7 For 7

Long time no blog!  Here were 7 highlights from the past 7 days…

{1} This chocolate chip cookie dough chia bar is quite tasty.  With a pinata apple.

IMG_3497

{2} We finally went to Paradox Pastry and now it’s my new favorite place.  The nutella hand pie and birthday cake macaron we shared were out of this world delicious and I wanted to try pretty much every item on the menu.

IMG_3449

{3} We went on a crepe date at The Flat.

IMG_3466

Shredded chicken with brie and local Jams by Daniel.

IMG_3462

The Owl Man = milk chocolate, cinnamon, and marshmallow fluff.

IMG_20190126_151124_708

{4} My mom sent some Rothschild Farms raspberry honey mustard dip in my stocking this year and it’s like snacking on my childhood.  Pretzels for dipping are nonnegotiable but baby carrots aren’t bad either.

IMG_3476

{5} Dinner bowl #1 – Stir-fried cauliflower rice (with soy sauce, rice vinegar, cashews, and eggs) with Trader Joe’s Mandarin orange chicken-less morsels.

IMG_3494

{6} Dinner bowl #2 – Broccoli rice and shredded carrots stir-fried with zhoug sauce // honey garlic chicken thighs – thighs, garlic, honey, and soy sauce put in the crock pot on low for 8 hours // bok choy sauteed in some extra sauce // a fried egg.

IMG_3523

{7} My cousin introduced us to Peter Chang’s.  We had sweet glutinous rice cakes and I had numbing shredded duck.  Szechuan chili is such a fun spice sensation.

IMG_20190125_185926_273

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

IMG_20190119_110926_765

IMG_3473

Hot, Hot, Hot

There is no condiment I find as essential as hot sauce (fyi – I normally like to keep an open Cholula in the mix as well!),

img_3357

so when Moore’s Marinades offered to send me some samples from their new hot sauce line I jumped at the opportunity.

img_3372

We loved them both, even Adam who is a bit heat adverse.  The sauces brought a lot of flavor with the spice.  I prefer a hot sauce that I can take a taste of without running for a glass of milk (think Sriracha in terms of heat intensity).

With the Harissa Hot Sauce I made a smoky harissa turkey chili.

img_3391

Ground turkey / olive oil / sweet onion / celery / bell pepper / poblano pepper / salt, pepper, smoked paprika / liquid smoke / harissa hot sauce / white beans / crushed tomato.  Topped with cheddar.

img_3401

On the side, I made dumb bread! <– from scratch!

img_3407

With the Spicy Mustard Hot Sauce I made hot honey mustard chicken nuggets.

img_3417

Homemade baked chicken nuggets (chicken chunks / dipped in flour / then egg / then breadcrumbs) tossed in the tastiest sauce I’ve ever made – honey, spicy mustard hot sauce, mustard, butter.

img_3426

Send Nood(le)s

Dinners this week were all about the pastabilities!  <– I’m done now, I swear

Homemade shrimp Pad Thai.

img_3234

Buffalo chicken baked pasta.  With ground chicken sauteed with buffalo sauce / riced cauliflower / celery and yellow onion / and sweet red cheddar, smoked cheddar, and blue stilton!

img_3290

Pasta pie.  A mix of TJ’s squid ink spaghetti and zucchini noodles baked with parsley, triple cream brie, and eggs, plus some panko on top.

img_3308

Snack attack.  The Chobani Gimmies line is still rocking my face off.

img_3279

img_3297Do I have enough liquids within reach to get me through dinner prep?  Sadly I found the milk stout to be too sweet for my tastes, but the can was just adorable.

img_3268

Thai iced tea win.  The tea drops were super easy/quick to use and the packets of sweetened condensed milk make my heart happy.img_3216img_3226Yogurt with sumo mandarin, honey mango, and candied walnuts.img_3258A “tasting plate” success – chicken nuggets, cheese, and baby carrots.img_3251

 

Double Bacon Cheese Beyond Burgers

My trip home last weekend was perfect and we survived “Winter Storm Gia” this weekend… 2019 is looking like my year.

Highlights from week 2 include…

Iced coffee with black walnut extract and sweet cream creamer.

img_3101

Stumptown cold brew coffee box.

img_3089

Who knew that Perfect Bars were so freaking delicious?!  This peanut butter chocolate chip one was basically cookie dough.

img_3175

Stonyfield chocolate yogurt pouch (7/10), a Kiku apple (8/10), and a chocolate peanut butter filled Clif bar (9.5/10).

img_3121

I brought these yummy coconut candies back from St. Thomas.

img_3168

Shiner S’more is officially my new favorite beer.

img_3179

Guzzled while assembling everything but the kitchen sink cookies with caramel, kettle chips, toffee bits, caramel chips, and chocolate chips.

img_3189

This quickie packaged foods dinner was sooo good.  Chicken and cheese pupusas + bbq chicken chips + roasted broccoli + Trader Joe’s Zhoug sauce.

img_3128

I have an unhealthy obsession with the “Asian” section of Wegman’s hot bar.

img_3096

We made insanely, over-the-top, decadent double cheese burgers with Beyond Burger patties.

img_3162

Two patties on a brioche bun with mayo, turkey bacon, and smoked cheddar slices.  Plus kettle chips and veggies from the Whole Foods’ hot bar – curry caulilini and roasted rainbow carrots, mushrooms, and root vegetables.

img_3144Then later in the week we did a similar thing with Boca Chick’n patties.

 

img_3174

We made killer sheet pan hash browns.  Potato, sweet potato, purple sweet potato, olive oil, smoked paprika, green onion, turkey bacon, and red, yellow, and orange bell pepper.

img_3197

Topped with Zhoug and fried eggs.

img_3208

Hello, 2019

Highlights from the new year…

The 454 Horse Power coffee from Kicking Horse is roasty and smooth.

IMG_3021

I bought these Chobani Gimmies products because I’m a marketer’s dream but I ended up being shocked by just how much I loved them.  Marshmallow yogurt!!

IMG_3035

IMG_3041

IMG_3057

Chewy things.  Cow Tales are one of my favorites and the honey nougat from Trader Joe’s wasn’t bad either.

IMG_3068

This No Resolutions IPA from Bronx Brewery was very on the nose for January 1st drinking.

IMG_3050

We made crock butter butter chicken.  I loosely followed this recipe except that I used chicken thighs, added tomato paste, and used way less butter.  Served on top of a blend of cauliflower rice and broccoli rice.

IMG_3084

We finally tried the Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi and now I totally get the hype.  Served with swiss chard, lemon brown butter sauce, and 2 fried eggs on top.

IMG_3078

P.S. I’ll be taking a blog break through the weekend.  My uncle passed away over the holidays and I’m heading home for a few days to be with family.

Christmas Cheer

Holiday highlights…

For the 1st time in six years Adam and I were both off for Christmas!  It was the perfect day.  We opened presents in front of Nick Offerman.

IMG_2891

And got Thai take-out and watched The Office.

IMG_2901

A good 90% of my gifts were edible so I spent the rest of the day eating sugar.

IMG_2909

IMG_2894

Related – because my cousin knows me very well, her Christmas gifts to me included delicious homemade latkes

IMG_2870

and Christmas-themed beer.

IMG_2923

The rest of the week included…

I figured for my last round of coffee and ‘nog I should go big or go home – Homestead Creamery’s eggnog is the best I’ve ever tasted.

IMG_2860

I spent more than an hour one night making dal that ended up being inedible but the roasted purple brussel sprouts I tossed into the oven as an afterthought we stunningly good.

IMG_2882

We made red and green sheet pan crab fried rice.  Use this method.  With basmatti rice, crab, green onion, red bell pepper, and broccoli.

IMG_2937

P.S. Today is our 11th wedding anniversary (and our 16 year!! dating anniversary) and we have super fun stuff planned ♥♥

IMG_2880

…And A Partridge In A Pear Tree!

This post includes five sweet things, four holiday theme items, three types of eggnog, two homemade dinners…

Stumptown Cold Brew with Trickling Springs egg nog.

IMG_2791

Grady’s Cold Brew with Promised Land Holiday Nog.

IMG_2733

I made my banana toffee magic bars for a cookie exchange at work and they came out really well!  I subbed in caramel chips for butterscotch and it think it was an upgrade.

IMG_2765

IMG_2797

Sweethaus‘ holiday cupcakes are somehow eight times better than their already fantastic regular offerings.  Eggnog and gingerbread with meringue frosting.

IMG_2755

Hardywood’s gingerbread stout is stupid good and dangerously easy to drink.

IMG_2764

This lavender can from Kombucha Town is my current favorite kombucha; it’s very mellow.

IMG_2802

Fancy tuna salad makes an easy dinner.  A mix of tuna and smoked sardines with mayo, dijon, and capers / roasted brussel sprouts / baby carrots / Trader Joe’s everything crackers.

IMG_2742

But Wegman’s take-home meal section makes an even easier dinner.  Spicy general tso chicken with fried rice and seaweed salad.

IMG_2779

And one night I did legitimately cook – a protein, some veggies, and even a sauce.  Asian take-out style tofu!  This recipe but with oven fried tofu (similar to this method) in place of chicken.  I also used rice vinegar instead of red wine vinegar and added in some cashews.

IMG_2803

Gingerbread Galore

So many holiday flavors consumed this weekend!  <– Squee!  It was just kind of a great weekend in general – we had no major to-dos looming and the weather was fantastic.  We got to go to brunch with my cousin and her boyfriend and on a long walk with the dog.  Next weekend brings out of town plans so it was really nice to keep things low-key.

Highlights…

Forager’s coconut cream cashew milk cold brew.  It was yummy but way too filling to consume all at once.

IMG_2569

Starbucks’ Juniper iced latte – I recommend getting double the espresso and half of the syrup so it’s not too pine-y [holiday flavor #1].

IMG_2562

Plain Greek yogurt with maple, almond butter granola, and the last of the cranberry sauce.

IMG_2570

Brunch at Renewal was delicious, we will definitely be back.  I had a gin fizz with egg white and cream.

gin fizz

Roasted brussel sprouts with garlic fondue and sherry gastrique / field greens side salad with grapefruit vinaigrette / fries with pimento cheese and aioli.

renewal

Sugar cookie frozen yogurt and eggnog gelato [holiday flavors #2 and 3}.

IMG_2554

King of Pop’s gingerbread was the best popsicle I’ve ever eaten, it was like a cookie dunked in milk [holiday flavor #4].  Enjoyed at Hardywood where I also had a Christmas Morning – gingerbread stout with Black Hand Coffee [holiday flavor #5].

IMG_2579

This Sweethaus gingerbread cupcake with meringue frosting was the best baked good we’ve ever eaten, hands down [also holiday flavor #6!].

IMG_2581

Trader Joe’s cauliflower latkes for the first night of Hannukah [holiday flavor #7] with a chicken thigh take on this Mississippi Roast recipe.

IMG_2587