Hoping that my cure lies in this can.
And that I’ll be up and running mañana.
Hope everyone had wondrous weekends and sensational Superbowl Sundays!
February 4, 2010
A.M. Alliteration
¡Hola, hombres!
(I realize that most of you are mujeres, but I’m feeling a little alliterative so you’ll have to bear with me.)
Let us weigh in on Wednesday, which was a little wacky. Mostly because my mañana commenced con my crazy, crass pilates instructor. After yesterday’s class, I think I have to change her nickname to crazy, crass, perverted pilates instructor.
¿Por qué? She decided to have us use mini-medicine balls in our routine. Nada perverted about that, but I’m pretty sure she only did this so she could make balls jokes for the entire hour of class. And that she did. You would think an hour of balls jokes would stop being funny ten minutes in. But this was not so. Either I have the maturity level of a pre-pubescent chico, or balls jokes are exponentially more entertaining when told in a thick Russian accent. I suspect it’s a combination of both.
Post-pilates, I pondered life breakfast possibilities con chocolate cappuccino café negro and an orange.
This pensive pre-breakfast awakened an awesomely alliterative answer.
Allow me to present…
P.B. Pudding Pumpkin Oats
1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water. 1/2 cup pumpkin stirred in at the end. Topped with 1/2 cup vanilla pudding and a PB spoon.
Peanuty, pumpkiny, puddin’ perfection.
Please produce promptly.
Ok, I’ll stop with the alliterative annoyance (after that) because I’m having trouble enunciating my enthusiasm over this breakfast without a simple “THIS. WAS. SOOOOOOOOOO. GOOD!”
When things got messy, all of the flavors and textures melded. And I’m pretty sure I oohed-and-aaaahed from start to finish.
Oh, and it was ridiculously filling.
So filling, in fact, that between the breakfast and lunch horas, no snacks were had. This is a rare occurrence en mi vida.
Eventually hunger reared its ugly always-welcome head, and I threw together an amazing almuerzo.
Los innards:
On a whole wheat wrap: Greek olive hummus, jarlsberg slices, honey turkey slices and marinated kalamata olives
Onto el griddle for a hot minuto.
Y voila!
I got my fruits and veggies in with a salsa bell and an army of apricots.
Cena may look familiar.
After spoiling my unstoppable appetite with a double dinner on martes, el estómago was not about to settle for a single cena last night. So I gave it an encore.
Except this time, I opted to make la ensalada my Asian component. (Apparently I think that my dinner’s have to be half-Asian. Perhaps paying homage to my ethnic makeup?)
Ensalada Asiática
In the mix: baby spinach, steamed carrots, asparagus, cucumbers, celery, marinated shrooms, red bell pepper, grilled onion and a clementine.
And this beautiful Caucasian face was responsible for taking this ensalada to ridiculously delicious Asian heights.
Looove this dressing. And Sir Newman, of course.
Cebolla y clementine center.
Con the clementine peel. Not for decorative purposes. Simply because I got the peel off in one piece, and I was proud.
Grilled onions + clementines + amazing Asian dressing = boca-gasm.
Onto cena segunda: Savory Double Cheesy Oats
1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water for 2 minutes. Dos Laughing Cow wedges added and microwaved for 1 more minute. Topped with the great urine funkifier.
The key to ridiculously creamy, cheesy oats is the two Laughing Cow wedges. One will give you the flavor, but dos gets you the texture. (Which, if you need further convincing, is on par with cheesy risotto…)
My popcorn-tooth returned after Tuesday night’s hiatus. Phew.
But I managed to take care of newfound puddin’-tooth, too.
Happy almost weekend, mis foodies! La hermana is coming home tonight, so I won’t be back ‘til lunes. You know, brownie duty calls…
Amor,
Sarah
February 3, 2010
Who Am I?
‘Twas a tasty Tuesday that seemed to zip by
Cravings were aplenty, and I was eager to comply
But my eats were a bit uncharacteristic. (We’ll soon have a gander.)
And I couldn’t help feeling like Derek Zoolander
When I found myself questioning, “Who am I?”
Worry not. I’m not having an identity crisis. But, go figure, the day after I dedicate an entire post to how my foodie personality is predictably the same as it’s always been, I experience a day full of “this is so not me” eating.
My first inkling that some other foodie spirit had repossessed my body came with my mañana cup of coffee.
My kitchen’s currently boasting a pretty extensive selection of coffee. But I’m pretty faithful to my tried-and-true favorites, those usually being some jazzed-up version of a vanilla or hazelnut base. Ayer, I wanted none of that. I awoke in a chocolate state of mind.
Now I know what you’re thinking. That’s not really grounds for a “who am I?” moment, as I’ve recently realized and confirmed my fondness for cocoa. However, while I’m certainly acquiring a taste for chocolate, I’ve yet to seriously crave it or favor it over my veteran front-runners. Until yesterday.
I completely fast-forwarded over the part of my mañana routine where I habitually stare into my coffee cabinet for a good five to ten minutes, debating el café del día.
No deliberation necessary. I wanted chocolate coffee.
Specifically New England Coffee’s Chocolate Cappuccino. I tried this last week, and I’m pretty sure it’s been on the brain ever since. But because I’m a save-the-best-for-last OCD freak, I’ve been rationing it until I can locate and hoard several more bags.
But there was no fighting that chocolate feeling yesterday. I gave into my moment of chocolate cappuccino weakness. And it was glorious.
This coffee is so bueno that I drank it straight up.
Herein lies my next “who am I?” moment. My café always features creamer, almond milk or whipped cream, and I usually sweeten it with azúcar or stevia. Yesterday, I took it negro. And it was the best cup of coffee I’ve had in months. You know what they say, once you go negro…
Moving along… I was ready to shake the whole “who am I?” hindrance with breakfast. I already knew what I was making, and it was very me.
Or so I’d intended.
I’ve been wanting to make Tina’s “Baked” Pumpkin Oatmeal” since I first laid eyes on it. I doubled the recipe porque I know mi estómago, and one packet of instant oatmeal would keep me full for approximately 20 minutes.
Looks a little diferente from Tina’s, right? On a whim, I decided to add cocoa powder. Seriously. WHO AM I? I had a perfectly delicious, pumpkin-y concoction sitting before me, and I chose (read: needed) to chocolate-ify it?
I’ll stop whining, though. My case of the “who am I?”s worked brilliantly here. This. was. AMAZING.
Los ingredientes: 2 packets maple brown sugar instant oatmeal, 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp. agave and 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder. Mixed and microwaved for 3 minutes. (Or 2:59 if you’re weird like me.)
Chocolately pumpkiny perfection. Make. This. Ahora.
Sometime after that bowl of deliciousness, I G-chatted with hermana and learned that she, too, was eating out-of-character.
Melissa: you’ll be happy to know the brownie rampage has continued at school
snowstorms mean 8238928329329 brownies
me: jealous
i made CHOCOLATE OATS for bfast
like, i was CRAVING chocolate
WHO AM I!?
Melissa: um i made waffles and eggs with spinach and laughing cow for bfast
like what? i made myself a real breakfast… WHO AM I!?
At least we’re in this together, hermana.
Lunch parte uno was a pretty standard Sarah sandwich.
On a toasted sandwich thin: laughing cow, Sabra hummus, roasted eggplant and roasted red peppers.
It was during lunch parte dos that I had to step back and ask myself, “who am I?”
Apparently I thought I was a 5’10 blonde with a snacky disposition.
On my undeniably plagiarized snack plate:
The leaning tower of red bell pepper.
Filled con salsa.
Manzana con cinnamon.
Plus triple C crudités: carrots, cucumbers and celery.
Which christened this fresh tub of Greek Olive Sabra.
This is currently my favorite Sabsession. But I’ve yet to try the caramelized onion flavor, which I suspect may change my life.
Post-lunch came errands, a writing project and some at-home pilates. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I slept through my Tuesday clase. So, I attempted to do some mat stretching, scissors (because they’re naughty) and rollovers (because they’re fun) en mi cuarto.
‘Lates ended up looking like this:
Yea, somewhere between stretching and scissors, I got lost in blog-reading, which somehow led me to get lost in Cherry Garcia. My newfound sweet tooth is really confusing me.
For dinner, I decided it was acceptable to have dos. Who am I?
Ok, fine. That food decision is entirely characteristic of me. But both of my cena components were large and in charge, and I’m sort of surprised I was able to eat it all. Sort of.
First up: una ensalada enorme.
I realize that doesn’t look so enorme because it’s on a plate. But I assure you it was massive. In fact, I have proof it was massive. But we’ll get to that later.
In the mix: baby spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, celery, apple, brie, grilled shrooms, green cheetahs, asparagus, grilled onion and fried egg whites. Predictably dressed in a honey-balsamic blend.
The increible trifecta of fried egg whites, green cheetahs and grilled cebolla in the center.
And the no-fail combo of manzanas y brie dispersed throughout.
One more cebolla shot because grilled onion doused in sweetened balsamic is both aesthetically and gastronomically mind-blowing.
So much so that it was the star of dinner numero dos: savory Asian oats.
1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water and 2 tbsp. soy sauce. Topped with grilled onion and asparagus.
I’d sort of forgotten how much I love savory oats. One bite into that creamy, soy saucy creation, and I fully remembered.
Messified deliciousness.
Onto that evidencia that my ensalada was one of great size.
I couldn’t eat it off the plate. Seriously, it was imposible.
So, into my hugh jass mixing bowl it went.
Oh, and if you’d like evidencia of my aforementioned save-the-best-for-last approach to eating… this is how I eat my salads.
Yes, I consume the 3 pounds of baby spinach first and save all of the well-marinated goodies for the end.
And now, for my final and most profound “who am I?” moment of el día: I wasn’t in the mood for popcorn for dessert.
My fridge is currently harboring a massive tub of vanilla pudding, and I was inexplicably drawn to it post-cena.
Con grahams, of course.
This was SO GOOD. Just to forewarn you, I feel a pudding kick coming on. Though, if my popcorn addiction doesn’t return by tonight, I may have a full-blown “WHO AM I!?” meltdown.
Do your food cravings ever throw you off? Up until very recently, my sweet tooth was non-existent. And its frequent presence is really freaking me out. Clearly, though, I’m embracing it 
.
Amor,
Sarah
February 2, 2010
A Foodie Groundhog’s Day
In case you’ve feared that, during my loco hiatus, my foodidentity (foodie + identity = foodidentity, right?) underwent any changes, Monday’s eats should assure you that I’m exactly as I left you.
While I do my best to embrace creativity en la cocina, I’m undeniably a creature of habit. When I find something I love to eat, I eat it. Often.
That said, I present to you: A Foodie Groundhog’s Day.
Because, if you’ve read The Foodie Diaries for a while, you are about to experience a post-long déjà vu deluge.
Por ejemplo, I am still consuming the world’s biggest bowls of Honey Sunshine for breakfast.
If I were una foodie inteligente, I’d have learned by now that cereal is not an ideal breakfast para mi because it takes me two to three refills of that grande bowl to achieve my desired level of fullness.
Alas, I still cannot resist the allure of knowing exactly what I want upon waking. So, when it’s cereal, I eat cereal. And add as many peanut butter chips and raisins as I can fit into my grubby little manos.
I’m still quite partial to manzanas as mid-morning snacks.
Despite the fact that an apple is an apple, any way you slice it, I still attempt to prettify my food.
I still maintain that I hate pizza. Still, I regularly crave and consume pita pizzas.
On this baked beauty: hummus, Laughing Cow, roasted eggplant and roasted red peppers.
I still have not acquired the will power, nor the desire, to use hummus as an ingredient and not dip into it for some on-the-side snackage.
I’m still a freak of nature and thoroughly enjoy dipping grahams in hummus.
I’m still defying the laws of portion control and consuming nuts by the bowl. Opposed to blogland’s ever-so-popular nuts by the handful.
Lo siento, but a handful of nuts has never been enough for me. (Insert far-too-obvious TWSS.) I know those who suffer from snackface syndrome agree.
I do still try to abide by my principles of balance. And so, I countered my abundant snackage with some abundant saladage.
Sí, I am still all about the ensalada enorme for dinner.
In the mix: bag of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, shrooms, onion, cucumber, celery, avocado, strawberries, balls and shredded ched. Still into dressing my veggies with honey and balsamic.
I continued on my quest to get some more greens with something you know you’ve seen before.
Still a full-fledged addiction.
I’m also still really into ensuring that carbs are included in every meal.
Lastly, here’s a sprinkle of déjà vu that’s included every post.
Never. Gets. Old.
What’s your eating estilo? Are you a creature of habit? Or do you an anti-meal repeater? I’m definitely a creature of habit. But I love experimenting with and tweaking my favorites—in part so I don’t bore you all, and in part so I keep my beloved tastebuds feliz.
Enjoy what’s left of your Groundhog’s Día!
Amor,
Sarah
February 1, 2010
The Happiest Place On Earth
Why, hello there, amigas!
As badly as I’d like to take this chica’s tweetvice (that’d be advice obtained via Twitter) and resume blogging as though I’d never left, I have this moral inkling that a one-and-a-half month hiatus warrants an explanation.
So here goes nada: Over the past month and a half, I could not uphold my blogging duties because I was undergoing extensive plastic surgery as part of my contract to appear on the new season of Extreme Makeover.
Ok, fine. That was an absolute mentira. But I felt the need to resort to a little “creative writing” because the truth is an utterly anti-climatic medley of mundane excuses. They go a little something like this: Took a long holiday vacación to Florida. Returned home to a broken computadora. Jetted off to spend New Year’s in D.C. before fixing la computadora. Waited almost a month for computadora to be returned.
Muy interesante, I know.
Oh, and there was one more thing that contributed to my fall off the blog-wagon.
Hermana was home for an entire month.
(Our interpretation of this old classic.)
Sí, hermana y yo were muy busy embracing sisterhood. By embracing sisterhood, I, of course, mean spending every waking moment together, cuddling on the couch/spooning in my bed, watching trashy television, meticulously managing our Netflix queue and baking.
Mucho, mucho baking of the Betty Crocker variety.
You see, hermana was a little thrown off by my recent revelation that I like chocolate. And by thrown off, I mean she compulsively seized the opportunity to have a chocolate Eating Partner In Crime.
I don’t have a final tally of how many batches of brownies we made during her month en casa. But I will say that, on multiple occasions, we made brownies at night, finished them by the morning, realized we wanted brownies for breakfast and whipped up a desayuno batch.
So therein lies my excuse for my absence: brownies. Embarrassing.
Without further adieu, I’d like to:
- apologize for my unannounced, lengthy hiatus one last time
- profess my love for all (or, uh, any) faithful readers who’ve not yet written me off
- plea that you invite me back into your lives (or Google Readers, same difference…)
- dive headfirst back into this blog game with a recap of recaps.
Now, about that recap. I have over 1,000 foodie pictures on my camera. So, if I were into pulling all-nighters in order to relay everything I’ve been eating over the past month and a half, I’d take that approach. But, lucky for both you and me, I retired my all-nighter jersey when I graduated college. So, this recap of recaps is going to focus on the most memorably delicious part of my little blogcation.
Brace yourself, mis foodies. I am about to introduce you to the happiest place on earth. Donde might this be?
LA CASA DE NANNY Y POPPY!
La familia y yo took a Hannukah vacación to Florida, where my beloved abuelos reside. We visit them pretty frequently because (1) we love them, (2) we love el sol and (3) la casa de Nanny and Poppy pretty much equates to foodie heaven.
Familia amor + sol + comida = the happiest place on earth.
Let us embark upon this casa de Nanny y Poppy eatventure.
First up, desayuno.
Breakfast at la casa de Nanny y Poppy looks a lot like breakfast at home. This is mostly because it’s the only meal we (we being la hermana y yo) prepare for ourselves. You see, Nanny and Poppy are quite the fitnessista/os, and they wake up at the crack of dawn (read: 8 a.m.) to start their day with un poco exercise. Poppy’s been a pool boy (and by that I mean he’s been doing water aerobics), but Nanny’s into speed-demon walking. In any case, they’re done with their exercise and breakfast long before hermana y yo wake from our beauty slumber.
When we rise, we throw together the usual suspects and eat as quickly as possible so we can get out to the pool and get our tan on.
Café. Greek yogurt + berries + syrup. Fresh fruta.
Whole wheat bagel con veggie cream queso.
AB & J greek yogurt.
Honey Sunshine + Publix dried cherries (EL MEJOR).
Más café con fresh fruta.
Atop that café is whipped crema because that’s how Nanny y Poppy do café.
And that’s just one more reason why la casa de Nanny y Poppy is the happiest place on earth.
Let’s move along to almuerzo because it’s really the main event.
Shortly after concocting and consuming breakfast, hermana y yo throw on our bathing suits, grab upward of 2382938243747749 clementines for poolside snacking, bronze ourselves and wait for the call.
The call to which I refer is the happiest call on earth: Shirl’s happy hour call. Like clockwork, approximately three hours into our sisterly skin-baking, either my or hermana’s phone rings. It’s Shirl, summoning us to happy hour almuerzo.
In the magical land of Nanny and Poppy, lunch is not a meal, but rather a spread of deliciousness. Deliciousness y vino.
Let’s commence le tour de “lunch.”
Mediterranean delicacies are always abundant.
In the form of giant Sabra tubs.
And marinated Greek olives.
But los abuelos make sure to embrace my latin obsesión, too.
In the form of mexicana 7-layer dip.
Y giant tubs of salsa.
Y, of course, guac.
Other happy hour spreads include spinach, artichoke and parmesan dip and veggie cream cheese (mi amor).
And crab cocktail. Fresh crab + cocktail sauce? ¡Sí, por favor!
Dipper options come in the form of amazingly fluffy flatbread.
Or, for crunchy carbage, chips:
Of the tortilla variety…
…which are bueno, but pale in comparison to…
…my dearly beloved FSTG multigrains.
There was also a nuevo addition to Shirl’s standard snack pack.
Blue Ginger Multigrain Black Sesame & Sea Salt chips! These might be my new favoritos (lo siento, FSTG). They’ve got a soy crisp/thin Popchip texture going on, but they’re made with brown rice and pack SO MUCH flavor. I haven’t been able to find them in NYC, but when I do, I’m purchasing a life-supply. Rumor has it they’re only available in Costco and BJs. If you’re a member to either, buy them immediately. (And send some my way 
.)
There are also, of course, crudités. For carb-baby-minimizing purposes.
Endives are the best dippers because you can create little boats filled with endless dippage combinations. My go-to endive filler is hummus + salsa + olives.
And, as previously stated, happy hour always includes vino.
Nanny says vino keeps her young because it keeps the blood moving through her veins. If her fountain of youth can be uncorked and consumed on a daily basis, I fully support Shirl’s staple Shiraz sippage.
Of course we can’t have vino without queso.
Munster, Jarslberg (best swiss ever), Wensleydale cheese with cranberries (my and Nanny’s favorito) and a newbie, White Stilton cheese with spiced fruit. This was increible. It was the same creamy Stilton base as the cranberry queso, but the spiced fruit took it to a new level of cheesy perfection. If you’ve never tried the cranberry Stilton, do so immediately! And if you can find the spiced fruit Stilton (I haven’t been able to!), I promise it will change your vida.
Nanny added another newbie to our happy hour repertoire: fig cake with almonds.
She knows I adore figs and Espana, so she snatched this up when she saw it. Further proof that she is la mejor Nanny del mundo.
It was muy interesante—and I think I would have loved it, except for the fact that it had anise. If there is one flavor I cannot tolerate, it’s licorice. So that sort of rained on what could’ve been a deliciously figgy parade. Ah, well…
And there you have the base of Nanny’s happy hour. I say “base” because what lies above, astonishingly, is not the whole almuerzo sha-bang. On different dias, Nanny improvises and throws in nuevo additions.
Sometimes that meant surprise Edible Arrangements.
(Chocolate-covered manzanas are insane.)
Sometimes that meant an impromptu quesadilla fiesta.
Con mango salsa.
Sometimes that meant balls.
Of the falafel variety.
Other almuerzo additions included fruity ensaladas.
Con pomegranate arils, strawberries and other colorful delights.
Egg white quiches!
Broccoli and cheddar.
Spinach and artichoke.
And while we’re on the topic of spinach and artichoke, let’s take a look at this lovely lunch addition.
Spinach, artichoke and parmesan-stuffed shrooms!
And on dias when Nanny was feeling fancy, she busted out baked mussels.
Fun fact: Nanny’s favorite way to eat mussels is con vodka—in a shooter. Since we go a little heavy on the vino during happy hour, she figured we should skip the shooters. It’s all about moderation, people.
Let’s move along to cena.
Dinner always proves to be our most legitimate meal of the day because Nanny just may be the best cook en el mundo (though I’m sure every Jewish granddaughter says that about her Jewish grandmother). We’re often not hungry come dinnertime due to a hefty happy hour, but there is always room to be made for Nanny’s cooking.
First up, her famoso brisket.
I don’t eat beef—but when I did, this was the only beef I ate. Nanny’s brisket sauce is seriously the best thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s sweet and savory, and delicious enough to make Little Sarah The Beef Hater go back for seconds. These days, I spoon out the sauce and put it on top of whatever else is on the table.
Like pollo.
Nanny’s a doll and made a separate chicken and gravy dish for me on the night she served brisket. I rarely love chicken. Especially simply-prepared pollo. Nanny’s is the exception. Seriously, the woman is a culinary prodigy.
Alongside those meat dishes, we had some patatas.
Half standard wedges, half sweet patatas porque hermana hates cheetahs and I fantasize about them. Further proof that Nanny is la mejor.
Otra noche she threw together an improvisational spicy sesame seafood stirfry with calamari, shrimp and scallops.
It was TO DIE FOR.
On le side was my personal favorite Nanny dish: peanut jasmine rice.
Spicy, coconut-creamy, profusely peanut-y rice. Es ridiculo.
She also made a simple rice side dish, likely anticipating that I’d make a considerable dent in my dearly beloved jasmine rice.
More on the seafood front: baked salmon with mind-blowing mystery sauce and mind-blowing mystery topping (I know it involved olives, and I believed sun-dried tomatoes).
Oh, we also eat veggies at la casa de Nanny y Poppy.
Delicioso, but comparatively lame considered all of Shirl’s more elaborate creations.
This last meal can’t be accredited to Nanny, but it must be noted porque it was Poppy’s 78th birthday dinner!
We went to an amazing Greek restaurante in South Florida. I forget the name, but it was fantastic.
My foodie familia (yo included) devoured the ridiculously fluffy pita wedges and hummus prior to picture-taking.
We started with ensalada y sopa.
I actually hate restaurant salads. I’ve gotten so used to making my own pimped-out ensaladas that restaurant starter salads never seem appealing. The veggie and bean sopa, however, was spot-on.
Other appetizers included a Mediterranean antipasto plato.
And escargot con eggplant.
I can’t remember what this was, or by whom it was consumed for that matter, but I liked the plate .
Same goes for this guy. I’ve no idea what’s hiding beneath that pool of cheese and sauce.
I do know that this was Poppy’s birthday dish: lamb.
The man adores his chops.
I went with a white snapper with an olive, caper and tomato sauce, which was heavenly. I’m mildly obsessed with any seafood dish that features capers. Throw olives into the mix, and this chica’s salt tooth is sufficiently satisfied.
Gah, now I want to go back to Florida so I can eat this.
Hermana ordered a delicioso chicken Madeira with feta and sautéed shrooms.
Dessert was flourless chocolate cake.
It was ridiculously rich, in a bueno way, and its texture was sort of a brownie-pudding-cake hybrid. Muy feliz that I discovered my likeness for chocolate prior to this vacation.
Oh, I also discovered the most delicious tea ever. Stash’s Vanilla Nut Creme. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere, but it was A-MAZ-ING. I’m determined to hunt it down.
That’s the last of my Floridian meals, but while we’re on the dessert topic I’d like to share this late-night combo I grew fond of during my stay at la casa de Nanny y Poppy.
Ice cream + kettle corn.
Best. Dessert. Ever. I think I may have found a way to appease both my veteran popcorn addiction and my newfound sweet tooth.
On that note, I’ll conclude this monstruo post. But not before I remind you all, just one last time, how much I’ve missed blogmundo and how ridiculously elated I am to be back!
1.5 months-worth of amor,
Sarah
December 10, 2009
Indecision 2009
Title courtesy of:
Marry me, por favor.
But let’s address this whole Indecision 2009 thing. No, I’m not spewing out another political rant. I’m simply deeming yesterday the most indecisive food day of 2009. My cravings were either conflicting, ambiguous or non-existent—which made for a day full of the “I don’t know what to eat” bah humbugs. (In case you were wondering, that is official medical terminology.)
Indecisive quandary #1: Eggs or oats?
Decision: Both.
In le bowl: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water; espinacas; 3 egg whites; melty queso mexicana y salsa.
Indecision worked in my favor here because I got to experience the best of both breakfast worlds.
Incredible. If ever you find yourself in an eggs-or-oats-dilemma, I strongly suggest you allow the opposing forces to collaborate.
Indecisive quandary #2: Apples or oranges?
Decision: Neither.
Pretty persimmon to the rescue.
Mostly because neither apples nor oranges are photogenic. And oranges are quite possibly the most annoying fruit to peel.
Indecisive quandary #3: Cream cheese + hot sauce or hummus + hot sauce?
Decision: Again, both.
One of the reasons I adore sandwich thins, English muffins or, uh, your standard duo of dos pieces of bread: they are muy indecision-friendly.
So, who wore it better? (It being the sriracha, of course…)
The Sabra-sriracha combination never disappoints…
…but Philadelphia took this round.
So much so that lunch parte dos also featured cream queso.
Indecisive quandary #4: Cream cheese or American?
Decision: Fine—this wasn’t a quandary. I knew I wanted both.
I realize this was a fruit and veggie-less, carbarific lunch. But on such an indecisive food day—when I knew exactly what I wanted, I ran with it.
Fear not, I got my fruits and veggies in later.
Afternoon snackage brought on a repeat of indecisive quandary #2. This time, the decision was both.
Consumption and documentation of both affirmed my previous statements. Apples and oranges are not nearly as photogenic as persimmons. And oranges are a female perro to peel.
Indecisive quandary #5: Sopa o ensalada?
Decision: Eating a lot of Panera’s You Pick Two made this one easy. Both.
Simple ensalada.
In the mix: baby spinach, avocado, cucumbers, shrooms, onions, celery, strawberries and salsa. Con celery salt and honey balsamic.
The sopa hailed from a can.
I’ve never tried this type before—and I usually find Progresso soups sort of watered-down—but this was really good!
It had mucho in the way of barley, corn y patatas—and I will definitely get it again.
And because I’m a devout carb chica, adding a third component to dinner was another easy decision.
Especially since I had a hefty stash of fresh whole wheat pita, along with a tub of Sabra just asking to be polished off.
Dessert is one part of my day that almost never involves indecision. The answer is almost always…
I realize most of my decisions involved finding a way to cater to both of my conflicting cravings. I figure if there’s a way to keep everyone my stomach feliz—why not? How do you respond to food indecisiveness? (Otherwise known as the I don’t know what to eat” bah humbugs…)
Happy jueves, mis foodies!
Amor,
Sarah
December 8, 2009
Yo Necesito S’more
After spending way too much time researching (read: in-depth Google-ing) the dubious existence of a Spanish translation for the term “foodie,” I’m sad to report that no such palabra exists en español.
I try not to talk politics on here, but this issue must be addressed. There is currently an entire nation of foodies being inhumanely deprived of a concise, incomparably descriptive, fun-to-say word for those who love food. Think of the liberation and pride that would sweep España if food-loving Spaniards could stand up and proclaim: Yo soy un foodie. Think of how many sentences could be shortened if there existed a single word for una persona que le encanta comida (one who loves food).
That said, I hereby request that the Spanish Ministry of Diccionarios instate an español version of the word “foodie.”
End scene. Let’s get to Monday’s eats.
I received the following right-to-the-point e-mail from my lovely cousin Christina last week:
You should try chocolate chips, and marshmallows in your oats, and put gram crackers on top.
Not one to disregard delicious-sounding breakfast suggestions, I heeded Christina’s advice. Except, in an attempt to infuse this decadent bowl of oats with a little protein, I subbed her chocolate chips with chocolate nut butter.
Specifically, Nature’s Promise chocolate soynut butter.
I dipped into this last week and really did not enjoy it—but I figured I’d give it another shot.
Realizing that my chocolate substitute had the power make or break my breakfast, I had a spoonful straight-up to test its oat worthiness.
It failed. No me gusta. This nut butter wasn’t bad in the “this really isn’t what I was expecting” way, as was the case with cashew butter. It was bad in the “I need to spit this out right now” way. It tasted like a chalky, oily, unsweetened Nutella knock-off.
Definitely not oat-worthy.
And so I turned to the tried-and-true chocolate Better N’ PB.
S’mores Oats (a.k.a. S’moats)
In the oat bowl: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water and 1/2 thinly sliced banana. Topped with crushed graham crackers, marshmallows and spoonful of chocolate BNPB.
This was fantastic. It was difficult to delegate marshmallow distribution throughout the bowl—but this just made for some incredible marshmallow madness bites.
While this was certainly a decadent way to start the day, it definitely wasn’t as filling as my standard oat bowls. I think I usually bulk up my oats with more nut butter and fruit.
When I realized I needed s’more comida, I turned to an old favorite for breakfast part dos.
Greek yourt + raspberry preserves.
So sweet and simple and satisfying.
Lunch delivered something else I’ve desperately needed s’more of.
Vegetables! Ever since Thanksgiving (and discovering my taste for chocolate), I have been lagging with my fruit and veggie consumption. So, I got in my greens with some split pea sopa.
I tried Dr. McDougall’s split pea soup for the first time last week, and I wasn’t crazy about it. However, I had another box, and, as was the case with the chocolate soynut butter, I was willing to give it another chance.
I’m going to have to stop doing that.
Like the nut butter, this was no better the second time around. Unlike the nut butter, it was edible.
Especially with the edition of these.
Love soggy croutons in soup!
I’m probably being a little harsh with the sopa trash-talking, but split pea is my favorite soup. And the thing I love most about it is its thick texture. Dr. McDougall’s version was sort of watery—with an occasion clump of pea/lentil thickness.
I did think the flavor was great, and I managed to clean the bowl. But, if you’re looking for canned split pea soup, Amy’s is so much better.
On the side, I had a toasted sandwich thin, garlic bread-ified with a smear of butter and minced garlic.
(The creepy yellow hue on the distant half comes from margarine. Gross, but I finished my butter stick on the first half, and was up against the dreadful nasty-butter-substitute-or-no-butter-at-all wall.)
Snack time featured un plato of mixed nuts, dark chocolate chips and a hermit. That lone hermit is a little misleading. Several más were had because I don’t think it’s humanly possible to just eat one. If you’ve done this, you deserve a prize.
Enjoyed atop mi laptop as I weekend recapped.
I got s’more veggies in during dinner.
Again, I cannot wait for the return of oven green cheetahs.
I found myself in a muy Mediterranean mood, so I ran with it.
Ensalada Mediterránea
In the mix: baby spinach, feta, olives, cucumbers, celery, cherry tomatoes, balls and hummus; dressed in celery salt and the usual honey-balsamic blend.
Meatless meatballs aren’t so Meditteranean, but they were amazing, as always. And I pretended they were falafel balls.
Needless to say, that dollop of Sabra only left me wanting más.
So más was had.
Con warmed whole wheat pita and queso americano.
This pita was so good! I get my pita from the local produce store because they bake it in-house, and when you get a fresh batch, you get a fresh batch. So soft and doughy.
Still, as with the meatless balls, I used my imagination and pretended it was the best pita bread ever.
I guess breakfast left me wanting s’more (I promise, I’m done after that one) because dessert was desayuno-inspired.
Baked S’mores!
You don’t see any chocolate—because there wasn’t any.
I eat my s’mores chocolate-less.
And, though I’ve realized my developing fondness for the dark stuff, there are certain chocolate-less creations I’ve no desire to change.
Amor,
Sarah
December 7, 2009
Weekend Discoveries v.5
Happy lunes, mi gente!
(I always want to call you my foodies, but I’m not sure the term exists en español. When I lived in España, I once tried to explain the concept of a foodie to my host-mom—but my lack of español eloquence/proper pronunciation got us nowhere. I’m pretty sure that confusing conversación left my señora thinking that I was both loca and obsessed with food (neither entirely untrue); it left me still-uninformed of the español translation of la palabra “foodie.” Any native español speakers who’d be kind enough to enlighten me?)
I have an abnormally manic Monday—so I’m going to attempt a short and sweet recap in weekend discovery-form. Let us begin on a healthy note before digressing into the wonderful world of weekend indulgence.
During this fin de semana, I discovered…
-Kev Thug really is a thug.
¿Por qué?
Well, I found myself in a minor conundrum. I found the sneakers I’ve wanted online for much less than the what my local running store charges. El problemo? I really love the neighborhood running store, and I prefer to give my dinero to local businesses when I can.
Kev Thug to the rescue. As soon as I told father dearest of my consumer’s conundrum, he called the running store and explained that he’d rather buy the shoe from them if they’d meet him halfway on the price difference.
They did better and matched the online price. Success!
I realize this makes Kev more a savvy barterer than a thug—seeing as his solution wasn’t to rob/vandalize/hold up the running store—but the word thug carries so much more street cred.
Onto actual food discoveries…
-Applesauce and Greek yogurt are quite palatable partners in crime.
-Persimmon hype validated. Pretty, photogenic and delicious? Formulaic foundation for food blogger obsession.
This was my first persimmon, and I loved it. Its texture was sort of like a firm tomato, and it had a wonderfully subdued sweetness. Did I mention it was muy bonita? I can’t wait to play around with pretty persimmon photography.
The next two discoveries came on Saturday, which—as I’m sure you’ve heard—welcomed NYC’s first snowfall of the season!
-It feels unnatural to eat fresh, very out-of-season fruit when it’s snowing outside.
Unnatural, pero delicioso.
-Less unnatural? Eating Chinese take-out in a winter wonderland.
Chinese eggplant y pollo in garlic sauce. Favorito.
Vegetable egg fu yung. This was another weekend first. Increíble—but a little too greasy to be more than a one-bite encounter.
And obligatory brown arroz.
I thought I’d be done with Chinese for a while after having mucho last week—but I suppose I discovered that this was not so.
Back to unnatural eats, the following concoction epitomizes the word.
Graham cracker dipped hummus? I sort of tried this expecting to be disgusted (which is, in itself, pretty unnatural), but much like that watermelon, this combo was unnatural, pero delicioso.
I want to advise you to try this—but I’m not sure if it’s one of those weird flavor combinations that only my freaky taste buds enjoy.
The following is a confirmation of a discovery I made long ago:
I detest 100-calorie packs.
¿Por qué?
Take a look.
10 “cookies” sized similarly to the cereal pieces in Cookie Crisp.
A.K.A. cookie comedy.
Amigas, if you find yourself in the mood for a cookie, eat a cookie. Ten baby cookie imposters do not bear the same satisfaction.
And now a monumentous (you know, monumental + momentous) discovery…
I LIKE CHOCOLATE.
(I think.)
After carrying my “I’m not a chocolate person”-card for all 22 years of mi vida, I am beginning to suspect that my taste buds have evolved and now enjoy chocolate.
Some evidencia.
Exhibit A: You love a certain brand of kettle corn popcorn so much you’ve declared that it’s best sans any addition. You feel uncharacteristically compelled to add cocoa powder to said kettle corn. You love this.
Exhibit B: You love your Fage simply sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. Again, you feel uncharacteristically compelled to add cocoa powder. Again, you love this.
Exhibit C: You love lemon pound cake—straight up. You feel compelled to add dark chocolate chips. At this point, chocolate additions are no longer uncharacteristic, and it need not be stated that you love this.
Exhibit D: Despite having a freezer full of bran VitaTops at your fingertips, you reach for the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip variety. You deem this the best VitaTop flavor you’ve tried thus far.
I believe exhibits A through D are sufficient proof of my blossoming chocolate love affair, so I’ll move on to a few final not-entirely-chocolate-related discoveries.
-When your VitaTop is missing a peanut butter chip, it is not only acceptable—but encouraged—to compensate with a spoonful of nut butter.
-Especially if it comes in the form of the highly-coveted Barney Butter.
Best. Almond Butter. Ever. I only wish my newest nut butter discovery came in a bigger jar—mostly because the little jar reflects my over-consumption so harshly.
Another chocolate-featured discovery:
Neopolitan ice cream sandwich.
Just do it.
And, before I bid you adieu, I’ll leave you with a conflicting piece of chocolate-loving evidence.
-While it is apparent that I have developed a newfound appreciation for chocolate…
…it seems I still favor my beloved non-chocolate options.
Good to know I’ve not lost myself entirely.
Amor,
Sarah
December 3, 2009
A Snackie State of Mind
Jueves is almost over, and we all know what that means… casi viernes!
NYC got a little loco today and busted out the 65° and sunny weather. In Decemeber.
I warmly welcomed the winter sol because this city’s weather gods have been sort of schizo lately.
As in, there’s a chance of snow this weekend.
And there was a monsoon yesterday. But we’ll get to that later.
I awoke on Wednesday morning in a snackie state of mind. I sort of sprung out of bed (and by sprung, I mean slowly rolled) and immediately commenced grazing. Pre-breakfast and—gasp—pre-coffee, my taste buds were exclusively interested in snacks.
I did a little work in the way of pretzels, peanut butter chips and raisins before making the executive decision to channel my snackage into a legitimate breakfast.
I figured the pretzels might kill the breakfast vibe—and be kind of awkward in milk—but I threw a handful of PB chips and a handful of raisins over a bowl of Kashi Honey Sunshine and almond milk.
I know the raisin addition doesn’t change the fact that I’m a breakfast repeater—but I’m mildly addicted to Honey Sunshine right now. Con PB chips? I’m not sure this is ever going to get old.
As I’ve said, I’ve never really been a cereal person. I think this, in part, is due to the fact that cereal never keeps me full for long. Enter vida-changing Honey Sunshine, which has done an oat-worthy job of keeping me full horas after breakfast.
I’m not sure if this is because (a) Honey Sunshine has mysterious fullness-achieving superpowers, (b) the raisins, PB chips and/or nut butter spoons are doing the heavy hunger lifting or (c) I’ve only recently started eating my cereal out of the grande bowls and am likely eating double/triple servings.
It’s likely all of the above—though I’m fond of theory A.
When cereal fullness subsided and snackiness resumed, I had one of the least attractive honeycrisps I’ve ever consumed.
(I realize that rhymed. For once, it was not intentional.)
I judged it for its dull pigmentation—but its honeyness and crispiness ultimately made me forget its ugly ducklingness.
Lunch, too, was snackie in its own right.
In a whole wheat wrap: thick layer of chive cream cheese, spinach, balls, mustard and hot sauce.
Its snackiness? Despite its legitimate mealness (I hope I never have a writing job that necessitates the use of real words), it is inherently snackie due to its origin.
Sí, you’ve likely seen this jalapeño popper wrap before. I followed mi chica’s instructions to a T to ensure amazing jalapeño popperness, and all I have to say to is OHMYGAH and gracias.
I can’t wait to embrace what is sure to become a full-fledged addiction.
On the side, I had some zucchini.
Bueno, but I can’t wait to have a kitchen so I can reunite with my beloved grilled green cheetahs. The toaster oven’s really not cutting it.
Snackiness continued by way of Newman’s Cinnamon Sugar Soy Crisps.
I saw the beginning and end of that bag in a single sitting. This was allowed since it was a SnackFace day.
No, really. Yesterday was actually a SnackFace day because that hot date I mentioned was with NYC’s newest resident-snacker.
I’d intended to meet her after work for a nice long stroll over to the Tribeca restaurant, Mocca Lounge, where we were heading for dinner and drinks. Unfortunately, weather.com warned me that it was going to monsoon during our planned walk, so Plan A was a no-go. (Actually, weather.com just said it was going to rain. I told Kailey it was going to monsoon because I prefer more descriptive words. Karma, being the B that she is, actually presented us with monsoon conditions later that evening. Lo siento, chica.)
Plan B had Kailey brave the treacherous NYC transit and meet me in Tribeca. We embraced and then got to business.
That’d be the amazing happy hour vino, which went down easier than agua. For this reason, cuatro rounds were had.
Sips were broken up by non-stop intellectual stimulation. In fact, we were so busy sipping and soulmateing that we didn’t even look at the menu until our waiter’s umpteenth attempt to take our order.
We decided to be the snackie foodies that we are and share our comida.
This obviously involved a Mediterranean platter.
Grape leaves, ensalada, hard-boiled egg,
Amazing mystery dip, hummus and the best falafel balls ever.
Seriously, look at that green monster.
Oh, and we may have discovered the world’s fattest, fluffiest, most incredible pita bread.
We got a round dos because when you discover perfection, you embrace it.
And then I peer-pressured Kailey into splitting the non-vegan Mediterranean Quesadilla—which featured goat & mozzarella cheeses, roasted eggplant and hummus.
This was AMAZING. And I’m so happy that mi SnackCara (SnackFace en Spanglish, duh) is being a lenient vegan when need be so that she can fully experience all NYC comida has to offer.
After, uh, seis horas of eating, drinking and being the merriest foodies in all of NYC—we looked outside to realize that it was actually monsooning. Being the chica inteligente that I am, I did not bring an umbrella. I made it down one block of my five-minute walk to the train before begrudgingly hopping in a cab.
Monsoon aside, it was a wonderfully snackie noche, and I can’t wait to see more of my new-to-New York amiga! Expect mas Snack Diaries over the next few weeks. (True story: Somebody regularly Googles “snack diaries” and ends up at my blog. I hope that, whoever you may be, you enjoy your Google search coming to fruition.)
Amor,
Sarah
December 2, 2009
Just Because December’s Begun…
…does not mean Thanksgiving’s over.
I think my first-day-of-December eats sanction this statement.
I woke up with the always-gratifying feeling of knowing exactly what I wanted for breakfast.
“Pumpkin pie” addiction.
Delicioso as this may be, 1 egg white + 1/2 cup pumpkin + a dollop of greek yogurt does not equate to breakfast.
So I threw together a grande bowl of cereal. This, admittedly, does not fit the Thanksgiving eats theme—but the colors are quite autumnal, aren’t they?
Kashi Honey Sunshine, almond milk, PB chips and a spoonful of cashew butter.
I’m still not feeling the cashew butter. I figured I’d give it another shot, but it’s really too understated a taste for my liking. Very triste.
Luckily, I’d anticipated that it wasn’t going to be any better this time around and included the PB chips for a nut butter boost. Sometimes I’m inteligente.
This desayuno was still wondrous due to my cereal superstar, Honey Sunshine. I’m really not a cereal person, but this better-than-Cap’n Crunch Kashi creation hits the spot every time. The addition of the PB chips took it to a Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch level.
But back to Thanksgiving-esque eats.
Lunch featured my favorite new jelly.
Cranberry pomegranate pepper jelly. Sweet, spicy, pepper seedy seduction. It really needn’t be said, but I’m in love.
Mi amor nuevo played the role of cranberry sauce in this Thanksgiving leftovers-that-didn’t-actually-utilize-any-Thanksgiving-leftovers wrap.
In the whole wheat wrap: thick layer of cream cheese, thicker layer of cranberry pomegranate pepper jelly, honey maple turkey and pumpkin.
This flavor medley was ridiculous. I don’t want Thanksgiving eating to end. Ever.
Afternoon snackage stayed the TG route.
1 cup applesauce, 1 cup pumpkin, 2 tbsp. maple syrup warmed in the microwave.
AMAZING. Please try this ahora.
What’s that in the center? Oh, just a Food Should Taste Good CINNAMON chip.
Another cosa that your taste buds need to become acquainted with A.S.A.P. These chips seriously taste like churros. I’d intended to eat my pumpkin applesauce with that spoon—but cinnamony churro chips ended up serving that function .
Dinner appears to have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. However, it was an assortment of TG weekend leftovers… so I’m ruling that it fits the theme.
First up: Pearl Room leftovers.
Mucho leftover vegetable risotto.
A tiny bit of hummus salmon.
And to keep things interesante, leftover Chinese.
Peanut chicken and string beans over brown rice from Lai Yuen.
Sorry for not plating la comida—but I think leftovers taste mucho mejor when eaten straight from the container .
December 1st ended on a similar Thanksgiving note as it began.
What’s under that marshmallow layer?
Mas pumpkin pie, of course.
Except dessert didn’t end there porque…
…when leftover banana strawberry nutella french toast is delivered to your doorstep, you embrace this season of delectable eating and oblige.
And there you have my first-day-of-December, I’m-still-in-a-Thanksgiving-state-of-mind eats.
Lo siento for such a rushed post, but I was busy all day and now I’m rushing off to a hot date with a stunning, snack-loving amiga. I’m sure you’ve got an idea who I’m dining with esta noche .
Amor,
Sarah
