Sarabeth's

One of my favorite parts of living in the city is the whole brunch craze.  I love brunch because it gives me an excuse to eat breakfast foods for lunch!  I always have to eat breakfast pretty much immediately upon waking up, so when I say I go to brunch I just mean I order of the brunch menu but eat it as lunch.  Breakfast foods are my all time favorites and I could eat them for any meal of the day, but it is more acceptable when you mask it under the label of "brunch" for the weekends.

So, in the city you can pretty much find a brunch menu anywhere, but there are a few places that are known as special brunch destinations.  One of the most famous places is Sarabeth's, and they have a bunch of locations all over NYC.  Today, the boot camp class that my sister and I take had a special promo class in Central Park, so we decided to go to the Sarabeth's on Central Park South right after the class.  It is pretty common to expect to wait anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours to get a table at brunch, depending on where you go.  We arrived expecting the worst, seeing as there was a big crowd outside, but we pleasantly surprised to hear that the wait was only 15 minutes!  We were seated after about 10 minutes, and were taken to a table in the back room.  From the outside it does not look big, but it is very deceiving, which is probably why the wait is so short even though it is super crowded.

Once we got seated the waiter came over right away, which I always appreciate.  To go along with the brunch theme, I got coffee, which was pretty decent and my sister got tea.  The menu is pretty big and they have a wide array of breakfast and lunch foods, so you can pretty much get anything you want.  I, of course, blocked out all of the lunch items and simply looked at the pancakes, waffles, and french toast.  I had been to the Sarabeth's on the Upper West Side once and got the Almond Crusted French Toast, which was delicious, so I originally planned on getting that again.  However, the table next to us had a half eaten plate of the Fat & Fluffy French Toast on their table that looked so amazing, so I immediately knew that was what I was going to order.

Usually I am not one to get French Toast, as I always end up picking pancakes (my favorite food), but something about the French Toast at Sarabeth's just called out to me.  My sister likes protein more than carbs so she got the garden omelette (egg whites only), which has cheddar, broccoli, corn and carrots.  All of their omelettes come with the choice of muffin, croissant, toast, or scone with preserves, so my sister opted for their banana muffin.

Our order came out after about only 15 minutes, which was extremely fast considering how big the place is!  I saw the waiter walking towards the table with our plates and my nose immediately perked up to the scent of rich, warm butter.  The French Toast comes with about 2 slices of thick challah bread that are each cut in half, fresh strawberries, pure maple syrup, and butter.  I took the first bite of French Toast and was in a sweet and buttery heaven.  The challah bread is so soft and thick, and the sweetness from the powdered sugar and maple syrup really balances out the richness.  I also like that the bread is not overly soaked, so it comes out soft and crisp instead of soggy (which is my pet peeve of french toast!)  I powered through and was able to finish it after giving my sister half of a piece, but felt SUPER stuffed.  

My sister's omelette was supposedly delicious, and she would highly recommend it if you like eggs.  Her favorite part, however, was the banana muffin with the preserves.  I tried a bite and could vouch for the fact that it is a very good muffin.  Their preserves also cannot be ignored, and if you really like them you can even buy a jar to go.

Overall, I highly recommend coming to Sarabeth's for weekend brunch in the city.  They have locations on the upper west side, upper east side, central park south, tribeca, and on park ave, so there is bound to be one near you no matter where you are in the city.  My recommendation would be the fat and fluffy french toast, which I preferred over the almond crusted french toast.  Don't let the crowd outside fool you; the wait flies by and it is well worth it!

Amy's Light & Lean Spinach Lasagna

Since I have been on a Trader Joe's kick lately, I have been neglecting all of the Amy's meals that I have in my freezer.  Amy's has always been my go to brand for frozen items because it is much healthier than other frozen food brands, is uses organic ingredients, and all of the meals that I have had are delicious.  I tend to go for the Light & Lean varieties because they are lower in fat and calories than the regular Amy's meals, but there are a few others that I do buy.

Generally, my freezer has a Spinach Lasagna, Spinach Pizza Pocket, Teriyaki Wrap and Spaghetti Italiano on reserve.  Recently, I have also added the Quinoa & Black Beans with Butternut Squash to the mix, since it is their newest variety.  The lasagna, spaghetti italiano, and quinoa are all light & lean, and are under 300 calories.

Tonight, I decided to go back to the Amy's meals and temporarily take a break from the Trader Joe's brand, so I chose to have the Spinach Lasagna.

The portion size of the lasagna is very generous, and you would never be able to guess that it is only 250 calories with 5 grams of fat!  You can't really get much better than that when you are eating lasagna.  They have a bunch of different lasagnas, but this one is definitely my favorite.  The sauce is really delicious, and there is tons of spinach inside each layer which I really appreciated.  There is also a nice layer of cheese on top, which is essential with lasagna.  The problem with many frozen meals is that they appear to be low calorie, but once you open the packaging you see that the portion sizes are tiny.  This is not the case with the lasagna as it is a pretty big piece and it is very satisfying.  

To make this for dinner, all you have to do is put it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, let it stand for 1 minute and then you are ready to eat!  I highly recommend trying some of Amy's frozen meals, whether it be the lasagna, pizza pockets, or burritos, because they are all really delicious, and organic!

Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins

I have been counting down the days until I got to make this muffin again, because it is one of my ultimate favorites.  I never used to be a huge Nutella lover, but now I really don't know why!  It is SO good and I could probably eat it on anything.  When I was looking at different muffin recipes on Pinterest a few months ago, I found this gem: Nutella Banana Swirl Muffins (http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2013/01/nutella-banana-swirl-muffins/).  I love banana and I love Nutella, so to me this seemed like a no brainer!

From the recipe, I only made a few slight changes.  Instead of using vegetable oil, I used unsweetened applesauce, I omitted the chopped pecans, and I used an egg white instead of an egg (since I had to quarter the recipe, it was too difficult to use a quarter of an egg, and it was much easier to measure out the equivalent in egg whites).

After I made these for the first time, I knew that they would be on the remake list.  While the top of the muffin with the Nutella swirl was the star, the banana muffin on the bottom was still delicious.  I waited for the banana to get very ripe before baking it, so the banana flavor really came through.  When they first come out of the oven, the Nutella has a crunchy shell around it but is so soft and melty on the inside.  If you have any leftover after the first day like I always do, the Nutella on top loses the crunchiness and becomes soft, but it is still extremely delicious.  You can choose to eat these any way that you like, but I recommend eating the bottom part of the muffin and then saving the top for last!  The combination of the Nutella with the banana is spot on, and it really raises the bar from the classic banana chocolate chip combination.

Chloe's Soft Serve Fruit Co

This weekend was such a nice way to kick off the summer season, because the weather was beautiful and warm both yesterday and today.  Since the weather tends to get pretty unpredictable over the summer, we tried to maximize our time outside as much as possible.  Today, we ran around the reservoir in Central Park, which is such a nice run, and then kicked around a soccer ball and laid out in the park for a bit.  The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky, so it was the perfect time to try to get some color.  I do tend to get restless laying outside for too long because I get very hot and bored, so after about 40 minutes of laying outside we decided it was time to leave the park.  It was around 2:30 and I could feel my blood sugar dropping, so I knew it was time for an afternoon snack.  I usually have some sort of granola bar, but was craving something cold and refreshing.

My sister immediately suggested that we go to Soft Serve Fruit down by Union Square.  She had recently received a coupon for a free sundae from there and has been dying to go, so we traveled downtown for soft serve fruit.

What is great about this place is that it looks like frozen yogurt, but it only contains three ingredients: fruit, water, and some organic cane sugar.  Therefore, it is dairy free, gluten free, and fat free.  The flavors they had today were banana, raspberry, dark chocolate, and mango I believe.  I tried the banana and the dark chocolate flavors, and both were delicious.  The consistency is a bit icy-er than regular soft serve ice cream, but it is still very soft and really refreshing.  Even though I liked the banana, I opted to get the dark chocolate flavor.  The dark chocolate flavor uses the cocoa bean, so even though it isn't necessarily fruit it still is dairy and gluten free.

After deciding on the flavor, it is very similar to Pinkberry in that there are various toppings you can choose from.  Some of them include fruit (bananas, blueberries, mango, etc.), chocolate chips, graham crackers, pretzels, coconut, almonds, chocolate sauce, etc.  After pondering for a while, I chose to get bananas and dark chocolate chips as my topping, which made it that much more delicious.

My sister got the special sundae of the day, which had dark chocolate soft serve, bananas, strawberries, and graham crackers.  She loved the combination, and was very satisfied with her choice.  She usually gets a fruit flavor like raspberry, but today she was inspired by the chocolate.  There are also many delicious sounding smoothies and sundaes, like one that has dark chocolate soft serve, bananas, marshmallow sauce, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, but I didn't want to totally sabotage the healthy snack so I stuck with just two toppings.

Overall, it definitely was the perfect snack for a hot afternoon in the city.  It was very refreshing and delicious, and was very satisfying.  Since it only has three ingredients, if you go there with the hopes that it will taste like typical frozen yogurt, you will probably be disappointed.  It retains the strong fruit flavor (or dark chocolate flavor) and has a hint of sweetness from the cane sugar, but it isn't creamy.  It is also a bit on the expensive side (my small with 2 toppings was 5.75), but it is worth it if you don't go too often.  If you are near Union Square, I would highly recommend coming here on a hot afternoon for a refreshing snack that won't set back your diet.

Shake Shack

Part of the charm of living in the city is having the ability to find a restaurant from just about every cuisine within a 2 block radius.  A lot of times it is nice to just go to these neighborhood places and not give in to the hyped up "tourist traps" that plague the city.  That being said, there are a few exceptions, one being Shake Shack.

I would consider Shake Shack an institution in the city, and everyone that lives here has either been to a Shake Shack or has heard of it.  The thousands of yelp postings just verify how popular it is among city residents and visitors, in addition to the long lines that normally span at least 20 minutes.  Since it is officially the summer and I have been smelling that charcoal bbq smell all around the city, I have been craving a burger.  After going through the list of places in my mind, I knew that Shake Shack was the place I wanted to go to.  

There are many places in the city where you can claim to find "the best burger," but my taste in burgers is not that sophisticated, and therefore I find it difficult to rank one above the next.  However, I am able to recognize when a place serves a great, high quality burger, and Shake Shack is one of those places.  To me, it also ranks above the rest because coming here means getting the complete experience (with fries and a shake), as opposed to going to a nice restaurant and getting a fancy, overdone burger. The only one that I have ever been to is the one in Madison Square Park, because that has always been the closest to me and it is nice to be able to get your food and sit outside in the park to eat.  Upon arrival, the line may appear to be a bit daunting...

And, yes, I was in line when I took this picture, so clearly it wrapped all the way around.  From the time I got in line to the time I ordered, it was about 20-25 minutes which is not bad for Shake Shack.  They do have a "B" Line for those who just want to order Ice Cream, Beer, or Wine, but that one tends to be very short since most people come for the food/shakes. 

Once you finally order, you are then given a buzzer to wait for your food, which took about an addition 10-15 minutes.  Part of the charm is being able to sit outside in the park, so you have to be pretty vigilant and jump on a empty table when you have the chance, otherwise you my get stuck eating on a park bench.  

I ordered a single hamburger with the works (lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion), an order of french fries, and a black and white milkshake.  I decided to go all out because I did a ton of walking today and a very hard boot camp class.  I had also been craving a black and white milk shake, so I knew I had to order that.  

This was such a satisfying meal, and exactly what I had been craving.  The burger was very juicy, and the patty was the perfect size.  I hate when burgers are too thick and everything falls off the bun, but this one was perfect.  It is a very simple and straight-forward burger, but that is what I love about it.  

The fries were also very good.  While they were not the best fries I have ever had, I can never eat a burger without having fries on the side, and these did the job just fine.  The shake was so creamy and delicious, and it was very hard not to drink the whole thing.  I made the mistake of looking up the nutritional information before I went, so I was too scared to drink the whole thing (note for the future: don't look at the nutritional information unless you are sure you want to see it!)  Even though I am generally a chocolate person, black and white milkshakes are my all time favorite.  My sister, my dad and I used to get a black and white shake from the country club we belonged to growing up, and now that we don't go there anymore I have been looking for a shake to fill the void.  This one did the trick.  

While there are many shake shacks in the city, I would highly recommend going to the one in madison square park if it is a nice day like today was.  They offer a variety of different shakes and frozen custards/concretes that also looked so good, in addition to burgers, fries, and hot dogs.  Sometimes you are just craving a burger with fries and a shake, and Shake Shack is the place to go for those days.  They now have tons of locations outside of the city, like in DC, Connecticut, Long Island, and Florida, and are quickly expanding, so you don't have to live in the city to experience Shake Shack!

Hu Kitchen

This morning my sister and I woke up and took a grueling boot camp class in East River Park.  It consisted of a lot of running, strength exercises, and tons of squats!  Needless to say after that class and the walk back to the apartment, we were both pretty sore and hungry.  Upon thinking about where to go for lunch, my sister suggested Hu Kitchen, which is a healthy place near union square that we had been to twice.  The place was created with the Paleo diet in mind, and all of their menu items are gluten free and grain free.  Everything there is fresh, "healthy," and un processed.

The first time that we went, we just shared a gluten free grain free espresso muffin because it was after a class at the gym and we had already eaten breakfast but it was too early for lunch.  The muffin was so good and soft, that it is so hard to believe there is no gluten or grains in it.  It literally melts in your mouth and has a nice and strong espresso flavor to it.  The best part, however, is the small chocolate chunk that is on top of the muffin.  It is a bittersweet dark chocolate chunk (technically, it is cacao because it is dairy free), which is my favorite and was a nice surprise to find in the muffin.  After finishing the muffin and looking at all the food and menu items, we began to plan when our next visit would be.  We knew that our mom was coming into the city the next day and she tries to keep a gluten free diet and is sensitive to a lot of different grains, so we thought it would be the perfect place to take her for lunch.

We ended up going for lunch, and our impressions were mixed.  I got the baked chicken tenders with sweet potato hash on the side, my mom got a turkey meatball with roasted sweet potatoes and carrots on the side, and my sister got a bowl that consisted of quinoa and thai chicken, with a side of roasted brussels sprouts.  My sister loved her bowl, and I tried a bite and can attest to the fact that it was really good.  My mom and I made the mistake of ordering from the glass display case, without realizing that the food was cold and they could not heat it up for you.  The sides that we got, however, were from the hot bar so those came out nice and warm.  

The turkey meatball was really good, it just would've been much better if it were warm.  The chicken tenders that I got were extremely bland, and the fact that they were cold didn't help.  My favorite parts were the sides of sweet potato hash and the roasted brussels sprouts, which were both delicious.  

So, today when my sister suggested it, I was a little wary to return since my previous visit didn't turn out so great.  I decided to give it another try since I like the whole idea of the place, and I wanted another espresso muffin.  My sister and I split the grandmaster veg hot plate with 2 sides (we got the sweet potato hash and brussels sprouts again).  The grandmaster veg consists of roasted vegetables, cashew cream, and housemade marinara sauce, and it is gluten/grain/dairy free.  Upon first examination, it kind of looks like lasagna and it is a huge chunk, so it was more than enough to share. 

The grandmaster veg was much more delicious than it looks in the picture, I promise you.  The combination of the sauce with the vegetables reminded me of a vegetable lasagna, and the crust on top with the layer of cashew cream was the best part.  I would recommend sharing this (or just eating half) because it is so big and very filling.  The sides were very delicious again, and the sweet potato hash was definitely my favorite.  

Since we could not leave without taking something to go, we got two espresso muffins and a dark chocolate bar that is filled with almond butter and quinoa puffs.  We were both pretty full, but had to try a square of the chocolate, and it was amazing.  The chocolate is very dark and the almond butter filling with the crunch of the quinoa puff made it great.  I usually don't like almond butter, but the almond butter filling in this chocolate bar tasted 10x better than regular almond butter, in my opinion.

Overall, I am really glad that this experience at Hu Kitchen was great, because I really wanted to be able to love this place.  While you don't really know if their food/drinks are necessarily "healthy," in terms of fat content/calories since they don't provide the nutritional info, you do know that all of the ingredients are fresh, unprocessed, and grain/gluten free.  I do have to warn you that everything here is very expensive (The lunch with the two sides was about $15, and the chocolate bar, 2 muffins, and iced tea came to $17!) but you do get what you pay for.  Everything is high quality, and you are paying for better, more wholesome ingredients.  They also have a coffee bar, breakfast cereals, a breakfast mashbar, bowls, cold prepared food, warm food, bottled beverages, and snacks to-go.  If you are in the area, I highly recommend coming here and trying it out (just don't get the chicken fingers!)

Coolhaus Dexter Ice Cream Sandwiches

There are two things that I am completely obsessed with: Food (obviously) and Television.  On any given night there are usually 2 or 3 (at least) new programs that I watch live, and that is not counting the countless repeats that I watch throughout the day.  Some of my favorites (past and present) include: Friends, Law & Order, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Parenthood, Criminal Minds, Dexter, Smallville, and Homeland, to name a few, and this list doesn't even include the countless cable networks I watch like Bravo, TLC, and The Food Network.  The accounts that I follow on Twitter basically consist of the TV programs I watch, actors from those programs, and restaurants/food trucks.  So, I was extremely excited Tuesday night to see my Twitter account flooded with posts about free ice cream sandwiches from the Coolhaus food truck to promote the final season of Dexter.  This combined my two favorite things: TV and sweets.

I immediately went on their website to find out where the truck was going to located.  I saw that it was located in midtown on Wednesday, but since I was going to be working all day I knew I wouldn't make it. Then, Thursday seemed like a much more viable day, but seeing that I had the chocolate croissant for breakfast I figured it was probably not the best combination, health wise.  So, I waited until today to see where the location was going to be and hoped that it would be somewhere close by.  Sadly, it was downtown on the West Side, which is pretty far from where I am.  After much pondering, I decided it was worth the trip downtown and went to get my free ice cream sandwich!

I had never had an ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus, but it was on my list of things I have wanted to try.  Since these were specialty sandwiches, the flavor was pre-determined instead of custom made like they usually are at Coolhaus.  To go along with the Dexter theme, one cookie was double chocolate chip (to represent Dexter's dark side), one was Snickerdoodle (to represent his good side), and the ice cream was vanilla bean with cherry swirl (to represent blood).

After trekking downtown and finally locating the truck, I got there about 12:15 and was 6th in line.  They made the sandwiches fresh for each person, which takes a bit longer but makes all the difference. I watched as the sandwiches were handed out in front of me and my mouth began to water.  Finally, it was my turn and I could not wait to take my first bite (I of course waited so that I could get a good picture in of the label).

Since the weather today was beautiful and warm, the sandwich was handed to me all soft and melty.  I have some good ice cream sandwiches, but this one was by far the best.  The double chocolate chip cookie was the star in my eyes, because it was super chocolatey and was nice and chewy.  The ice cream was also great, as it was smooth and creamy.  You could actually see the specs of vanilla bean, which indicated that it was the real deal.  The cherry swirl also added a nice punch of flavor and balanced out the sweetness from the other components.  I did like the snickerdoodle as well, but it overall was my least favorite part.  I honestly don't even remember what it tasted like because the chocolate taste overpowered it.  It was also harder than the other cookie, so when I went to take a bite it tended to squeeze the ice cream towards to other end which made it very hard to walk with.  Supposedly the wrapper is edible as well, but I did not try it because, well, a piece of paper did not seem nearly as delicious as cookies and ice cream.

I had to limit myself to only eating half, but it was well worth it.  I would most likely return to this truck if I saw it again, but it was that much more special since it was made in honor of the final season of Dexter.

Umi Sushi

Sushi restaurants in the city can basically be found on every block, but the tricky part is separating the good ones from the bad ones.  Even more tricky is spotting the gems that tend to be under the radar instead of going to the typical expensive Japanese restaurants in the city.

Even though I don't like fish, I love Japanese food and sushi.  My love for it, however, does not even compare to my sister, who could literally eat Japanese food for every meal every day.  So, when we moved to the city, one of the first things we did was try to find a good Japanese restaurant near our apartment.  After searching multiple times on Google Maps, Zagat, and Yelp, we decided to try out Umi, a very small and understated Japanese restaurant on 31st street between Lexington and Park.  And, after one visit, we knew we had found our place.

Umi is that neighborhood Japanese restaurant that you would expect to find in the suburbs, not off the bustling streets of New York City.  The menu is very simple and straightforward, and they don't try to do anything overly fancy, they just make really fresh and good food.  They have a wide variety of sushi, sashimi, specialty rolls, appetizers, and hot dishes like Teriyaki and Bento Boxes.  The waiters there are also super nice and friendly, and after a few times of going there they remembered us and our orders.

I am a creature of habit, so I pretty much get the same thing every time.  I always start out with a garden salad with ginger dressing on the side.  While I have had my fair share of ginger dressings, I can objectively say that they have one of my all time favorites.  The ginger taste really comes through and it is not over powering.  Next, I always get the Yaki Tori appetizer (as my main course) and a cucumber avocado roll.  The yaki tori comes with two skewers of chicken, onion, and scallions smothered in a delicious and sweet teriyaki sauce, and topped with some sesame seeds.  It is the perfect portion size and it is really delicious.  Even though cucumber avocado rolls tend to be pretty standard, something about theirs just tastes so much better to me.  I think it is because they don't put too much rice on the sushi, and there is a very generous amount of avocado.  Sometimes, I also get a Sweet Potato Roll which is delicious as well, especially when dipped in eel sauce.

Even though I don't eat fish so I can't personally comment on their sushi, I can rely on the rave reviews of my sister and friends.  According to her, they have some of the best sushi that she has ever had.  I could even tell that it was good because the raw tuna had a super bright red color to it so that you could tell it was extremely fresh.  My sister has never had any bad sushi here, and she could not praise it more.  Even though she generally always gets sushi, she has also ordered the Salmon Teriyaki.  What is great about their salmon is that they use sushi grade salmon for the teriyaki.  Since it is sushi grade, you know it has to be extremely fresh since it is the same exact fish that they are serving raw.  This shows that they really care about the product they are serving and they want everything to be as fresh and delicious as possible.

I highly recommend Umi to anyone looking for a great, high quality Japanese restaurant.  It is, in fact, one of my favorite restaurants in the city.  I know it may be tempting to go to the more well known and fancy places like Nobu and Morimoto, but there is really something to be said about the smaller, neighborhood establishments that deliver a high quality product at a reasonable price.  Don't let the understated exterior fool you, if you go to Umi you will be sure to leave feeling full and completely satisfied.

Trader Joe's Frozen Chocolate Croissants

I know it is probably getting annoying reading post after post about Trader Joe's, but when I went a few weeks ago I stocked up on stuff (if you live in NYC, you know how long the lines can get), so now I am finally getting around to trying everything!

One of the items that I had read about online and saw in store was the frozen chocolate croissants.  I heard that they were supposedly the best frozen item and tasted just like a fresh baked chocolate croissant.  Intrigued, I looked at a box when I was in Trader Joe's a few months ago but was instantly scared away after looking at the nutritional information.  It probably comes as no surprise that they are extremely high in fat, since croissants are basically half butter, but it is still a little shocking when looking at that nutritional information.

But, after reading multiple blog posts about them and after a few times of picking up the box and putting it back down, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy them.  They have been sitting in my freezer now for 3 or so weeks, so I decided that today was the day to make them.

It does involve a bit of planning, because you have to take them out of the box and let them proof (rise) for 9 hours, or overnight, before you even start to bake them.  Therefore, you have to know that you want to make them the day before you actually want to eat them.  To me, this is actually a good thing since they are pretty unhealthy and you can't just wake up and make them on a whim.

Anyway, I have been craving these croissants lately, especially with the cronut craze all over the news, so I decided that I would finally make one this morning.  When you take them out of the box, this is what they look like....

It looks a little strange at first, but I knew that they had to rise overnight and was very anxious to see what they would look like when I woke up.  Upon waking up this morning, the first thing I did was go into the kitchen and see what it looked like. 

I was shocked at how much it grew overnight!  Even though it said on the box that it would grow a lot, I was a bit skeptical after seeing what they looked like when I took them out of the box.  Now that it had risen overnight, I still had to preheat the oven and bake them for 20 minutes.  You can choose to brush an egg over the top to give it a more shiny finish, but since I was only making one I chose not to waste a whole egg.  The hardest part of the whole process was waiting for it while it was in the oven, because the smell permeated my entire apartment!  I felt like I was sitting in a bakery in Paris waiting for a fresh baked croissant, and I was just hoping that the taste was able to stand up to the amazing smell.  

I actually want to take back my earlier statement and say that the hardest part was waiting 10 minutes AFTER taking them out of the oven.  It says on the box to wait 10 minutes after you take them out before eating them, and normally I would disregard the directions but I decided that I had already invested a lot of time in it and I may as well just wait 10 more minutes. 

So, I sat there staring at this beautifully golden chocolate croissant, taking in the aroma of a Parisian bakery, until 10 minutes finally passed.  When I picked it up, I noticed that even though it looked huge it was super light and had a nice and hard exterior, which were good signs!  Then, I finally took my first bite...

I was pretty much in heaven after my first bite.  It was very crispy on the outside and the outermost layer started to flake off onto the plate, which is exactly what you want to see.  The inside of the croissant, however, was the star.  The layers were extremely soft, fluffy, and buttery and once I got to the chocolate, I couldn't stop smiling.  There are two long strips of chocolate in these croissants so you definitely get chocolate in almost every bite, and it goes really well with the crunchy outside and soft, buttery inside.  

This croissant is honestly up there with some of the best that I have ever had (and yes, I have been to Paris).  Not only does it look better than some that are sold in bakeries, but it even tastes better!  You would never guess that these came from the freezer aisle!  If you have a Trader Joe's near you and you love croissants, I highly recommend purchasing these.  Even if you are scared away by the nutritional info, I figured that it was good to have in my freezer for when I was craving a croissant.  I mean, if I am craving one, I would rather make it myself, know the nutritional info, and eat it in my home instead of buying one in a bakery and not knowing how many calories I could be eating.  Also, since you do have to plan for these, it prevents you from making them on a whim which means when you decide to make them, you have really thought it through!  So, before you put that box down (multiple times, if you are like me), just buy them now and stick them in your freezer.  They honestly taste like a freshly baked croissant and are on par, if not better, than ones you could buy in a bakery.  

(I should also mention that last night I watched American Baking Competition and one of the challenges was to make croissants, so that made me in the mood for these even more!  I also took it as a sign that I made the right choice in making them for today!)

Trader Joe's Frozen Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

This week is pretty much the week of frozen meals, because I haven't had time to cook.  Yesterday I had my step brother's graduation in Westchester, and today I was working all day, so I haven't really had the time to even think about preparing dinner.  This is when the stash of frozen meals in my freezer comes in handy.  Confronted with options ranging from Amy's frozen lasagna or teriyaki wrap, to a frozen burrito or ravioli, I ultimately decided to have the ravioli.

I picked up this bag of frozen spinach & ricotta ravioli on my last trip to trader joe's and have been looking forward to trying it.  When I was younger, there was an italian restaurant in my town, Il Bigatto, that my family would always go to for special occasions or when we had people visiting, and my sister and I ALWAYS ordered the spinach ravioli.  Neither of us particularly liked spinach, or even ricotta cheese for that matter, but there was something about the ravioli at Il Bigatto that seemed special.  Unfortunately, a few years ago the ownership changed (multiple times), the quality of the restaurant began to dwindle, and it eventually closed for good.

Maybe its because I am still mourning the loss of Il Bigatto or because I fear that no other ravioli will compare, but I haven't ordered it in a restaurant since their closing.  So, when I saw the frozen variety in Trader Joe's, I figured it was time to give it a shot.

The bag comes with 3 servings at about 190 calories each.  On weight watchers, each serving is 5 points.  I usually try to have dinners that range between 7-9 points, so I opted to have 1 1/2 servings.  After counting out the ravioli (yes, I have a lot of time on my hands, but I decided to count out the number of ravioli in the bag so that I could make sure I was eating 1/2 of the bag), I was able to split the bag into two equal portions of 16 raviolis and sauce.  Trader Joe's frozen italian meals are a little odd in that the sauce is frozen into cubes and the pasta is not covered in the sauce, so I also had to make sure that I only took half of the sauce cubes.  It looked like a lot more at first, but after putting the ravioli in the microwave they shrunk considerably, as did the sauce.  

You can choose to either heat it up on the stovetop with some olive oil, or simply in the microwave, so I of course went the easier route and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes.  

While it did not nearly compare to the delicious spinach ravioli that my sister and I used to order at Il Bigatto, I do have to say that this is a solid dish.  The ravioli are pretty small and there is not much filling, but the filling does taste pretty good.  I liked that you see more of the spinach than you do of the ricotta cheese inside the ravioli, but I definitely tasted the cheese more than the spinach.  The sauce was also really good, I just wish that there was a bit more of it.

Overall, this is a product that I would most likely buy again because even though it is not nearly as good as regular ravioli, it is very good for frozen ravioli.

Macaron Cafe

Growing up, when I heard the word "macaroon" I thought of the delicious chocolate dipped coconut cookies that were served at a passover seder.  It wasn't until my sister started her first internship in the city across the street from Macaron Cafe that I was introduced to the other macaroon, or more appropriately, the French Macaron.  When I first saw pictures of what it was, it honestly didnt look that good to me.  It looked like a chewy/sugary meringue, not something cakey and fudgy which is what I usually like in a dessert.  After a few times of rejecting them and refusing to try one, I finally caved in and tried a dark chocolate Macaron.  My doubts about Macarons were set aside and I instantly became a fan.  My sister would then occassionally bring me one, and I got to try a wide array of flavors ranging from dark chocolate and peanut butter to nutella and chocolate coconut.  While I thought they were delicious, I still never really ate them too often unless my sister brought me one.

So, as I have mentioned in previous posts, my sister and I both started weight watchers in January and her visits to Macaron Cafe became nonexistent.  As one of her milestone weight goals, she decided that we would go to Macaron Cafe and share her favorite sandwich and then each get some macarons.  After months of waiting, today was finally the day we got to celebrate ate Macaron Cafe.

I have never had lunch there, but she was always a fan of their sandwiches.  Her favorite one that we ended up sharing was the Normandy.  The sandwich comes with brie, apple, raisins, lettuce, and french mustard on a baguette, but we changed it a little and got grilled chicken and no brie.

Overall, the sandwich is just as good as it sounds.  There is equal ratios of each ingredient so that none of them are overpowering.  The apples add a nice tang and crunch to the sandwich, and the raisins add a touch of sweetness.  My favorite part was the french mustard, which reminds me a bit of honey mustard  but more sharp.  The bread was also good, but I must warn you that it is very crunchy/chewy so you have to dig your teeth in and put a lot of effort into taking a bite.  I always like when the bread is a little tough, though, because then it takes longer to eat and it feels more filling.  

After the sandwich, I of course had to have a macaron.  I was a little disappointed that today they weren't carrying either of my favorite flavors, dark chocolate or nutella.  I quickly got over it, and settled on mocha which is another great flavor.  Since it was my sister's reward, she ended up getting an assortment of 6 that consisted of passion fruit (2), lemon, caramel, pistachio, and espresso (clearly we have very different tastes in macarons!).  

The mocha flavor was delicious!  The outer shell of the macaron was nice and hard, and right when you bite into it you immediately taste the soft cakey layers and the fudgy filling.  The coffee flavor came through nicely, but the chocolate flavor was definitely dominant, which is how I prefer it.  My favorite part is the filling because it is nice and rich.

I don't eat macarons very often because, while they are delicious, there are many deserts that I prefer, like cupcakes or ice cream.  That being said, the macarons from Macaron Cafe are really delicious, and I highly recommend them.  Even if you are a skeptic at first like I was, just give it a try and I'm sure you will change your mind.  

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Today, I woke up excited for muffin Tuesday because I got to make one of my favorites: Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal.  This muffin is from a recipe I found on Annies Eats (http://www.annies-eats.com/2010/05/17/peanut-butter-banana-oatmeal-muffins/), and I ended up quartering the recipe because the original makes 18 muffins.

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest and immediately repinned it because it has everything I love in it: peanut butter, banana, oats and brown sugar!  My first time making it, I was pleasantly surprised as to how moist and fluffy the muffin was.  Since I make them Tuesday mornings, I usually measure out the dry ingredients the night before and put them in a Ziploc bag so that there is one less step that I have to do in the morning.  My first time making these, however, I made the mistake of pre-measuring out the brown sugar and forgot that it would harden when exposed to the air like that.  So, that first batch had chunks of brown sugar (which actually was a delicious accident).  After making it through my rotation of muffin varieties, I was back to the beginning and made these again, this time holding off on measuring the brown sugar until the morning.  Having now made them correctly, I enjoyed the muffin that much more.  This morning was my third time making them, which is a testament to how much I like them.

The taste of peanut butter really comes through in the muffin, and the oats add a nice texture to them, while the brown sugar adds a hint of sweetness, as does the banana.  I do admit that the taste of banana is not as prominent since peanut butter has a stronger taste, but I love peanut butter so I don't mind.  Since my sister and I tend to have opposing tastes in muffins (we really can only agree on the fact that any muffin that has chocolate in it is our favorite), she has a different view of these.  Whereas I put the blueberry muffins last on my list and she puts them on the top, I put these towards the top of my list and she puts them at the bottom.  She still eats them and says that they are good, she just doesn't like them as much as some other varieties.  This could be due to the fact that she is not a huge peanut butter lover, so you really have to like peanut butter if you are going to like these.  

Regardless, this muffin variety will remain a staple on my rotation!  

Trader Joe's Pulled Chicken and Sweet Potato Tots

Since I had a pretty busy weekend and didn't get back into the city until 9:00 last night, I didn't have time to cook.  And, since my sister and I both had work today, we knew that neither of us would be able to make dinner today either.  Lucky for us, there was a package of Pulled Chicken Breast in our fridge that I bought at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and a bag of Sweet Potato Tots in my freezer.  I had been waiting to try the Pulled Chicken ever since I tried the Pulled Pork a few weeks ago, and was hoping that it would be just as good.  

In the package, the Pulled Chicken is pretty much the same as the pork, since it is in the same sauce and takes the same amount of time to heat up.  But, since it is chicken breast instead of pork, the nutritional content is much more appealing.  Whereas the pork has about 20% DV of fat and 25% DV saturated fat, the chicken only has 1% and 0% respectively.  And, if you follow weight watchers like my sister and I do, one portion is only 3 points instead of the whopping 6 points for the pork.  

Since it was only 3 points and the buns that I use are 2, I decided to complete the meal with some of Trader Joe's Frozen Sweet Potato Tots.  I have had them before, and they are a delicious alternative to the usual frozen fries.  The tots take about 30 minutes in the oven and the chicken takes only 3 minutes to heat up, so it was a very easy dinner prep.  I completed the meal with some steamed broccoli, like I always do, and overall it was a very delicious and balanced meal!

The chicken was great and had a lot of sauce on it, which made it even more tasty.  It fits perfectly on the Martin's sliced potato rolls that I use, and it even falls off the edges because the portion is so big.  The sauce tasted exactly the same to me as the pulled pork, as it had a bit of a kick to it but it wasn't overwhelming.  And, the chicken actually tasted like real pulled chicken breast and not anything fake or processed, so I would definitely buy this product again.  The sweet potato tots are also delicious and are the perfect thing to have in the freezer when you are in need of a side dish.  They are sweet and get a nice crunch to them when you leave them in the oven for long enough.  Mine always tend to get burnt a bit, as you can see in the picture, but in order for them to get crisp enough the heat has to stay pretty high.  I like when things are well done though, so I don't mind.  

Overall, this was a solid dinner and if you have a Trader Joe's near you, I recommend you buy either the Pulled Chicken or the Pulled Pork to keep in your fridge and the tots to keep in the freezer for when you are in a bind like I was today.  Both the pulled chicken and pork stay good for about 2 months in the fridge, so you have plenty of time to eat it!

The Palm

One of my family's favorite restaurants to go to is The Palm.  I first started going there when my family would visit my grandparents in East Hampton, and it instantly became one of my favorites (and this was even before I ate steak).  I always loved the side dishes, and most notably, the huge chunk of chocolate cake for dessert.  I remember the first time I saw it when they brought the dessert platter to the table, and it looked like it was 1/4 of an entire cake.  Since I was the only one in my family that wanted a chocolate dessert, I asked if they had anything smaller.  They did not, and I ended up ordering this monstrous, but so delicious, piece of cake.  Since I was pretty young and it is extremely rich, I was only able to make a small dent in it, and ended up taking the rest home.  And, if my memory serves me correctly, I think the leftover cake was my dessert for the next 5 nights, thats how big it was.

So, even though they are known as a great steakhouse, I know them as the place with the amazing chocolate cake.  Every time my family goes to the Hamptons, we go to the Palm.  My Dad also loves coming here, so we tend to go to the Palm Too in NYC a few times a year as well.

I am also an avid user of Gilt City, so a few months back when I spotted a Gilt deal for the Palm, I instantly jumped on it and bought the deal.  It was $60 for $100 worth of food, and it expires in July.  Since it is mid June and we hadn't used it yet, we figured it was the perfect time to go since it is also Father's Day Weekend.

Even though the cake is  my favorite part of the meal, I do have a lot of other favorites.  I used to order the Chicken Piccata, which is a bit strange to love from a steak house but it is always so delicious there.   But, since I have been eating steak every now and again, I usually now order Filet Mignon whenever I go to The Palm.  The steak is very tender and delicious, and it always comes out cooked perfectly.  To start off, I always get the caesar salad (they now offer a slightly smaller size in addition to the normal size, so I opt for the smaller version), and it is always good.  My dad and sister love the crabmeat cocktail, but I can't attest to how good it is because I don't eat seafood.

The other star of the meal in our eyes is the side dishes.  My family has reached the consensus that we would be perfectly happy coming to The Palm and just ordering side dishes and cake.  But, we recognize that is probably not the best route so we do order regular food.  We always usually get a vegetable, whether its steamed asparagus or brussels sprouts, and we get a potato dish.  Our ultimate favorite is the half and half, but you really cant go wrong with either the hash browns or the half and half.  We haven't ordered the hash browns our past few visits because even though they are so amazing, we just love the half and half.  It comes with their homemade chips and fried onion strings.  My favorite part is the onions, and if my stomach could bear it, I swear I could eat a whole order of them.  Between 5 of us at the table, we got an order of steamed asparagus, roasted Brussels sprouts, and the half and half, and we had some left over of each because the side orders are huge.

To finish, we obviously got the chocolate cake.  They do have some other good options on the menu, like carrot cake, a bag of warm donuts, and cheesecake, but we could never get anything besides the chocolate cake.  They now offer a smaller version (which is still very large) but we opted for the large size since there were 5 of us.  The cake is 7 layers of chocolate cake and chocolate fudge, and the top of the cake has a really thick layer of creamy and fudgy chocolate.  It also comes with their homemade whipped cream and one strawberry (which my sister and I usually eat as a joke so we can say we ate something healthy).  I am not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had.  It is a simple, no frills dessert which makes it that much more delicious because they are not trying to do anything fancy with it.  It is just a great chunk of chocolate cake.  Five of us had a slice of the large slice (and my dad had two) and there was still about 3 servings left.

The Palm has locations all around the country, so if there is one near you I highly recommend going.  In addition to their food being great, they have really cool caricatures of people all over the walls which makes there decor very unique.  In my mind, it is the epitome of a classic steakhouse, and everything there is delicious and worth the money.  I probably love  going there also because it is a classic family restaurant for me, whether it be with my grandparents in the Hamptons or my Dad in the city, and we have a lot of good memories there.   The Palm is one of my all time favorite restaurants, and if you ever have the opportunity, you should definitely go.  And, even if you feel really full from the appetizers, main course, and side dishes, you MUST get the chocolate cake!

Thomas' Diner

Since this weekend is Fathers Day weekend, my sister and I came out to Long Island to stay at our dad's house.  I alway love coming to Long Island because in addition to seeing my family that is out here, I get to go to a lot of the food places that I grew up with.  One of my all time favorite places is Thomas' Diner in Carle Place, which is a small diner that is near Roosevelt Field Mall.

It is a pretty small and understated place, and from the outside looking in it looks like a typical diner.  However, it is much more than that.  There is always a long wait there because the food is just that good.  The owners and workers there really make an effort to get to know everyone, and the owner knows me and my family by name whenever we go.  Since I live in the city now, it has sadly been about a year since I have been back and I have been waiting for the opportunity to go.  Upon reaching my new weight loss goal and knowing that I was going to be on Long Island for the whole weekend, I decided that going to Thomas' was going to be my reward.

Everything there is so delicious, and you really can't go wrong with anything.  My favorite thing is obviously the pancakes, and you can custom order them to whatever you want.  Once, I even got three different pancakes in one order (one chocolate chip, one plain, one banana chocolate chip), and they made it for me without even hesitating!  This time, I went a bite more traditional and got the banana chocolate chip, which is my favorite combo (I figured that if I was going to have these pancakes as my reward, I was going to go all out), and my dad got whole wheat blueberry pecan pancakes.  They also have a really great selection of waffles (the chocolate almond chip ones are amazing), french toast (nutella stuffed, banana stuffed, etc.), and eggs.  They do have an extensive lunch menu as well, but I can't imagine coming here and not getting breakfast food.

Today we arrived at about 1145 and got a table right away, which pretty much never happens.  Right after the owner, Thomas, sat us, he asked me and my sister how school was, what we have been up to, etc., which really shows that he makes the effort to get to know his customers.  The fact that we hadn't been back in over a year and he remembered us is really a testament to how friendly it is there.

We were all pretty hungry, so after we sat down we ordered right away.  Between the four of us at our table, we had one order of banana chocolate chip pancakes, one order of whole wheat blueberry pecan pancakes, scrambled eggs with toast, hash browns, and extra crispy bacon, and an egg white omelet with toast and hash browns.  I don't like eggs, but I always like when my family orders them because I get to steal a bite of bacon, hash browns, and toast.

When the pancakes came to the table, they were huge and fluffy, and had a lot of chocolate chips and sliced bananas in them, so I could not wait to dig in.  After taking my first bite, I remembered why I love going there so much.  The pancakes are just so delicious, and you really can't go wrong with the banana chocolate chip combo.  They are very large and I do admit I got full after eating just one, but I powered through and ate a second because I could not let two pancakes go to waste!  The last one got devoured by others at the table, so luckily it was not wasted.  The hash browns and bacon were also delicious, and according to my sources the eggs and whole wheat pancakes were just as good.  The eggs come out on their own hot skillet, which also adds a nice touch.

(The pictures show the progression of the stack of pancakes.  They come to the table with the bottom side up so that you can see all of the toppings, and they are sprinkled with powdered sugar.  I then spread all three pancakes out to cover the plate so I can choose which ones look the best, and then I dip them in maple syrup instead of pouring it on top so that I can control how much goes on each bite.  As you can see in the last picture, after I gave away the last pancake I just left a few bites of the outside of the pancake over and ate the middle, which is the best part.)

Of course, a visit to Thomas' is never complete until you leave with a muffin, so my sister and I both bought one for tomorrow morning.  They have a really nice assortment that are homemade, like Blueberry Banana, Cinnamon Coffeecake, Lemon Poppy, Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Cheesecake, and many others.  I opted for the cinnamon coffee cake because it is my all time favorite (it has a nice layer of crumbs on top and a few chocolate chips on top as well), and my sister got the lemon poppyseed.

Even though I left Thomas' feeling super stuffed, I was also very satisfied and happy that I finally got to fulfill my pancake craving from my favorite place!  My house on Long Island is about 30 minutes from Thomas' but we never hesitate to make the drive there, so if you are in the vicinity I HIGHLY recommend that you go and you won't be disappointed.  I do caution you, however, to be prepared to wait, because when we left there was a herd of people standing in the doorway waiting for a table.

Trader Joe's Stir Fried Vegetable Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce

Since the weather has been pretty gross in NYC all day, I decided that tonight was definitely a frozen meal night.  Choosing what I wanted was a challenge, since I have a bunch of Amy's and Trader Joe's frozen meals in my freezer for days like today.  After weighing my options, I settled on the Stir Fried Vegetable Rolls that I had picked up last week.

There is really nothing not to like about vegetable spring rolls, except for the fact that they are generally fried.  Because of that, I never order them in restaurants even though I want to.  So, when I saw that Trader Joe's had frozen spring rolls that you did not have to cook in oil and that were relatively low in fat, I was immediately sold.  Spring rolls are not complete, however, without a sweet dipping sauce, so I decided to also pick up a bottle of the Sweet Chili Sauce from Trader Joes.

The serving size is one vegetable roll for 130 calories, but since I was having them for dinner I had two.  They were ready after about 25 minutes in the oven, and I got very excited to see that the outside shell got nice and crispy from the oven.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the vegetable rolls.  I was worried that the shell would get soggy, but it retained the crispiness that all vegetable spring rolls have, and these weren't fried!  When I took my first bite, I got a nice big piece of tofu, and there was a nice variation of vegetables in the rolls.  The sauce, on the other hand, was a bit too spicy for me.  Since it is sweet chili sauce, I just assumed that it would have no spice to it because of the added sweetness.  While it did taste good at first, the punch of spice was too much for me and I ended up eating the rest of the spring rolls without sauce.  They still were very delicious without sauce, which to me verified that it was a great product.  They are also pretty big, so having two as dinner was filling enough for me.  If you are craving a spring roll but are trying to stay away from fried foods, I recommend these frozen spring rolls as they sure satisfied my craving!

Cascadian Farm Hearty Morning Fiber

One of my favorite ways to start the day is with a nice bowl of cereal.  Cereal has always been my go to breakfast, but I used to stick with one variety for a while and then either got sick of it or couldn't find it in store.  Some of my past favorites have been Honey Bunches of Oats with Pecan Bunches and Kashi Good Friends (Cinnamon Raisin Variety).  I loved the Kashi Good Friends because the cereal was nice and crunchy, had granola clusters, and sweet raisins.  Once I added banana to the cereal, it was the perfect way to start the day, and because the cereal was so high in fiber it was super filling.  After about a year of having this cereal everyday and getting attached to it, I was shocked to find out that it had sadly been discontinued.  And what was worse was the fact that they kept the other Kashi Good Friends variety around which to me tasted like cardboard.

Anyway, I then set out on a quest to find contenders for a replacement cereal.  I tried a bunch of different brands, but none of them had what I was looking for.  I wanted a cereal that had crunchy flakes, twigs, granola clusters, and raisins, just like the Kashi kind did.  After analyzing the cereal aisle in Whole Foods and almost being ready to give up hope, I stumbled upon Cascadian Farm Hearty Morning Fiber.  It fit all of my requirements, except it did not have raisins.  I decided to buy it anyway because I could always add raisins if I wanted to.

When I ate this cereal the next morning, I took a deep sigh of relief because I knew I finally found my go to cereal!  It is really crunchy and doesn't get too soggy in the milk, it has granola clusters, and it is high in fiber which makes it very filling.  It also is not overly sweet, but it has just enough sweetness so that it does not taste like cardboard.

Even though I recently have been varying my breakfasts and rotating between different types of cereals, yogurts, muffins, etc., this cereal always remains as a staple on my weekly list.  I love that it is healthy and tasty, and I do not even miss the raisins.  I just add half of a banana to it and it is the perfect way to start the day!

Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

One of my new obsessions has been cooking in the crock pot.  It is so easy to just put all the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on, and then come back after a few hours to a fully cooked meal.  So, when I find an easy and healthy recipe that can be cooked in the crock pot, I get super excited.

Sunday is usually my day of cooking so that I can have dinner in the fridge for a few days, but this Sunday I was pretty busy and didn't have time to stand over the stove for hours and cook dinner.  Then, I remembered this delicious recipe from skinnytaste.com for Sesame Honey Chicken (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/02/crock-pot-sesame-honey-chicken.html) and immediately decided to make it.   All I had to do was put the ingredients in the crock pot (which took about 15 minutes) and return after 4 hours and take everything out.   The sauce that the chicken cooks in pretty much just has honey, low sodium tamari sauce, onion powder, some water, garlic, tomato paste, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and some cornstarch that you add at the end.  The original recipe calls for some sriracha sauce, but I omitted it because I tend to stay away from spice.  After the 4 hours, you just shred the chicken (which is super easy because the chicken is very tender), coat it all in the sauce, and add some sesame seeds and scallions on top.  Each serving of chicken is about 1/2 cup (on skinnytaste.com it says each serving is 2/3 cup but when I made it there was less than that), and I served it with 1/2 cup of brown rice and some steamed broccoli.

The sauce on the chicken is really delicious and it is very fragrant because of the sesame oil.  There is enough of the sauce that when you mix it with the rice, it coats the rice as well, which reminds me of a dish you could find in an asian restaurant, just much healthier.  My sister recommended that for next time, I cut the broccoli into bite sized pieces and mix that into the sauce with the chicken, which sounds like a great idea to me.  

This dish is super easy to make and is really delicious.  It is also healthy, which is just an added bonus!  And, if you don't have a crock pot, I recommend investing in one because it makes cooking dinner so much easier!  I have the Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker that I ordered from Amazon for a little under $50 (http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967-6-Quart-Programmable/dp/B001AO2PXK), and trust me it is worth the price!  

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

It is that time of week again---Muffin Day!   Even though I try to keep the muffins on the healthier side,  sometimes you just need to start the morning out with some chocolate.  And chocolate can be healthy in limited quantities, right?  Well, I think so....

So, today I made Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins and  I used the recipe posted on emilybites.com (http://www.emilybites.com/2011/07/zucchini-chocolate-chip-muffins.html).  I have made these muffins before and wanted to remake them because the muffin base is really delicious, and the chocolate obviously makes them that much better.  I halved her recipe from 12 to 6, and then ultimately made 5 muffins because I follow weight watchers and after putting it into the recipe builder, each muffin was the same amount of points whether you made 5 or 6.  So I of course chose to make 5 and have them be a little bigger!  The only other slight change was using half whole wheat and half regular flour because I do not have white whole wheat flour in my apartment.

These muffins are really delicious, and the zucchini adds a nice touch because it makes the muffins a lot more moist.  You also don't even taste the zucchini, so don't let that scare you away from making these!  They also have some cinnamon, vanilla extract, and lemon juice, which helps makes the muffins more flavorful.  The best part of these though is of course the chocolate chips.  

I usually eat my muffin right when it comes out of the oven, so the chocolate is very warm and spreads more evenly throughout the muffin.  There is only 2 tbsp in the whole batch, but it is more than enough to give you that chocolate punch without it becoming too unhealthy.  If you are looking for a chocolate chip muffin recipe that is healthier than normal chocolate chip muffins, I would definitely recommend these.  The applesauce and zucchini that are in these muffins takes the place of any oil or butter that you would usually need for a muffin, and you can't even taste the zucchini.  So, before you immediately rule out making chocolate chip muffins because you think they are too unhealthy, try making these and you will be pleasantly surprised!

Peanut Butter and Sliced Banana on a Toasted English Muffin

One of my favorite breakfasts that I like to start my week off with is my Peanut Butter & Banana English Muffin Sandwich.  It is probably because I love peanut butter and banana so much, but it is such a satisfying way to start the morning!  To make it, I use a Thomas' Light Multigrain English Muffin, 1 tbsp of Skippy Roasted Honey Nut Peanut Butter (which as I mentioned in a previous post, is my all time favorite peanut butter) and 1/2 of a sliced, ripe banana.  Thomas' is a trusted brand of choice for the english muffin, and I especially like the light multigrain one because it is only 100 calories, has 32% daily value of fiber, and is really tasty!

I usually leave the english muffin in the toaster for about 2 and a half minutes, which in my toaster oven  is enough time for it to get warm and fluffy on the inside, with a slight crunch on the outside.  Then, I wait about 30 seconds for it to slightly cool off before I add the tablespoon of peanut butter.  And finally, I top it with sliced banana.  

Since I add the peanut butter while the english muffin is still warm, it gets very melty which makes the peanut butter have an even stronger and more delicious taste.  The banana on top just adds a nice finishing touch to this dish and brings all the flavors together.  I usually end up having this for breakfast every Monday as it is a great way to start off the week!  

If you are like me and like to vary your breakfast options, I would definitely recommend adding this to your rotation!

Ralph's Ices

Growing up on Long Island, one of the staple dessert places that everyone knew about was Ralph's Italian Ices.  There were a bunch of them all over Long Island, and there was one 5 minutes from my house that we would frequent all the time (sometimes we would go multiple times a week).   So, when I moved to the city, one of the saddest parts about leaving Long Island behind was not having access to Ralph's!  Yes, there are a lot of ice cream places in the city, but Ralph's specializes in their creme ices which ice cream cannot replace.

So I was thrilled last year when I heard that a Ralph's had opened up in the city.  What was even more amazing was the fact that their sole location in the city was one block away from where I was living!  Of course, I saw this as a sign that I needed Ralph's in my life and now that they have re-opened for the spring/summer season, I usually go once every week or so.

They have an extremely long list of water ice and creme ice flavors, but I can not imagine ever getting the water ices because their creme ices are so delicious.  The creme ice flavors include Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Birthday Cake, Rainbow Cookie, Java Chip, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, and many many more.  They also have regular ice cream, soft serve, and delicious shakes.

(Just as a side note for the picture---I took it after having a few bites so usually you get a lot more in the small.  It was just so good that I forgot to take the picture at first!)

Even though they have a wide range of flavors and I usually do a taste test of a new flavor every time I go, I always end up getting the same 2 flavors: Peanut Butter Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Fudge Pretzel (or Peanut Butter Candy Bar Fudge if I am on Long Island since they don't have that flavor in the city).  The peanut butter ices are so delicious and really taste like creamy peanut butter.  The texture of their ices is also great, especially when it is a hot day because they tend to be more melty and fudgy.

My sister usually gets either regular cookie dough, birthday cake, or java chip and she has rave reviews for all of them.  Everything they have is really good, and they have such a large selection of flavors and varieties that everyone can find something they are looking for.  While I would not call the ices healthy, they are definitely healthier than regular ice cream and it is more delicious, in my opinion.  If you are in the city near 24th and lex, or anywhere on Long Island, you should definitely pay them a visit!  I would also advise you to try the peanut butter flavors, but you really can't go wrong no matter what you choose.

UPDATE:

To celebrate my sister reaching one of her weight loss goals, we went to Ralph's for dessert.  To make it special, she vowed that she was going to get the Cake Shake.  Since she was getting a shake, I obviously had to join in and get one as well!  We have pretty different tastes, so I opted to get the Peanut Butter Blast.  The Cake Shake is a blend of vanilla ices, cake creme frappee, sprinkles, 1% milk, and topped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles, and the Peanut Butter Blast is a blend of peanut butter ices, ghiradelli frappee, 1% milk, and topped with whipped cream and reeses pieces.

Oh. My. God.  The Peanut Butter Blast is the most amazing shake ever.  If you love peanut butter like I do, it is a must!!!  Obviously it is not something you can get too often, but it is definitely something to treat yourself to every now and again.  It is so creamy and peanut buttery and the reeses pieces on top make it even better.  I did struggle to finish it because it is so large and filling, but it is just so good that I couldn't waste any of it!  My sister basically had the same response to her cake shake, so if you are a vanilla lover definitely go for that one!