1. I’m the perfect example that when it comes to food, it’s all about the packaging. I’ve never been a big fan of store brands (other than Archer Farms). I know what you’re thinking: they taste the same as name brands. Sometimes they even taste better. And they’re cheaper. Yeah yeah yeah. But to me, the packaging of food is just as important as the presentation of food on a dish. If the packaging isn’t pretty, I have no desire to even try it, even if it’s 20 cents cheaper.

Now, Target just recently launched their own healthy grocery brand, Simply Balanced. According to the Target website:

“…more than 40 percent of the assortment is organic. There are no products with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, synthetic colors, artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or artificial sweeteners…. the majority of Simply Balanced items are made without genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and Target will eliminate all GMO ingredients from the line by the end of 2014.”

Sounds pretty good, huh? Not only are these products super delicious, the packaging is very appealing and eye-catching. A few weeks ago I bought a few boxes of their granola bars to try it out, and then the next time we went grocery shopping, this happened:

Haha… oops. I jokingly told Brian that they should sponsor my blog since we spent 1/3 of our total bill on their products :)

2. My partner-in-crime at school Samantha (hi Samantha!) told me a few days ago that Trader Joe’s has this Cookie Butter thing that’s supposedly really good. As I recall, her exact words were “oh don’t even start”. I’ve been hearing (and seeing) a lot about it lately and figured I should probably see what all the hype is about. Well, while I was waiting for my dinner to cook, I couldn’t resist and had a little spoonful of it. I think my exact words were “oh this is going to be bad“. There might be times this weekend that consist of me sitting on the couch with Cookie Butter and a spoon…..

I’m also currently obsessed with these too. I just finished a pint of the Mediterranean Mint and moved along to my next flavor (it’s amazing).

3. Ever since the last time we ended up picking dinner options out of a hat that were written on pieces of paper due to the lack of meal planning, I’ve decided that’s never going to happen again. I made a fancy table from Word and this week was our first week putting it into use. It worked out great!

4. Today Brian and I had a little lunch date at downtown Minneapolis – we decided to have our first ever food truck experience! I had the lobster tacos and Brian got the pulled chicken sandwich (he loved the barbeque sauce that went with it!).

5. Did you know Campbell’s is now coming out with CheeseburgerOs?!

(photo source)

I guess they’re coming out nationwide in August (that’s tomorrow!)… can I say “ew”? Are people just getting that lazy that they can’t even use two hands to eat a cheeseburger? Or maybe it’s a time-saving thing? I have never ever opened (or touched) a can of the original SpaghettiOs, and don’t think I’d be trying their newest product anytime soon either. Do you think you’d be trying it?

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Yikes. I went a whole week without making anything worth posting.

Now that I think about it, I don’t even think I made anything substantial in the kitchen since last week. It’s been a bad eating week for me, and I only have a hectic work and school schedule to blame. The first week of school was busy – getting back into the school mentality has been a challenge after a whole 4 weeks of summer off. Five classes, 7-8 big projects due in about 2 months, and a ton of reading to do. It’s only the second week and I’m sooooo behind already!

I promise I’ll be more active in the kitchen this weekend. I already have several things in mind to make, so stay tuned!

1. Because life has been so busy, I’ve been falling behind in my blog reading… my life has literally been revolving around school, work, studying, and trying to get enough sleep in between. I haven’t even really had time to spend time with Bentley or the hubs! I took this snapshot a few days ago. Since then, I did finally get most of my emails read, but my Feedly feed now has more than 360 unread food blog articles! Yikes.

2. I found this link called “21 Reasons Why A Dog Is The Best Investment You Will Ever Make“. A lot of them made me smile. Some made me sad. But it really made me realize how much joy Bentley has brought to our lives in the past 1.5 years :)

3. Have you ever wondered why “scratch paper” is called “scratch” paper? It’s not like we use it to scratch anything. We use it for taking notes, making paper airplanes, and do math calculations… why couldn’t it be called “recycled one-sided paper“? The name seems like it makes a lot more sense to me.

4. We went to a local goat farm yesterday as part of our Large Productions Animal class. Baby goats! They were so cute! We learned how to restrain, do jugular blood draws, and trim hoofs. I’m not a farm girl, but I definitely loved those little buggers.

5. I think I want to make these sometime. They seem simple on paper. And they include my favorite berries… so therefore I consider it a healthy dessert.

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I decided to start this little section called “This Week In Review” that will document life’s random things as well as random thoughts that cross my mind during the week. I figured this can be a way for me to take a break from all the cooking, baking, studying, and working, and still be able to write something lighthearted on here on a regular basis…. so here we go!

1. I’m sure our bank account hates it when I shop at Bed Bath and Beyond. It doesn’t help that we get coupons in the mail all the time – they just have so many fun things in there! I finally broke down and bought a Silpat and a garlic press this past weekend! Woo hoo for new toys!

2. Yes, that was a donut pan you saw in the picture. Who’s excited to make healthier donuts? This girl sure is! My first experiment was making key lime donuts – they turned out to be a success!

3. My second to last quarter started on Monday. Back to wearing scrubs 4-6 days a week. Five classes – I hope I survive!

4. I’m very into iced tea lately. I found these at Kowalski’s a few weeks back and decided to make a quart of it a few nights ago. Although I’m all about being healthy, next time I’m going to be adding a little simple syrup to it. I’m sure that defeats the purpose of tea being good for you, but oh well.

5. Every year we have to do a Hazardous Material (HazMat) training for work – we review how to triage, set up decon tents, and don HazMat suits. I got to do mine today! Today’s main topic was about blast explosions, mass casualties, and radiation exposure. In addition to the 95-degree heat, we got to wear lovely suits that are anything but breathable and play with Geiger counters (did you know Secret deodorant can set it off?!)

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