Caveman Bar Review+White Bean and Kale Soup!

It was a dreary day here in the Carolina’s letting us know that summer is ending and fall is near. I definitely will not mind the drop in heat, that’s for sure. I had the day off today, but a lot of errands to run. The first got me very lost in frustrating Durham and the only fruitful thing to come out of it was I sat long enough in a waiting room to sort out my big pile of mail :p

Then I headed off on my fun activity! Caveman Bars, which are handmade in Edmonds, Washington, right near where I grew up, sent me some bars to try out. My old boss was able to find a few and fell in love and I thought they might be cool to carry at Caribou. So, I nabbed another Caribou buddy and we drove down to find my old boss at his new store and taste test all the Caveman goodness!

The Caveman bars come in five flavors:

• Seeds and Seeds
• Almond and Coconut
• Coconut and Flax
• Pecan Oat Raisin
• Peanut and Sea Salt

These bars are simple, organic, and straightforward. Basically, what they’re called is what you’ll find in them held together by brown rice syrup. These would be great for hikes and long bike rides because the brown rice syrup would give you that quick energy boost while the seeds and nuts would give you some staying power. In general, definitely a great snack!

Matt was very excited as you can tell, he has mainly had the Almond Coconut and pumped about the variety in his hands. Anita was already nibbling through the wrapper to get to her Pecan Oat Raisin!

Seeds and Seeds=This one was my favorite. It was nice and crunchy with a touch of sweetness. Matt felt healthy eating it but wanted some peanuts, I explained to him they would then have to change the name :p

Peanut and Sea Salt-Matt really liked this one! He said it was like a healthy payday and inhaled it so fast neither of us even got a bite! “The peanuts have a very fresh flavor, I could eat about twenty more!”

Cinnamon Pecan-This was a very festive bar, remnants of fall, great cinnamon flavor and would go good with a latte. To me it was like a really good bowl of oatmeal in a bar form, and nothing like that quaker oatmeal to go bar stuff. This would be my top choice if I wanted a sweet one!

Almond Coconut=Sweet, toasty, with a prominent honey flavor. This is Matt’s standby bar. I personally found both the coconut bars very sweet, and one needs to really like coconut.

Coconut and Flax-Coconut is very strong in this one, though the flax adds a nice crunch. It could make a sweet dessert or nice crumble topping for oatmeal :p

This is a close-up of the coconut and flax bar with Matt inhaling some of the others. If he doesn’t have a caveman beard by the end of the day I’ll be amazed because he ate ALL 4 of the others, Anita hoarded her Pecan Oat, GOOD GIRL! I don’t know how he did it, those things fill me up fast!

EDMONDS FUN FACT:

So downtown Edmonds, WA is pretty quaint and has this fountain in the middle of it that creates a roundabout in the middle of Main Street. In high school, we used to go over there in the middle of the night and pour Mr. Bubbles into the fountain, thus creating huge bubbles to form and blow all over the street and roundabout. It was somewhat magical and very pretty, then again, quite chaotic. We just found it hilarious being the hoodlums that we were. I can own up to this now that I’m a completely different coast

White Bean and Kale Soup:

I decided it was a soup night since it was so rainy. I’ve also recently discovered I really like chewy kale when it’s heated just a bit so it’s till chewy. I like soups because you can use up a lot of veggies, be fairly creative with them, use them in different way with leftovers, and freeze half to bust out in a few weeks!

• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
• pkg baby bella mushrooms
• chopped red onion
• 1 can great northern beans
• about 5c chopped kale or as green as you want it!
• 1c white wine
• 2c vegetable broth, you can add more, up to 4
• seasonings of choice: i used garlic, paprika, thyme, sea salt, dash of italian blend
• dash of lemon juice*
• dash of apple cider vinegar *
• small dollop EVOO (enough to saute veggies with)

Put a dash of the EVOO in a large pot. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Saute for a few mins. Add wine and other seasonings. Let simmer for 1-2mins. Add vegetable brother, and all other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer until kale is tender.

*I added apple cider vinegar and lemon juice because it helps with digestion. You can omit these and will not really lose any flavor of the recipe.

On the side I had some Dave’s Killer Bread with a piece of melted almond cheese on top, proof it does melt!

 

The soup was pretty tasty, I’ve never used that much wine in anything but it added a nice flavor. It will be good to add quinoa in later this week and play around with the leftovers too! The bread was awesome! I’m nearing the end of my loaf so I’ll have to hunt down my drug bread dealer aka my sister soon!

What sort of high school pranks did you play?

“God has a great race for you to run!”-Max Lucado

Happy Birthday Mom! You’re so young I can’t count!

So today is my mom’s birthday and I have to give a shout out all the way from North Carolina to her…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM EVER!!! Help me out guys, make a trail from the east coast, all the way to the west in podunk Idaho

You may recall that last year I was able to spend her special day with her and cooked her a fabulous dinner, even though I accidentally set the chicken on fire when I tried barbecuing.

Ooops. The post of our delicious eats is here. The dinner still came out great and we had a lovely evening. They have a boat now, and apparently the weather has been quite hot and they’ve been enjoying themselves on the water, I’m insanely jealous! I wish I could be there to cook her a dinner with some fresh raspberries (her favorite) from the farmer’s market, but I guess I’ll be calling her after church! My brother and my aunt are taking her out to dinner though, good job guys!

This is my mom and I at the beach when she came down to visit last month. We had a heck of a time trying to get a picture of the two of us, and this is certainly not the best of either. However, that’s okay, because neither of us are perfect and we know that. We love each other so much though, and we accept each other regardless. My mom is a perfect example of unconditional love. I have put this woman through the grinder and she has loved and supported me regardless. I’ve been extremely sick, I’ve been in pickles beyond pickles, and this extraordinary lady, who has educated herself beyond comparison, has stood by my side. Thank you so much mom, I love you! Today is your day, celebrate, live, laugh, love, and dance!

I should be a brand ambassador for the following…

Yes, more random thoughts because I actually got to sleep in this morning and get to go to church later!! HOORAY! As I was preparing some of my eats for the day I was thinking to myself about the things I consistently buy, the products I would tell others about, recommend to my friends/family, and wonder just how much of my paycheck goes to all these sorts each month. I am currently tracking every little expense so I guess we’ll soon see…

Some of these things are a few dollars here and a few dollars there while others are a bit more of a hefty expense such as protein powders by the jug which I have been going through immensely since my smoothie phase started. I am definitely putting Jay Robb and Vega’s family through college as well as any orthodontics that may need to be done 

Daily/Weekly/Monthly FaithinFood Consumerism’s:

1. Jay Robb Vanilla Whey Protein Powder, sometimes Chocolate pkts

2. VEGA Berry Complete Whole Food OptimizerNavita Natural Products

3. Trader Joes-anything and everything, great place for almond milk when I’m too lazy to make it myself, eggs 99c, greek yogurt, nuts, oh so many TJ loves!

4. RAW CRUNCH BARS!-these are my new found love, raw, crunch, tasty, delicious! (and they’re made locally!)

5. PURE Bars-when I don’t want something crunchy, these are right up there with my raw crunch!

6. Earthbound Organics-yeah, so I eat XXXXXXXX lbs. of spinach a week, and if I have to get any packaged produce, these are my go to label.

7.Navita Natural Products-I am in love with their Chia seeds, Lucuma Powder, Maca Powder, and Acai Power, I use pretty much all of that stuff in my smoothies daily and have noticed significant improvement in how I feel!!

8. Target-I swear, I go in there for one thing, and can’t leave with just one :p

9. Wholepaycheck…aka wholefoods. I have to admit this one, because, there is no  co-op around here that stocks everything I need, thus I am now a very current shopper at Wholefoods. I am a bit torn on this, but hey, they are pretty nice and do carry some pretty good stuff. They’ve actually had some pretty decent sales going on as of late too. In fact, the second week of September they’re giving a free 1/2 gallon of milk w. coupon, too bad I’m lactose intolerant.

10. Hmm…this would be to my local farmers at Farmer’s Markets I suppose as that is where I try to get all of my produce. I would also say Dunkin Doughnuts but I only go there if I have a coupon for free coffee so I guess that doesn’t count :p I also wanted to put up Dave’s Killer Bread because if he had an outlet down here he would be getting a hefty portion of my check in certain! However, right now I’m relying on my drug, bread dealer sister who does live in Seattle and is currently trying to locate some to send to me!!!

So where do you choose to spend your green? Why? Does the company’s ethics or mission statement play any role?

When you’re feeling fear with respect to money, repeat to yourself: “I am strong, I am strength itself.” You will find that your anxiety will be replaced by a new feeling of confidence.-Suze Orman

“Killer” Bread Pudding Pancakes

So I’ve decided I don’t think it’s in me to follow a recipe. I don’t know if it’s just part of my inborn social deviance, the fact that cooking is my outlet for creativity, or that I just like doing it my own way :p Everytime I read a recipe though or try to follow it, I still find myself changing it up, making some sort of substitution, thinking it will be better this or that way, making it my own. I’ve had some come out great, others not so great, but that’s how you learn. This, is also why I haven’t baked very much lately. In baking, you need to measure, and I’ve been much more of a “just throw a dash of this or that” in the pot mood :p

I also don’t think I completely follow a recipe because then at the end, I can claim it is “mine”, victorious or not, and usually put the recipe on my blog without worrying about a copyrighter coming after me. Yes, as tangent as all this babble may sound, good eats do come abound.

You will recall last week, maybe it was even earlier this week, everything is a blur by Friday, I received some Dave’s Killer Bread.  THE BEST BREAD IN THE WORLD!!! Ok, so I saw a tweet (yes, I jumped on the bandwagon and am slowly trying to figure out all that nonsense) and saw he was looking for some good recipes.

Thus, I bring you KILLER BREAD PUDDING PANCAKES! (just in time to make for a nummy Saturday breakfast!)

These were moist, springy, delicious, and almost tasted like french toast but in pancake form.

This recipe does take patience though. Part of it requires soaking the bed chunks for about 15minutes in milk. Then, after mixing both portions of the batter together, you let all of it sit for another 15 minutes.

Check out the killer bread chunks! They were kind of hard to flip and I still don’t have state of the art pans. If you are able to do the flip in the air pancake technique, yours will come out beautifully! They take a little love and care to flip, make sure you see the bubbles so you know the bottom side is done before you flip it. Also, turn on your oven so they stay warm while you cook the batch. Definitely don’t use more than 1/4c at a time!

HOLY YUM! Topped with a bit of almond butter and my new favorite Organic Maple Syrup with Agave Nectar from Trader Joes!

A warm ooey gooey bite! Sooooo…..gooooooood!!!!!

And at last….the recipe!

• 1/2c whole wheat flour
• 1/4c all purpose flour
• 1T baking powder
• cinnamon to taste (i love cinnamon)
• 1/2tsp salt
• 7 slices DAVES KILLER BREAD! (or another bread will do i suppose)
• 2c milk (something with fat in it….)
• 2 large eggs
• 3T melted butter

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Cut up bread in small pieces, crusts off and pour milk over them in a separate bowl. Let stand for 15minutes or until it begins to fall apart, stirring occasionally. Add the flour mixture to the bread. Mix in the eggs and butter. Let the entire mixture stand another 15 minutes.

Spray a skillet and let it heat up a bit on medium. Use a 1/4measuring cup to drop batter onto skillet. It takes roughly 2min per side for each pancake. Keep warm in preheated oven. It will make quite a bit of pancakes! Top with fruit, syrup, peanut butter, whatever your heart desires, it’s delicious!

 

So what about you, do you follow recipes?

Eggstatic it’s almost payday…

Sorry for the delayed posting, I have a weird schedule this week and part of that included some back to back shifts with less than an eight hour turn around which left me exhausted, loopy, nauseous, and desperately needing some recovery time.

Nonetheless, I would not leave you without a Wild Wednesday Green Monster and crazy socks!!! (you’re probably like, please spare me!) You know how I love my socks and monsters though!!

I’ve actually been craving some salt and crunchiness lately rather than a smoothie after work, so I made myself a chicken taco salad. You can’t see all the layers here, but it’s black beans, spinach, tomatoes, yellow and read peppers, with some grilled chicken on top. A bit of salsa ensued and it hit the spot!

I brought out two of my loves this afternoon, one old, one new. The first was good ol’ Brutus, my juicer! He whipped up a wonderful batch of fresh juice for my next couple of early mornings!

Lately I’ve been doing:

• Carrots
• Celery
• Gala Apples
• Beets
• Cucumbers

This is the “superseed” juice I talk about in the mornings. I call it superseed because I add the superseed powder in it. It’s perfect and refreshing at 4am!

The second is my new found love and only an occasional indulgence because it’s real yogurt and I’m lactose intolerant but this is totally worth it. If you are not lactose intolerant, I highly suggest you stocking your fridge with this divine creation ASAP!

Sorry for the blurry picts, still using the Walmart camera. This is Stonyfield’s White Chocolate Raspberry Cream Top Yogurt and it is sinfully delicious! It is creamy, smooth, and not artificial tasting at all like other yogurts I’ve had lately. This is the real stuff! It is nice and thick and would be a great sweet treat, something you could definitely have in place of ice cream. It has all the probiotics, and 5g of protein! Plus, it’s only 170cals, which isn’t bad considering it’s one of the full, thick and true yogurts, and not the watered down, artificial 60cal crap that’s out there now. I found this for 89cents not even on sale, cheaper than ice cream too!

Okay, enough of the free Stonyfield plug. I’m so glad tomorrow is payday for many reasons. Dinner tonight was using up one of the wraps that has been sitting in my fridge for goodness knows how long and some hard boiled eggs. Eggs make a great, cheap meal. I always keep some on hand because you can get a dozen at Trader Joes for 99cents and are very versatile!

I made an egg salad for my wraps and added some spinach and leftover watermelon. That pretty much cleans out the produce from my fridge now. I had my Stonyfield yogurt for dessert! It was perfect!

Pinchin’ Payday Egg Salad:

• 2 hardboiled eggs
• glob of greek yogurt (or mayo, or plain yogurt or whatever creamy substance on hand)
• squirt of honey mustard (dry mustard works good too)
• sprinkle dill
• garlic
• sea salt and pepper

This is good in wraps, on bread, on crackers, pita’s etc, very versatile and use whatever you have left lying around! You can even put it in a salad! I like to use greek yogurt because it adds some extra protein. Also, don’t be afraid to use the yolks, its where all the vitamins are. Eggs have gotten a bad wrap for some reason and they’re actually quite good for you as long as you’re not eating the entire dozen!

I’m still feeling exhausted from this whole week and worn out from all the stress, blah on life and all it’s adult decisions and responsibilities. Sometimes I see those toddlers at the supermarket and feel somewhat envious. Then again, I’m such an independent girl, my senses get the better of me quite quickly! I’m off to do a little blog catch up possibly, but I really want to keep reading my book and I need to get to bed earlier to do that! Plus, I’ve just gotten into Californication and it rocks! I have been in love with David D. since the x-files and had no clue he was in this show, so I’m pretty much in heaven right now.

“You don’t have to let what others say affect you negatively. Others may say the words, but YOU choose your attitude.”

-Keith D. Harrell

Top 10 Things I missed out on by not going to HLS!

I have been living vicariously through all the blog recaps of the Healthy Living Summit these past few weeks as I was not one of the lucky attendees and man did it look awesome! I have been following all of the ladies who created the HLS practically since their blogs first started so I really wanted to go, but alas, I guess this was not my year.

That’s okay, they did a great job doing the livestream, and although I was driving to the mountains and couldn’t follow that, I had a great time reading everyone’s constant twitter dings! Nevertheless, this is my list of (all in good gest because I’m sarcastic like that) of what I missed out on and why I’m gong to camp out on the internet sphere so I can definitely get a ticket next year!

In no particular order:

1. THE SWAG! Man alive! Can I just say about all of my favorite things are in there! This is better than Mary Poppin’s purse!

2. This could fall under swag, but I have been reading Angela’s blog, Oh She Glow’s for awhile and been dying to try one of her Glo Bar’s. However, rumor has it Sarah from Ghost World already snacked hers and I think Kath will have crumbled her stash on her oatmeal before I make it down to Charlotte again

3. The Breakfast Bar! I always have to get up at 4am and eat my breakfast on the run, thus a delicious green monster, but how amazing is this! All my faorite Oikos Greek Yogurt and the long awaited Mix My Granola I’ve been wanting to try plus all the fresh fruit! Even better yet, you get to sit down and visit with tons of bloggies!! HEAVEN!

4. Meeting the creators that put this thing together! I have been following their blogs for years so it would have been great to meet them in person and get to know more about them! I’ve been able to meet Kath and she is one cool bean, but it would have been spiffy to meet the rest of the lot as well. I mean look how sassy they are in this pict!  They are not just intelligent, but obviously have style!

5. And not just to say the ladies did all the work, how about that guy Zesty! Man, can he put a blog together, good with words, good with food, does he do it all? I also don’t mind sayin’, he is not too shabby! (Why are all the good one’s taken?) Don’t worry Ms. Zesty, I know he is yours We all know I’m single because of my onion and garlic addiction anyway.

6. JP Licks! Banana softserve disappeared from the blogosphere for a few days and all I saw was this JP stuff, it must be great! Note to self, find JP ASAP, XYZ ABCD DEFG!

7. Meeting all of the other fellow foodies and bloggies out there! I read all your stuff, laugh with you, covet your food skills, I have wanted to meet so many of you in person and how fun to run amuck in Boston!

8.Going running with PEOPLE and seeing if that would actually motivate my lazy bum into going longer. I always have to go alone and get bored. I also want to see everyone’s crazy gadgets, check out their music lists and see just how these skort/running things work and how they can run in them..hmm. I’ve seen my mother’s and in all honesty used to tease her, but I imagine these running one’s must be a bit more high tech than her golf ones.

9. LEARNING! I bet all of Saturday’s seminar’s were awesome! My computer is a dinosaur and livestream doesn’t really work so I still haven’t quite gotten the DL on all the seminars other than the recaps, but it sounds like the sessions were very valuable and I love to learn! Yup, I’m a nerd!

10. Fun, parties, and Boston! I was in Boston a few years ago, but it wasn’t really for fun. I loved Boston though and would love to go back. Plus, how fun to go when a bunch of people with similar interests to roam around with are there!

Bottom line! I’m definitely going to be there next year, setting my cyber tent up for a ticket as we speak! Great job ladies and gents (all those supportive husbands and Zesty behind the scenes!)

Grace starts Monday

Yesterday I got together with an old friend and we had a wonderful catch up chat. She’s one of those people I can relate to on so many levels, one that just understands without having to say anything, who know where you’re coming from…the time spent was authentic, it meant a lot.  She gave me this magnet.

It’s right by my freezer handle so I get to look at it every time I go for my frozen nanners, which is at least three times a day! My new smoothie station worked out quite nicely as I assembled my green monster in a sleep stupor…

My favorite combo:

• 1c almond milk
• 3c spinach
• 1/4c frozen blueberries
• frozen banana
• pkt Vanilla Jay Robb Whey Protein
• sprinkle Navita Natural Maca Powder

It was creamy, sweet, delicious and kept me going through the morning! Well, until my tummy growled for it’s next dosing! I got off a bit earlier than the norm today so actually got to sit and enjoy this one!

VEGA POWER!

• 1pkt Vega Berry Meal Powder
• 1c almond milk
• 1/2c frozen berries
• 1/2 frozen banana
• bit of Navita Natural lucuma and acai powder
• sprinkle guar gum and sf wc pudding powder!
• handful ice

I love this combo, it’s like berry ice cream! I also tried the other flavor of hemp bar I got, it was Cranberry Trail. It was so so, the hemp flavor definitely came out more in this one, I wouldn’t get it again, but I did like that Banana one! I’m also not a cranberry fan, however, if you are you would probably like this one.

I do have to say those bars tide me over quite well. When I was finally hungry for dinner I found myself craving kale. Payday isn’t until Friday so I’m still using up the leftovers in my fridge. I was able to get a little kale though and saute it with onion and other randomness which I just added with leftover veggies from last night. Topped with grilled and seasoned chicken, plus the very last of the Tigris, I promise a new grain tomorrow! Yum for soothing stomach papaya and mango on the side! This was a nice meal for a Monday.

I also made some iced tea out of this new Sleepy Time Vanilla I found and it was delicous! It had a nice smooth body with lingering chammomile, I love it!

 

Dessert was a soothing chocolate, protein, filled shake! That’s my “Imagine” cup that I painted in Seattle-yeah, no art  talent here but it sure is fun! I used to claim I would get these “visions” I would want to paint, I think I was lacking that night

• 1c chocolate almond milk
• 3/4 frozen banana
• 3/4c Oikos Greek Yogurt
• sprinkle sf choc pudding powder
• sprinkle guar gum
• handful ice

What keeps you drawn to or reading a certain blog?

When life presents more challenges than you can handle, delegate to God. He not only has the answer, He is the answer.-Tavis Smiley

Make time for fun, friends, and food….

I got the cleaning bug this morning and did some much needed catching up as well as organization. I discovered I had a bounty of bars…oops. I eat one every day, so I’ve gotten in the habit whenever I go to the store to pick up a couple and I also get in ruts of liking a certain one and only wanting that ONE so I think these are the remnants of my phases. They are also from when my old boss and I would do a bar exchange at work, so now I’m not allowing myself to buy any more until this collection dwindles :p

I also organized myself a better smoothie station. Now everything is lined up and ready to go for my 4am monster makings! I’ve got my Maca, Acai, Lucuma, Jay Robb, Vega, and the freezer with all the other goodies is an arm reach away, very convenient!

I was going to be out for most of the day so I packed myself a KILLER SAMMIE with Daves Killer Bread! The key to making a good half sammie is cutting the bread with one half slightly larger than the other, that way you get a good solid top! I learned that when I had to make about 100 sammies a day for a cafe. I put some roasted red pepper hummus on it.

And tried some new herbed almond cheese, as well as organic turkey, cucumber, spinach, and one small roasted red pepper! SCRUMPDIDLIUMPTIOUS!!! I also had a very juicy peach that got me all sticky so I couldn’t take a picture of it

Out of my bar collection, I decided to forgo the usual Raw Crunch and try Ruth’s Peanut Butter Banana Hemp Power. I found this one in Asheville. It was quite tasty and held me over for a very long time, I was not hungry for dinner until much later than usual. It has good stats too!

170cals    7g fat    2g fiber   6g protein

Ingredients: Oats, agave syrup, softhemp, banana, peanut butter, brown rice syrup, crisp brown rice.

When I was finally hungry for dinner, I kept it light and decided I should use up the leftover random veggies in my fridge before they went bad. Thus, a stir fry ensued. Yeah, I eat a lot of those, but I love them!

I seasoned it with:

• garlic
• ginger
• lemon juice
• sea salt
• touch agave
• dash white wine

For my protein I tried one of these Teriyaki Chicken Sausages that have 140cals and 15g protein!

For my grain I had the rest of the Tigris, and all together it was quite tasty! I have not been using ginger lately for some reason, I’m glad it’s back in my life, I love it!

Church was really good today. The pastor brought up how with school starting and what not life gets really busy and we tend to not make time for other people. Jesus prioritized people above His own agenda.

I think this is a good reminder for all of us, even if you don’t have a Higher Power. I often see people list major to do lists, and granted we all have those, add some friend time! Or, maybe time to go out and get a friend a card to actually HANDWRITE and send to them rather than an email. Authentic relationships are not made on facebook. It’s the face to face time where you share openly with one another and honestly rather than the superficial chit-chat of “how are you?” and the American automatic “i’m fine,” because God forbid someone answered honestly they’re having a crappy day. I mean, that would just make everyone uncomfortable. Yet, that’s where true relationships start!

So add some people time in that busy agenda, it will do YOU and others a whole lot of good. Have a great Sunday evening!

Joy is a pure state of bliss, and it’s attained by bringing comfort and relief to other people. Doing so will bring joy to your life every day.-Sylvia Browne

Some cool giveaways:

Chocolate and Banana has some spiffy stuff!

Sinful Saturday+Killer Eats!

It’s a busy but sort of fun-drum Saturday ahead, so I started with some usual super-fuel super-seed juice! Carrot, beet, apple, celery, cucumber! +superseed powder!

REFRESHING!

The Green Monster I will be consuming. This is actually my picture from yesterday, but I’m being a lazy blogger because today’s monster looks the same, is in the same bottle, is made out of the same wonderful ingredients, and is in my fridge growling.

• 1c almond milk
• oodls of spinach
• sprinkle frozen blueberries
• 5 banana chunks
• maca powder-POWER MAN!
• 1 scoop vanilla jay robb

When I told you guys I go through a lot of the J Man, check this out:

If memory serves me correct, I got this on Sunday….wow. Speaking of which, Mr. Robb sent me some goodies in the mail yesterday! I have been wanting to try his rice protein because I’ve been reading about so many benefits of rice protein. I eagerly ripped it open and immediately made a monster for my afternoon snack.

I was sort of sad though, it wasn’t as creamy and sweet as the Whey Vanilla. It also had this grainy texture and funny aftertaste and also left me feeling a bit ill Maybe I am sensitive to rice proteins? The one I got from EarthFare a week ago was TERRIBLE, Jay Robb’s was at least palatable. However, I still like the Whey protein a lot better.

It was like Christmas yesterday! The long awaited KILLER BREAD MAN finally arrived!!! I practically yelped with excitement as I ran to the office to pick up the package. When I tore in, not only did I find some delicious bread, but a SIN DAWG as well!!!!!

I can’t wait to dive into this bad boy, he looks delicious.

I cooked all afternoon for my interview, and I think it went okay. The people are very nice and although I really want the opportunity and think it would be great for my life in all aspects, I’m not going to hold onto too much because I don’t like to get my hopes up. I changed the rice up a lot and it came out great. I found some muscadine grapes at the famers market, added some fresh herbs, and a couple secret ingredients.  I also took a small peach crumble to work for my friends to try:

Bridget loved it!

I definitely had to dig in to Dave’s bread for dinner and made myself a killer sammie with turkey, cucumber, hummus, roasted red pepper, and raw cheddar. NUMMERS!!

I’m going to put myself out there and put up this terrible pict of me trying to take a “killer bite” :p I think I just look really scary

HOLY COW THE BEST BREAD EVER!! I’m currently trying to bribe my sister to keep me in supply since she lives in Seattle.

For dessert I had to try some of the sin dawg and wowzers, cinnabon, you have lost your match, this thing is amazing. I want to buy about a hundred of them, but I don’t have enough self control. I had to cut myself my serving and put the rest in the freezer This is SINDELICIOUS!

I really want to win this free Vitamix I’ve been coveting here….you can too!!

If you’re not school shopping, what are you doing? If you don’t have school supplies to buy, do you still go out and get them anyway :p

Fish Friday: Pouch Perfect! Salmon Papillote

I have been looking for more options to gain cooking experience and see if I really want to pursue cooking school and have found some good opportunities to apply for. I have an interview where I have to bring a dish for the family to taste, I wanted to keep it simple, fresh, and healthy, so Salmon Papillote, also known as fish cooked in parchment pouches, since I would be able to hit up the Farmer’s Market for some nice fresh produce in the morning and even tailor them to each individual family member’s taste. Plus, since I’m from the northwest, I thought it would be a good representation of one of my favorite dishes!

It is pretty straight forward and simple to do, you can  basically stick whatever you want in the pouch. This was the test run and I only snapped a few picts-but basically you take a piece of parchment, fold it in half, then cut it into a heart shape.

Julienne veggies of choice, I chose asparagus, a few peppers, fennel, leeks, and then some fresh herbs and spices such as sea salt, garlic, lemon, pepper, coriander, and dill.

Place your veggies on one side of the heart, generously add your herbs. Then place your piece of salmon on top. I was able to get  a nice piece of Coho on sale, num! I added more seasonings to the top of the salmon and a dash of dry white wine. Two slices of Meyer Lemon (get a few of these while they are in season for a limited time!)

Then, fold over the other half of the heart, and seal the edges by making a crease, folding half way, making another crease, tightly all the way around the heart. When you get to the pointy bottom, just tuck it underneath.

If you’re hangry, you can put this in the micro for about five minutes, but I really suggest the over at 450 for about 15-20.

Meanwhile, I’m finagling this rice recipe. Last night I did a basmati with toasted almonds, but it was too boring.

This came out pretty good, but I’m going to make a few changes, so wish me luck! I’m also making a dessert but need to get the ingredients at today’s market. I hope it all comes out okay. AHHHHH! It would be so great cooking for a family again, I really enjoyed cooking for my parents when I was with them.

Anyone have any super amazing rice recipes?