Gilt Taste Review & Terrific Tofurky!

Have you every been to http://www.gilttaste.com ? It is incredible. Basically, it's an online shop featuring ridiculous, crazy, often expensive yet, exciting food.

Here are a few things I saw today that I want to try when I'm rich :) (Just kidding, a lot of stuff on the site is affordable especially their pantry section.

Lobster Mac and Cheese - $62.95 for 4

Eleni's New York

Daisy Cookies - $94.95 for 52

Artisanal Premium Cheese

Château Collection- $278.00

Food Connect, Inc.

Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce - $10.95

Amazing, eh

Here is what I had for dinner last night & lunch today.

A big bowl of my favorite, vinegar-tastic salad. See recipe here.

 

For some protein, I cooked up this stuff. Half for dinner by itself and the rest for lunch w/ rice. 

Outdoor Grill Approved! Too bad i live in a small bbq-less apartment in NYC.

I tried to burn it a bit to get the bbq taste!! It worked - this was sooo good. I mixed it with marinara sauce & topped with a bit of fat free Caesar & chili flakes. Yum!

 

"You know, that is a sign of how your life is going"

That is what a coworker said to me today when she discovered that I was wearing mismatched socks.

One white, one striped. 

I think she's right - if I can't even bother to spend the time or energy to wear matching socks to work, something must be up right? It's one thing that I take my boots off while sitting at my desk, but to expose my lack of organization to my coworkers? Ugh.

Everything seems a bit off lately. Maybe it's the change of seasons? I'm finding that I'm often tired, my room is a mess and I am having a hard time focusing at work

Since this is a food blog, not a complaining blog, here are my meals :)

Lunch

weird combo, right? - I was hungry 2 hours later

• Romaine & tomato salad with balsami
• A handful of cucumber slices
• teriyaki tofu (see below) mixed with cashews and some Soyaki sauce from Trader joes
• 1 cup of cottage cheese topped with Red Curry sauce
• 3 lemon slices that I enjoyed with water throughout the day

So good, i eat it raw.

Dinner

• Romaine lettuce chopped
• A hearty handful of cashews
• About half of the above teriyaki tofu
• Some reduced fat cheddar 
• Trader Hies Sesame Soy Vinaigrette (yummy)
• 1 clove of chopped garlic.  

mmmm teriyaki sesame- tastic

 Thats all folks! I'm off to a farewell party for a coworker. Maybe a few of these will make me feel better!

Recipe: Panzerotti a la Caitlin

My first job was wonderful.

From the time I was 15 years old until my first year of university was over, I worked at the pizza shop in my small Canadian town. I loved this job. Truly loved it. Making pizza was like doing arts and crafts. I made great money for a teenager, they even made me the manager. Interacting with customers was so much fun, and the girls I got to work with were amazing.

This experience has caused me to brag endlessly to my BF about my pizza and calzone / panzerotti making abilities. Finally, it was time for me to prove it.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups white flour (or for a healthier spin do half whole wheat, half white & add flax)
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 cups of warm water.

 First, follow the directions on the yeast package. Once it has risen in the water (about 10 minutes), add the other ingredients.

Mix it all together in a bowl and you get this:

Once thoroughly mixed, soft and not too sticky, roll it in a ball an place in a steel bowl. Cover with saran wrap for 20 minutes until it rises.

 Divide into 4 parts - makes 4 panzerottis  (I made one for myself & one for BF, the rest went into his freezer)

 

Add sauce & fill with toppings. You can put almost anything in there - if you're feeling crazy anything from greek themed to dessert versions, get creative.

Cover with cheese. I had green pepper, garlic and mushroom. BF had the same this but added some spicy salami.

Rolled em up and close the ends so that they don't leak in the oven. Brush with egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp of water) Cut to lines in the top so that it looks pretty & has ventilation.

topped with MORE cheese and some spices

Bake @ 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

tada!!! BF approved

serve with marinara sauce and sriracha

There you have it! Have a great night everyone :)

-Caitlin

Candlenut Cake - Aussie Recipe

When I was in Australia about 2 years ago, my best friend & I created this delicious cake. We came across Candlenuts in the Woolworth grocery store while we were staying in the Daintree. They were the same texture as macadamia nuts, but bitter.

Candlenut trees are native to the tropical northern rainforests of Australia, the Moluccas Islands, Malaysia, and are found on many islands in the South Pacific. Roasted slivers or shavings of candle nut have a pleasing, nutty, almond-like flavor without the background bitterness characteristic of almonds. Source
You can buy them online and at some specialty grocery stores.

correction: roasted candlenuts. Click to enlarge

lots of good stuff going on in this picture :)

the beautiful house we stayed at called Hawlyn

Have a great weekend!

A Walk in the Park

To savor the last bit of summer, I went to the Ramble in Central Park. It is my favorite spot - you literally feel like you stepped into another world. 

It even smells fresh. It is actually quiet.

the leaves are already starting to fall!

just before sunset

my apartment (jk!)

I have to run to a corporate party very shortly but I thought I would throw up some pictures since I didn't yesterday. Here is what I had for breaky today.

Breakfast: trader joes plain fat free greek yogurt with thawed frozed strawberries, a handful of Cinnamon Pecan Special K and some cashews. It was ridiculous.

Alright i'm off to schmooze and booze!

Nighty night!!

Hey Lady, Eat a Salad!

 Want an excuse to eat cheese? Put some lettuce under it!

Last night I made an outstanding salad that was quick, easy and kept me the right amount of full. After eating this I went to the gym & had heaps of energy - I even resisted the urge to eat something before bed.

How to do this...

crunchy. 

goat cheese glory

 Did you know that goat cheese has more slightly protein, less fat and a bit more calcium compared to cow's? Goat's cheese or Chèvre will add a burst of flavor to any dish. Although hard goat cheese and drunken goat cheese are very good, I prefer the soft varieties. What about you?

Some ways that I like to incorporate this tasty treat into my meals:

• add to an omlette or on top of your scrambled eggs
• crumble it on any salad, especially ones that have fruit
• use it in a veggie wrap to add a bit of protein, calcium & fat
• spread soft goat cheese on bread / crackers and eat it with jam 
• slice a heirloom tomato, add dried or fresh basil & some goat cheese.

 Try it out for yourself! Now for a video that I used to watch with friends after the bar in Uni....

Product Review: Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo

I'm always looking to try new fake meat products - that being said, I've had a lot of bad experience with those fake smoke flavored, terrible textured, barely edible products. When I saw this guy at Trader Joe's , I thought why the hell not!

Stats:

salty!

I'll be honest, I had no idea what Chorizo was. So I turned to my good pal Google.

According to About.com ..." Chorizo is made by chopping or grinding pork and “marinating” it in spices. Spanish paprika (sweet or spicey) is the spice which is gives chorizo its characteristic flavor and distinguishes it from other sausages. The casing of the chorizo is usually made from pork, if made at home"  Gross, right?

Then I ran into the issue of having no idea how to cook this stuff. Trader Joe's products usually include a hint of a recipe but this packaging did not.

Attempt # 1 - Being nonethewiser, I just threw it in a frying pan and paired with a few rando sauces I had kicking in my fridge.

not even ketchup could save this mess

Result - Not good. Not good at all. The actual fake meat came in a plastic casing and kind of smushed out like Eloise's wet cat food. Barf. The texture alone was enough to give up. I was expecting a slicing-friendly sausage that I could dip like a veggie hot dog. This was SO BAD that I actually ended up tossing this & had some trustworthy tofu with veggies instead.

much better

Attempt #2 - Never one to give up on my dear friend Trader Joe, I thought I would give this stuff another shot. The huuuge package comes with so much fake chorizo I felt like I had to. This time I used Google again and searched "Chorizo recipe". I found that most people mixed the real meat version with eggs or used it in stews / chillis. Since I had some eggs & veggies, this seemed like the easiest option: a skillet like creation.

2 eggs, frozen carrots & broccoli, low fat  cheddar and lots o ketchup

Result - I was really good! I only used a bit of the chorizo and it added a spicy, meat-like (but not too meaty) taste to the dish. This was like nothing I've ever made before. I highly recommend putting this easy dish together if you're feeling ravenous. I was full for hours and hours, even after spinning class.

 What did I learn from this? Do some research before diving into any unknown fake meat otherwise you might be disgusted. Also, never give up on Trader Joe's  :)

Happy Monday everyone! 

Fashion's Night Out + Back in the City

I'm back in the city! Going home felt really great. I missed my family. A lot. It was really nice to just go to my small town and hang around. I went to the barn a lot, went for walks with my mom, slept in, went in the 60 degree swimming pool (brisk!) and had a really great time. On my flight back, BF surprised me and had paid to get on the same flight as me as he was in Toronto for business. What a cutie.

Coming back to reality has been tough - I totally have post-vacation blues. Luckily, this Thursday my very best friend in the whole wide world is coming to New York. Can't wait!!!!

Living in New York has allowed me to experience a lot of interesting, entertaining and new events. Last Thursday night it was Ms. Wintour's FNO. Although I just toured SoHo for a little while, I was lucky enough to see some pretty cool things. 

First stop, Longchamp. 

Free champange? Whynot!

What lovely carry on bags!

 Next stop (really more of a walk by), Dash. This store had hundreds, maybe even thousands of people outside because Kim K was making an appearance. Not the biggest fan of this reality star. Also, Pauly D from the Jersey Shore was spinning tunes to celebrate the evening. There was way way way too many people so I didn't stick around. I mean, I love Pauly D and everything but just not thatttt much.

yikes!

Last stop, Bloomingdale's on Broadway. Billy Joel & Christy Brinkley's daughter Alexix was there & did some singing. She was relatively talented. Also, there was an artist who was doing portraits for free. It was pretty cool.

I stopped in a few other stores, nothing too noteworthy. Overall, a pretty cool night hosted by the city's retail stores.  I went to FNO last year & have to admit that this year was a bit disappointing. Last year the stores were not as busy.Word got out that there was free booze to be consumed! 

This morning I did not have time to make my lunch, so SeamlessWeb it was!

Lunch: 2 roll sushi combo with green salad & miso soup. I got an avocado cucumber roll & a sweet potato tempura roll. The cado-cuc roll was great but the sweet potato tempura roll was not. It wasn't a sweet potato, but a regular white potato, so weird! Not only that, the potato wasn't cooked & the tempura was soggy. Yuck!

 

 I have to be in a special mood to get salmon or anything adventurous, when I do I almost always enjoy it.  What kind of sushi do you like?

That's it for me tonight! I hope all of you are having a nice week :)

A f

Hungry for Home

Tomorrow morning I am flying home to Canada and I am so very excited. I was originally headed home for a wedding but the dates got mixed up. It is my mom's birthday this weekend so it all worked out that I am getting to spend some extra time with her! On Friday night I am meeting up with BF and my aunt & uncle for a nice dinner (can't wait to see all of them)! Then Saturday I'll be headed home until Monday night. I really, really, really just want to get there. I love New York City, but I still need the people and the places I came from. I can't wait to see my friends. I can't wait to hold my pets. I especially cannot wait to see my family. Yay!

Last night I had a work dinner with my team and had the opportunity to go to a fancy restaurant called Mas (farmhouse). This place is very cute, tiny and is modeled after a French farmhouse. Loved it. 

The food was incredible and way more expensive than I could afford on my own. I had a 4 course meal and some wine. I had an appetizer, 2 half sized entrees and a dessert. 

Appetizer: Gently Smoked Wild King Salmon with a Dill Cream Salad of Purslane, Local Husk Cherries & Toasted Almonds (this was amazing, the salmon was prepared so perfectly it melted like butter)

1/2 Entree #1:Roasted Lobster Tail & Poached Claw Ricotta Gnocchi, Wilted Arugula & Cauliflower in a Leek Cream (I would give this dish a B+. It wasn't the best gnocci or lobster that i've ever had. but can lobster ever really be bad? No.)

1/2 Entree #2: Huitlacoche Risotto with Grilled Lobster Mushrooms Turnips, Mustard Greens & Parmesan Foam (This was so so so good and a small enough portion that I didn't feel like a big fatty. I ordered this thinking that 1. grilled lobster mushrooms were normal mushrooms filled with lobster. they were actually a type of mushroom. 2. Parmesan foam meant thick cheesy awesome ness. No, it was like frothy milk on top of my risotto.)

Dessert: Hazelnut-Milk Chocolate Mousse with Cocoa Streusel Salted Caramel Ice Cream & Chocolate Ganache (One word: Wowza)

If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend that you do. Will I ever go again? Probably not just because of the price!

Today's eats.....

Breakfast: I actually switched things up and got a bagel from the little deli near my office called Jazzys. That is a handmade garlic bagel with jalapeno cream cheese. This was mildly disappointing because it was cold.

Lunch: More soup! Do you find that homemade soup is always wayyyy better on the 2nd day? It was much spicier today :) 

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! I'm out til Tuesday. Off to Canadialand!!!

I'm coming home!