TGFCC

Written by on in Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snacks, Tidbits and Treats

Have you figured out the acronym?

Fact: When Bobby and I were in high school and first started dating, we used to post acronyms on our AIM profiles (do you remember those?!) and challenged each other to figure out what they meant.

I’ll spare you those sappy creative acronyms and say: TGFCC!!

In other words…Thank Goodness For Coffee Cocoa!

Not just any Coffee Cocoa, however: this is Pumpkin Spice. Just in time for fall 🙂

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So lately for breakfast I’ve been following this new regimen called The Lobster Diet. It’s probably the best diet I’ve ever gone on because it involves eating nut butter + jam toast for breakfast 🙂

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I am addicted to this combination. My current schedule has me waking up very early every morning, and many times I am not hungry enough for a big bowl of oats, etc. before I need to leave. This tides me over perfectly and if I get hungrier later, I munch on some fruit.

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Another thing I’m thankful for today? Squash soups at Au Bon Pain. Remember when I had their butternut squash? This here is the pumpkin – paired with a whole grain baguette, of course 😉

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I was pleasantly surprised to see a little texture in the soup. It featured pumpkin, maple syrup a touch of cream and a lot of spice. It was a very hearty combination of savory and sweet.

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The third thing I’m thankful for in food this week is a quick and easy dinner that’s healthy without compromising on flavor. A few days ago, I was able to achieve that with Vegetablummus Stir-fry :mrgreen:

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I sauteed an entire frozen bag of stir-fry veggies in a pan on the stove with some olive oil. When the veggies started to brown, I added in 2 tbsp. ginger-sesame sauce and a few “swirls” of soy sauce. Once they were finished, I poured everything onto a plate and topped it with 2 tbsp. Sabra hummus.

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After I took this picture, I stirred the hummus in to give the entire dish a creamy like texture – almost like a veggie pasta! The combination of Asian flavors with hummus was GREAT!! I will add this to my recipes page soon – it’s the new Humbecue 😉 Gotta love name combining.

Dinner wouldn’t be complete without a honeycrisp apple. Notice the addition of pumpkin mellowcremes. I think Miss Heather can attest to the fact that those are absolutely necessary.

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Though we may be experiencing weeks upon weeks of spring-like showers here in Chicago, there is no question in my mind that fall foods are here.

In the Blogosphere

I’m sure there are other giveaways that I am missing, so feel free to let others know about ’em 🙂

Any big plans for the weekend?

We are planning to keep things low-key. It has been a busy few weeks and I’m excited to relax!

Note: I am compiling your questions from Dr. Funk’s interview and will send as many as I can to her. Hopefully she’ll be able to answer a few of the questions you still had!

Abrazos,

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33 Comments

  1. I’m planning a chill weekend too… it’s one of the last few before the wedding without 8,000 things to do! I’m loving the idea of the hummus in the stir fry. You haven’t steered me wrong once with your ideas for hummus…mmm… humbecue…

    I think we need a red mango date soon to try their pumpkin spice yogurt…what do you think?

  2. Omg, everything looks so good! 🙂
    I don’t have any plans for the weekend. My mom and I will be home alone and I’m sure we’ll find something cool to do together 🙂

  4. haha- I love love the lobster diet. Too cute. Rose rocks. So jealous that you have an au bon near your work! I’d be there every day (for the pumpkin and squash soups alone!) Great stir fry dinner too (stir fry is so my go to meal- easy, filling, delicious!). Thanks for the shout out! This weekend should be a little more low key (which I’m excited about). Teaching classes tonight and tomorrow morning. Family/friends over for chili and the penn state game Saturday. Sunday=sleep, sleep and more sleep

  7. My boss uses acronyms for everything. I never know what he’s telling me he wants to do. I just guess 🙂

    The stir-fry looks great! Hummus enhances any dish.

    My weekend includes an anniversary dinner w/my boyfriend and cleaning the apartment. Fun stuff! Have a great weekend!

  9. Love the pumpkin mallocremes! Heather was the first to spot them in the Walgreen’s stores & I was a happy camper! lol Thankfully Meijer’s sells them in bulk so I can get only what I need 🙂

    Cheers to pumpkin anything & enjoy your chill weekend! I have a million things to do to get ready for my shower next weekend! UGH!!!!!

  10. I love those Mallocremes, I might need to go get a bag 😉 Enjoy your weekend, hopefully the weather gets a little better!

    We are off to Madison, WI for a football weekend.

  11. This weekend in Homecoming Weekend at my school and my first 5K…which should be interesting because it’s supposed to snow… 🙂

    Have a good weekend! And that soup looks great!

  12. the lobster diet – too cute 🙂

    I hope you have a great weekend!!!!

    Oh, I remember the days of AIM. Lots of wasted time in high school, for sure.

  14. Hummus is sooo good on warm veggies! I had the same thing last night.

    Oh, and AIM. I wasted SO much time on that in jr high and high school. Good thing I can waste my time on Facebook chat now 😀

  15. ABP soups are great – I remember loving a moroccan lentil one they had!

    You are a lady after my own heart with that dinner – frozen veggies are a must-have on standby! Well and hummus of course. You’re good to go with only those two things in most cases!

    Happy weekend. 🙂

  16. I’m so sad we don’t have an Au Bon Pain around here anymore. There soups were always so good and the pumpkin soup would be something I know I’d enjoy. And butternut squash of course.

    The pumpkin spice on your coffee sounds marvelous!! I should get some of that, as I’m getting sick of the boring vanilla soy in my cofee…I need to “spice” it up!

  17. Acronyms are so fun!! I just added hot cocoa mix to my grocery list – thank YOU for introducing coffee cocoa to my life 🙂

    I wish there was an Au Bon Pain around here. That bread looks carbalicious! Happy Friday!!

  19. Your dinna creation looks fab!! I love combining things that make my roommate go, “what IS that??” hahaha, liiike hummus + salsa, HUMBECUE sauce, oats + PB!! Obvi everyone hasnt gotten the delicious memo…
    I wish i could be in CHI this weekend, all my friends are invading the city for the usc/nd game!! Soooon soon i will! 😀 Enjoy your chill weekend Jenn xo

  21. Great post! I had to let you know that my b.f. and I used to do the same thing in high school (we actually used ICQ and later AIM, does anyone remember that?) He was always really good at figuring them out, me not so much. I also heart A.B.P. soups like nothing else. They have so many healthy options and they always taste like real food. Enjoy your weekend!

  22. I’ll be working from home this wknd, but otherwise relaxing! Even looking forward to bad weather so that we can stay home 🙂

  23. Hand over the CC and noone gets hurt! 😉

    Great idea to pair the addictive candycorn/pumpkins with some substantial fruit!

  24. dannnng I was gonna say “Thank God for Cottage Cheese” but coffee cocoa is soooo much better…espech with pumpkin spice. You da bomb, bender, yo da bomb!

  25. You’re killing me with all your Au Bon Pain goodness! Next time I come to Chi-town, we must visit one of those! The pumpkin soup sounds lovely.
    Can you believe that I have never had a pumpkin mellowcreme? I suppose I should change that?

  27. OK, so I was a little off with my guess of Thank Goodness for Cottage Cheese. 😉

    Love putting hummus on my stir-fry and love Honeycrisp apples. Have not had any yet this fall. Also still love seeing your toast with all the goodness piled in the middle.

    CD is on a let’s move to Chicago kick. So cold Jenn. Could I handle it?

    • Heather – You could so handle it 😉 Ok, actually I would much rather move to Nashville, but I’m going to try to convince you that winters here are quite pleasant in order to get you and CD to move! Shoot…guess it doesn’t really work when I give it away like that…

  29. Hi Jenn, thanks for saying hi on my blog! I reallllllly appreciate the compliments on my kitchen skills and saying you’ve been seeing my creations all over the blogosphere and that I’m talented…that’s sooo swweeettt 🙂 Thank you!

    I used to live in Chicago…..Gold Coast, Lakeview and then Naperville. Then I ditched the cold weather and recently moved from San Diego to Phoenix but I would love to meet up with my sister, and you!, in the Windy City sometime soon. Sounds like you have fam out in AZ? That would rock!

    Anyway, glad my little Tip of the Day was just what you needed. Take care Sweet Jenn and I love coffee so when I saw that was your opening pic, I was like ahhhh, yummm!

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