Life on the run: Nutrition Bars

This is not going to be an in-depth review of all the protein and nutrition bars out there. Instead, it's going to be a brief listing of the flavors of Clif and Luna bars I've had recently. Just so you know.

Yesterday, Brooks Pharmacy only had one flavor of Luna bar and the only other bars they had were in the Zone. I was in a rush, running from Pilates to knitting (oh the exciting life I lead), so I just grabbed it. Lemon Zest. A crunchy rice-y bar with lemon frosting on one side. It was so-so. Kind of tasted like Lemon Pledge, but not in a bad way. Didn't make me feel sick to my stomach with sweetness, like the Cranberry Almond Clif bar did.

Today, I stocked up on 5 flavors of Luna bar (on sale for $1.00 each). I had a Cookies and Cream with white frosting and am glad I only bought one. Didn't really taste like chocolate at all, just sort of flavorless. Didn't make me feel sick though, and I wasn't hungry for about 2 hours.

I don't like Power Bars - nasty consistency, and the Harvest ones just don't taste good. Clif bars are too sweet and also too big - I feel like I should eat the whole thing but then I get sick of it and it's wasted. Also, they have a consistency like extra-dense dates. Really, not what I need when I'm hungry.

So far, the Luna bars have the best consistency.

Road Trip: North Carolina

I recently spent a few days with some friends in Cary, North Carolina. This is near the Raleigh/Durham area. It was my first trip and our host made sure to take us to all the hot spots for both tourists and locals.

First stop, the City Limits in Cary. This place has it all: mechanical bull, line dancing, dollar Bud Light bottles, and a black light so every speck of lint shows up on your black shirt. If you've been reading this blog for a while, or if you know me, you know that this place isn't my usual speed. But, I was on vacation and I have to say, it was a sight to see. Pulling into the parking lot, we came upon a pickup truck waving Confederate flags and another that had "balls" hanging from the trailer hitch. The ultimate in classy.

This is where I had my first Jager Bomb (as described in an earlier post). My friend (caught the eye of some supposed cowboys, one of whom turned out to be a lawyer in disguise. Anyway, they bought us shots. It took me abut 10 sips to finish it, since I was stuffed from dinner and had already had a beer. As you know, I liked it. The rest of the night I stuck to the Bud Light, mainly because it was cheap, it was really hot in NC that night, and I didn't want to be too hungover the next day. If you're in NC, and want to hear music that ranges from hip hop to country line dancing and the Electric Slide, with a little Bon Jovi thrown in for good measure, check out the City Limits. I saw a Less-Than-D-List celebrity there. No, I didn't go up and talk to him. We also spent lots of time watching a group of 3 guys perform choreographed dances to just about every hip-hop song they played.

The next night, we went to the Red Room in Raleigh for tapas. We had the following:

• Calamaris Fritos (delicious, cooked perfectly, great batter)
• Pan con Chorizo y Manchego (Chorizo flatbread with artichokes, peppers,tomatoes, Manchego and spanish paprika) My favorite. Basically a chorizo pizza. Chorizo is like, really rich, dense, and sort of sweet sausage, but with a hint of heat. Manchego is a mild flavored Spanish cheese.
• Quesadilla con Polo y Aguacate (Chicken and avocado quesadilla with pico de gallo and sour cream) Good, but nothing special.
• Patatas Bravas con Aioli (Fried potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce with garlic mayonnaise) OMG like the best home fries you've ever tasted!
• I had a glass of white sangria. So tasty and great for the summer. Sadly, I forgot to eat the maraschino cherry before the waitress (who sucked, by the way) took it away. Anyway, I'm thinking of making some over the weekend.

On Sunday, we drove to Wrightsville Beach, where I had a delicious and very filling bowl of seafood gumbo (tomato based spicy soup) at The Oceanic restaurant. We sat on the pier and looked at the ocean as we ate. SO relaxing.

Our last day was Monday and our host took us to Chapel Hill. We had a nice lunch at the Top of the Hill Restaurant, a brewpub. They have outdoor seating and you can people watch from this second floor patio. I had the Hugh Morton Mango Lager to drink. It was decent, with a hint of mango flavor - not too overpowering. I bought a sixer of cans of Rams Head IPS to bring home. On that note it turns out that a "Fragile" sticker put on the suitcase to protect the brew actually invites damage, as shown in the photo below.
























For lunch, I had the Smoked Paprika Chicken sandwich with beer battered fries. Tasty.

The IPA was good too. Pretty strong (6.0%) and reasonably hoppy. I gave a few away and I have one left in the fridge.

Overall, a good eating vacation. I could write another whole post about all the delicious food that our host made us but I'll leave you with just one short description. Easy appetizer: Fresh mozzarella (the soft kind that comes in balls), sliced tomato, and balsamic vinegar for drizzling. You could reduce the vinegar to thicken it, but the vinegar we used seemed thick enough to start with. I guess it depends on what you buy.

Delux, you did us wrong, but you saved it in the end

I went back, again, to Delux (in the South End, Boston, Chandler St). This time, the food was more of a miss than I hit. I got the BBQ pulled pork sandwich with a side of potato salad. My friend ordered the chicken special - boneless chicken breast with rosemary and other spices over saffron rice and beans. We shared and both had the same opinion. The potato salad was quite delicious, but the pulled pork was pretty dry. I've had much better. The chicken was delicious, but the rice was undercooked and quite crunchy. It was a shame. We ended up telling the waitress and she was very apologetic. She brought us the dessert special, on the house, which was really nice and totally appropriate. It was really good: marble cheesecake with buttescotch and chocolate and pecans on top, and a dollop of whipped cream. The perfect size slice to share.

We decided that we love the atmosphere and the beer is great (Tremont Ale on tap), and prices are right, but maybe we'll stick to the grilled cheese on future visits. I think I'd like to try the quesadillas sometime too.

Jager Bomb

I recently discovered the Jager Bomb, though I girled it up and had it as a mixed drink instead of the traditional shot form. Basically, it's Jagermeister and Red Bull. It's very tasty, sort of tastes like Dr. Pepper, and is good to have if you don't feel like drinking bottles and bottles of light beer, are too full to drink heavy beer, and are out waaaaay past your bedtime but have at least two hours to go before your head hits the pillow.

Cheers!

Almmmmmond Croissant

Running late today, and after the sad, sorry free coffee I had at work yesterday (watered down make your own iced coffee), I just had to get a delicious iced coffee from The Bean Counter (Highland Street, Worcester, MA). I also quickly decided to buy an almond croissant. They looked huge and delicious sitting in the counter-top case. The almond filling was just spilling out of the end, and there were tasty-looking bits of almonds and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. How could I resist?

The iced coffee was great, as usual. Medium-body. I started drinking it immediately, after I added milk (no sugar). I saved the sweet reward until I got to work. It was worth the wait. The amount of filling was very generous, compared to some other almond croissants I've had - not dry, quite buttery, and very decadent.

Now that I've had such a good almond croissant, I'm on a quest to try them at every bakery I swing by. I'll start this weekend and do a roundup after I've tried enough to make it worth writing about.

UPDATE The Bean Counter also does a delicious chocolate croissant.

Red Pepper Jelly

If you've never had red pepper jelly, I recommend you go right out and get some. It's basically, crushed red peppers in a sweet jelly. I know, it sounds like it would taste really gross, but it doesn't. The amount of red pepper is not over-abundant, and it's not like you'd spread it on a piece of toast and eat it for breakfast. I usually have it with a good sharp cheddar cheese and crackers. I do love cheddar cheese when it's been able to come to room temperature. The flavor is much stronger.

i buy my red pepper jelly at Cape Cod Crafters in Olde Shrewsbury Village, but you can pick it up at any good grocery store. I was in the Vermont Country Store last weekend and sampled some Red Raspberry Pepper Jelly - not as spicy as the plain Red Pepper Jelly.

On second thought, the pepper jelly might be good on rye pr pumpernickel toast alongside* 2 fried eggs.




*Ever watch Sports Night, by far one of the best TV shows ever? Ever night, the anchor would announce that he was "Dan Rydell alongside Casey McCall" or vice versa. I always loved that.

Dunkin Donuts

I recently had my first Dunkin Donuts Smoothie - wildberry flavor. It was pretty tasty and hit the spot as an afternoon pick-me-up. There was a lot of berry flavor, though it was vaguely reminiscent of Island Oasis. Basically, a virgin frozen multi-berry daiquiri. I ended up with a large, because they made a mistake. I wanted a medium, and as it turns out, I'd have been better off with a small. It was good, but after a while, too sickly sweet and I had a stomach ache at the end.

Delux Cafe, Again

I went back to Delux in the South End of Boston recently, and it was just as good as the last time. I had the rotating flavor of grilled cheese: fontina with sliced bear pear and tomato on sourdough. Delish.

On the side was the best cole slaw I've ever had! This slaw wasn't just green and red cabbage with carrot sticks. There was green cabbage, carrots sliced the wide way, kind of waffle cut, actually. Also, thinly sliced cauliflower! Awesome!

My dining companion had the lobster ravioli with a cream sauce on it. It came with a side salad that wasn't really much to talk about: basically, field greens and dressing. Boring, and kind of stemmy. The ravioli received praise, but the cheese that was shredded on top was not appreciated.

The menu rotates every 6 weeks; I'll try it again next month! The prices are good, the food's tasty, and it's got a cool atmosphere.

Hebert Candies

One of my favorite, and sweetest, childhood memories, is of visiting my grandmother. She and my aunts lived over on the other side of the city, and we were frequent visitors. They had a giant TV that sat on the floor, encased in wood. And they always had multiple boxes of Hebert Candies chocolates, both white and milk. The chocolates were small solid squares, about 48 of them or so in a plastic sleeve, a little pocket for each piece of chocolate. Between the 5 of us kids, we'd eat probably two boxes in one sitting. Not the cheapest snack!

Hebert Candies was a family owned business since 1914, but in 2005 it was acquired by a larger company. They've saved the Hebert Candies name and have recently launched a new candy bar: The Fully Loaded line. They're on sale this week at CVS for $1.50 each. I bought one - dark chocolate, shaped into 12 squares, each filled with margarita lime liquid filling. Delicious. The filling offers a nice, tangy taste, and if you let the chocolate melt in your mouth, you will be able to appreciate the chocolate taste. I've had dark chocolate that has a stronger chocolate flavor, but I think this one is good blended with a filling. I ate the whole candy bar and it was only 10 grams of fat (or was it 15? - who cares? I never eat candy bars. It's better than eating the Pepperidge Farm Chocolate right off the styrofoam tray with a fork. When it's still partially frozen.)

Anyway. They also have apple, raspberry, and some other flavors.

Bukhara Bistro - Yummy Indian Food

Twice, within three days, I had the pleasure of dining on food from Bukhara Bistro, located on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. This Indian food is just superb. The first meal was takeout. We had samosas, chicken saag, chicken korma, and a lamb dish that I didn't try. Naturally, it came with delicious jasmine rice. The rice was cooked perfectly, and was not mushy at all. Each grain was separated from the rest, you know? The chicken saag was quite spicy, and the chicken was very tender. The korma had a great rich flavor, and the chicken here was tender as well. I love it when you don't need a knife to cut the chicken - it cuts easily with a fork. The samosas were filled with potatoes and peas, and came with that delicious sweet sauce. Overall, a filling, tasty meal.

A couple of days later, I was at the Wake up the Earth festival in JP and was starving. They had tons of food vendors set up and I could have chosen from a number of good burrito places, but it was Cinco de Maio and I was going out for Mexican that night. Then, I smelled the wonderful scent of curry and headed immediately to the Bukhara booth. For $8, I got enough food to feed two people: rice, chicken saag and vegetable korma. Really, quite delicious. I can't say it enough. I've seen Bukhara at an arts and music festival in Cambridge as well. If you see them, definitely try their food. I will certainly go back to Bukhara. I've actually eaten in the restaurant, for lunch, and it was great as well.

The Turkey Bacon

The Turkey Bacon sub is by far my (and my sister's) favorite sub. The best one around can be had at Steve's Pizza in West Boylston. I stopped by on my way home from work on the way to a class in Holden. I had about 40 minutes to get from Steve's to Main St, Holden, eat my dinner, and get to the class by 6:30. I didn't have the number programmed, so I ordered when I got there: Small Turkey Bacon with everything, plus pickles. It took about 10 minutes, cost $5.75, and was big enough (about 12 inches!) that I was full from half and the rest will be tomorrow's lunch. Sweet.

About the sub: plenty of turkey, good quality, not slimy, not too much that you feel sick chomping through a whole pile of turkey; good bacon, appropriately crispy, more meat than fat (yay!). Overall, a good deal.

Worst Turkey Bacon: The Boynton. Not much turkey, about 8 inches long, too much lettuce, hard, pale, tasteless tomatoes, and last time I ordered takeout, they forgot the bacon. Really. How can you forget the bacon on the freaking Turkey Bacon sub? I will never order it from there again. My friend ordered a BLT, and there were like two pieces of bacon on it. HOW RUDE.

Panera Bagel

Running late to work and hungry, I stopped at Panera for a bagel and a coffee. I picked the Asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese, and a medium hot coffee.

First, I found I had to pump my own coffee. I kind of don't like that. I'm okay with adding my own milk but I'd like to get the cup with the coffee already in it.

Second, the bagel was to go and they didn't spread the cream cheese. Now, if it's to go, wouldn't you think, maybe I'm getting in my car, so how would I spread the cheese while driving? So I did it myself in the place.

Third, the bagel wasn't really a good bagel. It actually seemed like it was made from butter roll dough. It was really greasy, nothing like those great Bagel Time bagels. I wish I had just gone there. It cost about $4. Too much, if you ask me.

Satisfying the Mall Thirst

You have five dollars, you’ve been at the mall for four hours, and you’re really thirsty. You need a pick-me-up, and a water or a Coke just won’t do. You want a good, satisfying beverage. I’ve been in this situation twice recently, both times at the Providence Place Mall.

The first time, I’d been to each and every shoe store twice, and bought some at the very first store I entered. This day called for an Orange Julius. Last time I had one was probably at least 5 years ago, at the Auburn Mall. The OJ tastes the same as it did back in the day: orangey, creamy, and slightly unnatural. This one wasn’t as foamy as I remembered, but it did the trick. Price: about $4.

The second time, I was wiped out and had a long night ahead of me, so I opted for the caffeinated route. There’s a coffee shop right outside of Nordstrom’s. You can get normal coffee there, plus all the fancy stuff, and dessert. I went for the Iced Caffe Mocha. My shopping buddy got the Iced Caramel Mocha. Both were fantastic: just enough caffeine, the flavoring didn’t overpower the coffee flavor, and the grande was large enough to make it all the way home from Providence to Worcester (though, I sipped it kind of slowly, I’ll admit.) Price: about $9 for the two coffees.

(by the way, I think $4 is RIDICULOUS for an iced coffee, but I'll indulge if the occasion is right.)

Mmm Pudding

Today I had a chocolate pudding from the work cafeteria. For a mere 90 cents, I got a nice big cup of puddin' with a dollop of whipped cream on top. It it the spot, right about when I was getting sleepy at my desk.

This brings me to another pudding I had recently. It was Jell-o pudding snack cups from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It was really pretty awful. Not creamy at all, kind of metallic tasting, and not low-fat. If it was low-fat, I'd be okay with it, because at least I would have saved some calories on bad flavor. But this was definitely not worth the calories. I think the Hunt's ones are good. But def not the Jell-o. Bleah.

O'Connor's

Saturday night, there were 2 of us for dinner, and we didn't do call-ahead seating for O'Connor's. The wait was about 30 minutes, which wasn't bad, considering the parking lot was almost full. At O'Connor's, there's no better place to wait than the bar. They have a great selection of beers on tap (Guinness, Wachusett, Harpoon, Bass, and revolving microbrews). I chose the Opa Opa IPA. Pretty tasty. Not as hoppy as Harpoon but good. My Dining Companion (DC for short) had the Guinness and said it was very good.

We were seated in practically the last table in the place - meaning, it was like, waaayyy in the back, around two corners, and in the corner. Not a bad table at all, really.

For dinner, I had the Tortellini and Chicken. Delicious breaded chicken sliced and placed atop a large bowl of tortellini swimming in a parmesan cream sauce, with peas and bacon. Really good. Before, I had a salad, which was also great. Fresh lettuce, good Italian dressing (I think it was a red wine vinaigrette). I might have ordered the soup instead of the salad but the choices were Broccoli and Cheese, Cream of Mushroom, and Clam Chowder. Why do restaurants do that? Put all cream soups on the same day? How about a broth soup, people?

DC ordered the Tom Brady, which is an 8oz filet with blue cheese on top, all on top of mashed potatoes and sauteed onions. I tried the filet and it was really flavorful. The blue cheese added just enough zest, and it was cooked exactly as ordered.

No room for dessert.

Two tips for the ladies:

1) Don't match your dining companion drink for drink if you don't want to forget your leftovers in the car.

2) Leave breadcrumbs when going to the bathroom. You might get lost going back to your seat.

Awkward Coffee Experience

I'm not a coffee snob. Quite the opposite. At work, there's coffee to buy (Seattle's Best but not really the best, in my opinion - too bitter) and there's coffee for free. I like good coffee, but I don't want to pay for it every day. I'd rather buy shoes than coffee. The free coffee is some no-name brand, and every day there's regular, decaf, and two flavored ones. The flavored ones are always gross, like mint chocolate or acid-stomach Irish Creme. In the summer, there's free iced coffee, but they stop making it around September. So, what I do is, fill a big cup with ice, pour some plain free coffee in the cup, add more ice, and top it off with skim. What I get is a big cup of watery iced coffee. Not delicious, but it gets me through the morning, I don't get really jittery from excess caffeine, and I avoid the coffee-withdrawal headache I'd get if I skipped it.

On the days I'm really late to work, I'll often stop at the Bean Counter on Highland Street. My theory is, if you're late, you're late. What's 5 more minutes? I either get an iced coffee, with milk (they don't have skim, so I have real milk), or a hot coffee, something with some flavor. The iced coffee at the Bean is good enough to drink black, and I always like the hot coffees as well. Recently, I started getting lattes, and you really can't go wrong with a latte. They're better at Starbucks than at Dunkin Donuts, and are also good at Bean and the new place in Holden, Sweets and Java.

To get to the point, usually I'm in the Bean Counter in the morning, and I'm in and out pretty quickly. It's always pretty busy, with people in line and sitting at tables. The other night, I met a friend for a coffee around 6 pm. It was Thursday (I know this because I had to get home for a new episode of The Office), and the first room (the one where you enter) was pretty empty. Just one person at the front table. We decided to sit in the second room, which I guess you could call the back, even though it's just as close to the street at the first room. Anyway, there was just one other party at first, and they were pretty quiet. Then a few more tables became filled up, with people either reading, on a laptop, or writing a paper or something. It was still really quiet, even with all these people. Except, of course, for me and my friend. We were catching up, and were talking at a normal volume, not loud or anything, but after a while, we felt like we should start - not quite whispering - but - talking more softly. There wasn't any music playing where we were. I think there was a radio on behind the counter but it seemed to be for the people working there, not for the customers. The lights were blazing bright, the walls were painted a light beige, and the tables were white formica-topped. There were paintings on the walls, but they were really small, and got lost on the sand-colored wall.

Basically, the atmosphere sucked. The coffee was good, but I wouldn't go there again for a sit-down coffee. This isn't the first time I've felt this vibe, and if it hasn't changed in two years, it's probably not going to. My suggestion: warm up the wall color, add some non-fluorescent lighting, some tablecloths or something, and definitely a little background music.

The Flatbread Company Falls Flat

A group of 9 visited the Flatbread Company in Bedford, Mass. last week for a lunch. The food was simple and okay but the setup and functioning of the place was disgusting and annoying. More to follow . . . with pix.

I want to wash out my mouth with soap. It would taste better.

Recently, Price Chopper jumped on the organic foods bandwagon and introduced a brand called Wild Oats. They even had two coupons in their sale flyer recently, so I clipped them and went happily to the Chopper to pickup some discounted organic eats.

One coupon was $1 off any Wild Oats brand item. I opted for this delicious looking Orange Tangerine natural soda. It was a nice orange color, decent packaging, and usually natural sodas are pretty tasty. Not this one. This nastiness tasted like old musty orange drink. Drink, not juice. It was gross, and a total waste of money on my part and effort on theirs. What a disappointment.

If you're looking for a natural soda, I'd say, try Hansen's. For orange soda, Polar Orange Dry is my pick any day. Regular, not diet.

Update!
I emailed Wild Oats with my complaint:

Dear Wild Oats,

I recently purchased Wild Oats Natural Orange Tangerine Italian Soda, and
was completely dissatisfied. The product tasted old, and didn\'t really
taste like tangerine at all. I only had one glass and discarded more than
half the bottle. I paid $.99 for it (priced at 1.99 - 1.00 off coupon.)
The cap says: Prod:052606, best by 082607. It is not out of date.

So...not sure if it's a bad batch, but the bottle says Satisfaction
Guaranteed and I am not satisfied.

Here's the reply (which came just three hours later):

Thank you for contacting Wild Oats with your comments. I am sorry to hear
about your poor experience with our soda. I would like to offer you a coupon
to replace this item. If you are interested, please reply with your address
and I will get one in the mail for you right away.

Thanks, Mom, for making the suggestion to contact them!

Good Ice Cream

Ben and Jerry's on Newbury Street


Overall, a good experience here. The line was practically out the door when we got there, but it moved quickly and in no time, we were embarking on a sugar rush.

I paired the Phish Food (surf and turf edition, with both chocolate cows and fish) with Strawberry Cheesecake on a sugar cone. Both delicious. The SC tasted a lot like cheesecake, and the Phish Food was, as always, great. Chocolate ice cream, caramel swirl, chocolate fish. It was a beautiful day for a snack and we were even able to get a table outside in the sun.

My nephew got the Black Raspberry frozen yogurt. He's a Black Rasp connoisseur - gets it everywhere he goes. He seemed quite pleased with it and ate the entire thing before I'd even finished my first scoop. I noticed that there were real raspberry chunks swirled in. Impressive.

My brother got the new flavor, Creme Brulee. Custard ice cream with swirled caramelized sugar. The caramelized sugar was crunchy, not smooth or soft like caramel. He said it was good.

One final note: You know it's expensive. You could buy a pint for less than you pay for a small cone (2 scoops) but I don't think there's a 7 Eleven on Newbury Street.

Miracle of Science

Saturday night
Miracle of Science Bar and Grille
321 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge

Out for a few beers with a brother and a friend on Saturday night. Where to go in Boston when you're driving, don't want to pay for parking, want good beer on tap (you know, not clear beer like Bud light), and maybe a little snack? We tried the Miracle of Science. The parking was easy, just around the corner. We got there around 10 and were able to get a table with 1 chair and a bench, so room for 3.

It was pretty busy - great people watching at this bar.

The food menu is listed on a chalkboard, in a periodic table of elements. Element "Hb" was for a hamburger.

I shared a chicken quesadilla with my brother. It was delicious, reasonably priced ($4.95, I think), and large. They had 5 beers on tap, including Guiness, Ipswich Ale (I had it, it was good), Bass (also good), and HopDevil IPA.

I'd definitely go back here if I was looking for a casual dinner and good beer, with atmosphere.