Tag Archives: squash

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.

Younger Than Dirt

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It was my birthday this week so I made some of my favorite things for dinners – nachos and weird salads!

Birthday nachos. Chili crisp Kettle chips <– these were fantastic, perfectly seasoned / shredded sharp cheddar and gouda cheese / crispy tofu (shredded super-firm tofu baked with gochugaru). I planned to add chili crisp on top but these tasted so good I didn’t want to mess with them! Plus lovely green beans (steamed and then sauteed with evoo, yellow mustard, honey, rice vinegar, and togarashi).

We had fancy dirt cups for dessert! Chocolate pudding / dirt = crushed Oreos baked with butter, sugar, sprinkles, and edible glitter / Haribo rainbow gummy worms.

And we champagne-toasted a la Tom Hanks. I used rosé champagne and added rose syrup to mine. These were actually really good!

Bacon egg and cheese on a bagel salad. Hard-boiled eggs with turkey bacon, sharp cheddar, green onion, and homemade bagel croutons (poppy seed bagel baked with evoo, sesame seeds, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika) dressed in skyr, Kewpie, Dijon, pickled jalapeno juice, salt, and white pepper. Plus roasted zucchini.

Caesar chicken salad. Baked chicken with Whisps parmesan crisps and homemade Caesar dressing (food processed Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon, evoo, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, capers, parmesan, and black pepper). Plus roasted purple and yellow cauliflower.

Loaded tuna salad. Canned tuna with green onion, poblano pepper, pickles, chili crisp chips, mayo, skyr, Dijon, and pickled jalapeno juice.

The only other things worth mentioning from the week were two really good smoothies. Blueberry cheesecake – frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, butter extract, cinnamon, cottage cheese, and water.

Berry chocolate – frozen cherries and strawberries, chocolate protein powder, Dutch processed cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and water.

Summer Salad

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Things from the week…

It is my birthday month so I, of course, opened my stash of birthday cake coffee concentrates.

Trader Joe’s sparkling matcha lemonade. Not too sweet but the flavor was weak.

Fruity candies. The freeze-dried orange slices were okay (good texture but the flavor was off) but we loved the strawberry gummy assortment from Trader Joe’s.

We are head over heels for protein peanut butter cups this week. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter mixed with 1 Tbsp malted milk powder, 1 Tbsp vanilla protein powder (for texture), 1 Tbsp total maple and/or honey, and a pinch of salt; topped with chocolate shell.

Summer salad! Heirloom tomatoes with plum, peach, nectarine, pan-fried paneer, and crispy roasted chickpeas, topped with salt, chili oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar.

We paired our mostly fruit salad with a side of roasted romanesco, which was delicious.

This meal was a watery fail and I am blogging it to remind myself not to put cold silken tofu on top of dumplings again. Silken tofu / pan-fried Trader Joe’s Thai shrimp gyoza / celery and green onion sauteed with garlic, Sichuan pepper, and white pepper / homemade dumpling sauce – rice vinegar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, chili oil, sugar, sesame seeds, green onion, and chopped smoked almonds.

BBQ plates. Mashed potato salad (we overcooked our potatoes so we leaned into the mashed vibe and made them extra creamy) with celery and cornichon pickles, dressed with plain Skyr, Duke’s mayo, Dijon mustard, pickle brine, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Turkey meatballs with panade, egg, ranch seasoning, bbq sauce, and shredded sharp cheddar. And roasted green beans.

I don’t know what to call this bowl but the combination worked! Roasted zucchini and orange sweet potato topped with pan-fried paneer and tempeh sauced with Dijon, rice vinegar, and apricot jam.

Milk Tea, Pistachio, Rose

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We have one more work-week before we go on a vacation and my motivation to adult has already left the building. There was no dinner theme this week, just vibes, but we did have some good packaged snacks! Highlights…

El Guapo rose syrup. Enjoyed in an iced coffee (pretty good) and an iced matcha with lemon seltzer (I am between matcha brands so the drink in total wasn’t very good but I would definitely attempt this again).

Tochi milk tea popcorn. 10/10. I don’t always love pre-popped popcorn but this texture was perfectly crisp. We loved the sweet/salty/earthy flavor profile.

Obviously I bought this Dubai chocolate pistachio tiramisu from a local grocery.

I also obviously bought this Buddy’s Detroit-style frozen cheese pizza. We were fans – this was well-seasoned and the crust got nicely crispy. Made into a dinner with some chicken salads.

Waldorf-style chicken salad. Cubed baked chicken with celery, green onion, Honeycrisp apple, raisins, walnuts, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pecans, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, Greek yogurt, mayo, Dijon, lemon juice, and honey.

Served with sauteed asparagus with lemon and a [bag of] Bloody Mary [kettle chips] for a country club feel.

Chicken tot pie. This was made with baked chicken, zucchini, celery, leek, and tons of spices. We used butter, flour, vegetable stock, and Dijon mustard for our sauce – no cream – and thought it turned out great. Baked with frozen potato tots on top.