Guacamole + Everything Bagel

Rating: 9.5/10

Been offline awhile, but back with a vengeance now! And wouldn't think of starting the summer without some avocado in my belly. Anyway, totally my new obsession this awesome guac dip. Wholly Guacamole, indeed. It's got all of what I love about guacamole (avocado, garlic) and none of what I hate (cilantro, lime). And of course, why go for chips when you got everything bagels lying around. As much as I despise sesame seeds on anything, if they're the price I have to pay to get caraway seeds, poppy seeds, and garlic all on one bagel then so be it, everything bagel it is. So when you put perfect guacamole with near perfect bagel: voila mouth happy amounts of flavor, chew, and easy on-the-go chow. Just break, dip, bite, and smile.

Nutrition:

• Wholly Guacamole (6 spoonfuls) = 180 Calories, 6g fiber, 330mg Sodium, 540mg Potassium
• Einstein Bros. Everything Bagel = 270 Calories, 2g fiber, 620mg Sodium, 20% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 470
Decent amount of fiber and Sodium for sure. Decent breakfast material.
 

Tofu Cream Cheese + Pumpkin Butter + Multigrain Bread

Rating: 8/10

I have to say it was a bit of a turn off when I first saw the word "vegan" in reference to cream cheese. But a dear friend was raving about it, so I thought why not? It's actually pretty decent. Not great, mind you, but decent. But I love this awesome multigrain bread by Eli Zabar. Rocks my morning when toasted.

Nutrition:

• Eli Zabar Hearth Baked Bread = 130 Calories, 190mg Sodium, 120mg Potassium, 6g fiber
• Trader Joe's Vegan Cream Cheese (2 spoonfuls) = 90 Calories, 120mg Sodium
• Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter (2 spoonfuls) = 80 Calories, 18g sugar, 20% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 300
Wee bit vitamins and minerals, but otherwise insignificant all around.

Oreo + Onion Dip

Rating: 9/10

Oreo cookies dipped in caramelized onion dip. I'm generally not a huge fan of plain Oreos (but love them as ice cream or fried), so when I was given a whole bag of them I was chomping at the bit to taste smash them with something more interesting. And I just got this new onion dip I wanted to try out, so two birds one stone. Somehow the crunchy, sugary, chocolatey Oreo just fits with the creamy, chunky, oniony dip. Way more delectable than I could've expected. Win!

Nutrition:

• 3 Oreo Cookies = 160 Calories, 14g sugar, 1g fiber, 10% of daily Iron
• Trader Joe's Caramelized Onion Dip (2 spoonfuls) = 70 Calories, 230mg Sodium

Total Calories = 230
Fairly insignificant in terms of nutritional pros and cons, so why not?

Truffles + Macadamias + Dates

Rating: 10/10

Snack mix of chocolate truffles, macadamia nuts, and deglet noor dates. My three favorite tiny round foods eaten together = perfect combo. Like a super awesome bag of trail mix to carry around and snack on throughout the day. Got to fight the urge to down it all in one sitting though. Really, what's not to love? The sweet, rich, melty chocolate. The crunchy, smooth and salty macadamia. The chewy, caramel sweet dates (from Tunisia apparently, makes me want to go there next).

Nutrition:

• 5 Truffettes de France Truffles = 250 Calories, 2g fiber, 8g sugar, 10% of daily Iron
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium
• Made in Nature Delectable Deglet Noor Dates (1/4 cup) = 120 Calories, 3g fiber, 28g sugar

Total Calories = 580
A bunch of fiber here. Quite substantial snack, keeps you full for awhile.

Cocoa Cookie Butter + Crumpet + Fried Egg

Rating: 8.5/10

Chocolate plus cookie butter in a spread! This needs to be on everything. Why not add it to a traditional English breakfast of crumpets and eggs? Kind of turns it into a chocolate chip cookie version of Eggs Benedict minus the bacon. Just spread the awesomeness on top a toasted crumpet and slap on a fried egg sunny side up seasoned with salt and pepper. Hearty and delicious for those with a sweet tooth.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl (2 spoonfuls) = 180 Calories, 12g sugar
• Trader Joe's British Style Crumpet = 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• fried egg = 95 Calories, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 385
Not much caloric value, but got in some Iron and sugar for energy.

Blackcurrant Juice + Coconut Meat

Rating: 8/10

My obsession with blackcurrant juice dates back to 2007 when I first came across a bottle of Ribena in London and became instantly hooked. To the extent that the high point of any trip to the UK for me is this delightful beverage. So you can imagine my joy at finding blackcurrant juice in Trader Joe's of all places. Not an exact replica of Ribena but satisfying nonetheless. Naturally, I decided to combine it with my other obsession: young coconut. Slicing chunks of coconut meat into a glass of blackcurrant juice makes for a fun drinking experience. Just imagine if the two were actually one fruit: the mildly sweet and gelatinous texture of the coconut meat plus the fragrantly sweet and sour juice. Trippy.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Black Currant Juice (cup) =  100 Calories, 24g sugar, 110mg Potassium, 70% of daily Vitamin C
• Asia Exotic Corp BL young coconut meat = 140 Calories, 2g fiber, 17% of daily Calcium

Total Calories = 240
Yay for Vitamin C, but not much else of note.

Pear + Pistachios

Rating: 7.5/10

Green pear eaten with pistachios. Both green colored foods. As good a reason to combine them as any. Plus they both start with the letter "P." Meant to be, I say. The crispy, juicy, sweet, grainy pear is a fine counterpoint to the crunchy, salty little pistachios. More play dates for these two!

Nutrition:

• green pear = 102 Calories, 206mg Potassium, 6g fiber, 12% of daily Vitamin C
• Kirkland Signature Salt & Pepper Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios (cup) = 320 Calories, 6g fiber, 660mg Sodium, 560mg Potassium, 40% of daily Vitamin B6, 30% of daily Thiamin, 12% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 422
Chock full of fiber and Potassium with some sprinklings of vitamins and minerals. Not bad.

Giant Pizza + Pirate's Booty

Rating: 6.5/10

Giant pizza topped with Pirate's Booty cheese puffs. What's an afternoon of TV and games with friends without a giant pizza and junk food? Because I can't stand plain-ness of any kind, I must impose toppings on plain pizza even of the giant variety. And what's at hand? A bag of Pirate's Booty. Not bad as toppings go. The crispy, airy, cheesy puffs add some bite to the chewy, salty, saucy pizza. Plain-ness gone! Mission accomplished.

Nutrition:

• slice of giant plain pizza = 720 Calories, 1319mg Sodium, 6g fiber, 70% of daily Calcium, 40% of daily Vitamin A, 30% of daily Iron, 20% of daily Vitamin C
• Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar Corn Puff (handful) = 130 Calories, 140mg Sodium

Total Calories = 850
Not the worst thing you can eat when it comes to junk/fast food. More than half the Sodium you need in a day, but decent supply of Calcium, Iron, and vitamins.

Chocolate Truffles + Egg Scallion Pancake

Rating: 8/10

Chocolate hazelnut truffles eaten with a fried multi-layered scallion pancake. Can't go wrong with either here. Awesome contrast of taste and texture. Crispy, chewy, savory pancake with sweet, creamy truffles. And just the way the chocolate melts in the mouth as I'm biting off the pancake, rocks my mouth world.

Nutrition:

• 5 Maitre Truffout Fancy Hazelnut Flavor Truffles = 250 Calories, 14g sugar, 2g fiber, 30% of daily Iron
• whole egg scallion pancake = 850 Calories, 4g fiber, 1240mg Sodium, 60% of daily Iron, 32% of daily Vitamin A, 10% of daily Vitamin B-12

Total Calories = 1090
No one said this was gonna be a light breakfast. Couldn't find nutrition info on egg scallion pancake, so just added nutrition for regular scallion pancake plus one egg.

Cookie Dough Blizzard + Club Sandwich

Rating: 7/10

Nothing like Dairy Queen to finish off a road trip. And can't stop at DQ without getting a ice cream Blizzard, cookie dough all the way. The crispy hot sandwich with all its melted chewy savoriness gives stark contract to the cold, creamy, sweet Blizzard. Really brings out the best in each other. Although the cookie dough of the Blizzard became a bit overpowering and tiring after awhile. So really half a Blizzard plus a whole club sandwich would be the perfect portion.

Nutrition:

• Dairy Queen Small Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard = 710 Calories, 75g sugar, 1g fiber, 35% of daily Calcium, 25% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron
• Dairy Queen Iron Grilled Classic Club Sandwich = 560 Calories, 1790mg Sodium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Calcium, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 1270
Typical fast food. Chock-full of Calories, sugar and Sodium. Still, got in some vitamin and minerals along with all the junk. That's something.

Coconut Water + Basil + Peach

Rating: 7/10

Got this disappointingly bland tasteless Naked brand coconut water and was looking for a way to spice it up a bit. Had a bunch of fresh peaches and some extra basil lying around. Perfect opportunity to experiment with making my own juice drink. So I diced up the peach, chopped some large basil leaves, tossed it all into the coconut water, shook well, and let refrigerate for a day before drinking. Decided to use an empty glass milk jar for this concoction because glass is sturdy and doesn't pollute taste like paper or plastic cartons. The end product: rather refreshing. The peach flavor sort of overpowered everything else, the coconut of course barely registered, and the splash of basil really gave it character.

Nutrition:

• Naked Pure Coconut Water = 60 Calories, 650mg Potassium
• basil (5 leaves) = 0 Calories
• peach = 60 Calories, 285mg Potassium, 2.2g fiber, 16% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 120
This is like the entire pint's worth, which of course I didn't drink all in one sitting. But this was the total of what I made.

Pierogies + Soup Noodles

Rating: 8/10

Instant noodles and pierogies in a bowl. Addicted to pierogies I am and eating it in any form imaginable. Was in need of a quick noodles and soup fix, so thought I'd combine the three and savor the possibility. Turned out rather delectable, abeit not the most interesting in flavor sensation. Spicy, salty, chewy noodles with chewy, soft, potatoey pierogies.

Nutrition:

• 6 Peter & Pat's Pierogies Potato & Onion = 390 Calories, 450mg Sodium, 1.5g fiber, 15% of daily Iron
• Six Fortune Instant Broad Noodles = 500 Calories, 2000mg Sodium, 2g fiber

Total Calories = 890
Wow that's a shitload of Sodium, and really not much else of nutritional value.

Crumpet + Nutella + Macadamia

Rating: 8.5/10

Toasted crumpets spread with Nutella and topped with macadamia nuts. Quick and delicious alternative to pancakes or waffles in the morning. Love the soft, spongy, crispy texture of crumpets toasted combined with the creamy, sweet, chocolatey Nutella melted on plus the crunchy, smooth macadamia on top. Takes my delight over chocolate-covered macadamia to a new level.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's British Style Crumpet = 110 Calories, 170mg Sodium, 2g fiber
• Ferrero Nutella (3 spoonfuls) = 300 Calories, 1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium

Total Calories = 620
That's like a fifth of a day's fiber and just a splash of Sodium.

Potato Chips + Fennel Arugula Salad

Rating: 8/10

Tried this new cheesy garlic bread flavored chips, a bit overwhelming on its own and needed companion foods to balance out the taste. People put cheese on salads, so why not cheesy potato chips? Viola, awesome pairing and balance of flavors.

Nutrition:

• Lay's Cheesy Garlic Bread Potato Chips = 290 Calories, 250mg Sodium, 610mg Potassium, 2g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin C
• bowl of fennel arugula salad = 140 Calories, 4g fiber, 23% of daily Vitamin C, 12% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 430
Got in some fiber and vitamins.

Pumpkin Seeds + Pasta

 Rating: 8.5/10

Tomato-based rotini pasta topped with roasted pumpkin seeds in shell. The pasta was kind of boring to eat by itself, and the seeds were right nearby, so I decided to sprinkle them all over like Parmesan.  The combo gave just the right amount of tough, salty bite from the seeds and soft, saucy chewiness from the pasta. And always eat pumpkin seeds with shells, adds extra flavor and texture.

Nutrition:

• bowl of rotini pasta with tomato sauce = 450 Calories, 5g fiber, 10% of daily Iron, 10% of daily Vitamin A, 10% of daily Vitamin C
• handful of Trader Joe's In Shell Pumpkin Seeds Dry Roasted and Lightly Salted = 180 Calories, 2g fiber, 10% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 630
Rough estimates here but decent amount of Iron and fiber in this meal.

Nutella + Saturn Peach

Rating: 7/10

Further proof that Nutella makes everything better. Just spread it over saturn peaches and instant dessert. Had a bunch of these flat donut-shaped peaches lying around and couldn't do a thing with them. They're cute but kind of boring tasting. Was almost going to make a smoothie out of them when I came across darling Nutella. Problem solved.

Nutrition:

• 3 spoonfuls of Ferrero Nutella = 300 Calories,1.5g fiber, 32g sugar
• saturn peach = 60 Calories, 3g fiber, 15% of daily Vitamin A, 15% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 360
Decent fiber, some vitamins, sugar energy. Good deal.