Tag Archives: veggies

Halloween Weekend Wrap-Up

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Did everyone have a spooky weekend?  Or at least eat lots of candy?  I didn’t dress up this year and I didn’t manage to eat a single piece of candy, boo!  The whole weekend was pretty lame, frankly.  Saturday I spent hours holed up with a friend working on some continuing education credits.  And Sunday Adam and I were both a bit under the weather so we took advantage of the time change to catch some extra z’s.

Here were a few fun things…

Hallow’s Eats

Breakfast was on theme.  Coffee with chocolate soy milk, an apple, and a Clif Monster Chocolate Mint Z Bar.

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The bar was so good, I need to find more of this flavor.

Dinner too.  A tasty bowl of leftovers.

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Pasta with roasted broccoli, browned mushrooms, rock cheddar, fancy evoo, and turkey bacon (my new favorite kind, from Wellshire).

And I may not have eaten candy, but I did go to Snow Days for shaved ice.

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Roasted black sesame ice with mochi and sweetened condensed milk.  It was amazing.  The ice is sliced into sheets rather than crushed and the texture is totally unique.

Say Cheese

When I was done with my work on Saturday, Adam and I drove up to Port Jeff for a dinner date at C’est Cheese.  We shared a beer sampler.

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And a cheese plate.

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Plus the Spanish Salad.

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Field greens / Manchego / orange slices / red onion / black olives / honey tarragon vinaigrette.

Burgers With Bear

We did Sunday brunch at Bare Burger.  I got the Western – turkey burger, no bun, with turkey bacon instead of pork and maple horseradish mustard subbed for smokehouse sauce.

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With giant bowls of froyo for dessert.

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Dinner was Chipotle but I’ve promised to stop blogging about that!

Raw Review

Finally, a product review.  I was sent a free sample of Maui Brand Raws Turbinado and Whites Crystallized Natural Cane Sugar.

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I received these products free of charge but I was not provided with any additional compensation for this post.  All opinions are my own.

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Available on Amazon and in some stores, their sugar cane is grown and processed on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  The sugars are non-GMO and vegan (<– not all granulated sugar is vegan).

I tried the sugars (which come in convenient 10 calorie to-go packages) in iced coffee,

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and chocolate chip cookies,

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and was quite pleased with their functional properties compared with regular sugar.  I’m a fan.

Best Pizza Ever; Weekly Wrap-Up

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Happy Halloween!

Things were busy, busy, busy, busy this week at work.  <– if you don’t read that in the voice of the magician from “Frosty the Snowman” then you didn’t have a childhood and you need to go rent the movie immediately!

As I’ve mentioned, my clinic is transferring over to an electronic medical record system at the end of this year.  The nutrition department needs a new charting form (built from scratch) to accommodate our specific patient population, but since I am the entire department things have been pretty hectic.  Plus we are in the middle of planning a big event and I randomly had a bunch of newly diabetic patients this week.

Additionally, I do some consulting work on the side reviewing nutrition educations and I had a big batch of articles to get through this week.  I really enjoy the work – did you know that I did some editing/reviewing for a famous Caribbean author as a child? – but it can be hard to get motivated to get myself back into work mode once I’m home and changed into Adam’s sweatpants at the end of the day.  Snacks help.

My meals were all totes amaze this week and/but you will see quite a bit of repetition…

breakfast

Vega Peanut Butter Cup Bar and an orchard apple.

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Iced coffee with chocolate soy milk and an apple.

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Orchard apples and espresso with milk and sugar.

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The energy shot in the middle was a sample from my Urth Box and it was a giant nope.

lunch

Yogurt bowl.  It’s funny, at least once a week someone will comment about how good my yogurt lunch looks.

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Dannon Pumpkin Pie Greek with fresh blackberries and TJ’s Pumpkin O’s.  Plus a candy corn salt water taffy.

Take-2.

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With TJ’s pumpkin Greek and Pop Rocks.

Dark Chocolate Mint bar from Zing.

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This was all I had time to eat on Thursday but it kept me full all afternoon.  Thanks, 10 grams of protein.

snack time

Lindt’s “Hello My Name Is” bars are pretty much my favorite.  Cookies and Cream!

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An “Apple Pie A la Mode” = honeycrisp apple cider + RumChata + Goldschläger.

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Locally-made yogurt.

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Trying to bribe myself into doing my freelance work, I … stole some of Adam’s Cheetos (we both are a little bit insane about themed foods),

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Ate licorice bears,

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And dipped a big, sliced apple into butterscotch peanut butter.

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The apple dippers beat out my other snacks in nutrition and flavor.

dinner

We made Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage using this fun pasta as our base.

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We tend to rarely repeat recipes but this is one we’ve made several years in a row now (back in the day!).

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So good.  I subbed TJ’s soy chorizo for sausage and fat-free half and half for cream but otherwise followed the recipe.

Round 2.

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I made a big bowl of leftover pumpkin pasta and leftover white cheddar macaroni with spinach, topped with chunky cranberry apple sauce that one of my nutrition co-workers made for me.

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Adam was not willing to put fruit on his pasta, but my bowl was delicious.

Pizza Night!

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Ugh.  These came out so flipping yummy and neither Adam or I could shut up about it.  We loaded them with ridiculous toppings and they probably ended up being far more caloric than delivery but they were also the best pizzas we’ve ever eaten.  We used a ball of dough from Trader Joe’s and it split perfectly into two nicely sized pizzas.

Traditional – marinara sauce / low-fat shredded mozzarella / sautéed green pepper rings / tons and tons of mushrooms browned in butter.

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Plus, slightly less traditional.

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Oh yes, you know I went there!  The best pizza I’ve ever eaten ever including the amazing, giant slices of Buffalo chicken from Zetti’s – pumpkin puree / low-fat shredded mozzarella / TJ’s Pacific Rock cheddar / onions sautéed with liquid smoke and smoked brown sugar / tons of crumbled turkey bacon.

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Plus we had sautéed kale on the side, with liquid smoke, maple syrup, and more bacon.

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For nutrition.

We also shared a Warlock.

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Best of the season!  There wasn’t actually much pumpkin flavor, this was just a really delicious stout.

Round 2.

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Leftover pizza.

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Kale chips with truffle salt and roasted broccoli with bbq.

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The pizza was just as swoon-worthy eaten cold.  How do I get more, immediately?  And we ate this while watching “Nightmare Before Christmas” so I was pretty much exploding with excitement.  <– picture strange, giddy laughter and me singing along with my mouth stuffed full of pizza.

What was on the best pizza you’ve ever eaten?

Apples All Around; Long Week Wrap-Up

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We have been enjoying the heck out of my apple picking haul.  There were a few days last week when I ate an apple with all three meals!  Too bad my husband’s a doctor, I don’t want to keep him away!

I haven’t blogged a recap since last Sunday so I’ve got quite a bit to share…

breakfast

An apple and a latte.

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Round 2; this was homemade cold-brew with Hint of Honey Almond Breeze.

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Then the next day I did skim milk and maple syrup.  Also delicious.

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An almond croissant with more coffee.

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Latte from David’s Tea while we walked around Park Slope.

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Cream of Earl Grey is the best.

lunch

Sandwich and salad day.  I think this is the largest lunch I’ve ever packed.  A pumpkin spice English muffin (<– oooh!) with pumpkin butter, roasted turkey, and sharp cheddar.

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Spinach salad with blue cheese, dried blueberries, sweet and spicy pecans, and honey mustard dressing.

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Oatmeal and an apple.

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I’ve decided that I hate that line of Quaker instant oatmeals but it was already waiting in my pantry so I gussied it up with chia seeds, butterscotch chips, and dried cranberries.

Pumpkin yogurt bowl.

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Pumpkin Chobani with TJ’s Pumpkin O’s amd butterscotch peanut butter.  Plus an apple, of course, though that was actually a SweeTango from a grocery trip before I had my orchard haul.

Cafeteria day.

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Salad bar and baked onion rings.

Sunday brunch at Talde.  There was pickled ginger in my Bloody Mary.

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We also shared a French Press of Illy.

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Fried avocado bao to share.

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And Korean chicken wings with waffles for me.

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With coconut brown butter, yum!

snack

An orange selection.

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Sweet stuff.

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Pumpkin Noosa with butterscotch peanut butter.

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Duh.

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TJ’s Cookies and Cream Butter.  <– ahhhhhhhh

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This jar lasted Adam and me less than a week!

dinner

A roasty fall meal.

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Squash with cinnamon and smoked paprika.  This was our first try roasting kombucha and it was good, though not quite worth the hype in my opinion.

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Asparagus sautéed with Bone Sucking mustard sauce and sliced almonds.

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And a big slice of my cheesy eggplant bake.

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We made this version in a pie dish and with mozzarella instead of provolone but it still ended up being delicious.

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With Naked Flock pumpkin cider to share.

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My co-worker brought me back the cider from the orchard where she went apple picking!

Leftovers night.  Eggplant bake side-by-side with tuna casserole, topped with additional cheese and crushed Cheez-its.

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I know that looks like a giant bowl of melted cheese, but I swear the layer underneath was mostly veg.  Plus we did salads for some green.  Spinach, chopped carrots, and edamame with sesame soy ginger vinaigrette.

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And a totes amaze apple cocktail.

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Honeycrisp cider with Apple Pie Moonshine.  I also did a splash of Goldschläger.

Chipotle.  Let’s be real, we got rice bowls two nights in a row.

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We shared some pumpkin brews to keep things fall-ish.

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Soup’s up.

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The TJ’s pumpkin soup was too thin and basically inedible.

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But my sides were awesome.  Three cheese grilled cheese = sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and blue cheese on wheat bread.

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And sliced apple.  I’m sure you’re not surprised that I ended up dipping my slices in melted cookies and cream butter.

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Mac and greens (and cheese!).

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Standby spinach salad – with dried blueberries, blue cheese, lavender salt, evoo, and honey – on the bottom.

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And mac and cheese – Pirate’s Booty aged white cheddar mac with tons of spinach, extra cheese, and Sriracha – on top.

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Adam hates when I pile things on top of one another but mac and salad go together really well.  You should try it!

What was the best fall flavor you had this past week?

Books And Bites; Five Favorites From The Week

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{1} Coffee

I made a fantasmic batch of cold brew this week.  Brooklyn Roasting Company Iris Espresso brewed with pumpkin spice and vanilla bean paste.  Two notes – 1. Go read all of the coffee descriptions on BRC immediately; you’ll drool all over your keyboard.  2. I am adding vanilla bean paste to all of my coffees from here on out.

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Served over ice with Almond Breeze Hint of Honey.  <– I’m a fan.

{2} Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Mint from NibMor.

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Did y’all know that NibMore lives right up the road from me in Great Neck?  I’m excited that this tasty bar is local.

{3} Oatmeal for lunch

I know that these overnight oats look a little rough, but the flavor was perfect.  In the morning before work I stirred together 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup oats, 3/4 cup almond milk, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds.  The mixture thickened up nicely by lunchtime.

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The blob on top is butterscotch peanut butter.  <– Ahh-mazing!  Adam and I are obsessed.

Another day, another (oat)meal.

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Veggie and fruit leather, a SweeTango apple, and *new* Quaker Caramel Apple Oats.

{4} A great, Greek, green dinner

Leftovers.

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I was worried about the phyllo dough, but my Greek Tofu Pie reheated just fine.

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Plus leftover green beans sautéed with garlic aioli mustard sauce and sliced almonds.

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We had a rough week health wise – one night Adam had a fever and I had a migraine and we sat on the floor and ate chips and aspirin for dinner – so having leftovers available was great.

Worth mentioning too – My leftovers from Max in Williamsburg.

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The pasta and sauces are all made in-house and they are out of control.

{5} A new favorite novel

The Center of Winter by Marya Hornbacher.  I haven’t actually gotten all that far into this book yet – partially because I’ve needed to nap on the train and mostly because the writing is so beautiful that I go back to the beginning of the page and reread when I hit the end of most of the pages.

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Hornbacher is one of my favorite authors and her first book, a memoir focusing on her eating disorder, shaped the way I think about literature.  <– I am planning on blogging about that in more detail next week.

Her first novel has been truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.  I wanted to share a short {meta!} passage to give you guys a taste –

All the seasons here in the north move toward their own end, except winter, which moves towards its center and sits there to see how long you can take it.  Spring twitches impatiently in its seat like a child wanting to go outside, straining toward summer, and summer, all lush and showy, tumbles headlong toward the decay of fall.  Fall comes and goes so fast it takes the breath away, arriving in brocades of red and gold and whipping them off in only a few weeks, leaving a landscape ascetic, stunned with loss.

Outside, in the soft blue-gray dark, the snow fell.  A child sat at the kitchen table and pretended her father had not died, because you were there.  As long as you were there, she did not need to be afraid, or go outside, and so she was not afraid, of cold or anything else.  Death did not kill her off but merely left her maimed, like a shot animal that startles at the noise more than the pain and scrambles even faster through the underbrush, wide-eyed and sweating at the flanks, not pausing for the ripped and useless leg it now drags behind it as it runs.  The animal has three legs left.  Terror makes that enough.

Have you read any of Hornbacher’s work yet?

It’s All Greek To Me! – Greek Tofu Pie

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As promised, the killer dish from yesterday’s dinner.

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This recipe requires you to dirty your food processor and deal with phyllo dough, but I promise it’s worth it.  We couldn’t believe how well this all came together!

Greek Tofu Pie, serves 4 – 6

  • 1 Tbsp and 2 tsp evoo
  • 3 cups frozen spinach
  • 10 oz sliced mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 a large lemon, juiced
  • 16 oz silken tofu, drained
  • 6 oz feta cheese
  • 4 oz sharp white cheddar
  • 3 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Warm 1 Tbsp evoo in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Sauté mushrooms, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes for 10 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened and the spinach has fully thawed.  Stir in salt, oregano, and lemon juice and remove pan from heat.
  3. Use a food processor to combine the tofu, feta, and cheddar.  Add cooked veggies and process until the mixture is homogenous.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter and 2 tsp evoo.  Set up phyllo dough according to the package directions.
  5. Use a pastry brush to wet the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish with the butter mixture.  Brushing on the butter between layers, place 4 slices of phyllo dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish.  Spread the filling into the pie dish, smoothing the top so it’s level.  Top with remaining layers of phyllo dough, continuing to brush butter between the layers.  Use kitchen shears to trim off the excess phyllo dough that is hanging outside the edge of the pie dish.
  6. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes.  The filling is safe to eat raw, but the longer it cooks the firmer it gets.  Cook for 30 minutes then check regularly and pull out of the oven as soon as the phyllo dough threatens to burn (you want it to get a light tan; pull from the oven as soon as any dark brown spots appear).
  7. Allow pie to cool and set for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

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My Giant Post Disappeared, OMG

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Uggggggggh! Welp the title kind of says it all. I spent more than an hour last night recapping all of the fabulous eats from last week and the post has disappeared. I’m dying, dying!

Photo-dump style, here are a few key players…

Amazing fruit salad with blueberries, strawberries, banana,  orange, and toasted coconut.

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Pumpkin yogurts for lunch.

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Plus two cafeteria winners.

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First pumpkin smoothie.

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So much good candy, including trail mix with pb pretzels, raisins, and candy corn m&m’s.

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Duh.

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The best pumpkin brew of the season so far.

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A salad bar lunch date at Whole Foods.

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Smorgasburg eats! Duck buns and other good but not as good buns (peanut chicken for me and pork belly for Adam) smothered in amazing chilli sauce.

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Plus an awesome good batch ice cream sandwich of coffee ic, caramel, and espresso beans on salted brown butter cookies.

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A fantastically “fall” meal that Adam said made him feel like a forest troll. Shredded brussels sprouts sautéed with turkey bacon, roasted butternut squash, baby spinach, shredded chicken, barley, sweet and spicy pecans, honey mustard dressing, and pomegranate.

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Delicious Greek Tofu Pie that I promise to retype the recipe for tonight.

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That is most of it. I hate computers!

Weekend Wrap-Up; We Had Visitors

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On the excitement front this weekend – Adam’s parents came to visit!  We are going to see all of my in-laws soon for Thanksgiving, but it was good to catch up with the parents now before the craziness of eleven of us under one roof.  We had them Friday night through Sunday afternoon and we got to show off LI.

lunches

Packed for Friday – an AriZona Oak Tea and 2% Fage with a big baggie of pomegranate arils and chopped fruit punch plucot.

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I also bought mac and cheese and some greens from the cafeteria.

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Heartbreakingly, I think this was my last yogurt bowl with plucots for this season, the produce sections have all seemed to have moved on.

We had so much fun last weekend that we did a repeat this Saturday and drove the husband’s parents up to…

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Montauk!

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We went to the beach, the lighthouse, and of course, Lunch.

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Adam and I shared a buttery hot lobster roll,

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and a bowl of lobster chowder.

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My favorite part is the whiffs of sherry.

And that’s not a foamy beer head,

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we drank a chocolate egg cream for dessert.

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You could tell that it was made with Hershey’s (a true EC has U-Bet), but Adam was still a fan.

We kept things low-key before goodbyes on Sunday and hung out around the house.  Take-out from Luigi’s fit the bill.

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I had a side salad, a buffalo chicken slice, and a Magic Hat Wilhelm Scream that I split with my m-i-l.

snacks

Breakfast at my desk on Friday.  An iced Americano (with skim milk and cream) with a sticky-sweet Dark Chocolate Peanut Larabar.  –Ummm, and I just noticed on the site that Lara has new Pumpkin Pie and Gingerbread flavors!!  How do I find those immediately?–

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Sweet = Haribo Licorice Wheels plus some of the Mini Gold Bears that my s-i-l sweetly sent us.

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Salty = TJ’s pea crisps.

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Coffee from 7-11 is kind of amazing.

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Adam and I are embarrassingly into the Almond Joy Creamer they have there.  And our location has pumpkin coffee, pumpkin pie creamer, and (free!) pumpkin spice syrup.  What, what?!

dinners

Dinners were the least exciting meals of the weekend.  Friday night we kept thing simple while we finished our last-minute cleaning.

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A toasted sandwich of caramel apple swirl bread, herbed sliced turkey, light Havarti, and TJ’s sweet and spicy jalopeño jelly.

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With baby carrots on the side.

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Simple but good.

Saturday we went out to Tavern 18.

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I had a beer that was pretty good.

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And a Thai Noodle Salad that was pretty terrible.

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No veggies, no flavor, and I keep forgetting that I kind of hate Soba noodles.  I’m into pasta that is chewy, while Soba tends to fall apart in your mouth.

No complaints about dessert though!  The best thing about Tavern 18 is that it is spitting distance from Ralph’s Ices.

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Dulce de leche and pumpkin pie for me.  I practically licked the cup clean.

I didn’t want my awful leftovers to go to waste, so I gussied them up into something moderately edible for dinner last night.

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+ roasted broccoli and cauliflower and loads of creamy Sriracha sauce (tons of Sriracha whisked together with smoked brown sugar, mayo, and a little canola oil).

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Hot sauce can hide a multitude of sins.

P.S. It is October first on Wednesday!  <– in other words, it is three days until I drink pumpkin beers and pumpkin spice lattes like crazy

Weekend Wrap-Up; Attack Of The Killer Sandwiches

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Did everyone have a great weekend?  Mine was low-key but good; I got my hands on not one, but two of my top favorite sandwiches, so that was nice.  The weekend following a three-day weekend always feels a bit too short!  Assume many, many coffees went unphotographed.

breakfast

Iced coffee and I ate the top off of this cappuccino muffin.

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I’m not really a muffin fan but I had been craving one like crazy all week and Friday seemed like a fun time to give in.

Peanut butter chocolate chip bar from GoMacro.

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This came in my Urthbox but I would buy it again on my own.  Eaten on the go because I spent most of Saturday helping a friend move.

lunch

I packed a nice yogurt bowl for work on Friday, with sliced plucot and a Jax banana coconut water on the side.  The bananas foster yogurt was good, but a bit too sweet (note – if it’s too sweet for my tastes it is way too sweet for 90% of the adult population).

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Plus brown sugar sea salt seaweed snacks and caramel apple Twizzlers for the afternoon.

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Both snacks got two thumbs up.

Green juice from Foragers.  Kale, spinach, cucumber, pineapple, and mint.

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I’ve been wanting to go to Foragers for ages so it was good to try out the juice bar.  They have so much fancy stuff, including this super-soft apple caramel I bought the husband.

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I also scored myself a licorice.

snack

Chocolate-covered bears are always good.

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I finally got to make the chia tea lemonade.

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Quite nice!  I will definitely do this again.

Orbit gum loses its flavor and get’s hard too chew very quickly, but it’s neat that my gum is on theme for the month.

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I handed my girlfriend a piece of gum, right after I let her use my apple scented hand sanitizer, and she cracked up.  I might be a bit obsessed.

dinner

We got take-out from Bareburger to go with our “The Office” marathoning.  I ate baby carrots in the car so I could get some veggies in.

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We sat at the bar while we waited.  I got a peach julep slush.  swoon

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My sandwich was grilled chicken topped with smokehouse sauce, blue cheese, sautéed mushrooms, turkey bacon, and fried onions.  {my favorite “burger”}

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Ridiculous.  It is the Big Blue Bacon with modifications to make it pork-free, if you want to try one for yourself.

Adam worked overnight on Saturday and I got home late so I went with my old-standby dinner.

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Plus turkey jerky… for protein.

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I’m not even embarrassed, popcorn’s a whole grain.

Sunday we went to Fletchers.  {my favorite bbq}

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I got the chopped chicken sandwich, which I smothered in pickled jalopeños and their amazing bbq sauce.

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Plus banana puddin(g) for dessert.

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I just wanted to taste the pudding – we were planning on stopping for pie afterwards – but it was so flipping good that I couldn’t stop eating until I basically licked the bowl clean!