Around the World Food & Recipes

Saffron Road’s Crunchy Flavored Chickpeas Giveaway

Lauren — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:57:23 +0000

UPDATE: This giveaway is CLOSED. Congrats to the winner, Susan! I have contacted you via email with further instructions.

I was able to try Saffron Road’s crunchy flavored chickpeas recently and I loved them! I took a bag to work with me one day. When three o’clock rolled around and I had an attack of the afternoon munchies, the flavored crunchy chickpeas hit the spot. These crunchy chickpeas are also gluten-free and made with organic chickpeas. I enjoyed all three flavors, but my favorite was the Wasabi flavored chickpeas followed by the Bombay Spice.

I also made sure to set a bowl of the flavored crunchy chickpeas out whenever I had guests over. It was a unique and healthy snack that everyone loved. You can find these healthy dried chickpeas at your local Whole Foods.

Now here’s your chance to try Saffron Road products! Here’s what you need to do to enter for your chance to win:

PRIZE: One winner will receive one of each flavored crunchy chickpeas from Saffron Road Foods.
TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “YUMMY”. Simple, uh?
GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Saturday, February 15th, 2013 at 9:00 pm CST.
NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
PRIZE SHIPS: United States Only
THE LOGISTICS: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on February 16th, 2013 as an update to this post. An e-mail will also be sent to the winner asking for his or her mailing address. Now start dreaming about Saffron Road products!

Christmas Card Year in Review Infograph

Lauren — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 04:00:22 +0000

It’s almost that time again. Okay, okay… it’s still about 9 weeks away, but Christmas is still right around the corner! And if you are anything like me, I have a tendency of putting Christmas shopping and sending out Christmas letters out until the last minute.

Mid -November through mid-February fly by for us. We have our yearly “Thanksmas” trip to Iowa a week or two before Thanksgiving. We then drive to Wichita for Thanksgiving. We have a few weeks off (scattered with Christmas parties and last-minute shopping) then drive to Wichita for Christmas. We celebrate New Years, on January 12th we celebrate our anniversary, followed by Tyler’s birthday on January 23rd, followed by my birthday on February 13th, and ending our seasonal holiday/anniversary/birthday rush after Valentine’s Day. Sometimes I wish things were spread out a little bit!

Getting back to where I was going before my rant “we’re-so-busy” rant… last year in between our whirlwind of the holiday months, we designed and sent a Christmas card that was a year in review infograph design. To be honest, I skim through any Christmas letter we get unless it’s uber exciting. I think a year in review style infograph is perfect! You are still able to share the highlights of your year with friends and family, but you don’t have to bore them with all of the details – because the truth of the matter is, 95% of your year is pretty boring. A year in review infograph makes your life seem, well, a little more exciting. It also makes you stop and think about the awesome things you were able to accomplish in the past year. Plus it’s prettier than a traditional letter!

So, without further ado, here is the 2011 Christmas card year in review infograph we made.

Here are some examples we used as a jumping-off point for us. We needed a few visuals to help get us started and then when we had a general working template, we tweaked the design and added and took away what we wanted to. (Sources are noted below image.)

Year In Review Infograph Examples (pictured above):
Top: www.amandajanejones.com
Middle: www.amandajanejones.com
Bottom: andreaarchambault.blogspot.com

Other Year In Review Letters:
www.jenloveskev.com
www.alexamariezurcher.com
www.tenderheartedmercy.blogspot.com
www.tealandlime.com

Let me know if you have an awesome year in review infograph you would like me to link to!

25 Before 25 Fail: Be a Vegetarian for a Day Once a Week

Lauren — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 05:00:09 +0000

I wanted take a break from posting about our recent trip to the Philippines and write about one of my 25 before 25 goals while I’m editing pictures for the next day of our trip .

I thought I was doing well completing my 25 before 25 goals, but when I remember I’m turning 25 in 4 1/2 months, I realize about half of my goals may not get completed (at least I’ve completed my goals of visiting a another continent, successfully growing a basil plant, and kayaking). I already know one goal I completely failed: being a vegetarian for a whole day once a week. The sad truth is, I failed the first week I posted that goal.

Being a vegetarian is hard, especially when you don’t view eating meat as unethical. It’s not that I failed at trying, I just forgot to try. Does that make sense? When you try to eat purely vegetarian for a day, you realize how much meat you actually consume. Maybe I technically failed my goal of being a vegetarian one day a week, but I did become more aware of what I was eating.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Lauren — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:13:14 +0000

The bad news is, I haven’t finished editing pictures of the fifth day of our Philippines trip. The good news is, we just bought a souped-up iMac this week with a trial of the most up-to-date Adobe suite. It should make editing soooo much faster! (Being married to a videographer/editor/motion graphics producer has its benefits – if I forget the whole having-to-spend-money-on-electronics-and-software part of the deal). In the meantime, I’m sharing with you one of the best pumpkin recipes ever.

Friday was the first day in Kansas City that it really started to feel like fall. One of the benefits my job offers is a half day every other Friday (contingent on your workload for that week). I was able to leave at noon on Friday. I LOVE the times I do get to take my flex Fridays. I am able to spend four hours by myself doing whatever I want. While I love my husband, I just need “me” time every now and then.

This past Friday I bought pumpkins for our front porch, whipped out the Maple Pumpkin Glade air freshener, lit my apple cinnamon candle, and made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. I knew I could get away with making these yummy muffins since we were going to have friends over on Friday night and Tyler’s family were going to be in town the next day to help eat them.

Tyler couldn’t stop saying how awesome these muffins are. They are really good. Mouth smacking good. Admittedly, they aren’t good for you, but you can splurge every now and then… Happy fall!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Rating: 51

Ingredients

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
1 can of pumpkin (15 oz)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips

Instructions

Beat the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until smooth.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat well.
Fill cupcake pan until each cup is three-fourths of the way full.
Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes.

Notes

You can freeze these muffins in an air-tight bag or container. Just defrost when you want to eat one.

http://www.aroundtheworldfood.com/2012/10/07/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-muffins-recipe/

Saffron Road Appetizers

Lauren — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 02:02:13 +0000

Since sorting and editing the 4,000+ pictures of our Philippines pictures has been a lot more gruesome and time consuming than I imagined, I’m going to take a break from writing about our trip.

If you want to learn more about our trip, visit these links:

Our Philippine’s Trip: The Story
Philippines Trip: Day 1
Philippines Trip: Day 2

Today I’m going to switch it up and talk about some of Saffron Road’s new products! I was able to write about Saffron Road’s frozen entrees back in May and loved them so I was excited to be able to try their new hors d’oeuvres!

There are four varieties of appetizers:

Turkish Figs & Goat Cheese Hors D’oeuvres
Crispy Samosas With Vegetables
Dates, Tamarind & Walnuts Hors D’oeuvres
Crispy Samosas With Saag Paneer

My local Whole Foods didn’t have the Crispy Samosas with Saag Paneer, but I was able to try the other three.

My favorite were the Dates, Tamarind & Walnuts Hors D’oeuvres. The deep flavors reminded me of fall, which is right around the corner and my favorite season. My second favorite were the Turkish Figs & Goat Cheese Hors D’oeuvres.

Like I had mentioned before, I love the colorful Saffron Road packaging. It elegantly highlights that the food is premium quality, handmade, all natural, and vegan (or vegetarian) to help you quickly find out if that particular product fits your eating lifestyle.

The packaging even highlights the heat level of the product.

The hors d’oeuvres can be served at your next party or as a tasty midnight snack (in my case!).

Find a retailer near you and pick up a box (or two, or three) the next time you are there!

25 Before 25: Visit a New Continent

Lauren — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 17:12:58 +0000

Remember how I mentioned I was going to visit a new continent here and here? Well, I’m back from ASIA! That means I get to check off visiting a new continent from my 25 before 25 list. I was gone from August 16th – August 26th. It was a whirlwind of a trip since we traveled so far for how short of a time we stayed.

So where in the world did we go? The Philippines!

View Larger Map

For most of the trip, we stayed on the island of Mindanao, the largest most southern island within the Philippines. Here we are on top of a small mountain/large hill that overlooks rice fields near Lake Sebu.

We also got to see some of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines in the Lazon region.

We learned a lot about the Filipino culture on our trip and even got to see the locals harvest rice… and I got to see what it was like to ride on a caraboa (water buffalo).

There is so much I have on my heart about this trip. I’m still trying to piece it all together so I can get it all on paper to share with anyone who is interested in reading about it. Hopefully things will settle down here so I can start updating more frequently again.

What to Pack for Vacation Printable Cheat Sheet

Lauren — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:46:18 +0000

I’m still counting down the days for my big trip to another continent! This week I’m going to seriously get on with my packing. I keep putting it off and putting off, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I wrote about my hate for packing in this post! It’s a little hard to pack too far in advance since I will still need to wear some of the clothes I plan to pack. I at least want to have a really solid idea of what I will be bringing and have my toiletries taken care of.

This what-to-pack cheat sheet has been floating around Pinterest and is great to help you find out what to pack for vacation.

Healthy Carrot Soup

Lauren — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 22:11:16 +0000

I had never tried carrot soup until just a few months ago when I stumbled on some carrot soup recipes on Pinterest. It seemed interesting so I gave it a try. I’m in love! Not only is this carrot soup recipe healthy, it’s ridiculously easy and full of flavor. Drizzling the soup with toasted sesame oil right before serving gives it a deep and nutty flavor that is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Surprisingly, I stay pretty full even if I just eat a bowl of carrot soup for lunch or dinner. While you may lose some of the full nutritional value of the carrots during the cooking process, eating cooked carrots are not as hard to digest as eating raw carrots.

Healthy Carrot Soup

Rating: 51

This is soooo easy and yummy! Drizzling sesame seed oil on top of the carrot soup adds a deep and nutty flavor. This recipe is vegetarian and vegan friendly if you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and ditch the sour cream or Greek yogurt.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
1 lb packaged pre-peeled baby carrots
2 1/2 cups low sodium fat-free vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (optional)
1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
salt and white pepper to taste
2 tbsp fresh green onions, for garnish
sesame seed oil, for drizzling

Instructions

In a large pot, add olive oil over medium heat; add chopped onions and cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 5-6 minutes.
Add broth, carrots, and ginger. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are soft, about 30 minutes.
Add mixture to blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If the mixture is not thin enough, add some water to make more soupy.
Top with Greek yogurt or sour cream and green onions, and drizzle with toasted sesame oil.

http://www.aroundtheworldfood.com/2012/07/29/healthy-carrot-soup/

How to Stop Mail Delivery While on Vacation

Lauren — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 01:58:13 +0000

Since I’m trying to get things checked off of my to-do checklist before I leave for almost two weeks, I thought I would stop my mail delivery while I had a few minutes tonight. Remember the days when you had to go the post office to get a stop mail card to fill out?

Well, now it’s easy peasy to stop mail delivery while on vacation. Seriously, it took me less than a minute.

How to Stop Mail Delivery While on Vacation

1. Visit the Hold Mail Service form at the USPS website
2. Fill out the form
3. Enjoy your time away from home without worrying about mail piling up in your mailbox

You can schedule your mail to be held up to 30 days prior to the hold mail start date. The post office can hold your mail from 3 to 30 days before resuming normal delivery. You also have the option of either picking your mail up from the post office or having your postal carrier deliver the accumulated mail when your mail delivery resumes.

What Medicines to Pack for a Trip

Lauren — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 15:31:10 +0000

I’m gearing up for my trip to another continent! I don’t know about you, but I hate packing. First off, I’m an over-analyzer and I analyze e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. My brain starts to go off in 1.3 billion different directions when I pack. I want to be prepared for any and every situation that could come up while being away from home, but at the same time, I never want to be accused of being “that girl” who packed too much. It’s a catch 22. So I stand there, hovering over my suite case, blankly staring… for about three hours… before I actually really start packing. Sound familiar?

I’m really trying to be pro-active about packing for this trip. While there is nothing worse than packing, there’s really nothing worse than packing at the last minute. That can make a trip a lot more stressful than it really needs to be. I end up running to the store five times in one night buying items I thought I had or didn’t think about purchasing until I started loading up my suitcase. Compound that with an early morning flight and you got yourself one cranky, needlessly-stressed-out Lauren. Admittedly, that’s not a pretty sight.

This week I’ve focused on purchasing medicine. Since I will be on my way to a third-world country (hint), you can never be loaded with enough medicine. Here is my arsenal:

What Medicines to Pack For A Trip

Sleeping Aid (Diphenhydramine HCI)

I will be traveling for more than 24 hours both ways. What better way to pass some time than by sleeping?

Pain Reliever (Ibuprofen)

This is the top medicine I use while in the states so it’s a must-have for going out of the country. With the amount of traveling I will be doing, lack of sleep, and the hundreds of other shocks to my body, I am bound to get a headache.

Antacid (Calcium Carbonate)

These are my friends! Whenever I get a stomach ache (which seems to happen more often then I would like), I take a few antacid tablets and my stomach starts feeling a lot better. With the new foods I will be trying, antacids are a must-have for my packing medicine list. Tip: If you are ever somewhere with a stomach ache, you can also mix a little baking soda with water and it will do the trick too.

Eye Drops

I had Lasiks done in February and, while my eyes are not as dry as they were the few months after surgery, the stuffy and dry airplane air may affect them.

Anti-Diarheal (Loperamide Hydrochloride)

Oh, boy. Talk about my worst fear. I am terrified of getting this kind of sick while traveling. While supposedly there’s nothing I can do to prevent “traveler’s tummy” other than being pro-active about avoiding certain higher-risk items, an anti-diarheal can help relieve the symptoms if I do get sick.

Allergy Medicine (Antihistamine)

Usually spring and fall are the times of the year I have the most issues with allergies, but with the change of environment, you never know what to expect. An antihistamine is also good to have just in case I end up eating too many mangoes or find out I’m allergic to some sort of new plant or food.

Band-Aides, Anti-Septic Wipes & Antibiotic Ointment

For all of the possible random scrapes and bruises that may occur, I purchased a variety pack of heavy duty Band-Aids. I also will be throwing in antibiotic ointment and anti-septic wipes for pre-prep before a Band-Aid goes on.

Antifungal Cream (Tolnaftate)
When traveling, you are usually wearing closed shoes from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed and your feet can’t breathe, which can cause your feet to become itchy and uncomfortable. I am planning ahead just in case!

Anti-Itch Cream (Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride)
You never know what kind of new insects you will be introduced to in a new environment. Topical anti-itch cream can help relieve affects of bug bites.

The question that remains to be seen is if I will keep all of the medicine in their original containers or only take a small amount of each when applicable. The logistics behind finding smaller containers seems a little hairy, but I could save room doing that. Then again, it never hurts to have more than enough of medicine with you than not enough.

What other medicines would you bring on a trip to another continent? Any must-pack medicines that I may be missing?

*I am in no way a medical professional so please make sure to ask your doctor if you have questions about using any of the medications described in this post. You may or may not be able to use these medications depending on any current medications you are taking or other reasons.