Oh Happy Day

As the saying goes:

“Your weekends start on Thursday”

Thursdays always make me happy. It’s the excitement of almost being done with another week of school, the anticipation of the weekend, great late-night TV, and cocktail(s) no matter what! It’s usually the only night of the week where all 3 of my roommates and I get to relax together. All of this typically followed by a trip downtown with my favorite people.

The day got even better as I arrived back from labs, classes, homework, etc. I checked the mail (in anticipation of a clothing package that’s not here yet…agh) and found two Thursday treats; a new Cooking Light AND Kraft Magazine!

Reviews coming soon, on both. I now have lots of fresh new recipes, articles, and deserts to enjoy. Not to mention savoring the tasty Thanksgiving specials and early Christmas theme!

My morning

Number one indicator that I’m awake in the morning: our apartment smells of warm maple syrup and brown sugar.

I never skip breakfast. Honestly, I can’t do it. I love breakfast. I love sitting down, with my warm bowl of oatmeal (topped with raisins and maple syrup), and enjoying my first, most important, meal of the day. Even those mornings when the alarm clock doesn’t do the trick, or I spend too much time checking email/perusing the internet, or I’m just moving slowly and definitely running late…I have my breakfast.

As a Nutrition major, I have been educated on all the reasons we should eat breakfast. A well-balanced breakfast can:
-Jump start your metabolism, kicking it in gear for the rest of the day!
-Help us focus and perform better in the mornings
-Prevent over-eating later in the day
-Provide a boost of energy that most of us can definitely use in the morning!
-Help get in all the nutrients you need every day
Calcium is something that most of us don’t get enough of, but it’s in a lot of breakfast foods including cereal (milk), oatmeal, yogurt, cream-cheese, and even Calcium-fortified Orange Juice!
-Give the body energy that it needs to engage in physical activities

All these things aside; it’s five minutes of your morning where you can sit, relax, eat and enjoy. Then, feeling satisfied and energized, get on with the rest of your day!

I have to give credit to those roommates of mine; great breakfast makers! Especially on Sunday mornings…

LB: queen of the pancakes!
S: master of eggs, potatoes, and incorporating Ketchup!
E: best breakfast-sandwich-maker, no doubt!

…one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

Gum-Makes mouths happy

This is my philosophy. I will come right out and say it: I chew gum, all the time. It’s habitual, tasty, entertaining (during long lectures, this is what I resort to, sounds pathetic doesn’t it?), and most importantly…it keeps my mouth happy.

Here’s some history for you:

According to my research, gum was put in action by the ancient Greeks. Its legend was continued by the ancient Mayans, who chewed the sap of a sapodilla tree, and by early North American Indians, who chewed the sap of spruce trees. In fact, the term “gum” was used to describe the chewable sap of trees until around 1850. At this time, John B. Curtis created and marketed the first “chewing gum” and labled it State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum. The concept continued to evolve including the creation of gum-dispensing machines, flavors, long-lasting gums, and “bubble” gum.
This brings us to 1914; William Wrigley, Jr. and Henry Fleer create the Wrigley Doublemint brand (about.com).

Thank you good sirs!

Clearly, this brand is still being chewed and enjoyed today by mouths around the world! I am a consistent ( and by consistent, I mean weekly) buyer of Wrigley’s Extra and Orbit brand gums. More specifically, Extra-Polar Ice and Orbit-Bubblemint.

Would you like to be let in on a little secret of mine???

Add these two flavors together (that’s right, chew two pieces at once). Chew simultaneously. Enjoy. I like to think of it as my personal contribution to the ever-evolving gum; I’ll call it….”Polar Bubble”.

I’m also a huge fan of gumballs. I honestly find it hard to resist a gumball machine. Even more so after winning a FREE movie Rental at Mike’s Video! All I did was put in my quarter, anxiously watch the orange gumball roll down the spiral exit into my hand, and voila! My gumball was a “winner”! What was even more entertaining; the 5 year old girl who got a gumball after me (mine must have enticed her), she got a “winner” too! Great story.

However, I will admit that too many of these would result in the loss of teeth with which to chew the gum. Not good, stick with the sugar-free!

The benefit to gum-chewing: it cleans and whitens teeth!
This movement was initiated by Trident brand gum, and has since been picked up as a marketing device for gum labels that claim to “whiten”. There actually may be some truth to this statement. Here are the facts:
-chewing gum makes your mouth salivate
-Saliva contains Calcium
-Calcium is a key factor in maintaining bone health and teeth strength!

On top of all that, the aroma of gum that is released as it is chewed is much more pleasant than the odor-remnants of a hearty meal. It is simple, cheap, and tasty way to cleanse your palate!

Flavor recommendations from the gum connoisseur herself:

Extra-Polar Ice and Watermelon if you are in the need for something sweet. Orbit-Bubblemint, Sweetmint, Raspberry mint, and the original Peppermint.

Let me know what you think!

Six days Later

Here I am again, blogging at 1:41 a.m. (Larisa, I think I’m giving new meaning to your “night blogging” philosophy…).

I didn’t intend to wait almost a full week before another post, but a lot can happen in six days! Recap:

-Stressing Out.
-Studying. Homework. Reading. Non-stop. Way too much time at this desk.
-Watching football.

To be specific, watching our Lions lose to those Wolverines, for the bagillionth time. Not the exciting study break I was looking for guys, c’mon now. (Did Morelli actually put his head through a wall?? I think we are all wondering….)

-Cleaning in preparation for my parent’s arrival (Tomorrow night!!!!).

Logic was absent in this task. Cleaning a college apartment on a Saturday morning, pre-going-out-to-Lulu’s night, and pre-Sunday laziness (more football watching) is really not effective. At all.

-Shopping at Target.
…..twice. I have some amazing aviators and red-pumps to show for it.

-Going out with ALL of my roommates for some drinks and dancing. Oh what a night.

Just for you, Larisa, I will mention that yes; I almost lost my phone. We won’t talk about that. Phone getting kicked around the dance floor all night: Unhappy me. Overall night: Fabulous.

-Taking the first of four 2-hour Essay tests, for a science-based class. Not nice PennState, see above reasons (i.e. stress, studying, 1:41 a.m.).

-Working.

Here I feel the need to mention that tonight I found a hidden treasure. Books on everything you ever wanted to know about Food; chemistry, cooking, restaurant operations, nutrient contents, baking, fruits & vegetables. Everything. I have finally found a purpose behind working in the library. Yes, these books are located on the 3rd Floor of Paterno, aka Business Library. Expect to see some book reviews very soon!

…and all of that finally brings me to 1:56 a.m. Six days later. It’s amazing to me that last week the thought of this simply stressed me out. And here I am, in the midst of the overlapping exams and assignments (and still needing to clean up). Surviving and relaxed.

Tomorrow night I get my cherry on top; Mom & Dad, welcome back to Happy Valley!

food & family

As an avid reader of (and hopefully future writer for) Kraft Food & Family magazine, I eagerly await the fresh new recipes, articles, and tasty treats featured in each new issue.

My interest in these mini-magazines started at home when my mom began receiving them in the mail. This was far before I had acquired my interest in food, nutrition, and cooking; the days of browsing colorful pictures of Kraft mac-n-cheese variations and dreaming of those Jell-o pudding pies. The days when all I knew about cooking was how to boil water… and of course add the butter, milk and cheese packet to those macaroni noodles. Also the days when recipes for innovative appetizers, simple lunch ideas, family dinners, and fresh new twists on classic deserts carried the magazine themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, this magazine is still full of all these things, and they’ve even expanded the wide array of what are labeled “Healthy Living” recipes. Yet, these staples tend to stand in the shadows of brand names for every ingredient, full page advertisements for crackers and pizza, and even two page spreads of “What’s New” on the market for brands that are now within the Kraft family.

For those who may not know, Kraft is the #1 food company in the United States. Somebody’s doing their job right! They’ve expanded to include Jacobs, Milka, Nabisco, Philadelphia (cream cheese anybody?), Oscar Meyer, and Post. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Not that I wouldn’t brag if my company was #1 in the U.S., but when I’m looking for a fun new recipe to try and cook for my roommates sometime soon (yes, roomies, always thinking of you ) I don’t want to see a full page ad telling me how easy & delicious frozen pizza will be if I just heat it up!

Alright, Kraft…I can only be upset for so long. The truth is that even if the magazine inflated to 100 pages (with half of them being advertisements), but kept its heart of fabulous foods, healthy options, decadent deserts, quick-tips and up-with-the-times articles…I’m 100% content.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to fold in the corners of those irresistible recipes that I fully intend to cook for those lovely roommates of mine…soon…

Another wonderful resource that Kraft has set up is their website:
www.kraftfoods.com
Check this out! I can’t say enough good things about this site! You can search everything from 20-minute dinners to crafty seasonal deserts. You can set up your own “recipe box”, essentially “bookmarking” those dinners that you know you’ll make…someday. Users can also rate recipes so you know which to try and which to pass-up, or maybe change-up to your own likings.