My obsession with Scandinavia continues! Brooklyn, Portland, and Scandinavia = creative, hip, modern, and IT places. Here are my current top Scandinavian food finds.
Kaviar in a tube!
Scandinavian Obsession
Food
Butte Creek Mill Cookie Mix
Because everything “cool” that I discover is from my mom, here is the most recent find: whole grain, organic, artisan cookie mixes! Made in Oregon (obvi), these mixes come from Southern Oregon’s Butte Creek Mill. And it has been in operation since 1872 — long standing coolness.
Butte Creek Mill
Juice Press
There are a handful of items that I miss from NYC when I am out west for the summer. Obviously, I miss my husband, my friends, and my gym classes. But the only other thing I really, deeply, truly miss is my raw oatmeal from Juice Press.
Summer 13 Nutrition Tips
Now that it is August, it’s the perfect time to finish the summer on a good note with some nutritional advice from the lovely and talented, Dr. Jana Klauer. Featured on JGB twice before (last summer and early 2013), Dr. Klauer continues to motivate, inspire, and educate all of us. So, thank you Dr. Klauer for sharing more wisdom and science, and helping us commit to a healthy and active lifestyle!
The ever so beautiful and smart, Dr. Jana Klauer!
Blue Apron Food Delivery
Although I love to cook, I get stuck in my own routine of cooking only a handful of meals. I am bored of my own repertoire, so I can only imagine what my meat-potato-husband thinks of my crunchy-green-leaf-dominated limited offerings. But I think I have found a solution: Blue Apron to the rescue!
Blue Apron is a service that sends you the ingredients and recipes of three delicious meals a week. You pick meat/fish versus vegetarian, they prepare the recipes and the portions, send you the fresh ingredients and deliver it to your door. Ridiculously awesome. All you have to do is COOK the food, and VOILA, an amazing-wholesome-fresh meal for you and your family to eat!
Perfectly balanced meal.
The weekly subscription (that you can cancel at any point — or skip for a week or 9) can be delivered to most states in the Northeast (Santa Claus year round!) They deliver to: CT, DC, DE, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MD, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, TN, VA, VT, WV and in some parts of AL, AR, GA, IA, MI, MO, MS, NC, SC, WI. Basically, half the United States. Brilliant. The food comes tightly packaged in a box with ice to keep the ingredients fresh and intact. Then, you place the items in the fridge, plan out the weekly meals, and relax.
Insulated box, fed-ex over night shipped.
CHRISMAKKUH!
The week’s worth of ingredients. The produce is whole, the meat and fish is uncooked, and there are not any (or very few) processed ingredients, so you KNOW you are eating fresh and in-season produce and meat. Dream come true.
Smorgasburg
The best reason to skip breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday is to save space to party at the Brooklyn Flea’s giant all-food market, Smorgasburg. Set at the East River State Park in Williamsburg or in the old tobacco warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo, it is a full-on adventure in deliciousness.
Some highlights:
No — not that kind of hash
Hash and eggs.
Fried Anchovies, Jersey style. WHAT WHAT????
S’mores Pie. Absolute perfection.
2013 Paris Marathon!
SO, I did it!!! Thank you to all the people who supported, cheered, and encouraged me to complete one of my lifetime dreams. I ran a marathon! In Paris. In my goal time. It was heavenly. Almost as heavenly as a fresh, hot Parisian pain au chocolat…
The map of the race. Unbelievably scenic and beautiful!
Off the plane. HELLOOO BAGUETTTTEE!!!
First stop. Running Expo to pick up my bib number! EEK!
Allez Yael!
Saturday preparation lunch. HELLLOOO BAGUETTE. Encore!
From our Saturday walk (I went with three friends, who all ran and finished!) A quick sightseeing excursion before the WHOLE REST OF THE DAY ROLLING, STRETCHING, and PREPARING FOR THE MARATHON THE NEXT DAY! double eek.
Stairs (5 flights) up to where we were staying (thank you Mrs. Natori!). Can you imagine how we would cope post-marathon if the apartment building didn’t have an elevator? THE HORROR! #firstworldproblems
Dinner pre-race. Carbo-loading. Yep, eating spaghetti. And I despise pasta. But you do what you gotta do!
Friends joined us for dinner.
Ok, I am really bad at selfies to begin with, but a seflie of me and my pre-race jitters is even worse. But I had to include it.
Do you believe that my mother-in-law is a fashion designer???? Can’t you tell by my look? HAWT DAWG!
Pre-race! Left to right, my friends Brad (one of Ken’s best friends from growing up), Jenny, and me in the hood with the snarky face. Picture taken by Pamela. We all finished!
Yep, I took this on the run with my camera. It was one of my “rewards’ for finishing a mile. Pretty picture even with the runners in it.
I MEAN, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS RIDICULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL SKY AND SUN AND VIEW?
Christmas 2012
Back in the saddle after Monday’s hiatus. It’s been a long week – overly tired (baby Zoe is teething so no sleep for me), busy traveling (quick family-of-four trip to Florida), and gift wrapping (lots of presents), therefore had no time to write. I hope everyone had a super duper Christmas (and Hannukah earlier in the month!) We had a great night with my in-laws and family. Here are some highlights of Christmas Day Night with the Natoris!
Holiday outfits.
PINK TREE! Electric, neon, modern, cool, fresh, unique, and awesome!
Crispy Onions
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, which means PARTY IN MY TUMMY.
There's a party in my tummy! o yeah! o yeah!
One of my absolute favorite dishes happens to be green bean casserole. Maybe because I never ate it growing up, or maybe because it is so rich and creamy, decadent and savory. Whatever the case, if it is in front of me, I will eat the whole dish. So delicious.
YES PLEASE. NOW. (thanks)
As I recently discovered, fried onions are the secret to any dish. Green bean casserole, sandwiches, and salads. Seriously, you just sprinkle on fried onions and your dish becomes a party in your tummy. They are sugar-free, meat-free, and guilt-free. And I have found a brand I love: Lars’ Own crispy onions!
What I Am Thankful For
Small things I am thankful for….
* Coffee
* Jars, jars, and more jars of Peanut Butter
* The sound of giggles
* Amazing, loving, loyal, and caring friends
* Crisp, fresh apples
* Electric toothbrushes
* My health
* Cookies
* Creative combinations
* Cashmere
* Kale
* More Kale
* And even MORE Kale
* Equal rights
* The ability to impact a student’s life
* Showing girls and boys that a woman can be good at math
Best NYC Mexican Food
Being a native West Coaster with a Mexican mother, Mexican food = comfort for me. For some, mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese makes them feel at home. For me, it is burritos, tacos, salsa, and cilantro. It is like cuddling up with a cashmere blanket in front of a fire. Unfortunately, New York has NO GOOD REASONABLY PRICED MEXICAN FOOD. I am against going to a Mexican restaurant and paying more than 10 dollars for beans and tortillas. I mean, really, how do the high end Mexican restaurants survive????
(I realize many of you may be reading to find out about today’s giveaway… coming at the end of the post!)
So, I was totally and utterly excited when I tumbled across this article that mentioned Tortilleria Nixtamal as one of the BEST restaurants in NYC. Not the best hole in the wall, not one of the cheapest eats, but one of the best restaurants in general. SOLD.
locations
Nixatamal serves affordable and good quality food. It is the type of Mexican food I love; dirty and cheap, without being dirty. The ingredients that they use are also fresh and high quality. Burrito Boy doesn’t even do that! The produce comes directly from Mexico via a locally owned distributor, the meat comes from the local butcher, the fish comes from Astoria Seafood, the cheese from a local producer of Mexican cheeses, and the salsa is made in house.
The menu itself is phenomenal.
Fruit Leather
Fruit leathers are a great source of fruit, vitamins, and calories. I had a ton of them this summer, and so did Cruz. Unfortunately, we ended up spending a lot of money and wasting a lot of plastic. SOOOO…..we decided to try to make them at home!
My mother, of course, is a pro at anything homemade and has her own food dehydrator where she dries different fruits left and right. Although they are great, personal food dehydrators aren’t exactly common. So below is my attempt to recreate an oven-only recipe for Fruit Leathers from Weelicious (which, btw, is an awesome blog).
Ingredients:
* 3 cups of fruit (whatever is in season, fresh, and local!)
* 2 tablespoons of honey
Pretty food makes pretty fruit leather.
Directions:
* In a blender, blend fruit and honey until it looks so delicious that you want to drink the entire pitcher
Antigua Food
As we just returned from our babymoon on Tuesday and the food was memorable and delicious, here are some of the highlights of the yummy-ness we experienced on our President’s Day weekend holiday….
Some people get normal breakfasts, but not Ken. Ken *always* likes to experience the local cuisine and eat whatever they suggest. Breakfasts are usually his time to experiment and explore new foods. This is salted fish with Antiguan chop. And yep, he ate it for breakfast. Oatmeal or salted fish? Easy choice for Ken!
The hotel makes their own organic jam with local fruits. I am not sure exactly what type of fruit jams they were, but in any case, they were delicious and I could not stop eating them....
I am a sucker for all pastry baskets.
Each morning they had a "special juice" -- on this particular day it was papaya and pineapple. So tasty -- it was like drinking a papaya whole. And the lattes were a special treat as well.
Last weekend was a relaxing and terrific time, but we are truly looking forward to our normal family weekend routine here in NYC. Soccer class, Brooklyn Aquarium, Central Park visits, grocery shopping, cuddling, relaxing, and being together as a family. Until Friday!
— Anika Yael Natori, aka The Josie Girl.
