Boston, Connecticut and New York Diet

Do you read New York Diet on Grub Street? Each week they pick a different celebrity and have them document everything that they eat. Even when they’re trying to be casual, it always has that hilarious tinge of pretension (“And then we had our dear friends the Stephanopouloses over”) sautéed in coconut oil and quinoa.

It’s a great feature, because when it’s good, it’s entertaining and you can get some good tips (thank you Jamie for teaching me about the Trader Joes jalapeño hot sauce, which I now buy in bulk). And when it’s bad, it’s even more entertaining, like this one. Please read it all, including the part about how it’s bigoted (yes, that’s the word of choice) of farmers to get up so early to run their markets.

Seriously, I wish Grub Street did a Boston Diet feature. “I had two Lean Cuisines and punched somebody in the face. What the fuck are you looking at?” Anyway, I spent the last week doing my own, and feel confident that my vegan, clean living diet will inspire you to be your best self. If your best self aspires to eat ballpark food four days a week.

Sunday, July 13
On the weekends my boyfriend Ben sets out my coffee while I’m in the shower and then makes breakfast. He is a dreamboat for many reasons, but this is obviously one of them. Funny enough, I was decidedly anti-coffee until December, when I spent a few days in Iceland and was throwing back espressos to stay awake after a redeye. Then a gruff Icelandic chef/bartender/jack of all trades made me an insanely good cappuccino (at 9 PM, thank you very much) and that was it, I was hooked, and thanks to the caffeine probably super annoying for the rest of the evening. Turns out, I’m in good company with my new addiction and now well-versed in this “Starbucks” that you all talk so much about.

We went to Island Creek Oyster Bar for a late lunch, and were deliriously happy sorting through the Duxburys, Wellfleets, Prince Edward Islands, and oyster sliders on brioche with lime chili aioli. Moment of silence for lime chili aioli, kids. Ben had their version of a whiskey sour and I had the rosé flight. I’ve been very into rosé this summer, and I liked theirs, particularly the Raventos I Blanc La Rosa Penedès. You’d better sell it, Wegmans. I’m already a high maintenance customer at their liquor store since I asked them to find me creme de violette, which apparently isn’t sold in the state.

We got to talking to a couple next to us who were visiting from Sweden. They were staying in the North End, so we chatted about the Freedom Trail and where to find good beer, pasta, and cannolis (maybe not all at once). They told us that their main body of knowledge about Boston was from The Departed and The Town, so I felt a little bad that I didn’t have any mafia connections or Jack Nicholson to offer up. Seriously, almost 20 years after Good Will Hunting and everyone thinks Boston still has a total hard on for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I mean, I guess we do. But shut up.

Of course, being down the street from Fenway, I encouraged them to stop over for a visit, especially because it was the Futures of Fenway game, which is minor league (i.e. cheap tickets and good seats). They weren’t too excited about the game and more interested in catching the World Cup, but we exchanged information with the promise to get in touch if we’re ever in Stockholm.

We headed over to the game, during which I got a text from my new Swedish friends. They ended up blowing off the World Cup and going to Fenway after all. True Bostonians at heart! After the game they played Field of Dreams on the jumbotron as the sun was setting, and I was in heaven (or Iowa). My favorite movie at my favorite place with my favorite guy. We had a pretzel at the game and a slice of pizza before the movie.

Monday, July 14
For breakfast during the week I usually have a Shakeology shake that I drink on the way to work. I’m not in the cult, I promise, but I did start the 21 Day Fix workouts and have been enjoying them. For me it’s mainly an easy breakfast that I feel starts my day out well. I add almond milk, a banana, and lately PB2, which is a powdered peanut butter that was recommended from a favorite blogger. I am a big fan of peanut butter, though I’m undecided about the powder. Like many imitations, I think I’d probably rather have the real thing.

For lunch I had grilled chicken leftover from the weekend in a pita with hummus and spicy pickles, and for dinner I had avocado toast, which is basically my favorite thing to eat, always and forever, especially when it’s just me for dinner. The key is really delicious bread, which I get from a great farm stand between my home and work. Of course, delicious avocados are also key. You always need a few good squeezes of lime, preferably fresh, cracked pepper, the aforementioned Trader Joe’s jalapeño hot sauce, and salt. My preference is ghost pepper fire salt from the Salt Cellar in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is an unbelievable place, but that’s a whole other story. Gwyneth Paltrow has a recipe for avocado toast in her cookbook, which is helpful because it’s obviously super complicated to make. She recommends using vegenaise, but I give you permission to consciously uncouple from that suggestion.

Tuesday, July 15
I planned poorly, so during my work day I had two Siggi yogurts with chia seeds. My preference is Skyr, but it’s basically the only thing that Wegmans doesn’t carry. My love affair with Wegmans started when one opened right near me. After work I was starving so I picked up a wheatgrass smoothie, just kidding, a toasted bagel with honey walnut cream cheese from Panera.

For dinner, Ben and I went to Oishii, which is in my neighborhood and super delicious. He had miso soup, which I love but can’t wrap my brain around in 90 degree weather, so I went with seaweed salad. We shared spicy scallop maki, eel with avocado, yellowtail, crispy foie gras, and a bottle of sparkling sake called Poochi Poochi. I was not feeling the foie gras, but tried it for the sake of the food blog.

Wednesday, July 16
Breakfast was Shakeology, almond milk, banana, and PB2. For what it’s worth, the chia seeds and I are done. I brought a container to work and it spilled all over my bag. In cleaning out my bag I realized that my sunscreen had opened and spilled as well, so the sun and I are also now done.

Summer in a school is a tug of war between the skeleton staff and the custodians, who are diligently trying to clean and wax the school around us and barely tolerate our presence. Seriously, even the nicest custodians absolutely hate you during the summer, and my new school is no exception. Random rooms can suddenly become inaccessible, so I smuggled the 100 year old Keurig machine from the teachers lunch room down to my office. I read that Jessica Seinfeld drinks coffee with coconut oil whipped in an immersion blender. So that’s pretty much the same thing.

For lunch I had a Thai chicken salad from Panera. I had an interview before a meeting, with about five minutes to eat lunch in between, so I ate the good parts. At the meeting I had a crunchy chocolate chip cookie. For dinner, I had avocado toast again, this time with two avocados to use them up before I left for the weekend.

Thursday, July 17
I’m out of almond milk and can’t do my shake, so I leave a little early to get to Starbucks and get my other favorite breakfast: iced caramel with milk, and Greek yogurt with raspberry puree, lemon curd and granola. I love this breakfast, but Starbucks in the morning is a mess. I’d be there every day if there wasn’t always a line out the door. But after the wait, I have the best breakfast ever. You know, for a weekday.

To avoid this and still have my coffee, I usually pick it up the night before and add almond milk in the morning. It’s not as perfect as when it’s fresh, but a girl does what a girl must. I neglected to mention my night before coffee habit earlier in the food blog, which really compromises the integrity of the whole project.

Lunch was a strawberry poppyseed chicken salad from Panera, and dinner was grilled pizzas with Ben. We get the garlic naan and use ricotta and chicken sausage. I had a dentist appointment after work, so he picked it up (at Wegmans, obviously) and got it ready while I probably complained that my teeth hurt. We also had salads and salted watermelon. Have I mentioned that you need to go to the Salt Cellar, like yesterday?

Friday, July 18
My dad and I left in the morning to head to New York for a baseball weekend. I grabbed a packet of almonds from Starbucks and my coffee (black for him). We stopped in West Hartford at the fantastic Frank Pepe’s, where we split a margarita pizza. Later at the game, I had a hot dog, pretzel, and Corona Light.

Can I mention that Yankee Stadium serves daiquiris? In the stands? And in the tall squiggly containers like you get at a swim-up bar on vacation. When you’re 25. So funny.

Saturday, July 19
For breakfast we stopped at a little place, where I had an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and lox. My dad had pancakes and a greek yogurt. We both had coffee. That kept us going for most of the day. Dinner was at Les Halles, where I had scallops, he had the filet, and my friend Kate had raviolis. I may have also encouraged her to dip fries in bearnaise, which there is really no excuse for, ever. Later she and I had drinks on my hotel deck. They were called Summer Rains and Blood Orange Clovers, so I basically have no idea what was in any of them. But they were delicious! And it was fantastic to have a night with my beloved Kate.

I have to just say that, despite lovely accommodations and Bliss bath products that were replenished daily, the W is sort of a delightful hot mess. While Kate and I were catching up (over a giant version of Connect Four, obviously) they were quietly roping off portions of the deck for…who, exactly? Who gets dressed up to come to the financial district on a Saturday night? Suddenly my hotel lobby was a club. Seriously, there was even a DJ. Random people super dressed up and dancing, empty reserved tables, and a guy in a full suit, sleeping. The demographic was very unclear, and I was still in jeans and sneakers from the game. Obviously, I danced through them to get to my elevator. I may have been singing this, but that cannot be proven at this time.

Sunday, July 20
We met my friend, her husband, and her amazing little baby for brunch on the Upper East Side. She and I have been friends since we were 11 and 9 respectively, and I love getting to see her. I had smoked salmon benedict and coffee, and took many, many pictures and videos of her edible 9 month old.

At the game, I got a giant Diet Coke for the souvenir Yankees cup. On the drive home, we stopped at a diner in Stamford, CT. I had grilled cheese with pickles and my dad had a burger. Oh, and the place was called Pat’s Hubba Hubba, which is obviously why I picked it.