Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Shake Your Cocoa-nuts

Hey guys, how's it going?  Once again, it's been awhile since I've blogged, so I've got a few things to catch up on here.  First a delicious new discovery:


My mom picked up this huge container of cocoa-roasted almonds at Sam's Club this past week, and they're SO delicious.  Except...


...we realized there's sucralose in them, which is basically Splenda.  Boo.  I've really tried to eliminate fake sweeteners from my diet.  But that doesn't mean I haven't still enjoyed a small handful of these here and there.  

When I've got the time, I really enjoy putting some extra effort into brunch for myself on the weekend.  This past weekend was no exception.


Scrambled eggs with spinach and topped with Trader Joe's salsa, an amazing bowl of berries, and a frothy cup of coffee.  Perfection.  Do you like my Peter Rabbit bowl?  Haha.  


I've been able to start working out again since my feet have pretty much healed (thank goodness), so after a workout this past week I brought back the long-lost protein smoothie.


It had 1 cup skim milk, 1 T ground flax seed, 1 T natural peanut butter, 1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder, organic spinach from the farmers' market, and 1 frozen banana.  Yum!


Along with my summer-y drink, I've been able to enjoy some summer-y activities lately, too.  I love having a break from school!


I went to a wine festival at a local winery with some friends last week, and it was so fun to spend time and catch up with them, and to taste some local wines.


And I got to go to a concert at my favorite concert venue!


Even though it wasn't a very sunny day, we spent some time boating this past weekend, too.


This is the crib, which is the main intake for the Cleveland water supply.  


Other than that, I've started on a little project.  Well, a not-so-little project, actually.  I'm going to paint my kitchen table and chairs black, but it's quite a long process!  I'm documenting it and will share the steps after I'm finished, assuming it all turns out okay.  Here's the before shot!


So that's what I've been up to.  What about you guys?

Oh, and I refuse to accept that I don't live in a tropical area - I'm trying to grow some avocado trees.  I actually grew an avocado tree for a few years but it recently withered away, so I'm determined to try again.


Song of the day:

"Free Energy" by Free Energy.  This is the band I saw last week - so much fun live!


6 comments:

  1. That is so interesting about the water intake structure. I never thought about how we get the water from the lake. Now I am going to have to look for it from now on.

    I remember being excited about finding those coco roast almonds at Target. But then reading the nutrition facts and finding out they are made with sucralose. What a major disappointment that was since I try to avoid artificial sweeteners at any cost.

    Have a nice weekend. Its suppose to be a hot one!

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    1. There's a webcam on the crib, too, which is kind of cool. http://www.webcamsmania.com/webcam/clevelandwatercribwebcam

      I agree, huge disappointment that the cocoa-roasted almonds contain artificial sweetener :( Maybe there's a better way to make them at home - I'll have to think about that!

      Thanks, I hope you have a great weekend, too!

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  2. Replies
    1. It was a very pretty setting - it felt like we were way out in the country, even though we weren't very far away from town at all. Definitely a nice alternative to the usual dinner/ movie/ bar ideas!

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  3. wine! boating! concerts! I love it all!

    glad your feet are feeling better as well!

    I have a handful (or three) of almonds everyday! I have never tried cocoa ones though.....but I agree... I'm trying to stay away from sucralose right now as well.

    gluck with the avocado trees! i am impressed!

    have a great week, Stephanie!
    best,
    gc

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    1. Yes, definitely some of my favorite things, especially with family and good friends :) Ah almonds are the best - I really need to try making some cocoa-roasted almonds of my own because they are super yummy. Haha, we'll see about the avocado trees - hopefully they'll grow! I don't have high hopes for actually producing avocados, but that would be soooo nice, especially since they're so expensive to buy in the store! Thanks for the lovely comment, GC, have a great week, too!

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