Breaking Bread

I didn’t do a very good job of making real meals this week, and I did an even worse job of photographing the junk I did eat, so this post doesn’t have much meat to it.  <– that’s a food blog pun!  I did receive a very exciting package of product samples that I need to gush about.  Apparently man can live on bread alone…

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La Brea Bakery opened in LA 26 years ago offering six artisanal hearth-baked breads – Sourdough Baguette, Country White Sourdough, Whole Wheat, Normandy Rye, Olive, Rosemary Olive Oil.  In the years since they’ve won numerous awards, opened locations all around the world, and expanded their product line to include a variety of granola and breads (jalopeño cheddar loaf! raisin pecan loaf! garlic naan flatbread!).

I was sent some samples from their Take & Bake line – par-baked breads that you finish in your oven at home.  They are available at grocery stores around the US.  The breads take about 20 minutes to finish baking, and you are supposed to let them cool for 30 minutes before serving, but the whole process is very easy and hands-off.  We put our loaves on a piece of parchment paper right on the oven rack.

I was sent the Plain Naan Flatbread which we have not tried yet.  The flatbreads are kosher and are partially made with whole-wheat flour.

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It is on the meal plan (ha!) for next week so I’ll let you know what we think then.

The French Baguette.  The texture of this bread did not seem to be negatively affected by the freezing at all, the crust was crispy with just enough chew.

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I ate my slices warm from the oven next to a Chipotle salad because I’m fancy like that.

And the Ciabatta Loaf.  This was just fluffy enough to be perfect for toasted cheese sandwiches.

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With smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, and strawberry jam.

All in all we really enjoyed the two loaves we’ve tried so far.  They have a delectable taste and texture and the short ingredient lists make me happy.  We would definitely consider purchasing these on our own.

Please note – I received the bread products free of charge to review.  I was not provided additional compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Weekend Top Five

{1} Apple picking upstate.

The selections were pretty weak – they only had two varieties!

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We picked small bags and then moved on to the brewery.

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They had housemade cider and wine slushies so that part of the day was a bit more exciting.

{2} Pecan Pie Bar.

Omg, kids, this candy was ridiculous good.

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I’m not even embarrassed that I ate it two months early – pecan pie month isn’t until November on the Emily is crazy calendar – because this is my new favorite thing.

{3} Friday dinner at home.

Leftovers scrambled into easy eggs.

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Turkey hot dogs, roasted broccoli, and spinach.

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With cider from Wolfer Estates.

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It was good but not my favorite.

{4} Saturday pizza night.

TJ’s red pepper, provolone, and pearl mozzarella wood-fired pizza.

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With roasted zucchini.

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I burned the life out of the pizza but roasted squash is our end of summer favorite.

{5} Sunday night Thai food with friends.

We went to Siam Orchid, a tiny little spot that makes the best Thai food in Brooklyn.

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My drunken noodles with vegetarian duck were on point!

This Week’s Top Five

{1} Coffee.

I know this gets repetitive but coffee is just so freaking good!

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The winner this week was the double espresso with ice and cream from a coffee shop near my hospital.

{2} Chocolate with pretzels.

I brought the toffee candy to work and my co-workers lost their minds over it.  We did too; it was a good thing I got it out of the house or I think Adam and I could have finished the tray in a day or two.

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Also yummy pretzel chocolate from Lindt.

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Yes, I had dessert every evening this week.

{3} Apple month stuff.

Apple-pear pouch.  I sprinkled the SuperSeedz on a pretty killer salad from the cafeteria salad bar.

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Salted caramel apple granola (with chia seeds) on my yogurt.

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And this apple explosion lunch.

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Caramel apple oatmeal, TJ’s freeze-dried apples, and Salty Road caramel apple taffy.

{4} Loaded baked potatoes.

These bowls were fantastic.

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Baked potato / roasted broccoli with green onions / homemade baked beans / topped with plain yogurt, sharp cheddar, and green Tabasco.

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For the baked beans: Sauté tons of white and yellow chopped onions.  Add sliced turkey hot dogs, pinto beans, and tomato sauce and let things cook for awhile.  Then season with brown sugar and Gochujang.

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They were so yummy I ate the leftovers cold.

{5} Dinner at Mile End.

Mile End Delicatessen is my new favorite deli, which is a big deal because the place I grew up going to had a pickle bar!  MED did have tasty hibiscus beer…

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And poutine made with smoked chicken gravy.

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And roasted cauliflower with caraway honey, harissa paste, and toasted pistachios.  This had the best texture, crunchy on the outside and silky soft in the middle.

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I ordered the turkey reuben for dinner.

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Did not disappoint.

{Bonus} New CDs.

My parents are amazing, and they send us mixed tapes all of the time.  They both made new ones recently so this is how my mother labeled them –

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Lol!

Royal Weekend; Highlights

Normally I am a Brooklyn girl, but over the three-day weekend I spent some time loving Queens.  One day for Flushing and one for Astoria.  Also Adam and I both had Monday off and we spent the day eating our way from Chelsea to SoHo!

Here are the highlights, minus several ice cream stops and several more coffees…

Doughnut date!

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Chocolate salted caramel from Dough and a latte from Blue Sky.

Fancy yogurt bowls.

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Plain Siggis + 2 types of plucot + chia seeds + crumbled graham cracker pie crust.

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The crust was leftover from a failed s’mores cookie batch I attempted last week.

Brunch with a girlfriend at Burnside Biscuits.  We both got Salty Dogs.

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And I got a classic (duck fat!) biscuit with a sunny side up egg and sharp cheddar.

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Related:: Adam and I went to Sweet Chick for a dimly lit dinner and had duck sloppy joes.  Also two different cocktails with sherry!

Sandwiches at BEC = bacon, egg, and cheese.

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I got a Junior with turkey bacon.

Sandwiches at Blue Ribbon.  I got the pulled bbq chicken with cole slaw on top.

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BRFC feels pretty chain restaurant/fast food but the sandwich was delicious.  The bun was meh (I rarely eat the bun on a sandwich like this anyway) but the chicken was juicy with some perfectly charred crispy bites.

Presso Coffee is the cutest and their maple lattes are on point.

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Related:: another day I got a quad nonfat latte from Kinship Coffee Cooperative that was super good.

Oreo milk tea with boba and pudding from Kung Fu Tea.

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We explored the New World Mall food court and want to go back asap.

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We didn’t stop to eat that day though, our hearts were already set on Xi’an Famous Foods.

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Their spicy hand-torn noodles make the most satisfying dish you’ve ever tasted.

Trader Joe’s chile relleno is the best frozen meal ever.

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I would give this dish two thumbs up if I thought a restaurant had made it fresh.

Important note – you can buy cups of edible cookie dough.

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Just fyi.

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Enjoy the rest of your week!

Weekly Wrap-Up, Weddings Have Great Food

breakfast

Coffee.  With Hint of Honey Almond Milk and a GoMacro Bar.

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Or seltzer and an applesauce.

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Or chocolate milk.

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Another morning I tried to do the coffee + chocolate milk combo but my cafeteria was out of milk so I just drank it black and I had a stomach ache for the rest of the day.

lunch

Yogurt.  Strawberry Fage with plucots and pumpkin seeds on the side.

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Oatmeal.  Quaker Summer Berry oats with Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter on top and plucots on the side.

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Sandwich.  A monster from the cafeteria with spicy turkey and fresh mozzarella on a brioche roll.

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Leftovers.  Egg salad (see below), TJ’s Crispy Broccoli – which I dumped into the egg salad! – and an apple.

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snack

Salty.

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Sweet.

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dinner

I am missing many photos from the start and end of this week, but I did a pretty good job capturing the middle days.

Monday my camera was dead all afternoon and through the evening.  You didn’t miss much though, I ate two grilled cheese sandwiches in bed.  Then I ate a second dinner of Thai take-out.  Also in bed.  Related fact – I have been burning through episodes of “Body of Proof” at an alarming rate.  It’s bad; not just the fact that I’m watching the show obsessively, but the show itself, is bad.

Tuesday was frozen shrimp goyza from Trader Joe’s.

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We sautéed broccoli and bok choy with ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, and soy sauce and served our pan-fried goyza on top.

I woke up early Wednesday morning to hard-boil eggs for salad.

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This was eggs with minced red bell pepper, mayo and a healthy dollop of sesame gojuchang which gave the salad a great spice and a little bit of smokiness.

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With roasted green beans on the side.

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Roasted green beans have always been one of my favorite foods but now that I’ve started topping them with sliced shallots they’re on a whole new level.

Thursday night I was way less pathetic, but I still don’t have any pictures.  A Buffalo friend came into town and took me to a wedding.  The event was in LIC at The Foundry and it was beyond gorgeous but way too dark for food pictures.

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I ate hummus, cocktails, mini cupcakes, and all the other wedding trappings but the only photo I have is a blurry shot of my friend and me.

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Fun fact – I met her straight from work and I had to get dressed in a Barnes and Nobel bathroom.  I am the classiest.

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I took today off to spend the morning with my girlfriend before she drives home so I have this whole Friday ahead of me to watch Body of Proof do fun stuff in the city!

Weekend Highlights – Rockaway Beach And Roberta’s

We have got to squeeze every last drop of fun out of this summer before fall hits.  We made the most of our weekend with a beach trip and ice cream all day every day.

I’ve been crazy hungry lately so these pictures are just a drop in the bucket, but here are the highlights…

Coffee!  While I made my grocery list.

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The Vietnam blend from Starbucks is great with cocoa, cinnamon, and sugar.

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And the maple latte at Caffé Bene is on point.

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Toasted turkey cheese sandwich.

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Multi-grain bread with smoked turkey, colby jack, mayo, and lots of pickles.

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Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

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More roasted broccoli (and more of that plate).

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This time with truffle salt.

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And Applegate chicken nuggets with a Sriracha honey mustard dipping sauce.

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Frozen yogurt.  Birthday cake topped with chocolate stuff and Nutella.

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Pizza from Roberta’s.  We will definitely be back!  Cheesus Christ = mozzarella, taleggio, parmigiano, black pepper, and cream.

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Sunday afternoon we went down to Tacoway Beach.  They put rum in our watermelon juice and guacamole on our fish tacos.

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Plus we got Tostilocos, a big back of chips, black beans, seasoned cabbage, cojita, and Japanese peanuts.

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Then we spent some time on the beach.

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And stopped by Connolly’s for the all-time best frozen piña coladas.

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Have a great week!

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Left My Heart In Montana

I’m missing a lot of photos this week but the meals I do have to share were off the charts good.

lunch

Mostly I did lunches from the cafeteria this week, like a tasty broccoli and cheese baked potato whose cell-phone photo was an absolute horror.  Packed lunches featured a great fruit salad – Cara Cara Orange, strawberries, and 3 varieties of pluot.

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With plain yogurt and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

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Fresh mint in sparkling water is my jam.  This “mojito” rocked our socks off.

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We’ve kept the dessert every day thing going.  One morning Adam took me to work and we tried the doughnuts at Elsie’s Parlor.  I got the Confettura Di Fichi – filled with fig jam and topped with mascarpone and toasted almonds.

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I loved the idea of this, especially because the fig jam and mascarpone were delicious, but the texture was terrible, way too dense.  If I thought of it was a muffin it was great, but as a doughnut I ate half and we moved on to a tried and true.

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Now that’s a doughnut!  My peaches and crème doughseed had just the right balance of fluff and chew.  Plus it was perfectly tangy and sweet.

Vegan ice cream from Sky Ice.

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Thai iced coffee and Thai young coconut went great together.

Ice cream from Oddfellows.

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S’mores with amazing caramelized white chocolate with toasted almond.

Guava-cheese empanadas.

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Enjoyed with Ruth Reichl’s novel, which I read in a day and a half and enjoyed even more than her memoir.  She is such a good story-teller and her food writing makes your mouth water.

dinner

Leftover Korilla knock-off bowls were still yummy.

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I stir-fried mine with eggs to make up for the missing one on top.

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Also I kind of burnt the life out of it, but this was still good.

It was fitting that I put this dinner on my heart plate because I loved-loved-loved it.

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A tiny roasted pile of every single okra I could find at the stores this weekend.

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Plus I snacked on this for extra veggies.

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Toasted ciabatta sandwich with turkey, turkey bacon, Colby jack, and Smart Balance.

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The cheese was extra-thin sliced and it melted to perfection.

We checked out Bushwick’s Montana’s Trail House and our best meal of the week ended up being the best meal of the year!

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Adorable décor, amazing service, and freshly made food – most of it local – with well-balanced flavors.

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Captain Stormalong – Standard Heartcut White Whiskey, Campari, Demerara & Topped with Downeast Cider.

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Riff Randell – Vodka, Krupnikas Honey Liqueur, Contratto Aperitif, Luxardo Maraschino, Acid Phosphate, Sparkling Wine.  This was the best drink we’ve ever had.  It was like drinking pure honey but in an amazing way.  Similar to a great honey meade I had in SF.

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We started with the charred green beans – which were topped with browned garlic and soft-cooked eggs and served on top of housemade ricotta.  This was the best dish of the year, the lemony ricotta was fantastic with the drippy eggs and charred greens.

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Then we shared the dinosaur kale salad – with feta, roasted carrots, and kale that was grown in the restaurant’s rooftop garden!

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And the fried chicken with honey butter and housemade hot sauce.  Best fried chicken ever; super juicy and every bite had a whiff of honey.

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Dessert – aka the course I saw on Instagram that made me move this restaurant to my “must-eat” list – was banana bread s’mores.  <– squee!

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Also they brought us complimentary shots with our bill because we’d been raving about every bite we took.  Love.  NYC people – get yourself to Bushwick, you won’t regret it!

Weekend Highlights + What’s In My Bag?

In alphabetical order, because why not?…

Brunch in SoHo.  I took a friend to Freeman’s.

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I had the poached eggs with sourdough toast and cheddar grits.

Chipotle.  Finally, we hadn’t been in almost a month!

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Chicken salad bowl for me with all of the toppings.  Plus way too many chips.

Chocolate-cherry smoothie.

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Frozen cherries and dates, cocoa powder, and vanilla almond milk.

Cookies with M&M’s.

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Have you made Number 2 Pencil’s awesome “single serve” recipe yet?  Put it on your to-do list.

Fast dinner thanks to Trader Joe’s freezer section.

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We had mahi burgers,

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plus veggies in garlic butter sauce.

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Popcorn.  Made on the stove.  <– so much better than the microwave bags

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Random – I swapped out my purses for the week so I figured I’d do one of those “what’s in my bag?” photos.

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Camera / day planner / book for the train (this week it’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog) / sunglasses / cell phone / keys / etc.  It is easy to switch up my bags because all of the ecetera lives in that Brooklyn bag and can easily move from purse to purse.

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Pens / gum / lip stuff / band aids / hair tie / hand sanitizer.

Salad and sandwich night.

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Arugula topped with toasted, shredded Brussels sprouts, sweet and spicy pecans, and honey and evoo.

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The amazing sandwiches were thanks to TJ’s new pastrami-style smoked salmon

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Inspired by the Pastrami Russ at Russ and Daughter’s Café.

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Pastrami-style lox on buttered and toasted pretzel rolls with pickles and muenster cheese.

Sprouted trail mix from my aunt.

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It is similar to “Gorp” and very yummy.

Turkey and cheese roll-ups.

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Yogurt bowl.

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Plain yogurt with chopped nectarines and dulce de leche.

What’s in your bag?  What items are always with you?