Bowls On Bowls

by Emily

Seven wins from the past seven days…

{1} Peeps coffee creamer!! It tastes like vanilla marshmallow!!! But they should have made it pink.

{2} Speaking of marshmallow, I made cereal bars with Trader Joe’s neapolitan cereal. I brought them to a work event and they were a hit. I used my go-to recipe but took things up a notch with the addition of vanilla bean paste.

{3} I placed a super exciting order with the Mexican Candy Lady. The standout so far has been these flan gummies.

{4} Berry breakfast bowls. Liebe strawberry quark (<– this was 10/10, btw, super creamy and delicious!) / fresh blackberries / granola / cacao bliss.

{5} Cava bowls are currently our favorite take-out, there are a ton of toppings to choose from. This was greens / tzatziki / crazy feta spread / harissa / roasted vegetables / grilled chicken / pickled onion / cabbage slaw / chopped cucumber / kalamata olives / and green harissa dressing. Plus a side of really yummy house-made pita chips.

{6} I made my own bowls too. Roasted sweet potato / bok choy sauteed with garlic and green onion / candy salmon / fried egg.

{7} A take on okonomiyaki – pancakes stuffed with roasted cabbage and corn. Topped with mayo and Sriracha.

2Apr2019

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, And Coffee

by Emily

I took a long weekend, hence the extra-late post. Adam takes attending call in a nearby town once a month and this time I tagged along! I went out for lattes at an adorable coffee shop, had truly fantastic Thai food, and got a flight at a local brewery (complete with a margarita flavored Radler served with lime and a sugar rim!), but mostly I hung out at the hotel room so I had to pack the essentials.

You know, “the essentials,” peanut butter, chocolate, and coffee.

More on that peanut butter – B.Nutty offered to send me some samples and I jumped at the opportunity because, holy crap, white chocolate pretzel peanut butter!! They also sent me Totally Toffee – made with honey roasted peanuts, toffee, milk chocolate, and almonds – and Blissful Blueberry – with blueberry and milk chocolate. I haven’t opened the berry one yet but the toffee and pretzel flavors are both 10/10 delicious.

All flavors are gluten-free (including the pretzel one) and trans fat-free. I can’t stop eating them by the spoonful!

Also they’ve made great additions to snack plates and yogurt bowls. Honeycrisp apple / cucumber / baby carrot / B.Nutty irresistible pretzel.

Plain greek yogurt / blackberries / granola / B.Nutty totally toffee. That’s Thai tea in the back.

Other snack wins include… mocktails with club soda and bitters.

This Peeps cereal that tastes like a bowl of straight up marshmallows.

I don’t usually photograph the stuff I eat at work but I made an exception because this bbq Love Corn was so tasty.

A whole set of Trader Joe’s wins – vegan jackfruit crabless cakes and bbq popped chips with roasted broccoli and homemade chili oil aioli.

Have a great week!

25Feb2019

Cheese In All Its Forms

by Emily

Highlights from a lazy weekend…

Chocolate Stumptown cold brew + a peanut butter chocolate chip Perfect Bar. <– my two favorite flavors from each company

Mild cheddar Just the Cheese snack. <– my official favorite flavor from my box of samples

Garlic and chive cheese + a chicken sesame bbq Epic Bar. <– my favorite flavor from Epic

Grilled cheese + maple vanilla coconut chips.

Plain Icelandic yogurt with yellow plum and chocolate caramel sunflower butter honey. <– do NOT recommend those honey packets

I am still having a Brazo’s Tacos obsession.

Chicken and Mexican-style street corn frozen meal + a guava kombucha. <– my favorite Synergy flavor, other than grape chia

I made the quickest nachos dinner ever, by buying bbq chips and then filling a box at the Whole Food’s hot bar with shredded cheddar cheese, black beans, corn, red onion, and roasted bell peppers. 5 minutes in the oven later…

22Feb2019

I Like My Snacks Like My Jokes – Cheesy

by Emily

There was not a lot of excitement in dining the past week – I was fighting a cold over the weekend and my taste buds were out of whack, plus Adam has been out of town at a surgical conference the past week and I am unable to adult without an audience. All that is to say I mostly ate take-out and crackers the past seven days. I didn’t bother taking photos of my “meals,” but I did have several snacks worth sharing!

Snack themes include: cheese / coffee / chocolate + nut butter / yogurt bowls.

This Suju Uber Greens juice was the closest I got to a vegetable over the weekend.

I received a verrrry exciting box of samples {these products were provided to me free of charge / no other compensation was provided / all opinions are my own} this week – Just the Cheese, aka 100% Wisconsin cheese baked into bars and mini bites. They are gluten-free and trans-fat free and damn delicious. Paired with an apple or some nuts they feel like a solid mini meal, the bars especially are quite satisfying.

I believe I have tried every crispy cheese product on the market at this point and I can confidently say Just the Cheese is the best. Per the company – “While most “cheese crisps” are air-dried, Just the Cheese® is oven baked, caramelizing the cheese which results in a cheesier flavor and crunchier texture.” <– it’s true!

Aged Cheddar (my favorite flavor so far!), Grilled Cheese, and a honeycrisp apple.

Wisconsin Cheddar and a side of Webster.

Coffee combo for the week – Lavazza espresso and chocolate milk.

This cold brew coffee drink from Koia was a caffeine failure; why is it so god-awful sweet?!

Another loser was this almond butter chocolate bar, we are obsessed with Epic’s jerky bars in this house but this was too sticky for my tastes.

Meanwhile, I am still obsessed with these dark chocolate almond Perfect Bars. They taste like straight-up cookie dough.

And I’m newly obsessed with these pb cups from Theo. They are palm oil free and they are shaped like hearts!

Liberte coffee bean yogurt with honey and peanuts.

Plain Greek yogurt with banana, granola, and coconut cacao bliss.

15Feb2019

Heart On

by Emily

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine’s Day! I love a holiday with theme colors.

This week I loved…

Stumptown cold brew with milk. I’m not sure if I had ever tried the chocolate flavor before, I loved it.

An epic chocolate cherry smoothie. Plain Greek yogurt, frozen cherries, and chocolate milk.

We don’t really do Valentine’s gifts, but the husband did buy me cupcakes!

Salted caramel and a delicious funfetti.

A take on this lemon poppy seed chicken casserole. We added tons of roasted broccoli.

A take on shakshuka, with red bell pepper and chipotle. Topped with roasted zucchini, sumac, and two fried eggs.

Adam was not around for Valentine’s dinner and I’m fighting a pretty bad cold so I loved myself with Brazos Tacos take-out for dinner. The Solid – pulled chicken, refried black beans, roasted corn pico, sliced avocado, and jack cheese // Tres Quesos – Oaxacan cheese, manchego cheese, and queso fresco, with refried black beans, sliced avocado, roasted corn pico, and pickled watermelon // chips and salsa.

Bonus – things I love deeply that you might not know about from the blog:

{1} Diet soda. It is truly the only food I cherish more than coffee or cheese!

{2} Running. I am not fast, and I am extremely careful with my knees so I don’t run that often, but it is one of my favorite things. I run about 3 miles in about 30 minutes one time most weeks and I love every second of it.

{3} Wegman’s hot bar “Asian” section. I get hot bar chicken at least once a week as a pre-dinner snack but it never makes it onto the blog because it just photographs so abhorrently.

{4} “The Office.” My love of tv is well-documented and over the past year “The Office” has become one of my favorite shows. I have seen every episode at least three times! So much of what is happening with the world right now is scary and sad and I’m really loving feel-good shows that are an escape from reality.

4Feb2019

Strawberry Guava Passionfruit Mango Banana Pineapple Coconut Plum

by Emily

There was not much excitement around here this weekend, Adam was out of town and I worked a Sunday coverage shift at work (and it was a particularly long and harrowing day!) – I mostly ate frozen meals and snack foods. Here were the highlights…

How many drinks do I need to pack for a weekend work day? Unsurprisingly, I’m a pretty big fan of the new strawberry guava diet coke.

I tried the new cinnamon shortbread latte from Starbucks (with half syrup and double espresso), it’s pretty good.

My 1st year working as a teacher in New York I ate about a million protein bars and lately I’ve gotten back on that train.

Yogurt bowl wins. Trader Joe’s guava passion fruit whole milk Greek yogurt (it’s amazing!) with sliced mango and TJ’s freeze-dried banana slices.

Wallaby caramelized pineapple Aussie creme yogurt with chopped black plum and shredded coconut.

Spicy shrimp tempura sushi from Whole Foods.

Kashi Mayan Harvest bowl. 7/10 on the frozen meal scale.

Red’s chicken and Mexican street corn (8.5/10). Severe with roasted broccoli. That whole plate got topped with copious amounts of Kewpie and Sriracha.