Cinnamon And French
Good morning! Thank you for all of your kind words. I feel 75% better and will probably head back tonight for classes tomorrow. To clue you in on what went down, yesterday during the day I coughed a lot and it had that “bacterial” smell/taste to it. At 4:30, I started coughing more and more, and then for 2 hours could not stop shivering to the point where I couldn’t do anything productive. EMS came and checked me out, but there was nothing apparently threatening and I signed a release waver. I did decide, however, in those hours I was shaking that it was important to go home. I couldn’t even cook myself a hamburger last night, had no appetite, and needed not to have to fend for myself like usual, you know?
Apple
Like I said, I had no appetite; even on rest days, that’s not like me at all. I tried taking a bite of this apple while I was waiting but the solid foods were not my friend and I couldn’t eat any more 
Mango Tango And Cinnamon Cookies
We stopped at Whole Foods before leaving town where I picked up what clearly was the dinner of champions(/sarcasm/). The Mango Tango was exactly what I wanted/needed and went down smooth. I was craving some easy to digest carbs, which was really hard to satisfy when you’re in a rush and eating gluten-free. I also wanted something cinnamon, which is why I picked those cookies. I ate 4 but once I realized the solid food was making my fever go up, I stopped.
So Delicious Snickerdoodle Ice Cream
Finally at home, I took 3 scoops of So Delicious snickerdoodle ice cream and went directly to bed. I must have been sick, because the little cookie dough balls weren’t even my favorite part; what’s up with that? Of course, I tried getting as much sleep as humanly possible, but probably clocked in around 8 hours.
OIAJ, French Vanilla Yogurt With Fig Jam
Finally, “real food” started to seem appealing. It was even more appealing because it was in a jar; something tells me Brandi would be very jealous of this 😉 Being home meant slim pickings on the yogurt availability.
French Vanilla Yogurt With French Fig Preserves
I found a French vanilla Stonyfield in the depths of the refrigerator and some fig preserves i picked up on a trip to France I took over a year ago. Oolala! The fig preserves were homemade; it was more like a figgy syrup with whole dried figs in it, but it definitely wasn’t bad. I love picking up things like preserves on trips because then you really get the “flavor” of the destination.
What do you eat when you’re sick? I’m all about the juice! Especially when I just don’t want to eat solid foods. Would anybody answer Greek yogurt? If so, here’s a Oikos giveaway!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 27 so far )Pre-Race Day Nerves
I need to confess something that I realized this week and has been on the back of my mind ever since: I’m way more afraid of this race than I was my first half-marathon. Why? I have no clue. I ran 13.2 miles on race day, by accident, and then again repeating my accidental route. So what’ll be the difference on May 2nd? Again, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the pressure of the “want” to go sub 1:40.If that’s the case, I’m willing to throw that goal out of my mind; it’s no use setting a time goal if it means you can’t even complete the run. On the other hand, these could jst be silly nerves that will subside in time, and that’s what I’m hoping. Meghan here and Caitlin here both talked this week about “practice runs” for big races/events, and Kath ran her 1/2 2 weeks early here. I can’t help but wonder if that will calm my nerves. And since I do live in this town and actually run a 1.5 miles stretch of the course on a regular basis, it would be an easy feat, too. Do you have/get these nerves? This is one of those times I’m very happy to have the blogworld on hand for advice 😀
Pomegranate Chobani With Raw Brownie Bites And Raspberry Dark Chocolate
I love a good, peaceful Friday night. Since I already had my Friday sundae, I thought I should get back on track by eating my “clean” foods for dessert. With healthy probiotics, living enzymes, and antioxidant rich dark chocolate, I think this pomegranate Chobani with raw chocolate brownie chunks and raspberry dark chocolate counted as clean 😉
I also sipped on Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea made by Celestial Seasonings. Tea just tastes so much cleaner and more pure than coffee at times. It’s not a new tea, but is a new review! Check it out. I’m very happy I was able to score this at Stop & Shop for just $1.50.
Oatmeal With Chocolate Almond Butter And Coconut Milk
Lastly, I made a bowl of “Almond Joy” oatmeal with Justin’s chocolate almond butter and coconut milk for watching 20/20 and a woman ho didn’t know she was pregnant. A more perfect night? I think not. If you’re wondering how to store coconut milk, transfer it to a plastic seal-tight container and refrigerate. It starts to lose flavor, and will go bad after a week, but the richness is still there and absolutely dreamy on oats with salt.
Pomegranate Chobani With Dark Chocolate Almonds, Oatmeal With Cinnamon Raisin PB And Turbinado Sugar
My nerves didn’t cause me to sleep in this morning; my laziness did. As it turns out, the warm weather is gone, so perhaps I’m smarter to wait to run until after breakfast, anyway. I had another pomegranate Chobani, this time with Tierra Farm‘s organic dark chocolate covered almonds. There’s definitely a tasty side to thinking dark chocolate, probiotics and nuts are all clean foods 🙂
Oatmeal With Cinnamon Raisin PB And Turbinado Sugar
On my oats, I had a plop of cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter by PB&Co. with some added turbinado sugar sprinkled on top. I forgot about my obsession with this since I haven’t had cinnamon raisin bread in a while, but it’s a perfectly earthy way to dish up oats all their own. And so I sit here, contemplating my nerves as I plan out a run. I think I’ll try to follow part of the race route, hoping I won’t get lost in new territory. I’d love to have more time this weekend to devote to denerve about this, but the best I can do is a practice run and maybe a meal at Whole Foods if I time it right. In the meanwhile, here’s a Barney Butter giveaway!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 7 so far )Jars, New Products, And Raw Desserts
I hope you’re all liking the wellness giveaway! You have until March 31st to enter.
Tazo Rest
One Lucky Duck Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies
I was not terribly hungry for dessert last night while watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Did the chicken scene just make anyone else want to give up on meat? I couldn’t go that far, probably, but it makes me feel good that the meat I choose is wild, natural, or organic and minimally processed.
I must have been affected by a British accent because I snacked on “tea and cookies”, with Tazo Rest and One Lucky Duck‘s chocolate chip raw cookies. This was the last sample from One Lucky Duck I had and it did not disappoint. I liked how–very easily–there was a flavor distinction between the cookie and the chocolate, which isn’t easy to do at all with raw foods. It also didn’t have that raw, fall-apart-in-your-hand texture but wasn’t stale. They’re a bit pricey but a good treat for a raw foodist.
Almost Empty Nut Butter Jars
I couldn’t help but noticing not one but 2 of my nut butter jars were on their last leg. And since I had just had a chocolate chip cookie made mostly out of cashews, this couldn’t have been a more perfect pairing 🙂
Oats With Cookie Dough Peanut Butter And Raw Cashew Butter
On top was the very last of P.B.Loco’s cookie dough peanut butter and Love Raw Food’s cashew butter. There was definitely more nut butter than oats so this was delicious and rich. And I love just being able to toss the jar out when you’re done 🙂 Is it just me, or is it still impossible to get the jar satisfactory empty no matter how much you work at it?
Chia Moon Drop
I woke up at 5, and took an awful long time getting back to bed(hence not waking up again until 9, yikes!) Sometime then, I got snackish and went for Uli Mana‘s chocolate chia moon drop. It was a good choice. I think I got through half of it before even realizing where the chia were; that was a good thing since they still sort of freak me out. It was nice and chocolaty, too. I wish it were richer(maybe add some cacao butter?), but it was still pretty great.
Honest Foods Pomegranate Walnut Crisp Granola Plank
I woke up at 8, put on my glasses, and then woke up again at 9. Oops. Don’t you hate when that happens? After deciding what was for breakfast, I grabbed a new Honest Foods granola plank to try out.
Pineapple Chobani With Pomegranate Walnut Granola, Pumpkin Oats With Walnut Butter In A Mighty Maple Jar
Pineapple Chobani With Pomegranate Walnut Granola, Pumpkin Oats With Walnut Butter In A Mighty Maple Jar
Another almost empty nut butter jar? I spoil myself 🙂 In the Mighty Maple jar went pumpkin oatmeal and a scoop of walnut butter; the pumpkin, peanut, walnut, and maple all work so well together! And I had a pineapple Chobani with about 1/3 of the Honest Foods granola plank. I like the ideas of the grab-n-go granola, but the pomegranate flavor in the pomegranate walnut crisp was just not there. It also wasn’t very crisp? It was much more chewy and soft. All the walnuts and peanuts made me happy, though, so clearly I wasn’t complaining much.
I’m sure you’ve noticed Cancun 2010 is no where in my Spring Break plans, haha. In case you were wondering, today I’m heading home to see my dog for the first time in 4 weeks. It’s felt like forever! Tomorrow, I have my 1/2 marathon to run along the New Hampshire coast–not looking forward to the weather. And then Monday is the day I become one really old teenager. We won’t celebrate until Easter with the relatives, though(OK, there’ll be a little celebrating ;-)).
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 15 so far )Celebrate!
I looove all your confessions on this post this morning. Some of you would eat anything expired! I’m mostly the same way 🙂 I just could not down that moldy tasting yogurt for my own health. Ironically, the replacement one I ate that tasted fine was expired by 4 days, while the moldy one had 2+ weeks. Ridiculous? I think so.
Burger Bowl With Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, And Nutritional Yeast
Burger Bowl With Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, And Nutritional Yeast
I decided to have a burger for lunch(shocker, I know); tomorrow’s Lent and who knows when I’ll be around over the weekend so I wanted to eat up this meat while it was still fresh. I was inspired by this daring teacher to make a burger bowl, filled with a grass-fed burger, sweet potato hash, spinach, ketchup, sea salt, and nutritional yeast. It’s a good thing I used nutritional yeast because if that were parmesan I’d of killed a cow. It was so cheesey and delicious! And the whole bowl was amazing; overstuffed plates are just too good 🙂
Spring
I was really excited for my History class today because it was the last class before break for me! Woohoo! The actual topic sucked and my friend and I ridiculed it the entire period, but that just made the hour fly by. The professor even let us out a little early because it was so nice and no one who showed up wanted to be there. Can you see Spring where you live, too?
Dr. Zevia
Well I got back to my dorm, tied up some matters, and popped open a Dr. Zevia. This was the 1 flavor I hadn’t tried–mostly because it had caffeine–but I totally needed that this afternoon. It was good, but not great; to be fair, I’ve never liked Dr. Pepper, so that I liked this at all was a miracle 😉 Now that I’ve had all the flavors, I feel like I should do a review of each. Would anybody like that? Then I stepped out of the room to grab myself a little treat…
Juniper
Fro Yo! There’s practically zippo frozen yogurt places in New England compared to Florida and California, but happily there’s one hole-in-the-wall joint in Providence called Juniper. I’d never been, have been wanting to try it for a while, and figured this was the best way to celebrate this week and have my “me” time.
Original Fro Yo With Blueberries And Almonds
Original Fro Yo With Blueberries And Almonds
I got a medium original flavor with blueberries and almonds. I wanted to get some toppings even if they cost an arm and a leg, and these were the among the more “natural” choices(you mean those fruity pebbles weren’t organic?!). I have no gripe with being limited in options by an all-natural diet; this I’ve long come to terms with. What I do question is having almonds, peanuts, pistachios, and soynuts, but no peanuts; where’s the peanut love?! Regardless, this was delicious. Oh my God, where has tart fro yo been all my life? It’s so tangy, yet so sweet–perfection! I know Trader Joe’s carries some so I’m definitely going to check that out when I’m back in Massachusetts.
Oatmeal With Mighty Maple
Well, I got my peanut love eventually 🙂 It turns out fro yo is not the most filling thing, so where that misses a small bowl of oatmeal with a big dollop of PB&Co.’s Mighty Maple hits the spot. And, in case you missed it, Oprah’s show was all about pornography today. Awkward much? I was mildly amused while also watching segments of The Today Show that I missed which sounded interesting.
Roasted Broccoli And Sweet Potato, Maple Baked Tofu
Dinner was shaked and baked 🙂 I threw some maple tofu, sweet potatoes, and broccoli in the oven around 5:30 and they were good-to-go at dinner time. I don’t even care if it doesn’t fill me up, like I established a few days ago; I just love this dish! And it’s easy to make and forget about, too.
Keep Your Eye On The Reward
Sometimes, when you’re leading a tough time, it’s best to keep your head up and eyes focused on what’s at the end of the tunnel rather than your present situation. It may sound like it was on a whim, but really I had that trip to Juniper planned all week long. At the very least, it gave me something fun and different to look forward to as a “reward” for a potentially stressful week. It doesn’t have to be food. It doesn’t even have to cost money. But doing something for yourself special or out of the ordinary is a great way to keep your mind in a healthy place. Do you have an “reward” planned soon? Or just celebrate anything fun and exciting?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 20 so far )Balance And Contradiction
Sometimes two things balance each other out; sometimes they’re downright contradictions. C’est la vie.
Root Beer Zevia
I used to think natural diet soda was a contradiction before Zevia. Sure–I still think there’s a contradiction when popping one of these back while enjoying a greasy, fattening burger. But contradictions make the world more tasty. Milk chocolate on soy yogurt, anyone?
High Raw Chocolate Avocado Pudding
There’s nothing wrong with the balance in Chocolate avocado pudding when it’s made completely raw utilizing 3 ingredients: avocado, Xagave, and Navitas Naturals‘ raw cacao powder. There might, however, be a contradiction in eating it next to these…
Fudge Mint Back To Nature Cookies
So maybe Fudge Mint Back To Nature cookies aren’t the most raw thing around. Sue me. And let’s gloss over the contradiction of having a gluten intolerance and eating wheat cookies; I pay for that one enough as is. So what was in balance? Well, chocolate always goes good with more chocolate. Duh 😉
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple And Sea Salt
This was basically one big bowl of balance. Where can you go wrong with oats and peanut butter? Or maple with pumpkin? Or the sweet taste of Mighty Maple with some coarse sea salt for contrast? Yes, yes, and yes.
Raw Mint Chip Macaroon With English Breakfast Tea
Later last night ended up being full of contradictions and out-of-balance experiences. I think the jury is pretty much out on the contradiction of drinking decaf English breakfast tea when you can’t sleep on a Saturday night 😦 The Emmy’s Organic Mint Chip Macaroon? A perfect balance of mint and chocolate, and all deliciously raw 🙂 Oh, and me and college living and anything besides a nursing home are 100% out of balance. Call me a grandpa if you will but I do not want to hear “Tonight’s gonna be a good night” at 12:30. I want it to have been a good night and have gone to bed by 11. The fact that I was having insomnia on the 1 night a year we lose an hour’s time: What was up with that?
11 Miles In 1:36:46
Waking up after a mish-moshy 6 hours of sleep, part of my body felt like running, and the other part wanted to laugh. Really? Guess which part one. I did reach a good balance between training and rest by taking a rest day yesterday, if you didn’t notice. Apparently, all it takes to keep me from running is 50mph winds, a museum tour, and more work than I know what to do with. That left my legs well rested for 11 miles in 1:36:46.
To balance out the boredom, I listened to a monster long playlist while watching a Tom & Jerry 90 minute movie on Cartoon Network(yes, they have one of those). This is a pair who really balances each other out, don’t you think? I couldn’t help but notice the contradiction in describing sounds in the closed captioning(presumably mostly for deaf viewers) with other sounds; if I were deaf, how would I have known that Tom & Jerry bouncing around sound like a pinball machine?
Peanut Butter Perfect Foods Bar, Oatmeal With White Chocolate Wonderful
Perfect Foods Peanut Butter Bar
Breakfast is always my most mentally balancing meal of the day. What goes better together than honey and peanut butter in the Peanut Butter flavor of the Perfect Foods Bar? Or the flavors of cocoa butter and peanut butter in White Chocolate Wonderful, which truly is, as my European hopping hip blogger would say, wundebar! Or just the flavors of peanut butter and more peanut butter? I know PB&Co. would agree with me on that one.
What about you? Are you feeling balanced or a little contradictory this morning? Either can be good(and tasty) as I think I’ve shown. Or, any excited Sunday plans? It’s still raining 😦 But I have le familia scheduled to arrive soon now to taxi me to Bellingham to pick-up something I preordered I’m excited for, the ever-exclusive store Target for a new oats bowl(!!), and then the usual goodies and groceries with maybe a meal in between. Sounds like a plan to me! And you can also check out this Pirate’s Booty giveaway. Or even a giveaway for Blackwell’s gelato from 100 Cafe Street!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 17 so far )Putting What In My Which?
It’s probably no surprise I’m all about the layering. I don’t do much–if any–snacking, so when I want to eat, I want to eat. And often that means layers of flavor through some sort of base and some topper.
ChocAlive! Coconut Raw Truffles
These were the 2nd flavor of ChocAlive! truffles I was sent to review. Of course, what better to put raw chocolate on than chocolate avocado pudding made with coconut milk no less?
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With 2 Coconut Truffles
This was too perfect; the pudding came out light and “whipped”. The trick is adding the avocado last after fulling mixing the first few ingredients–heavenly. The coconut truffles tasted deliciously sweet, probably from the dates included in the body. It seems like an unusual addition but it works well, not so much for the richness but definitely so for the sweetness. Who couldn’t use sweetness in their life 🙂
Oatmeal With Chocolate Almond Butter And Coconut Milk
After a crazy episode of Law & Order with Kathy Griffin, I whipped up some coconutty oats with Justin’s chocolate almond butter. I can not get enough of this! But the coconut milk didn’t taste quite as rich, even though I know it hasn’t gone bad; I think it’s just never as good as when you first open the can. Still, coconut milk as a topper for oatmeal? How could you go wrong. Mmmm, taste that coconut!
Apple
I got a great night’s sleep, which is just what you need when you plan tog et up at 6:15 to run. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but since an apple worked such magic the day before I thought why not? Naturally, I was the first person at the gym, and just kept going and going while listening to an iPod.
9 Miles In 79:58
I had time to run 8 miles. I ended up running 9 and in 79:58. It felt great! And like I could have even done more. But that was not happening. I hurried my butt first to grab some yogurt and then shower up. I needed things I could throw together fast for my 9am class.
Me & Goji Custom Granola
My [me] & goji granola was just begging to be used for some quick and tasty calories. You can read all about my experience making this like I posted back in 2009 here. I only wish I had known then I had or would have a slight gluten intolerance so I could have opted for their wheat-free granola! C’est la vie.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple, Pineapple Chobani With Custom Granola
Pineapple Chobani With Custom Goji Granola
Quick and delicious. I whipped up some pumpkin oatmeal and topped that with PB&Co.’s mighty maple. By the time I got to class and took the lid off the container, this had all melted down to a frosting–holy yum! One of the yogurts I picked up was a pineapple Chobani which I then topped with my granola. In the granola is tons of seeds and nuts, dried blueberries, raspberries, and goji berries, and chocolate covered peanuts and goji berries. Could anything describe me better? I just didn’t get any chocolate covered peanuts this time 😦 I think the last time I ate it I picked them out. Oops. Once I had scooped off most of the granola, I succumbed to the ultimate “what in my which?”
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple With Pineapple Chobani
Oatgurt! I’m usually not a fan of this, but something about the pineapple, pumpkin, peanut butter, and pmaple(it needed a p to keep up the alliteration) worked really well. I’m still not a fan in general, but this was darn tasty 🙂 I just have to advice against reheating your oatmeal at this point. Why? Like how milk curdles, yogurt does, except much faster because of the bacteria. That’s another thing–microwaving kills the healthy probiotic(a superfood of mine). Normally killing bacteria is a good thing, but not when they’re healthy for your gut. Interestingly, this property of microwaves makes microwaving a sponge to clean it efficient. Go figure!
The weekend is practically here! It doesn’t even matter that I’m just bookmarking websites at this point to get to them at a later time because I’m sipping some Celestial tea, so you know I’m starting to feel calm. Happy Thursday(which is my Friday)! And here’s the final recap of the ChocAlive! products I reviewed. Have you tried raw chocolate? Love it/Don’t care for it? Clearly, I love it, as I constantly try to make my own. Not like it could compare to these gourmet ones.
Coconut
9/10: Shredded coconut enrobes a raw truffle ball comprised mostly of cocoa, agave, and coconut–yes, please! As a raw chocolate and coconut lover, I can attest that the two flavors go together beautifully. The texture of the shredded coconut contrasts but doesn’t compete with the smooth, mellow body. I find the inclusion of dates into the truffle an interesting choice which makes them more sweet and soft than rich, but it does add a great, deep sweetness. These are definitely a “treat” when it comes to cost, but a well-deserved one for any raw foodist and one that I’d recommend.
Dark Chocolate Crunch
8/10: A good truffle, in my mind, would have a smooth base with a consistent flavor, and something that truly makes it unique. This has both, but unfortunately the two fight each other. The center of raw cocoa, coconut, dates, and agave was deliciously smooth and sweet. The cacao nibs on the outside, in contrast, certainly added character, but the bitterness was too intense for my palate in contrast with the truffle. To be fair, raw cacao nibs have never been a favorite of mine. But the sweetness of the truffle makes their bitterness all too apparent here and I much preferred the chocolate of the truffle alone.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 14 so far )12 Pieces Of Wisdom From My Grandmother And Others
Who in their life hasn’t picked up tips and nuggets of wisdom from the people in their lives here and there? Today, I found myself using and acknowledging those little pieces of gold. Read on and you might even learn something new, if not at least see some good eats 😉
The Heat Is On Tofu Salad, Scrambled Eggs, Steamed Broccoli, Kombucha
1. A splash of milk makes scrambled eggs 10 times better. My grandmother was sooo right on this one! Of course, she probably didn’t use almond milk like I did here 😉 But the results were the same: perfectly moist eggs. I feel like there’s no way I couldn’t take advice on eggs from the woman who made them for me almost every day during the Summer. On the side, I had simply steamed broccoli, and some “tofu salad” made with 3oz soft tofu and a tablespoon The Heat Is On.
The Heat Is On Peanut Butter
2. Do what you know and love, and 3. follow your dreams. I’d like to think all our parents weren’t blowing hot air here telling us this when we were growing up. For Lee Zalben, it certainly worked out. If you weren’t aware, he started off pretty much knowing one thing: he loved peanut butter. Now he runs a successful NY sandwich shop and produces the beloved and famous PB&Co. Peanut Butters. What I love about this way of thinking is that things “just work out”. I have no clue what I’m going to do with my major or where I’ll be after college but I truly believe that something will “work out”.
Botanic No 9 Kombucha
4. Don’t eat it if it’s still alive. Well, grams can’t be right on everything, right? This flavor was my 4th of Synergy Kombucha and my 3rd for review. It tasted very “blue”(definitely a welcomed change of pace from “green”) and wasn’t nearly as harsh on the vinegar flavor of kombucha as I’ve come to know. Unfortunately, I love that strong vinegar taste! But I’m guessing this would be friendlier to the new palate. Did anybody else not realize that those things floating in the kombucha often is cultures? That was some words of wisdom I didn’t need to read.
Zevia Cola And Kombucha Collection
5. Everything in moderation. These timeless words also sum up nicely all the comments on this post from this morning. What did I end up doing? Grabbing a diet Zevia. While it avoids the aspartame of Coke zero(oh, how I miss thee), it’s also important to remember that 0-cal sweetners, natural or not, should be taken in moderation, and other occasions just call for the sweet white stuff. For reference, I use stevia in coffee, tea, yogurt, and pudding, and will occasionally enjoy an erythritol sweetened soda. But Chicken Cacciatore over pasta with Splenda? No thank you. Also, this gave me a chance to highlight my kombucha bottle collection; isn’t it purdy 😀
6. If it makes you happy it can’t be that bad. You sing it, Sheryl.
Forming Beef Patties
7. Always have a clean work station laid out and 8. Don’t sh*t where you live. Mom always told me the first one; she’s where I get the “neat-freak” gene. Would she approve of my forming burger patties in the dorm? Good question. If it’s any consolation, I used 1 hand to make the patties and didn’t touch anything else without washing them. And number 8… my dog, Montana, could tell you that. Not like he follows his own advice.
Chocolate Avocado Pudding With Hemp Seeds And Sea Salt
9. Salt makes everything better. Another treasure trove from mom. The sea salt on this made the sweetness of the chocolate and the savory-tone of Bob’s Red Mill‘s hulled hemp seeds explode! We can do this loud and proud, too, because we have low blood pressure(sorry, dad!).
Red Delicious Apple
10. To properly pick an apple, turn it upside down and twist. I didn’t pick this apple, but that’s one piece of knowledge that I learned on a field trip in 1st grade and never forgot. On the contrary, this was from the dining hall. But, amazingly, it was delicious, firm, and ripe!
11.You weren’t the first. You won’t be the last. I don’t know who said that but–damn–were they a downer and spot on! This actually occurred to me when I started thinking “I wonder what blogger started up sweet potato fries” and realized that sweet potato fries predate blogs by a lot. No one “started” them up; they just remembered to do them. I was also reminded of this when I came upon a dirty joke in Petronius’ Satyricon I would have never thought was that old, but there it was! I can’t say it on the blog because… I just can’t.
Grass-Fed Beef 1/4 Pounder, Sweet Potato Oven Fries
12. Let your meat rest 5-10 minutes, knowing it will continue cooking. Another gem from mom, not like she ever follows it herself! Whenever I cook my burgers, chicken, eggs, or really any protein, I keep in mind not to overdo it, and to let it sit. Since I have to photograph it and then clean the dishes, it’s not too much of a problem not diving in immediately. But once I got started at this meal, I couldn’t stop; it was that good! It definitely makes up for last nights pancake disaster.
There you have them. 12 sage pieces of advice. Got any more? I’d love to hear them in the comments, as random as they could be! I’ll add a 13th: Don’t eat yellow snow.
And, while you’re at it, you can check out a Zevia giveaway, a Chobani giveaway, and a Lightlife giveaway!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 25 so far )What Was I Thinking?
Have those words ever been uttered at a good time? Doubtful. What was I thinking joining Twitter? This is not helping my productivity(EvanFMFF… I’m such a PR harlot).
What was I thinking when I was mindlessly snacking on carby carbs yesterday afternoon?
Oatmeal With Smart Balance Peanut Butter
Note to self: Fat and protein are just as amazing; never forget that. Unfortunately, the Today Show has told me that the omega-3’s in smart balance peanut butter aren’t the ones we need. Then again, any omega-3’s are good omega-3’s and this peanut butter is quite tasty(and melts oh so beautifully). Therefore, I will eat my peanut butter, and have my fish too!
Chickpeas And Tuna, Green Beans With Cream Cheese
I was actually thinking of canning dinner and going straight to dessert when I wasn’t hungry for “real” food at 7. Then again, that’s not really like me, so I decided to just have dinner from a can(get the pun). I mixed a can of tuna and a can of chickpeas and had green beans from the dining hall(95% sure these were also from a can at some point) with a little cream cheese for flavor and fat. I don’t know how they can say there’s 2 servings of tuna and about 3 servings of chickpeas in those cans because they hardly made 1 dinner. Anyway, dessert was obvious.
Divine White Chocolate With Strawberries
Divine Advent Calender Milk Chocolate
What was I thinking buying myself all this Divine chocolate? It is clearly dangerous to keep around because it tastes amaaaaaaazing. I think it’s because they use butterfat and dried cream. It may add a little trans fat but it’s natural and life’s worth living. After that, I was clearly thinking I’m not done with white chocolate and berries.
Oatmeal With White Chocolate Peanut Butter And Raspberry Frosting
Maybe one of my New Year’s Resolutions will be to show restraint fro white chocolate. Until then, let the good times roll. I finished up studying for my exam and winded the night down with Leno and this bowl. I realized why it was so quiet and there wasn’t a loud frat party: They’ve all gone home already. Seriously, I’ll be the last kid on campus. Amazingly, after this bowl I still felt like I could eat more.
Cinnamon Raisin Gnu Bar
What was I thinking? I need to learn “I could eat a little more” does not mean “reach for the most fiberous thing on the planet”. This filled me up, and then some.
When I woke up, I was not thinking. Then again, that’s excusable at 6:30am, methinks. It took waaaaaay too long to occur to me that the person in the shower had not just woken up himself but rather was winding down his night. Everybody is done with finals 😦 I was not thinking about how cold it was, so the walk to the gym, albeit short, was quite hellish(0 degrees with wind chill).
KIND Almond And Cashew Bar
What was I thinking thinking that I wouldn’t need a bar to get me through my run? Luckily I had this in my pocket and clearly enjoyed it. My run itself was one GIANT what was I thinking. it was sabotaged from the start when I ate tofu, soy yogurt, and chickpeas(all of which don’t agree with me but I love) yesterday making major GI issues. Even though I wasn’t feeling up to par because of that, I wanted to get a good last run in, so I thought I’d go 16 miles. And I did. But I knew that was not the right choice when I was finishing up at 9:30 and everyone else had came and gone long before. The whole thing felt “off”. I was just happy to get back and eat breakfast.
French Toast Oatmeal
Greek Yogurt With Peanut Flour And Nuttzo, Advent Chocolate
What was I thinking? I was thinking a) I want to use up that last egg so I don’t have to worry about bringing it home and b) I’ll eat that advent chocolate now so I don’t have to “fit it in” to dessert later. At least those are practical thoughts.
Now I’m thinking more coffee will make me a happy studier. At 2pm I’ll be walking in to my final Final(slightly unprepared, mind you) and be burning through some pencils to get out of there and get home! Have a good day 🙂
I Eat Chocolate Like It’s My Job
I have a dirty, dirty secret.
Chocolate Stash
I have a chocolate stash. If that were all it might not be so bad. But I’m afraid that’s just what’s open… minus a milk chocolate orange and my chocolate chips. It’s only a problem if it’s an unwanted addiction, right? Sometimes I could probably get away with calling chocolate tasting my job; I am a product reviewer, right?
Endangered Species Dark Chocolate
I already reviewed this bar here a few days ago. I was craving just a simple, good dark chocolate and that’s exactly what this was. There was 2/3rds left so I just went ahead and finished it off 🙂 After that, I decided to do a “taste test”.
Chocolate Nut Butters
None of these were new, but it’d been a while since I’d had some and never compared against each other. I’ve actually never been a fan of Dark Chocolate Dreams which gets a lot of love on the blogger world so I thought after a few months it deserved another try, also.
Oatmeal With 3 Chocolate Nut Butters
Fake taste tests are fun! And yet, it was just as I suspected. I loooove the chocolate sunflower butter. I wish it melted better, but oh well. It also has the least sugar of them all! Go figure, because it tastes just like chocolate. The dark chocolate almond butter was only OK and I’m still not a fan of dark chocolate dreams 😦 It got better with salt. Although I think I found grounds for a disqualification with the “dark chocolate” almond butter; it had milk powder on its ingredient list. In my book, if it has any form of milk, that makes it milk chocolate. Now if anyone made a milk chocolate peanut butter, I bet that’d be good!
Advent Milk Chocolate
Of course there was the obligatory advent chocolate. And maybe a spoonful of chocolate sunflower butter straight from the jar… maybe. Every night this week I’ve been going to bed earlier; I’ve just been exhausted. I think last night I was asleep before Leno finished, and only woke up once when my roommate came home around 1:30. When I woke up my legs felt a tad sore, but why wouldn’t they after yesterday’s 17 miler? Still, I went to the gym.
Great Date With Chocolate YouBar
Of course, the chocolateness continued. And oh my god was this fun running fuel. Seriously–love it. It definitely made my sluggish jogging on the treadmill sooo much better. And I have never seen the gym so empty. I ran for 1 hour 44 minutes for 12 miles and there were 6 other people there that whole time. Everyone’s gone for vacation but me! Oh well, I guess that was better than it being overly full. When I got back to my dorm I probably could have walked to the showers naked and back because it’s not like anybody’s around to notice.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter, Vanilla Yogurt With Banana Pineapple Rum Jam
I really think if I saw any chocolate at my breakfast I would have gone nuts; I just needed a break after all of that. Instead, I had yogurt with vanilla sugar and my favorite jam. I have a Pineapple Chobani in my fridge but this was way better. And the oats were simple pumpkin with a rich, buttery peanut butter–yum! And no chocolate, thank God 🙂
Have you ever worn yourself out of a food? I don’t think I’ve worn myself out of chocolate, but it’s definitely not going to be at the table any time soon today.
HoliDEALS update! Free shipping at Oh Nuts! today only with the code FSD09 if you spend $30 or more!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 13 so far )Breakfasts Make The Best Meal
Thank you for all the kudos on the recipe contest 3rd place win. It feels so good to be acknowledged for a recipe. If any of you try my pumpkin bread let me know how you like it and if you bake it on your blog so I can give it linkage. Now the question is what I’m going to be making with eggs for the next 3 months 🙂 That’s one of those good problems to have, I figure. Like I promised after blogging yesterday, there was a trip to the mail room in order. I found a new tea.
Tazo Calm Tea
Calm? Hmm. Something tells me this is going to get bought a lot during the stress of finals week. I was alerted of a package I had. I had no clue what it was at first.
Gettysburg and Gods And Generals
Then I remembered I bought this on Black Friday from Walmart. I’m not much of a war buff but I really wanted to see Gettysburg, and the double feature with Gods And Generals was only about a dollar more. Instead of watching it then and there, I decided to save it for when I have time to pay attention to it and got to writing. My room is soo comfortable with the heat on now. You know it must be warm because I was ready for ice cream in the afternoon.
Snickerdoodle Purely Decadent Soy Ice Cream
I’m so glad we bought some of this Sunday; I’m always tempted to break out the one at home but never have the time or am in an ice cream mood. If you’ve never had it–gah! It will change your life. The snickerdoodle cookie dough chunks… *drool* Anyway, yes, more work ensued. Something about working made me want breakfast.
French Toast Oats And Coffee
Maybe I wanted an egg after winning 3 months worth. Maybe it’s just that breakfast is the best meal of the day. I’m not sure, but this was tres magnifique. I think the secret to french toast oats is swirling the egg in but not too much. And cooking it thoroughly but not too much. So basically they’re a crap shoot 😉 I started to get hungry but had plans to meet up for dinner so there was some fruit snackage:
Tangerine
I tried to convince myself it was a clementine but it doesn’t work that way. Plus it had little annoying seeds in it. Don’t you hate those? I much prefer Trader Joe’s milk chocolate orange for my citrus intake, thank you. I decided to smuggle some links in the dining hall to bolster up whatever veggies they were serving.
Al Fresco Country Style Breakfast Chicken Sausages
I don’t think it’s weird to carry around breakfast sausages. In your coat pocket. At dinner time. Do you?
Fresh Vegetable Medley, Curried Acorn Squashes With Maple Syrup And Breakfast Style Sausages
Wow… remarkable. These sausages… beyond words. They were so perfectly herby I could hardly believe it. With a touch of maple syrup–to die for. And who would have thought maple syrup and curried squash would work? It so totally did. It was almost Indian but with a Maine flair. I’ve been scared off of making my own Indian food thus far but I think I just need to find a good curry powder and I’d be good to go.
Before the Biggest Loser I went to a dining hall to stock up of Greek yogurt for the impending storm. I walked out carrying 4 with a bar and a coffee. I have some serious balancing skills 😉 How amazing were all the come back contestants on The Biggest Loser? I don’t think there was a loser amongst them.I always feel funny snacking during The Biggest Loser but I spend my time in the gym and earn my damn dessert 😉
Cherry Greek Yogurt With Cherry Dark Chocolate And Vanilla Sugar
Plus this had fruit, dairy, and antioxidants, so it was entirely healthy, right? I’m going with that 🙂 Did anybody else learn to spell dessert with an extra “s” because you always want more? That always stuck with me. There was definitely more dessert, unfortunately.
KIND Sesame And Peanut Bar
I try to eat with no regrets. But I regretted this. Firstly, I try not to eat bars in my dorm when I could have real food(or, you know, oatmeal), but this at first seemed alluring. Secondly, this wasn’t very good. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good; it’s best feature was chocolate which I could easily have eaten in other forms. And yet I ate it in about 2 minutes flat, because I didn’t know how to put it down or just throw it out. I think all the thinking required for writing an essay made my rational thinking go away, and afterwards I learned better. For my last desssert, I tried being much more in tune with what I wanted.
Chocolate Vitatop With Cream Cheese, Advent Chocolate, White Chocolate Wonderful
Delicious and what I wanted. I’m not accustomed to eating peanut butter without carbs underneath but I didn’t want toast or oatmeal or to put it on the vitatop. The answer? A simple spoon–and it was perfect.
This morning I woke up to this lovely scene:
Providence 6:45
Snow! I love snow, I really do. I hate the cold, but I love snow(let’s not point out the contradiction here). Unfortunately it doesn’t put me in a work-out mood, but I decided a good run was just what I needed so I grabbed a bar and hit the gym.
Maple Nut Clif Bar
At first I wasn’t feeling it for one reason or another; it didn’t help the non-basic cable tv channels weren’t operative. But then I thought maybe this would need to be one of those “move your body” and not “run” days and I resolved to go for 14 miles. It definitely felt like a stretch for the first 5 but eventually it just flew by and I was happily done in 1:58:02. After trekking back to my room and warming up I made yet another satisfyingly-breakfast meal.
Eggnog Greek Yogurt, French Toast Oatmeal With Al Fresco Breakfast Sausages
Clearly being a repetitive eats blogger does not weigh on my mind because I was happy to dig in to this. I just love these sausages. Perhaps it’s a bit hypocritical to use vegan eggnog and serve it next to chicken and an egg but let’s ignore that like the snow and cold thing.
Today I would love love love to take a trip to the groceries stores. Unlike rain, however, that’s not in the forecast. What is is an essay being done, I’m sure. Happy humpday!
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Food Makes Fun Fuel 