Mitzi Likes to Swing

The wooden swing on the back porch is one of Mitzi's favorite hang outs. She likes to sway back and forth. I have seen her fall asleep on the swing a couple of times! I was outside doing some food photography this morning and she just looked so cute; I couldn't resist taking a few shots of her as well.

Five Stars

This delicious, raw lunchbox is made up of a salad topped with 1/2 an Apple Pear and a handful of raw almonds as well as a thinkOrganic Chocolate Coconut fruit & nut bar.

The raw bar was very tasty, but not quite what I expected. It could've used a bit more coconut, but I would definitely try other flavors from this company. Overall, it was a very satisfying lunch.

Breakfast for Lunch & A Meme

At my house, it is not unusual to have breakfast foods (i.e. pancakes, cereal) for dinner, which is exactly what I did for lunch today. My main dish was Peace Cereal's Wild Berry Crisp cereal with a small box of Rice Dream non-dairy milk. For dessert, I enjoyed a Cranberry Pecan Bakery Bar from Harvest Lark.

And when I say I enjoyed it, I mean I really adored it. However, these yummy bars are not vegan (they contain honey & eggs) or gluten-free. On the other hand, they are made in Kansas from locallt-grown wheat and are absolutely delicious. It feels good to know that I am supporting a local business while enjoying a really tasty, healthy treat.

I was tagged by the lovely Maggie over at Healthy Yums. Unfortunately, I do not have time to pass this on due to a busy schedule. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

• Last Movie I Saw In A Movie Theater? I honestly don’t remember.
• What Book Are You Reading? Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
• Favorite Board Game? I’ve never played one that I haven’t liked.
• Favorite Magazine? I like Elle.
• Favorite Smells? Fresh lilac. Pancake batter. Orange juice. Waffles cooking.
• Favorite Sounds? Leaves rustling gently in the wind. Nature. Water.
• Worst Feeling In The World? Unworthiness.
• First Thing You Think of When You Wake? The upcoming day.
• Favorite Fast Food Place? I don’t like fast food very much, but I do work at Culver’s so I guess I’d say Culver’s.
• Future Child’s Name? I don’t want to have children.
• Finish This Statement—“If I Had a Lot of Money,” I have lots of money.
• Do You Drive Fast? I would, but I only have my permit.
• Do You Sleep With a Stuffed Animal? No, not anymore.
• Storms—cool or scary? Incredibly cool.
• What Was Your First Car? It will probably be my dad’s black Oldsmobile Alero.
• Favorite Drink? Warm tea on a snowy day.
• Finish This Statement—“If I Had the Time, I Would…” I do have time.
• Do You Eat the Stems on Broccoli? Yes! I love broccoli.
• If You could Dye your Hair Any Other Color, What Would It Be? I wouldn’t. I like my hair. It is dark and curly.
• Name All the Different Cities In Which You Have Lived. Richmond, Greensville, Birmingham, Olathe.
• Favorite Sport to Watch? It varies.
• One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You. She always posts about colorful, interesting food.
• What’s Under Your Bed? My clothes – I have a captain’s bed.
• Would You Like to Be Born As Yourself Again? Yes.
• Morning Person or Night Owl? Both!
• Over Easy or Sunny Side Up? Scrambled.
• Favorite Place to Relax? Anywhere. Relaxation is portable, you know.
• Favorite Ice Cream Flavor? I like them all.

Hearty Southern Granola

I find that I am eating to fuel my body these days. Carbs, protein, energy bars. I have come to accept the equation: food + body = energy, energy = volleyball success. Speaking of success...we won our first game on Wednesday! We have an all-day tournament tomorrow, starting at 8:00 am. I am excited and nervous at the same time.

HEARTY SOUTHERN GRANOLA
This simple granola has a nice nutty, fruity flavor and is not too sweet. It provides great energy and will keep you satisfied. Makes one large or two small servings.

• 1 cup GF rolled oats
• ¼ cup pecans
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 peach
• ½ tsp. sugar
• ¼ tsp. vanilla
• ¼ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. arrowroot starch, if needed

Preheat oven to 300ºF. Stir together the oats, pecans and raisins. Put the sliced peach in a food processor and process until it turns into a thick liquid – I left the skin on, but you can remove it if you like. In a non-stick pan, simmer the peach, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until they are the consistency of applesauce, but a little syrupy. If the mixture is too thin, add the arrowroot starch to thicken it up. Stir the peach sauce over the oats, pecans & raisins, stirring well to cover completely. Bake for 5 minutes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Rotate tray; stir granola. Continue baking for 20-30 minutes, or until the granola is crunchy. Serve with fresh peaches.

Practice Makes Perfect

Is it possible that very good things can come from (seemingly) very bad things? Of course. Especially when I ended up with decent food prep photos even though the zucchini-fig bread I (attempted) to make was (abolsutely) disgusting. Ah, darn you, gluten-free baking. I will try again soon.

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Coming up...

• raw food bar review + a raw bento
• yummy, wholesome granola
• sophisticated toaster pops (when I get my volleyball-playing butt to Whole Foods, that is)
• vegan panna cotta (see above)

American Food & A Promise

I love my French class at school. French language, culture and food has always intrigued me. But je suis américaine.

American food? Not my favorite. But today, my lunch was an sad attempt to bring together a few American favorites. It is the complete opposite of the oily, nasty fast-food for which my country is [unfortunately] known - this lunch is healthy and tasty. Potatoes, corn, peas & carrots seasoned with salt & pepper served as my vegetable. Next to them is a raw mini apple pie (protein & fruit.) It was a satisfying lunch that was easy to prepare the night before.

And the promise...I know that my photography is sometimes downright awful hideous less than appealing. I have plenty of excuses (volleyball is keeping me busy, my family makes fun of me when I take pictures of food, I haven't had time to cook, I only have an inexpensive compact digital camera.) All of these excuses are true, but I am ignoring them and making you this promise: I will improve my photography.

I have been inspired to improve by many different blogs, but La Tartine Gourmande is, to me, food blogging perfection. I can spend hours drooling over Béa's recipes & photos. I want my blog to be as desirable and tasty and irresistible as hers. So I promise to do better. For you and for me. And with this in mind, I am wondering if I should switch to Wordpress. It seems that Wordpress is better with photos than Blogspot. Any thoughts?