But I am currently chomping on the best apples known to man — Honeycrisp.

(source)

Only available from Sept-Nov, these apples deserve their own blog. Until you try one of these orb-shaped delights, I’m not sure we can continue to be friends. Sure, they may be $2.99/lb., but whoever said the “best things in life are free” clearly never danced with Mr. Honeycrisp.

I kid you not when I tell you that I nearly pummeled two grannies and a few children as I sailed across the grocery store this past weekend to grab my haul. I’ve been counting down this “season” since last November and was not about to let a few blue-hairs get in my path of glory.

I always wondered why Adam had to be so foolish to reach for that apple in the Garden of Eden. Now I know — clearly a Honeycrisp. Can’t say I blame him.

If you haven’t tried this miraculous spheres, get thee to an orchard. Or grocery store. Or friend’s fridge. Just not mine.

Thanks, too, for your patience in regards to the revised content these past few days — next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming with fun recipes on Make it, cool new products on Try it and exciting fitness news/updates for Work it. So don’t worry, all you people who are sick of talkin’ “pregnancy,” I can still hang with you

OK, now that our housekeeping items are taken care of, I have a delicious snack/breakfast/light lunch option to share with you!

Cream cheese and sliced fresh tomato on whole wheat toast.

So simple.

Refreshing.

Satisfying.

It’s the perfect balance between decadence (creamy goodness) and healthy, wholesome food ingredients (whole wheat toast and tomato). I’m thinkin’ it’s going to be making a much more regular appearance in my life.

To really kick things up a notch, season with salt and pepper – and there’s your oomph

Lovely.

What is your favorite healthy, simple snack?

I’m warning you because no one warned me.

No one told me that a seemingly harmless housewarming gift would become a full-on, hardcore addiction. No one. So if you don’t want to fall victim, I strongly advise you STOP READING. To distract yourself, look at this adorable photo of my dog

OK, you brave, strong-willed people, you.

After helping us with the move, my father in law handed Jason and I a bag of housewarming goodies. My favorite honeycrisp apples and three bags of Trader Joe’s Organic Popcorn with Olive Oil. Innocent enough, right?

HA!

The man has created a monster that can only be tamed by MORE Trader Joe’s popcorn. I read the ingredients several times knowing that I would find illegal ingredients, traces of crack perhaps. But no, instead the label simply reads: organic popcorn, olive oil, and sea salt. Really Mr. Joe? REALLY? I may need to take this stuff to the lab — Seinfeld style.

The Mister and I may have eaten an entire bag in one day. Good thing it’s only about 100 calories per serving or I’d be in BIG trouble.

From this day forth, I shall never eat a regular kernel of popcorn again. And neither should you — save yourself from popcorn mediocrity!

Get to the store and grab as many bags as you can — just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

What is your favorite popcorn?

P.S. No, Trader Joe’s did not contact me, pay me or give me free product to talk about this popcorn. However, I’d be more than happy to accept a truckload of popcorn for their gratitude Seriously.

Today’s recipe is something the whole family will enjoy – SLUSHIES!

As I was driving around this weekend (melting of course), I had an incredible urge to stop at 7-eleven and slurp down an EXTRA LARGE Blue-Raspberry Slushie.

But who wants all the extra sugar? (we all know that If I’m going to have lots of sugar, it better be in the form of frosting )

I started brainstorming and came up with an equally delicious, even more refreshing solution – homemade, fresh-fruit slushies!

You’ll need:

• 4 cups fresh fruit, washed (I find berries work best – blackberries, blueberries, strawberries. etc., but why not try peach, mango or melon?)
• 1/3 cup 100% juice concentrate (I used White Grape Juice Concentrate, but you could use strawberry, blueberry, regular grape, etc.)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

First, combine all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and puree until smooth. Strain mixture into a glass baking dish, using a fine sieve. Freeze for 2-4 hours.

Using a fork, scrape the frozen puree. Freeze again for an hour or so more. Use a fork to rake through the mixture again. Repeat.  Serve in small dishes and eat with a spoon, or pour into glasses and add fresh juice or 7-up, to reach your desired slurpy consistency! Top with a scoop of ice cream for an added treat

Experiment with your own flavor combinations! I’ll be happy to eat any mess-ups

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Looking at the evidence, we can deduct that Shannon may:

1.) Be stealing trash again to take pretty creepy pictures

2.) Be purchasing her lunch at the dollar store

3.) Be obsessed with the combination of string cheese and pretzels

4a.) Be so consumed by her hot love affair with pretzels and sting cheese, that she inhales them all before taking a photo

4b.) That upon realizing her mistake, she pulls the evidence from the trash in an attempt to create a witty lame post

5.) Be losing friends at work, as they cast judgement upon her taking photos of trash

6.) Be wishing she splurged and spent an extra two bucks to double her quantity of snackage

7.) Have stolen pieces from the trash in attempts to take sustainability to a whole new level and create urban artwork

8.) Be still hungry…

So which is it? I’ll give you a hint. About half of them are true.

Put your detective skills to work!

Ever notice how when you start with a healthy breakfast, you are more inclined to make healthy choices throughout the rest of the day? It’s true! Make sure to start your healthy week off on the right foot with a nutritious breakfast. And to nudge you in the right direction, I have a great recipe for you this morning — perfect for on-the-go breakfasts, snacks or crumbled into oatmeal or yogurt for a larger meal — Heart Healthy Banana Bread (or muffins!)

You’ll need:

• 2 ½ cups of your favorite heart-healthy cereal (i.e. Cheerios, Kashi Heart to Heart, etc.) crushed
• 1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• ½ cup organic sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk (or soy milk)
• 2 egg whites (or equivalent egg substitute)
• ⅓ cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

First preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Next, combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the bananas and remaining ingredients. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Spoon batter into greased loaf pan or muffin tins.

Bake until inserted toothpick comes out clean. About 20 minutes for muffins, 40 minutes for a loaf.. Let cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Fun plates are always a nice touch

ENJOY!

Feel free to add some yummy mix-ins! Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins and walnuts would all work well! And of course this would be quite delish spread with a good helping of PB!

What are your favorite muffin/bread mix-ins?

Not that I’m complaining

Ah, cantaloupe…so delish! Nature’s perfect bowl. Just cut it in half and fill accordingly — cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream – so many options!

The one melon I can’t stand?  honeydew! ACK! I’ll tolerate it if it’s in a fruit salad, but I would never voluntarily eat it. ever.

Where do you stand on melons? Love ‘em all? Hate ‘em all? Play favorites?

You’ll need:

1 or 2 (or three) whole grain waffles – homemade or FROZEN

Reduced fat cream cheese

Fresh strawberries

SCHMEAR your waffle with as much cream cheese as you want. Layer sliced strawberries on top – they act as a NATURAL jelly! Can you think of a more natural way to add some sugah?! Now bite. Smile. I’ll even forgive you for forgetting to swallow first – it’s that good.

Don’t forget to chew!

What’s your favorite waffle topper? I myself am normally a PB and banana gal.

Name that tune.

Anyone?

There it is.

I don’t know about you guys, but every time I watched this movie as a little kid, I wanted a bite of the juicy, sweet peach flesh that James and all his friends enjoyed most of the movie (normally while breaking out in song and dance). Seriously, how could you NOT want to be part of that?

Not having any peaches around, I found the next best thing:

Just look at that juicy goodness! It even LOOKS like the flesh from the peach in the movie! I felt just like James — and I may have even broken out into song and dance (ya know, just to keep things authentic). Unfortunately however, I was unable to find a spider with a hat.

Can you think of any movies that make you crave certain foods?

Kumquats. Kumqwhat?!

No, not a little critter from Star Wars

but almost as cute!

Seriously, how cute are they? They are a little larger than BIG grapes.

For those of you who are fond of sour patch kids, kumquats would make the perfect treat!

These bite-sized fruits pack a juicy, sour punch with a hint of sweetness. Great for a refreshing snack or salad mix-in. Naturally, kumquats contain vitamin C (related to the orange), but because the peel is supposed to be eaten, kumquats provide a great source of fiber, as well.

TIP: Before you pop your quat,  you should roll it around in your hand gently. This will release essential oils from the skin of the fruit into the pulp, adding to its taste.

Have you tried kumquats? How do you enjoy them? What is your favorite exotic fruit?