Vegan Gourmet Shreds Giveaway

by Emily

***Update – #10 won and she’s been contacted. Better luck next time 🙂

Recently, someone from Follow Your Heart, maker of the new Vegan Gourmet Shreds, contacted me about doing a review for the product launch.

VGS are dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, and Non-GMO Project verified. To celebrate the launch, Follow Your Heart is hosting a recipe contest to encourage consumers to swap out the cheese in their favorite recipes.

I received a box to help me with my contest entry, and you can too.

One reader will receive the items shown above. All you have to do is comment on this post telling me which recipe you would like to veganize. All comments must be received before 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 7th. Winner will be chosen by random selection.

For my contest entry, I made over my Cheesetastic Mac and Cheese.

I will be honest that I was not a fan of the Shreds when raw and I didn’t have high expectations for this recipe. But then they melted beautifully and worked like a charm. The end result got both the husband’s and my stamp of approval.

Vegan Cheesetastic Mac and Cheese, serves 4 -6

8 oz short-cut whole wheat pasta, prepared according to box directions
4 Tbsp vegan butter substitute
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1.5 cups plain unsweetened almond milk
4 oz Cheddar Vegan Gourmet Shreds
4 oz Fiesta Blend Vegan Gourmet Shreds
large red onion, roughly chopped
4.5 oz can diced green chiles, drained

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk flour into melted butter and continue to cook until browned, 2 – 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk almond milk into roux. Cook until mixture is thickened. Reduce heat to low and stir in Cheddar Vegan Gourmet Shreds and Fiesta Blend Vegan Gourmet Shreds. Continue stirring until cheese is melted. Remove pan from heat and stir in onion, chiles, and cooked pasta. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Remember, all you have to do to be entered to win is leave a comment on this post!

Note – I received these samples of these products free of charge. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

4Sep2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; Weekend Mostly

by Emily

I’ve been all over the place lately so there are a lot of gaps in my reporting. We ate a bunch of junk recently and most of it didn’t make it to the camera. Adam is on a slightly less time-consuming rotation this month and we have been making the most of our time together. Here are a few of the highlights since I last checked in –

{1} Homemade nachos.

I’ve been missing ETS since the move, but these nachos were delicious, and certainly much healthier than the ones with a pound of cheddar that I used to buy in Buffalo.

Leftover tortilla chips from a Moe’s run, baked with roasted corn, broccoli, and the last of the aged Gouda from our cheese plate.

{2} Rosemary beer bread.

Just my favorite beer bread recipe with a few Tbsp of chopped rosemary (from my grandma’s garden!) tossed in.

I had to buy a giant bag of self-rising flour so expect to see more of this.

{3} CrispRoot snacking.

Please note – CrispRoot sent me their cassava root chips to sample free of charge. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

CrispRoot is a company that makes ridged cassava root chips. They come in Sea Salt, Original, BBQ Bliss, and Thai Ginger. All of the flavors are dairy- and gluten-free, contain no trans fat, have 150 kcals and 6-7 gram saturated fat per serving, and have 2x the fiber and 30% less fat than most potato chips.

We were not fans of the Thai Ginger, but the other flavors we would definitely purchase on our own. I couldn’t taste much of a different between original and sea salt, both had a pleasing saltiness and good crunch.

{4} Baking fail.

I was attempting to make brown butter coconut rice krispies treats.

I don’t know what went wrong, but no. No.

{5} Chicken Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers.

This idea was such a win.

Click here for the recipe.

{6} Abandoned principles.

I have very strict holiday food rules. September is Apple Month. October is Pumpkin. December is Eggnog, Gingerbread, and Peppermint. November may overlap with October and December. I might have started hoarding pumpkin products last week, but you are not supposed to eat them until October! But then the PSL anniversary hype was so big, and I caved.

Grande, non-fat, white chocolate, pumpkin spice latte, you were worth my abandoned principles.

{7} Chinatown in Manhattan.

We split a Pat Bing Soo with red bean and strawberry jelly.

And drank coconut water straight from the source.

The only drink that can possibly beat a coconut with a straw in it is diet coke from the fountain, and even that’s a close race.

{8} Lunch with friends.

Some of our Boston favorites were in town so we ventured into Manhattan to spend the day with them. We had lunch at a spot near Times Square with rooftop seating. Adam and I shared everything because we’re so ~~poor~~ close. Cider, pierogi, and chicken fried rice.

We went to dinner at a place in SoHo that had the best food and the worst lighting. Adam and I split lobster truffle mac and cheese and I’m kicking myself that I don’t have a picture.

{9} Grand Army Plaza’s Farmers’ Market.

I think those pictures speak for themselves. I was practically in tears with liking those flowers so much!

What was your last major baking fail?

30Aug2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lots Of Repetition

by Emily

Let’s start with dinner first and work our way backward, since lunches were all some form of leftovers from dinner. Usually my meals are all over the place, but this week there was a lot of repetition.

First – and this is the meal that spawned the lunches – we made pineapple stir-fry over brown rice.

We kept things very simple which I think was a major improvement over stir-fries we’ve made in the past. Pineapple, broccoli, and straw mushrooms with baked tofu (400* for 40+ minutes, drizzled in honey and soy sauce) in a quick sauce of pineapple juice, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and corn starch.

Usually I get sick of our stir-fries after the first few bites, but this dinner I enjoyed the whole way through.

One night I made easy eggs. I don’t remember what Adam ate, but definitely not this; he’s not the biggest ~~Korn~~ corn fan.

2 large eggs scrambled in evoo with corn (Trader Joe’s frozen fire-roasted corn, that I adore by the way. Cooked with a little sugar and Sriracha), dried basil from my grandma’s garden(!!), and shredded parmesan.

Eggs are so nice for dinner.

You already saw our roasted garlic pesto with bow-ties and spinach.

The husband got all of the leftovers and I was very jealous.

Last night we got all fancy and shared a cheese board for dinner.

We did minneola,

green pear,

Pink Crisp apple,

Blue Diamond Sesame Seed Artisan Nut Thins (former freebie alert),

and of course, cheese.

The cheese guy at Whole Foods was so helpful to us. Plus he let the husband have a million samples, so Adam was basically in love. We decided to go with one hard and one soft. A 3 year aged Gouda,

and a Soignon goat brie.

Both were fantastic. This meal was so much fun!

I have two lunches to share this week, both stir-fried rice. I know that on Monday I drank a third sugary iced coffee in leu of lunch, but I cannot for the life of me remember what I ate on the fourth day?! Whenever we would discuss food recalls in class I always thought it was silly that people had such a hard time completing them, but now that I’ve stopped daily blogging it has become much harder to recall my meals!

First up, a traditional.

Leftover brown rice with pineapple, peas, carrots, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and 1 large egg.

The pineapple got sort of caramelized and was fabulous.

Next, fried rice that was a bit out of the box.

Leftover brown rice, corn, spinach, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, rice, vinegar, and 1 large egg.

I really thought that this iteration was going to be amazing but somehow the flavor ended up being pretty dull.

A friend had some good news to share early this week, and we celebrated with beer and bubble tea (of course). The beer was that nougat beer I keep prattling on about, so I’ll just show you a picture of my gorgeous tea.

Strawberry black tea with boba and lychee jelly from Hanco’s.

Another afternoon, the family took a walk to get ices.

I went with a sour cherry and cola water ice.

Not as good as the strawberry-cola combo I had the last time.

Now evening treats. The froyo place near our Whole Foods gives a discount if you bring a receipt from the Starbucks next door and that’s what spawned this idea – the sort-of affogato.

A little bit of vanilla froyo topped with a drizzle of fudge sauce and a solo shot of espresso.

Finally, caramel corn.

I cannot stop eating this, so I guess it’s time to give you the recipe. It is too simple.

Caramel Corn, serves 1 – 2

1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
4 – 6 cups (popped) popcorn
salt, to your tastes

Heat the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until melted. Stir in SCM and continue to cook until thickened, 40 – 75 more seconds. Drizzle over prepared popcorn and salt to your tastes.

I’ve made this recipe in larger batches and you can too; all you have to do is keep the ratios the same while increasing as needed. The leftover caramel corn stores great in a sealed container on the counter for up to 5 days.

Like lunch, these pictures are all pretty similar. In fact, the base of these three breakfasts stayed the same the whole week!

Overnight oats: 1/4 cup dry oats, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk; stored in the fridge overnight in an almost-empty nut butter jar (~1 serving left). Topped with blueberries before serving.

The only thing that changed was the jars. Barney Butter Crunchy Almond Butter.

Jif Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Spread.

Skippy SuperChunk with Honey.

All delicious, but the last was my favorite because that’s my favorite butter. I’ve got to get working on more jars!

So there you have it; lots of eggs, rice, corn, and oatmeal. Which food made a lot of repeat visits on your plates this week?

29Aug2013

Roasted Garlic Pesto With Spinach And Bow-Ties

by Emily

Last night’s dinner was too good not to deserve a post all of its own.

When a representative from Carapelli Olive Oil contacted me about sending over a sample, I knew immediately what I was going to make.

Actually, before the pesto, the very first thing I did with the extra virgin olive oil was use it in a bowl of stove-top popcorn. I usually pop my ‘corn in canola oil and I definitely noticed that this bowl had a different, delicious taste. This olive oil has a smooth flavor that works well with fresh dishes, aka you can cook with it but it’s also nice enough to pour over things that you’ll be serving cold.

Please note – I received a bottle of Extra Virgin Carapelli Olive Oil free of charge to review on the blog. I was not paid to write this post. All opinions are my own.

My aunt Margie – who makes the best pesto I’ve ever tasted before I made this roasted garlic version – always serves her pesto over bow-tie pasta, so that’s how I serve mine too.

We drained our pasta over a big bunch of spinach so it got nice and wilted, tossed it all back in the pot with the pesto, then topped our bowls with extra cheese and toasted pine nuts.

Roasted Garlic Pesto, serves 4-6

1 Tbsp plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large bulbs garlic (you want to end up with ~ 20 cloves)
4 oz fresh basil
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Peel back several layers of skin from the garlic cloves; you want to reduce the amount the burns in the oven but leave enough layers intact that the cloves are still held together.
Slice off the tops of the garlic bulbs, exposing most of the cloves in each bulb. Place bulbs on a baking sheet, and drizzle a Tbsp of oil over the exposed garlic.
Roast garlic for 40 minutes.
Set roasted garlic aside. When the garlic is cool enough to handle, gentle squeeze the base of each bulb and the cloves should slide right out.
Place basil and remaining 1/4 cup oil in the bowl of a food processor and process 30 – 60 seconds, until smooth.
Add roasted garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, and salt to the bowl and process until well-combined, scraping down the sides occasionally.

27Aug2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; A Trip To Ohio

by Emily

Last week was quite a good one for me. I passed my Registration Exam and then flew to Ohio to visit my grandma. Good times all around! It was also a busy week, so please excuse the many gaps in my reporting (for example, my grandma served me dessert at least twice a day, every day of my visit and I think I managed to snap a photo of just one sweet bite).

Dietetics students – feel free to leave a comment/shoot me an e-mail if you’d like some more details on the studying process for the exam. Otherwise, here we go…

Breakfasts

{1} A tropical smoothie.

I blended up frozen mano chunks, oj, and Müller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

{2} Berry topped cereal.

Kashi Honey Puffs and Nature’s Path Bran flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, blueberries, nectarine, and a sprinkle of sugar.

{3} Yogurt bowl day one.

Chobani 2% Apricot Greek Yogurt topped with sliced banana and red plum. Not only did a find a few good, new flavors of yogurt while in Ohio, but these plums were the best (read: juicy without being drippy and nice and sweet) I’ve ever had. The apricot flavored Chobani was nice as well.

{4} Yogurt bowl day two.

Liberté Peach and Passionfruit Non-fat Greek Yogurt topped with more fantastic red plum. Liberté makes Greek yogurt now?! My heart practically leapt out of my chest.

Lunches

Lots of meals out in this category, much fun was had.

{1} California Pizza Kitchen, Queens.

Adam, ever the traditionalist, shared a slice of his Roasted Garlic and Chicken Pizza with me. The pizza was yummy, but I went with a salad.

CPK’s Thai Crunch Salad is a thing of wonders, the edamame, peanuts, and wonton strips give it great crunch. And that giant plate was a half portion! Adam and I both ate some at lunch and then there was enough leftover for him to eat the next day as well. This meal was actually eaten the day before my exam. The husband quizzed me a bit over our meal but largely I took things easy that day; either you know it or you don’t!

{2} Bareburger, then 16 Handles, Long Island.

After I passed my exam, a very sleepy husband took me out to celebrate. He worked all night, then came home and drove me to my test, so it was perfect to go somewhere that loved bears for lunch (my nickname for him is Bear).

Bareburger is a NY chain that focuses on organic, humanely sourced foods. Their meat options include wild boar, elk, and ostrich! I went “boring” with a turkey burger.

The Maui Wowie (sans bun) was far from boring; it was topped with smoked mozzarella, turkey bacon, grilled pineapple, fried onions, fire-roasted red pepper, and buttermilk ranch.

It was freaking delicious and we want to go back again {and again, and again!}.

You can’t celebrate without froyo.

We went to 16 Handles afterward and rocked my face off. The topping options were out of this world.

I got pecan praline yogurt (!!!) topped with Coney Island Crunch trail mix and bananas foster banana chips! Re-dic-u-lous.

{3} Bakehouse, then Jenni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Troy.

Bakehouse is a fantastic bakery and cafe in Ohio. My grandma took me there the minute I stepped off the plan and we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch.

I had a cup of gazpacho,

and we split a Vegetarian Sandwich.

Cheesy-good was definitely the theme of this visit.

We digested by walking around and looking at Troy’s newest sculpture installations.

They were sooooo realistic, my grandma definitely tricked me a few times into thinking we were heading towards real people.

Then we went for Winan’s for dessert because…

they sell little containers of Jeni’s ice cream!

The black coffee flavor was perfection. I’ve been reading rave reviews of Jeni’s in magazines and blogs for years and now I totally get the hype.

{4} First Watch, Dayton.

I had never heard of First Watch – a breakfast/lunch only spot – before but they served up quite a fine half salad/half sandwich combo for lunch.

The Santa Fe Salad was nice and spicy (and also flipping loaded with chicken, no one person would possibly want that much on one salad),

and any place that serves turkey reubans along the traditionals wins my heart.

{5} My grandma’s kitchen, finally a home-cooked lunch.

A bit of avocado, a cob of my spicy, cheesy baked corn,

and chicken salad.

Nana’s chicken salad – made with mayo, sliced grapes, and toasted pecans – is one of my all-time favorite dishes.

Drinks and Snacks

{1} Mango Hi-Chew.

I am just too glad to be back in the city where there are Hi-Chews at every corner store. Mango was nice and juicy, but I won’t be satisfied until I find the yogurt flavor I used to love.

{2} Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snack.

My seaweed consumption has gone way down now that I’m not packing lunches for school so this was a nice treat.

{3} Maple-Glazed Pecan and Sea Salt KIND Bar.

My bar consumption is also on the decline, but this flavor was by far the best KIND bar I’ve ever had.

{4} Bourganel’s Nougat Beer.

A friend took me to Bierkfraft – an awesome bar/beer merchant in Park Slope – to celebrate my new credentials and we discovered our new favorite thing.

I grabbed this Bourganel Beer Nougat on a whim (always try to drink booze that tastes like dessert, that’s my motto) and it was out of control. Normally I leave a lot behind when I drink a beer, but this bottle was drained before it could even get warm. My friend adored it as well; we ended up buying a second bottle to split after our first round!

{5} Kahlua Ready-to-Drink White Russian.

I have looked for these bottles all summer after spotting one in a magazine and I finally hit pay dirt in Ohio!

Dinners

{1} Sushi.

The night before my exam, I got take-out from A-Chiban. Mango-inari, fish tempura, and a veggie roll.

The mango was slimy and terrible, but everything else was good.

{2} Spicy.

Spicy, cajun shrimp over angel hair,

with tossed salad and citrus green beans.

{3} Casserole.

Cucumber and tomato salad, cornmeal-breaded baked summer squash,

and creamy chicken casserole.

Among the ingredient list for the casserole were swiss cheese, white wine, and stuffing. My grandma is an amazing cook.

{4} Plane food.

My kiku apple was crunchy and sweet, and the leftover chicken salad served on cranberry poppy-seed bread made for an amazing sandwich.

My sandwich was on the small side, but not to worry, I bought chips (um, and pizza) at the airport!

Do you have a favorite dish that a certain family member will always prepare for you?

23Aug2013

Insta-Wrap-Up; I

by Emily

I’m pretty sure that most of my readers do not follow me on Instagram (hello! I’m pretty sure my mom and gradma comprise a solid 50% of my readership!) so I thought it might be fun to occasionally post a wrap-up of some of the things I share there and not here. I hope you like this new blog feature!

{this post was inspired by every other blogger on the internet ever}

This rotation has been particularly crazy for Adam and he’s been pretty wiped out by the end of most days. Enter my new favorite photo series: Husband Passed Out with Guard Dog.

Another shot of my two favorite men, buckled in together in the car. The way the dog’s paw is resting on Adam’s leg kills me.

Sparkle! Sperry’s gray Emma flats with studs.

Candy I am pining after, followed by candy I actually ate. The Haribo smurfs were spotted at a Bodega in Park Slope and the wine gums were sent from Amsterdam. Pro tip – don’t go to the Haribo site unless you want to waste an hour drooling.

I’ve discovered that I can make amazing homemade caramel corn. I’ve also discovered that my pants don’t fit.

I flew to Ohio to visit my grandma and I saw the neatest thing in the airport. This water bottle filling station hooks up to the drinking fountain but you place your bottle in front of the sensor and it fills from the top without having to tilt it sideways.

My time in Ohio has been puppy-filled; first I got love from my grandma’s dog and then I spotted this great dachshund sculpture.

I made this batique that hangs at my grandma’s in grade school. How cool was that private school art class?

Do you have an instagram account?

20Aug2013

Good News

by Emily

Do I look any different?

Because now I’m a *Registered* Dietitian.

Yay!

1 career switch

3 more years of undergrad

2 days of Jean Inman

61 minutes of testing

And now I can put those two little letters after my name!

19Aug2013

Weekly Wrap-Up; On The Go, Mostly

by Emily

I have got to get these posts up more regularly; I have way too many pictures! I tried to condense the best I could, but I have a lot to share. I’ll try to keep my text brief to make up for the thousand(s of) words.

date night

I made the most of one of Adam’s elusive days off and took him into the city for a date.

Greenpoint’s 5 Leaves provided perhaps the best meal we’ve eaten since the move.

I got a War of the Rosés to drink.

Lillet rose, hibiscus syrup, sparkling rosé, orange bitters, sugar cube. I would to go back for the drink menu alone; the Thor Collins is right up my alley.

I made a vegetable plate dinner out of an appetizer and side order.

Chopped Black Kale Salad,

w/ spicy anchovy dressing, aged gouda & hazelnuts.

Roasted Baby Squash.

w/ dandelion pesto. Both of my plates were divine and I ended up with more than enough (leftovers!) to eat.

For dessert we ventured across the bridge to the Big Gay Ice Cream shop.

I got a bourbon ice cream and praline cookie sandwich.

It was good but not OMG-good where I felt like I needed to eat the whole thing. Adam’s Monday Sundae was definitely consumed in full though.

twist ice cream/nutella lined cone/dulce de leche/sea salt/whipped cream.

kale, it’s what’s for dinner

We scrambled my leftover chopped black kale into eggs with roasted corn, and parmesan cheese.

Plus roasted kale chips on the side.

This meal was so simple but so pleasant. Corn in eggs rocks my socks off.

sweet corn, sweet, sweet corn

Even better than corn in eggs, is corn that arrives fresh at my doorstep.

Please note: this product was provided to me free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Amaize Sweet Corn is a rare bread of corn that is now available in select cities (including Buffalo). Amaize Sweet Corn is created using traditional, natural breeding methods through hybridization (meaning it’s never genetically modified). It is sweet and crunchy enough to eat straight off of the cob – I took a nibble and loved it – but I roasted mine instead.

Discovering that you can roast corn in your oven might be the best thing that’s happened to me all summer; it is so flipping easy and mess-free. I cooked my 1.5 cobs with Sriracha mayo and shredded Parmesan and the heat/salt went perfectly with the extra sweetness.

For our protein we had “spinach soufflé eggs.”

Just frozen spinach, chives, and Parmesan scrambled into eggs, but I whipped a little low-fat sour cream into the eggs before adding them to the pan and the texture was a total dream.

this week’s breakfast

I’m still loving the Kashi, but this week’s ceral is Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes.

It has good fiber and protein for staying power (5 and 4 grams respectively) and the flakes have a bit of sweetness. Like the front of the box, I had my 1.5 servings with blueberries, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a drizzle of honey.

I swear, there really was cereal under that mound of berries!

food on the go

I was out of the house (alllllllll day) a ton last week so many of my meals were purchased/eaten out. Some were better than others.

Whole Foods hot bar assortment.

{B} The corn salad and tortellini that were hidden under the broccoli were nice, but the vegan Asian options on the left both had a strange aftertaste.

Starbucks Chicken and Greens Caesar.

{A} Other than the high saturated fat (5 grams) the nutritional stats were pretty good (19 grams of protein, 340 calories including dressing) and the lettuce was nice and fresh.

A small Indonesian Peanut Saute from Noodles & Co.

{C} I paid extra for “extra vegetables” and I still only had 4 pieces of broccoli.

Jr vegetarian burrito (rice, black beans, sautéed mushrooms/onions/green pepper, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, corn salsa) with queso and chips from Moe’s.

{A+} Free chips and offering a jr-sized burrito earns them two thumbs up; I love Moe’s.

A little bit of tart froyo with the best peanut butter and toffee toppings (cheesecake, butterfinger, heath, reeses pieces, white chocolate, caramel) from Yogurtland.

{A+} They are doing a Looney Tunes partnership so my spoon was shaped like Bugs Bunny.

Buffalo chicken slice from Pino’s.

{B-} The crust was too thick and spongy. From a nutrition standpoint, it’s great that the chicken isn’t fried and the cheese is very sparse but… I miss Zetti’s!

Webster’s Buyday

On August 12th we celebrated our 2nd year with Webster in the family.

He and Adam split a (grass-feed, very expensive, awesomely marbled) steak.

I tried to get pictures, but the man of honor housed his portion in about 2.5 seconds.

We love him so much and are so glad he’s a part of our lives!

a new favorite thing

This is random, and I don’t have a good picture, but it must be shared.

If you use a lemon dulce de leche popsicle as the “ice” in your plain seltzer it will be the best thing you’ve ever put in your face.

my parents are the best

My mom and dad are the coolest, and they spent the first week of August vacationing in Amsterdam. They sent us a fun box of goodies when they got home –

These wine gums have the perfect texture and the neatest packaging.

Adam and I found actually eating this sprinkle stick thing to be terrible, but it was super fun to carry around.

These gorgeous milk chocolates – like all European confections – put American chocolate to shame.

And I can’t get an accurate picture, but this cardigan was the most fabulous shade of neon pink.

when I dip, you dip, we dip

Blue Diamond recently sent me some crackers. Yes, the nut company.

Please note: this product was provided to me free of charge. All opinions are my own.

Blue Diamond’s Artisan Nut-Thins® are a gluten-free cracker alternative. They sent me Multi-seed, Flax, and Sesame to try.

The serving size feels generous for 130 calories and the flavor I’ve tried was nice. The texture is crunchy without being crumbly, so they are perfect for dipping. So I paired the Multi-Seed Nut-Thins with a dip!

Homemade Sour Cream and Onion Dip.

1 cup caramelized onions (I recommend using this method)
2 Tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup low-fat sour cream
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Fold all ingredients together in a large bowl until well-combined. Reserve a few chives for sprinkling on top if you wish.

It was amazing, evidenced by the fact that I ate the entire bowl by myself in less than 24 hours.

Do you celebrate any pet-centric holidays?