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

Marry me, por favor.

But let’s address this whole Indecision 2009 thing. No, I’m not spewing out another political rant. I’m simply deeming yesterday the most indecisive food day of 2009. My cravings were either conflicting, ambiguous or non-existent—which made for a day full of the “I don’t know what to eat” bah humbugs. (In case you were wondering, that is official medical terminology.)

Indecisive quandary #1: Eggs or oats?

Decision: Both.

In le bowl: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water; espinacas; 3 egg whites; melty queso mexicana y salsa.

Indecision worked in my favor here because I got to experience the best of both breakfast worlds.

Incredible. If ever you find yourself in an eggs-or-oats-dilemma, I strongly suggest you allow the opposing forces to collaborate.

Indecisive quandary #2: Apples or oranges?

Decision: Neither.

Pretty persimmon to the rescue.

Mostly because neither apples nor oranges are photogenic. And oranges are quite possibly the most annoying fruit to peel.

Indecisive quandary #3: Cream cheese + hot sauce or hummus + hot sauce?

Decision: Again, both.

One of the reasons I adore sandwich thins, English muffins or, uh, your standard duo of dos pieces of bread: they are muy indecision-friendly.

So, who wore it better? (It being the sriracha, of course…)

The Sabra-sriracha combination never disappoints…

…but Philadelphia took this round.

So much so that lunch parte dos also featured cream queso.

Indecisive quandary #4: Cream cheese or American?

Decision: Fine—this wasn’t a quandary. I knew I wanted both.

I realize this was a fruit and veggie-less, carbarific lunch. But on such an indecisive food day—when I knew exactly what I wanted, I ran with it.

Fear not, I got my fruits and veggies in later.

Afternoon snackage brought on a repeat of indecisive quandary #2. This time, the decision was both.

Consumption and documentation of both affirmed my previous statements. Apples and oranges are not nearly as photogenic as persimmons. And oranges are a female perro to peel.

Indecisive quandary #5: Sopa o ensalada?

Decision: Eating a lot of Panera’s You Pick Two made this one easy. Both.

Simple ensalada.

In the mix: baby spinach, avocado, cucumbers, shrooms, onions, celery, strawberries and salsa. Con celery salt and honey balsamic.

The sopa hailed from a can.

I’ve never tried this type before—and I usually find Progresso soups sort of watered-down—but this was really good!

It had mucho in the way of barley, corn y patatas—and I will definitely get it again.

And because I’m a devout carb chica, adding a third component to dinner was another easy decision.

Especially since I had a hefty stash of fresh whole wheat pita, along with a tub of Sabra just asking to be polished off.

Dessert is one part of my day that almost never involves indecision. The answer is almost always…

I realize most of my decisions involved finding a way to cater to both of my conflicting cravings. I figure if there’s a way to keep everyone my stomach feliz—why not? How do you respond to food indecisiveness? (Otherwise known as the I don’t know what to eat” bah humbugs…)

Happy jueves, mis foodies!

Amor,

Sarah

I think my first-day-of-December eats sanction this statement.

I woke up with the always-gratifying feeling of knowing exactly what I wanted for breakfast.

“Pumpkin pie” addiction.

Delicioso as this may be, 1 egg white + 1/2 cup pumpkin + a dollop of greek yogurt does not equate to breakfast.

So I threw together a grande bowl of cereal. This, admittedly, does not fit the Thanksgiving eats theme—but the colors are quite autumnal, aren’t they?

Kashi Honey Sunshine, almond milk, PB chips and a spoonful of cashew butter.

I’m still not feeling the cashew butter. I figured I’d give it another shot, but it’s really too understated a taste for my liking. Very triste.

Luckily, I’d anticipated that it wasn’t going to be any better this time around and included the PB chips for a nut butter boost. Sometimes I’m inteligente.

This desayuno was still wondrous due to my cereal superstar, Honey Sunshine. I’m really not a cereal person, but this better-than-Cap’n Crunch Kashi creation hits the spot every time. The addition of the PB chips took it to a Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch level.

But back to Thanksgiving-esque eats.

Lunch featured my favorite new jelly.

Cranberry pomegranate pepper jelly. Sweet, spicy, pepper seedy seduction. It really needn’t be said, but I’m in love.

Mi amor nuevo played the role of cranberry sauce in this Thanksgiving leftovers-that-didn’t-actually-utilize-any-Thanksgiving-leftovers wrap.

In the whole wheat wrap: thick layer of cream cheese, thicker layer of cranberry pomegranate pepper jelly, honey maple turkey and pumpkin.

This flavor medley was ridiculous. I don’t want Thanksgiving eating to end. Ever.

Afternoon snackage stayed the TG route.   

1 cup applesauce, 1 cup pumpkin, 2 tbsp. maple syrup warmed in the microwave.

AMAZING. Please try this ahora.

What’s that in the center? Oh, just a Food Should Taste Good CINNAMON chip.

Another cosa that your taste buds need to become acquainted with A.S.A.P. These chips seriously taste like churros. I’d intended to eat my pumpkin applesauce with that spoon—but cinnamony churro chips ended up serving that function .

Dinner appears to have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. However, it was an assortment of TG weekend leftovers… so I’m ruling that it fits the theme.

First up: Pearl Room leftovers.

Mucho leftover vegetable risotto.

A tiny bit of hummus salmon.

And to keep things interesante, leftover Chinese.

Peanut chicken and string beans over brown rice from Lai Yuen.

  Sorry for not plating la comida—but I think leftovers taste mucho mejor when eaten straight from the container .

December 1st ended on a similar Thanksgiving note as it began.

What’s under that marshmallow layer?

Mas pumpkin pie, of course.

Except dessert didn’t end there porque…

…when leftover banana strawberry nutella french toast is delivered to your doorstep, you embrace this season of delectable eating and oblige.

And there you have my first-day-of-December, I’m-still-in-a-Thanksgiving-state-of-mind eats.

Lo siento for such a rushed post, but I was busy all day and now I’m rushing off to a hot date with a stunning, snack-loving amiga. I’m sure you’ve got an idea who I’m dining with esta noche .

Amor,

Sarah

I have the best hermana en el mundo!

(Ok, so maybe I’d realized this at some point prior to this weekend, you know, throughout our 20 years of sisterhood… But this weekend confirmed mi amor.)

No, not because she loves Little Cupcake as much as I do.

(Though having a Little Cupcake Eating Partner In Crime definitely warrants bonus points.)

No, not because she resembles a cute capuchin monkey—and has endured the nickname Monkey Mel since I came up with it when I was eight.

I have the best sister in the world because she knows me better than anyone else.

She knows the way to my heart.

And she delivers.

¡Sí! Hermana came home bearing lots of edible gifts!

She knows that I’ve been in withdrawal from my favorite brand of Kettle Corn (they haven’t had it in my local supermarkets for months!), D.C. bin candy and my favorite pretzels (which I’ve also had trouble finding in NYC).

She’d intended to just pick up those items, but she’s the world’s greatest E.P.I.C and decided to surprise me with some of my favorite things.

Like a naughty nut butter trio.

I’ve never tried any of these, and I can’t wait to dig in!

And calcium gummies! I adore edible calcium supplements.

I’m going to do my best to practice self-control with these l’il critters.

Another hermana discovery:

While la chica knows how to induce elation—by way of goodie-giving—she also knows how to induce nausea…

…by way of disgusting, legendary bruise-showing.

I got over the nausea thing pretty quickly upon realization that I finally had access to popcorn again!

Wherein I discovered that when a popcorn fiend is deprived of kernel comfort for approximately 2 weeks, polishing off a bag solo is no problemo.

I only wish I had footage of my carnal consumption of this sweet and salty wonder.

How I’ve missed thee. I am vowing, here and now, that I will never again permit popcorn to go on such a haphazard hiatus.

Another made-possible-by-Melissa discovery:

Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee!

I think this purchase involved some self-interest because she loves chocolate and I, uh, don’t.

That said, I definitely had ~38439848239 cups.

And, actually, I loved it. And she didn’t! It was very strong (not usually a characteristic of flavored coffee)—which I enjoyed, but hermana did not.

And the chocolate sabor… SO GOOD! I think my taste buds are going through puberty or something…

In the way of Oat Discoveries:

Reese’s Oat Bran

Oat bran cooked in water and cocoa powder; topped with peanut butter and chocolate chips… and a Reese’s cup

I know K’s been on this para siempre, but this was my first foray into cocoa-sweetened oats.

Further proof that my taste buds are in some transitional phase: I LOVED the cocoa oats. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even recognize my reflection anymore…

Next oat discovery is not so much a discovery, in that I’ve created in many times before. However, it was new to la hermana.

If I recall the conversation correctly, Melissa called to me, with more pride and eagerness than I’ve ever heard in her voice:

“Oh my god! Sarah! You know how I love apples and peanut butter? What if… you made me oatmeal… WITH apples and peanut butter!?!?”

Her zeal and oat-innocence were so endearing that I immediately whipped up her request.

PB and Manzana Oats

Old-fashioned oats topped with one gala “baked” in maple syrup, cinnamon and almond milk, plus PB chips and a PB spoon.

I am beyond thrilled that Melissa is venturing into more “complex” oat bowls because she usually just requests an instant apple and cinnamon packet. I doubt she’ll concoct oat creations while away at school because she’s the laziest eater ever—but I’ll gladly encourage and facilitate her evolving taste buds when she’s en casa.

But el fin de’s BEST oat creation…

Cheesecake Oat Bran

I cooked 1/2 cup oat bran in 1 and 1/4 cup water—mixing in cream cheese, a liiiittttle bit of Smart Balance butter, vanilla extract and Truvia when the oat bran was almost done.

(The mix-ins were inspired by the recipe I use for cream cheese frosting.)

After, I topped the cream cheesy mixture with crushed grahams, Truvia, another dollop of cream cheese and cinnamon.

Ooooooooooh my GAH. This was INCREDIBLE. So ridiculously sweet and cream cheesy.

I’m sorry I don’t have exact measurements for the mix-ins—but if you’d like me to re-create it soon and measure ze goods out, I guess I’d be okay with that…

Check out the under layers of creaminess.

Not to toot my own trompa, but this is one of my best DPAABS to date.

In the way of super-artificial-but-let’s-be-serious-a-little-won’t-kill-you discoveries…

S’mores Goldfish!!!

I wasn’t in love with these—but they sounded too interesting not to try. Not to send you mixed signals with my whole I-love-it-I-love-it-not stance on chocolate—but I really was not feeling the chocolate fishies. I sort of just ate the honey graham pescados because that is one flavor I have completely unfaltering favoritism toward.

Sort of like pretzels… which brings me to my next awesomely artificial weekend discovery.

When you find ice cream that features your favorite pretzels… covers them in chocolate…

and then reminds you that it’s an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D…

And you think to yourself, “Hmm… I’ve had two stress fractures in the past year… I could probably use some extra calcium and vitamin D…”

There is really no excuse not to eat said ice cream.

Turkey Hill Chocolate Pretzel Ice Cream!

Biggest chocolate pretzels chunks I’ve ever encountered in ice cream! Get it!

Now, onto some Microwave Madness discoveries…

In doing my best to feed my sister the non-college eats she was craving—in a kitchen-less environment—I learned several lessons in make-shiftism.

Microwaved “fried rice” is possible.

Microwave Uncle Ben’s brown rice. Top with veggies and chicken marinated and microwaved in Soy Vay. Microwave egg whites, “scramble” and add to the bowl. Top with mucho mas Soy Vay.

Uh, this took approximately 10 minutes to make. And it was delicious.

When la hermana requests a Greek egg scramble, the microwave can make it happen.

Two eggs microwaved. Topped with roasted red peppers, spinach, oil-cured black olives and mucho feta.

When you have an inexplicable love for McGriddles—but haven’t had one for four years after going a little loco with them in high school—you can seek solace in a…

MCGRIDDLE MOUNTAIN

Kashi waffle toasted and topped with 2 tbsp maple syrup. Topped with two microwaved egg whites, vegan American cheese and ketchup.

I was originally going to sandwich the eggs and cheese between two maple syrupy waffles—a la the real McGriddle—but I didn’t want the innards to get lost in too much waffle. (Melissa and I debated this for about 1/2 hour, ultimately deciding that the creation would taste better open-faced.) So, inspired by Allie’s waffle mountains, a McGriddle mountain was born.

NUEVO OBSESSION.

Onto a random discovery…

I find de-seeding pomegranates strangely therapeutic…

Fruit affection.

And a few final familia discoveries, to bring this post full-circle…

Children—especially those who resemble Dora—are hilarious.

Upon walking into my house and noticing that the kitchen is no longer in existence, Gigi did not ask what happened to the kitchen. Instead, she asked, with utter confusion in her ojos:

“Where are all the figs?”

She completely disregarded the absence of, uh, a KITCHEN, and was solely concerned with why she didn’t have access to our usual fig stash. (We have a fig tree, so we always have figs en mi casa.)

Sometimes I wonder how we’re NOT related.

I also learned that when la hermana has to unexpectedly drive back to school early for a sorority cosa, you show your love con comida.

Making use of another weekend discovery, Sabra’s new tzatziki dip (amazing!!)…

I made Monkey Mel a Greek pita, stuffed with all of her favorite things.

Feta, oil-cured black olives, chicken coated in Sabra and baked, onions and tzatziki dip.

Certainly not the most car-friendly food—but necessarily well-rounded in comparison to her road trip snacks of choice…

I mentioned she likes chocolate, right?

A lot.

Healthiest snack of the bunch.

And baked cheetos—which made me laugh because I thought of una amiga’s recent Cheeto rant.

With the comfort that she’d at least not go hungry, I bid mi hermana adieu.

And just as I was beginning to miss my monkey sis, I received the greatest e-mail from my beautiful cousin Christina.

She’d just discovered my blog and wrote me an e-mail letting me know she likes it.

An excerpt:

From reading your blog, I now know you are obsessed with:

1.. Oats

2.Coffe

3.Vegan Cheese

4.Apples

5.Cinimon

6.Cream Cheese

7.Hummus

8.Turkey

9.Popchips (What are those anyways?)

10.Popcorn

11Pickles

12.Kitkats

13Froyo

14Almond butter

15Salad

16.Peanut sause

This seriously made my night. So, gracias, Christina!

Also, could she have consolidated the essence of who I am into a 16-point list any more accurately? I think not…

With that, I conclude the longest weekend recap ever.

I hope all of your weeks are off to great start!

-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 .

In homage to my dearly beloved, I ate my oats accordingly. And as a very oatriotic individual, I paid tribute on multiple occasions.

We’ll get to those oats eats in a bit.

Thursday morning started off on a good note.

(Yes, I get CNN texts…)

Economic growth? Greater likelihood of employment? Me gusta esto.

With the ring of the doorbell, Thursday got progressively better.

Sir UPS delivered the best Annie’s goodie bag ever!

A couple weeks ago, I won an Annie’s contest on Twitter (simply by guessing that one of the ingredients in their 5-Grain Elbows was spelt). The prize?

An Annie’s reusable shopping bag, cheddar bunnies, bunny graham friends, 2 boxes of mac & cheese and 2392389229 pouches of bunny fruit snacks!

Oh, and the best part…

An adorable Annie’s Homegrown tee!

This T-shirt is the antithesis of a standard company tee. You know those usual oversized, stiff cotton freebies? Annie’s company tee is perfectly fitted (how did they know I wasn’t an XL hombre?) and the softest thing I’ve ever felt (it’s a cotton-bamboo blend!).

I love the back .

I thought about modeling it for you guys–but ultimately decided against the whole MySpace webcam thing. So not my style… .

I can’t wait to rock this to yoga and/or pilates and make all my hippie classmates ridiculously jealous. Why am I such a nice person?

The morning continued on its upward curve of positivity when I learned that it was National Oatmeal Day.

To help explain why I believe this national holiday is one of utmost importance, I’m going to turn to some dialogue from last night’s episode of 30 Rock:

Liz Lemon: You want to paint me as this New York snob… Can I share with you my world view? All of humankind has one thing in common: the sandwich. I believe that all anyone really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a sandwich.

Jack: What a surprise. Your world view is food-based…

Amen, Lizzie. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be friends with a fictional character more so than with Liz Lemon.

I wholeheartedly agree with Lemon’s world view. But I think this principle of universality also applies to oatmeal. I believe that all of foodbloglandkind has one thing in common: oatmeal. I believe that all any food blogger really wants in this life is to sit in peace and eat a bowl of oats.

And so I did.

Remember when I discovered ice cream oats? Oddly enough, I haven’t recreated them since. And I figured N.O.D. was the perfection occasion for some celebratory hot n’ cold oats.

So, I recreated my Vanilla Bean Irish Oats.

1/4 cup Irish oats cooked in water, vanilla extract, brown sugar and cinnamon; topped with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream

With a simple fruity addition, this indulgent bowl of oats reached a new level…

Apple Oats a La Mode

I “baked” one chopped honey crisp apple in a little almond milk, cinnamon and Truvia—and covered the vanilla bean oats in an extra layer of sweet warmth.

As you can see, this accelerated the melting process.

This was not a bad thing.

I truly, truly believe that oatmeal has the divine power to unify mankind and achieve world peace.

If not, perhaps Liz Lemon got it right: There are always sandwiches.

And so a sandwich I ate.

Around lunchtime, I was faced with dueling cream cheese & jelly and cream cheese & apple cravings.

I went with the whole sandwich unification theorem and allowed my cravings to become allies.

Cream Cheese & Jelly & Honeycrisp Sandwich 

It was truly harmonious. And ridiculously delicious.

Filling? Not so much.

I microwaved some green beans, melted my new favorite vegan cheese on top, and added garlic powder and sriracha.

I’d say cheese was another universal wonder; but, alas, there exist vegans who would quickly shoot that one down.

Lo siento for the less-than-glamorous and quite random lunch, but I threw it together as I was getting ready to do some Halloween costume shoppage.

I packed mall provisions—simply because if I get hungry mid-shopping, there’s nothing in the world that can come between me and an Auntie Anne’s pretzel. Nada.

And a new fruity gum flavor—in case the smoothie stands started calling to me.

(This was blech. The flavor lasted for .5 seconds. Luckily, the smoothie stands decided not to holler at me.)

After some quality brainstorming and mall scrounging with mi amiga mejor, I got a costume! Success!

I came home famished. So dinner came quickly, in two delicious divisions.

Part Uno: Ensalada

I was set on incorporating both honey maple turkey and FSTG lime tortilla chips into my dinner. The result:

In the mix: 3 cups baby spinach, orange baby pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, 3 slices honey maple turkey and crushed handful of FSTG lime chips.

I diverged from my standard honey balsamic dressing—and threw together a quick spicy mustard-balsamic combo. Aaaamazing. Could be my new favorite…

As always, the stars were front and center.

People, por favor, add lime FSTG chips to your next salad creation. It is indescribably life/salad-changing. My bag is nearing its end. But I will be purchasing another to ensure future ensalada greatness.

In the spirit of further milking N.O.D., I recreated my Double Cheesy Egg Scrambly Oats.

This time with one French Onion Laughing Cow wedge and one Original, and broccoli and roasted red peppers in place of spinach and tomatoes.

Spicy egg scramble piled high:

Ridiculous Laughing Cow infusion:

Messy, cheesy, eggy, srirachy gloriousness:

So incredibly satisfying and filling that no dessert was had. (Fine, a few bites of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. But they were straight out of the carton, and there’s no proof. Soooo…)

And now, Halloween weekend commences. I will reveal this year’s costume in Monday’s weekend recap.

For now, a hint: my costume involves stealing something I’d never eat. Any guesses?

If it helps inform your speculation at all, my costumes are almost always embarrassing. And assuredly never sexy.

Case in point: last year’s costume.

Yes. We were troll dolls. This involved gallivanting las calles of downtown D.C. in nude unitards, wherein we learned that nude unitards are never socially acceptable. Not even on Halloween.

It was hilarious.

This is my first Halloween in 4 years without my orange and pink troll amigas, a.k.a Rachael and Hilary; I’m going to miss their willingness to partake in my penchant for self-deprecating dress-up. (They are being Doug Funnie and Patty Mayonnaise this year!)

However, I’m keeping my humiliating Halloween spirit alive in NYC, during what is sure to be a wild weekend.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

-Sarah

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

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

(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

Dearest readers, please don’t go into disarray,

When on days beginning with “S,” I go M.I.A.

At the start of each work week, you’ll get a re-cap

And learn what edible discoveries fell into my lap

If the rhyming threw you off, that was my way of (1) reiterating my apologies for vanishing every weekend and (2) informing you that I’ve decided to re-cap my weekends in discovery-form. (See last weekend’s discoveries, if you missed the first edition.)

During this Rosh Hashanah weekend, I discovered…

-Foccacia tiles… featuring two of life’s greatest toppings/ingredients/foods-to-be-eaten-by-the-handful: olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Incredible. And something I need to re-create in the near future.

FYI: Foccacia bread is not usually a pre-Rosh Hashanah dinner snack. But my reformed Jewish familia doesn’t discriminate against non-traditional eats. Jewishness is not a pre-req; deliciousness is.

Back to the discoveries…

-Oatmeal beer.

My family also opts for swapping out the Manischewitz with a lot of beer from Long Island’s Blue Point Brewery. Since I don’t have a taste for even the most interesting of lagers, I stuck to vino—which leads to my next discovery…

-My lack of portion control when it comes to snacking also applies to wine. Hmmm, l’chaim?

The rest of my Rosh Hashanah eats are re-discoveries. I’ve had ‘em all before, but I’m not one to pass up an opportunity to fall in love all over again.

Apples and honey, for a sweet new year

Raisin challah. Holla.

Matzo ball soup. Golden rule: the more balls, the better. Easiest ever TWSS.

Some other staples: Kasha, garlic spinach, string bean casserole, brisket, pulled turkey and corn.

All together now. The gold medal went to the kasha, but the pulled turkey was phenomenal. I usually skip the turkey during holiday meals in an attempt to make room for more veggies (ahem, dessert), but whatever sauce this was marinating in was highly addictive. As in, I went back for seconds.

Shortly after pulling the “I’m too full for dessert” card,  I spied this and discovered…

-I’m never too full for cheesecake.

Juuuust in case the apples and honey didn’t ensure a sweet new year…

***

Throughout the rest of the weekend, I discovered…

-Boy breakfasts and girl breakfasts are breeds all their own.

Even when the ingredients are identical,

the results differ.

(As you can see in the more masculine egg creation, I’ve still not mastered the art of properly stuffing a wrap…)

-Whomever decided that cream cheese is a spread,

clearly never experienced it as a dip.

Seriously, pretzels & cream cheese might change your life.

-You are what you eat.

So by way of consuming Yogi cereal, I should be a yogi in no time.

In all seriousness, this may have been my favorite weekend find. Not only was it addictively delicious, it’s packing some impressive nutrients.

-Salt & Vinegar almonds

Just as addictively delicioso as the yogi cereal, with slightly less impressive nutritionals (i.e.: almonds, plus 1. artificially flavored, minus 1). As a lover of all things s&v, I’m willing to consume a little extra sodium diacetate (yum) in the name of the best tasting almond in existence.

Lastly…

-I may have nailed down a recipe for the easiest, cheesiest “I know it’s healthy, but no one else can tell” mac & cheese ever.

Not to be a total c-tease (that’s cheese tease, perverts), but I want to run this by a few of mis amigos with superb mac & cheese taste before changing the world with the debut of this recipe.

Muahahahahahahahahaha,

-Sarah