Is it just me, or Superbowl commercials are particularly men-oriented this year? Apparently, women do nothing but emasculate, annoy and nag men about everything. Unless they’re super hot. Then, only their bodies matter! Fantastic.
And I have news for you, Budweiser. You don’t make good beer. Stop with the million commercials already.
So I had to work on a writing assignment today and somehow it ate up my whole morning. I realized it was past noon when my stomach started to grumble and I didn’t even have breakfast yet.
I quickly made a bowl of pumpkin & ricotta cheese oats (think creamy pumpkin cheesecake taste), but with a new to me addition…
Chia seeds!
Full disclosure: I contacted ChiaSeedsDirect and inquired about receiving a sample. Don, who is the manager at the company, kindly replied and sent me this sample. I’ve seen chia seeds around the blogosphere and heard about their stellar nutritional profile. However, they are quite expensive and I wanted to try them out before investing in a substantial quantity.
According to the website, chia seeds come in at 138 calories, deliver 11 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein per one ounce serving. They have a high level of antioxidants and more fiber, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus than flax seeds.
Chia seeds thickened the oatmeal and made it richer. They’re crunchy and slightly nutty in taste. I really enjoyed them so far and can’t wait to use them in more meals! Big thanks to Don for sending me a sample.
After breakfast lunch, I got back to writing. I had an apple around 4 p.m.
Once my dad got home, we hit up the Russian supermarket for our weekly groceries. I snapped a photo with my phone of when I think the cart looks best: full of fruits and vegetables! That’s mineral water on the bottom shelf.
Later on, it got filled with high fat Amish sour cream, smoked fish, cheese, bread and cookies…don’t you worry.
For dinner, I decided to make a recipe out of my newly acquired copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I spent some time browsing through it last night and it’s awesome.
In honor of the big game, I had to go with…
I used a Hobgoblin Dark English Ale from the Wychwood Brewery, which is in the UK.
The beans came out fantastic! Slightly smokey, sweet and spicy.
I also had a spinach, yellow carrot and grape tomatoes salad with TJ’s Goddess Dressing:
Now I’m devouring some clementines.
Man, what a game! Go Saints!
Do you use cookbooks? What are your favorite ones?
I was struck by how all the commercials seemed to indicate that men are completely “whipped” by women. Weird.
My fave cookbook of all time is Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.
I live close to the Bob’s Red Mill headquarters and scored 20 oz. of chia seeds for $3.56! I tried them for the first time this morning – I just sprinkled some on my oatmeal. They made for great texture – it was like little flavorless poppyseeds that I could crunch on.
Ricotta cheese with oats sounds like a good idea! I’m going to have to try adding that to my oats sometime. It’s a good source of whey protein which is a bonus in the morning!
hm, can’t say I noticed the prevalance of meals in the commercials last night – but now that you mention it. I do have to agree with Andrea though.. a lot of the men were made to look like straight up foolios… so for that, I suppose I’m okay with it.
I think having men looking like fools at the expense of women is not cool though. Most of the ads that featured women were those GoDaddy.com commercials, where they rip off their shirts and encourage people to go online to “see more.”
Or that Bud Light book club commercial, where the dudes came over to talk about books with women ’cause they had beer.
Or the Chrysler Dodge Charger “I will take your call. I will listen to your opinion of my friends…I will carry your lip balm…” So he can drive a car. ‘Cause that’s what’s really important….
Or the Megan Fox commercial where she’s taking a bath.
I think this year, most of these commercials weren’t as closely criticized because of the whole controversy with that Focus on Family ad.
I did really like the “Green Police” ad…and even the Dove body wash for men one!
Hahaha, I sound like all I did was investigate the commercials….but I watched the game, I swear
To be fair, a lot of commercials seem to portray men as bumbling idiots who can’t think for themselves and thank-god they have a woman in their life to give them direction. I also agree with your statement! Basically commercials are just effed!
I’m glad you had such a fabbo birthday! And I’m totally calling you Olay now because that is just awesome sauce.
I agree, some of the men were made to look really silly. But I remember one car commercial in particular where it was like “you put up with this that women do, you listen to this that she tells you” just so you can drive THIS ONE CAR.
Give me a break!
I agree entirely with your sentiment towards the retarded Superbowl commercials. With each year, they marginalize gender more and more. It’s so backwards and offensive.
Chia seeds are pretty fabbo. The white chia seed variety is also pretty delish, especially if you add coconut milk to the oats you cook them with.
Those beans look superb! While I’m not a vegetarian, I definitely appreciate vegetarian foods. I’ll have to look into that book. My stand-by cookbook is “The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook.” It is vast, has every type of meal/side/dessert you can imagine, and all the recipes have healthy twists. I don’t know what I did in the kitchen before I bought it.
I have that cookbook too! I’ve made the chocolate silk pie out of it a bunch of times and it was a huge hit!
I’m not vegetarian either but I do love vegetables. I think it’s really easy for me to eat them the same way and this cookbook is definitely going to help me branch out!
I know its sad but I tend to google recipes more than use cookbooks. Its probably because I don’t really own any cookbooks.
I totally agree with you about the commercials. Amelia and I were totally taken aback by a bunch of them. I honestly can handle barely dressed women. It was the message of some of the ads that really bothered me. You would think men are the most oppressed people in the whole world and that they have no rights and all they do is put up with women!
Glad the Saints won!
I agree that the commercials were mostly geared towards men. I thought it was so funny that Dove did mens commercials. “Love the skin you’re in” doesn’t really work when you’re advertising to men!
I put chia seeds in my oats this morning too. Love those things!
I love love love cookbooks. My favorite is Betty Crocker Whole Grains. I really want to try my hand at some of Julia Child’s recipes after watching Julie and Julia. I might pick her cookbook up soon!
I mean, I understand why most of the commercials were geared towards men…it’s the biggest game of the year! It’s the manliest day ever
But I thought some of the messages weren’t so positive about women.
I liked the Dove ads because I thought they were less offensive than AXE, where women just throw each other on men once they used that gross body wash or whatever. Yuck.
After watching Julie & Julia, I was very determined to master the art of French cooking! I want to give that book a try as well
Yay for ricotta pumpkin oats! I have eaten that everyday this year so far…finally about to switch it up, lol (Quark is basically ricotta/cream cheese/greek yogurt-ish stuff). Those beans look delish! I rarely use cookbooks (shh- don’t tell anyone, but I am a TERRIBLE cook!). I always manage to make the easier Mooswood recipes though, and Joy Of Cooking is great. I bought Veganomicon because everything sounded awesome, but I needed a lot of ingredients I can’t get here. My idea of cooking: throw some vegetables in a pan, add sauce, add pre cooked chicken/beans/quorn/tofu, serve over some sort of carb. Never fails!
How is your essay coming along? SO exciting!
Oh, and wanted to tell you since you are the only person who may share my enthusiasm, but I found pierogie here! I didn’t buy them because the packaging is polish and I had no idea what to do with them- do you boil them like pasta?
I have the Joy of Cooking and only have made desserts in the there and it’s been awesome!
When I was up in school, I felt the same way about cooking: I would make stir-fries ALL THE TIME. And why not? It’s so easy, fast and efficient
My essay went slowly but surely, thanks! It’s for some award I was nominated for at graduation in May, I still have to write another one…those damn personal statements…
PIEROGIES! Oh my. Now THAT’S exciting. You’re right to assume it’s basically like making pasta. What you do is boil some water, throw in a little salt and then the pierogies. You’ll know that they’re ready when they flow up to the top of the pan in the water…should be about 5-8 minutes, depending on the size. Once you drain them, definitely mix them with a little butter, so they don’t stick to each other. And enjoy dipped in some sour cream/plain yogurt. SO GOOD!
I definitely agree about the commercials. “Men need to put their pants back on”, What?!
Right now I’ve been enjoying my slow cooker cook book with Susan Findlayson. I love cookbooks with pictures!
I’ve been looking for chia seeds everywhere. Pumpkin ricotta oats sound delicious!
MY cookbook collection is pretty minimal right now. I like baking books more! I have 500 cupcakes and Hello,Cupcake. Both are great if you love to make cupcakes!
This company has free shipping all over U.S. and apparently the best prices for chia seeds!
O0o cupcakes! I always feel like I need to make more of those. Thanks for the suggestion!
The new version of the Moosewood Cookbook is out of this world – so many creative and tasty recipes!
I have a HUGE cookbook collection that I don’t use as much as I like, but I do a lot of Rachael Ray. Also, I have the Serendipity3 Dessert Cook Book and I ADORE it.