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!

Long Week Wrap-Up; Something Blue

My first post since last Thursday, since the week/end flew by.  Really the whole month of June feels like it’s flying by!

In spite of being busy, I did manage to photograph every single thing I ate Monday – Thursday, minus one cup of iced coffee.  <– go me!  That’s in sharp contrast to Saturday and Sunday, when I took exactly two photos:

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Baked brie that I shared with a girlfriend at C’est Cheese.  It was delicious, obviously.  We were in Northern Long Island on a Saturday because our friends Kim and Dan were getting married!

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Kim is seriously the classiest person I know so their wedding was, of course, amazing.  I felt too weird to take a picture of my plate at the table of college friends we didn’t know, but the food was delicious.

I spent Sunday lazing around the house, eating potato chips.  But come Monday, I got myself together.  Here’s the recap…

breakfasts

The food stand at my LIRR station sells iced coffee now!  This would be more exciting/a bigger bummer for my wallet except that they only have coffee creamer, no skim milk, so I doubt I’ll get it that often.

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I had a 2nd coffee (with chocolate milk) when I got to work.  <– the only food item that escaped my camera this week

Breakfast at my desk.

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Coffee, a peanut butter & strawberry KIND bar, and a red pear that I gave up on after two bites because it was just too drippy with juice to manage at my desk.

Smoothie time.  Frozen raspberries, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a big scoop of Cacao Bliss.

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The coconut butter froze into delicious little balls embedded throughout the smoothie.  Kind of like the old Orbitz drinks!

Chocolate malted coffee.

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I stirred a scoop of malt powder into chocolate milk before mixing it into my cold brewed coffee.  This was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

lunches

A winning yogurt bowl.

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Plain Greek yogurt with 2 Tbsp of Meyer lemon curd and 1/2 a pint of fresh blueberries.

Cafeteria salad.

pickle salad

Greens topped with balsamic dressing, pickled veggies, tons of pickles, and big scoop of chicken salad.

Vita Coco coconut water latte plus homemade “instant” oats.

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Just rolled oats, freeze-dried strawberries, cinnamon maple sugar, and a Tbsp of malted milk powder that I covered with hot water from the cafeteria.

Thursday was insanely busy and my lunch plans went out the window.  When I finished my final gestational diabetes education I did eat cereal at my desk at 3pm.

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That Special K was pretty good.  And now I have my packed lunch ready and waiting for me tomorrow.

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That yogurt bowl is going to be goo-ood.

snacks

Last week I bitched about my insane afternoon hunger so this week I leaned into the problem and packed smaller lunches to accommodate many (many, many) snacks when I got home.  Though these jelly beans were actually eaten at work.

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The 2nd half of a package of TJ’s Inner Peas.

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Cinnamon pita chips with TJ’s honey goat’s milk gouda.  <– ridiculous

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Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

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Lemon pie milkshake, aka my best idea ever (rivaled only by the malted coffee!).

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We blended vanilla bean ice cream, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, Meyer lemon curd, and Cascadian Farm Graham Crunch cereal and it was flipping fantastic.

dinners

This frozen entrée of white fish with zucchini and pesto was quite lovely.

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The fish didn’t do much for me, but the squash/sauce bites were delish.

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Plus, how great is this ingredient list?

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The 2nd half of that dinner had a decidedly less short ingredient list.

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But my Lean Cuisine stuffed pretzels were tasty nonetheless.

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More homemade Pad Thai.

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This time with shiitake mushroom, broccoli and tofu.

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The tofu was Nasoya Sprouted Tofu Plus that I topped with a mixture of Sriracha, smoked brown sugar, and rice vinegar before baking.

Gardein Mandarin Crispy Chick’n that we bulked up with roasted broccoli.

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Plus frozen kale cooked with peanut sauce and crushed peanuts.

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All together this was nice.

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Adding vegetables to frozen meals is a good compromise between my desire to eat a healthy dinner and my desire to come home and sit on the couch without pants.

I hate to end this post on a blah note, but Adam worked Thursday night and my single lady dinner was pretty lame.  The last serving of broccoli and chick’n,

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with popcorn,

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and this embarrassing little bowl of melted coconut oil with Dutch cocoa powder and sugar.

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Mom, Adam has leftover Pad Thai so I did not leave him stranded for “dinner” when he gets home in the morning!

Were you a fan of the Orbitz soda?  I would totally buy it now if it was still available.

Weekly Wrap-Up Mini

Last night I went to write my Weekly Wrap-Up post, and….. I deleted everything on my camera.  Whoops!  All I have are the photos I had uploaded earlier in the week.  I figured I’d share a few snippets from earlier this week as a mini wrap-up.  Sound good?

An awesome “pb&j” smoothie.

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Frozen raspberries and dates with Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Snack-time at work.

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Fruit gummies, salmon jerky, pretzels, and applesauce.  Part of this snack was a free sample sent to me from Mary’s Gone Crackers.

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The Sea Salt Pretzels are organic, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free.  Their unique texture is a mash-up of whole grain brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds, sesame seeds, amaranth, millet and chia seeds.  A pretty solid ingredient list!  I ate them straight, as well as crumbled into a yogurt bowl, and decided I was a fan.

Another good snack is Ambrosia apples.

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I’ve only seen them at Whole Foods this summer but they are worth the extra driving time because they’re so sweet and juicy.

We discovered that there is a Grimaldi’s location just minutes from our house.

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We’ve never been to the original DUMBO location, but we were pretty darn impressed with this outpost.  We had a nice house salad.

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And a pizza with mushrooms, garlic, and black olives.

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The olives were ridiculous good – like little briny prunes!

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We will definitely go back.

I actually ended up having pizza for four different lunches and dinners this week so you really didn’t miss much in this mini wrap-up.  The next night I did 1 am pizza after rushing back into the city to see The Stationary Set.

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My childhood best friend is with the lead singer but this was actually the first time I had heard them play live.  Loooooooved it!  Important to note – I brought a girlfriend who is much cooler than me to the show and she loved them as well.  They have a new album out, I’m buying it this weekend and you should check it out too.

How many days in a row would you guess your longest pizza eating streak to be?

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…

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!