The Friday Five 8.24.12

1. What I’m Reading: After the flop that was Dare Me, I knew I needed a more thrilling mystery to read. Jenna recently posted about two great books she read, the first of which I read a couple years ago. The second, The Weight of Silence, really intrigued me. I started it last night; 100 pages in, I’m hooked!

2. What I’m Eating: Amanda and I are housesitting this weekend, so breakfast was provided by her parents. (Thanks Martha and John!) This was a delicious combo:

3. What I’m Listening to:  How about a change-up from the recent hipster tunes? This Top 40 hit has been stuck in my head lately. I usually can’t stand Taylor Swift, so I just don’t watch the video, ha!

4. Recipes I’m Bookmarking: I want to make this Sweet Raspberry Dip for our next Book Club meeting. It’s only 3 ingredients, one of which is Greek yogurt.

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

WHEN I TRY TO DIET

WHEN I’M OUT AND REALIZE I LEFT MY HAIR STRAIGHTENER ON

I think this next one might be my favorite…

WHEN SOMEONE MAKES A BLONDE JOKE TO ME

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend! 

Giveaway!! *New* LUNA Fiber Bars

I am so excited you guys. LUNA has come out with a new line of fiber bars! Each bar is a delicious, nutritious, and convenient high fiber snack that is sure to satiate you.

Nutritional benefits:

• 7g of fiber
• 110-120 calories each
• contains the Core 4 vitamins and minerals -- calcium, iron, folic acid and vitamin D
• 70% organic

The new bars come in 3 flavors: Peanut Butter Strawberry, Chocolate Raspberry, and Vanilla Blueberry. LUNA Fiber will be available in stores nationwide in May, or you can purchase them online here.

Don’t even tell me you’re not drooling.

I’m equally excited to be able to share these bars with YOU! I have three boxes to give away to three winners (one box/person).

For a chance to win:

• leave me a comment telling me which flavor you’re most excited to try (mandatory)
• follow me on twitter - @christinaorso (optional)
• tweet about this giveaway and tag me (optional)
• become a fan of my facebook page (optional)

*Leave a separate comment for each entry!*

Giveaway ends Monday, April 30th, at noon EST.

GOOD LUCK!

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!

Oh, Saturday...

I love waking up on Saturdays knowing that I can cook anything I want for breakfast and not feel rushed. Somehow I was feeling tired of oats, so we pulled out waffles. I ended up putting the same toppings on my waffle as I put on my oats -- almond butter, blueberry jelly, bananas, and honey. Ew to the honey though. I realized I don't like honey unless it's mixed into something.


For lunch I met with a girl that I may be living with when my lease is up. She was really nice, and it looks like things will work out. We had lunch at Five Loaves, which is just a few minutes away from where she lives. I failed to take a picture, but I had a tomato tarragon soup with a pesto chicken sandwich. Both were pretty good.

I recently read about almond crusted chicken on Meghann's blog. As much as we are obsessed with almonds, I don't know why I never thought of this genius idea before! Guess I've been too busy dreaming about things I can put in my oat bran...This is so easy to do. You just need three things -- almonds, chicken tenderloins, and an egg white! I threw 1/2 cup of whole almonds into the blender and chopped them up. Then I dipped the tenderloins in the egg white wash, then rolled them in the almond meal. They were so cute! They baked at 350* for about 15 minutes. I turned them once, just in case, but I'm not sure that was necessary. We put them on top of wilted spinach with a raspberry soy glaze.

For the raspberry soy glaze, we pureed fresh raspberries, a bit of whole grain mustard, a bit of soy sauce, then reduced it over high heat until it thickened.


The almond crusted chicken was awesome! It is definitely a new favorite! We're off to meet auntie Kelly & her friend Sarah downtown for drinks...I need wine, stat.

Christina's 25th Birthday

today i am old. brandon did all the cooking. i sat. he grilled sesame crusted tuna, pineapple and placed it over warm spinach with a citrus vinaigrette. he also grilled sweet potatoes that had marinated in ummm something.

for dessert he made dark chocolate covered strawberries, raspberries, and, my favorite, blueberries. mmm!