I started grad school this week! I am going back to school to be a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). I am now working Monday/Thursday/Friday, and having class on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. The new schedule is throwing my off a bit. Monday seemed like last week; I thought Thursday was Wednesday. My body has been protesting getting up at 0500 on Mondays. I am sure, just like any change, I will get used to it.
With everything going on in our lives, we've found a few new food short cuts. Trader Joe's Thai noodle bowls (just $1!) have been lifesavers. They have rice noodles and are super delicious. Those portion packs from Perdue have gone into quite a few dinners for us this week- Italian stir fry, pasta, with a side of rice & veggies. If the deli line looks to long, I've been grabbing the Applegate Farms lunch meat packages right off of the shelves of "normal" grocery stores. I love their oven turkey. It just melts in your mouth.
I tried out the Kinnicknnick's chocolate chip cookies (they were on sale), and was a little disappointed. They aren't as chocolatey as I had hoped. (Mind you, their "oreos" are so so so good.) My favorite cookies are still Trader Joe's ginger snaps and the "homemade" Betty Crocker chocolate chip ones I've been baking one at a time from out of my freezer.
For breakfast, our pantry is stocked full of "kid cereals"- chocolate pebbles, cinnamon chex, Rice Krispies. Nick's new thing is the Trader Joe's GF frozen waffles. To me, they taste a bit too fruit-sweetened. They are better than other GF waffles as far as toasting is concerned. They come out crispy and soft (versus cold or burnt). You still can't use the "frozen" button on your toaster (or they will burn), but who cares?
Let's talk about this whole cupcake craze thing. I find that just about everywhere now has either a frozen yogurt or a cupcake place on the corner. I do love our local Yogli Mogli (all but 2 flavors are GF!), and most fro yo comes effortlessly GF. My problem with this tend is that not too many bakery/cupcake places are into the GF cupcake making. The big deal cupcake place near work is Cami Cakes. People bring them to work for shower's, patient graduations, or for no real reason at all. Cami Cakes are adorable looking cupcakes with a tower of fluffy icing... but they don't have a single GF flavor. I do understand that baking GF and glutenous food in the same place is more difficult due to contaminants. Dedicated cookware and staff members who are serious about allergen sensitive cooking is more expensive. Only, I feel like there is a market for GF cupcakes that is being missed.
The past 2 times that I've driven by Gigi's Cupcakes for GF cupcake Wednesday, I've gone before 11:00am. Both times all of the GF cupcakes have been eaten. Gigi's has left me only with a faint memory of a carrot cake cupcake that I achieved a higher level of taste-being with oh so long ago. I went to The Cup in Brookhaven this past week (thanks to a Scoutmob) and picked up 2 red velvet cake GF cupcakes. While they do have a GF cupcake every day, they aren't all that close to me. When I went in after a long while since I got the Scoutmob, my only choice was red velvet cake. Red velvet cake is also (gasp, I know) my least favorite cake, so it was hard for me to really gauge the goodness of their baking. I will say the cake was very moist, and the cream cheese frosting very smooth and delish. My other latest GF cupcake experience was at our friend's wedding, where the bride ordered all of the chocolate cupcakes GF. I made sure to enjoy the first one (it was perfect) and hide one to take home for later. Too bad I can't just drive up to that baker's house and have one of Lily's wedding cupcakes whenever I want. Let's all hope this new trend leads to more GF goodness in the world.
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