thursday things – life after whole30, new kitchen gadgets, and a 4th of july recipe round-up

I DID IT! I SURVIVED THE WHOLE 30!

From now on my desserts will look like these “croNOTS” – made from donut-shaped apple slices and healthy toppings like almond butter and yogurt!

Just kidding.

W30 was fun, and I learned some things about myself and the food I eat, but I’m happy to be able to say ‘yes’ again to things like quinoa, and rice, and peanut butter, and cake.

And these:

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Much to everyone’s surprise (especially my own) I haven’t actually had either chocolate OR peanut butter since I finished the diet, which means I’ve officially achieved a lifetime record of going over one month without either of them!

I haven’t cracked these beauties open yet because I’m afraid that, after all that healthy crap I’ve been eating, they will just taste like pure sugar and chemicals… So I’ve decided to give my taste-buds a week or two to adjust to the real world before I break them open.

After that, MURDER.  May god have mercy on their delicious cookie souls.

Fruit season is upon us and since we’ve been demolishing fruit like its nobody’s business (FH has a serious rainier cherry addiction, if they didn’t have such a short season I may be more concerned). We decided to enhance the speed at which we can inhale our sweet treats by making two new friends: Professor Hullsworth and his less distinguished counterpart Pitts (he likes to pit cherries).

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I’m more of a minimalist really so for the past few years I’ve been convincing myself that these were unnecessary kitchen items and a waste of money. After about a week of owning them I am happy to say that they may actually be my two favorite kitchen gadgets. Maybe I really DO need that apple-corer after all…

Meanwhile on the internet…

This guy totally wasted his free pet owl by throwing it outside.

Wit and Vinegar made the donuts of my dreams

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Eater began its own cookbook review column ….

We uncovered the truth about cookie butter

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TheKitchn introduced us to the future of food packaging …

Japan again shows us that they are superior in every way by creating a penguin GPS app

And my froyo dreams are finally coming true with the creation of an automatic froyo dispenser (with an awesome f*cking name – THE FROBOT!). At the low, low price of 30K I don’t know how I can NOT invest in one, really…

Finally, with our country’s day of independence just around the corner, who would I be to rob you of a RECIPE ROUNDUP?

4th of July Recipe Round-up

Appetizers

Halloumi cheese bites from A Periodic Table (via Feast Magazine)

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These itty bitty cute caprese bites (add more bits of tomato and cheese and turn them into caprese skewers!)

Pass the Sushi‘s Huli-Huli bacon chicken bites

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Herbed cream-cheese avocado canapes from Natasha’s Kitchen

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Mains

Emma Magazine’s BBQ Meatball Sandwiches with Peach Slaw

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SkinnyTaste’s BBQ shrimp skewers

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 Grilled garlic-basil chicken breasts from yours truly

Slow cooker pulled pork from Kitchen Mason 

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Pioneer Woman’s oven-barbecued chicken

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Or give these 5-chili turkey burgers a try

Sides

Movita Beacoup‘s potato salad

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Herbed quinoa garden salad from Pinch of Yum

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Foolproof Living’s watermelon, avocado, and mint salad with feta

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Fresh sweet corn salad from Our Best Bites

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Desserts

How about a super easy s’mores icebox cake?

Or, if you’re feeling extra motivated, you can make this American Flag Cake from Food52

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Or, slightly less taxing, are these roasted berry napoleons from My Baking Addiction

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How about these delectable peanut butter s’mores bars from Just a Taste?

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Drinks

Bomb Pop Shots from A Beautiful Mess

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These super easy watermelon margaritas from yours truly

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This refreshing (alcohol-free) strawberry-basil soda from Striped Spatula

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3 thoughts on “thursday things – life after whole30, new kitchen gadgets, and a 4th of july recipe round-up

  1. just face it: our lives are never going to be 100% the same after the Whole30. AND YOU KNOW IT. i still have a hard time looking cheese in the eye, and i LOVE cheese. we’ll get there, but it’s going to take a minute. I know you’re gearing up for those oreos, as i am gearing up for my favorite junk foods, but i’m ready to console you (and for you to console me) if something bizzare has happened to our taste buds and these things are no longer as good as they once were. 🙁

    do i need a cherry pitter / strawberry huller?!?! i have put off getting those (and the apple corer: i laugh RIGHT OUT LOUD at the apple corer usually), but do i need them? maybe i do! i’m dying over that photo. Prof. Hullsworth is British, correct? because i need him to say “strawberries” like “STRAW-burries.” IMPORTANT.

    omg the owl: i watched that like, holding my breath b/c you know that owl was all “i’m going to eat your FACE if you do this wrong, buddy.” did you see the way he was looking at him? and WHY THE HELL didn’t he run to shut the window? All that needed to be a horror clip was for that owl to “disappear” into the dark and then come shooting back through the window. I know we both love owls and stuff, but i would NOT want to run into one in a dark alley, unless he was a baby. then okay.

    i want to consume all the things: thank you for making my hallloumi bites part of your roundup! 🙂 my 4th was only lackluster because we spent the day traveling so no one wanted to do a big floofy deal for dinner. i’ll make up for it this weekend, because i’m sitting about 5 feet from a pool as i type this. we will make all the celebratory picnic food in the land.

  2. Wow, i’m pretty impressed you did the W30…no way I could (or would want to). You MUST try those choco/pb oreos. They’re really good! What a tasty roundup you’ve got here. I actually attempted that flag cake but with cake mix. It was a hit!

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