BeeZee

Yep, Austin, TX, and Tang, the astronaut stuff...it actually cuts the sweetness and enhances the mango flavor!

Last full day in Austin, stopped by local supermarket for refreshment.

Did not make these, but a selection of some of the donuts at Voodoo Donuts in Austin. The apple fritter was enormous.

Lunch today was a mango tango donut at Voodoo Donuts, Austin. Yeast donut, vanilla glaze with Tang sprinkled on it, mango filling.

I sometimes have an issue with eating chicken off the bone because it has a stronger flavor and I am concerned with it not being cooked enough near the bone. I don’t eat much meat, so I need it to be pretty benign, if that makes sense.

Falafel sandwich from a food truck in Austin, TX area. It was not Israeli, so it differed in two ways from what I am used to...one, they used a bread which had sesame seeds and was a crescent shape so it was more substantial than pita, and two, instead if tahini the dressing was turmeric-y and maybe a little mustard. The falafel themselves were cooked to order and crisp, but pretty lacking in flavor.

Grilled shrimp tacos (still in Austin, TX area) which were OK, but the tamarind margarita was a winner.

Dinner in Austin, TX last night after a 10 mile bike ride...La Alma restaurant. It was very good, modern Mexican. We started with a tuna ceviche tostada (photo), I had duck enmoladas (enchiladas) which were coverd in pasilla mole and hubs had shrimp and crab chile relleno. We were seated on the rooftop, it was very cool to see the skyline in the distance.

Courtesy of Southwest, free drinks for Valentine’s Day. Had a diet Dr. Pepper with Bacardi and “plane cookies”.

Wawa chicken salad hoagie for him, thai chicken wrap for me, with kettle chips...sitting in Newark airport. Perhaps some tacos tonight in Austin!

I'm currently eating the Ruby Cacao Wafers. It is a little disconcerting because I expected sort of a white chocolate with berry undertone...but they really don't taste like white chocolate because you don't get that milky vanilla flavor. There's definitely a tangy/berry undertone but it almost tastes like a base of milk chocolate mixed with white chocolate. I think they would be very nice for dipped berries or cookie drizzle as has been done. I'm one and done on this purchase.

Love me some thumbprints. Cookies+jam (for me) > chocolate cookies. Not that I'd turn down those, either.

There is a chain that has a couple of locations not far from my office called Naf Naf Grill...they serve falafel, chicken shawarma, or steak kebabs in bowls, platters, or pitas. Pretty small menu, not many condiments, but the falafel is fresh, crunchy and tasty, gobbled a pita with falafel/baba ganoush/chopped salad/pickles/tahini after a meeting.

Making sure perishables are getting used up before leaving for vacation Thursday, took a pomegranate apart and ate about 1/3 of the arils (remainder in fridge to eat the next couple of days), cut up a pineapple and ate a little of that (into the fridge for DH's snacking), and some yogurt.

I remembered another one...I love peanut butter. Hate the smell of it when washing it off something in the sink (ie, residual smell on the sponge). Which poses a problem because DH tends to not feel the need to thoroughly rinse the dobie sponge after washing his dishes. I can see the orangey/tan residue on the mesh surrounding the sponge material and I will need to douse it with dish soap and super hot water.

Eggs, the smell turns my stomach. I distinctly recall eating my last mouthful as a very small child. The trend of food porn highlighting runny eggs is incomprehensible to me.

Enablers, all of you. I went to TJ’s and bought a bag of those wafers. Smacked my head later in the day because I really wanted to try the freeze dried grapes and forgot them.

I am enjoying as well, the scenery is very appealing...I have visiting Japan on my wish list.

Chinese inspired fried rice with chicken and shrimp, made with cauliflower rice and lots of other veg. Eating healthy in prep for nacho pig out tomorrow😝.

Hubs asked for nachos and guac, it is just the 2 of us. I will put some shredded cooked chicken on top of them, because...dinner. Bought a pint of caramel cone Haagen Das for dessert.

Wegmans supermarket has something which looks similar called "Marco Polo" bread (also a version in bagel form, which is just wrong). I looked at the ingredients online and it does include rice flour. https://www.wegmans.com/products/bakery/bread-fresh-baked/italian-bread/marco-polo-bread.html

I haven’t had the pleasure of a wine tour, but know people who do it very regularly and the wineries will pack your wine quite well for either taking on the plane, or they can ship it (probably...I know NJ used to have restrictions on liquor shipments, but thinking that some of that has eased?).

There is a program in the Philadelphia School District (My Daughter’s Kitchen) where a couple of volunteers go in to an elementary school and teach a group of kids how to prepare a simple and nutricious meal, then they eat it together. Many of these inner city kids haven’t had a lot of fresh vegetables, I always enjoyed hearing how they reacted to new things. For a while they had an article each week in the Inquirer food section featuring a specific school and the kids’ experience. It lasts for a semester, and the concept is to teach them basic food prep skills and nutrition awareness. If you have the ability to give some building blocks of healthy yet thrifty food prep, I would think it would be beneficial.

Agree that the overnite oats is a good prep method, you wind up with more of a "muesli" situation where the oats remain chewy and separate from the milk. I like to add peanut butter powder to the mix, or even protein powder.

As has befallen others, one step forward and two steps back. Over the long weekend we had tomato soup which had been leftover from Thanksgiving, but I managed to deposit two new containers with leftover quinoa and wild rice. Even so, the freezer is getting better overall, since this has made me more conscious of not having things languish too long...