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Hope everyone is having a good weekend and staying safe & warm, especially for my East Coast friends.

Today, I present to you “Time to get pictures off of my memory card”/”A little of this, a little of that…” 

 

 

 

Chobani: my choice for Greek Yoghurt, best texture of those I have tasted...

 

I just wish you were organic....

 

My first oats in a jar, what a great idea to whomever came up with this...

Just not a hot oats fan, as much as I try...

 

Cupcakes from Happy Cakes Denver, always a winner in my book!!!

 

Speaking of  a WINNER, using  Random.Org the winner of my POM Wonderful Giveaway  is…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

6	(Mara @ What's For Dinner)

Timestamp: 2010-02-07 15:21:30 UTC

I am off to get my goodies ready for SUPERBOWL fun!!!! I am taking the Colts on this one, but I absolutely OK with either the teams winning. It’s been a great long while since I have actually liked both teams in the SB. As much as I love a good SB, I hate to see football season end. At least baseball is not too far off…………

It has been some time since I had POM juice. I remember trying it once, years ago and enjoying the bitter taste of it. When Kristin of POM Wonderful offered to send me some samples to try, I was up for the taste test.

POM Wonderful

The taste of the plain POM Wonderful is still a little bitter, but I actually enjoy that. I am not one to typically drink juices, as I prefer to eat the fruit. However, with POM I found a small amount often was a great source of afternoon energy and it was something that I would slip on slowly. POM Wonderful is a great addition to a smoothie, both for vitamin purposes and to add a little liquid to the smoothie.  The juice isn’t cheap, but I have since purchased a bottle on sale, which lasts me a great while. I love the versatility of POM Wonderful juice, as I have used it to make cocktails and also as the basis for a grilled chicken marinade.  I do have to say that the bottles I received were difficult to open, oddly enough.

I was also sent POM’s Iced Coffee in the following flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate and Cafe au Late.

Chocolate

Vanilla

Cafe au Lait

I have to preface this part of the review with the fact that I am not a fan of sweet drinks and I like my caffeine in the form of hot coffee. I tried a taste of each, but they were not to my liking.  I asked my older brother to taste the three flavors and give his opinion on them, as he has a better tolerance for sweet beverages than I do. He reported back  they all did indeed give him a nice afternoon buzz (these babies have 175mg of caffeine per bottle), but they all were too sweet for his liking as well.

The kind folks at POM want to give away a “Surprise Package” to one lucky reader. You have upto 4 ways to enter and win!!!

   How To Enter

  • Leave a comment letting me know something you LOVE ABOUT YOURSELF!!! (For me, it’s the fact that I am easily entertained) :)
  • If you have a blog, link back to this post. Please leave a comment telling me you did so.
  • Follow me on Twitter (I am @FoodCents) and let me know you are, or if you already are that is good too. Either way, leave me another comment letting me know!!!
  • Tweet this giveaway, be sure to include @FoodCents  and leave a comment here to let me know.

 

This giveaway will end at 1:00pm(Eastern Time) on Thursday, February 4th.

What’s up lovely people? I do believe a HAPPY 2010 is in order!!! I hope everyone is having a nice year so far and getting back into the post-holiday groove. I have a confession: I fell asleep on the coach around 8:30 on NYE. Yupppp, that is how I was rollin’ this year. I am OK with it though, I have many more nights in a year to celebrate when the pressure isn’t on to have fun, for I prefer the fun that just happens…

Okkkk soooo………… I went to the grocery store yesterday. The fridge was getting a little empty and I figured the store would be a great way to remedy the situation. I picked up some organic chicken and planned on grilling it today. I knew today was the day to grill the damn’ thang’, as much cooler temps. are moving their ugly faces in and I didn’t feel like hassling with grilling in temps. that would peak in the teens. I marinated said chicken in a little of this & a little of that, because that is just how I roll. Around 1:00 this afternoon, I was ready to grill. Yes, I have been known to grill at 1:00pm on a Tuesday, for not having the security of a employers health insurance (ie: I do my own thang’), allows nutty peeps like me to cook in the middle of the day.

After some marinating, I threw said chicken on the grill. It grilled and I thought all was fine. Then I cut open to check and lets just say, much like Lindsay Lohan designing leggings, things just didn’t look right. Upon further inspection, the chicken did not smell right. In less than 3.14538 seconds that chicken went sailing into the trash. In my years I have learned to trust my intuition about meat/poultry: if it doesn’t look, smell or taste right …. IT’S NOT!!! The $8.38 I spent for that spoiled chicken was not worth risking what could have happened had I served it to myself and others. Not worth it, kiddos, not worth it. I will take the issue up with the store, but not bringing it back in its stanky form. Usually just having the receipt will do the job.

So…………. I had great intentions of having organic chicken breast around to make tasty food this week, but alas that did not happen. It happens, s**t happens and life goes on. However, food must still be eaten. Now I am lost as to what to eat, so rather than go figure something out I have decided rather to share this just gripping story with all of you. :) Geee, how did y’all win the flippin’ lottery, right? :)

If anyone wants to invite me over for dinner, I am game:) In the meantime, I will be staring stupidly at the kitchen and see what forces of the nutrient world pull me in. This sheer excitement is probably killing y’all, huh?

STANKY CHICKEN:1  ME:0… Though I think the fact that I will not be upchucking all night, gives me at least 1/4 of a point….

Hi friends, happy almost New Years!!!! I can hardly believe 2009 is just hours away from being over. Even more so, I can hardly believe that ten years ago we were about to move into a new century. I remember ten years ago very well: I was a sophomore in college in Boulder, was about to move into a house with 3 guys I hardly knew and one girl I did know (thankfully) and maybe most memorable was having just met the boy who would be my “first love” (though I didn’t know at the time) days before. Those were good times: innocent, carefree and sometimes we made it to classes :) Ohhh and the “first love” and I didn’t last, but remain friends to this day :)

In regards to 2009, I would be lying if I said it had been a superb year for me. It’s been interesting to say the least. It has been heartbreaking at times, full of laughter at others and utterly bizarre as well. I have had to watch good friends leave, while having amazing strangers enter & become great characters in the story of life.

This year has taught me what true friendship means, how amazingly blessed I am to have both the friends & family I do and that life has odd ways of bringing new friends into our existence.

This year, more than the last two, have made me truly realize that I do indeed have MS. I tried to deny it as much as possible but this year there was no more of that. It reared its ugly head in a very unacceptable manner, one in which I could not turn my head to. Now more than ever it has challenged my body and in turn my spirit. If I had a good picture for all this, I would be inserting it here, but sometimes words are better than pictures or perhaps I have yet to find the right one. If I ever find it, I will be sure to alert the presses so y’all know!!! :)

I know I am ready for this year to be over. I know it hasn’t been the best one, but sometimes that is just how it goes. If I have learned anything it’s that we do not have complete control over events. When you understand that life involves a certain level of flexibility, the journey is a wee bit easier then. The ability to laugh is important, this I know and has only been instilled further in me this year.

Finally, to all my readers & friends I have made since finding the bloggie world (by accident at that) THANK YOU. It’s been a super fun experience to meet people who understand why I get a thrill out of going to the grocery store, why I have this deep desire to try odd foods and who don’t believe that a recipe needs to be followed to a “T” !!! My eyes have been opened to many new foods, ways of eating and common bonds shared: all thanks to the bloggie world. Most of all thank you for reading my random posts and the super amazing comments and emails I recieve. So much support and love have been shared in the words and I can not begin to express how much they mean.

I hope in 2010 to make some changes, both with the blog and for myself. In regards to the blog, I am still bouncing some ideas and things around – we will see what happens. Personally, I hope to spend more time doing Pilates and less time being fascinated by Hollywood (yeah, we will see on that one). I shall hopefully plan a trip for the summer, to celebrate no longer being a 20-something  – I am thinking Big Sur, CA, anyone been?

 

Best to each and every one of you for a beautiful and interesting 2010. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, please be safe friends. 1,934,426 THANKS TO YOU ALL!!! Remember how beautiful you all are as we go into this new year :)

FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY!!!

 

HEY FRIENDS!!!! How is everyone? Can you believe it is just 1 week until Christmas??? I hope y’all are far ahead of me on the shopping thang’, because I have barely started – whoops!!! Is anyone headed anywhere sunny, warm and beachy? If so, may I please come along?

Bali, anyone???

 

Sorry for the lack of posting on my end, bad blogger. I swear I have not been hiding out because of some relationship with this guy…

Nope, rather I have been doing many things to hopefully keep my MS at bay and encouraging it to hightail itself to a foreign country. I even offered it ALL of my frequent flyer miles, but thus far it has not taken me up on said offer. What a selfish jerk, right? :)

I am actually going in this afternoon to this baby

Tunnel of Doom, as I like to call it...

Yup, the old MRI machine/tunnel of doom. I don’t like it and it does not like me. You would think that since we have known each other for a few years now, that the relationship would have improved, but that would be a lie. If anything, we dislike one another more now than a few years ago. I don’t think we will ever even so much as like each other, but so be it…

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On a food note, the other night I was putzing around in the kitchen. I was making tacos, which I could eat 5 out of 7 days a week and not get sick of them. I prefer the blue corn tortillas, for they are AMAZING. Anywho, I like to top tacos different ways and kind of threw together a salsa/topping/call it whatever you want that was rather tasty. Sorry for no pic., but like I said I was tinkering around in the kitchen and such. Anywho, it went a little something like this.

        Tinker Around Salsa/Topping

  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 small tomato, diced (larger if you like more tomato action)
  • 1 lime
  • 1/2 of an onion (red works best, but whatever will work), diced
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped green chiles (I used the stuff from the can/jar)
  • Couple shakes of garlic powder
  • Salt
  • Pepper

 

   Process

  • Mix the avocado, tomato, onion, green chile together. Squeeze in the lime juice. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix a few times and taste. If it is good to go, beautiful. Some might like chopped up cilantro in this, I am not a cilantro fan, hence no cilantro love in this mix. Best if you let it sit in the fridge for a bit, really will taste better, but it is still good right away. Enjoy on tacos, chicken, with chips, etc….

 

Ok, sweet cupcakes, I am off to tackle Friday. I need to go get on the food train, because I can not eat after 10:00 this morning, so time to go store some calories. Hopefully all will go well and the drugs they are using to sedate me will at least give me a couple hour break from life.

Come back soon for a POM giveaway, some lame attempts at baking and a recap of Friday Afternoon Club at the doc’s.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

STUFF N’ THINGS

CHEESE & CRACKERS

 

 

 

I ate cheese & crackers for BREAKFAST today. It was fantastic, why don’t I eat it for breakfast more often? I am not much of a sweets person in the morning (oatmeal gets consumed everyone once in a while). There was limited options and I was in a rush, so I could get to the dentist nice and early, while dealing with cold and snowy weather.  Cheese & crackers you will be making a rotation in the morning food dept. You did a damnnnn fine job!!!

3BBag Update

Thank you to everyone who entered the Reusable Produce Bag giveaway. I love these bags, I even carried my lunch in one the other day…. dork? I am ok with it:)  Congrats. to the following winners, via RANDOM.ORG:

Here are your random numbers:

10	1	13	3	2

Timestamp: 2009-12-02 21:46:22 UTC

  • Ashley
  • Mama Pea
  • Matt Johnston
  • Siglen
  • Kate

 Please email me (foodcents at hotmail.com) your shipping info. and I will pass it on to 3BBags so you can get your bags!!!!

It’s rather chilly in Denver today. I need to go find some hot beverage PRONTO and find something warm to make for dinner. Ideas????

STUFF N’ THINGS

  •  Might you like a little Pop Chip love in your life? Head on over to Iowa Girl Eats for a chance to win a case
  • Rhodey Girl has a great giveaway going on, jump on over for a chance to win!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA’!!!!

Merry Monday, my lovely readers. I hope everyone had a great weekend and the short week cruises through for everyone. Do you all have your Thanksgiving all planned out and ready to attack? I sure don’t, not a chance in the least bit:) No worries though, it will all come together.

I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mama’Cents. I can not begin to express the amount of love, respect and so many other things I have for my mama’!!! She is not only my mama’, but one of my dearest friends. She has been a constant source of support since my MS diagnosis and always keeps my snarkiness in check !!! I am not sure what I did to deserve such greatness from a mother, but I will gladly continue to take it:) LOVE YOU, MAMA’!!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Little stalks of heaven!!!

I love asparagus, anyone else? This time of year the price per pound of it goes down. I guess it’s a Thanksgiving thang’, but it doesn’t need to only be served at Thanksgiving dinner. Grab some of these tasty veggies  and experiment with them. Grill ‘em, roast ‘em, steam ‘em or whatever else you might like. I find that if you are going to roast or grill it, a nice little marinade of 5 minutes & some balsamic vinegar really makes this super tasty. Throw whatever else you wish into the marinade (I love lemon as well). Leftover roasted or grilled asparagus is great in the leftover department, throw it on a salad or a sandwich.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

I recently contacted the company 3B Bags or “Belief Beyond Bags”, to learn a little more about their products. I had seen their products and their story on local media in recent months, so I was curious to know more. I love the fact that the three owners of 3B Bags are three friends and mothers who saw a need to create a product to eliminate the use of the plastic produce bags.

 
 
 

Pack of 3 bags

The company recently sent me a couple of packs of the Reusable Produce Bags to try out myself and review. Each pack comes with three bags. Two of the bags are 11×14 inches, while the third bag measures 14.5×18.5 to hold your super large produce.

The first thing I noticed about these bags, upon receiving them, was the minimal packaging the company chose to use for this product. I think this is important to note, as it peeves me how wasteful companies often are in packaging their products. The packaging is 100% recyclable and extremely minimal, which I love. I liked the fact that these bags, made of 100% nylon, had no funky smell to them as products often do when you first open them up.

Since receiving these bags from the company, I have used them countless times. Each bag holds a TON of produce. I have put 15 apples in one and had no problem with the bag holding all that weight. Each bag has a drawstring to ensure your produce doesn’t fall out, as it often does with regular plastic produce bags. In addition, the bags are see through, making produce code easy to see at check out time.

I really do love these bags, I am using them all the time. I had to get in the habit of putting them into my reusable grocery bags, so I would remember to bring them to the store. Just like anything, you have to get in the habit of making sure to bring these bags, but quickly it becomes second nature. I have even used the large one to put all my groceries in, when I realized I had one in my purse and had forgotten to bring a regular reusable grocery bag. It worked like a charm!!!

I will admit the bags are not cheap, as they sell for $7.50 for a three pack. However, since using them I do think that they are worthy every penny. I foresee these babies lasting a very long time, which makes it a good investment for the wallet and the earth. They are incredibly versatile and easy to clean as well, which can not be beat!!! I have already bought some to incorporate into Holiday gifts. Thank you to the 3B Bag ladies!!!

For those of you in the Denver area, I have seen the bags at King Soopers and Vitamin Cottage, so you might want to keep your eyes out for them!!!

 

 

 

I got to try these out, now you all have a chance to as well. 3B Bags has offered to give away a pack of the Reusable Produce bags to 5 lucky winners.

  • Go here check out the 3B Bags website. Leave a comment on this post about something you learned, others uses for the bags or any other nifty tidbit you come across on the site.
  • Follow me on Twitter for another chance to win. Please leave a comment on this post, letting me know.
  • Follow 3B Bags on Twitter for another chance to win. Please leave a comment on this post, letting me know.
  • Tweet this giveaway, be sure to include @foodcents & @3BBags in your Tweet. Again, please let me know you did so my leaving a comment!!!
  • If you have a blog, link to this giveaway, for another chance to win.

This giveaway will end at 1:00pm on Sunday (November 29, 2009). Please note this giveaway is only open to US residents.

3B Bags is also offering free shipping when you buy 4 or more of the Reusable Produce Bag packs, until December 5, 2009.

 

Ok, time for me to go get my grocery shopping on and then some pilates. Have a beautiful day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!

That’s right, Mr. T in all his glory. I wonder what Mr. T eats for breakfast on a daily basis? Your thoughts on this important matter are greatly appreciated….

 

It’s the beautiful weekend, I hope it is indeed that and much more for everyone!!! Mine is off to a strange start. I literally passed out last night before 9, I guess I was super tired… That would be fine and dandy, but I woke up at 2:30 this morning and could not get back to sleep. I tried, I really did, but sleep was just not happening. My sleep has been off in the last week or so, not so sure what all that is about. I deem sleep as one of the most important components in life, at least for me, so when sleep doesn’t happen it makes sense that my whole existence feels off.  To say that I am a little “out of it” today, it putting it nicely. At any rate, much laundry has been done and perhaps a nap.

 

I was just thinking about Thanksgiving and it reminded me that in all my time on earth, I have never had green bean casserole. That is kind of strange, huh? Maybe one day, maybe one day……

 

Thank you to everyone who entered the gift card giveaway, it was great to hear all the things y’all are proud of. The winner of my gift card giveaway is Jane B!!! Jane B, please email me to claim your prize!!!!

 

Ok, off to conquer the world of a dirty car……

 

 Have you entered my mystery giftcard giveaway? If not, get to it!! You have until tommorow (Friday) @ 12:00 noon MST to enter.

 

 

Did you hear the news? Oprah is ending her talk show come Sept. 29th, 2011…….. I like Oprah, I don’t watch her on TV much. I like that in spite of the fact that she has more money than 99% of people, she can be real. My mom once met  Oprah. She had been out hiking and walked into my mom’s office and asked to use the bathroom. Even Oprah has to use random bathroom facilities. She was kind and down to earth, according to Mama’Cents.

Right, so this is a food blog. Some might start to wonder since there has not been much food talk, as of late. That’s my fault, but food just hasn’t been super interesting, though I have been hungry as heavens. I think this has to be related to starting a new medication, it is the only thing I can figure out. I am pretty paranoid when it comes to RX drugs, so I always take note of any changes I seem to notice. This feeling of wanting me to chew my arm off, constantly, has to be related to the drug. Nothing else has changed….

In order to avoid chewing off the arm, I have been feeding myself quite often. I have been aiming to incorporate a ton of veggies in this process, because I don’t want to gain weight and I figure no one ever got heavy off of eating veggies. There has been a lot of the beautiful broccoli consumed, because I actually really love it, especially steamed:

I believe (don’t quote me on this) that broccoli is best consumed with a small amount of GOOD FAT, better absorbs the vitamins and minerals. Soo…… humus and broccoli have become very pronounced in the FoodCents house, everyday being paired together and working to fill not only my nutritional needs, but the “I feel like I am eating for 6″ (hey Kate Gosselin) feeling……. Ohhh, I am not eating for anyone other than me, just so there isn’t any wonder.

Speaking of humus, I think I have decided that Tribe is my top choice. While Sabra has the smooth and creamy texture, I like the flavor of Tribe’s offerings the best. On a sidenote, Tribe has a new flavor: Horseradish Humus!!! I LOVE horseradish, so this might be heaven in a tub for me. Has anyone seen this flavor around? Maybe the Humus Fairy (yes, there is one…) will swoop into my local market in the weeks to come. A girl can dream, right?

  

TIP: This is the best time of the year for coupons, in the circulars. It may very well be worth your time and however much a Sunday paper costs these days (I just pay for a yearly subscription, because I need the paper – I am old-fashioned like that) to get some good coupons. I am not promising coupons for the more obscure items you see floating around the blogosphere, but rather essential items. Hello toilet paper? C’mon, we all need it….. Anywho, keep any eye out for the coupons coming out in the next couple of weeks. Even better, some of the items you find (again, hello toilet paper or say baking goods) coupons for are also going to be on sale this time of the year. You should proudly take advantage of this reality and go save yourself a few bucks or even more. (Even better if your grocery store doubles coupons up to $1.00…) Get your savings on!!!

 

 

This is a random post, but I am a random kind of gal’ and sometimes you just need to talk about coupons, Oprah, humus and feeling the need to chew your arm off. I am sure someone can relate…… anyone? :)

 

Happy almost Friday!!!  Find something to laugh about in you day, it really makes it much more beautiful.

 

 

THANK YOU!!!

I need to thank you all who left me comments and wrote me emails, after my last blog post, regarding my ongoing battle/ass kicking with Multiple Sclerosis. It meant so much to me and I hope you know how much your kind words have kept me going this past week.

I felt the need to share what I am living with and going through, not for sympathy, but because it is just easier to put it out there. It’s not who I am, but it is part of my life. It is not beautiful, but it is real. It’s life and we all have our obstacles to deal with/overcome/face head on. I also think it will make you all understand me better and let me be a little bit more “me” on the blog (bad humor, making fun of myself, etc…).

I am hoping to be back to regular blogging very soon, but first I have to deal with this disease head on. I had a long and intense neurologist visit on Thursday and I have a long road and some new things to introduce into my life, but more on that later.

 

 Questionmark

Let’s do something fun, how about a GIVEAWAY, for no other reason that I can and I like giving stuff away!!!! I have a surprise gift card for the winner. I am not saying to where, that is part of the surprise!!! I am almost positive you will like it and well if you do not, then oh well:) Here is what you need to do:

  • Leave a comment telling me something you are proud of regarding yourself - there is nothing too big or too small to be proud about, just put it out there and then pat yourself on the back!!
  • Follow me on Twitter ( I am FoodCents) and be sure to Tweet the giveaway, be sure to include my name in it. Ohh, please leave me another comment on here if you do so:)

You have until 12:00 noon on Friday (November 20th) to enter. Sorry, but this is only open to US residents.

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend !!!

 

 

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