It started with the husband’s bike trip to the grocery store…
Failure #1
He went for milk and eggs for dinner and came home with partially hydrogenated “all natural” cookies and cream ice cream. He apparently doesn’t read labels and said that was one I “always wanted to get.” (I always debated between fruit flavors and mint!) Anyways, he rode his bike back to exchange it for mint, which was what he wanted all along!
Failure #2
He had also bought a new kind of beer to try = failure #2. Wild Blue Blueberry Lager. I like that raspberry wheat beer we’ve had and he wanted to get something new to try, so he figured this one would be good. It was NOT BEER. It was a wine cooler and was quite gross. Sweet and fizzy. The husband declared it “the worst beer ever.”
I had about 3-4 oz and decided it would be better suited diluted and mixed with some diet tonic. It actually wasn’t that bad this way and was less alcoholic.
In the spirit of exchanging things, I suggest he call HT and see if they had a 100% guarantee policy on products. Turns out they do, and they were happy to exchange the other 5 bottles for something else. I had a few sips from his new bottle, which was much better. Thanks Harris Teeter!
Failure #3
Failure #3 was dinner: Whole Wheat Crepe Sandwiches. I watched a man at Pier 39 in San Francisco make about 25 in a row – it was mesmerizing! I decided they looked easy too. Wrong! Well, at least the recipe we chose was. I did a bunch of research and decided to try this one from Recipezaar that got some good review: Basic Whole Wheat French Crepes. Our batter settled too much and the first 3-4 turned out to be scrambled pancakes (which were still good, but not good for filling!)
Finally we got 5 small solid crepes to work with, which we stuffed with turkey (2 slices for me), pepperjack (1 slice for me) and chopped basil.
I tri-folded them like the man in SF did – I think it’s much more appealing than roll-ups!
I had 2 – one from early in the batch and the last one, which had all the bran in it, which explains the color change (and texture too)
Plus the ugly duckling!
We also had a mystery recipe as a side dish. Some roasted potatoes and stuff in flavors..
It was a good dinner, but not as good as we’d hoped.
But the exciting part is: there’s a VIDEO to go with the crepe failure!! I am going to edit it tomorrow, so look for it then.
After dinner when we were feeling full we went for a 40 minute walk around our neighborhood. We got rained on during the final half mile or so! But not too bad.
Look what was in our garage and scared me to death!! I’ve never seen anything like it…
I didn’t really need a snack again today thanks to a later lunch. We’ve been eating dinner earlier these days so by the time I get hungry around 5 or 5:30 it’s time to start thinking about dinner. It’s nice having three meals because it means I can eat a little more at each (particularly dinner), but I do think I should get back to having a little less and a snack because I suppose it’s better for the metabolism, blood sugar and dinner portion control.
I’m starting my second random library book tonight, Milk, Glass, Moon by Adriana Trigiani, so I can hurry through and read some more books after that!
Casey says
Mmmm, that mystery side dish looks wonderful!
I love the convenience of skipping snacks and simply sticking to three meals. Do you think this is bad for the metabolism?
sarah says
I hate to harp on this but it’s -anyway-not anyways.
Sami says
Aww, poor, “ugly duckling.” . . . =]
This reminds me of my French class’s crepe party!
We had it 1st period for breakfast.
Including a topings bar with all sorts of jams and fruits.
Good times. =]
Laura says
Those crepes still look awesome! I had a question off subject again, but for canned black beans do you just dump them out, rinse them, and let them dry. I’ve bought beans from a can before (I think pinto) and didn’t know how to eat them and then was disgusted by the gross liquid stuff all over them but I guess they wouldn’t just be dry and in a can. Any suggestions would be great because I’m clueless!
Alyssa says
Has anyone read this? It is an article about Whole Foods and adjusting their prices and image admist the bad economy. Sounds interesting…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/business/02food.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
Brittany says
My boyfriend and the husband would get along well considering the wild blue “beer” being coined the worst beer ever. You’re right, it’s not a beer and it’s not so good. Apparently from my boyfriends beer knowledge, it’s made by Anheuser-Busch- definitely not a micro-brew, which I think they try to convey from the package. Breckenridge Brewery beers are much higher on the list of good beers!
yadi says
Laura, I rarely buy canned beans because it’s so easy for me to boil and cook my own. I get a bag of beans, soak over night, cover pot and boil with a few cloves of garlic and sea salt to taste at the end. I divide into portions and freeze in freezer bags. I get some out and thaw in fridge when needed. This way I control the sodium and texture of beans. I find them to be much tastier this way… If in a hurry I resort to canned, but not my often.
Kath, I think that if I went through all the trouble with the crepes, I better have something super tasty as the filling… Turkey sounded a little sad and plain for the work you put into them. Great effort, crepes are hit and miss with me.
Sylvia says
Hi Laura. The liquid stuff in canned beans is off-putting to look at, but it’s totally harmless, basically just salt and water to preserve the beans. I dump everything out into a colander, rinse the beans under cold water, and pat them dry with a paper towel. At that point, they’re ready to use as a salad topping, or to throw into a frying pan with olive oil and garlic and onions and rice, or to toss into a pot with ground turkey to make chili, or however else you like to prepare them.
Hope that helps!
Sylvia says
Oops, forgot a small P.S.: Goya brand canned beans are probably the best I’ve tasted, especially the black beans. Iberia brand isn’t bad either.
Justy2003 says
Ever since I quit calorie-counting I find that I don’t need nearly as many snacks since I’m listening to my body’s hunger cues instead of shooting for a certain amount of calories per meal/snack. I haven’t really thought of it as a bad thing though…I figure if I need a snack my body will tell me and then I’ll have one. And, like you said, I get to enjoy bigger meals sometimes! 🙂
That is a weird looking bug! I have no idea what that is!
Hungry says
Ok, so I ate a well balanced breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, then another snack. Lots of protein, veggies, whole grains, the whole nine yards… I went to bed, not “full,” but satisfied from the day’s eatings. I was so frustrated to wake up after about an hour HUNGRY! Very hungry. So hungry I woke up and just had to get a little something to make it go away. Does this happen to others despite all efforts to try to fill yourself up all day long? This was a true hunger by the way, not a craving. And let me stress once more, I’m not lacking in any nutrition departments for any protein, fiber, etc. I’m just frustrated to not be able to eat my simple 5-6 mini meals and still not be satisfied to the point where I have to do some nighttime snacking. Any advice, experience, etc. is appreciated in advance! 🙂
Hungry says
Part of what makes me feel frustrated is it seems I eat more than Kath throughout the day and still wake up hungry! I don’t see how sometimes she can just go to bed and never post some kind of nighttime munchie snack with as much as she works out and how much less she seems to eat than me. Kath, do have you/do you ever struggle with this? Is it lack of willpower on my part or is there something else to my desire to eat a snack late at night?
MKM says
The side dish looks amazing – tomatoes make most dishes taste and look sooooo much better!
And, I agree, that bug is quite creepy!!!! :S
BethT says
Yeah, crepes are an art form. Just keep trying 🙂
caitlinbo (see bride run) says
hungry, remember that everyone is different! what works for kath might not work for you! if you are truly experiencing hunger pains, you just aren’t eating enough. i eat way, way more than some other food bloggers because its what i need!
do you keep a food diary? ive found that its really helpful when i experience something like you experienced with waking up in the middle of the night. i can dissect that day’s food and see where the day went wrong — because, lets face it, being woken by hungry means something isnt right 🙂
but of course, i’ve been woken up by intense hunger pains before too and honestly, a glass of skim milk does wonders! the milk helps you fall back to sleep too. its not too caloric either so you aren’t doing much damage.
dylan says
the salmon in your salad looks soooo yummy
and you look really pretty in a headband! (:
MKM says
Oh wait, I just realized that those might be red bell peppers and not tomatoes.. my bad!
Well, whatever it is, it looks delish haha! 😀
MizFit says
of course I read that and think:
WILD BLUE? YOU LOOK TEMPTING 🙂
all
kinds
of
wrong
oatmeal says
Aaah the garage is like a haven for weird bugs!
And at least some of the crepes turned out alright 😀 There’s always a silver lining!
Hungry,
I’m the same way! Usually when that happens I eat, but I also make sure to have a huge glass of water and make sure my snack is a mixture of things–not just one thing. It works for me!
But like caitlinbo said, everyone’s different! If you find that you’re able to eat a lot and still maintain a healthy weight, there’s no reason why you should feel bad about it 😀
C says
That is one gross looking bug!
Dottie says
Blueberry beer..you must try sweetwater blue, it’s blueberry beer! it’s actual beer…and sooooo good!
sarah says
personally i think the crepes look quite successful — i can’t imagine what would happen if i ever tried to make them (likely: a mess).
and yes that blue stuff sounds tragic.
haya says
crepes take a lot of practice! i think i finally got them the last time i made them, but i don’t make crepes enough to remember the tricks i learned the last time each new time. you’ll get it eventually. (the batter has to be pretty runny and you have to wait to flip them so you don’t end up with the “scramble”)
Kath says
Casey ,
I personally don’t think it’s bad for the metabolism as long as you’re not hungry. But I haven’t gotten far enough in nutritional biochemistry to form an educated opinion. But I think if there’s any metabolic con, it’s probably very small and insignificant.
Laura ,
A good rinse is all it takes! You can eat the liquid (like in soups) if you want – it’s safe.
Alyssa ,
Interesting article. If only we even HAD a WF around here!
yadi ,
We thought about going wacko with fillings, but since the crepes themselves were a handful we kept it simple. Maybe next time!
Justy2003,
I totally agree about hunger cues and snacks. I find that I really don’t need one as much as I used to think I did.
Hungry ,
That has happened to me once or twice. If you’re eating enough calories during the day, my guess might be that you’re really thirsty? Does water do anything? I agree that a glass of milk is the perfect midnight snack.
[Just read your response and definitely think your body just needed more fuel!]
Thanks dylan 🙂
Kath
Hungry says
Thanks for the advice everyone! 🙂 I’m trying not to count calories these days, but I decided to go back and count up everything I’d had and it wasn’t too terribly low, but it totaled up to 1200ish. So, I wasn’t meeting my needs to maintain for the day and that is the reason for the hunger. I’m trying to find that balance between eating too little and too much… grrr, finding a healthy balance frustrates me to no end!
The Idle Loaf says
My husband absolutely hated that blueberry beer when he tried it a few months ago. He was glad to hear he wasn’t the only one.
Tina O. says
OMG-what the hell is that bug???!! I would have had a heart attack!! It looks huge-ewww!
meredith says
koops-i went to both of those breweries when i was out in colorado! scott and i had the best lunch ever at breckenridge brewery…i’m surprised they are nationally distributed. its an awesome sportsbar/restaurant right outside coors field in denver. look for budwieser’s new red beers….clamata juice+bud. sounds gross, but surprisingly yummy!
Kath says
meredith,
HI!! When are we going to get together!? Any lake visits planned?
We should do a trip to visit microbreweries when we’re old ladies – to revisit the college days 🙂
K