Back in skinny jeans

Enter to Win a Starbucks Gift Card for a Breakfast Pairing

Yummy, Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich.

Over at Noshtopia, you can read about the six breakfast pairings Starbucks is now offering, and drool over some more sandwich pictures. At the end of the post, you can enter to win one of three Starbucks gift cards to try one of these breakfast pairings. So, mosey on over to Noshtopia.

Noshing on Blood Oranges and a Sweet & Salty Snack

If you love blood oranges as much as I do or have always been curious to try blood oranges in a recipe like Bruschetta with Fava Beans, Greens, and Blood Oranges, over at Noshtopia, I've got 10 Things to Make With Blood Oranges.

And in the picture above is my latest sweet & salty snack creation that involves just two things one of which is a twist on pistachios.

This Is How I Do Hamburgers & Fries

Yes, this burger from The Counter was as good as it looks. TC does burgers in a bowl much like Chipotle does burritos in a bowl so you can skip the bready part. At The Counter, they use Angus beef from cows that were raised on a vegetarian diet without hormones or antibiotics.

I ordered this grilled 1/3lb patty beef burger on a bed of mixed greens with carrot strings, roasted corn & black bean salsa, tomatoes, and grilled onions. I ate half at lunch, and ate the other half for lunch the next day. The Counter also offers 2/3lb and 1lb beef patties, as well as turkey, chicken, and veggie burgers.

But the best part of the burger experience, of course, are the fries. Over at Noshtopia, I have some gratuitous pictures of sweet potato fries, onions strings, and garlic potato rings from another fave restaurant, Pluto's.

But not to worry, I'm not all fried and big calories today, here is a simple and yummy cantaloupe with Ginger Snap granola, pecans, and honey Greek yogurt dish you can eat for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snack. Just looking at the pictures will make you drool!

10 Ways to Eat For Next to Nothin' and Win Some Hummus in a Tube

For this week's Skinny Debt Diet Food tips, here's, "10 Wedding Crashers-like Ways to Eat For Free for Next to Nothin." Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson crashed weddings to get women, well wouldn't that same strategy work to find food to eat? It has for moi, I have no shame in saying.

One of the 10 tips:

• Find bars with happy hours that serve food. If you can get a plate of chicken wings and quesadilla pieces for just the price of a spritzer or beer, wouldn't you? Your best bet are the bars at the nicer hotels as often they put out food to keep their hotel guests happy and coming back. You can just pretend you're staying at the hotel. If you're single, you just might even meet someone "special."

And speaking of free food, win Some Hummus in a Tube

Last week on Noshtopia, I did a review of Wild Garden's Hummus in a Tube which my friends is one the most brilliant ideas. Well, the folks at Wild Garden want 10 of you to experience the gloriousness of their hummus in a tube. So awesome!

And here's some quickie info on the hummus:

Wild Garden™  Hummus Dip is an all-natural and vegetarian trans fat free garbanzo bean based dip made with a unique process to eliminate preservatives and unnecessary additives. Wild Garden™ Hummus Dip does not require refrigeration until it has been opened. A convenient 35 calorie/serving snack can be lots of fun!

To enter to win the Wild Garden Hummus in a tube, tell me in the comments what you like to eat hummus with or ways you'd take hummus in a tube with you. I'd so take this on my next airplane trip for a healthy snack. Winners will be picked randomly, and US residents only are eligible. I know. Sorry international folks! I'll announce winners on Friday, so you have until Thu. Jan. 15 midnight PST to enter.

Saving Money Eating Frozen Meals Yet Keeping It Healthy

For those of us who normally don't eat frozen meals, this option is starting to look real appealing because frozen meals are fast, convenient, can keep in the freezer for days, and you can always find a sale somewhere. How many of you got a frozen pizza in the freezer right now? {me raises hand}

As convenient as frozen meals are, some of them can wreck havoc on your body because of high calories and high sodium. Over at Noshtopia, here's 5 tips to help you select better quality frozen foods.

Have you tried Martha Stewart's Beef Chili with Beans sold at Costco? Here's what it looks like, and what I thought of it as a ready to heat meal. By happy accident, I came up with a different twist on chili toppings that are lower in calories and fat and cheaper than the traditional sour cream and cheese toppings.

And edamame! Oh how I love thee. To me, edamame is perfect for this.

Nosh delights: Health-upped Grilled PB&J, Garlic Scallop Tacos, and Goji Food Bar

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness pleasure, and food picture fascination:

• Look at that PB&J sandwich above. Drooling yet? Charlie over at Back to the Fridge brought back some great memories so come take a look at how I make a health-upped grilled PB&J version where you can also get good fiber with your PB&J delight. It's possible!

• I found a bag of frozen medium size scallops on sale so I've been scalloping up this week. Here I made an easy appetizer, Prosciutto wrapped scallops on top of cucumber slices with Thai sesame lime drizzle, and then for dinner one night I made some simple tacos with garlic scallops, tomato, spinach, and arugula. Did I mention that I LOVE arugula? I eat it almost every day.

• And speaking of tacos, I've been eating all kinds of tacos this week because I found a pack of 12 Whole Foods 365 brand organic corn tortillas for 99 cents. This has got to be one of the best food shopping deals of the week. So, another taco I made were these green salad with roasted turkey tacos. Yup, it's basically salad bar in a corn tortilla, and a cheap, easy, and healthy meal.

• Want to try the super fruit Goji? I've been trying to find the Goji in a food bar and found them in Dr. Weil's Goji Moji Fruit & Nut bar. Here is what I thought of the bars.

• And finally, let's get Naked, woo-hoo!...juice that is. Have you tried Naked Juice's "New" flavors Peach Mangosteen Bliss, Watermelon Chill, and Banana Chocolate Protein Zone? I took some pictures of the drinks so you can see what they look like. I enjoyed only two of three. Which ones did you like?

Nosh delights: Adding nutritional bling to your oatmeal, Scharffen Berger chocolates, and Creamy Garlic Prawns

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness pleasure, not only am I talking about some good eats, but there are LOTS of pictures. We know ya'll love the food glamoramas!

• Yeah, we're working on keeping healthy in our skinny jeans, and oatmeal is indeed a part of the menu for many of us. But if you eat it often like I do, wouldn't you like to learn from a nutritionist some ways to nutritionally bling your oats including vegan friendly options? You're in luck, as I bring to you oat-tastic expert Dave Grotto of "101 Foods That Can Save Your Life."

• And after Dave enlightens you on the benefits of things like non-dairy options and flax, three of you lucky BISJers can win two boxes each of Quaker Organic Instant Oatmeal in Maple & Brown Sugar. Oh yes! Quaker does organic too, and if you like the Whole Foods 365 Maple Spice, this one runs neck & neck. Read more to enter. It's easy!

• Wanna see some of the creative ways I eat my oats. In fact, I don't eat oatmeal just for breakfast, I eat it for desert too. Behold pictures of my oatified concoctions: Toasty Sweet Pumpkin Pleasure, Crunchy Banana Walnut, Snickerlicious (shown above), and Dulce De Cocoa.

• I went to visit the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory on Tuesday, and zOMG! not only did I eat some of the best chocolate around, I learned so much about chocolate making and how Scharffen Berger operates. I totally {heart} these people even more! Check out all the cool pictures, and discover fun things like what you can do with cacao nibs, why chocolate melts in your mouth, and how to make your garden smell like chocolate.

• Steaz has a new line of organic Iced Teaz, and the cans feature pictures of the farmers from the fair trade countries Steaz buys their teas from. I LOVE it! And, here's what I thought of how the teaz tasted.

• And because I just love taking pictures of fabulous food I eat in restaurants, here is the latest from Piacere, contemporary Italian Californian fusion. The Sex & the City gals would totally hang out here. The best was this creamy garlic appetizer with garlic toast, and oh yeah, it tasted as good as it looks!

Easy 10 minute stir-fry recipe, Whole Foods changes their Rice milk recipe, Frozen enchilada dinner review, and other nibbles

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness pleasure:

• I love stir-frys because they are easy and can be made lickety split. Here's one my favorite stir-frys with brown rice, veggies, and chicken (or tofu for vegetarian version) that require virtually no prep whatsoever. You just dump and mix, and you're eating in 10 minutes or less. How cool is that?

• I've been eating more frozen dinners because they are cheap and fast. Who else is buckling down on the finances? But, I still want good quality ingredients. I tried Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas which are non-dairy, gluten free, cholesterol free, GMO free, vegan friendly, Pareve certified, and loaded with a bunch of organic ingredients. Whew! Here's what I thought and what they looked like cooked.

• Whole Foods changed the packaging and recipe of their 365 brand Original flavor Rice Milk. They also added a new third flavor. The changes are big ones to me my friends as we have a New Coke situation. Although, they did make one change which I think is very cool especially for vegans who need more of a certain vitamin.

• If you live or are visiting in Northern California and have been meaning to try out Pluto's restuarant where you can get fresh tossed salads, hand carved meaty sandwiches, and yummy desserts to-go, here are some pictures of the food.

Nosh bites: Top pesticide contaminated fruits & veggies, Tuscan cantaloupe, and male model sandwich

Over at Noshtopia for your eating wellness enjoyment:

• Here's a list of some of the most pesticide contaminated fruits & veggies at your average supermarket. If you can, try and buy the organic versions of these produce.

• This is one of my favorite all purpose seasonings for every day cooking: Trader Joe's  21 Salute. It's like a cross trainer shoe of spices.

• Owen McKibbin has been on the cover of Men's Health magazine 15 times, more than anyone in the history of the magazine. Watch him make the kind of sandwich he would eat. Plus yeah, there is some simple man-joyment ;)

• Have you heard of the Yacon, a fruit from the Andes in Peru which is loaded with fiber and is pretty low on the sugar. Dried Yacon is a great snack for the sugar conscious and diabetic.

• Need a quick non-meat protein dish that requires no cooking? Try this Butter Beans with cherry tomatoes, red onion, and red wine vinegar.

• This is one of my absolute favorite summer desserts: Tuscan cantaloupe with agave nectar on top of organic vanilla bean ice cream. Oh so yummy!
  

Nosh bites: Amount of sugar in popular "healthy" drinks, healthy kid snack planner, and other deelish nibbles

Over at Noshtopia for you eating wellness pleasure:

• I created a sugar content comparison chart of some popular perceived "healthy" drinks like Vitamin Water, Odwalla, Naked, Jamba Juice, Snapple, and Fuze. I compared them to Coca-Cola. You'd be surprised which of your "health" drinks have as much sugar as a 20 oz bottle of Classic Coke.

• Are you a busy parent and would like some ideas for some healthy kid snack planning?

• Check out this fast and tasty gluten-free pasta dish made with Napa Style Spciy Parmesan and Cherry Tomatoes.

• Here's my review of the new Australian bottled water drink, "Balance Water" which contains flower essences for emotional well being.

• As a new twist on traditional fried rice, I replaced the rice with Quinoa to make a Quinoa Chicken "Fried Rice." Personally, I like Quinoa much better than Brown Rice for a Fried Rice recipe. Not to mention, you get more protein.