Tasty Tuesday....Pool Food

It is no secret we spend a lot of time at the pool.  That place is a sanity saver for me.  I have two kids plus a husband who has to get his Zzzz's during the day (he's nocturnal, currently).  We don't normally spend hours at the pool but we do get two to three in three to four days a week.

I think its a proven fact - being active in the water turns you into a pig!

I'm not sure about you but when I'm in the heat I don't want a regular meal for lunch.  Instead, I pack snacks and we have them  when our energy levels drop.  Don't forget: swimming is the best exercise!

Today I'm sharing what we love to snack on at the pool.



My family isn't allergic to anything but whatever is floating in the air in the spring and fall.  We eat peanut butter - especially this mama!  I really like Jif To Go.  Most days we take lots of celery sticks and baby carrots to dip in the peanut butter.  The kids also like graham crackers so with the Jif singles that works out really well too.



Have you tried the new style of popcorn?  PopCorners are really good!  Yes, they are popcorn but instead they are in a chip form.  It is basically a tortilla chip but its texture is smoother and lighter.  My kids must have pop corn to survive (or so they act that way) so I purchased this to change it up for them and also for me.  I'm very glad I did.  You can also get these in a variety of seasonings.  I picked ours up at Harris Teeter.

By the way this is a NON-GMO food, gluten free, and all natural.


Normally I would steer clear of any dairy when I'm out on a 90+ degree day but cheese sticks have yet to make our tummies sour during swimming.  Note:  We eat one a piece and not five.  LOL That could play a role huh?  I always buy the Frigo Cheese Heads Light String Cheese.



It is summer how could we not be eating fruit by the pool?  My kids aren't too partial to watermelon, I know I should have their heads checked,  My son loves peaches; both kids adore blueberries.

 Normally, I buy a personal size watermelon and scoop all the fruit out and eat it for my mid day snack/meal.  I love them that much!  I remember when I was growing up my Dad-o (maternal grandpa) loved watermelon so much we would all (6-8 of us) go over to his house on Sundays in the summer to cut one and eat it in the back yard.  He loved salt on his.  I prefer mine without salt.

How do you eat your peaches?  Did you know the skin is actually very nutritious?  When I was in college I worked in a farmer's market.  I learned a lot about peaches and was mortified the first time I saw a person just bite into one without peeling it.  In my mind I thought - but it has hair (fuzz)!  A couple weeks later I was eating them the exact same way.  Just wash it off and bite in!

Blueberries are a super food and you should learn to love them even if you don't think you do.  That's all I'm going to say about that!



My kids are hooked on these juice boxes.  I pretty much prefer they drink water but when they need an extra kick of taste I buy these Fruitables.  They really love the Apple Harvest flavor.  You can't go too wrong with these juice boxes because they are veggie and fruit mixed concoctions



This is what I take to the pool.  I purchased the 64oz Cool Gear EZ Freeze drink bottle to make sure I can get my water in every day.  So, yes, I take it more place than the pool.

And that's it....

What we take to the pool.  If you're looking for chips and cookies and mayo laden sandwiches....well no I don't have any of that.  However, I'm going to be posting Beach Food soon and you may like that list more ;)

What do you eat when you are at the pool?

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday is back, yay!

I have been so incredibly bored with cooking, as of late, that I seriously did not want to even post about food.  However, people love food posts!  I am drawn to other food posts like a fat kid to the Krispy Kreme hot light.  I cannot help it.

Let me go ahead and tell you:  This isn't some stellar food post with delicious photos and phenomenal recipes.

No, this is a post of what I have planned for us to eat this week.  I didn't scour my cookbooks or internet. No, I'm too lazy for that this week.  I did other things to figure out what we would have for dinner.  More scientific style things....

Like, thought about something I used to fix that the daughter loved....

Circa 2013

{An easy favorite} I posted on the blog 2 years ago...chicken, corn, black beans, diced tomatoes and a variety of little additions ...yummy!  Enjoy those old pictures of my tiny babies!  Why did I choose this? Simply put, I had three chicken breasts left in the freezer.  Three chicken breasts for four people...I need to stretch it further.  I dice it up and create this meal which requires little to no money (because I am queen of the tightwads) and ba boom we are good to go.

Denver Steaks are the cool cut these days...

As a kid I liked reading the cuts of meat at the meat counter.  I know that's odd.  Seriously, think about it.  Cuts of meat are like class system all up in your face.  Filet mignon....well we didn't eat that growing up.  Ribeyes....my dad loved those.  T-Bones....my mom enjoyed those.  Porter House....I still cannot really tell you what that is.

I never really remember seeing Denver Steaks in the lat 80s and the 1990s.  

Denver Steaks are pretty awesome and you shouldn't skirt away from them (get the pun?).  Chefs are loving this new addition to the "cuts" family because they are versatile for dishes other than your run of the mill steak and potatoes dish.  With the price of beef skyrocketing, cooks (and mommies) are looking for economical cuts of meat that won't kill the pocketbook and will provide some yummy goodness on the table.

Forbes magazine did a report on the hip new beef cuts.  I kid you not.  Click here to read it, it's worth your time.  The Denver Steak just may be the hot new ticket.

I have a few in the freezer and plan to not get too crazy creative with them.  Nope, I'm going to marinade them in a garlic salt and pepper with Worcestershire sauce for half a day and then throw them on the grill.  I'll also throw some asparagus on there and dice up some potatoes to roast.  

And we shall call that dinner.

I love hot dogs but this makes me vomit for him.

Sometimes when I blog I think I have known a word my whole life - like hotdog - and the oh so smart computer system says its two words not one.

But....

Who cares.

We are having hot dogs this week.  Why?  Because my husband told me about the World Eating Championship (which I have like five million problems with) and said the winning person ate like 62 hot dogs in 60 seconds.  He then followed that up by saying, "I wouldn't mind a hot dog."

Um...

So it just so happens I have some Ballparks in the fridge.  

I just remembered he forgot to pick out some chili.  Well that sucks for him.  I will whip up a little batch of potato salad to go with them because you have to have potato salad, duh.

That brings me to this question:  Yellow or White Potato Salad?  That's also the question of the day on the A Brownie World (ABW) Facebook page.

I prefer yellow because I love mustard.  My husband is boring and prefers the white, gross.  Life is better with vinegar.

Sometimes the grocery store does the meal planning for you.

I love Harris Teeter.  If you know how to shop there you realize you can save money by going there.  I don't buy everything under the sun when I go (some things I save for Food Lion of hand dandy Walmart).  Also, I'm not a raging couponer so half the time I only use one or two when I go.

What I really adore about some HT is that they still run a meal deal.  Mind you, its the same one for two weeks in a row, but its 7 times out of 10 a good one.  I hadn't planned a turkey burger night but after I saw the deal I decided on a turkey burger night.

I paid $11.99 for everything you see listed.  Basically I just bought the burgers and the tea (which I doubt I even drink but my husband can take it to work) and got the rest for free.  

I remember when Lowes Foods (don't get me started on them) and Food Lion did meal deals.  They quit.  They are losers.

For my kids....taco night

You have probably noticed that meals aren't the clean, fresh eating that I subscribed to before school let out.  Way to go, Sherlock.  You get a new monocle.  I'm not hungry for food food these days.  Instead I want other things.  I'll get to that in a minute.

We're having a taco night because life isn't as bueno without a taco night on the menu.  I secretly think my daughter lives for taco night.  They are the fun food for her.  

Taco night is pretty much across the board right?  In college my Bestie Ashley would have me over to her apartment (which was directly beside my building) and we'd have taco night.  Tacos are like the Ramen Noodles of being out of a styrofoam cup.  Seriously, you can make tacos for cheap and honestly, they taste way better.

Honestly.....

This is all I want to eat

Here's the deal....I can cook, grill, roast, toast, sautee all that crap above for my family.  But all I want is fruit.  Fruit, fruit, fruit.  I want to sit down and eat an entire watermelon and seven peaches and then go jump in some water.

I'm not a hunger monster in the summer.  I want to take more advantage of the produce farms (let me see your melons) and less of the meat producers (keep your beef big boy).  I want to bake up some cobbler and then make a big batch of zucchini bread.  I also want to sip some champagne and forget about cooking for a while.

It is just how I am in the hot months.  The girl who loves to cook opts to do other things when the sun is up and her feet are bare.

Give me some inspiration....what is your go to summer meal?