Mmm sunrises.

So I haven’t been the best foodie lately, but here are a few random things I’ve remembered to snap pics of. Trust me, you would get extremely bored of daily McDonald’s chicken nugget posts.

The Twitter world can probably attest to this. Unlike Ke$ha and her boys, McD’s has blown up my phone –as well as my Twitpic gallery.

Alright so usually at some point in the day, I munch on some Greek yogurt. Recently though, the shelves in every Publix have been completely blown out of the wata of Chobani. Apparently, the Greek Yogurt trend has finally caught on outside of the blog world my friends.

Keep your friends close, but your Chobani stash closer.

My favorite late afternoon pick-me-up has been the simple, yet tasty PB & J wrap.

Side note: Do you remember the old Disney show, PB & J Otter?

It was all about the Noodle Dance back in the day.

Snackage.

I haven’t been too much of a salad fan lately– but this one rocked my world. Ken’s Italian Dressing will change your life.

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It’s almost the weekend!!!!!! Who’s excited?? I absolutely cannot wait- definitely plan to live out on the beach Friday night through Monday afternoon. My whole family is camping right now in Georgia, so I’ll be out on my own looking for 4th of July fun. I can’t wait to just relax and enjoy the weekend with friends.

Anyone in the Tampa Bay area wanna go to the beach with me this weekend?

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Last thing reaaal quick: I recently got the new Droid Incredible and have fallen head over heels in love with it.

I tell ya, if Google took over the world one day, I think I’d be ok with it.

What phone do you have? What are your favorite apps?

Yes, it’s that stressful time of year again. The time when libraries are overflowing with nervous undergrads, sleep is questionable, and the coffee pot is kept hot 24/7. In my case though, my iced coffee is kept cold.

Yes, I drink my iced coffee in a $1 Walmart Cup with a $1 swirly straw.

And yes, I look like I haven’t slept in three days.. because I haven’t.

Aside from my five million iced coffees in the morning, today I made a spinach omelette stuffed with turkey bacon and ketchup. Don’t you just love ketchup on eggs? I think some people are weirded out by it, but at least it’s not barbecue sauce.

For mid-day snacking,  dried papaya could quite possibly be my number one weaknesses. Maybe it’s just the food blogger in me, but it seriously tastes better than candy!

In Publix a few days ago, I was mindlessly wandering around the produce aisle when I locked eyes with a giant fresh papaya. The adventurous foodie in me instantly decided what the heck, if I’m hooked on the dried version, then I’ll certainly love the real thing. I picked up the bad boy, checked out at the register, and hurried home to dive into the juicy fruit.

The first bite was not that exciting– in fact I was really dissapointed. I think I was expecting that papaya would taste like  a mango, but its aftertaste was just completely off. It looks like I’ll be sticking to the candy-like version instead.

My lunchtime routine this week has been pretty college-y. If you’ve been following my blog for a while now, you know I have a slight obsession with chicken nuggets. On the nugget scale, Chick-fil-a definitely ranks in at least the top three for having tasty nug nugs (dipped in honey mustard of course.)

When the late afternoon munchies hit, Greek yogurt always seems to be a great pick-me-up. Yoplait released their new Greek Yogurt line a few weeks ago and I decided to give it a whirl. Overall, I was really impressed! The consistency was thick and tasted basically like Oikos Greek Yogurt. To give it a fruity flavor, I squirt some Smucker’s strawberry jelly on top. Yum-o!

If you’d like to try this new brand of Greek yogurt, be sure to enter Christina’s Yoplait Giveaway.

For dinner, a hearty steak fajita stuffed with mushrooms, green peppers, and salsa never fails. Thank goodness I have leftovers for tomorrow night!

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So the calendar says I have less than two weeks left until my college graduation and let me tell you, it is really starting to hit hard. How can four years possibly fly by this fast? It’s madness I tell you, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to face reality yet. I’ve been living in this bubble for four years where I’ve made lifelong friends, attended football games every Saturday in The Swamp, and worked part-time as an ice cream scooper at Ben & Jerry’s. I’ve honestly had the time of my life and I can’t imagine what life’s next chapter has in store for me.

What I’m feeling right now can be best described as: eeeeeek!

Have a wonderful week and good luck to those studying for final exams!

“Egg McMuffin”

Whole Wheat English Muffin Egg Sandwich with Canadian Bacon, Cheese, and Ketchup

“$1 Parfait”

Chobani All Natural Greek Yogurt with Total Cereal

“McCafe Iced Coffee”

Home brewed Iced Coffee with Eggnog Creamer

“French Fries”

Sweet Potatoes with Ketchup

And finally.. “The Real Deal”

McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets and Honey Mustard

Sorry, I had to.

What fast food meals do you reinvent in your kitchen?

]]> http://tropicaleats.com/2010/01/10/reinventing-mcdonalds-at-home/feed/ 25 tropicaleats DSC01945 DSC01953 DSC01730 DSC02031 DSC01652 http://tropicaleats.com/2009/12/29/productivity/ http://tropicaleats.com/2009/12/29/productivity/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:56:25 +0000 Shannon [Tropical Eats] http://tropicaleats.com/?p=1020 ]]> I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family! With winter break winding down, the pressure of  the senior year job hunt has fallen upon me. It is amazing how fast time flies and that I’ll be entering my final semester of college in less than one week. Today, my goal is to be productive, continue researching companies, and update my resume. It’s scary that college is ending, but it’s also exciting to begin a new life chapter!

Ezekiel Sesame Bread with Naturally Nutty Cinnamon Cherry Peanut Butter and Chobani Greek Yogurt

Iced Coffee with Coffee-Mate Eggnog Coffee Creamer

If you’re a coffee lover and haven’t tried this creamer, I highly recommend you do. It tastes better than Starbucks Eggnog Lattes and is cheaper too! I just used the last drop of creamer in my coffee this morning and need to stock up on a few more bottles before Publix takes them off of their shelves. I’ll miss all of the winter holiday seasonal products in stores!

Fried Chicken Salad

Nachos with black bean salsa and shredded cheese

Have a wonderful day! Time to get cracking on the job hunt.

**Checkout my latest College Lifestyles post on how to “Go Green” in 2010!

The week has finally winded down and I must say whew, it sure has been a busy one. Wednesday night I took my first Managerial Economics exam and overall, it went pretty well. This class is known to really get the gears working in your brain. I’m so jealous of  Courtney who completed it last spring!

The weather in Gainesville has dropped down to a cool 80 degrees which is very exciting. Any “cold front” is a perfect excuse for Floridians to swap out their tank top wardrobe for furry hooded jackets and Ugg Boots.

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On the “food front,” this week I’ve  focused on using fresh and simple ingredients. For the few months remaining in 2009, my goal is to live simply and eat simply. Each day I’m going to find a simple, feel-good and then tweet about it. For example, yesterday’s simple, feel-good was seeing pumpkins for sale at the grocery store.

Nutless Wonders Sweet Potato Scone Sandwich with a MorningStar Farms Grillers Chik’n Patty, pickles, feta cheese, romaine, and mustard

Cesar Salad with tomatoes and garlic shrimp

Peach Nonfat Chobani Greek Yogurt

Review: This was my first time trying Chobani Greek Yogurt because well, I’ve always been a Stonyfield kind of girl. Overall, their Greek yogurt tasted just ok. I was kind of disappointed in the subtle fruity flavor and that the peach chunks were so small. For a 6oz cup, the 14 grams of protein were impressive but the 19 grams of sugars weren’t. I would buy these again though!

What’s your favorite brand of Greek Yogurt?

Pumpkin puree mixed with Chobani Greek Yogurt and Kellogg’s All-Bran Cereal

Thank you all for entering my Tropical Eats Giveaway! Remember the contest closes Monday night at 11:59PM and I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday morning. You are all wonderful!

Enjoy the cool, crisp October weather this weekend.

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