Five Favorites: Mainly Food

Time for another edition of Five Favorites. Our list for this week features mainly food items that we have been enjoying lately during this lazy, hazy summer days!

Image Source

1. Panera's Cherry Limeade

I received a gift on my Panera card for a free frozen drink of my choice. This summer, Panera introduced their new Frozen Cherry Limeade beverage and we decided to try that. Paul was in heaven. It reminded him of a Daiquiri and he slurped this baby up in about 3 minutes flat (why he can never savor something is beyond me). Hearing that Panera is sponsoring Happy Hour with half priced smoothies and drinks from 2-4pm Monday through Friday, he cannot wait to go back and get another one of these. A perfect summer drink.

Image Source

2. SO Delicious Coconut Creamer

While at the grocery store last week, I found a coupon for SO Delicious coffee creamer stuck in the refrigerator case of the organic section. Since the coupon would qualify to double for a total savings of $1.50, I decided to give this product a whirl (I had been eyeing it for quite some time). It is DELICIOUS. My new favorite coffee creamer. A little bit goes a long way, which is awesome for me since I like my morning drug cup of Joe sweet and normally feel compelled to dump in the entire bottle of creamer to mask the bitter taste of our coffee grounds. I bought the French Vanilla version this time around but plan to try the other varieties next time. Delicious!

Image Source

3. Puzzles

The lone item on this list that is NOT food related, I simply could not leave our beloved puzzles out. All summer long, Matthew has been building puzzles. It all began with a dinosaur puzzle that my Mom gifted him when Baby Emma was born and he has been obsessed with puzzles ever since. His favorite activity to do by himself or with either Paul or I is to patiently put one together. Paul pretty much cannot handle puzzles that contain more than 20 large pieces (too much frustration for him), so it is normally Matthew and I patiently putting together puzzles of all shapes and sizes. Matthew is impressively stubborn about sticking around until every last piece is in place. Even puzzles waaay outside his skill level captivate him. We're going to be working through a 500 piece puzzle together and I'm sure that I will feel like quitting before he does!

Image Source

4. Summer Corn

I have to say it again: the corn harvest this year is beautiful! Sweet, crunchy, and extremely versatile in so many great recipes! I have been bookmarking so many recipes with corn that there is no way I will be able to make them all before the summer is through! Maybe you should try some of these for me? This Corn Pizza sounds insanely delicious. Corn risotto? Stop it. Grilled corn with Cheddar Quinoa? Unreal. These Chilaquiles? AHH! Or for the pasta lovers, this dish would be an awesome show-stopping entree to serve for company. Invite me over if you should make any of these.

Image Source

5. Biscoff Spread

I am not a huge fan of Biscoff cookies. Like most people, I have only had them while flying across the country. Airplanes make me feel very, very ill mainly from a combination of a sensitive stomach, claustrophobia, and the intermingling smells of coffee, plastic, and newspaper while soaring 30,000+ feet above the ground. When we added Matthew to our family and took him on flights with us, the combination of apple juice and crumbled biscoff cookies that the flight attendant kept feeding him to keep him quiet has been added to the list of foods that are my sworn enemies (along with Braunschweiger, Limburger cheese, grape jelly, bologna, guava, Doritos, and tofu). That being said, I love this Biscoff spread. It does not make any sense, I know. But this is delicious slathered on a sandwich as a substitute for peanut butter (even though peanut butter still holds my heart!) or eaten straight with sliced apples and bananas.

Head on over to Camp Patton who is hosting the Five Favorites linkup for this week!