I have landed in my mystery destination! Okay, a mystery to some. 🙂

Let’s here it for NEW YORK! Dana and I have a little get-a-way weekend planned in NY and it begins right now.

We don’t have a ton planned for the weekend, and we did this intentionally. We decided we wanted a low key weekend and we would “fly by the seat of our pants” when it comes to what we will do while we’re here.

Tonight however, we do have plans. We are meeting my cousin Stephanie, and her boyfriend, Jeff for a nice greek dinner. I am thrilled that it worked out for us to get together with them on such short notice. It will be so good to see them.

The only other time I was in New York was when I traveled with my cousin Betsy and our friend Ellen. We stayed with Steph, which was an absolute blast and especially helpful considering the three of us were broke college students. We all look like babies in this photo. I want to say this was about 5 years ago?

I can’t believe it’s been that long already. I am very excited to be back.

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The other day I whipped up this beautiful egg white omelette.

If you will remember, I sprinkled some nutritional yeast over the top. Let’s talk about that. Nutritional yeast is fairly new to me. I guess I did hear of it a while back, but didn’t look into it much. I was flipping through Women’s Health Magazine recently and I stumbled upon it again. I have been meaning to try some and this was the nudge I needed. The description I read mentioned it having a cheesy flavor that resembles parmesan cheese. Sounds wonderful right?

But first, What is this stuff?

Nutritional yeast (aka Nooch), is a deactivated yeast. Unlike the active yeast you use in breads, this type will not rise (so don’t try and bake a loaf of bread with it). The product comes in a flake form or a powdered form. It is very popular among vegans as it is plant-based and is packed with protein although it can fit into a carnivore’s diet as well. The flavor does resemble that of parmesan cheese. It is commonly used as a substitute for parmesan.

Nutrition Quick Facts (per 2 tablespoons)

Finding accurate nutrition facts became a frustrating task seeing that each source I viewed was slightly different. With that being said, I will give you a range of data from what I found.

• Protein: 8-9 grams!
• Calories: 60-80 calories
• Fat: approximately 1 gram
• Fiber: 4-5 grams
• Carbohydrates: 5-7 grams
• Rich in B vitamins including B12 which is a common nutrient deficiency in vegan and vegetarian diets. B12 is most commonly found in meat.

I am only beginning to learn all of the wonderful health benefits of this new superfood.

How can you use it?

Sprinkle it on:

• hot popcorn
• steamed broccoli
• omelets
• scrambled eggs
• pasta
• salads
• cook into soups

So far I have only used it on cooked rutabaga and on an egg-white omelet. I am loving this stuff. It looks like powdered gold. I have been becoming more aware of my protein intake lately. I generally don’t eat much meat at home (minus this past week) but do try and get my protein in other ways: greek yogurt, peanut butter, eggs, beans, cheese, whey protein, and now, nutritional yeast!

That’s the cliff notes version of it at least.
How ironic that the two topics in this post, nutritional yeast and New York, share the same initials. Neat, right? 😉 I am a huge nerd.

Alright, I need to go explore this city that we know don’t sleep. Right, all of you Big Willie fans? Gotta get jiggy wit it.

Have a wonderful Friday friends!