Tag Archives: soup

Three Day Weekend Wrap-Up

by

My first long weekend as a worker bee was fabulous.  Friday through Monday were packed with fun (and food!).  Adam and I managed to spend a ton of time together.  <– heavenly  Here’s some of what we ate…

breakfasts

Breakfast in Park Slope with Adam and a girlfriend.

DSC07434I got poached eggs with toast, hash browns, turkey bacon, and a mimosa.

DSC07435Sadly our meals were all slightly burned and boring.  Win some lose some.  The iced coffee we got from Cafe Dada afterwards was a total win.

DSC07440They have almond milk on their milk bar!

Speaking of almond milk, that’s what I put in my homemade iced coffee, cold pressed for the win.

DSC07491Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.  Plus some maple syrup.

DSC07493And almond milk went in my cereal too – Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with bunches of blueberries.

DSC07494That cereal has stayed my favorite for months.

Another day another coffee.  This time with a banana and fudge cereal bar.

DSC07475The bar was de-lish.  I am eagerly looking forward to microwaving one and eating it warm.

lunches

Friday’s lunch at the office.

DSC07417Leftover mac with sardines and broccoli.

DSC07423And a Wallaby low-fat Greek yogurt with strawberry.

DSC07420Hot bar date at Whole Foods in SoHo.

DSC07505I choose 2 vegan dumplings, a scoop of macaroni and cheese, and made a salad with mixed greens, balsamic, olives, and blue cheese.

Plus Adam and I split a Raspberry Chia Kombucha.

DSC07509dinners

It’s been crazy cold in our area recently and we’ve both been craving soup.  So I whipped up an Asian-inspired batch of the hot stuff.  With a creamy soft-boiled egg cracked on top.

DSC07464It was so good I even recorded the recipe.

DSC07460Asian-Inspired Soup; serves 2

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 fresh jalepeños, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions
  • 5 oz bok choy, sliced lengthwise in quarters
  • 1/4 tsp all spice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch each salt and pepper
  • 3 cups broth
  • 3 oz stir-fry noodles
  • {Optional toppings} Sriracha, sliced green onions, soft-boiled eggs
  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add jalepeños, green onions, and bok choy to oil and cook until softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
  2. Add all spice, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper to vegetables and stir to combine.
  3. Add broth to pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  4. When the broth has reached a boil, add noodles to pot and reduce heat to bring the soup to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until noodles are softened, 3 – 5 minutes.
  5. Serve and top as desired.

DSC07467Another night we went all fancy (sort of) with polenta (sort of) stacks.

DSC07477Layers 1, 3, and 5 were sliced polenta baked with dried basil and mozzarella.  Layers 2 and 4 were lean ground turkey sautéed with evoo, thinly sliced garlic, thinly sliced turkey pepperoni, and marinara sauce.

DSC07484The pepperoni totally made it.  Roasted broccoli on the side.

DSC07481And the last night of the weekend we did take-out from Yesterday’s Diner.

DSC07514Adam and I split a turkey burger with mozzarella and french fries.  We love their turkey burgers.  And it helps that they send a juicy pickle and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

snackage

This section is full of love!  Like this snack plate of super sharp cheese with Honeycrisp apple.

DSC07431Haribo Juicy Gold Bears became my favorite gummi.

DSC07446DSC07442The texture is perfect – chewy and firm with no teeth sticking – and they are sooooo juicy.

The rest of the treats are all mint based, since I’m having a total love affair with the frosty flavor lately.  The best froyo ever.

DSC07470Mint with chocolate crunch, yogurt chips, and hot fudge.

A fabulous first trip to Emack and Bolio’s with Adam.

DSC07498He got ice cream that he deemed the best he’s ever had and I went with a scoop of grasshopper pie frozen yogurt.

DSC07501We also got a chocolate egg cream that was the best we’ve ever had.  We want to go back immediately.

Finally, a vegan mint cream cookie sandwich from Babycakes.

DSC07511Are you a mint fanatic too or is it too toothpastey for you?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Snowmageddon

by

Hey there!  I hope all of my East Coast (US) readers are keeping warm!  Long Island didn’t get hit as badly with snow as predicted, but getting to and from work on Friday was definitely pretty insane.

Here’s some of what I ate when I wasn’t shivering…

Lunch packed for work on Friday.

DSC07115Leftovers of my spin on Hoppin’ John on top of leftover farro,

DSC07122with cola candies,

DSC07120and tangerines.

DSC07117I actually ate the tangerines on my train ride home, alongside a nice, warm espresso.

DSC07127Coffee was very loved this weekend.  I also had a cinnamon brown sugar iced latte from Dunkin Donuts {love, love, loved},

DSC07153DSC07150and a hazelnut iced coffee – with sugar, skim milk, and a dash of vanilla creamer – from Bagel Boss {I can’t really speak to their bagels but I’m obsessed with their iced coffee}.

DSC07170Aaaaaand a different iced latte from Starbucks that I didn’t photograph because it was getting ridiculous.  Yes, I recently became extra in love with coffee.  No, I won’t switch from iced no matter how cold it gets.

A delicious dinner on Friday night.

DSC07134I made “miso stoup” for the first time and was thrilled with the results.  Not totally traditional, but with ingredients we had on hand.  And extra “chunky” because it was our whole meal and not just a side.

DSC07130Miso Soup, Basically  serves 2 – 3

  • 3 cups chicken broth  (you could totally use veggie broth if you want to keep things vegetarian)
  • 3 heaping Tbsp miso paste
  • 2. 5 oz firm tofu, cubed
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1 pint sliced shiitake mushrooms
  • .6 oz roasted seaweed, crumbled
  1. Bring broth to a simmer in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add miso to broth and whisk until no lumps remain.
  3. Add remaining ingredients to pan and simmer an additional 3 – 5 minutes.

DSC07139We loved it.

Not so delicious fondue for dinner on Saturday night.

DSC07155We split a lemon cream pie martini that wasn’t terrible.

DSC07157And for fondue we ordered the sharp cheese,

DSC07160and the caramel pecan chocolate (though I’m fairly certain they left out our caramel).

DSC07161DSC07164Both were fairly meh.  The bread cubes were terrible and we only got two each of the other dippers so if you liked something you couldn’t even try it again because then the other person didn’t get any.  We cashed in a Groupon to Simply Fondue and even with the $ off it was still pretty darn expensive.  Boo.

Random but good things include:  A bowl of Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes with blackberries and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

DSC07147A Suede Imperial Porter from Stone {I couldn’t taste the honey but the floral scent was amazing},

DSC07132And a big bowl of popcorn with truffle salt.

DSC07167DSC07165Oh jeez, the truffle popcorn.  Insane.  Usually Adam turns his nose up at my bowls of popcorn but this time he was more than happy to share.

Yesterday we did a late, great brunch.  My guava mimosa was quite tasty.

DSC07173We were visiting friends in Williamsburg and they took us to Simple.  We all had wonderful meals.

DSC07177I got the Vegetable Burger – Sautéed spinach, mushroom, zucchini, pepper, onion, garlic.  It was more of a pile of veggies than a burger, particularly once I ordered it sans bun.  It was also delicious, especially when topped with Danish blue cheese.  And the fries on the side were nice and crispy!

P.S. You have until 2 pm EST to enter my Eggland’s Best giveaway.

Weekly Wrap-Up; I Survived!

by

I survived my first week of full-time work!  Well, almost; I’ve still got to get through today.  And I am very excited to hit the couch as soon as I get home.  TV, how I’ve missed you!  {Random Note – “Mom” on CBS?  So flipping good.  I laugh out loud over and over again.  Also “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” randomly got really good too.  It seemed like a train wreck at first but they’ve pulled it together; it’s another llol situation.}

I do plan on sharing a bit more about work as time goes on.  And I’ll definitely post a picture of my office (I have an office!) once I get it all set-up.  I have some work outfits at the start of this post though, and I’ll try to keep that going.

Last week’s eats were fairly boring, but I’m proud of how (relatively) healthy I managed to keep things.  And I even captured 95% of what went in my mouth on film.  What you don’t see is the snacking I did before dinner every night while I packed my lunch.  Also there was coffee.  So, so much coffee.

fashion friday

New navy, polka dot top from the Loft.

DSC06235I didn’t realize how similar day 2’s look was to day 1.

DSC06265My mom got me this mint cardigan on her trip to Amsterdam.

DSC06286I wish my pictures were clearer so you could see details like this fun neckline.

DSC06318And Friday’s look will get looped to next week.

breakfast

As of now I’m eating on my train ride so things have to be portable.  Sticky Bun Larabar Uber.

DSC06224Still not my favorite flavor, but I liked it better than the first time I tried it.

Pecan Pie Clif Bar.

DSC06252Such a fun seasonal flavor.  I really hated the gingerbread and spiced pumpkin ones, but this was delicious.

Super smoothie.

DSC06308Frozen strawberries with plain Greek yogurt and chocolate peppermint soy milk.  Adam and I love this blend.

lunch

Lots of repetition here but I changed up little details to keep things interesting.  Turkey sandwich round 1.

DSC06204A Sandwich Thin with Applegate Smoked Turkey, Crofter’s Grape, and a TJ’s goat cheese medallion.

DSC06206With a cameo apple.

DSC06208And a baggie of Angie’s Iced Gingerbread Kettle Corn.

DSC06212The husband and I both love this popcorn; not too sweet or spicy.  It’s not on their website but I found my bag at Target.

Butternut squash round 1.

DSC06241Roasted butternut squash with chopped spinach and craisins with WF’s Korean BBQ Sauce on top.

DSC06242On the side,

DSC06247DSC06248another cameo apple and a baggie of Salty Pepper Somersaults.

Turkey sandwich round 2.  This time with a slice of light havarti, banana peppers, and a bit of Miracle Whip.

DSC06267Plus a pair of tangerines.

DSC06271And Twix Gingerbread.

DSC06274This meal was the week’s winning lunch.

Butternut squash round 2.

DSC06290With TJ’s Champagne Pear Vinaigrette in place of bbq sauce.

DSC06292And a side of tasty mango.

DSC06294The flavors here were good but this meal was a little too mushy overall.

dinner

These are all single girl dinners; I was on my own every night this week.  Adam had a week straight of night shifts and with my new schedule we literally saw each other for less than 30 minutes a day.  I miss him!

Soup night.

DSC06257My box of pumpkin soup from TJ’s was terrible.

DSC06259It was weirdly sweet and I ended up throwing out the majority of my bowl.  My side made up for it though.

DSC06262The last of the tortilla chips with fancy cheese microwaved on top.

Sandwich night.

DSC06278My sandwich was a little burnt, but oh-so-good.  I mashed together a can of Smoked Trout with Miracle Whip and smoked paprika and then put it between two pieces of gingerbread swirl bread with a slice of light havarti and cooked the whole thing in a pan with a little butter.

DSC06280With a giant pile of kale chips on the side.

DSC06285The smokey-sweet combo on my sandwich was amazing.

Egg night.

DSC06300Two eggs scrambled with evoo, frozen roasted corn, chopped jalopeño, sugar, and Sriracha.

DSC06307Another kale pile.

DSC06303With popcorn.

DSC06296For the whole grains, of course.

Fun night.  Yesterday I met up with a friend who works in Park Slope for dinner.  I had some time to kill before she got off so I walked a ton (my feet are still killing me!) and got the best cup of frozen yogurt.

DSC06312Eggnog and praline yogurts with pralines, toffee, and malt balls.  Fan-freaking-tastic!

Then we went to Song for Thai food.

DSC06315My “Spicy Noodles” weren’t spicy at all, but they were nice and chewy and I came home with leftovers for lunch.  It was great to see a friend on a “school night.”

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my coffee giveaway.  You’ve got until 2 pm Saturday to comment.

Weekend Wrap-Up; Hello, December!

by

This weekend I…

…Walked around Manhattan with my family to check out the window displays.

DSC06126DSC06121DSC06132DSC06128DSC06124DSC06119This was such a great way to ring in the season, even if the tree wasn’t lit yet.  It was the perfect way to spend my parents’ last day.  My mom snagged me a milk and white truffle from the Lindt store.

DSC06172And I came home with a really exciting candy assortment from a place in Chinatown.

DSC06151I am really looking forward to trying the new varieties.

…Ate lunch at Carnegie Deli.

DSC06109The bites I took of my dad’s matzoh ball soup were great.

DSC06112We all shared strawberry blintzes.

DSC06114And I drank the best chocolate egg cream of my life.

DSC06111Though the very best bites were those my cousin shared with me of matzoh brei.  I don’t know how they make theirs so chewy.

…Shared some exciting drinks with the husband while we explored the city.  A Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower and Rose Lemonade.

DSC06103It was very tasty, and how gorgeous is the packaging?  We also shared a black sugar bubble tea.

DSC06130Yum!

…Discovered Cafe Dada, a new coffee-house in Park Slope.

DSC06141I had a cafe au lait which was delicious,

DSC06149but the espresso in Adam’s cortado was hands-down the best I’ve ever had.

DSC06143It was so velvety!  And the pistachio mousse we shared was great too.

DSC06146It was a blend of pistachio and raspberries and the flavors went great together.

…Met up with friends from Buffalo.  They were visiting family for the holiday and we all met up to share a meal.  We took them to our two favorite places – Freeman’s Restaurant {the smoked trout plate}.

DSC06157sugar, Sweet, sunshine {more pistachio}.

DSC06161Such fun.  We love it when they come into town.

Tried the Eggnog Jubilee from Jamba Juice.

DSC06196It tasted exactly like I wanted it to – eggnog and nutmeg blended with ice – but I still didn’t need enough of the flavor to drink the whole thing.  I’m glad I tried it though.

…Ate lots and lots of cheese.  We were shopping in Trader Joe’s one evening when the idea for nachos struck and our eyes lit up.  We got Wisconsin Sharp and New York Extra Extra Sharp Cheddars so we could do a blend.

DSC06176Adam put pastrami on his (leftover from Carnegie) but my chicken ended up being moldy so I got my protein in the form of extra cheese.  Plus candied jalopenos.

DSC06181Swoon!  We kept it going with grilled cheese for lunch the next day.

DSC06214On thick slices of cibatta.

DSC06218With apple slices on the side.

DSC06216I probably should have tried to get some veggies in there too.

…Finally got some veggies in with a homemade dinner.

DSC06226We topped this cous cous with roasted butternut squash, craisins, smoked almonds, champagne pear vinaigrette, and a sunny side up egg.

DSC06220DSC06231Runny yolk is the best sauce.

…Decorated for Christmas.

DSC06187DSC06183DSC06190DSC06195We’re ready for December!

Weekly Wrap-Up; My First Cold Of The Season

by

Have you stayed healthy so far this flu season?  I’m finally on an upswing, but I spent the past week with a bad cold.  Achoo!

The husband gets (2) 2-week periods off this year and his first started last Friday evening.  We took advantage of the break and drove over to visit my sister-in-law’s family in Pennsylvania.  I spent our entire visit with the dog and/or my niece on my lap so I don’t have a single picture from Saturday.

On Friday, I had a large, late lunch at Whole Foods before we got in the car.

DSC05821A hot bar assortment.

DSC05822Clockwise from top left – green beans, gnocchi, broccoli, mac and cheese, big noodles, and Cesar salad.

For dessert, I surprised Adam with a bag of limited edition chocolate dipped wavy Lays.

DSC05817I had read negative reviews about them online, but we both loved them.  They had the perfect ratio of salty and sweet; the chocolate was only on one side of most chips so it wasn’t too overwhelming.  The bag said it contained five servings, but we didn’t find that to be true 😉

My youngest niece had the sniffles all weekend and I came back with them too.  Here’s what I ate before I realized just how sick I was – A Siggi’s 2% Pumpkin Spice Yogurt.

DSC05833DSC05837This flavor was great, definitely the best pumpkin yogurt I’ve tried so far.  Sometimes Siggi’s can be a bit sour/chalky but this flavor was nice and creamy.

A new kind of tofu.

DSC05840DSC05843We quartered our block of Soy Boy Caribbean pre-seasoned tofu and gave it a quick sear.

A comforting dinner.

DSC05854We shared a can of Bar Harbor Lobster Chowder.

DSC05857DSC05844With a (giant) side of beer bread.

DSC05861Cheddar Garlic Beer Bread(!!).

DSC05850So good.  That bread was my best idea yet, but I made it in a daze and now I can’t remember the proportion of ingredients.

When I woke up on Monday I realized I had more than the sniffles, I was sick, sick, sick.  This is where I tell you that I have not eaten a single fruit or vegetable since last Sunday.  In fact, Adam went out-of-town for a few days mid-week when I was at my sickest and I ended up eating cheese and crackers for five meals straight!  These TJ raisin and rosemary crisps were featured heavily.

DSC05876Very tasty, but I don’t think I’ll be eating cheese and crackers again soon.

Here are the things I ate last week that weren’t cheese, or at least weren’t 100% cheese (though I’m now realizing that I did stick exclusively with sandwiches and cookies) – A killer sandwich.

DSC05878A leftover slice of tofu with smoked Gouda and grape Crofters.

An even better sandwich.

DSC05884Applegate Farms honey maple turkey with cream cheese, smoked Gouda, grape Crofters, and banana peppers.

A take-out sandwich.

DSC05904Turkey burger with mozzarella.  I ate too many fries.

A mug cookie, jazzed up SCM and salted caramel sauce.

DSC05883It looks giant and fluffy like that because I double the recommended baking soda.

On the store-bought front, my mother-in-law sent us a cookie jar of Cheryl’s.

DSC05898Thanks, Barb!

Finally, I received two samples this week that were perfect for trying when I was under the weather.

Please note – I received the following products free of charge.  Neither company provided me with further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Numi Organic Tea sent me some Pu·erh Variety mini samplers.

DSC05890That includes Chocolate Pu·erh, Emperor’s Pu·erh, Jasmine Pu·erh, Basil Mint Pu·erh, Cardamom Pu·erh, and Ginger Pu·erh.

DSC05892So far I’ve tried the Emperor’s and Jasmine varieties and was a big fan.  I’m looking forward to the others a lot, though I will probably give the Ginger to Adam because that’s not my favorite flavor.  Chocolate didn’t appeal to me with my cold, but look at the yummy description – “With a rich velvety, chocolate aroma, Numi’s Chocolate Pu-erh is an enticing blend of deep, dark pu-erh and organic cocoa nibs.  Whole vanilla beans and sweet accents of orange peel enhance this blend along with nutmeg and cinnamon rounding off a spicy finish.”

I also received a bottle of powdered wheat grass from Pines.

DSC05896I used to love the wheat grass shots at Jamba so I used them as inspiration and combined 1 tsp of wheat grass powder with 3 oz each orange juice and unsweet vanilla almond milk.

DSC05901So delicious!  Though next time I might shift the ratio a bit in favor of the oj; Jamba used a vanilla soy milk that brought more sweetness to the table than my almond milk.  If you are unfamiliar with the flavor of wheat grass and want to try it you definitely can’t go wrong with the vanilla and orange pairing.

How many times a year do you usually get sick?  Have you caught a cold yet this winter?

Weekly Wrap-Up; One A Day

by

I don’t have a ton to share this week; we ate pizza a lot (I don’t know how I don’t have a single photo of that?!) and I somehow ended up with only seven photos.  One for each day of the week!

One: Chipotle.

DSC05620Someone (ahem) ate all of the casserole my mother-in-law baked me so I had to get last-minute dinner takeout.  I hadn’t really eaten Chipotle before beyond the occasional stop in for a diet soda on a road trip, but lately I am all about their chicken.  Whatever they marinate their meat in is sooooo flavorful.

DSC05624Plus my rice bowl – chicken, rice, salsa, corn, roasted veggies, and cheese – was so giant that I was able to take a 1/3 out for the next day’s lunch and still have a huge dinner.

Two: Truffle sampler.

DSC05627Many rounds of this last week.

Three: Two part breakfast.

DSC05632I had a sliced honeycrisp,

DSC05634dipped in (melted) Vanilla Bean + Espresso Barney Butter.

DSC05638DSC05628I am in total love with the VBEBB; crunching through the coffee grounds is very texturally pleasing.  Though I will note that it is not sweet at all which always surprises me.

I finished up breakfast (and the espresso theme!) with Starbucks on errands.

DSC05640A giant one since I had a freebie on my card.  A non-fat caramel macchiato with two shots of gingerbread instead of the vanilla.

DSC05642New favorite drink.  Even the barista commented on what a good idea it was.

Four: Bread trio.

DSC05645End pieces of TJ’s Three Seed and Honey Bread topped with Smart Balance Light, grape Crofters, and pumpkin butter.

Five: Soup night.

DSC05654Pacific Vegetable Lentil & Roasted Red Pepper Soup.  <– Adam and I split the cartoon and both were impressed with it (and I don’t even like lentils)

DSC05657Soft pretzel stick with aged Havarti.

DSC05658And a Tusker to share.

DSC05660We’ve been hoarding that beer for months and it made the move with us from Buffalo.  Tusker has previously been in my top-three beers list but just like the pumpkin beers this seemed sour to me.  I guess I just haven’t been in a beer mood this fall.

Six: Cheese plate.

DSC05669More aged Havarti,

DSC05671with TJ’s Everything Crackers,

DSC05673and a nice pear.

DSC05675We’ve been all about the fruit and cheese this year.  The crackers were good, but a bit too strong on the carraway for me.

Seven {in Heaven}: ‘Mallow shake.

DSC05677Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Honey Caramel Frozen Greek Yogurt with skim milk and tons of roasted marshmallows.

DSC05679I used too much milk and we ended up with frothy flavored milk instead of shakes, but the flavor was to die for.

P.S. I ate a bag of kettlecorn for breakfast while I wrote this post.  I need to get my life in order.

Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

by

It’s 2 in the afternoon, so allow me to say “good morning!”  Does that sound strange to anyone?  Adam worked nights Friday through Sunday so we’ve been keeping a vampire’s schedule.  There’s been a lot of this –

DSC05195

I don’t like it when he’s gone, my sleep pattern is all out of whack and I definitely live like a teenager when he’s not around.  Case in point – Saturday night I watched terrible movies (“One for the Money” and “Abduction”) and ate candy (Sour Patch Kids and chocolate-covered gummi bears) for dinner.

I ate a lot (a lot) of junk this weekend, but I did manage to throw some pretty gourmet meals in there as well.  If last week was all about the jalapeño, this was the weekend of bacon!

breakfasts

On the go.

DSC05124

We had to eat on the way while running errands so I made us something portable.  A terrible, god-awful smoothie.

DSC05128

Pumpkin, frozen kale, frozen banana, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and a bit of maple.  This had such potential but the kale didn’t fully blend and chewing threw it was horrifying.  I forced down 90% for the nutrients, but did not enjoy it.

My TJ’s pumpkin cereal bar was much better.

DSC05132

I thought the filling was great; sweet and spicy.  And how cute is the labeling?!

DSC04805

We bought these when we were a little loopy from sleeplessness and Adam thought the pun was seriously the funniest thing ever.  We spent the rest of the evening making variations on this joke – “A strawberry asks a pumpkin on a date… what happens next?”

Another kale fail.

DSC05180

I just could not win on the kale front this week.  Again, these eggs had potential, but there just seemed to be sooooo much kale and we both hated them.

Offending eggs.

DSC05184

Delicious turkey bacon.

DSC05181

Side of grapes.

DSC05187

At least the other components were good.  And I shared many bites of egg with the dog, who was such a good boy about eating his greens!

lunches

On Saturday two of our good friends from Buffalo (who are now living in Rochester for medical residency) came up to visit.  We met up for a lovely lunch at Bareburger.

DSC05193

I got the Western Burger, with a turkey burger, sans bun.  Smoked mozzarella / country turkey bacon / house-made Carolina slaw / smokehouse sauce / topped with a crispy, spicy pickle spear.

DSC05192

So fricking good!  That hunk on the side was my pickle, which blew my mind.

A sandwich at home.

DSC05197

A whole-wheat bagel thin with turkey bacon, brie, and pumpkin butter.

DSC05202

This combo was ridiculous.

Plus the last of the grapes.

DSC05198

I have not been eating enough fruit this fall and it was nice to have something other than apples in the house.

dinners

More greens, more grapes.

DSC05149

A big pile of chicken salad.

DSC05152

Kale chips.

DSC05156

This was the only iteration of kale that I actually enjoyed this weekend.

The carb portion of dinner was consumed in the car on the way home from the store.

DSC05133

Adam and I split a TJ’s soft pretzel stick and loved it.  Great chew!

I even whipped myself up a drink while I made dinner.

DSC05141

October is National Caramel Month and Sobieski sent me some samples of their Karamel Vodka to celebrate.

DSC05139

Note – I received the vodka samples free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Here was my attempt at a Caramel Apple Cocktail –

  • 2 oz Sobieski Karamel Vodka
  • 2 oz Sour Apple Pucker
  • splash Polar Granny Smith Apple Seltzer

DSC05145

The vodka was good, but next time I’d go with a 2:1 ratio of vodka to Pucker, the sour apple flavor was a little strong!

Soup’s up.

DSC05208

Last night we ate big bowls of my Loaded Potato Soup.

Truffles for dessert.

DSC05169

I’ve raved about Alter Eco’s Silk chocolate line in the past and they sweetly sent me some of their newest product – Dark Velvet Truffles.

DSC05161

DSC05164

Note – I received the truffles free of charge.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

The truffles, which are also available in Black, are organic, fair trade, and non-GMO.  They are made with coconut oil, a more sustainable option than palm kernel oil (I didn’t taste any coconut flavor).

DSC05165

I thought that the truffles were great; nice and creamy!  The husband hates dark chocolate as a rule, but loved the Silk bars so I will have him try one of the truffles and report back.

Have a great week!

Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Book

by

This week I’m going to do some book reviews.

DSC03108

Full disclosure – I was not paid to write this post but all three of the books were sent to me free of charge to review.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Book 1 – Austrian Desserts: Over 400 Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes and Candies by Toni Mörwald and Christopher Wagner

DSC03112

DSC03114

DSC03117

DSC03120

Overall Thoughts:  I am thrilled to add this to my collection; I love a nice weighty cookbook!  This book is packed with recipes, divided neatly into sections like “Cake, Tarts, Schnitten, and Strudel;” “Cookies and Candies;” and “Ice Cream, Sorbet, Granita, and Parfaits.”  I don’t have any background in Austrian baking, but the recipes are written in such a clear, straightforward way that I would feel confident tackling any of them.  There are a few history blurbs but overall the writing is to the point, which I appreciate.  The color photographs are gorgeous.

Recipe:  Sour Ice Cream with Lime

DSC03095

DSC03101

Recipe Reflections:  With just three ingredients – low-fat sour cream, simple syrup, and fresh lime – this is the easiest ice cream I’ve ever made.  But the ease didn’t make it any less tasty.  Sweet and sour were perfectly balance here and the mouthfeel was nice and creamy with no ice crystals.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

DSC03106

What I Want to Make Next:  Lavender Ice Cream, Plum Kolach, and Buttermilk Mousse with Honey.

Book 2 – CopyKat.com’s Dining Out at Home Cookbook 2, by Stephanie Manley

DSC03122

DSC03126

DSC03128

Overall Thoughts:  This is the 2nd book from CopyKat.com that seeks to recreate recipes from popular restaurants.  There are recipes inspired by more than 60 restaurants, including Starbucks, Sonic, and Cheesecake Factory.  The book is divided into sections by types of foods, i.e. “Drinks,” “Appetizers,” “Desserts,” and so on.  I don’t really eat at most of the restaurants featured here, but if your family regularly eats out at (popular chain) restaurants and is looking to cut back this book would be a great starting point.  There are no photographs but you don’t need them as a starting point anyway because the dishes are all things you’ve seen before (that’s the point!).

Recipe 1:  (Panera Bread) Broccoli Cheese Soup

DSC03058

DSC03063

Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never tried the original, but we flipping loved this recipe.  The soup was sooo thick and perfectly creamy but without being too heavy.  The flavor was astonishingly “meaty,” and the vegetables all reached the perfect texture – soft but not mushy.  I used fat-free half & half instead of full-fat and I recommend this substitution.  Adam and I both thought this was the best soup we’ve ever made.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

DSC03060

Recipe 2:  (Cajun Cafe) Bourbon Chicken Tofu

DSC03084

DSC03082

Recipe 2 Reflections:  I went with chicken instead of tofu here but feel like I still got a good idea of the recipe.  This wasn’t bad, certainly, but we did not enjoy it as much as the soup.  The sauce got very salty if you let it reduce too long, and we had already subbed in low-sodium soy sauce.

DSC03094

What I Want to Make Next:  (The Melting Pot) Wisconsin Trio Fondue, (P.F. Chang’s) Lettuce Wraps, and (Red Lobster) Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

Book 3 –The No-Cook, No-Bake Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes for When It’s Too Hot to Cook, by Matt Kadey

DSC03132

DSC03143

DSC03136

Overall Thoughts:  This cookbook has 101 oven-free recipes and includes color photographs of 80 of them.  It’s divided into four sections – “Breakfast and Brunch,” “Starters and Sides,” “Main Dishes,” and “Desserts.”  I really appreciated how healthy all of the recipes in this cookbook were.  Usually I make substitutions to lower fat, calories, or sodium when I cook, but I couldn’t find a single recipe in this book that it seemed necessary to alter (for health reasons that is, I did make some pantry-related substitutions).

Recipe 1:  Mango Fool

DSC03068

DSC03078

Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never eaten a Fool before, but this basically ended up being flavored Greek yogurt.  The ginger and orange juice definitely helped boost the mango flavor into something extra-special.  This took about a minute to come together, and I plan on making it again.

DSC03074

Recipe 2:  Avocado Fruit Salad

DSC03046

DSC03042

DSC03052

Recipe Reflections 2:  My fruit all looks a little pink because I had to substitute frozen berries when my blackberries caught a case of mold.  I also subbed  almonds for walnuts.  I can’t say that I loved the savoriness of the avocado, but I did enjoy it more than I was expecting too.  The overall blend of textures and flavors was fantastic; this felt very fresh and zingy.

DSC03041

What I Want to Make Next:  Machta Mango Shake, Cucumber Seaweed Salad, and Tex-Mex Chipotle Beans.

Do you like to cook straight from recipes or do you prefer to wing it in the kitchen?  Where do you tend to get your recipes – cookbooks, food blogs, or family and friends?