Food To Stay

by Emily

I’m posting a day early because my week ends a day early – I’m off today and then working through the weekend. Unfortunately at 6:30 am I am already behind on my long to-do list, so I’ll try to keep this post short.

Highlights from this week…

Cafeteria sandwich day. A wrap with turkey, cheddar, and veggies.

Plus fries.

Coworker potluck lunch to celebrate the three of us with summer birthdays.

My plate had sweet Filipino spaghetti with tofu, rice pilaf with dried fruit, and homemade falafel. We also had 1 million +1 desserts.

Yogurt bowl with vanilla Siggi’s, chopped plum and nectarine, and maple peanut butter.

The peanut butter is fantastic, we’ve been eating a lot of toast.

Usually paired with these sugar crunch grapes.

A final snack highlight was these dill almonds.

I just tossed almonds, evoo, a pinch of salt, and several shakes of dried dill in a skillet until they were toasty.

Chipotle. We may have eaten Chipotle 2 out of 3 days this week.

I’m not exactly winning at dinnertime meal prep motivation lately.

I did make this yummy tossed-together dinner though.

Leftover pasta with TJ’s turkey summer sausage, peas, red bell pepper, and sharp cheddar.

You guys know that I don’t often do beauty product reviews on the blog, but this pitch was sent the week I turned 31 and I was feeling vulnerable.

I’m so glad I accepted because I ended up being impressed with the ToGoSpa products. Rather than creams or gels – which, let’s be real, I’m too lazy to deal with – their active ingredients are packed in collagen gel pads you stick on your face. P.S. they are paraben and dye free.

I was afraid to smile when I took my selfies (see the horror show below) but I soon realized that the EYES pads actually stay put really well, I spent the 15 minutes with them on my face working around the house and they didn’t budge. Bonus – the wording on the packing made me smile: “for best results, take them out of the package and put them on your face!”

per usual, I was not provided further compensation for this post and all opinions are my own

I’ve tried the Ice Water and Green Tea ones so far, because I definitely sport dark circles thanks to my NCIS obsession. True fact – it is really, really hard to take a flattering picture sans makeup, on a camera (so no front-facing option), and afraid to smile.

You get the idea. I can’t say that my face looked markedly different but the area under my eyes certainly felt much nicer. I definitely plan on continuing to use the treatments.

23Jun2016

Similar To Cake By The Ocean

by Emily

I’m mashing last weekend’s post into this week’s – and we’ve done a lot of good eating! – so I had to filter down to only the most delicious things. Here are the best bites from the top five categories…

{1} all the coffee!

We ordered The Unicorn at Box Kite, obviously.

We went to Birch Coffee and loved it so much that we went back at the end of the day to buy a bag of beans.

Then went back again a few days later for another latte!

Locally roasted coffee that comes in cups with trees on them is just too exciting. And there were birch trees etched into the sidewalk out front!

{2} protein-packed salads

Beans, eggs, and lots of fish. At Whole Foods – spring mix with tangerine vinaigrette / salmon / two kinds of bean salads / parmesan / and a hard-boiled egg.

At the cafeteria – romaine with blue cheese / veggies / corn / kidney beans / cheddar / egg. Plus my coworker brought me a giant piece of baked salmon and I tossed that on top too.

At the cafeteria when I worked last Sunday and pickings were getting slim – I did the best I could with fried fish and a steamed vegetable mix.

It wasn’t bad, but I did buy a train snack that night.

{3} killer sandwiches

Breakfast: egg and cheese on a croissant with turkey bacon.

Lunch: do taquitos count as sandwiches? I’m including them either way, because this lunch was too good not to share. Tortaria knocked our socks off. Adam and I split a platter with mahi and cauliflower (and pork for him). Plus spicy fries and tons of guacamole. And a tamarind agua fresca.

The sauces sitting on the tables – green salsa, blended salsa, and something creamy and smoky – were astonishingly good. And that ridiculous quantity of food (why include chips and fries in the same deal?!) cost less than twenty dollars.

Dinner: cod bahn mi at a new Vietnamese/taco spot in Park Slope.

Don’t question it, the combo worked, I went with a girlfriend who got tacos and we were both very pleased.

{4} sweet stuff

~~Cake by the ocean.~~ Cookies by the Hudson. We got giant chocolate chip walnut cookies from Levain and enjoyed them in Riverside Park.

Tropical smoothie at home. Frozen mango and soursop with guava paste and vanilla almond milk.

Ben & Jerry’s Empower-Mint flavor is yummy and it supports an important cause.

Siggi’s yogurt with berries and shredded halvah.

Birthday cake croissant from Union Fare. It’s topped with ground sprinkle dust and filled with sprinkle-studded pastry cream!

It was also just one of the best croissant we’ve ever tasted.

{5} hearty homemade dinners

Spanish flavors reigned supreme on the home front this week. Tomato garlic crock pot chicken served with brown rice tossed with garlic, tomato paste, raisins, and chopped olives. Plus roasted broccoli.

I also made fantastic enchiladas.

Whole Foods’ roasted garlic green chile enchilada sauce costs a ridiculous $4+ per can and it is soooo good. Our filling was ground turkey breast cooked with TJ’s vegan chorizo and tons of roasted yellow squash and zucchini. Plus cheese galore.

10Jun2016

Destination City

by Emily

this week I loved…

Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm. It took me forever to find a balm with both tint and spf but this one fits the bill perfectly!

A blog book review. Dawn Lerman’s My Fat Dad was sent to me free of charge to try/read for the blog. Her chapter on moving to New York City walked the reader through the different cultural food neighborhoods in a way that made my mouth water.

Living in a destination city. I had two different sets of friends visiting NYC for work trips this week. It was fantastic to get to catch up with them! However, I went out after work for dinner and/or drinks multiple times and I am flipping exhausted.

P.S. My favorite bar (Pork Slope in Park Slope) now has $1 jello shots, clearly I backed the right horse!

this week I ate…

Vietnamese-ish iced coffee.

A killer smoothie – with banana, blueberry, and avocado. So creamy.

Poppy seed bagel with olive cream cheese.

Oatmeal bowl. With cookie butter and a pixie tangerine.

Greek yogurt bowl with Cheerios and plums. I also crumbled a brownie in there (see below) and it was pretty fantastic.

Taboule salad from the cafeteria.

Whole Foods hot bar. Lots of veggies, rice with black beans and cheddar, and broccoli mac and cheese.

I needed a 2nd coffee snack more than once.

Turkey jerky.

Best ever brownies. Just this recipe without the fluff.

Baby carrots with great feta dip.

I had Thai food in Williamsburg with Adam and a girlfriend. Drunken noodles with mock duck that were as spicy as they were delicious.

We cooled our mouths down with soft-serve from Milk Bar. Fruity pebble soft-serve(!!) with fudge sauce and sprinkles.

Indian at the Grand Central food court. And yes, I realize that is a lame spot to take an out-of-towner.

Starbucks sandwich for a quick dinner on the train and then I went straight to bed!

I did make dinner at home one night! Whole-wheat vermicelli noodles with ginger and garlic chicken, shredded cabbage, bell pepper, and a tahini lime sauce. With cashews on top plus tons of Sriracha after the picture.

We snacked on a servings’ worth of cashews and sliced bell pepper while we cooked.

Good friends, good eats, it was a good week!

4Mar2016

Short And Sick

by Emily

This week was short but no cakewalk. Monday I was off because I worked Saturday/Sunday, and Thursday I was off because I’m a coughing, sneezing, miserable mess. How am I sick again?? Apparently my immune system is as over winter as I am.

I ate pizza and/or soup for 90% of my meals this week. Here were my more exciting eats…

Brooklyn Roasting Company has nitro cold-brew now and it is flipping delicious.

This week’s tea was vanilla rooibos. Perfect for my throat and yummy with a bit of milk and honey. Rooibos is definitely my favorite type of tea.

This yogurt bowl was the best thing I ate all week. Coconut Greek with fresh strawberry and pomegranate, Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes, chia seeds, and toasted pecans.

Monday, before I knew how sick I was, Adam and I both had the day off and we had a wonderful time in the city. We got sushi burritos! Mine was fantastic – sushi rice, marinated tofu, cucumber, carrot, pickled cucumber, seaweed salad, tobanjan mayo, tempura crunch, and sesame seeds.

Split a cone at Big Gay Ice Cream. The salty pimp = vanilla soft serve with dulce de leche, sea salt, and chocolate dip. Plus sprinkles.

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And took a long walk (sans coats!) through Chelsea and across the Manhattan Bridge.

This week’s Skoskbox had some big winners, especially the grape Hi Chew.

Here’s the only dinner I actually cooked this week. Cheesy scrambled eggs and spicy green beans.

I put the green beans under the broiler – to attempt something like this – and they came out great.

I hope everyone is feeling their best this weekend!

20Nov2015

BEC, FTW

by Emily

Big life change alert – I have a new job. As of Monday this week I officially transferred over to the inpatient nutrition team full-team. I am very sad to no longer be working with prenatal clients on an outpatient basis but the job opened up I knew that it was time for me to get back to my roots with acute care. My new job lets me work with and learn from other Dietitians on a daily basis and gives me exposure to a much greater scope of practice. I’m excited about it.

My new job comes with a nice perk – free meals from the cafeteria, so you are going to see some big changes in my weekly lunches. And this transition week was unbelievably busy so there were a lot of bites that missed the camera. You’ll just have to picture a lot of snacking, both candy at my desk and copious taste-testing while preparing dinners. Plus a lot more coffee, of course. Here the bites I did capture…

breakfast

Coffee! With a SweeTango apple.

Or a Nonni’s caramel apple biscotti and a persimmon.

Or a Fiber One cheesecake strawberry bar and a persimmon.

This week’s coffee masterpiece was Grady’s Cold Brew with skim & vanilla almond milks.

lunch

My old team brought in a giant cake on my last day. So sweet!

I ate a serious amount of frosting.

Now that I’m “buying” lunch instead of packing my yogurt bowls {tear!} you’re going to see a lot of salads and sandwiches. Romaine / ranch / cheddar / chickpeas / veggies / cole slaw.

Romaine / ranch / corn salsa / peppers / maple pumpkin seeds.

Plus chocolate a new coworker brought me.

Yesterday I had a simple sandwich. Toasted wheat bread, mayo, turkey, pepperjack. Plus a carton of chocolate milk.

Apparently I’m six.

dinner

In spite of the fact that Adam and I both had crazy weeks, our dinners were all winners. We let the crockpot help out one night. Chicken breasts topped with bbq sauce and fresh cranberries and set on low for 8 hours.

We’ve made this dish three winters in a row now and it is always wonderful. Served with roasted green beans and TJ’s sprouted California rice. And a Warlock pumpkin stout.

We used leftovers in our BECFR, aka Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Fried Rice.

Rice stir-fried in olive oil with turkey bacon and chunks of cheddar and eggs. Roasted cruciferous veggies on the side.

I’ll toot my own horn – cheese in fried rice is freaking genius. We tried to watch “Fresh Off the Boat” while we ate but I was mmmning so loudly that we kept having to pause.

Finally, a quick salad.

Baby spinach / feta dressing / cucumber / pumpkin seeds / roasted coconut chips / avocado / turkey bacon / and goat’s milk Brie.

It’s been an exciting work-week but I am feeling ready for the weekend!

16Nov2015

Weekend’s Best…

by Emily

{Brunch} Adam and I had a great meal at Burnside Biscuits.

A great, giant meal. The Full Ration = 2 pieces of black tea, lemon, and thyme brined fried chicken; pimento cheese biscuits; and sunny side up eggs.

Plus a salty dog.

Everything was yummy, the chicken was both succulent and crispy.

{Lunch} Yogurt bowl. Honey Greek yogurt with pumpkin puree and maple pecan granola.

Plus a persimmon. Plus an apple and a cup of earl grey moonlight as a snack.

{Dessert} Birthday cake frozen yogurt with Nutella sauce.

Plus mochi and Reese’s cup.

{Dinner} Cheeseburger fried rice.

This was a homemade success. Brown jasmine rice stir-fried with eggs, tomato, basil, onion, cheddar cheese, and lean ground turkey.

Broccoli on the side.

The addition of cheese to the fried rice was a good one. We have a similar meal planned for next week now.

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 🙂

5Oct2015

Hello, Pumpkin Month!!

by Emily

It’s possible that I have a pumpkin purchasing problem…

Just maybe, though the pumpkin spice chap stick does make it seem pretty likely! Also I’ve eaten something pumpkin flavored at least once a day for the past four days. And October First I had something pumpkin at every single meal.