Category — It Makes Me Happy!

The weather in Chicago has been a little fickle, but on those days when you’re craving something cold and creamy and and chocolatey – and trying not to break the calorie bank or the piggy bank – head over to Trader’s Joe’s freezer aisle. Grab a box of Gone Bananas. And sneak a bite…or 2. Basically Gone Bananas is a sliced banana, each slice dipped in chocolate, and then frozen. It comes 20 to a box, and usually 2 or 3 bites satisfy my craving. Usually.

Sure, I could buy a banana, slice it, freeze each slice, melt some chocolate, dip each slice, return to freezer, and then package.

But for $1.99, I’ll buy a box. And at only 10 calories per banana bite, I can walk off a few mouthfuls walking to Trader Joe’s and home again. (Each box equals 1 banana = 130 calories = 20 banana bites: I’m rounding up!)

TJ’s Gone Bananas: they make me happy!

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a movie junkie. So wherever I live, whatever the local language, regardless of the price per ticket, on any given weekend I’m in a movie theatre. And from November thru February, sometimes several movies each weekend so I’m prepared for the Academy Awards. But, I don’t typically watch movies on TV at home. I like the whole going-to-the-movies experience: the big screen, a darkened theatre, stadium seats, slightly stale popcorn, and annoying people checking their cell phones, chewing with their mouths open and talking back to the screen.

At home we have a large flatscreen parked across from a comfy couch. Fresh popcorn. Diet Ginger Ale. A cute little white dog sitting on moi lap. And a shelf full of both the latest DVD theatrical releases and oldie-but goodies. I have friends with theatre rooms: darkened, stadium seats, and a well-stocked snack bar. I’d just rather pay $12 and go to the movies.

And I don’t like reruns: Once I’ve seen the movie, I’m done. I make a few exceptions for movies I load on my iPad and love to travel with: Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, Julie and Julia, Ice Castles. My ambition is not to be able to quote all the good lines (unlike my husband and son who love quoting Ferris Bueller and Top Gun).

But the week of April 4 I’ll be at the movies to see the new release of Titanic in 3D. I’m not a huge fan of 3D, but I loved the Titanic (which I’ve seen only once when we’d just moved to Paris: I thought I’d figured out which movies were presented in VO (version originale) and when the credits began in French I thought I’d screwed up, but a few moments later the movie began, thankfully in English!)

See you when we set sail on the Titanic!

Moi tip:

I’ll be seeing the Titanic for 3D for free! How? I Viggled my way to a free movie ticket just by watching TV!

Most ex-expat Parisians moan their loss of French cheeses, many still practically unheard of in the US. Personally, while j’adore le fromage Francais, I find the cheeses at specialty stores – such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and other gourmet shops – and the cheeses from my local farmer’s markets do a pretty good job of satisfying my craving for fresh, rich, indulgent cheese.

Until recently, the same couldn’t be said of yogurts. While many Americans jump off the plane and head straight to a Parisian street market or the local fromagerie, I headed straight to the Inno or Monoprix refrigerated section to indulge in richy, creamy, tangy French yogurt. While I  would readily have risked confiscation by smuggling yogurt into my luggage, I sadly feared 9 hours on the plane (plus 2 hours waiting for my luggage to bump down the belt) would curdle or liquify the yogurt.

Why French yogurt? I’ve always been a yogurt lover, but prior to my 1st trip to Paris I thought yogurt was overly-sweet, bright blue or red, lumpy, and pudding-like. More like a snack or dessert: good but not a meal. Back in the day I even bought myself a yogurt maker, and with a little plain yogurt starter I made my own plain yogurt and sweetened it with honey, fruit preserves and wheat germ (who’d heard of granola back then???) But lack of time (and counter space) due to family, job, house and dogs eventually buried the yogurt maker.

But now, Greek yogurt is firmly ensconced in the US and my craving for rich tangy yogurt is satisfied. Chez Moi I’m a huge fan of Fage, and TBG prefers the slightly sweeter Chobani. But this week, TBG made a grocery run and as usual, he didn’t stick to the shopping list.

And brought home Cabot Greek Yogurt. We were familiar with Cabot Cheeses: we love the American brand, always buy their cheddar. But I didn’t know they’re now making greek-style yogurt. Its rich, creamy, tart and a little sweet. Perfect with my morning berries and granola.

Yes, I’ll still buy Fage. But when I find only Cabot Greek Yogurt in the fridge I’ll be looking for a spoon, not my car keys.

Bon Appétit!

• Fage Greek 0% Yogurt: 17.6 oz $6.99

• Cabot Greek-Style Plain Yogurt: 2lbs $5.99

• Chobani Fat-Free Greek Yogurt: 32 oz $5.99

NOTE: Dairy prices vary widely by region. I’m in SoFlo now, so your prices may differ. For the best price, try Target or Costco.

Greek yogurt: it makes me happy!

The holidays are officially over but I still feel incredibly busy: Too much travel? Too much baking? Too much online shopping? Too much Lifetime Christmas Movies?

Fortunately over the holidays I discovered 2 new treats that are making Moi life just a little sweeter…

Torani Sugar-Free Salted Caramel Flavored Syrup - I’m always up for a Starbucks trip. Recently I ordered my year-round standard (tall skim chai, extra shot, extra water, extra hot please!) SIL Katie ordered a sea salt caramel mocha coffee: how’d I miss that? Still missing NYCs posted calorie counts, I went online and checked the calorie count: anywhere from 220 to 450! So saved for special treats…

Then on a shopping trip to World Market I happened to see the Torani syrups, and noticed Sugar-Free Salted Caramel: voila! Now afternoons when I’m working at home I make my own salted caramel mocha coffee:

Salted Caramel Mocha Coffee

• 1 cup fresh hot coffee (I usually make decaf)
• 2 pumps Torani Sugar-Free Salted Caramel syrup
• 1/2 packet 25 calorie Swiss Miss instant hot chocolate

Sweet and salty and chocolatey – and less than 25 calories!

$6.99 per 250z bottle: and I like the convenient pump for a 1-time extra $1.99.

Marzetti Sweet & Salty Caramel Dip: niece Rachel came to visit, and gifted us 2 cartons of Sweet & Salty Caramel Dip and a big bag of pretzels: Uh- Oh! I held out for a week, but then I had to open the 1st container…huge mistake! So sweet and so salty and so creamy and so easy! I’m guessing it would be yummy with apples too…but so far I’m sticking to pretzels!

$3.99 for a 16oz container…but I’d buy 2…just in case!

Torani Sugar-Free Salted Caramel Syrup and Marzetti Sweet & Salty Caramel Dip…it makes me happy!

Moi Idea: I’m thinking I might try my nutella poundcake but with Sweet & Salty Caramel Dip in place of the nutella: this could be dangerous!

Christmas around the world: I’m watching Paris dress for the holidays.

This afternoon we shopped Passy Plaza and had to stop and mire the shimmering gold and white lights. It’s not yet Thanksgiving, but it’s beginning to feel alot like Christmas…

I like to snack on hard boiled eggs when I’m rushing but need to eat. Julie asked if I’ve tried Eggies. No, but I’ve seen them at the check-out at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Then Eggies were featured in a BBB flyer. Then an email. And since I was at BBB buying picture frames, and my friend Suzanne was coming to visit and she loves hard boiled eggs as much as I do, and Eggies were sitting right next to the cash register, why not?

Why? Eggies allow you to hard-boil eggs without the shell. Each package has 6 plastic egg shaped containers. You break 1 egg into each container, then boil as normal. Voila! Hard boiled eggs for a quick on-the-go snack, salads, stuffed eggs and other uses. Can also be used to make all-white hard boiled eggs.

$9.99 less 20% coupon I have 6 new Eggies, and an egg separator (which will sit unused in a drawer for a while until I finally throw it away).

btw… Eggies is also sold on TV and online, and the online site states that Eggies are not available in stores. Funny, because I know I bought my Eggies at BBB and I’m pretty sure that’s a store!

Hard-boiled eggs without the shell: it makes me happy!

I’m highly competitive, and love word games so I’ve been a Scrabble addict since I was a kid. When we lived in Paris I bought the Scrabble version Francaise to help expand my French vocabulary, but never mastered French spelling so stopped playing that game. Moi husband and kids have refused to play Scrabble with me for years. Now with Moi iPhone and iPad I’m a Words With Friends addict: I have simultaneous games going with a young mother in England, a Marine in California, a Canadian in France, and countless sisters, nieces and nephews, and friends across the US: even my daughter will play WWF with me. I play in bed, in the car, on buses and train, in planes with WiFi, in line at Target (and to the annoyance of TBG at the dinner table, while watching TV, and anytime or place I can sneak a peak at my iPhone.)So while searching for the perfect birthday gift for a young friend turning 10 this month I bought him Bananagrams: sort of a free-form Scrabble/cross-word game. For 2-8 players aged 7-97. I’m ensuring I’ll be playing WWF for years to come! Completely portable and with its own case it’s perfect for home or on the road. $14.95  Fruits games also available: Appletters and Pairs in Pears.

Friend me on WWF!

I’m not really an early adopter. But I am a big reader. So back in the 90s, with my first Palm Pilot (I hated cell phones, but with a job requiring travel and 2 kids and a husband: necessary!) I discovered eReader: I could download books to my Palm Pilot, and read them wherever, whenever. Back then the selection of e-books was pretty limited, so I pretty much read classics and trashy novels, which kept me entertained for hours on planes, trains and automobiles…and subways, buses, doctors’ offices and cafés. I adjusted to the small screen easily, the only inconvenience was I had to download the books to my computer, and sync my Palm Pilot to load the books, so I had to plan ahead. A small inconvenience with a huge payoff.

screenshot of my iPhone: outdoors

Fast forward 15 years, I was gifted the brand-new cutting-edge Kindle  e-reader (OK, I bought it myself, wrapped it, and handed it to TBG with instructions to gift it. But still…). And I was happy to spend all my spare change on ebooks at Amazon.   Then, I graduated to the iPhone. And the Kindle App. Could life get any better? Yes, in fact it could. This Christmas TBG gifted me the iPad, and he thought of it all by himself.

Kindle: outdoors

The first app I downloaded? The Kindle App, bien sur! So I could be reading a book on my iPhone, Kindle and iPad: wherever was convenient. And some magical mystical amazon internet god saved my place and let me open my book to the correct page, whichever technology I was using. And I can download a book from anywhere, nowadays even planes are offering WiFi…for a price.

Kindle and iPad side by side: outdoors

And so you ask, why do I continue to use both the iPad and Kindle to read? (The iPhone is easy: it’s always with me!) Blame the sun gods.

iPad outdoors: see the palm trees... behind me!

You’ve probably read alot about the e-reader glare factor. If, like moi, you read outdoors…or in the car…, sun glaring on your e-reader screen converts that screen from a reader to a mirror. I’ve purchased the adhesive glare screens for my iPad, and while they reduce the glare, its virtually impossible to be outside in the sun reading for more than a few minutes. So my Kindle remains close-by for dedicated reading, and my iPad is ready for multi-tasking.

Kindle and iPad side by side: indoors

I confess: I watch almost 100% of TV on moi DVR. No commercials, and I save 18 min per hour. But last week I was forced to watch something live, and during a commercial I looked up from moi iPad and was immediately transported back to my Paris life.

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We’re slowly adjusting to the 90° temps and dripping humidity of SoFlo in May: not complaining, just saying. Fluids, lots of fluids. Frappuccinos, of course. Diet Ginger Ale. But trying to keep it healthy and low cal, I was inspired by a Starbucks summer favorite and am now brewing my own green tea lemonade. Couldn’t be simpler, or cheaper… or lower calories.

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