It’s Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

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My February Foodie Penpal package came from Jes at Urban Sacred Garden. Jes lives in Louisville and recently traveled to Dallas, so she picked up the Edible magazines from each city. This month’s package was quite different form any that I’ve received in the past – and I loved it! There are some new-to-me ingredients in there that I’m dying to try.

I adore spice and chiles! It looks like I’m going to have to open up my Homesick Texan again real soon. I already dug into one of the KIND bars as a snack the previous day. They are great, quick snacks as Jes suggests. And I’ve never had nor cooked with Sorghum! This stuff is straight from Kentucky. Jes enclosed and pointed me to some recipes online, too. I’m looking forward to giving them a try {after surgery of course}.

Look where these are from:

Rob and I have a grand desire to travel to Charleston someday soon. It all started with our obsession with the band Shovels and Rope. In addition, we visited a friend in Asheville, NC a few years ago and it quickly became one of our favorite unique cities! How did she know that I love rapsberries?!

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You, Jes!

I love how your foodie picks were unique and varied. I’m looking forward to trying them all!

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And now for Wednesday’s Food Journal…

Breakfast

Magic Smoothie – same rendition as the previous day.

At work  – 1 cup of Charleston Breakfast Tea (see above!) & 1 cup of black coffee with a piece of Dove Dark Chocolate

Lunch

I warmed up my leftover Avocado, Mozzarella and Bruschetta Chicken with Balsamic Glaze thing with extra bruschetta topping.

Note to self: This dish doesn’t reheat very well. It actually made the bruschetta taste a little strange because it was warm. I know that it’s warm when you broil and melt the cheese, but it’s just not the same.

My advice: Make the four chicken breasts as directed in the recipe. However, only top the number of chicken breasts you intend to serve that evening. Save the rest of the topping ingredients and broil again the next day.

Snack

Banana (not pictured). The truth is, while I do have a piece of dark chocolate every day, I don’t usually have this many bananas as you’ve seen read about this week.. I’m just trying to eat “easy” foods before my surgery. In addition, I’ve been getting more Charley horses at night, which my chiropractor says is common when it comes to herniated disks. So that extra potassium won’t hurt to fend those off!

Dinner

Rob and I used a Groupon at Hurricane Wings for dinner. It was Happy Hour there and they were offering two-for-ones, so we got two of each beer we ordered:

We shared a beer. That way, I could enjoy an IPA with my meal and a stout for dessert!

Of course, I tried to make good choices. But I had no idea that the Firecracker Shrimp was going to be fried!

I had only about half of the shrimp and most of the salad. I ordered the salad with the intent to get more veggies in for the day. However, it was just lettuce, a few diced tomatoes and mostly dried cranberries, candied pecans and blue cheese with a Zinfandel vinaigrette. So, the salad wasn’t very veggie-ful. I also stole a few of Rob’s fries that came with his – you guessed it – burger!

Snack

Small wedge of double cream brie.

NOTE: While I’m still up about 4 lbs since my lowest since losing weight, I’m down 2.4 since last week. That’s great considering I gained almost 5 lbs on a recent cruise.

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What are your favorite local treats in your area?

Cheers~
Carrie