Food Should Taste Good! And a Review

Food Should Taste Good



The nice folks at Food Should Taste Good were crazy enough to let me try their products. I was very impressed overall and loved the complexity, crunch, and satisfying flavors of these snacks. Below is the breakdown of each flavor.

Thanks again for letting me taste my way through these snacks!

Chocolate: Can you really do any better than chips and chocolate? The chocolate was a mild flavor but was definitely noticeable and a great treat. I ate these plain and it was just enough of a chocolate kick.

Olive:The olive master of the house (Mike) stole these and took them to work. He dipped them in hummus and was in chip heaven. He said that this was reminiscent of eating mild green olives and asked when we would be buying some more!

Buffalo: This chip was not hot enough for me as I was expecting some major kick. I loved the color anyways and dipped it in some salsa- yes, a bizarre combination but it worked for me!

Jalapeño: Again, this chip was not as hot as I expected, but I loved the mild, flavorful bites. I think I tasted some lime in this, but it could have been my imagination since I was expecting a fiesta. I think these chips would be awesome as the base of a Mexican salad.

Multigrain: These chips were my absolute favorite. I think I ate them for 4 meals straight and may have included breakfast. Don't judge. I loved the crunchy, nutty and sesame flavor. I saw these at Costco last week and we picked some up! These will be hard to stay away from!

The Works: These chips were interesting since they had poppy and caraway seeds, minced garlic and onions. The taste reminded me of an everything bagel and tasted great dipped in regular hummus. Since I'm not much of a garlic girl, the chips were a bit overwhelming but would be great served at a party.

Sweet Potato: Hands down, my fave. I love sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes and I should get married and eating these chips was pure love. I'm totally cheesy, but these were honestly really good. I think the folks making these bad boys got them right. I will definitely buy these again.

My Food Should Taste Good

Over the last few weeks I have been figuring out a way to revamp my eating, make it healthier, make it better, make it more, make it less, etc. I have not discussed much of my eating history but I have always been up and down. It seems like there is some formula to lose weight, but I felt like the dumb kid in math class that just used the wrong equations.

Over the last 10 months or so, I have lost those stupid last 5-10 pounds. You know, the pounds that come from extra frozen yogurt in the summers, wine with dinner, warm bread baskets, and yes- even extra scoops of peanut butter in my morning oatmeal. In my lower points, it is also the weight that came from boredom eating, the weight that my body wanted to get back after not properly nourishing myself, and the outright splurge. I have been a healthy eater since I first lost my 'fat kid weight.' (I am not trying to offend anyone here. I truly was an overweight adolescent at 20 pounds overweight).

It's just that something was not clicking. I don't think I was ready for it. Each time I lost weight, I was not ready to own my body and it felt like I was inhabiting something else- but not my own body. Over the last couple of weeks, these same thoughts have crossed my mind on many occasions.

I won't lie- I am experiencing a lot of pressure just a little over 3 months before my wedding. When I run into people I haven't seen in a long time, they comment about how thin I look. Instead of accepting the compliment, the inner me says 'Just wait until I gain it again'. While we were on a trip to Lake Tahoe, I wore shorts because it was hot outside. Logical, right? Well this was a huge step for me. I have always been critical of my lower body and haven't worn shorts unless I was going to the beach for years. When Mike took a picture of me and I took a look, it was hard to see because I wasn't comfortable in my skin. He told me I was crazy so I stopped talking but didn't stop thinking. As we hiked up the mountain to see a beautiful waterfall, I realized that my crazy legs carried me up the trail, through the mountains, through many gym workouts, across the graduation stage, and to work every day. Blast my thoughts- I'm letting them have their day.

No, I'm not 100% confident. No, I am not going to be walking around in booty shorts. But I will be nicer to me. I will properly feed myself like I have been for the last 10 months. I will exercise because it feels good, and sometimes I will eat what I want because food should taste good.

Here are a few snapshots from our weekend in Tahoe and my short, short, shorts!

Have you grown to love any body parts? What have you done to be more comfortable in your skin?

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my future mother-in-law got married! Are you confused? Yes, future hubby and his mom are getting married in the same year. We have a lot in common, even the same first name, so technically, I can just assume her identity once September hits.

The day was absolutely gorgeous and we could not have asked for better weather. I was able to spend the day helping the lovely bride get ready and it was really great to spend time with the family right before everything happened. We have been sharing wedding jitters together so I felt a lot of pressure for this to go well!

The wedding took place on a yacht that goes out in the San Francisco Bay. The views were frieken stunning. Am I a little jealous of the views they will get in their pictures? Maybe. But we also got in some photos for ourselves. My favorite part was the cake. It was gorgeous and tasted good- huge criteria in my book.

Now without further babbling, here is the photo recap.

Congratulations Elena and Stan!

Wedding cake:


The lovely bride:


My hot guy walking his momma down the aisle:


Me and my papa:


Many gratuitous pictures of us soaking up the view:




It was a tad windy


The happy couple:

A Manly Salad

In our house, I am the master of all nutritional decisions. Yes, we have some situations in which the future Mr. eats ridiculously unhealthy foods, but everything is in moderation. In the most un-Betty Croker way, I enjoy making lunches and since I am packing mine, why not pack both? Plus I love knowing that my guy is getting something healthy.

Since Mike works out hard 3-4 times a week and he outweighs me by over 60 pounds, we have very different nutritional needs. I present to you "The Man Salad". This salad packs a big protein punch and is filling enough to keep a growing boy fed during the day.








Here are the ingredients:
*3 cups organic mixed greens
*chopped cucumber
*cilantro
*1/4 cup shredded cheese
*hardboiled egg
*5-6 oz roasted chicken
*avocado slices
*sliced almonds

I am going to have Mike try this peanut sauce as dressing. I usually add the dressing in the morning since I don't like the concept of mushy salad at all, and Mike can handle about 4 hours of dressing mush no problem.

There are no special ingredients, but I would say that if you are trying to get your guy to eat healthy, use recognizable, wholesome, familiar ingredients in a way that make it a little healthier and don't skimp on the healthy fats and proteins.

I'm hoping for a guest post and review from my taste tester soon!

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Wear a Helmet for Safety (and style)

When we moved into our new house, one of the gifts we got from our Realtor was a gift certificate to a bike shop. I picked up my new baby and instantly fell in love. Now that the weather is good, I am looking forward to taking lots of rides and kicked off bike season yesterday!

I look like a complete goon, but I always wear my helmet. Partially because of the necessity, and partially because I secretly like it. Who doesn't like a good helmet-styled hairstyle after a nice ride? Sounds like a bonus to me. Ladies- guys love this!

On a tangent- when we lived near Berkeley, we always saw people with helmets. They wore them all the time...even when they walked into the businesses they biked to...or sometimes just walking down the street. I'm assuming it's a cultural thing.




After my nail appointment, more walking, and hair trim and blow-out, I slapped my helmet back on and rode home. Once I came back, we went to the magical place called Costco. Here is a preview of the masses of foods that will guest star on the blog:



Roasted garlic hummus, kiwi, organic mixed greens salad, laughing cow cheese, those gosh-forsaken cookies (had one already)!



5 pounds of organic baby carrots, asparagus, pita chips, jarlsberg swiss cheese, almond butter, olives (for future Mr. Apple), and almond butter.

I'm getting geared up to go to the gym today and then we are doing Mother's Day (x2) with both families.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

The Tank Top

When you live with your fiance, there are many things that you learn to share. Now- something you must understand- I am the younger child. I do not share.

I like to buy men's tank tops or wifebeaters as they are known in our cultural circles. I buy mine in Small and black. They are perfect for wearing over sports bras at the gym and are part of my weekend uniform. Occasionally, I buy white tanks as well, but they are a little too sheer for my taste. We do our laundry together and all tanks are separated and folded.

Today I packed Mike's gym clothes because we were running late. We both went in to change for the gym and Mike walks out in the tiniest tank top I have every seen on a guy- and not in a good way- there was hairy belly button involved. I burst out with laughter in the middle of the gym. Luckily I was wearing one of my longer tanks and we exchanged shirts right on the gym floor. I am sure we received a few strange looks, but damn...I'm afraid he looks better in my top than I do. We decided to carefully sort our clothes from now on.

Now on to food- the reason I'm here:

Breakfast today was a fruit parfait with fat free yogurt, strawberries and 1/2 cup of Special K. I put this together at work and I must say- it kept me full for a whole 90 minutes because Special K is made of air- skimpy air.




Next, my plan was to get my veggies in:



This was a boatload of celery, a small green apple, some nasty fat free cheese, and a couple of baby peppers. This was just my appetizer because it was time for Yogurt Friday. I behaved myself but forgot to take a picture.

After my workout at the gym (which was frieken awesome!) I came home and tried a famous modified crack wrap. I'm still ironing out the details and will post when I have the perfect crack wrap.

After this, I went with dessert:



This is about 1/2 cup of TJ's tart fat free yogurt, a couple of pieces of frozen fruit, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, and a mini Reese's cup. Take that, Coldstone. I estimate this dessert at 300 cals- yes, it's high, but better than the damage I would do out someplace.

Yes, I am aware that I ate fro yo twice today. If you include my morning yogurt, my calcium intake is frieken fabulous! I am embracing it!

2-Minute Meals

If you are busy like I am, one of the last things you think about is making yourself dinner. I have a little problem in not wanting to cook for myself, especially when in a rush. Of course I make poor choices when I am too rushed, but I have found a good go-to meal in the last couple of weeks that fits all my requirements:

*High Protein

*Relatively low cal

*Simple ingredients

*Easy to make

This is no rocket science, but I present you- Apple's Open Face Tuna Sandwich:

Ingredients:

1 can tuna

2 slices whole grain bread

1 tbsp Sweet and spicy mustard

Optional: salt, pepper, choice of spices

Also optional: lite cheese to melt on top

Toast the bread, and while waiting for it to toast, mix tuna with the spicy mustard. Once done, spread the tuna mix, and voila!

Here are the cals for the basic 'recipe':

Bread (@100 cals each) 200

Tuna 120

Spicy Mustard 10

For under 350 cals you get an insanely high protein, healthy meal. I have also melted cheese on top and added sweet chili sauce to mix things up. You can also add some healthy fat with sprinkling almonds on top.

I have learned that the simpler the better when in a rush. Hope you give this a try!

What are some of your favorite quick meals?

Blog-less Blogger

I just looked and the last time I posted was in April. We are already at May 6th! Where has the time gone?!?

I don't have a really good reason for my little hiatus. Yes, I have a whole boatload of food pictures on my camera. Yes, I have been keeping up on my workouts. Yes, school has been busy (as has work) but I have always found time to at least post once a week. So what has changed?

I can't say I'm getting sick of blogging- in fact, it's one of my only creative outlets. The blog community is so supportive and inspiring that sometimes I am overwhelmed by all the ideas and exciting news people post about. Sometimes I feel like the daily 'non-news' I have is a little boring and not worth blogging. Other times, when I am running around I don't make the best food choices. I want to be a good influence because this is such a public forum and I know that it's not acceptable to have pretzels for dinner- so I don't want to set a bad example. In addition, I don't seem to have a focus. Can daily ramblings really serve the purpose of a blog? How many more times can I say 'and oops, I ate chocolate for lunch'?

Despite all the self doubt, I'm back to the blog world. I owe some product reviews, some wedding updates (because the wedding is really interesting to ME), and perhaps a few challenges that I can stick with. I am not a quitter and I am excited to bring some more focus!

That said, is there anything you would like to see more of (besides regular posts)? Anything to avoid? Please let me know and maybe this will help me become a more focused, consistent blogger!

Hope you are having a happy Wednesday!