Maranatha vs. Barney Butter February 8, 2009

I’m down to the bottom of the Barney Butter jar and figured I should pick up some new almond butter soon, so I grabbed a jar of Maranatha crunchy today at Freddy’s.  Erin loves Maranatha, and I’ve only ever tried Barney Butter and store ground stuff, so I thought I’d do a taste test and review the two brands.  There were like 5 kinds of Maranatha…raw, crunchy, creamy, roasted, etc.  I went with the No Stir Crunchy, which is roasted.

Wow, what a difference between the two!  I now understand why Erin was like “BB ain’t all that” or something along those lines.  Maranatha is the polite, well-behaved, refined version of almond butter (think classical music), and Barney Butter is the all-out, in-your-face-roasted-taste, rock star opposite (think heavy-metal).  The flavor nuances of Maranatha are much more pronounced than the rather one-note Barney Butter. 

Now, don’t get me wrong here, I really like Barney Butter, especially the huge chunks of almonds in it   However, I do like the smooth, more complex flavors of Maranatha.  If you’re looking for something unlike peanut butter definitely give Maranatha a try.  Barney Butter really does taste like peanut butter and have the same texture, whereas Maranatha is quite different.  I also like that Maranatha doesn’t seem as oily at BB, nor as sticky on the tongue.  Here’s the nutrition comparison:

More power to you in your almond butter journeys!

Back to the normal blog scene for me: daily eats.  This weekend has felt like a nosh-fest   I ate too much, drank too much, and gave in to cravings more than I have for awhile.

Saturday breakfast:  shredded wheat with 1/2 a nana and almond milk.

Chris and I took his car out to wine country for an event at WillaKenzie.  It was a gorgeous day and riding with the top down was really fun.  We stopped at his favorite sandwich place, Phil’s, for lunch.  Here’s where it went downhill… this beauty is a Fajita sandwich.

This was really good and left me feeling (over) satiated and somewhat guilty.  Whole wheat bread, cheddar and provolone cheeses, grilled chicken, pepperoncinis, green bell pepp, onion, olives, lettuce, and sour cream.  Yum-o-rama!

We then went to WillaKenzie and met some of Chris’ clients for the annual Valentine’s tasting and wine release.  First we tasted a Pinot Gris (I skipped the tuna food pairing); second came a Pinot Meunier with a TJ’s French truffle. Ooh baby, they are soooooo good! 

I grabbed the double truffle

Next up was the Clonale 113, served with a civet of wild boar and chickpeas (I abstained but photographed).  I liked this wine a lot.

We were a bit warm, so we headed down to the patio for some cool air.  Such a beautiful day and a beautiful view!

Back inside for more wine… up next was Clonale 114, served with a pate of some sort on toast (I abstained).  We went on a tour at 3, and tasted the Plaisir a Trois while listening to Thibaud, the winemaker, discuss the wines, winemaking, cellaring, and more.  Each year WillaKenzie orders about 200 new barrels at a cost of $900k!  Holy shit, I had no idea barrels were that expensive.  Well worth it to impart good flavor on the wines, though.

After tasting this and a barrel sample of the Wasenwail clone, we headed back upstairs for the final tasting and food pairing:  Late Harvest Pinot Gris with a Rogue River blue cheese terrine with walnuts and apple.  Holy.  Moley.  This was an insane flavor combination that I just had to have again!!!  I don’t normally go for the funky cheeses, but this was divinely prepared and paired ecstasy on the tongue. 

We hit up a few of the stations again (truffles!), and called it a day around 4:30 or so.  Even though the sun was low and it was cold, we drove back with the top down again and the heat blasting.  It really was a great drive in beautiful country

On the way home Chris and I talked ourselves into going to Mexican for dinner at Fajitas (yeah, that took a lot of convincing–not).  I can’t believe I had like half of a Casuela   I ate one tortilla full of Carnitas de pollo, but couldn’t stop picking at the plate afterwards.

After dinner I developed a nasty headache.  While wine tasting I had only one glass of wine really, but the variety of wines and timing of drinking kinda screwed me up I think.  Allergies didn’t help either…

Eventually I got a craving for something, and ate a few bricks of Cadbury milk chocolate with almonds. 

I passed out on the couch at 10 and went to bed around 11.

Sunday

Getting up this morning was hard, mostly b/c I still had that damn headache.  What is it with me and headaches lately?  Yoga sounded like a good idea, though, so I pulled my ass outta bed and got ready.

Breakfast was shredded wheat with sliced strawberries and almond milk, and coffee with Silk vanilla creamer.  The cereal combo was a bit sour from the not-so-tasty strawberries…perhaps I should invest in some Stevia.

Yoga was good, but for being next to a really loud breather.  Same thing in Pilates yesterday.  Totally drives me crazy and I really can’t seem to zone it out.  It’s not Lamaze class, people!

After class I came home and determined I could not take the disgusting kitchen that had developed:  clean dishwasher needing unloading, sink and counter full of dirty dishes, etc.  Cleaning felt good and wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

Lunch time came around and wasn’t sure what to eat…protein shake with other stuff?  Egg?  Tortilla?  I settled on one egg and one egg white scrambled, put in a tortilla with 1/2 a wedge LCL.  Nummy.  I also had half of a Jonagold, and some Kashi Fire Roasted Veggie crackers with the other half of my LCL wedge.

After my grocery shopping I did the almond butter taste test as a snack.  I tell ya, it really is amazing how varied the same product can be.  It is fun to try the various kinds, tho.

Dinner time rolled around and I got to preparing ground beef soft tacos.  I sauteed the beef with onion, chile powder, Nature’s Seasons, Tabasco, salsa, and BBQ seasoning.  For taco fillers I had a little homemade guac, reduced fat sour cream, more salsa, a little medium cheddar, romaine, and pickled jalapenos.  Whoa, mama, those jalapenos were spiiiiiiiiiicy! 

I totally shouldn’t have, but I ate a second one   Oy vey. 

After a bit Chris started saying he wishes he could have a Casuela at Fajitas, to which I responded he was crazy and that I didn’t feel like going out, esp. just for a drink.  After about an hour of his pouting in a cute way I somehow gave in and we went for bebidas.

Remember those jeans that I fit into Friday?  Well, they felt a bit tighter tonight.  Amazing how the body can change in a few days.

Of course they brought us chips, and I couldn’t resist having a few.  Noe, our waiter, also brought us La Casa!  It was sooooooooooooo tasty, and I’m sure it had like 400 cals.  Oops!  There goes the day’s health watch…

So here we are, at the end of a weekend that disappeared before I knew it, and it is already after 11.  Boo.  Can we rewind the clocks a day or two? 

Did you all have a good weekend?  I hope so!  I’m off to take Lily outside one more time and hit the hay.  Oyasuminasai (good night in Japanese) :Z

A perfect Saturday January 24, 2009

Today was really nice, and I mean really, really nice.  I think everything went well from start to (almost) finish where I sit right now.  Super yay!

The day began a bit slowly and with sluggishness as I pried myself out of bed at 7:50.  Ugh.  But the thought of Bob’s Red Mill was enticing, and before I knew it I was pulling into the parking lot and looking at this:

WHOA, a little bigger than I thought.  Anyhow, this is the water wheel and stream in front of Bob’s Red Mill retail store and restaurant.   I love coming here   The old school mill is pictured below.

I looked around at all of the goodness, damning myself for not having already created my grocery list so I would know what I could buy without guilt.  They even have frozen vegan donuts!  Chocolate covered!

When Andrea arrived we took a gander at the vegetarian menu, and as I mentioned I wanted to try a vegan breakfast.  No, not a huge step or big deal, but I wanted to think a lot more about what I ate and try to avoid animal products.  Andrea recommended the biscuits and gravy, and I totally forgot about staying vegan. Were they vegan?  Did they have milk derivatives? I don’t know!  And I’m pretty sure I put some sort of milk based creamer in my coffee   Kudos to all of you who are vegan and remain very thoughtful about your food intake!!

The biscuits and gravy were really, really yummy.  I haven’t had something that rich tasting yet not too heavy in a long time.  Oh, mercy! Mmmmmmmmmm.  And the fruit cup on the side was just what I needed to round out my meal. 

We talked a lot about various things, including how we each married like the same guy (seriously, it is rather crazy!), and then we headed off to pilates to get long’n'lean.

Class was good today, and I felt more balanced and in control today during our moves than two weeks ago.  After class I did a half hour of upper body, and I tried the “squirreliptical” as Kath calls it.  It was a bit awkward at first, and harder than I expected, but I had a good half hour of intervals while watching random stuff around the gym.  This machine is on the 2nd floor of the gym, upstairs from the regular cardio area I use, and there aren’t any TVs mounted on the machines.  That half hour seemed sooooo long; I wanted to quit several times during the first 15 minutes.

After the gym I went home and made myself a nice easy lunch: an open faced sandwich with 1/2 a wedge LCL, one egg +one white scrambled, a slice of turkey; an apple; and some cc.  That hit the spot

Whoa, there is an intense movie on IFC now, “Flannel Pajamas.”  I like IFC and the different perspectives the movies provide. 

By the time we both ate and I cleaned up, neither of us felt like going to work like originally planned.  Yay!  I could stay home and relax like anyone should be able to do on a Saturday.  I ended up cleaning, doing laundry, and making an attempt at meal planning.  My food has been way too boring lately, without enough variety or spice, literally, so I opted to get some new things, additions, and more veggies.

I hit the store…and forgot my shopping list.  Because of that shopping took forever, but somehow I remembered everything.  It’s a miracle!  Some of the fun things I picked up included: produce wash, Silk vanilla coffee creamer, a butternut squash, strawberries, tofu, barbecue sauce, and Sriracha :0  Love it!

Washing my produce was rather satisfying.  Here’s my pile of freshness drying on a towel; the wash is on the left:

For dinner I had meatloaf in mind, and as I cleaned veggies I thought of adding diced celery and shredded carrots for more bulk.  My meatloaf consisted of: 1lb. 93% lean beef, 1 slice diced whole wheat bread, small shake of bread crumbs, one egg, 1/2 onion diced, 2 stalks celery diced, 1/2 carrot shredded, 1 clove garlic smashed, a glug of BBQ sauce, a squirt of ketchup, lots of ground pepper, and Nature’s Seasons.  It smelled so good!

On the side were baked potatoes and over-cooked broccoli.  I kind mis-timed the meatloaf being done and the broccoli sat for awhile.  It was so soft it couldn’t be picked up but by a fork in the stalk portion.  Ew. 

I added Sriracha to my meatloaf and potato, and BBQ sauce to the potato.  It was so good!  I probably ate too much of the potato just so I could have more of the sauces.

That’s Smart Balance on the potato, too.  I liked the meatloaf a lot, but Chris didn’t quite agree.  It was so tasty!  Maybe too much onion, but otherwise really perfect.  I think he just doesn’t know or like meatloaf much.  I guess this means I get the leftovers?  We drank this while eating:

Haha, no I didn’t drink Sriracha… it just wanted to make an appearance on the blog

Tonight I’ve been chillin’ working on recycling posts under The Three R’s, and watching TV.  Aw, I forgot the dryer buzzed….wrinkled clothes, here I come.

I ate a snack a little while ago: hulled strawberries and two pieces of Ghiradelli 72% chocolate.  I haven’t craved chocolate in awhile, but tonight it sounded yummy.

I’m a bit tired and think I’m going to take the LB out and go to bed.  A part of me really hopes Chris decides he doesn’t want to go to work tomorrow. If he goes he’ll want me to go as well.  Not like I don’t have work to do, but mentally I wouldn’t mind a full two days off.  (Or a whole lifetime off for that matter! )

Later y’all.  Have a great Sunday!

Bionic woman January 10, 2009

What’s up?  How was your Saturday?  Mine has somehow been really, really long, way more than I thought I would be able to stand.  I woke up around 3:30 and got up at 4:15 this morning.  Oy vey.  But, I did look forward to my long morning and productive day.

After I dropped my dad and Liz off at the airport I came home, put on the boob tube, posted for yesterday, brewed some cafe, took down the Christmas tree, and finally ate around 7 I think.  Steel cut oats, almond milk, water, cinnamon, raisins, Barney Butter.

Taking down the Christmas tree was sad   It had been up for like a month, but I always get kinda sad when putting away the ornaments and stuff.

After I ate I can’t remember much til I left for pilates around 9:30.  I was feeling pretty tired…I think I organized a little more and watched TV.  That is so crazy I can’t remember!

Pilates was good, bad, and ugly all at the same time.  I did really well on some moves, and sucked major ass on others.  Since I have done abs the last two days some of the ab work was pretty tough for me in class.  We did a cool new move today that I liked, tho:  a modified helicopter.

After class I was seriously feeling strange from how tired I was.  I chatted with Andrea and her friend after class and they probably thought I was on something! 

Once home I played with Lily and made lunch:  a sundried tomato Flatout, two slices of turkey, one scrambled egg, 1/2 a wedge LCL, and rainbow slaw.  I added a few shakes of Italian herbs to the eggs, but the whole wrap wasn’t as tasty as I expected.  I also had some Stacy’s Pita Chips on the side since I was totally out of fruit, cottage cheese, and other possible sides.

I was soooooo tired after this, and have another memory gap between noon and 1-ish.  I think I was just parked on the couch watching TV and talking with Chris, and between 1 and 2 I tried napping but never quite fell asleep

Eventually I went to the grocery store.  Oh, but first I was too hungry and I finally ate this Luna Nutz Over Chocolate bar I’ve had for awhile.  It was good, but I think I liked the berry almond one better.

I am so happy to be stocked up again on fruit, veggies, and snacks/sides.  I had a major need to buy fruit arise while I was perusing that section, so I ended up with Pink Lady apples, some small pink grapefruits, and bananas.  I look forward to tasting the apples and grapefruit tomorrow.

Once home I unpacked the groceries, cleaned out a few things from the fridge, and prepped dinner items.  I somehow started getting a second wind while doing this, and didn’t feel really tired again until just now (nearly 11:30!  How did I make it this long!!???).  I drank a big glass and a half of this Diet V8 Splash Tropical Blend, too.  I know, it has Splenda in it…but I wanted something tasty without tons of sugar and this did the trick.

Dinner was easy and pretty good, but I keep feeling like something is missing flavor-wise from my stir fries.  Chicken, carrot, broccoli, green pepper, onion, stir fry sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, and toasted sesame seeds on mine. Oh, and the last bit of brown rice we had.

I started thinking about snacking a few hours later, and here’s sort of how my thought process went:  ‘Hmmm, I want some yogurt, but not just yogurt and banana like I usually have.  Banana and Barney Butter?  Too caloric.  Cereal and banana?  Too plain.  How about a little of all of them put together with a dash of cinnamon.  Okay!’  This worked out to be around 220 cals, I think: 1/4 cup Quaker Oatmeal Squares, 1/4 cup Dannon Light & Fit vanilla (more Splenda!), 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp Barney Butter, dash of cinnamon.

The tastes were good, but I think the banana wasn’t quite ripe enough since the whole mix wasn’t as sweet as I’d hoped.  I really liked the BB, yogurt, and cereal tastes together.

I’m really, really tired now and must finally get some sleep.  This is the first week in a loooong time that I have not had a full night’s sleep any night this week.  Oy vey again.  Hopefully I can pass out now   I’m excited for yoga tomorrow, esp. since I haven’t been for over a week. 

Ciao, bellas!