FINALLY!!!
Coconut Cream Pie. It was great!! I LOVE coconut, so I was one happy camper when I took my first bite. My only complaint was that I missed chewing nuts. This guys has almonds and cashews, but not nearly as much embedded crunch as Pecan Pie and Peanut Butter Cookie. Here are the LaraBars I’ve tried in order of my favorites:
- TIED: Peanut Butter, Coconut Cream Pie, Pecan Pie
- Chocolate Coconut Chew
- Cashew Cookie
- Apple Pie
- Chocolate Mole
- Cinnamon Bun
- Lemon Pie
- Cherry Pie
- Ginger Snap (my first!)
Guess there are still a ton I haven’t tried, but I’ve tried all the ones that are “my” flavors. THEY NEED A TOFFEE AND PUMPKIN FLAVOR!!!
Once I got home I also had a few crackers for a carb-a-licious addition.
And a mocktail around 6:30 when we started to prep dinner. Tonic, lime, cherry.
Dinner tonight was Ellie Krieger inspired: Black-Eyed Pea and Spinach Salad. I saw her make this weeks ago and saved it on my “to cook” list. It was AWESOME!! I didn’t know if I would like the buttermilk dressing, but I really did. We both agreed that blue cheese would be a fabulous addition 😀
Of course we made some modifications since we’re always cooking for two.
I boiled some black-eyed peas from scratch yesterday to have when needed tonight. We also had already washed the kale (when it arrived from the CSA) and had the green beans already cooked from last night. So this was a piece’a’cake to put together.
We cooked two slices of bacon until browned and added the kale to saute, followed by the green beans to warm up.
Meanwhile, we made the dressing:
- 1/3 a cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1.5 tbsp mayo (Smart Balance Olive Oil Light)
- Splash cider vinegar (2 tsp?)
- 5 dashes hot sauce
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- S+P
- 1.5 cups cooked, heated-in-the-microwave black-eyed peas
Our dressing was a bit runny so you might want to use a little less buttermilk.
The recipe called for spinach underneath, but we just wanted to use up our kale. But I bet spinach would have been awesome. Also, we were too lazy to prepare a whole grain with this, but all-of-the-above would be fantastic mixed in: berries, bulgur, rice, quinoa, millet, etc. You guys sometimes ask me why we don’t have more grains with dinner. The answer>? We’re too lazy to cook them. I should just make more in bulk on the weekends, but I guess I’m lazy there too!
I banished myself to the upstairs bedroom for an hour of nutrition reading on lactation (fascinating topic!). The downstairs was flowing with TV noise. I came back down a little hungry (probably from the lighter dinner) and promptly made myself a Cereal Surprise 🙂
- H2H, GoLean + Fiber Worms
- 1 tbsp chocolate chips
- About 1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
- Spoonful PB
Heaven on earth!
Goodnight moon.
lauren says
the coconut creme pie is my favorite – love it. Your dinner looks great. I made some of your tofu tonight and it turned out great – love the crunchy pieces!
Tina says
I love Coconut Cream too!!!!!
Megan says
I sure wish I could try one of those coconut LaraBars. I agree pumpkin would be a great flavor. You should read all the yummy flavors that people are coming up with for bars for my giveaway post. Makes me want to create my own bar company.
Your salad looks amazing.
sarahH says
I dont know if someone has said this before because I dont always read all the comments..but i know you were talking about crispy tofu the other day and wanted to comment. To make my tofu crunchy, I marinate it in usually some soysauce, sugar, rice wine vinegar and some red pepper then coat it in corn starch and seasonings. I then bake it like you do. Be sure to flip halfway. It turns out very crunchy!
Lida says
Hi Kath! I tried coconut cream pie for the first time today too! I actually loved it, even though I’m not even usually a big coconut person. I would personally have called it “coconut macaroon” or something, because it reminds me exactly of the cookies my grandma makes on passover.
I still have a lot of Lara Bars to try, but so far I definitely agree with you that peanut butter and coconut are the best!
Jessica says
I adore Ellie Krieger, glad to see one of her recipes on your blog. Both of her books are really good too! I got to meet her earlier this year in Cary – here’s my post on it: http://johnstonesvinblanc.blogspot.com/2008/02/meeting-ellie-krieger.html
The lactation/nutrition really does sond interesting. Have you learned anything surprising on the topic?
SmA033 says
Hey kath– how much cereal total do you think you have in your “cereal suprise??”
SmA033 says
oh yeah– p.s. your salad tonight reminded me of another ellie krieger salad which i’ve tried & is AWESOME! i think you guys’ll like it
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/chickpea-and-spinach-salad-with-cumin-dressing-and-yogurt-sauce-recipe2/index.html
Brittany says
I still haven’t found the coconut cream pie larabar. Still on the lookout though. The Ellie Krieger recipe looks delicious and of course cereal as a snack tastes a bit like heaven.
caitlin (seebriderun) says
Coconut Cream Pie is my fav too! And I love your cereal suprise. 🙂 DEEElish!
Katelyn says
Your mocktail sounds so refreshing, and the salad looks wonderful!
Biz319 says
That looks so good, but I am not sure about the kale part. It’s been years, maybe time to try them again!
Hope hubby is enjoying his new job! I envy him for doing what he loves!
Juliet says
How funny! I ate my first coconut cream lara bar today as well! It had been sitting on my desk at work for several days, but I was saving it for a time when I was really hungry for a snack – and that finally happened today! It was delicious. My only disappointment (albeit minor) was that they put coconut oil in it — don’t think the old flavors had added oil.
magpie says
I will definitely have to make that dressing the next time I have buttermilk – it sounds so good!
Cereal surprise = awesome 🙂
ttfn300 says
oh wow, if they came out with a pumpkin and toffee flavor i’d be done! i’ve been meaning to try that salad, glad to know it’s a winner 🙂 all of hers that i’ve tried have been though!
new runner says
hi, I’m hoping you can help me with my question.
I’m really trying hard to lose weight and watching my calorie intake. I’m eating healthy whole foods.. not junk. I’m trying to stay at 1300 calories for non workout days and 1500 for workout days.
.. now when I work out should I eat 1500 calories and thats it. or say I burned 400 calories at the gym I can eat 1900 calories?
anyones intake on this?
Christie says
This is off topic but does anyone have a really clever idea for a Halloween costume? I go to a fancy Halloween party every year and I always go as a witch or something classic because I can never think of anything clever and everyone else there is usually dressed as something funny. Anyone have any ideas of something you have gone as or seen someone else go as?
Jill - GlossyVeneer says
When I did my marathon in January, Larabar had a booth at the expo and were giving away bags that contained small sample sizes of all the flavors they had available at the time. It was fun, but I don’t remember some of the flavors I sampled. I tried Peanut Butter Cookie for the first time a couple weekends ago, I took it with me for a snack after my 18-mile run since I knew I would need immediate fuel after it, loved that flavor!
gina (fitnessista) says
ooooh i love coconut cream pie too! that’s one of my faves 😀
i <3 ellie krieger! that recipe looks incredible!
sleep well sammie 😀
emmy says
Cristie – if you have a guy friend to go with husband and I went as Adam and Eve once and people LOVED it! He wore briefs with a huge leaf, and I actually wore a hippie-ish green skirt and green bikini top. People were so excited by us, and this was Miami so there were several other actually naked Eves.
gina (fitnessista) says
hahah oh no i thought i was reading sammie’s blog (i was thinking “her pictures look different”)
sorry kath!!!
proof i need to go to bed 😀 have a good night!
Lisa says
I wonder if reading about lactation would be enough to drive someone to soymilk … 🙂
Amanda says
mmm the ‘cereal surprise’ looks like it’d hit the spot right now!
madison (follow my weigh) says
grr can’t find the coconut cream pie flavor anywehre here!!
Kelly says
I just tried the Coconut Cream Pie Larabar for the first time today, too! It’s funny how many people tried this bar for the first time today just like you, Kath! I’ve been looking for it at Whole Foods for a month and they just got them in today. I got the last 2 in the box – looks like others were anticipating their arrival, too! Tastes just like dessert – YUM!
VeggieGirl says
HOORAY FOR LARABAR LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Arden says
Hmmm, lactation and “goodnight moon”. Now you’re speaking my language.
This mom of 8 loves your blog. You inspire me to feed myself and the kids better.
Kath says
SmA033 ,
I’m not quite sure – maybe 2-3 tbsp each of worms and GoLean and 1/3 cup H2H? So maybe 3/4 a cup?
And I book marked that salad! I think the orange flavor would be awesome with the chickpeas.
new runner,
For those hoping to lose weight by calorie counting, I found the NET method (made popular by CalorieKing) to work really well for me (and others who exercise a lot). You can read more about it on my FAQ page, but I think you have the right idea. If your NET is 1300 you’d eat that on days you don’t exercise and add 400 to that to get 1700 on days you burn 400. That said, 1300 is very low and I wouldn’t personally recommend it on a regular basis because you’ll probably be miserable. That’s one reason why daily exercise is important (to keep the deficit going). But also, on rest days, I would say to just let yourself eat more on since ideally they won’t come come about too often. Don’t worry about the number exactly but the quality of foods and eating ONLY when you’re hungry on rest days.
Lisa ,
LOL.
Arden ,
🙂
Kath
lucy says
You have to try Key-Lime Pie. It’s delicious. I definitely agree with your larabar flavor suggestions! Toffee is my one of my favs, as is pumpkin.
Andrea (Off Her Cork) says
I can’t even find Larabars but want to try them since everyone else seems to love them so much!
I’m thinking about investing in a rice cooker so that I can increase our brown rice intake. I would love to have it but since it takes so long to cook, I never make it with dinner. Love the Sunday prep idea, may have to start using that!