Beans, Beans, Beans...

Is everybody's Saturday turning out to be a good one? I hope so - I feel like mine was pretty productive!

Started out with a relatively simple bowl of pumpkin hot cereal:

I felt it was time to go back to basics again :)

Today incorporated pumpkin puree and a couple slices banana while cooking, and topped with some pumpkin chia-seed yogurt pudding for topping, as well as some toasted coconut, toasted walnuts, raisins, banana, wheat germ, raspberry preserves, and almond butter. 

Delicious no matter whether simple or complex!

The morning was then spent getting some groceries with mi madre and then I went into town to clean the office and finish my valentine's day shopping. We're not big Valentine's Day people obviously, but we usually tend to get each other random cutesy nick-nacks. I was back by noon (I love waking up early and getting the "grunt work" over with before it's even the afternoon!) and opted for a small snack incorporating this beautiful creation:

Ahmahgaw. Sooooo good. I received my Naturally Nutty order yesterday, but didn't try any then, and nor did I have it with my breakfast this morning - will power, I tell ya! But when I got home I needed a snack (I like eating lunch later) so opted for an orange and had just half a Joseph's Flax Pita left after last night's dinner. So I made a quick little PB&J panini! White Choco Coconut + Pomegranate-Cherry Jam + Soft Flax Pita + Panini Press = Heaven. This isn't Jess talking right now, it's her spirit. The end.

Have you tried any of the Naturally Nutty line? What's your favorite?

I also got two other flavors - but you'll have to wait and find out what they are :)

After getting some schoolwork done for an hour or two, I was ready for lunch.

After last night's Garlicky Butter Beans & Scallops with Bacon, I had a big spoonful or two left-over that I added to. Normally if there's such a small amount left I don't bother saving it (It's just a tease!) but I knew I'd be using more of the beans for a wrap for lunch today (whole can open!) and thought I could just add more beans and veggies to the already-deliciously flavored mixture. Worked great! I just heated last night's mixture up in a pan, added some more butter beans, dijon and garlic, and spooned that over a pita that had some romaine and red onion. Tri-Fold and Press!

Delish. Other snackins included this Luna Cookie:

It was on clearance for 90 cents at P-Chop. Couldn't resist.

The verdict? It's basically a brownie Clif Z-Bar but with peppermint icing! I definitely think it's the same recipe, haha. Which, since as you all know, isn't a bad thing because I love Z-Bars. But I was definitely expecting something more like a cookie! The peppermint icing made it not too chocolate-y though, which was my only issue with the Choco Brownie Z-Bar. I heart chocolate peppermint.

I have made so much progress organizing my recipes! I am finally getting things out of my over-crowded bookmarks online, and organizing and printing from Word. I feel like my web-based collection is too small now,though! Gotta start bookmarking again.

Dinner tonight was...you guessed it...more butter beans! I actually don't think I'd ever used butter beans much prior to last night, but they may very well be one of my new favorite beans. Of course, since I love all beans I don't know how valid that statement is. I opted for a Butter Bean Curry with Homemade Naan!

Okay, so my Naan is nowhere near as gorgeous as Jen's is, but I tried! I'd never made Naan before, and I was terrified after having a failed Roti attempt not too long ago. I wasn't sure how thin to roll them out, and I am pretty sure I went a bit too thin, but it actually came out really delicious! I'd type out the recipe, but I want you to go read it on this amazing blog instead! Jen has so many amazing recipes, and she's not lying when she calls it "Ridiculously Easy Naan." A few notes, however: I halved the recipe, used 1 c. bread flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour, used garlic salt with parsley in place of the salt, used half almond milk and half water, and used olive oil rather than canola. Mmmm!

The bean curry was helped along by the Good Housekeeping Coconut-Chile Curry Sauce that I've mentioned on here previously. I sauteed butter beans, carrot slices, red pepper, diced plum tomato, and onion in minced garlic, added 1 T. of the Curry sauce, and seasoned with ginger, curry powder, cumin, and pepper. When it was all done, I topped with some shredded coconut (key!!) and had a side of sugar snap peas, as well. The craving for them hit - I used to have them on a daily basis, ya know!

A simple, easy dinner...but definitely hit the spot. The curry was perfect scooped up by the Naan! You really must make it. If I can, I'm pretty sure anybody can. 

I'll leave you on this note:

I've got some Moguls and speed skating to watch!

Night everyone :)

What's your favorite Indian dish?

Rejuvenated

Today I woke up feeling so rejuvenated! 

And no, it's not because I went and got a free Denny's Grand Slam :P Pretty sure if that was the case, I'd be feeling dead. lol.

I ended up going to bed relatively early last night, around 10, and slept really well, too! Usually I wake up a time or two, each time wide-awake and ready for it to just be morning...and then a little groggy when 6am does roll round.

Not today! I was ready to be up, bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 6am. Unfortunately, it's my day to "sleep in" until 7, but I decided tojust browse the web and watch the news and relax until then. It was quite nice! I love waking up ready to go and in a good mood. The good mood definitely carried on throughout the day, too. I think this repeat bowl of brekkie helped that :

More gingersnap oats! This time I used a little more than 1/4 t. ground ginger. I'd be lying if I said my tongue wasn't a litttttle tingly by the end! Mmmm.

And some food for thought: did you know that 

"Ginger is an anti-inflammatory, which means it may be useful in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and arthritis. Plus, it's high in antioxidants that fight all kinds of diseases."

Pretty cool, huh? Click here for the source, as well as other tidbits about the 7 most potent disease-fighting spices. I'd like to start "showcasing" random facts about stuff I utilize...mainly foods, spices, etc, but I'm sure some photo stuff will work it's way in here, and some soc. stuff :) Whatcha think?

Today's new bar was a Kashi GoLean Crunch Bar in the chocolate caramel flavor

How is this bar so healthy? It baffles me. It's got some seriously awesome ingredients, and tastes just like a peanut buttah rice krispies! That's probably just me, though, because it is not actually peanut-butter flavored, but I always combine peanut butter with caramel. I dunno. Don't ask.

But! This made an excellent mind-refresher in between classes. Why is it that I get way hungrier and tired sitting at a desk listening to people talk than I do on my feet all morning at work? 

Does that happen to anybody else?!

I was super-duper ready to come home for this, though! It took my already great mood (don't you love being in a good mood for no given reason?) to entirely new levels

Buffalo Turkey-Meatball Wrap!

Two summers ago I just about lived off of Buffalo Chicken wraps. For some reason I have let an entirely too-long period of time before having a buffalo something wrap. And those buffalo turkey meatballs were just the ticket! I mixed up a version of Clean Eating's homemade ranch dressing sans buttermilk with just some greek yogurt, dill, chives, garlic salt with parsley, black pepper, and onion powder. Better than ranch dressing, I say. In addition to that, en la wrap es sliced meatballs, more franks, red onion, half a cheese wedge, romaine, dill pickle, and tomato. Oh. So. Heavenly.

Con carrot y the rest of the tomato and dressin' for dippin'.

Afterwards, Kaia and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine and slightly warmer weather and go for a leisurely walk! I've never been much of a gym person. I much prefer getting my exercise by working outside, going for walks, helping with the horses (or, soon, riding horses, lol) going for a run down my road or doing some cardio kickboxing or pilates. I guess it kind of works out, since - I don't have much time to spend at the gym! I am thinking about getting a membership and starting swimming, though.

What's your favorite form of exercise - be it intentional or unintentional?

I didn't dress very appropriately (yes - I live in Converse, no matter the weather, and I also forgot gloves) because I failed to recognize that yes, while it was quite warmer than it had been, 25* is still pretty chilly.

So, we were only gone about 30 minutes. It was quite refreshing, though. I was cooped up inside most of the weekend, and like going on short ganders whenever the weather is enjoyable :)

Before our walk, I had thrown together some almond milk, pure pumpkin, greek yogurt, chia seeds, cinnamon, and a dash of cheesecake pudding mix and refrigerated to create this delicious pudding that I enjoyed before leaving for class once again:

Gah. So good. Love the chia seeds!

And then this was waiting for me after class:

Not photographically pleasing. But oh-so-good. Lately every meal I've eaten I say to myself after "okay. I never want to eat anything else ever again." Somehow, I keep coming through for you guys and creating new things :P haha.

Leftover strata and some "burnt broccoli" and carrots with a raspberry-honey dijon & balsamic vinegar glaze/dressing. And some parmesan. Perfection.

Aaaaand, that's about it from me! I hope everyone else's Tuesdays were as equally terrific!

(ah, I get it...I need to stop with the corny alliterations.)

It's all the Rage

It's funny how as you grow up, everyone's telling you to not be afraid to be different, be your own person.

For the most part, I feel like I'm pretty successful with this advice. I don't feel like I stick out like a sore thumb by any means, but I definitely have different interests, tastes, styles, and hobbies than a lot of people I see on a daily basis.

However, I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, you've just gotta follow the things that are all the rage! This includes the newest team member of what is now my breakfast cinctuplet. Actually, after all the toppings I throw on top on a daily basis, it's far more than a cinctuplet, but I digress.

Chia seeds!

I ordered these from The Raw Food World's Amazon.com store, in addition to some Acai powder, and got them in the mail yesterday. Let me just say - the Raw Food World has amazing customer service! Though the shipment was through Amazon, they included a handwritten thank-you note in addition to samples of other nifty products - Hemp protein powder, Cholerra, and an additional Chia seed sample. Too cool! It's nice to know that as a customer, you are appreciated. 

equal parts bulgur with soy, TVP, oatmeal, and wheat bran (I use 1 T. each, to make a standard 1/4c. serving size) with equal parts almondmilk and brewed coffee, 1 tsp Chia Seeds, 1/2 banana, whipped in, nutmeg, and vanilla. Topped with shredded coconut, remaining nanner, dates, raspberry preserves, Barney Butter, and a "glaze" of almondmilk, Greek Yogurt, and unsweetened cocoa powder.

Naturally, I was psyched for my first Chia seed experience this morning! This was a delicious bowl! Other rage that I took way too long rebelling against? Nut butters! oh. ma. gaw. They are just so perfect. I can't wait to try others, like cashew, sunflower, etc, in addition to flavors!

What is your favorite nutbutter?

When it comes to the Chia seeds, they really weren't noticeable. In fact, I only remembered the addition until halfway through, haha. My excitement over how good this was caused me to forge. Probably because I started out with just a small amount. I don't think they really add a flavor, anyway. But muy bien health bennies!

The acai powder is quite good - I enjoyed it with a cup of almondmilk last night. But when it comes to the chlorella and the hemp protein powder - I'm lost! Chlorella just reminds me of cholerra. Hopefully it won't give me that. hah! But, I guess they're just tablets that you can eat just like nuts. I can see the protein powder sitting for a while though. I'm pretty good about my protein intake :)

Worked today, so I among my various snacks I packed some leftover sweet-potato pie for lunch. Just as good, if not better, the second time around! I have a littttle bit left that will go perfectly with a bigggg salad to bring for lunch tomorrow, too. That concoction is a keeper!

Tonights dinner was super random. I could not make up my mind for the life of me! I kept going back and forth between scallops or quesedilla. Finally, I decided on both. And salad. And broccoli. Uh, random?

But, since I'm obviously a really random person anyway, this was just fine! Sorry it's not very exciting :P That "pita quesedilla" certainly tasted exciting, however! And if it makes you feel better, I at least kept the flavors consistent throughout :)

"Quesedilla" : Spread 1 laughing cow wedge and Raspberry Dijon Mustard over half a Joseph's Flax Pita. Layered with red beans, red and yellow pepper, and chili powder. Folded back over, and pressed on the panini.

Scallops and Broccoli: Sauteed in a "sauce" consisting of balsamic vinegar and Raspberry Dijon Mustard, splashed with some lemon juice, and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

The pita was uh.mazing. The laughing cow with the raspberry dijon mustard was the perfect combination. Reminded me of cranberry goat cheese! I don't know what I did to be deserved the luxury to have found raspberry dijon mustard, but I'm sure glad it happened!

It also paired well with the scallops and broccoli, and makes the best salad dressing!

I still have to try the Maple one. I'm thinking it will go really nicely with salmon.

But, that's all from my end of the world! I've got to catch Throwdown with Bobby Flay tonight - Vermont represent! Not that I wouldn't be watching the Food Network anyway ;)

What's my breakfast concoction gonna be tomorrow?!

Love

It's official.

I'm in love.

Initially, I was going to talk about how I fell in love with this new Silk PureAlmond Original Almondmilk, and that there is officially no use for me to need a Valentine this year.

d.e.l.icious. Remember when I was having a big coffee creamer dilemma? It's been solved. Who knew almondmilk was the answer? I disliked almondmilk the first time I had it months ago. But this Silk brand is absolutely amazing..

But, behold! I realized that I may be cheating on my new lover, with the delicious bowl of oats to follow my first encounter with almondmilk:

Your parents lied to you when they said carrot cake wasn't for breakfast.

That's right...Breakfast Carrot Cake...uh...Porridge? Some hybrid word born from "TVP-Bulgur with Soy-Wheat Bran-Oatmeal"? I'm not sure what to call my mix. 

In the Bowl: The new "usual" mix of equal parts TVP, Bulgur with Soy, Wheat Bran, and Oatmeal, and equal parts Almondmilk and brewed coffee.

Also: half a large carrot, grated, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, 1 packet SunCrystals, half a banana, and vanilla.

Topped with: "Icing" consisting of large spoonful of greek yogurt, splash almondmilk, cinnamon, and agave. In addition: sliced banana, dates, raisins, crystallized ginger, and additional grated carrot.

Forgot to add because I was so excited: shredded coconut.

The icing seriously made this. I wasn't going to dress it up in such a way but then I saw the Greek Yogurt staring at me so innocently, and my new lover Almondmilk was asking to get more incorporation into the dish, as well.

So.dang.good.

I was excited and nervous about the Almondmilk when I saw it at the store the other day. I remembered the first time I tried it, I could take it or leave it. But I was intrigued that Silk now made an almondmilk line! They had vanilla and original - I opted for the original. It's perfect! And I can use it in my coffee happily! Meaning, not feeling like I'm being deprived of an enjoyable cup of coffee without those terrible creamers because it tastes just as good, if not better! That and it's delicious on its own - way better than soy or regular milk.

And then, I met another new love shortly before leaving for class:

My first Luna bar. WHAT?! I'm only just getting in on Luna bar action? I really must have lived in a cave... Unwrapped and bagged, because I'm always the disruptful one nomming on food in the back of the room. Was hoping this might reduce my disruptful-ness.

Seriously have been missing out on the bar & peanut butter craze. I've got a lot of catching up to do. Must.try.Chai.Tea.flavor. STAT!

Cookies 'n' Cream Delight was just that. The folks at Luna don't lie! I'm a big cookies n cream fan, and this was just like the ice cream :)

I'm also beginning to LOVE my Tuesdays. Why Tuesdays, you ask? Seems like a terrible day to love. You haven't reached Wednesday, and you're still far from the weekend.

Well, I love Tuesday because I love being able to come home and make a lovely lunch, utilizing wraps, hummus, fried eggs, and veggies, which we all know I ... you guessed it... love!

I was really proud of how well I wrapped and pannini'd that wrap...

Only half the orange and carrot made it to the photo shoot alive, though...

En la tortilla: fried egg, more hummus than Cedar ever intended for one person to eat at once, dijonnaise, pickles, red and yellow pepper, romaine, feta, and salsa.

With some delightful Snyder's oat bran pretzels. These pretzels are really good! 

A little bit of heaven on a plate...I'm so easily pleased.

You know what else is awesome about tuesdays? 

While I'm home, I can prep dinner!

Any guesses as to what I made up tonight? I'll give you some hints:

Anybody? Anybody? Okay, one more...

I warned you...

I'm hoping my concoction tastes as good as its' parts!

What's one thing you've loved about your Tuesday so far? I hope there's at least one thing!

Productively Unsuccessful

Figured I'd break today up into two posts, even though I'll probably be eating dinner in like...2 hours anyway. I'm bored. Just busted out my last paper and got a mock-portfolio together, as well as went into town earlier this morning to clean my office. And managed to find a cool run-down barn long the way that I snapped a couple photos of! Film though, so they'll have to wait to be seen :) For a while there I was feeling really lazy and unproductive...but I guess I did get some stuff done today after all! hah.

This morning started off with an amazing yet severely unphotogenic mix!

1 Tbs each of: Yellow Cornmeal, Bulgur Wheat with Soy, Wheat Bran, and TVP, with 3/4 c. brewed coffee, 1/4c. soy milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, Truvia, and 1/2 thinly sliced banana stirred in quickly. Topped with 1/2 nanner, red raspberry preserves, and a portion of my Barney Butter sample! 

What did I think of the Barney Butter? Um, yum. Hello. It is definitely way different than the Full Circle 100% Almond Butter kind I purchased recently (which, by the way, has definitely grown on me.) but in a good way! While I've come to love the Full Circle kind, it's not something I enjoy by itself, necessarily, whereas the Barney Butter is sweetened and is actually, to me, more like a different sort of peanut butter! And let me just say...even though I'm way behind on realizing this...it is amazing in a hot breakfast cereal concoction! I don't know why it took me so long to hop on the nut-butter-in-oatmeal train. I don't know if I was even living then, apparently! So, definitely scurry on over and see if Barney Butter is still giving away some free samples! Mine came super fast - I don't think it even took two weeks - which is pretty unique when it comes to samples. Definitely a good company. And where would I be if Karla hadn't given me the heads up about it? Pretty sure I'd still be under a rock.

Last night while I was surfin' the web I started looking into breakfast polenta! Since polenta is just yellow cornmeal which is very similar to grits, I figured it's had to have been done. And my oh my, it has! There's tons of sugary concoctions out there, so I decided to incorporate it into what is becoming my morning mish-mosh of grains! Since cornmeal doesn't have anywhere near the nutritional value of Bulgur or TVP, I decided to just replace one of the tablespoons of TVP with yellow cornmeal to see what the outcome would be. Not a huge difference, really. But worth experimenting with more! This breakfast makes me so full! Which is sort of sad since it all adds up to a normal portion size. I'm not sure if I want to cut it back a bit and maybe add a little more fruit or not. I know I should at least be eating that much for breakfast, so I'd like to leave it, haha. Why is my stomach so small?! I'm such a grazer. 

P.S. I apologize for how unappetizing this breakfast combination looks. I know Bulgur has a brown color already, but the coffee instead of water makes it even more brown...resulting in...well, you can imagine. Hopefully the delicious bananas, jam, and Barney Butter disguise it a little bit?

This is going to turn into a very review-y post, I can tell!haha.

Afterwards, I got ready to go into town and clean the office & see if I couldn't find some cool old barns. I like getting the office out of the way early in the day, and usually don't leave it for Sundays. I was just not in the mood yesterday. I knew I'd have some papers to finish and wanted to work on getting some photos together for a portfolio, as well, so I hustled in and out.

Since it's a good drive, by the time I was done it was almost noon and I was ready for a snack, so I tried one of those SoyJoy bars I'd tried a while back. Initial reaction? hmm. Interesting.... 

First I thought it almost had a chemically, artifically taste, but an intriguing taste, so of course I tried more. And whaddya know, it grew on me. Halfway through though, I became interested in the ingredients and discovered it has parmesan cheese in it. Uh, what? I admit, I must have been in a rush because checking ingredients in foods is usually a given before I buy it. But after that, I kept tasting a Parmesan cheese after-taste. No joke. I'm not sure if it's psychological or legitimate...but I think that's what I tasted at first too. I just...wouldn't have thought in my wildest dreams it was parmesan cheese.

Anyway, cutting to the chase: Raisin Almond SoyJoy=okay. Not bad. Not sure I'd buy it again, though, due to how many bars are out there that I do love. HOWEVER! I have a bunch of other flavors to try, and only some of them have parm cheese! So I'll definitely let you guys know what the dealio is with the others.

What are your thoughts on the Parmesan Cheese and SoyJoy bars? 

haha, sorry...gotta ask.

MOVING on.

Heaven.

Oh, how I love wraps.

Oh, how I love Cedar's Hummus wraps. (Or should I say Hommus? Why is there such a discrepency in the spelling of hummus, anyway?

In La Tortilla: Roasted Red Pepper Cedar's Hummus, dijonnaise, red pepper, 2 fried egg whites, romaine, red onion, President Mediterrnean Herb Feta Cheese, and tomatoes.

Holy yum. I love feta cheese...and was ecstatic to see a new President flavor! 

Only thing that coulda made this better was some beans!

Or if I'd remembered the pickle...ah well.

And this may come as a shock, but I'm currently enjoying some of the delicious frozen greek yogurt :)

What's your favorite wrap or sandwich? And what should I make for dinner?

Hah. Kidding. Except not really...

Catch ya' later!

It's All Textural...

Guess who's alarm didn't go off this morning...

Yep. That'd be me. Only by about 40 minutes or so; I was actually up for maybe 15 of those thinking "Wow, I wonder why it's so light out..." hah. Luckily I leave myself  lot of time to be able to take my time in the mornings so I ended up right on schedule, but I was rushing around the kitchen to get breakfast before realizing it wsn't necessary!

However, it did cause me to resort to the usual breakfast!

I didn't have much Greek yogurt left though, so I relied on some fried egg whites to make up for the protein! Does anyone else like to burn their eggs? I love my eggs to be all crispy, crunchy, and golden! I think that's why I hate yolks so much - by the time the whites are perfect, the yolks are so dry and blah.

Also got to try the new Spelt bread I picked up! It's good! However, I don't feel like I really got to enjoy this breakfast since I felt like I had to scarf it down. I hate having to eat in a hurry. It makes me feel like I never ate at all regardless of how full I really am! I prefer eating slow and enjoying meals, by far.

That being said, this held off any signs of hunger well into the day! Before I knew it, it was noon and was just starting to want a snack. I don't usually eat my lunch until 2:00, but get hungry for a small snack around 10-11.  When it was lunch time, however, I got to enjoy delicious leftover tilapia that I packed with some leftover  fried bulghur from Wednesday. Just as good the second time around!

I actually was debating between having this for lunch or dinner, but the deciding factor came down to lunch because I didn't want to show you guys a repeat meal! I am so enjoying blogging, because it encourages me to eat balanced, healthy, and new meals. Love that! I became so lazy last semester, and even started missing way too many meals. This was moreso due to a horrendous living situation though, which I obviously have, luckily, resolved by moving back home for the time-being.

For those of you with your own foodblogs, do you feel it encourages you to keep trying new things?

I'm not saying I'm breaking new ground with this bulghur and bean burrito:

...but lets remember that I could eat the same hummus and veggie sandwich day after day and be thrilled :P

This delicious dinner involved 1 high-fiber whole-wheat La Tortilla Factory wrap spread with 1/3 Laughing Cow Wedge, remaining bulghur, and 2 fried egg whites, to bulk it up a bit. Thrown on the George Foreman, and paired it with a small side of romaine and a lovely dill pickle. And don't think that measly amount of Frank's was enough...I was just getting too frustrated at how long it was taking to get it out of the bottle and really wanted to manja! So I took the picture and dug in :P

I know I say this all the time, but this was so good! Definitely a fan of these wraps. At first I was disappointed, thinking they were way too small, but apparently I just have eyes way bigger than my stomach. I was stuffed after this! They have a great texture, especially when on a panini press - it's a great combintion of chewy and crunchy. I love crunchy and chewy together! The texture of food definitely plays a huge role in how much I like it.

Will a food's texture determine how much you like it, too?

The fried eggs were definitely key.

Check out the day's dessert!

Okay, so I never said these cookies were the prettiest things, but I certainly love them! I think cookie my be the wrong term, now that I've solidified my method to making them, too. I prefer them more crispy-crunchy and bran-flavored than any normal cookie would be!

For the poppyseed citrus oat-bran cookie, I mixed 1 T. rolled oats, 1 T. wheat bran, stevia, cinnamon, 1/8 t. baking powder, lime zest, vanilla, and ~1 T. egg substitute. Formed into a cookie shape and nuked for about 1 minute.

For the almond butter bran cookie, I mixed 1 t. smooth, unsweetened almond butter, ~1 t. wheat bran, stevia, splash of egg substitute, and a "splash" of unsweetened applesauce. Nuked for about 1 minute.

I'm probably wierd, but I much prefer them this way - but they may be too dry for a "normal" person, haha. I'm also the one who likes burnt food and loves the smell of toast, especially when it's almost burnt. Just a random little Jess Fact, for your entertainment! What's one of your quirks?!

In almond butter news, I am a little disappointed! While I love it when made like above, I don't when it's just plain and I was imagining it was something I could enjoy regardless of its' preparation :(

However! I think it may just be because it's the unsweetend kind, and thanks to the heads up from Karla at Foodologie, I learned that Barney Butter will send you free samples! I hopped on that train as fast as you can say almond butter! Thanks, Karla! And if you haven't already, be sure to check her blog out - I mean, just look at all of these delicious eats!

And lastly, speaking of challenges and blogging encouraging me to expand my tastes, does anyone want to start a "new food product" challenge with me? There's so many food items I have yet to experiment with, such as the TVP I picked up yesterday. I would like to begin picking up a new ingredient every week/every other week and figuring out what to do with it. Anyone game?

Whew! I can talk a lot. Hopefully I don't bore you all too much!

Have a good night :) The weekend's here! Unfortunately I have to spend half of my day tomorrow waiting in Midas...this Jeep will be the death of me!