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What I Learned This Week – 11/3/13

This week I learned that a crunchy peanut butter and Nutella sandwich is delicious. It tastes almost like a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

But in sandwich form!

You can call it lunch!

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich

And you actually need to spread on very little Nutella to get a big complimentary taste. I am not a big peanut butter fan, but we have accumulated a lot of it in our house. I feel a need to eat it up. I find I prefer crunchy to regular.

This might sound like an odd combination, but you have to realize you are listening to a person who had never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her life. Peanut butter sandwich-yes. Jelly on toast-yes. The two substances together? That just strikes me as completely disgusting.

This week I also got to wear my Halloween costume that I have been planning for a year, and made a large portion of myself.

Curious? I will give you 3 clues.

1. She is a female.
2. Born in 1976.
3. She is three apples high (but my costume is much bigger).

Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty costume

Hello Kitty costume

I saw a Hello Kitty outfit at a costume store last year, and that gave me the idea. But the costume looked cheap and flimsy and had like a tutu on it. I was like “I can totally make something better than that!”

Commercial Hello Kitty Costume Photo: SpiritHalloween.com

Commercial Hello Kitty Costume
Photo: SpiritHalloween.com

You should know one of my rules for a Halloween costume is that it be reusable. (I am a Capricorn, I like to get my money’s worth.) One year I invested in a short skirt, short black jacket, and gray velvet tank top. I wore them for YEARS in numerous costumes:

Slutty Witch
Pirate Wench
Slutty Fairy
Juno (I wore the skirt over jeans–I was pregnant that year)

As you might remember, last year I was Jem from Jem & the Holograms. Instead of paying big money for a slutty plastic dress made in China, I bought a pink wrap dress I could reuse on other occasions (also probably made in China). Notice I said “could” reuse. I am anti-dress for most occasions, so I have probably only worn it once since last Halloween.

Now, as you can probably guess I froze my ass off with a lot of these past costumes running around on the streets on October 31 in Michigan. Sometimes I had uncomfortable shoes on as well.

So, this new Hello Kitty costume needed to be both warm and comfortable, in addition to reusable.

I searched online and found the cutest (and reasonably cheap) Hello Kitty winter hat. The face is the most important part, and it is important that it look good. Plus, it was reusable, warm, and comfy.

Hello Kitty wears many different clothes for her many personalities, but the most iconic are her red overalls. I decided to make the overalls out of red fleece, as it does not unravel and would require less sewing. I used some denim overalls I already had as a make-shift pattern. I pinned it up and had my asbestos friend sew up the long leg seams for me. I own a sewing machine, but can’t manage to work it. Then I hand-sewed on the buttons, the button holes, the tail, and the pockets. (The Hello Kitty material I used for the pockets is supposed to help clue in those who may still have trouble figuring out my costume.) It is very warm, very comfy, but resusable? Hell ya! I am planning to use it as pajama pants.

Nice Tail!

Nice Tail!

The only people who really seemed to love it were the little girls, but that is alright. I got to wear it to Trick or Treating at the mall and around town on Halloween. Unfortunately, the weather on Halloween was windy and rainy, and the annual parade and bonfire where canceled. So, I don’t feel like I got as much mileage out of my costume as I would have liked.

Maybe I will not turn it into pajamas so quickly. Maybe I will wash it up and wear it again next year.

…It was just so dang warm!

What I Learned This Week – 5/12/13

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This week I learned that the Disney “classic” Peter Pan is really rather sexist. It premiered in 1953. Had it come out after women’s liberation, it would probably be written differently.

Tinkerbell is portrayed as a female with a hot-temper and a large ass. Wendy is treated badly by everyone, including Tinkerbell. Wendy is expected to “mother” her own siblings, and then the lost boys and Peter Pan as well. If a flying boy comes to my window and asks me to come be his mother–I would quickly decline!

I also learned this week that you can buy pre-made Puppy Chow! You know, Puppy Chow for humans…

It is a confection made with Chex cereal, melted chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. I can’t make a batch because I will totally eat the whole thing myself.

But while at Family Video this week, I found a bag of it ready-made, under the name “flixMix“.

flixMix by Imaginings 3

flixMix by Imaginings 3

It was sooo good! It was rice cereal drenched in peanut butter and chocolate, just like how you would make it at home. Every piece was flavorful and worth the calories in every bite.

My family devoured that bag instantly. Being at Meijer a few days later, I looked for the same brand there, but could not find it. I did find Chex Mix brand Muddy Buddies. Seemed to be the same thing, so I gave it a try.

Muddy Buddies by Chex Mix

Muddy Buddies by Chex Mix

Muddy Buddies were NOT the same. They were made with corn cereal. (C’mon Chex! You have all your various flavors at your disposal and you pick CORN?!) The strong corn taste, combined with a very inferiorly light coating of chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, made the Chex Mix brand ones not worth the effort to chew them.

Here is a comparison of the two products:

flixMix                              
by Imaginings 3
$2.99/4.5oz
Serving Size 1/3 Cup
Calories 200
Calories from Fat 90
Total Fat 15% DV
Saturated Fat 35%
Total Carbohydrates 9%

Muddy Buddies
by Chex Mix
$3.19/10.5oz
Serving Size 1/3 Cup
Calories 130
Calories from Fat 40
Total Fat 7% DV
Saturated Fat 13%
Total Carbohydrates 7%

The proof of good taste is in the Fat and Calories!

FYI–I can’t resist mentioning that I CANNOT WAIT for the season finale of Once Upon a Time tonight on ABC. And I really hope we see what has become of Neal (There is NO FRICKIN’ WAY he is dead!). And hopefully I will have a longer post about actor Michael Raymond-James on here next week.

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