NYC In A Flash

 

Last weekend we headed down to NYC for the weekend. I still can't believe we only 5 hours away.  We had a blast eating, seeing the sights and hanging out with friends. 

We arrived at our hotel around 6:30 and dumped our stuff and headed to a hole in the wall pizza place that served amazing NY style pizza. Thankfully when we asked at the hotel it was less than a block away.

Saturday morning we slept in late...7:30. We left the hotel and walked down to a restaurant for breakfast. A few pictures along the way. 

 

Nathan wanted blintzes while we were in NY so I found this great Ukrainian restaurant. Jonathan and Liz met us for brunch. The food was amazing! I had lox, cream cheese and dill perogies and  Nathan ordered a savory blintz with a wild mushroom sauce.

Because my family are huge Theodore Roosevelt fans we had to take a tour of his birthplace.

 

On our way to dinner Saturday night we stumbled upon this great fabric warehouse. It was a little piece of heaven. So much fabric!

 

We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Freemans. Our friends Houston and Brandy's brother and sister-in-law are executive chefs there and at Peels where we brunch on Sunday.

Nathan had a Freeman Cocktail which had Rye, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, orange bitters. I had a sip and it was delicious.

Nathan had Seared Scallops with sautéed enoki mushrooms, tokyo turnips
mushroom broth & mint salsa verde

For our main course I had the special which consisted of Grilled beef short rib nestled on roasted garlic and shallot on top of grilled sourdough bread with grilled onions. We shared a side of the best corn pudding we've ever had.

We weren't planning on eating dessert but Preston sent us out a lemon cheesecake with rhubarb sauce and a lovely strawberry shortcake.

After our amazing meal we headed to Rockefeller Center and Times Square

Along our walk we happened by Magnolia Bakery. I've read a few articles on this bakery so we had to try a cupcake. We were not disappointed. They were the best cupcakes we've had so far.

Making sure we took the right subway back to the hotel

Sunday morning we got up and slowly walked to Peels to meet Jonathan and Liz for brunch. We walked past the harbor and through China town.

I really wanted to stay and work here!

Usually Nathan orders something but ends up liking what I ordered more...this time I wished I had ordered his eggs benedict. The biscuits were perfect and the eggs and hollindaise were so divine. 

 Peels shrimp and grits was delicious. Preston has had his recipe published in Bon Appetit. I tried it out last summer when the magazine came out. It was good but I think Peels was better.

 This picture didn't turn out too well but we had a blast and hanging out with the Marshall's. It was a quick weekend but it was fantastic. We're thankful we had the opportunity to go before baby House arrives.

Fig and Whole Wheat Muffins (dairy free)

  

 I love breakfast food but I hate getting up first thing in the morning and having to cook something fast so I can take Nathan to work. Thankfully my wonderful husband typically crawls out of bed 30 minutes before I do and makes breakfast so all I have to do is drag my pregnant sell out of bed and walk down the stairs...sometimes I don't even have to do that. Breakfast in bed is glorious.

I try once a week or every other week to make a batch of muffins so that we can have something already made and ready to go in the mornings. I made a decent batch of fig preserves last summer and for some reason we've had a hard time finishing it off. I still have about 3 or 4 small jars left. I wanted to used them in a whole wheat muffin. The consistency of these are not like your typical muffin due to the lack of butter and all whole wheat flour. They are super easy and I really liked them.

Fig and Whole Wheat Muffins

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup fig preserves

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries.

Mix ingredients in order that they are listed. Stir together just until combined. You don't want the batter to become tough. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. 

DIY Laundry Detergent

I've been wanting to make my own laundry detergent for a while. Last week we finally ran out of the huge plastic jug of the cheapest liquid detergent from the store. I purchased what I needed for about $7 and made it last Saturday.

The measurements that I found online from various sources were:

2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
1 shaved bar of Fels-Naptha

I used my hand grater for the soap

It takes about 2 Tbsp. per load of clothes.

I love the way the clothes smell and it's so easy to make. I still have enough borax and soda to make at least 2 more batches. This first batch will last a couple of months. So for less than $10 I will have soap for at least 6 months!

21 Weeks

We had the our 20 week ultrasound on Monday. I scheduled it first thing in the morning so Nathan was able to go with me. Everything looked great!

Grilled Vegetable Cousous Salad

I made this salad about three weeks ago and unfortunately for you I didn't write down any sort of guess on measurements. The great thing is that you can pretty grill your veggies of choice, throw in some cheese and herbs and your done.

I grilled:
red peppers
yellow squash
zucchini
Vidalia onion
chicken

I then chopped everything up in to a medium dice and put it in a large bowl.
I cooked a 10 oz. box of Near East brand plain couscous and after it cooled added it to me veggies and chicken. I then add some feta cheese. Goat cheese would be yummy too.


I didn't have any fresh basil so I used some dried that I had on hand.
I made a simple dressing with balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard.

Toss it all together and your done! An all in one meal that doesn't require you to turn on the oven on those super hot days.