Weekly Wrap-Up

I’ve stopped doing daily posts for the time being, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped eating – and occasionally photographing – delicious things.  Once we’ve moved and things have settled down I’ll try to post more regularly, but for now I want to at least do a weekly wrap-up of some of the more scrumptious things I’ve eaten.  I’m going to borrow the style of Kath’s Lately posts for these.

A lot is missing, I don’t have any lunches and several slices of pizza went uncaptured, but here are some of the highlights from last week…

Breakfasts

I bought an amazing container of fresh blackberries early in the week and enjoyed them greatly.  They started getting soft so I put the last few servings in the freezer and I’m very much looking forward to reheating them.  First up, Dannon Oikos Café Latte Greek Yogurt with blackberries and a blend of peanut and coconut butter.

DSC02378

Cinnamon Pecan Special K with Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and more blackberries.

DSC02387

This cereal is so tasty; it’s got a granola-like texture but with far less calories.

A Dr. McDougall’s Peach and Hemp Oatmeal, eaten at work with a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

DSC02471

This oatmeal couldn’t hold a candle to my beloved Quaker cups.  It was quite gummy and strange, though I did eat all of the bites with hazelnut butter on them 😉

Snacks

I finally got a chance to try some of my shipment of the Larabar ALT lineLemon Pound Cake and Peanut Butter Cookie.

DSC02447

DSC02456

The verdict was – I’m a fan; though I’ll admit to being less excited to try the other two flavors.  The texture was gritty sand, but in a great way, and the flavors were spot on.  I shared the lemon bar with a coworker and she said to tell y’all she liked it a lot.

On Monday, Adam, a friend, and I drove over to Williamsville to check out one of our new froyo spots – Red Mango.

DSC02390

DSC02391

I did plain tart with tons of popping boba.  They had kiwi boba, a new experience for me.  Confession time though: I couldn’t finish that whole cup!  Who am I??

Dinners

Also on Monday, we spent the evening with another group of friends, saying goodbye to a doctor who was heading off to California.  As Adam and his friends all head off to their residencies we are having to say a lot of goodbyes.  We ate dinner at Mezza.

DSC02397

A Shish Tawouk wrap – cubed marinated chicken breast, garlic spread, sweet coleslaw, and French fries, all wrapped together and grilled – with a Feta Fattouch salad.  My food was delicious, as was the diet coke with strawberry vodka I sipped from the bar.

We drank at Blue Monk before heading to dinner and I tried my first taste of mussels.

DSC02394

I’ve always been wimpy about shelled seafood, but they were fantastic!  It helped that they were cooked with Ommegang Witte, lemon, leeks, garlic, parsley and cream.

We also ate dinner out last night.  I’ve wanted to try 99 Fast Food for years and Sunday after work it was finally my time.  Unfortunately all of the pho was made with beef broth so I couldn’t partake, but I did have a nice meal of tofu broccoli ginger stir-fry.

DSC02491

We tried a Vietnamese Pudding for dessert.

DSC02489

It was more of a drink than a pudding, red bean with sweetened coconut milk.

On Friday night I hurried home from work so we could get a little gussied.

DSC02460

My bosses generously gave me their tickets to the Mash Bash, an army-themed fundraiser.

DSC02462

I was literally the only person in the room not in green, so embarrassing!

There wasn’t a ton of food there that I could eat, but each ticket came with two drinks and Adam ate my share of pulled pork sandwich.

DSC02464

DSC02465

DSC02470

DSC02468

Most of my home-cooked meals flopped this week, but I did have one success with a little help from Coleman’s Mustard.

DSC02474

The company sent me a tin of powder to try {free sample, please note!}, along with a recipe for dressing –

Colman’s Chili Vinaigrette

  • 4 tbs. olive oil

  • 1 tbs. white wine vinegar

  • 1 tsp. Colman’s Original Powdered Mustard

  • 4 “splashes” mild green Tabasco sauce

  • ½ cup lemon juice

  • 2 tsp. honey

I whipped up a batch for salads; a spring lettuce based topped with English Cotswold cheese, buckwheat groats, and roasted asparagus.

DSC02479

It was a good week!

Winner Dinners

I thought it would be fun to share a few of our more successful dinners from the past week.  Working every day has meant that my lunches have been lame, but somehow my increased work schedule hasn’t killed my dinner motivation yet.  There have been some great breakfasts and snacks too (example – we tried the very famous Paula’s Doughnuts for the first time the other day) but my camera hasn’t been handy for those!

~Smoked herring salad with soft pretzels.

DSC02338

I bought these Smoked Herring Kipper Fillets from Trader Joe’s on my last trip to Ohio and they were flipping delicious.  I’ve been having a hard time with animal proteins lately (the texture has been throwing me) but these were so smokey good that they went down easily.

DSC02331

For the salad Adam and I split the can, mashed with mayo, pink salt, and green pepper and carrots shredded with the finest side of our grater.

DSC02342

The pretzels were consumed with a copious amount of yellow mustard.  We also had pudding for dessert but I didn’t take a picture because we ate it straight from the mixing bowl.

~Hot dogs with ketchup and kraut.

DSC02345

We had our dogs a day later than planned, on Tuesday, because I ended up spending Memorial Day in bed.  Literally the whole day; we brought in the laptop and became newly obsessed with both “Arrested Development” and “Fringe.”  This meal was worth the wait though.

Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs topped with ketchup and sauerkraut,

DSC02352

served with roasted asparagus and a new Ruffle’s product called Crispy Cheese Fries.

DSC02349

DSC02347

The “fries” were about as good as you’d expect (not very) but the turkey hot dogs were amazing.  I did not grow up eating hot dogs so there’s no nostalgia here, but I found this meal to be very pleasing.

~Turkey reubens with roasted broccoli.

DSC02367

We had to use up the rest of the sauerkraut from the hot dogs and what better way to use it than on toasty turkey reubens?  Wegman’s bakery rye topped with 1000 island dressing, sliced turkey, slices of provolone (Adam hates Swiss), and sauerkraut, then pressed the sandwiches in our George Foreman grill.

DSC02370

Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

DSC02376

Tonight’s dinner is going to be a, much less healthy, plate of cheesy fries.  I’m off to get them out of the oven now!

Highlights From OBX

Hey there!  Long time no see!  It has been, and is going to be, a crazy summer.

Among other things, I went to the Outer Banks last week (whee!).

DSC02294DSC02318

My in-laws took Adam and me for a couple of days and we had a glorious time.  We beached,

DSC02298

climbed the sand dunes,

DSC02281

DSC02279

DSC02276

got a large chocolate-strawberry diet coke from Sonic that rocked my face off,

DSC02329

and met a Flutter Pony.

DSC02289

You don’t even want to know how excited I was about that damn horse statue.

DSC02293

We went to climb the sand dunes in between my spotting the pony and taking my picture with it and I muttered to Adam about The Smooze the whole time.  <– if you got that reference I will kiss you on the mouth

I know I’m behind the times, but I want to post some of our trip eats highlights anyway, mostly so I have a record of them for the next time we visit OBX.  This was a trip where sharing meant caring; the only meals Adam and I didn’t split were dessert!

Lunch at Mulligan’s.

DSC02243

DSC02236

Coastal Carolina She-Crab soup.

DSC02248

This was basically a giant bowl of crab meat; ah-maze-ing!  We also swooned over the sherry floater.

California style fish tacos.

DSC02254

DSC02252

Soft tortillas with local fried fish, cilantro-lime slaw, pico de gallo, and Cajun tartar sauce.  This was our first meal in NC and it set a great tone for the rest of the trip.

BBQ at Sooey’s.

DSC02263

DSC02259

DSC02262

Pulled chicken platter with cole slaw, hush puppies, and fried okra.

DSC02274

DSC02269

DSC02272

DSC02266

This stop was a repeat from my first OBX visit and I’m so glad we went back.  Those were the best fried okra I’ve ever had, I was shoving them into my mouth by the handful!

Breakfast at The Dunes Restaurant.

DSC02295

We got the Greek omelet (spinach, tomato, and feta) with asparagus.  It came with hash-browns and a side and since we were splitting they let us do one hotcake and one biscuit.  Even with two of us eating we couldn’t finish that giant plate of food.

Froyo at The Surfin’ Spoon.

DSC02316

DSC02315

DSC02319

DSC02321

Such good topping options! I got a little bit of yogurt with marshmallow fluff, peanut butter topping, bananas, and reese’s peanut butter cups.

DSC02324

Like a fluffernutter in froyo form!

Also, froyo at Wild Berry.

DSC02255

The yogurt flavors weren’t anything new, but the toppings bar boasted sweetened condensed milk!!!  I was definitely in heaven.

All in all, it was a tasty, terrific trip.

Love Factually

Facts:

Dark chocolate and I have been having a moment lately.

DSC02002

Whenever I rock one of Adam’s t-shirts I always double up on eye makeup to try to compensate.

DSC02007

Kim and I spent five straight hours at Panera on Friday and I still am utterly confused by our final projects for this portion of the semester.

DSC02014

Adam and I were supposed to go to Toronto for pat bing soo this afternoon but the weather froze us out so we went to Gin Gin for red bean bubble tea instead.

DSC02015

DSC02022

The new grocery store in Orchard Park is amazing; Wegmans and Whole Foods wrapped up all in one.

DSC02023

This is the closest I’ll come to an egg cream while we live in Buffalo.

DSC02026

Classed up mac and cheese is super easy and tasty {boxed mac and cheese / peas / smoked kippered herring / capers / parmesan / panko / red pepper flakes}.

DSC02031

Watching “Buffy” with Adam is even better the 2nd time around.

Weekend Welcome Back

Hello again!  I know I kind of dropped off the face of the earth.  This semester has been busy.  I don’t have a lot to say tonight, and my pictures are poorly lit and blurry, but it was a good day so I wanted to share.

I slept in this morning; we’ve got a serious stayed-up-too-late-watching-Battlestar-Galactica-every-night-this-week sleep deficit going.  I ended up eating “breakfast” during the afternoon at work.  Chobani Vanilla Golden Crunch Flip.

DSC01897

I love most of Chobani’s flavors but I have really disliked the Flip line*.  This  was my 2nd try with this flavor and both times the vanilla yogurt was so tangy I was actually a little afraid it had gone bad.  *the Honey BeeNana one was really freaking good

I also drank a Dr. Pepper 10.

DSC01898

The first in a fun line-up of beverages today.

After work I met up with a friend for bubble tea; strawberry green tea with both kinds of boba.

DSC01902

We hung out for the rest of the evening and had a fun night.  Next was drinks at a bar in Allentown.  I enjoyed this Genesee Cream Ale more than I was expecting to.

DSC01903

It was basically water, but at least it was quite refreshing.  Plus it is locally made.

Finally we headed to Seabar for a late dinner.

DSC01906

DSC01905

I was very disappointed that they were out of the (the) lobster ramen bowl, but I rallied with three small plates.

Seaweed salad.

DSC01907

Pickle cucumber salad over sushi rice.

DSC01908

Udon noodle bowl served with tempura shrimp.

DSC01911

All three were quite tasty but the cucumber salad was my favorite.

I brushed my teeth the minute I got home and now I’m actually blogging from the bed!  Sweet dreams!

Easter Brunch

I hope everyone had a hoppy Easter!  Our day was quite nice; tasty food, nice weather, and tons of tv.

Adam’s parents sent us $ in lieu of an Easter basket so I got to go to brunch with my handsome husband.

DSC01834

DSC01837

He took me to Left Bank, a spot he’s been to with friends (working weekends means I usually have to skip brunch, boo!) and was dying to share.

DSC01829

DSC01831

DSC01833

The space was gorgeous and the menu had lots of offer.  Plus, they brought yummy lemon poppy-seed bread.

DSC01842

Adam ordered a mimosa while I went with an extra-spicy bloody mary,

DSC01839

but we were on the same page when it came to food.

DSC01844

We both ordered the Seafood Benedict,

DSC01848

crab cakes topped with poached eggs and [citrus] hollandaise.  <– I asked for regular hollandaise, served on the side please!

The dish came with sides of fruit and hash browns and was quite good.

DSC01850

I saved one of my crab cakes for Adam but devoured my eggs.

DSC01851

Meals where you soak up yolks are my very favorite!

The rest of our day was gloriously low-key.  We knew we were going to hunker down on the couch, so we made sure to take the dog on a quick walk first.  I got an iced, non-fat, caramel macchiato on the way home.

DSC01855

Why yes, I did ask for extra caramel – it was Easter dammit and no one bought me any candy!

Minus a few hours spent on a take-home exam, we spent the rest of the day screaming at the characters on “Battlestar Galactica.”  My food totally fit the tv marathon vibe…  Chips.

DSC01856

Leftover buffalo chicken mac and cheese.  (recipe’s coming this week, promise!)

DSC01860

And no-bake brownie batter.  (recipe’s coming as soon as I work out the kinks!)

DSC01857

Readers who grew up with the whole bunny thing; do you still get an Easter basket?

Two Meals At One

Our last day in Charleston was our best day yet!  Technically we’ve got tomorrow morning as well, but we head for the airport before 6 am so I don’t have high expectations.  It was our best day of vacation, but I can’t give this post the love it deserves because I still have to pack!  Keeping it quick…

Workout – 25 minutes on the stationary bike.

Breakfast – Virginia’s on King.

DSC01662

DSC01664

My plate.

DSC01669

2 sunny side up eggs.

DSC01674

Hash browns.

DSC01671

Grits.

DSC01673

Homemade biscuit (with butter and jam).

DSC01676

I basically licked my plate clean!

Fun 1 – Middleton Place.

DSC01682

DSC01683

DSC01685

DSC01689

DSC01690

DSC01695

DSC01699

DSC01702

DSC01704

DSC01707

DSC01709

DSC01711

DSC01713

DSC01719

DSC01723

DSC01725

DSC01726

DSC01728

DSC01731

DSC01733

DSC01735

DSC01736

DSC01737

DSC01740

Fun 2 – A stop at Sonic for a big Coke Zero with strawberries.

DSC01742

Fun 3 – We explored some more downtown and stopped at a coffee shop to warm up.  While we were hanging out we just might have designed some Easter eggs.

DSC01746

Dinner – Breakfast was so good that we headed back to Virginia’s for a 2nd meal!  Our instincts weren’t wrong, they brought us tasty cornbread (studded with broccoli!) with butter.

DSC01756

We also shared an order of pimento cheese with flat bread.

DSC01754

I went full-on Southern for my final meal.

DSC01758

Fried catfish.

DSC01767

Sweet potato fries.

DSC01763

And baked mac and cheese.

DSC01765

When in Rome.  Everyone shared bites and agreed that my plate was amazing.

See you in Buffalo!

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

Hello from the South!  I’m blogging in a spring-ish 50-something degrees (it’s better than Buffalo!).  Actually, I’m blogging from Adam’s computer this trip, so I’ve got to keep things quick.  We are having a terrific, delicious time.

DSC01514

Breakfast day 1 – brunch at the famous Hominy Grill.

DSC01506

DSC01508

DSC01505

I got a(n extra spicy) bloody mary.

DSC01516

And a bowl of she crab soup.

DSC01522

Charleston is famous for its she crab soup; this bowl was super creamy and loaded with pieces of crab.  I adore anything with sherry.

We ordered a piece of buttermilk pie for the table.

DSC01526

But it was much drier and less custard-y than we were hoping so we all just took a small taste.

It was a rainy first day so we did lots of inside and driving activities.  We got in some good sight-seeing and scoped out a few spots to hit up during the rest of our trip.

DSC01540

DSC01539

One of our stops was Whole Foods for stocking up on goodies.  <– chocolate coconut butter packets, it’s good to have you back in my life!

There was froyo next door.

DSC01536

I didn’t really love any of the flavor offerings so I got a small cup of cheesecake yogurt with tons of popping boba.

DSC01535

Can’t go wrong with boba.

We went to Hyman’s Seafood for dinner and they brought us complimentary hush puppies.

DSC01542

Best hush puppies ever; they had the perfect amount of sweetness.

We also started with fried pickles.

DSC01545

Lots of fried food in that dinner.  I got french fries as my side,

DSC01550

with steamed shrimp.

DSC01551

Every component of my meal ended up smothered in tartar and cocktail sauce.  I’m a girl who loves her condiments.

I was exhausted by the end of the day and crashed into bed hard.  Let’s pretend it was the 20 minute stationary bike ride I started the day with, and not the heavy dinner!

Day 2 we skipped the gym and slept in.  Instead I made it a healthy morning by starting my day with an apple.

DSC01554

Then we headed to Bakehouse for breakfast.

DSC01557

DSC01576

DSC01558

The offerings were as delicious as the space was adorable.  The cookies and bars looks amazing but the closest we came to them was splitting a caramel marshmallow.

DSC01572

I also did a toasted marshmallow cappuccino.

DSC01563

Adam and I shared breakfast.

DSC01564

We had a mixed berry scone.

DSC01570

And a piece of Greek turkey strata.

DSC01567

It was a great breakfast.

We spent our second day exploring on foot.  King Street and Meeting Street provided lots to look at.

DSC01578

DSC01580

DSC01583

DSC01587

DSC01589

DSC01591

DSC01595

DSC01597

DSC01615

DSC01617

DSC01618

We even got to see dolphins!

DSC01603

DSC01600

DSC01606

I couldn’t get a picture to save my life, but we saw lots of waving flippers and even a mama/baby combo.

Tastes from the day included…. Praline,

DSC01581

a drop of the spiciest hot sauce available (I stuck a toothpick in it and touched it to my tongue; I honestly didn’t think it was that hot!),

DSC01585

honey,

DSC01625

DSC01623

an Earl Grey macaron (<– squeeee!),

DSC01627

DSC01629

DSC01631

a KIND bar,

DSC01633

and some watermelon Zots from one of the many old-time candy stores.

DSC01634

All good, but I am definitely a lunch eater; when we got back to the hotel to change for dinner I was starving.  Enter the perfect snack –

DSC01637

Diet coke and Cacao Bliss?  Yes please!

But I sure was glad I saved room for dinner.  We had an incredible Southern meal at Magnolias.

DSC01642

DSC01640

Bread with ridiculous cream cheese herb butter came when we sat down.

DSC01644

And we ordered a pimento cheese plate to start.

DSC01648

DSC01647

Sadly, the cheese wasn’t quite as sharp as I was hoping for, but everyone else at the table loved it.  Pimento cheese was at the top of my to-do list for the Southern vacation though, so I hope to try again tomorrow.

I ordered a Bellini to drink (champagne/peach nectar/and a touch of grenadine),

DSC01652

but ended up swapping with Adam halfway through for his vodka/creme de cassis/pineapple juice martini.

DSC01656

For dinner I went with the “Fresh, Local, and Vegetarian.”  You can’t go wrong with a name like that!

DSC01661

Sautéed spinach, fresh corn salad, roasted carrots, fried green tomatoes with jalopeño pimento cheese, and mashed potatoes.

We were too stuffed for dessert, though the menu listed a cream cheese pecan brownie with white chocolate ice cream that I’ll probably be dreaming about!

In fact, I’d like to be dreaming now; goodnight!

Have you ever been to Charleston?  Is there anything we just can’t miss on our last day?