Not Your Average Grape

Picked these up last night from Whole Foods and I'm impressed. They're called grapes but look and taste like huge raisins. And something cool to note is that they're freeze-dried. As strange as it may seem, I admit it. I'm sold on this all natural, freeze-dried fruit thing they've got going on. I just wish they had a bigger bag.

Bon Appetit!
 

Peach Season!!

It's that time of year again folks.... Peaches!!! They're a fantastic way to expand your fruit repertoire and are an excellent addition to cereal, oatmeal and make great pies too. My favs are White Lady Freestones.

TIP: Before you eat peaches, they should be relatively "squishy" to the touch. If they're as hard as say, an apple, sit them on a window sill to help them rippen.

Bon Appetit!

Oreo My Goodness!!

For the Oreo obsessed, the Oreo Madness is a must from your neighborhood T.G.I. Fridays.

It's a perfect culinary marriage of crunchy, supersized Oreo cookies with Cookies and Cream ice cream in the middle. If that wasn't enough, they serve up some chocolate and caramel drizzle with a fresh strawberry in place of the overused "cherry on top" cliché. Tasty AND creative!

Bon Appetit!

Quick.Sugar.Fix

Usually in the "$1 bins" at chain pharmacies. Gives you a little sugar boost plus good breath!

Best. Light. Tomato Food. (B.L.T.)

OK, so that's not what it really stands for and yes, I was having trouble creating a worthy secondary acronym. For the purpose of this blog, the name "B.L.T" is also being considered a "Tomato Food"... or for that matter a "Bacon Food" or, sometimes when I'm feeling squirrely, a "Lettuce Food". But I digress.

Bacon. Lettuce. Tomato. If that's not a recipe for greatness, then I don't know squat about food... and I'd like to think I know a thing or two. The great thing about a B.L.T. is that it's technically and socially acceptable to eat whenever you'd like. Let's study this a bit further:

Breakfast: Bacon (Bacon and Eggs; Bacon, Egg and Cheese sandwich), Bread (toast)
Lunch: Lettuce + Tomato = a light salad; Bacon (Bacon Bits on a baked potato)
Dinner: Bacon again! (Bacon Wrapped Scallops, Bacon Cheeseburger)

These obviously aren't all the delightful options but as you can imagine, the possibilities are endless.

The final "plus" I'll leave you with is this: It's healthy. It's healthier than what most a lot of people eat. Unless you are an extremely health conscious individual, if you're looking for a quick bite for lunch, your're probably looking for the closest McDonalds, Wendy's or pizza joint. Now, I'm not a health expert, but I can tell you there's more fat in a Big Mac than a B.L.T... probably. Think of it this way if you'd like; the healthy whole grain bread, lettuce and tomato counteract the unhealthy components of the bacon and mayo. There, do we feel better?

When I was little, it was a treat to have my mom make a B.L.T. Now that I'm an adult, I can make one whenever I'd like... and I do.

Move Over Cheez-Its!

For those who do not frequent to the snack food aisles of the grocery store, Cheez-Its have become the runner-up to the traditional, and somewhat cliche, "chips and salsa" snack. They have their own commercials and if anyone mentions the words "cheese" and "crackers" in the same sentence, chances are someone within an ear shot will pipe up, "Cheez-Its?".

Well I'm here to tell you "just say no to Cheez-Its". It's not as much of a protest as it is a matter of personal preference, but I've discovered something far more satisfying; Better Cheddars. They're thinner, lighter, bigger and always fresh, never burnt; they're the Batman to our Gotham City of after-breakfast-but-before-lunchtime woes. The trick, however, is finding a grocery store that carries them. One source reported a Better Cheddar sighting at a local Food Lion.

So join me, my brothers and sisters, as we say NO to over-commercialized, delusions of cheesy trickery and shout a loud and resounding YES to the Better Cheddar underdog!