Food Pic of the Week

“Kwablo’s Place”

Our apartment in Harlem

FYI: Kwablo is the combination of the hubby’s and my names.

We had a couple of friends over to celebrate the hubby’s 38th bday. May it kind of sucks celebrating a birthday during a pandemic. 

Since he is still Whole 30 dieting, there was no cake, but we had seafood. I will say that I’m beginning to like hosting small get-togethers in the apartment because it’s cheaper in the long run. We can only have small get-togethers because our apt is so small. I guess that’s NYC living. Also, I can make my gin cocktails as strong as I like and not pay $18 for watered-down drinks. 

Razor clams and sepia/cuttlefish. OMG, I think razor clams are my newish guilty pleasure. Anywho, there was more food, but my tipsy/borderline drunk a** did not feel like taking food pics. I was trying to be a great host. 😉 Maybe I’ll see if the hubby took more food pics. 

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Food Pic of the Week

Settepani (***) 

 196 Lenox Ave, New York, NY 10026

I know this place was mentioned last week for the limoncello sorbetto (entry: ***). 

Yup, I went back and tried the orange version!!! 

The orange one, which did not have a name when I visited, is pretty much a negroni infused with orange sorbetto. I liked it, but I found it a bit syrupy (probably due to the campari). 

When I go back for my next one, I think that I’ll go with the limoncello sorbetto, but I’ll request gin (instead of tequila) for the base alcohol. 

Recently, NYC reinstated an order that food must be purchased with alcohol. I went with the grilled octopus appetizer over a chickpea paste, which was quite huge for a $16 appetizer in NYC. 

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Food Pic of the Week

Settepani (***) 

 196 Lenox Ave, New York, NY 10026

This one of my go to places for drinks . . . Actually, I visited the restaurant on two consecutive days this week. 

Prociutto Panini on focaccia bread

Clearly, this is not a traditional panini, but it was absolutely amazing. I think adding truffle oil to any dish will make the dish muy bueno. Plus, it’s super huge and will keep you full all day long. During my visit, the owner’s daughter was making adjustments to the cocktail menu so the cocktail (rosé, tequila, and something else) does not have a name just yet.

 

Limoncello Sorbetto

On the first of the two consecutive days that I visited this restaurant, I went there for this dessert/cocktail, but I was told they did not have anymore. However, the waitress informed me that they would have more (and an orange version) the following day. Basically, this dessert/cocktail, served in a hollowed-out lemon, has sorbet infused with tequila and limoncello. Basically, a boozy Italian ice that is all kinds of delicious. It was so good that I had two back to back.

Tarty flavor + Tequila = A+ in my grading book.

Any fun plans for the weekend?

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Another so so week running in NYC

Quick Recap

Although I ran pretty much every day this past week, I’m suffering from low motivation. The reason behind this is that I’m not seeing much improvement in my running because I’m still slow as f*ck. Well, slow as f*ck compared to where I was last year around this time. Unfortunately, I’m still walking more than I would like to during all of my runs. I guess that I just need to sit down and start comparing my times on similar routes to see if there is any improvement. Even though it was muggy as hell over the weekend (and I had to walk a bunch of times), I really enjoyed my 10ish mile run from Brooklyn back to Harlem.

 

It was already super hot at 7:45ish am in Brooklyn; I was sweated out before starting the damn run. 

I have been doing a bit more speed workouts, mainly 1km and 400m sprint repeats. This week, I think that I’ll try to do mile repeats and add in a hill workout. To be honest last Sunday’s 1km sprints were supposed to be 1mi sprints, but I forgot to switch my Apple Watch from kilometers to miles. Oooppppss.

Virtual Challenges

Since I have been running some distance on a daily basis, I am making some progress for my two virtual challenges – One NY Challenge (1000K) and NYCRuns Subway Challenge (245 miles).

I think that I’ll finish the Subway Challenge by the end of the summer, but I’m not too sure about the One NY Challenge. However, I think it will be interesting to see how far I get through NY State.

Current progress for One NY Challenge

Some good news. Over the past week, I’ve noticed that my HIIT (Shaun T’s Insanity) workouts have been getting “easier”. I guess that I meant to say that I do not have to take as many breaks during these workouts.

This photo was taken after one of my HIIT workouts; keep in mind that I had the AC on full blast. My sweat drops, instead of my finger, took this photo. I’m not sure what I was thinking doing a HIIT workout after running/walking ~10mi. I guess that I was in the zone.

Oh, I am enjoying my new toy.

After two days of use, I have noticed that my calf muscles are not as tight as they use to be. Hopefully, this relief will extend to my quads and shoulders.

Whole30 Diet

A kind of funny Whole 30 diet story. The hubby is 100% committed to doing the diet; whereas, I am not. I mean all of my meals have been based off of the diet, but I have had a few cocktails, glasses of wine, frozen adult beverages since starting. Since Friday was super rainy and I was feeling a bit down, I decided to order cookies and ice cream from Insomnia Cookies. Eating a big a** bowl of ice cream after not having any dairy for about 12 days is not a good idea . . . especially if you are already lactose sensitive. Man, I had the worst bellyache and gas. I mean, some of those ice cream-induced farts were quite lethal.

Question

How do you stay motivated when you do not see any signficant progress during a workout/training plan?

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Food Pic of the Week

Harlem Shake (***) 

 100 W 124th Street, New York, NY 10018  

Although this year’s 4th of July was quite uneventful, I still managed to complete my yearly tradition of having at least one hotdog. 

Harlem Shake has crazy names for the items on the menu, and this hot dog is known as the Snoop Dogg. Well, the normal Snoop Dogg has melted cheese, but I did not want to cheat too much on the Whole 30 diet. 😉 Since it was so hot outside, I even added a frose to the meal. Actually, I was going to have soda water, but the soda machine was not working.

Food Pic of the Week

“Kwablo’s Place”

Our apartment in Harlem

FYI: Kwablo is the combination of the hubby’s and my names.

Because of our growing waistlines and bellies, the hubby has decided that he wants us to do the Whole 30 diet. Although the Wikipedia article (technically dieticians) has declared the diet nutritionally unsound, I think it would be nice to eat a bit cleaner (Wiki Link, ***). Since the hubby has been handling the food (i.e. cooking) during this quarantine, I guess we are doing this diet. In my defense, I handle all of the takeout and delivery dining options. 😉

I will be honest and say that I’m not 100% following the diet, because I’m still gonna have a drink every now and then. Since I recently purchased a Sodastream, I can make my own semi-bougie vodka and/or gin soda adult beverages. Yeah, I know that I’m about 5-6 years late for the Sodastream revolution. Actually, I think I’m going to search the Internet for recipes on how to make fancy, low sugar tonic water. I will admit that I have been snacking a lot less since getting the Sodastream. I guess the carbonated water makes me feel full longer. 

Here are a few pics of the meals from the first few days on the diet. 

1.Spinach egg fritata for breakfast. Half was waiting for me after one of my morning runs. 

2. and 3. Tuna salad with veggies and fruit for lunch. 

4. Pan seared chicken, potatoes, and cole slaw.

I’m still not sure what we are going to eat for the hubby’s bday on the 26th. Everyone knows that you must celebrate birthdays with cake. He seems really intent on doing the full 30 days, and his birthday is four days shy of the end of the diet. What to do? What to do?

Have you done the Whole 30 diet (or a similar diet)? If so, what was your take on it?

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Food Pic of the Week

“Lake George”

A quick getaway to Lake George, NY

The couple that lives downstairs, the hubby, and I rented a house for a few days in Lake George, NY. Although many things were closed because of COVID-19, it was nice to get out of the city for a few days. 

The first night . . . beef, it’s what’s for dinner. 

The second night: seafood paella. 

It definitely did not hurt having two chefs (my hubby and our neighbor) on this excursion. 

Any plans for the weekend?

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Food Pic of the Week

“Kwablo’s Place”

Our apartment in Harlem

FYI: Kwablo is the combination of the hubby’s and my names.

What was on this week’s menu?

Burgers with homemade bread, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. 

 

Any plans for the weekend?

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Food Pic of the Week

“Kwablo’s Place”

Our apartment in Harlem

FYI: Kwablo is the combination of the hubby’s and my names.

Gazpacho

Since gazpacho is typically served in a glass in Spain, I guess this could be considered a drink pic of the week. Another similar dish, salmorejo, is served in a bowl. 

What is not shown in this picture is that I added a bit of Tanqueray to my glass. The hubby told me that some folks in Spain put a little vodka in their gazpacho. I figured why not try the same with gin. Oh, I was told that Tabasco sauce is never added to gazpacho; I like my food to have a bit of a kick. Oh well, I have been known to be a bit of a maverick. 

Do you eat/prepare food in an unorthodox way?

For example, topping a pizza with pineapple and ham (i.e. Hawaiian pizza) . . . which is totally acceptable by my standards. 🙂

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Food Pic of the Week

“Kwablo’s Place”

Our apartment in Harlem

FYI: Kwablo is the combination of the hubby’s and my names.

What was on this week’s menu?

Buttermilk fried chicken and with ensaladia, which is Spain’s take on Rusian potato salad. This one has potatoes (duh), peas, carrots, red peppers, and tuna. This potato salad is like a new form of crack.

Cocktail of the Week

The plan was to make a Basil Tanqueray Smash (something that I saw on Instagram), but the grocery store did not have basil so I went with mint instead. I will say that this beverage is quite “summery” and refreshing. 

Components: gin, muddled mint leaves, and simple syrup. I wonder how this would taste with frozen watermelon cubes. 

It seems like I’m really getting into adding random herbs (I guess mint and basil are not so random) into my spring/summer, quarantine cocktails. I think that I’m going to keep this trend going.

Next up: a cocktail with either lavender, lemongrass, dill, oregano. Honestly, these were the first herbs that popped into my head, but I wonder why I was randomly thinking about lavender. Oh, I’m about to hop into the shower after posting this. 

An LOL moment: 

A few bars/restaurants in the neighborhood have started opening up for carryout orders. To support one of the businesses on my block, I purchased a $14 margarita. 

After drinking about half of the margarita (which was more juice than “fun”), I was like “why did a spend $14 + tip for a drink that I could have made at home?”. I should have gone with a “bougie” aperol spritz or appletini. 😉 I’m joking about the appletini. 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend (aka Summer Kickoff). 

Any plans for Memorial Day Weekend?

 

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