I ordered something so out of my element. Turkey. Sausage. Normally if I eat out, I’ll get the vegetarian option of a sandwich, but this time I wanted to try something different. (WHO am I? And what have I done with myself?)

So, alongside a medium coffee (caffeine addict right here), I ordered a Turkey Sausage Flatbread Sandwich from Dunkin’ Donuts. It was made fresh, and was steaming hot when I got it, so I was quite content with that.

Another weird quirk of mine, I never eat sandwiches whole. I eat them piece by piece. So first I ate one side of the flatbread, then the egg/sausage component, and then the other side of the flatbread with cheese. I can’t help it, I just like to eat sandwiches this way. Although I did also try a bite of the sandwich all together and it was quite delicious.

And here’s a closeup of the sandwich.

The flatbread itself was chewy and doughy on the inside, and then the outer edges had a slight crisp/crunchiness to it. It was rather bland in flavor by itself, but went well with the egg and cheese component when I ate it together.

The egg part was really delicious, and had a fluffy consistency which surprised me that it wasn’t rubbery at all. It had some green pieces in it which I’m assuming would be spinach, along with pieces of turkey sausage. The turkey sausage was really good, and had a bit of spice to it. I haven’t had sausage of any kind in the longest time, but the turkey sausage (from what I remember) tasted very similar to regular sausage.

The cheese on the other piece of flatbread melted well, but really didn’t add too much to the sandwich. The flavors of the egg and sausage part overpowered the flavor of the cheese.

Overall, I enjoyed this. It was kind of small, maybe about the size of my hand with extended fingers. It had a lot of flavor and was really quite good. I would buy it again for sure, and it wasn’t terribly high in sodium, fat or calories. It had 280 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 770 mg of sodium. I would give it 4 stars.

Full nutritional information can be found here . Although after looking at that ingredient list, I don’t think I will be buying this very often. Too long!

What’s your favorite thing to order at Dunkin? I used to love the cinnamon roll donuts :’)

Peanut butter + pretzels + chocolate? Need there be another reason to  buy these? I didn’t think so. I also didn’t care that my wallet currently has 5 singles in it and I spent a few of those on these Dips. Oh salty sweet snacks, why must you tempt me so?

These little Dips were two pretzels, with peanut butter in the middle, then dipped in yummy  chocolate. I had to restrain myself in the car ride home not to eat them. (Lies- I totally ate 3 of them on the car ride home but I have to make it sound like I at least have some self control).

So much self control I actually ripped the bag down the middle. Ooooooops.

Anyway, after scoping out the ingredients (pretty good), looking at the nutrition facts (ehh…), buying these and finally getting them home, I had more and set myself to review them. Overall, these Dips were pretty good! And sweet! There was a milk chocolate tasting chocolate on the outside, with crunchy and fresh tasting pretzels on the inside.

Hmm. Problem. Where’s the peanut butter? I thought. The first bite was misleading- hardly any peanut butter flavor. But the second bite I tasted some. I do wish there was more, since I’m in love with peanut butter and will never turn it down : )

These were pretty much the epitome of a salty sweet snack. Smooth chocolate, crunchy salty pretzels and then a bit of peanut butter flavor. All together, they reminded me of a Reeses peanut butter cup in flavor, but with pretzel flavor as well. (Actually a Reeses peanut butter cup with pretzels in it sounds amazing!)

Overall, a yummy snack. However, very caloric, and high in saturated fat. 4 sandwiches have 4 grams of saturated fat and 150 calories, and these are HARD not to eat more than 4 of. In fact, the bag was gone in a day (not from me!!) but I left them on the kitchen table and later discovered an empty bag (that’s what happens when you live with hungry guys in the house!). So, given that and the peanut butter issue (lack there-of issue), these get 4 stars.

I’m all about homemade baking. I’d much rather bake chocolate chip cookies from scratch than buy the prepared versions. Something about the flavor, and the, ahem, love, that goes along with a homemade cookie. However, every now and then, a prepared version suffices. I spotted Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread Mix at the store and couldn’t resist. Being the apple and carb fanatic I am (oh carbs…how I love thee) I figured this would be beyond delicious

So, I preheated the oven and got mixing.

Here’s the goods! It needed 2 eggs, milk (I used skim), butter, and the mix.

See the bumps?! Don't blame my mixing skills....it's actual dried apple pieces!

*insert baking time in oven here*

And…. fresh outta the oven!

Finished product. Everything is better with powdered sugar….

So….looks pretty. How’s it taste?

It was actually pretty good! It has a very deep flavor, and I could really taste the spices. All spice and cinnamon were the most predominant flavors, and there was almost a bit of a caramel flavor as well. The bread really reminded me of pumpkin too, for the dark color and the spiced flavor. The bread was sweet, but not over the top, so I think it’s acceptable to put the powdered sugar on for some added sweetness after I was suggested to do so.

It was soft and fluffy, with crispier edges, with dried apple pieces for added texture. I didn’t think it was super apple-y in flavor, but it still was an enjoyable bread. I think I’ll eat it again with a smear of peanut butter or butter after warming it up in the toaster oven.

It also lacked fiber and was a bit high in sugar, so this bread gets a total rating of 4 stars. Trader Joe’s really never disappoints me with their products, and I hope they never do!!

What about you? Do you make mostly homemade or store-bough/semi-prepared products? What are your favorites?!

And the nutritional facts. It was kind of high in sugar.

I have a confession.

I’m obsessed with banana flavored things. Banana bread, banana ice cream, banana yogurt (yes! they make it!). I DONT like fake banana (aka laffy taffy) but real banana flavored things I absolutely adore. Which, go figure, I find weird because I’m not all that crazy about bananas themselves. Hmm.

So, I got this free Corazonas Banana Walnut Oatmeal Square from the company to review, and I was pumped. BANANA walnut. Even if it was Banana spinach flavored oatmeal square I probably would have been excited. Ok, maybe I’m overexaggerating, but let’s just get it out there that I love banana.

Who nibbled my bar!?!?! oh wait…

So, pregym, I had this bar with a scoopful of peanut butter. It was one of those mornings where I DID NOT want to wake up early and have a proper breakfast before the gym, so a granola bar would suffice. Although, always prepare for the munchies later on if you don’t have a big breakfast! Or at least that’s the case for me!

ANYWAY- this square was really quite good. It was soft, chewy and dense, and you could really taste the banana. It tasted like genuine and real banana for the most part, but did have a tinge of that “artificial flavor” feel to it. But not too bad. And not like laffy taffy (sorry to those who love laffy taffy- can’t do that fake banana flavor!!).

There was a slight cinnamon flavor, and it was certainly sweet! The oats gave it a hearty texture and it was a rather satisfying bar. I felt energized during my workout (trust me, I hardly sleep anymore so I definitely didn’t get the energy from a solid 8 hours of sleep!   ) and I couldn’t get over how banana-y it was. The whole “walnut” aspect of this bar was lackluster for me. I don’t even know if I remember tasting them?? Magical walnuts perhaps…?

Anyway- 4 stars. A good bar. I would buy it in the future.

I'm such a fail at taking pictures of nutritional facts. Boo.

Rewind.

Go back a few years (ok…more than a few) to my childhood. A snack before bed would be a few Oreo’s with an ice cold glass of milk or smear of peanut butter depending on the mood. Nothing like twisting off the tops, licking the creamy middle, and then the crunchy cookie. Perfection.

Fast forward.

A new (well new cookie to me…I’ve seen them around for a while) side of a cookie, a Ginger-O from Newman’s Own Organics. Kind of like an Oreo, but also very different. According to the package, they are “creme filled ginger cookies”.  They also feature good ol’ Nell and Pa Newman on the front of the package, as well as letting us know that “Paul Newman Foundation has given over $200 million to thousands of charities worldwide since 1982″. That’s one of my favorite parts about this company, and if that’s not enough to make you go out and pick up a tasty Newman’s Own Organic product, I don’t know what will.

I got this package for free, but I can’t say I won’t buy them in the future. These Ginger-O’s are good. Don’t bite into one expecting the following:

1. A chocolate cookie with vanilla cream filling
or
2. A spicy cookie you can’t handle and won’t enjoy (I suspected this at first. GUILTY)

These cookies are GOOD! I honestly thought they would be like eating ginger candies where my mouth is on fire. Don’t get me wrong, I like that (figuratively speaking of course) but not when it comes to cookies. It was a crunchy cookie that tasted very similar to a gingerbread man cookie. A bit of spice, but not too much. By itself, the cookie was mild and not sweet, but with the creme inside it was yummy!

The creme by itself was sweet and had a vanilla flavor, but just a wee bit of ginger spice flavor to it. It was smooth and creamy, and there was a good amount of the creme on each cookie. No scrimping here!

I really enjoyed these. So did my pup, Casper. I licked the filling and she got a few of the the cookie parts. What can I say? I’m a good sharer, and her puppy-dog eyes won me over. (;

Overall, 4 stars. A good, unique, and tasty cookie! Especially if you like ginger! I wonder if the rule applies that “ginger is good for you when you have a stomachache” here. So if my stomach hurts…can I have some of these cookies?? (;

Ever had a Ginger-O? Do you like them/how do you eat them? If not, would you try them?

Along with the Sunbutter Crunch bars I was sent to try for free from Enjoy Life, I was sent a few other flavors to try for free, including the Caramel Apple variety.

How can you really say no to something Caramel Apple flavored? An image of sticky, chewy, sweet and delicious comes to mind thinking of a caramel apple. And so fitting with the fall. Nothing like a crisp apple picked off a tree! (not that I get to experience that all that often given my current urban situation… -__- )

ANYWAY, insert Enjoy Life Caramel Apple Chewy Bars. Gluten free, vegan goodness in bar form. Very small bar form, aka the size of my pointer finger small, but whatever. Good things come in small packages!

This bar was pretty good. It was dense and chewy, and had the little crispy rice sort of action going on like the Sunbutter Crunch variety had. I liked that it was sweet, but not I have to make a dentist appointment for the cavity I’m going to develop sweet. A good amount.

I could certainly taste the apple flavor, which was a plus. While I was eating it, I couldn’t help but notice how much it tasted like Quaker Apple Cinnamon instant oatmeal. I would know – I ate that oatmeal SO FREQUENTLY when I was younger. It seemed like every school breakfast I heard the teapot kettle whistle, poured the hot water in my instant oatmeal, ate and went on the school bus. *sigh* back to when life was simple!

So, as a whole for this bar, although it lacks sustainability, as in I’d be hungry still if I only ate this, it was pretty good, and a good snack bar/pre workout boost. I’d give it 4 stars.

What was your typical breakfast before school when you were younger? I alternated with instant oatmeal, and toasted english muffin with peanut butter! =)

On the list of my favorite foods, is definitely pot pie. Vegetable and Chicken Pot Pie are my favorites.  A flaky, buttery crust, a thick rue, with tender veggies and/or cubes of yummy chicken. Comfort food doesn’t get much better than that! So when I saw this Imagine Organic Chicken Pot Pie Soup in the stores, I KNEW I had to buy it

So, the past rainy night, I decided soup and crackers were the ideal meal. I opened up this can, and poured it, well ATTEMPTED to pour it out into the pot. It was so thick that I could literally turn it upside down and it didn’t move. That’s how you know a soup was going to be creamy! (and full of delicious fat….just saying ; ) )

As I cooked it, I noticed lumps of dough (taking place of the crust I assume??), tiny carrots, peas and pieces of chicken. Here’s what it looked like cooked.

And a close up of the “dough blobs”…

Keeping it classy with plastic spoon…. ; )

This soup, as predicted, was CREAMY! The “broth” of the soup reminded me of the creamy rou in pot pie. So good! The dough blobs threw me off a little bit. They basically tasted like giant noodles. They were soft and chewy, but otherwise rather flavorless, which kind of like noodles are. Flavorless until seasoned.

The peas and carrots were sparse in this soup – a few carrots, a couple peas here and there. And the chicken was good, but kind of fell apart.

However, I really did enjoy this soup! It was more like chicken dumping soup rather than pot pie soup, but it was still good. And hey, who complains when they dumplings? Not me, that’s for sure ; )

Overall, 4 stars. I would like it if they did something else for the “crust” of a pot pie rather than the huge blobs of noodles, but this was still a good soup. I would buy it again, and I liked it didn’t taste so salty that I had to drink water. We all know that drinking water while eating soup = getting full really fast. Getting “full” really fast means not eating enough for the meal, and then being annoyingly hungry an hour or so later. UGH!!!

What’s your FAVORITE way to eat pot pie? Crust first, mush the crust in with the veggies/rou, or crust last? I like to eat the crust last, it’s the best part!

Oh yea you know I FLIPPED out when I saw this. Well…I flipped out on the inside because I was in public and all, but on the inside I was screaming YES!!!!! THIS SOUNDS AWESOME!!!!!

Not pumpkin popcorn (ooh, how good does that sound?) but this sounds like just the right thing to bring on the fall spirit. APPLE CRISP! Fall is always about apple picking and pumpkin picking for me (sadly, I have yet to do both this year….) but at least I can enjoy the delicious apple flavors in treats like this! So, I bought it for 3 dollars (at Whole Foods!) which I thought was reasonably priced.

Here’s what some of it looked like

BUT, then I actually weighed it. Here’s what a serving is (insert sad face here)

woooomp. wooooomp.

And yes…that IS a sandwich sized bag.

But whatever. I always eat more than a serving anyway, even though a serving for this is really quite pathetic.

ANYWAY- I looked through the bag. HUGE pieces of popcorn, round and fluffy, along with some pieces being help together by a sticky, sugary syrup. I didn’t mind a bit as it was quite tasty, but there were about 3 HUGE “globs” of this popcorn/syrup mess. I also spotted some oats on the pieces of popcorn, which I guess contributes to the “apple crisp” part.

This popcorn was just really not what I expected. But I can’t say I hated it.

Upon first bite? I was puzzled. What does this taste like? I’ve had this before. I DEFINITELY ate this before!! And then.. This tastes EXACTLY like Quaker Apple Cinnamon Rice Cakes! And let me just say, as a kid, I was obsessed with that very flavor of rice cakes. Although, dont get me wrong, the popcorn was way sweeter. But the flavor was exactly the same.

Overall, I liked this snack. And that’s exactly what I would call it. It wasn’t popcorn to me- no annoying hulls or tiny pieces with popcorn kernels. Just round, fluffy and crunchy pieces with a sugary, apple cinnamon flavored syrup. It was an apple snack to me. 4 stars for this one, only because it’s super high in sugar (TWENTY grams!!), and since the portion size is small, I’d be eating at least double.

*What’s your favorite FALL dessert? I am obsessed with Candy apples. mmmm!

Who doesn’t love trail mix? Crunchy, sweet, salty, savory, and satisfying- all in one! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a box on my front step from Enjoy Life, and inside was their  Not Nuts! Seed and Fruit Mix in Mountain Mambo and Beach Bash varieties.

Take a closer look. Here’s the Mountain Mambo

camera fail. blurrrrrry!

And heres the Beach Bash flavor

Alrighty, let’s get down to business. The first one I tried was the Mountain Mambo. It had apple pieces, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and more.

The apple pieces were so yummy! Soft and chewy, and perfect addition.

The raisins were a little off tasting. Not super sweet like I’m used to, and I was a bit disappointed. Especially since in the bag, there was a LOT of raisins. Seriously- I got a big blob of raisins right in the middle all stuck together!

The sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds were very fresh tasting and crunchy, and not really salty at all. However, not salty doesn’t mean they weren’t flavorful!

Then, I shook up bag a little and found…

Chocolate chips!

These were yummy! Smooth chocolate, and tasted like a milk chocolate would.

Another surprise was I found  VERY few cranberries. Only got like 2 in the bag ! However, the two or so I got were quite tasty, and not too tart. So for this variety….

3 ½ stars

Next up, the winner in my eyes, BEACH BASH variety.

Seriously, in a word,- yum.

There were sunflower seeds, pumpkin, apricots, pineapple, cranberries and more. On a brighter side, there were definitely more cranberries in this one and yummy too! Sweet, not tart and chewy!

The pineapple pieces were BEYOND delicious. Seriously- I want a bag of just the pineapple! It was soft, and sugar sweet! I may or may not have picked all the pineapple out of the bag the first day I got it….. oops

The apricot pieces? eh. Kind of hard and dry and tart. Not  a fan. Would rather more pineapple…

Overall, 4 stars

Overall, yummy! Both are NUT FREE, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, peanut free! And yum-my! I like beach bash better. I would totally buy it!

What would you put in your ideal trail mix? Mine would be dried pineapple pieces from above, glazed pecans, cashews, reeses pieces, and pretzels!

I love Trader Joe’s. It seems like everytime I go in there, there is a new and exciting product to try. I trust Trader Joe branded products, as for the most part, they have always been really delicious and rather nutritious as well. Today’s choice? Trader Joe’s Creamy Polenta with Spinach and Carrots. I wanted something carby to go along with my chicken(less) nuggets for dinner and veggies, and felt that this fit the bill.

So, I opened the bag and was a little surprised at what I got. Giant Hershey Kisses of polenta. Oh you’ll see.

(thats a serving by the way, not the whole bag)

The polenta itself was creamy yet slightly gritty from the cornmeal. It was buttery tasting and slightly cheesy tasting as well.  The carrot and spinach aspect of the dish sort of disappeared. I couldn’t really taste much spinach, and couldn’t really taste the carrots at all.

What the polenta really needed was a pinch of salt. I added a few grinds of sea salt and out came MUCH tastier flavors. Of course, the Dietician-to-be in me yelled at me, saying I didn’t NEED to add salt to this dish that already contained a good deal of sodium per serving. Not to mention I was also having chicken(less) nuggets AND ketchup which had salt in them too. But oh well. I did it. And well, I certainly dont regret it.

Overall, pretty good. It was rather high in saturated fat ( 7 grams!!), but  I would buy it again. The serving size was a tad small for 200 calories, but, I feel all carby dishes like pasta or rice have small serving sizes too. It went great with my other sides, but really did need just an extra pinch of salt! 4 stars

Do you like polenta? How do you prepare it?