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2/28/11

Pest-ohhhh yeah!

sometimes, i forget how much i luuurve pesto...
and then i remember!
and then i forget how easy it is to make...
and then i remember!

and then i make it using arugula and parsley, since basil isn't in season yet, and serve it over penne with roasted tomatoes and chickpeas.

and then i congratulate myself on a meal well prepared.

and sometimes i make eggs for breakfast the next day, and have some leftover pesto on top of them.
and sometimes i take a spoon and just eat it out of the jar.  gross?  probably.  delicious?  yes.


in a food processor, throw in a few handfuls of arugula and a few handfuls of parsley.  add a roughly chopped clove of garlic, plenty of grated parmesan cheese, a handful of walnuts (or pine nuts, if you can afford them!) and the juice of a lemon.  turn on the food processor and add olive oil until it reaches the consistency you like.  salt and pepper, too.  serve with ANYTHING.

(ps- i get all my ingredients from the local co-op.  you should too!)

2/4/11

as if you need another reason to stop eating fast food...

here you go.

so gross.

addicted: #2

trader joe's organic strawberry probiotic yogurt


as i get closer to my quarter century birthday, i am really trying to be on the defensive and take control of my health as much as i can.  preventative healthcare is crucial, and diet is a huge factor.  colon health, as old-ladyish as it sounds, is important and has been kind of a buzz topic for me lately.  with a family history of colon cancer and other gastrointestinal woes, it is important for me to take care of myself as much as i can now.

i started hearing a lot of good things about probiotic yogurt, but i was not sure how down and dirty i would want to get in terms of experimenting.  i haven't always been a huge yogurt fan, either.  something about the texture just skeeves me.  but i wanted to see what all the probiotic fuss was about, so during a trader joe's run a couple of months ago, i picked up a four-pack of the organic strawberry probiotic yogurt.  they come in a four pack in itsy-bitsy little cups, perfect for me since too much yogurt in one serving turns me off.  i sprinkled mine with a little granola, mixed it up and was totally surprised!  i wasn't sure if the extra addition of the probiotics would alter the taste at all (in a bad way), but it was actually the least yogurty-tasting yogurt i've ever tried!  i loved it, and i could notice the digestive benefits within a day or two (and i'll leave it at that...)

since they only come in a 4-pack, and we only bought one, we ran out rather quickly. the nearest tj's to us is a good 40 minute trek, so i picked up some dannon activia instead at the local grocery store.  i wasn't as happy with the activia as i was with the trader joe's yogurt.  for one thing, i think for dairy especially, organic really makes a difference.  activia is not organic, and there were considerably more artificial-looking ingredients on the label (not counting the sciencey-sounding names of the probiotics in the yogurt, which were comparable in both brands).  the taste of activia was good, but the effects were not noticeable at all.  so...lesson learned: next time i go to tj's i am stocking up big time on their yogurt!