Tuesday 1 May 2012

WIAW - going to America!

 * This will be a long post, but I promise it's a good one - news, WIAW and a quiz.

So for my good news - I'm going to America!

I will be going at the end of December/beginning of January to New York, Boston/MA (visiting the whole state) and DC. So please tell me where to go, tourist and non-tourist stuff to do (preferably the awesome stuff you do if you live there), what to eat and where to eat! I intend to try all the best American food - pizza in NY, clam chowder in MA, and I am definitely going to Trader Joes - which looks so freakin' amazing and we have nothing like that over here. So please, let me know!

I am so excited about this trip - I've never been to America and have always wanted to go. So if you live in those areas let me know!

I am going there to meet up with my lovely friend Meg, who I actually met on a writing website where we posted stories we had written. It was a great way to meet other people - like blogging! She wrote an amazing story, I said I liked it, and we became friends - and this will be my first time meeting her in the flesh. This was exciting for me - I never comment on things online unless I think they deserve to be commented on. So if I have been stalking your blog, I apologize, I'm not really a creeper. I just think you're awesome. Truly.

Now. WIAW:

As usual, a huge thank you to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for being such an awesome host. Have a look at everyone else's blog posts and of course, Jenn's.


It was such a rainy weekend I spent the whole weekend inside, baking mostly.


Breakfast – 1 cup oatmeal, 3 strawberries, 1 banana, cinnamon, honey, 'light n tasty' cereal. 



Lunch – leftover pizza (both recipes coming soon) – one slice chicken and mushroom, one slice margherita, one weight watchers apricots tin and a fudge ball (recipe from Choc Covered Katie - oh my god, these are amazing)


Dinner – one steak and mushroom pie, baked pumpkin and sweet potato


Dessert – popcorn with a little salt
Unpictured: a couple of spoonfuls of yoghurt,  and I snacked on grapes, and sweet potato and pumpkin mix

I also baked for my roommates: banana and choc chip mini loaves from Skinnytaste and hot cocoa cookies from How Sweet It Is – using Marshmellow Fluff sent from Meg for Christmas!

Now for the quiz. I saw this on the ever lovely Shannon's blog and really wanted to do it, and couldn't wait to post it. So sorry for this insane post!

Now, I suppose you guys don’t really know a lot about me, but I read all these other blogs and I’m like, ‘Man, they seem like such a cool person’. And I think well, maybe if I actually talked about my life I might make some awesome foodie blogger friends. What a better way to start than on WIAW – a party for healthy bloggers anyway. So, I did a quiz:

Coke or Pepsi?
I don’t drink either on a daily basis, but Coke. Diet Coke specifically – that was all we had in the house when I was younger so I don’t even like normal Coke.

Lemonade or Fruit Punch?
Ugh, neither. I am not a fan of any lemonade or lemon-y thing really, and fruit punch has some form of soda in it, which I don’t drink. Not for any health reasons, purely because I’m picky and don’t like the taste.

Caramel Apple or Cotton Candy?
Again, neither. Both are too sweet for me. But I suppose if I was at a fair and had to chose, I would get cotton candy, eat a tiny bit, and pass it on to whatever friend I was with.

Butterfinger or Snickers?
I’m being boring again, but neither. Actually, what are Butterfingers? I don’t know. But I don’t really like Snickers.

Pudding and Jell-O?
Pudding all the way. Wasn’t a fan until uni, then I fell in love with this low fat version Weight Watchers has in a small tin – my problem is I eat like four of those tins.

Turkey or Chicken?
Cannot chose. I love them equally. A good turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, proper lettuce, tomato and cheese is fantastic, but I would die without my Mum’s chicken burgers – and chicken is like every meal for me.

American or Provolone Cheese?
Provolone. Not that I dislike American cheese, hell I love it, but I would say I like Provolone more.

Crackers or Cookies?
Probably crackers, because I eat them with cheese and tomato if I’m craving a bit of decent meal. I don’t really eat or make cookies.

Pretzels or Chips?
Pretzels – I only ever like Original Smiths Chips and Light n’ Tangy Smiths Chips anyway.

Mexican food or Japanese food?
Probably Japanese – I eat more sushi than Mexican food.

Chinese food or Italian food?
Being Italian, I like Italian food. This was called regular food for such a long time for me.

Pie or Cake?
Oh, that’s so hard. I love pie most, I think. The cake has got to be a specific cake to be better than pie – like chocolate or banana. And the pie has usually got to be warm and homemade; I don’t really do bakery meat pies. I would do bakery fruit pies though.

Ice cream or Cookies?
Cookies. I don’t eat cookies, but I eat ice cream less. I really don’t like it – just not my thing.

Pasta or Pizza?
Pasta – I mean, I love my grandparents homemade pizza, but pasta is like a twice weekly thing for me. Growing up, Tuesday and Thursday every week was pasta nights.

Soda or Juice?
Freshly squeezed juice, otherwise I only really drink Pineapple juice.

Chocolate Bars or Chocolate Truffles?
I don’t really eat chocolate bars – I prefer chocolate in things. So probably truffles, but I would never be able to restrict myself to one. And it would have to be dark chocolate – I can do some milk chocolate, especially if it’s with caramel, but never white chocolate.

Apples or Bananas?
I’m going to have to go with bananas here.

Salad or Soup?
Salad I suppose, I try to eat it once a day.

Cauliflower or Broccoli?
Ooooh neither. I’m still learning to eat my veggies. When I was kid, I ate every fruit there was. My parents called me ‘The Fruit Bat’. At the same time, I also told my friend’s parents when I slept over at my friend’s house that I was allergic to green vegetables because I didn’t eat them.

Onion Rings or French Fries?
French fries all the way. I don’t do onion – not a lot of it.

Blizzard or McFlurry?
What is a Blizzard? But not a McFlurry, as I have actually never eaten McDonals. I know, shock, right.

Fried or Poached Eggs?
Poached all the way.

Crepes or Pancakes?
Uh, such a hard decision! Both!

Hash browns or Roasted Potatoes?
Roasted potatoes. I used to love hash browns, but now, I can’t go past good old fashioned roast vegetables!

Oatmeal or Cereal?
I absolutely love both. Cereal in summer, oatmeal in winter.

So let me know -
- where to eat, what to do, where to go, what to eat
- what have you eaten lately that's been amazing?
- do you have any great friends you have met online through blogging? I'd love some food blogging friends, often my friends in the real world don't even care about these kinds of things :)

P.S. – A huge thank you to the wonderful Healthy Living Bloggers Newsletter team.

11 comments:

  1. hi there! i live in south jersey, and i'm thinking and thinking about what foods are classic from-the-area foods. i got nothin'. if you're passing through, you might think about a philly cheesesteak. i don't eat meat, but i did in college. definitely the opposite of health food, but it might be worth it to check it out. i didn't know they didn't have them everywhere.

    and, i would have to recommend getting bagels in ny. i can only vouch for long island... but they were the most delicious bagels i've ever tasted (toasted, with butter). and i love bagels. i hope you have a great trip!

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    1. Ooohhh I looked up what a philly cheesesteak is and I definitely want one of those! Thanks so much for suggesting that! :)

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  2. Looks sooo good! I love the oatmeal toppings, it makes it look so amazing.

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  3. Wow, what a super exciting trip! :) Off the top of my head, if you are in the North End (Italian) area of Boston, definitely check out Mike's Pastries. It is sort of cliche, but they really do have great stuff there. The cream-filled "lobster tails" are uh-maz-ing! And there are a few different foodie tours that run in the area, one being a chocolate tour! :)

    I live just outside of Boston so *please* don't hesitate to shoot me an email [massachuseats (at) gmail (dot) com] if you want any specific suggestions on what to do/eat! The only travesty I must admit to is that I don't eat seafood, so I can't advise you there lol.

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    1. Oh wow a chocolate tour! And I love any kind of pastry, so that sounds amazing. I'll definitely email you when I know what days I'll be in Boston - I'd love any tips you have! :)

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  4. You have to go to at LEAST one Hard Rock Cafe- also, stop by the Whole Foods in Boston!

    Btw, a butterfingers is a sort of hard peanut butter flaky-ish bar coated in chocolate, and a McFlurry is an ice cream blend made by McDonalds- both are delicious and you should definitely try them while you're here!

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    1. Oh, Whole Foods! I forgot about that! I do have to go there - we have nothing that exciting here. Oh wow, butterfingers sound amazing! I will have to try that too! Haha :)

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  5. AHHH! How exciting that you're going to visit the US in a couple of months! If I could, I would move back to my homtown in Atlanta or Florida. I miss the US so much! I've been to NYC and Washington DC before and I think you will really enjoy visiting them. :) And YES, go to Trader Joes! That place is amazing! (We dont have a place like that here in Germany, either. Such a bummer!)

    Anways, all your eats look super yummy! I love popcorn with a little salt as a nightime snack.

    Aw, thanks for mentioning me in this post! I love that so many people are doing this survey! It's so much fun to read through everyones answers. :)
    I'm totally a pretzel girl like you! I prefer those more than chips.

    Hope you are having a great week so far! <3

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    1. Oh, wow you're from Florida! That is so awesome - I would absolutely love to visit Florida (mostly for Harry Potter world haha). I am so looking forward to Trader Joes and all those lovely places.

      I love reading surveys on everyone's blogs - it's so much fun to get to know all the bloggers!

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  6. Your US trip will be awesome... I just go back from there a few weeks ago... I did Boston, New York and Orlando... Loved the lobster rolls on brioche rolls in Boston... I got it from a placed called Legal Sea Foods by the water. Yum.

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  7. great banana bread recipe! i love that it is healthy and still looks delicious!

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