Last Week’s Late Wrap-Up

I’ve been pretty busy and I’m running a bit behind, but I ate some really yummy things last week so I didn’t want to skip the post.  Here are some faves from last Monday through Friday…

break the fast

A purple smoothie.

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Frozen blueberries and strawberries with maple syrup and vanilla almond milk.

Bar/fruit/coffee day 1.

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Dark Chocolate Coconut Balance Bar, a Pink Lady apple, and iced coffee from Starbucks.  I poured a splash of half and half into my coffee by accident last week and it ended up tasting so yummy that now it’s turned into a bad habit!

Day 2.

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Caramel Almond & Sea Salt KIND Bar {former freebie}, a very juicy nectarine, and cafeteria coffee with skim milk and a splash of half and half.

ladies who lunch

Cafeteria meal.

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Salad with broccoli, black-eyed peas, cheddar, balsamic, and a scoop of egg salad.  Plus fries dipped in honey mustard on the side.

Sandwich.

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Leftover bbq chicken on a Bagel Thin.  With bread and butter pickles, chips, and cherries.

Yogurt.

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Chobani 2% Pink Grapefruit Greek Yogurt with KIND Raspberry Clusters with Chia Seeds {former freebie} and cherries on the side.  The yogurt was a limited edition that needs to become part of the permanent line-up.  It was freaking incredible, sweet and tangy with little pieces of citrus spread throughout.  I must find the watermelon variety.

snack attack

Chocolate-covered pretzels from Wegman’s.

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I brought Adam some back from my Buffalo trip and made the mistake of tasting “just one.”  Those things are addictive!  It’s a good thing I didn’t do a taste-test in the store or I would have brought home pounds of them.

Trader Joe’s makes the best turkey jerky I’ve ever tasted.

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I don’t know how the keep the texture sooooo soft.

Chocolate covered strawberry floats!  Chocolate frozen yogurt in strawberry Crush.

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We thought we were so clever with these.

Campfire milkshake from Ralph’s Ice.

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It was insane how much this tasted like a toasted marshmallow.  It was pretty intense though, there is no way I could have finished more than half of this.

Baby spinach salad.

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With sweet and spicy pecans, dried blueberries, shredded carrot, evoo, honey, and lavender salt.  My best salad combo to date.

dining on dinner

Salad atop salad.

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The base was baby spinach with dried blueberries, sweet and spicy pecans, evoo, honey, and truffle salt.

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Topped with pulled bbq chicken (and a pile of salt and vinegar chips in the back).  Just boneless, skinless breasts cooked in the crockpot, shredded, and tossed with TJ’s Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce.

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The sauce was wonderful, very sweet and a little spicy.

Pasta that was simple but good.

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Whole-wheat rotini with browned mushrooms, ground turkey (sautéed with tons of garlic and dried oregano), frozen spinach, low-fat sour cream, and a can of tomato sauce.

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This was one of those meals that seemed like it would need more flavor but then you kept eating until you were furiously scraping the bottom of the bowl.

National Thai with a girlfriend.  I got spicy noodles with veggies.  They were super chewy, had a good variety of vegetables, and were actually spicy; I’m pretty sure National has become my favorite Thai spot in the city.

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Afterwards we went out in search of mojitos.

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We ended up finding passable mango mojitos at a tiny Mexican spot in Park Slope.  Their menu also mentioned watermelon daiquiris, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be going back again this Friday.

what’s happening

I was getting into such a great groove with my workouts, but then I got excited and upped the length of my runs too quickly.  My right knee was horrifically swollen and the husband told me to stay out of the gym until the inflammation went down.  Boo!!!  I took a week completely off from exercise (minus a few long walks this weekend) and popped anti-inflammatories and iced like crazy.  I’m going to start back in with short, easy workouts this week and continue to ice regularly.  I’m going a little stir-crazy so please cross your fingers for me!

On a more positive note, I just finished reading Fault Lines by Nancy Huston and I’m recommending it to pretty much everyone.

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It’s a story about a family and each section of the book is told from the perspective of a different generation.  Huston did a great job of building the story in layers.  The parts of the story that were told through the lens of childhood were wonderfully done.

It is my 29th birthday this Thursday.  We can’t fit in any celebrating this week so Adam and I took a quick trip to Philadelphia this past weekend.  I gave that its own post because this one was getting too long, but we had a wonderful time.

Have you spotted the new Chobani varieties in your area yet?  Has anyone tasted watermelon??

An American Recap

Beer, baseball, and the 4th of July!  I hope all of my US readers had a nice Independence Day.

I had a super fun three-day weekend.  I predict I will have had several coffees by the time this post goes live on Monday morning.

Some yummy moments…

On the Fourth, a friend and I drove up to the Hamptons to explore.  The hurricane limited our plans a bit and our free concert and fireworks were rained out, but we still managed to have a great time.  We went wine tasting at the gorgeous Wolffer Estate.

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And had lobster rolls by the beach.

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They came personal assembly style, huge hunks of lobster meat in a bowl of butter, and were more than worth the wade through the parking lot to get to them.

On Saturday, a high school friend came in from PA and took us to the Mets game.

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NY lost, but we still had a ton of fun.  We went out for drinks on the Upper East Side afterwards and got home after our bedtime.

Sunday was all about recovery and catch-up sleep.  Also baking!  I was recently sent a book to review – Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches {Cool Recipes for Delicious Dairy-Free Ice Creams and Cookies by Kris Holechek Peters.

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Please note – I received this book free of charge to review.  I was not provided with further compensation for this post.

Peters is a vegan baker, blogger, and cookbook author and I think she nailed it with this book.  It includes 60 recipes for vegan ice creams and cookies.  The instructions are clearly written and none of the recipes involve anything too complicated.  Most of the recipes do not require crazy ingredients, though you will need a thickening agent – arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, guar gum – for most of the ice creams.

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The basics are all included – a variety of vanilla and chocolate cookies and ice creams – and there are some inventive ideas as well, like Pumpkin Snickerdoodle, Peach Rum Crumble, and Shirley Temple Sandwiches.  I chose to mix and match with two different recipes.

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The cookies from the Happy Birthday Batter Sandwiches and the Orange Coconut Cream Ice Cream from the Orange Dreamsicle Sandwiches.  Delish.

We stuck with preparing dessert and got take-out for dinner.

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Caesar salad and pizza from Luigi’s.

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Eaten in front of “21 Jump Street” which had funny moments but was overall pretty terrible.  I Netflixed it thinking I would see the sequel some time this week but now I’m not so sure.

Did you see any fireworks this weekend?

Weekend Wrap-Up; We Loved – {fill in the blank}

I’m behind on my posts because I’ve been playing hostess for my parents.  We were quite sad to see them go Tuesday morning, but we did manage to fit a TON into their five-night visit.  We made it to SoHo, Tribeca, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Huntington, and Port Jefferson, among other places.  And we ate and ate and ate.  Rather than a full recap, I want to share some of the things we loved this weekend…

(1) – Cheeeeese

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The four of us were very impressed with this cheese plate from C’est Cheese.

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The Taleggio and Comte were the group favorites.

We went to Luigi’s – to celebrate my parents’ last night and Adam’s last day as an intern! – and I ordered eggplant parmesan and the three of them ordered chicken parm.

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My sautéed spinach totally beat their house-made spaghetti, in my opinion.

(2) – Ice Cream

Every single day, at least one of us had ice cream.  <– the perfect way to vacation

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Grasshopper frozen yogurt from Emack and Bolios.

Ample Hills knocked everyone’s socks off because it is the best ice cream in the city.

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I got Peppermint Patty and Snap, Mallow, Pop.  {thank you, Jenna, for letting me know that those two flavors would work wonderfully together}

(3) – Ethnic Food

We did lunch at Katz’s Deli on Friday.

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Broccoli knish and with pickles for me.

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The counter system and Katz’s gives me serious anxiety, but the food is totally worth it in the end.  My parents loved their matzo ball soups.

Lunch at Smorgasburg on Saturday.

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You cannot go wrong with the duck bun – with sweet and spicy chili sauce – from Bite Size Kitchen.

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They are my very favorite thing from Smorgasburg.

The Halo Halo from Lumpia Shack is a close second though.

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What???

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Pip Snack kettle corn / ube foam / leche flan / shaved ice / ube (purple yam) / green market strawberries / coconut jelly / coconut strips / palm seeds / sweet bananas.

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It was just so ridiculous and wonderful.  Apparently palm seeds are delicious.

(4) – Seafood

We were pretty pleased with Schafer’s in Port Jeff.

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I had fantabulous lobster mac and cheese.

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My big chunks of fresh lobster were in a brie and mozzarella sauce, so this one probably could get filled under “Cheeeeese” too.  With shaved Brussels sprouts.

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The sprouts were raw, served with dried cranberries, green apple, candied walnuts, crumbled blue cheese, and lemon vinaigrette.

That meal was great, but it could barely compete with Luke’s Lobster.

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Ahhh!

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Extra vinegary cole slaw,

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and a 1/2 crab roll, lobster roll, and shrimp roll for each of us.

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We were all swooning over the lobster.  Do you see that claw?!

(5) – How Flipping Awesome My City Is

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I New York!

Weekend Wrap-Up; Sunday Smorgasburg In DUMBO

Another wonderful weekend!  Amazingly, the husband and I are still not sick of each other, so when he has a weekend day off it is better than fricking Christmas.  He worked Saturday while I slept until noon and cleaned and grocery shopped and then Sunday was family fun day.

We’ll start with a snack review.  Polar’s new Georgia Peach Seltzer is delicious.

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Very juicy, though the flavor almost reminded me of bananas.

This Trader Joe’s microwave popcorn is also nice.

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My favorite thing is the packaging, honestly.

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I hate how ridiculously convoluted microwave popcorn nutrition labels are but this one was crystal clear.

And the birthday cake stuffed cookies are not good.

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Of course I ate two more servings before I came to that conclusion… for research.

The cheap fresh blueberries from Trader Joe’s are great now.  No more mushy berries.

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Shown on a bowl of cereal – a serving each Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes and Honeycomb with marshmallows – with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I suck at including pictures, but I actually am (relatively) good at eating my vegetables.  Go ahead and picture several servings of olive hummus with raw veggies this weekend and a big salad from the cafeteria for Friday’s lunch.  Much better.

Friday night started with green juice.  A blend of kale, spinach, cucumber, parsley, and apple.

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We needed it to offset the next round of drinks.

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We spent a glorious evening on the patio at Bierkraft.  A girlfriend met up with us after work, and we befriended the couple who shared our table, and we all laughed and shared restaurant recommendations for hours.

Highlights from the night were 21st Amendment Brewery’s Hell or High Watermelon.

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And this Reindeer’s Revolt that stole my heart.  It was malty and sweet with just a bit of spice.  Though I’m not sure why Bierkraft had two freezer’s worth of Christmas beers in the first week of June.

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We also had amazing frozen margaritas, ill-advised rounds of shots, and an awkward dinner at Calexico.  I drunkenly ordered the only thing on the menu that I would never eat and sat there like a weirdo while the waitress boxed up the entire dish minus two bites at the end of the meal.  Whoops.

Saturday’s dinner was a winner; and yes, it bums me out that that rhymed.

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It was just a really yummy, summery combination of foods.  Leftover veggies, cruciferous crunch with pecans and blueberries.

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The last of the rotisserie chicken, scrambled into eggs with brie, dill, and coconut oil.

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And corn on the cob, oven-roasted with Miracle Whip, sea salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and sharp cheddar.

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I am so flipping glad that it is corn on the cob season again.  Learning how easy it is to cook in the oven was a great discovery last summer.

On Sunday we took the dog into Brooklyn for Sunday’s Smorgasburg.

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DUMBO is gorgeous, it is one of my favorite nyc neighborhoods.

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I ate a fantastic lemonade with watermelon and mint.  Served with a bubble tea straw for the big, juicy chunks of melon.

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And a really terrible taco.  The edamame and corn were inexplicably neither cooked nor seasoned.

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Thankfully Adam made much better choices – miso chicken taco, ginger bourbon pecan pie, rhubarb Columbian soda – and was willing to share.

We took the dog exploring, then made our way to Luke’s Lobster.

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We shared a combo and were both swooning.  This was the best lobster roll I have ever eaten, including one I had at a shack on the harbor in Boston.

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They serve it fairly plain, just with lemon butter and secret spices, and the freshness of the lobster meat shines through.  We plan on taking my parents for one the minute their airplane lands later this month.

Where were you served the best lobster roll you’ve ever eaten?  If you’re into that kind of thing…

Weekly Wrap-Up; Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

Today does not feel like a Friday to me at all (tomorrow, technically, while I’m writing this post).  I keep being pleasantly surprised, a perk of the Monday off.

This was a strange week for me in terms of hunger; y’all know that I usually eat enough food to sustain a small village, but thanks to a migraine and a day of leftover migraine ickiness my hunger has been on hiatus.  Thanks to less food eaten, and less time since my last post, I actually have photos of 95% of my eats!  All you’re really missing is several more iced coffees with skim milk and nibbles while I cooked the dinners.

Off we go…

I am obsessed with Brooklyn Roasting Company and Adam sweetly surprised me with a tin of their Iris Espresso {maple / sugar-plum / cocoa / spice} this weekend.

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I was so excited about it that I woke up early enough on Tuesday to brew and drink a cup of coffee before leaving for work!  This blend is legit, even from our crappy coffee maker this was my favorite cup of BRC yet.

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Even leftover the next day, with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and SCM, it was delicious.

Cafeteria lunch.

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Sweet onion kettle chips and a cup of buffalo blue cheese soup from the cafeteria.

Do you remember the cup of amazing bbq sauce that Fletcher’s sent me home with?  We used it in amazing sandwiches.

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This was the best meal of the week.

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We doused some chopped roasted chicken in our sauce, then served it on onion buns with a schmear of Miracle Whip.

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The veggie component was baby bok choy, mushrooms, and shredded carrot, cooked with evoo, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and hot pepper jam, with sesame seeds and fried shallots tossed in at the end.

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I don’t cook bok choy enough, it’s one of my favorites.

Yogurt lunch.  I stirred together fresh blueberries, a mix of Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes and Quaker Brown Sugar Oatmeal Squares, and a pineapple Chobani.  Plus an apple on the side.

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I didn’t think to check the label before I bought it, but apparently the new 100 calorie Chobani line is sweetened with stevia and monk fruit?!  Yuck.  I hate the taste of stevia, but realized it was in there too late after everything was stirred together.

I had big plans for Wednesday’s dinner – I was going to make two sets of meals so I was prepped for the rest of the week – but instead I rolled around with a migraine.  When I finally was ready to eat it was after 10 pm, so I just made a sandwich.

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I’m not really complaining though, at least it was an exciting sandwich.

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French toast bagel topped with 2 slices of Applegate Farms smoked turkey, an egg, and 1 oz of Brie.

Oatmeal lunch.

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Blueberry hazelnut oatmeal from Quaker topped Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter to continue the theme.  Plus an Ambrosia apple that was sweet and juicy.

Dipping snack.

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Baby carrots with Sabra olive tapenade hummus.  I liked the blend of two of my favorite Mediterranean flavors.

Ridiculous cookies.

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Adam and I aren’t quite sure what to think of them.  150 calories for 2 cookies is pretty horrifying when you realize the cookies are practically silver dollar sized.

Last night I made the easier of Wednesday’s planned meals.

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The Za’atar veggie burgers were part of my box from Sweet Earth Foods.

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

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The burgers were nowhere near as good as the terrific bacon, but they weren’t bad.  Sadly the flavor was fairly “Bland, now with spices.”  But I liked the textural aspect of the flax seeds.  And they cooked up very quickly, making them an easy 230 calorie, 6 grams of fiber, 18 grams of protein vegan option.  I went back and topped mine with mustard.

On the side was TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch Collection – kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and green and red cabbage – sautéed with champagne pear vinaigrette, chopped pecans, and dried blueberries.

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I forgot our fresh corn on the cob in the fridge, but we didn’t even miss it once we tasted how good the vegetables were.  I highly recommend adding dried blueberries the next time you sauté greens.

FYI – I wrote a guest post on prenatal nutrition on Kath Eats.

Weekend Wrap-Up; Frozen

Good morning!  I’m excited to report a fabulous Saturday and Sunday.  Adam had a golden weekend – both days off – and we made the most of it.  I only have photos of a fraction of our eats (among other things, we went to Bareburger twice) because I was too busy/excited/drunk to bother, but here are some of the highlights…

The only homemade meal we had all weekend was actually one of the best.

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We shared a sandwich of fried egg, fontina cheese, mustard, and the rest of the Sweet Earth vegan bacon on pumpernickel rye swirl.  Homemade egg sandwiches are always wonderful, but the sweet and smoky flavor of the “bacon” took this one to a new level.

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Plus a lavender lime spritzer.

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Fresh lime juice, lavender simple syrup, maple, water, and seltzer.

Another shared sandwich, the shredded chicken from Bahnmigos.

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Adam had resisted joining me for Bahn Mi for weeks, but now that he’s tasted it he is completely obsessed.  You just cannot beat Srircha, mayo, and pickled veggies on that crusty French bread.

We have to get Ample Hills when we’re in Park Slope.

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Butter Pecan Brittle and Salted Crack Caramel for me.  I also tasted the peppermint patty flavor and now I’m pretty desperate to go back and get a cup of that.

A trip to Manhattan for the Central Park Zoo.

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A lot of exhibits were closed, so that was a bummer, but we loved getting to walk around the park.

Dinner at Farmacy was disappointingly lackluster, especially since it’s our new favorite spot.

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My caramel coffee egg cream was nice,

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but the grilled cheese was meh.

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Maybe it was just me though, Adam liked both of our sandwiches and thought I was crazy.

On Sunday we had brunch right on the water at Sheepshead Bay, then drove over for an afternoon at Rockaway Beach.

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We hit up two frozen treats from the Buzzfeed list.  {#12} Frozen pink lemonade from Bungalow Bar was a little watery but very pink.  The bar was right on the water!

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And {#14} Connolly’s Bar made the best frozen piña colada I’ve ever had.

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Plus we explored the area and hit up Rockaway Taco, which was pretty much beyond words.

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The fish tacos were perfection.

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And we both loved our juice.

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Pineapple mint for Adam and watermelon for me.  Love.

Weekly Wrap-Up; Chocolate And Coffee

Forget Friday, TGIS! {thank god it’s Saturday}  This felt like the week that would never end – I had an allergic reaction to an allergy medicine, Adam and the dog both got food poisoning, and we had plumbing issue that flooded the entire apartment.  Yuck, yuck, and yuck.

I would have more pictures to share – we might have drowned our sorrows in melted cheese – but we hadn’t done any dishes for a solid week and a half so I’ve been buying lunch at work and we have been eating lots of take-out off of paper plates.  In bed.  <– we’re disgusting.

We are getting it together (finally) though.  Friday night, just before I wrote this post, Adam did a big load of dishes while I cooked us a tasty, healthy dinner.  And with any luck, by the time this scheduled post goes live I will have made it to the gym.  Cross your sneakers for me?

breakfast/snacks

An apple and a coffee on the way to work, both fabulous.  Sonya apple.

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Bananas Foster cappuccino from 7-11.

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The banana coffee was surprisingly delicious.  But the Dream caramel almond milk latte I had the next day was even better.

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This Extra cinnamon roll gum is so tasty.  I’ve enjoyed the other Dessert Delights but tire of them quickly, but this flavor is enjoyable to the end.

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Peppermint candy my parents sent me from STT’s food fair for Carnival.  It is basically sugar and peppermint oil smashed together – eating one is like chomping your teeth together during a cleaning at the dentist – and it’s one of my favorite things.

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Venti iced non-fat latte with my rewards freebie.  4 shots of espresso / 2 shots of white mocha / one very judgy look shot my way when the barista repeated back my order.

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Cheese and chocolate.  A mix of what you’ll see below.

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Adam and I checked out the gorgeous Whole Foods on 3rd Ave in Brooklyn and came away with a couple of treats to share.  Iced coffee.

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And a honey nougat chocolate bar.

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I’m not sure you can really call something a “turtle” without caramel, but this new Uber Larabar was good.

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What is this?

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Iced coffee + lavender simple syrup + chocolate milk

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= lavender iced mocha {for the win}.

lunch

Last Sunday, a girlfriend and I went to Smorgasburg in DUMBO.

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It was even better than Saturday’s in Williamsburg.  It is right on the water and there is a wonderful walking path.

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My friend and I were food twins all day and we both quite enjoyed everything we chose.  Coffee, obvs.

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A duck bun that had the most succulent meat I’ve ever tasted.

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And bubble tea.  Honey and lavender tea with boba and lychee jelly.

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Cheese plate.  Pear / apple / Chocolove Dark Chocolate Coffee Crunch / Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese.

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The only lunch I managed to pack for work.

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Passion fruit Chobani.

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Plus a Blueberry Oat Almond Thin and a few dates.

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Supplemented with a guava cheese empanada from the truck near my work.

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Oh. My. God.  The empanada was too fabulous.  I grew up loving guava paste, but I’ve never had it paired with cheese before.  The sweet and savory combo was insane.

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I ended up buying an empanada for my train-ride home the next two days in a row.

dinner

From the sea.

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I made fish salad out of leftover baked tilapia; shredded fish, Miracle Whip, relish, fresh dill, and Old Bay.  On a pretzel roll, topped with roasted spring onions.

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Plus roasted green beans with Old Bay on the side.

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And a Southern Tier milk stout for sipping.

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Adam had the day off on Monday so he picked me up at work and we walked over to Fletcher’s BBQ for an awesome dinner.

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They had Genesse Cream Ale.

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And this tray was the best bbq I’ve ever had, including what we’ve tried in the south.

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We split mac and cheese,

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and fridge pickles,

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and each got a chopped chicken sandwich with slaw on top.

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We smothered our sandwiches in bbq sauce and were absolutely swooning.  And one of the men behind the counter saw how thrilled we were and sent us home with a container of sauce to go!

We topped off our night by moseying next door for pie.

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A rosemary shoefly slice that was interesting but not quite sweet enough for our tastes.

My healthy/easy/tasty Friday dinner.

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Roasted broccoli.

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And ridiculous melts.

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A maple French toast bagel topped with sweet and spicy pepper jam, smoked turkey, sliced Brie, and Hickory and Sage Smoked Seitan Bacon.

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The “bacon” was part of a sample I received from Sweet Earth.  This vegan, non-gmo, no nitrate bacon has 10 grams of protein, 90 calories, and 0.5 grams of saturated fat per serving.  The ingredients were all things I could recognize, like buckwheat groats, coconut, and maple.  We were big fans.

Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!

Long Week Wrap-Up; The Perfect Date? I’d Have To Say April 25th.

Woah!  It’s been almost two weeks; this is going to be a loooooong post, and that’s after I cut out a whole bunch of stuff.  I left in lots of coffee, dinners in bowls, and tasty medjool dates.  I’ve had a bad case of the Blogging Blahs recently and I just can’t get myself to sit down and write.  Even though I’m not talking about it much, we have been eating fancy meals and doing fun things.  Like spending last Saturday in Manhattan…

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On our way to the theatre!

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We saw Bullets Over Broadway and loved it.  Zach Braff – one of my idols – played the lead and the show was super funny.

Here is some of what’s gone on {my plate} since I last posted – –

breakfasts and lunches

Amazing hot chocolate and a vanilla almond KIND bar.

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Smoothie = frozen banana, dates, vanilla almond milk, vanilla almond butter, cinnamon-maple sugar, and vanilla bean paste.

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Yogurt bowl.  2% Fage topped with cooked strawberries, chopped date, and pecans.

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Yogurt lunch.

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Dannon coffee Greek yogurt,

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plus dates with sweet and spicy pecans, and an apple.

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Super salad.  I packed spring mix topped with blue cheese, sweet and spicy pecans, and chopped apple, then added some Italian dressing from the salad bar at work.  P.S. The cafeteria was on point this week; I bought several cheesy slices of pizza and had creamy lobster bisque with giant pieces of meat.

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Lunch with Au Bon Pain.  They sent me some coupons to try out their new late spring menu.

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We tried the Sriracha Chicken Sandwich—all-natural chicken with Sriracha sauce, pickled banana peppers, arugula, tomatoes and lemon aioli on a baguette.  Interesting, but not too spicy for the husband.

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A Lemon and Sweet Cheese CroisBun – flaky croissant blended with butter bun, filled with sweet cheese and lemon curd.

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And an Arnold Palmer with their black currant iced tea.

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Everything was really yummy, but we were pretty annoyed because the location we chose was out of the new salads, both of which sounded amazing.

[BBQ Chicken Salad—all-natural chicken marinated in barbecue sauce, romaine, roasted corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, three-cheddar blend and light ranch dressing.  Fresh Fruit & Baby Kale Salad—fresh watermelon, strawberries, mandarin oranges, feta and sliced almonds on a bed of baby kale and balsamic vinaigrette.]

I will not be going back to that location, but I will be heading to ABP for a salad asap.

drinks and desserts

Many iced lattes with my magic milk straws.

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Also the cookie dough iced coffee from Dunkin is still great.

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And this double espresso over ice – with skim milk and sugar – from Café Dada that filled me with joy.

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We are officially giving two thumbs up to Rice Dream’s Horchata.

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Adam actually liked it even more than I did.

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Still working my way through Buzzfeed’s Frozen Treat’s list; #33 was cholado from Las Americas Bakery.

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We got Raspado, shaved ice with homemade fruit syrup and sweetened condensed milk.

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Caramel date shake – sea salt caramel gelato blended with dates and skim milk.

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Frozen hot chocolate from Tim Horton’s.  Please note – they sent me a free coupon so I could sample this new product.

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It wasn’t as good as the frozen hot chocolate, but it was definitely delicious.  We would plan on purchasing them again this summer.  The fudge on top was out of control.

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This cookie dough candy was as good as you’d expect it to be.  <– i.e. if that sort of thing sounds good to you then you’ll probably like it but if you thought“dear god, why would you dip cookie dough in chocolate” then you’ll probably think it’s too sweet.  I thoroughly enjoyed half and then was happy to throw the rest away.

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Brooklyn Farmacy is officially our new favorite place.

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A family restored the 1920’s pharmacy and turned it into a soda fountain heaven.  The music, fixtures, and staff wardrobe are all throw-backs to the ’20s but in a way that is touching and kitschy rather than cheesy (think classy, not Johnny Rockets).

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We shared a hibiscus float and a maple egg cream that were both indescribably good.

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We practically ordered a second round!

dinners

Farro bowls.  Leftover farro tossed with soy sauce and rice vinegar / sautéed shiitake mushrooms and shredded carrots / sauerkraut sautéed with Sriracha and sugar / sliced cucumber / and a fried egg.

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Here it is before the egg went down.

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Pasta bowls.

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Whole wheat linguine / spinach and roasted broccoli / sauce made of a raw egg cracked into the hot pasta plus a splash of milk and huge handful of shredded swiss cheese / topped with panko fried with evoo, smoked paprika, and truffle salt.

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Burrito bowl at Calexico.  Rice / black beans / guacamole / cojita cheese / avocado sauce / and jalopeños.

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Old-school burger and fries at Bareburger.  Turkey burger – on a bun! – with pickle chips, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and ketchup.  Just like a McDonald’s burger from when I was a kid.

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Cheese plate!  Assembled entirely of items from Trader Joe’s.

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Dates, salmon jerky,

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orange slices, pear,

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rosemary crackers,

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and Italian truffle cheese.

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The cheese was an early appetizer for our sushi night.

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I got a pickle veggie roll and a non-authentic fried stuff roll.  Both were only ok.  We had sushi a couple of times over the past weeks and none of it has been very good.

A fancy dinner, after our date at the theatre, at Stone Park Café.

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We started with a salad of baby arugula, toasted pecans, artichoke hearts, and blue cheese vinaigrette.

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And the scallop and marrow tacos.  Uggggh.  These were insane.

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I had seared Catham cod with Odessa eggplant, baby bok choy, and lemon gremolata.  Apparently this was the first time I tasted cod outside of fish and chips?!  SPC is one of our favorite restaurants in the city so I know this was good, but I wasn’t a big fan.

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Adam’s dinner blew mine out of the water.  Butternut squash and thyme ravioli with brown butter, pine nuts, and mixed mushrooms.

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Thankfully he was very generous with shared bites.

Are you sick of this post yet?  That’s all she wrote!