Winner of the Bob’s Sauce & No Pudge Brownie! Mixes Giveaway….Ms. This is Just Sweet Enough!!!!!
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I woke up everday this weekend feeling like a bulldozer ran over me, DESPITE taking disgusting Nyquil nightly starting Friday.
St–RAW-BANI in Bed
I decided to eat my strawberry Chobani in bed, raw and without add-ins for a quick and simple breakfast!
What a fabulous idea! Tt was delicious (though I still prefer blueberry Chobs) but I’m not sure the mushy strawberries and the slighly artificial fruit flavor really strikes a chord with me….but overall, still YUM!
For a full review click here.
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Panera’s Secret
Not long after our noontime movie with a bunch of friend (We say Watchmen – which I didn’t really enjoy because I’m not a blood & guts type of girl), we went for a late lunch at Panera. Though I’d never been a big fan of Panera, I really wanted some good soup because at this point, I’ve pretty much completely lost my voice. 😦
Black Bean soup with the Fuji Apple salad. I devoured everything. Very tasty, but maybe because I was hungry.
The boyfriend got a sierra turkey sandwich with broccoli cheddar soup. His favorite!
I’ve discovered that Panera’s secret is: You gotta pick the right one to go to!! The one that was near my college campus was MUCH more stingy with the salad toppings. The Panera I went to downtown gave much more chicken, pecans, and apple chips than I ever remembered getting!! I was happy with my order!
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Veggie Sticks?!?!
I was a little skeptical when I first looked at these guys…Lesser Evil krinkle sticks huh?
Taste: I’m not gonna lie, it takes a little getting used to. The flavor is predominantly potato-like, though there are definitely other savory flavors as well. The difficult part is pin-pointing what exactly those OTHER flavors are, but overall, an interesting flavor that one could get used to very quickly.
Texture: My favorite part! They were braided into colorful twists. When you bite into the sticks, they are really crunchy and NOT airy (think rice cakes). This is definitely a good thing because it gets you satisfied.
Overall, I could see myself eating these again at home, but probably wouldn’t buy them to entertain friends. 40+ sticks for only 110 calories is really fair. Plus, it also hits high on the satiety factor so you don’t end up eating a whole bag! yay!
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All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Party
To welcome a visiting friend, the bf and I went to House of Sushi with a couple friends from college for a sushi buffet. Nobody knows of this food blog of mine, so I only snagged a few shots of our platters without raising any suspicion. hehehehe.
So I didn’t get to capture the two plates of tempura veggies and the edamame…
How it works: Everyone orders two rolls first, and then when you’re done, you order another 2 rolls, and so on.
The amazing thing is, the waitress will tell you what roll is which on every platter when she brings the plates over. Imagine doing this like 8 times per table!!
I ordered: A Chicago Crazy Maki, a New York Maki Roll, Mexican Maki Roll, & a Yellowtail Maki.
The bill came out to be around $22 per person including tax and tip. Not bad for a big sushi dinner! Given presentation wasn’t exactly AWESOME, the fish was fresh and the service was speedy, and we had a good time! So what more can you ask? 🙂
They even had chocolate fortune cookies to end the meal with!!
We ended the night by playing Rockband and Scattergories while snacking on a tub of Trader Joe’s Vanilla Wafer Cookies. (SO GOOD!)
In reflection – I wish I had more fruits and veggies this weekend. It probably would have helped my sickness go away faster. UGHHH it’s so frustrating when you’re sick and can’t find energy to do anything! 😦
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Acai Goji Berry Steel Cut Oats
On a side note, I decided to make Steel Cut oats for the first time ever thanks to inspiration from Jamba.
Here was the recipe I improvised:
1. Dump 1 cup steel cut oatmeal into electric pot with 4 cups water
2. Bring to boil and cook on medium heat for 40 minutes
3. Dump 4 tbs acai powder, 1 pack vanilla protein powder (yes, I used a shake powder. what was I thinking????), and a handful of goji berries
4. Mix until clumps disappear, then cook another 5 minutes
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool!
Here’s what it looked like after mixing out the lumps. It is more purple in person, and after removing from the heat, it cooked down to a MUCH more firm, sticky consistency.
SUCCESSSS!!!
Now all you gotta do is, stay tuned for the next breakfast post so find out what the final FINAL product looks like!
Wahhooo!
Question for you creative cooks out there – Where do you get your recipe inspirations from???
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More Giveaways!!
Christina is doing ANOTHER giveaway?!?!? Yup!
Missy from Missy Maintain’s has some chips for you!
Wonderful Julie is having a “My favorite things” giveaway!
wow!!! what a lot of yummy looking sushi for so cheap!!!! i’ve been craving spicy tuna lately, might have to get on that soon 🙂
and i LOVE that black bean soup btw! i have a few favorites from panera that i always stick to and those never steer me wrong!
My favorite soup from Panera is a “seasonal” soup (only available on certain days in fall), Forest Mushroom. It’s a broth based soup with lots of mushrooms, rosemary, and wild rice. It’s so good.
For just $22, I could forgive less than stellar presentation- that’s a lot of sushi!
I get my inspiration from looking at other people’s blogs, reading cookbooks, and I also receive a lot of email newsletters with recipes. Also – what I have on hand. I hate grocery shopping, so we usually only go every 10 days or so for a big trip. I avoid smaller runs in between for missing items.
I’m also having a give-away on my blog!!! Spread the word! 😉
mmmm I just love the sushi idea, sushi is best when you try all different kinds at the same time!
I wouldnt really call myself a “creative cook” but if I do happen to cook up something creative it is just by throwing in crazy things that I think may be good until I come up with something!
Hope your having a great monday dear 🙂
I love Panera….too bad the closest one is 2 hrs away AND in a different country!!!
Wonderful eats!!
Look at all that sushi!! Looks like a fun ideaa 🙂
Hope you feel better soon! I always think fruits and veggies help me heal faster, too.
I really want sushi after seeing your delish spread!
All you can eat sushi! That sounds absolutely perfect girl 🙂 And I loveee the black bean soup from panera!!
Whoa, that sushi sounds awesome! It’s also close to our friends’ apartment! The boyfriend and I are coming up to Chicago next weekend. Are you free any time Friday or Sunday?
wooooooooo…… you had such a great sushi party!!! They seems so inocent, but when I eat more than 10 I feel crap! 😀
great creation of that acai goji steel cuts oat! Your blog is definitely one of my source of recipe inspiration. Other inspirations: magazine, cook book and whatever I crave and have available! 🙂
i have a tin of that oatmeal but couldn’t get it to cook right! it was really dry for some reason? do u love them? i want to try and make them again!
Wow I want to come to all you can eat sushi!! Yum! I get my recipe inspirations from blogs but honestly I barely use recipes at all! I am lazy like that hehe!
aaa, look at all that sushi! looks so good!
My Monday just keeps improving! I can’t wait to try the sauce, and it has been ages since I’ve made no pudge brownies. I’m looking forward to it!! Thanks for hosting the giveaway! 🙂
I also appreciate the review of the veggie krinkle sticks. I briefly thought about picking up a bag yesterday. I’m not sure I’d be a fan. It’s nice to get your opinion.
I love Chobs and Panera! Nice picks there 😉
On the rare occasion that I actually COOK I usually get meal inspirations from other bloggers – they are tried and true recipes after all!
Oh thanks for coming to my blog!!! Hahah I just changed the image during the weekend. Gosh I know what you about about changing way of eating. I moved from Singapore to Hawaii now Oregon. I so do miss my Asian food but I have also discovered alot of yummies! When I go back to Hawaii I will get to eat my Asian food again! lol.
I love chobani i get it almost everyweek now I only been getting the Vanilla though I really shold try the other flavors!
ooohh my goodness i am SO jealous of your all you can eat sushi ugh it’s my favorite!
and you are getting down and dirty with your oats girl very creative!
i am def in love with throwing a tea bag or two in my oats to soak overnight and it brings so much flavor to the bowl it’s wonderful!
Oh my gosh, delicious! And chocolate fortune cookies? SCORE. I keep my awesome cool fortunes!
OMG I GOTTA GO TO THAT PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where do I get my cooking ideas? So many of them are from old family recipes that I try to healthify or recreate…
AHHHH!
I LOVE Chobani (Blueberry is my favorite fruit flavored one as well!), Sushi rolls (Yum Yum YUM), oats (obsessed), and Panera (I always get the black bean soup when it’s available!) We really ARE twins! Haha 🙂
Happy Monday!
thank you so much for your sweet comment!!
im sorry about your voice
oh man. i love panera. its probably one of my favorite lunch spots in the whole wide world.
& lets not forget about the sushi party!! YUM
Get better!! Eat lots of soups and congee and get better!
The sushi rolls look so yummy! 🙂
Eating chobani in bed sounds like a good idea to me!!
I hardly ever cook. I normally use google when I’m looking for recipes. Dani Spies has some good looking stuff too!!
oh. my. sushi. I am so jealous!
Love that Fuji Apple salad from Panera. I’m so sorry you’ve lost your voice! Yikes! At least you can still be heard in Blogworld 🙂
I am pretty sure I would go crazy at that sushi place…they would definitely lose money on me!!
Get well soon, Michelle!
All of those insane sushi platters are making my mouth drool! They look sooo good 🙂 I love good sushi. Yum!
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