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 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

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 enjoyed reading all of your guesses as to why my eats will be undergoing a makeover of sorts for the next month. I’m not training or traveling—though neither is bad idea (especially the traveling)! I’m not doing a vegetarian, grocery or budget challenge—though all sound oddly enticing (me gusta competition). And I am definitely not going dairy-free; you know that would entail giving up crack cream cheese AND a beloved Greek delicacy, right?

The one correct hypothesis came from resident smartie, Ms. SnackFace, in my numero uno comment. Kailey wrote:

Hmmm, my guess is that you’re cutting out dairy for a bit? I don’t know. Or you’re going to be in a living situation that doesn’t allow you to have your own food/kitchen.

As I said, erroneous on the dairy-free account—though you can’t blame a vegan for throwing that one out there . However, the kitchen-free living situation? Right on el dinero.

Yes, for the next month (hopefully not longer!!), I am a kitchen-less foodie. Oxymoronical, no? Worry not. I’m not moving to a third world country or a halfway house, or some other kitchen-less land. I’m just getting my kitchen renovated.

This is not a simple renovation, hence our contractor estimating 6-8 weeks of construction—with the kitchen being completely out of commission for at least 4 of those weeks. Oh, we’re also doing the dining room—which means that the entire contents of my kitchen and dining room are temporarily residing in my living room. It’s a pretty hysterical sight: refrigerator, dining room table, necessary kitchen appliances, plus pantry food I’ve deemed necessary—all in the corner of my living room.

So what does this mean for Los Foodie Diaries?

• Hopefully not its demise
• A LOT of microwaving
• A LOT of toaster oven-ing
• An influx in eating out (TWSS)
• A downgrade in food presentation —no kitchen means limited/disposable dishes & hand-washing everything. Que Amish!
• An increase in very simple & easy to re-create meals (that’s a plus, right?)
• Withdrawal from these:

Although the idea of having to microwave most of my food for an entire month is causing a littttle bit of anxiety, I’m determined to make this work. How? I am challenging myself to be as creative as possible with my microwave & toaster-friendly eats. Why? Porque I love you all, and I don’t want to bore you to death with canned soup for every meal. Trust me, canned soup will be aplenty—but I’m going to do my best not to let my kitchen-less restrictions get in the way of delicious, healthy food. If the dorm room chicas can work it out, so can I .

If you have any tips for easy, virtually-appliance-free eating, I’d love to hear them. Also, local amigas, feel free to invite me over to use you for your kitchen cook for you . Will work for kitchen-access.

Hopefully the challenges that come with a kitchen-free vida make for some interesting blogging!

Let’s get to Tuesday’s treats, a.k.a. day #1 of kitchen-free eats!

That’s Amore Oat Bran

…because clearly I can’t get enough strawberry amor.

In the bowl: 1/2 cup oat bran; 1 cup water; brown sugar; 2 fresas positioned in corazon shape; whipped cream also in heart-form. Cooked in the everyone’s favorite radiation-spewing household appliance—by necessity, not choice.

Non-Pleasantville foto:

Moral of this microwaveable story: Micro-ed oat bran is still delicious! I prefer stove-top cooking because it’s easier to control the texture. But for a simple bowl of oats—with few mix-ins—the microwave got the job done!

I imagine that cooking banana & pumpkin oats don’t work as well in the microwave; have you tried either?

Lunch gave me hope that simplicity can breed flavorfully creative eats.

After toasting two pieces of whole wheat toast, I smeared a Laughing Cow wedge & raspberry preserves on one side.

Honey maple turkey & “grilled” pear slices went on the other half.

How, you may wonder, does one grill pears without a kitchen? Well, if you can get past the mildly unsanitary method, you can simply throw the slices directly onto your toaster oven’s wire rack. I wasn’t above it.

The result: a knock-off Thanksgiving day sandwich!

I was reading a magazine with a turkey/pear/brie/cranberry sandwich yesterday, and I couldn’t shake my intrigue despite lacking half the ingredients. So, LC & raspberry preserves played the roles of brie & cranberry sauce. Encore, encore! This was SO GOOD.

Like these…

Actually, the sweet potato FSTG chips are my least favorite flavor so far. Don’t get me wrong; they’re good. But they’re not mind-blowingly good like every other FSTG flavor I’ve tried. I think it’s because they aren’t sweet potato-y enough. Compared to (admittedly less healthy) SP chips like Terra & whatever JetBlue serves in-flight, these have a very faint sweet potato taste. Perhaps I’m too much a cheetah-enthusiast to enjoy my dearly beloved orange veggie in any milder form.

This obviously did not deter me from eating half the bag. I wish I were exaggerating. However, when one is exiled from the entire first floor of her house (ahem, where all the food is) due to the demolition of the aforementioned kitchen & dining room, one is forced to hoard bags of chips to one’s bedroom and commence mindless munching. If you couldn’t infer, I’m one.

While those chips saved me from starvation, this little dorm-friendly appliance saved me from sickness.

Well, maybe not. But it made it better. I started to feel sort of sick in the afternoon, and my remedy for any and all illnesses is green tea. And lots of it. GT overconsumption was only made possible by the above water heater (not sure of its proper name).

I probably drank 16 cups—con honey, obviously.

When construction ceased for el dia, I hit up the previously forbidden fridge for a snack.

Container of plain greek yogurt & Fiber 1. This is one of my all-time favorite simple yogurt mixes. I know a lot of people stay away from F1 because it has high fructose corn syrup. But it’s one of the only cereals I really like—and I’m not really sure where I stand on the whole HFCS thing—so I enjoy it in moderation. What are your opinions of HFCS?

Dinner Part I was only made possibly by my foodie foresight. On Monday, before my kitchen was ground into debris, I decided to prepare some food that (1) could not be cooked sans kitchen and (2) might come in handy during these hard times.

One of these items was one of my dietary staples: Green Cheetahs.

That would be FIVE zucchinis—grilled to charry perfection—in that container. Seems like a lot, but it won’t last long.

I had a big pile of mis favoritos alongside some steamed green cauliflower, and Soy Vay!

For the main event: Toaster-oven pita pizza.

I prepared this the same way I do in my standard oven: Brushed with EVOO, baked at 375 degrees for 5-6 minutes on each side. This time I topped it with 3 tbsp. (maybe more?) Greek Olive hummus, broccoli, spinach, red onion and roasted red pepper (all cooked in the microwave!) and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Broiled for 3-5 minutes after the toppings go on.

SO HUMMUS-Y.

SO CHEESY.

SO NOT PIZZA. I adore thee.

I have a feeling pita pizzas are going to become a staple. I promise to get creative with toppings. Any suggestions?

Something else that’s going to become (er, remain) a staple?

Popcorn! If I’m being confined to microwave cooking, you best believe my favorite microwaveable treat will be making frequent appearances. Also—it’s National Popcorn Poppin’ Month! I needn’t any more incentive. Without access to a popper, it’s going to be Jolly Time/Orville Kettle Corn. I prefer Jolly Time; it is the best Kettle Corn ever! Chemical-laden corn never tasted so good .

Still pretty sick, I drank this poison before bed.

Cherry Theraflu is gross. But it knocked me out and made me feel a little better—so I manned up and chugged.

Before I go, please check out:

• Natalie’s amazing non-profit program, Project Feed Me, which seeks to help feed families in need. Becoming a member and committing to food donations is ridiculously easy: All you need to do is buy two of the “recommended food items” each week for nine weeks. At the end of nine weeks, bring your items to your local food bank. It’s so simple—and really can make a huge impact.
• Jenn’s interview with breast cancer expert, Dr. Kristi Funk. Amid all of this month’s breast cancer awareness fund-raising efforts, we have to remember to be aware of breast cancer as it pertains to us. Jenn’s interview is very informative and taught me some things about breast cancer I’d never heard. Did you know that Ashkenazi Jews are exponentially more likely to carry a gene that’s been linked to breast cancer? Or that drinking in excess of 5-7 glasses of alcohol per week increases your risk for developing breast cancer? There’s a lot of very valuable and interesting information in the short segment, so I urge you to watch it!

Ok, I’m off to O.D. on more green tea and get creative in the kitchen living room.

Buenos noches,

-Sarah

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

Well, I just passed by and saw:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onto Monday’s eats.

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

Sugar Plum Fairy Oats

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

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

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

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

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

Honey crisps + AB = made for each other.

I dug into my veggie burgers for lunch.

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

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

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

On ze side was a big bowl of BIG grapes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Any non-popcorn dessert suggestions?

Hope everyone’s Tuesdays are treating them well!

-Sarah

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

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

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

Apple & Cinnamon Oat Bran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sarah’s 7-Layer Sandwich

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

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

Layer 2: Grilled, balsamic-marinated baby bella mushrooms

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

Layer 5: Black bean salsa

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

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

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

The result:

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

Perfectly packed with seven delectable layers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With the star in the center of it all.

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

Correcto!

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

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

It was really good—especially the chili powder.

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

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

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

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

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

-Sarah

Let’s rewind to Tuesday morning before Windows Live Writer and I got into a little tiff over publishing this post.

I woke up FULL.

You know your dinner was a just a little too gratuitous when you wake up full the next morning. When you’ve been up for three hours and still feel like you’ve just finished Thanksgiving dinner? That, mis amigos, is a tell-tale sign that (a) you’re Jewish and (b) last night’s gratuitous dinner followed your observance of Yom Kippur. If you are a food-lovin’ Jew like I—and all Jews are inherently food lovers, right?—you followed your 25 hours of fasting with 25 hours worth of food packed into one meal. Wise? No. Delicious and deserved? Si. Eating in excess never tasted so good. I’m tempted to skip over the entire weekend’s eats just so I can re-live Monday night’s amazing meal, but I’ll give you a quick recap before jumping into the holy goods.

‘Twas not so much a weekend of discoveries. Deliciousness and indulgence seem more accurate descriptors, which la hermana and I welcomed with open arms mouths.

I’d fully intended on cheffing up something creative for Melissa’s first meal home, but the girl knew what she wanted. Chinese food. Namely, NYC Chinese food. I can’t blame her. When I was away at college in D.C., I always craved Chinese food during my visits home. Our nation’s capital simply does not do Chinese like New York does. In fact, D.C.’s take on Chinese is unfailingly underwhelming, formidably greasy and authentically inauthentic. This is not to say that I didn’t spend my freshman year devouring the greasy goods every weekend at approx. 3 a.m. But, a few years into my college career, still bitter that those 3 a.m. eats played a large role in the frosh 15, I decided to stop force-feeding myself MSG-laden garbage that I didn’t actually enjoy. I opted to only enjoy MSG-laden garbage when it hailed from NYC and tasted delicious enough to warrant the deterioration of my health .

Phew, gracias for enduring that Chinese food-themed New Yorker holier-than-thou rant. We can get back to getting my sister fed on Friday night. I am not ambitious, talented or Asian enough to attempt creating homemade Chinese food on par with NYC’s offerings. So I gladly left dinner to the pros.

We ordered in from our go-to Sesame Chicken joint, 86 Noodles. Yea, there are so many Chinese restaurants in NYC that we have designated which ones to order from based on which dishes they prepare best.

I am usually a faithful chicken/tofu and string bean gal, but 86 Noodles does sesame chicken better than any other version I’ve tasted.

We had some steamed dumplings along side, which were very good—but next to the sesame superstar, comparatively meh.

I’m seriously tempted to write an ode to 86 Noodles’ sesame chicken, which infers that the mere sight of this delicacy triggers my wacky love endorphins. Which infers that you need this in your life a.s.a.p. Really, if you ever find yourself in NYC, I strongly urge you to put your healthy lifestyle on the back burner for a minute, and experience THE sesame chicken of all sesame chickens. And invite me, por favor.

Post dinn, we were fortunate enough to enjoy some interracial, clairvoyant cookies.

Delicious indulgence continued throughout the weekend. Remember when I set out to bake something that might persuade my sister to stay in NYC forever? I brainstormed baked goods for hours before realizing that the answer was far simpler than any of the creations I’d conjured up in my cerebro (trans: brain).

PUPPY CHOW!

I used this recipe—maybe throwing a little more than 1 cup of chocolate into the melty mix.

I melted the butter, PB and chocolate together and then poured the mix over the Chex.

Then I shook the coated cereal in a big Ziploc bag with powdered sugar.

Voila! The result…

does not look so hot.

But I promise you, this stuff is dangerously addictive. I am of that rare breed of people not obsessed with chocolate, and even I die for this stuff.

We made an admirable attempt at portion control…

…only to discover that it’s rather easy to refill a bowl.

In the end, all that was left was…

Oh wait, I lied. You see those crumbs in there?

La hermana didn’t let those go to waste either…

PB & puppy chow toast? I am proud to call her my sister.

Let’s see, other weekend eats included:

Makeshift PB&J Glo bites!

I’ve been dying to make these since I saw them on Angela’s site, and—since I haven’t had the time nor all of the ingredients—I seized the opportunity to create my ugly step-sister version of the real thing.

Warm bran muffin topped with almond butter and raspberry preserves.

This was SO GOOD. I can only imagine what the first-class edition tastes like!

I also ventured into some makeshift penne a la vodka.

I’m not big on Italian food—mostly because it’s so carby and lagging in the veggie department. I love vodka sauce—but penne a la vodka never sounds appealing to me because it’s just pasta and sauce.

So, when my sister decided she wanted to order in penne a la vodka, I offered to create a veggified version.

Whole wheat penne, grilled zucchini, peas, sauteed onions & mushrooms and garlic in vodka sauce. Melty mozz on top.

I’m an equal opportunity eater when it comes to my veggie to pasta ratio—so I loved that our D.I.Y. penne a la vodka hosted an equal amount of veggies and penne. So much better than the straight penne version. Even my carb-lovin’ sister agreed. 

Another delish D.I.Y. weekend eat was this veggie and shrimp stir-fry.

And that brown stuff on top?

The greatest homemade spicy peanut sauce ever!

I don’t have a recipe because I got a little schizo in the kitchen and just started throwing things into the mix. I know the following players were involved: peanut butter, milk, honey, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, sriracha and hoison sauce.

This was amazing, and I promise I will do my best to re-create it soon and measure out what I’m throwing into the bowl.

Ok, this brings us to Yom Kippur. This is the Jewish high holy day of atonement, a.k.a. we don’t eat (if you’re conservative, you don’t really do anything) for 25 hours to atone the previous year’s sins.

My problem with the whole Yom Kippur thing is: I can’t really think, let alone atone, when I’m hungry. But I manned up and did it for the homeboy.

We began our fast at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night. Upon waking up on Monday, only mildly hungry, I found UPS outside with two packages.

Is it wrong that Yom Kippur morning felt like Christmas morning?

Jennifer, the creator of Barney Butter, offered to send me some samples last week, and here they are!

I only jumped on the almond butter bandwagon a few months ago, so I’m still in the process of figuring out what my go-to AB brand is. I’ve heard great things about Barney butter, and once my spoon gets well-acquainted with those jars, I’ll let you know what I think. Thank you so much, Jennifer!

Package numero dos: A massively generous box of goodies from the people at Food Should Taste Good! 

If you haven’t realized, I love FSTG chips. I haven’t tried any of the flavors they sent—except for the sweet potato, which I didn’t love but am willing to give another chance—so I can’t wait to test the non-Multigrain/The Works waters! I’m thinking a full review, flavor ranks included, is in order. Gracias, Beth, for the amazing package!

These A.M. presents, logically, proved to be quite the double-edged sword. On Christmas morning, you get to tear open your presents and commence playing immediately. On Yom Kippur morning, I tore into my goods only able to observe their beauty and imagine their tasty potentials.

After pacing around the goods for a while, I eventually tuned out the foodie devil sitting on my shoulder, tempting me to dip one of those cinnamon FSTG chips into the crunchy AB.

I was proud of myself for not pulling an Eve because the rest of my fast was surprisingly easy.

(The same did not go for my dear sister, who definitely said “I feel like f*@#ing Gandhi” several times throughout the day…)

Come 7:30, I was more than ready to eat. Every Jewish family has their own tradition when it comes to breaking the fast. Most common is a big spread of bagels, lox and deli foods. My family usually breaks the fast with Chinese food, but since my sister and I had our fix earlier in the weekend, we did things a little differently.

Mediterranean! My sister and I decided that mucho pita and mucho dipping options sounded like the perfect way to gorge ourselves.

We went to a restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn—First Oasis. It was my first time, but the food was increible.

We started with a giant platter of falafel, hummus, babaganoush, greek salad and grape leaves.

It sort of looks average-sized, but this was huge.

We also had AMAZING tahini.

Side salads.

And an unpictured limitless basket of pitas for all of those incredible dips.

This could be a biased statement since this was my first bite of food in 25 hours, but THIS WAS THE BEST GRAPE LEAF I’VE EVER TASTED.

THE BEST BABAGANOUSH I’VE EVER TASTED.

THE BEST BALL I’VE EVER TASTED… (I don’t even have to say it.)

It was massive and covered in toasted sesame seeds—which took my love for falafel to new level.

Smushed in a pita with some salad and tahini.

10 minutes later… 

Yea. 25 hours of FASTING results in FAST EATING. And that was only our appetizer.

Los main courses:

Chicken Sauteed: Boneless pieces of chicken breast sauteed w/ tomatoes, onion, green peppers, eggplant in tomato sauce served w/ house rice and salad

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

Vegetable Ouzi: Mixed vegetables, rice, raisins, and nuts baked in phyllo dough, served w/ cucumber yogurt salad.

This was definitely my favorite. Check out the innards…

The stars were the chickpeas, golden raisins and toasted cashews. Oooh my god, I love Mediterranean food.

I am declaring this the best break-fast ever. I legitimately could not move after this meal—and into yesterday morning. But it was so worth it.

If you fasted, how did you break your fast? If you didn’t, what would you want to eat after hypothetically fasting for 25 hours?

Ok, my dears, I think this post might erupt if it carries any more food porn. (Perhaps, that’s why Live Writer refused to publish yesterday?) I have a really busy week—a rarity in my current state of funemployment—but I’ll still be posting regularly.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Sarah

Playa y sol (*transl: beach & sun) are now out of season

Excuses to eat ice cream just dwindled in reason

As the heat’s no longer an acceptable justification

Can’t claim it’s necessary for the purpose of hydration

Each week from now on, will grow a bit more cool

Oh, we’ll long for the days spent lounging at the pool

Understand, though, that we shan’t cry for summer

The season among us is far from a bummer

Sweaters, pumpkins and apple-picking come with the fall

U might even be excited for Sunday football

Me? I cannot wait for Halloween’s tricks and treats

Moreover, I’m anticipating Thanksgiving day eats

Eager for all this season will bring

Ready for fall; I hear it’s the new spring

If an acrostic rhyming poem dedicated to the change of seasons isn’t proof that unemployment has left me with too much time on my hands, I don’t know what is. But gracias for putting up with my recent poetic musings.

So, if you didn’t get the gist of that terribly cheesy poem, yesterday marked the last day of summer. It was a beautiful 70 degree day in NYC, so, feeling some seasonal nostalgia, I tried to keep my eats summery and fresh.

Onto breakfast, I digress.

I know, I know. I’m a breakfast-repeater. But ever since concocting my Sarah’s Own Fig Newton yogurt, the looming desire to re-create it has been taunting me. Suppressing food fantasies has never been my strength, so I gave in. Here you have my greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey, graham and fresh fig blend in all its secondhand glory.

In an attempt to be artsy (you will learn, I’m not), I captured the red of the apple and the figs. Summery, right?

Or, eerily reminiscent of Pleasantville?

Here’s the full color shot because—while figs certainly are beautiful—it’s the golden-y grahams that make the bowl.

For lunch, I made one of my favorite summery chicken salads.

In the mix: 3 oz. cooked chicken, cubed; 2 big dollops of greek yogurt; celery; handful of grapes; slivered almonds; honey (enough to write your first initial); generous sprinkling of lemon pepper seasoning; salt.

The grapes and almonds do wonders for this chicken salad, and the contrast of the salty lemon-pepper seasoning and sweet honey make magic happen.

Piled high between a rye sandwich thin. A little too high for neat eating. To the rescue, FSTG chips!

Oooh my god. I thought I’d experienced a climactic level of chip-induced ecstasy when I discovered FSTG multigrains. But those geniuses over in FSTG land have outdone their original with The Works. These are perfectly salty and generously seeded—basically an intensified, polished version of the multigrains. If you seek happiness and life fulfillment, buy these chips.

Last night’s dinner was as summery a salad as can be. I benched my current obsession with grilled and roasted veggies in salads—figuring roasted veggies will be plentiful throughout fall—and let the goods flourish in their freshest state.

In the mix: romaine, hard-boiled egg white, celery, shrooms, cherry tomatoes, sweet onion, green pepper, corn, oil-cured olives and sun-dried tomatoes; dressed in my balsamic-honey mix and celery salt.

I played favorites with this corner of the plate, which was hosting a generous offering of my favorite players: sun-dried tomatoes, oil-cured olives and corn. The award-winning bites included all of the above.

Alongside was some whole-wheat pita with pine-nut hummus. The tub of hummus came along for the dinner ride just in case some raw veggies were feeling underdressed.

…which obviously didn’t happen.

I did my best to do dessert in a summery fashion.

But the sodium-fiend in me could not be silenced.

Hot sauce on my thumb… Classy.

When you go through more than a box of popcorn a week, can it be classified as addiction? And by more than a box, I mean, sometimes, two boxes. Por favor, give me some horrifying fact about popcorn that will make me never want to eat it again. Or, help me justify my current over-consumption

Happy first day of fall!

-Sarah

Breakfast was a bombshell, but, you know, beauty doesn’t equate to fullness. Yea, that didn’t really make sense, but it sounded pretty philosophical, so I went with it. Realization of the day: Neglecting to doctor my Greek yogurt up with some good ole carbs=O.H.F. (One Hungry Foodie) in approx. one hour.

My initial attempts to lull my rumbling tummy were valiant. I went for all things fruity.

Frozen grapes and a kiwi. I tried to eat the kiwi in its full form a la Kath, but furry fruit just isn’t my foodie forte (is it wrong that alliteration excites me?). I spit that bite out, decided not be lazy and peeled the rest before consumption.

Then I got on to enjoying the beautiful 73 degree weather by… shopping? Usually I’d opt for being outdoorsy but, currently, I have some mysterious hip injury (a.k.a. no running) + no gym membership. So, uh, sedentary lifestyle, here I come? Ah, whatever, I walked there and back.

By the time I got home, I was famished. So I made an egg white omelet with way-too-much-for-any-other-person-but-myself portions of spinach, American + feta cheese and Sriracha hot sauce.

Omelets never keep me full for long, so I made sure to bust out my stash of Synder’s Organic Oat Bran pretzels (pictured with iced mango green tea, mmmm).

Have you tried these? If not, get on ‘em STAT. Oat bran in the form of pretzels? My word. I’m considering getting a lifetime supply in case they’re discontinued or some tragedy along those lines. I didn’t mean to eat half the bag, but that’s never the intention, is it?

After some errand running, O.H.F.-syndrome struck again. It really is one of those B.P.D.s (Bottomless Pit Days).

I was so not in a real food mood. So I got my SnackFace on—let’s be serious, it’s been on all day—and let these twin culprits do their damage.

There was about a quarter of a bag left in each of these. But I meant business, and, in the end, all that was salvaged was…

…the bags themselves.

No regrets. It was delicious, simple snacking—a bit gratuitous, I admit. But, people, I think I am finally full.

Do you ever have those B.P.D.s? If so, what’s your remedy of choice? I kind of think the only cure for mine was lots ‘o snacking, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

See you after dinner—because I’m never full enough to skip that!

-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