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.

Mango + Scallion Pancake

Rating: 9/10

Fried scallion pancake eaten with fresh mango. I have like a whole box of mango I need to finish \]before it goes bad, so trying to eat it with everything these days. Amazing how many things go well with mango. It's been at least two weeks and I'm still not sick of it. Here, the sweet, sour, smooth mango is a fun counterpoint to the salty, savory, chewy, crispy pancake. Each adding what the other lacks and never even thought to find. Personifying my food a bit but whatever I'm sleepy.

Nutrition:

• Ataulfo mango = 107 Calories, 3g fiber, 76% of daily Vitamin C, 25% of daily Vitamin A
• whole Chinese scallion pancake = 840 Calories, 4g fiber, 1240mg Sodium, 60% of daily Iron, 32% of daily Vitamin A

Total Calories = 947
Yeah heavy on the Calories that scallion pancake, but got in some fiber, vitamins, and minerals from it too. Plus, the mango is all about vitamins and fiber.

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. 

Pizza Crust + Babaganush + Cello Radish

Rating: 8/10

Pizza crust dipped in babaganush and eaten with fresh whole cello radishes also dipped in babaganush. I am not a crust person and generally am of the opinion that crust should always be cut off everything because it's hard, tasteless, and possibly carcinogenic. But dipping it in the babaganush has given it newfound purpose. Besides, this crust is rather fluffy and not dry or burnt. As for the cello radish, it's like my new obsession. Random but it's just so tiny and adorable and crunchy I can't help myself. Looking for any and all reasons and ways to eat it. And when in doubt, dip it in babaganush. All together, we have a great mouthful of chewy, doughy, salty pizza crust, plus the crunchy, lightly spicy radish, topped with creamy, garlicky amazing babaganush.

Nutrition:

• 2 Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza crusts = 100 Calories, 246mg Sodium, 10% of daily Vitamin A
• Golden Taste Eggplant Babaganush Dip (4 tablespoons) = 160 Calories, 280mg Sodium, 2g fiber 
• 2 cello radishes = 5 Calories

Total Calories = 265
That radish is pretty devoid of both Calories and nutrients. Eh.

Pizza + Peach

Rating: 7/10

Slice of cold supreme pizza eaten with a fresh white peach. Trying to make a meal out of leftovers from earlier in the day. Normally pizza's like a 5/10 for me, so I'm always looking for something to make it a better eating experience. Well, adding the lightly sweet, juicy, crunchy peach to the chewy umami of the pizza did the job. My taste buds are satisfied. Odd since I'm not a fan of pineapple on pizza and generally don't like fruits mixed with meals. But I guess peach isn't as strong a flavor as pineapples and it just worked. The peach also sort of quenched my thirst that usually follow eating pizza while I was still eating, so two birds one stone.

Nutrition:

• slice of Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza = 280 Calories, 2g fiber, 650mg Sodium
• peach = 59 Calories, 2.2g fiber, 285mg Potassium, 16% of daily Vitamin C

Total Calories = 339

Oreo Ice Cream + Pineapple

 

Rating: 8/10

Oreo ice cream topped with (well, surrounded by, actually) fresh pineapple slices served on a plate by moi. Looked pretty cool like an oreo-centered sun. First off, pineapples are ridiculous to cut (glad I didn't have to do that part of it). Seriously, there needs to be a machine built for cutting this fruit. But anyway, the sweet, creamy, chunky ice cream plus the sweet, sour, juicy, chewy pineapple kind of rocks the summer vibes. A bit tropical island and a bit Alaskan igloo feel to it if you ask me.

Nutrition:

• scoop of oreo ice cream = 280 Calories, 1g fiber, 27g sugar, 15% of daily Calcium, 10% of Vitamin A
• 8 quarter circle slices of pineapple = 166 Calories, 362mg Potassium, 4.6g fiber, 32g sugar, 264% of daily Vitamin C, 20% of daily Vitamin B-6

Total Calories = 446
Holy Vitamin C! I'm good for two and a half days.