Left My Heart In Montana

by Emily

I’m missing a lot of photos this week but the meals I do have to share were off the charts good.

lunch

Mostly I did lunches from the cafeteria this week, like a tasty broccoli and cheese baked potato whose cell-phone photo was an absolute horror. Packed lunches featured a great fruit salad – Cara Cara Orange, strawberries, and 3 varieties of pluot.

With plain yogurt and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

notable snacks

Fresh mint in sparkling water is my jam. This “mojito” rocked our socks off.

We’ve kept the dessert every day thing going. One morning Adam took me to work and we tried the doughnuts at Elsie’s Parlor. I got the Confettura Di Fichi – filled with fig jam and topped with mascarpone and toasted almonds.

I loved the idea of this, especially because the fig jam and mascarpone were delicious, but the texture was terrible, way too dense. If I thought of it was a muffin it was great, but as a doughnut I ate half and we moved on to a tried and true.

Now that’s a doughnut! My peaches and crème doughseed had just the right balance of fluff and chew. Plus it was perfectly tangy and sweet.

Vegan ice cream from Sky Ice.

Thai iced coffee and Thai young coconut went great together.

Ice cream from Oddfellows.

S’mores with amazing caramelized white chocolate with toasted almond.

Guava-cheese empanadas.

Enjoyed with Ruth Reichl’s novel, which I read in a day and a half and enjoyed even more than her memoir. She is such a good story-teller and her food writing makes your mouth water.

dinner

Leftover Korilla knock-off bowls were still yummy.

I stir-fried mine with eggs to make up for the missing one on top.

Also I kind of burnt the life out of it, but this was still good.

It was fitting that I put this dinner on my heart plate because I loved-loved-loved it.

A tiny roasted pile of every single okra I could find at the stores this weekend.

Plus I snacked on this for extra veggies.

Toasted ciabatta sandwich with turkey, turkey bacon, Colby jack, and Smart Balance.

The cheese was extra-thin sliced and it melted to perfection.

We checked out Bushwick’s Montana’s Trail House and our best meal of the week ended up being the best meal of the year!

Adorable décor, amazing service, and freshly made food – most of it local – with well-balanced flavors.

Captain Stormalong – Standard Heartcut White Whiskey, Campari, Demerara & Topped with Downeast Cider.

Riff Randell – Vodka, Krupnikas Honey Liqueur, Contratto Aperitif, Luxardo Maraschino, Acid Phosphate, Sparkling Wine. This was the best drink we’ve ever had. It was like drinking pure honey but in an amazing way. Similar to a great honey meade I had in SF.

We started with the charred green beans – which were topped with browned garlic and soft-cooked eggs and served on top of housemade ricotta. This was the best dish of the year, the lemony ricotta was fantastic with the drippy eggs and charred greens.

Then we shared the dinosaur kale salad – with feta, roasted carrots, and kale that was grown in the restaurant’s rooftop garden!

And the fried chicken with honey butter and housemade hot sauce. Best fried chicken ever; super juicy and every bite had a whiff of honey.

Dessert – aka the course I saw on Instagram that made me move this restaurant to my “must-eat” list – was banana bread s’mores. <– squee!

Also they brought us complimentary shots with our bill because we’d been raving about every bite we took. Love. NYC people – get yourself to Bushwick, you won’t regret it!

17Aug2015

Weekend Highlights… A Bevy of Beverages

by Emily

notable snacks – –

Froyo again. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

Plain tart and Nutella yogurts with Nutella, mini peanut butter cups, chocolate-covered pretzels, and rainbow sprinkles.

Pizza-pizza.

Buffalo chicken.

We bought the new brownie batter Oreos.

Pretty good, especially when you smush two together for a double-stuffed.

Fresh mint in bubbly seltzer is delicious.

Best of all the many, many beverages we enjoyed this weekend. There were also several iced coffees that didn’t make the photos cut.

Long Island City – –

Saturday morning I picked up a very tired husband from a long shift at work,

and we finally hit up LIC Flea and Food.

We got mac and cheese and chicken empanadas.

And a Nutella gelato and macaroon ice cream sandwich from Bakeshop by Woops.

We explored LIC a bit with a walk on the waterfront.

A stop at the gorgeous newest Sweet Leaf location for an intensely creamy Vietnamese iced coffee.

And finally a flight of beers from Rockaway Brewing Co.

#2, 4, 7, & 8. We were very impressed. The cream ale was the best.

Williamsburg – –

Matchabar.

Iced matcha on fresh watermelon juice. It was good, but not something I’m dying to go back for again.

On the other hand, lunch at Meatball Shop will be repeated very soon. I need to make an ice cream sandwich.

I got the jello shot special – Jack and Rosé.

And chicken meatballs with pesto.

They were served on an assortment of veggies – fennel, salad with apple, roasted squash, cucumber, and fresh green beans – that were tasty but literally dripping with oil.

a doggy date – –

On Sunday Webster took his first ride on the subway.

We went on a family trip to Central Park!

He was a total trooper for 3 hours of walking around the park. We cooled down with a honey iced tea,

and a double caramel Magnum bar.

And some of us had bowls of water that we stomped in and spilled all over the place.

Webster was beyond tuckered out when we got home and spent most of the rest of the day curled up in my lap!

homemade Korilla knock-off bowls – –

I made knock-off chicken and rice bowls and the husband said I did as good of a job as Korilla!

brown rice with chopped kimchi and turkey bacon
roasted broccoli
quick pickled carrots and cucumber
chicken that was marinated in Gochujang paste, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar
shredded cheese and a fried egg on top

So good. I am excited for the leftovers.

14Aug2015

(Frozen)Yogurt

by Emily

breakfast

Coffee!

With caramel.

Or with Hint of Honey Almond Milk and plums.

Or a Clif Bar.

Also one morning my coworker brought in yummy poppy-seed Danish.

lunch

I had a really great sandwich with spicy sliced chicken, pickles, and fresh mozzarella from the cafeteria.

The other days I did yogurt bowls featuring the new blended flavors from Chobani. Coffee with plums and KIND peanut butter granola.

Mixed berry with blueberries, raspberries, multi-grain o’s and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

And vanilla with more berries and bran flakes.

The texture of the 2% yogurt was seriously creamy and good.

dinner

I can’t show you Monday/Tuesday’s dinner because it is my Recipe Redux for this month. I will show you some of the tasty stuff we had with it though… Like roasted green beans on the side. I added thinly sliced shallots and they got insanely crispy, crunchy, good.

And frozen yogurt for dessert. With all of the chocolate toppings.

We liked the Nutella on top so much we ended up going back again the next night.

Wednesday was Webster’s Buyday (the anniversary of the day we brought him home) so we made a special dinner with some of his favorite foods – Nachos! Chips with cheese, broccoli, cilantro, and chicken (pronounced chick-ON chick-ON in this house).

He even had his own little dish.

And of course we got Chipotle.

Of course.

random thoughts

I am so freaking excited that Target is doing away with gender-based labeling in some of its children’s aisles! When I worked at a toy store in college I hated when people would come in and ask for “boy toys” or “girl toys.” This awesome graph sums up my thoughts pretty well –

I’ve already seen some pumpkin beers and it is taking all of my self-control to not start stockpiling. I’ve told myself that I’m waiting until mid-September.

Poorly Drawn Lines is always hilarious but I feel like this week’s comics have been especially great.

We had dessert every single night this week. I want to nip that daily habit in the bud, but I also have fifteen plus new ice cream joints that I want to visit before summer ends.

7Aug2015

Lunch N Oats

by Emily

breakfast

This week’s coffee (a mix of Community Coffee and Brooklyn Roasting Co) was iced with milk (a mix of vanilla almond milk and skim). Sweetened with honey – meh.

And maple – yum!

And paired with watermelon juice.

And an apple.

lunch

2% Lingonberry Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped apricot and plum and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

The rest of the week was all about the oats.

Chocolate chip oats with peanut butter and diced apricot stirred in. Plus goats milk maple caramels on the side.

Coconut maple oats with purple rose plums(!!) and chocolate pumpkin seeds.

And oats from home. With freeze-dried strawberries, chia seeds, chocolate covered cocoa nibs, and chocolate chunks.

snack

Delicious nougat bar my parents bought me at BRKLYN Larder. Adam bought me Luxardo cherries for my birthday there too and I am so excited to start using them.

Iced Americano with cream.

Herbed turkey and Havarti roll-up.

I ate several handfuls of prunes this week. The snack situation was getting pretty bleak.

But then we bought the new Reuben lays.

It was amazing, if you were blindfolded you still would totally taste rye bread and thousand island dressing. If they were kettle chips instead of the flimsy regular kind they’d be my new favorite.

dinner

Leftovers from Sunday. Whole-wheat penne topped with sautéed turkey, mushrooms, and onions in marinara sauce.

Eaten cold, out of the Tupperware, in front of the open fridge. It’s kind of crazy how classy I am.

The next night really was pretty snazzy though.

Lemon Pepper Baked Shrimp with shredded Brussels sprouts and barely.

Recipe HERE, this cooks in less than 30 minutes.

Then we had big salads with red curry turkey burgers on top.

Arugula blend topped with TJ’s Asian Sesame Vinaigrette, sliced cucumber, and baked shredded Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Two notes – 1) baking the shredded B sprouts is my new favorite thing; 2) I bought TJ’s Thai-style chili and lime cashews to put on the salads and they were so spicy even I couldn’t eat them.

The patties were lean ground turkey with tons of parsley and green onions, soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, red curry paste, and ground ginger. Cooked in coconut oil.

We were supposed to have this meal two nights in a row but we snacked on the 1st round of patties while we assembled the salads (and the dog ate an entire patty that fell on the ground!) and there ended up only being enough leftovers for one. Really I won out though because this chile rellano from TJ’s was darn good.

Best frozen meal ever.

Finish this thought – this weekend I am excited to…

3Aug2015

Weekend Highlights

by Emily

This “peanut butter and jelly” yogurt bowl I brought to work was legit.

Plain Greek yogurt with KIND peanut butter granola, grapes, chia seeds, peanut butter, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Peanut butter in yogurt is so good!

We made deviled eggs that were only ok.

And cookies that were fantastic.

Number 2 pencil’s recipe with chocolate-covered pretzels crumbled in.

Plus watermelon cocktails.

Woo-hoo! We’ve got to squeeze the last out of summer.

I made big bowls of pasta with red sauce.

Whole-wheat rotini topped with ground turkey cooked with tons of sautéed mushrooms and onion and TJ’s marinara.

This was the best meal of the weekend though.

Scrambled eggs with corn and leftover bbq collards.

Plus buttered ~~burnt~~ toasted baguette.

Yum!

23Jul2015

Reunited And It Feels So Good

by Emily

I had an absolute blast in Buffalo but this past week I have been so freaking excited to be home with my boys. I usually miss them by the end of my workday so a long weekend away feels like an eternity. I am lucky to have a husband and dachshund who are both so great! {/sap}

breakfast

Black and white coffee.

Or Vanilla Chameleon Cold Brew with chocolate milk and an apple on the side.

Cereal with milk. And blueberries.

Plus Guava Mandarin Polar seltzer.

I lugged that back from Wegman’s in Buffalo and it was so worth it.

Coffee-eee-eee.

Always worth it. I’d be lying if I said my birthday drink freebie wasn’t bringing me a lot of anticipatory joy.

lunch

Asian-ish.

Microwave noodles and roasted seaweed.

Oatmeal bowl.

Chai-spiced oats from Target with maple almond butter on top and 2 black pluots on the side.

Yogurt bowl.

Vanilla Skyr Icelandic yogurt with blueberries, KIND peanut butter granola, and chia seeds. This was so tasty; I need more of that yogurt immediately.

dinner

Adam was at the hospital when I got home on Sunday so we had to turn Monday into date night. He picked me up at work and came bearing red velvet cupcakes.

We went to dinner at East Wind Snack Shop by Prospect Park.

We came in for the foie gras bao, which ended up being only ok. For the cheap price the amount of foie gras was very fair, but I would have rather paid a bit more and gotten a better meat-to-bun ratio.

But my Happy Buddha Vegetables were yummy.

They describe this dish as “jasmine rice, fermented tofu, seasoning, and all sorts of vegetables.” I’m not sure what the green sauce was but it was worth going back for. Then we walked to the theatre (our movie theatre) to see “Ant-Man.” The character development was weak but the movie was still hilarious so we’re glad we went.

I didn’t have time to do a real grocery trip this week so the following two nights were admittedly a little weak. This meal was fine but it’s not winning any prizes.

Cheez-its, leftover roasted veggies that Adam made last week, and a turkey and Havarti cheese sandwich.

This meal was a bit better. It definitely tasted good.

We needed a carbohydrate side so we had beer! Tusker is one of my all-time favorite beers, and pretty much the only lager I enjoy.

With roasted veggies – asparagus, okra, and zucchini – with Applegate chicken nuggets.

A copious amount of ketchup was added after I took that picture.

My parents come to visit tomorrow. And Friday is my birthday. I’m old, but excited!

17Jul2015

This Week I…

by Emily

…Made a Redux recipe that I can’t post yet so I don’t have much to share today. Also we got Chipotle twice.

…Love love loved some of Polar’s summer seltzer flavors.

You can’t go wrong with fizzy strawberry.

…Finished season 3 of OITNB. I wasn’t a fan. But of course I kept watching and will still watch season 4 next year. I hated every single major decision Piper made this season!

…Tried the last three flavors from my GoMacro sample package.

Cashew butter (sweet rejuvenation) tastes exactly like a pureed cashew so your level of love for cashews would definitely affect your enjoyment of this bar.

Peanut butter (protein replenishment) wasn’t my favorite; it was too boring.

But banana + almond butter (prolonged power) was amazing; it tastes like a dried banana! The texture works perfectly here.

P.S. My coffee this week was Brooklyn Roasting Co’s Peru blend cold-brewed with cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla bean. So good.

…Ate a veggie and cheese omelet for breakfast the next day and it was like I hardly knew myself.

I have to give the cafeteria credit though, this was delicious.

…Read this Buffy the Vampire Slayer article on Buzzfeed and wondered how it’s possible that anyone has a favorite character that isn’t Anya. From any show ever, not just Buffy. Though Kitty from That 70’s Show is also pretty wonderful.

…Ate some amazing yogurt bowls for lunch.

Soursop yogurt with plucot and white nectarine and Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

Salted caramel Greek yogurt with KIND peanut butter granola and a white nectarine.

Plain Siggi’s with plucot and yellow nectarine and a giant chocolate chip cookie.

We baked Take a Megabite’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are fantastic! And yes, I totally crumbled that cookie into my yogurt.

…Adore LL Cool J for giving me Lip Sync Battle. Celebrities compete against each other in choreographed lip syncing madness and it is hilarious. My love for Anna Kendrick grew exponentially when she killed it against John Krasinski, but Anne Hathaway’s “Wrecking Ball” is clearly the standout performance of the season.

…Packed for Buffalo. Some friends and I are driving there for a visit today!

13Jul2015

I’d Have To Say April 25th

by Emily

This was the most boring week of the month (July includes my trip to Maryland, a trip to Buffalo, a visit from my parents, and my 30th birthday!) but Adam and I kept things fun with lots of little dates. Honestly, I have more fun going to the grocery store with my husband than I would have doing almost anything with someone else, so grabbing donuts before work with him is pretty thrilling.

breakfast

Breakfast note 1 – I stuck with a coffee combo that worked: Dark Roast Community Coffee with skim milk and fat-free half and half. The coffee bag says to use 2 Tbsp grounds to 6 oz water and I use 3 Tbsp and my crappy coffee machine and it comes out perfect for my tastes.

Breakfast note 2 – the GoMacro bars in this post are another former freebie. The flavors I had this week were my new favorites, they had a lot more texture than the previous ones I tried.

Coffee, cinnamon applesauce, and GoMacro apples + walnuts (morning harvest). They should have just called this flavor “apple pie” because that’s what it tasted like.

An aprium – apricot-plum hybrid like a pluot but more apricot than plum – and GoMacro sesame butter + dates (sweet revival). Sesame butter is a bit sweeter than other nut butters naturally; I’m having a hard time explaining the flavor of sesame butter but it is what this bar tastes like.

Doughnut Plant date before work. The fresh lavender flower flavor was tasty but the yeasted doughnut was too big for me for breakfast, I’ll have to stick to the cake varieties unless another really fun flavor pops up. Adam had the chocolate chip cookie special and was basically swooning.

Freeze-dried Fuji apple slices and GoMaco granola and coconut (balanced goodness). The oats gave this a great consistency.

That pop of pink is a new notebook from Target. I’m obsessed. I also bought a new day planner.

lunch

I was all about the sandwiches this week. Caprese sandwich from the cafeteria. Tomato, basil, mozzarella, and spinach.

The plainest sandwich ever, also from the cafeteria. Turkey, cheese, and mayo on a white roll. I didn’t even have a fruit, vegetable, or whole grain on the side. I badly sunburned my knees last weekend, long story, and I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

Starbuck’s Thai-style peanut chicken wrap. I was impressed with this, all of the fancy new foods looks pretty good.

Lunch date at La Bagel Delight. We spit a poppy seed bagel with lox and dill cream cheese.

On Friday I did get back to my yogurt bowl roots. 2% Lingonberry & Strawberry Siggi’s with chopped aprium and pluot and KIND peanut butter granola.

Kids, that granola is ridiculous – somehow it tastes like cookie dough?!

snack

Saturday – July 11th or 7/11 – was 7-11 Day so I got a free small slurpee. Sour Patch watermelon and Coke were amazing together. Also, I eat my fair share of sugar but half of a small slurpee kind of makes me want to die so I’m horrified by the existence of that extra-large cup.

Guava cheese empanada. I will be so sad if this food truck moves away from my LIRR station.

Ice cream date. We got raw egg topped with salted caramel, sesame honeycomb, and Luxardo cherries.

Morganstern’s ice cream is indescribably chewy, it is truly some of the best I’ve ever tasted. And I cannot get over those cherries.

Have you seen this cute iced drink promotion at Starbucks yet? Those ice cube stickers kill me.

Maple latte. With a sky-blue straw that made me so happy!

I took a girlfriend to Nunu so I could try that spicy beer again. And I forgot to write down the name for a 2nd time. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I did when it was paired with chocolate; a full pint by itself was a bit much to get through.

A chocolate chip cookie and a GoMacro cherries + berries (sunny uplift). I was expecting to hate that flavor but it was actually yummy, the cherries were nice and tart and it had some oat texture.

That cookie was totally not homemade.

dinner

My family sent me home from Solomon’s with some of my uncle’s amazing crab cakes.

Best meal of the week.

We sautéed the crab in a mix of melted butter and evoo.

Served with a caprese-style salad on the side.

Red and green lettuce mix dressed with truffle salt, evoo, and balsamic vinegar and topped with Kumato tomato and mozzarella.

Date night in the Lower East Side. We got bowls at Korilla and they were so freaking good! Sticky rice, gojuchang chicken, red kimchi, cucumber kimchi, monterey jack cheese, and a fried egg. Plus Korean bbq and hot sauces. My mouth was on fire and I was in heaven.

We cooled down at Snowdays. Black sesame shaved ice with sweetened condense milk, mochi, and Fruity Pebbles.

We had parked in DUMBO so we got to walk home over the bridge. It was so hot and sticky but still super fun.

Another day, another bowl, this time a Chipotle date on our couch.

I got salad with peppers and onions, chicken, mild salsa, green salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Plus chips and a giant diet coke on the side. We go to Chipotle so often that the counter staff recognizes us, which is the most embarrassing thing on earth, but we can’t stop!

The opposite of date night, I made this dinner by myself while Adam worked a 30 hour shift.

My Cheesy Eggplant Bake with diced yellow onion and light Havarti added in so I could use up some leftovers.

Plus a great salad.

Red and green lettuce // dressed with lavender salt, evoo, honey, and balsamic vinegar // topped with sweet and spicy pecans, dried bing cherries, and chia seeds.

Any other drink freebie deals I should know about for this summer?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: yogurt

Left My Heart In Montana

lunch

notable snacks

dinner

Weekend Highlights… A Bevy of Beverages

(Frozen)Yogurt

breakfast

lunch

dinner

random thoughts

Lunch N Oats

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner

Weekend Highlights

Reunited And It Feels So Good

breakfast

lunch

dinner

This Week I…

I’d Have To Say April 25th

breakfast

lunch

snack

dinner