Last Week’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} Date night in Chelsea.

Last Friday we went on a fabulous Manhattan date after work. The High Line at sunset.

Gansevoort Market for an Oreo whoopie pie(at The Bruffin).

Chelsea Market for Ramen (at Mok Bar). Vegan miso ramen – Kombu shiitake doenjang broth / tofu / triple seasonal vegetable / crispy potato. Made un-vegan with a poached egg on top.

And finally a trip through the Whitney Museum.

The 6th floor was my favorite.

{2} City desserts.

The Fat Witch is making sparkly green Emerald City Witches, aka mint chip brownies.

And Brooklyn Cupcake‘s cakes are on point.

We tried french toast, tres leches, and guava cheese!!

{3} Pota-topia potato bowls.

I got waffle fries with all of the veggies, smoked gouda, and truffle aioli.

We were very impressed. Our mall’s food court has gotten downright fancy.

{4} Pumpkin yogurt bowl lunch.

Whole Foods pumpkin spice yogurt, chia seeds, maple pumpkin seeds, and TJ’s pumpkin o’s.

Fun, but I pretty much hate the texture of regular (not Greek) yogurt.

{5} Pumpkin beer on Halloween.

We spent Halloween afternoon in Williamsburg checking out the fantastic hipster costumes. We enjoyed mead and a Chelsea Brewing Company pumpkin pie beer while playing games at Barcade.

Plus we had a very taste lunch at Sugarburg. <– we will be back!

1Oct2015

Goodbye, Apple Month

by Emily

Can you believe that it is already October?! Time has felt like it is flying ever since we moved back to the city but this year in particular is booking it. Never mind the fact that I am somehow 30 years old even though I still feel like high school was maybe six years ago tops.

breakfast

I kept this week’s coffee combo simple –

I wanted to be able to get a good feel for this stuff –

This was the perfect month to review* Rigoni di Asiago’s Dolcedì sweetener because it is made of apples! 10 kilograms of organic apples go into 1 kilogram of Dolcedì.

The liquid sweetener is USDA certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, and kosher, and can be used in the same ways you would use table sugar (1 teaspoon of Dolcedì would substitute for 1 teaspoon of sugar, a 1:1 ratio) in hot and cold drinks. It has 15 calories per Tbsp (table sugar has 15 per teaspoon). You can also use it in baking but I haven’t tried that yet.

The liquid is sweet but flavorless so it really doesn’t alter the taste of your drink – unlike honey and agave – and I found that it quickly dissolved completely into solution in my iced coffee. I don’t typically sweeten my drinks but when I do I would definitely use the Dolcedì again in the future.

Along with my sweetened coffees I had bars

and orchard apples.

We were not impressed with the scant variety available for apple picking but these ended up being some of the best apples any of the four of us have ever eaten.

lunch

Plain yogurt with blueberries and pomegranate, sea salt caramel apple granola and chia seeds, and an apple on the side.

Plus I brought in turtle pretzel magic bars for my coworkers and I totally snagged one for after lunch.

The other days I stuck with THIS for dessert –

Omg.

Kodiak flapjack on the go and TJ’s freeze-dried Fuji apple slices.

I hated the pancake cup – it was like choking down raw batter – but those apples are amazing. I shared a taste with two coworkers who said they were the best they’ve ever had.

Plain Siggi’s with blueberries, strawberry preserves, and caramel apple granola and chia seeds.

The caramel apple chia combo has rocked my world this month, though I have had to start carrying floss in my purse to deal with errant seeds.

“dinner”

Dinners this week were exceedingly weak. Apparently our busy weekend of walking wore us out because Adam and I have been unbelievably tired. Like on Monday we got into bed at 7:30 pm tired. And then on Tuesday we took a nap before bed. I guess maybe I do feel thirty!

Monday I ate a Starbucks chicken Santa Fe sandwich on the train.

It was good, and thank goodness because when I got home I ate this strawberry Cow Tail under the covers.

Hence “dinners.”

Tuesday I at least legitimately included some vegetables in my snack-based dinner. Carrots with hummus.

Several rounds of pretzels with string cheese.

And roasted green beans.

This was actually a pretty balanced meal.

And Wednesday I cooked a grown-up dinner.

Can you call heating up a package of TJ’s Palak Paneer cooking?

I had to make the brown jasmine rice and roasted zucchini we served it with so I’m counting it.

With a dollop of goat’s milk yogurt on top. And my final La Brea Bakery review* on the side – flatbread.

They were all good but this was our favorite bread so far. It had that perfect naan texture, fluffy yet chewy. And the flatbread includes sprouted whole wheat flour (along with white flour) which made the flavor just a bit more interesting. A+.

P.S. Now it’s October it is finally Pumpkin Month!!!

*These products were provided to me free of charge to review. I was not provided any additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

31Aug2015

Weekend Highlights; I ♥ New York

by Emily

Taking Friday off meant I had a three-day weekend to spend exploring the city. I’m a Brooklyn girl at heart but this weekend I was all about Manhattan. We spent three full days walking or eating or eating while walking and you know those are all my favorite activities! Long story with lots of gushing short: I love it here! I think NYC is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Since we ate pretty much nonstop, this is going to be a lengthy post. I cut what I could and am only including the exciting stuff. Working alphabetically always seems to make the most sense to me…

Chelsea Market {Chelsea}.

Friday afternoon, after my girlfriend left and before Adam got off of work, I took myself on a ramen date at Mokbar.

I got the brothy chicken ramen – roasted ginger chicken broth, pulled chicken, and cucumber and garlic chive kimchi, topped with a soft-boiled egg.

Very nice, especially the egg, but not quite as good as Chuko Ramen.

Gansevoort Market {Meatpacking District}.

I actually didn’t love any of the items I ate there, but it was too pretty not to show. A burnt, gross, maple cortado from Champion Coffee.

And a shimmery birthday cake macaron from Dana’s Bakery.

It wasn’t the best macaron ever (found at Bakeshop by Woops!), but I still want to go back for the s’mores and cookie dough.

The High Line {Chelsea}.

I had a crab cake empanada from La Sonrisa.

Lump blue crab, cream cheese, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, and spices. Good, but nothing can hold a candle to the guava-cheese at the truck near my train. <– The food was good this weekend but I guess a lot of it did come up short compared with past experiences. Good thing the walking was so darn fun!

Magnolia Bakery {Greenwich Village}.

Adam swooned over his s’mores cupcake and I got the legendary banana pudding.

Totally worth the accolades and Magnolia’s tourist destination status.

Nutella Bar at Eataly.

My Nutella iced latte was on point.

Peanut butter jelly smoothie. The only homemade item yummy enough to make it into this post.

We blended up frozen grapes and dark cherries with plain Siggi’s yogurt, peanut butter, and honey.

Brunch at Penelope {Kips Bay}. A girlfriend from my University of Buffalo days came into the city for a visit. We split a pitcher of rosé sangria with mango and watermelon.

And I ordered a BBELT – double (fakin) bacon, over-medium egg, lettuce, and tomato, with black pepper balsamic mayo on toasted sourdough. With hand-cut fries.

Much better than a boring old BLT.

Pier A Harbor House {Battery Park} for Brooklyn Brewery‘s Long Hall Lager.

Sooooo creamy, it was fantastic. And especially enjoyable after a 2 miles walk on the water down Battery Place.

We stopped at Brookfield Place to admire the view and now need to go back immediately for lunch.

Red Farm {Greenwich Village} for playful dim sum.

The space was beautiful, nothing was there by accident, and pro tip – the toilet seats are heated! We shared drinks, small plates, and an entrée. A nice rosé from Washington.

The Bee’s Teas – Chamomile tea-infused Bird Dog Bourbon, figs, lemon, basil, Runny Honey, and chamomile tincture. Not bad, but not as good as the honey drink we had last week.

We got the Pac Man shrimp dumplings and the crispy duck and crab dumplings.

Super fun, but we felt like the dim sum menu was more about the “wow factor” than great flavor. Our entrée, on the other hand, was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

The wide rice noodles with shredded duck were freaking packed with duck. There was honestly more meat than noodles! And the meat was perfectly cooked, crispy and succulent. We were in heaven.

Smorgasburg Queens {Long Island City}.

It was the perfect time to try Wooly’s shaved ice.

Party rocks = crushed Fruity Pebbles and Pop Rocks.

Sokerbit {Greenwich Village} for gummy candy goodness.

This Swedish candy shop is amazing, giant bulk bins of candy, mostly licorice and cola flavored (my two favorites!). I came away with a giant bag.

Everything we’ve tasted so far has been wonderful.

Victory Garden {Greenwich Village} for locally made goat’s milk yogurt.

I got the tangy original flavor, topped with goat’s milk caramel, sprinkles, and halvah. OMG.

What’s your favorite city?

28Aug2015

Weekly Wrap-Up, Weddings Have Great Food

by Emily

breakfast

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

Or seltzer and an applesauce.

Or chocolate milk.

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.

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

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

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

snack

Salty.

Sweet.

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.

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.

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.

With roasted green beans on the side.

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.

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.

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

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!

10Aug2015

Weekend Highlights + What’s In My Bag?

by Emily

In alphabetical order, because why not?…

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

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

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

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

Chocolate-cherry smoothie.

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

Cookies with M&M’s.

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.

We had mahi burgers,

plus veggies in garlic butter sauce.

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

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

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.

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

Salad and sandwich night.

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

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

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

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

Sprouted trail mix from my aunt.

It is similar to “Gorp” and very yummy.

Turkey and cheese roll-ups.

Yogurt bowl.

Plain yogurt with chopped nectarines and dulce de leche.

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

31Jul2015

My Year Is Off To A Good Start

by Emily

enjoyed all week

Coffees. Also naps.

Apparently my parents wore us out; I had a to take a nap before I could make dinner the first three nights of the week.

Diet chocolate soda from Polar.

I know it sounds a little strange but we were fans.

Our leftovers from The Smith. Eaten cold while standing in front of the open fridge.

My mac and cheese was fantastic leftover and so was my mom’s Mexican corn.

A big box of free samples {free as in provided free of charge / no other compensation for this post / yada, yada } from Super Seedz.

I wouldn’t have thought of pumpkin seeds as a favorite of mine but I’ve loved all of the flavors we’ve tried so far. Flavor options include: Really Naked, Sea Salt, Cinnamon & Sugar, Coco Joe, Tomato Italiano, Curious Curry, Somewhat Spicy and Super Spicy. They pack a nutritional punch – see the infographic (provided by the company) below – and Super Seedz are allergen friendly – peanut-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, fish-free, shellfish-free, soy-free and made with gluten-free ingredients.

breakfast

After we dropped my parents at the airport on Monday, Adam and I went on a doughnut(plant) and coffee date before work. Because apparently we hadn’t eaten enough crap over my birthday weekend.

My strawberry-filled vanilla got two thumbs up.

As did my maple latte from Gorilla.

Coco pumpkin seeds and cold-pressed watermelon juice.

TJ’s came through on this juice, it was wonderfully refreshing.

Chocolate-cherry smoothie.

Vanilla almond milk with coco powder, frozen cherries, and dates. I enjoyed this combo and want to make it again soon.

Snack plate.

A cheese stick, cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds, and a medley of grapes.

lunch

Chocolate chip cookie oats.

With an apple and coco pumpkin seeds.

Sweet and spicy tuna salad.

With grapes and cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds.

I didn’t have to provide my own lunch the rest of the week! I attended a lunch-and-learn on malnutrition in surgical patients on Tuesday.

They gave us education, salad, and yummy sandwiches with hummus and roasted eggplant. And I mainlined coffee (with tons of milk and cream) when I got back to my desk.

On Thursday the hospital threw an employee appreciation bbq.

Very sweet!

dinner

Pizza, pizza.

We used TJ’s frozen crusts and were so impressed with how they turned out. Topped with marinara, mozzarella, and tons of garlic and onion sautéed mushrooms.

Plus super simple salads on the side.

Just arugula blend with ranch dressing. They were a bit depressing. But we also had beer.

I carried this Southern Tier Compass all the way back home from Buffalo but unfortunately it was a bit hoppy for our tastes.

Burger night.

I made my Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers. They don’t look like much but this is one of my best recipes!

With a trio of roasted veggies: Brussels sprouts, green beans, and broccoli.

Served with maple bacon kettle chips, aka my favorite chips because they are the best chips of all time.

They were doing a promotion and handing out mini bags at my railroad station and it was very exciting.

Last night I met up with a girlfriend for dinner in Brooklyn. We checked out Elbow Room, the mac and cheese window at Morgan’s BBQ.

Milk stout.

Old School Mac – NY state sharp cheddar, béchamel, and garlic breadcrumbs.

With collard greens that were spicy and vegetarian. Dinner was good but dessert was better.

Salted crack caramel and honey peanut butter ice creams from Ample Hills. But they were supposed to have key lime pie ice cream available and they didn’t so now I need to go back immediately and it’s a problem.

17Jul2015

This Week I…

by Emily

…Made a Redux recipe that I can’t post yet so I don’t have much to share today. Also we got Chipotle twice.

…Love love loved some of Polar’s summer seltzer flavors.

You can’t go wrong with fizzy strawberry.

…Finished season 3 of OITNB. I wasn’t a fan. But of course I kept watching and will still watch season 4 next year. I hated every single major decision Piper made this season!

…Tried the last three flavors from my GoMacro sample package.

Cashew butter (sweet rejuvenation) tastes exactly like a pureed cashew so your level of love for cashews would definitely affect your enjoyment of this bar.

Peanut butter (protein replenishment) wasn’t my favorite; it was too boring.

But banana + almond butter (prolonged power) was amazing; it tastes like a dried banana! The texture works perfectly here.

P.S. My coffee this week was Brooklyn Roasting Co’s Peru blend cold-brewed with cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla bean. So good.

…Ate a veggie and cheese omelet for breakfast the next day and it was like I hardly knew myself.

I have to give the cafeteria credit though, this was delicious.

…Read this Buffy the Vampire Slayer article on Buzzfeed and wondered how it’s possible that anyone has a favorite character that isn’t Anya. From any show ever, not just Buffy. Though Kitty from That 70’s Show is also pretty wonderful.

…Ate some amazing yogurt bowls for lunch.

Soursop yogurt with plucot and white nectarine and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

Salted caramel Greek yogurt with KIND peanut butter granola and a white nectarine.

Plain Siggi’s with plucot and yellow nectarine and a giant chocolate chip cookie.

We baked Take a Megabite’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are fantastic! And yes, I totally crumbled that cookie into my yogurt.

…Adore LL Cool J for giving me Lip Sync Battle. Celebrities compete against each other in choreographed lip syncing madness and it is hilarious. My love for Anna Kendrick grew exponentially when she killed it against John Krasinski, but Anne Hathaway’s “Wrecking Ball” is clearly the standout performance of the season.

…Packed for Buffalo. Some friends and I are driving there for a visit today!

3Jul2015

Start Of A Three-Day Weekend

by Emily

My clinic is closed on Friday in celebration of Independence Day tomorrow so today is the start of a three-day weekend for me. Woo-hoo! Adam has to work, unfortunately, but I am hitting the road and heading to Solomons, Maryland to spend the weekend with my aunt and uncle at their cabin. It’s been way too long since I last saw my cousins and I am very excited. My aunt tipped me off that the “drink special” for the weekend is bourbon slushies so I’m pretty thrilled about that too.

Snacks and cafeteria lunches didn’t make it into this post so I’m skipping a good 45% of what I ate this week…

breakfast

Three things you need to know before we talk about breakfast: 1) I bought Rainer cherries and they have been sweet, delicious, and totally worth the $6 price tag. 2) My coffee combo was solid this week – double-strength brewed Community Coffee Dark Roast with chocolate milk and fat-free half and half.

3) GoMacro sent me a sampler box of mini MacroBars in 11 fun flavors. All MacroBars are USDA organic, non-GMO project verified, kosher, gluten-free and vegan certified. I like that GoMacro company buys fair trade products and their boxes are biodegradable and made from 100% post-consumer corrugated waste. All of the flavors I’ve tried thus far have been very homogenous in texture, smooth like a paste (but good and not gross like I’m making it sound here!) so they don’t crumble at all but they also don’t stick to your teeth or fingers which I deeply appreciate.

Please note – I was sent a box of mini bars free of charge to sample. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Chocolate coffee and peanut butter chocolate chip (protein pleasure). My favorite flavor thus far, the base of this one is basically just like eating super thick peanut butter.

Cherries and cashew caramel (protein paradise). This was my least favorite flavor, though it still was not bad, because it didn’t have much going on; when something calls itself caramel I’m looking for it to be pretty darn sweet.

Coffee, cherries, and sunflower butter + chocolate (protein purity). I know the names are super cheesy but a full-size of this flavor does offer 10 grams of protein for 260 calories.

A big day, cherries, mozzarella stick, coffee, and almond butter + carob (wholehearted heaven). Surprisingly, this was my favorite flavor, it had a nice sweetness to it.

Why yes, I did go through and pick out all of the “blank and chocolate” flavors first.

lunch

Maple mixture. Maple Greek yogurt with KIND maple chia granola and fresh pomegranate.

The yogurt, from Green Mountain Creamery, was soooo smooth. It’s just nonfat milk and maple syrup with live cultures.

On Wednesday, I prepped my lunch and left it on our butcher’s block in the kitchen while I went to get dressed. Five minutes later, the dog had eaten my lunch. He is a little monster but I still have absolutely no idea how he managed to get himself up on the block! I kicked the dog (kidding!!) and rushed off without food. The point of that long story? I ate ice cream for lunch and it was fantastic.

Scoops is the new pop-up ice cream shop from Greene Grape. My toasted green tea scoop (from Phin & Phebes) was extra fun with rainbow sprinkles.

Then it was back to yogurt.

Evolve Kefir‘s strawberry Greek yogurt was very pleasant with yellow plucot and KIND granola.

dinner

Pizza night. We made four cheese pizza – low-fat mozzarella, fresh mini mozzarella balls, pepperjack, and sharp cheddar – on TJ’s whole-wheat crust and it was ridiculous.

Pizza. But x2 because we ate the entire pie and we were so sick and it was so worth it.

Plus roasted veggies because we are healthy like that.

Kalettes (the kale + Brussels sprout hybrid which I’ve decided I don’t enjoy) and yummy zucchini.

Big salad(s) bonanza.

We tore up heads of TJ’s Smallish Gems Sweet Lettuce and topped them with champagne vinaigrette, sweet and spicy pecans, pomegranate, and cucumber.

Plus tuna salad on the side.

Casserole night was planned so Adam will have lots of leftovers while I’m away this weekend.

My Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta that I snuck a bit more veggies into with the addition of sautéed onion and yellow and orange bell peppers.

Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Fun nutrition fact – there is a dose dependent inverse relationship between broccoli consumption and colon cancer.

real talk

I finished Bossypants and I ~~laughed out loud on the train like a crazy person~~ adored it. The chapter where she responds to some of her internet critics had me in stitches. Even the lines about feminism/gender politics in America/women in comedy that make you want to put your fist through a window if you think about it too much managed to be witty. And now I really want to rewatch 30 Rock.

I bought this NY skyline bag from Fishs Eddy to store small items in my purse and it makes me happy every time I put on lipstick/grab a pen/check my cell phone, which is approximately 8 million times a day.

I finally started Orange is the New Black and I’m going to make my way through the season quickly but I’m kind of over it. Is there going to be a season 4, because I feel like they need to wrap things up? There are moments that are incredibly funny but in general this season is a bit too sad for me. My kind of television sads come from the fact that Joss Whedon thinks all great romances have to end in a horrifying and sudden death, I’m not so keen on the children visiting a prison on Mother’s Day and being panicked by their parents dropping to the dirt during a lockdown.

Do you watch OITNB? What are your thoughts on season 3? <– no spoilers, please!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: vegan

Last Week’s Top Five

Goodbye, Apple Month

breakfast

lunch

“dinner”

*These products were provided to me free of charge to review. I was not provided any additional compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

Weekend Highlights; I ♥ New York

Weekly Wrap-Up, Weddings Have Great Food

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Weekend Highlights + What’s In My Bag?

My Year Is Off To A Good Start

enjoyed all week

breakfast

lunch

dinner

This Week I…

Start Of A Three-Day Weekend

breakfast

Please note – I was sent a box of mini bars free of charge to sample. I was not provided further compensation for this post. All opinions are my own.

lunch

dinner

real talk