July Top Five Foodie Finds

Thanks everyone for all of the love in my last post! You all are too nice. I really appreciate all of your kind comments.

I'm cutting this month's Foodie Find post close! Oh well, better late than never.

These are five food products I tried this month and really enjoyed.

First up,

1. Evol's flatbreads! Evol recently asked if they could send me a sample of their flatbreads, and I happily agreed. A couple of days later a huge box arrived with a cooler full of 16 flatbreads. Wow! I was not expecting that many! I had to take them out of the packaging so they'd fit in our tiny freezer.

P.S. you get a sticker in ever flatbread box.



The artisan crust is what makes these flatbreads so delicious; it's very crispy, light and flavorful. Evol has four flatbread flavors.



Barbecue Chicken & Mozzarella - Fire-grilled free-range white meat chicken, mozzarella cheese, chopped green onion, cilantro and BBQ sauce.

Italian Sausage & Caramelized Onion - Thinly sliced mild Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions, roasted garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

Grilled Chicken & Roasted Veggies - Fire-grilled free-range white meat chicken, mozzarella cheese, roasted eggplant, mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

Goat Cheese, Pesto & Portabella - Crumbled farmhouse goat cheese, sautéed portabella mushrooms and basil pesto.

The Barbecue Chicken & Mozarella was my favorite; I would definitely buy it at the store. My least favorite was the Goat Cheese, Pesto & Portabella, surprisingly, because I thought that would be my favorite. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't care for the mushrooms. I think I would have left those off or seasoned them differently. Other than that, the flatbreads were good... very gourmet tasting. I'm interested in trying Evol's pizzas and burritos now.

2. Green Valley Organics



I actually won some of their products in a giveaway. (That's why you should always enter giveaways on blogs!!) I'm so glad I did. Although, now I don't what to do because I haven't seen their products in our area. I sampled their yogurts, sour cream and kefir, and all were delicious. Like, swoonworthy delicious. I guess it's because their products are organic, because everything I tasted was fresh and flavorful.



There was also some Redwood Hill Farm goat milk yogurt cups in the package, too. Somehow those two companies are related, but I'm not sure how. This was my first time trying goat milk yogurt. I'm a fan now. I've been getting more and more into goat milk and cheese. I can definitely understand if you don't like goat products, though.

3. Wafernusse



Okay, so this is another one of my Aldi finds. You may me able to find this type of candy bar in other stores though. I bought a two-pack of wafernusse for 99 cents. That's a lot of nusse for your money. Each package has several chocolate covered-hazelnut cream filled-wafer cookies. They're like mini Nutty Bars. But much, much better. I should have taken a picture of what they looked like, but Eric and I ate them too fast.

4. Rocky Road Squares





Someday I want to live right next to a Trader Joe's. That's my only hope for the future.

Why is everything I've tried there so good? I love that store. I brought home these rocky road chocolate squares from Chicago, and can't get enough.
Rocky road used to be my favorite ice cream flavor as a kid = fact.

5. LaCroix sparkling coconut water



I've tried quite a few flavors of LaCroix, but the coconut is definitely my favorite. It tastes so tropical and is perfect for summertime. I like that their waters are unsweetened, yet still flavored. If you wanted to sweeten the water a touch you could add a splash of fruit juice, orrrr, a splash of coconut rum. Now that would be fun!

Ten Years Gone

So, I put my two weeks in at the job I've been working at for the past ten years.

My first and only job.

My friend from school told me about a job that seemed perfect for me at a local international food and wine store. Over the past week, I had three interviews with the store. The other day, they offered me the job and I accepted.

I've loved this store for years. When we were younger, my parents would take my sister, Hannah, and me to the store and we'd look at all the gourmet food they had, and sample the cheese of the day

I have a really good feeling about this job. The company is well known, professional, and respected. Everyone I've met there have been kind, and seem really enthusiastic about me working there. I'm enthusiastic about working there!

I will be working more days and hours than my old job, but I'll still be considered part time. So I'll be a part time blogger, part time food & wine store employee. I'm giving myself the title, Gourmet Specialist.

A lot of the job will be inventory work with all of the food products they carry. Rotating products, stocking, seeing what's selling or not selling. I'll also be assisting with gourmet food baskets and setting out displays with samples of products. A major part of the job is sampling all of the products! I can do that. I can definitely do that. I think I might be helping out in the deli section, too.

I might also be writing about some of their products and posting recipes on here, or writing a separate blog. I'm not sure about the details yet. I bet you know how excited I am about that!

This is going to be a HUGE change for me! I'm ready for this change, though. I'll be working in the daytime now! I wonder what that's like? What's it like not working on Saturday night?

I'm grateful I've had my serving job for so long. It's a busy restaurant and I've been able to save up a lot of money. The money, employees, and the hours were great.

But I've been burnt out for a long time. Bored. And I never expressed this on here before, but I've been pretty miserable. I think only Eric and my family knew how unhappy I was. I would dread every day I had to go to work. In all of the areas of my life, I felt so happy and fulfilled, but not when it came to my job.

I believe now that will change. I'm optimistic about the future. I'll be working with food every day, and working with people who love food and wine. I'm in a hurry to start!

Things I'm looking forward to:

- Not hearing Dixieland Delight every day.
- Not smelling like fried okra and potatoes every night.
- Not hearing "18 Wheeler" every day.
- Not carrying thirty pound trays all night.
- Not hearing "Song of the South" every day.
- Not sweating every night from lack of air conditioning.

...I could continue this list, but I'm going to stop now.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my big news with you. Sorry I don't have a recipe! I'm working on a savory recipe that I will post soon. Also, I have my July Foodie Finds post as well. Eek! I have to hurry on that one.

Marbled Nutella Banana Bread

Hey there! I hope everyone is doing well on this Wednesday.

Today has been very good to me! I have some career related news to share with you soon. It's life changing for me! I'm very happy about it.

AND, I bought a food dehydrator at Aldi today for $19.99. It's the little things that make me happy.

I'm flipping through the manual right now; I'm excited to make vegetable chips, fruit leathers, and even cookies (macaroons)! They have recipes for jerky in the manual too, but I'm not so sure about that. I haven't had beef jerky since I was... eight? I have no idea.



Moving on... Today I made you some Marbled Nutella Banana Bread.

I can't tell you how good it is. I can't do it! This bread is one of the best I've ever baked! If I had a cookbook, this recipe would be in it. It's absolutely delicious; very moist, flavorful, and I'm sure everyone you know will love it.

My toughest critic, Eric, (teehee) loved it and ate almost the whole pan.



This is your basic buttery, brown sugar banana bread batter. The Nutella is swirled into half of the batter, and then both batters are swirled together in the loaf pan, creating a marbled masterpiece.



I bought one jar of Nutella and created five different recipes with it. Can you believe that? A little jar of Nutella goes a long way.

I can't stop thinking about how good this bread was. I love, love banana and Nutella together.


Marbled Nutella Banana Bread
Printable Recipe

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe banana
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup Nutella

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together banana, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy and well combined - about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs until well combined - about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Divide 1/2 of of the batter into a medium bowl; stir in Nutella until combined.

Alternate spoonfuls of batter into loaf pan until all of the batter is used up. Swirl batter gently with a knife (not too much!). Bake 1 hour or until well risen, deep golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Makes 1 loaf

Biscoff Toasted Oatmeal Cookies

I'm back from Bonnieroo. Nothing tooo crazy happened. It wasn't as psychedelic as I was expecting. I thought Santana was going to play, but the band didn't show up.

It was good to see all of my family; some of them I haven't seen in years! We hung out at my aunt and uncles' house for a while, then headed to Ryan's for dinner.

Yup, Ryan's. It's basically just like Golden Corral, as far as I could tell. That's where Grandma wanted to eat, so that's where we went. You get to do whatever you want on your birthday. Except illegal stuff.



Ryan's should be illegal. Uhhh it was kind of dirty in there, to be honest with you. Maybe that's part of the appeal of Ryan's? No need to shower or put on nice clothes if you're going to Ryan's to eat.

Okay, I'm being mean. Sorry. I need to be more positive. There was a lot of seating for our group of twenty, so that was nice. There were lots of different options for everyone to eat. Heh. The salad bar wasn't too bad.

The vanilla soft-serve was exceptional.



They had quite a few desserts there. Some looked good, some not so good. I don't know why you'd go to a buffet to eat pudding. That's weird.



Anyway, I'm back home now and thinking about baking some cookies, even though I just baked peanut butter cookies and brownies a few days ago for the roadtrip. Cookies are my favorite thing to bake.

I baked these Biscoff Toasted Oatmeal Cookies a few weeks ago when I was on my Biscoff kick.



You might have missed this in one of my posts from a month or two ago, but I bought this Biscoff Spread from a European market here. It's the consistency of peanut butter, but it doesn't taste like it. The spread tastes like Biscoff cookies that you get on (Delta?) flights. Mmm. If you don't know what those taste like, they taste like graham cracker-gingersnap (without the ginger) cookies. There. I said taste way too much in that last paragraph.



Recently I spotted the Biscoff spread in Walmart, and I'm sure you could find it in other grocery stores too.

I used the spread, butter, honey, vanilla, egg, salt and flour in these cookies, as well as old fashioned oats. I toasted the oats in a saucepan for a few minutes before adding them to the batter, and the toastiness gave these cookies so much flavor.



The texture of these cookies surprised me. By looking at them, you'd think they'd be cakey, but no. They're the consistency of shortbread; crumbly and crisp.

Pretty tasty, if I do say so. I think they'd perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.


Biscoff Toasted Oatmeal Cookies
Printable Recipe

1 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Biscoff spread
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Place oats in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until oats turn light golden and become fragrant.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, Biscoff and honey until well combined. Beat in egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in oats and flour until combined.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet (cookies don't spread much). Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes 1 dozen cookies

Nutella Gelato

I am mere hours from leaving for a trip to my aunt and uncle's house in Kansas City. My family and I are driving up to celebrate my Grandma Bonnie's 89th birthday.

Hey, happy birthday, Grandma! (I don't think she's ever been on the internet before.)

We're calling it, "Bonnieroo." It's going to be far out, man. Elmer will be there!

I think it'll be pretty fun, because it's kind of like a mini family reunion. My aunts, uncles and cousins will be there. Please pray that we don't end up eating at Golden Corral.



Anyway, I better get to bed because we're leaving early in the morning, but first I wanted to share this recipe with you. It's been two weeks since I posted a real recipe!

I'm so, so sorry. I'm making it up to you with this Nutella Gelato: the perfect cold, creamy treat on these hot summer days.

Mmmm Nutella ice cream served in a cake cone. Are you a cake cone, a sugar cone, or a waffle cone lover?



I have an obsession with Nutella, and I'm sure you do too. I don't think I've met a person who doesn't love it. Chocolate and hazelnut is one of the most delicious combinations ever.

Nutella and gelato is one of the most delicious combinations ever!

This recipe is really easy and simple. There's no custard-making involved in this gelato. You cook half-n-half (you could use cream or whole milk) with sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and salt until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thickened. After chilling the gelato base overnight, you process it in your ice cream maker until frozen.

After processing the gelato and placing it in a freezer-proof container, I swirled in a combination of Nutella, toasted chopped hazelnuts, and... crushed rice krispies.

Yup, you read that right. Do it! Don't doubt me! It's really delicious; it tastes like Rocher chocolate! Those are my favorite chocolates ever.

P.S. Sugar Plum now has its own Facebook page. I had several requests for a Facebook page, so I finally put one together. I'll be updating it with links, pictures, information, etc. Very important information. You know, like what I thought about the last Breaking Bad episode, what I made for dinner last night, and what color I decided to paint my toes this week.

So like it, or don't like it - it's up to you. No pressure at all. I currently have ten people who have liked it, and that has far exceded my expectations. I don't care that two of the people are my mom and me.


Nutello Gelato
Printable Recipe

4 cups half-n-half
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted
1/3 cup rice krispies
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Nutella

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, bring milk, sugar and cornstarch to a boil, whisking frequently. Strain into a large mixing bowl; whisk in vanilla and salt until combined. Cover and chill overnight.

Process hazelnuts and rice krispies in a food processor until coarsely ground. Stir together hazelnut-rice krispie mixture and Nutella until combined.

Freeze cream in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers' instructions. Place ice cream in a freezable container. Swirl in Nutella mixture. Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

Makes 8 servings

Chicago Part Four

This is the last part!

So let's see... on Wednesday we woke up a little tired from the previous day, and our feet hurt badly. We decided to take it easy and take a cab and visit The Museum of Science and Industry.

Who knew taking a cab there costs $20? Eek. We should have taken the train. Whoops.



The museum costs $15, and we probably only stayed a little over an hour. I just don't think it was for us. I think if you brought your family and your kids, you would enjoy it. The museum seems like it's focus towards kids. Some of the stuff was interesting though; I liked the submarine and World War II exhibit.



Eric liked the tornado.



There was a train station close by, so we decided to take the train back into the city instead of taking a cab. It took us a while to figure out where to go; we had to ask a teenager for help. Then we had to sit and wait for the train, and it took an HOUR! We didn't know it was going to take that long. That's okay though, we needed to rest our feet.



I've never had Garrett's Popcorn before, but I've heard a lot about it. I think it was featured on Food Network a couple of times. Garret's Popcorn is a big deal in Chicago, apparently! I don't know how many stores we saw while we were there. We stopped at this location off of Michigan Avenue.





The line was out on the street, it was so long. We had to wait thirty minutes before we got to the counter. I ordered a small bag of caramel corn with glazed pecans. Mmm. I wish I had gotten some of the "Chicago Mix" too - it's a combination of cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn.



I have to tell you, this popcorn was GOOD. I didn't think it was going to be worth waiting for, but it definitely was. It was absolutely perfect; the caramel had the perfect balance of sweet and saltiness. The pecans were super fresh and toasty.



The popcorn was a great snack, but we were more than ready for dinner a little while later. I'd been looking forward to this dinner the whole trip! We decided to go to XOCO based on your recommendations. Thank you so much to those who recommended this restaurant!



From their website: "XOCO, a quick-service cafe from Rick and Deann Bayless proffers contemporary expressions of Mexico’s most beloved street food and snacks: hot-from-the-fryer churros and flaky empanadas; frothy Mexican hot chocolate (ground from Mexican cacao beans right in our front window!); warm, crusty tortas (Mexican submarine sandwiches); and made-to-order caldos (meal-in-a-bowl soups) that feature everything from roasted vegetables to seafood to pork belly."





Once again, we had to wait in line for about thirty minutes. Fine with me; it took me that long to decide what to order.


Love this.

Look at the selection of aqua fresca they had! I wanted to try them all...





I ordered the limonada to drink. Absolutely delicious! Nice and tart.







I ordered the Milanesa: Crispy Gunthorp chicken, black beans (made with pork), artisan Jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, tomatillo-avocado salsa.



Eric ordered the Pepito: Braised Tallgrass shortribs, caramelized onion, artisan Jack, black beans, pickled jalapenos.



Hands down, the best sandwiches we've ever eaten in our life; they were packed full of flavor!

We had a few things for our dessert: churros, homemade Mexican vanilla soft-serve with chocolate, and an Almendrado (a chocolate shot with almond milk).



Churros! We saved these to eat at the hotel for an 11:00 snack. They were good, of course. How could fried dough with cinnamon-sugar not be amazing?



Here's the soft-serve. It came with little bites of cacao nib-brownie. Yum!



The alemendrado was thick and chocolatey. It gave me a much needed boost of energy. I loved it. I think I should buy some cacao beans and start making my own.



Eric and I give XOCO five stars. We want to move to Chicago, just so we can eat here all of the time. I wish we had gone to Frontera Grill, too! Rick Bayless is a genius.


Eric loves churros and Taco Bell cinnamon twists.

After dinner, we strolled down to the Navy Pier and watched fireworks....



It was the perfect ending to our visit to the windy city.



Our train ride back home was much nicer; there was no rude conductor, and we were only delayed twice. The End.

Here's a little movie that Eric made about our trip. Enjoy!
Oh, and watch out for his language at the end! Whoops.

Thanks for visiting and reading about our trip. I'm a little behind on my blog reading and commenting. I apologize! I love you all.