Download @Kroger #OptUp App & Trigger A #Donation To @AmericanCancer!

Got this notice in an email from Kroger yesterday. I don't know much about the app (though now that I've downloaded it for this cause, I'll give it a whirl). Here's the chance to support the American Cancer Society, a cause dear to my heart as both my parents died of cancer.

Check the deets below:

*Promotion is limited by donation amount. Get in on it, if you would.

Are #Thins Really In? #Cookies #Snacks #Natural #Sweeteners #MiniCans #Soda

The snacks and beverages industries have responded to our professed collective desire to "Be Healthier" by offering "better" versions of their wares. The market is currently proliferate with natural, light, thin and/or mini versions of "food" products that define the artificial flavors & colors, and preservatives segment. Does it matter?

Every cookie nowadays seems to have a "thin" version. Soda is touted as "made with real sugar" and comes in "mini cans" (ostensibly, a smaller serving). But are we really eating better or merely psyching ourselves out? I tend to think that thins and minis only encourage the average person to consume more per sitting. I appreciate the options --- I am Pro-Choice, after all --- but if you're eating junk food, I would hope you know it's called junk food for a reason. (I eat junk food.) Remember, everything in moderation.

Chips Ahoy! Thins

By the way, a recent Kroger Free Friday Download was a digital coupon for "One Free Chips Ahoy! Thins" product which got me to thinking about current market trends in the snacks and beverages industries. I am not a (regular) Chips Ahoy! cookies fan. The original product tastes much as I imagine pasteboard might. Surprisingly, however, the "thins" version is palatable. I couldn't decide if this was due to the "thinness" (less product altogether) or whether an actual recipe adjustment had altered the taste for the better. There's still no comparison to baking my own chocolate chip cookies, mind you, but Chips Ahoy! Thins were leagues better than the original product, in my opinion. Perhaps, this "thin" revolution brings with it hidden perks...

#MailCall: #WeHonchos #SwitchYourSnack + @EdgeOf17 #Bluray #Prize #Foodie #FilmFan

Received the Edge of Seventeen Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD prize that I won in a contest. Teen angst movies have been so pitiful lately, but I'm hoping this one is watchable at least. It got a decent amount of critical acclaim; however, the "hype machine" (mainstream movie media) often praises lackluster efforts. I plan to check it out this weekend. I like both Woody Harrelson and Kyra Sedgwick, but know nothing of Hailee Steinfeld. Hopefully, it lives up to the ratings. (For what it's worth, IMDB has it as a 7.5 out of 10.) We'll see for ourselves. If it sucks, I'll trade it for something better or give it away. Was willing to take a chance on a freebie. This is basically a free movie rental.

Also, got a free product coupon for Honchos Tortilla Chips (Deep River Snacks) from a Super Bowl eNewsletter signup promotion to "Switch Your Snack" to a better-for-you offering. Honchos are Non-GMO, mainly Organic and Gluten-Free with "no bad stuff." Looking forward to trying these out. Can't decide which flavor, though --- apparently, comes in Nacho Cheese, Peach Habanero or Ranch. Perhaps in allegiance to my home state, the Peach State, I should go for the habanero one. (Honestly, I'm partial to peaches, but being a native Georgian, this may be inbred.) I'll pick up a bag to munch on while watching the Edge of Seventeen this weekend.

Not a bad mail day, yesterday.

A Healthy #Fryup? The Search for an #AirFryer #Tempura #FrenchFries #Foodie

I am a native Southerner. I love fried foods. (Old style Southern cuisine relies heavily on frying. There's a joke that Southerners will attempt to fry anything.) But obviously, all that oil and grease tends to mitigate many of a food's health benefits. There has been a recent push to reshape Southern cuisine by employing alternative methods of cooking. While this has met with some success, for many Southerners there is no substitute for frying. I am in that number; I may enjoy baked asparagus, but make it tempura and I'm in heaven. As a result, I've decided the best solution is to make "frying" itself a healthier method of cooking.

Luckily for me, technology has my back. The kitchen appliances industry has recently introduced into the mainstream so-called airfryers, gadgets which rely on air convection (and sometimes a small amount of oil) to crisp foods. As is the case with any consumer market, not all airfryers are created equal, so I've been researching these small kitchen appliances and reading reviews --- the latest issue of Men's Journal magazine has a one-page comparison and rating of four leading airfryer models, for instance --- with the idea of acquiring one.

I'm not giving up French fries, but if I can make fries healthier and still achieve that comfort food level of satisfaction that comes from "fries" then it's a win. Airfryer reports and reviews are promising overall. It seems the technology may have actually arrived to achieve a healthier fryup in the home consumer market. But it's a process to find the right machine for my needs. I don't expect to make a purchase tomorrow. However, the airfryer is on my radar and one will eventually make a debut in my kitchen (most likely, post-renovation, however).

The "Irony" of Iron-Deficiency #Anemia: #Pagophagia #H2O

Due to a hereditary condition which causes my body to process iron poorly, I suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. When I work very diligently to get appropriate amounts of iron, I succeed in only being borderline anemic; however, the moment I let my guard down forgetting for one moment to regularly eat iron-rich foods (my body responds better if the iron comes to it naturally via ingested food sources, but upon occasion, when I'm deeply anemic, I'm forced to take iron supplements, generally as an oral tablet) the red rage of anemia returns, bringing with it the near uncontrollable urge to crunch ice.

Many people like to eat ice, but some, like me, are given to cravings so intense that nothing else counteracts them. I desperately want ice; Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall --- regardless of whether it's 99 degrees or 22 degrees outside. Rather like addiction I assume, including all the adverse side affects. (See pagophagia.) But, of course, as is often the way with such things, constantly eating ice can leech nutrients out of a person's system though humans require water in order to live and our bodies are full of it. (See irony.) In other words, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I suffer from iron deficiency anemia, therefore I crave ice, eating it by compunction. I eat a great deal of ice which, in turn, exacerbates my anemia. Round and round, we go.

Another danger of compulsory ice crunching is that it can be very damaging to one's teeth. The bigger the cubes and harder the ice, the more likely one will crack a tooth or something similar. I work to manage my pagophagia by distraction, I try to keep crunchy snacks at hand which approximate the feel of crunching on ice. It's not a perfect solution, but does help. Seemingly, I cannot stop myself from craving to crunch on ice and so I have decided to better manage it by making the practice safer (for my teeth at least).

I've been researching ice machines which allow one to make smaller cubes or even crushed ice. I plan to purchase one, once I find the features which I desire at the best price. Hopefully, I can score a deal soon. As a bonus, it will be a great addition to my home bar. I've setup one of those price tracker alerts for a Portable/Countertop Icemaker Machine that makes bite sized ice cubes. (I could spring for one of those commercial numbers like they have in motels, but the ability to make tons of ice easily might serve to encourage my habit.)

#Noted: A New Line of #Veggie Products from #GreenGiant: #VeggieFries + #RicedVeggies

It seems that all the foodie magazines to which I subscribe are currently featuring advertising for a new line of vegetable products from Green Giant. There's a veggie fries product line which claims to deliver healthier alternatives to standard potato French fries and a riced veggies product line which claims to deliver healthier alternatives to white rice. As rice and potatoes (particularly in the form of French fries) are two of my favorite food groups in the whole world, if these new Green Giant products are actually healthier and taste as good, I'll definitely buy them often. I haven't encountered any of these new products in the wild (in stores) as yet to verify nutritional contents (as listed on the product labels), but they do sound appetizing.

Once I've had the chance to check them out, I'll report back (with a product review). Generally, I like Green Giant products --- and I loved the animated Jolly Green Giant commercials as a child --- so I have high hopes that these new product lines will live up to their advertised billing. The proof will be in the taste test, however. (You could say that cardboard is healthy all you want, but I still wouldn't eat it.) As it stands, I've added these new products to my future shopping list, which simply means that I'll buy some if and when I find them at whatever future date and time. Hopefully, this will be sooner rather than later, but new product distribution can be somewhat haphazard.

It's on! @Quaker #OvernightOats -- #Oatmeal #Nutrition "Cooked" While You Sleep! #oats #milk #fruitarian

I absolutely love oatmeal! I should probably own Quaker Oats stock at this point as I practically grew up inhaling the stuff.

Oats are low cost yet nutritious, can been eaten cold or hot and can be added as an ingredient in many other dishes. Oats are also shelf stable, with a long shelf life, and are easy to store. In other words, oats make a perfect staple for poor folks, as we were, or anyone for that matter.

The most awesome part about oatmeal is that it actually tastes good! So it wasn't a chore to eat, and I looked forward to it as a child. So good is oatmeal that it can be made with either water or milk and it's still edible, though, of course, making oatmeal with milk is preferred. (And it needn't be cow milk either. Oatmeal is very versatile.)

Lately, in many of the magazines to which I subscribe, I've been seeing a bunch of Quaker Oats advertising featuring Overnight Oats recipes, it's basically a cold oatmeal "parfait" wherein uncooked while rolled oats + milk form a base (as opposed to the ice cream used in a traditional parfait, meaning "perfect" in French) which is then layered with other add-ins like yogurt, fruit --- I'm secretly a fruitarian masquerading as a vegetarian --- and nuts. Afterward, the whole concoction is put in the fridge overnight to set. I've been salivating at the thought of making myself some, saving any recipes I came across and jotting down my own ideas, excited to try my own variations. In preparation, I made a verbal note for Alexa to "add oats or oatmeal to my shopping list."

The next morning, as I was browsing via AmazonSmile looking for doggie stuff and checking on pup's Subscribe & Save subscriptions --- by the way pup often gets more mail and shipments than I do --- I noticed an Amazon on-site ad that stated Quaker Oats products had a 30% Off coupon available. Needless to say, it worked, I surfed over to the Grocery department and found a bulk box (128oz) of Old Fashioned Quaker Oats that was only $6.56 after the coupon. Click! And just like that, oats are on the way.

This happened yesterday morning and I've been gathering other ingredients to get ready ever since, because (to quote Donkey from Shrek, which happens to be one of my favorite animated films) "You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits! ...Parfaits are delicious! ...Parfaits may be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!" You got me, Donkey. I'm so there. I can almost taste the oatmeal layered goodness... Yum!

Will it #Snow? Sounds Like a Good Impetus To Stock Up on Extra #Bedding. #SYWR #WeatherGeek

There may be an accumulation of snow in the metro Atlanta area this weekend! As Winter is finally upon us (for a spell), I thought it was a good time to acquire more stock for the bedding closet. It's always good to have extra blankets, quilts and throws at hand. Besides, I had some limited-time Shop Your Way Rewards (SYWR) points that were due to expire today.

Thus yesterday, using the SYWR points I'd earned from several Sweepstakes Doorbusters Prizes and a few (small denomination) Sweepstakes Prize Points Wins --- approximately $8.00 in points, when taken together --- I ordered two free Cannon Fleece Throws (50" W x 60" L), a Blue Plaid one and a Grey Plaid one, that were $3.99/ea. on sale utilizing the free store pickup service, and which will be lovely for snuggling while reading or watching movies.

Cannon Fleece Throw, Blue Plaid

Cannon Fleece Throw, Grey Plaid

I don't like being overheated, whether it's Winter or Summer. In Winter, I generally keep the thermostat set at around 64 degrees unless somebody is ill or we have guests, in which case I will adjust it accordingly. (There's a decent amount of research regarding how long-term mild cold exposure helps with metabolism by forcing the body to activate brown fat (BAT) in order to expend white fat as energy instead of storing it, which in turn works to keep one lean.) I'd rather snuggle in a blanket, if need be, or add layers of clothing, than be in sweltering heat any day of the year.

Scoring free blankies makes me feel a bit like Linus, though Schroeder is my favorite Peanuts® character. (It's all good, however, because I like Linus, second best. Poor old Charlie Brown.) Perhaps subconsciously, I gravitate toward the blue and the grey colors because of my avid interest in Civil War history. Then, again, I tend to like cool hues in home decor. Who knows really? The mind is a terrible thing....