Sunday, May 12, 2013

How to Make an Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

How to make an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich step-by-step brought to you by Beany Malone...

Take some Trader Joe's Uncured Turkey Bacon, because "I just don't dig on swine," except for on special occasions...
Throw it in a pan - it has the same consistency as Canadian bacon
Cook to your preference - I like mine slightly burnt and crisp 
Take an egg from your giant Whole Foods carton of cage-free brown eggs - it's a pretty good deal on eggs especially for Whole Foods
Melt some butter in a pan and throw in said egg, break the yolk so that it spreads out 
When it seems like the underside is cooked, flip the egg over and cook for a few more seconds on that side before taking it out of the pan
Take a slice of Trader Joe's Organic American Cheese - I figure if I'm going to eat a made-up cheese with no nutritional value, it might as well be organic 
And throw it on the egg while your Murray's healthy grain bagel toasts... it melts a little bit from the heat of the egg
Take toasted health grain bagel and layer it with your fried egg, American cheese, turkey bacon, ketchup, and avocado
It should look something like this
Put the top on the bagel, and you have a massive egg and cheese bagel sandwich 
Half eaten and bursting with goodness

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Trader Joe's Tarte aux Champignons

Tonight we had Trader Joe's Tarte aux Champignons for dinner with salad and wine.

Trader Joe's Tarte aux Champignons
Frozen tarte ready to go in the oven for 10 minutes
Baked tarte cooling down
Trader Joe's Spring Mix of salad
Doctored and dressed salad
Dinner for two
I paired my dinner with a glass of Indaba Chardonnay


 

Saturday Morning Breakfast

I woke up late this morning after a long night.  Breakfast was delicious: coffee, orange juice, and Trader Joe's Smoked Sockeye Salmon and Kerrygold Irish butter on a Murray's health grain bagel.  It was so tasty!
Breakfast and TV - one of my favorite Saturday activities
Butter and salmon on a healthy grain bagel
 

Packing Lunch in the Morning

It is difficult to leave enough time in the morning to pack my lunch and make breakfast at home before work.  Yesterday, I had a very successful morning prep.  The night before I had grilled some delicious Trader Joe's chicken to perfection for salads and put out an almond croissant to rise overnight.  While my almond croissant was in the oven, I made coffee and started cutting carrots and chicken for my salad.  I also made my own balsamic vinaigrette using balsamic vinegar, Williams-Sonoma vinaigrette oil (very good), Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.  I like having morning rituals and almost always listen to NPR in the morning as I'm getting ready for the day.

Grilled chicken, carrot, crouton salad

Cardini's Caesar croutons, which I have decided are the best store-bought croutons

My lunch for the day

My breakfast of almond croissant, coffee to-go, and multivites gummy vitamins

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Village Voice Choice Streets 2nd Annual Food Truck Event

Tonight, I went with some friends to the 2nd Annual Village Voice Choice Streets Food Truck Event at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.  There were tons of trucks and stands at the event.  

Food I tried: Andy's Italian Ice - lemon ice (too much ice not enough lemon) Big D's Grub - spicy pork taco (fine), Comme Ci Comme Ca - chicken couscous (good), Coolhaus - mint chocolate chip ice cream with snickerdoodle (great), Hibachi Heaven - veggies & rice with soy ginger sauce (eh), Kelvin Natural Slush Co. - tea and peach slush (kind of too healthy, but good), La Bella Torte - chocolate cake shot (delish), Nuchas - portobello, spinach, & mozzarella empanada (ew), Seoul Food - Seoul Fries (fine, but I wish I tried the slider instead).  

Drinks I tried: Shock Top - Belgian White & Shandy (Loved the Belgian White, but did not like the Shandy), Chateau Michelle Wine Estates - Red Diamond (which I drink anyway and love), Barefoot Wine - Red Muscato (gross, not even wine), American Harvest Organic Spirit - lemon vodka (kind of gross).  

Might have overdone it a little, but I feel great.
The Intrepid

Lego Replica of the Intrepid

Cute plane painted to look like a shark

Food trucks from atop the Intrepid

NYC skyline from atop the Intrepid

Plastic glass for sampling

Chicken couscous from Comme Ci Comme Ca

Spicy Pork Taco

Burnt spinach and mozzarella empanada

Chocolate Cake Shot

  

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Urban Outfitters Hook

A couple of months ago, I ordered a wall hook from Urban Outfitters on the cheap.  We finally hung it up this week, and so far I think it's adorable.  We don't have a coat closet or a foyer; so this hook gives the door area a more mudroom-like feel as much as you can have a mudroom-like feel in a NYC one-bedroom apartment.

How it looked online...
How it looks in our apartment.

Whisk

Whisk is my new favorite store.  I stopped in on our walk and fell in love.

Such a cute store!
They have a whole section devoted to bitters.
I bought some basic cook tools like this ladle...
And this offset spatula...
And a simple salt cellar...
We drink a lot of nespresso, and these basic espresso cups will be perfect for day-to-day coffee drinking.
I couldn't resist these colorful owl chopsticks.