On-The-Road Coffee Taste Test

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Coco

I will admit to being a coffee snob. I always have preferred the coffee I make at home over most restaurant coffees, but now I have been spoiled by Starbucks bold coffees.  Until last year, I was one of the people who did not even like Starbucks coffee, but then I discovered their bold flavors during their bold coffee of the week program. (If you missed it, you could collect stickers for trying a different bold flavor each week, and at the end of the program could turn in your sticker sheet for a free pound of your favorite flavor–I am a sucker for collecting stickers to “win” something!)

My favorite is Komodo Dragon:

Indonesia is the home of the world’s largest lizard–the Komodo dragon–and this blend of Asia Pacific coffees bears its name. Spicy, herbal, and earth with a full body, each sip of Komodo Dragon Blend evokes the lushness of Indonesia.

Well, I don’t know about all that, but it is a nice flavor.

This weekend we went out of town so my son could attend a college lacrosse clinic. The only Starbucks in town is in a Border’s that doesn’t open until 10:00 on Sundays–what good is that? Since this is our second overnight here, I knew the coffee crisis that I would be facing, and thought to toss some Starbucks Via® packs into my bag. Here’s what Starbucks says about Via®:

Starbucks has found a way to offer a truly great cup of coffee that you can prepare by just adding water. Other instant coffees taste flat and lifeless. Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew is different – it’s full bodied and flavorful, just like the Stabucks® coffee you know and love.

We know. We say the words “instant coffee” and you immediately think of something lifeless and flat. No smell. Even less taste.

We’re about to change all that. This is 100% Colombian arabica coffee, ethically sourced. To enjoy it, all you have to do is tear open a pack and add water. Let the coffee brew 10 seconds and stir. Then enjoy the rich, smooth taste, with that signature walnut-like taste found in great Colombian coffees.

Sounds good, right? I hadn’t tried it before, and although my husband likes it, he’s not as much of a coffee snob as I am, so I wasn’t sure what I would think.

I used the coffee pot in our room to fix hot water, and used one packet to make one cup.

To make it more fun, I got a cup of coffee from the (free) hotel breakfast for a side-by-side taste test.

Here’s what they looked like with 1 container of half-and-half stirred in:

Can you guess which one was the Via®?

Do I even need to tell you which one tasted better?

I will definitely keep some Via® on hand to throw into my bag for trips. While most hotels I stay at on my work trips have a Starbucks within walking distance, Via® will save me from ever having to drink weak hotel coffee again.

You can get Starbucks Via® at your local Starbucks or grocery store. The prices vary by flavor, but Starbucks sells Via® for about $6.95 for a 6-serving box, or $12.95 for 12-serving box.

Product Ratings (1-5 ♥)

Overall Quality of Product: ♥♥♥♥♥
Taste: ♥♥♥♥♥
Nutritional Value (Ingredient Quality): ♥♥♥♥♥
Value for $: ♥♥♥ (pricey but worth it!)
Would You Recommend it: ♥♥♥♥♥

Posted in Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

A Modest Proposal for Gun Control

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Coco

The Supreme Court has told us that despite language referring to a “well-regulated militia,” the Second Amendment gives individuals the “right to keep and bear arms.” Over the past few years, the Court also has held that the ability of states to regulate (limit) this right is subject to scrutiny, although it has upheld certain laws that restrict the possession of firearms by certain classes of people (such as convicted felons and the mentally ill) or that forbid firearms in certain places (such as schools and government buildings).

I can live with the notion of a right to bear arms, but I don’t know why it has to include guns that are not designed for self-protection or hunting, such as semi-automatic weapons.  When it comes to the U.S. Constitution, I am not an originalist, but I still think that it is relevant that the Framers could not possibly have intended to be ensuring that individuals have the right to carry weapons that can cause mass casualties in a few moments.

My views don’t really matter, but Supreme Court Justice Scalia does purport to be an originalist, at least with respect to women’s rights.  In early January, he said that the Constitution does not prohibit discrimination against women because (as reported by Yahoo!) “Nobody ever thought that that’s what it [the 14th Amendment] meant.”

Now, I don’t want the Court to limit the 14th Amendment to what might have been the original intent of its authors, but if Justice Scalia believes that it should be, shouldn’t he look at the Second Amendment in the same light?

I think the Supreme Court should approach the Second Amendment issue the same way that the city of Alexandria, Virginia is approaching its rules for homes in its historic preservation district. As reported in the January 6, 2011 issue of the Alexandria Gazette Packet, the city has decided that homeowners maintaining the exteriors of their homes can only use replacement materials that were available when the houses were built. That means that materials developed in the twenty-first century cannot be used on houses built in the 1800’s. I don’t necessarily agree with this rule–won’t it preclude the use of more environmentally friendly and/or inexpensive materials?–but that’s not my point.

My proposal here (and it is a modest one), is to interpret the Second Amendment as ensuring the right to bear the types of arms that were available in the late 1700’s when the Bill of Rights was adopted. I’m sure these pistols could be used for self-defense, and people back then had to hunt for their food, so the rifles must be good enough for hunting.

So, Justice Scalia, what do you think?

Posted in Venting | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Breakfast Bonanza!

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Coco

I love breakfast. For me, it really is “the most important meal of the day” as far as getting my day off to a good start. Plus, I love all breakfast foods–cereal, oatmeal, toast, eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage–you name it!

I prefer to eat my breakfast in two parts, about half before I leave the house for work and the other half mid-morning. Since I have mild hypoglycemia, it is better for me to eat every few hours. Plus, while I love breakfast, I don’t like starting the day feeling stuffed and bloated from a big meal.

My first breakfast is usually an omelette made with 1/2 cup EggBeaters® and 1 egg white. I usually fold in some sort of veggie–broccoli slaw, leftover diced steamed broccoli, baby spinach, etc.–and sprinkle with a bit of shredded parmesan cheese.

I also have a piece of whole grain toast (usually Arnold® Flax & Fiber) with a schmear of Promise® Light and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. I find this very filling and a caloric bargain at about 200-250 calories.

My second breakfast varies with my day. My favorite right now is oatmeal that I make in the microwave with 1/3 cup old fashioned oats and 2/3+ cup water, and stir in 1 small box raisins, a generous 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter and 1/3 cup low-fat milk.

Delicious and very filling and another caloric bargain at about 250 calories.

If I have a busy day at work and need to multi-task, I may have a banana and a 100-calorie pack of almonds:

or a Luna Bar (Peanut Butter Cookie, Lemon Zest, and Chocolate Peppermint Stick are my favorite).

This Sunday I wasn’t in the mood for my usual omelette and toast, and decided to fix myself oatmeal before church. As much as I love it mid-morning and usually can finish the whole bowl, it was too much volume for my stomach at 8:00 am. It left me feeling bloated for a long time. And, worst of all, I was too full to enjoy more than one cup of coffee! So, I think I need to stick with my omelette and toast combination first thing in the morning.

This weekend I saw the new Vitalicious® egg sandwiches at the grocery store.

They are frozen and made for microwaving, and I thought they would be good for days when I need to get to work early and eat my “first” breakfast at the office. I used to get the Jimmy Dean® D-Lights Turkey Sausage Muffins but they are pretty expensive (usually $7-8 for a box of 4) for a grocery store purchase, and I’ve since gotten hooked on the Starbucks® reduced-fat turkey bacon, egg white and cheese sandwich:

Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon with Egg Whites on English Muffin

but those aren’t cheap either, and have 320 calories and 700 mg sodium.

So, I figured the Vitalicious® sandwich was worth a try (although at $4+ for a box of 2, it wasn’t really any cheaper than the Jimmy Dean® sandwiches).

Well, I will eat a lot of things in the name of nutrition (low calorie! high fiber! protein!) but eating this sandwich was an experience that I am not looking forward to repeating. It was actually as I was eating it that I decided to do this review. I ate more slowly and tried to figure out why I didn’t like it, but it was hard to pinpoint. It was a bit mushy, but the texture wasn’t really offensive or that unusual for a microwaved frozen sandwich. The egg part was really tasteless (these sandwiches have 350 mg sodium, was that the problem?), and the cheese didn’t really seem to add much flavor. Maybe it was the bacon I missed?

Since I still have one sandwich left, I will have to figure out how to make it taste better. Aside from adding my own bacon, I could try slipping in some sliced tomato or even salsa.

Do you eat the same thing for breakfast every day?

Have you ever had a breakfast disaster?

Posted in Food, Life, Product Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Going to Church

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Coco

I grew up in a family where going to church on Sunday was a given. Actually, I went to Sunday School while my parents went to the church service at the same time, but Sunday School had a similar format with opening and closing hymns and prayers before the “classes” broke up for separate readings and discussions. There were no excuses to miss church. Even if we were out of town, we would find a church to attend. 

I never minded going to church (or Sunday School), but when I was a teenager I found it boring (like many other adult-mandated things), and I started seeking out Saturday-night sleep-overs so I would miss Sunday morning church. I stayed away from church through college and afterwards. I never lost my faith or rebelled against organized religion, I just didn’t have any desire to go to church.  

My husband and I got married in a church his family attended when he was younger, but that didn’t lead to regular attendance.  But, it wasn’t too long after that I found a church close to where we lived, and started attending regularly, usually on my own. My husband is also an Episcopalian, but church just isn’t for him. His mom was always the parent in his family that went to church, and I think he internalized the concept that church was for women and children. I think there’s a Simpson’s episode that hits home on that point. I know he used to watch The Three Stooges while I went off to church. 😮

I used to bring my children to church, but it became harder to “make” them when they realized that Daddy was staying home. The church I attended at the time had very few kids their age, and the Sunday School and Youth Group were too small–and run too haphazardly–to hold their interest. Then, their team sports interfered–all of my daughter’s travel soccer games were on Sundays, and if my son doesn’t have a Sunday  game he has Sunday practice.  So, since the time they were teens, they only have attended church on Christmas and Easter, although now my (college age) daughter manages to miss those services too. 

I do think that this is one of my big failings as a parent, but unless I was more strict in the pre-teen years and found a way to fit church in around sports (our church doesn’t have Saturday services, but now there is a Sunday night service), I don’t think I could have done things differently, or attained a different outcome. If church was one more thing that I forced on my teenagers, I don’t think they would have benefited from it.

I alleviated my guilt by sending them to a parochial school, where they do take religion classes and attend a weekly chapel service. I also model my commitment to God and my participation in church. They know that Mom goes to church on Sundays, reads the Bible, prays, and feels blessed by it all. I hope (and pray!) that church–or some relationship with God–is something that they will come to enjoy on their own some day.

Our opening hymn today sums up some of the feelings I have about going to church:

I come with joy to meet my Lord,
forgiven, loved, and free,
In awe and wonder to recall
His life laid down for me.

Church is a joyful experience for me. While the focus of the readings and sermons are different from week to week, they usually are thought-provoking and inspire me to find ways to walk more closely with God in my daily life and share God’s love with others. Going to church isn’t something I do because I have to.  It is something I do because I want to, and need to, to keep my life centered where I want it to be.

What are your feelings about going to church?

Would you feel comfortable if a friend invited you to go to church?

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Chocolate That Won’t Wreck Your Resolutions

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Coco

We’re a few weeks into January–how are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions?

If you are trying to eat better but missing your favorite treats, you might be interested in how I work chocolate into my healthy living plan.

I like to have a chocolate protein shake before I workout with weights:

This is the best protein powder I’ve tried. There is no icky aftertaste and one scoop has only 110 calories. Dump a scoop in a blender with a scant cup of water and a bit of crushed ice and the result is yummy chocolatey goodness.

Depending on how hungry I am in the afternoon, I may have a 140 calorie Chocolate Brownie Cliff Z-Bar:

(look how I tore into that box!)

or a 190 calorie Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bar:

These taste like a big, satisfying Thin Mint. Yum!

On weekends or for an evening snack, I often have a Double Chocolate VitaMuffin:

(I prefer the full-sized muffins to the muffin tops, and don’t like the brownies at all.)
The VitaMuffins are frozen, and 15 seconds in the microwave defrosts and warms them–I love how the chocolate chips on top get all melty and gooey (all for only 100 calories).

Now, these are all good chocolatey treats, but when I need a dose of the real thing, I don’t mess around:

90% cocoa may be too much for most people, but I really like it. It certainly is something to savor slowly, and I never really even want more than one square. I have to be careful about enjoying this at night, though, because I swear it can keep me awake!

Have you tried any of these chocolate concoctions?

What is your favorite way to enjoy chocolate?

Posted in Fitness, Food | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments