Thank you so much for all of your supportive comments in response to yesterday’s  back to escuela announcement. I was grinning from oreja a oreja (ear to ear) all day as I read through your enthusiastic words. I’m so excited to be taking this "next step" en mi vida, and I’m even more excited that I get to share my journey with all my favorite foodies.

Before I write another essay, let us resume regularly scheduled Foodie Diaries programming. By that, I of course mean más food, menos philosophizing.

Martes morning, while characteristically cold, was uncharacteristically sunny. Since I was working from mi cama, beneath a wonderfully warm down comforter, I wasn’t so concerned with the frigid outside world’s temperature. I was just elated to have sun beaming through my windows.

En serio, yo amo el sol. You know how everyone swears by the exercise-endorphins correlation? I’m a more emphatic proponent of the sun-endorphins correlation. Sun, even more so than warmth, makes me ridiculously feliz. This may have something to do with the fact that I often embrace the presence of sol as a sign that I should be drinking iced coffee.

Such was the case ayer. 40° outside? Ain’t no thang when the sun is shining.

Apparently good moods create delicious desayunos.

En el bol: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water, with 1/3 cup egg whites whisked in. Topped with a tasty triad of: 1/2 container Chobani, a sinfully grande scoop of Barney Butter and a “let’s see how much I can squeeze into my fist” serving of trail mix.

I have midget manos, so it took a lot to successfully transfer that much goodness from the trail mix container into the bowl. You gotta do what you gotta do.

In le mix de trail: pepitas, sliced almonds, walnuts and dried cranberries. All good things.

The other two components of my tasty toppings triad were, I suspect, the culprits behind the unwavering fullness that followed this glorious bowl.

Perhaps it wasn’t the toppings themselves—but rather my heavy handedness with the Barney Butter scoopage.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. My Barney Butter “scoop” is definitely the same size as my yogurt mound. Woops.

‘Twas a delicious “mistake” that, come lunchtime, left me too full for “real lunch.”

What’s a foodie to do? Eat fake lunch.

Otherwise known as a snack.

Here’s where we get to the title of this post.

Yesterday, I popped my CCCherry (Cottage Cheese Cherry)! Lo siento for the vulgarity—but I couldn’t resist the alliteration, acronym and pun potential of cottage cheese cherry.

I know, I know. I’m the last person en el mundo to try cottage cheese, but, for some reason, I’ve always convinced myself that I wouldn’t like it. (Actually, I know the exact reason. At sleep away camp, during a sex ed talk, the counselor referred to cottage cheese when explaining a yeast infection. TMI? Maybe. But I’m sure you understand why I fomented a negative association with that chunky wonder.)

Moving along, I knew that my lunchtime snack was going to feature cottage cheese. But, CC novice that I was, I didn’t know the best way to eat it.

Wanting to ensure that my first time was both special and pleasurable, I sought out C.C.concoction suggestions from la princesa de CC.

She graced me with muchos options via tweetvice, so I just went with the one I’ve seen grace the pages of her blog most frequently.

1/2 cup cottage cheese and cinnamon on an English muffin.

Be advised that the remainder of the cinnamon bottle was added post-photo op.

¡AY, DIOS MIO! I had no idea that cottage cheese was so ridiculously thick and cheesy (go figure). I’ve always pictured it far more watered-down. This was so rich and sort of reminded me of ricotta.

Just a forewarning. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with cottage cheese. As in, I sort of want to eat it for every single meal. I’m doing my best not do this. But lo siento if I can’t fight the urge.

I couldn’t have imagined a more delectable first time.

Since my plate was all cinnamon-coated, I decided to get double use out of it before throwing it in the dishwasher.

Enter manzana con canela y azúcar.

I was going to slice it in a photogenic manner. But then I got lazy.

Eventually, the fullness afflicted by breakfast and fake lunch subsided, and I was ready for a real savory lunch.

En el plato: 3 egg whites, queso americano, a flatulently grande serving of black beans and salsa.

I didn’t intend for this to be an open-faced omelet, but it was necessitated due to a heavy hand with the bean scoopage. Apparently I really like my beans and Barney Butter. There are worst vices.

Cena was a bowl duo of blogger staples that can be had sweet or savory.

I opted for savory on both fronts.

First up, a veteran concoction here on The Foodie Diaries: savory oats.

As always, the grilled cebolla was the star.

And, as always, things got gloriously messy post-photo op.

Parte dos was on my mind all día.

After falling in love with my first taste of sweet cottage cheese, and perhaps having a few small scoops throughout the day…

…just to be absolutely positive I liked loved it, I wanted to try a savory cottage cheese concoction.

This one was inspired by Miss Janetha.

In the mix: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup garbanzos, red bell pepper, celery, taco seasoning, chili powder and seasoned salt.

CC obsession confirmed. I’ll take it sweet, savory, any (legal) way I can get it.

Much like my veteran savory oats, newbie savory cottage cheese had a star: garbanzos.

No, wait. The beans were bueno. But the cottage cheese was definitely the star. I think I just said that because the garbanzos were the most prominent part of the photo. Fibbery.

In truthery, much like savory oats, savory CC gets gloriously messy post-photo op.

Nada new about dessert.

Kettle corn with a side of Twitter in a sea of down=life is good.

So, por favor, tell me: What are your favorite ways to eat cottage cheese? Do you have a favorite brand? Also, there are so many different types (fat content, salted, unsalted). Which do you like best? I just grabbed a random brand and chose 2 percent because I didn’t know if fat free was gross/if 4 percent was too thick. Any CCadvice is greatly appreciated!

Amor,

Sarah

(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.

Source.

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.

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

If not, I’ll leave you hanging ‘til my weekend recap. But I have a feeling most of you will get the whole “the one” part.

But, yea, yesterday I didn’t snack. At all. This is muy muy raro for me because I always graze between meals. I don’t always photograph my in between snackage because it’s usually a predictable pretzel, nuts or something-to-dip-in-hummus shebang. Pero, evidencia o no evidencia, you can be sure I wear my snackface on a daily basis.

Except yesterday. Yesterday I was in and out of the house all day, mostly just stopping in for meals. I think my brain/stomach/respect for my mood knows when snacking isn’t going to happen—and makes up for it with grande meals. At least this was the case ayer.

La mañana commenced with cafe.

No, I don’t live in a cool padded room. (Though, I suppose that wouldn’t actually be cool because padded rooms usually translate to psych wards…) My coffee just happens to be sitting pretty atop my new sticky yoga mat.

After laying on my yoga mat, chugging sipping several cups of coffee and Reader-ing (that’s a verb, right?), I broke for breakfast.

Sweet ‘n Salty Oat Bran

In the mix: 1/3 cup oat bran cooked in 1 cup water, 1/2 banana and vanilla extract; topped with 1/2 microwaved honeycrisp (cooked in cinnamon and almond milk and topped with maple syrup), superrrr salty nuts, raisins and a packet of Truvia.

Come closer.

And admire that heaping mound of sweet ‘n salty goodness.

Oooooooh my gah. This OB bowl was so ridiculously satisfying and FILLING. I did have the other 1/2 of the honeycrisp on the side—but this kept me perfectly full ‘til I had lunch at 2. Considering I did no snackage, this is sort of an anomaly for moi.

I have feeling the magic was in the nuts… .

Lunch wasn’t glamorous—but it was good and quick and microwave-friendly. All things muy importante to me right now.

A big bowl of minestrone soup.

Like biiiiiig. This bowl is massive, and my eats almost never surpass the half-full mark. This soup almost reached the top.

Mmmm, I love big bowls of soup. This felt never-ending—which I enjoyed because it was so delicioso.

On the side I had a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and melted vegan American cheese.

If you’ve never combined cream cheese and American, do it. I initially yucked una amiga’s yum when I saw her eat a bagel with these toppings; but upon trying the combo, I fell in love. You will too.

Dinner has more parts that unusual—likely due to the fact that I did less snacking than usual.

Part Uno: Ensalada Enorme

In the mix: mucho baby spinach, roasted red peppers, honey maple turkey, cucumbers, orange bell pepper, steamed broccoli, balsamic-marinated shrooms, FSTG lime tortilla chips.

Lo siento for that condensation but I decided to branch out from my balsamic dressing combos (you know, honey balsamic and spicy mustard balsamic) and try one of those creepy spritz spray dressings. No me gusta. I couldn’t even taste the dressing—despite using 2 servings worth of sprays. So, I ended up dousing la ensalada in balsamic to undo any dressing damage.

Did the trick. As always, this was GOOOOOD. As always, the FSTG lime chips made the salad. The honey maple turkey was pretty clutch, too.

Part Dos: 1/2 whole wheat pita with melted French Onion Laughing Cow.

In case you didn’t know what LC looks like?

Or needed to be updated on my current polish choice?

I let the microwave heat things up for 30 seconds while I busted out the roasted red pepper hummus.

The cheesy pita got real friendly with the Sabra, and before I knew it… Sabra was no more.

Part Tres: Orange Overload

I know I should’ve been done with dinner at this point, but such was not the case. I was still hungry, and I’d already planned on it being a cheetah night. My cheetah lovahs know that once you tell your taste buds they are getting some cheetah action, the craving doesn’t subside ‘til they get their fix.

So, you understand, these were necessary.

Cheeeeeeeeetahs. And, do you see another better n’ fries component in the back?

Carrot fries! There were like 15 because I burnt half the batch. My b.

So, pregunta, which do you prefer—carrot or sweet potato fries?

I’ve no answer to this query; they are both mind-blowingly good in my book.

So, that was my day of snacklessness. Clearly I deprived myself…

Oh, I forgot to mention.

I did have dessert. But that’s a different genre than the snack, sí?

Kashi 7 grain puffs with almond milk, Truvia, cinnamon and spoonful of almond butter.

Because clearly a three-part dinner wasn’t enough…

Ok, mis personas favoritas, I have to run (sorry if this post was rushed!) because la hermana is on her way home for a weekend visit. You know this means I’ll be back on Monday with some E.P.I.C. eats .

65° and sunny—and I don’t feel like I have the swine for the first day in forever! These two more-than-welcome abnormalities have provoked giddy school girl syndrome, which has involved a lot of hyperactivity and a compulsion to spend as much time outside as possible.

I just stopped home for a little blogging, e-mailing, eating and listening to my construction friends sing la cucaracha (I really adore them and their musical taste)—and then I’m heading back out to bask in the sun/run errands. I love days that allow you to combine the two.

Onto Tuesday’s treats…

Cran Bran Vita in a Strawberry Yogurt Hug—a la K.

Look how cran-packed this Vita was!

I attempted breaking the Vita off—spoonful by spoonful—to ensure perfect bite after perfect bite.

But I quickly realized that when you make a yogurt mess, every bite is a perfect bite.

This breakfast was perfect for several reasons. First, I haven’t had flavored yogurt in forever. Don’t get me wrong; Greek is #1 in my dairy-loving corazón. But I almost exclusively (for lack of a less pretentious word) eat plain Greek yogurt—so I think I’ve missed the flavor/texture variation of standard strawberry yogurt. Mmmm.

Next, I haven’t loved Vitas, thus far. When I tried the Corn Muffin Vita, it was too dry. When I tried the Blue Bran, it was better—but not amazing. But—I really liked the Cran Bran! I’m not going to drop the L-bomb yet because I want to become a bit more acclimated in the Vita flavor waters before I start naming favorites. But I loved the abundance of berries! And because I, again, let it thaw at room temperature instead of microwaving, its texture was pretty moist.

I had some cream cheese and jelly toast on le side.

In the spirit of going against the food blogger common consensus, I think that cream cheese & J > PB & J. Lo siento.

Lunch carried on Monday’s tahini kick.

How, you may wonder, did I steam brown rice without access to a kitchen?

I didn’t. He did.

I heated up an Uncle Ben’s 90 second brown rice bag, added frozen peas, carrots and corn—and then dressed with Soy Vay and a big dollop of tahini.

All mixed together.

The Soy Vay-tahini combo was such a delicious flavor blend—and it perfectly coated each and every of Uncle B’s grains. This took approximately 5 minutes to prepare and kept me full for so long. I also feel like it would taste great cold (or re-heated), so—if I ever find myself employed—this would definitely be a go-to Tupperware lunch.

In the interim, it’ll be a go-to microwave-friendly meal.

Later—though I was still really full from the rice—I used my last Nutridel cookie for a snack. I wanted to eat something because I was taking a dinner-time yoga class, and I try to avoid the awkward public hungry tummy grumbles (mouthful!) at all costs.

I had my last flaxseed—mi favorito.

Since this was my last Nutridel experience (unless they open a NYC location), I channeled a little cookie consumption creativity and decided to create a Nutridel-fro-yo sandwich!

I spread a thick layer of vanilla yogurt between the two cookie halves—and then threw it in the freezer for about an hour.

While giving my best Matilda stare to the freezer—in an attempt to speed up the process—I had the remainder of the vanilla yogurt with some Fiber One.

Fast forward an hour and—while the result wasn’t particularly photogenic—it was ice-cream sandwich brilliance.

All of the cookie’s incredible flaxseedy flavor was out in full-force in its frozen form. No me gusta the fact that I can’t re-create this.

‘Twas perfect yogi fuel. But, unfortunately, last night’s class ‘twas not the perfect yogi experience.

If you recall, I’d never tried yoga until last month. During my one-week yoga challenge, I attended five Bikram classes and absolutely loved them. Before committing to a monthly pass at the Bikram studio (which is muy expensivo), I wanted to try out a few other yoga classes—specifically non-heated forms.

Last night I went to Athletic Yoga—and I was quite underwhelmed. Because of the name, I expected a pretty challenging, athletic class. But the class sort of just felt like an hour of stretching; I think it’d be great for athletes who need quality stretch time. But, because my “athleticism” is currently pretty limited due to a hip injury, I got sort of antsy.

The instructor also wasn’t particularly helpful or engaging. I’m pretty sure I did half the positions incorrectly, and I just sort of felt like a lost puppy in yoga land. I still kind of do because now I’m doubting my initial yogi love. Before Bikram, I’d always assumed I was too fast-paced a person to get into yoga. I’m wondering if that assumption was on-point; maybe I only liked Bikram because it had an element of intensity. I’ll definitely give other non-Bikram practices a try because I love the idea of loving yoga—but I’m also not going to force it.

To my yogis—a-hem—any advice?

I had a super quick, super late dinner after class.

Ensalada Enorme

Featuring amazing apple-y tuna salad

In the mix: 3 oz. tuna; 2 dollops greek yogurt; 1 laughing cow garlic & herb wedge; 1/3 chopped gala; slivered almonds; lemon pepper seasoning; krazy salt.

Gah, this mix never fails. It went on top a big bed of mixed greens, avocado, red onion, more apple, red bell pepper and green beans; drizzled with my balsamic-honey dressing.

On the side I had half a red bell pepper filled with the best salsa ever.

And more spicy string beans—this time topped with melted mozzarella, garlic powder and sriracha.

And—because my swine started to subside last night—I treated myself to some No Pudge love and a grande spoonful of almond butter. I’ve been going (comparatively) easy on the nut butters because I don’t like how they feel on my throat when I’m sick. So, I figured a dollop of AB was the most self-indulgent effective way to determine if my illness had retreated.

My throat didn’t mind it at all. But perhaps I’ll re-test my almond butter indicator tonight, for accuracy purposes.

Hope you all enjoy Glee your Wednesday nights!

-Sarah

Construction song of the day: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”.

Again, this lulled any animosity I’d usually feel toward an unsolicited early morning alarm because (1) that song innately sends out feel-good vibes and (2) it now reminds me of the Glee version.

And, Glee. Oh, Glee. How I adore thee.

This incited 2 hours of Glee sing-a-long listening.

Which is fine because Fridays simply aren’t productivity friendly.

But let’s pick up where we left off yesterday.

After Thursday’s Miley wake-up call, I decided that—despite being sick—I couldn’t listen to a day’s worth of deafening demolition. I needed to get out of la casa.

And I knew exactly where I wanted to be.

All I wanted to do was curl up on a comfy cafe couch.

And sip a vanilla chai latte.

And blog amid the serene sounds of coffee machines and hippie chatter.

And get lost in this.

My favorite birthday present.

Or maybe this.

My favorite graduation present.

And possibly venture down the street for some of this.

(I still haven’t tried the pumpkin cupcake!)

However, I could not have my way

with this envisioned comfy cafe day.

Due to torrential downpour,

the 10-block walk lost its allure.

And my pleasant getaway seemed like more

of an illness-worsening chore.

And so I settled on a day of noisy house arrest.

And a lot of cafe con leche.

This gets to my title. I do know (or at least I’ve frequently heard) that you’re supposed to avoid dairy when you’re sick. However, I’m not a normal sick person. As I’ve explained, I don’t ever lose my appetite when I’m ill. And I convince myself that really hot and really cold foods make me feel better.

And I often crave dairy. Similar to my hot and cold theory, I hypothesize that smooth dairy products like yogurt and milk make me better. I’m pretty sure this all stems from the fact that I just really like how my throat feels when I consume these hot/cold/dairy items.

Oh well, I ran with it.

Mostly because I’d prepared my breakfast the night before—and it packed a whole lot of smooth dairy. Mmmmm.

Overnight Oats! This is one of those blogland breakfasts that always makes me drool but, for some reason, I’ve never tried.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Overnight Oats

Soaked overnight: 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk and 1/2 cup greek yogurt. Added in la mañana: bottle of cinnamon, handful of raisins and drizzle of maple syrup.

(I also can’t hear the word drizzle anymore without thinking of the best baby name ever.)

SO HEAD OVER HEELS FOR THIS BREAKFAST.

It was so thick, creamy, chewy, vanilla-y and perfectly microwave-less!

Lunch was a series of snacks—the first of which continued to feed my sickly dairy craving.

And also helped make a dent in my never-ending VitaTops stash.

I let a BlueBran VitaTop thaw for 45 minutes.

And then I combined it with a big bowl of vanilla yogurt.

Made a delightful mess of it all.

And enjoyed with an almond butter spoon.

One thing I found I don’t enjoy when I’m sick is nut butter because it sort of stuck to my throat. No bueno.

This was remedied by stirring the AB into the mix because it just added some always-welcome flavor to the creamy medley.

The BlueBran Vita was good—again, not great. It was certainly less dry than the Corn Vita—but I think this may have been due to the fact that I didn’t microwave it.

Word on the blog streets is that the chocolate ones are ze best so, even though I’m not a chocolate gal, I’m excited to try those out.

The next segment of lunch was finally normal sick food.

Instant Miso Soup.

Again, another food discovery that is going to be my salvation from starvation during Microwave Madness Month.

You simply mix a couple packets of miso paste, seaweed and tofu (looks gross, I know) with hot water…

And voila! Miso soup!

I need to stock up.

The miso love got me out of dairy land and triggered a hot craving.

I put all the usual suspect into heavy rotation.

As in I have no idea how many cups of tea I consumed yesterday. I think one day I’ll take pictures of every cup of tea I drink just to get a ballpark figure. Should be comical.

Hot craving subsided, and carb craving arose.

As was the case on Tuesday, I was quarantined to my room. So again, chip hoarding commenced.

And concluded…

I need to find the little bags of FSTG chips that Kaytee reviewed because I know no self-control with these things.

My lack of self-control apparently applies to vitamins, too… Gummy vitamins, anyway. Yesterday’s bedroom snacking also involved finishing my stash of calcium gummies. I need to remind myself that these are not candy!!!

Guess I’m going to have super strong bones…

Before I present dinner, I have to apologize for being a dinner repeater! I know I promised I’d do my best not to bore you all with my kitchen-less meals—which I suppose entails switching things up—but all I wanted was that habanero lime salsa I discovered Wednesday night. So, I created my dinner around it!

The staple of my dinner does not look appetizing, but I assure you it was.

In the mix: 4 oz. diced chicken, 2 tbsp. plain Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp. roasted red pepper hummus, 2 tbsp. Wild Oats Habanero Lime salsa, finely chopped celery, finally chopped onion, sprinkle of taco seasoning and red pepper flakes.

Caliente! Pero delicioso!

Ensalada Mexicana 

In the bigger mix: lots of baby spinach and mixed greens; roasted red peppers; celery; red onion; corn; hard-boiled egg-whites (filled with más habanero lime salsa); topped with the spicy chicken salad.

Inspired by Meg’s tabasco pools. I loved this!

But not more than this!

  I enthusiastically urge you to try the yogurt-hummus-spicy salsa mix. I can’t even explain how incredible the flavor was. With a roasted red pepper cherry on top .

On the side I utilized another fridge item I’d prepared pre-kitchen demolition.

And successfully (unlike attempt numero uno) made carrot fries.

I’m anticipating an addiction.

Perhaps because they are so incredible. Perhaps because I like anything I can dip in honey mustard.

I won’t be carrot peeling without a kitchen—but I’m thinking I can chop up baby carrots for some baby carrot fries!

Since I was clearly trying to overdose on spicy salsa, I filled another green bell pepper with my newest spicy obsession (sorry, Sriracha).

This time sans hummus happy trail.

And—just because I think my unstoppable appetite is sort of hilarious—here is what was left of my salsa jar literally 24 hours after I opened it.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so proud of this?

After dinner, I realized I hadn’t eaten any fruit so I had a nectarine.

Which was meh.

Then, once I felt I’d gotten my daily nutrients, I got to the good stuff.

Kettle corn—Sriracha added halfway through.

Because I also think spiciness helps remedy illness .

And now, the weekend begins!

But before I bid you adieu, I want to say feliz cumpleanos to my dear friend and #1 reader, Ms. Erica Finkelbutt!

We’ve hiked our way through Israel’s terrain

And then went on to dance our way through Spain

We’ve fallen in love with ParisAnd the magic of a French kiss

Let’s hope tonight doesn’t end like this…

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY<3

I’m off to continue DayQuil chugging in hopes of being all better for mi amiga’s birthday festivities. I hope you all have fun weekend plans!

-Sarah

This morning I awoke to lots of banging. (I don’t have to say it, do I?)

I was initially pretty choleric—and bitter towards the construction workers making all the noise—because it was 7 a.m., and I’d slept for approximately 4 hours.

Insomnia is a pretty logical byproduct of taking unmeasured swigs of this all day.Woops.

My bitterness subsided once I realized that, in the midst of demolishing my kitchen and waking me from my beauty sleep, the construction workers were blasting Miley and gleefully singing along. Needless to say, I have a newfound respect for—and desire to be friends with—my new housemates.

But let’s rewind to Wednesday morning’s DayQuil chugging.

After realizing I was pretty sick, I decided to have a breakfast (of sorts) in bed, alongside my orange shots.

Cafe con leche de almendras

And a Clif Z-bar—pictured on my stomach, not a black backdrop.

I almost never eat bars, but I was so lazy yesterday morning. And all I wanted to do was stay in bed and blog-read. And so I did.

For two hours.

The only thing to pry me from the warmth of my comforter and the food porn of your blogs was the doorbell.

SO worth getting out of bed.

An enormously generous package from the Newman’s Own Organics Fairy, a.k.a. Sally. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to dig into ze goods—particularly the pretzels, dried fruit and Fig Newman’s.

I was oddly tempted to empty the contents onto my floor and bask in a bed of Newman’s Own goodies for a Hug-a-Carb photo shoot. I didn’t, but the temptation is still sort of lingering…

Organically excited, I decided to make my sickly self a real breakfast. (My appetite is rarely affected when I get sick. I feel like I’m the only person whose ability to eat normally is never inhibited by illness. Coughing, sneezing, chills and a fever? Psssh. I cannot be tamed. How’s your appetite when you get sick?)

I decided to make something super simple that I’ve been wanting to try since seeing it on Lindsey’s blog.

Breakfast sushi!!

3/4 pear & almond butter rolled in a whole wheat wrap; doused in cinnamon.

This was delicious, and I definitely anticipate a few encores throughout Microwave Madness Month. Why is finger food infinitely more enjoyable than utensil-mandated food?

A little later, back in bed, I enjoyed another utensil-free food: my last honey crisp!

Yea, I told you there would be a downgrade in food presentation. Gone are the days of photogenic cinnamon-sprinkled and nut butter-drizzled slices, made possible by kitchen-y bliss. Tear.

Lunch was my D.I.Y. Egg Salad Sandwich, with a slight twist.

On top of the mayo layer, I added a little Dijon mustard.

Egg whites galore.

I didn’t think it was possible to elevate the egg-whitey excellence of this sandwich—but the Dijon addition was brilliant.

Another anticipated encore.

Remember when I grilled five zucchinis, but warned you they wouldn’t last long? By yesterday evening, that once-full-to-the-brim container looked like this.

While coming up with a dinner plan, I polished off my dear verde cheetahs.

Just as I was suffering a bout of dinner-block, Kev Thug delivered 5 glorious containers of greens!

I told him I was worried I wouldn’t get enough veggie-action throughout this kitchen-less month since I eat so many salads, and chopping/washing lettuce is not so doable. So, being the nutritionally-considerate cutie that he is, he came through with enough pre-packaged salad to tide me over for the next week. Bueno!

He also bought a ton of pre-cooked chicken—which I gladly utilized as my protein source for a hangry dinner ensalada.

I rolled several ounces of diced chicken in a bowl of Sabra’s Greek Olive hummus, and then I broiled the pieces (in the toaster oven, of course) for about 7 minutes.

I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed chicken so much. It was so flavorful. I ate about half the amount I prepared before throwing it onto my salad—simply because I couldn’t stop myself!

The remainders played in an integral role in an enormous Greek ensalada.

In the mix: approx. 39339248 fist-fulls of mixed greens, celery, green bell pepper, roasted red peppers, red onion, oil-cured olives, feta and the best chicken ever.

Drizzled with my new favorite balsamic-alternative:

Mmmmm.

The superstar bites included hummus chicken, olives and feta. So gratuitously Greek .

On the side, I had a green bell pepper, halved and filled with deliciousness.

By deliciousness, I mean my new favorite salsa:

This was stunningly spicy and flawlessly flavorful.

Topped off with a hummus happy trail!

Again, another approved (and encouraged) staple for kitchen-free month!

Dessert was really out of the ordinary for me. A.K.A. it wasn’t popcorn.

Another weird thing about the way I respond to sickness: I convince myself that really hot and really cold foods/drinks make me feel better. This usually means a lot of tea-chugging and uncharacteristically frequent ice cream consumption.

Last night, I got my hot and cold in during dessert.

Black and white cookie? I wish No.

No Pudge Brownie with vanilla fro-yo!

As I’ve said, I’m not a chocolate person. No Pudge brownies are the only ones I really enjoy. I think this is because I undercook them (so they are sort of pudding-ish) and prepare them with plain Greek yogurt (opposed to the vanilla yogurt called for in the directions). You have to use about double the suggested 1 tbsp. of yogurt (for the single serving preparation) since Greek yogurt is so much thicker—but I love it because the brownies come out really tangy and creamy. Maybe a devout brownie-lover wouldn’t like my method—but this is the only way I like my brownies!

The hot and cold combo was on-point, and, as usual, I convinced myself that it made me feel better.

This remedy didn’t prevail to sideline today’s sickly symptoms. So, I’m off to continue my green tea treatment.

Hope you’re all warm and toasty on this torrential Thursday!

-Sarah

(I also hope I’m not the only “adult” who automatically associates “7 Things” with Miley.)

Something I do hate? Windows Live Writer.

Once again, that female pup of a publishing program decided that she hated both me and my eats yesterday. So, I apologize for the hump day hiatus.

I also apologize if this post seems rushed, but I am ridiculously busy for once in my unemployed life. This is a good thing, and I should have a few life updates to share within the next few weeks.

(Food bloggers are all about the teasers lately, aren’t they?)

So, yesterday, in between writing and re-writing posts, cursing Windows Live Writer and, you know, living life, I managed to do a bit of eating. Shocking, I know.

Despite the fact that it was, perhaps, the windiest day ever in NYC, I started my day with iced coffee. Plus a plum to eat while pondering breakfast possibilities.

Because I had some brown rice left over from my veggie burgers, I decided to make brown rice breakfast pudding. I’ve read several articles mentioning that this is one of celeb chef Bethenny Frankel’s go-to breakfasts—and I’ve been meaning to try it.

I’ve never been big on rice pudding, but something about this breakfast sounded really good to me. And it was.

Bethenny simply cooks 1/2 cup brown rice with 1/4 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk), maple syrup, cinnamon, raisins and almonds for 5 minutes. I doubled the recipe because I somehow suspected that 1/2 cup of rice wasn’t going to be enough for breakfast.

 NEW FAVORITE BREAKFAST. Cinnamon vanilla almond-y brown rice, plumped-up raisins, extra almond crunch and a hint of maple syrup. What’s not to adore? This was incredibly easy to make—and a serious contender for one of my best DPAABs.

The only thing is, it didn’t keep me full for long. Even though I doubled Bethenny’s recipe, I was hungry 2 hours later.

At which point I opted for mas cinnamon and raisins.

I had one of Kim’s Light cinnamon bagels—half with cream cheese and half with Smart Balance. Because I think it’s mildly blasphemous to enjoy a cinnamon bagel sans raisins, I threw some on top.

Me gusta. Kim’s wheat bagel is still the front runner—but this one gets props for packing A LOT of cinnamon flavor. This always warrants bonus point in my book.

Lunch was an egg-white omelet with spinach, roasted red peppers and cream cheese. Doused in sriracha, of course.

To my fellow cream cheese lovers, if you have not yet introduced our dearly beloved spread to your omelets—PLEASE DO. It’s pretty life changing.

On le side I had a corn Vitatop.

The very generous Vitalicious people sent me too-many-to-count Vitatops, and this was my very first. I LOVE corn muffins, and this was certainly no substitute for one. However, for a 100-calorie muffin top, it definitely nailed the “corn muffin” flavor. Maybe it’s just because I’ve never had a Vitatop before, but I wasn’t thrilled with the texture. It was sort of dry and a bit grainy. If you’ve tried Vitatops, have you found this? I’ll write up a full review once I put more of a dent in the 293293828472842384 muffin tops currently residing in my freezer.

Dinner, Part I: a very disproportionate plate of green cheetahs and carrot fries.

Eight carrot fries, to be exact.

I may or may not have gotten lost in a riveting phone conversion and baked the carrots for an hour. This resulted in approximately 54 casualties. Que triste.

Dinner Part II: this.

Not really. That’s just a beautiful basil leaf, straight from el garden de Kev Thug.

Dinner Part II was actually…

pizza!

Who am I? I’m really not a liar; I legitimately do not like NYC pizza. But these pita pizzas? Whole ‘nother story.

This one was actually a whole wheat wrap (which I liked better than the pita!) with 1/2 cup vodka sauce, 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella and fresh basil.

Buenisimo.

Non-popcorn dessert was vanillia fro-yo & almond butter.

Sorry for the meltiness, but I forgot to take a pic til I was halfway through ze bowl. Slash I don’t have the self-control to stare at fro-yo + AB through a lens before digging in…

Ok, onto el premio.

Gracias to the lovely Whitney for passing this along to me.

7 things you didn’t know about me?

1. I suffer from chronic insomnia. This is self-diagnosed, but I’m fairly certain that WebMD wrote their insomnia description with yours truly in mind.
2. Despite the fact that I’m 22 years old, I have seen (and loved) all three High School Musical movies. I know all the songs. And some of the dances.
3. Equally embarrassing, I have recently developed an irrepressible, incredibly inappropriate crush on Justin Bieber.
4. Despite those last two facts, I assure you I’m not a child predator.
5. The first CD I ever owned was Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill. I think it’s hysterical that, at age 10, I used to belt out Alansis’ most eloquent lyrics (i.e. “would she go down on you in a theatre?”) without any idea of their meaning.
6. I got kicked out of camp when I was 13 for sneaking to a boy’s bunk. Woops. The following summer, the camp tried to send me home three times, but Kev Thug refused to pick me up. Reason #1283232 he’s a thug.
7. I was ranked 7th in my high school class. On the “Top 10” page of the yearbook, where my fellow overachievers chose Emerson and Thoreau quotes to appear under their mugshots, I went with the always insightful “Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7, 8, 9.”

And, I’m pulling a Jenny and passing this award onto everyone because I’m seriously obsessed [not in a Swimfan way] with all of you.

T.G.I.T.,

Sarah

In more recent cupcake news, remember when I told you about my favorite cupcake bakery, Little Cupcake?

Well, I just passed by and saw:

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES & PUMPKIN LATTES! I cannot wait to try both; the black & white cake and turtle cappuccinos aren’t sounding so bad, either. I would bet money that Little Cupcake’s pumpkin latte is better than Starbucks—simply because everything this place makes is To Die For. Yes, the capitalization was necessary.

Plus, it’s a local business—down the block from two franchise cafes, one being the green straw-laden monopoly—and I’m all about spreading the local love.

Ok, I’ll stop professing my love for Little Cupcake because it’s starting to sound like I have an endorsement deal. In light of the new FTC blogging disclosure guidelines, I guess I should assure you that I don’t. I’m just an extraordinarily excitable cupcake enthusiast.

What do you think of the new FTC guidelines? Perhaps it’s because I studied journalism, but I think they’re a move in the right direction. The principles of journalism are deeply tied to the goal of transparency. Now, as blogging moves more and more into the realm of journalism, I think it’s important that this community be held to a similar code of ethics. Moreover, I think it’s an honor that the FTC takes our voices and opinions seriously enough to hold us accountable.

I know that journalism spiel seems a little out of place from the girl who drops TWSS bombs wherever she can fit ‘em in, but I think these guidelines will have a significant impact on the role of blogging. In fact, they may be yet another testament to the print-to-web overhaul with which the publishing industry is grappling.

I’m really curious to hear what you all have to say about the guidelines—so, por favor, speak up!

Sidenote: Does anyone know what song the title of this post is from? Well, the original lyrics reference the FCC, not the FTC, but whatevs.

Onto Monday’s eats.

I know it’s only October, and I know last week I was chugging a lot of cold weather Haterade, but yesterday’s breakfast was Christmas-tacular. Not to skip over my beloved days of Hallow and Thanks, but Monday morning bore merriment. I’ve been known to bust out my N’SYNC holiday cd months in advance—so a wintery bowl of oats wasn’t really out of character.

Sugar Plum Fairy Oats

In the mix: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water, cinnamon and 1 tbsp. maple syrup; topped with one massive plum, cinnamon & sugar.

Mmmmmmm-azing. Yesterday my fairy dust came in the form of pure cane sugar. I don’t think I’ve brought this up before, but I usually rely on Splenda for my sweetener. This is a habit I’ve been meaning to kick for a while—but the whole not sweetening my coffee thing never seems like a good idea at the time. Thus the “I’ll start tomorrow” cycle began.

I’m not sure what I think or believe about the health drawbacks of Splenda because I haven’t dug too deep research-wise; but I do believe that nothing artificial should be consumed in the excessive manner I abuse those yellow packets. I do want to learn more about the health benefits of different sugar alternatives, like Stevia, but I’ve often considered just switching to plain old sugar.

I want to write a more in-depth post on this topic once I do a bit more research, but, for now, I’d love to know where you stand on the sugar vs. stevia vs. splenda spectrum. Why do you stand by your sweetener of choice?

Alongside my Nutcracker oats, I had a honey crisp with a spoonful of almond butter.

Honey crisps + AB = made for each other.

I dug into my veggie burgers for lunch.

I didn’t purposely make that egocentric “S;” it just happened…

On an Arnold’s rye sandwich thin: homemade rice & bean veggie burger, fresh baby spinach, laughing cow and ketchup.

I’m liking these veggie burgers even more than when I first tried them! (1) The soy sauce + rice in burger form continues to blow my mind. (2) I like that homemade burgers are bigger than the frozen kinds; I like the size of Dr. Praeger’s, but I think Boca’s are pretty wimpy. (3) These are really savory and went so, so wonderfully with the light creaminess of the LC.

On ze side was a big bowl of BIG grapes.

Seriously, these grapes are very large and in charge. Is it weird that I like them better that way?

Moving along… While contemplating dinner options, I broke into my FSTG stash and tried the Yellow Corn flavor.

These are a much more standard tortilla chip than the Multigrain or The Works flavors—but very good. Think gourmet Tostito. Expect a full review once I get through all the goods.

I busted out the Sabra, some leftover black beans and green pepper Tabasco to create my perfect nacho.

Yes, I constructed each chip, one by one, to ensure accurate bean:hummus:hot sauce ratios. I am willing to put in work for flavor perfección.

I’ve been craving a Greek salad lately—which is weird because I’m not generally crazy about Greek salads. But I decided to make a Greek chicken salad to go on top of a standard Greek ensalada.

In the mix: 3 oz. cooked chicken, 3/4 cup chopped cucumber, 4 quartered cherry tomatoes, handful oil-cured black olives, 3 tbsp. plain greek yogurt, 3 tbsp. crumbled feta cheese, lemon pepper seasoning and krazy salt.

I dressed the salad with this little gem I found hiding in my pantry:

Greek chicken salad went atop 3 cups baby spinach, cucumber, onion and mas feta.

The dressing was good, but I’m not sure it was really necessary because the chicken salad had so much flavor.

After eating this, I’m pretty sure chicken salad was meant to be made with olives and feta. Just saying…

After—without exaggeration—eating popcorn every night for an entire week, I am declaring this week no popcorn week. This is probably a poor decision because popcorn is a pretty healthy dessert option amid the sea of baked goods and ice cream that linger around mi casa. However, I want to experiment with other dessert options—and make sure I’m not actually addicted to popcorn.

Last night’s non-popcorn dessert was actually an upgrade from popcorn, health-wise. I saw this on Em’s blog yesterday and immediately wanted to try it.

A big bowl of grapes doused in applesauce. (Can you tell how massive those grapes are??) This was SO GOOD! And surprisingly filling. I am liking no popcorn week so far .

Any non-popcorn dessert suggestions?

Hope everyone’s Tuesdays are treating them well!

-Sarah

While I’m still not ready to reinstitute coffee art, I turned to several cups of rudimentary, expressionless coffee for my replacement warmth fix.

I love holding hot mugs when I’m cold. I also have a weird habit of holding them against my face. I can’t remember who said this the other day, but thank you for making me feel like less of a freak for enjoying some warm ceramic to the cheek.

Criteria for breakfast: (a) delicioso, (b) efficient hypothermia alleviant and (c) apple-friendly (since I’m currently rolling in the galas).

Apple & Cinnamon Oat Bran

In the mix: 1/2 cup oat bran cooked with 1 cup water, thinly sliced banana & cinnamon; whole gala apple chopped and microwaved for 90 seconds in almond milk & cinnamon; topped with whipped cream.

I liked the addition of the banana to the oat bran, and I loved how apple-y my bran was with a whole apple! (I usually use half.) Oh, and the whipped cream was okay, too…

When I got snacky, I switched to my second favorite breed of manzana: el honey crisp.

After playing with red hues for a bit, I did slice and consume it with a spoonful of almond buttah.

I was really tempted to dive into one of my Barney Butter jars—but I still have about 3/4 left in my MaraNatha container. I’m weirdly anal about opening a new item when I’ve not yet finished my last (not that all ABs are created equal!). In the event that I break some boundaries, do nut butters go bad once opened? I’m not sure I’ve ever granted a nut butter a long enough lifespan to go bad… so I don’t think this should be a problem.

I think I drank 15 cups of tea yesterday. This is another thing I do when the weather takes it wintery plunge: OD on tea. During the summer, I probably consume—without exaggeration—20 cups of water a day. During the winter, this dwindles to ~2 cups; the other 18 get replaced with water’s warm and more flavorful offspring.

I love green tea, and this vanilla flavored one on the left is amazing. I switched it up with a cup or two of that raspberry jam on the right, but it wasn’t very good. I’m not big on fruity teas.

When lunchtime rolled around, I’d already decided on my star ingredient.

Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade.

I made this on Wednesday during my salad dinner prep, using this recipe.

It was really simple, and essentially just involved boiling the sun-dried tomatoes and throwing the ingredients into the blender.

The result was everything I’d imagined it to be: very sun-dried tomato-y and kalamata-y. Hate to repeat myself, but these are two of my absolute favorite things to eat. And they are very agreeable flavor companions.

As my stomach’s brain started devising a tapenade-driven plan of attack, I polished off the last of my FSTG The Works chips.

The perfect grainy compliment to my salty sun-dried tomato concoction.

There wasn’t much left in the bag, but that aluminum emptiness is always a sad sight.

During lunch brainstorming, a light bulb went off and I remembered the meal that first brought sun-dried tomato tapenade into my life.

It was one layer of the best sandwich I’ve ever tasted from Jettie’s in D.C. Jettie’s is a really cute and unfailingly delicious little sandwich shop in D.C..

I reasoned that I shouldn’t deprive myself of the best sandwich I’ve ever tasted just because I relocated to a Jettie-less city and decided lunch would be a D.I.Y. Hummock Pond sandwich.

Hm, I’ve pulled the D.I.Y. card two days, two lunches and two sandwiches in a row. What gives? My name is Sarah, and I am a sandwich plagiarist. I do love getting creative and making up my own flavorful concoctions—but sometimes I feel like the best things have already been created.

I sort of feel the same way about life musings. Hasn’t it all been said before? There are no Voltaires or Thoreaus “of today;” we simply do our best to regurgitate what’s already been said in a wittier, pithier, more modern tone. Maybe that’s just me. Maybe I’m just a sandwich plagiarist and a thought plagiarist traipsing around under the guise of an innocent 22-year-old New Yorker. [Insert evil laugh.]

Anyway, here’s my copycat D.I.Y Hummock Pond sandwich, which—in the name of being a proper plagiarist—I will rename:

Sarah’s 7-Layer Sandwich

Insert the following seven layers between two slices of toasted whole wheat bread.

Layer 1: Slice of Jarlsberg swiss cheese (best swiss EVER!)

Layer 2: Grilled, balsamic-marinated baby bella mushrooms

Layer 4: Roased red peppers, warmed in your grill pan

Layer 5: Black bean salsa

Jettie’s sandwich uses black bean & corn salsa—which I’d strongly suggest using. I only had regular salsa and cooked black beans on hand, so I mixed 2 tbsp. of each together for a little makeshift bean salsa.

Layer 6: Sun-dried tomato tapenade!!! Be generous; this layer makes the sandwich.

Layer 7: Another slice of jarlsberg, for a necessary abundance of melty cheese.

The result:

You didn’t think that was the money shot, did you?

Perfectly packed with seven delectable layers.

The lighting was weird so here’s  a picture with the flash.

OH MY GOD. Dear Jettie’s, I love you. Like, seriously, if I could marry the owner of Jettie’s, or Jim Halpert, I would be the happiest girl en el mundo!

If you have any semblance of love and respect for your tummies and taste buds, you will construct this beauty in the very near future…

Just as I was getting snacky, my Kashi sample finally came!

I’m not much of a cereal eater. But when I do enjoy a bowl, I rarely eat it with milk (with the exception of Golden Grahams, Rice Krispies and Corn Pops—because all of those taste magnificent soggy). I opted for a greek yogurt mess.

I loved Honey Sunshine! It sort of tasted like a honey-fied, healthified version of Cap’n Crunch!

When it came time for dinner, though it was World Vegetarian Day, I felt like I’d lagged in the protein department. So I made a big tuna salad mix to have on a bed of greens.

In the mix: 3 oz. tuna, two heaping dollops of plain greek yogurt, 1/3 gala chopped, dried cherries, slivered almonds, very quick honey drizzle and krazy salt.

I had a few spoonfuls before plopping it onto my salad because it was SO good. I sort of just wanted to eat it out of the bowl, but that would’ve made my salad entirely undesirable.

My salad base was 3 cups fresh spinach, English cucumber slices, sweet onion, celery and cherry tomatoes.

With the star in the center of it all.

I rarely use bottled dressing, but for some reason, my balsamic-honey combo didn’t sound good. I thought Cranberry Balsamic would go really well with the sweet tuna salad.

Correcto!

Perfect bite of the night goes to a cucumber slice harboring onion, cherry tomato and an all-inclusive dried cherry, apple and almond tuna dollop.

Mandatory dessert was a few bowls of popcorn, which I seasoned with garlic and chili powder. 

It was really good—especially the chili powder.

But, a few handfuls in, I needed my sriracha. I’m a creature of habit. And hot sauce.

Ok, so I wanted to pass along that bloggie award today, but, again, I’ve managed to write a book of post. Any advice on keeping posts shorter? I’m all about constructive criticism, so have at me .

I’m going to leave you with this EVIL picture that my cousin just texted me. He’s visiting my grandparents in Florida and being fed the best food by the world’s greatest cook, a.k.a. Nanny. When we visit, she puts out a wine & cheese, veggie & dip galore for lunch. I was considering going down with him this weekend—but decided to stay in NYC. Here’s to regret.

I’m missing out on: my adorable Nanny & Poppy, and what looks to be lots of fresh fruits, dippable veggies, hummus, guac, salsa, crab dip, FSTG, and Jarlsberg(!) among other cheeses. And that’s just what I spy from this iPhone pic.

I hope all of you are eating well like my Floridian familia and have fun weekend plans!

-Sarah