So the FTC Won’t Let Me Be…

Hola! I’m glad you all were equally as amused by Dora’s Gigi’s annihilation of that cupcake. I can’t wait to show her future husband (whom she will find by way of avoiding corn on the cob) those pics. Suitable material for an engagement ceremony slideshow? I’m probably getting ahead of myself here.

In more recent cupcake news, remember when I told you about my favorite cupcake bakery, Little Cupcake?

Well, I just passed by and saw:

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES & PUMPKIN LATTES! I cannot wait to try both; the black & white cake and turtle cappuccinos aren’t sounding so bad, either. I would bet money that Little Cupcake’s pumpkin latte is better than Starbucks—simply because everything this place makes is To Die For. Yes, the capitalization was necessary.

Plus, it’s a local business—down the block from two franchise cafes, one being the green straw-laden monopoly—and I’m all about spreading the local love.

Ok, I’ll stop professing my love for Little Cupcake because it’s starting to sound like I have an endorsement deal. In light of the new FTC blogging disclosure guidelines, I guess I should assure you that I don’t. I’m just an extraordinarily excitable cupcake enthusiast.

What do you think of the new FTC guidelines? Perhaps it’s because I studied journalism, but I think they’re a move in the right direction. The principles of journalism are deeply tied to the goal of transparency. Now, as blogging moves more and more into the realm of journalism, I think it’s important that this community be held to a similar code of ethics. Moreover, I think it’s an honor that the FTC takes our voices and opinions seriously enough to hold us accountable.

I know that journalism spiel seems a little out of place from the girl who drops TWSS bombs wherever she can fit ‘em in, but I think these guidelines will have a significant impact on the role of blogging. In fact, they may be yet another testament to the print-to-web overhaul with which the publishing industry is grappling.

I’m really curious to hear what you all have to say about the guidelines—so, por favor, speak up!

Sidenote: Does anyone know what song the title of this post is from? Well, the original lyrics reference the FCC, not the FTC, but whatevs.

Onto Monday’s eats.

I know it’s only October, and I know last week I was chugging a lot of cold weather Haterade, but yesterday’s breakfast was Christmas-tacular. Not to skip over my beloved days of Hallow and Thanks, but Monday morning bore merriment. I’ve been known to bust out my N’SYNC holiday cd months in advance—so a wintery bowl of oats wasn’t really out of character.

Sugar Plum Fairy Oats

In the mix: 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1 cup water, cinnamon and 1 tbsp. maple syrup; topped with one massive plum, cinnamon & sugar.

Mmmmmmm-azing. Yesterday my fairy dust came in the form of pure cane sugar. I don’t think I’ve brought this up before, but I usually rely on Splenda for my sweetener. This is a habit I’ve been meaning to kick for a while—but the whole not sweetening my coffee thing never seems like a good idea at the time. Thus the “I’ll start tomorrow” cycle began.

I’m not sure what I think or believe about the health drawbacks of Splenda because I haven’t dug too deep research-wise; but I do believe that nothing artificial should be consumed in the excessive manner I abuse those yellow packets. I do want to learn more about the health benefits of different sugar alternatives, like Stevia, but I’ve often considered just switching to plain old sugar.

I want to write a more in-depth post on this topic once I do a bit more research, but, for now, I’d love to know where you stand on the sugar vs. stevia vs. splenda spectrum. Why do you stand by your sweetener of choice?

Alongside my Nutcracker oats, I had a honey crisp with a spoonful of almond butter.

 

Honey crisps + AB = made for each other.

I dug into my veggie burgers for lunch.

I didn’t purposely make that egocentric “S;” it just happened…

On an Arnold’s rye sandwich thin: homemade rice & bean veggie burger, fresh baby spinach, laughing cow and ketchup.

 

I’m liking these veggie burgers even more than when I first tried them! (1) The soy sauce + rice in burger form continues to blow my mind. (2) I like that homemade burgers are bigger than the frozen kinds; I like the size of Dr. Praeger’s, but I think Boca’s are pretty wimpy. (3) These are really savory and went so, so wonderfully with the light creaminess of the LC.

On ze side was a big bowl of BIG grapes.

Seriously, these grapes are very large and in charge. Is it weird that I like them better that way?

Moving along… While contemplating dinner options, I broke into my FSTG stash and tried the Yellow Corn flavor.

 

These are a much more standard tortilla chip than the Multigrain or The Works flavors—but very good. Think gourmet Tostito. Expect a full review once I get through all the goods.

I busted out the Sabra, some leftover black beans and green pepper Tabasco to create my perfect nacho.

Yes, I constructed each chip, one by one, to ensure accurate bean:hummus:hot sauce ratios. I am willing to put in work for flavor perfección.

I’ve been craving a Greek salad lately—which is weird because I’m not generally crazy about Greek salads. But I decided to make a Greek chicken salad to go on top of a standard Greek ensalada.

In the mix: 3 oz. cooked chicken, 3/4 cup chopped cucumber, 4 quartered cherry tomatoes, handful oil-cured black olives, 3 tbsp. plain greek yogurt, 3 tbsp. crumbled feta cheese, lemon pepper seasoning and krazy salt.

I dressed the salad with this little gem I found hiding in my pantry:

Greek chicken salad went atop 3 cups baby spinach, cucumber, onion and mas feta.

The dressing was good, but I’m not sure it was really necessary because the chicken salad had so much flavor.

 

After eating this, I’m pretty sure chicken salad was meant to be made with olives and feta. Just saying…

After—without exaggeration—eating popcorn every night for an entire week, I am declaring this week no popcorn week. This is probably a poor decision because popcorn is a pretty healthy dessert option amid the sea of baked goods and ice cream that linger around mi casa. However, I want to experiment with other dessert options—and make sure I’m not actually addicted to popcorn.

Last night’s non-popcorn dessert was actually an upgrade from popcorn, health-wise. I saw this on Em’s blog yesterday and immediately wanted to try it.

A big bowl of grapes doused in applesauce. (Can you tell how massive those grapes are??) This was SO GOOD! And surprisingly filling. I am liking no popcorn week so far :).

Any non-popcorn dessert suggestions?

Hope everyone’s Tuesdays are treating them well!

-Sarah

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almond butter, applesauce, arnold sandwich thin, bakery, bay ridge, black beans, blogger guidelines, breakfast, chicken salad, dinner, disclosure, ethics, food blog, food should taste good, FTC, grapes, greek, greek yogurt, honey crisp, hummus, journalism, ketchup, laughing cow, little cupcake, local, lunch, media, oats, olives, plum, popcorn, principles, pumpkin cupcake, pumpkin latte, Recipe, rye, salad, spinach, sugar plum fairy, tabasco, veggie burger, yellow corn

October 6, 2009

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