Jenn's Menu & Lifestyle Blog

Hi, lovelies! Can you believe it’s February already?! Days, months, YEARS are just flying by, geez! We went to Middletown to do a little shopping yesterday. I wanted to do some more, but we were just exhausted having been up since 3:30AM. I bought 2 pairs of jeans from Macy’s; one Calvin Klein, one Tommy Hilfiger — both came to just $74, I think they were half price? *shrugs* Good deal. Isn’t it kind of weird how they’ve been pretty much the same price for like 20 years now? I remember them being $75-80 a long, long time ago and they still are. Not that I’m complaining, but I also remember gas being .99 cents a gallon, so you’d just expect things like that to go up with the times. Maybe not. Ok, now I just feel really old. LOL

My mom made a batch of hard boiled eggs, so I decided to have one for breakfast. I actually took a chance that they were hard boiled, I wasn’t sure until I cracked it open. lol I assumed they were though because they were in a bowl, which usually means they’re cooked. When I confirmed that it was indeed cooked, I put it in the egg slicer and then made a sandwich out of it:

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1 large hard boiled egg (75 cal) with plum tomato slices (10 cal) on a Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato roll (100 cal) with a cup of apple cider (120 cal). Quick and yummy breakfast for around 305 calories.

After the mall, we went to Shop Rite. I was in search of granola bars to replenish my dwindling stash. So I put a box of my favorite Kashi honey almond bars in the cart, then out of curiosity I checked the nutritional label, and sure enough, those tasty little buggers contain soy protein isolates. Grrr! Every box I picked up contained it and this was in the “organic and natural” section of the store. Now I’m not a purist by any means, but is it really necessary to add that to a granola bar?! No, it’s not. So, I picked up some other things to tide me over, but I’m going to have to take the plunge, I’m going to have to make my own granola bars. I should have done that a long time ago, but I was reluctant. What if they come out wrong? And every other excuse. lol. Please share your granola bar recipes with me if you have any. Thank you in advance.

Yesterday’s loot…

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Couldn’t resist this! Doesn’t it look soo good?

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I haven’t tried it yet, but when I do I’m going to use Truvia to sweeten it. Has anyone tried it yet?

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I used to buy Wholly Guacamole all the time and then I stopped, how come? It’s fantastic! Check out the ingredients list and nutritional facts:

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I waste so many ($$$) avocados when they go bad before I can use them, it makes more sense to just buy this for when I don’t plan on using a fresh one right away. For only $1.29, I think it’s one of the best “processed” foods you can buy.

I bought a bag of Udi’s vanilla almond granola, which is one of my favorites. I wish they came in bars! Not crazy about the canola oil, but again, I’m not a purist. Love the short ingredients list, though!

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Incidentally, if anyone is on a gluten-free diet and searching for a delicious bread replacement, I have heard nothing but good things about Udi’s gluten-free bread: http://www.udisglutenfree.com — I’m not on a gluten-free diet, but the reviews are so great that I might order some just to try it. Almost every Celiac I have known says they miss wheat bread the most, so it looks like this may be the winning ticket. Kudos to you, Udi’s!

I also picked up a box of Ezekiel cereal. Not exactly granola, but it’s crunchy and wholesome (and expensive! $6 for that tiny box) It will last a long time though, so I think it’s reasonable. I picked up a quart of fresh strawberries, I can’t wait to try it with yogurt. Yum!

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I got a second wind when we came home, so I continued with our dinner plans for spaghetti carbonara. I defrosted a package of Trader Joe’s uncured center cut bacon before we left, then went to work on it as soon as we got home. It’s really easy to make, so don’t be intimidated by it!

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Most recipes call for cream and basil, but I don’t find the cream to be necessary and I substitute fresh baby spinach for basil, which makes it a little healthier. Not that it’s unhealthy, in fact, I think it’s a very wholesome dish.

Jenn’s Spaghetti Carbonara

2oz spaghetti (210 cal, I used thin linguine)
2 slices Trader Joe’s uncured center cut bacon (100 cal)
2 cups fresh baby spinach (15 cal)
2 large eggs (150 cal)
2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese (40 cal)
A little bit of the bacon grease (20 cal)
Black pepper

1 serving, 535 calories (multiply the ingredients for additional servings)

1. Boil 2oz pasta
2. Pan-fry 2 slices of bacon; drain them well on paper towels; chop; clean out pan with paper towel but don’t wash it, use the same pan to cook the eggs in, with just a very light coating of the bacon grease leftover. If you can see it, then that’s too much.
3. Fry the eggs, add black pepper. The black pepper is what makes it the carbonara part
4. When pasta is done, mix in 1 TBSP grated cheese, the chopped bacon and spinach; stir well and cover so that the spinach wilts down
5. Transfer the pasta to a plate, then place the eggs on top of it and sprinkled the rest of the grated cheese on top

You can also scramble the eggs, and then pour it over the hot pasta, mix it and let the heat from the pasta cook it if you don’t want the runny yolks. I like it both ways, but honestly, the runny yolks make it soo creamy and amazing. This was fantastic! The last time I made it I used turkey bacon, which I like slightly more, simply because it’s more ham-like. This was excellent though. Yummmmmmm!!!!!

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I followed up this decadent dinner with a decadent dessert:

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Why are you a limited edition, dark chocolate? You are amazing, please don’t go!! The serving size is 102g for 260 calories, but I had just 84g because that’s all that would fit in my adorable heart-shaped ramekins. That’s ok though, a little goes a long way.

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If you like dark chocolate, this is the ice cream for you. It’s just incredible! I recommend you get some before it goes away! I don’t know why it’s a limited edition, I think it’s the best flavor they have ever made. Maybe I should start a “Save Dark Chocolate Haagen Dazs” Facebook? LOL

Alright, I have to go do some more shopping. Valentine’s Day is coming, plus my mom’s birthday, so I have to take advantage of every second I have in this short month because there’s a lot on our agenda.

What is the best cake filling you have ever had? We’re trying to decide what to put in my mom’s birthday cake, the bakery will do just about anything that we request, so I’m open to suggestions.