Catching Up! January 30th

I'm still here... I'm sure some of you have been wondering where I've been! Well, I haven't been feeling good lately... I started having a bad reaction to the birth control pills I was on. I was only on them for 2 months, but I was getting tons of migraines, and in general, feeling tired and horrible. It's not like I really "need" them, as the guy I was seeing is still having MAJOR problems, so I haven't the slightest idea when I'll be seeing him again. And if I can go on a birth control pill rant for a moment... I swear, they seem to be getting more and more dangerous! There are more warnings, side effects, and lawsuits than EVER before. I was on them for around 6 months to a year a few years ago to regulate my period and didn't have nearly the same problems I had before (and I went on the EXACT same brand... not the generic version)! Does anyone else have experiences to share about this topic? Just curious to know... Because this time around, I found "the pill" intolerable. I'm doing a little better since going off them over a week ago, but it may take a month or more to fully leave my system. :/

Back to what my blog is about... food! So there has been a lot of catching up to do there... Here are just some of my eats over the past week or two.

My usual eats from Wild Ginger... God I LOVE that place.

Pizza from Famous Ben's Pizza of Soho.

My usual favorites from Qi Asian Eatery...

A Trader Joe's grocery haul...

And I want to do a quick product review for a brand new Wallaby "Down Under" yogurt! (Plus you get a view of my bedroom, since I forgot to take the pic in the kitchen!)

Now I LOVE all of the Wallaby "Down Under" yogurts, with the fruit on the bottom, and have tried them all, but I found this new caramel apple one at the Whole Foods in Chelsea the other day. I love fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts as a rule, but I love the fact that Wallaby's are organic too. This particular flavor tasted like it sounds... basically like an apple pie! I can't wait to buy more of these! (And for reference, my favorites are the caramel apple, peach, berries & cream, and strawberries & cream ones. Although I also like the mango tangerine, pink grapefruit, and chocolate ones as well. So basically, they're ALL good, although the caramel apple one is a real winner! :)

And here's a little of Peanut...

It is SO unbelievably cold here in NYC today, so this afternoon I decided to do some baking! I made some Ghirardelli brownies... I love the ultimate fudge ones.

Ok, that's all for now! I may be updating more tomorrow, but if not, then probably by the 1st!

Another year in NYC! January 21st

Well, today Mom and I signed up for another year at our apartment (God help us!). Now if only we knew what to do with all these boxes we got! lol Then we had dinner at the Olive Garden since it was close by to the office we had to go to... We were up by Times Square tonight, and there was a big brouhaha over something with the Jet's, so it was a fun cab ride home! :/

Anyways, yesterday I went over to the Chelsea Whole Foods and had a brunch at Cafeteria, a popular restaurant in Chelsea on West 17th St. I got the waffles and tiniest glass of orange juice I'd ever seen! The waffles came with berries and had a dollop of cinnamon creme on top (which was a nice touch because I LOVE cinnamon!).

I also picked up this beauty at the Chelsea Whole Foods... jelly roll cake! Yum!

Tonight's dinner at the Olive Garden (the huge one in Times Square)...

Minestrone soup & breadsticks.

And my favorite, five cheese ziti al forno!

Later on a split a piece of their white chocolate raspberry cheesecake in half... I had one half tonight and will have the other tomorrow. It's so rich I can never finish a whole piece at once!

And on to my puffy little Peanut! I got some more photos of his playtime in the bathroom. :)

That's all for today my lovelies! I need to get some sleep!

Major News! January 19th

Now this may come as a shock, but after everything we've been through over the past several weeks, we've actually decided NOT to move! We simply couldn't find anything bigger or better for the money (and that's after looking at dozens of apartments!). Yes, the insulation between the floors is crappy. But this is a really nice apartment in other ways. The kitchen is beautiful, we have big bedrooms, there is enough space for all our stuff, and Peanut loves the bathroom! lol Plus we live in Greenwich Village, where it's nearly impossible to find such a nice apartment... it's also just a short walk into Soho. Plus it's in walking distance to my Mom's job. So all in all, we're going to put up with hearing our neighbors... for at least another year. It's funny how until you almost lose something, you never realized how good you had it! Now, on to some of my eats over the past week!

I tried these new easy omelettes... the broccoli & cheddar kind. I had it on a challah roll with american cheese. I thought it they were pretty good for a quick egg white omelette, but I think I still prefer the liquid egg whites.

This weekend I had brunch at Quantum Leap again. I absolutely LOVE this breakfast... french toast, scrambled eggs, and soy links (along with OJ, of course!).

I made these cute mini pizzas from Whole Foods this weekend for me and Mom.

For breakfast this morning I had one of these VERY yummy Fiber One apple cinnamon bun muffins (spread with peanut butter). If I'm lucky I find these at the grocery store near me once a month!

For lunch this afternoon I ordered take-out from Sea Thai Bistro. I love how you get to pick a FREE appetizer! I always get the spring rolls. They were still good, but I was a little disappointed, because they are supposed to have a crispy coating from what I remember from the last time I ate here. These were sort of generic looking, but were good all the same. (Oh and sorry for the blinding light in the picture... my Mom put in these new bulbs that are SO bright! lol)

For my entree I got the broad rice noodles with broccoli, egg, and black soy sauce.

I know that some of you were requesting more Peanut pictures... so here are some pics I took of him this week!

Playing in the boxes...

In the laundry...

On top of a box in Mom's room.

Now that we seem to have this mess straightened out of where we're living, I'll hopefully have more time to do more blogging. So please check back soon! :)

Trying to De-Stress... January 13th

Ok, so after having nearly a nervous breakdown yesterday (complete with a splitting headache), I slept a lot last night and basically went to bed around 7. So this morning I was up bright and early at 5 a.m.!!! Which was good, because I had a lot of work to do with apartment hunting (which is a true nightmare unless you are a millionaire in this city). We've got only about 2 weeks left to pack and move, so you can see why my stress level is so high now!! I did manage to contact an old broker that we knew from 3 years ago, who got us our first Manhattan apartment, and surprisingly he really remembered me-- my name and everything! So he is helping us now, which is good news. I couldn't keep anything down again last night, so today I wanted to really fill up on some healthy food. And I can't think of a better place to go for that than Wild Ginger! It's one of the only restaurants where you leave feeling much better than when you came in because the food is so healthy and energizing! I had my usual lunch...

Spring rolls...

Steamed veggie dumplings...

And my favorite, their pineapple fried rice (which truly amazes me every time!).

Afterwards I went over to my favorite Whole Foods (which is on the lower east side on Houston St.). I managed to pick up a few groceries for the first time in weeks! I finished off my vegan lunch with a Whole Food's vegan chocolate chip cookie! :)

And today my little Peanut turns 10 months old! That means, that in just TWO months he'll be celebrating his First Birthday already! Where is the time going?!

He's been up to his usual bathroom tricks (where ever we move it must have a very nice bathroom, as it is Peanut's favorite room! lol). He loves drinking from the water faucet in the sink. It is the ONLY way he drinks water btw! A dish is simply not good enough for Peanuts! :)

Studying the water stream...

Drinking... note the cute little orange patch on his chin! :)

Satisfied with his drink.

Back to chasing his tail on the toilet tank!

Don't you wish your life was as complicated as Peanut's?! I know I do... every single day! You know, I bet a lot of you are thinking, why Manhattan if it's so stressful?! But despite the craziness, I really love this city. It's my home now. I've lived here for 3 years and have no intentions on leaving. I used to be the person who had to ask for directions, and now people come up to me! I know my way around backwards and forwards (even all the tricky ins and outs of Soho and the Village!). It's a great place to live because there is so much to see and do everyday. There are SO many great vegetarian restaurants and places to shop for veggies! (As you can see on my blog!) I feel like everyone and everything is right here at my finger tips. The moving is a challenge, but sadly it is a part of life here, as finding a good apartment is damn near impossible! But regardless, it's the greatest city in the world, and I'm lucky to be here.

That's all for now... will update when I can!

More Daily Eats & Struggles! January 8th & 9th

Well folks, I STILL don't know where I'm going to live. So the stress is mounting by the day. I haven't even had time to do any weekly shopping, so instead we decided to order from Fresh Direct. All we had time for yesterday was a pizza delivery and a grocery delivery. Here are some of the goods...

The dairy...

Stoneyfield peach smoothie, Fage 2% yogurts with fruit/honey, new Easy Omelets (excited to try these!), Finlandia swiss cheese.

The carbs...

Cascadian Farms granola, and Fresh Direct challah rolls, cinnamon coffee cake muffins, and black & white cookie (in the box!).

The "convenience" dinners...

Parmesan risotto, ziti with mozzarella, and baked macaroni & cheese.

The Peanuts...

Ok, well he didn't come with the Fresh Direct order, but I liked this picture anyway. :)

Here are my eats for today...

For breakfast I had one of the Fresh Direct cinnamon coffee cake muffins, along with a fancy glass of orange juice. I say "fancy" because all my other glasses were in the dishwasher, so I ended up using a wine glass. lol I only ate some of the muffin... it was pretty good, but I couldn't finish it. Next time I'm going to add some peanut butter for added protein.

For lunch I had a swiss cheese sandwich on a challah roll with some baked ruffles.

I had my parmesan risotto with mushrooms, peas, & artichokes for dinner. This was good, although the container was only maybe a quarter of the way full! So I had some oranges afterwards (not pictured).

For my snack tonight I had a Fage 2% peach yogurt with the Cascadian Farms oats & honey granola. I also had some of my black & white cookie earlier this afternoon (not pictured).

Peanut has been helping us pack by chewing on the boxes! He looks helpful doesn't he?! Notice my tired (and blurry) Mom in the background. lol

I'll update when I can and let you know when I find something! And let me know if you like grocery posts, because I can try to do them more often!