Top Three Weekly Wrap-Up {And A Giveaway!}

My favorites from the past week…

DSC07731

Top 3 Breakfasts

(1) Mango coconut biscotti* with my coffee.

DSC07667

*free sample courtesy of Nonni’s, scroll down to the last section for more info

(2) Smoothie.  Hint of Honey almond milk with frozen blackberries, raspberries, and dates.

DSC07628

(3) Cold brew.  Coffee concentrate cut with skim milk and maple water.

DSC07714

DSC07719

Tops 3 Lunches

(1) Thanks, Starbucks.  A cherry, granola, and yogurt bowl that was quite tasty.

DSC07644

Plus a Almond Coconut KIND bar.  An Airhead might have snuck in there too!

DSC07639

(2) Starbucks again.  <– I didn’t have it super together this week.  But their kale chicken Caesar salad is damn good.

DSC07728

(3) Apples and oats.  Quaker Apple Walnut Oatmeal topped with Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter with TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apples on the side.

DSC07695

Top 3 Desserts

(1) Better than a brownie.  Lindt’s caramel brownie bar.

DSC07734

(2) Hot fudge root beer floats.

DSC07653

(3) Shake, shake, shake.  We had a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer and we weren’t afraid to use it.

DSC07680

Bourbon In My Coffee Breakfast Shake* = 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 2 oz maple bourbon, 2 oz iced coffee concentrate, 1 cup Frosted Flakes; serves 2.

DSC07679

*not actually consumed at breakfast

Top 3 Dinners

(1) Chipotle.  My salad was on point – chicken, cheese, corn, sautéed veggies, mild salsa, green tomatillo salsa, and sour cream.

DSC07649

(2) More “Mexican” food.

DSC07697

Green chile and cheese pupusas.  Now I need to get my hands on my first fresh pupusa.

DSC07685

DSC07705

Sautéed arugula tossed with avocado and crumbled kale chips.

DSC07701

(3) Asian-inspired.  Every piece of this meal came out of our freezer but it was still one of the best of the week.

DSC07762

TJ’s chicken and vegetable goyza.

DSC07769

Frozen broccoli, celery, and spring onions that I cooked in canola oil then gussied up with a quick sauce (brown sugar, chicken broth, fish sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha, cornstarch) and some crushed peanuts.

DSC07764

Plus 1 Giveaway!

As I mentioned above, I was sent a free sample of the newest flavor of Nonni’s THINaddictives – Mango Coconut.

DSC07656

They are completely addictive – the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy and not too sweet to eat with breakfast (they have 100 calories per pack of three).  I ate them with pretty much every meal this week.

DSC07723

Nonni’s gave me a chance to share the love with you guys too – Simply leave comment on this post before 10 am EST on Tuesday, June 9th for a chance to win your own box.

Not feeling lucky?  In celebration of the new flavor, Nonni’s THINaddictives is hosting Summer Giveaway on Facebook – 50 winners will be selected to receive a free box of the new Mango Coconut THINaddictives. There is also a $1 off coupon under their coupon tab.

Spring Vacation 2015

Adam and I took advantage of our joint weeks off and flew home to St. Thomas for a quick visit.  The timing worked out perfectly so that we flew in on Mother’s Day and could celebrate with my mom in person.

11226609_802813609773691_611499182_n

Our trip was short but wonderful!

DSC07136

DSC07229

DSC07175

We saw some old friends, ate tons of good food, ran on the beach, and visited our favorite spots.  I am missing pictures of most of the action, but here are some of the highlights…

DSC07204

DSC07207

DSC07166

DSC07138

DSC07168

St. Thomas now boasts several self-serve froyo places (and a Walgreens?!), a fact that seems insane to anyone who grew up in the VI.

DSC07128

Zest, at the Ritz, also had yummy toddy-brewed VI Roasters coffee, so you know I had to make an affogato.

DSC07131

With vanilla froyo with caramel and marshmallow.

Dinner at ITP, my family’s favorite pizza spot.

DSC07153

DSC07155

We shared giant Greek salads and a bbq chicken pizza.

Brunch at Barefoot Buddha, my favorite restaurant on the island.

DSC07223

I got a Vietnamese iced coffee, as well as a really amazing Cuban coffee to go.  Plus my standard order, the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

DSC07227

Egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomato-onion coulis and fresh spinach on an everything bagel.

Lunch on the water at Fat Turtle.

DSC07192

The food was meh – we split a Cajun mahi mahi sandwich and a veggie pizza that Adam loved –  but the view was nice.

DSC07200

DSC07198

DSC07190

And afterwards we got house-made salted caramel gelato from a pop-up booth in Yacht Haven.

My parents made Adam’s favorite dish one night for dinner, Bill Clinton’s Enchiladas.

DSC07181

Plus key lime pie for dessert for me.

DSC07185

I scooped a slice of pie onto Greek yogurt for breakfast the next day and it was delicious.

You can’t miss the local dishes at Victor’s.

DSC07212DSC07216

That is pan-fried Old Wife, a nice white fish that went well with the smoky creole sauce.  My plate also had veggies, fried plantains, and fungi – a cornmeal paste that has a texture like firm mashed potatoes.

Finally, fraccos, aka Caribbean shaved ice.

DSC07162

I got soursop and passionfruit with condensed milk and it was one of the best things I ate all vacation!

It was a great trip, and now I’m excited for a three-day staycation in the city before we head back to work.

DSC07235

Thirsty

As this post goes live, we will be setting off on a fun adventure! The best part of which is the fact that Adam and I are both on vacation and can spend every second of the next 7 days together.  <– squee!

I wanted to get in a quick post of highlights from the past few days, 90% of which are beverages…

Iced coffee and an apple for breakfast.

DSC07083

Plus a cinnamon iced chai latte when I got to work.

DSC07089

We threw a surprise wedding shower for one of my dietetic coworkers and that’s where Friday’s lunch came from.

20150508_143232

20150508_145143

Plus an orange in my office.

DSC07092

Yes, it took me less than 2 weeks to kill that plant!

More coffee. This caramel macchiato from Dunkin was not good.

DSC07104

But this can of salted caramel cold brew was, especially paired with a chocolate pretzel bar for breakfast.

DSC07102

DSC07100

Coffee yogurt topped with honey and salty peanuts is always good.

DSC07098

As is coffee beer, like this yummy milk stout from Stone.

DSC07107

Last night we celebrated the start of vacation with a delicious dinner at Brooklyn Star.

DSC07120

That’s Dr Pepper with bourbon and bitters.

Spicy duck wings sauced with ground chili, honey, Coca Cola, and fried garlic.  We weren’t sure if it was Brooklyn Star’s superior frying technique or the fact that these were fatty, tasty duck instead of chicken, but these were the best wings we’ve ever had.

DSC07113

And a smoked escarole salad.

DSC07123

So smoky and good!  Jonah crab meat, pickled watermelon, Asian pear, heart of palm,  and parsnip chips.

Plus dessert at Milk Bar.

DSC07126

Cold brew and a cornflake marshmallow cookie. A sweet start to a fun week.

Last April Weekend

Weekend Top Five:

{1} Smorgasburg is becoming a weekly event for us.

Grady’s cold brew is the best.

DSC06877

I got vegetable ramen with truffle oil.

DSC06880

And we got sugar on snow from Snowdays.

DSC06874

They serve it with a doughnut and a pickle!  I’ve wanted maple snow candy try ever since I read about the Chippewa doing it in Caddie Woodlawn.

{2} Brunch at Bareburger.

I got a bellini.

DSC06893

And a Guapo Chop salad – romaine, queso fresco, pickled jalopeños, spicy pico de gallo, guacamole, tortilla chips, and avocado basil dressing.  Plus there were gorgeous watermelon beet slices on top.

DSC06900

Plus cold-brew, obviously.

DSC06902

It wasn’t as amazing as the first time but you can’t beat that cup.

{3} Williamsburg love.

Sweet Leaf for coffees.

DSC06883

And our first trip to Oddfellows for ice cream.

DSC06886

Pecan pie and toasted marshmallow for me.  It was amazing, second only to Ample Hills.

{4} Cookies!

Chocolate chip mug cookie.

DSC06909

Taro mochi.

DSC06905

I put it in the fridge and it was extra chewy and wonderful.

{5} We finally found good Chinese take-out in our neighborhood.

The take-out options around us are all pretty abysmal, but when a new spot popped up on GrubHub we decided to give it a try.  I got bean jelly noodles with chili oil and sour and spicy cucumber.

DSC06889

They were delicious and we would totally order from there again.

Eggcellent Eats

We bought tons eggs and dye for Easter this year, and of course, never did a darn thing with them.  The dye is in our “holidays bin” for next year, but the eggs had to be cooked. And so, I enjoyed hard-boiled eggs as a meal almost every day this week.

I was also all about the Cara Cara oranges and Medjool dates. It’s starting to taste like summer!

stuff

I started Ruth Reichl’s first autobiography on the train and I think I’m in love.

DSC06735

She is so funny, and I love any story about food!

We were insanely busy at work all week and I’m dying. That’s why this post is a day late (and is short about 10 more coffee and candy pictures), because I did sessions with 18 patients on Friday – many of them with gestational diabetes – and when I got home I just wanted to lie down.

DSC06718

breakfast

I made an awesome cold-brew blend this week: Community Coffee French Roast and BRC Peru with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice.

DSC06731

Served on ice with S’mores Milk and skim milk.

DSC06693

DSC06663

So good.

I am almost through my Nonni’s Biscotti sample shipment and I am going to buy more when we’re out.

DSC06674

They are yummy, even when not dipped in coffee.

I discovered the magic that is dates dipped in peanut butter.

DSC06695

lunch

Kimchi noodle bowl.

DSC06668

The Cara Cara was the best finish for my perfectly burning mouth.

I brought TJ’s cashew butter and tahini kale chips and crispy broccoli snacks (<– they’re back!!) to crunch on top of salad bar.

DSC06679

20150414_124846

With a big scoop of macaroni salad.

This tasting plate wins best lunch of the week.

DSC06715

Dates / turkey bacon / hard-boiled egg / crispy broccoli / orange.

But this triple – chocolate oatmeal bowl wins a close second.

DSC06724

Rolled oats with a heaping Tbsp of hot chocolate mix, chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate chips.

And this busy day “lunch” was a loser. Vanilla soy milk at 11 am.

DSC06738

And Easter candy at 4pm when there was finally a lull.

DSC06743

dinner

Omg. Kids! I made the tastiest stroganoff-inspired noodle bowls ever. Adam and I could not get over them.

DSC06687

Served in heaping scoops on egg pappardelle.

DSC06689

Yummy Stroganoff-ish Pasta, serves 4

  1. Heat 1 Tbsp evoo in a large skillet over high-medium heat.  Add 20 ounces sliced white mushrooms, and a big pinch of salt, and cook until the mushrooms have lost their juices and browned, stirring regularly (10 – 13 minutes).  Deglaze the pan with a healthy pour of cream sherry.  Remove mushrooms from pan and reduce heat to medium-high, adding an additional Tbsp evoo if needed.
  2. Add 1 lb lean ground turkey and two large shallots, chopped to the pan.  Season with pepper and 1 Tbsp smoked paprika.  Cook 5 minutes, stirring regularly and breaking up the meat into small pieces with the side of your spatula.  Stir in 1/2 Tbsp ground garlic, 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce, and 1 Tbsp soy sauce.  Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until meat is cooked through (5 – 7 more minutes).
  3. Reduce heat to low and stir in 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream.
  4. Serve on top of pasta of choice.

The leftovers were still great.

DSC06721

Served on top of spinach salad. Plus, those of us who can eat chocolate had Lindt caramels for dessert.

DSC06729

We had cobb salad.

DSC06703

DSC06707

Baby spinach with balsamic / roasted asparagus / turkey bacon / avocado / TJ’s cave-aged blue cheese / hard-boiled eggs.

And egg salad.

DSC06745

Eggs with shredded carrot, chopped green pepper, mayo, pickle relish, garlic mustard, dill, tumeric, smoked paprika, and s & p.  With great seeded crackers my parents sent us for Easter.

DSC06751

And roasted broccoli and green beans.

DSC06753

Egg salad is good – and I wasn’t even tired of eggs yet! – but roasted green beans are always the best part.

Then we finished the week out with Chipotle.

DSC06757

Enjoy your weekend!

Easter And Onward

This post feels long, and I am le tired, so I will try to be less loquacious than usual.

Very chatty sidenote – how great are some of the words that describe how much a person does or does not talk??  Loquacious.  Taciturn.  Verbose.  Gabby.  Love them!

Real talk though: I somehow caught a springtime cold and I am cranky and sniffling and need to go to bed.  I know I’ve wasted 60+ words on an intro, but I’ll try to let the pictures speak for themselves as much as possible.

breakfast

Vanilla iced coffee with vanilla milk.

DSC06551

Smoothie #1 – strawberry mint.  Chocolate mint soy milk, frozen strawberries, and plain Greek yogurt.

DSC06503

Smoothie #2 – blueberry bliss.  Frozen blueberries and dates with plain almond milk, plain Greek yogurt, and a little honey.

DSC06564

I made another batch of Community Coffee French Roast, this time in our coffee machine.  Traditional/hot brewing did make this a little bitter, but it was still quite drinkable.  Especially with skim milk and a splash of toasted marshmallow coffee syrup or a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar.

DSC06528

DSC06595

lunch

Subs with the in-laws for Easter.  With chips and hard-boiled Easter eggs.

DSC06511

Coffee Chobani with Cocoa Coconut Renola and a Cara Cara.  I am very picky about my coffee yogurts and this stuff was on point.

DSC06523

A half turkey sandwich from the cafeteria with seaweed salad and Easter candy delivered by a coworker.

20150407_121406

20150407_125325

I apparently don’t have a photo to speak for itself, but another day I packed a sandwich from home.  An epic sandwich.  Sweet cheddar and extra-sharp cheddar on a toasted English muffin.  Swoon.

This mix was random, but it worked – spicy Thai chili tuna salad, brown sugar and sea salt seaweed, and a Cara Cara.

DSC06574

snack

Coconut water for rehydration.

DSC06506

These chips are amazing.

DSC06508

Coffee, always.

DSC06529

The husband and I are both obsessed with these two dessert items.

DSC06519DSC06533

Plain Greek yogurt with butterscotch peanut butter and chocolate-covered cocoa nibs

DSC06545

I made How Sweet Eat’s Brown Butter Oatmeal Chunk Cookies for a birthday at work and they received rave reviews.  I subbed vanilla bean paste for cinnamon, subbed dark chocolate chips for chocolate chunks, and made much smaller cookies (for a yield of 40 cookies versus her 15), and I recommend all three changes if you make a batch of your own.

DSC06593

I’m including two non-edibles that fed my soul.  The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman was like a grown-up version of Francesca Lia Block’s stuff.  It was hard to put down; I read on the train and one night I had to sit in my car in the parking lot for twenty minutes to keep reading.

DSC06570

This lip-balm smells like my dreams.

DSC06599

dinner

Easter dinner.

DSC06512

Dessert was angel food cake layered with a yummy Cool Whip + vanilla pudding mix + shredded pineapple concoction.

DSC06516

An easy, amazing soup.  I cooked shell pasta in chicken broth then dumped in sautéed chopped bok choy and green onions, shredded cooked chicken breast, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  My bowl was drizzled with sweet chili oil as well.  Adam absolutely raved about this dish.

DSC06539

I turned the rest of my never-ending marinara sauce into a bastardized version of Jenna’s Channa Masala.  On top of brown rice and roasted broccoli.  Topped with plain Greek yogurt and sweet chili oil.

DSC06555

Safe Catch sent me a can of their wild skipjack tuna.

DSC06578

Please note: I was sent this product free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Seafood is a great thing to include in your diet.  It is a lean protein, a good source of iron, and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that seafood contains mercury, it may not be a good idea to consume it daily, and some varieties are safer than others.  Canned tuna, for example, I have to tell my pregnant patients to limit to </ once per week.  Safe Catch is a new, mercury tested, tuna brand that enforces a strict limit on the amount of mercury allowable in the fish that go into its products (their standards are 90% stricter than the FDA’s mercury safety limit of 1.0 parts per million).  Also important – the fish is caught exclusively with pole and line from managed stocks.

DSC06582

I wanted to be able to really taste the tuna – we give it two thumbs up – so I made it into a super simple tuna salad.

DSC06588

Served on a challah roll with a side of roasted broccoli.

DSC06583

Last night was my sickest, and the husband worked overnight, so I made a(n incredibly tasty!) frozen meal from Trader Joe’s and called it a night.  I also ate a bowl of cereal in bed.

DSC06602

There were entirely too many photos of my hands in this post.

Oats And Easter Candy

I wrote this post at midnight on Saturday… while I ate dinner/my first meal of the day… it’s been kind of a rough week.  Hopefully I’ll be in a better mood while this is auto-publishing because I should be in the car on my way to Easter celebrating with the husband’s family.

I’m missing a ton of photos from the week (chips and dip!) and posting two days late, so I almost skipped this post, but some of these eats (chocolate + oat bowls!) were just so good.

breakfast

Community Coffee sent me a variety of their ground coffees to try.

DSC06430

This was a free product sample that I’m reviewing for no additional compensation.  It will take me some time to make it through them all, but I will let you know as I open each bag.

This week I cold-brewed the French Roast.

DSC06460

DSC06481

Quite nice!  Roasty and not acrid at all.  I am going to make a (hot) batch in the coffee machine soon and I will let you know if that changes my opinion, but for now we give this two thumbs up.

Gevalia almond milk iced coffee.

DSC06417

The flavor was good but not great.  The 9 grams of protein made it a good breakfast though.

Iced coffee and peanut butter toast with condensed milk from the tea place near my work.

DSC06496

I threw out my crusts and my office smelled like a peanut all day!

lunch

Banana walnut oatmeal with a minneola and Cadbury mini eggs.

DSC06422

Cabury mini eggs win for best holiday candy ever.

Wild berry oatmeal with Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter.

DSC06426

I 100% bought the oatmeal because it had a bear on the package, but it ended up being pretty tasty.

Turkey sandwich, citrus, and malted eggs.

DSC06473

That’s a toasted English muffin with Smart Balance and Applegate Farms smoked turkey.

Yogurt bowl.

DSC06489

2% Greek with pomegranate and marble halvah.  <– my best idea ever

Chicken sandwich from the cafeteria.

11084757_351195368414261_1661542899_n

An everything bagel with mayo, mustard, spicy chicken, Munster cheese, and fancy lettuce.

snack

Coffee all day every day.

DSC06413

Worth mentioning were this short, skim caramel macchiato.

DSC06463

And the fact that Hungry Ghost has Stumptown cold brew on draft.

DSC06465

Easter candy.

DSC06456

Turkey jerky.

DSC06485

Ample Hills!

DSC06471

Salted crack caramel + salted honey with honeycomb and chocolate-covered potato chips.

dinner

Chipotle, because heaven forbid we go longer than five days without rice bowls.

DSC06493

Or salty lime chips, or giant diet cokes.

I made us a huge batch of marinara sauce in the crockpot.

DSC06446

It was a great idea in theory, but I didn’t season the sauce enough and the end result was very “meh.”  Too bad we ate it three days in row for dinner and still have gallons left.

DSC06451

The best part of that meal was our side dish –

DSC06434

roasted broccoli with pesto gouda melted on top.

On a much more exciting night, I had drinks with a girlfriend at my favorite Brooklyn bar – Pork Slope.  No photos, but I had a Keegan’s Mother’s Milk Stout on draft that rocked my socks off.  Then we met up with Adam for dinner at Talde, Pork Slope’s Asian-American sister.

DSC06468

That’s my Navy Grog {Diplomatico rum, honey syrup, lime and grapefruit juices} and kale salad {cantaloupe, pickled beets, candied almonds, creamy ponzu}.  I am going to be heartbroken when we move on from our national kale obsession.

Happy Easter to all my readers who celebrate.

Birthday Cake Coffee And Jelly Bean Gum

Random notes:

  1. A bunch of bites slipped past the camera this weekend, though per usual, the majority of them were coffee and candy.
  2. I had big plans for excitement in the city this weekend and the snow (in March?!  seriously?) throw me off my game.  We did make it to the Lower East Side for a 2nd trip to Adam’s new favorite restaurant though.
  3. I binge-watched my way through the first 9 episodes of “Fresh off the Boat” and thought it was great.  The book has been on my Amazon wish-list for ages, and we recently visited BaoHaus, so it’s safe to say I’m currently infatuated with Eddie Huang.

Eats:

Double espresso with skim milk (over ice) at work.

DSC06355

I’m not super hungry most mornings, but I try to get in a full 8 oz serving of dairy in my coffee.  The 8 grams of protein and 90 – 130 calories usually hold me just fine until my early lunch.  Usually.  I was so hungry all day on Friday that I was practically crying.

My lunch was delicious.

20150327_124645

Fresh blueberries on top of lemon Chobani with a  side of sugar cookie kettle corn.

But soon after lunch I was miserable.  And I took lunch an hour earlier than usual so it was looong afternoon.  I bought this thing of cheese and crackers from the cafeteria, scoffed at how ridiculously large the serving size was, and finished the whole thing 30 minutes later.

DSC06363

And 30 minutes after that, I was buying coffee and a KIND bar for my train ride.

DSC06365

Plus I ate Easter candy both before and after dinner.

My dinner, that in retrospect definitely could have used more protein, was a good one though, if a bit scattered.

DSC06370

Salad = baby kale, cubes pesto gouda, dried blueberries, buckwheat groats, and honey/evoo/lavender salt for dressing.

DSC06375

Our pasta bowls were more of the same; pesto gouda and baby spinach, along with tons of caramelized onions – finished with cream sherry! – and whole wheat boxed mac and cheese with a few giant shells thrown in for good measure.

DSC06378

I was still hungry when we went to bed!  Thankfully I felt back to normal by Saturday morning.

My picture-taking motivation went downhill at that point – when I woke up to almost-April snow my plans to go to the gym, clean the floors, and generally accomplish anything all seemed to disappear – but I do have shots of the good stuff.

Adam loved the oatmeal raisin cookie smoothie that I made for my last Recipe Redux post a ton, so this weekend I worked up an official recipe.

DSC06388

I made mine with plain almond milk.  ‘Twas good.

This gum is great.

DSC06357

Doesn’t taste like a jelly bean, but it has a great, tart flavor.

Starbucks reached the 20th birthday of the Frappuccino last week and they celebrated with a limited-edition birthday cake flavor… with pink raspberry whipped cream!

IMG_20150328_152106

I asked for them to make me one into a skim iced latte.  So good.  Still ridiculous, but slightly less ridiculous.

I made Pinch of Yum’s Bourbon Chicken for Sunday dinner, though I trashed mine up a bit by substituting in turkey breast and Jim Beam’s Maple Bourbon.

DSC06408

Served with brown rice and roasted broccoli, under a healthy drizzle of sauce.  My mother – a maple fanatic – bought me the bourbon for Christmas and I have so many cocktail ideas for it.

We had another amazing meal at Pig & Khao.  Adam is obsessed with this place and I don’t blame him.

DSC06390

DSC06392

That’s my Reisling and our order of fried mantao buns.

The husband had a giant plate of pork leg, and I ordered the Khao Soi – red curry, coconut milk, chicken, egg noodles, pickled mustard greens, and shallots.

DSC06395

I don’t even like red curry (understandably, the menu is mostly meats so there aren’t a ton of options for me) but I loooved this.  The flavors are just so balanced; you leave feeling unbelievably satisfied.

We had to make room for Halo Halo though!

DSC06397

Shaved ice, leche flan, ube ice cream, macapuno (coconut), and pinipig (toasted puffed rice).  My favorite desserts are bat ping so, choclados, and halo halo, clearly I am all about shaved ice and sweet milk.

Did you try the birthday cake Frappuccino?