WIAW #98: Wrapping Up NYC

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I enjoyed last week's photo dump, so here's another photo-dump style WIAW to wrap up my time in NYC.

Premium vanilla bean ice cream with lots of fig jam and crushed walnuts is a delightful way to cool off in the summer heat.

Balanced with a spicy ratatouille (with eggplant, various colored peppers, mushrooms, sweet potato, and random other yumminess).

But when it's really too hot to cook, peanut butter (and soy nut butter, on the right) sandwiches are great.

Slapped together for less messy eating, but still with lots of nut butter - just the way that I like them.

A fruity smoothie can be refreshing.

I tend to love green smoothies, but sometimes the pretty pale colors of just-fruit-and-milk smoothies is a nice change.

These hideodorous green chocolate protein pancakes tasted really, really good - much better than they look (served on vanilla yogurt and baked fruit - I think apples, maybe pear?).

For a NYC splurge, I love Organic Avenue wraps.

They're made with whole food ingredients:

Making them as good for you as they are delicious!

Why, oh why, is there no Organic Avenue cafe/shop in Boston?

I would faint in happiness if they would open one there. I still prefer the Thai Collard Wrap (similar to their Veggie Tahini Wrap, but the sweetness of the mango and the creaminess of the almond butter makes it even better) to the Mushroom Wrap, but both are delicious.

The cauliflower salad is delicious, too, though it's not a meal-sized portion.

But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in flavor.

Sweet from the dates and refreshing from the mint it is, like their other culinary delights, a real treat!

These Maki Rolls from Juice Generation are really delicious, too. Juice Generation has fewer raw food offerings than Organic Avenue (or maybe just fewer in the store) but the pricing is similar and they're just as delicious - and it's all different entrees than Organic Avenue offers, so they complement one another well.

Their Acai Bowls are also beyond delicious, though I don't have a good photo at the moment. 

What's your favorite way to stay cool in the heat?

Can you believe tomorrow is August?

When does summer end for you?

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MyOatmeal.com: PB Lean Review!

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I reviewed two MyOatmeal.com blends last week and really enjoyed their customizable healthy oatmeal!

They also offer PB Lean, however, a peanut flour mix that you can also get as an add-in in your oatmeal mixes.

Healthy fat is really important, but if you've already had half a jar of peanut butter that day (shhhhhhh) and still want some more, your stomach might prefer a lighter alternative. Alternately, if you're flying and want peanut butter flavor on the plane (but TSA is cramping your style with its ban on liquids and creams) you can take some PB Lean along in a little jar, add some water, and it's a tasty sub.

I personally love it as a mix-in for smoothies or to use in cooking or baking. You can replace a little of the flour in the recipe with PB Lean for peanut flavor and a protein boost.

It's a light gold color and, in my opinion, looks and tastes more like actual peanut butter than most peanut flours out there. 

The texture is still, of course, different from regular peanut butter. Since some of the fat is removed and you're reconstituting the ground peanuts with water or milk, it won't have that same creamilicious mouthfeel or be as thick and sticky and satisfying. 

As long as you don't expect a direct 1:1 substitute (but why would you? Then eat peanut butter, fat isn't evil, it's necessary!) it's really enjoyable.

How do you use peanut flour?

What are your favorite healthy fats?

Do you add peanut butter or peanut flour to your smoothies?

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Quick and Easy Meal: Vegan Cheezy Spaghetti Recipe!

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It's been a while since I posted a recipe for you guys and made a really tasty, really easy, really quick and convenient (and really budget friendly) meal the other night, so I'll share it with you now!

Vegan Cheezy Spaghetti

Serves 4

* 1 bag spaghetti, boiled and drained (16oz dry)

* Olive Oil, to cover bottom of pan generously

* 4 cloves garlic, minced

* 1-2 cups chopped cherry tomatoes

* Daiya Jalepeno Garlic Style Wedge, 1 container (8oz)

* Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and paprika, to taste

1) Heat oil over medium heat.

2) Saute minced garlic until lightly golden.

3) Add chopped cherry tomatoes, saute until soft.

4) Add cooked and drained spaghetti, stir.

5) Cut the vegan cheese in.

6) Add spices, to taste.

7) Stir regularly until cheese is all melted.

ENJOY!

I'm not vegan (and my family isn't even vegetarian) but we all enjoyed it - including my picky eight-year-old sister!

What's the tastiest dinner you've cooked for yourself lately?

What's your favorite way to eat pasta?

Do you prefer making up recipes or following recipes?

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MyOatmeal.Com: Blend #2 Review!

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I reviewed my first of two MyOatmeal.com blends the other day. What makes them really unique from other oatmeal companies is their Build Your Blend page, which takes the fro-yo model of build-whatever-you-want and applies it to breakfast!

Here's my review of the second entirely self-customized healthy oatmeal blend!

It's a seven step process to make a blend and their customer service reps are eager to help if you run into any bumps (which you probably won't, it really is quite straight forward). For details, check out my earlier review! Here's the quick version.

Step 1 - Choose a size. 

Step 2 - Choose your oats. 

Step 3 - Choose your flavor. 

Step 4 - Choose your fruits. 

Step 5 - Choose your sweetener. 

Step 6 - Choose nuts, seeds, etc. 

Step 7 - NAME IT! 

Pricing is a la carte, so you pay for what you get. It makes making a tasty bowl of oatmeal all the easier, since you can just add the liquid and apply your heat source, then let it finish itself. No need to stand over the stove, trying to figure out what to add. Nice!

Cookie Monster was my second blend. It was just as delicious as the first, if not more! I added PB Lean to this blend, which made it even creamier and richer.

The peanut butter flavor was intense. It was like a healthy bowlful of peanut butter kitchen sink cookies for breakfast. YUM.

What would you have in your ideal oatmeal blend?

What's your favorite kind of nut butter?

What's your favorite dried fruit?

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WIAW #97

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This is a minimal words WIAW.

My first visit to Juice Generation in NYC the other day, to try their Tropical Acai Bowl and Collard-Wrapped Enchiladas (ate them separately). 

The enchiladas were amazing and super filling, stuffed with a spiced nut mix.

The little strip of nori was a quite touch.



They also had a creamy dip (not dairy-based) that really played off the sharpness of the raw onions in the salsa well.

From a recent trip to Wilmington, my first visit to a Brrrberry.

Let it suffice to say that I'm in love. And that I probably put every single chocolate/nut/cereal/cookie/cracker topping that they had on there - and let's not forget the hot fudge and caramel.

Healthy is about balance! And chocolatey, frozen, ooey gooey indulgences are just as much a part of that healthy balance as fruits and veggies.

A yummy green smoothie - simple: a large frozen banana, almond milk, a handful of spinach, some ice, and honey.

Absolutely delicious and so refreshing.

That one isn't mine (I'm vegetarian and only 20 - no law-breaking with underage wine consumption here) but a recent trip to Wilmington, NC introduced me to the shrimp burger. A fun idea, no?

Back to my eats, I made cheezy pasta (vegan, above, made with Daiya wedges) and microwave peach cobbler (hidden under vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, below) the other day. I'll have to share the recipes for both. 

The cobbler was really impressive for something I made in under five minutes in the microwave.

What's still on your summer to-do list?

Which recipe should I post first?

What are you doing in the fall?

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MyOatmeal.com: A Unique Breakfast Experience

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I love breakfast.

As in, I LOVE breakfast. It is more uncommon for me to not eat breakfast for dinner or lunch than it is for me to eat breakfast more than once a day. Breakfast foods are just so delicious! Cereal, bread, fruits, pancakes, etc.?

Yum.

I've always been a big fan of cereal, especially tasty, hearty, whole grain varieties like sweet granola and muesli, but cooked oatmeal hasn't always been my favorite thing. When I first started blogging over a year ago, cooked oatmeal was the healthy living blogger food - probably starting with Kath's KERF oatmeal bowls, oatmeal became the new DIY fro-yo fun mix-and-match food.

But spending half an hour every morning trying to put together an interesting, tasty bowl of oats?

They may be packed with fiber, protein, and all sorts of whole grain goodness, but I have a life.

MyOatmeal.com is a new site that enables consumers to enjoy the same healthy oatmeal without the long morning routine!

What makes them really unique from other oatmeal companies is their Build Your Blend page, which takes the fro-yo model of build-whatever-you-want and applies it to breakfast!

I built two blends and tried their PB Lean also (their peanut flour mix, review to come) and today I'll review the first of the two blends that I made.

Building a blend is a fun, easy, seven step process and, handy for those with special nutritional requirements, you can track the nutrition of your blend as you work on it.



I found it to be a really straightforward process, but you can call the customer service number if you have any issues or questions (the number is big and bold on the site, they really like helping their customers have the best possible breakfast experience).

Step 1 - Choose a size. You can get small (1lb), medium (2.25lb), or jumbo (4lb) if you're really confident in your blend.

Step 2 - Choose your oats. They have a variety of different cuts of oats and blends of those, like steel cut oats, gluten free rolled oats, a 5 grain rolled oats & flax mix, and more!

Step 3 - Choose your flavor. All flavors are 100% natural and you can choose from a ton of amazing sounding flavors, like Black Forest Cake, Cake Batter, Old Fashioned Donut, English Toffee, etc. YUM!

Step 4 - Choose your fruits. Loads of dried fruits, YUM. Currants, raisins, tart cherries, dried blueberries, etc.!

Step 5 - Choose your sweetener. If you forget to add a sweetener and you have a flavor, they have a pop-up to remind you to make it sweet - the flavors don't taste right if you don't add sweetener. Your options are brown cane sugar, crystallized cane sugar, and splenda (so it's even diabetic friendly). I like that you get to choose, they let you completely customize your breakfast!

Step 6 - Choose nuts, seeds, etc. Cashews, macadamia nuts, their PB Lean, even chia seeds...lots of yummy nut add-ins! They know me well.

Step 7 - NAME IT! Naming things is fun, no?

Pricing is a la carte, so you pay for what you get. That's great, too, you can decide whether to splurge on lots of mix-ins or be more frugal and just stick to one of each!

Then when you want to make your oatmeal, just add milk (or water, if you don't like it creamy) and quickly cook it up over the stove or microwave. It turns being in charge of breakfast a long affair that leaves you feeling like this:

Into a happy-dappy part of your morning routine. Since all the yummies are already in the mix, you can just let it cook itself while you do that second (or third) outfit change or check your email!

My chocoholic blend was delicious - I chose to skip the sweetener on this one, so that I could add my own honey (I love drippy honey in oatmeal) and I knew I wouldn't forget. It was delicious and I loved the sweet strawberries with the rich chocolate flavor. Yum, yum, y um! It cooked up into a delightful bowl of fluffy oats, straight from the microwave.

How long does your morning routine last?

Do you do multiple outfit changes?

What would you have in your ideal oatmeal blend?

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Guest Post: Perfect Party Planning

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Just in time for the weekend, here's a guest post from Kristin Lynn Steward - how to plan the perfect summer party! Enjoy!

How to plan the perfect summer party

To me, the summer is all about having parties. It doesn’t matter if it is a birthday or just a “hey, what are you doing later?” kind of day – parties and summer just go together!

My neighbors and I look forward to the summer every year because we can get out and enjoy each other’s company after being stuck inside all winter. Our favorite part about having a party during the summer is playing lawn games, and for me that’s bocce. If you aren’t familiar, a small ball called a jack (or pallino if you are familiar with the classic Italian lawn bowling game) is rolled to the opposite end of the lawn from where you are – usually about 15 feet or so. This game is usually played between two teams. Each team then takes turns bowling their ball as close to the jack as possible. Whichever team gets closest to the jack is awarded a point.

From the web

Now I grew up playing bocce, so there are plenty of strategies you can take in an attempt to win including trying to hit the other team’s ball away from the jack! Bocce, as well as other lawn games, can be a great way to get everyone up out of their chairs and socializing. Bocce can be a lot of fun and is perfect for a summer party! St. Pierre is a premium gaming brand that is made in the USA and their bocce sets are top notch.

If you are going to have a more formal party than just grabbing your neighbors and lighting up the grill, invitations can help set the right mood. Last summer a friend of mine had a party with a “classic cocktail” theme. They made Prohibition-era drinks, including the Manhattan, the classic Martini, and my personal favorite, the Cosmopolitan. It seemed kind of funny, but she loaded classic music from Glenn Miller, Billie Holiday, Harry James, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman on her iPod (yes, classic music on a high-tech device) to help set the mood. It was a blast! She sent out these really cool party invitations from Shutterfly.com that looked like the menu was on a blackboard. Definitely cool! It was really a great time!

When I am having a summer party, it is all about the BBQ. I like to go beyond the basic “burgers and dogs” though and done something different on the grill. 

From the web

I absolutely LOVE shellfish, so I learned how to do mussels on the grill. It sounds tricky, but it really isn’t and trust me when I tell you, it is sure to impress!

I also like making something summery for drinks in both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic option. This summer I want to try these watermelon martinis from this recipe by Bobby Flay. For my non-alcoholic drink option, I want to try making this watermelon lemonade by Martha Stewart.

From the web

No matter how you decide to have your summer party this year, just remember it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. What is most important is a good night’s weather and some good friends to match!

Do you like throwing parties?

What are your favorite kinds of parties? My favorite are definitely Christmas parties - no surprise here!

What are your best party planning tips?

Want to guest blog? Email me at livinglearningeating AT gmail DOT com!

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