Chocolate Desserts, Mango & Corn Salsa Salad, Hot Topic Friday

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TGIF, Baby!!!!!  Whatcha got shaking for the weekend, bloggie friends?  I don’t have anything special lined up other than to enjoy the 80F and sunny weather, spend lots of time outdoors, being with the fam, and trying to unplug a little a lot.  It’s my goal, actually, to allow my googlereader to pile up but being the Type A compulsive blog reader and commenter that I am, I am floundering with letting things pile up and I still comment on tons of blogs, fabulous that they are of course.

Today I Have.Not.Stopped.  

I did a ton of housework; cleaning, sheet changes, laundry, cooking, un-baking, while taking care of Skylar, of course.  Then, I ran around like a nut to Target and the Grocery Store.  The Grocery Run from This Post almost lasted me til Saturday, but my romaine & greens needed replenishing and I hate taking weekend days to do Errands like Target and the Grocery Store, so I figured I’d knock it out today.  Not to mention weekend pokey and aimless shoppers, who seem to be moving in reverse, drive me nuts so it’s better to stay outta the stores on weekends anyway!  

Since I was at the Grocery store just a couple days ago, I wanted to keep this sort of a smaller haul, for us anyway: 2 bags of lettuce, 1 pound of grapes, 1 bunch of Asparagus, 1 Cuke, and 5 Pink Lady & 5 Cameo Apples

Lettuce, Grapes, Asparagus, Cucumber and apples

And 3 Bananas, 6 Pears and 5 Vine-Ripened Tomatoes
Bananas, Pears and Vine-Ripened Tomatoes

There was nothing small about this Red Pepper.  It was $1 Buck and is probably the biggest pepper I’ve ever seen!  The scale of the photo isn’t doing the huge jass factor enough justice.

Large Red Bell Pepper
When produce is priced by the item/piece and not buy the pound, I look for the biggest one, i.e. pineapples, peppers, cucumbers, and I scored with this Pepper!

To follow up from yesterday’s post, I loved hearing everyone’s reports of Your Childhood Memories.  I think it’s interesting that many of you are like me in that you have very clear and vivid memories from an early age.  And then some of you have none or very few from early childhood and you don’t remember much til maybe kindergarten or so.  It’s interesting how diverse we all are, and thanks for sharing your memories!  


My degrees are in Psychology, I do know that stressful stimuli and situations, i.e. a dog bite or a being yelled at by a parent or an accident of some sort, are encoded in a different way in the brain than just hum-drum mellow life events.  This may explain why some of your early memories are of “bad” or unpleasant things.  Those types of events become ingrained as memories more powerfully than say sitting ’round the toddler roundtable drawing with crayons.

And oh yes indeed, I put the French Press to good use again Today!

French press

I enjoyed learning that I was not the only one who was pretty clueless ’bout this contraption.  And I’m glad you liked my little French Press Tutorial

French Press side view
Cup of French Press Coffee
Honestly, there’s nothing to be scared of and it does make a really good, and fast, cup of coffee or tea.  Sounds like lots of you already knew this and I am sorry that it took me 2 decades of coffee drinking to figure this out!

Speaking of Coffee, I picked up this Brew from Target.  It was on sale for $7 

Starbucks Gold Roast Blend Coffee

And there’s a Free Tall Coffee from Starbucks which brings the price down to about $5 bucks if you think of it that way, so I snagged this 12 oz bag.

Offer for Tall Brewed Coffee Free with Purchase on bag of coffee

I won Bitt of Raw’s Give Away and my Ceramic Knife from was waiting for me when I got home!

Tribest Choisons Original Series 5" Utility Knife in box

It’s the Tribest Choisons Original Series 5″ Utility Knife Price from CSN Stores

Close up of Utility KnifTribest Choisons Original Series 5" Utility Knife close up

I put it to rest in it’s new home…

Knife block with various knivesTwo knife blocks full of knives
…Next to all the other weapons knives.  

I have been wanting a ceramic knife for quite some time as they are known to be both very lightweight and very sharp.  A match made in knife heaven and I can’t wait to put this 5 inch wonder to good use!  (twss!)

Tip: If you missed my Post on Knives and Favorite Kitchen Appliances and Why I think Good Knives are Far more important than a Vita-Mix or a Dehydrator, Click Here

Thanks Aimee for the Give Away and Thanks, CSN Stores!!!


Dinner Involved Making more Sweet Mango, Lime, & Corn Salsa from This Recipe

Sweet Mango, Lime, & Corn Salsa

And I Tossed in some Salsa with Romaine, Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Brussles, Cukes, and Tomatoes

Mixed green salad with vegetables
Close up of mixed salad with vegetables
Sweet Mango, Lime, & Corn Salsa

To the Green Food, I added a little extra lime juice, a dash of agave, and a smidge of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing...and tossed it all together.  

Overhead of Vegan Slaw Dressing in Jar
Side of lidded jar of Vegan Slaw Dressing
Close up of Salad tossed in Vegan Slaw Dressing
 The Yellow And Green Food Trend Continued!  This time it was yellow from the corn and mango salsa not from mustardBut I’ll be bringing the mustard back, real soon!

After her vegetarian dinner, Skylar requested Chocolate.  Smart Girl, I tell ya!  Ok, wheat-free cookies were the ticket.

Box of White Chocolate Brownie Cookies White Chocolate Brownie Cookie bod showing wheat free 100 calories

They are from Betty Lou’s which I Reviewed in This Post

Various cookies and snacks on countertop

 

Betty Lou's Inc. : Healthy, all natural snack products, low carb, wheat free, all natural, dairy free, gluten free, health food, protein bars: Betty Lou's Inc. healthy, all natural snack products, low carb, wheat free, all natural, dairy free, gluten free, health food, protein bars 
Hand holding one White Chocolate Brownie CookieUnderside of White Chocolate Brownie Cookie

These White Chocolate Brownie Cookies are super soft-n-chewy, and although Skylar doesn’t “have to be” wheat or gluten free, as I have posted about before, I believe gluten is hard to digest, is naturally inflammatory and taxes the body to digest and process it, so if I can give her little tummy a wheat-free alternative, I’m game.

Close up of White Chocolate Brownie Cookie

She ate half and Scott ate the other half.   

And he asked for more cookies, but I had this chocolate waiting…

 
…A fresh batch of high Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
Coconut, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Powder, Maple, Vanilla
Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs ingredients in bowl
Stir (no food processor necessary, just a bowl and a spoon!)
Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs ingredients being stirred
Portion into bowls or freeze the whole batch in one large container and scoop out as needed
Four bowls of Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs
Good Stuff!
These are Scott’s Dessert Passion.
Plated Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs

And I still had Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Snowballs that I Made and Posted About Yesterday

Overhead of The Raw Vegan Apple Crumble
Side of The Raw Vegan Apple Crumble

The Raw Vegan Apple Crumble “Juice” is Cinnamon & Vanilla Extract infused Agave.  I like to drink the juice with a straw.  Kidding but it’s a good thought!

Close up of The Raw Vegan Apple Crumble
Remember in my Condiments Post when I said I’d like a little lettuce with my dressing or a fry with my pile of ketchupSame concept here.

Yoga Today is Garbha Pindasana.
First enter full lotus (padmasana), then put your arms through the small holes next to your knees, and slide them though to your elbows and then bring hands together.  This pose shows my Gratitude to Everyone who reads my blog and to all the great friends I have met through the blogging community!

Woman doing Garbha Pindasana yoga pose
Namaste, My Friends, and go have a stellar weekend!

Tip of the Day: Unplugging Can Save You Money!  Since I was talking about unplugging at the top of the post, I thought this fit right in…

 

AVOID THE PHANTOM DRAW

 

You can reduce your consumption of electrical energy by simply unplugging electronics when they’re not in use.  Phone chargers draw energy all day long when they’re left plugged into the wall, and electronics can use 40% of their regular running energy when plugged in on standby.  A power strip turned off at night does the trick nicely for multiples appliances.   

 

Questions
1.What’s your Fave Starbucks blend?  I used to be a die-hard Sumatra drinker but I am fairly bored by it now.  Breakfast Blend is too mild and French or Espresso Roasts are played out for me, too.  Any brews that you love these days, Starbucks Brand or others?  

I’m still loving the Smores Coffee

 

 Archer Farms S'mores Coffee

But am always on the Hunt for New & Unique Coffee Flavors!  And I am also frugal so it’s gotta be in the $7-8 range for a bag, max.  No $12 bags for this yoga teacher-mommy blogger!
What’s Your Go-To Coffee Brand/Blend?

2. Last night I watched the Real Housewives of NYC and in the episode, one of the housewives (although she’s not married so she’s not technically a “wife”) Kelly Bensimon had a photo shoot for Playboy.
  Cover of Playboy Magazine
She’s a 41 year old mother to two daughters, ages 11 & 9.   
The Question I have is Does it Matter that she has children and that she posed for Playboy?  Or more specifically that she has daughters?  Does it matter at all that she even posed?  Do you think we’re all far too uptight about the human body anyway and that nudity is just not a biggie?    And I mean, after all this is Playboy, not Hustler.  You’re likely to see nearly as much skin on the beach or in music videos at 3am.  Or Should we Keep Covered Up?

My personal feelings, and I am going out on a limb here is that she looks good.  She was asked to pose, this made her feel attractive and so she said yes, and took that fat paycheck all the way to the bank!  Plus, it probably helped her reclaim her own internalHottie Status” because after one has a child, I can say that you don’t quite view yourself in the same light as you once did even if you look the same or similar on the outside.  And that if Playboy came knocking on my door, I’d probably say yes, too.  That said, my child is 3 and not in school and there are so many variables in these types of decisions that one cannot fully determine what you’d do until you were in the situation.  And is it ok to judge another’s decisions?  In this case or in any case?  (See This Post or in This Post for my feelings on Judgment) 

But, is posing for Playboy a big deal?  Should it be?  Is posing for Playboy a bold expression of taking charge of who we areas women and celebrating ourselves and empowering us to embrace our bodies? 
Or, does it make us regress and become objectified? 

Your Thoughts Please!

Stay Tuned For A Give Away…

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