Breakfast today: Yogurt + granola + almonds + blueberries = heavenly.

*

Dinner tonight: My favorite kind of veggie, aka Brussels sprouts, served with grilled garlic-lemon chicken, and a tasty tossed veggie salad. I am much more drawn to light and simple meals, when the weather gets warmer.. Mmm!

Dinner tonight: SHAKE SHACK. My friend and I went to the city today to see a concert, and afterwards were starving, so we decided to get our late night gluttony on and visit Shake Shack. I might have gotten a bit carried away as I ordered: french fries, a vanilla shake, a cheese burger, and a "chicken dog". Oh my, it was super tasty and I finished it all!

Dinner tonight: Grilled salmon with couscous and a salad. This has got to be my all time favorite "summer meal". It's so easy and fast to prepare, and it tastes divine. I like to make a lemon-garlic-dill sauce to go with the fish, and it is the perfect finishing touch to this delicious dish!

*

Dessert tonight: I loooooove frozen yogurt. I have always been a fan of ice cream and other icy treats, but last summer I discovered "froyo" and I haven't looked back since. To make it at home, I just take yogurt and blend it with frozen fruit. Not so sure how much that constitutes as real frozen yogurt, but it does the trick for me. Here I mixed vanilla yogurt with frozen strawberries and raspberries, and topped them with some fresh blueberries. YUM.

Dinner tonight: Peanut chicken with broccoli served over rice, aaaaand some mango lassi! I was feeling a little bit indian/fusion tonight, so I made one of my favorite, easy, super delicious sauces, and since we had quite a lot of mango that needed to be used up, I whipped up some mango lassi. So tasty!

Dinner tonight: Chicken quesadillas with homemade pico de gallo. We had an abundance of tomatoes, and for once some cilantro, so I decided to make some of my summer favorite: salsa! What a fiesta!

Dinner tonight: Husband made hotdogs! And peppers & onions to go with them. And a funky, purple lettuce salad with tomato, yellow bell pepper, and feta cheese. DELISH.

Lunch today: A husband made sandwich! And it was delicious. Ham, cheese, tomato, onion, yellow bell pepper, lettuce... And "Cool Ranch" nacho chips. MMM!

*

Dinner tonight: City pizza. New York City, that is. Husband and I shared a mozzarella-tomato slice, and a bacon-ranch slice. And, I ate my weight in garlic knots. Love them!

Breakfast today: A SMILEY PANCAKE. With nutella, mushed up banana, and whipped cream. :)

*

Dinner tonight: Green curry with chicken, cashews, and cilantro (also broccoli and onion, but they don't start with a C), and a side salad.

Lunch today: Basic cheddar & chicken breast on English muffin. 

*

Dinner tonight: Fish tacos in the City! Om nom nom.

Lunch today: A Brie-Pear-Chicken breast sandwich. Can you say YUM?

*

Dinner tonight: Fried potato cubes, broiled asparagus (with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parmesan), steak, and delicious salad.

Lunch today: A jam and cheese sandwich. My dad used to make these for lunch sometimes back when I was a kid. They may sound a little bit weird, but they're tasty! The sweetness of jam and the savoriness of cheese work so well together.

*

Dinner tonight: Thai coconut red curry with cashews and cilantro. Yumm-o!

Lunch today: Tuna melt! With some salt & pepper chips, and raspberry lemonade. Feeling awful summery, even though it was a rainy/overcast day.

*

Dinner tonight: Kale, chicken, and mashed potatoes. More exactly "blanched and sauteed kale with garlic, salt, pepper" , "breaded and fried chicken breast" , "mashed potatoes" - oh wait, that last one was pretty self-explanatory.

P.S. Please excuse the awfully yellow tint in the picture.  

Snack today: I made iced coffee! And had a piece of some chocolate-raspberry-crumb bar, that I made for an event we hosted last night. What a perfect little snack. 

P.S. Making iced coffee is easy and tasty, if you make a sugar syrup to add to it, instead of just trying to dissolve the sugar into it.

*

Dinner tonight: Fish tacos!!! Always a crowd pleaser! Also the best salad ever, that I have been making nonstop. I'm on a real avocado and mozzarella kick. We enjoyed this amazing dinner outside on our front porch -- It was such a lovely day. Yay for the approaching summer!

Lunch today: To keep up with yesterdays heavenly sandwich, I made this today -- a croissant cut in half, with chicken breast and avocado. Oh I do love croissants, and I usually eat them plain, but was feeling adventurous today. And it paid off, this was so good! I also had a few leftover deviled eggs from last nights dinner. AND, let's not forget about the raspberry lemonade with fresh mint! Delish.

*

Dinner tonight: Husband and I had to go run some errands, and we decided to go to Smash burger for some yummy burgers! I always get the same thing: crispy chicken sandwich with avocado, bacon, ranch dressing, tomato, and lettuce. It's so tasty! We also always get fries and a vanilla milkshake to share. And tonight we had two coupons, so we get one burger free and the fries for free too! Score!

Lunch today: May I introduce you to the most delicious sandwich ever? An onion ciabatta bread cut in half. One side with mayo, chicken breast, tomato, onion, avocado, and salt & pepper. The other side with brie cheese, chicken breast, avocado, onion, and lettuce. I died and went to sandwich heaven.

*

Dinner tonight: This is what I grew up eating as "Sunday dinner" -- my dad would make it every, you guessed it, Sunday! Fried potatoes, and deviled eggs. Might seem like a strange combo, but it is super yummy. Usually my dad would also add beans, but we made a little salad instead (with the same delicious ingredients as yesterday). 

Lunch today: A blueberry bagel, and an "Orangeade" Snapple. I went to this little bagel place on my way home after running some errands, and the gentleman who (I'm guessing) owns this place was super sweet! He packed my order to go, and once he saw me sit down, he brought over a paper plate and took everything out of the paper bag and set it out all properly.

*

Dinner tonight: An amazing salad, and some pasta. The salad was filled with our favorite things: tomato, avocado, mozzarella (and a little bit of onion), and it was so super delicious. Dressed with my go-to homemade dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. And the pasta is one you might have seen before: shrimp and asparagus in a butter garlic sauce. Simple and delicious!

Lunch (dessert) today: Tiramisu cake from the store, and a cup of vanilla-caramel tea with sugar and milk. Is mid afternoon dessert not what you do?

*

Dinner tonight: Oven roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower, with a side of blanched and sauteed kale with lots of garlic, and some spicy grilled chicken.

Lunch today: A toasted English muffing with tuna salad I made with tuna (duh!), onion, celery, mayo, salt, pepper, and sprinkled with paprika and white pepper. Served with a side of my favorite potato chips: Sour cream & Onion.

*

Dinner tonight: Fried "green" rice. Why green? Because in addition to shrimp, it had edamame, green bell pepper, celery, and cabbage. Spiced with sesame oil, soy sauce, a ton of different spices (salt, pepper, ginger, paprika, chili, red pepper flakes...) and topped with sour cream.

Lunch today: Leftovers from last night's Indian dinner -- Chicken Badami Korma, a.k.a. my new favorite Indian dish. My new goal is to learn how to make it myself. I also want to learn how to make Naan bread from scratch. And that I would top with lots and lots of garlic and cilantro. 

                                         *

Dinner tonight: Salmon, broiled asparagus, and a mixed salad. Lately our salads have comprised of whatever is in the fridge. Usually lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, onion, dried cranberries, and sliced almonds (that I like to toast). And I drizzle it with my all time go-to dressing ingredients of olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder.

Sweet tooth

Upper left corner: Guava and cheese empanada. 

Whaa? I was going to get a chicken empanada, but they were all out at the deli. I asked the woman behind the counter for what she recommended, and she said the guava one was good. I was immediately intrigued and said I would get one. She said it would take a few minutes to heat up. Fine. When she brought it over and I bit into it, I fell in love. The sweetness and softness of the guava mixed with the saltiness and gooeyness of cheese, with the crispy shell. Heavenly. I was tempted to get one for the road, but I was too full. We found the deli by accident, so I can only hope we can find our way back to it someday...

Upper right corner: Frozen yogurt.
Last summer I was converted from an ice cream lover to a froyo lover. So many different flavors, so many different toppings. Endless combinations, endless deliciousness! This time I got four different flavors (it was only my second froyo of the season, and I always get a little overexcited / overwhelmed): "guava (!!!) pineapple tart", "blueberry lychee bliss", "pistachio", and my all time favorite "taro". It was a late birthday (for my father-in-law) and early mother's day (for my mother-in-law) treat.

Lower left corner: Chocolate chip cookie & "tough chai"

You might be wondering what made this chai so tough? Let me tell you. It was extremely spicy, with lots of ginger and other spices. When you drank it, it burned your throat. I feel as though it would be a wonderful drink for when one is feeling under the weather. Otherwise, it made my tummy feel a little funny. But the cookie was good and mellow!

Lower right corner: Waffle + nutella + banana + whipped cream.

This is the only thing in this photo that was homemade by me. I made it for a late breakfast for husband and myself, and I couldn't even finish it. So decadent.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

Oven roasted red potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower (I had forgotten how much I like cauliflower!)  with breaded chicken topped with cheddar, baked in the oven, and a salad with tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, and onion, with ranch dressing.

It's been awhile, crocodile!

Dearest You,

Please forgive my absence. The past month of April drained me of all food inspiration, and consequently made me very uninspired to post anything here. I was using shortcuts while cooking, resorting to the same old recipes over and over, and just plainly not enjoying it anymore. I felt like a fraud trying to even come up with something of worth to serve for dinner, let alone to post on this blog.

But, I also came to a realization. This is my blog, my little corner in the world wide web. And that means that I call the shots, that I make the decisions around here. Aha! 

I had been following some other food blogs, and writhing with jealousy of their homemade recipes, long exciting posts, and hundreds of followers, wishing I was as good as them and could produce a blog like theirs. But that is not why I started this. 

I started this blog simply because I truly enjoy taking photos of the food I eat, and I thought someone out there might truly enjoy looking at those photos. And if that isn't the most ridiculous reason to start a blog, then I don't know what is. But you know what? It doesn't matter. It is my reason, and my blog.

So, I am going back to my roots. I am going back to thinking simple: take a photo of food, post it on the blog, and if I feel like it, I might even add a few words. But that is not a requirement. Please do not expect recipes or elaborate stories. You might get them, but you might also just get a picture and a simple explanation of what is in that picture.

This is meant to be a fun way of documenting what I eat and what I like to cook, simple as that. It is not meant to make me stress out about "having to come up with new and different recipes so that the readers don't get bored" or about "using a proper camera to take proper pictures" or anything else I might try and tell myself it should be about. 

We all need to eat to survive, and I like to document my own journey. I would love it, if you joined me.

Here's to food, photos of food, and the simple things in life!

Thank you.

With love,

Tanja

// Some recent dinners //