Oh, that’s not how the saying goes? Well, that’s definitely how it went this weekend.

If you’ve not heard, the skies that hover above NYC—the same ones that just a day before had begun to resemble the likes of springtime—decided to open up wide and bestow a violent deluge upon its city.

Blackouts (not the recreational sort), floods and fallen trees, oh my.

Fear not, mis foodies. I’m safe. Such would be the prone outcome of spending the entire weekend en mi casa.

As soon as I realized that the outside mundo meant monsoons and the possibility of death by fallen willow trees (bet you didn’t know we had those in Brooklyn…), I made the executive decision to have a homebody fin de semana.

I did not make the executive decision to go on a baking spree. That just, uh, happened. (Likely, this was my subconscious attempt to lure social interaction into the comforts of mi casa. It worked, in case you were wondering. Slash I wanted to confirm that I did not eat all of the following comida on my own .)

It started off innocently enough with some non-baking.

As soon as I saw this recipe on Jessica’s site, I knew I needed to make it.

Chocolate banana bites? Bueno. It was the peanut butter topping that wooed me.

And rather quickly so.

I read her post at 6 p.m. on Friday. By 6:28 p.m., I’d decided to embrace my inner PB floozy and concoct those little bites of perfection. (I don’t have a freaky photographic memory [though I was infinitely envious of Cam Jansen during my childhood]. I know the exact time because I tweeted Jessica for some PB advice.)

Dark chocolate, peanut butter, banana bliss.

I’d highly recommend my peanut butter topping of choice: White Chocolate Wonderful. If you’ve ever tasted White Chocolate Wonderful, you know it tastes exactly like the inside of a Reese’s. Therein, you understand exactly why it took this little frozen bite to magically delicious heights.

For the full recipe—not to mention far more photogenic documentation of the chocolate banana bites—check out Jessica’s post. (Warning: If you don’t want to go on a baking spree like me, don’t peruse her recipe page.)

Post-banana biteage, I decided to take on baking (or, uh, sweets) project numero dos.

This came in the form of blondies. Because my propensity for chocolate is a very recent development in mi vida, I’ve always turned to blondies as my brownies substitute.

These days, I’m an equal opportunity employer. But I still have to play a little favoritism with mis blondies. After all, they saved me from being that kid who didn’t like dessert.

Dried Cherry Blondies

Adapted from How to Cook Everything

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. fine ground sea salt
• 1 cup dried bing cherries

Directions:

• Spray a 9×13 pan with baking spray, and pre-heat oven to 325°F.
• Melt butter and mix with brown sugar until smooth.
• Whisk in eggs and vanilla.
• Mix in flour and salt. Fold in dried cherries (or any other nut, dried fruit or chocolate additions).
• Pour into pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Or, if you like a gooey center, doesn’t come out clean ).
• Let cool before cutting.

The nuttiness of the whole wheat flour and the sweet caramel flavor of the brown sugar combined with the tart chewiness of the bing cherries made it imposible to stop at one.

And because bing cherries are so plump and sticky, there were a few fortunate blondie squares that played host to cherry clumps. And a few fortunate foodies who got to bite into those wondrous clumps .

White Chocolate Wonderful may have made an encore appearance as frosting for a few of these—which, needless to say, worked brilliantly.

You’d think banana biteage and bing-filled blondies would’ve effectively sent me into a sugar coma. But you’d be wrong.

El baking continued.

Proyecto numero tres hailed, again, from the mind/sweet tooth of Jessica.

Seriously, I strongly advise against browsing her recipes unless you have a desire to (a) drool on your keyboard and then practice a masochistic amount of self-restraint in your decision to not commence baking or (b) drool on your keyboard and surrender to a baking bender.

Either way, mind your keyboard.

After mucho recipe perusal/droolage, I adapted her recipe for cream cheese chocolate chip cookies.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried bing cherries, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Mix butter, sugar, eggs and cream cheese together. Add vanilla and mix. Stir in flour and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and dried cherries.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges are golden brown.

I basically kept the recipe the same, but tweaked the flour, cream cheese and sugar amounts to see if I could get a sweeter, more cream-cheesy cookie. (Many reviews I’d read of this recipe—including Jessica’s—said the cookie wasn’t quite sweet enough. And I, personally, adore all things cream queso so I knew I wanted to amp up its prominence.)

First things first—the batter was heavenly. It tasted like icing—which made it difficult to not eat spoonful after spoonful.

The cookies—despite the long list of naughty ingredients that went into them—were actually very light tasting. And their consistency was cake-like. (This, I think, was a result of my flour/sugar/cream cheese tweaking.)

They benefited greatly from a little icing action. I may have enlisted the leftover batter for icing purposes.

Oh, you’re not supposed to eat raw eggs? Oops.

And, again, White Chocolate Wonderful icing worked brilliantly.

You’d think my productivity in the kitchen—which, by the way, is the phrasing I’m using to describe this baking binge—would have extended into the realm of creating, um, more diabetic-friendly eats (read: real food). But, again, you’d be wrong.

While I had an uncanny motivation to wear my Pillsbury dough boy hat en la cocina all weekend long, I had no desire or energy to concoct any real food.

I blame the monsoon. You see, I knew that many New Yorkers were experiencing power outages—thus being forced to order in all of their meals. So, being the empathic chica that I am, despite having full power, I wanted to share the powerless sorrows of my fellow New Yorkers.

Yes, that must have been it.

I commiserated with a Mediterranean feast from First Oasis, where you’ve seen me eat before.

The feast commenced with the vegetarian combination platter.

Hummus

Babaganouj

With a pile of fluffy pita for dippage

Stuffed grape leaves and falafel

Ensalada

Also on the appetizer front…

Spinach Pie: Fresh spinach, onion, garlic, feta cheese, herbs, walnuts, spices, and olive oil baked in filo dough

Entrees included:

Chicken and lamb kebabs (none of this guy for me, though)

With rice and steamed veggies

And my personal favorite…

Mussakka: Fried eggplant, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, potatoes baked in tomato sauce w/ mozzarella cheese served w/ house rice.

AMAZING.

Sometimes you just need a night off from kitchen duties.

Sometimes you need two.

Ethnic feast numero dos, brought to you by Chopstix, included chicken dumplings, chicken and Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce and chow fun.

Takeout overload.

Come Sunday morning, I was ready to part ways with all things baked and taken-out. Yep, that sugar (slash general food abundance) coma finally hit me, and all I wanted was a big, comforting bowl of oats.

Enter Chai Latte Oats. This is a recipe I’ve been dreaming up ever since I first became enthralled by the art of concOATions (you know, oat concoctions).

Chai lattes have a special place in my heart because they were my cafe drink of choice before I became a coffee person.

Yes, the coffee monster that stands before you today once detested anything that hailed from or mimicked the flavor of coffee beans. College quickly changed that. But prior to acquiring coffee-friendly taste buds—courtesy of many all-nighters of coffee chugging—I always ordered a vanilla chai latte when I found myself in a “I’m the only one not drinking coffee” social situation.

But enough of my coffee and chai saga, I present to you…

Chai Latte Oats

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup oat bran (I used Hodgson Mill, my current favorite)
• 1/2 cup egg whites, whisked
• 1 and 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt, divided
• 1 bag Tazo Organic Chai tea
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
• container cinnamon

Directions:

• Bring almond milk and 1/4 tsp. sea salt to a slow boil in a saucepan and add teabag. Let simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring to make sure a milk “skin” doesn’t form.
• Add the oats, oat bran, vanilla and honey and cook on medium low heat for about 8 minutes—or until your desired consistency is almost reached.
• Turn heat very low and slowly add whisked egg whites. Whisk in and cook on low for at least 5 minutes. When your desired consistency is reached, stir in flaxseeds.
• Transfer to bowl. Douse in cinnamon. Sprinkle with remaining sea salt. And add a drizzle more of honey, agave or another sweetener, if you want a super sweet chai bowl.

I know that seems like a ton of work for a bowl of oatmeal, but I promise you, it’s worth it.

The result? The creamiest, most flavor-packed bowl of oats ever.

The creaminess that surrounded the oats had the perfect balance of sweet honey and vanilla and spicy chai—and the cinnamon, honey and sea salt topping was the proverbial cherry on top.

(A side note: you know you’ve spent too much time photographing your comida when it begins gathering feathers…)

All mixed together—it became even more apparent that the texture of this oat bowl rivaled that of a thick rice pudding.

Verdict: chai latte oatmeal > chai latte.

I’m not sure exactly what made this bowl of oats so fantastic—I’m thinking the texture was a result of slow-cooking and the whisked egg whites—but I know that I am going to experiment with jazzed up (hello, perfect backdrop for dried cherries and golden raisins galore) editions whenever a lazy Sunday permits.

I urge you to do the same.

On that aggressive note, I’m off to spend el día with everyone’s favorite explorer. Happy martes, amigas!

Amor,

Sarah

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.

Whole wheat bagel con veggie cream queso.

AB & J greek yogurt.

Honey Sunshine + Publix dried cherries (EL MEJOR).

Vitahugs.

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 .)

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.

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

Shocker, I know.

Before I get to jueves, tengo una pregunta:

Have you entered my Nutridel giveaway?

No? Probablemente you should do that today.

Porque those galletas are DELISH.

And also FREE! For what more could you wish?

Now that I’ve gotten that hankering for un poco self-promotion and poetry out of my system, let’s discuss ayer.

I rolled out my yoga mat, fixed a cup of coffee and plopped down to tackle my Google Reader.

Within seconds of opening my Reader, I learned of Vegan For a Day and was immediately intrigued.

Intrigued, but not sold.

So I sipped some (coincidentally) vegan-friendly coffee as I looked to some of my favorite vegan bloggers for affirmation.

You can spy a little OhSheGlows action behind coffee cup numero dos.

And it was actually Angela’s A.M. post—specifically the fact that she’d be posting her meals and me encanta the way that chica eats—that convinced me to go Vegan Por Un Día.

Veganism has always seemed entirely doable for me; but it’s never seemed desirable. It’s seemed doable in the sense that I have very strong will-power, and I’m a very competitive person. So, if I commit to something, I commit. However, it’s never seemed desirable because I love food. And a lot of the foods I love fall into non-vegan terrain. I so admire all of the vegans and vegetarians that commit to these dietary lifestyles for their ethical and social importance—but I’m not sure I could ever make the commitment.

That said, I figured one day of veganism—even if I hated it—was nada in the long run. Plus, like I said, I love a little competición.

I partook in a several ridiculous Google searches in an effort to come up with vegan breakfast.

I got lost in that for about 30 minutes—but still had no idea what I wanted.

Actually, I knew exactly what I wanted.

Greek yogurt with melted banana and granola.

But since Greek yogurt is, you know, dairy—that was a no-no.

While I waited to be struck by vegan brilliance, I decided to go for the melted “banana nuggets”—as Allie’s dubbed them.

I’ve been wanting to try them since first drooling over stumbling upon them on her blog—and I figured they’d be a good hold-me-over-til-I-think-of-something-divine nosh.

1 banana, nuggified—then microwaved in a tbsp. maple syrup for 22 seconds (I always pick random numbers because I’m a loca like that) and topped with cinnamon

SO GOOD. So good that I knew I had to integrate them into whatever fabuloso breakfast was to come.

When I realized that I’d officially pondered breakfast for 1.5 HORAS—to the point that I needed a pregame—I decided to keep cosas simple and just throw my new banana amor into a trusty bowl of oats.

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats cooked in 1 cup water, 1 tbsp. maple syrup and 1/2 a thinly sliced banana. Topped with the other 1/2 of the banana, nuggified in another tbsp. maple syrup (microwaved for 16 seconds since it was only half) and cinnamon. Devoured with a peanut butter spoon.

Banana nugget center. Maple syrupy magic.

Drowning in syrup, sinking banana nuggets.

Drowning in syrup, sinking PB spoon.

I usually leave my PB on la cuchara [spoon] to ensure a little with every bite—but since it was melting/sinking, I decided to get crazy and mix it in.

Which was una buena idea because there were PB pools like the one below covertly dispersed throughout the bowl.

So, this breakfast kept me full for close to five hours. When I eventually broke for lunch, I wasn’t even actually hungry.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that breakfast included two grande bananas, or if this was just a very powerful oat combo, but if you ever need some trusty staying power—hit this desayuno up.

Throughout the morning, I sipped some sugar cookie sleigh ride.

Which I knew was vegan porque esta chica downs it like it’s her trabajo.

As did I. I had tres copas—one with Truvia, which was divine. Sugar cookie sleigh ride sweetened takes it to a whole new level.

Oh, and then I almost blew Vegan For a Day on a VITAMIN.

Juuuuuuust before unwrapping that little chocolate chew, I thought to myself, “Chocolate? Dairy?”

So I checked the ingredient list.

Correcto. Nonfat milk. Along with lots of terrible ingredients that I now know I consume on a daily basis.

Lucky for this vegan temp, I had these little guys.

Which after a little label reading…

..and a lot of Googleing, I learned were vegan.

Vegan bears? How ethical.

When it was getting into the almost-too-late-for-lunch realm, I turned to my favorite soup.

Which I quickly learned was vegan!

BUENO.

This Amy’s Alphabet soup is hands-down my favorite canned soup—and it literally kept me alive during college.

You’d think that after four years of overdosing on a canned good, I’d never want to touch it again.

But you’d be mistaken.

It’s a tomato-based veggie soup filled with alphabet pasta.

What more could a 22-year-old who wishes she were still 10 ask for?

My lack of comida throughout the first half of the day caught up with me during the second half.

Vegan snacks included:

My new favorite nut mix.

And a massive bowl of grapes and fresas.

After spending so much time coming up with a vegan breakfast that I was in the mood for, I did not want the same to happen con cena.

So throughout the day I conjured up a delectable dinner of cheetahs, green cheetahs and carrot fries—a fry trifecta, if you will.

Except when I checked out my sweet potato stash, I found this.

MOLD.

Mucho, mucho mold.

Malo.

Dreaming a perfecto meal—and mentally tasting cheetahs all day long—only to have mold snatch them away from you is triste.

However, sweet potato sob story was upsetting but not tragic, as I still had my green cheetahs and carrot fries.

Wrong.

Whichever power circuit supports my toaster oven went out—and me attempting to fix that on my own just wasn’t in the cards.

Apparently the fry gods were pissed that I was trying to create so many faux fry versions and decided to run a little interference.

I forfeited and went on to think up a no-kitchen, no-toaster oven dinner.

Ensalada was the obvious solution—but I’d gotten myself so in the mood for cooked/baked veggies that a raw veggie salad sounded entirely unappealing.

So I decided to take my standard veggie ensalada down a path I’d not ventured since the seems-like-forever-ago summer.

Una fruity ensalada.

Baby spinach, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, cucumbers, red grapes and strawberries.

I threw some hot salsa en el centro for an interesante sweet and spicy flavor contrast.

And I switched up my normal honey-balsamic dressing mix for a vegan-friendly maple syrup-balsamic concoction.

This ensalada was excelente. The spicy salsa went so well with the fruit—especially the strawberries.

And I looooooved the maple syrup substitution in my standard honey & balsamic mix.

Again, the strawberries worked so well with this flavor. I love marinating strawberries in balsamic vinegar—and the maple addition complemented this sabor [flavor] interaction so wonderfully.

La ensalada obviously wasn’t going to cut it for dinner.

So I made something I’ve been thinking about making for quite some time.

I introduce to you…

H2Oats (Hummus & Hot Sauce Oats)

I cooked 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats in 1 cup of water. When it was finished, I stirred in 2 tbsp. hummus and steamed baby spinach. Then I topped with mas baby spinach and, obviamente, mas hummus. Sriracha hot sauce atop.

Ok. HUMMUS + OATS = BRILLIANTE.

With a Sriracha cherry on top.

I’d initially planned on adding mucho mas Sriracha post-photography, but a little bit went a long way for this bowl. Having just a hint of hot sauce allowed the Sabra to be the star that it is.

The creaminess and flavor of our beloved hummus blended into our beloved oats is something I wish I’d discovered long ago.

If nothing else, THANK YOU Vegan For a Day (and the sweet potato and toaster woes) for leading me to finally try this.

Anyhow, you know what I wanted for dessert.

But after mucho tiempo Googleing, I learned that neither Jolly Time’s nor Orville Redenbacher’s Kettle Corn popcorn is vegan-friendly.

So, I had fresas y azucar.

Which I usually love.

But when you want popcorn, and you eat strawberries… strawberries and sugar are suddenly very disappointing.

So, pensamientos on Vegan Por Un Dia…

I loved the idea of trying something new food-wise—especially something that has such important ethical and environmental causes attached to it. However, I can’t shake the fact that eating a vegan diet felt like a diet the entire time.

You guys know how I feel about diets. And yesterday brought me right back to my South Beach-in’ sixteen-year-old self, going loca over carbs and what was and was not allowed.

At so many points throughout the day, I knew what I wanted but ended up thinking way too much about something else to eat—simply because I “couldn’t” have it. I really honor the whole “follow your body’s cues” approach to eating—and I didn’t like the feeling of denying myself what I was craving.

That said, I can’t stress how much I support and respect those who commit to making these sacrifices—be it for their personal well-being, or the well-being of animals, the environment or our society.

It was divertido—not to mention discovery-provoking (HEEELLLOOO, banana nuggets & H2Oats)—to experiment with veganism. And though I know—as I knew before yesterday—that right now, it’s a dietary style that’s not for me, I’d definitely be interested in further experimentation. I think I’d do better with it and be less frustrated by the dietary limitations if I tried it out for a bit longer—and was doing it with the goal of finding out if a dairy-free diet did anything to benefit my health.

One more gracias to all the vegan bloggers on whom I relied for foodie inspiration yesterday. And to todas who participated in Vegan For a Day!

Bueno, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

-Sarah

One week completely removed from el mundo de los blogs has felt like an eternity. I know that sounds a bit dramatic—but I feel SO out of the loop. Needless to say, estoy muy feliz to be back. I kid you not; opening Windows Live Writer—despite our precarious past—just gave me the butterflies.

(Edit: Those quickly dissipated when WLW decided to pull the ‘error’ card for the past nueve horas.)

So, here’s where we catch up, right?

Incorrecto. Despite spending seis días doused in deliciousness, I documented close to nada. No, really. I returned to NYC with six pictures—of two meals—on mi cámara. When I get into vacation mode, I have a tendency to abandon el Blackberry y la Canon. The only reason why I have my fotos of those dos meals is because my friend suggested that they were extraordinarily blogworthy. They are—so I figure I’ll give you a quick recap of Monday’s munchies, and then share those two gems.

Monday mañana kicked off with an early flight from Orlando to NYC.

YO ODIO airport food, so I made sure that I was well stocked on the breakfast/I’m-bored-in-the-airport-so-I-guess-I’ll-just-eat front.

I packed a nut mix, a Mountain Mix Mojo bar and an undocumented (because, you know, that’s my new thing?) bag of Publix pretzel rods. (I firmly believe that Publix’s generic pretzel rods taste better than any other brand I’ve ever tried. Much to my dismay, no hay Publix anywhere near NYC.)

But my star breakfast component was this amazing trail mix.

Cinnamon toast crunch, dried cherries, dark chocolate espresso beans and Flipsides.

FLIPSIDES. Half pretzel. Half cracker. FULL ADDICTION.

I enjoyed that Ziploc o’ goodness alongside a monster Starbucks iced coffee. I always go for the venti with iced coffee because I’d kill a tall in .5 seconds—but this iced coffee monster was a venti on ‘roids. The airport Starbucks ran out of venti cups, so—until they got more in—they borrowed 36 oz. slushie cups from the neighboring smoothie stand. I had no problemo with this.

Terminado in approximately cinco minutos. Two random chicos came up to me and told me they bet $20 on whether or not I’d finish the giant coffee before my flight; winning chico was grateful for and impressed by my tank-like talent for chugging.

I flew Delta—which is a big deal because I’d say I fly JetBlue (EL MEJOR!) 99.9% of the time. I booked my flight with Delta for this trip because it was so last minute, and JetBlue was uncharacteristically pricey.

JetBlue SO MUCH > Delta.

HOWEVER, Delta has a leg-up on one cosa…

BISCOFF.

I’m obsessed. I ate one straight-up, and the other dunked in coffee (for soggifying pleasure).

I returned home to the blissful lingering scent of, uh, polyurethane. I guess we’re at the floor-finishing point of kitchen/dining room renovation. Bueno because this means kitchen-access is nearing. Malo because this means several days of a very chemical-scented casa.

I was starving, which was slightly problematic since I couldn’t breathe downstairs long enough to even throw together a sandwich. I quickly scoped out the fridge situation to see if there was anything ready-made that I could eat.

Leftover sesame chicken to the rescue.

There’s really no way to make that look pretty; but it was delicious.

When the “if I breathe this in for more than 30 seconds, I’m going to die” smell grew fainter, I microwaved a bowl of Banana Nut Bear Naked granola in almond milk and then topped it with dried raisins, cranberries and cherries, banana slices and cinnamon.

Bueno pero it occurred to me that a nut buttah spoon would take bueno to buenismo—always a good thing.

I opened the jar of cashew butter that la hermana so graciously bestowed upon me last weekend.

I’ve been fantasizing about my first spoonful of cashew butter since I found out such a wonder existed, as el cashew is my numero uno nut.

I believe any taste test should commence with a straight-up sampling (in this case, spoonful) to ensure an uninfluenced-by-other-flavors verdict.

I was underwhelmed. It was good, but not great. I’d enthusiastically opt for almond or peanut butter over cashew any day—which is loco because I’d attack a bag of cashews over almonds or peanuts, no deliberation necessary.

I’ll definitely try a different brand because I want to love cashew butter. What are your thoughts if you’ve tried it? Any brand recommendations?

Nevertheless, it delivered in the way of making my already delicious granola bowl even more so.

Gracias a mi amiga, Little J, for giving me the idea to warm granola in milk. SO splendidly soggy; I’m not sure I’m interested in dry/cold granola any longer.

Dinner was delayed by some muy importante kitchen appliance shopping. I am so excited for la cocina nueva! It should be finished just before Thanksgiving, and NO PUEDO ESPERAR.

Kitchen shopping made me hambre; or maybe it was just the fact that it was dinner time. Either or, I wanted cena, and I wanted it quickly.

UNA ENSALADA MONSTRUO from an amazing salad bar.

I really can’t recount everything that was in there, but I know it involved wheatberry raisin salad, couscous, garbanzos, black beans, banana peppers, olives, hummus, wasabi peas, egg, corn, sun-dried tomatoes, Asian crunchies and lots of uninteresting raw veggies beneath it all.

This was amazing, and such a salad monstruo that I almost couldn’t finish it.

Almost doesn’t count.

I may have made room for some cinnamon raisin bread—and a second baby plate of pasta ensalada.

And maybe some dessert.

I can’t be blamed for this one; I opened my fridge to find a mysterious bakery box of tarta de queso.

Naturally, I went for it.

What’s that hiding behind the cheesecake?

Oh, just a monster pile of chocolate whipped cream.

Since cheesecake clearly isn’t indulgent enough on its own.

Now, I suppose I’ll share those two coveted Floridian meals.

But not before I mentally scold myself once more for neglecting to document some of the amazing things I ate. It’s possible that I attended a Food & Wine festival—and essentially did a dessert crawl involving gingerbread strawberry ice cream sandwiches, peanut butter fudge honey cinnamon ice cream, red velvet cupcakes and delicacies of the like. A.K.A. un grande LO SIENTO for flaking on what would’ve been some X-rated food porn.

I hope these dos comidas gain me some bonus points.

Stuffed Butternut Squash and Stuffed Pollo

Stuffed with what, you may wonder?

Well…

Cheesy Veggie Oat Bran & Hummus Stuffed Bnut

Butternut squash halved, scooped and baked at 350 for 1 hour.

While that was in the oven, I cooked 1/2 cup oat bran in 1 cup water. As it was almost at its desired consistency, I added 2 Laughing Cow wedges, garlic, spinach, sauteed onion and olives.

Once the squash was almost done, I split the oat bran mixture (which was really hard not to polish off while waiting for the baked bnut) into the two scooped out areas and added a big dollop of hummus on top. I broiled the halves for an additional 5-8 minutes.

OOOOOOOOOHMYGAH.

El pollo was stuffed with LC, garlic, sauteed onions, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes.

Otro más OOOOHMYGAH.

Stuffed Bnut + Stuffed Pollo = STUFFED Sarah.

Next up…

Pretzel Sandwich

My friend was inspired by a pretzel sandwich that Bennigan’s used to offer—and suggested we recreate it after taking note of my newfound obsession with Publix pretzel rods.

If you could only grasp my amor of pretzels, you’d understand how I fell in love with this masterpiece.

This is quite possibly the only eating premise under which I equally enjoyed the outards and innards. I never want to eat a sandwich on regular bread again.

Since I know you want to see the innards…

One soft baked pretzel was baked with salt, pepper, seasoned salt and garlic. The other was baked with a layer of cream cheese and the same seasonings. After four minutes, layers of honey maple turkey, sun-dried tomatoes and jalapeno havarti cheese were added to each side and baked for another two minutes. Final addition was stone dijon mustard.

I really don’t have any words.

Just a final plea: If you love pretzels and sandwiches, por favor make this!

Again, lo siento for the lack of a recap. And otro lo siento for this abnormally late post; delay brought to you by the hot ‘n cold WLW.

I’m off to make a dent in my Publix pretzel stash.

Hasta mañana,

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 .

I suppose my allegiant consumption of oats and/or yogurt messes every morning would suggest otherwise. But, I’m actually an amateur breakfast aficionada. Throughout high school I was an avid breakfast skipper; in college I progressed to a light breakfast eater. Though, if I forgot to grab my morning yogurt or apple on my way out the door, it was no big deal. I’m just not hungry in the morning.

However, since discovering the creative culinary capabilities that lie in each bowl of oats and container of yogurt, I’ve converted. While I still do not wake up hungry, I do rise with breakfast eagerness and enthusiasm. These days, you couldn’t pay me to skip my beloved B.

Except yesterday, I had to.

And, of course, on the one morning I had to skip breakfast, something extraordinary happened. Yes, I woke up hungry.

So why did I have to forego my a.m. fuel? I had an early appointment for a fitness evaluation at my new gym—and I was told not to eat, drink or exercise an hour beforehand.

In retrospect, I should have skipped the silly evaluation entirely because getting pinched, weighed and hit on all on an empty stomach did not set a good tone for my Monday. During my evaluation, I learned that—in the personal trainer’s words—I have “close to zero percent upper body strength.” And also that I “weigh more than I look.” Lovely.

I was frustrated with this for about 5 minutes until I spoke with one of my friends who pointed out the hilarity and absurdity of having “zero percent upper body strength.”

He queried, “How can you have zero percent upper body strength? That makes me think that you can’t even pick up a spoon. Like if someone asks you to hand them something, you can simply respond: ‘Sorry, can’t. I have zero percent upper body strength.’”

My friend’s sound logic assured me that I must have at least one percent upper body strength, and I’m okay with that.

I moved on to breakfast.

(Yea, when I said I skipped breakfast, I probably should have said I delayed breakfast.)

My appointment was only a half hour, and the moment I got home, I reversed any breakfast skippage.

Con cafe

And a pumpkin duo.

Pumpkie Pie Baked Apple Yogurt

Pumpkin Pie Yogurt (1 container plain greek yogurt, 1/2 cup pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice) topped with one chopped, “baked” gala and Fiber One.

It was a wondrous hybrid of pumpkin pie and apple pie—in their most bodacious breakfast form.

After all of your woes with Stonyfield’s Pumpkin Pie flavor, I’ll be sticking to the homemade version—SO GOOD!

My other pumpkin component was an always amazing microwave pumpkin pie. 

I forgot to save some greek yogurt for frosting—so I just threw some maple syrup and cinnamon on top.

These 3-minute-in-the-micro, addictively DELICIOUS pumpkin cakes never cease to astound me. If my weakling arms could lug more than two cans of pumpkin out of the grocery store at a time, I’d live on these.

The pumpkin duo did me well on the breakfast front, so I opted for an apple duo as my on-the-go lunch.

New Zealand Eve apple (type of Braeburn) and TJ’s This Apple Walks Into a Bar

I wasn’t really on-the-go, but I’d made a productivity date with my local Starbucks. I’m not sure why, but I’m a much more efficient writer/to-do list crosser-offer when I’m in a comfy Starbucks.

Maybe they pump a little productivity into the pumpkin spice lattes.

I got non-fat soy pumpkin latte. Iced because NYC brought the beautiful weather again. And grande because I’m an animal, and I can kill a tall in one sip.

I’m too awkward to bust out my camera in busy cafe—so I opted for a little sneaky webcam shot.

Success! As you can see, I was already halfway through my monster grande. ‘Twas perfectly pumpkiny—and definitely productivity prompting! I got mucho accomplished—but efficiency isn’t the only reason I enjoy a good Star$ session. It is, perhaps, one of the best people-watching grounds ever. Or, in yesterday’s case, eavesdropping grounds.

I now present to you, Overheard in Starbucks…

• Middle-aged woman on the phone: “It’s ironic that Pilates rhymes with biscotti.” This woman, much like Alanis, was never taught the proper definition of ironic.
• 20-something chica on a coffee date with cute boy: “Yea, I really want to see ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’ I heard it’s really gory, but Brad Pitt is supposed to be amazing!” Seriously? Who confuses Where the Wild Things Are with Inglourious Basterds? Poor cute boy.
• 80-year-old lady to her 85-year-old lady friend: “See you tomorrow, sex pot!” I liked her.
• 6-year-old to her mother: “Why can’t I drink coffee? Is there wine in it?” I really liked her.

I adore entertaining people.

After returning home from Starbucks, I felt sort of gypped in the lunch department. (I’m really not a bar person.) So, I made a quickie turkey and cheese sandwich.

I really wanted a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich—but neither toasters nor microwaves can produce those. So, I settled on a double vegan cheese turkey sandwich. Now there’s a little irony for you.

I’m really loving this vegan cheese; it’s thicker and gets more melty than standard deli American slices.

Dinner included one sliced cucumber marinated in a balsamic, honey and krazy salt combo for 24 hours.

Gah, I LOVE salty and sweet.

I also created the best bowl of savory oats. EVER.

Double Cheesy Egg Scrambly Oats

• I cooked 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats in 1 and 1/4 cup water and salt for 2 minutes. I then added a chopped up Laughing Cow wedge, and heated for an additional minute.
• In a separate bowl, I microwaved spinach, cherry tomatoes and 3 egg whites and another Laughing Cow for 3 minutes—stopping after each minute to stir.
• Plop cheesy veggie-packed eggs over cheesy oats. Top with sriracha. And devour the creamiest, cheesiest, most flavorful bowl of savory oats EVER.

No really, look at that corner. You can see the Laughing Cow melted into the oats.

I kid you not. I oohed and aaahed at every single bite. I’m going to do my best to keep switching things up—but this is, perhaps, my greatest microwave discovery. I’m fairly certain I could be completely content solely eating bowls of this and that microwave pumpkin pie. 

As in, I really wish I hadn’t just eaten lunch. Yo quiero esto ahora!

I didn’t think I’d have room for dessert, but alas…

My last bag of Kettle Corn—doused in cinnamon, brown sugar and salt. I’m curious to see how long I can go before giving in and restocking my microwaveable popcorn stash. If I can make it through the week, I will be thoroughly impressed.

Preguntas: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve overheard in a cafe? Also, are you a breakfast person? If so, have you always been one?

Adios,

-Sarah

Today’s 70° weather trumps yesterday’s 65°—and has also made me even more predisposed to spending the entire day outside. So, again, I’m stopping in for a late quickie and then departing to gallivant the balmy Brooklyn streets. Also, I want to preemptively apologize for any coffee/sun-induced hyperness/loco-ness/senselessness that finds its way into this post.

Wednesday morning kicked off with something else that never fails to induce happiness and hyperness.

Paquetes!

Numero uno was from Lindsey—whose giveaway I won last month.

Highlights included TJs bars, Hermits (exciting—since I’ve nearly polished mine off), Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea (which I’ve been dying to try since spying some celeb loving it often) and…

What’s that Ziploc in the back right corner?

Oh, just the most delicious Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ever.

In the process of transferring these little wonders into Tupperware, I enjoyed a couple as a breakfast appetizer.

Numero dos was from Corinne over at Popchips.

I’ve only ever tried (and LOVED) the salt and vinegar flavor—and I can’t wait to see if the other flavors are as good!

I passed on these as a breakfast component, and instead brewed some coffee and considered los posibilidades.

As the calming aroma of java permeated my construction-crazed casa, inspiration struck.

Coffee Oats!

I know it unappetizingly resembles baby food—and also what baby food looks like post digestion, if you catch my drift. But I assure you it was increible!

I simply cooked 1/2 cup oat bran in 1 cup coffee—and then drizzled this pantry newbie on top.

It’s no DCD (which I’ve not been able to find)—but it’s pretty good. Very sweet and very peanut butter-y.

I wish I had some magic Photoshop tool to make these oats look delicious because I can’t emphasize (or illustrate) how amazing they were! This bowl—combined with about 3-4 cups of coffee—had much to do with yesterday’s hyperactivity.

Lunch was a quickie because I wanted to enjoy every minute of Wednesday’s wonderfully warm un-October weather.

Un gran wrap mexicano

In a whole wheat wrap, I layered: French Onion LC; roasted red pepper hummus; avocado slices, lettuce, turkey, roasted red peppers and habanero lime salsa.

Spicy y delicioso.

On the side I had an enormous pickle.

It was legitimately bigger than the wrap halves.

After being the giddiest New Yorker en las calles  yesterday, I came home HANGRY.

I brewed some Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea (my newest obsession; I had 3 cups).

And snacked on a disproportionate trifecta of deliciousness.

2 vegan pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and the BIGGEST pluot I’ve ever seen. This was the size of a GRANDE apple, and I loved it.

As I look at my pictures from dinner, I realize they are as misleadingly unappetizing as my coffee oats. You’ll have to take my word that dinner—despite its appearance—was amazing.

PPP: Peanut Pineapple Pizza

On a baked wrap: homemade peanut sauce, frozen spinach, pineapple, roasted red peppers, sesame seeds, garlic, krazy salt and más peanut sauce.

When I was younger, the only pizza I would tolerate was pineapple pizza. I think this creation was inspired by the fact that, now, pineapple reminds me of Thai food. And Thai food reminds me of peanut sauce.

The flavor combo was perfection. The peanut sauce made things really messy—which I didn’t particularly mind—but I think next time I’ll thicken it up with an extra tbsp. of peanut butter. Never hurts.

I had a pound of asparagus on the side.

That’s not an exaggeration; I don’t believe in portion control when it comes to veggies .

Nor with popcorn.

Dessert was a bag of butter popcorn doused in cinnamon and one packet of brown sugar. Ningunas palabras.

Before I head back out, yo necesito some advice. Several spots have opened to attend the FoodBuzz festival. I’ve made no arrangements, but I could stay with family if I go. Thoughts?

Gracias for enduring this spastic post, as well as the unappealing pics. I promise tomorrow’s post will be full of photogenic eats .

Casi viernes!

-Sarah

Speaking of nut butters, Monday morning welcomed a peanut butter first.

After a few cups of cinnamon swirly java, I tried a beloved blogland breakfast that, I’m sure, all of you have had many times by now.

Oats in a jar!

Proof that I am a behind-the-times blogger: I hadn’t tried overnight oats ‘til last week, and I hadn’t utilized an almost-empty jar as an oatmeal bowl ‘til yesterday! Ay, dios…

When I noticed my current jar of peanut butter nearing its end, I seized la oportunidad. Into the jar went 1/3 cup quick-cooking Irish oatmeal—cooked in almond milk, sweetened with maple syrup and topped with raspberry preserves.

Because there was a good amount of peanut butter coating the sides of the jar, I let the steamy oats melt the PB walls by returning the lid for 5 minutes and then violently passionately shaking the jar.

The result was PB & J oats in their most divine form. I think it was a combination of the glorious chewiness of Irish oatmeal and the mouth-watering meltiness of the peanut butter.

Hated it.

As I wrote up my Nutridel review (which you can read here, if you missed it), I had an almond Nutridel cookie topped with cream cheese and jelly.

Before:

After:

I can’t decide if I think the before or after shot is more mouth-watering. I suppose beauty’s in the eye of the beholder. What do you think? Does food look more appetizing when it’s well put-together or messy?

Lunch brings us to the tehehehini title of this post.

What ingredient made it into almost everything I ate for the rest of the day?

You guessed it.

I’ve always thought it was spelt tahini, but I’ve seen several brands spell it this way. Anyone know the explanation behind this spelling discrepancy? Merriam goes with tahini—but  maybe tehina is the authentic Mediterranean spelling? It’s really not normal that this is bothering me.

Anyway, lunch. I toasted a rye sandwich thin and topped half with tahini/tehina and crumbled feta before broiling for 2 minutes.

I topped the other half with one of my homemade rice & bean veggie burgers (which I’d frozen a couple of weeks ago) and roasted red peppers.

I heated it in the toaster for 10 minutes at 450°—and it tasted just as great. ¡Éxito! (That’s success en español.)

I had some pre-made frozen sweet potato fries with honey mustard on the side.

All together now.

Burger and fries? So not a me lunch—but it was delicious.

At some point in the day, I stumbled upon this New York Times article featuring—what do you know?—tahini. (By the way, I am going to spell it this way for the remainder of this post—because if Martha Rose Shulman says tahini, I’ll take her word.)

Shulman says she prefers tahini to nut butter as a toast topping—which I can’t say I agree with—but I took this feature as a sign from the holy food disciples that I should continue on with my tahini eats.

Plus, Shulman highlighted its health benefits: copper, manganese, calcium (mi favorito), iron, B1 and dietary fiber. Me gusta.

Dinner started with a big ensalada featuring a variation of last week’s hummus-baked chicken.

This time, I coated the chicken in tahini and then broiled the pieces for 7 minutes.

Again, SO GOOD.

In the mix: lots o’ mixed greens, string beans, red onion, 1/2 avocado, celery, roasted red peppers and tahini chicken—dressed in celery salt & honey balsamic.

The trifecta: tahini chicken, roasted red pepper and Haas avocado.

This avocado was extraordinarily creamy and flavorful. I know this is sort of blasphemous to admit in blogland, but I don’t love avocados.  I definitely don’t dislike them. And I do eat them frequently—but this is mostly for their nutritional benefits. In general, I find their flavor a little underwhelming. If you hate me for this, you should redirect your attention to another blogger who hates pumpkin…

Dinner’s other components were sort of random—but such is life sans a kitchen.

Flax toast with melted Jarlsberg (BEST CHEESE EVER), roasted red pepper and a tahini stripe.

Tahiiiiniiii. I think you’re the new hummus.

Ok, I take that back. But it’s a close second.

The only tahini-less dinner side was steamed green beans (by steamed, I obviously mean microwaved) topped with garlic powder and sriracha.

And because the sriracha spiciness necessitated a cold cooldown…

Vanilla fro-yo with Newman’s Own Organics mini pretzels and a Hermit.

Oooh my god. Hermits! How have I never discovered these before? They are like little bars of gingerbready, figgy goodness! I don’t care to show you the dent I’ve made in the box I only opened this weekend. I will say I’m addicted.

The fro-yo felt so good on my still sickish throat. And though I’ve still not fully recuperated from whatever stubborn flu-like illness has invaded mi vida, I’ve decided that (a) I am feeling much better and (b) I’m going to stop being a baby and just pretend I’m fully well in hopes that it’ll come true.

Before I go, una pregunta.

I may or may not be in the process of conjuring up a magnificent giveaway for next month. What would you love to win in a giveaway?

-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