You Gotta Ac-Cen-Tuate the Positive

by Tracy

Or, Go to Dollar Tree for the Cheap Science Project Materials, Stay for the Blogging Material

unreal sourcreme

I found this in the cooler at Dollar Tree. At first I was just going to take a picture because I was so charmed by the product name, but then I thought, no, I have to taste this because that’s what my people expect of me.

fake sour cream

This product is a terrific example of turning drawbacks into benefit. This isn’t fake sour cream, it’s UNREAL!!!! Sourcreme (creme sounds fancy, no?)! And you get a whole pound of it! For a dollar!

BTW if you visit the website, you’ll find that the company also makes gelatin molds and industrial desserts, like what you get at hospitals and prisons (don’t quote me on the prisons thing, I’d hate to find out that I’d tipped somebody over to a life of crime by giving them the hope of getting dessert every night in the big house).

unreal sourcreme ingredients

This is where I get a bit confused. I thought maybe Unreal!!!!! Sourcreme was a substitute for those who can’t or won’t consume dairy products, but as you can see it’s full of dairy. It is slightly lower in calories and saturated fat than the company’s real sour cream, but if you look up other brands’ fat free sour cream product (like Hood’s), they are all far lower in calories, have zero saturated fat and the first ingredient is skim milk, not water and partially hydrogenated soy bean oil.

I guess the benefit of this product is it’s cheaper? I can’t remember how much fat-free sour cream goes for at the grocery store, but I think you’d pay $1.00 for 8 ounces of the store brand regular sour cream on sale.

unreal sourcreme

But you know what? Maybe it tastes terrific. Maybe it’s a slightly less caloric product at a fantastic price that tastes even better because of the goodness of soy beans.

It smelled like sour cream when I opened it but looked kind of like sour cream and shaving cream had a baby.

The taste? Well, it tasted like cold and waxy aftertaste and not fully incorporated starch. Maybe you could use it as a base for a strongly flavored recipe like french onion dip but no way am I putting this on my burrito.

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Wasabi Kit Kats!

by Tracy

Or, My Sister Moved to Okinawa and Now I’ve Decided to Become a Japanese Kit Kat Blogger

japanese kit kat wasabi flavor

You will not believe all the loot my sister sent me from Japan, including four different kinds of Kit Kats. Believe it or not, that’s just a teensy tiny sample of the many varieties of Kit Kats that have been made in Japan at one time or another.

japanese kitkat wasabi

This is a box of limited edition wasabi flavored Kit Kats (Shizuoka Kanto edition).

japanese kit kats

You know, I think that this is much more inviting than saying “Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar”. That always just seemed pushy to me.

japanese wasabi kitkats

The inside of the box is very neatly arranged and satisfies my need for things to seem “fancy-like”.

wasabi kitkat from Japan

Each tiny pack is just 69 calories. 69, dudes! Bill and Ted would approve and thus do I.

And look! If I wanted to pack these in my boys’ lunchboxes, I could write a message of love and encouragement on the back, just like one can on packaged Rice Krispie Treats, only since these treats come from Japan and are limited edition, the message would be far more meaningful and loving.

japanse wasabi kitkats

The color is slightly more green in person and the whole thing smells primarily of white chocolate. I thought I caught a few whiffs of wasabi, but I’m not sure if I really did or I just thought I did because I thought I should.

wasabi kitkat

And the taste? Pretty much like a white chocolate Kit Kat (fairly okay white chocolate, not that super waxy stuff) with some elusive notes of wasabi. You could call it subtle or weak-ass, depending on your perspective. I can feel/taste a slight hint of wasabi on my tongues and the insides of my cheeks but there isn’t a ton of bite to it. My husband and 7 year old didn’t seem to notice much wasabi flavor at all.

If you’d like to try Wasabi Kit Kats for yourself, JBox has some for sale and NapaJapan seems to carry a wide variety as well. (Note: I’ve never purchased from these retailers or have any association with them, so I can’t vouch for them).

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We’ve Been Really Busy with School Around Here Lately

by Tracy

Or, my sheepish re-entry into the world of blogging

Zero credit for paying attention in science, 100 credit for giving it a go anyway.

I guess we should have enrolled him in that summer art program…

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I Took the 7 Link Challenge

by Tracy

Or, I’m not above doing a meme if the situation is right

Not relevant to post, just wanted a bit of color.

Note: I am resurrecting this post because of a mention in the lovely Meemalee’s blog. It’s not exactly the same as her meme, but close enough.  Her post also reminded me of the very first post I remember reading on her blog, Jive Bunny (could be distressing to fans of Thumper).

So this morning, I’m reading my email and I see this 7 Link Challenge in the Problogger newsletter.  I don’t usually do a lot of memes, but I have plans for this weekend and I won’t be doing a Saturday Night Link Up so why not?

You can find the specifics for the challenge in the Problogger post linked above if you’d like to participate. If you do, send me the link so I can read it later on this weekend!

Your first post

I figured the name of my site needed some explanation before I started writing, so my first post was Here’s How the Story Begins where I talk about how the name came to me, how I happened to host a message board on this site for some time and how time changes how you view your online community.

I no longer host forums at this site. It was a difficult decision and one I might write about some time in the future but for now I think it’s best just to say it was for personal reasons. Don’t worry, not hiding any huge drama, but it’s hard to talk about your personal reasons for breaking off any sort of relationship in public without risking hurting other people’s feelings.

A Post You Enjoyed Writing the Most

I enjoyed writing 6 Things I Secretly Hope are Included in Life Coaching not just because I got to spend lots of time listening to 80s music but because I did have a some nervousness about starting the whole process and this helped me deal with that. It was a lot of fun imaging what could happen and it helped reassure me that no matter what happened, I would still be myself.

A Post Which Had a Great Discussion

Is Racism the New N-Word? is a much different kind of post than I usually write for this blog. Some of the comments were fantastic. I was blow away by Shereen’s and almost wish I could use it as a post in itself. When she said:

There is no blame, even if there is anger. You are not to blame. I am not to blame. But in order to change it, we have to acknowledge it, and work actively to dismantle it.

I felt like, yes, you said it so much better than I could have. There were also those with other perspectives and I thought about what they said for days and came to a deeper understanding that it was not just about making sure my own voice was heard, but allowing others to have their voices heard as well.

A Post on Somebody Else’s Blog You Wished You’d Written

This is hard, because there are so many hundreds of great posts I’ve read in the few years I’ve been involved in blogging. Honestly, though I’ve never read something and wish I’d been the one to write it. I guess it’s because it’s not like that subject is now completely and forever off-limits to me and well, I can write it, if I wanted to. I’d just write it differently.

I have been jealous at good ideas or ingenious ways of looking at things, but again, it’s more a feeling of awesome! I can build on that.

There have been posts I wished that somebody else with some talent would have written but I don’t suppose that’s in the spirit of #7 links.

Your Most Helpful Post

Besides the ones that are great appetite suppressants, I think My Ear Itches on the Inside was the most helpful, based on how many people have landed on it from Google. While I did not offer any solutions, I think I helped them feel less alone, which is the greatest help of all.

A Post With a Title You are Proud of

It’s a tossup between People Who Need Pupa are the Pluckiest People and I Said it Before and I’ll Say it Again, Spam is the King of Canned Meats.

A Post That You Wish More People Had Read

11 Reasons I Sometimes But Not Always Dislike Doing List Posts. No reason really, I was just looking at my posts with not a lot of views and this one has something like less than 1% of the views that Chicken in a Can does and since it was my other attempt at doing a Problogger inspired post, it seemed to fit.

Not that I’m saying that Problogger inspired posts are doomed to be kicked in the butt by some soggy ass chicken but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having second thoughts about hitting publish on this one.

I’d love to see your 7 Links challenge, so if you’ve done one or do one, go ahead and link it in comments for us all to enjoy.

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Mushy Peas

by Tracy

Or, watch out Jolly Green Giant, you’ve got competition!

can of mushy peas

The first time I had mushy peas was in Dublin, Ireland as a side to a fish and chips dinner. Before I get into the peas, let me tell you something that is very odd and perhaps not quite right about the Irish.

The first time I went in to get fish and chips with my now husband, I’m reading the menu board, trying to decide what to get because it’s not just one kind of fish. Oh no, you’ve got your cod and haddock and pike and perch and some kinds come smoked as well as plain. It’s a little overwhelming, but it’s okay because pretty much everything is good.

But then, after you choose your fish and go to choose the sides they have “beans” on the menu. Beans. So, I ask my husband, “Honey, what kind of beans?”

“What kind of beans?” he says “Beans. Just beans. How many kinds of beans are there?”

Seriously, he said that.

And I’m like, well, there’s butter beans and lima beans and black beans and ranch beans and pinto beans and garbanzo beans and bbq baked beans and Boston baked beans and and beanie weenies and Jaysus, man, what kind of beans?

“Beans in tomato sauce! Why on earth would you have that many kinds of beans?”

“Why on earth would you only have one kind?”

While I admire their way with fried fish, I have to say after that I’ve approached Irish cuisine with a bit of caution. If you can just say “beans” and expect that everyone knows what you’re talking about because you’ve only got one kind, well, I just find it suspicious that’s all, particularly when combined with an overabundance of fish choices.

 

mushy peas ingredients and nutrition information

If you want to learn a heck of a lot about mushy peas , click on this Wikipedia link.  If you are an American, you should know that these are not like the mushy sweet or English peas that we have in a can. These are more peas like split peas and black eyed peas are peas.

The food coloring is there because apparently they have a very grey, unappetizing color when cooked. I suppose the manufacturers had the choice between cheerfully artificial and evoking a Dickensian poorhouse and chose to go fake. Can’t blame them really.

can of mushy peas

When you open the can, it smells a lot like pressure cooked lima beans but looks like pea baby food. My senses were so confused.

mushy peas

The taste? Kind of good if you like starchy and mealy. I do. I like to think of it as kind of like the Northern European version of poi. This might change if I ever try poi. It’s not bad at all, unless you’re one of those picky eater people, in which case you probably wouldn’t have tried it no matter what I said.

If you want to try your own, I found this at a rich-people Kroger in the International food aisle, but you can also order it and other delicacies like spotted dick and haggis flavored chips from Amazon.

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