Crab Apple

This week had a snack theme (apples!) and a dinner theme (seafood)! Here were some highlights…

Apple energy drinks. The Alani was too sour for me this year (does it seem different than last year to anyone else?) but I ended up really liking the Bloom.

I made an iced matcha spritzer with apple cider and lemon seltzer. P.S. I also made spiced apple brown sugar syrup this week – equal parts cider and brown sugar cooked down with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg – it was good in coffee and great in Diet Coke.

High Tide’s yuzu sparkling water is a new favorite.

Apple snack plate – Cripps Pink apple, Fix and Fogg super crunchy peanut butter, Whole Food’s apple cinnamon mini rice cakes.

This furikake snack mix from Trader Joe’s is hands-down the best snack mix we’ve ever tasted; it’s almost impossible to keep your hands out of.

On-theme peelable gummies make my heart happy.

I hated this dinner – udon noodles with a sardine-scented red sauce – so much I wouldn’t eat it and got pizza instead, but I am including this picture as a reminder to myself that oven-roasted baby broccoli is delicious and we should make it more often.

Crab pasta (that I actually liked). Buckwheat soba noodles and roasted zucchini with sauteed shallots and garleek with crab, butter, evoo, cream cheese, white pepper, gochujang, brown sugar, and lemon juice.

Salmon avocado toast. Toasted sourdough / mashed avocado with salt, pepper, gochugaru, and lemon / Trader Joe’s hot-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus roasted adult broccoli. No, this was not enough food for dinner. Yes, I loved the new cantina chicken chalupas I ended up getting at Taco Bell.

P.S. We are staying on theme this evening and heading out to a fun sushi dinner at Kissaki to hopefully eat all the rest of the fishes.

Wet Fruit, Dry Fruit

Highlights from a yummy week…

This yogurt bowl was good in theory but unfortunately it was so wet. Plain skyr with blueberries, golden kiwi, and passionfruit. Scooping kiwis out of their skin (rather than trying to peel and cut them) has been a game changer for me; I eat them all the time now.

Hummus and crackers. Both good but not my favorites.

These Patagonia sourdough crackers are amazing though.

Trader Joe’s freeze-dried watermelon candies. Our bag seemed a little stale but the flavor is great.

Lindt Dubai style chocolate bar. 9/10 but nothing is as good as the original Nuts for Nuts Dubai bar.

The best candy is these sour slices from Whole Foods. The calamansi lime ones are ridiculous.

Dinner out at Varli Indian Street Kitchen. Mango lassi.

I got chili paneer which came with tons of onions and peppers and Adam had excellent butter chicken.

Greek baked turkey meatballs. Ground turkey with tabbouleh, feta, salt and pepper, urfa chili, onion powder, garlic powder, and egg. Served with fresh tomatoes and fantastic snap peas (sauteed with feta, piquante peppers, walnuts, honey, rice vinegar, and gochugaru.

In the style of orange chicken, Tangerine Apricot Yuzu Tofu. Firm tofu (I froze/thawed mine which gives it the best texture) tossed with gochugaru, white pepper, and cornstarch / baked with broccoli, red bell pepper, and green onions / tossed with sauce – cornstarch slurry, fresh tangerine juice, apricot jelly, yuzu ponzu, dark soy sauce, chili oil, rice vinegar, honey, and garlic whisked over medium heat / topped with sesame seeds. We added cashews afterwards too! Served on brown rice.

Crispy rice spicy California roll bowls. We love this meal. This iteration was imitation crab, cucumber, avocado, and green onion / tossed with yuzu ponzu and Kewpie / on top of crispy rice – leftover rice tossed with dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, and chili oil and baked until crispy / topped with furikake.

Chia, Crumb, Curd

Yummy things from the week…

These Smash Bites are hard to find but they are a great snack. This flavor – peanut butter and concord grape jam) is my favorite.

Plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and homemade meyer lemon curd.

Homemade amaretto sours! I used meyer lemons, rose syrup, and added vodka.

Homemade cinnamon brownies with crumb cake topping. I left the eggs out of the batter like an idiot but they were still quite good.

We got For Five vodka pasta over the weekend and it was both surprisingly good and surprisingly good reheated.

Congee (brown rice cooked slowly with chicken broth, ginger, and white pepper) topped with a take on Thai basil turkey (ground turkey sauteed with dark soy sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, onion, and basil) with a fried egg and some crunchy chili flakes. Plus roasted purple cauliflower.

Sesame herb salads. Raw cabbage, boy choy, green onions, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, Fresno chili, and cilantro / dressed with sesame oil, lime juice, yuzu ponzu, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and Sriracha / with baked chicken, Whole Food’s sesame seaweed cashews, and sesame seeds.

Peanut butter red curry noodles. Brown rice Pad Thai noodles / baked extra-firm tofu / sauteed cabbage, bok choy, spinach, green onion, and cilantro with white pepper and rice vinegar / sauce – peanut butter, red curry paste, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, and water.

Spicy California Roll Bowls With Crispy Rice

I’m at work today but starting bright and early tomorrow — I am on vacation! I am eating a take-out burrito bowl while I type but here is some of what I ate before we ran out of groceries…

Smoothie – frozen banana, blueberries, and cherries, Greek yogurt, honey, water, matcha, and vanilla protein powder.

We tried a new to us clear protein drink and were fans; this was nice and thirst-quenching.

Trader Joe’s Crunchy Curls and Everything and the Elote dip are a snack dream team.

Obviously I bought this Dubai chocolate sundae gelato. The mix-ins were a little sparse but I topped it with extra pistachio butter and chocolate shell!!

Beans with beans. Crispy beans – baked cannellini beans with evoo, panko, corn starch, salt, urfa pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder / with spicy green beans – steamed and then sauteed with evoo and butter, chopped kimchi and piquante peppers, walnuts, salt, white pepper, and sugar.

Taco turkey bowls with brown rice / baked cabbage with evoo, salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning / taco and nacho Quest protein chips / ground turkey sauteed with Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder / sharp cheddar / sauteed bell pepper and green onion with lemon / and I topped my bowl with Blind Betty hot sauce.

Spicy California roll bowls with crispy rice. Crispy rice – leftover rice baked until crispy with dark soy sauce, chili crisp, sugar, and sesame oil / salad – cucumber, avocado, green onion, and imitation crab with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ponzu sauce / furikake.

Pastabilities

Highlights from the week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain skyr with butterscotch syrup, blueberries and blackberries, Heritage Flakes, and peanut butter.

I tried my first yellow dragon fruit and it was delicious; way more flavorful than the pink ones.

99 Ranch snacks. The seaweed crisps were actually too spicy for me but Calbee honey butter chips are always a hit.

They clearly have a lot going on but these grape green tea and cheese ice cream bars are possibly the most satisfying frozen dessert I’ve ever eaten. The mix of creamy and chewy is perfection.

Leftover turkey lasagna with roasted broccoli.

I used leftover lasagna noodles to make (otherwise authentic) chicken pad see ew. This recipe (sidenote, I adore Recipe Tin Eats, everything we’ve tried from her site has been perfect) but I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and six-times more Chinese broccoli.

Mandu bulgogi chicken frozen dumplings – delicious – pan-fried with tons of sharp cheddar plus chili crisp and leftover sauteed Chinese broccoli.

Roast‘s weekly special was lobster rolls so we obviously had to get them. We shared a Maine and a Connecticut-style.

Plus fries and an Abomination Brewing double IPA brewed with lobster! We did not taste any crustaceans but it was a great IPA.

Passionately Crabby

Good things from this week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with blueberries, passionfruit, and chocolate cookie granola.

Cookie dough protein yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and chocolate chips. Blueberries on the side, of course.

Hojicha tea with yuzu curd and passionfruit syrup.

Bougie candies. Candy Kitten raspberry + guava (7/10) and Jom cola (10/10).

I really enjoyed this Buldak cheese spicy chicken ramen. This flavor wasn’t too spicy and the noodles were so bouncy! I added an egg and a slice of cheese to my bowl and it was great.

A take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked down with light coconut milk, yellow onion, habanero pepper, ginger, urfa pepper, salt, pepper, turkey bacon, and crab.

I topped my bowl with soursop hot sauce and paired it with hot mustard Doritos.

Sushi roll bowls. Brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower with furikake, white sugar, and rice vinegar / imitation crab with green onion, Greek yogurt, mayo, soy sauce, and Sriracha / cucumbers tossed with white pepper, Sichuan pepper, and rice vinegar / avocado / pickled ginger / seaweed snacks on the side.

Crab fried rice. Leftover cauliflower/rice stir-fried with soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, green onion, crab meat, and eggs. Plus fairytale eggplants that I roasted and then sauteed with gojuchang, tahini, and sesame oil. We want to remake this eggplant immediately.

Butterscotch, Coconut, Rye

Some things from the week…

Inspired by the last weekend, I paired coconut water with sweetened condensed milk and strong iced coffee (Cafe du Monde with chicory).

Trader Joe’s new sourdough rye crisps are a top-tier snack, especially when paired with buffalo chicken dip.

Butterscotch Snickers! This tasted exactly like pecan pie.

Salmon sushi bake. I used brown rice and hot smoked sockeye salmon and canned sockeye salmon. Plus roasted broccoli with furikake.

Mac and cheese muffins / crispy baked super firm tofu / roasted zucchini / unseen side of Greek yogurt ranch dipping sauce.

Poppy Plum Puff

Highlights from an exceptionally yummy week —

This week’s coffee situation was some combination of one-all of these salted caramel things with iced Bones Coffee Jamaican Me Crazy. Also one day I added coconut milk!

Berry smoothie with frozen dark cherries, fresh blueberries, and vanilla protein powder.

Many good yogurt bowls this week. This one was plain skyr with watermelon plum, blueberries, Heritage Flakes, and salted caramel granola.

Plain skyr with plum, poppy seed filling, and orange mandarin passionfruit jam.

Trader Joe’s maple pancake corn puffs are perfectly savory and sweet.

Related – we adore how savory the dough is in these poppy seed cookies.

Turkey-cheese roll up – Lavash bread with smoked turkey, extra-sharp cheddar, garlic hummus, and leftover roasted green beans.

Baked tofu and roasted broccoli with homemade ranch dip (mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and ranch seasoning). The tofu was Trader Joe’s super-firm that I marinated in pickle juice and coated in pulverized potato chips, roasted seaweed, sesame seeds, and panko.

A very loose but tasty take on callaloo made with frozen spinach and broccoli (plus yellow onion, scotch bonnet pepper, ginger, urfa chili, coconut milk, crab, and turkey bacon).

Topped with pickled ginger and this soursop hot sauce from home.

And paired with rum and Coke slushies, my greatest boozy creation.

I made a great rillete (aka fish dip) in the food processor with canned sockeye salmon, smoked trout, mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, chili crisp, smoked paprika, and celery seed. Scooped with orange bell pepper, cucumbers, 12 Tides everything kelp chips, and Trader Joe’s spicy tempura seaweed snacks.

Jalapeño popper turkey burgers (I mixed the cheese in and these were fantastic!), roasted cauliflower, and a big pile of crispy baked fries. Plus an array of dipping sauces (ketchup, a quick honey mustard, and leftover ranch).