Food Hog Backlog

Several weeks and several thousands of bites later, I have a photo or twenty that finally feel like making their way out into the open. I figured I’d help them along.

You know that whole Quest bar trend, and how everyone says they’re “omgbestbaryou’llevereatever!”?

Maybe not the best idea to buy an on sale, almost expired Quest bar online as your first attempt at jumping on that bandwagon. I nearly chipped two molars. These bars do not hold up well stale.

(For the record, I’ve tried a fresher variety with much better results, though not totally sold on their holy grail-ness just yet.)

This Perfect Fit Protein bar was also a new try, luckily with some easy on the teeth results. Tastes a lot like a chocolate chip Larabar.

Visible chocolate chips right in there, I’m sold.

I’ve had a few Greek salads this past month, a hardcore Kristie favourite, clearly. Minus the olives. ALWAYS minus the olives. Yet I still try to eat one every.single.time. Why? Apparently after a certain number of tries, you can learn to like a food. I’ve tried olives many many times. If it hasn’t happened by now, it ain’t gonna happen. 

Salads (non-Greek) that include pictures before I demolished them:

Sauteed kale, runny egg and squash with…. blackcurrant dijon mustard? What don’t they put in mustard these days?

Everything’s better with Greek yogurt.… except my skin. I’ve noticed a direct correlation between the state of my breakouts and the amount of yogurt I’m eating. That and throat clearing. Yep, I’m that annoying “ehem hem, HEM cough hem” person. Unfortunately this means I don’t buy it all that much anymore. Yet I still manage to crave it every day. EVERY day. Geez dairy, why you gotta be so mean?

Whey protein in smoothies seems to be hit or miss. Sometimes it destroys my stomach, sometimes it’s just dandy. So I still frequently experiment with different kinds/brands etc.

I ordered a few tasty protein samples online to try from CanadianProtein.com (Still working through them).

I also heard great things about this North Coast Naturals Whey Protein Isolate so I’ve been having that in my breakfast smoothies a lot lately. Big fan of this one and it seems to be just fine on my stomach so we’re looking at a repeat purchase from this brand.

There was also a time, a couple weeks ago, when I ate only fruit for a few days (in this case, tomatoes + avocados = fruit).

Felt nice and clean at that particular moment, but ultimately didn’t do much for me other than make me eat my weight in peanut butter and pumpkin-shaped cheeseballs mere days later.

Banana Granola Peanut Butter? Come on, Kraft, you’re killing me. No one person needs to consume this much peanut butter in two days (it almost happened). I’ve currently enabled a temporary peanut butter ban. It hurts, but so does sitting in can’tbreathtight jeans all day. And I apparently have no self-control.  Cold turkey it is!

And yes I did make a cheeseball in the shape of a pumpkin on a spider webbed plate for Halloween. Oh you fancy huh.

And now I’m working at home alongside the scents of Cider Lane while trying to stay warm in my freezing cold household and contemplating how realistic it would be to attempt a sugar cut down right before the holiday season. My sweet tooth is taking over my sanity. It’s getting bad. Like “I just ate stale marshmallows and don’t even like marshmallows” bad. Whomp whomp.

At least it’s Friday!

Bring on the Fall

Fall is just around the corner. I can feel it! (As can the thermometer). And I’m into it. I’ve just never been much of a summer girl. Bring on the Fall!

My only quip so far… with Fall comes the back to school traffic. This city is so nice and peaceful in the summer. And that means my drive to work is speedy. I’m totally being a whiner because, let’s be honest, it’s not a far drive. But since I’m no longer a part of the Back to School Club and totally forgot about the fact that that would be a “thing” again in the 8:00 AM morning drive world, I got a nice surprise during my drive at the beginning of this week. #patienceisnotmyvirtue

Just because I’m not going back to school, though, doesn’t mean I’m not suckered in by the back to school supplies. Notebooks, pens, highlighters – so much good stuff!

I picked myself up some pens and things. I’m kinda into neon.

And some….”textbooks”. These are the first trashy read magazines I’ve bought in ages. I had a craving!

On the eating front, this seasonal transition period makes salads still a-okay, but the oh-so-warm roasted squash and mugs of tea are becoming more and more appealing. Obviously squash is never not appealing, but the cold weather just takes it to a whole new level, no?

[Mixed greens, steamed broccoli, blobs of hummus, drizzles of balsamic vinaigrette]

[Same deal, add goat cheese and chicken, voila!]

[Butternut squash fries dipped in “ranch” (light sour cream mixed with a packet of ranch seasoning) and ketchup]

[My cup’s a bluffer, that ain’t no cappuccino. Steeping the last bits of my Toasted Walnut Green Tea.]

There also seems to be something about the beginning of fall that makes me want to shop. Maybe it’s the back to school frenzy in the air, maybe it’s the wardrobe transition that is soon to take place. But whatever it is, my wallet is quivering.

That being said, so far I’ve mainly stuck to food shopping.

Exhibit A? Pre-cut coconut chunks. What?!

Maybe this isn’t a new thing, but I’ve sure never seen ’em like this before. Yeah okay okay, I’ve seen whole coconuts. But I don’t own a machete and I prefer my fingers attached to my hands. So I’ve never bought one, nor ever tried fresh coconut meat. Until someone did the work for me and sold it to Walmart’s grocery department so that I could buy it!

I’m so into this! Next step, buy machete to hack open fresh whole coconuts all by myself. Then maybe after that…a coconut tree.

I also indulged in a little bit of online food shopping. I don’t do this too often, preferring to torture myself with window (umm…browser window?) shopping and noncommittal virtual shopping carts filled with more goods than I could ever really need. But combine the fall shopping itch with online end of summer sales that include some of those elusive foodie products that the whole food blog world seems to be stuffing themselves with and all hell shopping heaven breaks loose.

Needless to say, a lovely brown box arrived in the mailbox yesterday and I have myself some sampling to do. That is to come…

And I’ll leave you with a final happy thought courtesy of my mother. I was having a few downer days recently and my mom brought home a little pop of cheer to brighten me up.

Now every time I look at my keys, I’m reminded to “Think Happy. Be Happy.”

:)

Along a similar vein, who else carries around a 5 lb keychain? Anyone? So much Canada pride.

Happy (almost) Fall Friday!

The Ugly Food Awards

Gosh, I eat some ugly things.

Therefore, I think it’s only fitting to announce…

 

Starring…

My Ugly Food!

So, without further ado, let’s jump right in and announce the winners, shall we?

Drumroll please…

(source)

In 3rd place, with a bad hair do and an awkward orange hue…

Not-so-Hunky Chunky Pumpkin Overnight Oats! (with canned pumpkin, cottage cheese and a dollop of mango greek yogurt)

 

In 2nd Place, a slimy character with a ‘what the funk’ odour…

Last Leg Yellow Squash and Green Peppers sauteed in balsamic vinegar and last leg goat cheese!

 

And finally, last AND (visually) least, we have the winner of the UGLY FOOD AWARDS.

My #1 Ugliest Food is…

Green with UN-envy Chicken Enchilada!

I swear it’s edible…

 

Honourable Mentions go out to:

Where’s my middle Fudgy Mess Platter

Pond Scum Smoothie with a side bite of dryer lint oats

Leftover-splattered greens topped with under the stove dirt (couscous) and a side appearance of our #1 winner – un-envy enchiladas! [at least this meal has a touch of colour…]

 

 

Thanks to everyone who came out. I hope you still have your appetites :)

Decisions, Decisions

I’m indecisive.

Horribly indecisive.

It goes hand in hand with being The Overthinker.

As such, it takes me about 12 days to make a choice about nearly anything.

 

What do you want to wear today?
Please grant me an additional 20 minutes to pull 10 different shirts from my closets and drawers before I get frustrated and end up settling on whatever I happened to throw on during the first round of outfit do-si-do.

Only in my dreams is my closet this organized and lovely.

(weheartit)

 

What do you want to eat for dinner?
Are you kidding me? Might as well pull everything out of the fridge and shove it all on a plate. Anything that wouldn’t work well on the plate can be consumed during the process of arranging the plate so as to ensure it’s not missed out on.

Veggies = spinach, slaw, orange pepper, yellow squash, steamed yellow beans
Additions = chicken, pasta noodles, hummus, artichoke dip, greek dressing
Sides that didn’t work on the plate = bread chunks, pasta salad…who knows.

 

What should you make with that large package of phyllo dough that’s been chilling in the freezer for 6 months?
Fortunately phyllo recipes aren’t AS abundant as some others, but narrowing it down to a savoury or sweet recipe? It just can’t be done.

Both it is.

Spinach Phyllo Pie aka easy experimental spanakopita:
1. Lay a few phyllo sheets into a pan (I used a cake pan) 
2. Meanwhile, cook 1 package frozen spinach with 1 cup steamed mashed cauliflower, 1/2 cup light feta, garlic, and a generous sprinkling of parmesan.
3. Once heated through, spoon the spinach mixture onto the phyllo sheets and add more phyllo on top.
4. Bake at 350 for ~30 minutes.

And for dessert – Choco Banana Phyllo Delight
1. Lay out 3 phyllo sheets
2. Mix together 1 container (~1/2 cup) flavoured yogurt with ~1T cocoa powder. Spread it onto the phyllo sheets
3. Slice up 1/2 a banana and lay the slices on top of the yogurt mixture
4. Wrap the phyllo sheets up into a roll and bake at 350 for ~20 minutes.

 

You need nut butter. Which one to buy?
I could have been simple and gone with the cheap, grocery brand peanut butter that’s nothing but peanuts and nothing but delicious. But I wanted to be different. I wanted to switch it up. In summary, I apparently wanted to torture myself with more decisions.

I stood in front of at least 3 peanut butter displays in at least 3 different stores over the course of at least a few days before I finally restocked with this new-to-me… not-so gem. Blue Diamond Crunchy Almond Butter? So far I do not love.

 

You need a wedding dress. Which one to buy?
No no, not MY wedding. I’d need a fiancé for that. But I do have to be at my uncle’s wedding in slightly less than a month and thus far I have nothing to wear. To spare the guests my nude bottom, I tried to dress shop yesterday.

(weheartit)

With my pro decision skills, I’m sure you can guess how well that went.

After a couple hours and a stack of dresses, I did leave with one…but it’s not for the wedding. I just could NOT decide. I had two I was ready to buy. Two I was ready to work with. And then I got so stressed about making the decision that I scrapped all plans and decided to start back at square one of the dress search on a new day with fresh eyes.

What I really need is advice: What do you wear as a wedding guest?! I know it’s hardly the most complicated wardrobe addition but I want it to be a good one.

A little much.

A lot much…

Way too much?

(All found by searching ‘prom dresses’ on weheartit. Enlightening.)

 

One thing I was able to decide on fairly quickly?
This bowl of pumpkin overnight oats with yogurt, wheat bran and strawberry rhubarb jam for breakfast yesterday. But only because it was already prepared the night before, leaving me almost obligated to eat it. And even with this obligation, I still hummed and hawed for a few minutes, deciding if I truly did feel like eating this bran-y bowl or wanted to perhaps go with my tried and true summer staple smoothie instead.

I went with the oat bowl.
And went back to the smoothie today.

 

Calling all Fashionistas…or just females who have recently attended weddings:
What have you worn as a wedding guest?
I’m thinking slightly more sophistiqué than a summer dress but definitely more casual than a prom dress… All styling tips, accessory ideas etc. welcome!