Survey Time

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I saw this survey over at Better With Sprinkles and it looked like a lot of fun. Since I haven't done a survey in a while, I've decided to make this post really light-hearted and fun.

List time!

5 Things I’ve Eaten Lately:

1. Frozen Girl Scout Cookies. Does anyone else like buying way too many, so that you can pull a box out of the freezer sometime randomly in the year and be like 'YAY, GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!'

If you think Thin Mints are better than Caramel Delites, we can't be friends.

Just kidding (kind of).

2. Greek yogurt. I'm still obsessed. I don't think I'll ever get over my obsession. 

I eat a lot of non-vegan things (I'm definitely not vegan), but that's the one that makes me go 'no waaaay would I ever give up dairy.'

3. Apples. When do I ever not eat apples? I'm kind of obsessed with those, too, they're too delicious to be real. And yet they are.

Mind = blown.

4) Random chocolate bakes and microwave cakes, especially frosted with more chocolate.

5. Chocolate. To follow from the above item, I have been all over chocolate lately. Yummy? Yes. And an excellent jolt of caffeine, which may partly explain why the chocolate kick got really intense over finals.

Or just that chocolate beats chem, any day.

5 Favorite Summer Treats:

1. Ice cream/frozen yogurt. 

Massive Scoops = AWESOME.

Wait, hold on - that's an all-year-round favorite.

2. Watermelon. I like it really chilled (near frozen) and it's even better on the beach!

3. Barbequed vegetarian bratwurst. There's nothing that screams German summer more than grilling bratwurst!

My condiments of choice are mustard and curry ketchup (it's a thing, I promise, and quite popular in Germany). 

4. Tofu Dogs. I don't know why, but somehow oblong soy protein is a summer food for me. 

Yum, it's been too long!

5. Random salads. Like the one above with the tofu dog! I don't eat salads as much during the rest of the year, but crisp, fresh salads are awesome in the heat of the summer. Followed by ice cream, of course!

5 Places I Want to Live Someday:

1. New York City - and yay, I'm living here again this summer!

Only in New York

2. Somewhere in Germany. I spent 3 months living there a while over a year ago and I just really love the culture! Being so close to my extended family would also be nice.

3. Los Angeles. Sunshine, palm trees, and Hollywood - what else could an aspiring actress want? I hope to move there after graduation! Which is still a while for me, but at least this year's finals are over :P

4. London. Again, it would be fun to be closer to extended family. And between the awesome accents, fabulous fashion, and streets full of history, what's not to love?

Um...so how long do I have to live there to get one of those snazzy accents myself?

5. Paris. I've never actually been to Paris, so I don't know if I actually ever want to live there (maybe not) but I'd definitely love to visit sometime!

It sounds amazing.

Do you like combining flavors, or keeping foods separate? I used to keep all of my foods separate as a kid, but in the past few years I've started loving complex flavors more and more. Now I barely ever eat just one flavor at once!

What's your favorite summer treat?

What's one place where you want to live, but haven't lived yet?

Unusual Ingredient: Wild Mushrooms

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Mushrooms seem to have become all the rage lately - it seems like everyone is eating portobello this and shiitake that. Like most food trends, I've been super slow to jump on the bandwagon.

I'm much less creative/adventurous with food during the school year, when I'm busy, but it's finally summer (whoot). Even though LSATs still loom on the horizon, I'm already in full-on summer mode. So it's time to break in my NYC kitchen with some fun new recipes!

The only way that I've ever really eaten mushrooms was in my mom's (delicious) spaghetti and cheese dish or on pizza. I really enjoy the mushrooms in both of those dishes, but somehow I've just never really felt motivated to try mushrooms in anything else.

Once of the reasons for the recent increase in interest in mushrooms among epicurians is that some mushrooms have a hearty, meaty flavor. Since more people have become vegetarian recently, including some who actually enjoy the taste of meat, it makes sense that more people are turning to mushrooms to satisfy that savory craving.

A great example is this vegetarian "meatloaf" that gets a lot of its flavor from mushrooms.

Two Lazy Gourmets' Meatless Wild Mushroom "Meatloaf"

The parmesan cheese in the recipe helps bring out the flavor of the mushrooms, much as cheese makes eggplant's flavor bolder in eggplant parmesan.

While I think that recipe sounds interesting, I'm leaning more towards this unique spin on pizza as my mushroom-tasting project.

Oh My Veggies' Wild Mushroom and Potato Pizza

A potato pizza? How interesting!

My mom loves quiche, so though I probably won't try this one in my near future myself (there are only so many recipes that I can try, especially since I like trying to make some of my own!) here's a mushroom quiche recipe.

Un Dejeneur de Soleil's Mushroom Quiche

I wonder how quiche was invented - was it a pizza spin-off or a spin-off of sweet pie, or did it come after meat pies and other savory pies were already popular?

Do you like mushrooms?

What food trends have you noticed lately?

What's the oddest topping you've ever had on a pizza?

WIAW #90

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It's WIAW time!

And okay, I promised more legit blog posts after finals ended - but it's only been four days and I've only been in NYC for three. 

So while I get all moved in to my teeny, tiny apartment (shared with two other girls) and frolic around the city in my new-found summer freedom, here's another photo-dump style WIAW.

But this time, actually just a photo dump - a series of unrelated photos with no words.

CHOCOLATE!

There's also been a lot of Chobani, granola, other protein bars (including Luna, which is one of my favorite brands), ice cream, chocolate, trail mix, and apples. Aka, all of my favorites!

Oh yes, this summer is off to a good start.

What are your summer plans?

What are your favorite foods?

What single food item do you eat the most of?