I Can't Believe It's...A Giveaway!

Edited to add: Wow, I was so tired when I posted this last night, I forgot to even put up a title. Duh. Anyway, read on, because I do believe the rest of the post is at least semi-coherent.

Greetings fabby bloggie friends! Hope everyone's weekend was wonderfully relaxing. I know mine was a lot busier than I originally anticipated, but filled with tons of friends and family and lots of fun :) Holy cow, can you believe it's March already?? My time is flying by so quickly, and sadly, my birthday month has come to an end. Boo :( It's also the end of the Fatty February challenge, but that doesn't mean I'm losing my focus on fats.

While I haven't been as gung ho about adding healthy fats to my meals as my partner in crime (she is fearless!! I am not!), I have been pretty consistent about getting at least ONE additional serving of fat into my diet per day. It has gone a long way to reduce the fear I feel about incorporating this nutrient, and I have begun to add little fat sources here and there to help up the ante. For example, a bit of extra nut butter on an apple or yog mess, a tablespoon of flax in my cereal or yogurt, diced avocado or guacamole in my salad.

I have also been keeping up with my fish oil and CLA supplements, and I just bought some coconut oil after reading about its health benefits in the latest issue of Oxygen. I also have seen some delicious inspiration from Averie via Adrien and Lauren, using this fat source, so I am excited to give it a try.

However, looks like I'm not the only one taking a closer look at my fat intake and healthy fats in general. The folks at I Can't Believe it's Not Butter recently hooked my up with some product information regarding the positive benefits of their spread. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is a butter substitute spreads that has committed to using no hydrogenated oils, and has zero grams of trans fat per serving.

ICBINB is made with a blend of heart-healthy vegetable oils, including canola and olive oil; and contains tons of omega 3 and omega six fatty acids which are fantastic for your body.

You all know that I have been a huge freak for I Can't Believe it's Not Butter Spray

--it's one of my biggest vices, so I am excited to try some of the "real" stuff as I move forward in my focus on fats throughout the month of March.

Luckily ICBINB wants all of you to get on board with increasing your healthy fats, so in order to help spread the word (ha ha, get it? ) about the health benefits of ICBINB, they are sponsoring a....what's that? Oh, a GIVEAWAY!!

The giveaway includes a coupon for ICBINB!, two recipes and a platter, spreader and spatula from Crate and Barrel.

There are FIVE different ways to enter, so listen up!

• First, just leave a comment about your favorite way to use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter products, or another healthy oil source
• Link back to this post to let others know about the giveaway and to help keep the focus on fats in March (just make sure to let me know you've done so with another comment!).
• Or you can tweet or follow @ICBINotButter on Twitter (again, be sure to let me know)
• For THREE bonus entries, you can create a recipe using ICBINB and email it to me when you feature it on your blog

To help give you some inspiration, here are some tantalizing looking recipes from ICBINB.

Chicken and Sage Risotto

Berry Delite Bread Pudding

Banana Oatmeal Bread

Caramelized Apple and Onion Salad

Giveaway ends a week from today (Monday) at 8:00 p.m. Good luck!

P.S. Another great way to get those um..."healthy" fats in?

Girl Scout Cookies. Whoo hoo! Last year, I never let myself have any, but this year hubs surprised me with a few boxes. thanks babe ;) xoxo

The Haul and the Wall

Heya strangers! I'm back from glorious Arizona and things have been CRAZY! Crazy and cold! It seems like only Friday I was sitting by the pool and soaking up the sun. Wait, I was. And now here I am back in the SLC and working away. Drat. BUT...I do have some fantastic reminders of my trip to cheer me up: my Trader Joe's haul!

OMGgggggg. I literally could have spent all day in that store poring over new products and searching for stuff that I have seen on all of your bloggies. My friends, however, were not so enthralled, so I had to choose my products and use my time wisely!

This is what I ended up with: Dark Chocolate Crisps (um, PERFECT after lunch treat--they are just the right amount of chocolate to get me through!), vanilla meringues, pita puffs, baked jalapeno cheese puffs, dark chocolate pomegranate seeds, crunchy salted almond butter with flax seeds, peanut butter jam frakas bar (I am not so impressed with these) spicy black bean dip, chili covered pineapple, pb&j chocolate bar (guess what?? It has potato chips in it too! How awesome!), ginger mango chutney and fig bars. yeesh. Oh, plus a way cool tote bag that I just want to use as my purse because it's so cute and large.

...and the one perishable thing I allowed myself to get so I could eat it while I was there


I tell ya, I am a sucker for Greek yogurt! I just HAD to try this one. I did make a delectable breakfast bowl using this and some cereal I brought from home, plus pb snagged form the breakfast bar at the hotel. Unfortunately, no pic as it was eaten by the single kitchen light bulb in our suite. Didn't wanna wake the roomies!

Not only did I score some wonderful treats in AZ, but I also had a completely fabulous package waiting for me upon my return home.

I was SO excited to learn that Chrysta from Living Fit!

Tea, fabulous tea! Chrysta was sweet enough to send me two amazing teas from Teavana that I have been dying to try, along with a very fancy storage set.

Both of these are wonderful, and I particularly love the spicy notes in the Azteca. Thank you so much Chrysta!!

In other news, I walked into the exposed brick wall in my bedroom this morning. Just goes to show that I can't be trusted to do anything complicated like walking before I eat breakfast. ;) Hope your day is going well and a little less discombobulated than mine. I have missed you all so much and still have a ton of catching up to do in the reader, but I will "see" you soon :) xoxo

P.S. I did not check to see how many times I used the word "fabulous" in this post, but I'm pretty sure it was a lot. Please excuse the abundant overuse. Apparently walking into a wall reduces your ability to think of synonyms as well.

Ketchup..er, catching up

Hi friends! No, unfortunately, there is no ketchup to be found in this post, but there IS some yummy cranberry mustard, and a whole lotta catching up to do , so let's dive in, shall we?

It's been almost a week since I've posted, but of course the big highlight was my birthday last Thursday. Thanks so much for all the wonderful birthday wishes. You guys are the best, and I was very flattered by all the comments! Anyone tried the SMOATS yet? Gosh, I know they look weird, but they are so good! I'm having them again tomorrow to perk up my day--I have to work all. dang. day. Over 12 hours. Waaah. What a cry baby.

Anyway, I got tons of super sweet and thoughtful presents for my special day, but I'll just show you the fabby foodie ones.

My sister is the bomb and got me the ultra-stylin' polar bear plate and matching sparkly cup that I've had my eye on. Yeah, I'm 26 now and I still like melamine cartoon plates--also to perk up my day at work. What? Cute little beehive tea infuser (I do live in the Beehive State!) and sinfully indulgent walnut green tea from my bro. It tastes like butter. No joke.

And...check it out! Probably like the very first ever home exercise audio! How freakin cool is that? I don't have a record player, so I'll probably never know what it says, but luckily I have the handy-dandy pictures on the cover to assist me if I ever decide to bust out the moves. Thanks Joel! Hubs also got me a gift card to Whole Foods, which is burning a major hole in my pocket! He's so great.

Oh food, glorious food! So many good things on my birthday including a ginormous frosted cupcake from the gals at work, crispy sweet potato fries,
turkey burger with cranberry mustard (told you) on a sweet potato bun and the most decadent and marshmallow-y bread pudding I have ever tasted, courtesy of Acme Burger. Ho-leeeey cow. Everyone's order was very tasty and the service was impeccable. If you are in the SLC, GO!

Of course I was even more spoiled rotten at home where my mama whipped up her signature from-scratch super chocolate cake with extra frosting and tons of SPRINKLES!!!
My mom was so funny--she hunted high and low for just PINK sprinkles, but couldn't find any so she and my dad sat down and hand sorted out a bunch of pink for me. Jeez. I am spoiled!

Daddy Experimentarian obliged my two birthday requests also, by fixing up his perfect pancakes with a side of thick cut bacon for breakfast.

I swear those pancakes are one of my favorite things on this earth. I would probably make them my last meal. Well, pancakes and smoked salmon--which my dad also put together for me.

Seen here as lunch leftovers the other day atop mixed greens, red peppers, onion, mushrooms and dried cranberries. I mixed that with a little BBQ vinaigrette and I never wanted to stop eating it.

Well, that's all for now, and quite enough, I'm sure! A big huge thanks to Kendal for guesting for me on Friday. I don't know about you, but all her food adventures make me long to travel! Luckily, I've had my dose of exotic locales for now (Sweetwater County homies!) and am all settled in at home, at least until next week!

Do you love going home for a little TLC like me? What's the one thing your parents make for you that no one does better? You saw my list above--I'd love to know yours! xoxo

Rainbows and Puppies

You guys are the best. I love you for reals. THANK YOU all so much for the love and support shown to me on my last post. I was so scared to post something that personal, but I truly believe that it may help others learn from my experience. Seriously, if you have not read it, please do so! I will probably be linking back to it on my next couple of posts just to help get the word out a little more.

Anyway, since my last post was slightly dismal, I promise this one will be nothing but rainbows and puppies! I've had quite the run of good eats lately, and successful experiments, which is supremely conducive for blogging purposes.

My first score was a tasty little thing, organic, raw, stinky, and you guessed it! KOMBUCHA! Now, I had tried this before a couple of years ago and had not been impressed. But after seeing it on Janetha's and then another Emily's blog, I had a hankering to give it a shot once again. I think I picked a better flavor this time which definitely helped, and now I am addicted! At first sip, it honestly just tasted like fizzy vinegar. But hey, you know I love me some vinegar, so this was right up my alley. The second swig tasted a lot more like cranberry and the following guzzles were just good! D thinks I'm crazy. This is one thing he refuses to try.

Another stinky, smelly thing that Dustin doesn't like (oh goody, more fore ME!): blue cheese. I have been obsessed lately. This idea is semi-stolen from sweet little Lauren's blog because it was absolutely perfect for Sammie Saturday, but here is my version with her inspiration!

Toasted cinnamon raisin bread spread with Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow and blue cheese crumbles, thinly sliced pear, smoked turkey, dijon mustard and spinach.
Om yum ghee. that is me with my mouth full because you know I could NOT stop eating this heavenly combo of deliciosuness.
Speaking of delightful sammies, check out another delightful pear and turkey combo whipped up by Haleigh, and a superstar created by Susan from Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies as she guested for K. That one is on my list for sure!

Just a little more fun--last night Dustin and I got to have a date and go to the Jazz game. Whoo hoo! I have been waiting for this moment for like 5 years! No, not for the Jazz to play a good game, although that finally happened, too. For Dippin Dots! Now, you guys have probably had these before, but I had NOT. I saw them once when we were in Cali and I didn't get them. I have wanted them EVER SINCE! We went to the zoo a while back and they had them there, but I just wasn't in the mood and I knew they wouldn't be as epic--does that ever happen to you? Ugh. But anyway I finally got some. Banana Split style and they were pretty yummy. Almost like eating frozen, flavored air because once second they're on your tongue and the next, they are completely gone. Entertaining eats, that's for sure. Sorry for the craptastic picture. I was trying not to piss off everyone around me by taking obnoxious food photos.

See? Kittens and sunshine just like I promised! Anyhoo, I hope your weekend has been full of the same, and once again I really do thank you all so much for being so nice to me and your support in speaking out against the consequences of eating disorders. Gros bisous. xoxo

A Recipe and A Review

Hey guys! guess what I found out today? The state vegetable of Utah is the ONION!!

How appropriate. For me, anyway. So glad I live in a place that gives love to one of my favorite things!

Out of curiosity, I looked up Wyoming to see if it had a state vegetable, but sadly, it doesn't I should have known--nothing grows in Wyo except for sagebrush anyway, which probably isn't so tasty. Not that I wouldn't try it! ;) However, I DID learn that another one of my favorite states, North Carolina, own the SWEET POTATO as their veggie of choice. Awesome! just another reason to love the "old north state!" So... a little random trivia there!

In other randomness, I decide to forgo both Freaky Food Friday and Sammie Saturday this week, and mix it up a bit instead with a recipe and a restaurant review, hence the title!

So, ALL WEEK, I have been craving one thing: a brownie and a Diet Coke. Odd, I know, and it sounds like such a "dieters" snack, but that certain combo makes me quite nostalgic for my mama in a round about fashion. Explanation: growing up, we would always have an afternoon snack on the weekends, usually consisting of yep, a piece of chocolate something or other and a delicious diet beverage. Usually this would occur after my mom woke up from her nap, which happened after reading the weekend comics, which happened after a scrumptious pancake brekkie made by my dad, which happened after my weekly father-daughter bonding grocery shopping trip with him. So you see, quite the string of happy flashback memories for ya there!

A lady at work actually brought in brownies which is what kick started my chocoholism, but I DID taste one and they were kind of yucky. They just tasted like margarine. Icky. Of course, I know it is perfectly fine to indulge in a real brownie every now and again, but I knew I could make a healthified sub in the meantime.

I have been totally eyeing everyone's microwave creations lately--see Tina's cookie and April's protein cakes--but I created my own combo by modification a recipe I found on the Eggland's Best site. Introducing the Brownie Batter Puffcake!

Whisk together 2 egg whites, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. powdered stevia ( I used two NuNaturals packets), 2 tbs. pumpkin puree and 1 tbs. almond milk. Once thoroughly combined and egg whites are frothy, stir in 2 tbs. flour and one heaping tbs cocoa powder. Mix well to combine, and pour contents into a microwave safe mug sprayed with Pam. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, and plop out to let cool.

Cake will be very moist and almost souffle-like in texture. It's almost like pudding at the bottom, which is where the name comes from--pudding+cupcake/muffin+mug=Puffcake.

Top with sprinkles (obviously) if you want to be extra fancy, and a dollop of vanilla yogurt and serve alongside Diet Coke for a trip down memory lane.

OR, throw into a bowl of cottage cheese and top with Sunbutter for a super delicious start to your Saturday morning.

Decadent. I may mess around with this and try adding wheat bran instead of flour to up the fiber content and make it a little more filling. You surely could sub in protein powder, but since most brands have soy in them, that is not a good option for me. However, this still has pretty good stats, clocking in at right around 100 calories, 3 g of fiber and 10 g of protein.

Even after that delicious start, my day got better! It is my bro-in-law's birthday on Tuesday, so we drove down to Provo, which is about half an hour away from us to celebrate early. I LOVE birthdays! I don't care who's they are, I just think they're great! But, they are even better when they belong to people I love :) Speaking, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SUSAN TODAY!!!

Anyway, Ollie is a vegetarian, and I knew the perfect place to please everyone's discerning palettes. Guru's used to have a location in SLC before I lived and I would visit all the time with my sis. Now they are just in Provo, but it is sure worth the drive! Guru's has a great philosophy about first nourishing our bodies so we and then nourish our lives, and nourish we did! After pouring over an extensive menu packed with great, healthy options, with everything from noodle and rice bowls to wraps, pasta, even breakfast, I finally chose a blackened salmon salad with raspberry vinegar.

Not even an oily vinaigrette--they actually had gourmet vinegar! It's like they knew I was coming! My salad was a lot of lettuce, but also had feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, snap peas, and the salmon was out of this world!

Ollie had a veggie and tofu cilantro lime wrap that came with tortilla chips and salsa.

And Dustin had a good-sized burrito, stuffed with juicy pork, rice and black beans then smothered in cheese and pico di gallo.

I must say, everyone devoured their food and loved every bite of it! Everything I saw come out of the kitchen looked seriously amazing, and there are tons of yummy menu items I would love to go back and try! the decor is fun and hip, the service was good and I'm definitely giving Guru's my two thumbs up!

Another thing I'm giving a thumbs up--Ollie's super sweet new look courtesy of some of our hilarious birthday presents to him. Rockin it!

Happy Birthday Olls! Love ya!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend and is eating as much yummy food as I am! check out Guru's menu and tell me what YOU would try next. It's all killer! xoxo

Freaky Fake Noodles and Pretty Pink Everything Else

Hi there everyone! Well, when I mentioned I would probably be blogging less frequently, I certainly didn't expect a whole week to go by before I posted anything! Speaking of my last post, thanks so much for all your incredible sweet comments on my wedding and your anniversary wishes! You guys are so nice! Anyhowzzles, there has definitely been a lot going on in the food world and other wise, so lets hop to it shall we?

First up, let me show you a little of the things that have been keeping me occupied...
one the food front, we have experienced the passing of a few greats recently including my beloved PB2 (unpictured), crunchy Sunbutter and super chunky peanut butter.
You can see I don't typically leave enough remnants for OIAJ so that was no consolation, but to be fair I'm not that disappointed. I tired them once, and found it a little too messy and not nearly enough nut butter to go around (as evidenced by my thorough cleaning job above).

We also had our very first meatless Monday, which sadly, went undocumented, but was delicious. I know it would be a lot more appealing with pictures, but I enthusiastically encourage you to try the Rice and Beans recipe from Eat, Drink and be Vegan. I modified it a little bit, adding half an orange bell pepper and 1/2 c. frozen corn kernels. I also used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth since that's what we had on hand. Very delicious, but beware, because it makes "four" VERY generous portions (we got 6). Even though I am not vegan, I checked out that cookbook from the library a while ago and found a lot of great recipes. I would love my own copy because I only got to copy down a few especially enticing ideas.

I have a fantastic Freaky Food Friday for you today, too! I have been looking for this particular product FOREVER since seeing it on the other Emily's blog this summer. I had just about given up hope of ever locating them in Utah, when I spotted them at a local natural foods store:

Kelp Noodles!


Yipeeeeeeee!!! I was so, so pumped to try these, but upon opening the bag,

I made the mistake of taking a big whiff---ick!! Like sea water and brine. Of course! Luckily, I am not one to let a little weird smell deter me from my plans ( this IS freaky food, after all!).

After rinsing them very well and steaming them for a few minutes in the microwave, I topped them with garlic powder, chunky tomato marinara sauce , two extra lean meatballs and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Not bad! Although the texture was not really similar at all to traditional pasta--kind of chewy and oddly crunchy--I thought it tasted just fine and was a perfectly reasonable substitute. If any of you have ever tried the tofu shirataki noodles, they reminded me a lot of those. I used to think those things were so cool before I discovered my soy sensitivity. Now I know why they gave me such a bad tummy ache!

No problems at all with the kelp noodles, though. The stats were really interesting, too. Actually, there almost were NO stats! A four ounce serving only has 6 calories and the only ingredients are kelp, sodium alginate (sodium salt extracted from a brown seaweed), and water. The only other component of nutrition was 15% DV of calcium.

I don't know that I'll be eating these on a regular basis because they are pretty expensive (plus I am pretty sure D wouldn't touch them with a 10-ft pole), but they were really fun to try!

Some other fun things I have been keeping myself busy with:

Making Fruity Pebbles treats for my little Sunday School class. Ok and let's be honest, for Dustin, too :) Look at how cool that picture is though! I have to admit that I snuck some Fruity Pebbles into my greek yogurt, and holy cow those puppies are SWEET!! Even against the sour tang of the yogurt, they were almost too much. Wow. Do people really eat those for breakfast? Dang. I'm not saying it wasn't delicious though!

I have also been making an attempt to work out my brain as much as I work out my body--


D got me a subscription to our local newspaper for our anniversary. This may not seem very romantic to most, but he knows me so well! Usually, the only source of real news I get is from the Today show, so it's nice to be able to keep informed on public affairs. Plus, I used to love getting the morning paper and reading the comics and doing the crosswords every day when I was growing up. Now, I love the ads and the Sunday coupons, too! Lucky girl, I got a 12 week subscription and I feel enriched already!

I am making a concerted effort to read more as well, but sometimes it really does hurt my brain too much after a long day. reading is seriously my all time favorite hobby next to cooking, but these books aren't' exactly as light and fluffy as the Sookie Stackhouse novels I've been hooked on! Jenny Scheaffer's new book, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me, is incredible and even better than her first offering (Life Without Ed). Unfortunately sometimes it really hits me in terms of my recovery and I have to take a break from reading it in order to process.

I also love this Malcolm Gladwell book, The Tipping Point. Yeas, I know it's old and you've probably already read it, but it is so interesting! Sadly, I don't think I hold any of the qualities he elaborates on just yet, so it kind of makes me feel like a loser. I am only a few chapters in though!
More fun things!

I got this most adorable mug at Target the other day and I am completely in love! I collected polar bears when I was younger, plus it's pink, plus it has a heart on it! And it holds tea! What could be more perfect? Ha ha! I love that my birthday is in February because everything in the stores is pink with hearts, so I feel like it's all decorated just for me! ( I wonder how it is possible to simultaneously be 82 and 12 at the same time--old lady and little pink princess!)

Speaking of hearts, my hottie friend Janetha B is holding a sweet Valentine's Day exchange, so don't forget to sign up and spread the love!

Special K is also caring and sharing again with a tea exchange (you KNOW i was all over that one!), so check that one out too!

I really will be posting more frequently to avoid the textbook-sized entries, so thanks for sticking this one through til the end :)

Questions: Are you closer to 82 or 12 yourself? I think it's hilarious that I would rather spend Saturday night at home with my crossword and mug of tea and at the same time die over anything that is pink and foufy. That's just me :) And you now know I used to collect polar bears--what about you? Any kiddie collections you may or may not still have an affinity for?

Happy Friday! (AND Happy End of this Post--you really are a trooper!) xoxo

Non-Freaky Flashback and I Like it Spicy Part 3

As I mentioned, Wednesday was my third wedding anniversary (Whoo hoo!!), so I thought it would be fun and entertaining to post some pics from our wedding back in 2007. I suppose it's a little narcissistic to have a post filled with almost nothing but pictures of me, but I guess this is my blog and my wedding, so it's ok, right? :)

This is one of my favorite pictures from that day. Oh, and this is D without a beard! He has had one now for so long that I almost forget what he looks like without it. We look so young here!



Young and in love!

I loved my hair--it was so big and poufy! Any you know what they say about big hair don't you?? Well, I guess they don't say anything, but I sawy it's H-O-T! Actually my hair stylist always jokes "the higher the hair, the closer to heaven!" I must be an angel by now :)

As you can see, I did have a cute little (faux) fur-hooded cape, which was smart for January, but I did not actually wear it for most of our pictures outside (not smart). The photographer wanted to show off my dress. I remember it being 19 freaking degrees that day. Brrrr!! Oh well--I guess loves keeps you warm!

We were married here:

But held our reception in an aquarium!

I worked as the Marketing Coordinator there at the time, and we were trying to promote the facility for event rentals. I convinced my bosses to let me host my reception there for free and then we could use the pictures in our marketing materials. It was so awesome! As anyone who has planned a wedding knows, reception rentals can take up a HUGE portion of your budget, so it gave us a lot of leeway (and a lot of fun) to have it there.

Obviously, we had pictures of the food:

Dustin and I had originally wanted to have a carnival theme to our reception with mini hamburgers, popcorn and cotton candy, but our parents threw a big fit so that was out.

I kept the cotton candy--that was non-negotiable!


Instead, we settled on a "dipping" bar with both sweet and savory options. I think we had a spicy cheese and an alfredo, an artichoke dip and a chili dip, all with pretzels, crackers and veggies.

We also had a dipping desserts station with white and dark chocolate, caramel, tons of fruit, brownies, marshmallows and other sweets.

This was just flavored water--it was all in a pink theme, so if I can remember correctly, it was lemon, strawberry, cherry and grapefruit.

As you can see, all the pics have kind of a nautical theme here--all the food was inside the "sunken ship!"

I was so glad to be able to have our reception somewhere fun. Not just for us, but for our guests. I wanted to be able to give everyone something to do, so they got to walk through all the galleries and look at the fish and play in the touchpool.

I mean, how boring is it to go to a wedding where all you do is walk through a greeting line, grab a plate of hors d'ouerves and then try to mix awkwardly with people you don't know? Ugh. A lot of Utah weddings are like that. Not all of them though! And not mine. It always makes me happy because people will still say that they remember it to this day.



I didn't want a wedding cake, since it is so hard to find one that is pretty AND tastes good. I thought cupcakes would be better. I am a cupcake kind of gal, anyway :)

For as fun as our wedding was, I have to say that each day beyond that has been all the more wonderful and filled with love. Our marriage isn't perfect, and neither are our lives. We have had our share of trials and hard times since then, but we love each other, and I am so grateful that we found each other--and that I tricked D into marrying me!

I wish the photographer had taken some more pics of the food for ya, but I didn't get to eat much that day, so I probably couldn't tell you much more about it!

What I CAN tell you about though, is some more wonderful and spicy food that I have had the pleasure of indulging in recently!

Thanks to my sweet friend Abby, I had some luscious Christmas goodies to experiment with:


Super spicy and very gingery ginger snaps. OMG, these were so good! They actually had little pieces of crystallized ginger IN them. Yum!

But my new favorite thing has got to be these guys:

They are the perfect blend of sweet and spicy with tons of cayenne, cinnamon and a touch of cumin. I have been keeping them within arm's reach at all times and loving them in a new CCC.

Cottage cheese with cinnamon and stevia, Fiber One, Quaker Oat Squares and Cinnamon Life sprinkled with a healthy dose of chopped sweet and spicy nuts. So good! Thanks Abby! You are an amazing chef and inspiration!

I also stumbled upon this discovery, which I highly recommend you try as soon as possible...



Sweet potato with Laughing Cow, cinnamon, Sun Crystals and dried cranberries. Maybe not the most original offering, but definitely a delicious one!

What's YOUR favorite spicy creation? Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a fantastic weekend! xoxo