Sparrow's Chuncky Veggie Dip

Last night I made something amazing, so amazing that I felt it necessary to share it with you today.  After a tasty trip to my local Grower’s Direct, if you’ve never been I suggest you look into it; I had a refrigerator full of fresh veggies that were just begging to be munched on, but what to eat first?   In truth they all looked amazing and it was all I could do to keep from eating it all on my way out of the store, so now that I was home I wanted it all!  I craved fresh and crunch, also I really just wanted to chop something, and thus “Sparrow’s chunky veggie relish salsa thingy” was born!

So what’s in it?  Well here’s what you’ll need:

1. ¼ a white onion
2. Half a large cucumber
3. 1 medium vine ripe tomato
4. 4-5 radishes
5. A few dashes of lemon juice

Now please take out your aggression by chopping the crap out of each tasty morsel!  I took the time to get out my issues with my credit card bill being due and the fact that it was going to be Monday in a few hours.

Next place all of these in a container with a lid.  I chose our “Mr Lid” tall container because the lid is built on.  Amazing invention, horrible company… That’s a stink for another day…  Placing a dash or several into the container you may now close and shake.  Shake with the vigor of a thousand suns!

Once you have shaken the life out of that container, open your bag of tortilla chips, I recommend the Have’a Chip corn chips because the salt in the soy treatment give it a real pop!  Scoop and enjoy!  

Nom Box #6!

It’s been a long two weeks since the graze company graced my mail box with its tasty treats in their individual wrapped and measured portions, so imagine my joy when it was waiting for me on Monday morning.  This week had a warm kind of feel to the pallet and I was delighted by the wonderful flavors of most of the selections, but with all boxes there were hits and misses, and this box had a major miss.

First the great!  The chocolate orange flapjacks, I’m such a fan of the flapjack line that these never disappoint.  There is something about the soft, crumbly, and moist texture of these delicious bars that just makes me happy.  The way they punched up the orange flavor really spoke to my insane love of citrus, but what really worked for me was the warm and comforting way the dark chocolate ribbons danced back and forth creating a truly sweet and yet slightly bitter explosion.  Please send more!

The next treat was the toffee apples, now with 70 cals I was super excited to dig right in.  By now I’ve learned not look forward to the possibility of a crunchy texture and this was no exception.  I think that they fear that drying out the apples all the way might do something to the sugar intake or something.  The chewy fruit is growing on me though, but not nearly as much as the toffee dip.  This dip was sweet but so luscious and melted so easily on the tongue that it was a little cube of heaven.

As for the black pepper pistachios, well I appreciate the pistachios.  As for the black pepper taste, I flat out couldn’t find it at all.  The only difference was a slightly warming bite at the very end of the cube of pistachios.  Call this one a take it or leave it.

Now we get to the miss, the “Bonnie wee oat bakes.”  These were tiny, hard, little oat triangles that were fundamentally tasteless and so dry that they sucked the moisture right out of my mouth with the first nibble.  As for the caramelized onion marmalade, I could not get past the sweet and yet pungent stink that assaulted my nose.  No thank you!  Just No!

Nom box 3: A graze box review

It’s that time again, I received my 3^rd Graze box this week. First off I wanted to take a moment to truly express my admiration for this subscriptions customer service department. It was wed. afternoon and I still hadn’t received my box which had usually come on Monday without fail, after checking my account I could not locate my order so I wrote a nicely worded email. Within 2 hours I not only had a response, I had a complete resolution with a credit for a box as compensation. I now love this company.

So what did I get this week? Well, it was another week of 3 hits and a miss. This week I received the herby bread basket, banoffee pie, seed and fruit flapjacks, and mango chutney and black pepper dipper rice snacks.

First the herby bread basket, this was a mix made up of three distinct yet complementary components, garlic crustini’s, basil baguettes, and oregano crusted rice crackers. The garlic crustini had a lovely crumble with a delicious buttery taste with just a tiny bite of garlic. The baguettes were a tad stronger in herby flavor but, in contrast to the olive oil washed garlic the basil was a welcome flavor to break up the warmth of the crustini. As for the oregano rice crisps, these were the perfect pop of sweet that made a delicious profile. It tasted like a nice crunchy garlic bread, and at 90 cals… send more.

Next I tried the banoffee pie mix that was dehydrated banana slice, almond slices, pecans, and a kind of butterscotch fudge. It was a desert item so of course I was and am all in. I have a sweet tooth and have no problem admitting it. The only thing I would change right off the bat was the banana, while tasty they were just kind of chewy. The mix was missing that idea of a crunchy element, while I know that pie doesn’t usually have a crisp, this mix needed one. Over all it was a delicious deconstructed pie, the fudge bits ramped up the sweetness while the pecans and almonds gave a crunch and warmth that cut through it. Sadly the one component that fell short was in the name. Still, go ahead and keep this one coming graze.

Third came the nut and seed flapjacks. These need to be packaged individually and sold in bulk, because I could have one every morning and it would seriously put me out on the right foot! The rolled oats provide a delicious canvas for a beautiful array of seeds and fruit bits. The fruit itself is still juicy and really fresh tasting. The bar is moist and seems to dissolve with the first bite into a nutty, honey, fruity piece of heaven. I’m a big fan of anything flapjack from this company.

Sadly, the last package was a major miss with me. I had never had chutney before so I decided that I would approach this with an open mind. The mango chutney did have a sweet snap, but the after taste was so decidedly vinegar and bitterness that I just couldn’t go through with it. Sorry graze, I guess chutney isn’t for me… Even if you pair it with black pepper.

I want to say once again, the selection and service has won my business for many boxes to come. Thank you graze’s team of superstars!