Weekend Wrap-Up; Marshmallow Madness

by Emily

I am not 100% yet, but I am feeling much better. 90%? Poor Adam, though, has gotten my cold x2, complete with an ear infection. It’s put a real damper on how much sympathy I’m able to get! At least we were both in the mood for a quiet, lazy weekend.

breakfast and lunch

Friday at work I had a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar with WF’s Citrus Blend Italian Sparkling Mineral Water.

Don’t get me wrong, nothing tops Diet Coke, but I am really loving those sparkling waters. The strawberry flavor is the best.

Then for lunch, Grape Chobani with KIND Raspberry Chia Seed Clusters, an apple, and a Vita Coco Café.

Again, not as amazing as iced coffee, but the espresso coconut water mash-up is damn good.

And I did have iced coffee this weekend. With skim milk and vanilla creamer.

Plus peanut/butter toast and a mini cheese for brunch.

That is the only weekend breakfast or lunch picture I have because mostly we snacked on random things.

Also I made and ate a lot of brownies (see below…).

dinner

Friday night we turned to the freezer for dinner.

TJ’s vegan orange chicken was alright paired with broccoli.

But it was basically the least filling thing on the planet. We both ended up making sandwiches too.

Fancy pb&j for me.

Saturday night was just straight fancy.

I made baked shrimp! Shrimp, chopped bell pepper, evoo, fresh cilantro, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, lime juice, and a sprinkle of chopped butter, baked at 425* for 12 minutes. Served on top of jasmine rice cooked in chicken stock.

This was tasty, healthy, and oh-so quick to prepare. Triple win.

Sunday I started dinner in the car home after the world’s longest trip to Trader Joe’s. Apparently people are freaking out about our potential blizzard. By the by, please, please, please cross your fingers that it doesn’t blizzard!

After my pretzel roll I made a spinach salad.

With balsamic vinaigrette, pomegranate, goat’s milk cheddar, and sweet and salty pecans.

snacks, aka marshmallow madness

My mother-in-law sent us a cute Valentine’s card and some strawberry Peeps.

They were yummy, but the marshmallow extravaganza was just beginning… we also had a big container of fluff!

So I made the very best brownies I’ve ever tasted.

Triple chocolate fudge with a layer of marshmallow fluff in the middle.

Recipe is coming tomorrow and it is absolutely fantastic, I promise.

In the meantime, I did something else with the fluff.

Oh yes, I did. Malted Marshmallow Coffee Creamer. If you put skim milk, marshmallow fluff (1:2 ratio with the milk), and malted milk powder (1:4 ratio with the milk) in the blender you can put it in your coffee and pretty much die of happiness.

We used 2 cups skim milk, 1 cup fluff, and 1/4 cup malted milk powder, but as long as you follow the ratio above you can make a smaller or larger batch, no problem. I highly recommend it!

12Jan2015

Weekend Wrap-Up; Good Eats

by Emily

So much good food this weekend! I’m only sharing my top five since I didn’t do a great job of photo-taking…

{1} On Sunday, we had an amazing brunch at Russ and Daughters.

My parents are obsessed with the store, and Adam and I checked out their newish cafe this weekend and fell in love.

Best Bloody Mary of my life!

Made with caraway-infused vodka. It had a sludge of caraway and horseradish on the bottom and I know that sounds terrible to some of you but it was wonderful.

We got pickled veggies to start.

They were great, especially those whitish sticks, which turned out to be fennel.

Adam got a bowl of tasty whitefish chowder (with toasted matzah!).

And the Pastrami Russ – pastrami-cured salmon, muenster cheese, sauerkraut, mustard, and pickle on a pretzel roll.

We adored it, but my Super Heebster Bagel Toast stole the show.

Whitefish and baked salmon salad, wasabi-infused fish roe, and horseradish dill cream cheese on a thinly sliced bagel. We were swooning… especially once we ordered a second round of drinks!

Best brunch of the year.

{2} I normally try not to drink coffee after 3 pm, but on Friday I caffeinated on the train and actually managed to cook a real dinner.

A pumpkin and sausage dish from Rachel Ray.

Instead of pasta I served ours on top of rice cooked in chicken broth, which was delicious.

With asparagus baked with pecans and blue cheese.

Adam was swooning.

{3} I am pretty proud of Saturday night too (particularly because I might have eaten Chipotle take-out for not one but two of my other meals this weekend!).

I had defrosted some nice shrimp for a recipe I changed my mind about, when I decided to combine a few recipes for Bang Bang shrimp.

The shrimp were tossed in cornstarch and salt and pepper and cooked in canola oil, then served on top of whole wheat mac and cheese, and under a sauce of mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar.

{4} We made the most of our trip to the city with stops for coffee and cupcakes.

Adam’s favorite coffee is Cafe Grumpy.

I ordered him a flat white and he pretty much lost his mind over it.

We both think Sugar Sweet Sunshine has the best cupcakes in the city.

Mocha and Oreo, yum

{5} The best moment of the weekend was getting Adam to try Snowdays Shavery… and having him admit that it’s amazing.

Their shaved ice is like no other. It’s shaved instead of crushed and rather having the flavor poured on top the big blocks are already flavored so every bite is fluffy and infused with goodness.

We got toasted sesame with sweetened condensed milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles. Fellow NYCers, now that it’s warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees this weekend, go get yourself some shaved ice!

9Jan2015

Two By Two…

by Emily

…hands of blue <– name that show!

A short weekly wrap-up since my pictures were terrible, the two best from each category…

breakfast

I made wonderful coffee this week with the help of Grady’s Cold Brew Bean Bags. Paired with 1) A coconut berry smoothie.

Hint of honey almond milk, frozen strawberries and blueberries, and coconut butter. I love the way the coconut doesn’t totally blend in and you end up with little pockets.

2) A surprisingly good omlette from the cafeteria.

Eggs with onions and peppers.

lunch

1) A mix of seafood items from the caf made me feel fancy.

Tuna salad sandwich, lobster bisque, and a honey tangerine from home.

2) A snack plate that was actually the first half of lunch; I had Vietnamesse food at a party later.

Pretzels, turkey jerky, and cinnamon apples.

snack

1) The party was a goodbye party for my boss. I brought in cookies. Lavender chocolate caramel chip and my Smore’s Monster Cookies.

I ate way too much dough then stayed up half the night with a stomach ache/sugar high finishing the latest Kathy Reichs’ book.

2) More sugar?

I enjoyed these crispy m&m’s much more than I was expecting to.

dinner

1) Chipotle is always good.

White rice, pinto beans, veggies, corn and mild salsas, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce.

2) This salad, sans chips, was good too.

My take on a copycat of TGIFriday’s pecan-crusted chicken salad.

Copycat TGIF Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

chicken tenders
honey mustard – I used cranberry honey mustard which I highly recommend
chopped toasted pecans
baby spinach
dried cranberries
crumbled blue cheese
canned mandarin oranges
balsamic vinegarette

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Pour mustard and pecans into wide, shallow bowls.
Dip chicken into mustard, then into pecans, pushing gently to help set the nuts (I only coated one side of my tenders).
Place chicken on prepared baking sheet, naked side down. Bake for 27 – 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Allow to cool before slicing.
Assemble salads with toppings.

instagram share

1) I bought these cards to brighten up my office for only 99 cents at Trader Joe’s.

2) I made up a joke! Adam hates me.

Could you identify the tv show from the quote?

5Jan2015

Hello, 2015! Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

It’s 2015!!!

My new year is off to a good start; I rearranged a few areas in the apartment that have been driving me crazy and have even been to the gym a few times. I opened the year with a trip to the movies to see “Wild” with friends. We all enjoyed it, even those who hadn’t read the book.

I’ve done plenty of good eating this year too…

breakfast

Coffee coffee.

With vanilla sugar.

And vanilla creamer.

Yep, I’m still deep in my vanilla obsession.

Which is why I bought this French vanilla yogurt.

With a seckel pear.

Another day I stirred vanilla bean paste into plain 0% Chobani.

It was delicious topped with blueberries, toasted walnuts, and maple syrup.

Pumpkin smoothie.

Canned pumpkin – the final can that’s been waiting in the pantry – with Greek yogurt, frozen banana, maple syrup, cinnamon, and Almond Breeze Hint of Honey. This was thin but so tasty.

Adam and I split this latte and donut.

Dough‘s mocha crumble did not disappoint.

lunch

A killer sandwich.

Turkey, sharp cheddar, banana peppers, and strawberry jam.

Plus apple slices with cinnamon maple sugar.

Black-eyed pea salad {BEP, green pepper, sharp cheddar, green Tabasco, and smoked almonds}.

And trail mix {peanuts, smoked almonds, dried blueberries, and birthday cake M&M’s}.

Another sandwich with sliced apple.

Fried egg with mayo and mustard.

If I had rye bread this would be the exact sandwich my dad cooked for me when I was growing up. His specialties were sandwiches – fried egg and grilled cheese (with pickle relish!).

snack

A trip to Ample Hills for the good stuff. Butter pecan brittle and salted crack caramel.

Chocolate covered potato chips. I measured out exactly one serving – these are Adam’s favorite thing ever and he was very kind to share.

Turkey jerky.

Chocolate-covered gummy bears = yum!

It’s possible I splashed cookie-flavored coffee creamer into diet coke and it was the best thing ever…

Dooo itttt!