Tag Archives: yogurt

Salsa Week

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I love a good set of theme dinners! Some highlights from this week include…

I am definitely a fan of the BelliWelli bars, cinnamon swirl was soft and not too spiced.

Summer fruits are bringing me a lot of joy. It was a great week of yogurt bowls. Plain 2% Greek with cinnamon, blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate chip cookie dough granola.

Plain Greek with maple syrup, mandarin, blackberries, granola, and chia seeds.

Adam and I really enjoyed this Mabi tea with mauby and strawberry.

Instant topokki.

Two non-traditional jerkies, both a 10/10 – Louisville Vegan Jerky Co maple bacon and Trader Joe’s salmon – both had wonderful textures and great balance of flavors.

McConnell’s double peanut butter chip ice cream is a new favorite. This was the year I discovered that chocolate flakes are a top tier ice cream mix-in.

This packaged Alfajor was surprisingly moist; we would buy it again.

Two of my current favorite canned tequilla cocktails – Superbird paloma and Onda passionfruit seltzer.

Taco salad. Arugula with Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing / black beans / cheese flavored corn nuts / homemade tortilla chips – baked with lime and togarashi / poached chicken / roasted veggies – bell peppers, poblano pepper, and sweet onion / roasted zucchini / salsa – Frontera chipotle.

Chilaquiles. Shredded chicken – breasts and thighs cooked in the crockpot / all the leftover veggies / homemade tortilla chips / salsa / sharp cheddar and mozarella / topped with a fried egg / and plain Greek yogurt and hot sauce.

Crispy quesadillas. Shredded chicken reheated with green onions and taco seasoning / seasoned and mashed black beans / mozarella and sharp cheddar. Plus a trio of dipping sauces (guacamole, salsa mixed with yogurt, serrano mayo) and roasted broccoli.

Homemade burrito. Shredded chicken, black beans, salsa, avocado, and sharp cheddar. The surgeon did an excellent job rolling.

New Wave burrito. Sirloin Steak, chimichurri, rice, french fries, lime crema, chihuahua cheese, ranchero beans, and pico de gallo.

Pizza Week

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I love a good theme week! Highlights included…

Other things — Amazing/sweet/perfect summer berries are back! I had great yogurt bowls this week. This one was vanilla bean skyr, blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate chip cookie dough granola from Safe + Fair.

I am definitely smitten with these new Layers Perfect Bars; the bit of crunch is nice and the sweet-salty balance is spot on.

My best lunch of the week was obviously this comically large container of Whole Foods’ hot bar. Garlic green beans, sweet and spicy chicken, vegan meatballs, hard-boiled egg, lemon and peanut celery salad, two types of tortellini salad, mac and cheese, and scalloped potatoes.

We loved this Le Chocolat des Francias bar, definitely one of the creamiest milk chocolates we’ve tried.

I am not a big m&m person but I tried these new caramel cold brew ones at work and they were so good I had to go buy Adam and myself a bag.

I made a nice mule with this Trader Joe’s ginger beer; it is a little sweet and not too spicy and honestly wouldn’t be a bad ginger ale substitute.

Pizza things — Nostalgic – Pizza Hut. With mushrooms, olives, and beef. This was only fine.

P.S. Pizza Hut will sell you a 2 Tbsp container of cream cheese frosting for 84 cents. I stirred it into a yogurt bowl because I’m a genius.

Roman-style/local – Nadya’s and Taglio. Chicken parmesan, grandma, pesto, and roasted potato. These were wonderful.

Pizza salad! Romaine with ranch / Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes / Applegate Farms turkey pepperoni that I crisped up in the oven / four cheese cheese crisps.

Pizza bites with olives and pepperoni / homemade baked garlic turkey meatballs / a mountain of roasted green beans / a trio of dipping sauces (homemade honey mustard, ranch, and marinara).

Pecking Order

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Adam and I were both on vacation last week and we went home to St. Thomas for Carnival! It was a perfect week – we had time with family, went on my favorite runs, ate my favorite foods (highlights included soursop shaved ice and a dark rum and coke), and went to the beach every day. It’s hard to beat a morning walk in the sand with an iced coffee!

We went right back to work when we got home (seriously, I was at my desk less than 10 hours after we left the airport!) and I didn’t get to go grocery shopping until yesterday but thankfully I had left myself a well-stocked freezer and pantry. Highlights from the week included…

This week’s coffee combo.

Beautiful smoothies. Frozen spinach, banana, and blueberries with honey, water, and key lime juice.

Frozen soursop, banana, and strawberries with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon, and plain Greek yogurt.

Trader Joe’s crispy apple chips.

These s’mores Ben and Jerry’s bites are hands-down my favorite thing.

Leftover chicken soup I made and froze a few weeks before vacation; this reheated really well.

“Freshly made” soup with this trio. Trader Joe’s ginger miso broth and garlicky cabbage plus ginger chicken dumplings.

Farro / furikake, kelp granules, black garlic, gochugaru / canned salmon and smoked trout with mayo, rice vinegar, and Sriracha / zoodles and celery / fried egg. I actually decided I didn’t like this and abandoned it halfway through for ramen but Adam liked it and I still think it was a good idea.

I work this weekend so I was off on Thursday and I went into the city for a haircut and a fun Brooklyn date. I have wanted to go to Pecking House for more than a year and it more than exceeded my high expectations! We shared fries with chicken seasoning.

Cornbread. Charred turnips with miso and almonds.

Fried chicken with salted egg sauce.

And the fantastic spicy chicken sandwich with Fuqi chili sauce, Oaxaca cheese, and pickled jalapenos on a brioche bun.

Plus gelato for dessert. A butter and salt scoop and a scoop of a cannolo flavor with candied fruits that blew my mind.

Rolled, Dipped, Shaken

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This was a yummy week; lots of new favorites in snacks and dinners! Highlights included…

PB&J inspired yogurt bowl – skyr with blueberries, salty peanuts, and blueberry jam.

I finally got my hands on this old seasonal release seltzer and it was as good as I’d anticipated; very cinnamon-y.

Boozy, citrusy fun – citron soju and a yuzu jelly sake.

Guava and dulce de leche bites my parents sent me from home.

These Tropifrutti gummies are my favorite Haribo item, the texture is perfect.

This peanut butter fudge honeycomb ice cream easily makes my top-three-favorites list. I prefer ice creams that are loaded with mix-ins but the texture of the ice cream of here was just so decadent.

Homemade baked eggrolls! We stuffed them with a mix of crab, shredded cabbage, green onion, and red pepper jelly. Plus roasted broccoli and dipping sauce on the side.

10/10 salads – arugula / homemade dressing with lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar / sweet baby bell peppers / homemade wonton crisps (egg roll wrappers baked with Sichuan pepper salt) / peanuts / shredded chicken reheated in a skillet with green onions and chicken broth.

The TikTok hack of shaking your mac and cheese and nuggets together with buffalo sauce and ranch is legit. I used Whole Foods baked macaroni, Applegate Farms nuggets, and added some roasted cauliflower.

P.S. As of this morning the husband and I are on vacation! We have a whole week of time together!! And fun plans, including reservations at Oiji Mi for tonight.

Duck, Duck, Soup

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Highlights from a tasty weekend…

Giant green smoothie. This had frozen spinach, strawberry, soursop, honey, and vanilla almond milk.

Siggi’s vanilla honey skyr. I only liked – not loved – this and found it to be a little sour (and am mostly posting to remind myself).

Kimchi butter ramen. This was spicier than I was expecting.

Gelato from a new spot in LI. I got Kinder and s’mores in a vanilla cone. We weren’t head over heels for this spot but my s’mores scoop did have a giant toasted marshmallow in it and that was delightful.

Beers from Destination Unknown. This was our 2nd trip there and we have loved almost everything we’ve tried. Great IPAs.

Brunch at Maya Congee Cafe. We loved it here. We shared passionfruit tea with mango stars.

Chicken breakfast congee with smoked cheese and a soft egg.

And a braised chicken bahn mi.

Dinner at Long Island Pekin. This is officially our favorite Long Island spot. This dinner was an 11/10 and the leftovers were sooo exciting. We shared the Peking duck scallion pancakes with cheddar and sweet plum sauce.

Flat rice noodles with veggies and duck.

And the half Hong Kong roast duck.

Leftover soup. I topped my bowl with chili crisp. Served with homemade garlic bread.

No photo but worth a mention – we tried the honey butter chicken sandwich from PDQ and were both impressed!

Bean, Banana, Bap

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Highlights from the week…

Dessert-y yogurt bowl. Vanilla skyr with condensed milk, strawberries, banana, cornflakes, and sprinkles.

These jelly beans really do taste like Froot Loops!

We got chips and quesadillas from Chipotle with their new chicken al pastor and it was actually pretty great.

We went to Long Island Pekin this week for duck (sans camera) and it blew our minds! I ate leftovers with other leftovers and it was a great meal.

Bibimbap-inspired veggie bowls. Riced broccoli sauteed with white pepper and sesame seeds / crispy tofu shreds – extra-firm tofu that I shredded, tossed with evoo and gojuchang, then baked / bean sprouts / gojuchang / cucumber / sauteed baby shitake mushrooms and green onion / fried egg.

Roasted cauliflower with crispy white beans – tossed in evoo, cornstarch, furikake, gochugaru, and ranch seasoning then baked.

Butter Me Up

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Some highlights from this tasty week include butterscotch, butterfingers, and butternut squash…

I bought this Monin butterscotch syrup for coffees (and ocassionally Diet Cokes!) and have really been enjoying it.

I also made an ube Vietnamese iced coffee one day.

Another fun beverage – sparkling pomelo iced matcha.

Creamy peach smoothie; frozen peaches and banana with plain skyr and cottage cheese. I will definitely be adding cottage cheese to my shopping list more often.

Voodoo-seasoned pretzel sticks.

We made Butterfinger-inspired no bakes and they were 11/10. Just crushed corn flakes with salt, peanut butter, melted butter, honey, and melted chocolate.

Many of this week’s dinners paired perfectly with dipping sauces. Baked french fries / buffalo chicken meatballs – ground chicken, egg, panko, a splash of half and half, buffalo sauce, shredded gouda, sliced green onions / roasted zucchini tossed in smoked paprika and Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning blend.

Oven-fried extra-firm tofu – marinated in pickle juice and breaded with crushed voodoo pretzels. Plus roasted baby cauliflower.

I had some leftover restaurant/take-out veggies saved in the freezer – spicy baby cauliflower from a Chinese place and garlic Chinese broccoli from a Thai place – which reheated quickly. With Trader Joe’s chicken and cilantro mini wontons.

Smoky broccoli salad – it was so good I gave it a recipe page! – with roasted butternut squash.

Green Moose, Guava Juice

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Highlights from a yummy week…

The Hanoi roast is definitely my new favorite bean from Nguyen Coffee Supply.

Coconut breakfast bar.

Key lime skyr with passionfruit, banana, and chia seeds; plus granola halfway through.

These guava crackers were weird in a wonderful way; super thin and crispy and a bit sweet.

Fun drinks – tasty spiced hibiscus bissap tea and soursop nectar.

I enjoyed my soursop in a margarita!

See also – rum and coke slushies. Frozen coke ice cubes blended with Cruzan rum and fresh lime.

We made some really great dinners, all of which received a healthy dousing of hot sauces. I stuck with these three for a Caribbean theme.

Coconut rice and beans – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, dark kidney beans, onion, ginger, habanero, and spices / curried fish cakes – canned tuna and salmon with egg, panko, mayo, and Jamaican curry powder / rainbow chard and celery sauteed with some fish sauce and rice vinegar.

Sauteed zoodles with pineapple pulled chicken (a loose take on this recipe).

Roasted kabucha squash with a very loose take on callaloo – frozen kale with coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, habanero, turkey, bacon, fresh crab, and spices.

Pho Real

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It was a short workweek because I spent Monday-Wednesday in Ohio. My grandma is moving and I went help pack up/visit with her and my mom! Here were some random things I’ve enjoyed since I got back home…

Pocket latte – coffee chocolate bar with caffeine.

This real latte was better. New York Beanery‘s monthly special is a mint mocha. We also had a pretty amazing creme brulee latte.

Fruity, extra-creamy yogurts. The fig was too lemon-y for my tastes but the marionberry was perfect.

Buttered popcorn with togarashi, furikake, and brown sugar.

Yogurt soju 9/10 and yuzu jelly sake 20/10.

We tried and loved a new-to-us Vietnamese spot in Long Island – Sup. Bang bang chicken salad.

Vietnamese iced coffee (with also had a great strawberry tea) and green papaya salad.

I got beef pho.

Chilly Chili

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Some highlights from the weekend…

Cherry cheesecake smoothie. Frozen cherries with Greek yogurt, cream cheese, maple, and cinnamon.

Soursop drinkable yogurt.

Candy cane hard seltzer; this was out of season but I loved it and would buy more in a heartbeat.

Bon Appetit’s sheet-pan orange tofu and broccoli. I added toasted cashews and we really enjoyed it.

Turkey chili with white beans, bell peppers, and poblano peppers. I cooked the ground turkey with toasted rice powder and fish sauce and this came out great. I topped my bowl with plain Greek yogurt, pickled jalopenos, and tons of hot sauce and sharp cheddar.