Links I Loved This Week 8/12

• Coca Cola Freestyle Machines May Carry Booze – Imagine a “suicide” with alcohol. YIKES.
• Must-Have Apps for Book Lovers – Add me on Goodreads!
• Soon, You’ll Be Able to Say “I Do” at Denny’s – ew, why?
• Reheat Poached Eggs at the Office – this could work…
• 6 Beet-Dazzling Recipes – Can’t get tired of these.

This is so funny. Is it accurate for you?

Links I Loved This Week 8/4

Geek Sugar

• 9 Geeky Toys from the 90s – Pogs and Digital Pets again?
• Geek Heartthrobs from the 90s – I had a HUGE crush on Preston Meyers  (Ethan Embry) from Can’t Hardly Wait. I’ve also adored Paul Rudd ever since he played Josh in Clueless.

Yum Sugar

• Taste the Rainbow: The Green Veggies – my favorite color!

Serious Eats

• How to Make Your Herbs Last Longer
• An All-Avocado Meal

Food 52

• The 40-Second Egg

I Love Charts

Bits of Truth

Links of Interest 7/29

I present to you my favorite articles I stumbled upon this past week!

Thought Catalog

• The Hottest Male Animated Characters Part 1 – Eric from The Little Mermaid? Yes, please.
• The Hottest Male Animated Characters Part 2 -  None of these guys were babes, IMO, but it’s still funny.

The Tangential

• 11 Stupid Things I Collected as a Child – I definitely collected Pogs, Trolls, and Digital Pets. Oh, the memories.
• Things That Will Never Change

I Love Charts

Bits of Truth

xo

The Friday Five

1. What I'm Reading: Third time’s a charm. I re-re-started The Hunger Games on the plane to NYC. I finally got into it. I wouldn’t say that I love it, or think it’s a well-written book, but I sort of understand the hype. Or maybe I’m just tricking myself into enjoying it so I can see the movie. Did any of you not like it? I can’t be alone.

2. What I’m Watching: Mad Men. I watched the premiere of Season 5 with Ben, then came home and watched the pilot episode. I’m hooked. I have 52 episodes to watch before I’m caught up with the rest of the world. I’m excited.

3. What I’m Eating: I finally bought a tub of Trader Joe’s Kalamata Olive hummus. It was the only one I hadn’t tried. All I can say is, if you like olives, you will love this.

Also, Hannah brought these to work yesterday for our girls’ picnic. I was surprised at how tasty they were and impressed by the ingredient list! 

4. What I’m Listening to:

5. What I’m Bookmarking:

• Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Walnuts, And Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
• Chocolate Truffle And Beet Mousse Candy Cups
• Vegan Burgers That Don't Suck
• Easy Kale Quiche

Bonus. What I’m Wondering:

WHY IS IT SO HOT HERE ALREADY?! HELP.

Tell me what you’re reading. Tell me what you’re watching. Tell me some new foods you like. Tell me your favorite song. Tell me what you recently bookmarked. Tell me I’m not going to die of heat exhaustion this Summer.

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. It is very rare that I touch a cookie that isn’t homemade. To me, that’s a sin. Homemade cookies are too easy to make to justify ever eating cookies full of preservatives and, dare I say, trans fats? Thanks but no thanks. However, when Nabisco decides to celebrate their 100th birthday with Birthday Cake Oreos, well, that’s a sin I’d like to commit.

Thank you Mary for blogging about this!!

2. FitSugar’s article on The Worst Pickup Lines Used at the Gym.

Tell me: have you ever picked anyone up from the gym? I can’t flirt at the gym anymore. I realized at my last gym, then when you flirt with someone and then realize you don’t like them, you have to see them ALL THE TIME. Yikes.

3. Serious Eats’ recipe for Steamed Salmon with Chard, Pine Nuts, and Raisins.

4. I haven’t had any meat or poultry in a 1 full week! I love this. I can’t say that I feel any different, but I’ve enjoyed increasing my fruit & vegetable intake as well as experimenting with new foods. The Morning Star spicy black bean burgers are SO good. Not sure why they call them spicy though…

5. Another thing I refuse to consume is soda. La Croix sparkling water is a great alternative. Their water is free of sodium, sweetener, and calories. My two favorite flavors are Lemon and Grapefruit.

               

6. I am by no means a coffee connoisseur, but I must say I really enjoyed my sample of Starbuck’s Casi Cielo coffee. It’s so smooth! The Spanish major in me also loves its translation: “Almost Heaven.”

7. This Golden Girls Valentine’s Day cards:

8. Last week ABC News 4 and Charleston Wine Pairings elite matchmaking service offered a contest for a free consultation and wine pairing. A few of my friends suggested I sign up and I thought, oh what the heck? Um, I won. YIKES. This could be so fun or so scary…!! Buffie, you better match me up with someone nice!! : )

Don’t forget to enter my Sweet Potato Popchips giveaway!! You have until February 21st at noon!

How I Feel About Food, In Chart Form

True story.

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You already know how much I love ketchup.

Having as many bizarre cravings as I do, I find this chart pretty interesting:

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In other news…

I want to make this soup this weekend. Who cares if it’s still a thousand degrees out?

I’ve also been craving chickpeas like a crazy person lately. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and started eating them. What the crap? Anyone have any fun recipes?

Annnnnd…Do y’all have any suggestions for future topics you’d like me to post about? Your suggestions are always welcome and encouraged, so feel free to shoot me some ideas!

Have a great weekend!

PS: Thanks for all the Trader Joe’s item suggestions. My list is a mile long!

Sorry I Am Not Sorry For Being A Lazy Blogger.

Enjoy some linkage.

Were you a child of the 80s? Two words: Polly Pockets. CLICK!

Do you judge the attractiveness of men by their shoes? CLICK!

I bought this shirt last night. In case you can’t read it, it says “Everyone talks about my BLOG.” With a price tag of $7.99 HOW COULD I RESIST!? IT IS SO HIDEOUS! Just like my face last night. I had just come from Body Step and have no make up on. You like?!

Exercises to strengthen your choo choo? WTH? CLICK!

I almost peed my jeans when I saw this:

Don’t ask me why I’m wearing jeans when it’s 400 degrees in Charleston today.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies! You’re going to drool all over your laptop/desktop/ipad/other stupid internet browsing device. CLICK! 

Toning exercises you can do at your desk. (I just bounce around in my chair a lot, but whatever, here ya go.) CLICK!

Happy Friday!

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread and More Linkage

Why YES you can have "low fat" and "chocolate chip" in the same recipe! I proved this theory tonight. Remember when I made the Cooking Light recipe for Banana Cake even lighter by just a few simple substitutions? Yep, I slapped CL in the face again by modifying their Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread recipe.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread adapted from Cooking Light


Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup canola oil unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup fat-free vanilla pudding Greek yogurt
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Spoon batter into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 16 slices.

I was so excited that the loaf cracked so perfectly down the middle. My roommate thought it looked like something out of a magazine. Haha!

The loaf smelled incredible, and it permeated throughout the kitchen once I sliced it in half.

This is a really moist loaf due to the addition of applesauce and Greek yogurt. We had to eat it warm while the chocolate chips were still melty...yes melty is a word. My slab:

I can't wait to have this for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt...topped with extra cinnamon. Mmmm. Yes, Auntie Kelly, I saved some for you ;)

Although my version has only 14 calories less than the original, the fat has been reduced from 5g to 2g! And you still get your chocolate fix.

Fun Linkage:

• In need of a good laugh? These iphone fails are hysterical: Damn You, Auto Correct!
• Met your significant other on facebook? You are not alone. (No, I've never done this.)
• Antoine Dodson, the youtube sensation, is in a dog's body!
• Sam Adams will soon launch Infinium, a champagne-style beer.

Chunky White Bean Soup, Some Linkage, and Fashion Help!

Since I started subscribing to Fitness Magazine a few years ago, I've made a handful of their healthy recipes. Each issue contains a bunch of quick and easy recipes that even I could handle as a newbie in the kitch back then. The February 2008 issue featured several soups - one of which I adapted and have made several times each winter.


Chunky White Bean Soup, adapted from Fitness Magazine 


Ingredients:

• 1 lb extra lean ground turkey (99% fat free)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 15-oz cans of great northern beans
• 1 16 oz jar of green salsa or 2 7 oz cans of green salsa
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin

Directions:

1. Sauté ground turkey in olive oil in a large pot. Drain fat.

2. Add northern beans (with juice), green salsa, chicken broth, and cumin. Stir.

3. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Makes 4 big servings.

How easy is that? As simple as this soup is, it has a ton of flavor. It packs a lot of fiber and protein, making it a very filling meal. I added a bit of cilantro to mine for the first time and it was a delicious way to cut down the spice. Green salsa has some kick to it! And in case you're wondering, I use the canned green salsa by La Costena, found in the Hispanic section of the supermarket. 

Need a chuckle? Check out these links!

• Want to see Britney Spears' weird tongue movement in each of her videos? Yes, you do. Go here.
• Grammar nazi? Love this.
• Golden Girls fan? What the heck is this.
• Need help choosing an apple? The fruit, darn it. Look at this chart.
• Considering internet dating? Um...check out the 11 guys you meet on dating sites first.

And one more thing! On Friday, I'm having dinner with a guy friend who has a fashion and food blog. Before I unveil his blog to my readers, I'd love some help from all of you. I plan on giving him a little interview during dinner on his perspective of some of my favorite women's fashion trends. Help me out with some fashion questions you've been dying to ask a straight male. Example...do guys really like jeggings? Do they really care if our heels make us taller than them? Thanks loves!