Vitacoco review

A while back I was chosen by Stacy at Deliciously Healthy Everyday to win a sample pack of Vitacoco coconut water. I was really excited to try these. I had heard so many good things about coconut water as an alternative for sports drinks or water after working out. While I’m not a big fan of sports drinks, I definitely think these can be a great post-workout drink.

vitacoco coconut water

I don’t know why I was shocked that this came out clear. I imagine real coconut water comes out clear too. Since I’ve never drank water straight from a coconut before (and that’s a shock considering I lived in Hawaii for so long), I can’t vouch for the claim ‘like sticking a straw in a coconut’. But it was delicious. It had a very mild coconut flavor.

vitacoco with tangerine

I liked the tangerine flavor. It had just a hint of tangerine, but enough to give it flavor. I loved the color.

vitacoco with peach & mango

This one was one of my favorites. Light & refreshing.

vitacoco with acai & pomegranate

This was my least favorite. I haven’t quite acquired the taste of acai and it seemed to dominate this one.

vitacoco with passionfruit

This one was probably my favorite. Which is surprising to me because I’ve never liked passionfruit before. Go figure.

All in all, these are pretty tasty drinks. I loved that the ingredients were minimal – coconut water, ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and either fruit juice or fruit puree. Each container was about 70-80 calories and had a TON of vitamin C. But, I think I’ll stick to water post-workout. I’ve gotten used to water and these were almost too sweet for me to drink after a workout.

In Wisconsin you can buy it at Festival (though I haven’t seen it there), Piggly Wiggly, Woodmans (I have seen it there) and Whole Foods, according to the Vitacoco Web site.

I do want to try the pineapple flavor, which wasn’t included in my box, but I have seen it at Woodmans.

So, have you tried coconut water? What did you think?

TFF: Green beans with caramelized onions

This was a super simple dish, but not my favorite from Tyler Florence. I honestly don’t know what it is about it, but it just didn’t do it for me. It was good – but something was missing. I did use a different spice than the thyme, so maybe that was my fault. Either way, this turned out beautifully and looks like something you get at a restaurant.

Check out the other dishes made for Tyler Florence Fridays.

Tyler Florence's Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

I cut this in 4, but this is the original recipe from Tyler

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions
by Tyler Florence, serves 6-8

3 lbs green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
5 tbsp. olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thinly
2 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves

Fill a large high sided skillet with some water, adding enough to be just shy of the rim of the pan by about 1 inch. Place over high heat and bring up to boil; add a big pinch of salt and the green beans. Cook for about 5 minutes, the beans should still be crisp. Drain the beans and then run them under some cold water to stop them from cooking. Reserve the beans while you start the onions.

Return the skillet you cooked the beans in to the cook top over medium heat. Add the almonds and toast stirring every now and then until golden, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the almonds from the skillet and reserve. Return the skillet to the heat and add the butter and olive oil and heat until the butter has melted. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook stirring frequently until the onions caramelize, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the thyme, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the cooked cooled green beans and almonds, and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

TFF: Mojito slushy

oh, yes, Tyler … you’ve done it again. Summer in a glass.

While trying to decide what to make with the mint that came in our CSA box, I came across this recipe and knew I had to make it for Tyler Florence Fridays. This was simple and incredibly delicious. Then again, it’s mint, rum, and simple syrup – how much can go wrong?

Tyler Florence mojito slushy

I loved that there were specks of the mint in here, but not chunks of mint like you sometimes get when muddling. I cut the recipe in half and got two servings out of it. I froze the other one since Scott wasn’t interested and it was equally delicious a few nights later. I did have to thaw it a bit in the microwave in order to be able to drink it.

Make these for your next grill-out. You won’t be disappointed.

Mojito Slushy
Tyler Florence, serves 4

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, about 4-6 limes
2 limes zested
1/2 cup light rum
8 cups crushed ice
mint sprigs & lime wedges for garnish

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and water. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear. Set aside to cool.

Put the sugar syrup, lime juice, mint leaves, lime zest, and rum into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the ice and blend until slushy. Spoon into glasses; garnish with a sprig of mint and a lime slice.

Tyler Florence mojito slushy

Savory oatmeal? Hell yes!

When I came across Mark Bittman’s recipe for savory oatmeal on Serious Eats last week, I was intrigued. I only recently fell in love with oatmeal and have stuck with the brown/raw sugar and bananas for add-ins. In my mind, oatmeal has always been ’sweet’.

But, savory oatmeal? Oatmeal with soy sauce? Scallions? Huh? You must be nuts. A quick google search on savory oatmeal yields quite a few suggestions for add-ins – cheese, butter, crumbled sausage, eggs, spicy sauces – plus using it in place of rice for risotto or a pilaf. Guess it’s not that crazy an idea.

Mark Bittman's savory oatmeal with scallions and soy sauce

I cut Mark’s recipe in 1/2, cause 1 cup of oatmeal plus 2 cups water seemed like a LOT for one person. I’m glad I did, it was the perfect amount for me. I served it with a fried egg and a piece of leftover huli-huli chicken. This meal really reminded me of a breakfast in Hawaii – except with oatmeal instead of rice. Either way, this was super tasty. (Forgive the horrible photo, I couldn’t wait to eat it!)

Mark Bittman’s savory oatmeal with scallions and soy sauce
via Serious Eats

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water (I used veggie stock)
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp scallions
sea salt

1. Combine water (or stock), salt and oats in medium saucepan and turn the heat to high. When the water boils, turn to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the water is just about absorbed (about 5 minutes).

2. Turn off heat, stirring in scallions and soy sauce while pot cools down. Sprinkle with additional scallions for extra crunch.

Next time, I’ll use steel-cut oats. It will increase the time the oats need to cook, but I think the texture will be more like rice. And, I’ll try some of Mark’s other suggestions that were posted on NPR, or  this recipe I found.

TFF: Broccoli, Parmesan & lemon

I’ve been wanting to get back to participating in Tyler Florence Fridays (if they’ll let me that is *grin*), so when I was searching for a side dish earlier this week, I settled on Tyler’s broccoli, parmesan and lemon. This was a really nice side dish. Super easy, simple ingredients and great flavor. I really liked the lemon flavor, though Scott said it was a bit overpowering. However, he may just have gotten a bite with lots of lemon.

I think next time I’ll make this, I’ll put the broccoli closer together in a smaller dish – not a sheet pan – in order to keep the cheese on top. (And obviously, take a better picture!)

broccoli, parmesan and lemon

Broccoli, Parmesan and Lemon
From Tyler Florence

3 heads broccoli (about 3 pounds)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 lemon, juiced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim about 1 inch off the ends of the broccoli stalks and cut the broccoli lengthwise into spears. Arrange the broccoli on a nonstick cookie sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and season with a little bit of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake until the cheese melt and forms a crisp shell over the broccoli, about 10 minutes. Lift the broccoli out onto a platter with a spatula and drizzle with fresh lemon.

Salad challenge Day 3 & 4

I think I need some inspiration if I’m gonna get through the rest of this challenge! My salads are starting to pretty much look exactly the same. (Again, sorry for the poor photos – my cell phone isn’t the greatest)

Salad Challenge Day 3

Day 3’s salad included:
spinach
red & green leaf lettuce
bibb lettuce
tomato
red & yellow peppers
green beans
cucumbers
carrots
the last piece of deli turkey
a couple of flax crackers

Salad challenge Day 4

Day 4’s salad was a bit small – but that’s cause I had kinda a big lunch.

red & green leaf lettuce
bibb lettuce
red peppers
cucumbers
red onion
sliced almonds

See, I need help! Suggest your favorite things to add to your salads. (No dairy, please – I’m trying to see if I have a sensitivity to dairy. Thanks!)

Review: Pillsbury Simply cookies

Pillsbury Simply chocolate chip cookies

Who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies? I don’t think I’ve met one person who didn’t like them. Well, other than the ex who was allergic to chocolate. Tragic, I know.

My husband found these at the grocery store a while back and brought some home. If you are trying to eat clean and kick the processed food habit, I’d suggest these. They aren’t half bad for actually being a processed food.

The thing I love about these is that the only ingredients in here are the same ones in my grandma’s chocolate chip cookie recipe – flour, sugar, chocolate chips, shortening, eggs, baking powder, water, salt & vanilla. Plus they all come out the same size – something I struggle to do when I make cookies from scratch.

Granted, they ARE processed, and at 150 calories per cookie, a little on the indulgent side. But, they do taste just like from-scratch cookies. They’re soft, chewy and have great flavor. I wouldn’t buy these all the time – we found them on sale for 2/$5 at our grocery store – but if I ever needed something baked and didn’t have time to make anything from scratch, I wouldn’t feel bad about serving these.

They also have a peanut butter version. And I can tell you that they are just as delicious as the peanut butter cookies my mom makes. They’re soft and oh-so-good.

You can even find a coupon for these at the Pillsbury website.

Got milk?

Banana nut bread oat bran

Oat bran has been all over the blogs I read lately. Kath, Heather and Jennifer have been raving about it. (Even though Heather says she’s oat-branned-out.) It’s made appearances on Chocolate-covered Katie, Carrots ‘n’ Cake, Thinspired and Confessions of a SAHM.

Always one to try new things and see what all the rage is about (that’s how I fell in love with almond butter, remember?), I picked up some oat bran from the bulk section of our grocery store. I figured at 63 cents for approximately cup and a half of oat bran I could afford to not like it. But, at least I could said I tried it.

banana nut bread oat bran

I really liked this! I loved how quickly it cooked up and that it’s really smooth. And even though my banana wasn’t quite ripe enough, it still was totally delicious. There are several recipes I want to try out there now that I know I like it. I’m actually looking forward to trying it in some baked goods, too. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my steel-cut oats, but this is a nice change of pace.

nectarine & banana w/ almond butter

I had the rest of the banana (with almond butter, of course) and a nectarine with this. I got the nectarines at Sam’s Club and they aren’t quite ripe enough to pull apart normally, but they are still quite tasty! (Plus, I like my fruit a little on the ‘crunchy’ side – yes, I”m weird.)

Banana nut bread oat bran
from Chocolate-covered Katie

1/4 cup oat bran
2/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/3 cup water
1/2 banana
2 tbsp. walnuts
1-2 tbsp sugar (optional)

In small pot, stir together oats, milk, water and optional sugar

Cook until almost done – I think mine took about 4 minutes – then add banana and walnuts.

Leave on heat for another minute or so, until banana heats up. Serve & enjoy!

Pizza & Salad Challenge Day 2

Our grocery store had pizza dough on sale for $1. First, I didn’t even know our grocery store SOLD pizza dough. Second, I figured even if it bombed (like all my other attempts at pizza at home), I’m only out $1.

Thankfully, it turned out just fine. I went really light on the toppings because I was worried it would be soggy or just not cook right. Now, I realize I could have added a bit more stuff to it. Scott said he wanted some tomato sauce, but I’m more a fan of just olive oil on my pizza, not tomato sauce. Next time, hon.

homemade pizza

I brushed the crust with olive oil and a little garlic. Then, I added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes, pepperoni, spinach and cheese. Next time I’ll definitely put more stuff on top, but this really was delicious.

I had a piece (ok, TWO pieces) with a big salad for the Salad Challenge.

salad challenge day 2

I went minimalist on this one:
red & green leaf lettuce
red & yellow peppers
a few pieces of pepperoni
cucumbers
and for my fun item – sugar snap peas! YUM

(oops, does my pizza count as my carb? haha)

Easy bear claws

My mom showed me how to make these while I was visiting her. She had sent me the recipe and told me how great they were, but I was confused on the directions. So, I told her I wanted to take some pictures and make a blog post out of it.

First, here are a few tips:

1. Make the filling ingredients the night before so the filling doesn’t ooze out of the crescent rolls. (We didn’t do this, and you’ll see why I suggest this.)

2. The glaze is optional, but it really makes these look professional.

Here we go: (Click here for printable recipe.)

Mix 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 1 egg and 1 tube (7 oz.) almond paste

Put filling into freezer ziplock bag (the regular ones will break if you’re too rough) and refrigerate overnight.

Now, unroll a package of crescent rolls (you’ll need 2 tubes total), and press together all the seams to make one long rectangle. (You should have two of these when you’re done with one tube.)

Now, cut one corner of the filling bag and pipe into the middle of the crescent rolls.

Beat an egg and use as egg wash on one side of the crescent roll.

Fold edges over to enclose filling. Pinch to close.

Slice each roll into 4.

Cut two slits in each piece and fan out slightly on new cookie sheet.

Brush with egg wash and top with sliced almonds and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Repeat with 2nd tube of crescent rolls. You should have enough filling to do 2 tubes. While the pastries are baking, make icing by combining powdered sugar with a little bit of water and almond flavoring. Drizzle pastries with icing when they come out of oven.

See how the filling oozed out? Don’t get rid of it – it’s the best part! It won’t ooze as much if you refrigerate the filling overnight.

Mmm… deliciousness.