My Ultimate NYC "Food Crawl"

One of my absolute favorite things about living in NYC is the amazing outdoor food festivals/ markets. Thanks, to UrbanSpace there are a ton of amazing outdoor markets today. Since a majority of the markets are closing by end of october and I'm not going to get too many more opportunities to check them out I decided to go on my own "food crawl" and check out three of the markets: Penn Plates,  Urban Space Garment District and Madison Square Eats. The result was lots of yummy food and drinks! I highly recommend anyone coming to NYC or who works around these markets to take advantage before they close for the season.

Check out the video below for a recap of my experience

Back to School... College Edition

Since most college students are heading back to school I thought I would share some easy recipes that you can make in courtesy of your own dorm room! When I was a college freshman I didn't have a car so my grocery options were pretty limited, basically whatever the school "convenience store" sold. All the recipes I included are items that you should be able to buy right on campus!

I thought I would start with two dorm room staples, Ramen Noodles & Mac and Cheese.

1) Mac & Cheese 

Yes, this is actually homemade instead of from the box, but trust me it's super easy & so much better with actual cheddar cheese and not the artificial cheese from the box.
Picture & Recipe Courtesy of: babble.com

2) Ramen Noodle Upgraded

Upgrade your average ramen noodles with a yummy sauce, which is simply peanut butter, soy sauce and sriracha! Want some other easy meal upgrade ideas? check out Buzzfeeds "14 Easy meal Upgrades For Impossibly Lazy Cooks"
Picture & Recipe Courtesy of: MarthaStewart.com

Of course, I also had to include some microwave dessert recipes as well. I wish I had found these when I was in college! Most weeknights in college I ate dinner around 6-6:30 and then around 8 I would get hungry and want something sweet so these would have been perfect!! Also, great to know about to get you through those all-nighters :) All three recipes shown below are from The Caking Girl, so make sure to check out her blog for these recipes and some more mug cake recipes ideas as well.

3) Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake Recipe

Super rich chocolate brownie cake. I didn't mix enough so got random bites of flour and sugar, which wasn't great, but overall definitely a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth. If you have a smaller mug like mine I recommend cutting the recipe in half since it was too much for my mug. I also combined the ingredients for the self-rising flour in a mason jar and kept the flour in my cupboard for whenever I wanted to make another mug cake.


4) Confetti/Rainbow Sprinkles Mug Cake

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but looked so pretty I just had to share.
Picture courtesy of: The Caking Girl


5) S'More Mug Cake

I was on a s'mores kick and had tons of extra mini marshmallows and graham crackers so I made this S'mores mug cake. I had the same issues i listed above so I'll try again making 1/2 the recipe.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip 3 Ways

Trader Joe's Spinach & Artichoke Dip is one of favorite Trader Joe's products. 

Shrimp, Spinach & Artichoke Naan Pizza

1 Pizza 

Ingredients:

1 piece of Trader Joe's Frozen Naan

1/4 cup ricotta cheese 

1/2 cup Trader Joe's spinach & artichoke dip 

6 pieces of cooked shrimp

1/4 cup red bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces 

Recipe:

1)  Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees

2) Place piece of naan on cookie sheet

3) Microwave spinach & artichoke dip according to package directions 

4) Place shrimp in a bowl and microwave until heated through

5) Spread microwaved spinach & artichoke dip over naan

6) Put ricotta cheese on top of spinach & artichoke dip 

7) Add shrimp onto naan 

8) Add red pepper pieces onto naan 

9) Bake naan pizza for 8-10 minutes 

Spinach & Artichoke Chicken 

1 Serving

Ingredients:

1 cooked chicken breast 

1/4 cup spinach & artichoke dip

Recipe:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) put cooked chicken great on baking sheet
3) Top chicken breast with spinach & artichoke dip
4) Cook chicken breast for 8-10 minutes

Spinach & Artichoke Dip Bites

Makes 8 bites 

Ingredients:

1 package of refrigerated crescent rolls

1 package of Trader Joe's Spinach & Artichoke Dip 

Recipe:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Separate crescent rolls into triangles

3) Put crescent roll triangles into mini muffin tin making 8 crescent roll "cups"

4) Microwave Spinach & Artichoke dip according to directions on package

5) Put 1 tablespoon of spinach &artichoke dip into each crescent roll "cup"

6)  Bake for 8-10 minutes 

Crescent Roll Bites

Lately I have become obsessed with using my mini muffin tin and trying different sweet and savory options. Today, i wanted share some different appetizers using crescent rolls.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip Bites

Makes 8 bites 

Ingredients:

1 package of refrigerated crescent rolls

1 package of Trader Joe's Spinach & Artichoke Dip 

Recipe:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Separate crescent rolls into triangles

3) Put crescent roll triangles into mini muffin tin making 8 crescent roll "cups"

4) Microwave Spinach & Artichoke dip according to directions on package

5) Put 1 tablespoon of spinach &artichoke dip into each crescent roll "cup"

6)  Bake for 8-10 minutes 

Balsamic Strawberry & Goat Cheese Crescent Roll Bites

Makes 8 crescent roll bites

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls

1cup of strawberries

1/2 cup of goat cheese 

1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar 

Recipe:

1) )Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Cut strawberries into bite sized pieces, put into a bowl

3) Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles

4) put crescent roll triangles into mini muffin tin to create a "bowl" for  balsamic strawberries and goat cheese 

5) add 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to strawberries and mix 

6) put one tablespoon of strawberry mixture into center of crescent roll "bowl"

7) Sprinkle a tablespoon of goat cheese on top of  each crescent roll bowl

8) Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crescent roll bowl is brown.

Lobster Roll Bites

Makes 8 crescent roll bites

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls

1/2 cup of Trader Joe's langostino tails

2 Tablespoons of butter 

lemon wedge 

 Recipe:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles

3) Put crescent roll triangles into mini muffin tin to create a "bowl"for lobster

4)  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crescent roll bowl is brown.

5) While crescent rolls are baking make the lobster roll filling

6) Melt butter in saute pan over low-medium heat. Once the butter starts to boil keep on heat until the butter is browned. 

7) Microwave langostino tails for 1 minute

8) Once langostino tails are heated through add to browned butter and heat for 1-2 minutes

9) Add 1 tablespoon of langostino tail mixture to crescent roll "bowls"

10) Add a lemon wedge to each lobster roll bite.

Strawberries & Goat Cheese

Nothing beats fresh strawberries during the warm summer months. I love the combination of strawberries and goat cheese so I thought I would share some yummy strawberry and goat cheese recipes.  Along with the recipes featured below I also incorporated strawberries, goat cheese and baked chicken breasts into salads, which I brought for lunch. 

Balsamic Strawberry & Goat Cheese Crescent Roll Bites

Makes 8 crescent roll bites

Ingredients:

1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls

1cup of strawberries

8 tablespoons of goat cheese 

8 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar 

Recipe:

1) )Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Cut strawberries into bite sized pieces, put into a bowl

3) Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles

4) put crescent roll triangles into mini muffin tin to create a "bowl" for  balsamic strawberries and goat cheese 

5) add 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to strawberries and mix 

6) put one tablespoon of strawberry mixture into center of crescent roll "bowl"

7) Sprinkle a tablespoon of goat cheese on top of  each crescent roll bowl

8) Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crescent roll bowl is brown. 

Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Strawberry Salsa and Quinoa

Serves 1 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup medium peeled and deveined shrimp

1/4 cup of sweetened shredded coconut

1 egg

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of cut strawberries

1 tablespoon of goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon of trader joe's cilantro dressing 

1 teaspoon of red onion

1 teaspoon of lime juice

1/2 cup of Quinoa 

Recipe:

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Defrost shrimp in microwave- took me about 1 1/2 minutes

3) Dry shrimp off with paper fowl

4) add honey to shrimp

5) roll shrimp in plate/bowl of shredded coconut

6) Bake shrimp for 7-10 minutes

7) While shrimp is baking make your strawberry salsa by combining your cut strawberries, goat cheese, cilantro dressing and red onion. To make a more traditional salsa you could also add some jalapeno pepper, I just didn't have any at the time. 

8) Make your qunioa- I use the trader joe's microwaveable quinoa, but you could also make the quinoa, I like this recipe. 

9) plate your quinoa and shrimp and top with the strawberry salsa. 

Baked Chicken with Strawberry Salsa and Quinoa

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 cooked chicken breast, I used this recipe to make baked chicken breasts

1/4 cup of cut strawberries

1 tablespoon of goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon of trader joe's cilantro dressing 

1 teaspoon of red onion

1 teaspoon of lime juice

1/2 cup of Quinoa 

Recipe:

1.  Chop red onion and strawberries.  Put both ingredients into a bowl and add lime juice and cilantro dressing. 

2. Cook/microwave quinoa according to directions on package 

3. Microwave chicken for 1 minute or until reached desired temperature. I always cook for a little bit of time and cook longer, I get nervous about overcooking the chicken and drying it out. 

4. Add cooked quinoa and chicken to plate. Top with strawberry salsa. 

Warm Goat Cheese Salad

Serves 1

Recipe from Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's Bruschetta 3 Ways...

Back in February in my Book Review: Cooking with all things Trader Joe's blog post I discussed the Black Beans and Ricotta Stuffed Portobello recipe.  After making the stuffed portobello mushrooms I started to think of other ways I could use the bruschetta sauce, ricotta and black bean combination and here is what I came up with...

Top Left- toast with bruschetta and ricotta cheese, Top Right- Bruschetta and shrimp naan pizza, Bottom- Bruschetta chicken

Scrambled eggs with bruschetta over toast
I made this for breakfast last sunday, which was super filling and the perfect breakfast/brunch.

Ingredients (serves 1):
1 egg
1 piece of whole grain toast
1/4 cup of trader joe's fresh bruschetta
1/2 cup of black beans
2 tablespoons of chopped bell peppers (I use trader joe's frozen bell peppers)
2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese

Directions:
1. Crack egg into bowl, add milk and thoroughly mix
2. Put eggs in pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. 
3. Spread ricotta onto piece of whole grain toast
4. Toast until lightly browned
5. Heat black beans and peppers on stove or in microwave
6. Add bruschetta on top of ricotta on top  of the toast with ricotta then add the scrambled eggs
7. Add black beans and peppers over the eggs.

Bruschetta, Ricotta and Shrimp Naan Pizza           

Naan pizza has became one of my new favorite things. It's extremely versatile and always turns out great. I served with a side of broccoli and some grilled veggies.

Ingredients (serves 1):
1 piece of Trader Joe's Plain Naan
1/4 cup of bruschetta
1/4 cup of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of black beans
2 tablespoons of chopped bell peppers (I use trader joe's frozen bell peppers)

 Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Microwave shrimp for 2 minutes
3.  Add 1/4 cup of bruschetta over the naan and then add ricotta, black beans, peppers and shrimp
4. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Pizza is done when the cheese is melted.

Bruschetta Chicken
I had wanted to try bruschetta chicken for awhile now. It was actually one of the first things I pinned when I started to become obsessed with Pinterest around 3 years ago. I decided to make a simplified version with ready made bruschetta over poached chicken breasts. I served with quinoa and zucchini from Trader Joe's Misto alls Griglia.

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 poached chicken breasts (I use this recipe when poaching chicken)
1/2 cup of bruschetta sauce
a few pieces of zucchini from Trader Joe's Misto alla Griglia

Directions:
1) Microwave chicken for 1 minute or until heated
2) Top with Trader Joe's fresh bruschetta sauce
3)  Microwave zucchini based on directions on package

Ground Turkey Three Ways

Today I wanted to share some great ground turkey recipes. I bought a package of ground turkey last week and made three different meals! Using one ingredient multiple ways is a great way to get the best value for your money.

I was strategic and made all three recipes at the same time. When I opened the package of ground turkey I used 1/2 cup or 1/4 lb of ground turkey for the turkey burger and  a little over 1/2 cup of ground turkey for the meatballs.  I used the little bit of remaining ground turkey for the lasagna.

Top Left- Turkey Vegetable Lasagna, Top Right- Turkey Burger with Basil and Feta Cheese, Bottom-
Turkey meatballs with feta and spinach

Turkey Vegetable Lasagna- I actually got the idea for this recipe from the cashier at Trader Joe's. She was asking if I making an italian dish with the ingredients I bought and said that since I wasn't buying pasta she thought I might be using the grilled vegetables to replace lasagna noodles. I thought using the grilled vegetables in place of lasagna noodles sounded like a great idea so I decided to make up my own version of vegetable lasagna! here was the recipe I created:

Turkey Vegetable Lasagna
2 servings 

Ingredients
1/2 cup ground turkey
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Trader Joe's Misto alla Griglia  

Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 
2. Brown the ground turkey
3. Microwave 2 pieces of the eggplant and 4 zucchini pieces for 2 minutes 
4. Layer 1 piece of eggplant and 2 pieces of zucchini in a baking dish lined with aluminum foil 
5.  Top the layer of vegetables with ground turkey and 1/4 cup of  mozzarella cheese
6. Top of the ground turkey and cheese with the remaining vegetables and top with the tomato    sauce and 1/4 cup of mozzarella. 
7. Put the lasagna in the oven for 7-10 minutes, the lasagna is done with the cheese is melted. 


Feta Basil Turkey Burgers
Recipe courtesy of: Fifteen Spatulas 

I cut the recipe in half since I only wanted to make one turkey burger. I decided to serve the turkey burger with sweet potato fries and two grilled eggplant slices instead of using a burger bun. 

Feta and Spinach Turkey Meatballs
Recipe courtesy of: The Hungry Lightweight 

I cut this recipe in half, which made 8 meatballs. I served this along with whole wheat pasta and garlic bread. 

Healthy Eating

Sorry for the long delay again. It's been a busy few weeks and I just haven't been able to get around to posting on the blog.  I also decided I wanted to focus the blog more on healthy eating meal plans so every few weeks I will be sharing my grocery list and day-by-day meal plan. I also want to each week feature one ingredient and share 3 ways to use that ingredient. For todays blog post I decided to discuss Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge. My parents found the Buzzfeed article two weeks ago and started the 14 day challenge.  I didn't  follow the plan exactly, but  the plan has great recipes and is a good way to base correct portion sizes so I did an abridged version of the clean eating challenge that was less expensive and required less cooking time. For breakfast each day I had Trader Joe's small packs of Omega High Trek Mix and a cup of green tea, for lunch I had salads with nuts, cheese and leftover veggies from dinner,  I thought I would share my grocery list and  some of the dinner recipes I made during my version of the clean eating challenge.

Week 1:

Prep:
To spend less time during week cooking I made the spaghetti squash on friday and on sunday I made  the ground turkey (recipe below).

Grocery List:
Spaghetti Squash
Trader Joe's Just Chicken Chucks
Ground Turkey
Iceberg Lettuce
Black Beans
Peanut Satay Sauce
Frozen broccoli
Edamame
Frozen peppers

Day 1: 
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
1 Serving

Ingredients:

1 Serving

1 tablespoon coconut  oil

¼ of average yellow onion, minced

½ cup pre-cooked chicken strips, cut into bite sized pieces

¼ cup frozen or fresh bell peppers

1 tablespoon edamame

1  tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons peanut satay sauce

4 iceberg  lettuce leaves

Recipe:

1)Cut onion in half.  Mince half of the onion.  Cut ½ cup of chicken into bite sized pieces.

2)Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into a medium sized sauté pan. 

3)Once oil is hot (you can test by putting a drop of water into the pan. If the pan sizzles it’s hot enough)

4) Add onion and sauté for a minute.

5) Add chicken and peppers. Once heated through, around 4 minutes add edamame and heat for 1 minute longer.

6) Take off heat. Add soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and peanut satay sauce. Mix thoroughly so that the chicken and vegetables are coated. 

7)Separate 4 lettuce leaves. Add chicken filling to center of each lettuce leave and wrap lettuce to cover the filling.

Day 2:

BBQ Chicken Salad

2 Servings

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1cup pre-cooked chicken strips cut into bite sized pieces

½ cup frozen or fresh bell peppers

¼ cup of BBQ Sauce

½ cup  black beans

1 cup iceberg lettuce.

1 tablespoon of shredded lite Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese

Recipe:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. Once oil is hot add chicken and peppers. Heat the chicken and peppers around 6 minutes. 

2. Take the chicken and pepper mixture off the heat. Add ¼ cup of BBQ sauce and mix thoroughly.

3. Shred one cup of lettuce. Add ½ of the chicken and pepper mixture to lettuce. Top with ½ cup of black beans, cheese and  then mix everything together.

Note: I put the other half of the chicken mixture in a small container to bring for lunch the next day.  Add ½ cup of black beans to the container with chicken. Take a separate small container and put  1 cup of lettuce and 1 tablespoon of cheese. Into the container. Heat the chicken mixture in the microwave for a minute and a half. Once heated, add to the lettuce and cheese and mix .

Day 3: 

Spaghetti Squash Turkey Bolognese 

1 serving 

Ingredients:

1 package of ground turkey

½ of a yellow onion, minced 

1 tablespoon olive oil

Ground Turkey Recipe:

1    1)  Heat olive oil

2    2)Once pan is hot, add onion and turn stove to medium heat

3    3)Let onion cook for 1 minute and then add ground turkey

4    4) Cook turkey until browned, around 6-8 minutes

S Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Bolognese Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked ground turkey

½ of a yellow onion, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

 1 cup spaghetti squash

¼ cup tomato sauce 

1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese

Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Bolognese
 1) Put 1 cup of spaghetti squash in a bowl

2) Put ½ cup of ground turkey in a separate bowl 

3) Microwave ground turkey for 1 ½ minutes 

4) Add ¼ of tomato sauce to bowl of ground turkey and microwave again for 30 seconds

5) Microwave spaghetti squash for 2 minutes 

6) Add parmesan cheese 

        Day 4: 

I     "Inside Out" Ground Turkey  Wraps

d      1 serving 

I       Ingredients:

        1/2 cup cooked ground turkey

  1/4 cup frozen or fresh bell peppers

  1/2 cup broccoli 

  1  tablespoon soy sauce

  1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 

  2 tablespoons peanut satay sauce

  1 cup lettuce

        Recipe:

        1) Microwave ground turkey for 1 1/2 minutes

        2) Microwave broccoli and bell peppers for 1 1/2 minutes

        3) Mix soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and peanut satay sauce in a small bowl

        4)The lettuce wasn't cooperating to make lettuce wraps so I made "inside out" lettuce wraps so I             cleaned and ripped lettuce into bite sized pieces

        5) Put lettuce on a plate, add ground turkey, vegetables and then top with soy sauce mixture and  
        mix thoroughly.

       Friday (Day 5) I had turkey bolognese with spaghetti squash (see recipe above) and on Saturday  (Day 6) I went out to dinner with a friend and had matzah ball soup 

        Week 2:

     

       

        Prep:

To prep for the week of meals I made the roasted chickpeas, roasted cauliflowers and roasted eggplant according to the buzzfeed recipe. I also made the kale according to the Buzzfeed recipe as well. Finally, I poached chicken to have for the week.

         Grocery List:

   Quinoa

   Carrots

   Lentils

   Cauliflower

   Kale

   Greek Yogurt

   Thinly sliced chicken breasts

   Hummus 

   Garbanzo beans

   Mango

         Day 7: 

         Roasted Eggplant with chickpeas, Cauliflower, and lemon-parsley yogurt 

        Recipe: Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge 

        Day 8:

        Chicken, Kale and quinoa with mango and lemon-parsley yogurt 

        

        Ingredients:

        1/2 cup of cooked poached chicken

        1 cup of  steamed kale, (see buzzfeed for recipe)

        1/2 cup of quinoa

        3 slices of Mango

        Lemon-parsely yogurt (see recipe, according to Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge)

       Recipe:

      1) Microwave cooked chicken for 1 1/2 minutes 

      2) Microwave kale for 1 minute

      3) Cook 1 bag of quinoa according to package directions

      4) Make lemon-parsley yogurt (look at Buzzfeed recipe) 

      5) add quinoa, kale, chicken and mango to a bowl. Top with lemon-parsley yogurt 

     Day 9:

     Lentils, Cauliflower and kale with teriyaki sauce

     1 Serving

        Ingredients:

        1/2 cup lentils

        1 cup of kale

        Leftover roasted cauliflower (from sunday's dinner)

        1/2 tablespoon of trader joe's soyaki sauce

        1/2 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil 

         Recipe:

        1) Microwave lentils according to package directions

        2) Microwave kale and cauliflower for 1 minute

        3) mix soyaki and sesame oil together in a small bowl

        4)  Add lentils, kale, and cauliflower into a bowl. Add soyaki sauce mixture and mix throughly 

     Day 10:

     Chicken, eggplant and lentils with vodka sauce over Quinoa

      1 Serving

      Ingredients: 

      1/2 cup of cooked poached chicken

      Leftover roasted eggplant (from sunday's dinner)

      1/2 of leftover roasted chickpeas (from sunday's dinner)  

      1/2 cup of quinoa 

      1/4 cup of vodka sauce 

      1 tablespoon of feta

       Recipe: 

       1) Microwave chicken for 1 minute

       2) Micowave eggplant and chickpeas for 1 minute

       3) Microwave quinoa for 1 1/2 minutes

       4)  Add chicken, vegetables and quinoa to a bowl. Add vodka sauce and feta and microwave for another 30 seconds 

     Day 11:

    Chicken, Eggplant, roasted chickpeas and quinoa with lemon-parsley yogurt 

     Ingredients:

     1/2 cup cooked poached chicken

     1/2 of leftover roasted chickpeas (from sunday's dinner) 

     1 cup of steamed kale 

     1 tablespoon of hummus

     Lemon-parsely yogurt (see recipe, according to Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge)

    

     Recipe:

     1. Microwave chicken for 1 minute 

     2. Microwave chickpeas and steamed kale

     3. Microwave Quinoa according to directions 

     5. Mix Lemon-Parsley Yogurt in a small bowl

     6. Add quinoa, chicken and vegetables to bowl. 

     7. Top with hummus and Lemon-Parsley Yogurt and mix throughly. 

   Friday (Day 12) Trader Joe's Tempura Chicken with vegetable fried rice and broccoli and Saturday

   (Day 13) Quinoa burger, steamed kale and broccoli.