…Comparative & Superlative Modifiers?  Well, those always came naturally!

Example of a GOOD breakfast: Naturally More & Jelly Toast

Example of an BETTER meal?  Lunch: Leftover Stuffed Peppers

The BEST?  Huge delicious salad made at home for dinner!

Toppings modifiers? Let’s do it!

GOOD – kalamata olives, cucumbers, artichokes, onions, banana peppers, tomatoes

BETTER – Tribe Sundried Tomato & Basil Hummus

BEST – Sneaky Pumpernickel Stick!

Talk about a perfect summer salad!

And my FAVORITE new low calorie snack, for when I get the munchies before bed?

Mr. Wheat Crispy Wheat!

These suckers are fantastic – if you see them in a store near you – pick them up!  I grabbed them Saturday on a whim, and I’m so glad I did!

What’s your favorite new food find these days????

I’d go with the Mr. Wheat snack, or with Archer Farm Maui Onion Kettle Cooked Chips!

The way I chose to start things off?

1 serving of frozen pineapple, 1 serving frozen strawberries, 8oz of water, and a Chocolate Amazing Grass packet!

Might not be as pretty as a GREEN smoothie – but I assure you – it was delicious (and nutritious AND low in calories!)

While I did actually go grocery shopping two weeks in a row (woohoo, go me!) – I’ve been working on cleaning out our freezer, so I opted for a Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous frozen meal for lunch.

Trader Joe’s FAIL!

This was a very gag-y dish. Yuck, yuck, yuck.  Usually I have no problem with frozen veggies/meals – but this one was terrible.  I picked around what I could, but I would NEVER buy this again!

No sweat though, I had these sweet little treats to tide me over!

I really wish cherry tomatoes were in season all year.  They are one of my all time favorite BITE SIZE snacks that are portable AND good for you!

More mid-day snackage (yeah, I used that word) due to me not really eating all of my lunch…

Snyder Pumpernickel & Onion Pretzel Sticks & Puffed Pita (can’t remember the brand, I’ll share with you tomorrow!)!

Just before leaving work – an apple with some Naturally More!

My evening involved – a walk to the grocery store, chowing down on some of these so that I wasn’t starving during P90X…

…whipping together some of these…

…and 2 hours of trashy television!  While I heart Roberto, I’m officially Team Chris.  I LOVE HIM!

Question for you – I’ve been responding to your comments within the comments section (as opposed to via e-mail).  The plug-in I have is SUPPOSED to be sending you emails telling you another comment has been made.  Have you guys been getting e-mails?

I really don’t want people thinking I’m not responding!

Cubanelle Mild Peppers!

While I do love bell peppers, if I’m making stuffed peppers – the only way to go is with Cubanelle or Pablano!

Stuffing Ingredients:

• Chopped Garlic
• Sweet Onion
• Red Bell Pepper
• Red Chief Lentils
• Hot Banana Peppers
• Monterey Jack/Mild Cheddar Cheese (to top the peppers)

Spices:

• Sriracha
• Chili Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Rainbow Peppercorns
• Onion Salt

Cook the lentils in a pot of water (Water:Lentils ratio – 2:1) for about 6-8 minutes.  Red Chief Lentils cook FAST! Other types of lentils will take much longer!

While your lentils are cooking – get your peppers a’ready for the stuffin’

You could cut the tops off and stuff them that way – but I prefer the “boat” action!

After your lentils are done cooking – add them to a pan with the chopped up onion, garlic, bell pepper & banana pepper, along with ALL of the spices, and let everything cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Place your “boats” on a baking sheet and stuff them with the lentil mixture:

Top them all with a light sprinkle of cheese, and throw them in the oven (350 degrees) for 20-40 minutes (depending on how soft you like the peppers).

For me? 20 minutes later:

Voila!

Crunchy, spicy, chewy, flavorful amazing-ness!

Enjoy!

A weekend’s worth of pictures.

Each described in 5 words (or less??)?

Let’s try!

Seriously over-rated Larabar

HappyBirthday/Farewell/GoingAway Work Lunch:

Family party = DELICIOUS food!

Cousin/Silly Band Fun!

Love!

Cousin Kev’s 11th Birthday!

Yankee Candle = Birthday Candle?!?!

Family! <3

Perfect Summer Weekend Breakfast!

Artichoke Reuben Bliss!

Not too bad right?

And FTR “HappyBirthday/Farewell/GoingAway” = one word!

Your turn!

Gimme your 5 weekend words!

It’s been a while since an “all-dog” post, and since the pups had an action filled week – they wanted to share it with you!

Like – getting a gift from New York from Deirdre!!!

Bubba Rose – P.B. with Crust Treats!

To say the dogs went CRAZY over these, would be an understatement.  They usually know that they need to sit when I go to give them a treat – but instead, with these – they were running around in circles, jumping at me!

This week they also took up yoga, and have been working very hard on perfecting their downward-facing-dog!

They are partial to Aurorae mats!

And the most exciting/terrifying part of the week?

Our visit to the vet yesterday!

It’s totally natural to take tons of pictures of your dogs in the vet’s waiting room.  Right?

What should have been just a normal annual check up at the vet turned into a scary afternoon for us though

After we got home, Harvey seemed fine, but Lando seemed funny.  After a few minutes went by and I hadn’t seen her – I went to go look and make sure she was okay – and I found her laying in the tub!

Which she’s normally terrified of. 

I put a cool towel on her, because she just seemed hot/feverish, which the vet said is normal.  I got her to lay down with me, and she slept for about an hour.  I figured she was all better.

I was wrong.

An hour later, she got up and went right back to the tub.  When I walked in to get her, she was COVERED in hives (which looked SO BIZARRE, her hair was raised in all these different spots, I wish I would have taken a picture so you could have seen how weird it was, but I FREAKED OUT, and taking a picture was the last thing on my mind.)

I called the vet and they said to bring her back in, she was having an allergic reaction. I literally ran out the front door with her in my arms and SPED the entire way to the vet.  I was so afraid she was going to stop breathing or something.

An hour and 2 more shots later – she was fine. But OH.MY.GOD. was that scary.

We spent the rest of the day at home, because I was too afraid to leave her.  And luckily, Miss Harvey is my rough’n’tumble dog – nothing yesterday even phased her in the least. 

Seriously though – I do NOT understand how parents do it.  If I feel like way about my pets, I can’t imagine how much I would stress out over kids. 

Now that me and the pups have rambled on – tell me about YOUR weekend!!

Not only is the entire restaurant concept, decor, and food total amazing – but the owners are pretty awesome themselves. It’s owned by one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs (!!!) – Jonathon Sawyer, and his wife, (super cool Cleveland blogger who I adore) Amelia!

My blend Alexa (blogging friend ) was giving away tickets to a super sweet dinner – Au Bon Climat Wine Dinner – and my blend Carly won!    To make things even better (sorry Joe!) Carly’s husband had to work that night – so Heather and I got to go as her date!

While we were waiting for the night to get started  – I thought a Sauv Blanc was appropriate! (obviously!)

I love that their logo is on all of their glasses (although apparently, the logo is camera shy I could not get a good, focused picture of it, no matter how hard I tried!)

After getting seated and situated…

…Chef Sawyer and Winemaker Jim Clendenen talked to us about the evening, and all the food & wine we were going to taste.  While I might not understand it all, I could listen to people who really know their food and wine talk for HOURS!

1st Course:

Wine – Au Bon Climat Pinot Blanc

Food – Potato Roasted Monk Fish w/ Herb Salad

The Monk Fish was fantastic (I don’t believe I’ve ever tried Monk Fish before!), and I loved the flavor of the potato crust!  The Pinot Blanc was fantastic (and ended up being my favorite wine of the evening!)

Then we snuck a few garlic roasted peppers in between courses!

These were AWESOME!  I could have EASILY eaten the whole bowl myself!

2nd Course:

Wine – Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay

Food – Corn Roasted Pork w/ Spicy Soubise & Fresno Chilis

Wow!  The textures and the taste of this dish was fantastic, and I tried hominy for the first time ever!  I LOVED IT!  The Chardonnay was a perfect pairing!

3rd Course:

Wine – Santa Barbara Pinot Noir

Food – Ratatouille w/ zucchini flower, Chevre de Provencal, tomato broth & fresh herbs de Provence

I really enjoyed the Pinot Noir, it was nice and not TOO spicy, which is exactly the sort of red wine I got for!  I also liked the Ratatouille, the goat cheese in these was so delicious!!!  Compared to the first two dishes though, it was sort of tame.  But I think that has a lot to do with me, because I’ve killed all my tastes buds with lots of Frank’s, and jalapenos!

4th Course:

Wine – Isabelle Pinot Noir

Food – Fatted Calf w/ Poached Cherry, Proper Polenta & Filbert

When I read Carly’s review of the night – I knew I had to steal what she said about the 4th course, because she totally hit the nail on the head!

This Pinot Noir was great! It was slightly peppery and smoky and really complimented the beef. I also learned what “fatted calf” was. Since Greenhouse Tavern is a green restaurant the chef/owner really believes in humane treatment of animals – We all know that veal isn’t usually from a very well treated animal, so a fatted calf is older than a veal, but still not a fully matured cow. Either way, this dish was my absolute favorite of the night – and I’m not even a big beef eater. The cherry sauce, the toasted hazelnuts, and the wine just really complimented and accented the flavor of the beef.

5th Course:

Beer – Dogfish Head Red and White

Dessert – Pinot Noir Granita

The beer was AWESOME – and you know I’m a wine girl. Granted – it’s been a few years since I had one, but I feel like it tasted similar to Yuengling.  Does that sound right to anyone? The granita was fantastic as well – but you know me and sweets, I’m not crazy about ‘em.  So after a bite or two – I was done with the granita and focused on my adult beverages!

My two super lovely dates: Heather and Carly!

A very huge thank you to Carly for allowing me to invite myself as her date inviting me to come!

And a huge thank you to The Greenhouse Tavern (Jonathon & Amelia), and Au Bon Climat for putting on such a wonderful evening; and to Alexa for the tickets!!

The last time I posted Spicy Oats, reader Nellie said:

Your blog is lovely, but there is no way in hell I’m ever combing peanut butter, eggs, and onions. I would vomit on the spot.

I wasn’t laughing at Nellie – I was laughing with her.   Because let’s face it.  If I’d never tried this combination – I’d tell you the same exact thing!

But I have tried it – and as weird as it may sound – it’s AMAZING!

Lunch was a quick “clean out the freezer” combo: TJ’s Vegan Rice & Meatless Meatballs

Looks like a ugly mess, but it was tasty and filling!

I had dinner plans, with a wonderful blog-turned-real-life-hometown friend – DEIRDRE!

I had the opportunity to me both Deirdre and Amelia last time I was out in NY, and yesterday – Deidre had come home for the week to visit family – so we decided it was high time we meet up again!

The place?  Reddstone (which I’d been dying to go back to since the Blogger Menu Tasting!)

The appetizer I’d been dreaming out since that tasting?  The Macho Nachos!

House Baked Tortillas, Grilled Chicken, Pickled Radish, Jalapeno, Scallion, Cheddar/Jack Cheese, Housemade Salsa & Spicy Sour Cream

Totally worth the wait!   I think it’s safe to say these are probably the best nachos I’ve ever eaten in my life.   How ‘bout that!

Since I had a Restaurant.com certificate – I decided to go all out and order ever course possible

For salad I went with the Iceberg Wedge: Caramelized Pancetta, Red Onion, Roasted Tomatoes, Creamy Gorgonzola Dressing

Dressing on the side:

(Thank goodness!  It was a crazy huge portion for such a tiny amount of lettuce!  Yikes!)

The lettuce, tomatoes & dressing were great…

…but the pancetta on top tasted terrible (and I love pancetta!), and there was an ODD amount of water in the bottom of my bowl.   Don’t get me wrong – I’d take clean wet lettuce over dirty bug filled lettuce, but it seriously was like lettuce soup.  Bizarre!

Last but not least for my meal: The Lombardo Pizza- Fresh Mozzarella, Sundried Tomatoes, Banana Peppers, Capers, Roasted Garlic Puree

I seriously took one bite of pizza and just about exploded I was so full!

But I was totally okay with that – because the bite of pizza I did have was delicious – and HELLO – who doesn’t love leftover pizza?!

(I just noticed – where the heck are the banana peppers?!  I obviously didn’t read the description well enough to know they were missing at the time, but hindsight, now I”m sad – but I LOVE banana peppers, they would have been an excellent addition!)

T’was an excellent night!   (FTR, Deirdre gave the pups an awesome gift, but I feel like that deserves it’s own post!)

Do you go out more often in the summer, or in the winter?

For me – I feel like it’s been nothing but go-go-go all summer longer, and I feel like the winter (even though I’m so busy at work I do want to cry) has so much less going on!

Good: Spicy Oats in a very FULL jar

Bad: While snapping my breakfast picture – I realized my basil is getting wilt-y!   I might like the color green, but I most certainly do not have a green thumb.

Good: I haven’t killed my chives!

Bad for co-workers, Good for me: Garlicky pickles for lunch!

Good: Using some of my “thriving” delicious chives on my salad!

Even Better: Using some of the awesome Lite Creamy Caesar I picked up at Kroger this weekend!

Bad Good: Gummi Bears for “dessert”!

Bad: Taking your wedding ring off to see why it’s hurting your finger, to find it’s no longer round, but some weird oblong/globby shape.

Good: Apples & PB snack

(These were the apples I tweeted about “tasting like applesauce”.  It sounds weird, but wouldn’t you agree apples taste different than applesauce?!  And I don’t mean texture – C’mon – someone please know what I’m talking about!)

Bad: Getting dragged to Cici’s for dinner

Good(??): Balancing out my 2 pieces of pizza with a whole lotta salad!  Salad actually cancels out the calories in pizza – right?

How about you?!  What’s been good for you today, and what’s been bad for you today?

It also helps when one of your closest friends actually lives ON the street where the party is!

Ang, Cline, and Heather – HEART THEM!

Since Ang lives right in the middle of all the action – she invited her friends (us!) and her family over for “happy  hour” before the festival began!

Ice cold Sauv Blanc at 11am on a HOT Sunday?  Sign.me.up.

After running out of wine a little while, we decided it was time to go out and explore – the streets were already totally packed & hoppin’!

And then we found these kids! (that’s little brother Timmy and his GF!)

My favorite part about the Taste of Tremont is how diverse it is!

You have food stands…

…mixed in with art stands…

…mixed in with clothing/boutique stands!

Plus you gotta love all the Cleveland pride!  (Hey! Did you know there is a blog called Cleveland’s a Plum?!?! )

After perusing the food selection VERY carefully – I finally ended up picking this stand:

Because holy heck did the food coming out of there LOOK and SMELL amazing!

While chicken was an option – I went the classic route:

My mouth just started watering thinking about it. AWE-SOME!  (also – what’s with all the meat this weekend?  I hardly eat meat, and yet I feel like that’s all I ate all weekend!)

After eating, we wandered the streets some more, and then eventually ended up stopping for another adult beverage!

It was hot AND crowded – we needed to stay hydrated!   (Oh yeah, and we saw Katrina and Alexa! I love blends! That’s blogging friends in case ya didn’t know!)

Family picture time!  Cousin Cline, Moi (see my camera lens cover sticking out of my bra? I’m a classy gal, what can I say!), and Bro Timmy!

Another great thing about The Taste?  It’s dog friendly! 

See the tail peaking out?  That just cracked me up!

All in all – it was a perfect day, with perfect weather (albeit HOT), wonderful friends, and fantastic food!  I already can’t wait for next year!

Clevelander’s – if you did not go this year, you simply MUST make plans to go next year!

Just like last weekend, there were tons of highlights – so you are gonna get all sorts of posts today!

Saturday’s highlight:  Dogs.In.Lifevest.

OHMIGOD!  Does it even get any cuter?!?!?!?!

I seriously let out a squeal once they both had the vests on, I could not even handle the cuteness of the situation!

I’ve been dying to take the dogs out on the water, to see how they’d react, and I have to be honest – it went down exactly as I imagined it.

Lando LOVED IT, and Harvey was absolutely terrified.

Ya can’t win ‘em all right?

Next time I want to actually get them in the water and see how they react!   I’m pretty sure it will be exactly the same as the boat result.  Lando – LOVE, Harvey – TERRIFIED!

After we got back on land my parents whipped up an awesome feast for dinner!

Strawberry/Poppyseed/Feta Salad, Tomato/Mozzarella Salad, and a veggie sandwich!

My mom used to make this all the time when we were little, and I haven’t had it in forever!  I forgot how much I seriously love this stuff!

While we ate, the pups explored the back yard (and maybe definitely ate a lot of goose poop)

They have such a rough life!

After a long day of playing – I walked in to find this:

Pooped Puppers! (the best kind of pupper!)

Do you like the water/boating, or does it make you sick?

I’ve always had sea legs, I absolutely love being out on the water!  Unfortunately, Mike is the exact opposite – he feels sick within seconds of stepping on a boat!