Good News & Good Eats! May 6th

I feature a picture of the good news below, but it has to do with Wild Ginger bringing back their original spring rolls! Yes, I care that much. But the last time I went when we had the blogger meet-up, they had these mini spring rolls that weren't quite as good. But to my surprise, when I went back yesterday, the original sized ones had returned! I actually told them how happy I was. I'm such a geek! lol Ok, anyways, on to the eats!

I've been having major PMS symptoms this week. The evidence is below!

Pizza and brownies. :) The pizza is from Ray's (my local pizza place here in Greenwich Village), and the brownies I made myself and they are the terrific Ghiradelli ones that I've made before (see here).

Yesterday was my lunch at Wild Ginger...

My beloved spring rolls! They are seriously the best in Manhattan. Where did they disappear to last month? I hope they take my suggestions seriously (they should only know the amount of publicity I've given them on here! lol) and not f*** around with them again!! ;)

I got their adorable shumai steamed dumplings too. These are so tasty!

And of course, my beloved pineapple fried rice. :)

Now, on to today's eats!

Breakfast:

I tried Van's cinnamon french toast sticks. I had these along with some berries and Trader Joe's maple syrup.

Here is my mini review: While I did like the cinnamon-y taste, I wasn't wild about the texture. And they were a little too "everything free" for my taste. Now, you don't need gluten to make something taste good, but these were a little off to me. Still, the syrup made them better. But doesn't it always? :)

Lunch:

I was running errands in the West Village and decided to stop in the Le Pain Quotidien on Hudson St. I had been to "Le Pain" before, but not in a long while.

I got their vegetarian quiche, which came with a mesculn salad.

The quiche was quite good, but they really didn't give me a lot for the price! I mean nearly $12?! I'm not even a fan of raw veggies, so salad is not my thing. Still, for the money I made myself choke down some of it!

I was still so hungry after eating it that I broke down and got dessert. And guess what? I forgot that I had made brownies a few days ago and ordered... another brownie!!! I had one of those "doh!" moments. But this has really been a brownie sort of week anyway, so it's ok.

As for the brownie, it was good, but I actually like the ones I made better! Their food is pretty good, but they really overcharge... now I remember why I don't go there that often!

Snack:

One of my favorites, a strawberry fruit bar (Whole Food's 365 brand).

Dinner:

Was an Annie's skillet meal. I know on the box it says "Creamy Tuna Spirals," but it's actually totally vegetarian pasta (even rennet free, which is super important to me these days!). You have the option of adding whatever you want to it. If I weren't so lazy I would've added tofu, but I don't know what I'm doing with it! So instead I just added peas!

Either way, it was good! And for dessert? Yup, you guessed it! Another brownie! I had one of my home made ones. But don't worry, I had an orange earlier in between brownies! lol

And on that note, I'll leave you with some close-ups of my dear little boy! :)

P.S. ~ I also forgot to say, "thank you!" for all the comments on the last post! Keep them coming! I read them all and will respond to any questions. :)

More Snow, More Brunch ~ February 27th

After a false alarm with a "blizzard warning" a week or two ago, NY got hit with a real snow storm this time! (And as usual, the weather forecasters didn't predict any of it until it was already coming down! lol) Peanut really enjoyed watching the snow out the window. It was so cute because he actually tried to "catch" the snow flakes!

Here are some of my eats over the past few days...

Pizza at Famous Ray's Pizza in Greenwich Village.

I made myself a "belated" birthday cake this weekend. It's funny that I didn't care for one last weekend (when I had my actual birthday). I guess I just felt like baking with the snow and all! This is the good stuff too... Duncan Hines yellow cake with their milk chocolate frosting... cheap and awesome! :)

Mom made linguini & clam sauce one night for dinner. This is the closest I come to eating meat. lol

Crossiant with harvati cheese & some red grapes. This is an amazing combination and I used to get this lunch all the time back when I went to Hofstra University (which was my very brief stint at college-- it was not for me!).

Today I had brunch at Counter, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in the East Village (on 1st Ave. b/w 6th & 7th St.). I went with my friend Maggie (from Say Yes to Salad), and her fiancee Bobby.

I had only been to Counter once, and it was a couple of years ago now. I remembered they had really tasty mini muffins with their own housemade nutella, so I ordered their "housemade baked goodies" for the table before Maggie & Bobby even got there!

For my entree I got the "farmers plate," which consisted of scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, roasted tomatoes, and a baguette.

(I should've removed the leafy garnish before I took the pic because it takes up the whole plate! lol The portions weren't huge, but we found that everything was quite filling regardless.)

After brunch we walked over towards Trader Joe's because Maggie wanted to go and it was on my way home. However, I parted ways with Maggie and Bobby when we got there, because I truly fear Trader Joe's on the weekend! lol But we had a good time!

I'll leave you with some more of Peanut's hijinks!

On the prowl. lol

Shopping in Mom's purse!

I'll be doing a post next time about a blog award that I received, so please check back! :)

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!

A Veggie Girl (and her DOG?!) October 19th

This weekend I ended up going Upstate to visit my Grandparents. My Mom and I went with my Aunt and Uncle (who are also in NYC). We went up late Friday night and came home early Sunday morning. Unfortunately the one day I spent up there I didn't feel very well, but overall I'm glad I got to see my Grandparents. I should thank my boyfriend for ruining my plans this weekend, because otherwise I would've stayed home and been with him (it'll be a cold day in hell before I get the apartment to myself again, but he couldn't make it). What can I say, except that life is very hard for everyone now... both me and my boyfriend are struggling financially. I'm still supported by my parents at least, but I want my independence. My boyfriend is one of 6 children, the only boy, and 3 years older than me, so he's on his own and has to support himself (which is damn near impossible for a 20-something person to do these days, even with a good job!). Enough about my problems... on to my post today...

One of the highlights of my trip Upstate is Mae, my Grandparent's dog. Mae was rescued by a New York animal organization that went down south to rescue dogs there, and my cousin found her on Petfinder. She had been badly abused as a puppy, and my Grandparents didn't end up adopting her until she was a year and a half (back in the fall of 2005). She was very afraid of people in the beginning, but she warmed up to me right away. And now she is one of the friendliest dogs I've ever seen. The transformation has been incredible! You'd never know that she had been abused, because she loves to be around people, to be petted, get treats, etc. Anyways, without further adieu, here's my favorite dog in the whole wide world, Mae! :)

That dog will let you rub her belly all day long! I always bring her the same treats that she loves... Old Mother Hubbard's P-Nuttier treats.

I also figured that I'd go back to the original point of my blog, and that is to share my daily eats! So here's what I had so far today...

Breakfast/Lunch:

I had a plain bagel from Murray's with swiss cheese and mustard, a Mott's peach medley apple sauce, and some Popchips (a new fave of mine!).

Snack:

My lunch kept me full all day, but around 4 I was ready for a snack, so I tried one of Kashi's new Pumpkin Pie bars (perfect for this time of year!). I thought it was just okay, but once again, it turns out I only got a few bites in before Peanut came running! lol I don't know what is wrong with my cat, but he absolutely loves stuff like this. Something about the taste of pumpkin and cinnamon drove him wild! Don't fret, I didn't let him "eat" it. He just licked at it (as you can see in the pictures below).

Dinner:

For dinner I felt like having an Amy's Breakfast Scramble Wrap (yes, I'm a weird person! lol). I also had some clementines afterwards (not pictured).

Dessert:

Then I made the tragic mistake of trying to bake. Granted, even an idiot couldn't screw up Toll House cookies... so I thought... But as I was putting the cookie sheet in the oven, I managed to flip the tray, so that the cookies fell off them and into the crack of the oven door. Mom had to run to the rescue, gather them up, and then I put them back on the cookie sheet! lol But luckily the end result was good. They came out very nicely... no thanks to me! I had a couple after dinner. I haven't made these in years (which could explain my clumsiness, but anorexics are not known for being master chefs), but I'm glad I did... these babies are SO good! :)

I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words on my last post about modeling. Yes, the models in the pictures for this fall's fashion week look like Holocaust victims... It's really sickening, actually. :( I am so glad to be out of that industry though, and to answer someone's question on that post, surprisingly the pay is NOT good, which is why I'm broke now! Only the top 1% of fashion models make a lot of money. The rest are paid dribs and drabs for things. So it's very hard to make a decent living. It's a job that's more about prestige and making a name for yourself in the industry more than anything else. But regardless, I really appreciate the support guys! And Peanut does too. ;)