A Pinch of This, and a Dash of That Halloween Bash

Happy Halloween 2009 all! I was just thinking how fun it would be to have a blogger Halloween bash—great friends, food, and of course some ghoulish fun would all make October 31st just a bit sweeter than all the candy that accumulates, don’t you think?

But since we are all scattered across the globe on this spooky day, I figured I’d invite you to a little ‘virtual’ Halloween bash.

Upon knocking at my door and saying, “Trick or treat,” I would hand you one of the following..that is if I haven’t eaten them all myself! =)

Pumpkin Pie Candy Corn—found at Target

1 lb of Warheads candy in a Spongebob Frankenstein treat caddy.

Or I might even possibly be handing out some of these..

Candy Corn Cookies

Monster Mash Cookies

What will I be dressed up as?

Well one thing—you’ll want to dress warm, because this is how the weather is currently:

Here’s what I would be dressed up as..

(disclaimer: this is not me)

And then once the fun is done, and Halloween is a thing of the past..here’s some ideas for your leftover candy!

Homemade Flavored Drinks

Add Jolly Ranchers or any fruit flavored candy to seltzer to make  bubbly infused fruit sips!

Make Hot Chocolate With Real Chocolate

Melt a 1 oz. mini chocolate bar into a mug of milk, making sure to stir frequently. It's especially tasty with rich chocolates such Dove miniatures.

Sweeten Your Choice

Add some excitement to pork chops by adding a Pixie Sticks glaze. Simply combine red or white wine, vinegar, Pixie Sticks and salt. Try adding Smarties or Red Hots to BBQ for a homemade chipotle sauce.

Make Movie Night Sweeter with Ice Cream Toppers

M&Ms and gummy bears make a great toppings for ice cream sundaes. You can also mix them directly into your ice cream. And don't forget adding some mixed candy to your blended ice cream drinks.

Brownie Blends

Simply stir chopped candy directly into brownie batter. You can also sprinkle it as a topping or use it as a garnish for brownie sundaes.

Secret Treasure Cookies

Cut cookie dough (homemade or store-bought) into 12 slices, bring it to room temperature and then mold each slice around individual-size candies before baking.

Freeze & Forget It!

Place wrapped candy in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer for later. Candy stored this way will last for up to a year. When you're ready to use, thaw at room temperature (the whitish bloom' that develops on chocolate candy when it freezes will go away after it thaws).
The same goes for cookies - which will keep for six months in the freezer when placed between sheets of freezer paper and stored in a plastic container. Keep the cookies between their wrappers for 10 to 15 minutes when thawing.

Make a Batch of Candy Coated Popcorn

Simply melt any type of leftover Halloween candy and use it as a glaze to coat popcorn (microwave or air-popped) in a large bowl. The key is to make sure the popcorn has no butter or salt (or as little as possible). Spread the glazed popcorn on a cookie sheet to dry, and voila: candy coated popcorn. Even better with nuts.

Try a New Recipe: Apple Candy Bar Salad

You'll need:

• a few Granny Smith apples
• a bunch of candy bars (e.g., Snickers, Baby Ruth or 3 Musketeers)
• Cool Whip

Cut the apples and candy bars into small pieces and mix them with thawed Cool Whip. If the candy is too mushy to cut, put it in the fridge for a few hours before cutting. Serve.

Brought to you by BakeSpace

Have a Bootiful day!

I’m Nuts!

Did you come up with any guesses on what today’s giveaway was going to be??

Binoculars…

A water bottle…

All pertains to nature…

which leads to a wonderful giveaway from..

Nature Valley!

But your not only getting a water bottle and binoculars,

you’ll also be receiving this:

• Aluminum water bottle
• Binoculars
• A Nature Valley sling backpack
• A flashlight that is powered by you pumping the handle, so cool!

And of course you’ll be winning some grub as well..

• The complete line of the new Nature Valley Nut Clusters.

(Find out more about em’ here!)

I thought these nut cluster were amazing. They came in Roasted Cashew, Roasted Almond, Nut Lover’s, and Honey Roasted Peanut(my fav). I shared these with the family, and every seemed to agree that they were nuts kicked up a notch and the perfect snack-time treat.

How to enter you ask?

• Simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite nut is and your favorite way to use it.
• I would really appreciate a link back to spread the word about free goodies!
• Winner will be chosen via random number integer on Sunday, November 1st.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!!

Comfort Food Fix

First off, thank you all SO SO much for your kind words regarding the unfortunate event with my cat. I wish I could come and hug you all. So here’s a *virtual hug*! I have never been good at dealing with death, but I just really need to remember all the great times I had with him and then I feel truly blessed. Some of my favorite memories with him were always giving him at least a handful of my Cheerios in the morning because he wouldn’t leave till I did, playing for hours with bouncy balls in the kitchen, trying to discreetly open tuna cans so he wouldn’t meow until he got a hefty serving, and most of all just having a snuggle partner to always keep you warm. This week will still be hard, but my Tuesday made it much better. Here’s why..

• First off, my mom came to visit me as I said before, and came not only bringing her smiley face, but this…

She obviously  knows what can cheer me up! I can’t wait to get started with this gem. Looks like I can check one thing off of my Christmas list  a little early!

So here’s some other things that were rather comforting during this sad week…

Homemade Hawaiian Pizza

Ingredients consisted of:

• One recipe of my homemade whole wheat crust
• 3/4 c pizza sauce
• 1/2 c mushrooms
• 1/2 c chopped green pepper
• 3/4 c precooked/cubed ham
• 1 small can of chunk pineapple, drained
• 2/3 c mozzarella cheese

Directions are simple:

• Preheat oven to 450 F.
• Prick dough with fork after rolling out onto pan and bake for 8-10 minutes.
• Take out of the oven, add toppings, and bake again for about 10-12 minutes.

Easy does it!

Obviously this week I am on a ham kick…

Breakfast Bonanza Tomato

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato, medium to large
• 1/4 c shredded cheese, your choice of kind, I used a fiesta blend
• 3 slices of thicker deli ham
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp chopped mushrooms
• 2 tsp hot sauce, optional

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 F. Get your tomato all shiny any pretty. Just kidding, but make sure to wash it good!

• Pulp out the inside leaving a 1/2’ shell. Discard seeds and liquid, but reserve the pulp.

• Now take the three slices of ham and place inside the tomato so the ham goes up the sides.

• Meanwhile, scramble one egg ,one white,  and mushrooms in a sprayed skillet until they are no longer watery.
• Stuff mixture into tomato once it has cooled. Top with cheese and hot sauce if you choose.

• Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and tomato has softened to the touch.

In other news:

• Yesterday I viewed the beyond gorgeous Home-Ec room I will be teaching my classes in which made me even more excited for this new opportunity!! My classes need to be finalized by Sunday, so I am busy planning away.
• I have some really REALLY good bars you are not going to want to miss and a soup that my old Italian neighbor lady used to make which is divine to say the least.
• Tomorrow in lieu of all this sadness hanging around here, I decided on a giveaway to make you all  a bit happier =) I will give you one hint….

Or two I suppose..

Unfortunate Event

Good evening all.

Just a quick post to say that unfortunately a few hours ago my beloved cat Peaches was diagnosed with cancer and had to be put down. So my mom is driving down for a sleepover to get our mind off of things. He was 13, so he lived a long and happy life, but it’s still hard, you know? So posting will resume Wednesday..see you then!

Thankfully tomorrow is a new day!

Live Tour of The Pinch of This, and a Dash Of That Apartment!

Hey friends!

Hope your weekend didn’t fly by as fast as mine—busy week ahead, and next week is Halloween already. Did I mention that is 8 weeks until Christmas? Sorry if I just put you in a state of panic!!

Anyways, here is a LIVE apartment tour—I have been meaning to make a video now for only about 4 months—eek! Enjoy! =)

Food to come this week, so stay tuned!

 

Box of Bisquick

So glad it’s Friday, like I always am!  This weekend will be busy just like weekdays though. But it is busyness I have brought on myself, and a type of busyness I don’t quite mind—I like to call it kitchen busyness! Do you know what I am talking about? Whole days in the kitchen spent mixing, experimenting, tasting, all the while trying not to sweat due to the oven and stove top on? Yes, that kind of busyness. I have a embarrassing massive amount of recipes from everywhere piling up in a box. I figured since I don’t have a lot of homework, it is a perfect time to put a dent in this box. Some things planned: Cinnamon rolls with an unsuspecting twist, a soup that my old Italian neighbor lady used to make, a new bread machine recipe, one more pizza to celebrate National Pizza Month, and 2 Halloween treats to post next week. Now whether or not I get to ALL of these is yet to be known, but keep your fingers crossed! :-) Oh and keep an eye out for some amazing product reviews soon as well.

So today’s post has reference to Bisquick, which if you don’t know is just an all-purpose baking mix sold in a box for roughly a little over $2.00. Recently I have become a big fan of their slightly newer Heart Smart Bisquick Baking Mix, which is basically just a healthier alternative to using Original Bisquick mix. It also has more calcium, low in fat with 0 Trans Fat, and it is certified by the American Heart Association. Once I logged onto the Bisquick website, I was blown away with all the recipes that use Bisquick. So I bookmarked oh, about 20 and have gotten through about 6. But I need to get through all of them by December, because I am planning on teaching “A Box of Bisquick” as one of my cooking classes that I start teaching in January(the catalog gets printed in Dec.). I think it’s a GREAT way to keep meals cheap, healthy, fast, and I bet you could find at least one recipe on the website, so it can please many palates. Within the next couple of weeks I’d love for you to stay tuned for “A Box of Bisquick” previews and recipes!

Bon Appétit a la Bisquick!

My thoughts on this recipe: Great overall! Looks super fancy, and tasted like it took a long time and expensive ingredients. However, next time I will be using fresh spinach, I am not too fond of the frozen spinach taste.

Impossibly Easy Spinach Parmesan Pie

Ingredients:

1	tablespoon butter or margarine
4	medium green onions, sliced
2	garlic cloves, finely chopped
1	package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1/2	cup small curd creamed cottage cheese
1/2	cup  Bisquick® mix (preferably Heart Smart!)
1	cup milk
1	teaspoon lemon juice
1/4	teaspoon pepper
3	eggs
3	tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4	teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1.Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease 9-inch pie plate. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in butter 2 to 3 minutes or until onions are tender. Stir in spinach; spread mixture in pie plate. Spread with cottage cheese.

2.Stir Bisquick mix, milk, lemon juice, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into pie plate; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

3.Bake about 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Nutritionals and such can be found here.

Check out one of my prior Bisquick recipes here.

Want some free muffins? Of course you do—head here for your chance!

A Tropical Way to Take the Cake

Oh how I wish I lived somewhere even semi-warm from October through April. Countless days spent indoors can get old to put it nicely. I know a lot of bloggers out there can’t relate because well..they are smarter luckier and choose to live in the southern or western sunshine. All I can do is look forward to our yearly vacation to somewhere warm over winter break.

Last year I visited L.A.:

The year before was Florida:

(My grandma and I)

Clearwater Beach

And in 2007 was Florida once again:

Orlando

2006 was back to Clearwater Beach:

And 2005 was Clearwater once again..can you tell I love it there?!

So to say the least, all I do in these dreary months to hold me over till December is look back at all the fun times I have had.

Where’s your favorite vacation destination?

But of course I would not leave you with a post filled with pictures of past vacations with no mention of food. You almost thought I was going to right? No chance! Of course fall time is meant for baking with pumpkin, squash and other savory food. But for the sake of my tropical dreams, I cannot give up sweet treats with fruity tastes because it temporarily brings me to a tropical state of euphoria. Bear with me okay? =) This recipe has a little fall with cinnamon and a lot of tropical with coconut and banana!

Banana Spice Cake with Coconut Frosting

Serves 16

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 c all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c granulated sugar (I used Splenda)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c low fat buttermilk (I used a little less than 3/4 c Almond Breeze milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice—let sit for about 15 minutes)
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed, about 1 cup
• 2 large eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

• 1 (8 oz) package of light cream cheese, at room temp
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 3 Tbsp milk (coconut milk is recommended, but I subbed vanilla Eighth Continent soymilk)
• 1 tsp coconut extract (This is a crucial ingredient—no substitutes!)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 c sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with nonstick spray.
2. To make the cake, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the remaining cake ingredients in a separate medium bowl. Gradually add the banana mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just blended.
3. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 30-35 min or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack.
4. Meanwhile, to make the frosting, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat all the frosting ingredients except the flaked coconut until smooth, about 1 minute. With a narrow metal spatula, spread frosting over the top of cake. Add the toasted coconut evenly over the top.

This cake would even be delicious without the frosting..but who doesn’t like frosting? :-) 

 

**Speaking of tropical, enter a  HUGE giveaway here!**

Feeling a Bit…Fishy

It’s Monday, and I am feeling a bit fishy—but I would rather feel fishy then to have the flu feeling like so many people out there. We got a notice saying two people at our University were confirmed with the Swine flu. When I got the message, I immediately called my mom and said, “What should I do?”(Of course I knew the probable answers.) She casually replied, “Well just stay home.” But unfortunately it was the last of my mid-term tests, so I had to tough it out. I armed myself with hand sanitizer and a pack full of Lysol wipes—no way am I getting this flu!

Have you dodged this flu bug??

So I suppose your wondering why I am feeling a tad on the fishy side. This weekend I tried out two new recipes that feature an under the sea specimen. First up is a Tuscan Salmon Sandwich Spread. It’s such a good sandwich spread to make on Monday and have all week to put on homemade bread, hero rolls, pita bread, sandwich thins, bagels, etc. Next up is simple yet semi-gourmet looking/tasting Confetti Crab Cakes.

So grab your scuba suit, and join in on the under sea scrumptiousness!

Tuscan Salmon Sandwich Spread

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c bottled light Italian dressing
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 14.75 oz. can red or pink salmon
• 15.5 oz can rinsed cannellini beans
• 1/2 c diced celery
• 1/4 c chopped red onion
• 1/4 c chopped black olives
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried

Directions:

• Mix Italian dressing with mustard.
• Flake salmon in a bowl; toss with beans, celery, red onion, olives, parsley and dressing mixture.
• Split mixture up into 4 equal parts and serve on your preferred bread.

Confetti Crab Cakes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 8 oz lump crab meat
• 1/2 c unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 c chopped scallions
• 3/4 c finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tsp seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (optional)
• 2 Tbsp light mayo
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp canola oil or butter

Directions:

• Combine crabmeat, breadcrumbs, scallions, bell pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and ground red pepper (if using) in a medium bowl. Add mayonnaise and lemon juice; mix with a fork. Form mixture into 8 patties about 3 inches in diameter.
• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry crab cakes until browned on the bottom (about 4 minutes); turn and cook 4 more minutes, or until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the crab cake reads 155°. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Hope your Monday treats you well! Don’t miss Wednesday’s post—it will make your hump day just a bit better! :-)

Dare to Be an Éclair Extraordinaire

Wow!

I don’t think I’ve been so glad for the weekend in quite some time. I am going to spend my 2 free days with no thoughts of college in sight—oh wait, I have a restaurant review due for my Media Writing class next week that I plan on doing today, but hey I talk and write about food on here all the time, so I really don’t consider it as homework! I think I will do a review on Applebee’s..cliché I know, but college students around here love to hang out there due to the fun, laid back atmosphere, and of course good food. Hello appetizers and dessert shots!

Anything noteworthy going on in your neck of the woods this weekend??

If you have some down time, you should rent the DVD State of Play if you haven’t already watched it. We had to watch it in class and do a movie review. I will be watching it again due to the fact that I was extremely intrigued by it!

Oh, and if you by any chance happen to have even more down time, you need to make this recipe I am going to feature today. I figured after a busy week and no baking(which resulted in eating way too many bars for dessert), I deserved to try this somewhat daunting recipe, which in fact turned out to be one the easiest things I have ever made, and mighty tasty as well!

If you don’t know already, éclairs are is a long custard-filled French donut that is based on a cream puff dough. Here’s what I loved about this recipe:

• Comes together in about 15 minutes.
• Original recipe makes 8, perfect amount, or can be doubled.
• Who doesn’t like a creamy chocolate/banana filling.
• Cream puff dough tastes identical to a deep-fried donut without the deep-fried mess and fat. I can’t wait to experiment more with this quick and easy dough.
• Although the recipe calls to pipe the filling via pastry bag into the long donuts, I was running out of time before class, so I opted to spread the filling on top which actually made the powdered sugar dusting stick much better.

So what are you waiting for?! Get out your chef hat and make some éclairs!

Chocolate-Banana Éclairs

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Pastry Cream

• 1/4 c granulated sugar (or Splenda)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp banana extract
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 c fat-free milk (I used Almond Breeze)
• 1/4 cup thawed fat-free whipped topping

Cream Puff Dough

• 1 c water
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 2 egg whites
• 1 large egg white
• 1 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

• To make pastry cream, whip together sugar, egg, and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk in the corn starch, cocoa, and cinnamon. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan; whisk in the cocoa mixture and extracts. Return the milk mixture to the saucepan and bring to boil. Cook, whisking, until thickened. Spoon into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface; refrigerate until cool. Fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate.
• Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper or nonstick tinfoil.
• To make cream puff dough, combine the water, oil, butter, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook until butter melts and mixture boils, about 3 minutes. Stir in flour all at once, cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to pull of the side of the pan, 1-2 mins. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating vigorously until dough is smooth and shiny.
• Fill a large pastry bag or a freezer bag with the corner cut off with dough. Pipe onto baking sheet to form 8 4-inch long x 2-inch wide fingers. Bake until golden, about 35 minutes. Turn off the oven.(If you want to make them like I did, with filling on top, now just take filling out of fridge and spread evenly on each log.) Make a small slit in one end of each éclair. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Let cool completely on rack.
• To assemble éclairs, with a small knife, make a hole in the end of each one. Spoon pastry cream into pastry bag with 1/4 inch plain tip and pipe about 2 Tbsp cream into each éclair. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Adapted from Weight Watcher’s Best Ever Desserts

Nutritional Info: Calories-193 Fat- 9g Sat. Fat-2g Trans Fat-0g Sodium- 24g Carbs-24g Fiber-1g POINTS: 4

Hey by the way, head on over to a new website called Funny Spoon for easy and tasty meal ideas! I’m already eyeing up these!

Another Way to Celebrate

All of that great brain food in my last post is powering me through this week for sure! Hope everyone else’s week is smooth sailing as well.

Did you forget already that October is National Pizza Month?

I would like to say I didn’t forget about it since my celebration started a tad early, but sadly weeks passed and I failed to celebrate at least once a week with a wonderful slice. So as October is getting well underway, I figured no better time than now to try a new pizza recipe I have been eying up for quite some time. I still decided to use my lovely homemade crust recipe that I adore, but that was the only change I made to this one. Hope you enjoy! Are you still celebrating National Pizza Month?

 

Veggie Breakfast Pizza

Serves: 6 (2 slices each)

Adapted from Healthy Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe of my whole-wheat crust
• 1 c salsa
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbsp EVOO
• 3 eggs, and 3 egg whites, beaten
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 c (4 oz) shredded part-skin mozzarella cheese

p.s. Next time I am going to add some ham and pineapple to this as well!

Directions:

• Follow the recipe for my whole wheat crust, once that is done baking continue on.
• Drain salsa, discarding the liquid. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir in the tomatoes, onion and green pepper in oil until crisp tender. Combine eggs/egg whites, and seasonings, add to pan. Cook and stir until eggs are set.
• Spoon salsa and egg mixture over crust; sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 3-5 mins or until cheese is melted.

 

I wasn’t sure if I would like the whole “breakfast” theme on a pizza..but how could I not? I love all things eggs, and basically anything on a tasty crust is a winner with me, so of course this is by far one of my fav new pizza combos! Don’t let the salsa sauce, or anything else make you think twice—make it ASAP!

Brain Food

Hey friends!

Sorry if posting gets a little sporadic this week—it’s midterm week already and I have to dedicate 80% of my time to studying. (10% eating, 10% sleeping). So basically no time left to do anything else—thankfully on Friday it’ll be all good till finals!

Whether you’re in school, out of school, or in between, there’s always going to be a time you need to use your brain for things other than everyday easy tasks. Tests, problem-solving at work, multi-tasking, planning, etc all require your brain to be working top-notch. How to make sure it will work for your advantage? Well ample sleep and good food are priorities.

I like to call it brain food!

How to eat to best benefit your brain?

• Breakfast: If you’re strapped for time in the morning, as we all tend to be, a bowl of fruit is a much better energy source that will start the brain working. Later on in the morning something with more protein, a cereal, will do the same to keep energy in the brain all day. A piece of toast or sandwich does the same, directly improving memory and attention.
• Snacks: Energy bars with not a lot of sugar such as Lara bars provide a steady stream of good for you ingredients that will satiate you and stop stomach grumblings from disrupting you until your next meal.
• Lunch: Vegetables do much of the same good as fruit. Glucose levels alter during cooking so sticking to a salad may be better. Think about adding an egg to the mix. Egg yolk is a leading source for choline, a nutrient that, recently, has been proven to boost brainpower by speeding up the sending of signals to nerve cells in the brain. Complementing this with nuts [particularly walnuts] balance omega-3 acids with omega-6’s while neutralizing blood sugar levels.
• Drinks: While eating food for the brain, it is important to keep hydrated. At least 80 ounces of water every day reduce stress hormones. Drinking non-caffeinated tea, like green tea, relaxes the brain and induces mental alertness. A juice, such as grapefruit juice, has the same affects for the brain as fruits and vegetables along with the hydration benefits.
• Dinner: Let your dinner contain some carbs because when eaten with protein or fat they may indeed be mentally soothing. Pizza is a good example because it contains a lot of carbs, but protein and fat as well. Soothing for the mind. There are times when we all need some of that!

Here’s my brain food I am eating this week to power me through this studying and tests!

Fruit, yogurt, and granola parfaits. The perfect balance of protein(yogurt), carbs(granola), and natural sugar(fruit). Also easily packed for lunch!

 

Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal. Not only is cereal a breakfast food, but it can be put in a small baggy to eat as a pre-portioned snack, which is what I like to do for in between classes or a test snack! :-) This cereal reminded me of Captain Crunch, but with a honey touch instead of PB—now it’s a definite staple in my cereal stash.

Nature’s Valley Nut Lovers clusters consist of cashews, pecans, peanuts, granola and a smidgen of honey. Such a good snack to hold you over—not only are nuts super good for you in moderation, these are a little tastier than your average plain nut! (Watch for the review on the whole line in the near future!)

Okay, so a lollipop is a lollipop, but lets just say Yummy Earth takes it to a whole new and healthier level. Their lollipops are handcrafted and the flavors are made with real fruit extracts.  They even use organic black carrots and
organic pumpkin for fabulous color!! Be sure to check out their 21 YUMMY flavors! Studies show that students who chew gum or suck on candy concentrate significantly better.

 

These Meteor Bites are from Galaxy Granola are super hard to find. But they are worth the hunt! The flavor I had this time was Blueberry Yogurt Flax—I’ve tried em’ all and this is my favorite! It even has a delicately sweet icing over the top of the quarter-sized granola snack! Most granola contains good for you fiber to keep you satiated. I buy these here.

 

I received these yummy Nature's Path toaster pastries from the company itself awhile back to review. I used to be a Pop-Tart fan when I was younger, so I was up for the review! Looks similar to a Pop-Tart? Check. Tastes like a Pop-tart? Not so much. But in fact it was much better than a Pop-Tart, and much healthier as well. The Wildberry Acai filling was rich along with the decadent frosting and perfect flaky crust. A must for a healthy breakfast to keep that brain fueled! Acai berries are ranked in the Top 5 Brain Health Foods!

And lastly, to keep myself fueled with a guarantee for no rumbling tummy, I reach for Special K protein shakes in three yummy flavors—Vanilla(favorite), chocolate, and strawberry. With  10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it’s a surefire way to satisfy your hunger.

Time to study!