Healthy Fall Snack

I just discovered seasonal Clif bars at Whole Foods in the best flavor ever: pumpkin pie spice! They're perfect to nibble on between meals and are packed with protein and nutrients.

If You Like Piña Coladas

You will absolutely love these popsicles! They've been my favorite after-dinner treat since I first tried them last week. I love that they have a creamy texture, like frozen yogurt or ice cream, but they're relatively guilt-free (like a popsicle). It's the best of both worlds!

Weekend Snapshots: Overdue

Essie's California Coral--so bright and summery!


Best cracker ever. Seriously, good little dippers for hummus or guac.


Freshly grated nutmeg going into zucchini bread batter.


Early Saturday Pinkberry run. No line!


Used local RI summer ale...


...to make a tasty littleneck clam and mussel dinner!


M's chocolate birthday cake that I slaved hours over!


New favorite summer cocktail: vodka + sparkling blueberry juice.

Oops! I'm a little overdue with this photos, but they're from a couple weekends ago when M's birthday weekend continued. We did a lot of running around on Saturday and then stayed in to cook a local seafood feast, complete with clams and mussels in a spicy Narragansett summer ale and roasted tomato broth. It was insanely garlicky (and therefore insanely good!).

I felt like I spent most of the weekend in the kitchen because I ended up baking zucchini bread for a brunch on Sunday and then M's family came over for a birthday cookout in the afternoon where we served up grilled corn and sausage and peppers. Whew! It was definitely a packed summer weekend and I can't wait to keep the entertaining going next weekend when my cousin Leslie visits!

How are you spending this weekend?

Yan-Yan = Yum-Yum

These little dippers are my new favorite after-school treat. They're like Dunk-a-Roos (whoa, blast from the past!) for adults, but with little trivia bits printed on the dipping sticks. I'm kind of obsessed with them. Why are treats from Singapore so much more exciting than domestic ones?!

Stop at the Lemon

Today was the perfect day for a frosty Del's lemonade after work. My favorite flavor is ruby-red grapefruit! Del's is a sure sign that summer has arrived here in Rhode Island.

Food Truckin' PVD Style

I was so excited to open the local paper today and read a whole article dedicated to Providence's food trucks! To my surprise, there are already several hawking their cuisine around Providence, with more to come this summer! I can finally follow in Tiane's foodie footsteps! I think I'm most excited to try the Hewtin's Dogs Mobile, which is conveniently parked every Saturday at the farmer's market right down the street from my apartment.

Have you tried any of your local food trucks recently?

A Wild Discovery

I kind of love that I finally stumbled upon these special edition Barnum's animal crackers today while on a run for groceries. The box is so colorful that it really stood out on the shelf and I couldn't resist buying a couple packages. I can't believe it took me a whole year to find them!

Addicted to Joe's

I don't normally buy groceries at Trader Joe's, but when I popped in this afternoon to pick up a few items, it made me reconsider my shopping habits. We only have one location in Rhode Island and it's sorta out of my way (i.e. more than 10 minutes), so I don't usually make it a priority to go. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of organic produce, vitamins, frozen fruit, peanut butter, and most surprisingly, the prices! It was noticeably cheaper than shopping at Whole Foods. Also, they have a lot of products with fun packaging and at least twelve varieties of hummus, both pluses in my book. One tip though, don't buy a bag of sesame honey almonds and then open it on the way home. I couldn't stop snacking on them! I can't wait to go back and stock up when I have some more time to explore.

Do you have a favorite Trader Joe's product?

Lunch Box Treats

Remember way back when your mom packed your lunch every day? I really miss that! Imagine how much time I could save in the morning if I didn't have to worry about what to pack for lunch. One of my favorite things to find at snack time were Teddy Graham crackers! For some reason they always remind me of childhood. I was always a fan of the honey flavor (chocolate, too!) but now they have fancy flavors like cinnamon and chocolate chip. Nostalgic snacks are the best!

What was your favorite lunch box treat?

Berry Good

I feel like I've been eating my weight in blackberries lately. They're easily one of my favorite fruits, but I prefer eating them at room temperature rather than refrigerated. Guess I'm weird like that.

Crazy Combos

Meet my new favorite yogurt: Dannon Light & Fit in toasted coconut vanilla. Weird, right? I thought so too when I first spotted it, but it's delicious. It would be even better with some mini chocolate chips mixed in! Can you tell I'm missing chocolate just a little? Only 25 more days until Easter, when I'll be guzzling coffee and chocolate all day long.

Eat Your Vegetables

Meet my newest snacking obsession: roasted green beans. I've roasted lots of veggies (mostly peppers, onions, potatoes, and the like), but I've never thought to roast green beans. I usually steam them or throw them into a stir fry. Then I stumbled on this recipe at How Sweet It Is (which is an amazing blog that usually has nothing to do with vegetables and everything to do with chocolate & outrageously decadent desserts). I tested the super simple recipe for the first time a few weeks ago and I was hooked! Now I make them for a quick snack or a dinner side at least three times a week. They're really that good! I love trying different spices on them like grill seasoning or red pepper flakes. Next on my list to roast is kale. Sounds like it could be interesting.

How do you like your veggies?

Nut-Butter Overload

I'd like to find this Justin fellow and give him a hug because this stuff is magical.

Note to self: never, ever bring a jar of this home.

Juicy Fruit

Meet my new favorite afternoon snack. I don't know how they do it, but Whole Foods has the sweetest, juiciest, reddest ruby red grapefruit I've ever eaten.

Anyone else feel like this has been the longest. week. ever.?

Puttin' on the Ritz

This Ritz cracker necklace immediately made me think of my littlest sister, Birch. I don't remember if she loved Ritz crackers that much, but she sure did eat a lot of cheese as a kiddo. Plus, we always used to load up on goldfish, wheat thins, and Ritz crackers whenever we went to our Grandma's house. The best part was eating the snacks out of plastic yellow tubs that were used for butter. Jewelry that incorporates snack food gets two thumbs up in my book! Check out these cute gummy bear earrings. They look good enough to eat!

Obsession of the Moment

Time for my favorite new snack: Kashi dark chocolate coconut bars. They are full of fiber and whole grains and (best of all) chocolate and coconut. The bars are tasty mid-morning treat or good for when you need a little something sweet after dinner. The best part is you definitely don't have to feel guilty about enjoying them. I've been trying more of the Kashi bars lately and this one is definitely my favorite one so far. Yummy!

What's your favorite Kashi snack?

Lilly Pulitzer Goes Wild

To this day, Barnum's animal crackers are still one of my favorite snacks. Half the fun is eating them out of the red circus-train boxes! Well, the familiar red cars have been replaced (in limited edition fashion) by Lilly Pulitzer's pastel palette. The collaboration between Lilly and Barnum benefits the World Wildlife Fund and their commitment to protecting tigers in Sumatra. One million of these boxes are going on sale throughout the U.S. and will be available only while supplies last. I can't wait to look for them this weekend at Target! This is a great project that promotes the environment, fashion, and yummy childhood snacks!

What do you think of the Lilly Pulitzer-designed snack boxes?

New Obsession of the Moment

So last week it was orange Pellegrino (which I still love), but now there's a new obsession: dark chocolate yogurt-covered raisins. Specifically the ones by Sun-Maid. They are so yummy. And I don't even feel too guilty about eating them because they have fruit and fiber. It's better than eating a handful of chocolate chips, right? The funniest part is, I hate plain raisins. I actually only like raisins when they're mixed into cereals like raisin bran or granola. Well, now I know I like them covered in chocolate yogurt (which seems odd). I've never seen chocolate yogurt next to strawberry and raspberry at the grocery store. Oh well, they sure are tasty. You should try them!

I feel a weekly post coming on about my current favorite drink and/or snack.

Pom-Tastic

I spotted these tasty treats over at oh joy! eats (a great foodie blog) a while back. I finally made it to Trader Joe's yesterday and let me tell you, these dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds are scrumptious! They're tart and tangy because of the pomegranate, with a little crunch from the seed, but chewy and sweet from the dark chocolate. It's kinda hard to explain. You just have to try them for yourself. I really love Trader Joe's. A nice "team member" came over to help me find what I was searching for and he even opened up a container of the seeds and gave me a sample to make sure I liked them before I committed to buying! Not many places will do that for you. The best part is, with all the antioxidants from the pomegranate and dark chocolate, you don't have to feel too guilty about eating them (in moderation, of course).

Do you have a favorite unusual snack?