Jazz Apples

There always seem to be too many varieties of apples to pick from... in fact there are over 7500 varieties of apples worldwide! The overwhelming number of choices causes me to end up getting the same types(Granny Smith, Gala, and Red/Golden Delicious). But today.. being the bargain shopper that I aspire to be.. decided to give a new variety of apple a try (because it was on sale).

It is called a Jazz apple.. and it was the first time I have ever heard of the variety. Apparently, Jazz is a relatively new apple variety from New Zealand, and is the result of a cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn. It is also known as Scifresh, and was first introduced in April 2004.

The apple looks a lot like a Gala apple and the flesh is fairly tough! The one I ate for lunch today was crunchy, but juicy and quite sweet! I really enjoyed it and would definitely buy it again!

Duncan Hines Spice Cake.. revised

So I absolutely love the flavors of fall and winter... pumpkin, spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.), etc.

I was searching on allrecipes.com (my new favorite website) and found a cookie that seemed too easy to be good. It only has three ingredients....Spice Cake Mix, Canned Pumpkin, and Pumpkin Pie Spice.. and you can ice it with cream cheese frosting ( i would suggest this). While I am a big advocate for taking time to cook things.. I like easy and cheap recipes too! I was skeptical that these cookies would be good because they have not eggs, butter, oil, etc... I took on the challenge though!

When I was at the store I bought Duncan Hines Spice Cake and a can of pumpkin (beware..sometimes you cannot find canned pumpkin except for around the holidays). I mixed the ingredients together and... surprisingly it came together in a very thick batter. I put rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about 18 minutes. They don't flatten really ..so you can put them close together.

After they had cooled I iced them with cream cheese frosting.

They were absolutely amazing! They had a nice cake like texture, full of fall flavor (but not overwhelming), are a good source of fiber, low in fat.. so besides the icing.. they are really good for you!

I would make these any day! YOU MUST TRY THEM.

p.s. other adds in include chocolate chips!

Al fresco all natural: Spinach and Feta Chicken Sausage

Growing up my family never made sausage.. so I got it into my head that it was disgusting and something that I never wanted to eat. I did not even realize that they made chicken sausage! One day Kaitlin came over though and we made some chicken sausage (different flavor and brand than I bought) and I thought it was delicious! So this inspired me to give it a try myself.

I bought Al Fresco Spinach and Feta Chicken Sausage! Sounds really good :-) Al fresco sausages are gluten free, full cooked, and made with lean, skinless chicken meat. They have no artificial ingredients, MSG, nitrates, preservatives, or nitrites.

So not knowing what exactly to do with this sausage.. i decided to eat it plain so that I could really get a gauge on the flavor. I decided to broil the sausage (the package said you could). So I took it out of the broiler and started eating! AMAZING Flavor :-) tasted just like chicken spinach and feta. Yummy.. I would totally buy this again!

Now that I know what it tastes like i can experiment with actually recipes that incorporate the sausage!

Chobani Greek Yogurt

So I am a pretty big yogurt fan, but I am ashamed to say that I have never had Greek yogurt! So today is the day! At Lowes Foods, I bought All Natural Chobani Greek Yogurt (Blueberry Flavor).

According to the package, their "authentic Greek strained yogurt is thick, creamy, and has two times more protein than regular yogurt." It also says that the milk used is from cows not treated with rBST (artificial growth hormone). The United States is the only developed nation to permit humans to drink milk from cows given rBST. Despite this, the package also says that "According to the FDA, no significant difference has been found between milk derived from rBST-treated and non rBST-treated cows.

So I was also interested in the difference between Greek and regular yogurt: Greek yogurt is higher in protein, higher in calories, lower in carbs, thicker and creamier, lower in sodium, etc.. Essentially the difference is that Greek yogurt is strained and regular yogurt it not! SO you get no liquid on top of your Greek yogurt....

Review: When I opened the container..it was all white (realized that the blueberries were on the bottom). I started to stir the yogurt and discovered how thick it really was! It was like the consistency of full fat sour cream! Much to my delight I discovered that the blueberries were full berries.. not just some blueberry jam :-) It was very rich and creamy.. delicious.. but you have to eat it slowly because of how rich it tastes. It was also very satisfying because the high protein content makes you feel full.

I would buy this again.. but only as a special treat!

Horned Melon

Horned Melon: So.. i needed to go to Harris Teeter to get a few things for a nice dinner that I am making.. and I was wandering by the bananas and then stumbled upon the "exotic fruit" section. I browsed through and decided upon a Horned Melon.

A horned melon, Kiwano, or African Horned Melon, is a fruit that originally came from Africa (duh). Then they began to be grown in Australia and New Zealand in the 1900's. Now there are some horned melon farms in California! 

The one I bought is bright orange and it has sharp spikes all over it! The cashier was actually in pain when he squeezed it too tight! Supposedly if it is orange that means it is ripe :-)


So I just couldn't wait to see what it looked like inside and how it tasted.. so I ate within 2 hours of buying it!


So I sliced it long ways and found..much to my surprise a green inside.. I then cut off a slice to taste. It had a jelly like/gooey consistency.. with seeds like a cucumber. In terms of flavor... it didn't have a strong flavor (off flavor cucumber?), but then again I did not particularly like it. It was okay.. but not something that I would buy again (good to know because it wasn't cheap!)

Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchable

1. Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchable- So although this may have been a bad purchase, I felt that I had to buy it because I have never had a Lunchable. I feel like I have missed out on an aspect of my childhood.

If you don't recall... Lunchables are instant kid's meals that are made by Oscar Mayer/Kraft Foods. They were first manufactured in the U.S. in 1988. They have lots of varieties now, and in 2004/2005 they revamped a lot of the meals so that they were "healthier options" for kids. Before the revamp.. some meals had 1,780 milligrams of salt (74% of the daily amount needed for an adult)! WOW! In order to regain popularity... manufacturers removed most "unhealthy" foods like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and tried to make other changes.

So I opened up the package to find 3 small “crusts” made with 8grams of whole grain, a sauce packet ( they no longer give you that little red plastic sauce spreader!), and two separate containers of cheese. The two types of cheese are “pasteurized prepared mozzarella cheese product” and “pasteurized prepared cheese product”..oh my heavens know what I am eating! Lol

So I spread the sauce onto the pizza and add the cheese product! Here we go… taste? Not too bad actually... texture... not pizza lol.. there is no crunch to the crust..it is kind of gummy in consistency.

Overall though this turned out to not be that bad of a choice! I wouldn’t buy it again..I would get real pizza with real cheese.. no more of this cheese product!