Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

by Emily

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 –

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Delicious turkey bacon.

Side of grapes.

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.

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.

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

A sandwich at home.

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

This combo was ridiculous.

Plus the last of the grapes.

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.

A big pile of chicken salad.

Kale chips.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Truffles for dessert.

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.

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).

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!

23Jul2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Book

by Emily

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Recipe 2: (Cajun Cafe) Bourbon ~~Chicken~~ Tofu

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.

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

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

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.

Recipe 2: Avocado Fruit Salad

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.

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?

28May2013

Highlights From OBX

by Emily

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!).

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

climbed the sand dunes,

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

and met a Flutter Pony.

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

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.

Coastal Carolina She-Crab soup.

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

California style fish tacos.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Like a fluffernutter in froyo form!

Also, froyo at Wild Berry.

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.

15Apr2013

Today

by Emily

Some of the things I thought today –

Man, it has been a looooong time since I last blogged.

I made the right decision. Part of the reason I’ve been blogging AWOL is because I was making a giant, life-changing decision and I’m ~~pretty sure~~ positive I made the right one.

The end of this semester is going to be insane. We have two business plans to create in the next month and we were told to expect 40 plus hours of work each week on top of our clinical hours.

Some of the things I did today –

Went to my first day of clinical practice in long-term care.

Took a glorious, 70* walk on Elmwood with my husband.

Attended night class. With the curve I scored a 100% on the first exam!

What I ate today –

A mealy apple.

A packet of Artisana Cacao Bliss.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Clif Mojo Bar.

A low-fat strawberry milk.

A (salted caramel chocolate nougat) candy from the latest Yumvelope.

Veggies from Globe Market, ~.25 lb each.

Thai carrot salad,

and Greek vegetable salad.

Lays Chicken and Waffles potato chips.

Dinner.

Amy’s Alphabet Soup,

and a soft pretzel with yellow mustard.

I also thought a lot about the tragedies at the Boston Marathon today. If you or anyone you are close to were effected, please know that you are in my thoughts.

6Apr2013

Weekend Welcome Back

by Emily

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Seaweed salad.

Pickle cucumber salad over sushi rice.

Udon noodle bowl served with tempura shrimp.

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!

26Mar2013

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

by Emily

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.

Breakfast day 1 – brunch at the famous Hominy Grill.

I got a(n extra spicy) bloody mary.

And a bowl of she crab soup.

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.

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.

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.

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

Can’t go wrong with boba.

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

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

We also started with fried pickles.

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

with steamed shrimp.

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.

Then we headed to Bakehouse for breakfast.

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.

I also did a toasted marshmallow cappuccino.

Adam and I shared breakfast.

We had a mixed berry scone.

And a piece of Greek turkey strata.

It was a great breakfast.

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

We even got to see dolphins!

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,

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!),

honey,

an Earl Grey macaron (<– squeeee!),

a KIND bar,

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

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 –

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.

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

And we ordered a pimento cheese plate to start.

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),

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

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

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?

3Mar2013

And We’re Off!

by Emily

Today was officially my first day off (from both school and work) since January 20th! 42 days straight!!! I didn’t even work full shifts for most of those days but it was still nice to have 24 hours all to myself for a change.

We didn’t do anything all that exciting with our newfound free-time but it still felt pretty damn nice. We did a major grocery trip, started watching Battlestar Galactica (please tell me that the episodes are faster paced than the movie?!), and Adam currently has the guys over for poker.

Breakfast was a bowl of peanut butter and bananas, squared.

2% Banana Chobani Greek Yogurt topped with a sliced banana, 1 tsp of melted peanut butter and 1 crumbled Cascadian Farm Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar.

So flipping good.

Lunch was even better.

I took enough Pho home last night for Adam and I to both have lunch with the leftovers. I beefed mine up with some roasted broccoli and a soft-boiled egg. Plus more Sriracha, of course.

The entire bowl was delicious and the egg yolk melting into the broth was so amazing that it almost made me cry.

For dessert we shared this plate of samples.

Oh Nuts! offered to send me their Passover Cake & Cookie Sampler and I happily accepted.

Neither of us liked the brownie piece (too dry) but we thought that the jam in the sandwich cookie and raspberry jelly roll was nice. By the by, everything was gluten-free and kosher.

I also had an Adora calcium disk.

I am going to try to remember to take one every day for the next while, but I probably won’t blog about it again.

Dinner ended up being a (giant!) container of hot bar.

A little bit of mac and cheese and brussels sprouts and a bunch of chicken. Apparently I was in the mood for protein.

I made the poker players some Mac and Three Cheese Cups but they were gone before I could snag one. That’s a good sign!

What’s your longest run without a day off?

2Mar2013

(Pho)ning It In

by Emily

I regularly drop off the face of the blogging planet and I haven’t even started my next rotation yet! It’s rumored to be time-consuming and exhausting, but I’m sure that won’t keep me from hitting my 30-days goal this time. I mean, I made it an entire day the last round!

You missed – bubble tea with a friend, Adam and I splitting an entire bag of chips and dip for dinner, and other stuff that can’t have been that exciting because I honestly can’t remember any other food item from the past two days.

Also, the end of my purple hair.

I had to get rid of the streaks before my next rotation so I’m back to brown, albeit a darker, redder brown. I’ll try to get a picture in good light this weekend.

Today was the end of my winter break make-up and an on-campus meeting before we switch placements (I’ve got five weeks of clinical rotation in a local hospital coming up on Monday). Coffee was needed.

I earned a free coffee with a book store punch card so I went big (literally!) with a venti non-fat half-pumps toffee nut latte. Note – I drank my giant coffee and a diet pop in lieu of water all day and I totally paid the price this afternoon.

I was running late this morning – we ran out of water in the middle of my shower!!! – and I packed a fairly ridiculous trio of foods for my breakfast/lunch. A green pear.

A Honeycrisp apple.

And a package of Annie Chun’s Brown Sugar and Sea Salt Roasted Seaweed.

I wasn’t exactly full, but at least it all tasted good.

Our meeting got out a smidge early and three friends and I made it over to the mall for some high school-style fun. We wandered, window shopped, and got froyo.

A little plain tart with tons of popping boba for me!

Unfortunately, my dehydration kicked in during the fun and I ended up getting hit with a bad migraine. {Sorry to be such a downer guys!} I made it home just in time to throw up in my own bathroom; always a plus. Then I took medicine, and a nap, and managed to feel much better in an hour or so.

My boys joined me for the nap and this scene occurred –

They are too cute.

Once I rallied, Adam and I headed out for a fun dinner.

Red Pepper might be my new favorite restaurant. They gave us free tea and fried wontons,

and served me the best bowl of vegetarian Pho I’ve ever had.

Adam and I both thought that the broth was swoon-worthy.

I took the 2nd half of my trough home with me and we are quite excited for leftovers tomorrow.

‘Night!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: soup

Weekend Wrap-Up; Vampire Weekend

breakfasts

lunches

dinners

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

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

Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Book

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

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

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

Highlights From OBX

Today

Some of the things I thought today –

Some of the things I did today –

What I ate today –

Weekend Welcome Back

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

And We’re Off!

(Pho)ning It In