Spreads

A new sandwich place just opened near my apartment, Spreads, and it has been on my list of places to try.  Lunch is always tricky for me because I usually either bring something to work or have something in my apartment, so it is a rare occurrence for me to eat out during the week.  But, today I didn't have to go into work so I used it as an opportunity to finally give Spreads a try.  They have a lot of interesting sandwiches and salads on their menu, but the one that caught my eye was the Nutella sandwich.  I know, you are probably thinking that this doesn't sound like the most balanced lunch, and you are probably right.  However, after reading that the sandwich consisted of Nutella, Peanut Butter, carmelized rice puffed cereal, and banana on grilled challah bread, I did not really care!  This sounded like a killer combination, and I had to give it a try.

I originally planned to only eat half of the sandwich because I figured that it would be huge and rich, but it was surprisingly small.  After I took my first bite, I was very disappointed because I could barely taste any Nutella or peanut butter!  The banana slices were pretty thick and there was a lot of the rice puffed cereal, but only a very thin layer of Nutella on one side and peanut butter on the other.  All I could really taste was the challah bread, and it wasn't even that good.  Since I had already committed to having this as my lunch, I ate the whole thing because I knew if I only ate half I would be hungry within the hour.  

I left there feeling very disappointed and unsatisfied.  What originally seemed like a sandwich that could not possibly be bad turned into one of the worst I have had in a while.  If I get a craving for this combo again, I will just make it myself and I am sure it will be 20 times better.  I cannot comment on the other sandwiches there which I will say looked good, but I would not recommend getting the Nutella sandwich.  It is not worth the cost or the calories.  

Molly's Cupcakes

I have been taking a finance course over the summer (yuck!) to fulfill a requirement for school and to get it out of the way, and today was the final.  After a long weekend of studying and spending hours creating the world's most intense study sheet, I knew that I wanted to find some way to celebrate finishing the class.  Of course, I immediately thought, "what special food/dessert item should I treat myself to?"  Since I haven't had a cupcake in a while and have been craving one, I settled on that.  The next step was deciding where to get it from, because there are tons of places in the city that you can supposedly find the "best cupcake."  I have been to Magnolias, Butter Lane, Sprinkles, Georgetown Cupcake, and Two Little Red Hens, among others, so I have definitely gotten around to sampling some of NYCs best offerings.  Instead of going back to one of these places, I remembered Molly's Cupcakes- a place I have been meaning to try for a while.

I first looked them up on yelp and saw they have 4 1/2 stars, which is a very good sign.  Then, when I looked on their website and saw their menu, I knew I had to come here.  The first specialty cupcake listed on the menu is the Ron Bennington, which is a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter filling, chocolate ganache frosting, and a crushed butterscotch topping.  Needless to say, I was immediately sold.  I continued looking at the menu just to see what the other offerings were, and I couldn't believe I had never been here before!  Some of the other cupcakes that sounded awesome to me were the Cake Batter (vanilla confetti cake filled with raw cake batter, topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles), the Cookie Monster (vanilla chocolate chip cake, raw cookie dough center, buttercream, and a mini chocolate chip cookie on top), the Salted Caramel Butterscotch (vanilla cake filled with butterscotch caramel pudding, topped with salted vanilla buttercream and caramel drizzle), Peanut Butter Nutella (peanut butter cake filled with nutella, topped with nutella buttercream), and Flourless Molten Chocolate (flourless chocolate cake, dulce de leche ganache filling, french vanilla buttercream, and chocolate drizzle), to name just a few.  They also have a bunch of fruity cupcakes (mixed berry, lemon meringue, peach cobbler, blueberry cheesecake, etc.) but none of those particularly appealed to me.  Even though all of their offerings sounded delicious, I knew I had to get the Ron Bennington.

After much anticipation and a sigh of relief after finishing my final, I finally made my way over to Molly's Cupcakes.  It is a very cute shop nestled in the heart of the West Village, and is worth making the trip.  All of the cupcakes in the display case looked perfect, and even better than I had imagined.  While I could have easily bought a half dozen, I just got the famed Ron Bennington for myself, and the Cake Batter for my sister.  I took them to go, but if you are coming here with someone else they have tables to sit at where you can play board games while devouring your treat.  I made it back to my apartment at around 3pm, and opened the box to see the beautiful cupcakes staring at me.

Since it was only 3pm and I was trying to wait to have the cupcake for dessert, I had to immediately close the box.  The next three hours were torture, as I sat there on the couch thinking about this cupcake.  Finally, I finished dinner and it was cupcake time!  

Just when I thought I could not get more excited, I cut into this and saw the creamy peanut butter filling!  I finally took my first bite, and was in heaven.  You will happily know that it is even better than it looks in the picture, and that says a lot. Every aspect of this cupcake is delicious, and it is safe to say that this was the best cupcake I have ever had.  Yes, that means better than Magnolia's, Sprinkles, and all of the aforementioned cupcake establishments that I have been to.  The chocolate cake is so moist and chocolatey, and while I usually am disappointed by the base of a cupcake, this one was great.  The chocolate ganache frosting, however, was by far my favorite part.  It is so fudgy, rich, decadent, and chocolatey.  A lot of cupcakes with chocolate frosting are too sweet which overpowers the chocolate flavor, but these have the perfect balance.  Then, after a few bites of pure bliss, just when you are thinking that it couldn't possibly get any better, you reach the peanut butter center.  It balances out perfectly with the chocolate, and is a peanut butter lovers dream.  The crushed butterscotch on top also added a nice dimension to the cupcake.

If you are in NYC, don't buy into the hype surrounding the better known establishments like Magnolia's, and instead go to Molly's.  Their cupcakes are so unique and creative, and you will not be disappointed.  I HIGHLY recommend the Ron Bennington, and am already looking forward to the next time I will be able to return and enjoy my new favorite cupcake.  

(Just as a side note--this is the inside of the Cake Batter cupcake.  I tried a bite, and while the Ron Bennington is still my favorite by far, this one was very good too!)

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!  

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!

Peanut Butter, Banana and Jelly Panini

One of my favorite lunches that I usually treat myself to about once a week is a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, with banana.  To elevate it even more, I put it on the panini press for a few minutes so that the peanut butter gets all melty and delicious.  I make it with 2 slices of Weight Watchers Whole Wheat Bread, 1 tbsp of Skippy Roasted Honey Nut Creamy Peanut Butter (the BEST peanut butter in my opinion), 1/2 of a banana, and 1/2 tbsp of this amazing Cherrycot Jam that I get at the farmers market in the city.  Even though it may sound like the quantities are small, they are more than enough once you start to spread it on the bread.

I am a huge peanut butter fan so this sandwich is one of my all time favorites.  It feels like a treat, but it really is not too unhealthy since I measure out the quantities and don't allow myself to go overboard with the amount of peanut butter, since it is pretty fattening.  Adding the banana and putting it on the panini press are essential for me because it really brings out the flavors of each component, and makes it more of an adult version of the classic PB&J