The Friday Five 10.19.12

1. What I’m Reading: Did you guys check out God Never Blinks, the book I posted about last Friday? I hope you did!! It really is a gem. This week I’ve been reading The Child Who by Simon Lelic. I’m not too far into it, but I can tell it’s going to be a thriller.

I should probably read something more light-hearted soon. Any recommendations?

2. What I’m Eating:  I’m scared at how quickly I’m going through my case of popchips. I’ve already eaten three bags! So far, my favorite flavor is chili limón.  

3. Recipes I’m Bookmarking:  Tomato-Poached Fish with Kale and Chickpeas.

4. What I’m Listening to: Home by Phillip Phillips. 

Enter video caption here

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

WHEN EVERYONE IS POSTING THEIR POLITICAL OPINION ON FACEBOOK:

WATCHING THE POLITICAL DEBATES…

SOME PEOPLE:

ME:

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend! 

New, Fun Food Finds!

Here are a some new foods I’ve discovered either on websites, in stores, or through friends.

1. Riceworks Tangy BBQ rice crisps.

I’ve had the Salsa Fresca flavor and they were so good. I’d like to try these next.

2. How much do you love the brand name Cookiehead? I saw these at La Guardia airport. Must find here!

3. These granola bars in the dairy section of the grocery store and as a bit confused. Apparently they contain real milk in them. They come in Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter, Mixed Berry, Chocolate, and Strawberry.

4. Weren’t SnackWell’s products all the rage in the 90s? Their slogan is “Be Bad. Snack Well.” Interesting, huh? I’m curious about Mint Fudge Shortbread cookies.

5. Jello S’mores pudding. What!

6. My friend Lauren told me about these beet chips. Holy cow.

They also make apple snacks.

7. Some like it hot, hot, hot!

8. I see VitaTops on blogs a lot. Are they actually good or are you guys tricking yourselves?

9. These were spotted at Whole Foods. The bars contain ONLY fruit.

10. These Pure Bars look really good and come in a ton of flavors: chocolate brownie, cranberry orange, apple cinnamon, cherry cashew, wild blueberry, and dark chocolate berry.

Which ones have you seen or tried?

The Most Disgusting Blog Post I’ve Ever Written

As a food blogger, it should come as no surprise that I daydream about food. It will surprise you, though, that I often daydream about food that I cannot have. And by cannot, I mean should not ever. I see so many blog posts called “What I Ate Wednesday” but thought I’d twist that idea into something rather, well, disgusting.

Welcome to the inside of my (crazy) head. Here’s what I secretly would eat if nutrition wasn’t a concern.

1. Chef Boyardee Spaghetti & Meatballs.  I know. You just gagged, didn’t you? Growing up, I spent most weekends at my Grammy’s house. When we’d go grocery shopping, I always picked up a can of these. Ugh. 

2. Lucky Charms

And no, I wouldn’t just pick out the marshmallows. I love it all.

3. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

This is one of their best flavors. It’s a “collision of Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Creams with HEATH® Bar Chunks, White Chocolatey Chunks, Peanut Butter Cups & Chocolatey-Covered Almonds.” Cruel, just cruel.

4. Hawaiian Sweet Maui Onion potato chipsThese things are so freaking good. You can find them at World Market.

5. Dunkaroos!

Remember when I found these at Wal-Mart last fall? Yeah, I almost peed my pants out of excitement. They were only $2 to boot.

6. Oatmeal Crème Pies and Cosmic Brownies by Little Debbie

These two are just shameful. In high school, Nancy and I would destroy a box of Cosmic Brownies. They’re so fudgey.

7. Ellio’s Pepperoni Pizza

I also ate this as a child. Something about the rectangular shape excites me.

8. Curly Fries…especially if they’re spicy.

Do I just love these for the curl? When I did eat these, I remember getting oh so excited for the ones that were super long. And of course I loved them because I could drown them in ketchup.

9. Cadbury Mini Eggs

Besides peanut and pretzel m&ms, this is my favorite candy. It’s not even quality chocolate but I love the taste of the candy shell. Plus, they make me happy because they’re pastel.

10. and my very favorite, Funfetti cake!!!

Well guys, now that I’ve disgusted you,  it’s time for me to go and eat my kale.

Sigh.

What would YOU eat if the nutrition/ingredients didn’t matter? Be honest! You know you want some boxed cake too.

Do you ever indulge in these taboo foods?

Tasty Tuesday

It has been a while since I made a list of new products I’ve discovered, so here goes! Enjoy! 

1. Fage’s Greek yogurt is my absolute favorite. Nothing compares to their rich, creamy texture. They have so many different flavors and I can honestly say I like every single one. Recently, they came out with a raspberry flavor. It’s divine!

2. After seeing Trader Joe’s Hot & Sweet Mustard on Katie’s blog several times,  I finally decided to give it a try. Wow. Just wow. Now I see why she goes through a jar a week. If you’re a fan of mustard, go pick this up immediately. I love topping my Morningstar veggie burgers with it.

It sort of reminds me of Chick-fil-A’s mustard. No wonder why my taste buds are loving it!

3. Thanks to my dear Sara, I finally tried the Cinnamon Coffee Cake Kashi bar. She was so kind to send me not one, but four bars, and I devoured them immediately. They remind me of my favorite Luna Bar, Iced Oatmeal Raisin. I hope to one day find them in my area.

4. We all know how much love I have in my heart for Popchips. I am most fond of the Barbecue, Sweet Potato, and Salt & Pepper flavors. After trying the Jalapeno flavor recently, I have added it to my list of faves. It’s a spicy one!

5. Since becoming a Vegetarian, I’ve been trying different veggie burgers. So far I’ve gagged at the Trader Joe’s veggie burgers (random green bean hanging in the patty was CREEPY!), but really loved the Morningstar Spicy Black Bean burger. I’ve also enjoyed the Morningstar Asian Veggie Patties.

6. Peanut Butter & Company’s Dark Chocolate Dreams is a chocolate lover’s dream peanut butter. It’s creamy and smooth, with a rich chocolate flavor. You can put it on top of, well, anything. Even a spoon will do – just don’t eat the spoon!

7. Lastly, I’d like to share a wine with you: Marchigue Cabernet Sauvignon from El Huique.  First introduced to me by Trish of Vidalco Wine, this fabulous bottle is an excellent and affordable choice. It’s sweet, soft, and velvety with flavors of cassis, blackberries, and currants. I could drink this all night long. Oh, wait. I have.

What new products have you recently found and loved?

Please recommend any vegetarian products that you like. Or dislike – a girl needs your help!

A Sweet Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Let’s celebrate with a giveaway!

As I’m sure you already know, I am a huge fan of popchips. Okay, I’m teeny person obsessed with popchips in a huge way. Popchips are all-natural, popped chips. They are made with potatoes, a little heat and pressure is added, and pop! It’s a chip. All that’s added is a flavorful blend of all-natural seasonings for a tasty, crispy chip with less than half the fat of fried chips. They contain no preservatives, no hydrogenated oils, and msg. What’s not to love?

Popchips are available in 3-ounce share bags or perfectly portioned 1-ounce, single serve bags. My favorite flavor of popchips has always been Barbecue, but I had a feeling that might change when they introduced their new Sweet Potato flavor. Amira at popchips offered to send me some samples and sure enough, I was right. It’s my new favorite! It’s sweet, salty, and crunchy – my favorite type of snack.

Flavors include:

Original Barbeque

Sour Cream & Onion

Sea Salt & Vinegar

Sweet Potato

Parmesan Garlic

Jalapeño

Cheddar

Salt & Pepper

Chili Lime

My favorites are sweet potato, Barbecue, and Salt & Pepper, and Cheddar.  If you like spicy foods, you’ll love the jalapeno! Imagine them with jalapeno hummus…Oh  my.

Up for grabs is a case of the new Sweet Potato popchips. For a chance to win:

• leave me a comment telling me which flavor popchips you love most (mandatory!)
• follow popchips on twitter:  @popchipssf
• tweet about this giveaway. examples:
  • examples: “I just signed up for @christinaorso’s @popchipssf giveaway” with a link back, or
  • “#eatsweet. tweet. repeat. http://popchi.ps/sweetflavor @popchipssf giveaway from @christinaorso”
• become a fan on facebook
• follow @christinaorso on twitter
• become a fan of Hungry Meets Healthy on facebook

**You must leave a separate comment for each entry.**

Giveaway ends Tuesday, February 21st at noon.

GOOD LUCK!!