nuts about breakfast!

So these were on sale at the grocery store once.  It was a trap!  They haven't been on sale since, but I got hooked; they're delicious!  And healthy... I can even pronounce most of the ingredients!  But I repeat, though they're delicious... it's a trap*!  I keep buying them, even though they're not the cheapest option, because they're so tasty and satisfying, and just sweet enough that they go really well with my coffee for breakfast.  There are a bajillion flavors, and so far I've liked every one I try!  My favorites are the basic fruit & nut (shown below), the cranberry almond, and blueberry pecan.  I also think I had an awesome peanut butter and jelly bar once... but I haven't seen it in the store again, so maybe I made it up.  (FYI - the quickest way to my heart is through peanut butter and jelly.  Make note in case you need to get back into my good graces some day - pb&j just might be the key.  For some girls it's jewelry and fancy cars, but for me, I'm pretty sure food is the way to go.  Though I won't stop you from buying me jewelry if you should be so inclined... just saying it wouldn't hurt to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich too).

image from www.kindsnacks.com

However, the other day I saw a cheaper, smaller, knock off brand in the super market, and decided to give it a shot.  Stop & Shop Nature's Promise, peanut butter flavor, from the organic aisle.  Even better list of ingredients, I could pronounce allllll of them! (reminds me of that old ice cream commercial).  The bar was a little smaller than the KIND bars, but also had lower fat and calories... so would be better as an anytime snack.  Not as many options in flavors, but still tasted pretty good, and less expensive!  I think perhaps I'll split my time between the 2 brands, so that I can afford to buy coffee sometimes...

* "trap" in spanish is "trampa", which always makes me imagine some tramp trapping a good man

Hot hot hot!

I'm not talking about the weather. 
I'm talking about soup!

This afternoon, soup saved me.  As of late, I've been losing my battle with pollen...

Until today!

Thanks to some mulligatawny soup from this place up the road, I've remembered my old friend:  SPICY FOOD!!  Since allergy medicine (as well as the allergies themselves) make me a bit of a space cadet, I do what I can to treat them naturally.  Namely, by using a neti pot and getting lots of rest.  But thanks to today's incidental soup purchasing, a world of other helpful options have worked there way back into my memory!  Ok, not a world.  But two!  And both have been very effective in the past!

1. Spicy foods!  This includes hot peppers and chili powder, as well as fresh ginger. Wasabi and horseradish are not recommended,  because unhappy sinuses + horseradish = evil explosion.  Eating raw onions and garlic might count, but the aftertaste just makes me keep eating foods that I can't really taste unless I've eaten chili first.  (Why is it that with a stuffy nose I can still taste bad things like onion breath but not delicious things like cookies?)
2. Chopping onions! All that crying is kind of like using a neti pot, without the weird posture. haha.

I think tomorrow I'll chop a bunch of onions, and use them to make chili!!

Mooooo

I feel like a cow.  And in honor of this occasion, I ordered a hamburger for lunch.  I think the guy liked me, look at the amount of fries he gave me!  To put this to scale:  I measured that hamburger with my ruler.  It's 5 inches across... I've resorted to eating it with a fork and knife it's so big.* 

Lunch for the rest of the week?

  This is not at all normal for NYC, especially for less than $6.

Unfortunately I only took 3 packets of ketchup! What was I thinking?!

*strike that... my fork just gave up and yielded under the weight of this thing

Home alone (at work)

I already ate my 2nd breakfast, and I still have to survive 2.5 hours until it's acceptable to eat lunch!

"Kevin Arnold" face. 
No wait, he's from the wonder years.  I was going for that other Kevin from my childhood.

Also, I feel like the entire world (ok fine, country) has today off, except for me.  

So is that a good excuse to go buy some cookies and a fancy coffee for third breakfast?

Wrong side of the bed!

Things are not going my way this morning! 

• I overslept
• husband used all the hot water (he was sleepy too and zombie showered I guess)
• I missed the late train, and had to wait for the REALLY late train
• I stood in a very long line for iced coffee while I waited, only to receive really crappy iced coffee which I'm pretty sure contained sour milk, but I was out of time to request a new one...
• skinny girl stood next to me on train platform, made me feel fat
• got middle seat on train (normally fine) but couldn't figure out how to balance coffee and book... made a fool of myself trying to put coffee on floor by sticking my face in neighboring gentlemen's lap
• in nyc got 2nd iced coffee at fancy coffee place, I ruined it by putting wrong ratio of milk/sugar
• regretted not buying delicious looking pastries while lamenting over 2nd coffee failure
• muggy and uncomfortable out, hair looks awful, skin shiny
• it started raining before I made it to the office, the kind where an umbrella is useless (I always get lucky and miss the rain when I arrive on time... observation: in NYC it never seems to rain between 7:30 and 8:30 am, but rains quite often at 9 am and later)
• Starving upon arrival at the office (since I didn't buy delicious pastries and coffee wasn't drinkable) I unpacked my lunch/snacks and realized I brought a rotten banana, squished strawberries, grapes, AND raspberries.  And no chocolate bars.

When I recounted these events to myself, I laughed, and *pouf*, bad mood gone!

PS - I know I said I was giving up coffee, but I'm not quite there yet. 

PPS - I gave in and bought expensive "local" strawberries last night, so cute and tiny and DELICIOUS!  Also, I suceeded in growing a strawberry!  Just one, but a strawberry nonetheless!

PPPS - Has anyone ever eaten a mulberry?  I think I have a mulberry tree, but I'm not 100% sure.  Berries all over the driveway.  I could eat them, but they might be poison, how can I tell?