Yesterday was a little nuts… literally.
It all started (#1) when I checked my Twitter feed first thing in the morning…
Oh.em.geeee. Now, you guys know I have a serious crush on Maisie Jane’s almond butter, so I’ll unashamedly admit that there was some major gushing and minor happy dancing going on around these parts… followed by (#2) a rendezvous at breakfast, naturally…
So good. A little while later, I had my third nutty encounter of the day – a luscious love affair with a certain nut named Justin…
Oh.em.geeee. As much as I like the vanilla almond butter, I’m going to go ahead and say that the maple is so much better. It’s not as sweet, which I actually appreciate, and I’m Canadian, which means I have an innate affinity for anything involving maple syrup 😉 Seriously, though, it’s good stuff. Unfortunately, nutty encounter #4 was far less pleasant…
So there I was sitting in Starbucks, typing away on the computer and minding my own business, when some lady just sat down at the other chair at my [small] table (without asking mind you), pushed my stuff aside, put her coffee and scone down, and started complaining about how there was nowhere to sit because every table was occupied by one person with a computer.
Uhm? 😯 I’m one person with a computer… one person with a computer who’s trying to get some work done and enjoy her coffee in peace, thank you very much. I did my best to be cordial, and mostly just ignored her, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t giving her a serious stank eye in my head.
I mean, I would have had no problem if she had asked to sit down, but barging right in like that? And then chewing her food too loudly, sipping her coffee with a little too much vigour, and walking away without so much as a thank you? No, lady. That’s just plain rude… /endrant.
But enough about that nut. Moving on to nutty encounter #5, which was far more enjoyable…
I was feeling super snacky when lunch time rolled around, and when I saw Sam post an Instagram pic of her snack plate lunch that included these toasted coconut almonds from Blue Diamond, I deemed it a very good idea and decided to follow suit…
You guys… these are good. They have the perfect amount of coconutty flavour paired with the wonderful crunchiness of toasted almonds. I die. I’m basically praying that Canada is on board with this. I mean, my swag stash is only going to last for so long, and I’m not really looking forward to the inevitable withdrawals that’ll follow when I run out… But moving on to nutty experience #6…
Oh.em.geeee. Someone tell me why on earth it took me so long to get a milk frother, because these things are amazing. I found this little gem in my HLS swag bag (thanks CocoaVia!), and I’m seriously kicking myself for not investing in one sooner. You guys know how much I love my foamy cappuccinos, so you’d think I would have caught on to the concept of homemade froth ages ago. Not so. Clearly I needed a little outside encouragement. Oh, and if you’re wondering how this was a nutty encounter, it was almond milk 😉
And last, but certainly not least, nutty experience #7…
Roasted kabocha and almond butter… no other words are necessary.
Happy Friday, friendly faces! 😀
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What nutty experience have you had, or are you planning to have, today?
Favourite combo: nut butter and _______.
Ok, so this squash thing. Do you peel it first? Then what?
And tell me more about your frother. I want one but know nothing about them!!
Hi Lisa! Just to help you out–i got a frother at IKEA and it works really well! Not sure if you have an IKEA where you live though….Oh and World Market sells them too and both places are rather inexpensive. 😀
heheheh Amanda, this is such a cute post! Good for you for not getting back at the lady and holding it in! 😉 I giggled when you said that the lady sipped her coffee with too much VIGOUR. I sip it with too much vigour too, especially to make Selah laugh, lol. I don’t know what it is about Diamond’s almonds but they’re sooo fresh and extra crunchy!
I do peel my squash, but that’s mostly only because my stomach doesn’t seem to like the peel all that much. I know a lot of people who eat the peel and are fine. As for the frother, it’s basically just a little handheld stick that has a spinning wire whisk at the end. You stick it in a cup of milk and it froths it right up.
Ok seriously getting jealous over here with all of the Justin’s flavours! I had to laugh at your Starbucks’s experience, my blood would be boiling not because she sat down but because she didn’t ask…seriously? You handled it way better than me haha
I can’t believe that someone would just barge into your personal space like that! I’d totally give her the stank eye.
Also, I think I might have a milk frother somewhere in the house, and after looking at your pictures of fluffy milk, I want to use it!
Nut butter + everything….nearly. 😉
Definitely pull it out! I’m seriously kicking myself for not getting one sooner!
Everything looks delicious. Justin’s is the only maple-flavored nut butter I like, but my favorite of theirs is the vanilla almond!
I love maple almond butter, I got my first jar of it in a foodie pen pals package and it might be my favorite flavor of nut butter. What a rude lady at Starbucks, I mean on one hand i think it takes courage to go sit with someone you dont know but on the other hand you should probably ask and not complain about them to them.
I need a frother, omg! You got some great stuff at HLS, wish I could have gone! Squash and sweet potato are both great with almond butter!
I absolutely love your nutty encounters!….. except one, of course! How rude is that!
Ummm. What? That’s all I have to say about that lady at Starbucks. I seriously don’t understand people 99% of the time.
Those toasted coconut almonds are heaven. I seriously blow through a container of those in no time when I get them at Target.
Happy Friday!
My nutty encounter involved Justin’s vanilla almond butter on my breakfast toast this morning – so good! I loved your little nutty post! And the frother?! Its amazing. I’m going to try it on my tea lattes this weekend. I’m so sorry about your Starbucks experience – sometime it is just a matter of saying ‘some people’. I don’t think that people understand “coffee shops”.
My favorite nut butter combo would be putting it on my oatmeal and dipping my apples in it!
I’m going to have to try adding my milk to actual coffee or tea next time… I was literally just sitting there eating the foam up with a spoon 😉
Milk frothers are the best!!! I’ve watched so many videos on how to froth milk perfectly (I’m a weirdo) that I think I’ve finally mastered it!
Confession…I’ve only tried the vanilla Justin’s AB. I’ll be in Minn visiting the BF’s family in a few weeks and will be raiding whole foods for the maple version. Since you are basically an almond sommelier, I’m gonna trust your judgment on this 😉
Holy cow! You should have shoved her stuff on the floor!
This post makes me smile…a lot! I love my nuts, but preferably not in human form! That Starbucks lady would have driven me loco!! I had an awesome snack last night which you would loved- frozen banana bites topped with peanut butter (almond butter in your case) and dark chocolate shavings…really hit the spot! As for favorite nut butter pair, I’m going to have to go with banana…and/or chocolate- you can’t make me choose!!
Oh.em.geeee. That snack -does- sound amazing. Nut butter, bananas, and chocolate is pretty much the holy grail of food combos… impossible to choose.
That lady is so rude, wow! I wouldn’t have been quite so civil as you. The stank eye would have been front and center.
Those toasted coconut almonds look AMAZING!! I’ve only had that type of almond one other time from my one and only excursion into Whole Foods and I loved the flavor. I’ll have to see if I can find this flavor in any grocery stores near me.
Lots of fabulous nuttiness going around in your life right now missy! Except for that one lady… that’s seriously my pet peeve when people try to talk and interrupt me when I’m clearly diligently working. Guess I’m just an anti-social person haha! 😉
I would have said, “You can always just ASK me if you’d like to sit down. It doesn’t hurt to ask”. And make it known she’s being a pain in the a– and totally in the wrong with throwing your stuff to the side. Ew.
In other news, I’m totally loving your milk frother. Uhm, I’m pretty sure I would just sit and keep making frothy goodness over and over again. Yeap, I definitely would do it.
Nut butter and oatmeal. I cannot get enough of drippy pb on oats! Have a great Friday, lovely!
Confession: I was -totally- sitting there and frothing my milk over and over. I just ate it with a spoon, and then frothed it up again when all the foam was gone. So.much.freaking.win.
I was just told a way to make amazing foam using my french press, I am going to try that this week and hopefully it goes well!!! AHH ALMOND MILK LATTE here I come! SO MUCH amazing nut butter experiences in this post. As for the Starbucks snatch..eww. I would have been so annoyed. What a biatch.
I have a MAJOR crush on Justin’s maple almond butter right now, too!!
While I can’t tell you the reason it took you so long to get a frother [I’d have to figure out why it took me ages first :)!] I’m all with you swooning about the amazingness. I snagged an ‘old’ but not even used one from my parents several months back and you just reminded me to put it to use again. Not even a coffee drinker but almond milk foam …
Nutty encounter #4 is just … nutty. And ridiculous, inpolite and rude. How long would it take to ask, really?! A nutty happening I had at the Farmers’ Market was a woman greedily grabbing a plum that a stall offered for samples – only to apparently disapprove of the taste and spit it out right in front of her [and as I was standing close by] my feet. Who does that? The vendor was quite enraged, too, but held back.
My favourite combo: almond butter and a spoon – and that is my nutty experience right now. One of the perks of living on my own and not having to share. Bliss.
I was literally sitting there with my cup just eating the foam with a spoon… and then frothing it up again when it ran out 😉 And I fully support any favourites involving spoons
Ahhh! I need to get me some squash and almond butter, that looks to die for, I’m really hoping my super market will have some in at the weekend. Here’s hoping. I think nut butter and squash is my fave, closely followed by nut butter and fresh strawberries, ooh and figs too!
I love that milk frother! Though i don’t drink coffee, but I just use it for hot chocolate hmmm.
Almond Butter and Homey. Hands Down.
But the maple Almond butter really IS heavenly especially with the added sea salt. Perfect!
Ohhh that little frother is awesome! I need one of those. And coconut roasted almonds?! If it’s as good as their almond coconut milk, I KNOW I’ll be obsessed!
I’ve actually never had their almond coconut milk, but I can definitely vouch for these almonds. Definitely grab a pack if you see them!
Oh my goodness!! I cannot believe that lady! I agree – super rude!
Nut butter + chocolate obviously. 😉
I will never forget the man that sat down at my table in the pizza place when I was with my son who was about 2 at the time. Nevermind the fact that I have no interest in sharing my table (sorry, I am so not that friendly when it comes to those types of situations, especially meal situations) but my son was so little that a stranger sitting at our table was not exactly ideal lol….I think we ate fast and last…anyway, I have already had PB2 plus some Crunch Time so my day is quite nutty and it isn’t even 10: 00 am.
Wow, I don’t even understand how lady at Starbucks thought that anything she did was appropriate. So.awkward.
Replace kabocha with buttercup and you have my afternoon snack yesterday. I hadn’t tried the squash-with-nut butter thing yet, but I was missing out…such a fantastic combo. And while I really like the Justin’s Maple, I don’t know if I like it better than the vanilla…maybe I just need to buy another vanilla so I can compare…(and have yet another nut butter jar in my apartment).
Last nutty experience: said Justin’s Maple on the yogurt bowl that I just inhaled for breakfast.
And nut butter and chocolate. Although I’m pretty sure that I would say ‘chocolate’ to pretty much any food related question. Although nut butter and banana is a good second choice.
Oh my gosh so many nuts in a day 🙂 Happy that you got some Maisie love dear! I totally get how you feel, that’s what makes social media so special, you get in touch with people you would have never thought of. Like me when my favorite star from Smallville answered to one of my tweets, since she is the cutest person ever and like a totally normal human being online.
And what happened to you in Starbucks: happens to me all the freaking time! I just smile way to often and should start looking more grumpy and arrogant like other people do (Jay gets the stinky eye here). People always sit down next to me, in the bus, the subway, starbucks, the bench at the train station… you name it.
That’s so cool about the star from Smallville! Love it when they do that. And maybe we should take it as a compliment that people are drawn to us? 😉
I had a PB and banana smoothie for b’fast! And my all time favorite nut butter combo is PB and chocolate. You can’t beat it!
I am not a fan of coconut flavored anything…. but I LOVE the smell of coconut- weird right?
Also, thanks to you I now want a milk frother and will be looking into it this weekend 🙂
I had a bunch of coconut rice leftover from earlier in the week, so for breakfast a few times I’ve made a little “coconut rice pudding” using the rice, almond milk, vanilla extract, raisins, and cinnamon, and topped it with a big glob of almond butter. Yay for turning dinner leftovers into breakfast!
I’ve been craving a ricey breakfast lately! I seriously need to cook up a big pot of rice one evening and eat the leftovers for breakfast – it’s one of my favourite grains!
I would have to say that the Justin’s maple almond butter is also my favorite!!! I love pairing it with a fresh pink lady apple. I also enjoy nut butters with greek yogurt or in oatmeal.
Okay, so I totally HATE when people don’t ask to sit at my table. One sunday morning I decided to go to the school library (mind you this was before 9 am so much of campus is asleep or hungover), and there were tables and tables of empty spots. I mean, the library was dead. All of a sudden, not 15 minutes after I got there and made myself comfortable at a table, a group of 4 people decided to sit right next to me, and then another couple of people sat on the other side of me. I was surrounded by these two groups of people doing group projects when NO JOKE there were about 60 other places to sit….
I was so confused and annoyed! lol
Okay. End. Rant.
Have an awesome day!
xoxox
If that lady would’ve barged in on me like that, I probably would’ve left. I mean, how did she know that you weren’t meeting up with a friend or there for an interview or something? She could’ve been taking someone else’s chair! Rude! She could’ve just asked nicely to make it a little more socially appropriate.
Whaaaaat? How rude! I hear ya about possibly being more open to sharing if she’d actually asked, but wow… that’s brazen. Anyway – fav nutty combo is nut butter and chocolate… or banana… or better yet, nut butter + chocolate + banana.
Nut butter, chocolate, and banana is pretty much the holy grail of food combos.
I love nut butter & chocolate for sweet, or nut butter & steamed vegetables for savory.
So, the first thing I did when I got home from the airport was to run, not walk, right on over to the pantry and grab the peanut butter! It was heaven! 😉
I was somewhat PB deprived these last few days. In fact, I almost had my PB fix while at my conference, but it ended in disappointment. I went to this restaurant in the a.m. to grab a bagel for breakfast before my workshop started. As I was perusing the menu, I saw they had PB as an option. I was so excited and asked that that be out on my bagel instead of cream cheese. He said okay, I paid, he handed me my order and I went to find a seat. Now I was completely giddy over my breakfast, but when I unwrapped my bagel…it did NOT have PB…it had cream cheese! Ugh!! I couldn’t take it back because my workshop was starting soon…what a disappointment!
And that lady at Starbucks sounds like something else! How rude!
I can’t believe she came and sat down like that! Such a rude one, haha. Starbucks is basically always one person at a table with their computer…? It’s a place to get work done! lol So glad all your other nutty experiences were enjoyable 🙂
Happy dance 4 u 4 being followed back by Maisie Jane’s!!! Iam hoping the next happy dance involves a package from Maisie Jane on your doorstep! 🙂
Your nutty #4 encounter makes me want to share this with you – it was sent to me by my boss
“There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.” ~
Quote: Today may there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us”
Came into work today and saw that email from her and it simply made me feel so warm and fuzzy…I had to pass it on!
For me – nut butter and chocolate! Oh yeah! Happy Friday!
Awwr Shashi <3 Thanks so much for that quote! It really is a beautiful one. I hope you're having the most amazing day!
Ahhhh the foam is everything in the coffee hehe! My frother was super cheap and it works great. The only downside is I’m too lazy to ever use it. I have to dig it out of my kitchen clutter and get back to using it!
STOP IT RIGHT NOW. I just finished the last of my maple Justins and now I’ll never be happy again!!! (Have you ever ordered it from Vitacost?)
Haha, that Starbucks woman. How…. do people go through life behaving that way? Do they not know they’re like that?! And why would you want to linger in Starbucks if you’re not working/with someone? So many unanswered questions…
I haven’t, but I’ve heard good things. And I know that iHerb sells it as well. If all else fails, just take a road trip south for a day 😉
Eee…how exciting that your favorite nut butter company followed you. I always get excited when those things happen as well.
Now you are really making me want a milk frother, since that cappuccino looks heavenly!
And seriously Canada can they hurry up and get in on all the fun foodie items that the US has. So unfair;)
Oh and kabocha always is amazing.
Happy Friday love!
Ah I love everything about this. What a great day of nuttiness (less that crazy lady at Starbucks. Seriously, what the eff? And then to be so rude when she plopped down? Ugh. Good for you in not letting her have it!)
Nut butter + a spoon? I think that’s always a safe pairing 😉
Hahaha nutty experience #4 was certainly a doozy! whats up with people? like, i just cant sometimes. and oh.em.geeee a milk frother!! why havent i ever thought about getting one?i dont even have a good excuse for not having one yet. i need this. ok adding that to my to-do list. and right now im craving an english muffin with pb (because its all we have here at work) and banana. so thats my winning nut butter flavor combination of the moment 🙂
Do it, do it, DO IT! You’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner. Seriously, I was just sitting there eating the foam with a spoon, and then frothing it up again when I ran out 😉