It’s Time For BBQ And Hot Dogs

by Emily

Here were this week’s top three…

{breakfast}

Killer breakfast sandwich. Turkey bacon, egg, and cheddar on a croissant. If I could get the cafeteria to scramble me an egg with peppers to put on a sandwich I’d be in heaven.

Coffee always makes the top of the list! Black Hand with chocolate milk.

With a Lavender Love kombucha.

{lunch}

Yogurt bowls for the win. With blueberries and chopped nectarine and modest variation in toppings. 2% Fage with Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

4% Siggis with pecans, chia, and cookie butter.

Passionfruit Chobani with Heritage Flakes, pecans, and chia.

{snack}

This kettle corn is some of the best packaged popcorn I’ve ever tasted, it is super crispy.

Another sweet and salty, a pixie tangerine with a chicken Wilde Bar.

My coworker brought me in a grass jelly drink to try after I raved about the jelly at Boba Guys. It was good! Not very sweet at all and mildly grassy in a pleasant way. I mixed it with vanilla soy milk.

{dinner}

Our cooking took place indoors and up North but we still made the most of Southern bbq flavors for two of our meals this week. Nacho night! Carolina bbq chips, sharp cheddar, pulled turkey with bbq sauce, pinto beans, red onion, and roasted broccoli.

A similar concept on salad – arugula with ranch / bbq turkey / pinto beans / red onion / cucumber / bell pepper. With corn on the cob. This was a fun dinner but it desperately needed some crunch and we ended up dumping kettle chips on our salads to act as de facto croutons.

Hot dogs in scrambled eggs sounds low-brow but tastes amazing. Our eggs included ‘dogs, red onion, arugula, and cheddar. With avocado and roasted asparagus on the side.

Now I just need to find myself some watermelon this weekend!

27May2016

Five For Ten

by Emily

I worked all last weekend so I didn’t take the time to blog. Good news – that means I have tomorrow off with a three day weekend! Here were the top five eats for the last ten days…

{1} Oatmeal for lunch

Prepackaged with vanilla almond butter and citrus on the side.

And a homemade mix with chia seeds and sliced almonds.

With fresh strawberries stirred in and melty cookie butter on top. P.S. Cookie butter probably should have gotten its own bullet point!

{2} The last of the Tahini Granola in yogurt bowls

With plain Greek yogurt and fresh blueberries and blackberries.

I need to make a 2nd batch of granola asap, it made the last two weeks of lunches an absolute delight. I’m going to give myself a lower sugar week with Heritage Flakes first though.

{3} Epic sandwiches

The cafeteria-assembled breakfast sandwiches were particularly epic but this turkey ‘which from home was nothing to sneeze at.

TJ’s quinoa bread with turkey and cheddar. I put the chips inside the sandwich for some needed crunch.

Cinnamon-raisin toast with smashed hard-boiled egg, veggie sausage, and Greek yogurt cream cheese.

Egg and cheese croissantwich.

I’ve decided I don’t eat egg sandwiches often enough, a gap in my culinary habits that desperately needs to be filled.

{4} Starbucks’ s’mores bar

Holy crap this was good!

I swear the graham cracker layer has coffee in it.

{5} Mexican-flavors dinners

Deconstructed tacos, aka taco filling bowls scooped with tortilla chips.

Shredded chicken, sautéed orange bell peppers and onion, cheese, plain Greek yogurt, and fresh cilantro. Plus brussels sprouts that I roasted with taco seasoning. <– so good

Another night we made chicken and zucchini enchiladas.

I don’t know why I never make enchiladas, these were so easy!

{Bonus} Near misses – don’t try this at home

These two seemed like they’d be great and instead were total let downs. I did not want a 2nd bite of this cookie dough bar.

And we were expecting to love Bunsmith, they have a cookie butter bun for god sake. And a boozy banana milk and spice cocktail.

Mega meh. The veggies in our bowls came out of a can and there was entirely too much rice. We’ll have to stay loyal to Bao Haus. In fact, it’s on the agenda for the three-day weekend!

20May2016

Eating Madison Square

by Emily

This week’s flavor themes: coffee (always), cheese (almost always), lavender, yogurt, fresh herbs, and tahini granola (<– my newest, greatest recipe!).

We work all weekend – actually we work every day straight until next Friday – and we made the most of our shared Thursday off. And we went on a dinner date on Tuesday! Good times.

My seasonal allergies hit hard this week and I was a sneezy, disoriented mess so dinners were basically a disaster but my lunches were on point. And dinners were fun, just lacking in greens; the “healthiest” meal of the week was veggie-packed nachos!

foods that were good

This week’s coffee – Black Hand with lavender sugar. Very yummy with fat-free milk and half & half.

Also with the last of the Nutchello.

And paired alongside a lavender kombucha.

Important note – this pomegranate sangria seltzer tastes and smells exactly like Pez candy!

The serenity now blend from David’s Tea also deserves a mention, the spearmint is lovely.

Bonus – maple iced latte from Brooklyn Roasting Company.

My packed lunches were all about the tahini granola. With plain yogurt and berries.

Though one day I did have Chobani watermelon with fresh watermelon. If you haven’t had watermelon in a yogurt bowl yet, go for it, the combo is fantastic.

And yesterday we did a lunch date at Madison Square Eats. <– a food tent situation similar to Smorgasburg

It was great to sit outside and eat in the sun. We shared a salmon belly dosa waffle from Inday.

And a green papaya salad with lemongrass chicken from Hong Kong Kitchen. Served on a giant bed of lettuce.

But our true raison d’être was the Ice & Vice ice cream and Squish marshmallow collaboration. We had a scoop of Detention (malted vanilla with brownie and fruity pebble dust) with a toasted Birthday Party (sprinkles) marshmallow. Yummmm! Best marshmallow we’ve ever tasted.

The days I didn’t eat granola at lunch I had it as an evening snack! I’m a woman obsessed; that stuff is delicious. This was caramel Noosa with granola, melty cookie butter, and blackberries.

Speaking of evening snacks, the cookie butter is a very tempting thing to have open.

Take-out Pad Thai for dinner. This wasn’t even my weak take-out, this was Adam’s leftovers from a night shift. Like I said, dinners weren’t fantastic.

Pizza pizza.

Our dinner date at Pok Pok was a win.

That’s a tamarind whiskey sour. Enjoyed with complimentary chili lime peanuts.

The food is served family-style and the waitress recommended sharing three dishes so that’s what we did. Khao Soi Kai – Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with a secret curry paste recipe and coconut milk. With chicken on the bone and crispy noodles. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, and roasted chili paste.

Cha Ca “La Vong” – Vietnamese catfish marinated in turmeric and sour sticky rice, fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill, served on rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint, cilantro, and mam nem (fish sauce). The fresh herbs took this over the top! I have been loving the use of mint in our restaurant dishes lately.

Finally, Hoi Thawt – crispy broken crepe with steamed fresh mussels, eggs, garlic, chives and bean sprouts. This was my favorite dish, you can’t go wrong with fried eggs. I only recently started eating mussels but I really enjoyed them served this way.

We also had an amazing dessert. A clever play on Thai iced coffee, this was a condensed milk ice cream affagato in Stumptown espresso. With Thai doughnuts on the side.

Our homecooked dinner for the week was loaded nachos. Corn chips, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, pinto beans, roasted broccoli, sautéed orange bell pepper and onion, avocado, and tons of fresh cilantro.

The dog was pretty pleased with this too, because he got several bites of chicken and avocado during the assembly stage.

three exciting non-food things

{1} How long the dog is in this photo Adam snapped of us in bed.

{2} The Egg and the Spoon. I’m halfway done and loving it. All of Gregory Maguire’s books are enchanting but this story is particularly so. I’m going back and rereading every other page because the wording is just so beautiful.

{3} I convinced one of my friends to start watching Hart of Dixie and now she texts me regular updates about how great it is! I’m way too excited to have someone sharing my shame.

14May2016

Back At It

by Emily

We are back at the old grind. The first week of real life after vacation felt loooooong. It’s good to be back at work though, and great to be back with the dog!

Here were some of the best bites this week…

This week’s coffee was fan-freaking-tastic! Blackhand that I brought home from my trip to Richmond. It was super strong and roasty.

With strawberry watermelon Polar that’s my new favorite flavor.

I also tried the caramel almond Nutchello. It was pleasant but not as strongly flavored as I was hoping for.

Midmorning snack of baby carrots and wonderful red cherries.

Cafeteria lunch. They are making a fancy new hybrid burger that is half turkey half veggie; it was good! My korma veggies were not so good, I ended up swapping them for fries.

Yogurt bowl. Salted caramel noosa (<– yum!) with blueberries and blackberries and awesome gorp-style trail mix my aunt gave us. Plus a golden nugget mandarin orange on the side.

Better yogurt bowl. Plain Greek yogurt, berries, red plum, Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes, nature’s sprinkles (chia) for healthy fat, and Amy Sedaris’ sprinkles for joy.

This ridiculously adorable cookie from Starbucks made for a fun end of the day snack.

And carrots with caramelized onion dip was the perfect thing to crunch through while I cooked this week.

We also really enjoyed lemonade with pink lemon! Perfect with mint sparkling water. The lemons were orange on the outside, pinkish on the inside, and sweeter than their yellow counterparts.

Brinner for the win. Banana pecan pancakes, berries, and amazing turkey bacon, with maple syrup poured on after the picture.

Breakfast for dinner is always a good idea, but it’s a great idea when your drink and dessert are also on theme. We planned the pancakes because we both had coffee-flavored beers to try.

And we tried the crazy expensive, crazy good Compartes donuts & coffee bar. I thought it was totally worth the price.

Our other dinners were also winners. Nachos! Maple bacon kettle chips with TJ’s low-fat three cheese blend, turkey bacon, shredded turkey breast, broccoli, and green pepper.

And Greek salad night. Greens with Greek feta dressing, cucumber, tabouli, TJ’s stuffed grape leaves, and crunchy roasted chickpeas.

Last night we ate Chipotle and caught up on TV. <– kind of the best date night

3May2016

{The Best} St. Thomas Visit 2016

by Emily

Adam and I started our two-week vacation off right with an incredible visit home to see my parents and soak up some sun. For the first time since college I managed to have the dates line up so that I could make it for Carnival*! We also went to St. John*, The Baths*, the beach, and got to spend time with old friends. It was pretty much the perfect trip.

* I took way too many pictures so all of the items starred above are going to have to be their own posts over the rest of the week

Speaking of too many pictures, I’m limiting this post to the highlights. Here are some of our favorites from home…

The best hosts – my parents. In addition to driving us all over the place, ironing my dresses, playing board games even though Adam always throws a fit, and just being generally amazing, they cooked us Adam’s favorite meal and my favorite dessert. Bill Clinton’s Enchiladas.

And key lime pie.

Which meant there was leftover pie for me to eat on top of Greek yogurt. <– the best thing ever

I always serve it with flax so it’s basically a health food.

The best breakfast – Barefoot Buddha.

I got an iced Vietnamese latte and the sandwich I ate on my wedding day, aka the Bigfood Bagel sandwich: egg frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, tomato-onion coulis, and fresh spinach.

The best brunch – The Grille Room at Mahogany Run. My (extra-spicy) Bloody Mary came topped with a stuffed olive, banana pepper, and shrimp!

I also had a really top-notch chopped salad with shrimp and chipotle-ranch among other yummy things. And then every singe person at the table ordered a vodka + soda and all was right with the world.

The best coffee – Bad Ass at Yacht Haven.

My triple non-fat iced latte was perfectly roasty good.

The best pizza – Island Time Pub. Pro tip – start with a salad, they are gigantic and two-three people can share one.

Adam and I got a pie with artichoke, Kalamata olives, and roasted garlic.

Plus their drink menu is on point.

The best johnny cake – served at the window on the Waterfront by The Greenhouse, with cheese.

Caribbean johnny cake (versus the cornmeal version found in the American south) is slightly sweet, unleavened fried bread. It is delicious in general and freaking mind-blowing when served with cheese.

22Apr2016

This Week I Loved…

by Emily

Yogurt bowls

Guava Chobani with Cheerios, walnuts, pomegranate, and blackberry.

More of the above, but with mango soursop as my tropical yogurt flavor.

Plain Fage with granola, chocolate covered cacao nibs, walnuts, a turtle pecan biscotti, pomegranate, and blackberry. <– best lunch of the week

Earl Grey Rooibos tea

Cookie butter

I ate a big spoonful as my after-work snack every day this week.

And I ate a delicious lunchtime oatmeal in the last of the Biscoff jar.

The expanded menu at Boba Guys

A girlfriend and I got Hong Kong Milk teas this week and were swooning! Best boba I’ve gotten in the city and they have housemade almond and grass jellies.

The fantastically fun supplies from Mochi Things

My mom sent me some snazzy stickers and pens for Easter and they are greatly improving my workday mood.

This lip stuff

Minted rose is obviously the best scented beauty product I’ve ever owned.

What rocked your socks this week?

15Apr2016

Superlative Eats

by Emily

This week’s…

*Best coffee*

Inspired by my absolutely decadently scented hand sanitizer, I stirred cinnamon and vanilla bean into my coffee (espresso blend with chocolate milk).

*Best oatmeal*

Rolled oats with chia and freeze-dried blueberries, topped with a hefty scoop of cookie butter.

*Best yogurt bowl*

Maple quark with Heritage Flakes and pomegranate.

*Best lunch*

Sandwich week. Spicy chicken on rye / Starbuck’s sandwich offerings are actually really darn good / Greek wrap stuffed with cucumber, tzatziki, and stuffed grape leaves. <– the wrap was from a lunch and learn, our formula rep did a great inservice on the new ASPEN enteral nutrition guidelines.

*Best dessert*

Work party for a coworker’s birthday. We had filipino ambrosia and I made brownies.

Fantastically ridiculous brownies! P.S. Amy Sedaris’ best-ever sprinkles are available here.

8Apr2016

First Week Of April’s Top Ten

by Emily

{1} Stumptown’s newest cold brew box – coconut.

{2} This week’s homemade coffee blend – chocolate milk and espresso roast.

{3} Giant veggie omelet for breakfast at work. They are made fresh to order and are by far the best dish coming out of the cafeteria.

{4} Garlic veggie pizza with a side of brussels sprout salad.

{5} Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with strawberries, praline pecan granola, walnuts, and chocolate covered cacao nibs.

{6} Oatmeal bowl. Oats, chia seeds, strawberries, and cookie butter. Simple, but this was the best oatmeal of the year.

{7} This month’s Skoshbox. There were chocolate-covered potato chips!

{8} Biscoff chocolate chip mug cookie.

{9} Trader Joe’s frozen “pizza.” The crust was a bit floppy but the sauce had good spicy kick to it.

{10} Creamy tomato turkey. Sautéed ground turkey with browned mushrooms, roasted plum tomatoes, tomato paste, sour cream, tons of smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Plus roasted zucchini. I made a truly excessive amount of this dish and even after a couple of meals there’s still some left for next week.

{Bonus} Non-food Entertainment Top Five

{1} “Hart of Dixie.” I finished it last week but it I’m still not over it, the storyline was just so fun! It was such a feel-good show, I really enjoyed watching something that wasn’t heartrending for a change (<– Whedon fan).

{2} Slate. The source of 95%+ of my news plus the amazing Dear Prudence advice column (<– her response to “Too High” was spot on!).

{3} Girls with Slingshots. Another soap opera! This webcomic series is on long-term hiatus but you can start at the beginning and read through the archives.

{4} Serious Eats. The source of 95%+ of my food-based news and cravings. This is one of the sites I check every morning during my train ride, I’d hate to miss an article like the Nacho Showdown.

{5} Taylor Swift’s hilarious Apple Music commercial.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: yogurt

It’s Time For BBQ And Hot Dogs

Five For Ten

Eating Madison Square

foods that were good

three exciting non-food things

Back At It

{The Best} St. Thomas Visit 2016

This Week I Loved…

Superlative Eats

First Week Of April’s Top Ten