Beatin' the Heat

Confession: I LOVE hot weather. I hate heavy air-conditioning and while I will say that humidity can be killer, there's nothing I like more than sitting in front of a fan on a hot, dry day with a book. 

My family thinks I'm nuts. I like to think of it as quirky.

That said, I have found some very delicious ways to beat the heat! 

Oats, while delicious, have definitely not been on my mind for breakfast. Enter: yogurt.

Remember Wallaby? I found some more super fun flavors!

I just love how colorful these are!

Wallaby are Australian-style yogurts, which means super-thin (as, in the polar opposite of Greek) with really none of that "tang" that the Greeks have. While I do still prefer the thick texture of my beloved Fage, these are fun for variety, and this flavor was awesome. It tasted like....um, mango & lime! Like fresh lime juice had just been squeezed in. And not too sweet, either!

I know, strawberry guava?? What could this possibly taste like?? Well, that's easier asked then explained, but I did adore the combo! Sweet from the strawberry but wonderfully tart from the guava, this yogurt can only be described as utterly unique. I'd definitely recommend it, even though I know buying the individual yogurts can be pricey (at my Whole Foods these are 99 cents each, so I get one or two every so often), but sometimes ya just need a little something different, no?

From Australia to Greece! (If only, right?)

I was SO surprised by this! I'm not big on peaches - at least, the fake/canned peach "flavor" that's in so many things. [Don't get me wrong, get me around fresh peaches and I will go to town!] When I opened this up and stirred it around, the peaches on the bottom looked dangerously similar to those disgusting canned peaches I abhor so passionately - the spoon shook as it made its way to my mouth. One bite later...whoa!! It's not overly sweetened, and it actually tasted fresh and delicious! I would totally eat this again. Yum-O!

This was yet another surprise - only not quite so nice. I really didn't like this very much. I appreciated the whole blueberries, but it tasted rather bland and a tad syrupy, and it wasn't very thick at all. I was a bit let down by this guy. Oh well, live and learn!

Greek yogurt, by the way, is my new favorite pre-work breakfast. That extra protein boost can keep me going for hours! And the addition of raw oats helped too :)

Back to the pleasant surprises! I was expecting to be, well, annoyed with this. I was all prepared to open it up and find a massive amount of honey at the bottom which really bothered me because 1) it would be waaaaay too much and 2) I could have just used my own honey and plain yogurt and not paid $1.50. But, you know me, always have to try new things and I had never tried this and was intrigued, so I just did it. And I'm glad I did! The honey was not on the bottom, but premixed into the yogurt with plenty of sweet, clover-y flavah! It was perfectly balanced between sweet and tangy, and super thick. Made my 4.5 hours at coffee shop a little less frazzled :)

Yogurt is all well and good, but on a day like today, with the temp hopping into triple digits, cold doesn't cut - give me frozen!

Like Edy's Pomegranate Fruit Bars, for example.

I really enjoyed these. The flavor was a little vague, but I never think of pomegranate as having a distinct flavor itself. It enhances things it's mixed with, but alone sometimes I like, other times not. This was great though - sweet like a berry with just a little tartness. The texture isn't super soft - I think it would be better in popsicle form - but the flavor is tasty and very refreshing. The 'rents agreed :)

 

And you KNOW what tops my list when it comes to frozen things.

Mango, of course! And when it's in the same sentence as "Italian", how could it possibly get better?

I am in love with these little cups of joy. I was expecting them to be super ice-y (being in the title and all), but they are soft and more like sorbet!

And so, SO good. 100 calories a cup, too, and a pretty short ingredient list. They also had lemon and I think a couple other flavors, but obviously the mango was a must-have in the Gillianasana freezer. I'm pretty sure these are summer-in-a-cup. Yum.

Back to the refrigerator...

I read about Crofter's Superfruit Spread when Kath of KERF tried all 4 flavors (continents) and I have been dying to try them ever since! I made myself wait until our jelly/jam selection flagged a bit. Then the hard part: Asia, Europe, or one of the Americas??? I went with Asia because I was too curious about yumberries! I have since tried this alone and with a plethora of nut butters, but the best yet is simple:

With Maranatha almond butter on Ezekiel toast.

The spread is really unique and I am in love! It's tart and sweet - makes me want to taste a yumberry by itself! It makes some seriously awesome toast. I'm planning on making a jam+tempeh sandwich with it too...I'll keep you updated ;)

How are you beating the heat?

I've been doing yoga and ending up a puddle on the mat! Totally worth it. :)

~Namaste~