In part, porque I don’t believe in diets. In part, porque the Nilla supply ran out.

In all seriousness, yesterday someone Googled “nilla wafer diet” and landed on my blog.

Hmm, a nilla wafer diet? I feel compelled to address this.

Dearest anonymous Nilla wafer enthusiast,

While I clearly love the Nilla as much as the next chica, I do not advise constructing your diet around its sweet, wafery glory. If, however, you are set on doing so, see this post for some Nilla foodspiration.

Sincerely,

An advocate of Nillas-in-moderation

I realize my last post boasted a whole lot of Nilla, but I (sort of regrettably) assure you, Nilla wafers and I do not see each other on a daily basis. We’re more a one night stand that recurs every few years. And this, I believe, is for the best.

Need evidencia? I present to you a full day of no-Nilla, normal foodie eats.

Nilla-free breakfast: Black and White Cookie Yoatgurt

El negro: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water, scoop of almond butter, 1 tbsp. cocoa powder and Truvia. La blanca: 1 container plain Fage 2% con cinnamon.

You’ll have to take my word that there were no Nillas layering the bottom of the bowl.

This early Chinese New Year-inspired, yin and yang creation was the most delicious way I’ve started my día in quite some time.

The only problemo: It was almost too filling. Have any other yoatgurt lovers found this? Perhaps I’ll have to 86 the nut butter or use 1/3 cup oats instead of 1/2.

This is not to say I didn’t fully clean this mess up.

And enjoy every last creamy, chewy bite.

This was my first bowl of yoatgurt since Miss Janetha introduced it to blogland, but I’ve actually unknowingly been enjoying this so-called yoatgurt for years. For as long as I can remember, whenever I stay at hotels with continental breakfasts, I’ve combined a pack of instant oatmeal with a container of whatever yogurt they have on hand. I’m happy it now has a formal name because I’ve certainly gotten my fair share of “what are you eating?”s over the years. Now, I can smugly respond, “uh, yoatgurt” and witness non-food blogger confusion reach new heights. Bueno.

Despite feeling as though I’d never be hungry again, that was, shockingly, not so.

The star of lunch was my favorite veggie tuna mix, which, like pollo, I’d not had in over a month. No idea why. But I missed it.

In the mix: 4 oz. tuna, 2 dollops of Fage, 2 tbsp. honey mustard, lemon pepper seasoning, krazy salt, red peppers, onions and celery.

…which was clearly too much for my dos pieces of  honey whole wheat toast.

So an open-faced sandwich it became. Mi boca didn’t mind this, as I believe it thought it was getting dos sandwiches. My shirt was pretty feliz, too, as it didn’t leave the table decorated in tuna.

Served con a whole lot of asparagus. A few green cheetahs. No Nillas.

Just in the nick of snack time, I stumbled upon this mouth-watering recipe and made the executive decision to step away from the trail mix and bake up a double-punch, fruit-and-veggie treat.

Roasted Butternut Squash Con Manzana

Butternut stump, de-seeded and filled with one chopped honey crisp. Topped with 1 tbsp. water, 1 tbsp. maple syrup and cinnamon. Covered in tin foil and baked for one hour at 400°.

Por favor, make this now.

This is quite possibly the most delicious way I’ve ever eaten a butternut squash, and I’m mildly depressed that I discovered this just as winter squashes are going out of season. Triste.

My squash baby kept me full well into the dinner hour. But, come 10 p.m., I got hungry (and felt sort of gypped on the cena front). So I whipped up dinner in less than 5 minutos.

Despite looking moderately sophisticated, this was actually one of my go-to college meals.

1 bag Uncle Ben’s 90-second Brown & Wild Whole Grain Medley, topped with leftover roasted eggplant and a generous pour of Soy Vay!

This rice is the most flavorful, quickie brown rice I’ve found. And its ingredient list is pretty innocent, too. Bueno!

And the Soy Vay! You all know how I feel about Soy Vay. It has an uncanny ability to make anything taste better. Anything. But especially veggies.

And since an entire bag of brown rice clearly didn’t meet my carbzilla requirements, I had half of a freshly baked, super fluffly whole wheat pita with melty Jarlsberg. On my finest china.

Dessert was, oddly, not popcorn. Nor Nillas.

Rather, it was my new favorite super salty store brand mini pretzel rods and big scoop of creamy Barney Butter.

Oh, sweet and salty flavor combinations, you never cease to woo me. Be mine?

Before I go, in an attempt to avoid another unannounced hiatus, I wanted to give you a heads up that I’m not sure what my posting schedule will be like next week. I haven’t mentioned this, but post-kitchen renovation, we decided to continue on and renovate the living room. So, for a good part of next week, I am being forced to evacuate the premises to allow los chicos to do the nitty, gritty construction stuff. In other words, I’ll be couch surfing and may not have my computadora and/or internet. However, when I return, I have some very exciting news to share. It involves comida. And vida. And those were the most pitifully vague hints ever, so you’ll just have to wait it out .

Feliz fin de semana! Feliz Dia de los Enamorados! Feliz Chinese New Year! Any exciting plans? Anyone attempting to combine Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year festivities?

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

(I always want to call you my foodies, but I’m not sure the term exists en español. When I lived in España, I once tried to explain the concept of a foodie to my host-mom—but my lack of español eloquence/proper pronunciation got us nowhere. I’m pretty sure that confusing conversación left my señora thinking that I was both loca and obsessed with food (neither entirely untrue); it left me still-uninformed of the español translation of la palabra “foodie.” Any native español speakers who’d be kind enough to enlighten me?)

I have an abnormally manic Monday—so I’m going to attempt a short and sweet recap in weekend discovery-form. Let us begin on a healthy note before digressing into the wonderful world of weekend indulgence.

During this fin de semana, I discovered…

-Kev Thug really is a thug.

Source.

Well, I found myself in a minor conundrum. I found the sneakers I’ve wanted online for much less than the what my local running store charges. El problemo? I really love the neighborhood running store, and I prefer to give my dinero to local businesses when I can.

Kev Thug to the rescue. As soon as I told father dearest of my consumer’s conundrum, he called the running store and explained that he’d rather buy the shoe from them if they’d meet him halfway on the price difference.

They did better and matched the online price. Success!

I realize this makes Kev more a savvy barterer than a thug—seeing as his solution wasn’t to rob/vandalize/hold up the running store—but the word thug carries so much more street cred.

Onto actual food discoveries…

-Applesauce and Greek yogurt are quite palatable partners in crime.

-Persimmon hype validated. Pretty, photogenic and delicious? Formulaic foundation for food blogger obsession.

This was my first persimmon, and I loved it. Its texture was sort of like a firm tomato, and it had a wonderfully subdued sweetness. Did I mention it was muy bonita? I can’t wait to play around with pretty persimmon photography.

The next two discoveries came on Saturday, which—as I’m sure you’ve heard—welcomed NYC’s first snowfall of the season!

-It feels unnatural to eat fresh, very out-of-season fruit when it’s snowing outside.

Unnatural, pero delicioso.

-Less unnatural? Eating Chinese take-out in a winter wonderland.

Chinese eggplant y pollo in garlic sauce. Favorito.

Vegetable egg fu yung. This was another weekend first. Increíble—but a little too greasy to be more than a one-bite encounter.

And obligatory brown arroz.

I thought I’d be done with Chinese for a while after having mucho last week—but I suppose I discovered that this was not so.

Back to unnatural eats, the following concoction epitomizes the word.

Graham cracker dipped hummus? I sort of tried this expecting to be disgusted (which is, in itself, pretty unnatural), but much like that watermelon, this combo was unnatural, pero delicioso.

I want to advise you to try this—but I’m not sure if it’s one of those weird flavor combinations that only my freaky taste buds enjoy.

The following is a confirmation of a discovery I made long ago:

I detest 100-calorie packs.

Take a look.

10 “cookies” sized similarly to the cereal pieces in Cookie Crisp.

A.K.A. cookie comedy.

Amigas, if you find yourself in the mood for a cookie, eat a cookie. Ten baby cookie imposters do not bear the same satisfaction.

And now a monumentous (you know, monumental + momentous) discovery…

I LIKE CHOCOLATE.

(I think.)

After carrying my “I’m not a chocolate person”-card for all 22 years of mi vida, I am beginning to suspect that my taste buds have evolved and now enjoy chocolate.

Some evidencia.

Exhibit A: You love a certain brand of kettle corn popcorn so much you’ve declared that it’s best sans any addition. You feel uncharacteristically compelled to add cocoa powder to said kettle corn. You love this.

Exhibit B: You love your Fage simply sweetened with sugar and cinnamon. Again, you feel uncharacteristically compelled to add cocoa powder. Again, you love this.

Exhibit C: You love lemon pound cake—straight up. You feel compelled to add dark chocolate chips. At this point, chocolate additions are no longer uncharacteristic, and it need not be stated that you love this.

Exhibit D: Despite having a freezer full of bran VitaTops at your fingertips, you reach for the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip variety. You deem this the best VitaTop flavor you’ve tried thus far.

I believe exhibits A through D are sufficient proof of my blossoming chocolate love affair, so I’ll move on to a few final not-entirely-chocolate-related discoveries.

-When your VitaTop is missing a peanut butter chip, it is not only acceptable—but encouraged—to compensate with a spoonful of nut butter.

-Especially if it comes in the form of the highly-coveted Barney Butter.

Best. Almond Butter. Ever. I only wish my newest nut butter discovery came in a bigger jar—mostly because the little jar reflects my over-consumption so harshly.

Another chocolate-featured discovery:

Neopolitan ice cream sandwich.

Just do it.

And, before I bid you adieu, I’ll leave you with a conflicting piece of chocolate-loving evidence.

-While it is apparent that I have developed a newfound appreciation for chocolate…

…it seems I still favor my beloved non-chocolate options.

Good to know I’ve not lost myself entirely.

Amor,

Sarah

For all its tragedy and somber, 9/11 was one of our generation’s most poignant events. Living through it moved our nation to redefine its identity and rediscover its pride. Experiencing it as a New Yorker moved me to fall in love with the city that’s always been my home all over again.

So, today, instead of awkwardly fumbling for words to commemorate all that was lost on 9/11, I’m celebrating a city that refused to let tragedy rob its spirit and virtue. Today, I’m eating for the Big Apple.

My Big Apple Breakfast:

I got the idea for fruit cereal from Katie at Yes, I Want Cake and couldn’t wait any longer to try it.

In my bowl:

• massive Ginger Crisp apple
• figs
• raisins
• slivered almonds
• ground flax
• cinnamon
• almond milk

I let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes because I like my real cereal soggy—and figured the same preference would likely apply here.

Oh my god. Genius. The raisins and the figs were the perfect addition, and apples in almond milk? What an unlikely badass duo? This breakfast will be making frequent appearances.

I sort of wanted it again for lunch, but in an attempt avoid both monotony and physical transformation into a green apple, I went for this:

That’d be Jenny’s best wrapper alive, which I’d previously remixed. I used all the original’s components this time: tuna, garlic & herb LC, plain greek yogurt, diced apple and salt & pepper on a whole wheat wrap.

Lil’ Wayne’s got some competition because this is, indeed, the best wrapper alive. I loved my remix, but the apples really were the key ingredient. The wrap was  sort of overflowing—all the good ones do—but I managed to salvage any of its lost innards. Si, by that I do mean that I licked the plate.

Ok, I’m off to jumpstart my weekend (yes, weekends are still weekends when you’re unemployed because that’s when your employed friends come out to play!). I hope all your weekends are fun and food-filled!

T.G.I.F. (I wish Sabrina was still on),

-Sarah

My fall awakening: This morning was the first in months that I woke up and didn’t have to make the usually difficult decision between hot or cold coffee. When iced coffee stops sounding good to me, I know fall has, uh, fallen upon us.

So I went for a fall-friendly, fuming cup o’ J—a little heavy on the cinnamon, but I’m pretty sure that just added to its fall-ish goodness.

One breakfast that always reminds me of fall is…

Apples & Cinnamon oatmeal. Though I have a never-ending supply of this in mi casa, I figured I’d save these for on-the-go meals or, more likely, for my lazy sister who would likely starve at college if not for instant oatmeal. So I opted for a D.I.Y. apples and cinnamon oatmeal bran.

I introduced the headliners:

Which ended up looking like this:

1/2 cup oat bran, 1 cup water, vanilla extract and cinnamon

And this:

Apples never tasted so good. I cut up a large Granny Smith, threw a little almond milk in the bowl and sprinkled with cinnamon before microwaving for 90 seconds. Baked apples in 90 seconds? Who knew?

After being separated for independent preparation, I reintroduced the stars of my b-fast…

Apples & Cinnamon oat bran > Apples & Cinnamon instant oatmeal. Duh.

This was the perfect fall into fall breakfast, and I kept with the theme for lunch.

Since I was determined to make a dent in my butternut squash leftovers, I decided to use it in a warm veggie-packed pita. I’ve actually done this before—and it woos me every time: using steamed b-nut squash as a spread.

After laying down some French onion LC, I spooned the steamed squash into the WW pita and mashed it down.

Then came the zucchini layer(s).

My logic here: winter squash + summer squash = a fall squash medley.

Next came the onions—which I cut up and zapped in the microwave for a minute til they were perfectly soft.

All together now…

It ended up being a pretty full pita. The first half held up well, but pita-half numero dos sort of fell apart—which was actually fortunate because it prompted me to do this…

Yes, that’d be the addition of honey mustard, which not only added another fall hue but also boosted this pita’s yum factor.

Meals like these—along with busting out the oversized sweaters and boots—make me so happy that fall is here! What are your go-to fall foods?

-Sarah

Unfortunately, I’ve got zero pics to share because who actually wants to document their late-night snackage? Plus, I thought I’d only be munching on one graham cracker. That number obviously multiplied once I had the brilliant idea of smearing some cream cheese on those suckers. It was almost like eating cheesecake. Almost. Looking back, I should’ve busted out a little jelly, too. I guess there’s always tonight…

I woke up this morning craving one thing: apples and peanut butter! Best feeling in the world: Waking up and knowing exactly what you want to eat. Actually… best feeling in the world: Waking up and knowing what you want to eat, and then proceeding to take that craving to a new level of deliciousness.

A.K.A., instead of just going for this:

…I went for this:

Oooh yes, I did. PB and apples in Fage greek yogurt, with a little cinnamon and honey.

I love turning tried-and-true snacks into new, exponentially-more-exciting eats! I know the above pic is prettier, but this breakfast was much more enjoyable once I made a peanut butter-swirly mess of it.

Ay dios! As you can see from yesterday and today’s morning munchies, I’ve got some serious love for my Fage. It’s just perfectly creamy and the ideal base for all of my crazy A.M. concoctions. I haven’t ventured into Chobani or Oikos—but, por favor, tell me, greek yogie goddesses: What’s your greek yogurt of choice? And why? I’m always willing to branch out, especially because Fage is pretty pricey.

Ok, I’m off to find some way to enjoy this beautiful end-of-the-summer NYC weather!

See you later!

Sarah

I’m Sarah, the aforementioned foodie, and this would be the very first “diary.” I’m a 22-year-old recent grad, living in NYC, loving food (duh) and trying to come up with a master plan to turn that love for food into a career!

If you so desire, you can read all about me here, and a little more here.

I’ve been having a secret love affair with food blogs for a few months now. And I figured there’s no time like the present to quit lurking and start flogging (new term for food blogging?). I’m not exactly sure what will come of this blog. But I hope to:

• Share my eats—the delicious, the horrific and the straight-up shameful (hopefully mostly delicious?)
• Discuss food, health, fitness and all that jazz
• Experiment with new recipes, and dish out some of my tried-and-true oldies
• Review products and restaurants
• Occasionally impart some more in-depth pieces of writing on food, wellness and life in general
• Oh yea, and possibly figure out what I want to do with my life. Asking too much? I didn’t think so.

But, alas, I am only half the equation of The Foodie Diaries. The other half… well, that’d be you. I’m really looking to my readers—currently an imaginary community, haha—to engage in a foodie forum. And, in an effort to feed my insatiable curiosity of all things food and health-related, I’m really hoping to learn from you all. From new foods to new nutrition findings to something I’m eating that you’re pretty sure is going to kill me—please don’t hold back (especially on that last one), I want in on all of it!

But, I guess I should quit blabbering and get into what you guys really want—ze goods, a.k.a. my foods! I can’t really expect you to endure these rants of mine without backing up all my talk, can I?

My premiere Foodie Diaries b-fast…

Fage greek yogurt with cinnamon, honey and–this is where the magic happens–whole wheat graham crackers.

Oooooooohmygod. Graham crackers in greek yogurt!? Why have I not done this before?? The mix was pretty ingenious… Los tastebuds were definitely feeling it. I know everyone is on board the flavored Chobani bandwagon right now–but I’m a big fan of plain ole greek yogurt because I love making creations like these!

I also enjoyed some watermelon and undocumented iced coffee, in an attempt to pretend the summer isn’t coming to an end…

On to lunch…

Corn tortillas with queso mexicano, tuna salad (a little mayo, mustard, celery and onion in le mix) and avocado slices.

And what’s a girl to do with the leftover avocado and tuna? They seemed like the perfect excuse to bust out the to-die-for Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips. Good call, Sar. Sunflower seeds, saltiness and other succulent seasoning–those chips never cease to amaze me.

Ok, I’m off to do a cupcake run because it’s a very special five-year-old’s birthday today. And nothing says feliz cumpleanos like a cupcake, especially when you’re five! (Or 22… whatevs…)

Hasta dinner!

-Sarah