Look what I opened the door to find yesterday afternoon….

Uh…snack food heaven?!
I wanted to do back flips I was so excited with the quantity and quality of this box-o-samples. Thaaaaaaaank you to Sally over at Newman’s Own Organics for graciously sending me all of these products to try. Someone over at that company has their thinking cap on.

Unfortunately, I had just eaten lunch – so I held back for a few hours and then the first thing I ripped into was the Champion Chip Cookies (surprised?). They were actually more delicious than I hoped – and that’s saying a lot. Kind of a subtle sweetness…and a good crispy, but not crumbly, texture. Meeker loved them too, which is great news, because I can now share the responsibility of eating the 3 bags they sent. Then I tried (one bite each) of the dark chocolate bar and the Hermits.



Winners! I mean, dark chocolate speaks for itself, but had no idea what a hermit was until yesterday. It was molasses-like and chewy and wonderful. In fact, I incorporated it into a very tasty yogurt mess this morning.

- ¾ cup plain yogurt
- 2-3 pieces of banana
- 1 crumbled Hermit
- 1 handful of Quaker cinnamon oat squares
- A dump of cinnamon
Yummers. I actually started inventing this mess while lying in bed before I fell asleep last night. You know you’re a food blogger when…
Moving on…
There are often things I have to do as an “adult” that are overwhelming and I have no idea where to begin. I’m very blessed to have the support of a family and a husband who have taken great care to make life easy for me. However, this sometimes puts me at a disadvantage when I’m trying to act like an “adult” – examples of this include: travel plans, setting up electronics, big purchases, paying taxes, car trouble…I could go on forever. In other words: I’m spoiled.

Posting this Lolcats picture makes me a major nerd – I’m so aware)
However, today I was forced had the opportunity to learn how to get license plates for my very first car. When I walked into the DMV, I wanted to cry. That place overwhelms me and I always feel like I’m doing something wrong. But I manned up, and asked for help. Turns out, I brought the wrong paperwork to register my car, so I had to drive back home (still trying to remain calm) and have Meeker help me (how could I ever live alone?) locate the correct documents. When I walked back in the doors, I consciously made a decision to not get overwhelmed, but instead to smile. After a lot of question asking, and writing a major check, I am now the proud owner of 2 license plates to my very own car (2 months after the temporary plates had expired). I feel so grown up. And I did it all mostly by myself.
Afterwards, I felt so accomplished that I cleaned out my car (all those trips with the dog in the backseat really did a number on the “new car smell”), walked that big, dumb, smelly German shepherd, did some laundry and made a fabulous lunch.

- Lots-o-lettuce
- ½ cucumber
- 1 shredded carrot
- ½ can tuna (mixed with spicy mustard)
- Big dollop of hummus
- Balsamic vinegar
Gah. It was an unreal combo. Seriously delicious. But it didn’t quite fill me up so I had some protein pretzels (thanks again NOO) and a perfectly crispy #1.



To be perfectly honest, I’m not a big pretzel fan, but these were just fine. Not anything to scream about – but as far as pretzels go, I liked them. What I did love about them is the 5 grams of protein in each serving. And my diet always lacks protein, so wherever it can be squeezed in, I’ll take it.
Tonight we are going to a restaurant called La Hacienda for my mother-in-law’s birthday celebration. I am head over heels for this place, but the lighting is really dim, so you’ll have to take my word for it that the food looks and tastes excellent.
Adios and vaya con Dios!



Wowza!! A heavenly snack delivery, for sure.
Have a great night out and happy birthday to your M-I-L!
You’ll probably already be down the road to the celebration but please tell Lee happy birthday from us the next time you talk to her!
Dang! Look at that haul, you lucky duck! I’m jealous!
This post was kind of reassuring to read…I’m still coming to the strange realization that by my next birthday I won’t be a teenager anymore. ad a child you have the mindset that adults magically know what to do. I still think that on some level–it’s hard not to believe that somehow mom and dad can’t make it all better. I wonder when I’ll feel truly like an adult.
Have a great time at dinner! Mex is always great celebratory food. Gah I LOVE pretzels. We should have told Newmans to send you all the choc & me all the pretzels.
So jealous of your major score from Newmans! How do you manage to get this free stuff sent to you? Good job on navigating the DMV. Darin is actually going to get his license renewed (ugh) tomorrow morning. The reverse happens in our house as far as me helping him with the paperwork (he helps me out in other ways though
) And I have a very public obsession with crazy cat videos, cat pictures, and of course LOL cats, so your post made my day.
I just email ask the company if I can try their stuff – they usually cooperate.
Wow!! Early Christmas for you!!
looks lik eyou are set on the snack front for LIFE!
love quaker oat squares…never tried the cinnamon tho!
ummm i keep hearing about these hermits, and i think i need to get them in my life now. happy birthday to the MIL – have fun dear katie!
hahha gracias para stopping by my blog too! microwaved larabars are GREAT! try it and let me know what you think! i’m just always experimenting =D
i like your blog tons! =D
I dip those pretzels into pumpkin butter. It’s fantastic!
i loooooove hermits. and yes, those pretz get an A+ in my book. but then i love all things salty
Katie! My mom has the BEST recipe for hermits! She used to make them for me to bring to school on my birthday in elementary school. I LOVE THEM!!!!! And the Newman’s Own ones are pretty good too. I’m so jealous of your delicious looking box of goodies. Yummmm
Oh my you are the luckiest girl ever. Look at all that newmans swag… if you don’t think you can finish that chocolate i will be more than glad to take a few bars off your hands =) Only kidding, enjoy!
We missed you last night! So many pictures that we were unable to sit thru them all!!! Ahhhhhhh!! YOu will see most on FB. LA HACIENDA???? Oh, it is about time for that again!
love you, sis!
Sheep
That’s an amazing package full of goodies there. Good thing you have a helper to eat it all. I’ve been DYING to try the hermits….I might just break down and buy them someday instead of whining about it!
Thanks for the link-love!!!
OMGGGG Girl! Check out that stash! I am JUST now finishing up ALL my samples from Newman that they sent me and OMG everything was soooo amazing!
My favorites:
-honey wheat pretzels (trust me you’ll become a pretzel lover after these)
-champion chip cookies (which i already see you LOVE, i mean how could you not right?)
-the chocolate bars
-sugar cookies
basically EVERYTHING! hahaha! Enjoy my love!
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[...] ran a few errands after this, and then came home to eat more. This one is a repeat from yesterday. Lo [...]
I love the idea of the “yogurt mess.” What a great idea! I would never have thought to throw a cookie in there.
[...] So grown up [...]