Limited Drinks and No Fast Food--How Will We Ever Survive?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think going completely cold turkey and taking the 100 Days of Real Food challenge would have been easier than taking the 100 Days of Real Food mini challenges.  Part of my issue is that I'm constantly thinking to myself, 'Wait, what was the new challenge this week? And wait, what was last week's challenge?' 

Then of course there are the times I miss blogging about a week--like last week for example. I started the post, but life got in the way.

Thanks a lot, life.

As the week progressed, and I continued to not post about the fourth week's challenge, the realization sunk in that if I had just given everything up, then I would at least know that basically everything is off limits.

Of course then I considered that if I had made such a move I might not be writing this post from the comfort of my home. Instead I might be writing it from my jail cell, reflecting on how jumping blindy into a food challenge led to the worst food rage known to man.

Even so, I am recognizing that I am now making better choices in my eating. I question what I really want, I question what I really need, and I drink water constantly and eat more fruits and vegetables than ever before.

Homemade Kale and Basil Pesto

The most difficult challenge thus far was certainly last last week:

Week Four: "Real" beverages: Beverages will be limited to coffee, tea, water, and milk (only naturally sweetened with a little honey or 100% pure maple syrup). One cup of juice will be allowed throughout the week, and wine (preferably red) will be allowed in moderation (an average of one drink per day). 

This shouldn't have been so challenging. I haven't had a need to drink soda since the 9th grade, I rarely drink juice and if I do it is usually Bai 5 drinks which are 100% natural using only natural sweeteners and colors and coffeefruit extract (the fruit that surrounds the coffee bean). Basically it is the most amazingly good-for-you drink out there that has tons of flavor and a teeny tiny 10-calorie count per bottle. While I do drink wine, if I have more than two or three glasses in a week, then that was one crazy week!

Milkshakes are definitely an occasional weakness, but specialty coffees hold the key to my heart. Lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, basically anything with frothed milk and espresso makes me weak in the knees.

The only problem is that most of these drinks contain a lot of sugar. Luckily a cappuccino and your bare bones latte are still just espresso and milk, but of course during the past two week's my mouth desperately has been craving the sweet flavor of caramel throughout my drink.

I've been strong.

This pictures was not taken during the last two weeks, I promise. Ps: It's a Salted Pretzel Latte--yum?!

Most of the time.

I'm still keeping up with the other challenges. I haven't been able to loyally serve two fruits or veggies with every meal, but I start out my day with some fruit, occasionally adding a little peanut butter in the mix. At lunch I've tried to have a veggie and fruit, but most days I'm lucky to have brought anything with me for lunch. 

While I'm at it, I'll cover what Week Five looked like:

Week Five: No fast foods or deep-fried foods: No fast foods or any foods that have been deep-fried in oil.

Because our eating habits have been slowly changing, we actually haven't had too much of a struggle avoiding fast foods. Of course, this might depend on what you classify as fast food versus what I classify as fast food. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, etc...those are my "fast foods". Things like Wawa (which if you don't live on the east coast you don't have and my heart cries for you), Panera, and Qdoba I don't really lump into the 'fast food' category. It's like I saw on a sign at Pei Wei a few weeks ago: Food fast, not fast food. Naturally, you still have to be cautious. There are healthy and not-so-healthy choices at such places. And yes, what they are cooking with is probably not 100% natural. And yes, some might have items that are deep-fried (meaning now I've got to avoid them!) but they aren't of the same exact caliber of your typical fast food burger joint.

McDonald's used to be a dear friend of mine, but after a few months without it, I went and ordered a small fry (this was probably three weeks ago, before the fast food challenge) and I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was a bad batch, the wrong time of day, they had been sitting for a while, or perhaps my tastes have changed and the thrill of McDonalds is wearing off.*

*Note: I still ate that entire fry. I had to be sure.

I'm really learning, most of all, that when I'm hungry the worst-for-me-things are usually the most convenient (cookies, cakes, chips, chocolates--looks like today's letter is 'C'). But in the end they always leave me wanting more.

The same, I think, can be said for dinner. I've noticed when I overstuff myself* on fatty foods, foods that don't have a lot of 'real' foods to them, I feel bloated but longing for something better, almost regretting having chosen something of a lower quality.

*Note: This was the first challenge, and everyday I work on reminding myself of the importance of not overstuffing myself.

Though I haven’t been overly strict, yes I had one caramel latte two weeks ago; I wouldn’t say I’m miserably failing these challenges. If anything, they are alerting my mind to better standards for eating and living healthy.

Valentine Foodie Adventures in NYC

I may have admitted this before, but I am going to do so again. I hate taking pictures of my food when I’m at a restaurant. Aside from the fact that just about everyone and their momma does it these days, to me, it makes a person seem so, I don’t know, touristy? Odd? Out of place? I mean, since when did documenting every single thing we eat become a necessity of life? At what point would I ever say to myself, I desperately need to look at a picture of last week’s dinner to get through this day,???

Then I remember that I have a food blog. That I am going to be describing these foods to those of you who endure my writings. This makes me desperately want a picture to help your mind relate to my words.

The problem I then face is that there is no way in heaven or hell I would pull out my DSLR camera at a nice restaurant. That is beyond crazy, beyond touristy. The only alternative is to try to nonchalantly snap shots with my phone, with the flash off, naturally.*

*With the flash on, you run the risk of being that person who interrupts everyone with their continual bright lights, because of course, one picture is never enough. And second, when in dark restaurants the flash seems to only make the picture worse, rather than better.

That said, endure with me if you will, the quality of some of the below pictures and the best attempt I can give at describing what all in all was an absolutely divine foodie weekend.

We got into the city around 7 pm, which if you know Hubby’s work schedule is pretty much miraculous. Knowing my need to have Italian food at least once during the weekend, he made reservations at Tony’s Di Napoli in Times Square. Tony’s is family style, which is great for a large party but with two people it means more than likely there will be leftovers.

Of course, that could also be because we ordered two different items, both which feed 2-3 people. We got Chicken Parmesan because that is an absolute must. The cheese on the chicken was perfection and the chicken was pounded and coated beautifully. Wanting a pasta to go with it, we ordered the meatballs and spaghetti. It was the same price as the baked ziti and we figured we were already getting cheese on the chicken parm so we might as well order pasta that comes with more meat! The meatballs were traditional Italian, meaning Hubby still likes mine more. I’ve come to find that most meatballs lean too hard on the dry side. I use parmesan in mine and they are always moist throughout. The sauce was sweet, and the pasta, of course, was wonderful.

We scooped up some coffees from our favorite coffee place, Caffe Bene on our way back to our hotel. It pretty much served as something to keep us from freezing over. For dessert, we enjoyed a chocolate mousse cake I bought ahead of time at Trader Joe’s with champagne Hubby surprised me with for Valentine’s Day.

Picking what bagel place to go to for breakfast was a task. For starters, there are dozens upon dozens of bagel places in New York. And, as Santa points out in the movie Elf about NYC pizza places, they all claim to be the best. The one that kept coming up in our Google searches was Absolute Bagels. The name sounded all wrong to me. The best bagel place in NYC can’t possibly have such an obvious name, I thought. Yet they had so many great reviews, and were at the top of many top ten lists, that Hubby was convinced we should give them a try.

Of course, they weren’t anywhere near our hotel. During our Saturday, we went as far uptown as 107^th (Breakfast) and as far downtown as 5^th (dinner), possibly the furthest amount of Manhattan we have ever covered in one day.

The line was to the door, which is always a good sign. The seating area was packed. The only issue we ran into was that when it came time to order we realized it was cash only and had to run out and find an ATM.

Good times.

When we returned, the line was shorter and the eating area started to clear out. Hubby ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese on a poppy seed bagel. I was toying with the idea of ordering a bagel with lox and cream cheese, but went with my classic order: an egg bagel with plain cream cheese. I figured I wouldn’t be able to truly compare it to New Jersey bagels if I ordered anything different.

The bagel size was average. I’ve been spoiled with ridiculously huge bagels at my local bagel shop. I’m not sure I could have eaten anything larger though. The bagel had a nice chew to it. Of all the bagels I have tasted in New Jersey, they all have toughness to them that require what I can only define as a tear-away-bite. These bagels were so soft that no such motion was necessary. The most surprising element was the flavor throughout the bagel. It was unlike any I have ever experienced, but in a deliciously wonderful way. It was a subtle sweetness that made the bagel even more enjoyable. I imagine it was some sort of addictive substance.

Other than making sure you bring cash, also make sure you get your coffee somewhere else. They made mine way too sweet and I ended up tossing it on our way out.

Of course, we immediately looked up local coffee shops and found our way over to Columbia University where a tiny shop called ‘Joe’ is hidden. There I had the best cappuccino of my life, no lie. Though you expect cappuccino to have a slight bitterness to it, this one also had a natural sweetness throughout that I thoroughly enjoyed.

We chose Mimi’s Pizza and Restaurant on the Upper East Side for our pizza experience. Using our Food Network app, we discovered that Bobby Flay worked there as a delivery boy and still claims they have the best pizza.

I wanted to try the Sicilian, but Hubby convinced me that in order to get the true pizza feel we had to go with a traditional plain cheese pizza. The cheese was incredible. There was a lot, so if you don’t like cheese, well, I can’t imagine that you like pizza very much either. The sauce was sweet, I would have wanted a little more, but it went well with the cheese, which, again, was amazing. The crust was crisp, which always is my preference, but there was something about the flavor that kept me from loving it.

Overall, for a first true NYC pizza experience, I’d say they were the perfect introduction. Chances are though, as with most restaurants in NYC, we won’t go there again. There are too many other options out there to give something that we weren’t completely head over heels over another try.

While we were uptown for breakfast, Hubby discovered The Hungarian Pastry Shop.

Unknown fact: I am Hungarian. I often highlight my Italian heritage, but the truth of the matter is that I am actually more Hungarian than anything else. So it was cute when Hubby suggested visiting a Hungarian pastry shop right by where we had just enjoyed our bagels. It was hidden away, with no bells and whistles calling visitors from off the street. Only a simple “Hungarian Pastry Shop” over hang.

Inside it was difficult to know what to order because there was so much to choose from: cookies, pastries, and more! We ordered a cheese bread, another cheese pastry, and baklava. The cheese bread was devoured as we walked from Subway stops. It brought to mind the cheese bread of a local diner near my home, but a thousand times better. The amount of cheese inside was what I dream about when I eat cheese bread, but not often when I get. We saved our other pastries for breakfast the next morning. They were good, but we plan to go back again for a cinnamon roll and a cheese puff that we heard someone ordering as we were on our way out.

On Sunday when we left the city, we stopped at White Manna Hamburgers in Hackensack, NJ. This tiny burger joint was covered by Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We both ordered a double cheese burger with onions, fries, and shakes. The griddle is in the center of the eating area which seats no more than 20 people. The burgers are small, reminding us of White Castle burgers, only fresh. The burger chef smacks down what I’m guessing were 1/8 pounds of meat with a spatula, piles the onions on, then flips it over and keeps smacking the meat with the spatula.

As we waited for our food we watched as many ‘regulars’ came in and ordered 4 to 8 burgers to go. Though they were tiny, and delicious, I don’t think I could have eaten more than one burger. The fries were fried to perfect crispiness, but the shakes were extremely watery, so much that I questioned the amount of ice cream actually used.

We spent the day shopping at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets and on our way home ate at a restaurant near Hubby’s work.

RoosterSpin is a Korean wine bar and eatery in Westfield, NJ. If you have never been to Westfield, take a drive and visit on a warm Saturday afternoon. Cute shops and restaurants line the streets and make me wish we could afford the obnoxious price of rent.

We ordered their double fried chicken wings, a snow corn roll, and a spicy tuna roll.

The spicy soy sauce on the wings gave them a peppery bite, but the crispy skin was what kept me grabbing more. I think it was the best skin I have ever tasted on fried chicken.

The snow corn roll was tempura shrimp with mango, avocado, and crabmeat inside. Corn, black tobiko, and mayo sauce covered the outside of the roll. It was warm, it was sweet, it was the most delicious and unique bit of sushi I have ever experienced.

The spicy tuna roll was pretty basic with spicy tuna, crab meat, massago, cucumber, crisp Korean yam, and potato. It was a little too spicy for me (can you sense a pattern with my taste buds here?) but all the other flavors made me push past the spice.

Almost all of their desserts involved some sort of chocolate mousse, considering Hubby’s love of mousse it was impossible to resist. I ordered the Oreo mousse cake. What I loved was the variety of flavor in the layers. It wasn’t just an overpowering chocolate on chocolate mousse cake. White chocolate mousse layered with chocolate mousse and a cakey crust really made this cake stand out.

I’m sure by this point, if you read my otherpost; you are wondering where I hid away my 8-course Valentine’s Day dinner. Though all the meals of our Valentine’s foodie weekend were mind blowing, this dinner demands a post devoted entirely to the unique experience offered.

Look for it soon. 

Caffe Bene, New York, NY

I promise, I have been cooking.

If you read my other blog you know I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I have just simply started a new job.  But I must say, I've had so many food related thoughts for posts come into my mind that I've been a little sad to not be able to share them with you.

And it just doesn't feel right cooking a meal without taking a million pictures.

Since I haven't been taking a million pictures of the things I have cooked over the last two months (Poor planning on my part!  Sorry, not perfect just yet....), I'll be starting simple by sharing with you my favorite coffee place in NYC.

Hubby and I were in NYC a few months ago.  He had a meeting to attend for work and I demanded to come along.  So while he sat in a meeting, I shopped in Times Square.

It was a little warm out, so naturally, my thirst grew.  The one piece of advice I'd like to give here is this: when your thirst grows in NYC, do not give in and run into a Starbucks!  You can do better!

Don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks, really I do!  But there is one located five minutes from my house.  So, why buy Starbucks, that I can get at home, when I'm in a city that offers a well rounded variety of possibilities in the coffee department alone?

This little place caught my eye:

and I decided I was going in.

*Confession time.  I did feel a slight pang of guilt that I would be enjoying a delicious coffee whilst hubby was sitting in his boring meeting.  However, I made up for it later.  Wait and see.

Since it was warm out, I went for a Mocha Frappe.  I felt even more guilty because this is hubby's drink of choice, not mine.  I'm typically an iced latte type of person.

But I was so glad I chose it.  It was smooth and creamy with the perfect amount of espresso throughout.  The best part?  I didn't crunch on a single speck of ice like I typically do when drinking a mocha frappe of other coffee establishments.

And, I'm not too proud to admit, it was halfway gone before I had even walked a block away.

I was in such a state of euphoria as I drank my frappe that the time flew by and before I knew it I was waiting for hubby to come out of the Nasdaq building.  Quickly, I confessed my sin of drinking without him and finished my statement by demanding that we go back after dinner.

Hubby got the Mocha Frappe and was, of course, quite impressed.  I ordered a cappuccino and was then talked into one of Caffe Bene's specialties by the girl who rang us up.

Are you ready for this?

Waffle.  Ricotta.  Fig jam (with bacon in it).  Almond slivers.  

Don't think, why?  Just think, wow.  Because it was wow.  So, so, wow!

Never would I have ordered such a thing on my own.  But I was so glad I did.

The one and only downside that I must tell you of Caffe Bene is that there is only one in NYC and only two in all of America.

That makes me a little sad inside.  

But, on the upside, it gives me reason to visit NYC more often.  And, I think I can handle that...