Our Wednesday Lunch Date #2: Plant Waters, Habits, and Champagne Cocktails

Hi! How has your week been? I’m happy we can get together today to catch up 🙂 Currently, I’m in Lodi, California – just south of Sacramento – on a sponsored trip with the Almond Board of California. Yesterday, a group of food-loving dietitians and bloggers arrived in town, and today we spent all day learning about almonds, from grafting and growing to marketing to culinary techniques. Tomorrow, we head south to a farm in the Central Valley to watch almonds get shaken down from the trees (!) and visit a processing facility.

I’ve learned a lot about almonds, and I excitedly reported everything I learned to Adam over the phone tonight. There were a lot of surprised “wows!” on his end, and likely a lot of animated gesticulating on mine. In the next few days, I’ll share it all with you too. Get ready. Honey bees, peach trees, and a machine called “the shaker” play a starring role.

For now, here’s what I’ve been up to this past week:

My Recent Press:

• 22 Ways to Get Happy Now – Health Magazine (tip #3 – except “butter” should be “nut butter,” and tip #7)

What I’ve Cooked Lately That Was AWESOME:

• Orange Chicken Stir-Fry with Snow Peas (I served it on top of Trader Joe’s Brown Basmati Rice and used sugar snaps instead of snow peas) – Ellie Krieger (Pin It)

What I’m Reading:

• 5 Healthy Grains with More Protein Than Quinoa – Giselle Castro for Women’s Health
• Grocers Lead Kids to Produce with Junk Food-Style Marketing – Allison Aubrey for NPR
• Study Turns Tables on Value of Breakfast, Weight Loss – Michelle Healy for USA Today
• Obesity Increases Risk of 10 Common Cancers, Study Finds – The Independent
  • Original Source: The Lancet
• Getting More Sleep Could Cut Junk Food Cravings in Half – CBS News
  • Original Source: Appetite
• Plant Waters Grow Into Hot Beverage Market Trend – Standard Times
• Teen Sleeplessness Piles On Risk For Obesity – Science Daily
• Kitchen Hack: Freezing Yogurt in Ice Cube Trays For Smoothies – Marisa Moore for The Cutting Board (Pin It)
• How Long Does It Actually Take To Form a New Habit? – James Clear for Huffington Post
• 9 Great Foods for Weight Loss – Beth Howard for Huffington Post via Grandparents.com

What I’m Salivating Over:

• Strawberry Goat Cheese Bruschetta – Chef John for AllRecipes
• Vanilla Bean Breakfast Quinoa – Fit Foodie Finds (Pin It)
• No Bake Energy Bites Are The Snack You Need This Instant – Kate Bratskeir for Huffington Post (Pin It)
• No Bake Pumpkin Raisin Bites – To Live & Diet In L.A. (Pin It)
• Watermelon, Feta, Basil & Pistachio Salad with Reduced Balsamic Vinaigrette – Iowa Girl Eats (Pin It)
• Dark Chocolate Tangerine Truffles – Almond Board of California (Pin It)
• {10 Ideas} How to Make Yogurt Bars – Kids Activities Blog (Pin It)
• Grape Vanilla Dip with Fruit Skewers – Cabot (Pin It)
• Healthy Stir Fry Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less – EatingWell (Pin It)
• 50 of the Best Peach Recipes – Brown Eyed Baker (Pin It)
• Basil Pesto Almonds – Almond Board of California (Pin It)
• Sweet Potato Hummus – Whole Living (Pin It)
• 5 Ingredient Fig & Honey Breakfast Quinoa – Diets In Review (Pin It)
• Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Avocado – Dawna Stone for Mind Body Green (Pin It)
• Champagne & Tequila Sparkler – Liquor.com (Pin It)
• Mason Jar Chickpea, Farro & Greens Salad (& other jar salad suggestions!) – Cookie + kate (Pin It)
• 16 Recipes That Pack Well For Lunch (all vegetarian) – Cookie + kate (Pin It)
• 8 Healthy Snacks to Prepare with Kids – The Cutting Board (Pin It)
• Matt’s Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Fannetastic Food (Pin It)
• 5 Minute No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars – Fannetastic Food (Pin It)

Fun Food Quiz!

• Which Celebrity Chef Are You (Quiz) – Kitchen Daily <I got Emeril – BAM!>

The Week in Photos:

The internet at my hotel is too slow to load photos, so I’ll double up next Wednesday. I was going to show you some photos from the California Dietetic Association’s Fall Leadership Conference in Los Angeles, which I attended on Friday. I also made a delicious dinner (the orange chicken linked above) and tried Trader Joe’s new cookie butter ice cream (personally unimpressed – I’ll stick with their vanilla when the craving strikes).

Be well! See you for another mid-week lunch date next Wednesday!

Any favorite recipes, new products, articles, or quizes you’d like to share?