Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Fastnacht Day, Kombucha soda, and SNL40

Happy Fat Tuesday!  Or as we say in PA, Happy Fastnacht Day!  (Fastnachts are Pennsylvania Dutch doughnuts made with potato dough and traditionally fried in LARD! Yum!  I never had one.)  But, I do need to try to procure myself a doughnut at some point today for good luck. 

For those that celebrate Lent, today is last day to stuff our faces before 40 days of fasting!  I participate in some Lenten practices like Ash Wednesday and avoiding meat on Fridays, but it's been many years since I 'gave up' something for Lent.  Many years ago I gave up soda and what do you know, after that period I didn't really crave it anymore!  Now, it's a fairly rare occurrence to see me sipping on a soda.  Anyone giving up anything this time around?

So what else has been happening around these parts besides Mardi Gras partying? 

Let's see.  My Valentine's Day was pretty low key.  I made some crafts with my 14 month-old charge at work on Friday:


And then I worked until midnight!

So Saturday I slept in until 10am, and then later went out for a 5 mile run.  I went out in the evening just as it was getting dark, and it was snowing lightly.  It was wonderfully peaceful and perfect. 

I also got a few Valentine's:

 
I am not sure what to do with that big box of chocolates, since I can't eat them?!  Anyone want to come take it off my hands?
 

Sunday it was beyond cold with negative wind chills here, so of course that ended up being the day I had a million errands to run.  I am so over winter.
 
First, I spent some time in the Barnes and Noble children's section.  Nanny heaven:
 
 
Then, I went to Target for a couple necessities and multiple non-necessities.  I saw a Cartwheel deal for this Kombucha soda so decided give it a try:


I've never tried any Kombucha drinks before so I really didn't know what to expect.  To tell you the truth, the amount of 'stuff' floating in them always scared me off!  This didn't taste like real cola but it was pretty good, with a bit of a strange aftertaste.  I think I would get it again, and maybe I'm brave enough to try real Kombucha now?!  I sipped on this while watching SNL40 Sunday night.  My favorite parts of the show were the flashbacks to the old episodes over the years, and I laughed pretty hard at the new Jeopardy sketch.  I could have totally done without some of the musical appearances, especially Kanye and Miley's cover of Paul Simon. 

While watching said TV extravaganza, I baked these muffins:


I made these from a mix (non-dairy one!), but I added in my own fresh blueberries to make them taste a little more homemade.  Not bad, Bean.  Not bad at all.

I've also been trying some new bars lately.  I take at least one bar a day to work so I'm always looking for new options.  They are sometimes hard to come by since I require non-dairy/vegan bars.

This peanut butter chocolate chip Larabar is one of my new faves.  It's not overly sweet and is just really yummy:


I picked up the new chocolate cupcake Luna Bar at Target.  This one is good but pretty darn sweet so I don't think I could eat it every day (which is surprising since it doesn't have an especially high sugar count).  The flavor is pretty close to a cupcake!


Anddddd, that's about it.  I had to work yesterday.  I can't remember the last time I had off for President's Day.  It was probably back in college!  Does anyone other than schools or the government actually have this day off?!  If you did, then lucky lucky you my friend.

Now go party it up Fastnacht style!


Do you celebrate Lent?

Did you watch SNL40?

Do you drink Kombucha?

Tell me about some new food finds!

14 comments:

  1. Happy almost-Lent! I really like kombucha! It taste sweet without having too sugar :)

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    1. Hi Jess! Thanks for stopping by! I was always kind of scared of kombucha because of the things floating in it! Ha, I started out with soda, and next I'll move on to the real stuff :)

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  2. My husband is giving up sugar for lent; by default that means I am too. Happy Fat Tuesday!

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    1. Oh my word you are a strong soul Pragati! No sugar for 40 days?! I admire you and your husband's strength!

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  3. I'm giving up my husband for Lent (As I will announce on Thursday--sneak peek! ;) )
    I used to give things up, but I have no patience for that.
    I want those muffins in my mouth NOW
    I have a redux recipe of your zucchini bread to try out! I've been waiting for zucchini to be less ridiculously high priced, and it finally dropped this week. Hopefully I get into it this weekend because the following weekend is off limits, but who knows, honestly.
    Lard is gross. Just no.

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    1. You poor thing. Total dislike that you and your hubby will not see each other for weeks at a time. I used to give things up too, but then it just became kind of meaningless. I mean I kind of forgot why I was doing and the real intention behind it.
      And thank you so much for redoing the zucchini bread recipe! You are truly a culinary (among many other) wonder Susie!

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  4. I watched part of SNL40, then when the hubby got home we watched a movie. I'm hoping they'll air it again!

    I saw the Jeopardy skit you're talking about. Hilarious! "Le Tits Now" Bahahahaha!

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    1. HAHAHAHA omg Pam yes! I loved that line. Also, 'whore ads'. HAHA That was the funniest skit of the show IMO

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  5. i love kombucha, it's my favourite of the fermented gut foods.
    i take part in shrove tuesday, and will occasionally give something up for Lent but the dedication to it all went out the window after i graduated from catholic highschool. don't tell my grandma! but pancakes or doughnuts is something i'll always take part in.

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    1. Oh Laura you so much more advanced than me! I was always scared of kombucha, but I'm glad I went out on a ledge and gave it a go with the soda! I used to give things up for Lent all the time, especially back in school, but it has faded somewhat over the years. I still abstain from meat on Fridays. One year instead of giving something up, I tried to do a good deed every day. That became harder than I anticipated!

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  6. OMG, fastnachts sound delicious. I want one!! Also I haven't tried that cola either, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. I heard kombucha is supposed to be very good for the gut.

    Also those blueberries look amazing. Can you tell I'm hungry? :)

    I watched part of SNL40 and thought it was great. It was so nice to see so many of my favorite skits on TV again. Made me nostalgic for the days when SNL was like, good. LOL. That said, I didn't catch Kanye (and can always do without him) but heard Miley actually did a decent job.

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    1. Haha, well I never had a real fastnacht, not that I can remember. They were made by the Amish communities near where I grew up, but my mom always went the commercial route and just got us Dunkin Donuts on Fastnacht Day! Ha
      Yes, same here re: SNL. Was a lot funnier back in the day.

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  7. I didn't know Target carried Kombucha soda, good to know! I like to drink Kombucha. I buy Trilogy or Gingerade from GT's Kombucha mostly but enjoy trying different brands and flavors too. Agree with you about SNL - the Jeopardy sketch made us laugh too!

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    1. Yes, give that soda a try! I'm not sure how to compare it to regular Kombucha drinks because I've never tried them (yet!). That Jeopardy sketch was hilarious! I"ll love Will Ferrell til the day I die!

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