Maui Tacos

I've had a long day and I tried Maui Tacos guacamole at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and it was terrible. As a heads up. I'm having trouble pinpointing why, and in trying to discern some sort of explanation I ate the whole thing. Sometimes we don't live by logic.

Enjoy!

Vega Smoothie Infusion Review

Not too long ago I was contacted by Sequel Naturals and offered free samples of their Vega Smoothie Infusion product. Intrigued, I took them up on their offer.

Here is what I was told prior to receiving my samples:

"Vega Smoothie Infusion is made exclusively from natural plant-based whole foods. Alkaline-forming and easy to digest, it provides premium nutrition in a convenient, affordable format. Smoothie Infusion includes protein, fiber, omega 3 EFAs and green foods. Available in two sizes: 15-serving resealable pouch or handy 12-serving box of 30 gram single serving pouches. "

Upon arrival I immediately inspected the contents of the package. Besides receiving a sweet bag that has been perfect for the farmer's market:


I also received some brochures to flip through. I'm not sold on all the information (alkalinizing foods etc) and I'm also not a fan of the lack of an actual RD in the pamphlet, but I obviously like plant based diets so still game I turn to inspecting the actual ingredients and ingredient label:

Ingredients: Yellow pea protein, organic hemp protein, organic sprouted flax seeds, organic brown rice protein, organic green food blend (spirulina, organic wheat grass, organic alfalfa grass, organic barley grass, organic spinach, organic sprouted broccoli, organic kale, organic kelp, organic dulse), inulin (from chicory root), natural flavors, xanthan gum.

No trans fats, no cholesterol, sodium in line, and 6g of fiber all sit well with me. Additionally, the 14g of protein are vegan friendly so that's a plus for some. I get to mixing.

I decide to try the standard recipe:

1 banana
1/4c blueberries
1 c water
1/2c orange juice
1/2c ice
1 serving Vega

With the reduced sugar orange juice I used I ended up with a 300 calorie, quite voluminous, drink on my hands. The picture below isn't quite all of it:


The taste verdict? My roommate and I both tried it and the results were fairly positive. The texture was a little off to me, but I think tinkering with the recipe could rectify that. My roommate doesn't like bananas, but conceded that a different fruit combination could easily work.

Overall? It's vegan, doesn't contain corn, dairy, gluten, soy, or wheat which can cause problems with various populations, and has the potential to be delicious while delivering quite a dose of plant based nutritional goodies. My problem? I'm broke so adding this to my diet isn't practical for me. I'm healthy enough I don't really need supplements like Vega as it is very realistic for me to achieve most of my nutrition through food, which is the best bet. But Vega definitely has it's market and if you're looking for a completely plant based product that will offer you some omega fatty acids, protein, and fiber while keeping things like sodium in check, then Vega may possibly be for you.

Enjoy!

Upset over Harry Potter's Alcoholic Tendencies

Harry Potter and the Pint of Liquid Courage

I try really hard to listen to other people's opinions, despite all the mocking I do amongst those I am closest to. I try mainly because I want other people to do the same for me. And as I get older I feel like I'm supposed to be more mature and professional and all of those things and maybe even see differently on issues than I used to. My immediate reaction to reading the above article was an eye roll. But due to the aforementioned growing up conundrum I find myself sitting here thinking on it and trying to think about how I would feel if I had kids...and I'm still rolling my eyes.

Maybe I like the creativity and imagination that is the Harry Potter literary Goliath too much to pick at things like how often the characters drink. The movie, and more importantly the books, aren't about drinking. We could argue all day about what they really are about, the most important points, but we should certainly be able to agree very quickly they aren't about alcohol and it's a shame that's forgotten.

Enjoy!

Food Podcast: Stuff You Missed in History Class

So I've discussed before how I'm getting into the beer podcast thing because I love beer and I have a commute. Well, today I was browsing through Stuff You Missed in History Class. This is my go to podcast when all my other regular ones have been listened to. It's generally interesting, and short, and there are tons of them.

Today I stumbled across one from June 1st, entitled "The Marco Polo Pasta Myth" and I recommend it to any foodie with iTunes. It's free, under ten minutes, and quite interesting.

Enjoy!

Salads, Candy, Nintendo and Cheesecake

Looking at the title for this post, I found myself wondering if there was a better four combo? Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and the 1960s? The Beatles? Chocolate, cheese, fruit, and bread? I don't know, it's all subjective and a stretch, but when it gets down to it I appreciate all four things in that title to varying degrees all erring on the side of awesome.

That said...

This salad article has been everywhere, but I'm going to put it here as well since it was sent by a friend and I'm more likely to keep track of it if it's on my own blog. So yes, 101 Simple Salads for the Season. Awesome. No clicking through slide shows, all just right there. Although I do wish there was a box to type in a word, i.e. avocado, and have all those salads pop up. Can't ask for everything. Guess that's what all the other specific recipe websites out there are for.

Skittles are now vegetarian. I have been waiting for that for a long time.

A Nintendo mushroom out of a radish? I'm such a sucker for ridiculously stupid things like that. Other case in point, my Grandmother's olive penguins. Too cute.

Image courtesy Bobby Stokes via Serious Eats

I haven't been just wowed by a picture in awhile, and then I saw the above cheesecake.

Enjoy!

Fennel Tastes Like Licorice

Periodically you have those moments where you learn something and you think "man, this is good to know!" Today I had one of those.

I am in my kitchen rotation and we taste things. Today this was significant for two reasons:

1. I realized I'm going to have to be vegetarian not vegan while in the kitchen and
2. The aforementioned learning which is that fennel tastes like licorice

Yup, that's it. That's the big learning. Fennel tastes like licorice. We tried this soup with it and once this was all brought to my attention that was all I could think about and marvel over. I should have connected all these dots back at the beginning of the year when I was having my absinthe phase...

Relatedly:

Suite 101
Wikipedia
NPR

Enjoy!

Jillian's Boston

The roommate and I went to Jillian's last night. It was just fine, all the usual trappings of a fun place of that sort.






However, they have adapted the ways of Mellow Mushroom, and others, and sprinkle paprika all over their hummus. This to me produces something akin to bloody hummus and I'm not a fan. If there is any other reason to do this beyond presentation I'd like to know.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Salsa

My morning starts with oatmeal, peanut butter, and blueberries all mixed into the same bowl. However, I could see my day ending with this. Blueberries are so good for you, why not?

Enjoy!

Serious Eats: What is Superman Ice Cream?

Top three things that are gross but I haven't yet given a Thumbs Down Baby to because they haven't unassumingly slipped into my life/mouth (anchovies, smoked flavoring, etc) and knocked me down flat:

1. Superman Ice cream
2. Artificial banana anything
3. Mint Oreos

This list is open to being amended.

That said, Serious Eats recently spent the time to figure out what one of these gross food products is really all about, and I found it rather interesting. Although it also made me itch a little bit as my MI heritage started making me uncomfortable in my own skin.

Enjoy!

Cambridge Commons, Sunset Cantina, and Cranberry Cafe

I have a lot to do tonight, including sleep, so the recap of the weekend will be very much a recap indeed.

Friday night the new nutrition interns and myself ventured to Cambridge Commons with the goal of getting fried pickles because I've been craving them. Upon arrival we did some beer sampling: Magic Hat Odd Notion and Rogue Somer Organic Honey Ale for me. The Magic Hat honestly wasn't my favorite, but I still love the brewery. The Rogue Somer Organic Honey Ale was decidedly not vegan, but we all know alcohol is where my morals and my interests don't align, and by far one of the more interesting beers I've tried lately spare for the CBC Benevolence. I'm still stuck on that.

Anywho...

It was interesting because we got fried pickles spears instead of pickle chips AND because this is what everyone expected which I am still baffled by. How do they compare? Both are delicious but the chip wins. Why?

1. Fried pickle spears make for a less than desirable crispy factor. I'm that girl that lets the stir fry sit on the bottom of the pan to get the burnt stuff. Awesome. Also, when you bite in because of the amount of pickle you're biting through you get a big blast of coolness. Nice contrast, but not what I want. Therefore, I'm still going for the pickle chip because...

2. It gets crispier on the outside and when you bite in it seems like more juice is retained. It's not as refreshing per se, but I like the crispy outside and awesome warm pickly mess inside.

Hopefully that makes sense.

But, like I said, they were still good. And by not being a chip they have extended our hunt to at least one more location.

My sampler. Because I've become a sucker for them. Who knew what Christmas break would do to me. From right to left: Uinta Angler's Pale Ale, Blue Hills Wamputuk Wheat, Pennichuck Schwarzbier, and Long Trail Double Bag. I honestly enjoyed them all, despite making our server concerned at my intense drinking face. Game on. However, I wasn't falling head over heels for any and the Pennichuck had an even more coffee effect than expected. Verdict still falls at the sampler being a success.


We then split this Middle East Platter. I really enjoyed it and splitting it when no one is really hungry is a great option, but if you were in the mood for dinner this would be a steal as an entree.

At some point I also tried a Berkshire Lost Sailor IPA at our server's recommendation. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy most IPAs. That's one thing I can say about Cambridge Commons, on this day at least, is that their beer list was stocked with the ol' Indian Pale Ale..so if that's your thing...

Oh, and our server was absolutely lovely-which while I don't feel like elaborating on too much, let's just say the weekend was full of the Mass-hole, I miss Southern hospitality, and I should have got that server's name so I could try to become a regular.


My weekly trip to Sunset Cantina. I'm going to get that shirt, maybe two. I had, as you can see, Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde. Two things of note here:

1. When you bring it to your mouth it smells like pop and is confusing but I still really liked it.

2. I had two beers and made them both Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blondes...I think I'm going to start doing that more...trying at least a new beer a night, but maybe making it my drink of the night not just the moment so I can form a really strong opinion on it.




We also tried the Sam Adams Long Shot notable for

1. Encouraging home brewers everywhere and

2. That awesome picture right above this text



This morning I ate at Cranberry Cafe in South Boston. Lovely joint, very popular, great food, but a little pricey for some hummus and roasted peppers on a wrap so maybe not a frequent thing. Like I said, I'm getting at least one beer shirt...

Enjoy!

Wachusett Summer

Bleh. My first Summer failure. So is life. I heard the words "Miller" and "Lite" used as adjectives. Never a good sign.

Sigh.

Magic Hat Wacko

My Magic Hat Wacko. Didn't let me down. Magic Hat never has.

The color and the bottle are fantastic.

Summer's treating me well: Sam Adams, Brooklyn Brewery, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat...

July 4th Weekend

My Dad and an old family friend came up to Boston this weekend. I loved having them and doing all the tourist things that we could squeeze in. Of course one of the first orders of business was to introduce them to the Sunset franchise: my weekly hang out where I'm drinking my way towards shirts and food for those of you who haven't been following my move.

Look at how we started the night! Two New England Tours for the boys, I've already done that one, and a West Coast Tour for myself. A Weinenstephaner was also ordered at the egging on of the table. You know, for a banana bread beer as I like to call them, it wasn't as bad as I expected.

As for the New England Tours, not much as far as surprises go. It's official, everyone dislikes Allagash White and everyone loves Sam Adams. Obvious outcome. Also noteworthy is that Magic Hat did well, I love Magic Hat so I was glad everyone else got on board. My Dad was also into the Brooklyn Summer, Brooklyn Brewery being another one of my favorite breweries (wind power!). The Ipswich Blueberry fell to the wayside, another outcome that I expected. It looks beautiful with the blueberries tumbling through the beer, but the taste...you either love it or you don't, and once I realized the boys were right with me as far as taste preferences I knew the Ipswich was going to be a flop.

I had a great time with my sampler. I started off with the Arrogant Bastard which is a triple. I found it palatable to a certain extent, but rather hoppy. Up next was Anchor Steam. My Dad was all about this red, as for myself I didn't think it had much flavor. Then there was the Racer 5. This one took me by surprise. The color is so light you're almost fooled, but a sip later and BAM! it's got a little bite to it. I dug it though. Then there was the Moylan's Hopsickle, most notable for smelling like peaches.

You know how I am about this Tortilla Basket with the guacamole. Verdict? Everyone was just as blown away as I am. Every time I get it. Never let down. Love it. The boys also got this coconut chicken tender appetizer, they were all drooling and prattling on and on about it.

Out came the main courses...

This was the first time I had gotten an actual entree and I was not let down in the slightest. I got the vegetable and bean taco and some steamed broccoli to try to spare the ol' belt notches. So, so good. And more guacamole.



Here is all the other food. All dead on in the awesome department. The main thing we learned was fry seasoning is necessary. Also, keep me away from the fries once they are seasoned.

At some point I decided I would actually opt for a fruit beer and tried Sam Adams Blackberry Wit. You know what? Not bad...

...although I thought the color should have been better.


Like the Smutty Nose. I mean look at that shade! Unfortunately I don't remember what I thought of the actual beer. So is life.

Anyways, July 4th found us at the Cheers bar downing some Sam Adams Brick Red, only available in Boston, and being merry...

...with weather like this for fireworks we had no other option.

Enjoy!

Beer Podcasts

So there's this sports writer. With a podcast. That apparently lots of people listen to. Thinking about this sports writer brought to mind a conversation I was listening in on recently while at a bar in Nashville. The bartender was all about beer, no surprise there, and discussing with a patron beer podcasts. He didn't seem thrilled about them, but with this new 70-80 minute round trip commute I've acquired upon my move north, I'm about ready to try anything. It's not a bad commute, I just don't want to waste the time and without service I can't read my cell phone.

Options:

1. Stand-I'm not a fan of this because simply standing screams "not a real Bostonian!" or so I think

2. iPod-I'm kind of a fan of this, but my music collection is lagging

3. Read a book/magazine-Really a fan of this until I finished my book, easy reading only folks and the other two books I'm in the middle of don't fit that description

4. Study-no

5. Other-This is where I put podcast and I think it's going to be good, really good

I'm always interested in health and food and then usually one other pursuit. Examples of other pursuits include:

1. Mastering medium or whatever on Guitar Hero-my bench mark for social acceptability. I don't care I defined this benchmark prior to playing the game, and I don't care that I excluded everyone else's thoughts on the topic.

2. Mastering the lingo of politics-maybe I don't keep up with every Senator to walk through the door (I'm sure there's a common door somewhere they all walk through) but Obama frenzy drew me in enough that I can now hold me own in political conversations.

3. Nuclear Engineering-I know why fusion is laughable...or not

4. Current-sports

I'm not inept at sports, but there's vast, vast plains of space for improvement. And so reading about sports occupies a large part of my day. But I need my food/health compliment to that time spent reading and neither the internship nor guacamole fills that need, so beer podcasts it is.

I'll be interested if anyone knows anything about beer podcasts that I do not...I'm currently watching two guys talk about $19 bottle of beer called Avery Memphistopheles. Over 400kcal/bottle. The pause and faces after the tasting are priceless. I think I'm watching Beer Safari Chapter 1 or CBR Video Episode 7 if anyone's interested. I'm going to start throwing out the term "tan head" until I learn further.

Here's some information on hops I've had in my inbox for awhile...

Things I'm Thinking...

I got some food to get off my chest:


Amazing. If you like to keep it classy, but still want to rep your S'mores love, maybe the S'mores Cheesecake will help you out.

Lame. But I applaud Serious Eats for bringing this video to my attention. You know who I want to hire? The guy who just picks it up and goes for it. That's the only guy I could really take seriously.

The question has been posed whether or not melted cheese should top a bowl of guacamole. I've been on a guacamole hunt for 2.5 months now. That's right. And I've learned alot.

1. Puree is out, needs chunk
2. Actual guacamole needs a little color, even different color shade of green from jalapenos count
3. Colored chips are a plus. I don't care if they have a tendency to not be as tasty, they are a plus.
4. Interesting presentation is a plus: guacamole in chip bowl? You get to eat a big guacamole soaked chip at the end? Yes please.

And I have two contenders: Swanky's in Franklin, TN and the Sunset restaurants here in Boston, MA. These are subject to change based on:

1. New findings
2. Recommendations
3. Cheese toppings? and other seemingly ludacris ideas

To be continued....(how 'bout that picture? I call it "Apprehension of Cheese". It's creation was soley for my benefit.)

I learned what Muesli is today. I'm making some. When things like this happen (plum -> prune...who knew?) I feel like I've been failed by the system.

On an un-food related note, who loves "You Aint A Killer" by Big Punisher (full name for effect)? I do, that's who. I found it on some imeem play list tribute to MJ titled: Top 10 hip-hop songs that sample MJ. It has wildly inappropriate lyrics to type here, but that chorus comes on and...this may make the "I listen and dance to this while I cook" list. Jut bop along.

Enjoy!