Jan 31, 2013

Wanna Spoon?

Most of us either have or will, at some point in the past/present/future, be conflicted about our careers. Should we follow our passions or go for the sure thing.

Sometimes two coincide, but that takes a bit of luck.

Pacific Beach Peanut Butter's founder, Matthew Mulvihill, decided to leave unfulfilling jobs (but with greater job security) to follow his passion and create a line of All Natural Peanut Butter and Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads. One peanut grinder and a lot of tinkering, peanuts, and creativity later, Pacific Beach Peanut Butter was born.

The best part is that Matthew is a consumer of his peanut butters, too, so he didn't want to compromise health for taste (or vice-versa)!

There are a bunch of different varieties - everything from plain organic peanut butter to chocolate raspberry peanut butter - but I tried three of the flavored varieties.


Cinnayum, Toffee, and White Chocolate.


The peanut butter comes in these cute glass jars - and with a Pacific Beach peanut-butter-eating spoon for eating it straight out of the jar!


I tried each flavor out of the jar and on bread.

Oh, but first - for those with dietary restrictions, these flavors that I'm reviewing are gluten-free but NOT vegan because of the mix-ins (the toffee, chocolate, etc., contains dairy).

Moving on: these peanut butters don't separate, though there doesn't seem to be palm oil or hydrogenated oil in the nut part itself (though some of the mix-ins, like the toffee, do contain these ingredients).



They spreads are all very spreadable and spot-on for texture. They're not oily, because they don't seem to experience much separation, and not they're not super finely ground, either. There's a slight graininess left from the peanuts not being processed too much and I actually really enjoyed it.

These are not comparable to Jif or Skippy, they're on a whole other level for flavor! The cinnayum was actually my favorite, because the peanut butter really shines, but there's just a hint of spicy-sweet cinnamon.



The white chocolate peanut butter is good straight out of the jar, but I didn't like it on bread as much - it's very sweet and the white chocolate overwhelms the peanut butter flavor.



It's definitely more of a dessert nut butter (and this one is quite thick) so while I wouldn't choose it as a breakfast staple, I imagine it would be great as a topping for ice cream. Or a dollop on a cup of yogurt and granola would be really delicious!



The toffee crunch was less sweet and was really tasty both on bread and out of the jar.



Instead of just adding toffee flavoring as a syrup or something throughout the peanut butter, they add actual chunks of toffee!

I'm all about textures, y'all, so that gets a major thumbs up from me.


Pacific Beach Peanut Butter is a tasty breakfast, lunch, or snack choice!

Clockwise, starting from the left: White Chocolate, Cinnayum with jam, Toffee Crunch
 And for those of us who are either still in school and trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives, or spinning our wheels at a job that we don't absolutely love, the Pacific Beach Peanut Butter story is a great inspiration.

Chase your dreams!

But don't tell your parents/spouse that I told you to do so if that means dropping med school to start a Llama farm...

Jan 29, 2013

LeanCuisine Frozen Meals Review

Eating out/ordering in all the time is not only expensive, but it's also not all that healthy. Subsisting on daily Chinese take-out won't help keep you healthy and energized, but if you're unlucky you may become more familiar with food poisoning than you'd like. 

But there just isn't always time to cook! Sometimes you're just hangry (not a typo) and want dinner now! If you want to skip the Tums and save a buck, frozen meals can be a good option.

Lean Cuisine makes healthier frozen meals for when you're in a time pinch and want something tasty and flavorful, but still light. It's great for when you really can't justify cereal and PBJs for dinner (again) and want to add a little veggies and protein in there with your carbs.

To improve on an already good product,  Lean Cuisine put together a Culinary Roundtable (highly acclaimed chefs Michelle Bernstein, Brad Farmerie, Paul Kahan, Anita Lo, Lior Lev Sercarz, and Lucien Vendome) to create their new Culinary Collection. With bolder colors (natural, of course) and seasonal tastes, these new frozen meals are tasty with a little gourmet edge over your usual frozen meal.

There are a bunch of options for meat lovers, but there are even a couple options for vegetarians! I tried their Mushroom Mezzaluna Ravioli.


It has a fraction of the salt, fat, and calories of a typical takeout dinner (while calories = energy = good, you can't eat really heavy all the time without feeling weighed down). It's flavorful with not too much or too little sauce and it actually has more veggies than I'd expected, not less! Particularly the spinach - they know to pile on the good stuff where the veggies are concerned, so your meal gives you those nutrients you need to fuel your busy life!


Further, it doesn't give you the stuff you don't need - there are no preservatives in these frozen meals. 

The ravioli tastes surprisingly fresh for a frozen meal and the mushroom and cheese blend is delightful, especially paired with the creamy sauce and flavorful veggies.

And with all those colors, it's a pretty dinner!

How often do you eat out/order in?

Do you eat frozen dinners?

What are your quick weekday dinner tips?


I have partnered with Lean Cuisine through DailyBuzz Food to help promote their new line of Chef's Pick products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to work with this product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Thank you Lean Cuisine!

Lusting After Spring 2013 Collections Part II

Last time we took a look at Zuhair Murad's spring 2013 collection. Today we're looking at Donna Karan's!

Where Zuhair Murad's collection is all about softness, delicacy, and femininity, Donna Karan's is a more mature look, with strong silhouettes and a decided air of professionalism.

Less well suited to garden parties, these looks are perfect for work functions -

Donna Karan
- or even for the office!

Donna Karan
We're seeing more interesting shapes and cutouts, as from previous seasons, in this collection.

Donna Karan
The shoulder seems to be this season's body part of interest.

Donna Karan
And this season Donna Karan is all about ready to wear that's actually ready to wear.

Donna Karan
These are looks that are all highly practical for real life (and actually look comfy!) but also super stylish.  even college girls can easily pull these looks off! 

Now if only these everywoman looks came with everywoman price tags...

Do you follow DKNY PR Girl?

How do you feel about cutouts?

Jan 28, 2013

MAXimally Delicious Snacking!

Today's review is one of my favorites - a bar review!

Seriously, with my bar obsession and habit of trying new things, you'd think I'be out of new bars to try!

FALSE.

I'd never had a ProMax bar before, but I jumped at the opportunity to try their new Promax LS Bars when I heard that they're new lower sugar bars made the all-natural way: by using a mix of stevia and sugar!

There are four flavors of Promax LS Bars - Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Mocha Latte, and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough. I tried the two original flavors - Chocolate Fudge and Peanut Butter Chocolate.


Each bar is pretty standard in that they have 220 protein-packed calories each. But they definitely are a solid protein source, with 18grams of protein (whey) making them a great choice for the more active among us, too! There are also 11-14 grams of fiber per bar and that comes with only 9g of sugar. While that's not the lowest sugar bar out there, it's pretty great considering that they don't have sucralose  or maltitol or anything like that, like lower sugar bars often do. And they have no HFCS. When you compare those 9g of sugar to the 15-21 grams of sugar in many leading regular protein and energy bars, it really makes a difference.

But enough about the nutritionals of these bars. It's great that they're good for you, but that won't help much if they don't taste good.

Luckily, they do!



The bars of a good size - they're not super wide, but they are quite a bit longer than most energy bars. It's definitely a good size for a snack.



As far as texture goes, you won't mistake these bars for a candy bar. The outside is the same sort of melty candy-bar chocolate that you'd get with a Snicker's bar or the like, but the inside is an unusual (not in a bad way) texture. It's definitely not a grainy type of bar, it's more like a more substantial fudge kind of texture, if that makes any sense.



The chocolate flavor is great, though, as is the chocolate peanut butter.


You can taste the whey protein a little bit but it's not chalky and there's no weird after-taste from the stevia. Some people don't like stevia products because there's often a bitter aftertaste associated with them, but these bars avoided that issue by mixing stevia and sugar for a great tasting natural sweetener blend.

And the peanut butter is really cool because it has a peanut butter core surrounded by chocolate and wrapped in a peanut butter coating.



Yum! Both varieties that I tasted are really quite delicious. I would eat them again, they get a thumbs up!

Have you tried ProMax bars?

What's your favorite texture for a bar?

What's been one of the best things to happen to you this month?

Jan 27, 2013

Lusting After Spring 2013 Collections Part I

Lord knows my budget isn't big enough to fill my closet with the stunning pieces we've all been drooling over from designers' spring 2013 ready to wear collections.

But a girl can dream, right? If I had all the money in the world, here are some super cute pieces I'd want in my spring 2013 wardrobe! I'm going to make a whole series out of it. Today's post will focus on what Zuhair Murad did right!

Very right.

Zuhair Murad
Strappy and fabulous, these wedges have pretty much everything you'd want in a pair of platforms. They're perfect for pairing with a cute pair of loose white linen pants and a blue button-up, perhaps in navy.

If your event is a bit more formal...

Zuhair Murad
The exquisite detailing on this dress is fantastic and I love the feathers - they add a touch of whimsy! It's a positively delightful creation and would be great for garden parties and cocktail parties alike!

Though the next dress is a bit less versatile, it still achieves that breath-taking femininity that marks Zuhair Murad's spring 2013 collection:

Zuhair Murad
I love the ruffles and if there's a dress that just made for Easter, this is it!

And this dress?

Zuhair Murad
This dress is why I want to get married. 

Bravo, Zuhair Murad has done it again!

Which is your favorite Zuhair Murad piece for the spring?

Jan 26, 2013

Saffron Road Food Review & Giveaway

I love crunchy add-ons to my yogurt and granola messes or my ice cream sundaes. 

More textures = more fun!

Usually this extra crunch comes in the form of nuts. But for those with nut allergies, it's a real pity to miss out!

And even for those without nut allergies, it's fun to mix it up sometimes.

Boy oh boy am I happy about one of the latest snack trends - crunchy chickpea snacks!

I tried three varieties from Saffron Road Food - two spicy and one milder.

The Wasabi flavor is AMAZEBALLS.


They are literally little spicy balls of AMAZING.

They're a little salty, but not too salty. They're a little spicy, but not too spicy.



The seasoning is just right and they're crunchy AMAZING!!!

And healthy - 6g of protein per serving? Organic? Chickpeas as the first ingredient?


Yes, please!

Though they're great straight out of the bag, they're also amazing on yogurt messes (see Bombay Spice, below):



The crunch and flavor bring a good yogurt mess to epic levels of awesome! Chocolate chip cookies in there don't hurt, either ;)

Saffron Road also makes really tasty ready sauces to make super quick and easy Indian meals at home!


I tried all four simmer sauces and liked them all - the red sauces were all a bit spicy, but not too spicy (even for wimpy me). If you're super not into spice, however, go with the Lemongrass Basil - it has coconut and is creamy and tasty, but really not spicy (just spiced).


Most of the simmer sauces are vegan, but they're all vegetarian. The Tikka Masala sauce does have cream in it, so it's not vegan.
 

I really like how convenient these sauces are. It's way cheaper than ordering Indian takeout regularly and much healthier - their sauces are all free of MSG and they're all gluten-free, too! They're also all Halal certified. 


And I love how easy it makes making a delicious meal! You just heat up a little oil in a pan and add your veggies and tofu (or meat, if you prefer) with the sauce. Then it pretty much cooks itself while you go set the table or finish folding the laundry or whatever.

These next pictures are from when my mom used the Moroccan Tagine sauce (since I'm vegetarian).


She used beef, but the sauce smelled really good and I bet it would be really tasty with tofu, too!


Just add in your protein and veggies to the sauce and serve with some rice.


They all really enjoyed the spicy-sweet meal.


And my mom loved the convenience.

Lemongrass Basil with peppers, tomato, celery, and chicken
I think it's a great way to impress friends with your ability to cook world cuisine ;)

You guys can try some of Saffron Road's goodies, too! One lucky LLE reader (you have to be a US resident) will win 5 free product coupons from Saffron Road! 

Enter through Rafflecopter below (through February 9) for your chance to win!

Jan 25, 2013

Friday Foodie Finds #30

I love, love, LOVE peanut butter! Yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day, so today's theme is peanut butter - check out these awesome peanut butter recipes from around the blogosphere!

This week is peanut butter recipes, next week is peanut butter sandwiches :)

As always, V for vegan, GF for gluten free, and R for raw.


DSC_0076


Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Pie Recipe at TidyMom.net #LoveThePie

Can you say MY kind of pie?? I need to try this now! Heck, I need to try this...five minutes ago! Okay, I'll finish this post - but then, off to the kitchen!



I'm not vegan, but I'm glad there's a Girl Scout Cookie knock-off out there for those of you who are. I don't know what I'd do without my annual dose of Girl Scout cookies! Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and Caramel Delites are THE BOMB.


Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

And they're whole grain!


If you've already had your fill of nut butters for the day, but you still want that peanut flour flavor (or you're looking for a lighter baking mix-in than peanut butter), peanut powder is a popular alternative.


I tried a new to me brand of peanut flour. Dowd & Roger's from Fun Fresh Foods has all-natural gluten-free peanut powder made of non-gmo roasted peanuts.

I like that it's in a tub instead of a bag. A lot of peanut flours come in a bag, but then you have to transfer the powder to a tub for storage and it can all get a bit messy

I also like that the tub is nearly full of powder. PB2's jars are half-empty and it always makes me wonder why they don't just use a smaller jar (since you're not meant to pre-mix the powder all at once, any way).

I tried both their Peanut Powder with Cacao and their original plain Peanut Powder.


I tried the plain one first, as that's the one I use most in recipes, for sauces, and in milkshakes.

The ingredients list is short and sweet.


Just Roasted Peanuts, Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, and Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. To make the standard peanut paste (the option closest to peanut butter) you must mix 2 Tbsp of the Peanut Powder with up to 1Tbsp of water (or oil - I think olive oil tastes quite good with it, if you'd like to get in some healthy fats and essential fatty acids for your skin, hair, brain, and heart).


But if you have plenty of fat in your diet already and are using the peanut powder as a lower fat peanut butter substitute, water works quite well.


Even with water, it mixes up to a nice creamy consistency. As you can see, it's a nice golden brown color. The rich color correlates with a rich flavor - this peanut powder makes a very flavorful peanut paste!

With the light sweetness from the organic sugar and the light saltiness from the Himalayan sea salt, this peanut powder is one of the most convincing peanut butter substitutes of the flours that I've tried, if you're using it as a lower fat bread spread, ice cream topping, or yogurt mix-in. It also holds up well in heat, in case you want to use it in pancakes or peanut noodles (pasta with spicy Asian peanut sauce).

Though it's very versatile, my favorite way to use this peanut powder is as a peanut paste.


It's great for dipping anything and everything into!

The peanut powder with cacao is also quite good - it's essentially the same thing, but chocolatey. It won't fool any of you DCD lovers, but it's great as a milkshake mix-in.

Well, I'm off to try making that Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Pie now!

Is peanut butter your favorite nut butter?

How often do you eat peanut butter?

What do you use peanut flour for? How often?

What are you up to this weekend?

Jan 24, 2013

Clif Kid Z Bar Review

Today I have a new bar review for you guys - a whole line of them!

Clif Kid Z Bars are vegan kid-sized snack bars that are great for kids or peckish adults! If you're not really hungry but want a little pop of energy, or if you're hungry but it's still thirty minutes until dinner (so you don't want to eat much and fill up, but you need something) these bars are the perfect size.

When I tried a Clif bar about a year and a half ago (waaaay back at the beginning of LLE) I wasn't a huge fan. I hadn't tried any since, so I was curious what I'd think of Clif Kid Z Bars.



First of all, these are not just many Clif bars. They are their own line of snack bars with different textures and a unique five flavors - flavors like Full Moon Brownie, Iced Oatmeal Cookie, and S'mores.

Since they are mini-bars for kids' snacking, it's appropriate that their nutritional stats line up with those of the major rival in this sort of bar (by which I mean Quaker Chewy). They have a nice 3g of fiber each, though, and 10g of whole grains - plus no HFCS, so that's a huge plus!



If you're packing a lunch box for your little one, you don't want to pack HFCS and other weird stuff. You want natural, whole foods.

Right off the bat I liked that the first ingredient in the bar is oats. The ingredients list isn't particularly short, but it is made up of such healthy organic ingredients as fig paste, honey, soy butter, and milled flaxseed.


The bars are also pretty consistent in terms of ingredients and nutritional stats, with just a little variation from flavor to flavor.

I really liked the texture of all of the Clif Kid Z bars! Even though only one (the Iced Oatmeal Cookie) calls itself a cookie spin-off, they all taste like cookies and have the texture of a cookie-fig newton hybrid.


Deliciously soft and perfectly sweet, they're so good that you kind of want it to be a full-sized bar! But because of the sweetness and flavor intensity, the small snack size is enough.



The chocolate brownie bar is super chocolatey, the S'mores bar does the camping treat justice (though the marshmallows are very finely chopped, if anything, and not whole marshmallow like in Halo bars), the iced oatmeal cookie is simple and sweet and delightful, and the peanut butter has a nice, strong peanut buttery flavor that I (as a peanut butter lover) really enjoyed. I bet many of you will, too ;)



But the biggest surprise for me was the Honey Graham bar, which also happens to be the bar I had the lowest expectations for!


Honey Graham can often be a bit of a 'meh' flavor, just an excuse for a flavorless bar with no chocolate or mix-ins. But this bar is not that. It's not just the base of the other bars without the good stuff.

Nope, this has the delightful winter-y/fall-y flavors of honey graham crackers and the sweet icing stripes play off the tasty honey graham cookie-type bar to really make it taste and feel like a childhood sweet treat!


Yum. Yum. Yum, yum, yum!

Have you tried Clif Kid Z bars?

What's normally your least favorite bar flavor and what's normally your favorite?

What do you snack on when you're hungry shortly before dinner is ready?

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