How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria

by Emily

My title is a tongue in cheek joke about how the weather channel is turning me into a crazy person this month. I was having such a good week too. The VI was finally getting some desperately needed federal assistance and national news coverage and my parents got cell service back and I was able to talk to my mom. But now, Maria is expected to hit the Virgin Islands as a category 3 hurricane this week. Fantastic.

I’m still not really feeling up to prattling on about my days, but I did have some fun this week so I’m posting a top five…

{1} favorite work bites

{a} coffee coffee coffee

{b} I am still obsessed with that Trader Joe’s nut and seed mix

{c} I also packed a nice tasting plate – dried apples, TJ’s crispy cheese bites, and a maple salmon bar.

{d} This cafeteria wrap was on point. Chicken / pinto beans / tomato / bell peppers / banana pepper / cheddar.

{2} apple eatventures

{a} I made caramel apple bread from scratch! Basically just pumpkin bread made with apple sauce instead of pumpkin puree and totally just an excuse to use these caramel chips.

{b} Caramel apple oatmeal. Rolled oats / caramel chips / cinnamon / chia seeds / dried apples.

{c} Caramel apple Twizzlers.

{d} Apple pie milkshake. Vanilla ice cream / Greek yogurt / applesauce/ cinnamon and gingerbread spice.

{3} cobb salad pasta salad

Whole wheat bowtie pasta / crumbled fancy aged blue cheese / turkey bacon / chopped chicken breast / hard-boiled eggs / diced avocado / shredded spinach / roasted baby tomatoes.

{4} a Mile End meal recreation

Mile End Deli has a Brussel sprouts dish on their menu that we were over the moon for, so I recreated it at home. Our version was roasted brussel sprouts / tossed with crispy turkey bacon / plus olive oil and honey / sprinkled with sumac / on a base of labne.

While we cooked – which took no time at all – we sipped on Switchel.

Up Mountain Switchel sent me a box for review. The lemon flavor was too spicy ginger for me, but I loved the Yerba Mate. The ingredients list is short and simple (the four things listed on the front of the bottle plus water) and a serving has 54 calories and 10 grams of sugar. It paired nicely with our meal and would be a good alternative option to booze or soda with dinner.

{5} a trip to the South Fork of the Hamptons

{a} Doughnuts and coffee at Grindstone.

I had a Nutella s’mores brioche doughnut and a vanilla latte.

{b} La Colombe black and tan (draft latte and cold brew) at Sag Town Coffee. P.S. Apparently I am obsessed with Sag Harbor, it is so cute!

{c} Lunch at Lunch. Instead of a lobster roll I went with the seafood chili – with a bloody mary – and was quite pleased with my choice.

{d} A cup of birthday cake ice cream at Scoop Du Jour.

{e} And best of all, we got to stick our toes in the sand at the beach.

It was a super foggy day and the crashing waves were gorgeous. Plus we saw about a million seagulls. <– best beach day ever

25Aug2017

Sandwiches And Scottie Dogs

by Emily

Bites from this week…

I had an exciting product sample to review – Nocciolata Dairy Free Organic Hazelnut and Cocoa Spread. It’s organic, vegan, and made without palm oil.

The spread tastes like Nutella but better – it’s creamier and the sweetness has less bite. I ate many a spoonful this past week!

I also enjoyed it in an excitingly neon strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries / pitaya / cow’s milk / chocolate hazelnut spread.

And in yogurt bowls with Greek yogurt and a trio of plucots.

Non-yogurt lunches came from the cafeteria (and were tasty as all get out). Toasted sandwich – cheesy focaccia / mayo / spicy chicken / cheddar / tomato / spinach – with sweet potato fries.

Bean and veggie quesadilla – with pinto beans / mozzarella / bell peppers / onions / corn / and tomato.

This week’s work snack was candy – Japanese milk chews and black licorice.

My coffee (former freebie) was 10/10. This is less roasty than what I usually go for but still totally swoon-worthy, it isn’t the slightest bit bitter or sour.

Adam was gone every night this week and I am unable to make myself adult if no one is there to see it so dinners were convince foods and/or nachos.

I’m scheduled to work the next five days but feeding myself a vegetable is definitely job #1 for the weekend.

5Jul2017

Beans, Beans, Every Flavor Beans

by Emily

I worked straight through Saturday to Thursday last week and it tired me out (hence the late post!).

The good news is that my work schedule meant I had a three day weekend. And the better news is that I used my extra day to go on a quick trip to CT with Adam. In other weekend excitement – we took the dog into the city to visit a dog park (he was not a fan).

Food themes for the week were beans and more beans, candy and more candy, and coffee (always coffee). Here were the highlights…

Breakfast at Blue State Coffee in New Haven. I had an egg and cheese sandwich on sourdough and an iced latte.

Stumptown coffee.

Pitaya smoothie with frozen cherries and cookies and cream pudding. (<– bought the pudding on a whim, hated it, and was too cheap to toss it, but it was actually wonderful in the smoothie).

Brunch at Fat Goose.

I had a sparkling Paloma.

And the foie gras panna cotta(!!!). With strawberries, rhubarb, jam, and buttered challah.

It was amazing. And even better, there was a dog in my lap while I ate it!

He got a bite of my ice cream for being a well-behaved brunch companion.

Lemon yogurt with blueberries and maple granola.

Plain yogurt with chocolate tahini, blueberries, and cotton candy grapes.

Adam and I tried Costa Nova Waffle on an errands day. They have tasty Portuguese coffee. We had a crispy waffle with s’mores and a soft waffle with twix and both were delicious.

Road trip snacks.

Milk candy! Japanese Hokkaido and Polish sesame milk caramels.

These Haribo grapefruit candies are insanely good.

Froyo on a hot day – birthday cake with mochi, nonpareils, and cereal marshmallows.

Turkey BLT pasta (inspired by this Cooking Light recipe). Whole wheat shells / turkey bacon / wilted arugula / roasted heirloom tomatoes / tossed with mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Salmon bacon sandwiches!

Brioche buns with mayonnaise and gojuchang / sharp cheddar / a fried egg / and TJ’s salmon bacon.

With roasted green beans.

Red beans and rice (loosely inspired by this Serious Eats recipe). Celery, green pepper, and onion cooked in evoo / salt, pepper, cayenne, and smoked paprika / with TJ’s turkey summer sausage / and red kidney beans / served on brown jasmine rice.

White beans with turkey bacon, celery, and gojuchang. Plus sweet potato cheese fries.

Dinner in New Haven. We got Thai takeout – chicken pad see ew and pad thai – to eat in our hotel room in front of the cable tv.

Plus ice cream that was fantastically creamy and good, cookie dough and coffee oreo for me.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

30May2017

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

by Emily

Three-day weekend highlights, including lots of new “bests”…

Unicorn smoothie! The layers were acai and pitaya with coconut water and plain Greek yogurt.

Bananarama smoothie. Frozen banana, plain Greek yogurt, a hot chocolate packet, and Banana Wave Banana Milk. <– free product review alert: the banana milk is a vegan milk made of banana puree, soy, oats, and other ingredients. One serving contains as much potassium as a small banana as well as 29 vitamins and minerals and 1200 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. One cup has 150 calories, 4 grams of protein, and 5 grams of added sugar.

Black bear, aka Otha‘s coffee concentrate with housemade chocolate milk. This shop was adorable and we want to go back immediately.

Du’s Donuts. Adam’s all time favorites.

Lunch at Llama Inn.

I had soft-boiled eggs with delicata squash, charred scallions, pumpkin seeds, and chimichurri sauce.

We got our own desserts, flan for Adam and key lime pie for me. Best key lime pie of the decade, it was enrobed in toasted meringue!

Lunch at Pig Bleeker. We had a Salty Spritz – vodka, St. Germain, and apricot, with a salty white wine rinse, and a Champagne Sherry Cobbler that was the all-time best drink we’ve ever had – Fino sherry, fresh citrus, and champagne.

I got a fried chicken thigh sandwich with Pig Beach mustard sauce, house pickles, mayo, and hot sauce. The meat was smoked before it was fried and it was by far the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.

Durian mochi.

Malter Chronkite from Mister Dips, a malty chocolate-dipped cone.

Spicy crunchy tuna sushi bowl. Brown rice with ginger, rice vinegar, seaweed, and black sesame seeds / canned tuna fish and smoked trout with Sriracha and mayo / quick pickled cucumbers / fresh avocado / panko and fried garlic toasted in butter / Sriracha on top.

Chopped romaine salad with honey mustard dressing, dill, sautéed mushrooms with garlic, shredded chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and homemade raisins.

I am on Saturday/Sunday so I’ve only got two days of work before a day off, woo-hoo!

30Apr2017

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} A day trip to Greenport.

Greenport is one of Adam’s favorite Long Island areas and we finally had a Sunday together to go explore.

We walked on the pier, walked on the beach, ate a kind of meh breakfast in town, plus got a great iced latte and an almond croissant.

Aaaand a toasted marshmallow iced latte that knocked our socks off.

{2} Our 1st kolache experience.

So exciting!

I’ve been dying to try one ever since I started following Kylie and Brooklyn Kolache did not disappoint.

We did one sweet and one savory – poppy seed and turkey, egg, and cheese – plus a delicious brown sugar iced latte.

{3} Our 1st Smorgasburg visit of the season.

It was a good one! We hit up Duck Season for duck fat fries with confit and a sandwich with confit, pickled cabbage, gojuchang, and craklins.

Ube Kitchen for Halo Halo. It was a nice dessert, but not Halo Halo – there was no nata de coco, no palm seeds, plus it had granola in it, and almond milk instead of condensed milk.

Plus we got impossibly smooth coffee from Ministry of Kaapi.

{4} BBQ chicken salad.

Baby romaine dressed in yogurt ranch, shredded chicken in Korean bbq sauce, cucumber, sharp cheddar, and smoked paprika.

This was actually the appetizer course for a meal that included cheese fries and buffalo chicken wings!

{5} A toasted marshmallow smoothie/shake.

Toasted marshmallows, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and vanilla hemp milk.

It was wonderful.

P.S. This is currently the view when I step out my front door!!

10Apr2017

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

by Emily

Once again, this title reflects the most exciting thing I ate in this post. Honestly though, everything I ate this weekend was pretty darn tasty!

Iced coffee with cake popsicle used for ice. <– gaaaaah! so swoontastic!

Perfectly sweet just enough sour smoothie – passionfruit sorbet / plain Greek yogurt / frozen blueberries / princess flavoring / water.

Snacky lunch at work. Mandarin, uncured turkey pepperoni, yummy cinnamon roll Chobani.

Cafeteria sandwich. Spicy chicken, pesto, red pepper, and tomato, on an insanely cheesy roll.

Mr. Flip sandwich from Flip Bird – pulled rotisserie chicken, harissa honey, pickled coleslaw, sambal mayo, and a piece of crispy skin. It was a 10/10.

Dinner from the freezer – ice cream and a naan pizza.

The cilantro pesto pizza – which I got with a free coupon given to me for review – was delicious, the flavor was a bit spicy, which was a nice surprise.

Lox and cream cheese on ~~a bagel~~ sourdough toast.

This pastrami-style smoked salmon from Trader Joe’s is my all-time favorite smoked salmon.

Served with a quick salad of tomato, cucumber, cilantro, green onion, olive oil, and Himalayan salt.

I made a recipe! Cheddar bbq turkey meatloaf.

I ate all of the crispy cheese bits that started to burn to the pan and was sooooo happy. Plus roasted broccoli.

Do you have a favorite type of smoked fish to recommend?

3Mar2017

4 x 3 = 12

by Emily

For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus snack, here were my top three eats for this week…

breakfast{1} The 2nd best* thing I ate all week – Vietnamese iced coffee.

Café du Mondé coffee with chicory from our trip to NOLA with sweetened condensed milk. Yum City.

b{2} A killer smoothie.

How pretty is this purple?? Frozen soursop and blueberries with cow’s milk and vanilla pudding mix.

b{3} Double chocolate oat bowl.

Oats, chia, freeze-dried strawberries, chocolate chips, and chocolate-covered cacao nibs.

b{warning} Do not recommend: this oatmeal drink box.

The flavor was way too artificial. Adam tried a plain one and loved it so it’s probably the caramel flavor that’s the problem.

lunch{1} Cafeteria sandwich.

Turkey and cheese. I mostly prefer to pack lunch for work but I hate trying to pack sandwiches so this is a great cafeteria option when I’m in the mood.

l{2} Yogurt bowl.

Coconut Greek yogurt with pink grapefruit is this year’s new favorite combo! I snacked on the vanilla granola and chocolate coconut milk on the side.

l{3} Baked potato bar.

I topped my spud with cheese sauce, salsa, black beans, bell peppers, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro.

snack{1} Caffeine overload.

Iced latte with chocolate-covered espresso beans. Full disclosure – I drank a sugar-free Red Bull around this same time and spent an hour or two pretty sure I could hear colors.

s{2} Cheesy bagel.

I toasted half a poppy seed bagel with butter and cheddar-gruyere/parmesan-gouda. Eaten while prepping dinner because I just couldn’t wait.

s{3} Yogurt bowl with my favorite citrus.

Maple yogurt with Heritage Flakes. Plus a Sumo Mandarin.

dinner{1} Let’s be real, the very best* thing I ate this week was nachos.

Four-cheese nachos with black beans and roasted garlic salsa. Duh. But no photo because we ate them in bed in the middle of the day (<–fabulous) and my main focus was on keeping them away from the dog.

d{2} Gojuchang turkey rice bowls.

Brown rice with cilantro, lime and butter / roasted cabbage / ground turkey sautéed with spring onions and cilantro and a sauce made out of gojuchang, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar / black sesame seeds and lime juice on top.

d{3} Cheesy eggs.

A scramble with cheddar-gruyere and parmesan-gouda. Plus baby carrots for a quick veggie on the side.

d{warning} Do not recommend: the altered quinoa soup I blogged about last weekend.

I see why Cooking Light only used a quarter cup of grains, by day 2 our leftovers were very well-hydrated quinoa with not a drop of broth to be found.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: smoothie

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria

Sandwiches And Scottie Dogs

Beans, Beans, Every Flavor Beans

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

4 x 3 = 12