Tag Archives: veggies

Apple Month, Starting Strong

by

Some highlights from the past week…

This was the best bowl of fruit I’ve ever eaten together. Aprium, mango, and blueberries.

And this was the best yogurt bowl I’ve ever eaten! Plain Greek yogurt with honeycrisp apple pie granola and a Sonia apple that I microwaved with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Paired with an iced phin brew with brown sugar cinnamon cold foam.

Apple ginger crisp bar; I forget every year how excellent these 88 Acres seed and oat bars are, very balanced and satisfying.

Trader Joe’s dried apple chips (Adam loved these, I prefer the honeycrisp ones) and a BelliWelli chocolate chip cookie bar.

Caramel apple cocktail! Michigan Apple Whiskey, Goldschläger, ginger seltzer, and caramel sauce.

The Trader Joe’s cookie butter ale was okay but not as good as I was expecting; it was overly spiced in a way I found sort of nauseating.

Same review for these Utz hot honey chips.

Brunch at For Five while I powered through some work projects. I got a poached shrimp cobb salad (it came with turkey bacon so it was perfect for me).

Noodles with a gojuchang tahini sauce, topped with soft-boiled eggs, Sriracha, and furikake.

The “hack” where you shake macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets with blue cheese and buffalo sauce is a go-to in this house. I used Whole Foods macaroni, Applegate Farms nuggets, and added roasted cauliflower.

Nacho night. Tortilla chips and extra-sharp cheddar with smoked turkey, roasted zucchini, Blind Betty’s hot sauce, and a salsa with heirloom baby tomato, tomatillo, lemon, pepper, and Sichuan chili salt.

Basil tofu (so good!) on brown rice with sauteed baby bok choy and red bell pepper.

Another winner recipe – spicy salmon sushi bake. For my salmon layer I used a mix of hot smoked salmon, canned smoked salmon, and canned wild Alaskan pink salmon (all from Trader Joe’s). Plus a side of seaweed and a cucumber salad.

Back To School Themed

by

Highlights from a perfect weekend with my favorite boys! September 1st kicked off Apple Month. Here is my 2023 hual (I restrained myself) –

I started my Friday 9/1 with a Starbucks’ cold brew with cinnamon cold foam, apple syrup, and apple drizzle and it was pretty great. And Saturday Adam and I got a caramel apple iced latte from New York Beanery.

I made a yogurt bowl with vanilla skyr, aprium, and caramel apple granola.

Apple snacks. Caramel apple Sugar Babies – 8.5/10 / Apple harvest Sour Patch Kids – 12/10, the best gummy candy I’ve ever tasted / giant Rave apple – 8/10, juicy and crisp but a bit sour for our tastes.

We went glamping this weekend in a refurbished school bus!

With Webster!

It was great, mostly because it put us within walking distance of so many amazing restaurants. Saturday night we went to Elder Greene. “A quick one before the dinner,” Mezcal, orange, lime, and simple syrup with a Tajin rimmed glass.

Amazing crispy brussel sprouts with goat cheese and a walnut maple aioli.

The best, crispiest tater tots I’ve ever eaten. Plus we took burgers back to the bus for dinner! Elder Greene makes our favorite burgers in the city. Their classic is Pat LaFrieda short rib blend, cheddar, American, pickles, onion, and special sauce (#1) and they also make a Waygu burger with white cheddar, arugula, and lemon herb aioli on a brioche bun (#2). P.S. Nomwon is my #3.

Sunday morning we got goodies from Radio Bakery. Triple chocolate croissant and an earl grey morning bun.

Plus an everything focaccia sandwich with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

With a Voodoo Child Vietnamese iced coffee from Sweet Leaf.

Magical Fruit

by

Highlights from the week…

I tried another new-to-me protein coffee. This one was a 7.5/10, I’d prefer a stronger coffee taste but the flavor was nice.

Excitement in yogurt. A very sweet, very tasty soursop drinkable yogurt.

Did you know Haagen Dazs makes yogurt now?!

I’m glad I tried it but it’s too sweet to be a new staple. I topped the coffee flavor with aprium and peanut butter banana granola.

Fruity booze for the end of summer. I disliked the rum punch hard seltzer and greatly enjoyed the paloma sour.

Guava caramel candies. These are so good, the crunchy sugar is perfect.

This edible cookie dough is a 12/10. I warmed some up and made the best sundae of my life.

Bean week dinners; I am always looking to top my weirdest theme week! Buffalo blue cheese black bean burgers. With roasted broccoli, leftover fried tofu, and spicy ranch dipping sauce.

A take on our favorite black eyed pea salad. With green pepper, hearts of palm, peanuts, extra-sharp cheddar, and Caribbean hot sauce.

Spicy saucy chickpeas. Sauteed with sweet onion, orange bell pepper, eggplant, tomato sauce, spices, and harissa. I didn’t cook the eggplant enough and I actually hated this but it’s a good idea for the future if I pre-roast the eggplant.

Crispy butter beans. Tossed with evoo, cornstarch, panko, salt, gochugaru, furikake, and ranch seasoning and then roasted in the oven. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

Minnows And Salmon

by

Highlights from the past week…

Blue Bottle‘s Nola Shakerato is a work of art.

Smoothie with cottage cheese, peaches, mixed berries, and water.

Sandwich on garlic naan with sliced turkey, cheddar, and soft-scrambled eggs.

We ordered a whole spread of treats at Patisserie Tomoko, our new favorite dessert spot in Williamsburg. Yuzu cheesecake / black sesame red bean mochi / pumpkin pie. All 10/10!

Plus their special, the yuzuchoco float – yuzu sorbet, yuzu ice cream, and yuzu seltzer with a salted chocolate popsicle.

We ended up with these Trader Joe’s chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzels by mistake (sorry, Dad, they didn’t fit in your birthday box!) but Adam and I both love them.

Dinner at Minnows. We got fun drinks including an old-school frozen grasshopper.

Adam and I adored everything we got here. We shared a smashburger with pimento cheese.

Hushpuppies with salted honey butter.

A “big salad” with corn, pepitas, fennel, cojita, and citrus thyme vinaigrette.

Collard greens.

Adam surprised me with a sourdough croissant from Winner (YUM) so I made breakfast tasting plates for dinner. With roasted asparagus, a medium-boiled egg, Trader Joe’s hot-smoked salmon, and a horseradish dipping sauce.

Creamy mushroom pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with crispy sauteed oyster mushrooms and maitake mushrooms and a sauce made with cream cheese, gojuchang, and lemon juice. I topped mine with kelp flakes.

Baked buffalo chicken meatballs (with blue cheese and cream cheese!) and roasted broccoli with a horseradish ranch dipping sauce.

Webster’s 12th Buyday

by

Highlights from this week…

Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of Webster joining our family! He is the best. We spent the day hanging out and he celebrated with a peanut butter pup cup from Seacliff Shave Ice.

The humans shared one with cola and butterscotch, with vanilla ice cream, topped with condensed milk and mochi.

Southdown Coffee granita iced coffee.

I also had a variety of coffees from home this week.

We got a bunch of good snacks from Fine Fair Supermarket, including this great tres leches cake.

Trader Joe’s snacks. The ube mochi were fantastic, they were so marshmallow-y!

I loved these new Happy Hour tequilla seltzers.

This guava Mtn Dew was way too sweet but delicious mixed with golden rum.

Dinners this week – 1) Involved a lot of take-out (I was a bit under the weather and also take-out is great). 2) Involved a lot of cauliflower (I got excited about the options at Trader Joes and ended up buying three varieties. And also cauliflower is great).

Roast Korean BBQ French Dip special; shortrib, white cheddar, caramelized kimchi, crunchy onions, and spicy mayo on ciabatta. With roasted baby cauliflower.

Taco Bell came out with a birria taco (“grilled cheese dipping taco”) and I obviously had to try it. I also bought a back-up burrito in case it wasn’t good but I ended up really liking it; the red sauce was obviously not consume but the meat had a good texture and there was tons of cheese. Plus roasted cauliflower and broccoli.

Jalopeno popper turkey meatloaf (with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalopenos and tons of sharp cheddar) plus roasted rainbow cauliflower.

Walking tacos (but Adam convinced me to serve them in bowls instead of out of the bag). I made mine with crumbled Fritos / plus ground turkey sauteed with red sauce, baby heirloom tomatoes, and white onion / cheddar / avocado.

Mac and three cheese muffins. With Goodle’s whole-wheat curveballs. I swapped parmesan for extra cheddar and added pickled jalopenos. Plus roasted zucchini.

Good(le) Eats

by

Highlights from a yummy week…

Plain skyr with blueberries and Blue Stripes Cacao peanut butter banana granola.

Such good snacks this week! Apriums.

Strawberry bites cereal. I loved this and Adam hated it.

Whole Foods’ pimento mac and cheese bites. I think they are best with honey and hot sauce.

Caramel core ice cream.

Soursop chocolate bar. I carried this home from Denver and it was worth it.

Rum and coke slushie.

BLT pasta salad. Whole wheat cavatappi / heirloom baby tomatoes / turkey bacon / romaine lettuce / and a sauce with mayo, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

I bought these Goodles noodles 90% because the box was so pink and 10% because they were whole-wheat, and they ended up being delicious.

Loaded salad. Romaine, tomato, turkey bacon, mozarella, cashews, and Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing.

Beans and rice (kidney beans and brown rice cooked with onion, hot pepper, ginger, and coconut milk) / tuna cakes with Jamaican curry powder and red curry paste / roasted zucchini / hot pepper jelly.

Coffees And Pastas

by

Adam and I had the whole weekend together, which was just lovely! Despite the heat we managed to take the dog to a farmer’s market and take a humans-only walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. And we ate so many good things! Highlights included…

A dalgona iced latte (always a winner!) with chocolate milk.

Blue Bottle‘s shaken New Orleans cold brew is a 10/10 summer special.

Lemon chess pie at the farmer’s market.

Brigaderio cake at Cafe Patoro. I also had a brigaderio iced latte that was hands-down the best thing I’ve consumed so far in 2023.

Dessert flavored booze! Decadent Ale guava cream pop IPA / Ellicottville strawberry crunch bar cream ale / Skatterbrain vanilla cake whiskey (I mixed this one with amaretto, diet coke, and fancy cherries and it was fantastic).

Brunch at Nuaa Table. Thai iced tea.

We shared the veggie dumplings and roasted duck buns.

Banana blossom salad with coconut poached chicken and quail eggs. The acidity here was perfection.

Spicy shrimp basil noodles.

Son-in-Law duck egg – fried boiled duck egg, homemade black pepper brioche, and tamarind-fish sauce caramel. This was my favorite dish.

Lobster roll from Luke’s.

Dinner at Patti Ann’s. This was really good but not mind-blowing like I was expecting.

We shared charred asparagus with hummus, walnuts, golden raisins, and za’atar.

The smashed patty burger – on milk bread with sharp cheddar, special sauce, tomato, and crispy shallots.

And duck lasagna.

Chili garlic noodles from Omsom. I added leftover veggies, chili crisp, and a six-minute egg.

Birthday Cake

by

Highlights from an extra-yummy week…

Monday was my birthday! Obviously I had a stash of on-theme treats. Milk Bar ice cream (10/10; it has a frosting ribbon!) / BelliWelli bar (8/10) / Made Good granola bar (9.5/10) / Premier Protein protein shake (4/10).

See also – my birthday gift to myself was ordering some of these delicious cocktail cherries I had in Traverse City, MI.

Other fun treats included huckleberry gummy bears from CO.

Mango-passionfruit fruit leather.

Homemade (mini) blueberry cobbler! I used a New York Times Recipe. Topped with ice cream.

You know my birthday dinner choice was Roast take-out (enjoyed in front of “I Think You Should Leave,” of course!). I got a bbq chicken crunch wrap (sharp cheddar, pepper jack, avocado, crispy tortillas, chicken, and chipotle ranch) and fries with house sauce. Plus homemade spicy sesame green beans (steamed/blistered and sauteed with gojuchang, tahini, and sesame seeds).

This week’s dinners were all wins. Korean steamed eggs with brown rice, sauteed bok choy, roasted zucchini, and chili crisp.

A summer veggie plate. Leftover zucchini / sauteed garlic baby broccoli / Trader Joe’s Sriracha baked tofu / cheesy corn salad – sauteed fresh corn, green onion, poblano pepper, mozarella, gochugaru, Kewpie, and lime juice.

Jumeokbap. I used brown rice and added Sriracha. And made mine giant! With leftover green beans (so good cold!) and cucumber tossed with gojuchang, sugar, and rice vinegar.