Lunchtime Links for May 21st, 2013

• How Sweet It Is: Sweet corn, bacon, and scallion Greek yogurt chicken salad.
• The Live-In Kitchen: Refrigerator bakery brownies.
• Table for Two: Honey soy chicken. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Vanilla ice cream. 
• Eat, Live, Run: Beet pesto pasta. 

thinkThin Bars - Review and Giveaway

I was recently approached with an offer to sample several varieties of thinkThin bars, which may be ironic considering the not-so-health-minded nature of my blog, haha.  However, I had seen some of these bars before at Whole Foods and thought it would be a worthwhile product for me to try out.

Just under a week ago, my package arrived, containing three boxes with the following bars:

thinkThin Chunky Peanut Butter Protein Bar:
- This high protein bar packs the nutty flavors of chunky roasted peanut butter blended with cocoa and covered in luscious milk chocolate. With zero grams sugar and no gluten, it's a guilt-free treat you can feel good about.

thinkThin Crunch Blueberry Mixed Nuts Bar:
- With 60% less sugar and 2x the amount of protein than leading fruit and nut bars, this delicious nutty delight is not only a good source of fiber packed with peanuts, almonds and cashews, but also has a generous helping of blueberries - nature's jewels and nutrition-rich superfruits.

thinkThin Crunch Coconut Chocolate Mixed Nuts Bar:
- Weirdly, this one had no description on the website, haha. It is similar to the Blueberry Mixed Nuts bar, but with coconut flakes on top and a chocolate coating on the bottom half. 

The chunky peanut butter bar, I could definitely see myself buying on my own - helllllloooo, peanut butter and chocolate, no complaints here. But then I just had to laugh at the irony of receiving BOTH a blueberry and coconut-based bar, considering my general disdain of those specific flavors. It's almost as if the company really wanted to challenge someone to review something they wouldn't normally eat, haha.

Anyhoo, I tried all of the flavors out, and here are my quick notes on them:

Chunky Peanut Butter Protein bar: Woo! This is a filling and tasty bar, especially if you're a fan of peanut butter like I am.  I had this for breakfast for a few days, and it was a convenient and quick way to eat at work.  I initially thought it would actually be more chunky (as in, chunks of peanuts inside), but it's still more on the chewy side than smooth in terms of consistency.  For being a relatively small bar it definitely kept me full until lunch.

Blueberry Mixed Nuts bar: I actually liked the appearance of this bar at first glance- it looked like there were lots of whole nuts and other stuff packed into the small snack-size bar. Like I said before, I don't like blueberries but fortunately (for me), this bar wasn't packed with tons of whole berries, more like dabs of blueberry pieces throughout.  It started to taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a few bites, due to the abundant nuts and the pockets of blueberries.

Coconut Chocolate Mixed Nuts bar: This bar is the same snack-size as the Blueberry Mixed Nuts, but with a liberal sprinkling of coconut on top.  I liked the layer of chocolate on the bottom of the bar, because hello, chocolate. Not my favorite, but anyone that is a fan of coconut/chocolate will enjoy this one.

Overall, I was happy to try out something new, and I think these bars are a great option for a quick breakfast, snack, travel companion, or a little something to tide you over when you're feeling Hangry.  I'm planning on bringing a few of the peanut butter bars on my trip to Japan (TOMORROW!) in case I get hungry on the plane rides.

Now, here's the fun part!  In addition to my samples I was offered a chance to give one of my readers a chance to try these out too, in a Wellness Box:

Wellness Box includes:  one 10 bar box of thinkThin® high protein bars (with 0g sugar), one 10 bar box of thinkThin® Crunch (with 10g protein and 70% less sugar than leading fruit and nut bars), three boxes of thinkThin® Bites.

Here's how to enter:

• Follow my blog ("Join this site" widget on the bottom left section of this page), if you aren't already following.
• Leave a comment on this post with your favorite healthy snack. Apple slices? Yogurt? Rolled up turkey slices?  Let me know!
• Giveaway will run from 10:00AM May 21st - 5:00PM June 3rd (Eastern Standard Time).
• Winner will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail (so please make sure there is a valid e-mail address attached to, or included in the body of your entry). The winner's name will be announced on my blog after winner verification.
• One entry per person, please.

I look forward to seeing the entries while I am in Japan! 

Lunchtime Links for May 20th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Strawberry swirl cream cheese pound cake.
• Dessert for Two: Frozen mocha brownie bites. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Balsamic strawberry ricotta shortcakes.
• Cookies & Cups: Soft sugar cookies. 
• Food Fanatic: Reese's peanut butter cup cookies. 

Georgetown Cupcake - Mother's Day Cupcake

Last Sunday, Georgetown Cupcake offered both a vanilla and chocolate version of this cute Mother's Day cupcake.  This vanilla version is their usual vanilla cake with a hefty dallop of vanilla buttercream frosting on top. I happily ate this in honor of all of the wonderful moms I know, haha :o)

Lunchtime Links for May 17th, 2013

• A Kitchen Addiction: Cilantro lime jalapeno hummus.
• Bakerella: So Cal So Sweet.
• Cookies & Cups: Browned butter Nutella swirled blondies. 
• La Fuji Mama: Strawberry basil meyer lemonade. 
• Bake at 350: Kahlua-espresso chocolate chip cookies.

Daikaya Izakaya

I recently had a great dinner at the newer upstairs section of Daikaya - I really liked their ramen, so I was excited to try out the izakaya's selections!

This is what greets you when you walk in the door, heading upstairs to the izakaya. 

The menus are actually old Japanese magazines with the printed menu pages inserted inside - I thought it was a quirky and fun idea, especially since I could actually read the magazine, haha.

Grilled cherry tomatoes with miso-cheddar fondue 

This was on the specials menu and I'm really glad I ordered it.  The blistered cherry tomatoes were delicious, and that miso-cheddar fondue... oh my. I should've asked for a spoon so I could be sure to eat all of that sauce, mmm. 

Wasabi octopus with Granny Smith apple, arbequina olive oil, and wasabi sprouts ($6)

This was a crunchy and super unique dish that I would recommend everyone try at least once. The crunchy apple cubes balanced out the octopus pieces really well. My only complaint would be the incredibly strong wasabi flavor (since I don't really like wasabi, go figure), but clearly that's meant to be a big part of the dish, just not my personal preference.

Grilled avocado with housemade ponzu, fresh wasabi, and nori salt ($6.50)

As soon as I started eating this, my only thought was "I want to try grilling an avocado at home IMMEDIATELY".  Grilling the avocado, plus the ponzu, nori salt, and lemon, added so much depth to a plain avocado. Such a creative and delicious dish!

Chocolate ice cream with miso-banana caramel, chocolate crisps, and crushed banana chips.

Mmm, chocolate + crispy texture, yes please! There wasn't a ton of miso flavor in this ice cream, just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor, in my opinion.  The crunchy chocolate and banana pieces added lots of texture to a smooth and creamy ice cream.

Overall, I thought that Daikaya has a really creative and delicious menu, and it definitely offers a variety of foods that aren't readily found in other DC area restaurants.  Also, the atmosphere is very laid-back and comfortable, and I would definitely recommend it for a unique happy hour option.  I can't wait to try more dishes here soon!

Daikaya Izakaya

705 6th Street NW

Washington, DC

202.589.1600

Lunchtime Links for May 16th, 2013

• Kevin & Amanda: Shrimp & avocado pasta. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Salted caramel brownie milkshake.
• The Live-in Kitchen: Penne with vodka sauce. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Biscoff filled doughnut holes. 
• The Cozy Apron: Asian peanut noodle salad.