Valentine’s Weekend

by Emily

Did everyone have a good Valentine’s Day? I hope you got a kiss from your sweetheart, or even better – ate some chocolate kisses and conversation hearts!

Adam and I had a fabulous weekend. Thank goodness for Presidents’ Day off, even though he worked a 30-hour shift on Sunday – and I spent the day sans pants, in bed, eating Thai take-out – we still had two days to have fun in the city. The best part of the weekend was probably Monday night though, we cuddled on the couch eating Chipotle and watching the SNL 40th anniversary show. I’m typing this post up while we watch but so far I am in absolute nostalgia heaven! Here are some of the weekend highlights…

We were not grumpy about getting coffee.

Adam is obsessed with their flat whites.

We made pink Valentine’s Day smoothies.

Frozen raspberries, plain Greek yogurt, fresh dates, and Hint of Honey Almond Breeze. Perfect blend (get it?? blend) of sweet and sour.

We checked out the Cupcake ATM from Sprinkles.

So cool, Adam loooved it. We tried the Cuban Coffee, “Belgian light chocolate cake topped with powerful dark roast coffee frosting and subtle notes of cinnamon and cocoa.”

I didn’t care for the cake but the frosting was wonderful.

We went out for a very romantic Valentine’s dinner of beer and Thai food. First Left Hand Milk Stout on draft.

Then we checked out the highly recommended Pure Thai Cookhouse. My Pad See Ew was tasty,

but for “Thai spicy” it could have packed a lot more heat. I did not even need this Thai iced tea.

We did try to get ice cream afterwards though.

Try being the operative word. I had such high expectations for Ben & Jerry’s new Speculoos (aka Biscoff!) flavor but it ended up being inedible; terribly ginger-spicy. Instead we made amazing sundaes at home.

Talenti cookie dough gelato, Girl & the Fig salted fig caramel, and chocolate-covered cocoa nibs.

We went to Serendipity.

I’ve never strayed, I always order the Summer Bries sandwich which comes with turkey, apple, sprouts, brie, and Russian dressing on raisin pumpernickel.

We tried something new for dessert, the Insanity Sundae.

Pecan pie, butter pecan ice cream, wet walnuts, whipped cream, and hot fudge. It was insane, we could barely make a dent in it.

Speaking of sweets and love – check back in this afternoon, I’ve got a giveaway coming!

14Feb2015

Weekly Wrap-Up? Yes Please!

by Emily

happenings

As promised, here is a picture of my gaudy new cell phone –

I’m liking it more now that I’ve gotten used to the new system.

This week I gave an hour-long nutrition presentation at a women’s shelter near the hospital. We talked primarily about added sugars, reading nutrition labels, and the plate method.

I opened with an activity where we compared the sugar content of different beverages.

I started reading Amy Poehler’s memoir, Yes Please. I am halfway through and completely smitten.

It is just as hilarious and inspiring as you’d expect it to be. And her relationship with Seth Meyers – he guest writes a chapter – makes me love both of them more if that’s even possible.

breakfast

Coffee and a chocolate coconut water.

Latte and an Opal apple.

Stumptown cold-brew box with turkey jerky and dates.

Coffee (duh!) and yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows that the hospital administration had for employee appreciation day.

They also had a bunch of cookies out, but it was 9 o’clock in the morning and one of the midwives brought in bagels for the clinic so I went with one of those instead.

I definitely made the right choice, my pumpernickel bagel was splendidly chewy. Also – I poured my marshmallow cocoa into my coffee after it had cooled down and it was ridiculous.

lunch

From home – yogurt bowl.

Blueberries, Heritage Flakes, and a Dannon butterscotch Greek yogurt.

From the cafeteria – a turkey sandwich and baked fries.

My sandwich had turkey, provolone, mayo, mustard, lettuce and red peppers and my fries had a side of blue cheese.

From home – another yogurt bowl.

An Opal apple and plain Fage with amazing 18 Rabbits Caramel Apple Granola.

From the cafeteria – a giant chicken quesadilla.

With cheese, chopped bell peppers, and sour cream and guacamole on the side. I planned on only eating half because it was quite big, but it was so good I ended up demolishing the whole thing.

Dinner leftovers (see the scrambled egg night) on top of spinach with ranch, chopped carrot, and cucumber from the cafeteria.

The salad bar packed lunch mash-up was perfect, I’ll have to remember to repeat it the next time I’m getting tired of my yogurt bowls.

snack

Adorable gummies from last weekend.

Baby carrots and dip.

I made an oatmeal chocolate chip mug cookie. It was quite enjoyable but basically raw so not a recipe for sharing.

Jarlsberg mini cheese.

Chocolate milk.

Coffee with almond milk.

Sundaes that Adam and I made with this dream team:

Girl & The Fig’s salted fig caramel is perfect.

dinner

Bibimbap bowls. I couldn’t get a great picture, but these were sooo good. Runny egg yolk goes wonderfully with spice.

Jasmine rice with rice vinegar // baked tofu cubes // broccoli and baby kale sautéed with canola oil, a bit of sugar, and tons of Sriracha // chopped sesame seaweed // and a sunny side up egg.

We used the leftovers the next day for another Asian-ish dinner.

Leftover rice and veggies stir-fried with sautéed onion, eggs, fish sauce, soy sauce, and rice vinegar.

Plus “beef and broccoli” aka chicken with broccoli and cauliflower.

I way overcooked the chicken and this was not very good.

I guess the next day was pretty similar as well. I sautéed chopped seitan, corn, and spinach in evoo and Sriracha and then scrambled in eggs and part-skim mozzarella.

It tasted so much better than it looked.

Chipotle in front of the tv on Friday. We were supposed to go into Brooklyn but it was terrifically cold outside and changing into pajamas just sounded too good.

Chicken rice bowl with sautéed veggies, three types of salsa, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce. Plus chips. There’s a giant diet coke just to the right of that photo ❤

Have you read any actor memoirs that you loved? I was a HUGE fan of Mindy Kaling’s too and I’m excited for Tina Fey’s next.

9Feb2015

Weekend Wrap-Up

by Emily

random facts

I finished reading my latest book on Friday – Fairyland, a memoir about growing up with an openly gay father in San Francisco in the 80’s. (Not much of a)spoiler alert – he dies of AIDS related complications. I was wracked with sobs for the last quarter of the book. Steve Abbot was a published author who kept detailed journals his entire adulthood and wrote copious letters to Alysia while she was in college, so she had a lot of source material to pull from which was nice; it was practically a biography within a memoir.
A big chunk of Saturday is missing because we went on a fun foodie tour and I am devoting a whole post to it. (coming tomorrow)
We upgraded our phones on Sunday. My new Galaxy is giant and tacky, obnoxiously gold.

breakfast

Adam and I tried the new raspberry white chocolate coffee from Dunkin’.

Our opinions ranged from good to meh. I still want to try the Starbucks version.

Cereal bowl.

Cocoa Pebbles and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes. Pebbles have absolutely no flavor and were deeply disappointing.

Oatmeal bowl.

Rolled oats – cooked in the microwave – with 1 heaping Tbsp each chopped pecans, raisins, chocolate chips, and brown sugar. Plus milk on top.

Coffee from 7-11 with wasabi almonds.

Yes, that was a terrible combination.

lunch

Chipotle!

White rice / chicken / black beans / sautéed veggies / fresh salsa / tomatillo salsa / sour cream / cheese. I would normally get lettuce but I split this bowl with Adam and he didn’t want it. I’ve stopped putting the corn salsa on my bowls in general because even though it’s tasty it isn’t really necessary to pile another carb on top of a rice bowl.

Adam went to a post-ABSITE surgical exam party and brought home leftover mini pizzas.

Paired with green juice.

NYC Jamba Juices recently introduced a new line of 12 oz Cold-Pressed Juice bottles and they sent me a $10 gift card so I could try them out.

I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

The juices contain no preservatives and three servings of fruit and/or vegetables and each full bottle has between 140 to 190 calories.

Citrus Kick was way too spicy for me – Adam liked it but I just can’t do ginger – but I found Tropical Greens to be nicely balanced, neither two sweet nor too grassy. (There are four flavors in total; the two I didn’t try were Orange Reviver and Veggie Harvest).

dinner

We had another stupendous meal at Russ & Daughters.

The Breakfast Martini = Beefeater gin, jam, lemon juice, egg white, Pernod Absinthe, Angostura Bitters.

I adore cocktails with egg white. <– I was about to type that they will be hard for me to give up if I get pregnant! I guess the alcohol may also be an issue.

I ordered the Eggs Benny, which came with Scottish smoked salmon and sautéed spinach on challah.

No surprise, the eggs were perfectly poached and the hollandaise was loaded with flavor. <– more reasons I’m not chomping at the bit for a baby

Sunday night we made a nice, but less exciting dinner at home.

We were helped out by a jar of Sepo Sauce, a creamy garlic and horseradish spread that’s meant to be used as a dressing, dip, and/or sandwich spread.

Sepfonifiq sent me a jar of sauce free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

The sauce has 150 calories and 2.5 grams saturated fat per 2-Tbsp serving, so it’s not any healthier than most typical dressings, but it packs a lot of flavor so you would rarely need to use any more than a serving.

We decided to go the bread and lettuce route.

A sandwich of part-skim mozzarella cheese, thick-cut uncured turkey ham steak, and whole-wheat cinnamon swirl bread spread with Sepo Sauce and oven-toasted.

A salad of baby kale tossed in Sepo Sauce and topped with roasted broccoli and sweet and spicy pecans.

Plus we split a sumo mandarin on the side.

Sadly, we hated the thick cut turkey, which kind of ruined the sandwiches. We both got rid of the meat halfway through and ended up eating big desserts instead. But we loooved the Sepo as a dressing and were both blown away by the salad. I will definitely look forward to making that again.

Please cross your fingers that it’s not actually snowing in NYC right now?

7Feb2015

Last Week’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} Coffee, always.

The Hint of Honey Almond Breeze is coffee’s perfect companion. (note – I prefer the original to vanilla)

{2} Dates with turkey bacon.

I agree, everything on that napkin looks like a cockroach (dates one major downfall!), but the combination was delicious.

{3} Good lunches from the cafeteria.

A winning tuna salad sandwich and a giant burrito with chicken, cheese, sour cream, salsa, and tons of broccoli that they sweetly let me add from the salad bar.

{4} Berry yogurt bowl.

Fresh blues / Stonyfield Strawberry Oh My Yog! / Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes. I did not enjoy the sour, whole milk taste of the yogurt, but several coworkers tasted the cereal after I raved about it and wrote down the specs so they could buy some too!

{5} A meze plate.

All from Trader Joe’s – dates / green and orange bell peppers / baby carrots / dolmas / olives / kalamata olive hummus.

26Jan2015

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!

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!

dinner

You have to eat black-eyed peas on the first for good luck in the new year. I had mine mixed with green pepper, tomato, hot sauce, mayo, and cheddar on top of sprouted brown rice and chopped spinach.

The dog even got his own little serving!

I stuck a fork in my bowl, but I actually scooped my meal with bbq kettle chips.

It was a great pairing.

Friday we did salads for course 1; spinach with peanut sauce, chopped apple, and kasha (roasted buckwheat groats).

Followed by chicken patties from Trader Joe’s and cheesy fries.

The fries were great – just frozen from Trader Joe’s that we baked with shredded cheddar and gouda.

We celebrated round 2 of our anniversary on Saturday. When we watched our wedding video last weekend, we were reminded that I talked about eating pizza and watching Scrubs in my vows (really, I did!) and we realized that pizza and Scrubs would be a good anniversary activity. We got a variety of slices from our favorite pizza place in our old neighborhood and had a great time.

I got a green juice {spinach, kale, cucumber, and pineapple} to get in some veggies while we were picking up our pie.

Adam was on call on Sunday but I figured that I should start off 2015 by breaking my streak of chips and cheese for single lady dinners and cooking a real meal.

Spinach salad with balsamic, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and pecan crusted chicken tenders. I dipped the chicken in cranberry honey mustard before I dredged it in chopped pecans and it came out amazingly.

Woot, woot!

I hope that everyone is having a great year.

22Dec2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Coffees and Burgers

by Emily

Hooray for low-key weekends with lots of dog snuggles! We spent lots of time on the couch, but I did manage to pre-prepare dinner for the next few nights (go me!).

coffees

We went to a new coffee spot in Great Neck to get me a Christmallow latte.

It was only ok, not as exciting as it looked, but I had practically been having a heart attack about getting one so at least I can shut up now.

Much better was the espresso I mixed with eggnog at home.

That ‘nog is low-fat but it is damn good, super creamy.

burgers

We ate burgers for dinner and brunch on Sunday. Bareburger for a classic first.

Turkey on a bun with grilled onions, mustard, ketchup, and tons of pickles.

Plus a smokey bloody mary made with bbq sauce.

And I stole many bites of Adam’s fried extravaganza chicken and waffle plate.

The balls towards the back were banana fritters.

Dinner was homemade round 2.

My Jalopeno Popper Turkey Burgers (one of my best recipes!) with cheddar on top.

Plus roasted broccoli.

And fries from Trader Joe’s.

So good!

also

The above wasn’t everything I ate this weekend, obviously, but there wasn’t much else worth mentioning. I will brag about getting dinner on the table like a boss on Saturday though.

We had a party to go to with Adam’s friends and I managed to get us fed by 6 pm versus the usual 9. And that was with a dinner-prep drink!

I made a dish from Cooking Light with some snowman pasta.

And roasted up these cool kale-brussels hybrids.

We thought they were quite tasty.

Hope everyone has a great, festive week!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: sandwich

Valentine’s Weekend

Weekly Wrap-Up? Yes Please!

happenings

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Weekend Wrap-Up

I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Sepfonifiq sent me a jar of sauce free of charge to review. I was not provided with further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Last Week’s Top Five

Weekend Wrap-Up; Marshmallow Madness

breakfast and lunch

dinner

snacks, aka marshmallow madness

Weekend Wrap-Up; Good Eats

Hello, 2015! Weekend Wrap-Up

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Weekend Wrap-Up; Coffees and Burgers

coffees

burgers

also