste of the Peppermint Pattie and pretty much died.

cereal and milk {cereal and milk}

It’s back!

I know the box says “new!” but the raisin Frosted Mini Wheats were my number one favorite as a child. Also the only “sugar cereal” I can recall ever having in the house growing up.

With Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and blueberries.

a recipe revisit

I wanted to remake my Berry Better Than Spaghetti recipe so I could reshoot the photos (not that the new ones are all that great!).

I ended up making a few tweaks to the recipe too. It turned out fantastic!

coffee love

Medium non-fat cinnamon brown sugar latte at Dunkin Donuts.

I have been loving these lately but this one was too sweet. Speaking of… has anyone tried the cookie dough or brownie batter donuts at DD yet? I am seriously debating buying one.

Short nonfat caramel macchiato from Starbucks on errands.

Our Trader Joe’s is always a madhouse and I love it when the husband is available to wrangle the cart for me because it means I can have coffee while I shop.

Iced coffee with almond milk from Café Dada.

Love, love, love, love, love. There is just no beating Blue Bottle.

brunch in SoHo

A girlfriend and I met up at Penelope on Sunday.

I had the Andrey’s Egg Sandwich – Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and peppers, topped with ~~grilled chorizo~~ fakin’ bacon and sun-dried tomato pesto on a fresh-baked croissant. It was a strange order for me – I usually go with sunny side up eggs or something sweet – but very good.

beers in Brooklyn

Adam had the best date on Saturday, and I’m not just saying that because he got me tipsy! I managed to find my top 2 favorite beers! For reference, here’s my list –

Emily’s All-Time Favorite Beers Ranking

{1} Genesee Cream Ale

{2} Left Hand Milk Stout

{3} Heineken Light

{4} Red Stripe

{5} Abita Strawberry

{6} 21st Amendment Brewery Hell or High Watermelon

We started at Bierkraft, where I tried a Joe Mama’s Milk from Keegan Ales.

I couldn’t taste the coffee at all, but this was nice and smooth.

Then we headed down to Dinosaur BBQ,

where we found ($3) cans of GCA!

I also had a Left Hand Milk Stout with my dinner.

So much beer – for me – but it was all so good!

Dinosaur BBQ is actually from Upstate. They make our favorite bbq sauce but we never had a chance to visit the restaurant while we were in Buffalo. I was thrilled that a location popped up in our old Brooklyn neighborhood.

Adam and I split a sampler platter to start.

Shrimp boil, chicken wing, deviled egg, and a fried green tomato.

I got a pulled chicken melt as my meal. BBQ, caramelized onion, poblano peppers, and melted cheddar.

I skipped my bun and cheese but quite enjoyed the chicken. This definitely wasn’t the best barbecue we’ve ever had, but it wasn’t bad either. And we would go back for the beer menu alone.

What are your top favorite beers? Do you tend towards high or low ABV?

31Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Feeling Fizzy

by Emily

Hey there! The weather has not warmed up yet (though we are promised a week of mid-30’s to come!) but, as predicted, I am in a much better mood* than I was during my last wrap-up. My dietitan side wants to attribute my good feelings to getting in more produce this week!

*I am probably going to exclaim that “____________ was soooooo good!” a million times in this post and I feel the need to disclaim that this is not just my bubbly persona, I had lots of really tasty things this week.

Breakfast

Half of a Gnu Fiber Love Blondie Bar and a skim black tea latte.

I went with tea only because I had a coupon but I ended up thinking that it was quite nice. The bar on the other, was very meh.

A short skim latte.

I almost never drink hot coffee but in the moment it sounded good. Probably because I was still thinking about how nice the foam was with my tea.

A fantabulous smoothie.

Frozen blueberries, a frozen banana, Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 Tbsp Vanilla Bean and Espresso Barney Butter, and a Coco Café Coconut Water Café Latte. The coffee + almond combo was perfection.

Lunch

Lunch 1.

Strawberry Rhubarb Noosa Yogurt (pssst, all Noosa shown in this post are former freebies).

I had never tried rhubarb before this but if it tastes in pie like it does in this yogurt then I’m sure I’d be a fan. Plus baby carrots and green pepper with Bolthouse Farms Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing for dipping.

And a Pink Grapefruit Cascade Ice Water.

Oh gosh, the pink grapefruit, sooooo good. I don’t even usually like grapefruit but this knocked my socks off. This bottle was part of a very sweet box Cascade Ice Waters sent me this week.

Being a fan of all thing fizzy, I knew I would like them, but I’ve been shocked by just how good they are. I enjoy all of the flavors I’ve tried so far a bunch.

Lunch 2.

A Mango Noosa with some toasted coconut on top.

An Asian Pear and a banana fudge cereal bar (warmed, for the win!).

And a Lemonade Cascade Ice Water.

Super refreshing. These drinks don’t taste “diet” at all. <– usually my complaint with beverages other than diet coke.

Lunch 3.

More veggies with dip.

A mineola.

And leftovers.

…from a dinner you’ll see in a sec.

Dinner

Here’s that dinner I was talking about. A poorly-lit date to Namaste that I’m going to share anyway because it was the best Indian food we’ve ever had.

We went with a Groupon that let us get a bunch of courses. Including wine.

Riesling wasn’t actually the best pairing with my spicy food but I shared with Adam and he shared sips of his mango lassi with me.

Our Shrimp Bhuna appetizer was ridiculous. The sauce was amazing.

Dinner was great too.

I a pile of Okra Masala next to rice that I topped with some of Adam’s Chicken Shahi Korma.

Delicious. My dish was perfectly spiced. This was the best okra I’ve ever had and you know I love okra.

Plus they brought us creamy rice pudding for dessert.

Namaste, we will be back! {again, and again, and again}

A quick and easy dinner at home.

Herring salad – canned, smoked herring mashed with Miracle Whip, dijon, and pickle relish.

Orange honey cabbage – shredded cabbage and chopped celery sautéed in evoo and then cooked with a sauce made of orange juice, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and corn starch.

Plus dried clementines so that my plate didn’t look like it belonged to someone edentulous.

I wasn’t feeling any of my piles, sadly, but Adam loved this meal.

The last dinner I have to share was a loser too.

I topped leftover creamy mushroom casserole with truffle salt and a sunny side up egg but my favorite flavors weren’t enough to make up for the lackluster casserole underneath. We shared this cutting board of pineapple as an appetizer and that wasn’t great either.

Maybe I’m actually being picky this week?

Snack

Adam and I tried the new Butterfinger Cups.

Not fans; they were actually too spot on, the flavors were so recognizable as Butterfingers and Reese’s Cups that it was weird to be eating them mashed together.

Peppermint divinity candy, on the other hand, is always good.

Thanks for sending it, parents! P.S. Fellow NYCers – if you come across divinity candy somewhere in our fair city please let me know!

Margaritas!

Made with Cascade Ice Margarita Sparkling Cocktail Mixer, a splash of orange juice, fresh lime, and tequila.

I don’t even like margaritas (I drink them from one bar only, always with Herradura) and I thought these were out of control.

I haven’t seen the Cascade Ice cocktail mixes at my store but I am buying more of this as soon as I can find it.

Homemade ice cream that was a total success.

Amazingly, I managed to make the best coffee ice cream we’ve ever had.

Coffee Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, serves 4 – 6

1 and 1/2 cups fat-free half and half
heaping 1/4 cup coffee grounds
12 oz can evaporated low-fat milk
1/3 cup and 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp vodka
3 large egg yolks
1 cup crushed Oreos (we used Mega Stuffed by any kind works)

Place coffee grounds and half and half into the base of your French press. Stir. Cover (do not insert the press at this point) and store in the fridge overnight, at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
Press grounds and pour coffee-infused half and half into a medium saucepan.
Whisk evaporated milk, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and vodka into half and half. Heat mixture until tiny bubbles begin to form around the edges of the pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
While the milk mixture cools, whisk 1/4 cup sugar into egg yolks in a large bowl.
Slowly stream the milk into the eggs, whisking constantly. Be sure to temper the eggs by starting with a very small amount of the hot liquid and gradually adding more.
Return mixture to pan and cook another 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
Place pan into a large bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until cool, 20 – 30 minutes.
Pour cooled base into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Transfer finished ice cream to a large storage container and fold in crushed Oreos. Serve immediately or freeze.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?

27Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Is Winter Over Yet?

by Emily

Ugggh, this week. Let’s not even front, last week was ridiculous. Nary a vegetable to be found. There will be no “healthy living blogging” in this post, in fact, there will barely be blogging of any sort because I couldn’t be bothered to snap pictures of 60% of my week.

The insane snow and brutal cold just killed my will to live{a healthy lifestyle}. We’ve got another week of icy cold coming up, but at least my mood seems to finally be on the upswing!

Here is some of what I ate over the past seven days, though like I said, a lot of it -mostly cheese – missed the camera…

things that were ridiculous

“Breakfast” at the hospital.

And I washed that twist down with an 8 am diet soda. I usually don’t even like donuts – I’m not sure what my new obsession with these guys is – and I need to go back to eating them never.

A carbtastic “dinner.”

Annie’s Real Aged Cheddar Mac and Cheese – topped with more cheese – and a big bowl of popcorn.

A mug cake.

Number 2 Pencil really knows what she’s doing!

Thai turkey nachos.

Ruffled chips baked with sharp cheddar, green onions, and lean ground turkey cooked with ginger and green curry.

I know most people don’t think that everything works as nachos but the flavors actually went really well here.

An attempt at dessert from Martha’s Bakery.

The tres leches was both dry as hell and studded with canned peaches. No. I don’t know why we are having such a hard time getting a good slice of tres leches!

things that were (somewhat) healthy

The only thing that saved me at all was that Noosa sent me a very generous shipment of their delicious yogurts.

Here what the company had to say: “Unique, Aussie-style Noosa Finest Yoghurt brings out the decadent side of yogurt in a whole new way. It’s made in small batches, set, and infused with honey to give it a delicious sweet-tart tang, with a smooth, velvety texture that sets it apart from the throng.Noosa is made on-site at the family-owned Morning Fresh Dairy in Bellvue, Colo., and is free of artificial ingredients of any kind. Noosa’s 100% natural fruit purees are made with the highest quality, best-tasting fruit on the market. It’s now available in nine flavors nationwide, including: NEW Tart Cherry, NEW Lemon, Passion Fruit, Blueberry, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Peach, and Honey.”

Here’s what I had to say: YUM! I had tried the honey Noosa in the past (and loved it) but the fruit on the bottom flavors have been blowing my socks off. They are just sooooo creamy and delicious. I’m not going to go through them one by one, because I have loved them all. My only complaints are that Noosa doesn’t make any low-fat varieties and yogurt is packaged in a very large serving, which means that this stuff ends up being a pretty big calorie commitment. However, it is a big serving for the calories and the yogurt is quite filling. I wouldn’t make this my only yogurt choice but I will definitely be buying more with my own money.

Here’s what Adam had to say: “OMG, YUM!!! Can I have more?!” It is definitely worth noting that the husband says Noosa is the best yogurt he’s ever had. He is 100% obsessed with it and has been plowing through the flavors at lightening speed.

Blueberry Noosa for breakfast.

I probably also had coffee with this.

Work lunch 1.

Raspberry Noosa with fresh blueberries and a side of Haribo Juicy Gold Bears.

The raspberry flavor was both Adam’s and my favorite.

Work lunch 2.

Honey Noosa with a Honeycrisp and a banana fudge cereal bar.

I microwaved the cereal bar for 60 seconds and it was insane, totally worth bringing in a plate to work for.

Casserole.

I had been looking forward to making this casserole – a mix of roasted broccoli, celery, sautéed mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, crumbled tempeh, brown rice, and light mozzarella – for more than a week, but the end result was so bland that I am not even going to share the recipe with you.

Boo.

My best coffee idea yet.

An iced Americano (with some skim milk) with fat-free chocolate milk. I don’t like “mochas” at all but when I add my own chocolate milk to coffee it is magical.

Lemon Noosa with toasted coconut on top.

This was basically crust-free pie, delicious crust-free pie.

How does the cold affect your healthy living goals?

16Jan2014

Livin’ Lean With Trader Joe’s {Book Review}

by Emily

I recently was contacted about doing a review of Jamie Davidson’s new book, Livin’ Lean with Trader Joe’s. Since January is the month of resolutions to eat better/lose weight/get healthy/et al, it seemed like the perfect time to share my thoughts with you guys. I even have a sample recipe for you.

Note – I was sent a PDF copy of the book to review, free of charge. All opinions are my own. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

About: The Author

Jamie has a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and has been teaching people how to eat nutritiously and conveniently for over 20 years. She is also the author of Quick and Healthy Meals from Trader Joe’s and Simmering Solutions, Healthy Slow-Cooker Recipes. I don’t believe that she has any formal chef training, but she is quite adept at putting together meals that are balanced and flavorful while still being healthy. While I think that Registered Dietitians should be the gold standard source for nutrition advice, Jamie’s background makes her far more qualified than most of the other authors of this season’s diet advice.

My Thoughts: The Book

Two thumbs up! Adam and I loved all of the recipes that we tried – they were tasty, healthy, and a snap to prepare.

The first few chapters of the book focus on Jamie’s advice for weight loss and healthy living, followed by a comprehensive collection of more than 150 recipes. As a Registered Dietitian, I think that her philosophy is solid. She promotes exercise and a balanced diet (note – “diet” as in a lifestyle or way of eating, not meaning a short-term, quick-fix “diet”) and doesn’t make outrageous claims. She does a great job of explaining why and how her recipes can help you lose weight.

Many of the recipes are simple assembly and prep, and if you are a more advanced cook this book may be too basic for you. But if you are struggling in the kitchen or have made a recent commitment to prepare healthier meals – whether you are looking to lose weight or just lead a healthy life – I wholeheartedly recommend purchasing this book.

The Goods: Recipes I Made

{1} Lentil Tapenade (Wrap).

This recipe combined some of Adam’s favorite flavors – lentils, olive tapenade, and feta – that I would not have thought to put together on my own. It took less than 5 minutes to throw together and we loved the final result.

The recipe was for a wrap, but we made a (double) batch of the spread and served it as part of a cheese plate instead.

Lentil tapenade, buffalo blue cheese kettle chips, green grapes, pesto gouda, and an amazing goat’s milk cheddar.

{2} BBQ Chicken over Polenta.

This was one of those basic prep recipes; not something I would normally look for in a cookbook but a great find on a late night when I would have ordered take-out (for 8 billion calories) but spent 5 minutes throwing this together instead (for less than 200 calories a serving with 16 grams of protein).

Served with green beans.

FYI, I did skew my serving ratio a bit towards chicken versus polenta.

{3} Really Low Fat Greek Yogurt Dressing.

Served on a salad, obviously. With romaine, smoked almonds, raisins, and pesto gouda. I liked the tang of this a lot. And I loved that there were only about 35 calories a serving, because the husband tends to coat his salads in dressing.

Served with…

{4} Eggless Egg Salad.

This was our favorite recipe of the bunch. It has a tofu base, but an avowed tofu hater wouldn’t know it was in there until you told them. I don’t usually put so many veggies in my egg salad (though I totally should) so I tasted this before I added in most of the produce and yep, it tasted just like egg salad!

This was delicious, and vegan to boot. Definitely a recipe I plan on making again. And you can make it too, since Jamie said it was ok to share the recipe with you guys (click on the image to enlarge) –

Did you make any health related resolutions this New Years?

3Jan2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

by Emily

Hello from a new year! Like I said in my last post, I am very excited to have welcomed ’14. We didn’t do anything exciting for NYE (we were in bed watching Vines by 11), but we started the year off right with a fun day on the 1st.

Resolutions, Past and Present

I didn’t set any resolutions last year, but since 2011 it’s been a yearly goal to read a book a month. I missed January and February, but overall I did pretty well with 20 books read in 2013:

March

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen (f)

The Bone Bed – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

97 Orchard – Jane Ziegelman (nf)

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen – Dalia Jurgensen (m)

July

The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Third Victim – Lisa Gardner (f)

Alone – Lisa Gardner (f)

August

Hide – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Neighbor – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Next Accident – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Killing Hour – Lisa Gardner (f)

September

Fiction Ruined My Family – Jeanne Darst (m)

October

Live to Tell – Lisa Gardner (f)

Love You More – Lisa Gardner (f)

Catch Me – Lisa Gardner (f)

November

Bones of the Lost – Kathy Reichs (f)

December

Brain on Fire – Susannah Cahalan (m)

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – Alexandra Fuller (m)

Dust – Patricia Cornwell (f)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed (m)

This year I did decide to set a few new year’s goals for myself, though I won’t be typing them all out here. Basically I want to lose some of the weight I’ve been steadily putting on the past three years / continue my book reading goals / and start chipping away at the continuing education requirements for my Dietetics registration.

Fashion Friday

Last Friday.

Monday.

Tuesday.

A day off on Wednesday.

Welcoming in a new year at work on Thursday.

Breakfasts

Since part of this post is from last year you won’t really see this go into effect, but I think I am going to make more of an effort to eat breakfast on workdays. I’ve been getting insanely hungry every afternoon and I think running out of time for breakfast most mornings is partially to blame.

Giant non-fat latte with 2 shots each peppermint and white chocolate.

Coconut coffee and a pear.

The Vanilla Coco Cafe was delicious, even better than the original.

My pear was tasty too, but eating it gave me such bad heartburn that I almost got off of my train to throw up! I’m not sure what the deal with that was.

Lunches

I made a big batch of roasted veggies this week, enough to pack for three days of lunches. Butternut squash and green beans (and broccoli that I burned the crap out of so only 1-3 stalks ended up in each lunch). I stuck with the winning formula of veggies + a fruit + candy the whole week.

Monday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and Sriracha mayo. Plus tangerines and Chinese candy.

Tuesday.

Veggies with pistachios and champagne pear vinaigrette. Plus mint m&m’s and an Autumn Glory apple (<– they taste like cinnamon!).

Thursday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and bbq sauce. Plus gummies from Dylan’s and another cinnamon-y apple.

On Wednesday, Adam and I went into the city for lunch at Serendipity3.

The Christmas decorations were out of control, it was gorgeous in there.

We shared a frrrozen hot chocolate that was delightful.

I got my favorite sandwich for lunch, the Summer Bries – smoked turkey, sliced apples, melted brie and alfalfa sprouts, served on raisin pumpernickel with Russian dressing.

Yum! I shared about 50% of my sandwich with the husband, but it was ok because I stole some of his curry sauce to drizzle on my salad.

Snacks

I don’t have any pictures because I haven’t been bringing my camera to work, but let me just tell you – I’ve been eating so much freaking junk on the train! Like I said earlier, I am super hungry all afternoon, and I end up buying food the minute I escape the hospital. It is a bad bad habit.

Strawberry Champagne Polar to make work on NYE feel a little more festive.

Actual champagne. We drank Moet & Chandon on our honeymoon and now it feels extra special.

Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea with honey.

Plain Greek yogurt with blackberries and maple syrup.

Seltzer and a candy cane.

Gummi cola bottles (Adam bought me an array for our anniversary), eaten nightly this week while playing Sonic. <– best thing ever

Dessert hour with Adam at Cafe Dada.

We split a diplomat pastry,

and both had cafe cortados.

They use Blue Bottle Coffee as their espresso and it is divine.

Dinners

I don’t have pictures from Monday and Wednesday and without them I honestly can’t remember what I ate those nights. I ate a small serving of mac and cheese from Panera on NYE, but I’m sure I had something with it and I can’t remember what! When I used to blog every day I didn’t realize how much the act of picture-taking helped to cement the meals in my brain.

An easy favorite. Farro topped with smoked herring, sweet sesame seaweed, Sriracha, and a soft-boiled egg.

Black eyed peas for the new year. In a skillet I randomly tossed together – BEP, green pepper, plum tomato, green onion, turkey bacon, smoked paprika, green Tabasco, and plain Greek yogurt. On top of jasmine rice.

Leftover farro, stir-fried with peas.

I know I didn’t give a ton of dinner description, but I starting realizing just how long this post is!

Don’t forget to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

2Jan2014

S’mores Brownies For Eggland’s Best Holiday Dessert Recipe Exchange {Giveaway}

by Emily

the concept

Eggland’s Best (EB) recently invited recipe bloggers to participate in their 2013 Eggland’s Best Holiday Dessert Recipe Exchange. Each participant was to create an original dessert recipe, or re-imagine one of their favorite family desserts, using at least two whole EB eggs.

Chosen recipes will be featured on a special EB Holiday Recipe Exchange Pinterest board, as well as EB’s website and social media channels.

Bloggers were provided with a coupon for EB eggs and a gift pack (EB branded apron, whisk, spatula, ceramic bowl, bowl scraper, tote bag and a plush egg) to get them started.

The Pinterest board hasn’t gone live yet, but here some of the ways you can currently connect with EB via social media –

the disclaimer

The nutritional/product information in this post was provided by Eggland’s Best. Eggland’s Best sent me the coupon and gift pack and are providing a 2nd gift pack for one giveaway winner. I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

the eggs

Compared to ordinary eggs*, Eggland’s Best eggs contain:

10 times more Vitamin E
4 times more Vitamin D
More than double the Omega-3
25% less saturated fat
3 times more Vitamin B12
38% more lutein

*based on 3rd party testing

the process

The chef.

Crushing the graham crackers.

Melted butter.

Pressing the crust.

Stirring in the sugar and eggs and vanilla.

Folding in the flour and milk chocolate chips.

Be sure to scrape all of that gooey brownie batter out of the bowl.

Topping with marshmallows.

Out of the oven.

the recipe

S’mores Brownies

Yield: 12 brownies; Prep Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 35 minutes

crust ingredients

22 sheets graham crackers (4 rectangles = 1 sheet)
8 Tbsp salted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar

brownie ingredients

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
6 Tbsp salted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large EB eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
2.5 cups mini marshmallows (I used peppermint swirl marshmallows!)

instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place graham crackers in a large freezer baggie and bang at them like crazy with a rolling-pin or sturdy plastic cup. A few chunks are ok, but overall you want crumbs. Add 1/4 cup sugar to the bag and shake to combine.
Place 8 Tbsp butter in an 8×8 inch baking dish. Microwave until completely melted.
Pour graham cracker crumbs into melted butter and stir until all of the crumbs are wet. Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish with a fork. Set aside.
Place baking chocolate and 6 Tbsp butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted.
Stir 1 cup sugar into chocolate-butter mixture. Set aside and allow bowl to cool for 3-5 minutes so you don’t’ scramble your eggs.
Stir eggs and vanilla extract in melted chocolate.
Fold flour into batter. Then fold in chocolate chips.
Carefully pour batter over graham cracker crust, using a spatula to spread to the edges of the pan.
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. You want the brownies to be cooked through before you add the marshmallows so check the doneness with a toothpick at 25 minutes and continue accordingly. Evenly spread marshmallows on top of brownies and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in the fridge but serve warmed or at room temperature.

the giveaway

Eggland’s Best will provide one winning reader with an EB goody bag including an EB spatula, tote, whisk, bowl scraper, plush egg, and coupon. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post by 2 pm EST on Monday, January 6th. US Residents only, no PO boxes.

Eating Chalk

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S’mores Brownies For Eggland’s Best Holiday Dessert Recipe Exchange {Giveaway}

the concept

the disclaimer

the eggs

the process

the recipe

the giveaway