Tag Archives: squash

Marshmallow Snowman

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This week’s coffee combo was a winner.

This week’s yogurt bowels were dessert-y. Trader Joe’s eggnog Greek yogurt with creme brulee granola and persimmon.

Plain skyr with chopped egg yolk nougat (it was amazing, like a marzipan cake) and blueberries.

Giant mango peelable gummy. 100/10. This was a perfect mango representation in gummy form.

Tuna salad. Canned tuna with bell pepper, water chestnuts, peanuts, ginger, Duke’s mayo, plain skyr, red curry paste, and lemon juice. Plus roasted cauliflower with a labne hot honey dipping sauce (labne, chili oil, gochugaru, and honey).

Pasta salad. Brami Protein Pasta curly mac / sharp cheddar / smoked turkey / roasted Bahama Bomb tomatoes and zucchini with evoo, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Creamy tomato pasta. My sauce was blended then cooked sweet canned tomatoes, tomato paste, pepper, gochugaru, roasted garlic, evoo, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, parmesan cheese, and silken tofu. Plus sauteed asparagus with bell pepper, water chestnuts, and sweet and spicy pecans.

P.S. My post is a day early because my work-week is ending a day early; I am off tomorrow to show my parents all of the NYC seasonal fun!

Wouldn’t It Be Rice

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Things from the week…

Horchata-ish iced latte. I blended leftover brown rice, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean powder in the blender. Unstrained, with ice, half and half, and espresso.

Berry smoothie. Frozen strawberries and blueberries, with chocolate protein powder, milk, and water. And a strawberry gummy.

These Kissabel apples have rose colored flesh.

I enjoyed these Quin maple almond butter filled pretzels much more than I was expecting to.

Chip City’s caramel apple cider donut cookie is hands-down the best thing they make. The cookie has the perfect amount of apple tang and the cider donut cinnamon sugar spice rub is divine.

10/10 dessert skyr bowl. Plain skyr, salty peanuts, leftover pecan pie toffee candy, and TWO KINDS of blueberries (Sweetest Batch and Super Jumbo!).

Braised tofu bowls. Brown rice with roasted cauliflower rice / sauteed bok choy with green onion / firm tofu cooked in butter and braised in chicken broth, rice vinegar, gochujang, gochugaru, Sichuan pepper, sugar, and sesame seeds / cashews.

Greek-ish salad. Romaine, Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, baby tomatoes, roasted zucchini, and roasted chickpeas (baked until crispy with evoo, salt, pepper, sumac, onion powder, and garlic powder). Plus Trader Joe’s dolmas.

Crispy rice omelet. Eggs steamed on top of crisped-up leftover brown rice, kimchi, and extra-sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and baked chicken on the side.

I can’t skip a seasonal special; even if it’s from Arby’s. Their Gobbler sandwich was great though – deep-fried turkey, crispy onion, Swiss, stuffing, cranberry spread, and mayo on a toasted sub.

Maple x2

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Highlights from this week…

This week’s coffee combo. Trader Joe’s knocked both of these items out of the park.

Fancy yogurt bowl. Plain skyr, cinnamon granola, yellow dragonfruit, and persimmon.

New new-to-me pear. This wasn’t as good as the last two but still not bad.

A dips/dippers situation. Little Sesame Herby Jalapeno hummus and Red Clay pimento cheese (hands down the best pimento spread we’ve ever tasted!) with bell peppers, baby carrots, and Crunch Master pimento cheese rice crackers.

Warm salads. Sauteed Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch topped with dressing (maple syrup, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and sesame oil), lamb sausage, and roasted honeynut and delicata squash.

Tofu salads. Romaine / Trader Joe’s mano vinaigrette / cucumber / extra-sharp cheddar / crispy broad beans / and tofu (marinated, dredged in a flour, cornstarch, salt, white pepper, Sichuan peppercorn, and toasted rice powder mix, then stir-fried).

A very, very loose take on the Very Fresh Noodles Dan Dan noodles. Buckwheat soba / dinosaur kale, baby bok choy, and scallions sauteed with fish sauce and rice vinegar / ground turkey sauteed with hoisin, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and five spice powder / crunched up crispy broad beans / sauce – peanut butter, garlic, onion chili crisp, chili oil, soy sauce, sugar, five spice powder, Sichuan peppercorn, and chicken broth.

P.S. I put pecan pie chocolate chip cookies into the oven as I wrote this post!

Haggis And Highlands

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No post from me last week because we were in SCOTLAND! We went with Adam’s brother and sister-in-law on a road trip and had a fabulous time. We tried haggis (I loved it!), got to pet a Highland Cow, saw a thousand castles, and stayed at a bread and breakfast with baby seals.

Less exciting but still fun things from this week back in the US included…

This week’s coffee combo – beans from our last vacation (Alaska) and dulce de leche.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with Whole Food’s cinnamon granola and blueberries.

Pumpkin smoothie – canned pumpkin with frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple sugar, and water.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (this perfect rice from Hummingbird High).

P.S. I put cookies into the best dessert bowl – plain skyr, peanut butter, dulce de leche, crumbled cookies, and blueberries.

We brought home this tablet (basically a sweetened condensed milk fudge) from Scotland. We’re glad we didn’t try it until we left the country or we probably we would have bought another 20 bars!

This treat from America (Canada?) was also good – Trader Joe’s maple pancake flavored puffs.

Thai chicken satay inspired bowls. Brown rice / baked chicken – marinated in yogurt, coconut milk, lime juice, red curry, curry powder, and ginger / roasted broccoli / peanut sauce – peanut butter, red curry, lime juice, sugar, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water / cucumber salad – cucumber, scallion, salt, sugar, rice vinegar, and chili oil.

Callaloo inspired bowls. Chopped spinach cooked down with crab, coconut milk, sauteed onion, ginger, ufra pepper, and habanero pepper. Plus roasted honeynut squash and delicata squash.

An easy soup. Leftover rice / shredded garlic-y baked chicken / sauteed dinosaur kale, green onion, garlic, and canned green chilis / chicken broth, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and a little sesame oil.

Hello, Pumpkin

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I didn’t buy that many Pumpkin Month goodies this year but I am excited about my stash. The Whole Food’s seasonal soaps smell so good!

This week I enjoyed the 7-11 pumpkin spice cheesecake bites and a pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. P.S. I also started my October 1st with a Starbucks iced espresso with pumpkin cold foam. P.P.S. I also tried their banana protein cold foam this week and was a big fan.

Other highlights from this week included… This espresso roast cold brew from Equator is the best bottled coffee I’ve ever tried. It was smooth, not sour, and contained 250 mg of caffeine.

Passionfruit Konjac jelly drink in a strawberry green tea. The texture was everything I was hoping for but this gave me the worst stomachache.

We did Soup Week for dinners this week! I loosely followed the recipe for Recipe Tin Eat’s Korean Noodle Soup. This has the perfect amount of spice for soup. We added egg tofu and extra bok choy.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup. I blended together roasted butternut squash, orange yam, and sweet onion with miso, salt, white pepper, and chicken broth. We loved this. I topped my with chili crisp and paired it with roasted green beans and some Duck Island Bread Company sourdough.

Meatball soup. Baked turkey meatballs (ground turkey, panko panade, egg, and hoisin sauce), chicken broth, salt, pepper, gochujang, garlic, scallions, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and roasted zucchini. Plus super decadent apricot grilled cheese sandwiches – sourdough with apricot preserves and a filling of Duke’s mayo, Sriracha, smoked paprika, and two types of sharp cheddar.

P.S. We are doing something super fun today!

Crab Apple

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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.

Lavish Lavash

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Tasty things from the week…

Yogurt bowl! Plain Greek with blueberries, Rainer cherries, and cute Swedish gummies.

Iced matcha. With lime seltzer and strawberry and rose syrups.

Peach yogurt jelly gummies.

This baked chicken flatbread was the best thing we ate all week! Trader Joe’s whole-wheat lavash baked with evoo until crispy / topped with TJ’s Unexpected Cheddar / baked chicken breast / roasted red onions / and marinated artichoke hearts. Paired with great veggies – baby bok choy, brown beech mushrooms, and shallots sauteed with butter.

This taco turkey flatbread was also pretty good. Lavash / TJ’s shredded three cheese blend / ground turkey sauteed with taco seasoning / roasted veggies – yellow and orange bell pepper, white onion, zucchini, evoo, salt and pepper, Jamaican curry powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Served with smashed avocado (mashed with salt, gochugaru, and TJ’s mango vinaigrette).

Paired with chips and dip.

Nacho night! Mike’s Hot Honey kettle chips / all of the cheeses / three grain tempeh sauteed with salt and gochugaru until toasty / snap peas sauteed with pecans, piquante peppers, gochugaru, cheddar, and honey.

This plate of leftovers was as yummy as it was orange. Leftover roasted veggies / leftover cauliflower okonomiyaki from Olmsted / leftover Indian take-out from Varli – butter chicken momo, house-spiced fries with cheese and minced chicken, and Baingan Bharta (spicy eggplant).

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

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My first week in my new decade was a good one! Here were some food highlights…

Yogurt bowl of the week – plain skry, Trader Joe’s chocolate coffee granola, and tons of blueberries.

My snack theme was bananas. Everything but the bread! If you’re feeling inspired, Hummingbird High makes our go to recipe. Banana bread trail mix = banana chips, cinnamon Life cereal, walnuts, and chocolate chips.

Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream with fresh banana, leftover birthday dirt, peanut butter, and chocolate shell.

Adam liked the “Dirty Banana” cocktail on our cruise ship so much he ordered it twice in a row! Our version was better. Frozen bananas blended with chocolate ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, Kahlua, and dark rum.

Turkey larb inspired baked meatballs. The balls were ground turkey, panade, egg, toasted rice powder, white pepper, fish sauce, garlic, crunchy chilis, gochugaru, and brown sugar. Served with sauteed cabbage with red onion, lime, and seasoned cashews.

A perfect mix of leftovers. Cabbage / Chuko Ramen‘s vegetarian Mapo Tofu (fried tofu and mixed vegetables tossed in a Szechuan chili sauce with mustards greens, scallions and rice) / Rolo’s crispy potatoes.

A loose take on these tomato beans. We used cannellini beans, skipped the basil and nutritional yeast, added Juanita Piquante peppers, and measured nothing. Served with roasted broccoli/cauliflower and sourdough bread from Radio Bakery.

Cold peanut noodles. Buckwheat and brown rice soba / quick-pickled cucumbers / roasted zucchini / sauce – peanut butter, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, ginger, and white sugar / sesame seeds. I topped my bowl with tons of Sriracha and it was delicious.