Recently discovered food favs

This isn't a food blog; although it could be for all the affinity I have for yumminess!  I don't come up with delicious recipes, but I've always thought I'd enjoy being a food critic.  Not because I know all that much about food, but because I love to eat.  My heritage is largely Italian, and I like to give credit to my love of food and my curvy figure to said heritage.  Not that I mind; I'd much rather be a little fluffy than miss out on life's deliciousness.  Which brings me to one of my new favs.

I'm sure I'm not the only lady out there who has searched high and low for recipes that are healthy and still delicious.  I don't know about you, but I haven't had much luck.  Enter Skinny Taste.  Thank you Miss Gina!  Skinny Taste is the most amazing blog I've ever discovered.  I came across this website (thanks to some MOPS friends) about two or three weeks ago, and it has already become my go-to for dinner, breakfast, dessert...you name it!  Every recipe I've tried has been amazing; even hubs approves!  Something I find very helpful, aside from her step by step instructions and mouth-watering photos, is the way she lists all the nutritional info and the serving size.  Portion control is so helpful for me.  For all you Weight Watchers ladies out there, all her recipes list the points you'll use while enjoying your meal.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  Seriously ladies...you must try this website!

Favorite number two: goat cheese.  About nine months ago, my brother and his girl-friend were at my house for dinner.  They brought a salad with some goat cheese and left the remainder of it at my house.  Needless to say, I polished off the goat cheese, and it's been a favorite of mine ever since.  It's kind of pricey at the grocery store, but Costco, blessed Costco, sells two, 10.5 oz. containers for under $6.  Score!  Plus, one ounce has just 80 teeny, tiny calories.  I enjoy my goat cheese on strawberry salads, sandwiches, Greek Salads (forget feta!!), or just smeared on some sliced tomatoes.  If you enjoy Greek yogurt or cream cheese, you'll probably like goat cheese.  Its got that creamy texture and tangy taste.  LOVE IT!

Number three is sliced cucumbers.  Yeah, I know.  But now that I have a garden that's yielded almost 40 cucumbers in the last 2 weeks, I have to find creative ways to eat them.  Although I must say, my favorite way is just to peel and slice them.  They are juicy, sweet and refreshing.  Also, they have very few calories, which is always a bonus.  Do you ever crave something crunchy?  I do.  I'm finding cucumber slices silence that craving and fill me up.

Finally, I'm loving dried fruit and nuts lately.  I prefer to dry my own fruit; I have a dehydrator.  I love sliced apples, dehydrated.  Strawberries and blueberries are really good too.  As I type, I've got my dehydrator full of yummy apple-y goodness!  I'm also loving nuts.  My favorites are peanuts, almonds and cashews.  Of course, I have to take it easy on the nuts.  I could quickly get carried away on calories unless I stick to the serving size.  I find that if I do that, they make a great afternoon or post-running snack.  They really curb my hunger until meal time without blowing my whole day.  I really love Central Market's fruit and nut trail mix.  It's got cranberries, raisins, cashews and almonds.  YUM!

I'm getting hungry just typing about all of this.  Must be time for my evening snack.  Tonight on the menu: sliced strawberries with honey.  My mom used to make this for us when we were kids, and I still love it.  Happy eating all!