Hey hi hello! Happy Thinking Out Loud Thursday! I am officially in midterm season so bear with me over the next couple of weeks. I intend to keep posting consistently, but sometimes responsibility dominates. That said, blogging is one of my absolute favorite stress relievers, pastimes, and just “things” in general, so know that if you’re reading, I love and appreciate you. ❤️ Okay, sappy moment over. Ready for some random thoughts from the week? Let’s get to it! Thanks for the link-up, Amanda!
1.) On Monday night, I made French toast for dinner. I don’t ever eat French toast. It falls under the “soggy bread” category, but I had it in my head that I freaking wanted French toast. Um, topped with peanut butter and caramelized bananas, it was delicious.
I also think pancakes need to happen soon.
2.) My econ problem sets have been taking us until late Wednesday (and sometimes Thursday morning) to finish. They’re due Thursday at 10:30 am. This week, we were done by 5 pm, and it was glorious. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make me feel better about the midterm on Tuesday. Guess how I’m spending my weekend? Prepping for that. ?
3.) The weather is the craziest thing. It’s been pretty warm (40s and 50s), but it poured rain on Tuesday, which made it feel super chilly. I had an umbrella and still ended up totally soaked. Nothing coming back to my room, blasting the heat, and changing clothes couldn’t fix. And then it was sunny and 40ish the next day. Crazy and awesome, especially since this time last year, we were covered in snow.
Basically, it’s unseasonably warm and it’s awesome.
4.) I guess Quest Nutrition has reformulated all of their bars? I got an email to try free samples, and I’m not one to turn down free food, so I got the Chocolate Brownie and Double Chocolate Chunk. I’m kind of a bar addict and like to avoid having a bunch around because I will just eat them all. I think it’s because they’re so sweet that I just want more. Is that a thing? Whatever. Either way, they were honestly really good. I’ve always like Quest bars, but I do think these are an improvement on the old recipe – they’re much softer now! I likely won’t stock up on them for the aforementioned reason (and I would rather eat less-processed foods) but I might pick up one or two occasionally because I do like them.
5.) I picked up a few new Trader Joe’s products this weekend! I’ll probably talk about others, but so far I’d highly recommend:
- Fire-Roasted Salsa: It has no added salt and is super flavorful! It’s nicely spicy and really made me realize how much salt must be in regular salsa because you immediately taste a difference. But it’s a good difference!
- Dark Chocolate Nibs: They’re teeny-tiny and pack big chocolate flavor. I don’t need a million of them to feel satisfied, since they have that (amazing) dark bitterness, but they’re great for a sweet “something” after a meal.
- Grass-Fed Beef Sirloin Roast: It’s pre-cooked and sliced, so it’s insanely convenient. It’s flavorful, but not too seasoned, so you can add it to anything. And it’s tender and delicious.
I’ll let you know about other stuff as I try it! 🙂
6.) Let’s end on more delicious food. I made this Parmesan shrimp and veggie-stuffed spaghetti squash last night and it was wonderful.
Have a lovely Thursday!
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?
Pancakes or French toast?
Favorite Trader Joe’s find?
Anything else I should know?
That spaghetti squash looks amazing! I always forget about making stuffed spaghetti squash. I need to go out and get one!
I’m totally getting another one this week! It was so yummy!
I’m a French toast girl when I go out for breakfast, but I like to make pancakes more. The best thing I ate yesterday was ugali with blueberry syrup (cornbread mush thing). I don’t have a Trader Joes around me, but when I have gone (twice haha) I got cookie butter each time.
Good luck on your midterms
Ooh I’ve never even heard of ugali! That sounds super interesting – I’ll have to look into that 🙂 Thanks, Ellie!
French toast falls into the same category in my mind 😆 I’m normally more of a pancakes girl, but if it has nut butter and bananas on it, I’ll eat it no matter what it is. Well, within reason anyways 😉
I so relate. Nut butter + bananas were made for each other… and to go on everything else 😉
Pancakes are truly addiction. I need to find some way to make it faster in the morning before University 😉
Definitely! That’d be a nice way to start a day full of classes!
I love that you were pleasantly surprised by the Quest bars. 🙂 I can’t wait to try one. And French toast is amazing. 🙂
I hope you get to try them soon 🙂
I love French toast. It is BY FAR my favorite breakfast food! But I only get it if I go out to breakfast, which I try not to do regularly since eating out is too expensive! The best French toast I EVER had was in Monterey, CA at some little mom and pop shop. It was $17 or something ridiculous for the French toast, but I would pay it again without even giving it a second thought. So freaking good. And now I want to make some French toast but we don’t buy bread, haha. Maybe when I go to the store next 🙂 (I can’t believe I talked about French toast for that long.) That picture of the snow is beautiful! I miss living up north for about 2 seconds when I see stuff like that, but then I remember wearing snow suits and being freezing cold and shoveling the driveway with my parents! No thanks!
Mom and pop shops have the best stuff sometimes! Haha I’m not particularly a fan of shoveling either. I’m very grateful that the university takes care of that for me for now 🙂
Best of luck on all of your midterms coming up! I’ll be there soon enough, so I’m bracing myself right now! I’m like you, not a fan of French Toast because I don’t like soggy bread, but on occasion, my mind tricks me into thinking I would like it.
I decided that if I made my own French toast, I could cook it a little longer to crisp it up 🙂 Worked like a charm! Thanks, Julia. Good luck with your classes!
I wouldn’t be able to choose between French toast or pancakes…I’d probably tend to pick pancakes unless it was French toast casserole, which I love. And definitely, if I’m making it at home, I usually go for pancakes, partly because they are easier. My current favorite TJ’s find is their plantain chips!! Have you tried them?? They are sooo yummy, and paired with Lindsay’s (@Pinch of Yum) Magic Green Sauce as a dip, it’s even better and SO addicting!! For some reason, I’ve been really craving them lately, so that might also be the best thing I’ve eaten recently. Though it would have to contend with these double chocolate banana oat bars I made from Ambitious Kitchen (because I like warm, raw, doughy things, I only baked them halfway and ate them that way! ??)…
I’ve never had plantain chips, but they sound awesome! And I can’t wait until I have regular access to a food processor/blender again so I can make all Lindsay’s green sauces 🙂
That french toast and spaghetti squash looks delicious!! Favorite trader joes product is probably cookie butter, their quinoa flax tortilla chips, or their greek yogurt! Definitely recommend the cookie butter though. Oh and also their flax n chia pb is amazing too 🙂
Thanks, Lyss 🙂 I love that peanut butter!
PANCAKES! Make them now!!
Salsa! I bought my favorite (an old favorite I hand’t gotten in a while) and it says there are 15 serving…no….there were 3…. 😛 hahaha! ALL the salsa!
And TJs cashew butter and 21 seasoning soulte and the chicken lime burgers, o and the mahi mahi burgers…and their pumpkin o cereal which I just opened the saved box I had from November 😛 Hahaha!
Pancakes are on the agenda for the week 🙂
Yeah, uh, 2T. is not a serving of salsa. Nope. Way too small.
I love the chicken lime burgers and I actually bought the mahi mahi ones! Yay, I’m excited to try them now 🙂
As a shrimp addict; that stuffed squash looks AMAZING! I don’t like french toast but with Shrove Tuesday next week, pancakes will definitely be happening at some point over the weekend.
Its interesting to hear what you thought of the new Quest Bars. I am totally the same in terms of being quite a fan of bars but like you, having too many in my apartment is fatal because I would end up eating many more than one at a time… To be honest, I think it is the sucrolose in them that causes me to crave more but I will still be trying the new recipe when it lands in the UK (making sure I only buy a SINGLE bar).
Out of interest, what is your favourite Quest flavour, and if you have tried them, what do you think of BUp Bars?
Best of luck for your exams.
xx
Thanks, Charlotte! I think I’ll make some pancakes this week, too.
Glad someone else can relate to the bar addiction! I think I like the Double Chocolate Chunk and Apple Pie Quest bars best, but the only ones I’ve tried that I didn’t like were the Mixed Berry, the Lemon Cream Pie, and Peanut Butter Supreme. And I’ve never had a BUp bar (but I’d try one!).
I need to try cocoa nibs, they sound like the perfect addition to my yogurt or oatmeal bowls!
They’re so good!
I’ve never been to Trader Joe’s before. I really want to go someday soon <3 I'm more of a pancakes person, iHop is my happy place 😉 Have a great day!!
Blessings,
Edye
Pancakes are pretty awesome 😀