Come check it out at eatingup.com!

Last weekend, I went home to St. Louis for a little rest + relaxation with my brother who was in town visiting from Sacramento. Saturday day was spent with family! My two grandmas, one aunt and one cousin came over for a really delicious lunch featuring my dad’s hard morning work. Inspired by a recent outing to a BBQ place near my school, my dad decided to smoke all sorts of meat for our luncheon. Warning: LOTS of meat pictures ahead.

Smoked chicken, ribs and salmon. The salmon was for me.

On the side, my two grandmas brought potato salad and homemade bread.

I contributed to the spread too (per my mother’s orders) and made Haricots Verts and Grape Tomato Salad with Crème Fraîche Dressing.

Really simple and delicious! Lots of flavor. Everyone was in agreement about that.

For dessert, my grandma made blueberry pie for my brother…

…not knowing that my mom had bought her a birthday cake from the store! Muhaha…my grandma told everyone that she’s not having birthdays anymore.

And then the cake massacre of 2009 happened. Just like 2008. Apparently, history taught me nothing. For some reason, I have these intense cravings for store bought cake, and so naturally, I was looking forward to having a piece of grandma’s bday cake. Flashback to 12 months ago when I was deep into my healthy eating spree, my mom encouraged my grandma to give me a big piece to kind of give me a break from my normal eating. I agreed and happily ate until I felt sick and didn’t want that kind of cake again for a year. A year later, it happened again. I’m looking forward to 2010. Maybe I’ll learn from my mistakes. I stand by that it was all worth it.

But wait, there’s still more desserts. My dad made his homemade ice cream after my other grandma suggested it.

My cousin was perplexed as to why I was taking pictures of my food. Always a weird thing to explain, I’m sure you all can relate.

The night before the feast, I had another mini feast with my best friend from high school. We went to my favorite neighborhood in St. Louis, the Central West End. After searching for a parking spot for twenty minutes, we were ravenous for dinner. The Drunken Fish wasn’t too expensive and could seat us right away so we chose that. I’ve heard good things about the sushi restaurant, but I wasn’t blown away by the food. It wasn’t bad though!

For an appetizer, we split the St. Louis Roll: tuna, avocado, pickled radish and masago.

Not a shabby way to represent the hometown. For my entree, I had Chicken Yaki Soba Noodles.

I ate it. I’m not really a noodle girl–it kind of all tastes the same to me. Give me a sandwich, salad or pizza and I can say more marvelous things. The best friend ordered an appetizer and only got two wimpy skewers of meat so we decided dessert was a must. We walked across the street for some gelato, which ranks in the top 5 of my favorite desserts. Carrot cake, chocolate chip ice cream cookies, cherry pie and s’mores take the other four spots.

She got chocolate chip, and I got mint chocolate chip. My chip ended up being one HUGE chunk of chocolate in the middle that I happily unladylike bit down on.

Just this past weekend, I met up with Mara, Jenn and Caroline at Blind Faith Cafe. You can read more about the fabulous time we had on their blogs and hear about the delicious treats Jenn gave us! I ordered the Homemade Quiche with red peppers and spinach and enjoyed every last bit of it down to its flaky crust.

Food fact time. This one’s a short one (unlike the rest of this post).

Honey is believed to be the only food that does not spoil.  Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found to still be edible. You know what that means? Stock up when it’s on sale!

]]> http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/its-been-far-too-long/feed/ 14 Amanda CIMG2939 CIMG2942 CIMG2943 CIMG2940 CIMG2945 CIMG2938 CIMG2951 CIMG2946 CIMG2953 CIMG2929 CIMG2930 CIMG2932 CIMG2959 http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/tell-me-whats-your-flavor/ http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/tell-me-whats-your-flavor/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:37:56 +0000 Amanda http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/?p=372 Continue reading →]]> So, I’m in exam week paper writing mode which means this post will be short on the words, big on the pictures. Time to break out those concise writing techniques I learn in my journalism classes.

It was the weirdest thing. I started getting serious cravings for a food I thought I disliked. Has this happened to anyone? Well, instead of fighting the cravings, I went with them.

It started with this guy.

And then things got out of control fast.

I’m finally a fan of Greek yogurt. Clearly, it’s not just infatuation.

This non-Greek yogurt was not good. However, it did make a nice sour cream substitute to my chicken quesadillas. I fed most of it to my sink drain, though.

I also made oatmeal on the stove finally. Can you believe I normally always microwave my oats? I just got used to it from living stove-less throughout the school year. I actually blended Wheat Chex and Quaker Oats to make myself a very grainy bfast. Mmm mmm good.

Other good eats include this huge salad with raisins, raspberries, chicken, shredded carrots and lots of feta cheese with raspberry dressing.

I also tried the Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake frozen meal. I decided to heat this up in the oven instead of the microwave, which was pointless because it took a lot longer and tasted the same as it would have if I had microwaved it. Lesson learned. The meal was good–I liked the plantains and sweet potatoes–but I think my expectations ended up being higher than my actual liking after the taste test.

When my parents came up a few weekends ago, my mom gave me our “vintage” food processor. The first thing I thought was YES! I can make banana soft serve.

Sigh. That picture is so sad. I’m going to have to do right by my nanner soft serve next time and take a picture worth celebrating its deliciousness. For now I’ll chalk the starkness of the pic up as representation of its simplicity.

I’m really excited for this post’s food fact. I’ve been wanting to share it for awhile, and I feel good about this being the time.

Your favorite flavor of ice cream can say something about your personality!

Edy’s Grand Ice Cream commissioned an ice cream flavorology study conducted by Dr. Alan R. Hirsch (M.D.), Neurological Director of the Smell & Taste treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, that revealed that distinct personalities correspond with ice cream flavors.

If you like vanilla, you are colorful, impulsive, a risk taker who sets high goals and has high expectations of yourself. You also enjoy close family relationships. Gregarious, lives a hectic life. Easily suggestible, expressive, idealistic; a private person.
(Prototype lovelorn housewife)

If you like chocolate, you are lively, creative, dramatic, charming, enthusiastic and the life of the party. Chocolate fans enjoy being at the center of attention and can become bored with the usual routine. Seductive, well-dressed, extroverted, easily influenced, a follower, intuitive, enjoys intimate relationships.
(Prototype: feminine woman, macho man)

If you like butter pecan, you are orderly, perfectionist, careful, detail-oriented, conscientious, ethical and fiscally conservative. You are also competitive, aggressive in sports and the take-charge type of personality.
(Prototype: executive, secretary)

If you like banana, you are easy going, well adjusted, generous, honest and empathetic.
(Prototype: the perfect husband, wife, parent or child)

If you like strawberry, you are shy, yet emotionally robust, skeptical, detail-oriented, opinionated, introverted and self critical. Easily made to feel guilty; cranky, pessimistic, low self-esteem.
(Prototype: bureaucrat, journalist)

If you like chocolate chip, you are generous, competitive and accomplished. You are charming in social situations, ambitious and competent. A visionary, a conqueror, enjoys being catered to, a go-getter, intolerant of defeat.
(Prototype: Industry leaders, voted most likely to succeed in school)

My favorite flavor is chocolate chip, and I agree with a lot of the characteristics but definitely not all of them! Oh well, I thought it was a fun study. What’s your favorite flavor? Does it match your personality?

I never really had plans or a strong desire to feel like I have to have an iPhone, but when my parents were visiting me this weekend, I was talking to my dad about his iPod touch and asked if he thought I would get an iPhone when my phone contract is up in March. He said my contract is actually up in November, and then realized my mom’s contract is up now! Ergo, my mom could get the phone and we could transfer my number to it…that day! Well, it turns out not actually that day as there needs to be iPhones in stock at the local stores for this plan to work. Long story short, my mom is babysitting my phone until I get home next Thursday. I think she’s having fun with it, although I did send her a text message in the a.m. with no response from her. Turns out, she didn’t know how to text me back!

Naturally, I’m very excited to explore all the food apps to add to my phone, but I digress…as the post’s title shows.

So, yes, the parents took time to visit their youngest child and I welcomed them with open arms as I rarely get company this summer. Plus, they were bringing me new furniture for my apartment, since the girl I’m subletting from came in a week ago and took out almost everything I can sit on! My butt was getting sore from chilling on the (carpeted) floor. Oh, the hard life I live…

Anyway, here’s a little recap of our Saturday. I woke up to the smell of my dad’s famous pancakes. He didn’t think he could make them the night before because I didn’t have any “normal” ingredients. Well, he was wrong. Although I do have five different kinds of alternative flour (I am Sweet & Natural‘s sister, after all), I did have one tiny bag of white flour. He made the pancakes. I ate the pancakes, and they were gooood.

Mom and Dad and I made our way down to Bucktown/Wicker Park where we spent a few hours browsing through overpriced, empty boutiques. All that overreacting to price tags made us hungry. After going in about three pubs on just one block, we decided to eat here.

Few things make me happier than eating outside on a nice day. Outdoor BBQs? I’m there. Picnics? I should have my own basket. You can’t really tell from the picture, but we were dining en plein air at the Northside Bar and Grill.

My dad and I split a fruit tray to start, and I give kudos to the restaurant for its arranging techniques. And props to them for adding kiwi.

I ordered the Grilled Catfish Sandwich with grilled veggies for my entree. I love getting fish at restaurants because I never buy and make it for myself. I devoured every bite of my meal–except the garlic mayo. I’m not a fan of a lot of garlic or mayo.

Our shopping mission was simple: the parents insisted they needed to buy me new shoes. Who am I to argue with what my parents thought best? Well, I didn’t find any shoes, but my mom came out with some stellar purchases…a cute yellow purse and a fuchsia cotton dress I convinced her into buying muhaha.

From Bucktown, we made our way over to Navy Pier to catch the Rod Blagojevich Superstar show from the Second City comedy troupe. We had some time to kill before the show and knew we were having a late dinner so we had dessert to tide us over.

You gotta love the overpriced ice cream at Navy Pier. Whatever, strawberry sorbet totally did the trick. My mom got plain strawberry ice cream and my dad opted for a strawberry banana smoothie. Can you tell what our family’s favorite fruit is?

Ah, I love being a tourist in my own city. I still haven’t been on the Ferris wheel. It’s a cheesy thing I want to do eventually.

The show was entertaining, but the bathroom view ended up being the highlight of my night. That’s something I wasn’t expecting.

Seriously. It’s a show in itself really.

After we got our politically aware laugh on, I dragged the parents to an Armenian restaurant close to the Pier called Sayat Nova. My two favorite cuisines for eating out are Mediterranean and Indian so I was loving the menu. Plus, I had pre-picked out my mom’s chicken dish so she was on board too.

To start, we ordered the Baba Ghannouj. My dad and I dug in while my mom sat and nibbled on a pita triangle.

Then, they brought out a house salad. Loving the veggies. My mom found the mint vinaigrette dressing “interesting.”

For my entree, I chose the Kebab Combo which came in what I thought was a small portion at first.

And then quickly realized that I had ordered a lot of meat. It was delicious, but I can’t remember the last time I was so carnivorous. That grilled onion was amazing by the way. Slice a sweet onion in half, grill it, be happy.

You know you love the food facts.

The Popsicle was invented by an 11-year-old who kept it secret for 18 years. In 1905, Frank Epperson left a combo of powdered soda and water on his porch with a stir stick in the cup. When temperatures reached a record low in San Francisco that night, the combo formed what we know to be a Popsicle today. Eighteen years later, Frank patented his accidental creation. The kids are the future! Maybe we should leave the menu up to them sometime…

In blog related news, the lovely Shannon from Healthy Beach Bum bestowed me with my first award!

Thanks Shannon! A gorgeous award from a gorgeous girl!

Also, MarathonVal tagged me to share with you all seven silly (or not so silly) traits about me. Without further ado, here’s a little get to know me segment.

1. In order to graduate with a journalism degree, I had to fulfill a one-year language requirement. After a year of Spanish in middle school, four years of French in high school, I chose to study…Swahili. Jambo!
2. This past November, I was fortunate to get tickets to Grant Park on Election Night. Five of my friends and I had a blast inside the park and celebrated with the rest of Chicago in the street afterward with a big slice of pizza pie! One of the best moments of my life for sure.
3. I went to an all-girls Catholic college prep school that Sports Illustrated deemed the best high school athletic program in Missouri (including public and all-boys schools). I never played a varsity sport.
4. Growing up, the only thing I ate for breakfast was a Pop-Tart. I loved all the dessert flavors the best: Oreo, Cookies & Cream, Hot Fudge Sundae, Chocolate Fudge, S’mores. It’s one of the few junk foods I still love.
5. I’ve lived in the same house my whole life. While I love St. Louis, I need to live in other places. I used to want to live in NYC, but now I’m looking more toward the Carolinas. I want to be somewhere warm!
6. In high school, I was voted Best Dressed. In college, my sorority sisters voted me Most Likely to Go to a Sperm Bank–because I’m independent they said, not because I won’t get married. Yeah…
7. My favorite place on Earth? I’ve only been there once so it may be bold to say it’s my favorite. I don’t care. If I did live in NYC, I would go to Stōgo every day.

Enough talk about myself, let’s talk about my food. I discovered a new bar I like. I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing to like yet another bar. Options are always great, no?

I loved the texture–very much like a cookie. I normally gravitate toward chocolate or pb bars, but this berry flavor was delicious! I want to try the others: Mango Coconut, Raisin Almond, Apple Walnut, Peanut Chocolate Chip and Strawberry.

Another product rave? Amy’s Tamale Verde Black Bean frozen dinner. I almost didn’t buy it–too expensive and I try to avoid always resorting to frozen dinners.

This didn’t taste frozen at all! If I ever want to order Mexican, I’m going to remember to go to the nearby WF and pick this up instead.

This past weekend I worked a huge wedding at one of the city’s museums. It was beautiful, and the couple was adorable. They had an eco-friendly, Hawaiian/African inspired ceremony and reception and a sixteen-person band that played for five straight hours. Anyway, it was a lonnng (but fun) day and night. I fueled myself beforehand with my new favorite simple snack.

Wasa Whole Wheat Crispbread smothered with different kinds of nut butter. So crunchy and filling.

After ten hours of unpaid labor but wonderful amounts of experience, I did get rewarded with this lovely African violet centerpiece from one of the dinner tables.

Let’s see how long I can keep this thing alive…

Does anyone else realize how good whipped cream is? I certainly didn’t think I liked it as much as I do. It’s really fun to swirl some on top of your afternoon coffee–especially if it’s chocolate flavored.

Pashaw. Starbucks ain’t got nothing on my Mr. Coffee.

Yogurt parfaits really like whipped cream too.

Pretty food that tastes good too. Mental note: this was very filling. Vanilla yog, booberries, sberries, nanners and ‘nola. Anyone else like talking in abbrevs? I normally don’t, although my sister definitely used to say “totes” all the time instead of totally. She’s a silly one.

So, it’s been pretty warm here-80 degrees and above. Naturally, I crave chili during these times. I heated up some of Amy’s Chili with Vegetables and made myself some cheetahs on the side.

Definitely only ate one-third of that. Chili is hearty! Leftovers are perfect for next day’s lunch…

A veggie chilidog! I enjoyed the chili so much more when it was chilling on top of my dog. The best part is I still have more for future lunch repeats.

Food Fact time!

The word “salary” comes from “salt.” Our oldest preservative, salt used to be so rare that workers would get paid in tablespoons of salt instead of coins. Now, restaurants offer salt for free and we sometimes eat too much of it. Funny how things change…

]]> http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/whip-it-good/feed/ 24 Amanda blog award CIMG2864 CIMG2867 CIMG2880 CIMG2873-be CIMG2879-be CIMG2874-be CIMG2883 CIMG2886 http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/a-nut-butter-life/ http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/a-nut-butter-life/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:21:06 +0000 Amanda http://mysummerizations.wordpress.com/?p=318 Continue reading →]]> Recently, I found out that I was born on a very important holiday. You might be wondering how I spent 20 years of my life not knowing this. I have no idea, but I plan on thoroughly celebrating both my birthday AND the holiday on my next bday…in April. What holiday am I talking about? Drumroll please.National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day! This explains so much about me…

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last post. I am now halfway through summer school which makes me ecstatic. The second half always goes faster than the first, right? I made plans to go home in three weeks to see my brother who I’ve lost to computers on the California coast. The new working guy and I haven’t seen each other in six months! Only that amount of time could motivate me to make the six hour drive home by myself.

As for the blog, I added a new page that “features” (ha) a concise list of all recipes that show up on my front page posts. I’m absolutely hopeless without recipes–throwing things together that taste good is something I have not even remotely mastered. So, feel free to use other people’s ingeniousness when looking for something to eat.

Because it’s been so long, it doesn’t really matter when I ate all the pics shown below (and I can’t remember what day any of these were taken). Here’s a little photo spread:

Healthy bacon, egg and cheese. Turkey bacon, egg whites and swiss on a whole wheat bun. So much tastier when not soaked in grease.

Sweet potato pancakes from De Wafelbakkers. Review? Good, but really no sweet potato taste, which is what intrigued me–that, and the low price at Whole Foods. I think I’m going to just make my own pancakes from now on though.

Kashi Thin Crust Margherita pizza. Review? Not my favorite pizza. I’m not really a girl who loves pizza sauce (unless I’m eating deep dish, yummm) and the only thing the tomato basil sauce’s flavor did for me was stay around in my mouth for quite a while. Ewww.

Whole Foods California Shrimp Roll. I only crave sushi about once a year, and after consuming this large roll, I believe I’m set for another year. I tend to prefer sushi as an appetizer and not my whole meal.

When I went to WF to buy the sushi, I made an impromptu checkout lane purchase when I noticed this gum and decided to give it a try.

I have never tried all natural gum, but let me just keep it simple and say this gum did not make me as happy as that gleeful man on the package. Boo.

The dessert stock in my apartment was at an unacceptable low, so I searched for a dessert to make. It took awhile until I realized I’m the lucky sister of a girl who makes delicious sweets all the time. The family link was one of the reasons why I chose to make a certain batch of cookies. The other reason? It was the only way I could convince myself that buying this was worth the expense:

My first jar of almond butter! Sooooo gooooood. The camera angle was for effect. So, what did I make with (fortunately only) half this jar?

Maple almond butter cookies! My sister’s picture is prettier and much more appealing, so I’m posting that one too.

For some reason, mine came out much more pancake-cookie like. Still, I’m with her boyfriend Dan in thinking these are “the best thing she’s ever baked.” Except for the Chocolate Carrot Cake, of course.

Last night, I baked a late birthday present to send my friend in Michigan. I picked the most chocolatey dessert I could find since she said those were her favorite. These brownies may just force someone into cardiac arrest. I’m posting the website picture because I couldn’t cut up and arrange the dessert in a way worthy of the drool-inducing factor they provoke.

Peppermint Cookies n’ Cream Brownies from Baking Bites. I had so much fun making these! I never make desserts with 1 cup butter, 3 cups sugar and 4 eggs. Plus, I got to crush up mint Oreos with my fingers. I wish I could have tried some, but they are all ready to be sent out today.

Being a summer school student, I totally value my edumacation. In that manner, I’ve decided to further my food trivia by perusing the web for “food facts.” In my attempt to spread the knowledge, I’ll post one a post. In honor of both my bday and my hometown, here’s a little nugget to chew on:

People theorize peanut butter as the brainchild of a St. Louis physician who, in 1890, ground up peanuts in order to provide a nutritious and easily digestible food for his elderly patients. However, some believe peanut butter may have existed earlier in South American and Asian cooking, and in African cooking in the USA. An 1883 Savannah newspaper even suggests that peanut butter was already a favorite food in Georgia.

The verdict? …still not a fan. I didn’t even lick the container clean like I normally do with non-greek yogurts! So friends, I suppose this is a blog where you won’t be seeing any(more) Oikos or Chobani.

You will see some Luna though! After my socks being knocked off from the WCM, I felt compelled to try another flavor.

This bar was a buy-again, but ranked #2 to the WCM. Still, I have restored faith in Luna bars! Amen.

This past week, I made a really great and fresh tasting wrap for dinner–twice in a row!

Chicken, raisins, nuts, raspberry dressing and a whole lotta spinach. Basically a salad in a wrap. Yum.

Alright, you all know how much I love my breakfast. I love it so much, I ate it for lunch and dinner this week too.

For my brinner (Scrubs reference ), I made a scrambled egg + egg whites with TJ’s French Toast smothered in syrup.

I snatched up the boxed toast because I actually don’t keep slices of bread in my apartment. I have wraps, bagels and buns…but no loaves. This pre-made french toast means I don’t need to experiment with french toast bagels…yet!

For my brinner dessert, I had the perfect sweet in mind.

A Boston Cream Oreo Cookie Holey Donut. Yep, this one’s my favorite. There really was no doubt that it would be. Cream? Gooood. Oreo Cookie? Gooood. I also really like Boston, but I don’t think the city has any effect on the flavor.

My breakfast lunch happened today. I woke up and ate a PB sammie to fuel a morning workout. After I cleaned myself up, I realized all I wanted was cereal. So, I made myself a huge bowl of Kashi H2H and a banana yogurt parfait. The parfait was almost as good as froyo. Almost.

Still gotta get my fix with the real thing.

I receive daily quotes in my email each night because I’m a dork always looking for inspiration. I thought you all would like the one I received tonight:

“Power is being aware of what one is choosing to do, feeling
free to do it, and doing it intentionally. Power is freedom
to choose with awareness and to involve ourselves in health
promoting and other activities. Power is how we participate
in creating our reality.”
– Dr. Gerald Epstein

Many people recognize the power they have in their careers,
their successes, and their relationships.

Yet when it comes to their health, they feel powerless. They
can take medicine, eat right, and exercise, but they think
their health is out of their control.

The truth: Your health is the one thing over which you have
the utmost control.

Happy 4th everyone! Stay safe and enjoy the fireworks! I’ll be missing my dad’s BBQ for sure. What’s your favorite July 4th treat?

So I toasted a Kashi Blueberry Waffle and topped it with TJ’s Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal and some extra blueberries. It turns out oatmeal makes a very good topping–especially the maple/brown sugar kind. It is one of those things that I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before!

For dinner one night, I tried another Amy’s soup, this time the Minestrone one. I liked this one a lot more than the other one! It was a nice salty compliment to my very sweet sweet potato smothered in vanilla yogurt, pb and granola.

I ate my final Kid’s Flat-Out Wrap, and I think they went out with a bang…er, I mean with vanilla yogurt, TJ’s Superfruit Spread and granola.

I naturally graduated to the adult La Tortilla Factory Wraps and was feeling kind of fancy. This bad boy has turkey, hummus, arugula and raisins. The raisins were a great last minute addition.

I finally spent money on eating out on Saturday. Technically, I had dinner out on Friday but the boyfriend picked up the tab because he knew I was trying to not spend money. Saturday, I walked over to the Whole Foods that is DANGEROUSLY close to me and picked up an L-B worth of food from the salad bar.

The pic only shows the first layer. That white blob in the lower right hand corner is a hard boiled egg. I was very happy to reunite with the food that made me so happy whenever I saw it chilling in the sorority house salad bar.

My special weekend breakfast was chocolate chocolate chip pancakes. Does anyone else really enjoy successfully flipping a pancake? Making and eating these brings me so much pleasure on the weekend…maybe because it reminds me of my dad’s famous pancakes (which are, of course, still the best pancakes I have ever eaten).

Pancakes weren’t the only thing I spent making in the kitchen this past week. I also finally got to make some banana bread, thanks to my bananas finally being ripe! I chose eating bender’s recipe since I wanted something really easy and light.

I love, love, love having good bread in the kitchen. I had a piece topped with more banana slices, vanilla yogurt and chocolate chips. It was a late night snack that tasted like a second dessert!

Also on Saturday, I went on a major search for a Trader Joe’s. I first drove to one location that my GPS (aka what my family calls “British Lady”) led me, only to get there and not see a TJ’s in sight. Determined to not give up, I drove 35 minutes further to find my favorite grocery store. At this point, I think I was about 50 minutes away from my apartment. Eek! That’s dedication! It was all worth it though! I got some really good stuff that will most likely be featured in future posts…

Luckily, I had packed a snack for all the (un)anticipated driving time.

This Luna Bar blew me away! If I could choose between a candy bar and the WCM Luna on taste alone, I would pick the Luna every time. When I was in high school, I tried so many different kinds of Lunas and never really liked any of them. After seeing the WCM on many blogger’s favorite foods list, I had to give it a try. I’m so glad to add another bar to my personal favorite bar collection!

Okay, enough about that bar. The boyfriend came home from shooting a wedding this past weekend, and I had promised him a very good dinner when he returned Sunday night. The menu ended up changing sort of last minute, but that was not a problem. Together, we split both a turkey burger with bacon and cheddar cheese and a lean beef burger with Asiago cheese and sun dried tomatoes on really good soft bun rolls.

I ended up liking the beef burger more! On the side, we ate shriveled up broccoli (an effect of being heated in the microwave) and butternut squash fries that ended up being more trouble than they were worth. More trouble=Amanda cut herself when slicing through it. It’s too bad because I love butternut squash fries…even more than sweet potato ones!

For dinner tonight, I warmed up TJ’s Chicken Fried Rice (one of my Sat. TJ’s finds) and had one of the soft bun rolls with some Smart Balance spread. I hardly ever just eat bread and butter–unless I’m at a restaurant–but I have a lot of grains to eat before they go moldy.

Speaking of mold, I bought TJ’s Blueberry Bran Muffins on Saturday too, opened them on Sunday and ate one (and found it impossible that a bran muffin tasted as amazing as it did) and then opened them today from the package I sealed and found mold on some of them! I was very sad to throw them out. Does anyone have ideas on how to keep them from growing moldy at an alarmingly fast rate? I would like to buy them again!

My first Mexican craving came late Friday night. I then knew what was on the dinner menu for Saturday: chicken quesadillas. Does anyone else think 24 hours ahead of time what you’re making for meals? Nevertheless, I got out the Kid’s Flat-Out wraps and used the panini grill to smash some chicken and Swiss cheese between the fold.

I also warmed up some of Amy’s Vegetable Barley soup. It was my first time trying Amy’s soups, and as a fan of Amy’s food, I’m saddened to say that I wasn’t a fan of this particular soup. I should include in this criticism that I’m a new soup lover, and I may not have warmed the soup up enough. So my lukewarm review may be affected by my lukewarm soup.

I felt like making a special breakfast Sunday in honor of my dad who makes his special breakfast for the family on Sundays. I used Kath’s Oatmeal Pancake recipe and slipped some blueberries in the batter…thus starting my very berry obsession.

Kath’s recipe is great because it makes the perfect portion. One pancake with good old-fashioned syrup on it. Delicious!

This summer, I’m actually interning with a wedding planner, and Sunday was my first event I was working. I was a little concerned about if I was going to be able to eat dinner while working, so I made sure to eat foods that filled me up in case eating later was going to be hard to fit in.

For lunch, I made a turkey burger with hummus and filling fruit for the sides.

Turkey burgers are my favorite kind of burger, especially paired with avocado and sweet potato fries. I guess it’s my version of the classic American diner combo of a cheeseburger and fries. The hummus was a nice substitute for the avocado I didn’t have in the fridge.

After driving an hour to the (almost) middle of nowhere, without getting lost(!), I happily munched on a Clif Mojo Peanut Butter Pretzel Bar right before I started work at 3 p.m.

This baby kept me over like no bar ever has! I ended up not eating dinner until I got off at 9:30. And I didn’t notice I was hungry until 8:45 when people at the reception starting eating their dinner. The smell of all the catered food got to me. Breadbaskets always look so good to me when I’m hungry. Luckily, I packed a bagel for the car ride home. When I’m hungry, the first thing I want is bread. Always.

For my first day of classes on Monday, I made a breakfast I’ve abandoned for far too long…oatmeal!

How could I turn my back on that gooey goodness? Strawberries and blueberries with brown sugar=my classic oatmeal mix-ins. I’ve learned that bananas and chocolate additions upset my stomach in the morning and I don’t like adding nuts or granola because I like my oats smooth and creamy.

For dinner that night, I had a strange craving for both pizza and Mexican food. What’s a girl to do?

Eat Kashi’s Mexicali Black Bean Thin Crust Pizza!

This pizza was so good. I love nontraditional pizzas and this one tasted great and filled me up! It was a little spicy, but only in the Mexican spices way—not the whoa, this is too hot for me to swallow spicy. I ate half of the pizza along with a salad and had the rest for lunch today. Leftovers are great.

I surprised the boyfriend and baked some Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies for him. It was the first time baking in the apartment, and they turned out really well! I was a little nervous because I don’t have a mixer, so I mix everything by hand and the cream cheese wasn’t completely smooth at the end. They still tasted great, though, according to the boyfriend and his roommates. Who needs a mixer? My arms will get good workouts this summer!

I had one straight out of the oven to make sure they were edible. And—okay—just because I wanted one. They’re probably more appropriate to make in December, but they sure were still tasty in June!

On a completely unrelated note, I realized today that I haven’t eaten out for ten days! This may be some sort of a record. I may even reward myself…by eating out! Ha.

That’s one of the Gardenburger Veggie Medley burgers. It was my first time trying these particular ones, and I loved them. Carrots were popping out of the patty! I stuck it between a hummus-covered sammie thin and gobbled it down.

For dinner last night, I finally used some of the lettuce I bought and made a salad with nuts, grapes, raisins and bits of turkey.

I love the flavor nuts bring to a salad, especially when I use a balsamic dressing, or in this case a raspberry one. I also cut up and baked a sweet potato with cinnamon…finally! I’ve been craving these little guys ever since I moved in.

I also made some white chocolate coconut covered pretzels for the boyfriend, as a sort of thank-you for his amazingness in bringing me flowers and buying me baking/cooking tools at World Market.

I think he ate them all the next day, so I guess they were pretty good!

I got a treat too! My Holey Donuts! that I won in Erika’s giveaway came in the mail. I have wanted to try these things ever since they first popped up in the blog world months ago.

I got the Boston Cream Oreo Cookie, Low Fat Chocolate Crumb, Low Fat Original Glazed and the Coconut Cream Pie donuts. I stuck to the most basic donut to start: the LF Original Glazed.

I was so happy that this lived up to my expectations. It kind of tasted like my grandma’s stollen, but with a lot more sweetness. The best part was that it didn’t make my stomach feel gross afterwards, which is one of the reasons I normally don’t eat donuts. If I’m going to eat a donut, I definitely want a Holey Donut!

There was a coupon in my order letting me know you can get free 30 Low Fat Cinnamon Glazed Donut Holes with any online order. Just enter the promo code AWNY when you checkout. Thought I would share!

The boyfriend and I went to see Food, Inc. last night. How much of a geek am I that I dragged us both there on opening day? It was definitely more of a propaganda documentary than an unbiased documentary, but I didn’t mind because I agreed with the message. Plus, all of the multinational food companies discussed in the movie refused to be interviewed.

The boyfriend liked it too. We were both happy that it wasn’t extremely political, as it brought up the failures in Republican and Democratic administrations in monitoring the food industry. Also, it wasn’t completely knocking big business. Stonyfield Farm was a good example in the movie of an organic brand successfully being sold in Walmart, a multinational retail chain.

All in all, the movie did a great job of stirring up the audience’s emotions and explaining things in a way that was interesting and understandable. I think it’s an important film for people to see. But that’s just me. Click here to see what other people think about the movie.

Today, I woke up very excited because I had plans to go the local farmers market. It’s been open for about a month, and I was finally free this morning to go over and check it out.

The boyfriend joined me and ended up buying a loaf of nine-grain bread from Great Harvest’s stand (which by the way was handing out free slices of their bread ) and Key Lime Mango salsa. I bought some strawberries. Best $6 I spent all day.

We walked back to my apartment to make lunch and both had turkey and hummus on a TJ’s Whole Wheat Bagel with some of the strawberries I bought. I need to try to eat them fast before they go bad! I’m always wary of buying berries for just myself because I can never seem to eat them before they perish.

As for the Diana’s Banana Babies featured in my last post, I researched where they’re sold and found out you should be able to find them at Dominick’s, Jewel and Whole Foods. In doing this, I discovered there are Dark Chocolate ones too! I’m totally trying those out when I finish the Milk Chocolate ones.