BEC, FTW

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.

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

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Or a Fiber One cheesecake strawberry bar and a persimmon.

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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!

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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.

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

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Plus chocolate a new coworker brought me.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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!

Weekend’s Best…

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

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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.

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Plus a salty dog.

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

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

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

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{Dessert} Birthday cake frozen yogurt with Nutella sauce.

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Plus mochi and Reese’s cup.

{Dinner} Cheeseburger fried rice.

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

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Broccoli on the side.

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

This Week’s Top Five {Giveaway}

{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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

{2} Yogurt bowls

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Pumpkin featured heavily, of course.

{3} Taco salad

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

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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.

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They were very good!

{4} Nonni’s new seasonal biscotti

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Gingerbread with a maple latte.

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And Cranberry Cioccolati with a hot chocolate.

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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 🙂

Hello, Pumpkin Month!!

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

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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.

breakfast

Pumpkin spice latte.

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I kind of hated it.  I thought the spice was really overwhelming and I ordered my drink with 1/2 of the flavor pumps (plus an extra espresso shot and caramel drizzle on top) so I can’t even imagine a full-strength PSL.

Iced coffee with chocolate milk.

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With a yummy GoMacro bar.

Pumpkin cheesecake doughnut from Dunkin.

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Yuck city.  These beverages were more my jam.

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Sometimes we get a fountain soda when we go to the store.  Sometimes we got to Starbucks for clover brews.  And some magical days I get diet soda and an iced coffee and basically float through the grocery store in excitement.

Café Grumpy makes us anything but grumpy.

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Adam’s flat white was better than my macchiato, especially once I clumsily oversugared it.

lunch

Chobani Flip with my last orchard apple and a TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar.

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Plus dessert from the giant bag of Russian candies a (now former) coworker delivered me to say thank you for her retirement gift.

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Plus I scarfed roasted broccoli with TJ’s Sriracha ranch the minute I got home because apparently this lunch didn’t fill me up at all.

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The next day I ate practically the same meal and was full all afternoon.

Thank you 14 grams of protein in my Siggi.

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With TJ’s pumpkin o’s and a honeycrisp.

Dinner leftovers – pasta and veggies.  This photo is of Adam’s plate because I ate my (smaller) serving out of the Tupperware.

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With TJ’s chocolate pumpkins for dessert.

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We liked the orange ones and were lukewarm on the rest.  Washed down with an alcoholic root beer that was freaking life changing.

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Best root beer (boozy or not) either of us have ever tasted.

We had a phenomenal brunch at LIC Market.

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I had the duck hash!  Crisp potatoes, red onion, peppers, dried cherries, and pine nuts with two fried eggs.

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I love duck so flipping much.  And this was the best iteration of the meat I’ve had yet.  We gave the meal as a whole a 9.5/10.

We got up and out of the house to make it to brunch crazy early and then we had the entire afternoon for fun stuff, mostly more eating and lots of drinking.  Grand Central Terminal is Adam’s favorite spot in the city so we spent the morning window shopping there while sipping iced coffee with homemade chocolate syrup from Irving Farms.

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Plus Jacques Torres Chocolate handed us samples of fantastic hot chocolate.

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I will be back for a full-size cup once the weather gets a bit colder.

Then we wandered down Lexington Ave to Ginger Man to check out their seventy draft beer options.

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Clearly flights were the only way to go.  Our sour line-up was amazing.  The pub had a great vibe, we will definitely be bringing all city visitors there.

dinner

Pumpkin pasta for the first night of October.

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Rachael Ray’s recipe with whole wheat shells for penne, basil for sage, chicken breakfast sausage for sweet Italian sausage, and swiss/gruyere for parmesan.

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It was tasty, even the dog got a little bowl with extra pumpkin puree.

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The humans had roasted veggies on the side.

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Trader Joe’s seasoned brussels sprouts and broccoli and cauliflower with smoked paprika.

We drove to Queens in the rain for dinner at Burnside Biscuit.

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Worth it.  Check how fancy my julep was.

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Dinner was pimento mac and cheese with a side of shaved collards.

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We went to Gossip Coffee for a “nightcap.”

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Gorgeous space serving delicious, roasty cold-brew.  And they had rice pudding.

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We shared Oreo and cheesecake, both of which were fantastic.

Crab fried rice.

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Yum!  Adam would say that stir-frying is the cooking technique I’m best at.  This dish was wonderful.  Leftover brown jasmine rice with garlic, ginger, rice vinegar and fish sauce / peas, mini heirloom tomatoes, sweet red pepper, onion, and basil / eggs and canned crab meat.

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This was the first time I’ve used tomato or basil in fried rice at home and both were welcome additions.

Burger night to finish the weekend.

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Spinach salad with Sriracha ranch, maple rosemary roasted sunflower seeds, and roasted baby zucchini.

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Turkey burgers on TJ’s brioche buns with mayo, sharp cheddar, turkey bacon, and tons of caramelized onions.

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These were the best burgers I’ve ever made/eaten.  The crunchy bacon and sweet onions totally made this.  We got our pumpkin in for dessert.

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Pumpkin pie and cookies and cream yogurt with Nutella, sprinkles, and chocolate candy toppings.  A sweet way to end the weekend.

Are you going ga-ga orange gourd this month?  Any pumpkin must-haves I haven’t done yet?

Goodbye, Apple Month

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 –

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

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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.

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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

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and orchard apples.

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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.

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

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The other days I stuck with THIS for dessert –

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Omg.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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Hence “dinners.”

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

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Several rounds of pretzels with string cheese.

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And roasted green beans.

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This was actually a pretty balanced meal.

And Wednesday I cooked a grown-up dinner.

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

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

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

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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.

Weekend Highlights… A Bevy of Beverages

notable snacks – –

Froyo again.  Can’t stop, won’t stop.

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Plain tart and Nutella yogurts with Nutella, mini peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered pretzels, and rainbow sprinkles.

Pizza-pizza.

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Buffalo chicken.

We bought the new brownie batter Oreos.

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Pretty good, especially when you smush two together for a double-stuffed.

Fresh mint in bubbly seltzer is delicious.

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Best of all the many, many beverages we enjoyed this weekend.  There were also several iced coffees that didn’t make the photos cut.

Long Island City – –

Saturday morning I picked up a very tired husband from a long shift at work,

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and we finally hit up LIC Flea and Food.

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We got mac and cheese and chicken empanadas.

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And a Nutella gelato and macaroon ice cream sandwich from Bakeshop by Woops.

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We explored LIC a bit with a walk on the waterfront.

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A stop at the gorgeous newest Sweet Leaf location for an intensely creamy Vietnamese iced coffee.

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And finally a flight of beers from Rockaway Brewing Co.

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#2, 4, 7, & 8.  We were very impressed.  The cream ale was the best.

Williamsburg – –

Matchabar.

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Iced matcha on fresh watermelon juice.  It was good, but not something I’m dying to go back for again.

On the other hand, lunch at Meatball Shop will be repeated very soon.  I need to make an ice cream sandwich.

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I got the jello shot special – Jack and Rosé.

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And chicken meatballs with pesto.

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They were served on an assortment of veggies – fennel, salad with apple, roasted squash, cucumber, and fresh green beans – that were tasty but literally dripping with oil.

a doggy date – –

On Sunday Webster took his first ride on the subway.

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We went on a family trip to Central Park!

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He was a total trooper for 3 hours of walking around the park.  We cooled down with a honey iced tea,

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and a double caramel Magnum bar.

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And some of us had bowls of water that we stomped in and spilled all over the place.

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Webster was beyond tuckered out when we got home and spent most of the rest of the day curled up in my lap!

homemade Korilla knock-off bowls – –

I made knock-off chicken and rice bowls and the husband said I did as good of a job as Korilla!

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  • brown rice with chopped kimchi and turkey bacon
  • roasted broccoli
  • quick pickled carrots and cucumber
  • chicken that was marinated in Gochujang paste, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar
  • shredded cheese and a fried egg on top

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So good.  I am excited for the leftovers.

Reunited And It Feels So Good

I had an absolute blast in Buffalo but this past week I have been so freaking excited to be home with my boys.  I usually miss them by the end of my workday so a long weekend away feels like an eternity.  I am lucky to have a husband and dachshund who are both so great! {/sap}

breakfast

Black and white coffee.

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Or Vanilla Chameleon Cold Brew with chocolate milk and an apple on the side.

Cereal with milk.  And blueberries.

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Plus Guava Mandarin Polar seltzer.

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I lugged that back from Wegman’s in Buffalo and it was so worth it.

Coffee-eee-eee.

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Always worth it.  I’d be lying if I said my birthday drink freebie wasn’t bringing me a lot of anticipatory joy.

lunch

Asian-ish.

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Microwave noodles and roasted seaweed.

Oatmeal bowl.

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Chai-spiced oats from Target with maple almond butter on top and 2 black pluots on the side.

Yogurt bowl.

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Vanilla Skyr Icelandic yogurt with blueberries, KIND peanut butter granola, and chia seeds.  This was so tasty; I need more of that yogurt immediately.

dinner

Adam was at the hospital when I got home on Sunday so we had to turn Monday into date night.  He picked me up at work and came bearing red velvet cupcakes.

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We went to dinner at East Wind Snack Shop by Prospect Park.

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We came in for the foie gras bao, which ended up being only ok.  For the cheap price the amount of foie gras was very fair, but I would have rather paid a bit more and gotten a better meat-to-bun ratio.

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But my Happy Buddha Vegetables were yummy.

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They describe this dish as “jasmine rice, fermented tofu, seasoning, and all sorts of vegetables.” I’m not sure what the green sauce was but it was worth going back for.  Then we walked to the theatre (our movie theatre) to see “Ant-Man.”  The character development was weak but the movie was still hilarious so we’re glad we went.

I didn’t have time to do a real grocery trip this week so the following two nights were admittedly a little weak.  This meal was fine but it’s not winning any prizes.

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Cheez-its, leftover roasted veggies that Adam made last week, and a turkey and Havarti cheese sandwich.

This meal was a bit better.  It definitely tasted good.

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We needed a carbohydrate side so we had beer!  Tusker is one of my all-time favorite beers, and pretty much the only lager I enjoy.

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With roasted veggies – asparagus, okra, and zucchini – with Applegate chicken nuggets.

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A copious amount of ketchup was added after I took that picture.

My parents come to visit tomorrow.  And Friday is my birthday.  I’m old, but excited!

I’d Have To Say April 25th

This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates.  Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half.  The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

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Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie.  The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest).  They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

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An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival).  Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

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Doughnut Plant date before work.  The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up.  Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

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Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness).  The oats gave this a great consistency.

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That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target.  I’m obsessed.  I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week.  Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria.  Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

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The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria.  Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll.  I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side.  I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

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Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap.  I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

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Lunch date at La Bagel Delight.  We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

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On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots.  2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

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Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee.  Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together.  Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

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Guava cheese empanada.  I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

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Ice cream date.  We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

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Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted.  And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet?  Those ice cube stickers kill me.

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Maple latte.  With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

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I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again.  And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

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A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift).  I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

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That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

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Best meal of the week.

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We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

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Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

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Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side.  We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good!  Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg.  Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces.  My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

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We cooled down at Snowdays.  Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

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We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge.  It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

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I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side.  We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

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My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

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Plus a great salad.

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Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?