NY eats: Peanut Butter & Co

How many times have I longingly gazed at the PB & Co jars on the shelves of Whole Foods, never buying any because I didn't know which flavor to choose?
I decided to wait to buy the peanut butter until after I had visited their cafe in the Village. It also just happened to be the perfect place to meet my friend Sam from my Paris program. We used to spend hours talking about chocolate and peanut butter alone... she's a chocolate and Nutella fiend.
I'll admit that while the concept behind the cafe is cute, the food is ridiculously overpriced? If they charge 7 dollars for a sandwich, it better be good, right? The theme of the cafe is pure nostalgia, only slightly more glamorous: enjoy a gourmet peanut butter (or not) sandwich on wheat or white, with the crust cut off, if you like, carrot sticks, potato chips, and if you want milk, they have skim, whole, Lactaid, or soy, with your choice of syrup.
I was tempted by all the sandwiches, but they either seemed too dessert-like (I know, lame reason), or I felt like I could make them at home. I decided on the peanut butter sampler, which includes all their peanut butters with carrots, celery, apple slices, and crackers.

I also ordered a chocolate egg cream, simply because I had never tried one before. If you don't know, an authentic egg cream should be chocolate syrup on the bottom, followed by milk, and finally seltzer-- it's the "poor man's milk shake." The verdict? I personally loved it... It was so refreshing and a good way to satisfy a milkshake craving without drinking an entire liquified pint of ice cream.

As for my sampler plate, I was astounded at how much peanut butter I got-- basically those little plastic containers normally used for ketchup.
And how fresh was the peanut butter? The jars were still warm, and the peanuts had evidently just been ground.
BUT... I would have preferred some cut up pieces of bread or something, since the "Melba toast" was pretty unsatisfying. I didn't end up eating that much, because how much peanut butter can you really eat? I ended up taking all the peanut butters home, and now I can say I've tried all the flavors. I'll review them briefly here--

Smooth Operator and Crunch Time were great quality peanut butters. Just the right texture-- slightly liquid and also perfectly salty.
Dark Chocolate Dreams-- the chocolate overpowered the peanut butter, but this was ridiculously indulgent, like Reeses. I preferred it to Nutella, which has an unnaturally slick and shiny texture.
White Chocolate Wonderful-- I couldn't really taste the white chocolate, which doesn't have much flavor anyway. It was more like sweetened peanut butter. I wonder if there would be a way to bring out the white chocolate taste more.
The Heat is On-- this was definitely one of the best! Savory peanut butter is wonderful. They weren't shy with the spices, either. This was actually hot, and would be great as a dressing for Asian noodles.
Cinnamon Raisin Swirl-- As I love cinnamon in all forms, this was one of my favorites. Studded with raisins, this is definitely fun to eat on its own.
The Bee's Knees-- convenient to eat with banana peanut butter sandwiches because you don't have to add additional honey, but like the white chocolate, the honey added more sweetness than taste. That's the problem with peanuts... their taste is so overpowering.
Mighty Maple-- I don't know if it was just the sample I got, but it was pretty gritty, as though it had maple sugar instead of syrup in it. The flavor was subtle, but also more obvious than the honey. I can see why Erica likes it so much.

Sam, chocolate lover, ordered the Peanut Butter Cup sandwich, which had peanut butter and Nutella (I wonder why they didn't just use Dark Chocolate Dreams). I pointed out that she could have just made it at home, but she told me that the quality was definitely superior to homemade, which is a relief to hear.

They were a little stingy on the carrot sticks, if you ask me.

On the other hand, I loved the decor of the place! Very old school, with a corner of their products (cookbook, lunchboxes, t-shirts, in addition to peanut butter). I would consider coming back and ordering a milkshake or something instead. I consider it more as a source of ideas for sandwich combinations-- the weekly special was Pina Colada: peanut butter, cream cheese, pineapple jam, and coconut.

For once, I'm celebrating the holidays!

This year Christmas Eve and the days building up to it have actually felt festive, which says a lot, considering we don't celebrate Christmas. Hanukkah has been pretty low-key... and the weather has been awful. Yesterday, I didn't go out of the house ONCE! I had no reason to...
Yesterday:
Got up and did a yoga routine (about 30 minutes)-- surprisingly, it was enough to get me to sweat and my heart rate up! Not the same as a "real" workout, but definitely something.
Breakfast: repeat of blackberry cardamom cashew oats.
After breakfast, I decided to bake cookies for neighbors. I made oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies (these were actually semi-healthy because I used some canola oil and white whole wheat flour) and gingerbread cookies! I wanted to make gingerbread men, but I didn't have the cookie cutters, so I ended up with leaves... and no frosting because it's gross and unnecessary.
Because I didn't go out, lunch was VERY light. I started with a bowl of beet soup with a few spoonfuls of brown rice to thicken it, plus some Kashi crackers.

I soon realized that this wasn't enough, so I got some carrots and celery and hummus.
Afterwards I debated having a cookie, but to be honest, I was feeling kind of down on myself-- I hadn't gone outside or even walked around, and I felt like I kind of "didn't deserve it," which is probably ridiculous. I had a pear instead.
For some reason, I was STARVING around 4:45! I had cottage cheese and a sprinkle of grapenuts and GoLean Crunch. I started with 1/2 cup, which is a serving, but it just wasn't enough...
Dinner was Chinese-- scrambled eggs and tomatoes and a very strange dish of bok choy, tree ears, tofu, and cucumbers, of all things. It was very monastic-- I think it would have been better if the cucumbers had been cooked longer so that they resembled zucchini.


Today
TODAY WAS PRODUCTIVE. It flew by so quickly, and I was hardly in the house at all! I got up at a decent hour to do some interval training on the elliptical. I was feeling fine while I was working out, but afterwards my knee started hurting AGAIN! I wonder what it is... it feels more like shin splints, but the elliptical is supposed to be low impact!
Anyways, for breakfast I made one of the best bowls of oatmeal EVER. I used 1/3 a cup of oats for the base, since the toppings are pretty decadent. I used a whole small banana, 1/3 cup vanilla hemp milk, 1/3 cup water, and later, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. On top, I crumbled most of a small oatmeal raisin cookie and had a spoon of peanut butter. Because you can't have cookies without milk, I had a glass of milk on the side. This was so good, I can't even describe it. I think it was the combination of textures, plus the few melty chocolate chips. YUM.

After breakfast, my mom and I headed out for some errands-- we set up some last minute dinner plans with neighbors and had to go grocery shopping. One of the stops we made was at that same Zalenski and Horvath, the gourmet foods store. I picked up a little present for one of my friends, AND one for myself, as well as an awesome fish and seafood cookbook.
CHECK THIS OUT, PEANUT BUTTER FANS. For my friend (they let me taste a little bit-- I basically licked it, knowing how many calories could potentially be in that sample) I got CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH PEANUT BUTTER! I realize that sounds disgusting (or wonderful, depending on who you are), but I assure you, it was fabulous. For myself, I bought chocolate banana peanut butter... we'll see how this goes. I also plan on buying some Peanut Butter and Co peanut butter when I go to NY... I realize they sell it at Whole Foods, but I want to go to the actual store.

By the time we got back from all the errands, it was nearly 2:00! I made myself a strange but nice lunch... talk about fusion! Basically, I was trying to use up leftovers.
There were leftover canned tomatoes in the fridge, so I heated them with marjoram, thyme and white wine, then added brown rice and later on, arugula, which wilted. At the last minute, I crumbled in some feta and on top, I had the VERY last of the tempeh mole. An interesting combination of flavors...
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THIS?
I also had carrots, celery and hummus (sorry for the blurry photo).
And a pear

I didn't have much time after lunch, since I was due at a friend's, but I made a quick squash dish for dinner that night-- basically just baked squash (I used one mini pumpkin and one crazy-looking squash called a Carnival squash) drizzled with a combination of olive oil, maple syrup, and smoked paprika.
I went to my friend's and had a great time. First, we had some hot chocolate-- this was super decadent because she used a combination of whole and 2%. Therefore, I only had half a mug. It was plenty (these photos came out TERRIBLY).

We celebrated Hanukkah (so I lit the candles twice tonight!) and her mom let me try a bite of her sweet potato latkes! They were eggy and more moist than my mom's-- apparently this is because she used some mashed sweet potato to give them body. I didn't want to spoil my appetite, so I only had a bite.

Dinner-- It's so fun having neighbors over! They're Jewish (partly) too, so it felt nice having something to do on Christmas Eve when everybody else is busy.
To start with, we had... more latkes! Once again, with homemade applesauce and this time, some sour cream. I decided to pass on the latke encore.

My parents made roast chicken and stir-fried asparagus, which we had along with my squash and a vegetarian lasagna that they brought.

My neighbor kept insisting that the lasagna was overdone, and it was a little dry, but it had a fantastic souffle-like top that ballooned out of the cast iron skillet-- apparently it had a lot of eggs in it. Very rich... it was strange, though... by the time I had finished eating, I realized that I wanted the chicken. I've been waiting for a time when I actually wanted to eat meat, and I did tonight. I regret not going with it, a bit. I just don't know when to start!
First helpings (my squash was delicious, if I do say so myself)

Seconds

Dessert: basically a conglomeration of cookies-- my cookies, sugar cookies and peanut brittle from one neighbor, and a gingerbread fruitcake-ish thing from another neighbor. I was pretty full and decided on a tangerine.

There's a possibility that we'll go back to these neighbor's for Christmas dinner (or lunch? at 4:00) tomorrow... we'll see. It would be nice to have some plans.
Happy holidays!

LATKES!!!

Whew, I'm exhausted! I spent a good 4.5 hours just walking without sitting down once! I slept in because I watched Gossip Girl until 1 am.... guilty pleasure guilty pleasure... then I walked into my mom's study to check on her to find her watching the SAME THING (but a few episodes behind me)!!!
Because I slept in so late, I had a relatively light breakfast: cottage cheese with a little yogurt (not Greek, which is rare), 1/2 banana, blackberries, grapenuts, pecans, and sliced almonds.
I needed to get out of the house... this is what happens when I sleep in-- I feel like I've wasted the day! I decided on a whim that Jewish or not, I would be celebrating Christmas this year by buying people presents! I braved the freezing cold weather in my warmest clothes, gloves, a scarf, and a hat, and took the bus downtown. I spent ages gazing at presents I knew I couldn't afford, but eventually I was pretty successful. I left at around 11:45 and I didn't get home until after 4:00. I didn't stop for lunch or anything! I did, however, grab a quick nonfat decaf mocha (not pictured... I didn't sit down, remember?), which warmed me up considerably.
However, when I got home, I was STARVING! I scarfed down the rest of the lentil chestnut soup, graham crackers and peanut butter, and an apple.

This still didn't really fill me up (moral of the story: bring a snack), but I knew dinner would be relatively soon, so I didn't eat anymore. It's a good thing I didn't, because tonight's dinner was fantastic!!!
I only really need to eat latkes once or twice a year, due to being so rich. Tonight we had latkes with homemade apple/pear sauce and Greek yogurt (full fat because when you just have a dollop it makes all the difference... I wish it had been sour cream, though, for the full Jewish effect).

We also had a beet soup with beet greens, like a faux borscht, which we also ate with a little yogurt.

I had 1 1/2 latkes, and believe me, I was stuffed! These latkes still weren't as greasy as most, though, which is why they're not 100% golden and crispy.
On the side we had an arugula salad with candied walnuts.


My parents thought this was a weird meal because there was no main course, but that didn't even occur to me! To me, it seemed perfectly balanced and filling. I didn't even think of having dessert.
But I did have a tangerine.

Holy Mole

Dinner tonight was, as my dad called it, "an experiment." I actually disagree with him there- it was a complicated recipe that turned out exactly how it was supposed to, and I enjoyed it. I just don't think I tested it on the right audience.
I'm getting ahead of myself:

Breakfast-- A piece of peanut butter and banana toast
Yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries and grapenuts, and a drizzle more peanut butter (that was what I wanted this morning!)
And biology.
Tuesdays are the hardest days because I have no free periods and ALL my classes. Psychologically I always feel I need a snack, but I knew I had eaten a lot at breakfast, so I didn't have anything.
Lunch was leftover gumbo, Kashi crackers, an apple, and a Zensoy pudding.

The weather was awful: rainy, gray, and freezing, but I knew I had to run outside. If I did another damn elliptical workout I would kill myself... so I went with my friend Josey. It was a good pace for me, but also let me push myself. Instead of running on the lakefront, where it would be too windy, we ran south. While we were running, it started hailing... it stung a lot. I also jumped in a really deep puddle and got soaked. We didn't stop at all to stretch, so while the run wasn't THAT long, it felt longer because it was continuous. I felt GREAT when it was over: I was actually sweating (I don't sweat that much usually), and I could feel it in my legs. I'd say it was only 4 or 5 miles, but I definitely burned a fair amount of calories because I was starving when I got home.
I think my snack probably spoiled my dinner... in fact, I don't know if I should have had this for my snack anyway, since I had it for breakfast. I had more cottage cheese and cereal... but I figure I'll eventually get sick of it, so it won't really be an overload. I had it with some cinnamon Puffins, slivered almonds, and a tangerine on the side. But I waited after finishing and I was still hungry, so I had some more... I felt perfectly satisfied, but even when we ate at around 8:00, I wasn't THAT hungry. The recipe I made was COMPLICATED.

It was kind of Mexican-Indonesian-Vegan fusion: I made the mole from the Flexitarian Table with the tempeh. The mole itself had so much in it: dried poblanos, chiles packed in adobo, onions, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, cumin, cinnamon, and MEXICAN CHOCOLATE, which I so very conveniently had on hand.
This was complicated because everything had to be added in stages, soaked in water, and then blended. I also had to panfry the tempeh, simmer it, simmer the mole, add the mole to the tempeh, and simmer some more. I garnished it with lime wedges and cilantro.
I also made some brown basmati rice and my dad stir-fried some kale, which pretty much disintegrated, he cooked it so long. It was also way too salty, but he couldn't taste it at all! Should I be worried about this?

As for the mole, it was SO RICH... I guess I shouldn't be surprised... this was one of the more protein-packed meals ever. Plus, there were all those nuts in it, not to mention the CHOCOLATE. The flavors were so complicated: the chocolate came through, but all the different spices and nuts were also apparent. As my dad also put it, "it looks like mud." But what can I say... he's never really had Mexican food... I haven't either, really. I think my mom might have appreciated it more. But I couldn't even finish what was on my plate... so incredibly filling.

Dessert: a pear to cleanse the palate