Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

by Emily

Hello from a new year! Like I said in my last post, I am very excited to have welcomed ’14. We didn’t do anything exciting for NYE (we were in bed watching Vines by 11), but we started the year off right with a fun day on the 1st.

Resolutions, Past and Present

I didn’t set any resolutions last year, but since 2011 it’s been a yearly goal to read a book a month. I missed January and February, but overall I did pretty well with 20 books read in 2013:

March

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen (f)

The Bone Bed – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

97 Orchard – Jane Ziegelman (nf)

Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits, and What Really Goes on in the Kitchen – Dalia Jurgensen (m)

July

The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Third Victim – Lisa Gardner (f)

Alone – Lisa Gardner (f)

August

Hide – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Neighbor – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Next Accident – Lisa Gardner (f)

The Killing Hour – Lisa Gardner (f)

September

Fiction Ruined My Family – Jeanne Darst (m)

October

Live to Tell – Lisa Gardner (f)

Love You More – Lisa Gardner (f)

Catch Me – Lisa Gardner (f)

November

Bones of the Lost – Kathy Reichs (f)

December

Brain on Fire – Susannah Cahalan (m)

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight – Alexandra Fuller (m)

Dust – Patricia Cornwell (f)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed (m)

This year I did decide to set a few new year’s goals for myself, though I won’t be typing them all out here. Basically I want to lose some of the weight I’ve been steadily putting on the past three years / continue my book reading goals / and start chipping away at the continuing education requirements for my Dietetics registration.

Fashion Friday

Last Friday.

Monday.

Tuesday.

A day off on Wednesday.

Welcoming in a new year at work on Thursday.

Breakfasts

Since part of this post is from last year you won’t really see this go into effect, but I think I am going to make more of an effort to eat breakfast on workdays. I’ve been getting insanely hungry every afternoon and I think running out of time for breakfast most mornings is partially to blame.

Giant non-fat latte with 2 shots each peppermint and white chocolate.

Coconut coffee and a pear.

The Vanilla Coco Cafe was delicious, even better than the original.

My pear was tasty too, but eating it gave me such bad heartburn that I almost got off of my train to throw up! I’m not sure what the deal with that was.

Lunches

I made a big batch of roasted veggies this week, enough to pack for three days of lunches. Butternut squash and green beans (and broccoli that I burned the crap out of so only 1-3 stalks ended up in each lunch). I stuck with the winning formula of veggies + a fruit + candy the whole week.

Monday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and Sriracha mayo. Plus tangerines and Chinese candy.

Tuesday.

Veggies with pistachios and champagne pear vinaigrette. Plus mint m&m’s and an Autumn Glory apple (<– they taste like cinnamon!).

Thursday.

Veggies with smoked almonds and bbq sauce. Plus gummies from Dylan’s and another cinnamon-y apple.

On Wednesday, Adam and I went into the city for lunch at Serendipity3.

The Christmas decorations were out of control, it was gorgeous in there.

We shared a frrrozen hot chocolate that was delightful.

I got my favorite sandwich for lunch, the Summer Bries – smoked turkey, sliced apples, melted brie and alfalfa sprouts, served on raisin pumpernickel with Russian dressing.

Yum! I shared about 50% of my sandwich with the husband, but it was ok because I stole some of his curry sauce to drizzle on my salad.

Snacks

I don’t have any pictures because I haven’t been bringing my camera to work, but let me just tell you – I’ve been eating so much freaking junk on the train! Like I said earlier, I am super hungry all afternoon, and I end up buying food the minute I escape the hospital. It is a bad bad habit.

Strawberry Champagne Polar to make work on NYE feel a little more festive.

Actual champagne. We drank Moet & Chandon on our honeymoon and now it feels extra special.

Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea with honey.

Plain Greek yogurt with blackberries and maple syrup.

Seltzer and a candy cane.

Gummi cola bottles (Adam bought me an array for our anniversary), eaten nightly this week while playing Sonic. <– best thing ever

Dessert hour with Adam at Cafe Dada.

We split a diplomat pastry,

and both had cafe cortados.

They use Blue Bottle Coffee as their espresso and it is divine.

Dinners

I don’t have pictures from Monday and Wednesday and without them I honestly can’t remember what I ate those nights. I ate a small serving of mac and cheese from Panera on NYE, but I’m sure I had something with it and I can’t remember what! When I used to blog every day I didn’t realize how much the act of picture-taking helped to cement the meals in my brain.

An easy favorite. Farro topped with smoked herring, sweet sesame seaweed, Sriracha, and a soft-boiled egg.

Black eyed peas for the new year. In a skillet I randomly tossed together – BEP, green pepper, plum tomato, green onion, turkey bacon, smoked paprika, green Tabasco, and plain Greek yogurt. On top of jasmine rice.

Leftover farro, stir-fried with peas.

I know I didn’t give a ton of dinner description, but I starting realizing just how long this post is!

Don’t forget to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

30Dec2013

Weekend Wrap-Up; I’ve Been Married For Six Years!

by Emily

Who else is excited for New Year’s Eve? We don’t even do anything fun, but I’m looking forward to 2014. Not that ’13 wasn’t good to me; our move went well and Adam and I both graduated and got good jobs.

And in the final weekend of 2013, I celebrated my 6th/11th year anniversary with Adam, and one of my best friends (from undergrad round I in Miami) came to visit me!

She is a teacher in Florida and we do not get to see each other often enough. We had a blast getting some time together in city this weekend.

When I wasn’t celebrating or giggling, here’s some of what I ate…

breakfast

Our favorite smoothie. Frozen strawberries and chocolate peppermint soy milk.

Whole Foods was having a sale and I was able to grab two final cartons of the soy milk before it disappears for the year. Normally I’m a stickler for sticking to seasonal treats but this smoothie is so good it’s worth breaking the rules for.

Thai leftovers, cold from the container – aka the best way to eat them. I added more (cold) rice after I took that picture.

By the by, these were leftovers from Thursday night, not the Thai food I’m going to show you for Friday’s dinner. Apparently I’ve been doing a lot of Thai!

A lazy Sunday breakfast.

When Adam got home from his night shift, the three of us took a lovely family walk to the grocery stores for supplies and then we whipped up a great meal.

Eggnog french toast (on gingerbread swirl!) with maple syrup and blackberries.

With turkey bacon.

And cold brew coffee with a little skim milk and the last of the ‘nog.

Cold brew is the best! I think I finally found a recipe with a ratio that works for me. {1 and 1/4 cups water and 1/4 cup grounds, soaked overnight then pressed}

lunch

Packed on Friday.

TJ’s Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt with a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, quite the tasty combination.

Plus a little apple.

I’ve been finding the tiniest apples this year.

On a fancy and romantic date with the husband.

Ha! Yes, that is Whole Food’s hot bar. So not super fancy, but pricy at least. And I think everything we do is romantic; I legit consider going grocery shopping with my husband a date! Besides, hot bar is delicious.

I got veggies, salad with salmon, and mac and cheese.

On Sunday we all met for lunch at PJ Clarke’s near Lincoln Square. I *had* to order a Bloody Mary – “Sister Mary Walks Funny: Juice of Tomato, Huy Fong Sriracha, Worcestershire, Sea Salt, Blue Cheese Olives.”

Sadly it was all tomato, with barely any spice or vodka, but the blue cheese olives were fantastic.

Adam and I split the fish and chips for lunch.

So good! The meat was almost creamy inside the breading. And it came with a Shiner Bock remoulade that we both adored. I want to go back for the lobster roll!

snacks

I was given lots of chocolate to eat my way through. A honey almond praline chocolate from Adam.

And a Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chip dark chocolate bar from my stocking.

I loved the idea of this bar in theory, but the chocolate was just too dark to pair with the chips. Such a shame because I’ve been head over heels for the other Wild Ophelia bars I’ve tried. I think my flavor preference is shifting towards milk chocolate.

I’ve been trying to make a good Greek yogurt “cookie dough” for ages and now that I have almond flour in my kitchen I think I’m finally getting close.

I really dislike chocolate chips though, and always end up eating around them. I need to try to find some other kind of morsel chocolate.

My fizz idea has been a winner from day 1 though.

This was a lemon dulce de leche popsicle in vanilla seltzer with a splash of lavender syrup.

dinner

Mee Thai in Park Slope with my friend and her sister.

This restaurant was new to me (all of our favorite spots from when we lived in PS before have closed) but thankfully we all loved our meals. My Pad See Ew with mock duck was nice and spicy.

Lazy Sunday dinner.

We came home from the city soaked with rain and salad and sandwiches were all we could handle.

Romaine with champagne pear vinaigrette, chia seeds, and smoked almonds.

Smoked turkey and light Jarlsberg sandwiches with dijon and Sriracha mayo, on gingerbread swirl cooked in a little butter.

Nothing too fancy but it did the trick.

I’ll see you next year! {hardy, har, har}

23Dec2013

Week Long Wrap-Up; But I Am Le Tired

by Emily

In spite of actually getting enough sleep for the first time in ever, I was astonishingly tired this week. Like too tired to play on my phone when I got in bed at night, which is huge for me. Probably related to the astonishing amount of junk I ate this week, most of which I didn’t have the energy to photograph. Or perhaps just living like a grown-up finally sinking in. Nonetheless, when I thought about writing a “Weekly Wrap-Up” post on Thursday, I crawled into bed instead. FYI – I did select the book winners and they’ve already been contacted.

le work eats

Some breakfasts and lunches shown here. I did not do a great job of packing this week. We had two free lunches in a row, but unfortunately neither offered a ton that I could/would eat. And I tried to buy lunch in the cafeteria one day and it did not go well at all. There were several days where I was cranky all afternoon and then snacking like crazy the minute I could get my hands on food. Like the day I ate an entire bag of fruit gummis on the train…

Leftover chana masala with tangerines.

Lunch from our holiday party. Salad, shrimp, and rigatoni. With a side of present in our great gift exchange. I didn’t snap any pictures, but my boss brought in Baked by Melissa for dessert and that was fun.

Jalopeño-cheddar cream cheese bagel with fresh pineapple.

My coffee of choice this week was an iced Americano with extra espresso, skim milk, and four sugars.

Yogurt, mango, and peppermint divinity that knocked my socks off.

le work outfits

le dinners

I didn’t have it in me to cook and we ate too many meals out this week. It would have been fine for the fun, except of course they were largely terrible. Thankfully my desire to get in the kitchen seems to be renewed by my week of bad restaurant meals. <– I say as I eat cheese and crackers and a beer for dinner

We went to a Cuban place in Park Slope as a belated birthday dinner for Adam.

I got a painkiller to drink, which wasn’t half bad.

But I misread the menu and ordered a chile relleno that was stuffed with calamari. I don’t eat calamari. The waiter was out-of-control terrible so we were not surprised when he didn’t comment on my plate going back to the kitchen mostly untouched (not that this mistake was their fault!).

We made a dessert effort with flan and tres leches, aka flan and a kitchen sponge soaked in scm. Yuck!

At least we enjoyed our company immensely! And the walk back to the car was gorgeous and we picked me up a jaloepeño cheddar bagel that was delicious.

We tried again another night with a Groupon I bought for a Mexican spot in Roslyn.

We shared a truffle mushroom quesadilla that was perfect.

And my 2nd go at chile relleno was much better, if still not great.

Another night we stayed home but got Chipotle.

I was irritated with the amount of guacamole she glopped on at first, but once I realized it was in fact $2 and not free I was glad that they didn’t skimp.

I’d been having a love affair with their chicken but somehow this rice bowl just didn’t knock my socks off.

The best thing we ate all week was the night we stayed home.

Leftover chana with onion relish and a big scoop of plain Greek yogurt.

le snacks

A cookie to stay on theme while we watched “Frosty.”

A lemonade milkshake.

I used way too much lemon juice to vanilla ice cream and this was actually inedible, but it was fun in theory and an idea I plan on trying again in different proportions.

A Buffalo chicken quesadilla (former freebie) from Red’s.

White chocolate peppermint frozen yogurt with cheesecake chips and snowcaps.

We also tried the Scotchy Scotch Scotch (on top of chocolate peanut butter swirl) from Ben and Jerry’s. I took a few bites and Adam swooned over the rest. This flavor is definitely for butterscotch lovers.

This Cider Boys Magic Apple, apple strawberry hard cider, was outstanding. I want to try the cinnamon flavor like crazy.

le weekend in the city

Yesterday we headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

I can not even tell you how gorgeous the city was this weekend; I squealed with delight every time we rounded a corner. Also it was 65 degrees and I was in sandals!

We were in Manhattan because Au Bon Pain invited me in to try some of their new holiday menu.

Note – Au Bon Pain provided me coupons with which I could try the new menu free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

Here are the current ABP special menu additions –

Chicken, Mushroom and Swiss Sandwich– all natural chicken, spinach, Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms and tomato spread on a sprouted grain roll

Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake – holiday mini bundt coffee cake filled with cinnamon spice and topped with walnuts

Egg White and Mushroom Frittata Breakfast Sandwich – egg whites, sautéed mushrooms, spinach and cheddar on a sprouted grain roll

Gingerbread Cookie – A hand decorated cookie rich with molasses

Greek Vanilla Yogurt and Triple Berry Parfait

Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread – chocolate dipped shortbread sprinkled with peppermint topping

Pumpernickel Bagel – bold and distinctive flavor from rye flour and molasses

Thai Coconut Shrimp (gluten free) – a blend of petite shrimp, red peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots and lemongrass in a coconut and curry broth with a touch of spice

Adam and I shared so we could try three things.

The Chicken, Mushroom, and Swiss Sandwich.

They were out of the rolls so ours was served on cibatta bread. I thought this was good, but I’m not one to get too excited about a chicken sandwich. Adam loved it. He ate part of my half and even considered getting a second one.

The Thai Coconut Shrimp soup.

This one I liked more than the husband. The flavor was full of lemongrass and not too spicy. Very filling for only 170 calories in a medium bowl.

The Peppermint Chocolate Shortbread.

We both loved dessert. The shortbread was so thick that it was the main flavor instead of chocolate or peppermint, but thankfully it was quite a tasty shortbread. Each cookie has 390 calories which I didn’t think was too bad considering how big they are.

It was dark after we finished eating and the lights were even better on the walk home.

I ❤ New York

P.S. Bonus points if you know what the title alludes to!

17Dec2013

The Rest Of The Weekend

by Emily

Here is all the stuff that didn’t tie into yesterday’s book review…

Coffee break(fast) on Friday.

One of the doctors brought us all in doughnuts but I stuck with my latte and coffee chia bar (even though this flavor ended up being gross). Later I was laughing with Adam about how much much harder it is to pass things up now that I’ve gotten kind of fat. Before it felt like “this is a time I’m not eating something yummy, but that’s ok because I look and feel my best because I occasionally don’t eat things that are yummy.” Before I started my job I went a little crazy with the sitting on the couch and eating thing and now I’m trying to get back to my old, healthy self. But now it’s like “I’m passing up on this doughnut but I still don’t look like I pass on doughnuts, I look like I rolled around in a pile of doughnuts like Scrooge McDuck and then just put my clothing on over the doughnuts that stuck!”

<— anyone else get what I’m saying there?

Another Friday item, lunch.

The last of the big grapes.

And a salad of romaine with groats, edamame, peanuts, and peanut vinaigrette.

It was so great having the pre-cooked edamame at the ready. Thanks, Trader Joe’s. And speaking of TJ’s…

We tried several tasty cheeses this weekend.

In grilled cheese! On gingerbread swirl bread.

We made one sandwich of each and then split them in half. Chocolate cheddar cheese with Sriracha mayo and English cheddar with caramelized onions with dijon.

So. Freaking. Good. I don’t even plan on being a person who doesn’t cozy up with the husband in front of Gray’s with a plate of grilled cheese. I just need to stop being the person who puts cheese on everrrrrrrrrything.

We cashed in a BOGO coupon at Starbucks and got turkey bacon, egg white, and cheddar sandwiches for breakfast before running errands.

This sandwich is one of the husband’s very favorite things but I ended up sharing the last 1/3 of mine with him. I feel like there must be fake sugar in the English muffins; they have a strangely sweet aftertaste that throws off the whole sandwich.

I was supposed to do a review with Limoneira recently but things fell through at the last minute. They felt bad and sweetly sent me a big box of lemons.

Too exciting! I had so much fun getting to experiment with the meyer lemons. We made another batch of Dulce de Leche Lemon Popsicles, and did something really fun with the leftover “batter.”

Lemon egg creams! Just popsicle mix (lemon juice, scm, and skim milk) with pink grapefruit seltzer.

We also made some lemon bars to bring to a holiday party we attended Saturday night.

My mom always made these bars for me growing up but this was the first time Adam ever tried them and he adored them. Not super Christmasy but they did have powdered sugar snow.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the cookbook giveaways!

13Dec2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; Burritos And A Birthday

by Emily

I’m (almost) through my 2nd week! How long do you think I’ll have to be back at work before I stop counting? My guess is at least a month.

About the title… The birthday was Adam’s. My husband turned 28 on Wednesday so for the next 6 months I’ll stop being the older woman.

That picture is from BDL; i.e the years Before Doctor Life. He is on a very busy rotation now so unfortunately we didn’t have time for anything too festive. He got a disgusting amount of Taco Bell and we watched “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”

The burritos were from Red’s All Natural.

They recently sent me some free-product coupons so that I could try out the goods. All Red’s products are 100% all-natural, preservative-free and made with antibiotic-free and hormone-free meat and rBGH-free cheese. I love the company’s philosophy and practices and I liked the burritos too (though admittedly not quite as much as their ideals).

So far I’ve tried two varieties. I microwaved one burrito and baked the other. The nuked one was a little mushy, but not at all chewy like some lower-quality tortillas tend to get in the microwave. The one I baked got perfectly crispy and nice. Both had good ingredient combinations but sadly I found the flavors to be a bit one-note. It is also worth pointing out that the burritos are giant, more than 500 calories each which is a lot for one meal component. However, they are also very, very filling – I shared both of mine with Adam because I could not finish. If you have someone to split with they are a great option but if you are purchasing them to eat alone just be mindful. <– they also have 5 oz burritos available in some varieties!

Overall, I am giving the two I tried a positive review (just not glowing). I am looking forward to trying some of the other varieties and I will definitely be sharing them on the blog when I do.

Fashion Friday

A new polka dot dress, from the Gap.

I tilted my head funny in the picture, but I actually got several compliments on my bun piled high on my head.

I usually don’t button my cardigans, but I liked it here.

Another new dress. It’s cuter in person than in the picture. The husband loved it and bought it for me with some of his birthday money ❤

The Gap sales rack has been very kind to me this season. Even with my newbies, however, I’ve pretty much gone through my entire closet in the two weeks, so we’ll see how long “Fashion Friday” continues to last.

Breakfast

Cookie Dough Balance Bar.

I think they changed the recipe again. It’s not quite as glorious as my old memories, but a big improvement over the really gross ones I was finding a year or so ago.

Giant coffee.

I was cashing in on a freebie so I went all out. Venti, non-fat, iced latte with 2 shots each gingerbread, white chocolate, and (extra) espresso.

Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar.

I never eat this flavor because it feels so seasonal, but it is one of the best. The mint is nice and cool.

Lunch

Monday. Looks like breakfast but was actually lunch. Quaker Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal.

And ~~the big apple~~ a big apple.

I’ve got to buy more oat go-cups; this was super portable and easy to just fill up with hot water in the cafeteria.

Tuesday.

Pizza with mushrooms and black olives.

And grapes.

These grapes are HUGE. They’re a seedless “holiday” variety.

Wednesday.

More leftovers.

Tangerines.

I promise, that cabbage was so much better than it looks.

Thursday.

More grapes.

And an everything bagel thin with leftover smoked tofu and light havarti.

I left this “raw” and the thins are definitely much, much better when toasted.

Snacks

Just like last week, picture lots of lunch assembly bites. This first one was an after dinner treat though. Looks like a root beer float…

But actually it’s Vanilla Porter with French vanilla ice cream.

I was pretty proud of this idea but it probably would have been a little better in milkshake form with a mix of beer and milk.

An Andes tree.

This was weirdly exciting. I’ve really been craving mint lately.

These gorgonzola cracker crisps have been a favorite for munching.

I love how big the serving size is here.

Dinner

Best dinner of the week, hands down.

Soy Boy organic Smoked Tofu that I sautéed in evoo.

With shredded (frozen) cabbage that we cooked in canola oil with salty peanuts and fresh edamame. We dumped in a bunch of miso orange dressing at the end and let it reduce, and the whole thing was heavenly.

I never seem to repeat meals any more but I do really want to make this again.

Salad and a burrito.

Romaine with groats and maple tarragon dressing.

Red’s Turkey Burrito.

This was the one I microwaved.

Cereal night on Adam’s birthday.

Two servings of Love Crunch Gingerbread Granola with vanilla almond milk and sliced banana.

Plus a big glass of eggnog during “The Grinch.”

This meal was missing vegetables, but that just didn’t feel festive! Thankfully this was the day I had my veggie-heavy lunch.

Chicken Burrito.

Apparently that was the only picture I have from last night?! I meant to eat it with salad but ended up having cheese and crackers instead.

Do you have any exciting plans for this upcoming weekend?

9Dec2013

Some Things

by Emily

Some things from the weekend. Hope y’all had a good one too!

Something I drank –

A short non-fat chai latte from Starbucks.

I was all about tea this weekend.

Something I wore –

To work on Friday.

My sheer black tank was a sale find at the Banana Republic outlet; I love it.

Something I ate –

Lunch at Whole Foods.

Another chai, this time from Plan Tea.

Alongside hot bar.

An array of salads with a big scoop of mac and cheese.

Something YOU won –

Rachel won my coffee giveaway.

Congrats!

27Nov2013

Mid-Week Wrap Up; Visitors In Town

by Emily

My parents got in on time Monday night and we’ve had a great time showing them around. They visited us in the city the years we lived in Brooklyn, but Long Island is a new family destination. And two sets of aunts and uncles get here tomorrow morning! Since I knew I’d have lots of good food to share with visitors in town I decided to post in smaller mid-week wrap ups this week.

Here’s some of what my mouth’s been up to…

Coffee from 7-11 with Cinnabon creamer.

I’ve been wanting to try that damn creamer for months and I ended up hating it so much that I threw out my whole coffee halfway though. Boo. But at least I can stop pestering Adam to walk to 7-11 with me.

A gingerbread lunch feast.

An awesome sandwich of Applegate Farms Herb Turkey Breast, reduced fat cream cheese, and banana peppers on Pepperidge Farm Gingerbread Swirl Bread.

Plus sliced Sweet Tango apple.

And Gingerbread Twix.

These holiday Twix are sooooo good. I wouldn’t normally eat a Twix but the gingerbread spice is wonderful.

We went to Great Neck for my parents’ first night’s dinner. Bareburger, of course, because that’s our go-to spot for out-of-towners. We shared the fried zucchini to start.

I’ve decided that the Western turkey burger (sans bun) is my favorite variety. The fried pickle on the side is too fun.

And despite the cold we wandered over to 16 Handles after dinner.

Sugar-free praline with chocolate pretzels, salty almonds, and peanut butter sauce.

For their 2nd dinner we went our favorite Italian spot, Luigi’s.

That focaccia is great. As was the Tuscan salad my mom and I split.

Baby spinach with breaded artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, gorgonzola dolce, pine nuts, and balsamic vinaigrette.

We all shared some fresh mozzarella too.

I stuck with the cheese theme for dinner. Spinach, ricotta, and goat cheese ravioli (house-made!) in a champagne truffle cream sauce.

It was very rich but very good. The sauce was truffle heaven.

I did have enough room left over to dole out a round of RumChata after dinner.

I was introduced to it as “the snickerdoodle shot” and that name is very apt. Adam and I both put some in our coffee too and decided that we’ll be doing that regularly.

I don’t know what the plan is for tomorrow (with 10 people for dinner) but the next day’s Thanksgiving, whee!

22Nov2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; My First Cold Of The Season

by Emily

Have you stayed healthy so far this flu season? I’m finally on an upswing, but I spent the past week with a bad cold. Achoo!

The husband gets (2) 2-week periods off this year and his first started last Friday evening. We took advantage of the break and drove over to visit my sister-in-law’s family in Pennsylvania. I spent our entire visit with the dog and/or my niece on my lap so I don’t have a single picture from Saturday.

On Friday, I had a large, late lunch at Whole Foods before we got in the car.

A hot bar assortment.

Clockwise from top left – green beans, gnocchi, broccoli, mac and cheese, big noodles, and Cesar salad.

For dessert, I surprised Adam with a bag of limited edition chocolate dipped wavy Lays.

I had read negative reviews about them online, but we both loved them. They had the perfect ratio of salty and sweet; the chocolate was only on one side of most chips so it wasn’t too overwhelming. The bag said it contained five servings, but we didn’t find that to be true 😉

My youngest niece had the sniffles all weekend and I came back with them too. Here’s what I ate before I realized just how sick I was – A Siggi’s 2% Pumpkin Spice Yogurt.

This flavor was great, definitely the best pumpkin yogurt I’ve tried so far. Sometimes Siggi’s can be a bit sour/chalky but this flavor was nice and creamy.

A new kind of tofu.

We quartered our block of Soy Boy Caribbean pre-seasoned tofu and gave it a quick sear.

A comforting dinner.

We shared a can of Bar Harbor Lobster Chowder.

With a (giant) side of beer bread.

Cheddar Garlic Beer Bread(!!).

So good. That bread was my best idea yet, but I made it in a daze and now I can’t remember the proportion of ingredients.

When I woke up on Monday I realized I had more than the sniffles, I was sick, sick, sick. This is where I tell you that I have not eaten a single fruit or vegetable since last Sunday. In fact, Adam went out-of-town for a few days mid-week when I was at my sickest and I ended up eating cheese and crackers for five meals straight! These TJ raisin and rosemary crisps were featured heavily.

Very tasty, but I don’t think I’ll be eating cheese and crackers again soon.

Here are the things I ate last week that weren’t cheese, or at least weren’t 100% cheese (though I’m now realizing that I did stick exclusively with sandwiches and cookies) – A killer sandwich.

A leftover slice of tofu with smoked Gouda and grape Crofters.

An even better sandwich.

Applegate Farms honey maple turkey with cream cheese, smoked Gouda, grape Crofters, and banana peppers.

A take-out sandwich.

Turkey burger with mozzarella. I ate too many fries.

A mug cookie, jazzed up SCM and salted caramel sauce.

It looks giant and fluffy like that because I double the recommended baking soda.

On the store-bought front, my mother-in-law sent us a cookie jar of Cheryl’s.

Thanks, Barb!

Finally, I received two samples this week that were perfect for trying when I was under the weather.

Please note – I received the following products free of charge. Neither company provided me with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Numi Organic Tea sent me some Pu·erh Variety mini samplers.

That includes Chocolate Pu·erh, Emperor’s Pu·erh, Jasmine Pu·erh, Basil Mint Pu·erh, Cardamom Pu·erh, and Ginger Pu·erh.

So far I’ve tried the Emperor’s and Jasmine varieties and was a big fan. I’m looking forward to the others a lot, though I will probably give the Ginger to Adam because that’s not my favorite flavor. Chocolate didn’t appeal to me with my cold, but look at the yummy description – “With a rich velvety, chocolate aroma, Numi’s Chocolate Pu-erh is an enticing blend of deep, dark pu-erh and organic cocoa nibs. Whole vanilla beans and sweet accents of orange peel enhance this blend along with nutmeg and cinnamon rounding off a spicy finish.”

I also received a bottle of powdered wheat grass from Pines.

I used to love the wheat grass shots at Jamba so I used them as inspiration and combined 1 tsp of wheat grass powder with 3 oz each orange juice and unsweet vanilla almond milk.

So delicious! Though next time I might shift the ratio a bit in favor of the oj; Jamba used a vanilla soy milk that brought more sweetness to the table than my almond milk. If you are unfamiliar with the flavor of wheat grass and want to try it you definitely can’t go wrong with the vanilla and orange pairing.

How many times a year do you usually get sick? Have you caught a cold yet this winter?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: salad

Weekly Wrap-Up; Hello, 2014!

Resolutions, Past and Present

Fashion Friday

Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Dinners

Weekend Wrap-Up; I’ve Been Married For Six Years!

breakfast

lunch

snacks

dinner

Week Long Wrap-Up; But I Am Le Tired

le work eats

le work outfits

le dinners

le snacks

le weekend in the city

Note – Au Bon Pain provided me coupons with which I could try the new menu free of charge. I was not provided further compensation for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

The Rest Of The Weekend

Weekly Wrap-Up; Burritos And A Birthday

Fashion Friday

Breakfast

Lunch

Snacks

Dinner

Some Things

Something I drank –

Something I wore –

Something I ate –

Something YOU won –

Mid-Week Wrap Up; Visitors In Town

Weekly Wrap-Up; My First Cold Of The Season

Please note – I received the following products free of charge. Neither company provided me with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.