I’ve got a new home!!!

Come visit me (and stay for a while) at Big City, Lil’ Kitchen!!!

Man, how has it been almost a month since I last posted. Life has been hectic, for sure. My eats have been standard (aka you’ve seen ‘em all before!!), but my days have been spent in class and the library…and once home, cracking open the comp has just not been high on the priority list! Even reading blogs has fallen to the wayside – *gasp* – who am I?? haha

Either way, this semester’s been crazy – but it’s more than halfway done. Woo! I’m also starting to work on a campaign for a little, local specialty chocolates/pastry/coffee shop. YUM! Primary research MUST be conducted. haha

Anyone still out there? I’m afraid to ask. haha Either way, I’m hoping that once this semester passes I can get back into the swing of things with awesome adventures and eats.

xoxo

This week – photos of food have been put on the back burner…too much to do. haha Today alone I have 3 meetings on top of classes. Bah! …stressed.

Last week, I helped out at a Breast Cancer Awareness event at my school…free food = lots of people.

The frosting on those cupcakes was so good.

Luckily last weekend, I had a lovely time at home…apple “picking”, beach-going and general R&R. Absolutely necessary and wonderful.

The had lots of squash, too! haha

Okay, I’ll be honest, as much as I love apples…my true excitement came in the form of cider donuts and fresh apple cider. Sooo good.

My mom and I also explored Newburyport, MA. We went to the beach, did a little shopping, and a lot of eating. Glorious. haha

Beach reconstruction at its finest.

Literal living on the edge.

An absolutely gorgeous day!

We ate at Michael’s Harborside (I had unpictured fish tacos…delish!), and then wandered around a bit more.

Mwahaha -mom didn’t know she was in the picture.

My mom asked, “What do you think the artists was thinking when they made it?… my response..”Wine.”

Need a hand?

It was such a lovely weekend…hopefully this weekend, I’ll get to head back to my mom’s and help her out with baking some of the apples we got. Yay! …so much to do until then.

Sometimes you just need a light at the end of the tunnel…and for me, right now, that light is PIE. haha

• What’ve been your favorite fall activities? … or foods?

Statistically, my cousin Ted should not be alive.

He was diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma in 2008, and he has been fighting Mel since 2000.

(All future quotes are from a note written by my cousin’s wife, Stacy)

Ted was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma in June of 2008 when a regular MRI showed a tumor in his brain.  Median life expectancy for stage IV melanoma with brain metastases is 6 to 9 months.   The five year survival rate for this diagnosis is 3 to 5%.  Two and half years later, Ted is training for a half marathon and currently has no detectable evidence of cancer.

Make no mistake, Ted’s journey has certainly not been an easy one;  I have never seen so much strength, resolve and fight in another human being, even having the smarts to put together his own treatment.

The simple fact of the matter is that this isn’t just about Ted (though, obviously my cousin holds a special place in my heart), but it is about how dramatically underfunded melanoma research is in comparison with other cancers.

There have been no new FDA approved drug therapies for melanoma in over a dozen years.  In the last 12 months there have been several very promising stories about new melanoma drugs (Ipilimumab & PLX4032) that show amazing results for some patients.  But the work is not done; more money is needed.  Researchers are so close to finding new life saving treatments.

My cousin’s wife Stacy is running this years City of Oaks Half Marathon in North Carolina in honor of my cousin, and her husband, Ted.

In 2008, Team Go to Hell Mel raised over $70,000 for the Melanoma Research Foundation.  This money was awarded in a research grant to Dr. Patrick Hu at MD Anderson in Texas.  Please help us make a difference.  Researchers are so close to discovering treatments that could dramatically increase survival rates for late stage melanoma.  Please sponsor Ted and myself, as we run together on Nov 7 in the City of Oaks Half Marathon.

I’m not here to try to solicit money out of you guys.

More than anything, it is an opportunity for me to spread the word about this disease, my cousin’s fight and his amazing non-profit. I mean – that’s what a public forum like this is for, right?

I ask you to take a look at Go To Hell Mel and the Melanoma Research Foundation and educate yourself about a disease that I personally think that many people brush off far too easily.

If you would like to make a donation – know that your donation is not simply going to my cousin, Ted, it is going to the Melanoma Research Foundation to strengthen the fight to make the lives of countless others suffering from Mel’s wrath better.

Go to hell, Mel … we need to come out swinging.

Source

C is for Coffee …foamy!

• C is for Cookie…Dough Bars from ZonePerfect!

After anxiously ripping open the package that ZonePerfect generously sent my way (and of course, posting about it!), I couldn’t wait to try the bars.

My first impression was that this totally reminded me of a miniature version of those slice and bake cookies – you know the ones with the little designs in them? Holding it in my hand, it truly felt like cookie dough.

Taste: Loved it! – obviously, I had to go for the Peanut Butter one first. It definitely did not disappoint!!  I really look forward to trying the other flavors: Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin!

Texture: Awesome – they really got the doughy, firm texture spot on. It brought me back to scraping the bowl as a kid……. okay, let’s be honest – I scrape the bowl now.

While these don’t have the shortest ingredient list around, the PB bar was definitely delicious, and it held me over for most of the morning! Win! I’d definitely purchase it myself.

Sprouted 7-Grain from Ezekiel covered in Laughing Cow Light Swiss and some Raspberry Jam. I went light on the jam this time…not sure if I’d really like it… but so good! Reminded me of when putting cream cheese and jam on bagels.

C is for Chainsaws outside of my window….

Bye, bye tree

C is for Channa Masala with Chobani

Dessert? TBD…but probably…. Chocolate.  :)

YES. me. haha

Megan at ZonePerfect contacted me not too long ago asking if I’d like to try out their new Cookie Dough Bars. Of course, my immediate reaction was “YES!”… little did I know the awesomeness that would land on my doorstep!

First off, I was so surprised to finally meander downstairs today (class cancellations, woo!) and find this little ditty perched atop my mailbox!

Not gonna lie, loved seeing the blog name there

I was on my way to my non-cancelled class so I quickly ran it up to my apartment and tucked it safely away until my return.

Little did I know the surprise I was in for…

So creative, right???

Also, loving the fact that all the product info is on that little wrapper shaped USB.

I have yet to dig into one of these (can you guess which one will go first? haha). I feel like I need to wait until I can savor it… so tomorrow morning? haha

Either way, you guys should totally go check out their Facebook and Twitter pages. They give away free stuff on their Facebook page every Thurs!!

I’d struck out in my previous attempts to find pumpkin…Whole Foods was the most logical place to look….if it was going to be anywhere, it’d be at Whole Foods. However, the first few times I’d looked all that I could find was pumpkin pie filling – not.the.same. Boo.

However, as I perused the aisles of my local Whole Foods hoping to strike it rich on Friday morning…I won the pumpkin lotto. I didn’t hoard all the cans for myself, but I picked up a couple (share the wealth, right?)…and a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin for the road (uhhhmazing).

Though I’d been hunting for it, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it. It just sort of sat on my counter staring at me all of Friday. However, Saturday I had found my inspiration in my favorite pumpkin chip muffin.

Pumpkin Dark Chocolate Chunk Oats.

It was definitely an experiment..and at MANY points in the process (though it’s not like it is intensive or anything…it’s oats) I thought…”Oh, geez…this is gonna be gross.”

However, happily…it was anything but. In fact, it was downright delicious…and chock full of good (for you) stuff!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
• 1.25 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of pure pumpkin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• *sweeten to taste * I used Truvia…but agave, honey, etc. would be great, I’m sure
• 1 Tbsp (15g) of mini dark chocolate chunks … 3/4 of them are swirled in and the rest reserved for the top.

After boiling the water and adding the oats for a little while, I added the vanilla extract. When my oats got to the consistency I preferred, I stirred in the pumpkin, sweetener and cinnamon. I pulled it off the heat for a bit and then swirled in most of the chocolate chunks (immediate melting, yummm!). …the pour into a bowl, top with the rest of the chunks, [in my case, you then take pictures], and then enjoy!!

In my opinion, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Simple&Delicious.

The last couple of days have been jam packed (hence my lack of postage last night…and really tonight, too).

No workout today (and less than stellar eats)…at least I got one in yesterday!

It’s been busy, but good – and I’ve got lots of new things to try!…courtesy of GoMambo!! The GoMambo people at my local Whole Foods doing samples were so, so nice!

Lots to explore!

I’ve been super busy the last few days (and I still am, eeps!!).

Tonight’s post…which sums up my eats from the last few days…will be heavy on the images and light on the words.

OIAJ.

Monday morning's alarm clock. - no one was hurt -

Iced coffee - shaken, not stirred.

Foamy, light caffeine.

Winning combo.

Baked sweet tater goodness.

CCP - It'd been too long.

Goof. Love flowy tops.

Perfect way to end a rainy day.

Crunchy perfection. (boo to the necessary flash)

I hope everyone’s week has been of to a fantastic start! I hope the weather is better where you are…Boston is raaaainy!