julie’s kind kitchen

A couple of days ago, I received a package from the lovely people at ProBar. They sent me (I know, ME!) 5 bars from their new Sweet and Savory line to test out. Well, of course I was more than willing to indulge them. Actually, I have been wanting to try ProBar for a very long time. They are a bit more expensive then I am used to spending on a bar, so I’ve never purchased or tried one until now.

Wanting to share the wealth and not be one-dimensional in my review, I gathered up some testers:

#1 Me. Grad student. Likes: Relaxing on the couch with a good book or movie. Dislikes: Mean people.

#2 Matt, boyfriend. Marketing. Likes: Playing guitar. Dislikes: People asking him if he plays basketball (he’s 6′7″).

#3 Mom. Teacher. Likes: Spending quality time with the family. Dislikes: Cooking.

#4 Lil’ Brother. 3rd grader. Likes: All sports. Dislikes: Cleaning his room.

Here’s what we thought-

Maple Pecan: Tester-Matt

Matt said this bar was awesome and super tasty.

Cherry Pretzel: Testers-Me, Mom and Lil’ bro

Mom says this bar gets a 4 out of 4 star rating.

Lil’ bro says 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. He said for the name of the bar being Cherry Pretzel there were not enough pretzels.

I have to agree on the pretzel thing. Besides that…delicious.

Sesame Goji: Tester- Me

This is my favorite flavor I tried. I don’t know who thought of the combo of sesame seeds and goji berries, but that person should get a raise!

Cocoa Pistachio: Tester- Me Matt

I totally called this flavor as soon as I saw it, but somebody (Matt!) forgot about that and scarfed this one down for breakfast.

Matt said he really liked this flavor too.

Kettle Corn: Tester-Me

Good, but something in this one was extra hard. The toasted corn? Also, I really didn’t taste “Kettle Corn” when I ate it. The chocolate in the bar was a little overpowering.

So, in sum:

PROS (hehe the PROS of ProBars!):

-Made with good for you wholesome and organic ingredients

-Really inventive flavors!! There’s no getting bored here.

-Everyone likes them, from kids to adults :]

Thank you so much to everyone at ProBar!

What are you waiting for?! Go buy a ProBar at let me know which flavor is your favorite! I wanna try a Cran-Lemon Twister!!

Why hello!

So, I must tell you…I have been slacking when it comes to taking pictures of food lately. I just don’t have the motivation I used to (maybe that’s what over 2 years of blogging has done to me?). Anyway, here are a few yummy pics for you.

The first is a totally tomato-y tofu scramble. Tofu scramble isn’t my favorite thing ever, but I do enjoy it now and again. When preparing a scramble, I cube my tofu rather than smooshing it. I don’t like the mouth feel of smooshy scramble. Cubed is the way to be!

Next is the artichoke dip from the Everyday Dish blog, recipe courtesy of Brian Igarta. HOLY CRAP! Go make this now. It is the best ‘choke dip ever, vegan or otherwise. The part I love best about this dip? It has no tofu! It has no Vegenaise! It has no Tofutti product of any kind! Lovely, versatile cashews give this dip a creamy, dreamy texture.

Pictureless dishes I have made lately include Catherine’s version of sloppy lentils and ED&BV Spelt Crepes with Celestial Cream. Matt devoured those sloppy lentils on ww buns (he had two sammiches)! I really wanted to love this dish, but I think I am still traumatized by the millions of sloppy joes my mom fed me as a kid. You must give Catherine’s recipe a try, though. Just take a peek at the comments for the ETL contest.

I made ED&BV Spelt Crepes with Celestial Cream on Momma’s Day for my mom and grandmother. They loved them!! Of course so did my grandpa, my little brother and myself! I actually did try taking a pic of my granny eating the crepes, but something weird was up with the camera and the pic didn’t take. So just picture this being eaten by a sweet old lady. :]

So…Eat to Live… Well, I guess technically I failed the plan miserably. I just couldn’t take the restrictions. Or maybe it was my mind knowing that I was on a “diet?” Either way, a lot of good has come from my ETL research. I have been inspired to concentrate more on whole foods in my diet and less on processed stuff in boxes. I also am exercising more (walks outside and swimming). I believe this is the happy medium for me. Thank you for all of your support! I promise that those ETL friendly recipes won’t go to waste.

Finally, since I have proclaimed this The Summer of Julie (more on that in a later blog post), I will spend even more time in the kitchen. In addition to making our old standbys and new recipes, I want to embark on some cooking “projects”. I am talking lots of from scratch stuff that takes a little more time in the kitch then I am used to.

These are my ideas so far:

Homemade bread

Homemade cornbread

Homemade burger buns

Homemade veggie stock

Making tons of beans from dried and freezing them

Granola (ED&BV?)

Suggestions??

I have many things I want to blog about, but I think I’ll start with telling you about all of the lovely meet-ups I’ve had with people I’ve met on The PPK.

These meet-ups are so fun! We’ve probably had about 5 get togethers thus far at various places (Kim’s house three times, Udupi and The Farm). It’s so nice to be surrounded by good food and good company. I know I’ve posted some pics from meet-ups in the past, so I’ll just post the latest pics, which were taken this past Saturday. These are all stolen from Kim because we (Matt & I) only took 2 food pics before eating :]

I know, right?! Deliciousness. Everything was sooo good. I think if you put your mouse over each pic, you’ll see what I saved it as and thus can figure out what each pic is of. Let me know if you want more info about anything. Some highlights include what I made: the fruit salad with mint (the mint was already getting brown when the pic was taken boo) and the green salad with yellow heirloom tomatoes. I made Dreena’s Creamy Basil Dressing from ED&BV and WOW, I love that stuff…and so did everyone else. Also not pictured on the salad was the addition of avocado and almost the tip of my pinky finger. Oooouch. When I was slicing the avo haphazardly, I cut myself pretty bad. I am ok, though…no stitches or anything thankgoodness.

The last picture is sadly the only people pic that was taken (oops!). It’s of me and Kate relaxing by Kim’s pool soaking in Summer. Ahhhh…

I should be posting more frequently, so I’ll catch you ’round here soon.

*Catherine*

Thanks everyone for your wonderful suggestions! I have to admit, I couldn’t decide between all of the tasty recipes/suggestions, so I put everyone’s name in a bowl and drew out the winner. Catherine, email me your address so I can send you some goodies :]

Just a quick post for now, but I will post an ETL update in a few days…