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!

29Oct2015

St. Thomas, October 2015

by Emily

Adam and I took a long weekend and went home to visit my parents last Friday. It was great! We hit the beach, tried some new restaurants and ate at old favorites, caught up with family, and just had a fabulous time.

Here were some of the highlights…

Lots of fancy coffee.

Including an almond joy iced latte from Barefoot Buddha. Alongside a Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich, aka the – egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomoto-onion coulis, fresh spinach – sandwich I ate on my wedding day!

Bailey’s Delight milkshake from Udder Delight.

Rum and cokes from Woody’s happy hour.

Maple shortbread cookies my mom makes every year.

Pumpkin Chobani with homemade chocolate chip cookie and candied walnuts and ground flax.

Fish tacos on the beach at Iggy’s.

Quick dinner at home for board game night.

Turkey Reuben with smoked turkey, gouda, and cole slaw on rye. Plus green beans sautéed with almonds. And we had locally made chocolates for dessert.

A delicious dinner at The Long Board in St. John. The Carib Sour = Bullet bourbon, Luxardo amaretto, lemon juice, honey, egg white, and whiskey barrel aged bitters.

We started with fried plantains and chicken wings with mango glaze and garlic-lemon aioli.

And my dinner was a salad with romaine, red cabbage, shredded carrot, wakame seaweed, sriracha, crispy wonton, ginger mandarin vinaigrette, and Korean bbq chicken.

Everything was wonderful, just like our trip!

14Oct2015

Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

I know this post is running a bit late but it was a damn good weekend that was worth blogging. We drank, we brunched, we explored – all of the important stuff! Here are the highlights…

breakfast

7-11 iced coffee and a protein bar.

Starbucks iced coffee and a doughnut.

Doughnut Plant‘s pumpkin doughseed is a plain doughnut with pumpkin cream filling and super spicy cinnamon icing. It was interesting.

The best breakfast of all was spread out to include some city time. We got coffee in DUMBO.

Took the train in to the LES and walked two miles west.

To the gorgeous Brookfield place.

Where we headed to famed Black Seed Bagels.

Poppy with honey butter for me. It was wildly disappointing – no chew. But then we spent way too much money on candy at Le District.

And after a quick train ride we had a great walk back to the car through Cobble Hill. We got so lucky with the weather.

lunch

Yogurt bowl at work.

Pumpkin Noosa with a TJ’s pumpkin bar and a snap dragon(!!) apple.

Yogurt bowl at home.

Plain Fage with maple syrup, red grapes, granola, chia seeds, and maple pumpkin seeds.

The day I skipped the yogurt bowl I went big – lunch at Miriam in Park Slope.

I had Burekas, or puffed pastry pocket stuffed with feta & olives, served with poached eggs, labneh cheese, Israeli salad and tahini sauce. Everything was amazing, super fresh and flavorful. We want to go back for dinner immediately.

With ridiculously giant froyo bowls for dessert.

All of the toppings.

dinner

{Friday} Dinner appetizer – Kale chips.

Dinner drink – Rogue Pumpkin Savior, best pumpkin beer so far this season!

Dinner – roasted veggie fall forest gnome food.

Browned mushrooms // shredded chicken // turkey bacon // shredded Brussels sprouts // roasted butternut squash // baby spinach // pecans.

We make some iteration of this dish every fall, it’s one of our favorites.

{Saturday} Dinner appetizer – Shrimp, crab, salmon, and tofu skin fritters from Laverne.

Dinner drink – yummy root beer beer.

Dinner – turkey sandwich, red grapes, and fantastic seaweed salad.

{Sunday} Dinner, drinks, and appetizer were all wrapped up in one – I had beer with chips and dip… while watching bad tv… in bed. It was fabulous.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

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.

breakfast

Pumpkin spice latte.

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.

With a yummy GoMacro bar.

Pumpkin cheesecake doughnut from Dunkin.

Yuck city. These beverages were more my jam.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Thank you 14 grams of protein in my Siggi.

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.

With TJ’s chocolate pumpkins for dessert.

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

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

We had a phenomenal brunch at LIC Market.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The humans had roasted veggies on the side.

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.

Worth it. Check how fancy my julep was.

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

We went to Gossip Coffee for a “nightcap.”

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

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

Crab fried rice.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?

28Sep2015

Apple Month Warmth

by Emily

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

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

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

Sunday we were even further north – The Bronx Zoo.

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

breakfast

Giant coffee from 7-11 with Almond Joy creamer.

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

Pb&j with green beans and apple slices.

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

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

Cold brew with chocolate milk.

Meh, to both parts.

lunch

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

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

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

Plus we bought iced coffee, of course.

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

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

And split an avocado smash.

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

Dessert was a mini sundae from Sprinkles.

Salted caramel ice cream and marshmallow chocolate cupcake.

dinner

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

Plus the last of the Coco SuperSeedz.

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

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

Saturday night I made a frittata from Cooking Light.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And unseasonable froyo.

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

19Sep2015

This Week’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} Coffee.

I know this gets repetitive but coffee is just so freaking good!

The winner this week was the double espresso with ice and cream from a coffee shop near my hospital.

{2} Chocolate with pretzels.

I brought the toffee candy to work and my co-workers lost their minds over it. We did too; it was a good thing I got it out of the house or I think Adam and I could have finished the tray in a day or two.

Also yummy pretzel chocolate from Lindt.

Yes, I had dessert every evening this week.

{3} Apple month stuff.

Apple-pear pouch. I sprinkled the SuperSeedz on a pretty killer salad from the cafeteria salad bar.

Salted caramel apple granola (with chia seeds) on my yogurt.

And this apple explosion lunch.

Caramel apple oatmeal, TJ’s freeze-dried apples, and Salty Road caramel apple taffy.

{4} Loaded baked potatoes.

These bowls were fantastic.

Baked potato / roasted broccoli with green onions / homemade baked beans / topped with plain yogurt, sharp cheddar, and green Tabasco.

For the baked beans: Sauté tons of white and yellow chopped onions. Add sliced turkey hot dogs, pinto beans, and tomato sauce and let things cook for awhile. Then season with brown sugar and Gochujang.

They were so yummy I ate the leftovers cold.

{5} Dinner at Mile End.

Mile End Delicatessen is my new favorite deli, which is a big deal because the place I grew up going to had a pickle bar! MED did have tasty hibiscus beer…

And poutine made with smoked chicken gravy.

And roasted cauliflower with caraway honey, harissa paste, and toasted pistachios. This had the best texture, crunchy on the outside and silky soft in the middle.

I ordered the turkey reuben for dinner.

Did not disappoint.

{Bonus} New CDs.

My parents are amazing, and they send us mixed tapes all of the time. They both made new ones recently so this is how my mother labeled them –

Lol!

14Sep2015

Apples And Honey

by Emily

A not-so-fun weekend moment was somehow deleting half of my photos when I went to upload them. Here were some of the yummy moments…

Tacoway Beach at Rockaway Beach.

I got a fish taco with guac.

And we went down the road to Connolly’s Pub for frozen piña coladas.

Best frozen drink we’ve ever had.

Meatball Shop.

This chicken sandwich was good but not as good as the next one.

BBQ at The Smoke Joint.

I got a pulled chicken sandwich that I smothered in North Carolina-style bbq sauce. Their cole slaw is amazing; sweet and tangy.

Kale salad from Pork Slope.

This was the junk food of kale salads – greens smothered in “Srirancha” dressing with cheddar cheese and housemade potato chip crumbles.

Apples and Honey for Rosh Hashanah.

Fage 2% Greek yogurt + apples cooked with cinnamon and butter + honey + chia seeds + salted caramel apple granola.

We made the ubiquitous (<– for good reason!) toffee candy.

I used graham crackers instead of saltines and added pretzels and pecans.

So freaking good.

Barcade for pumpkin beer and many, many rounds of Q-Bert and Tapper. I made it to level three on both despite numerous attempts to go further.

This weekend also involved several games of Jenga and darts. I was better at both than I would have expected!

4Sep2015

This Week I Loved…

by Emily

the start of apple month

September 1st means I go crazy eating all things {caramel} apple!

And breaking into this stash makes me feel less awkward about my growing pile of pumpkin items.

everything by George Ezra

But especially “Blame It On Me.”

my breakfast combo

Fiber One reached out to me about sending samples of their newest product – Cheesecake Bars! I am not one to turn down something that has 5 grams of fiber and tastes like cheesecake.

They come in strawberry and salted caramel and they are freaking delicious. Each moderately sized bar has 150 calories. They certainly aren’t as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal, but I can handle the 3.5 grams of saturated fat occasionally for something quick that keeps me full through the morning and really does taste like dessert.

I paired a caramel bar with a caramel macchiato one morning and it was a bit too much but also amazing.

But most mornings I kept my coffee pairing low-key, Community Coffee with cream and milk.

Yum, I love it when we have (fat-free) half and half in the fridge.

yogurt bowls

2% Fage with strawberries and Heritage Flakes.

Plain Skyr with cotton candy grapes(!!!) and sea salt caramel apple granola.

Omg, kids, the granola was insanely good. It took a lot of self-control not to go through and pick out all of the caramel bits.

salads

Loaded from the cafeteria.

Greens with ranch, peppers, tomato, cucumber, black bean and corn salsa, green olives, cheddar, and Sea Salt SuperSeedz from home. The pumpkin seeds gave this just the right amount of crunch.

At home.

The little strawberry glass is holding strawberry beer – Abita’s* deliciously juicy Strawgator.

And my “salad” – which had no greens because we ran out of spinach – was tons of chopped cucumber and sweet red pepper topped with TJ’s insanely spicy Sriracha ranch, shredded cheddar, roasted pecans, and a huge pile of pulled chicken with roasted garlic and honey bbq sauce.

Also I ate Chipotle salad two days in a row. No shame.

* apparently Abita makes a milk stout?! I want it so badly I can practically taste it.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: salad

BEC, FTW

breakfast

lunch

dinner

St. Thomas, October 2015

Weekend Wrap-Up

breakfast

lunch

dinner

Hello, Pumpkin Month!!

breakfast

lunch

dinner

Apple Month Warmth

breakfast

lunch

dinner

This Week’s Top Five

Apples And Honey

This Week I Loved…