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.

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.

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.

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.

Hazelnut Chocolate + Greek Yogurt

Rating: 8.5/10

Dark chocolate with hazelnut dipped in Greek yogurt. Accidentally got the plain yogurt instead of the honey one. As much as I still love the texture of Greek yogurt, the taste was disgustingly plain. So I figure the only thing to do is use it as dip for other more flavorful stuff. Chocolate hazelnut was as good a starting point as any. Lo and behold, awesome combo! Perfect safe for an otherwise tragic waste of yogurt texture.

Nutrition:

• Trader Joe's Swiss Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts (2 pieces) = 220 Calories, 3g fiber, 13g sugar, 20% of daily Iron
• Trader Joe's Plain Greek Yogurt (1 cup) = 120 Calories, 270mg Potassium, 6g sugar, 20% of daily Calcium

Total Calories = 340
Got in some Iron, Calcium, and Potassium. 

Panna Cotta Gelato + Marcona Almonds

Rating: 6.5/10

Panna cotta gelato topped with Spanish Marcona almonds. Neither really amazing by themselves, so I decided to have them join forces hoping for a better taste experience. Success! And what an interesting taste experience it was. Don't come across too many foods that are both spicy and frozen. While I still don't love this as a whole, it was an inspired taste smash. The spicy, crunchy, roasted almonds definitely adds a kick to the somewhat bland gelato, and the creamy, sweet gelato smooths out the monotonously pungent almond. Wouldn't recommend eating one without the other. They sort of balance each other out in a way.

Nutrition:

• panna cotta gelato (small cup) = 180 Calories, 1g fiber, 20g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of Mitica Spicy Marcona Almonds = 190 Calories, 240mg Potassium, 3.5g fiber, 28% of daily Vitamin E, 14% of daily Phosphorous

Total Calories = 370
Cool Vitamin E, don't get that from too many places. Skin happy. Not sure what good Phosphorus serves but got some of that too.

Watermelon Juice + Macadamia Nuts

Rating: 9/10

Drinking fresh watermelon juice while eating macadamia nuts. Unexpectedly tasty combo. A bit tropical I guess. The lightly sweet, icy, chunky watermelon juice just does something to the flavor of the smooth, crunchy, salted macadamia that makes it amazing. Maybe it enhances an aspect of the nut otherwise muted or maybe the contrast of the two gives the nut an extra kick. Whatever, it works!

Nutrition:

• cup of watermelon juice = 76 Calories, 267mg Potassium, 1g fiber, 38% of daily Vitamin C
• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/4 cup) = 210 Calories, 2g fiber, 115mg Sodium

Total Calories = 286
Decent dose of Vitamin C but otherwise trifles.

Macadamia Nuts + Spicy Ramen

Rating: 8.5/10

Salted macadamia nuts eaten with spicy soup ramen. Ever since I bought a bag of this my favorite nut yesterday I've been trying to work it into everything I eat (Nutella, chop salad, danish, etc.). Macadamia truly makes everything better. So while I was eating some ramen this morning/noon, I thought why not, no reason this won't work. Yep haven't disproved my theory that there's nothing edible macadamias don't go with yet. The salty, soft and crunchy nuts only added to and enhanced the otherwise bland experience of instant ramen despite its savory, spicy, soupy, chewy palatability. Me likey.

Nutrition:

• Savanna Orchards Gourmet Dry Roasted Macadamias (1/2 cup) = 420 Calories, 4g fiber, 230mg Sodium, 8% of daily Iron
• Nissin Demae Satay Flavor Ramen Noodle = 480 Calories, 1380mg Sodium, 3g fiber

Total Calories = 900
Damn that's a lot of Sodium and Calories to start the day. Tasty though. And got in a decent amount of fiber.

Fried Egg + Super Chop Salad

Rating: 10/10

Fried egg dripping in yolk tossed over a salad of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, avocado, basil, mozzarella, garlic croutons, dried cranberries, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, sautéed tofu, and thousand island dressing. Been totally obsessed with salad creations lately. Funny I've never been much into salads until I realized I can add anything I want into it and still call it a salad as long as it has some basic raw vegetables in the mix. So began my awesome salad journeys. First up, topping a super-salad with a crispy, yolky sunny-side up egg. So much taste and chew in this masterpiece. The key to deliciousness is really to chop it all up with a giant knife while in a giant bowl to get all the flavors mixing before tossing it with the dressing. Can't wait to try more new salad combos!


Nutrition:

• 2 cups of Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach = 14 Calories, 2g fiber, 112% of daily Vitamin A, 28% of daily Vitamin C, 10% of daily Iron
• cup of Nature Sweet Cherry Tomatoes = 27 Calories, 2g fiber, 25% of daily Vitamin A, 32% of daily Vitamin C
• 1/2 Calavo Avocado =  140 Calories, 5g fiber, 15% of daily Folate, 13% of daily Vitamin C, 10% of daily Vitamin B6, 10% of daily Riboflavin
• sprig of Lucinda's Specialty Produce Basil = 1 Calorie
• thick slice of Formaggio Fresh Mozzarella = 160 Calories, 300mg Sodium, 30% of daily Calcium
• cup of Fresh Gourmet Seasoned Organic Croutons = 280 Calories, 560mg Sodium, 16% of daily Iron
• 3 spoonfuls of Kirkland Signature Fruit & Nuts = 150 Calories, 2g fiber, 11g sugar
• 2 spoonfuls of America's Choice Roasted Salted Sunflower Seeds = 170 Calories, 115mg Sodium, 3g fiber
• 1/2 block of Soonyeowon Soft Tofu sautéed = 270 Calories, 2g fiber, 32% of daily Iron, 20% of daily Calcium
• 6 spoonfuls of Walden Farms Thousand Island Dressing = 0 Calories, 870mg Sodium, 30% of daily Vitamin B12, 30% of daily Vitamin E
• fried egg = 95 Calories, 15% of daily Iron

Total Calories = 1,307
Not skimping on the Calories here. But totally worth it. Super nutritious and kept me full for half the day. A lot of Sodium though, no wonder I was so thirsty afterwards.

Boiled Peanuts + Kiwi

 







Rating: 6.5/10

Salt boiled peanuts eaten with fresh kiwi slices. Only kind of peanuts I like is the salty, moist boiled kind that's chewy rather than crunchy. This balanced well with the sweet and sour juicy kiwi, though it would've been better if the kiwi was in the less sour and more sweet dimension. As it was, comme ci comme ça.

Oranges + Candied Pecans

Rating: 7/10

Whole oranges eaten with candied pecans. The coming together of the sweet, slightly sour, and juicy from the orange plus the salty, sweet, and crunchy from the pecan. Hitting most of the taste buds, with sweetness dominating. Definitely warrants a redo.