#NationalPizzaDay: May I Have Some More Please? #Cheese #Quikly #GiftCard

Pizza is one of my four main food groups, along with potatoes (preferably in the form of pomme frites or French fries), rice and ice cream. Hey, this is kosher for a lacto-ovo vegetarian like me. I LOVE cheese! I LOVE bread! Cheese pizza is like "manna from heaven." (I believe this means pizza is very, very delicious.) Take-out, frozen or homemade.

Today is National Pizza Day. In spite of the fact that I think that all of these "holidays" are mere marketing gimmicks, on a day like today where the celebration coincides with my personal tastes, I'll willingly give in and play along. I'll probably have pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Maybe for a snack, too. Like Oliver Twist, I ask, "May I have some more, please?" You can't have too much pizza, right? That's impossible!

I scored a promotional gift card from Domino's in its Quikly giveaway yesterday and I've also got a couple of frozen pies stashed in the freezer. So I have options. I expect it to be a fun day.

UPDATE: It's also apparently National Bagel Day. So now I'm making bagel pizzas (like those Bagel Bites thingies). I admit it, I love a good bagel and schmear, too. (Bagels are bread.)

#Vegeversary What Can I Make with... #ingredients #recipes #pantry to Satisfy My Sweet Tooth?

Ever had a random craving that will not go away until it's satisfied? It happens. (Luckily for me, not often.) I hate it, but what does one do? The body is a strange and wonderful machine with a mind of its own. I try to listen to my body, but sometimes it speaks a foreign language I have yet to learn.

'Tis the season! Winter officially arrives at 5:44a this morning. The Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice each coincide with an important date in my life.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, I randomly craved sugar. Don't get me wrong, I like sweets perfectly well, but I tend to only eat sweets in spells. Day to day, if you were to find me snacking, it would most likely be on something salty or savory. So while I do eat sweets, I seldom crave them so intensely that I start searching the pantry for them, as I did then. Unfortunately, the cupboard was bare.

Frustrated, I resorted to examining the potential ingredients I had on hand in order to determine what I could make quickly and without hassle. As I have yet to do any grocery shopping this week, I used one of those recipes search engines that seeks matches based upon an ingredients list that one inputs. Out of milk, butter and oil, but with sugar, eggs and a few other sundries, I got a short list of results. I rapidly scanned down the page, until my eyes fell upon a recipe for a simple peanut butter cookie.

Who'd have thought that 1:1:1 egg, sugar and peanut butter would combine into simply the best peanut butter cookie. It was wonderful. Craving satisfied. (I believe in satisfying one's cravings within reason. I don't deny myself, instead opting to use moderation as a guideline. You only live once, why work at making yourself unhappy? There's enough crap in the world as is. Mindful indulgence works to the benefit of your mental health, if not your physical self. Both mental and physical health is needed, so a balance must be struck.) Have a cookie.

FOOTNOTE: I don't eat meat, but this was a natural progression for me, because I didn't desire it. Giving up meat, therefore, was not truly denying myself anything. Today is my vegeversary! I became a lacto/ovo vegetarian by way of a conscious choice to give up meat on 21-12-1989. Having spent more of my life without meat, than with it, at this point, I don't recall what meat tastes like. It has all the appeal of cardboard.

#VeggieFries = The Spuds Gone Wild! #Review

I'm a lacto/ovo vegetarian and have been for a long time, having "gone veg" at a fairly young age and never looked back. I have a lot of hysterically funny stories that stem from trying to explain my being vegetarian or my asking for vegetarian food options in a society (small town Georgia, deep South) which largely believed that everything should be fried and flavored with ham hocks. Never a dull moment where interactions over food were concerned.

I enjoy food. I love to cook. I love to socialize over food and try new things. I also love discovering new ways to prepare old favorites. I'm always on the lookout for interesting and exciting ways to prepare foods that I love. I'm big on convenience and enjoy finding creative "fast foods", too.

One of my absolute favorite fast foods is French fries. I like them baked, I like them deep fried. I like them seasoned, covered in chili and/or cheese; dipped in sauces, dressings and mayo. I am a potato fiend. (My siblings use to tease that I'd never met a potato that I didn't like.) I've actually done tech support jobs for friends and family where I was "paid" in French fries.

Recently, I had the chance to try Veggie Fries [eatveggiefries.com], souped up French fries that use potatoes as a base and adds in other vegetables like chickpeas or kale. There are four varieties currently available (listed in order of my preference): Broccoli & Potatoes; Chickpeas, Red Peppers & Potatoes; Kale, Tuscan Beans & Potatoes; and Carrots & Potatoes. In spite of the fact that the Carrot version is my least favorite -- I have never like cooked carrots, only raw -- it's still decent and I'm certain that people who like (cooked) carrots would love them.

I had to experiment with baking times to reach my desired level of crispness, because I found the amount of time suggested on the bag resulted in too soft fries. Once I achieved a crispy batch of fries, it was all good. I could eat these for breakfast. (I did on at least one occasion.) They make a great addition to my options for French fries and can be used in a variety of ways in various dishes. (There's a growing recipe section on the product website.)

I found Veggie Fries in the frozen food aisles at both Sprouts and Whole Foods in my area, and prices ranged from $3.98 to $4.99 depending on the store and/or variety. For whatever reason, the Chickpea variety was only $3.98 at Sprouts when I purchased them, compared to $4.49 for the others. It might have been a special sale, though I didn't notice any signs to that effect. All varieties were $4.99 at Whole Foods. I originally got one of each variety to try them all. Then went back and purchased my favorites (skipping the Carrot variety) on the next shopping trip.

I liked them well enough that I'll definitely continue to purchase the product in the future. The company that makes them is launching a Veggie Tots version this Fall. Can't wait to try them, also!

DISCLAIMER: I received several free product coupons so that I could try Veggie Fries and experiment with them in recipes as part of the product manufacturer's outreach to bloggers. (A recent Veggie Fries Newsletter --- I had previously subscribed after first hearing about the product some months back --- asked if any bloggers would like to try the product. I responded and was sent a free product coupon. I tried the product and gave the company feedback and was sent a couple more free product coupons as a thank you.) However, I was not required to write a product review publicly. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.