Pocky was a staple food of my youth. Or maybe that’s an exaggeration. Pocky, if you haven’t visited any asian supermarkets in your area for the past forty years, is Japanese snack first manufactured by Glico. Since then, many companies have copied the “pretzels dipped in icing” design of this snack. My pocky favorites are the Dessert category from Glico and the Fran category from Meiji. Recently, I bought the strawberry cream Fran Whipps <3

I shared the whole box with my fellow library monitors; it was a huge hit! The strawberry cream had crunchy candy bits that contributed to its great texture. There is vanilla cream icing underneath, all surrounding the chocolate ‘pretzel.’ I hesitate to call the thin cracker underneath, although that is what wikipedia calls it, because I think of pretzel as an unappetizing, dry and salty joke of a snack. But back to Fran Whipps, they are relatively inexpensive, around $3. It’s thicker than regular pocky, so a box comes with four individually wrapped sticks in groups of three. The packaging is also cute and attractive. The only thing I would complain about it is the amount, I can’t stop at one package >.<

Overall, it is a great choice who any occasion, especially during study sessions ^-^ You might have to stock up on boxes because they are addictive.

Obviously if you live in Japan it’s a lot easier for you to get some Japanese snacks, but I live in the states and out here if you’re lucky enough you might have an Asian grocery store in your area that might carry all sorts of goodies, but not everyone has that, and even if they do sometimes they don’t carry a whole lot. That’s where one of my favorite sites comes in, Asian Food Grocer, I just got a package from them today…

They sell a lot more than just snacks, but so far that is all I have ever bought from them. I found their site sometime in 2007 (possibly 2006) and was just thrilled with them. At the time the only Japanese snack I had been able to find at local places, like the mall or Walmart, was pocky. When I first started to search online for places that sold Japanese snacks I kept coming up with sites that only offered items in bulk, I had no desire or reason to buy in bulk, and the very few places that I didn’t have to buy in bulk charged outrageous amounts of money for shipping…Because of this I almost thought AFG was too good to be true.

Alright, so I mentioned the mall; if you haven’t noticed you can find a few different kinds of Japanese snacks at FYE in your local mall. Which I think is great, glad to see others carrying some stuff now, but they are not my preferred choice to buy from, I would just end up spending more money with FYE. I should note that Borders bookstores also sells a few different kinds of Japanese snacks (in the same price range as FYE).

If you were wondering, below are the price differences between AsianFoodGrocers.com and FYE…

Almond Crush Pocky AFG: $4.49 – FYE: $7
Ramune Soda AFG: $1.78 – FYE: $3-4
Glico Strawberry Pocky AFG: $.99 – FYE: $2
Kasugai Gummy AFG: $2.89 – FYE: $5-6

I know what you’re thinking; Shipping costs probably make it equal to what they charge at FYE. It can, if you are only buying a couple of items. But I don’t, I buy enough (doesn’t need to be a lot) from AFG so that in the end I am paying less. Also, they just have more things to choose from, so it’s worth it even if I end up paying equal to what I would at FYE. And a lot of times you will find that AFG will be offering discounts on some items, or even 10% off your whole order. As a matter of fact I got very lucky recently and not only got 10% off my order, but also free shipping. I think I slipped in before they could take the Thanksgiving coupon code down (%10 off), the free shipping was for Black Friday, so that is what led to my recent order with them. That, and I also needed stocking stuffers, which is why there are a lot of strawberry flavored things in that photo (Amanda loves strawberry flavored snacks and drinks).

To summon up: If you are only buying a couple of things, like a bottle of Ramune soda and a box of Almond Crush Pocky then go to places like FYE and Borders, or if the only thing you want is some basic strawberry or chocolate pocky, I suggest you head to Walmart, they sell them for just over $1 a box, located in their Asian food section. But for more of a variety (including various other products, not just snacks) and good deals do your shopping online with AsianFoodGrocers.com. So visit their site to check them out, you can also find them on facebook and twitter (I suddenly feel like a commercial lol). The only thing I would suggest to AFG is that they start to carry a variety of bento boxes, that would be great!

And because I know you were curious …My recent orders (seen in photo at top of page) from AFG consisted of:
Melon Bread
Hello Kitty Lottepie
Chocolate Fruit Gummy 4-pack (gummy flavors are: strawberry, orange, apple and grape)
Almond Crush Pocky
Strawberry Pocky
Strawberry Ramune soda
Strawberry filled Biscuits
Strawberry Chocolate
Not pictured:
Mango Ramune Soda
Strawberry Hi-Chew

Tonight for dinner I made our long neglected Celebration Roast we forgot to consume at Thanksgiving. It was delicious—much better than I expected, really. I baked it according to the package directions, but it did not get heated through, so I sliced it and microwaved the slices for minute and a half, flipping half-way through, and it turned out perfect. I’ll definitely pick up another at Christmas (and maybe we can remember to eat it on the actual holiday this time ). Along with the roast, I also made some stir-fried broccoli (smothered in my favorite spice, fresh ground pepper) and these little guys:

I originally made these for my writing group’s NaNoWriMo kickoff party, and everyone really seemed to love them. These would make great tea party fodder, potluck brunch treat, side dish, snack . . . they’re just good and stupidly easy to make.

Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches

Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
Strawberry Fruit Spread/Jam (I used Smuckers Simply Fruit)
Thin-sliced whole grain bread

Spread Tofutti on one slice of bread, and fruit spread on another. Sandwich together and cut into four triangles. Repeat until you have a mound of cute, delicious triangles.

The cream cheese-strawberry jam combo is also tasty on toast.

Tomorrow, I’ll have a recipe for my Chickenless Salad I’m making for a work party tomorrow!

A YOP a day keeps the doctors away !

Vx

Strawberry is a fruit.

It has a lot of tiny seeds.

Ripe strawberries are red.

Strawberry is very nutritious.

It has antioxidant and Vitamin C.

Some strawberries are big but some are small .

I like to eat the sweet and juicy strawberries.

Anyway some strawberry are sour.

We can eat fresh strawberry and also made it into yummy juice.

We can also make strawberry jam, ice-cream and lots of other tasty things to eat.

Strawberry grows in cool places.

In Malaysia , strawberry grows in Cameron Highland , Pahang.

Cameron Highland a is cool place in the mountains of the Titiwangsa Range.

Last time I had a strawberry plant named Strawy but it died.

There is a place named Strawberry in Arizona, U.S.A.

Anyway strawberry cannot grows there  because it is too hot.

New addition Tourist spot at Genting Highlands, newly open RM 2 million Strawberry leisure farm situated at Gotong Jaya Town, half way to Genting Theme Park.

Genting Strawberry farm is next to Genting Sport center complex. Where you can find ample parking and walk over to the farm. The farm is close to the main road you will not miss it.
Today, we are going to cover the Strawberry farm section.

Self pick strawberry, that you can pick your own self inside the farm for RM14 per kilo. or pre pack for RM 18.00. There many other product from strawberry. That I would recommend to buy is strawberry jam, very good.

Open daily from 9.00 am – 6.00 pm. Our Guest will get 10% discount of purchases.
Please get your voucher at our Front Desk.

FLUFFY CORN SPLATS

425g can whole kernel corn  OR frozen corn
4 egg whites
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 tbsn chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Drain corn
2. Beat egg whites to form soft peaks
3. Fold in corn, cornflour, parsley and pepper
4. Cook spoonfuls in a frying pan until golden on both sides.
5. Serve hot with bacon (rind & fat trimmed) and 2 tspns of maple syrup

FLUFFY FRUIT SPLATS

3 egg whites
1 tbsn cornflour
1½cup of soft diced fruit (strawberries, canned peaches)

1. Beat egg whites to form soft peaks
2. Stir in the cornflour
3. Add fruit
4. Cook in a pan with cooking spray like fritters
5. Serve with yoghurt

 STRAWBERRY PIKELETS

125g cottage cheese
⅓ cup trim milk
½ cup self raising flour
1 tbsn sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
2 egg whites
cooking spray
80g lite ricotta cheese
250g strawberries

1. Mix cottage cheese and milk until smooth.  Mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon & salt
2. Fold in beaten egg whites gently
3. Cook like ordinary pikelets (about 6)
4. To serve, divide the pikelets spread each with ricotta and top with the strawberries
5. Drizzle with 2 tspns maple syrup and serve immediately

 TOO TASTY ZUCCHINI OMELETTE

2 eggs
1 zucchini
30g grated tasty cheese (3 tbsns)

1. Whisk together eggs, zucchini and cheese
2. Heat frypan over medium heat
3. Spray with cooking spray
4. Add mixture and cook for 3 minutes with lid on
5. Fold over and remove lid to finish cooking
6. Serve with a cooked tomato if desired on a grainy piece of toast

BOMBSHELL BIRCHER MUESLI

4 tbsn rolled oats
1 grated apple
handful of raisins
¼ cup walnuts (daily dose of omega 3)
splash of orange juice
1 tablespoon of sunflour/pumpkin seeds mixed
2 tbsn yoghurt

Pile and serve with milk, enjoy

FRENCH TOAST FOR SUPER FOX’S (serves 2)

4 pieces of very grainy bread
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
cottage cheese
canned peaches

1. Beat eggs with egg whites
2. Soak bread in the mixture
3. Fry on both sides in a non-stick pan with a little cooking spray
4. Serve with a spread of cottage cheese and a couple of pieces of peach per piece, drizzle with a little of the juice

Aku merasa harus coba² bikin resep baru di rumah.. buat latian, observasi dan pengamatan serta pembelajaran *halah, lebay bahasa gw*.. gak boleh takut rugi & nyesel, kata mBuku.. kegagalan di awal itu pasti ada.. gak bisa bilang manis kalo gak pernah ngerasain pahit dulu.. makanya aku coba² bikin cupcake rasa stroberi ini.. sekalian buat contoh Cupcake dengan tema Natal..

Resepnya ambil dari bakul kue idolaku, mba Yulia Maki.. *ugh.. I wish I can meet u sometime at TBK Mika Depok while I’m there, mba * Coba bikin setengah resep dulu.. walopun awalnya ngerasa terlalu sedikit, tp begitu udah matang aku bersyukur cuma bikin resep dengan 2 telur.. hha! ternyata cupcakenya gagal sodara².. jd 10 cupcake sedang tp bentuknya sama sekali aneh.. bantet bin kenyal.. aneh deh pokoknya.. persis kyk A Weird Cupcake-ku itu.. tapi rasanya enak sii..

Tp krn gak mau rugi dan coba² hias dengan tema Natal, aku bikin WhC trus di spuit deh ke atas cupcakenya.. gak taunya WhC-ku terlalu encer, jd pohon Natalnya gak naik.. hwahwaaha.. pusyyiiing deh..

Setiap kegagalan pasti ada hikmahnya.. termasuk cupcake ini.. belajar jd orang yg sabar dalam mengaduk terigu, sabar & telaten menghias cupcake.. hwahhaha..

2 cupcake aku makan ama mbu.. 3 lagi aku kotakin buat dia bawa pulang.. katanya WhC-nya malah yg enak.. hehhe..

Here are a few items I found that I could imagine Ms Waldorf to wear. Comments are very welcome

Here

Ebay.com

Etsy

Here

More velvet, please!

I love this dress, see here

Click

Here

Click

From France through Etsy: Click

I’m embarrassed to say, but we didn’t get Olivia a Birthday Cake today! She’s always the one on top of taking care of the rest of us coworkers on our birthdays, so thanks to Chef Brauny for whipping up a yummy Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake for her! YUM!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

]]> http://joyofood.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/whats-been-happening/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:42:24 +0000 Taylor http://joyofood.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/whats-been-happening/

Hi I’m back with a proper post at last.  Things have been hectic.  I have been trying to read and comment on your blogs, I hate to miss your posts.

So here’s what’s been happening over the last couple of days.

I’ve been working like a dog (Hard Day’s Night, love that song) Yes Christmas means overtime at work and I’ve been taking advantage of this. Picture me sat here in my dull, grey office, I shall be putting up the Christmas decorations soon to liven things up.

I’ve been doing some partying, “oh Taylor I think you’re a bit tipsy”

It was my friend’s, work’s Christmas party on Friday and I went along for moral support

On to today’s eats.

Breakfast saw the appearance of oats with greek yogurt and strawberries (and coffee not pictured)

When I did my “meat free” week I decided to have more meat free days and today was one of them.

Work lunch was a mixed bean salad with kidney beans, green beans, sweet corn, carrot and garden peas, a pita with cream cheese and a bunch of grapes.  The Lara bar was my pre-workout snack of which I gobbled before heading off for a swim.

When I got home I made a delicious sandwich of avocado, red pepper, spinach, tomato and cheese and a plum on the side. This made a crunchy, creamy, cheesy sandwich.

So now I have some catching up to do.

Taylor

So much for getting back into the swing of things! I couldn’t have been more off my game yesterday if I’d crashed my car into a tree and then drew attention to myself by releasing a sketchy statement about it. I completely forgot the first rule of morning time management: The days you want extra time are exactly the days you won’t get it. Regardless, I skipped doing the dishes and ran out the door at 10:45 to grab coffee before class. For the first time, I forgot my camera. What if yesterday was the day I ran into Emma Watson and explained to her about my blog and she offered to pose for a photo with me?… I like to dream big so that whatever happens in the day isn’t a disappointment. Well that wasn’t the case, but I did get my coffee, sit through an rough hour of “welcome back, now work” class, and hustle on back to my dorm to pick up where I left off. After cleaning, emailing, and blog reading, I made another meal of leftovers.

Cheesy Broccoli, Tofurkey Slice, Acorn Squash With Caramel Mustard

I think from now on I’ll just cook everything on the weekend and only eat “leftovers” all week long because they’re always the best. The broccoli was simply steamed and mixed with a slice of cheese from Trader Joe’s. The acorn squash was delicious with the caramel mustard, which I definitely had a heavy hand with(how could I not?). And the Tofurkey roast was still mighty fine, though I made sure not to overdo it again because apparently too much Tofurkey is rough on the stomach! Cost for calorie, these aren’t so bad to buy on sale after the holidays eat throughout the week. Here’s hoping to more in the future!(besides what I still have as leftovers )

I don’t know where my head was because I almost left my room and went to class without any of the books I needed. In history we got back our 3 midterm essays, all of which I did really well on and lifted my spirits. Then we got our final paper topic–yikes! That’ll be 12-15 pages of get-me-out-of-here. After class I “had” to dash back to my dorm to pick up stevia packets for a coffee before epic poetry(going to class without a coffee would be dangerous). Unfortunately, as New Englanders know, the weather was awful in the afternoon and my plans to grab something at Whole Foods were no more. I headed back to my dorm, at which point I was struck with a Jimmy Neutron brain blast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter And Shortcut Cream Cheese Frosting

I loved this recipe so much, I had to post it immediately. That is seriously going to change the way I eat anything carby(probably not for the better but oh well). Oprah had some awesome guests on, including Sugarland, all singing Christmas songs! It was pretty awesome–I wish I’d known to tivo it. Afterwards I had to get out even if it was raining. Naturally I chose the bookstore.

Coffee At The Bookstore

I realized I forgot all my cold-weather clothes at home, as well as an umbrella and q-tips. Again, where was my head? After perusing I couldn’t find any good coats, and the umbrellas were a bit much(and I completely forgot about the q-tips ) so I left empty handed. I was still feeling a bit snackish, though, so I dug up this bar back at the dorm.

Lemon Ginger Gnu Bar

Wowza! I think this bar had the most flavor out of any of their bars, and I really really liked it. The lemon and ginger were both loud and it made a fun study snack. While doing some work before dinner, I realized I hadn’t heard from my friend if we were doing dinner. That’s because I forgot to turn my phone on in the morning and it’d been off all day… wtf. After getting some texts and finding out I was too behind for the rest of the world, I ended up grabbing something and eating in.

Vegan Roasted Vegetables, Sweet Potato, Wildwood Teryaki Tofu

Do you see the sun? It needed to come out at some point. Before I dug into this, I realized, I took my only fork home before break and forgot to bring it back. What’s wrong with me? Chopsticks and my baby spoon it was. Unfortunately, the flavors were not nearly as sunny; this was one of those meals that just felt like a waste after eating it(except the sweet potato, which would take a lot to feel like a waste). I wish this tofu had half the flavors on the ingredient list but in the end it tasted much like their savory flavor and wasn’t teryaki at all. As for the veggies, I tried to ignore the massive amounts of olive oil, but I had to stop 3/4ths the way through and throw out the rest. I don’t mind healthy fats, but I’m not a big fan of olive oil :-/ Nuts, peanut butter, avocado–all good. But this was too much to an absurd amount.

The night just went downhill from there. Heroes was OK but nothing to draw my attention, and my stomach just felt off, which I’m going to go ahead and blame on the vegetables. I did some light reading but realized I was tired. Could I go to bed at 9 and be asleep at 10? Was that allowed? Why the hell not, so I shut down my computer early, and figured out what to have right before sleeping.

2% Greek Yogurt With Strawberry Jam And Strawberry White Chocolate

Well the night wasn’t a complete bust; I removed 1oz plain and replaced it with 1oz full fat yogurt to give the base a 2% taste. Then I swirled in strawberry jam(technically ”conserve”) and topped with a shaved Divine bar and some more jam. Just what I need before going to be–sugar. Midway through this I realized I forgot to brush my teeth, and so went to the bathroom to do that. In the 3 minutes I was in there, my roommate must have came home and grabbed something, locking the door and leaving. I was locked out in my pajamas, glasses, barefoot with a toothbrush–glorious. I freaked out for a minute and tried running outside to find him but no luck. Thankfully, one of the RC’s on the other side of the dorm was home and called campus services on my behalf. She also lent me slippers to wear while I waited outside(in 40 degree weather) for the campus security to show up. By the time I got in my room, i completely missed Big Bang Theory and was quite livid. The only thing I could do from wanting to tell someone off was eat this.

Deep Chocolate Vitatop

I’m not sure how well that worked, but heating it a little extra and just holding it in my hands for warmth made me happy. I totally didn’t get to bed early like I had planned, and the entire night felt like a waste. I maybe got 20-30 minutes more of sleep than normal–maybe. When I woke up I just needed to run it out, so I grabbed this and just left:

Amazing Grass Berry Energy Bar

I swear I always run farther than planned when I have an Amazing Grass bar. Stock up while they’re still on sale! I was first thinking 8, then pushed it to 10, then settled at 12. 3 days in a row? I think that’s a new favorite distance. My time was a little slower(1:41:11) but not bad. I was very pleased that my room wasn’t locked when I came back this time, and I was able to get in and make a quickie breakfast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Smart Balance And Maple Syrup, Plain Chobani With Blueberry Jam And A Double Chocolate Pillow

Is there anything better than opening up a new jar of PB? I bought this Sart Balance with agave to replace the one I had with molasses–it’s just better! And perfect on some salty oats with maple syrup. And the yogurt–yum! I love the combination of chocolate and blueberry but it’s so hard to find in foods unless I make it myself. The pillow cookie made a perfect, rich cocoa topping.

How about a question of the day, shall we? Tell me either your worst story of being locked out(fortunately this hasn’t happened too me more than 2 or 3 times in my life) or your most annoying roommate story(I realize my roommate could have been a lot worse so now I want to hear about those who were). And here’s to December not being as bad as November ended!

Good morning! In case you were travelling over the weekend, there was a new recipe dreamed up on Black Friday, a review of Clif bars, a day that had me blushing beet red, and a 2nd, meatless Thanksgiving.

After that awesome lunch, I needed time to digest on the couch with Montana, and then got to work on my next project.

Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree. After chopping it down yesterday and leaving it in the cold overnight, we finally brought it in. Traditionally, I do the lights and the cranberries while my mom does the ornaments afterwards; since I was moving back to my dorm I needed to do this snappily. I was happy at the end I love the lights on a Christmas tree. I think the ornaments are always nice and personal but it’s just not a tree to me if it doesn’t light up.

Afterwards we got to packing up. I dreaded this. It always feels like I have more going back than coming home, and this time I knew I did because of all the leftovers and extra clothes. Ugh. Thankfully with enough helping hands in the house this wasn’t too bad and shaped up pretty quick.

Packed Bags

I think it was a backpack, 3 bags of food, 2 of laundry, 2 of random machinery, and a stevia plant. Because, really, how could I live without all of that? We swung by my grandmother’s apartment to pick her up because she likes to come “just for the ride”. Wouldn’t it be nice to have time to go for a ride just because you have nothing else to do? 60 more years and I’ll be there.

Double Chocolate Pillow

Of course before hitting the highway we wento McDonald’s for some decaf and I broke out one of these cookies. I think it’s always the case that things grow on me after a few days, because 4 days later and I’m now becoming obsessed with them. Seriously, just smelling the cocoa–bliss. On the way down we stopped at Target looking for a movie. Alas, no luck But underwear was on sale and that’s close enough to grab, right?

Moving back in was actually quite quick and painless with enough helping hands(again). The rug looks awesome since my mom brought down her vacuum to clean it up(thanks!). I definitely lost track of time in all of this and realized I was hungry. A little cookie is not a substantial afternoon snack, but you know what is?

Laloo's Strawberry Darling Goat's Milk Ice Cream

Ice cream. I’m surprised this has survived the common freezer for so long, but yesterday I decided it was time to polish it off(only about 1 serving left anyway). I love the tang of the balsamic vinegar in this. Something tells me adding balsamic vinegar, even an organic one, to strawberry chobani wouldn’t work the same. When all the groceries were away I enjoyed staring at a full fridge.

Full Fridge

Really? Is there anything more blissful? I’m surprised I managed to cram it all in there; it looked like it might not make it and I’m glad I left some tofu at home for another weekend. I also found this which I snuck into my bag:

The Killer Angels

I don’t really “pleasure read”, and if I had time to, I’d probably choose a book I haven’t read, so I’m not sure why I brought this. But I do love and recommend this book for anyone wanting to read a psuedo-historic novel. I did a huge paper on it and the battle of Gettysburg in 11th grade. As you might know, I’m a Classics major, but besides that American history 1640-1865 is my other area of interest. There’s a movie, Gettysburg, based on this book I have yet to see but I can’t wait to find it some day.

Dinner started off a little disgusting; I went to get one of my sweet potatoes and found it covered in mold–yuck! That’s actually never happened with the food I keep under my bed but I guess there’s a first for everything. Instead, I had to improvise.

Broccoli, Turkey Breast, Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin With Lightlife Breakfast Sausages And Maple Syrup

You know how sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach? Yeah, story of my life day. First there was being stuffed from a stuffed tofurkey and acorn squash, and then there was this. The turkey wasn’t anything special, I just wanted to eat it up before it got moldy like a sweet potato. The english muffin with sausage was the real money maker here. Does anybody else remember McGriddles from McDonalds? That’s EXACTLY What this was like, except with infinitesimally less trans fat. Oh my God, so good. Rest assured it will be made again. Unfortunately, there was one casualty during dinner.

Broken Amazing Grass Bottle

My Amazing Grass bottle I dropped it on the floor while it was full and water went pretty much everywhere–fun. After cleaning it up I went to the bathroom and tried refilling it, wondering why it kept being empty. Smart one, Evan. I think they carry these at Whole Foods? That’s what I’m hoping at least. After getting ahead(ahead! not catching up!) on work I made a snack and settled in for A Dog Named Christmas.

Peanut Butter Soy Yogurt With Fig Jam And Peanut Butter Chips

I don’t expect much from cheesy, holiday, made-for-TV movies, but this one was even below expectations. I expect them to suck, but to also be cutesy, and the child acting in this was not cutesy. This snack also did not disappoint even though I was iffy on the flavor combo. I think I forgot to sweeten the base but thankfully I bought a Vanilla flavor. I completely forgot I even had fig preserves but they were still just as good. And the pb cheeps were nice and sweet, nothing at all like real peanut butter and yet just as magical

After I’d put up with bad child acting for an hour, it was time for a new Brothers & Sisters. Last weeks episode was not on because Adam Lambert needed to whore it up at the AMA’s, but this week there were supposed to be great plot twists and secret revealings–it did not disappoint. Midway, I snacked on this:

English Muffin With Pumpkin Cream Cheese And Honey Maple Peanut Butter Topped With Me And Goji Granola

2 english muffins in one day? I was on a roll. I liked the crunch from the granola. And the gojis I’m sure were some decent brain food. I also love “rediscovering” peanut butters I forget about. Brothers & Sisters I thought was awesome–can’t wait until the wedding(or will there even be one?) next week.

I was exhausted so I knew I wanted shut eye but for some reason, as tired as I was, I wasn’t getting to sleep. I don’t know how much I slept overall or how many times I woke up/had weird dreams. This was one harsh “welcome back” to the swing of things. When I woke up, though, I was ready to meet my old friend–the gym. I made a quickie snack.

Kashi Strawberry Flax Waffle With Banana Peanut Butter

Normally I like bars that I can take on the treadmill but for some reason this was what appealed to me best. When I got there, it was packed for 6:50am(read: 3 other people). But then it quited down and the regulars started showing up. I didn’t concern myself too much with pace or anything; I was plenty happy to be back and watching the Today Show(does anybody care about Tiger Woods’ car crash at this point? really?). In the end I did 12 miles in 1:38:59. That’s almost exactly like yesterday, which is good because I tend to be slower inside than out. When I got back, I relearned how to make a dormroom breakfast.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Pepita Butter And Maple Frosting, Eggnog Yogurt

This microwave just ain’t the same as the one back home. For the oats I used Caitlin’s pancake frosting recipe with a little vanilla stevia. I think my cooking skills were on vacation and are just getting back, too, because everything was underseasoned/sweetened. Afterwards, I added more stevia and cinnamon to the yogurt and some vanilla sugar and salt atop the oats and that perked things up.

And so, clearly I’m relearning dorm life after a week of bliss. I suppose with finals and papers coming up I won’t even notice the time between now and Christmas vacation, right? Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s cyber Monday, and as dirty as that sounds I have some deals to catch.

Best homemade cheesecake I’ve ever baked! You get the best of both worlds, its like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. As you can see theres a golden brown strike running across the cheesecake, which indicates I left it in to long. But it did not dry out, and that can happen if your oven is really hot at 350 F so you might have to use 325 F.

2 pkgs (8-ounce) of Cream Cheese

1 cup Sugar

3 large Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp

3  cups Sour Cream

Peanut Butter

Jelly (choice of flavored)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until very smooth ( 3 minutes). Add 1 egg at a time, beating after each addition until smooth and scraping down sides.

2. Add the lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and beat until incorporated. Beat in the sour cream just until blended.

3. Place aside 1 cup of mixture and beat in peanut butter. Then pour about 1/3 cup of peanut butter mixture on top of prepared graham crust, then add tablespoons full of flavored jelly around and in the middle of the pan; then add a little of the other mixture that does not contain peanut butter.  Continue to do this alternatively ending with the non peanut butter mixture on top and adding a few more drops of jelly around the pan.

4. Set the pan in a larger pan and surround it with 1 inch of very hot water. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cake cool for 1 hour. Remove to a rack and cool at room temperature (for 1 hour). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

* For a richer, denser cheesecake; replace 3 whole eggs with 6 egg yolks.

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

1 1/4 cups Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs or Cookie crumbs

3 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup butter or margarine

Combine crumbs and sugar in medium-sized bowl. Stir in melted butter or margarine until completely blended. Pack mixture firmly into 9-inch pan and press. Chill 1 hour before baking or bake in 350 F oven for 8 minutes, then cool, chill and fill.

So I made it past the 2 week mark, I’m getting good at this time keeping stuff!
Anyhoo, here is a picture of Jessie’s waffles, mine weren’t as nice looking because I just covered them in icing sugar and then devoured them…..mmm…..

What’s your favourite thing to have on waffles?

1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon strawberry Kool-Aid
2-3 tablespoons milk
1-2 drops red food colouring (optional)

Cream butter in mixer. Add sugar slowly in parts; mixing on low. Add vanilla, Kool-Aid powder, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix on high adding another tablespoon of milk if necessary for smooth consistency.

The icing will be pink; add 1-2 drops of red food colouring to get a strawberry red colour.

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I started making this for my niece who loves strawberries. You can use strawberry oil or extract, but I usually have the Kool-Aid around anyway.

I put new 1L$ dress for Christmas season.

It made by red & green　(Xmas color ；D)

*:Sweet Strawberry:*

http://slurl.com/secondlife/PERIOD/207/226/101

Short and Simple.

Munch Bunch split pot yogurts are a marvel of engineering. They somehow arrive with the strawberry and vanilla split in half with no physical barrier???

It’s crazy stuff.

Not quite perfect due to the shaking in excitement