A Healthier Heinz Ketchup

I'm conflicted. I want to tell you to buy this ketchup, but the only place (that I know of) that sells it is Wal-Mart. So... I'm going to leave it up to you. If you can find this specific Heinz, please God try it. I also want to tell you that it doesn't really taste like ketchup, but... that's a good thing! We all need to get off this kind of sugary trash. I know that none of us are eating it by the bucketload, but still. There's so much garbage in regular ketchup and nobody needs it. And if you still crave ketchup in your life - then this is the stuff (above) to buy because it's so much better for you and you can literally detect the difference and it actually tastes good. I really should have bought twenty of them and just forced my loved ones to try them out and hopefully convert them forever.

I'm not surprised that this specific product is hard to find in stores (and even online!). I'd imagine that hardcore Heinz lovers aren't exactly searching for a "healthier Heinz," so I guess it makes sense. Definitely keep an eye out for it, though. 

Fresh Food Dinner Kits at Union Square Subway Station

A startup called Fresh Routes will be stationed in the mezzanine level of Union Square (14th street) station beginning June 12th, selling "dinner kits" with all the ingredients to make a meal at home. Each kit will include "fresh vegetables, a bold spice blend and step-by-step instructions for preparing a seasonal entree." According to their website, the recipes are from local chefs, including alums of big kitchens like Jean-Georges and Momofuku Ssam, with materials sourced from local spots like Hot Bread Kitchen and Satur Farms on Long Island.

Some of the current kits available include a BBQ Chicken Skillet Salad with greens, avocado and other veggies; a SoHo Rice Bowl with black beans, peppers and DYI guacamole; and a Tuscan Cannellini Ragout with spaghetti, olives, tomatoes and white beans. Fruits and veggies don't come pre-chopped and you'll have to already own your own salt, pepper and cooking oil, but otherwise everything's included and is ready for the kitchen.

Until now, the kits could (and still can) be ordered online and delivered anywhere in Manhattan; the USQ pop-up will operate:

Monday to Friday, 8am - 9pm and Saturday from 10am - 5pm for the rest of the summer.

Kits average around $34 each and include four portions, so I'll assume that you'd buy these if you're cooking for more than just yourself (well, that or you love leftovers). Side salads, appetizers and desserts are also available to purchase and the company says there will be at least one vegetarian/vegan option available in each day's selection.

You might hear this option and think, "Why the hell would I pay $34 for one meal for a few people when I can just go to the grocery store myself and get anything I want for any recipe I want?" Well, I suppose that's a fair argument. But also, do you live in NYC and have that opinion? 'Cause in that case, I feel like you probably don't understand how hellish and time consuming it is to enter ANY grocery store between 4pm and 7pm on any weekday night. So keeping that in mind, this is a great option for this city. And when I try it, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. 

You're Eating Watermelon Wrong

You're welcome.

Coffee Crisp McFlurry at McDonald's

I will happily endorse almost anything that encourages more Coffee Crisp consumption in our everyday lives. I think you should know that by now. I'm not telling you to eat one of these every day or even one a week - but once in awhile? C'mon. It's not a big deal. And this particular treat IS FANTASTIC if you, obviously, like Coffee Crisp. I'm not sure if they're available in all of Canada, but they're definitely in Ontario at the moment so get on that.

Hazelnut Gelato at Whole Foods

I will always say yes to seeing a dessert menu at the end of a meal MAINLY because I have to do a once-over and make sure there isn't any hazelnut gelato listed. If you haven't had it before... that's a problem. Especially if you give any kind of a shit about Nutella, as most do. 

Whole Foods has a gelato section and nine times out of ten, they have this flavour. I advise you to eat it if you have any kind of decency within you. 

Healthy Banana Pancakes

As you already know, I'm into making pancakes. And this (flourless) recipe is, surprisingly, really good. Definitely try it out. All I ask of you is to please, oh, please get some pure (and likely Canadian) maple syrup to accompany your meal. Ignore the cheap, sugary brands and get the expensive, simple-ingredient-list kind of maple syrup. I know that it's easy to indulge in that corn-syrupy trash (and I am not one to judge), but c'mon. We can't live our lives on Mrs. Butterworth. (And to be fair, I only excessively endorsed that IHOP stuff whilst on vacation, if that helps my case at all. And clearly, my vacation self gives in to food temptation.)

Vanilla-Lemon Berry Parfaits

If someone were to ever plant me a lemon tree outside my home, I'd consider that a proposal. Who the hell wouldn't agree that having a lemon tree in your yard would be the most heavenly accessory to any ordinary existence? Man, I love lemons. And pine. 

I just ate this parfait for breakfast - and other than it being ridiculously easy to make, it was just a delight to eat (possibly 'cause it tastes like dessert). And please know that I'm not even into breakfast and I loved this. 

Ingredients

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 (3.5-ounce) containers fat-free (or sugar-free) vanilla pudding
2 tablespoons bottled lemon curd (I couldn't find this at my apparently-peasant-like grocery store so I didn't bother with it. Though, since it's just more lemon, I'm sure that if you find it and use it then it'll taste even better.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup strawberries (since that was all I had - add blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. if you have them)

EAT IT!

Recipe adapted slightly from Health.com

The Copycat Wendy's Frosty Recipe on Pinterest

I've seen this recipe too many times to count, so I (finally) tried it this past weekend. If you're on Pinterest, you know which one I'm talking about. This one:

3/4 cup almond milk 

15 ice cubes

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1-2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 of a frozen banana

Verdict? GARBAGE! Tastes like dirty ice chunks. Stay away. FAR AWAY. 

You can find more terrible Pinterest pins over here.

Dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns

I've often tried to explain to you how lucky I am. I don't know what happened in a past life, but this one continues to treat me tremendously. The dinner that I had at Blue Hill at Stone Barns was the most elegant and (at twenty-plus courses, we stopped counting) definitely the most luxurious meal I've ever experienced. In a word? Epic.

How could I afford a farm-to-table restaurant like this? How could I even hear of such a magical spot nestled forty-five minutes outside of New York City? Who on earth would treat me to this decadent night of gluttonous desire? The one and only Paul. A man who repeatedly takes birthday celebrations to another level. There will never be an appropriate way to thank him, so I'll just have to outdo him come October 20th.

I was not at all joking when I mentioned that there were over twenty courses. We didn't even get bread until course nine! The plates began very modestly and tiny, then continued to grow and grow with no end in sight. I'll never know how we ate what we did that night. It's still sort of a haze. Here's one example of the beauty that we devoured.

When you arrive, you let your server know if you have any allergies and off you go. This place is not a restaurant, this place is an adventure. The menu changes with the seasons and whatever is at its peak in the season will be dominantly featured in the majority of the courses. We went in mid March, so we got beets. I know what you're thinking because at the time I thought it, too. But this night turned me into a lover of beets. It still feels weird to even say that. I don't know how to tell you how incredible everything tasted. I really wish I knew the words that would express how fresh and alive each course felt. It felt like hours of work went into each ingredient. God, the venison? Fuck. Never in your life are you gonna taste meat the way they cooked it here.

We even got taken into the kitchen to have a course at a table set up in there, which made me feel like a judge on Chopped (ie. better than you). There were over thirty people doing a billion things in there and it was neat as hell to see how a place like this could be run.

At the end of the night when the waiter came to our table with a birthday candle in a piece of cake, they had another waiter walk infront of him (blocking him) all the way to the table so that the candle wouldn't be visible. Is it just me or is that classy as hell? 

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Whenever I try to explain this night to anyone, I make sure that 50% of what I say will describe how amazing the food was - and the other 50% is devoted to the GORGEOUSNESS of the presentation of it all. I swear we probably saw one actual plate the entire night - food was instead served on slabs of heated rock, in eggshells, hanging from plants. I can't even begin to describe the dessert FOREST that was the finale. Does it sound like I'm making this up? It should, because these details are ridiculous AND WONDERFUL. I wish I would have taken more photos, but we were too busy enjoying it all. 

I can only describe the experience as holy. Am I trying to say that my friend Paul is God-like? I guess I am. He's the most generous person I know and I'll never forget this night as long as I live.

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Thank/love you, Paul

Dip Warmer and Dip Cooler

In a perfect world, I would host endless dinner parties. In this world? I have a lone napkin ring that I happily use on the weekends. 

I just saw this Dip-on-Ice Stainless-Steel Serving Bowl and I think I might be yearning for it. Keeping a dip cold?! I never even knew that could be a desire until now. 

Dip cooler!

They're $20 on Amazon and it's a pretty neat idea. Have you ever tasted a warm, almost-sweaty salsa before? I have and it ain't a party. 

I already own this guy (below) and he's made me very happy. 

Dip warmer!