Our Favorite Things! (September)

This is a new thing that I saw on a blog once and thought that I would try! If you guys like it (or maybe even if you don't ) we might just make it a regular thing!
Hubby and I LOVE to eat! We really love trying new and different things, which often finds us searching the aisles of Talin (if you haven't been there and you live in the Burque area you must make a visit, it is an International Supermarket on the corner or Central and Louisiana super awesome) as well as Trader Joes! We also find really neat stuff just at our neighborhood grocery stores too!
So here are the things we are digging this month and where you can find them and approximately how much they cost (let me know if you see them cheaper)!

CYRUS

So I am Lactose Intolerant so we waited for a long time to start Cyrus on milk and by the time we did he was so used to the sweetness of Rice Milk that he wouldn't drink cows milk. These went on sale for $1 at Smiths and I bought a couple to try and now he loves them and even drinks plain milk (only he still won't drink whole milk). Now I buy them at Target 3 for $2.99. Strawberry is his very favorite, I like that they don't have artificial coloring!

These are Cyrus' FAVORITE thing in the whole world to eat! I also love them because you can take them everywhere and just throw them in Cyrus' backpack. They make the best car snack because now that he knows how to eat them they don't make any mess! There are many other varieties of these by many different companies but the plain ol' apple ones are his favorite, and I don't complain because they are also some of the cheapest! We call them squeezies they are squeezable Applesauce! SO cool! I get them at Trader Joes in a 4 pack for $2.99.

TODD

Todd LOVES (and I mean LOVES) soda! But he knows it is not such a great thing for him. Problem is that he does not like to drink water. So his solution? Sparkling water! I think it also reminds him of Germany (where he was stationed for 4 years in the Army) because they don't drink a lot of plain water in Europe. We buy these flovored ones at Trader Joes for $.89 but sometimes you can get a steal at the grocery for much less.

Todd is a sushi lover and will freely admit that one of his favorite elements of sushi is the Nori, the seaweed. These new snacks at Trader Joes are Salted squares of seaweed, basically seaweed chips! He LOVES them and the price is right! only $.99 for a package that lasts Todd about two weeks. I think they are gross, they taste like salty seaweed, but if you like that taste, as Todd does, give these a try!

SARAH
So I eat very little meat (only poultry) and am always looking for alternative protein choices so the first two are my favorite protein snacks!

Edamame is soy beans that you eat like green peas! You can buy them in the pod and shell them as you eat them or already shelled. I have a busy two year old, I do things the easy way, I buy them already shelled! These I got a Trader Joes for $1.69 but I have gotten them at the grocery too for a bit more. And Sunflower has these great single serve packets that my friend Regina introduced me too, that we sometime buy for Todd to take in his lunch. Six little packets for $1.99.

I love almonds, and these are my favorite ones! Perfect amount of salt and I haven't yet got an over roasted batch yet. These are a bit pricey for my tastes but so good! Sometimes if you look around you can get them for a deal! Usually I get them at Smiths for $3.99.

These are little packets that you add to water that make raspberry lemonade! It is very yummy too! I like that they are sweetened with cane juice and stevia and it doesn't have that really yucky artificial sweetener taste! Being someone that mostly drinks water this is a nice way to switch it up, and I don't feel guilty letting Cyrus drink it either! These are brand new at our Smiths I think they were $2.29 for a box of 10 packets that mix up to 16oz each.

So there it is! I'm sure if I do this again I will only introduce one item for each of us as this was a lot! Let me know if you try anything and like it!
-Sarah (and the Boys)

Waffle French Toast! MMMM

Cyrus and I LOVE breakfast! I always have and I am so happy to see that Cyrus has the same love for it! The best thing about breakfast is yummy gooey-sweet breakfast food! I LOVE french toast but when I make it at home it never turns out great. Someone suggested using day old french loaves. This is such a great idea, however, I am always paranoid (many of you know that I tend to be ubber paranoid anyway) about cooking it enough! It always ends up too soggy in the middle! SOLUTION! I saw this in a healthy mama e-mail the other day and had to try it! Make french toast IN YOUR WAFFLE IRON! Yes the best of two world! We tried it this morning and it was a delicious hit! Two thumbs way up! Here is what I did:

Half a loaf of day old french bread sliced in about 1 and 1/2 inch slices
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk (or milk substitute, never tried soy milk but rice milk works well)
1 tbsp Vanilla
Waffle iron (we have a round Belgium style one if you have a regular one you might want to make your slices a little thinner)

Beat eggs, milk and vanilla in bowl or plate big enough to accommodate your bread slices.
Soak the bread slices well on both sides.
Put one slice at a time into your waffle iron and press it down (this sort of reminded me of jumping on a suitcase that is too full to try and make it zip closed) WARNING watch out for steam! I sort of burnt my fingers on the first piece.
When it is good and brown on both sides take it out with a fork... if it doesn't slide right out it is not done yet!
Finish up your pieces and enjoy!
We had ours with butter and honey, but I am sure it would be amazing with syrup and/or powdered sugar! Mmm maybe with strawberries or bananas too!
I stuck my extra pieces in the freezer so I will update on how well it reheats!
Make sure you wipe your waffle iron out so you don't have any egg crud in it the next time you make waffles!
Sooooo what are you waiting for?!?! Go make some and enjoy!
-Sarah