I have done the impossible — I have made my food look somewhat unappetizing all day today. I don’t know what is it, but all of my pictures look kind of like dog’s barf. ::sigh:: I guess it’s just one of those days. Please don’t get confused though… my food did NOT taste like dog’s barf!
Wow. What a really great way to start a food blog post. Am I for real?
I won’t lie — today my day started with a pumpkin face off. I think we all know who the winner was here.
Thanks to my dealer mother, I came home last night with some good stuff — including cheese & cookies for the husband (interesting combination, don’t you agree?) and half a can of pumpkin for me which she claims would have gone bad if it were to sit in the fridge any longer. I am going to go with she just loves me and is the best mom in the world. Oh… and a half full water bottle of almond milk? Can you tell I did not want to go to the store last night?
Okay, so I have to say, one picture that turned out “meh” was my oatmeal picture. Not beautiful, not ugly.. but delicious nonetheless.
In the bowl:
- Whipped banana oats (a la Kath style)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- dried cranberries
- chopped red delicious apple (another steal from the mother)
- Artisana Cashini Butter
I can’t get over how quickly my school day goes. As you know, Thursdays are my “shuffling” days — and we have no time in the classroom. I tend to enjoy Thursdays because I get a lot of work done, but apparently my students don’t! One of my girls came up to me today and told me she doesn’t enjoy Thursdays because they don’t get to spend any time learning with me in the morning.” My heart was singing!
Lunch included some soup…
some roasted chickpeas & a pear (which I have really underestimated my love for. I never knew how much I <3’ed them!
I’ve tried two new snacks in the past couple of days for after school. I am always famished by the time school gets out, and I either need something to fuel me for a workout or hold me over until dinnertime. I spoke with Veronica of PureBar last week, and she offered to send me samples of all six PureBar flavors to try and review. The first one I tried was the Trail Mix Bar yesterday. You should know right off the bat that I am a sucker for anything trail mix. One thing I have found with most gluten free and vegan bars is they don’t have a lot of texture and crunch factor to them. The texture in this Trail Mix Bar was out of this world. In every bite I had so many flavors in my mouth — almonds, cacao nibs, raisins, cashews. Each had its own different texture and flavor, which I loved. It wasn’t too sweet, which I really enjoyed as well. The only thing that would have made this better is if I froze it ahead of time and let it sit out for a couple of minutes before biting in. You all know how I love my bars frozen! Overall, 3 gigantic thumbs up for this Trail Mix Bar!
Today I tried the Cherry Cashew bar. It was good, but not my favorite. I love the taste of cashews, and the cherries really overpowered it. I did like how there were chunks of cashews in the bar and whole cherries thrown into the mix for some chew/crunch factor. One thing I really like about the packaging of these bars is how the company tells you exactly what the bar tastes like — they’re not lying either! I am looking forward to trying the other four flavors in the upcoming days! Thanks Veronica!
I know, I know — you’re dying to see the ugly recipe. I was inspired by Allie to make this potato tart — she made hers with a cheesy spinach filling, and I figured I could do the same with some hummus & nutritional yeast. It did not go over to well to plate this stuff. If you clicked on the link, please laugh at what I ended up with.
At first bite, I wasn’t too impressed. But then, it grew on me. It tasted like creamed spinach (which I love) with some potato action in the mix. Overall, I enjoyed it. And I suppose I could have let it sit for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven because when I went to go put it away, it had hardened up and would have plated really well. Oh well, I guess my impatience made ugly recipe day complete.
By the way — only ONE more day sans contacts! I have felt like I have been in a daze all week. Ugh… not cool.
Also — I am getting interested in editing a WordPress theme for myself, but am completely HTML illiterate. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to guide me through the process?
Off to spend some time with the Husband (who I feel like I have not seen ALL week long!) — Have a great night!
And for all of you people who are on the East Coast experiencing beautiful weather — beware.
Question: Have you ever made a recipe that looked gorgeous in pictures, but then you somehow made it look fugly? Tell me all about it.
Don’t forget to enter my Nuts Online Giveaway! You’ll receive a gluten free sample pack in the mail — the giveaway ends Tuesday, November 2 @ Midnight! Happy entering!
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Um, yeah, like almost every picture I take seems to look ugly to me most days!
We are having such gorgeous weather here, but hear it’s gonna get colder soon….which I guess is okay with me - it is almost November! I’m also a fan of the under-appreciated humble pear 
Yum!
It’s not the picture that matters but that you enjoyed the taste. Based on that, sounds like you didn’t do too bad. Enjoy your time with the hubby.
I think I want to name my unborn daughter Libby, haha. Just kidding!
Is Cashini cashew and tahini butter combined? If so < GENIUS!!!
Your food pictures look fine to me
Most of my food ends up looking gross but is so good!
Sometimes I have such high hopes with my recipes thinking that they will photo gorgeously but they totally flop. I made a spaghetti frittata, which I thought would be marvelous, but it was so hard to cut and get out of the pan, one could hardly tell it was a frittata…it looked more like a pile of spaghetti with eggs! Ha!
Oh well - I guess the most important thing is that it tastes good, right?
Oh my gosh! Hahaha! I don’t know about you, but I find that my ugliest meals actually taste the best- so that must have been one DELICIOUS tart!
Thanks for the heads-up on the weather… I’m a little scared!
Umm yeah none of my dinner pictures do the food justice. I blame the sun setting at 5 and bad indoor lighting. I’m sure your food was delicious despite the “bad” pictures.
I don’t even know how many times I tried to take pics of something and after about 10 tries, I was like “screw it”. So many things I make just don’t look hot.
There’s this one spot in my kitchen that my pictures always come out blurry. Does someone push me right before I take the picture? I can’t figure it out.
haha, I love that you leave your Mom’s house with loot! I used to do the same thing when I lived in the same state as my Mom! It’s the best ever!
It’s not a trip to mom’s if you come home empty handed!
Yayyy! Glad you tried the recipe
even if it didn’t turn out as pretty as you wanted I am sure it was delicious. Haha you’re too funny with the dog barf, I cracked up.
I should have let it sit out for a few more minutes! It would have been perfect then!
I used to underestimate my love of pears too. But it was only the canned type…and the Bartlett’s which I think are the ones used in canning. But the d’Anjou make me swoon just a little
lol
Before I forget - I got on a pretty intense phase of “I need a new theme” for my blog, and wasn’t happy with any of the pre-made ones. I spent like, hours trying to figure out how to get my own theme, and then found out I’d have to make sure I was self-hosted through a host that allows you to use other themes. I got way too confused and just settled on this theme, which I am growing to like. If you discover anything, let me in on the secret! I am totally HTML illiterate, too. I was afraid I was going to completeeeely mess up my page. I did find some neat layouts, though, if you are looking for ideas!!
Anyways. You know I am a sucker for the ugly meals!! I love anything like a casserole/pie that just turns into slop once it’s plated! haha. I’ve found most of the time if I’d just wait it sets better, but I am never that patient. Oh well - we’ll just say I’ve grown the ability to look at it for what it really is, an put looks aside
Those purebars look great!! I’ve never seen them before.
OOOOO! Those pure bars look really good!! I’ve never seen them around here, but I’ll be on the lookout
Jen
Hi Chelsey, I wish I had those Artisana and Pure bars. I’ve never seen them before ever.
Chelsey,I’m not vegan, but I eat a lot of nuts. In the morning before lunch, I’ll have 1/4-1/3 cup of nuts (usually almonds). That is about 30+ nuts. My stomach is a bit off. Do you think that is a problem?
I’m no expert, but I would say the only way you would know for sure is to elminate the nuts for a week and see how you’re feeling. Or, you could always go get tested for any food allergies!
A lot of my photos lately are coming out pretty terrible due to eating breakfast before the sun rises and eating dinner after it sets. I swear natural lighting makes all the difference!
it really does!
Sadly so many of my photos don’t do my food the justice it deserves, especially in winter! Natural lighting and sunlight makes everything look SO much nicer! But I think your food photos all look great!
Mmm those PureBars look delicious! I’m a sucker for trailmix too, so I may have to buy some of those…!
Thanks - I miss my natural lighting!!!
I LOVE trail mix PURE bars!! The mix of flavors and textures is out of this world!
At least it tasted good-the important part.
And I hear ya on the glasses thing. When I wear mine I feel so out of it, especially if I’m sitting and talking to someone standing over me since I’m basically blind if I just look up with my eyes!
Sometimes Mom’s house is the best “grocery store” (0:
My mom often brings me surprises — either my staples (almond milk, peanut butter…etc) or stuff she knows I won’t buy myself for cashini concerns (remember that?)
ANY — that is such an awesome comment your kid made…They miss their teacher time!
Does that cherry bar taste better than a Lara Cherry Pie bar?
What the heck is up with those anyways? Do you like them?
~Missy
~Missy
I like the Pure bar (cherry flavor) better than the cherry flavor of larabar - this one has chunks of cherries :& nuts in them which I love!!
I have some of those Pure bars in my bar stash that I really need to break into!! Umm I’ve definitely had my fair share of ugly recipes. Hey, as long as it tastes good, right??
I feel like most pumpkin recipes don’t turn out so pretty..I mean, come on, you’re starting out with something that looks like baby poo so what can you hope for
hahaha totally agree with you Shanna!
Mmm I am in love with ‘kin right now, the texture, the spice, everything! I think I should be starting my morning with pumpkin goodness too!
xxoo
PS. My dinners always look fuggly……dont as why cause I have no idea. At least they are tasty
Oh, man, most of my food looks totally fugly in pictures (and truthfully, real life!) but taste mucho bueno. Example: the curry I am eating right now. Curries always look so cool in pictures - I just tried photographing this thing and it looked like barf! Fuggedaboutit. Flavour > photo, even in the blog world.
Love how you refer to your bringer of pumpkin as your dealer! My stash is dangerously low right now - mama needs her fix!!
izzyy
xoxo
haha I totally laughed so hard when you said “mama needs her fix”. You’re too funny!
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