No one is surprised that I had a stash of on-theme goodies and declared a Valentine’s Week flavor. Here were the things I stockpiled (the kombucha was a standout!).
Related note – Adam bought me an egregious amount of fancy chocolate. And surprised me with beautiful flowers and gigantic brisket sandwiches.
Flavor of the week – chocolate covered cherry! Coffee – iced with Luxardo cherries and chocolate milk.
Chia pudding – chia seeds with chocolate almond milk, brown sugar, and dried cherries. Topped with dried hibiscus, Luxardos, and a chocolate peanut butter protein bar.
Smoothie – frozen cherries with Greek yogurt and chocolate milk. This was fantastic and I need to make it all the time.
Not on theme, but I loved this dinner too much not to document it – a soft-scrambled egg sandwich with peso mayo on toasted sourdough with roasted cauliflower.
This weekend I – – Did not watch the Super Bowl. Wore an insane amount of red and pink in preparation for today’s holiday. Worked all three days but managed to have crazy good dinners and a date night with Adam. Highlights included…
Two things I adore and eat all of the time but don’t share often because it feels repetitious (on very separate ends of the snacking spectrum!) – Sparkling matcha.
BBQ chicken bowls. Sweet potato fries // sautéed collard greens with butter and lemon // chicken breast and red onion cooked in the crock pot, shredded, tossed with bbq sauce, then baked in the oven.
Roasted sheet-pan hash. Pesto chicken sausage, sweet potato, Japanese sweet potato, zucchini, fennel, and sweet onion; topped with pesto. <– this was 11/10 and I really want to make a Super Bowl joke about it
Date Night at Nami Nori. We were thrilled that they had Something and Nothing seltzer and I loved my Cherry Bomb cocktail – cremant sparkling wine, cherry sage cordial, and soju.
We started with furikake fries with mentaiko mayo.
And for my five temaki (a style of hand rolls) I chose: tuna poke with crispy shallots // crispy tofu chimichurri with micro cilantro // crunchy spicy crab // salmon with cucumber // spicy tuna.
A very-berry smoothie. Frozen triple berry blend plus grapes, chia, brown sugar, and ube flavoring.
Some exceptionally good bars (plus mandarin oranges). Both were filling, sweet but not saccharine, and had a nice chewiness. 10/10, would buy both again!
Fun lattes from Grind House. This was raffaello-inspired, with coconut and white chocolate.
Still on my take-out sandwich obsession. This was a bbq chicken crunch wrap.
Homemade pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with sautéed mushrooms and ground turkey with smoked paprika, mace, and garlic plus sour cream and parmesan.
Taco night. Seasoned ground turkey on flour tortillas with sour cream and Whole Foods’ roasted chipotle salsa (our favorite). Plus tiny tomatoes and roasted cauliflower.
Caribbean-inspired snacks. Guava paste + mozarella cheese. And hibiscus things.
Breakfast for dinner. Avocado toast (on rye, with turkey bacon) and fruit salad (blueberries, strawberries, mandarin, and banana). Plus a Bloody Mary! P.S. No, this single slice of toast was not enough dinner. I had other items planned but I had my cocktail before I started cooking and I ended up eating the tiramisu ice cream instead!
Big salads. Trader Joe’s herb salad mix with balsamic fig dressing, baby corn, blue cheese, peanuts, chickpeas, and ground black garlic.
Pasta night. Udon noodles with sautéed shitake and oyster mushrooms with cream cheese, lemon, and gojuchang; topped with kelp granules. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.
A take on okonomiyaki with roasted cabbage and turkey bacon. Topped with Sriracha, Kewpie, furikake, and bonito flakes.
Strawberry cheesecake oatmeal bowl with cream cheese and caramelized bananas.
Yogurt bowl with cinnamon, coffee cake, and blueberries.
Snack highlights; sweet.
And savory.
Our Whole Foods’ hot bar is rarely open so when it is I impulse buy all the things.
Two kinds of takeout sandwiches (brisket grilled cheese with mushrooms on sourdough // chicken panini with truffle artichoke spread) with two kinds of carrots (sautéed with celery // raw baby carrots).
For a week of easing back into real life from vacation the past 5 days weren’t too bad! I even managed to cook a few dinners. That said, work has been insane and I am not sad that I’m heading into a three day weekend!
Highlights from the past week include…
Coffee combo – Hudson Roastery with sweetened condensed milk.
Layered halvah. P.S. We also bought halvah-crusted pecans and they were insane.
Leftovers and lettuce wraps converged for the perfect dinner. We used butterhead lettuce to wrap ground turkey sautéed with gojuchang with celery, peanuts, quick pickled cucumber and carrot salad, and pickled radish. Plus leftovers from great take-out we got over the weekend – kimbap and Korean fried chicken.
It’s possible we over-purchased fried chicken… we snacked on it all week long!
A quick and easy dinner – chicken burgers from the freezer with sautéed bell peppers and green onion, mashed avocado, a fried egg, and fantastic hot sauce from back home.
The best dinner of the week/month/new year! I made buffalo chicken meatballs (with ground turkey since we were shopping during a winter storm, hot sauce, cream cheese, and blue cheese) with sautéed carrot and celery, and homemade garlic bread (garlic, butter, spices, and tons of parmesan baked on everything ciabatta rolls).
The week after Christmas is still an acceptable time for eggnog coffee.
See also – I made a chestnut iced latte. Strong espresso plus half and half with chestnut paste, sugar, vanilla bean, cinnamon, and mace.
This grape kombucha was wonderfully juicy.
See also – rainbow sherbet Hi-Chews.
Whole Food’s peanut butter and jelly bites plus mandarins.
Christmas dinner leftovers – roasted brussel sprouts with duck sausage, sharp cheddar, and chili flakes.
We might actually be addicted to Roast Sandwiches. I’ve been getting take-out from them at least once a week the past month and I think about their roast beef sandwiches constantly. This was a bbq chicken crunch wrap.
Sautéed maple sriracha kale with an herby bean salad. Great Northern beans with green onion, turkey bacon, garlic oil, Sichuan pepper salt, and tons of fresh mint and cilantro.
An even fancier salad. Sautéed kale with garlic and balsamic vinaigrette topped with roasted beets, deglet dates, pomegranate, honey goat cheese, and crumbled beef bacon.
P.S. Starting tomorrow Adam and I are both on vacation together for a week!
Eating Chalk 