Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
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Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Reviews: Back-to-School Lunch Box Helpers

September 5, 2013 · Narrative

One of the fun perks of blogging is that we frequently get surprise boxes on our doorstep of new items to review. And most of the time, it’s items we might not have ever discovered on our own. And in an effort to clear off my desk top, and since many are perfect for back-to-school lunch boxes, we’re going to review a bunch in one fell swoop. Get ready.

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First up is this line of Harvest Snaps from Calbee. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and although they have been around for over 60 years, they originally didn’t start manufacturing shrimp chips and saya in North America until the early 70s. Then, in the late 90s, still with a concentrated effort on healthy living, they started this line of crisps. And oh man, these crisps. Go get yourself some. Gluten-free, less fat and sodium than its counterparts (and, likewise, more fiber, protein, and Vitamin B), they are a light, healthy snack that is perfect to tuck into little lunch boxes. Ok, and big lunch boxes too. Six different subtly flavored varieties, they are light, crispy, and addicting enough that I found myself coming back for more and more. Although I haven’t seen them yet in retail locations, I also haven’t been looking, because they are definitely readily available in a variety of places. The snapea crisps were my favorite – go get ’em.

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Next up is this line of tortilla chips and dippers from RW Garcia. When it comes to snacking, Nick is a sucker for tortilla chips, so he was all over these. We had a little taste testing of the four different varieties we received. His favorite was the sweet and spicy Mixt bag, followed closely by the blue and corn tortilla chips and the cheddar dippers. A family owned business that has been around for over thirty years, it was born from a passion of making a healthy crispy snack that has all natural ingredients. The chips are sturdier than the competitors, and easily stand up to salsa dipping, and more substantial dips like a con queso. Nick asked me to put them away because he couldn’t stay away from them.

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I received this sample of Stretch Island Fruit Chews in my swag bag during my Food Blogger Forum trip to Orlando in June. I have purchased the fruit strips (or more commonly referred to as fruit leather) for the kids before, so I am very familiar with the brand. The kids love the fruit strips, but they didn’t love these chews. They described it as a texture issue, and said that the fruit snacks we usually have contain a better chew, and these pieces felt “flakier” to them. Their chew and strip products are 100% natural, contain no added sugar, no additives, and I happen to love the company and how socially conscious they are. We’ll just stick to the strips, as the kids love them more.

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When I was pregnant with Nick, for the first few months, I subsisted on two things. Sweet potatoes from Boston Market, and a buttered cracker with a thin slice of Cheddar on it. All the days. Which may or may not explain Nick’s penchant for crackers. If I leave the kids alone with Wheat Thins, Cheez-Its, Ritz, or even Saltine crackers, I can come back to an empty box. And that’s without them putting butter or cheese on it. They just love crackers. So you can probably guess that the O’Malley clan as a whole was stoked to receive this box full of crackers on our doorstep. Blue Diamond, and their delicious smokehouse almonds, is very familiar to us, but this Nut-Thins line is new to us (and gluten-free). Thin, crispy, and downright awesome (eight flavors!), these are going to be perfect in the kids’ lunch boxes with a few slices of Cabot cheddar. Yes, please.

…

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On Budgets and Menu Planning {and Recipe: Parmesan Chicken and Biscuit Pie}

March 22, 2012 · Narrative

Parmesan Biscuit and Chicken Casserole
So it seems that just when you think your mother can’t be right about one more thing, she really can be.  I am terrible when it comes to finances.  Always have been.  My sister was the super-saver.  I was the teen begging for a ride to the mall to spend a crisp $5 bill burning a hole in my pocket.  Although that temptation has long since subsided, I’m always a work in progress.

My mom suggested keeping track of where I spent every dollar (from a Starbucks run to a newspaper to paying an insurance bill) for a month.  I really just did it to reinforce the fact that I knew where I was spending money.

And, of course, I didn’t.  Not completely anyway.  For the entire month of January, I kept careful track in a little notebook I carried everywhere with me.  At the end of the month, I gave her my notes and she plugged the numbers into different categories (food, entertainment, medical, clothes, utilities, etc.).  In a glance I could instantly see how much I was spending and on what.  Some totals (food, for example) downright shocked me.  Others I had a firm handle on (more like the fixed expenses).

I was spending way too much on food.  Even rationalizing that that amount included everything from cleaning supplies and health and beauty aids, right down to cat and dog food … it was still way too much.  Even given the fact that I cook so much (and a lot of it is for freelance work).  Still.way.too.much.

The other thing that glared at me as I looked at the numbers?  If you look down the food column (which also indicates what stores the money was spent at), it showed $15 here, $3 there and oh $2.67.  There were maybe 20-25 entries for the month.  Running into the store every time I need something causes extra time, gas, and energy.  Seeing how many stops I (unknowingly) make during the course of a week (or the month) was another eye-opener for me.  Especially at what gas costs these days.  And as for extra time?  I don’t have much of it, and if I have extra time, I’d much rather spend it doing something fun with the kids, family, or friends.  Not making three trips to the grocery store in one week, you know?

So for February, I started to make little changes.  I planned menus.  For every week.  I shopped twice during the month at Shop Rite (online, see more on that below) and got nearly everything I needed.  But more importantly perhaps, I allowed for flexibility.  I might not have the exact dish on the exact night I schedule it for, but I had a plan and the ingredients, so I was ready.  I also built in nights for leftovers, foraging in the freezer, and using already-purchased pantry items.  To further grab hold of what was going on in my kitchen.

And then I went one step further.

I ordered all our grocery needs online.  There are a bunch of grocery stores that do it (including Stop ‘n Shop, Shop Rite, and Fresh Direct).  As an aside, I’m totally jealous of those of you who have Fresh Direct.  It’s gotten closer to us as a delivery zone (my mom loves it and uses it, as does my sister), but so far, they don’t deliver to our town.  Each place has pros and cons.  I use Shop Rite because I think their sales are better.  Every other Friday, I placed my order to cover what I would need for the next two weeks.  Then I supplemented it by one weekly stop at the store to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables because a) that stuff isn’t going to last two weeks and b) some of it I want to see and feel.  And then one trip every two weeks to Costco.  Because some of their items are cheaper.

So instead of making 3-4 trips a week, I was now down to six trips a month.  All told.

I honestly couldn’t wait for the end of the month (February) to see the effect this planning had on our food totals.  Ready?…

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Parenting: Leading with Intention

August 18, 2011 · Narrative

Wednesday Sunset
*Completely random unrelated picture (sunset from last night) just because I can’t bring myself to lead a post without a picture.

Beth and I stood in Kohl’s this past Saturday.

Dumbfounded.

Completely and utterly speechless.

A mom was berating her son in the middle of the lingerie section.

Loud.

Belligerent.

Mean.

Downright nasty.

My heart ached for the little boy.

He looked to be a few years older than Nick.  He said nothing as his Mom shrieked at him.

His grandmother stood by and said nothing.

Perhaps that’s the way she raised her daughter.  I don’t think it is, but I don’t know.

As the family walked to the cash register to pay, the mom’s loudly raised voice continued to echo throughout the whole store.

We made our way to the back of the store, intent on checking out white servingware.

We could still hear her.

Beth shook her head.  “Anyone can be a parent.”

Isn’t that the truth?

…

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨

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Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and lite Always looking for sunshine, figuratively and literally. Sometimes we don’t have to look very far and it finds us. ☀️
It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasand It didn’t take much to get me to @mikespastasandwichshoppe when a friend texted me a screenshot of their cheese butter. Up until last week I had never even heard of cheese butter but just two days later, I’m driving an hour round trip to get some. 😂 I was never one to succumb to peer pressure (I didn’t have my first drink until I was 21!), but when it comes to food finds, I am very easily intrigued. After all, that’s how I’ve discovered some of my favorite bites over the years … lardo from @butlerandtheboard, a spicy Italian sausage, and my love of chicharron. If you haven’t visited Mike’s in Nutley, it’s worth a visit. While there, I also got a small tray of meatballs (a bargain at $10!) and a delicious mortadella sandwich that is worth a round trip. ✨
The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter nee The long, dreary and grey months of the Winter need a little bit of color, so here you go. 😍 Love this chest of drawers. Discovered it buried in a local shop and bought it specifically for the green color (one of my favorites). Vintage Coke crate was a $10 score from a garage sale place on Facebook some ten years ago. And the assorted markers in Roy G Biv order (natch) that aren’t used anymore because my kids have sadly left that phase. 🙃
Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo s Weekend Photos in Review, old school still photo style, hope you had a good one! ✨
A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if A friend was taking a trip to Ireland and asked if I wanted her to bring me back anything. Would you believe me if I told you I asked for salt? I love picking up different varieties, whether we’re traveling or I’m just visiting a new shop. Maddie grabbed me a super cute one from her trip to Paris last year, and the Magic Unicorn Salt I get locally is another favorite. What’s yours?
One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻

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