Sweet, Sweet Chocolate: I Always (a.k.a. Never) Hated It

A few months ago, I was watching a television show with my Mom that was talking about parenting techniques, and the topic of having "rules" for people who babysit your children came up.  As someone who grew up with two parents who had full-time jobs, I spent a lot of my time as a child at my Grandparent's houses instead of being sent to a local day care center or a paid babysitter.  I asked my Mom if she ever told my Grandparents what they could or couldn't feed me, tell me, etc., and wondered if she ever felt awkward doing that.  She said that the only thing she asked of my Grandparents is that they try to avoid feeding me chocolate, because she was afraid I might like it too much.  Much to her disappointment, my Grandmother eventually became exhausted by my insanely picky eating habits and began using chocolate as a way to nourish me during my formative years.  At this point, I can't blame her or anyone else for my obsession with anything, and I mean ANYTHING chocolate-flavored.  I've given the subject a lot of thought, and I can't remember a single day in my life when I haven't eaten some form of chocolate.  Throughout the years, I've tried sweets from all over the world, and as I've entered my twenties, I can say I've confidently reached a point where I can identify the best ones I've had and can recommend to other chocolate fanatics.

1. Cadbury Flake Bars: As an Irish-American, Cadbury is probably the Irish phenomenon that I'm most proud of when it comes to my heritage.  They make the BEST chocolate ever.  Flake bars are very hard to find in the United States unless your family makes you go to Irish music festivals during the summer (I work at one every year).  During those festivals, I usually spend all of the money I earned working on my yearly supply of Flake bars. 

2. Cadbury Mini Eggs: Cadbury gets two mentions on my list because like I said, they're the best.  Luckily, due to the recent Easter holiday, Cadbury Mini-Eggs are currently on sale for 50% off at most grocery stores, in case you were wondering (but you have to get them before they go out of season).  Mini Eggs, in my mind, are just a better, more European version of M&M's.  The only downside to these is that I could legitimately eat a family-sized bag in one sitting, which isn't so great for my health.
3. Peanut Butter M&M's: Just so nobody thinks I was hating on M&M's before, I had to add their peanut butter version to my list.  As someone who enjoys just a little bit of peanut butter, these are the best way to feed a craving without feeling like you've eaten an entire jar of Skippy.  They're the perfect combination between original M&M's and peanut M&M's (which are really gross in my opinion).

4. Ferrero Rocher: I don't know what it is about Ferreros that makes people (myself included) feel as if they have to eat the entire container at once.  The only people that have an excuse for not trying (and immediately loving) them are those who have a nut allergy.  Please do not eat these if you have a nut allergy.  They're great, but not that great.

5. Hershey Nuggets: I couldn't just end this post without giving an honorable mention to Mr. Hershey himself, could I?  The best part about this chocolate is that you don't have to eat an entire Hershey bar to feel like you've satisfied a craving for just chocolate with nothing else interfering.  They're a nice way to indulge without feeling like you've ruined your diet afterwards.

90's Madness: 4 Shows I loved as a kid that taught me more than I thought a cartoon ever could (Guest Post by Maddy Sulla)

We all know the 90s and early 2000s were a great time for television. Okay, maybe that’s debatable, but there’s definitely no
arguing that 90s and early 2000s kid shows, especially cartoons, totally killed the game. Here are my top 4 amazing and informative cartoons.

 1.     Hey Arnold!

“Move it football head!” and, “stoop kid’s afraid to leave his stoop!” are just two quotes that, when asked, every 90s kid could immediately identify as being from Hey Arnold!, possibly one of, if not the, most awesome and cartoon of our time. Some may say there was far too much bullying going on in this show, but honestly, it’s probably one of the most accurate depictions of growing up in New York City (I didn’t grow up in the city, but I’ve read a lot about the show), and despite this, and the constant jokes, I always came away from every episode with a new lesson. I think that might be what was so great about this show; it used humor to teach us lessons we didn’t even know we needed to learn – although some of the humor was just for the adult’s sake, like this quote I didn’t understand until I was much older.

Then, though, there were the episodes like the one with Big Patty and Rhonda, where two enemies learn to appreciate one another for who they are and even find they have some things in common. I’m telling ya, no matter what that show will always be one of the best!

2.     Rugrats

Ahhhh, Rugrats – the second you heard the familiar sound of its theme song, you knew you were in for twenty-five minutes of pure entertainment. The anticipation of what the babies would get themselves into this time, or what Angelica would do to ruin their fun, would nearly kill you! This show taught me a lot about friendship; I mean, come on, Tommy and Chuckie were like the ultimate bros! Tommy spent most of his time trying to help Chuckie overcome his ridiculous fears – now that is a true friend!

 

3.     The Wild Thornberrys
 I mean, what kid wouldn’t love a show about a family who follows around wild animals in exotic places and always seems to get themselves into some sort of bizarre situation in every episode? Throw in the fact that Eliza can talk to the animals, Darwin has a cheeky British accent despite being a Chimpanzee, and Donnie is, well, Donnie. On the real though, this show taught me a lot about nature, like, way more than I ever realized. Like, the episode “Forget Me Not,” where the family searches for Rebecca, an elephant that Nigel had saved twenty years ago. Not only did that episode make me sob like an infant, but it also taught me that elephants have excellent memories – coincidence that elephants are now my favorite animals? I think not! OH! And let’s not forget the time they made the Rugrats Go Wild movie – pure gold!

 

4.     Rocket Power

My dad and I still to this day do the Rocket Power handshake (you know the one). It’s almost like a right of passage for every 90s kid who watched the show. Let’s face it, these kids were total bad asses who sometimes got into trouble (and Reymundo was definitely a bit of a stoner looking back), but in the end, they always did the right thing and learned something valuable – and who didn’t love the wise words of Uncle Tito? This show also taught me a lot about friendship and how important it is to stick by those who stick by you. Reggie, Otto, Twister and Squid were basically my OTP friend group, and I totally aspired to be as badass as Reggie! 

Total Eclipse of (The Virgin Mary's?) Heart

During my semester abroad in Rome, I learned more during the span of four months than I have during most of my college career.  I experienced the history of many European countries, Renaissance art, the culture of the Roman Catholic church, and what it's like to travel internationally on a budget.  I also was able to observe that despite the relatively close proximity between most European nations (especially those in the West) there are major differences between each country's cultures and ways of life.  However, there was one interesting phenomenon that I noticed in nearly every city I went to, which was the presence of religious relics.  I've always found the idea and history of Christian relics really interesting.  The fact that people sometimes travel thousands of miles just to see a tooth or bone that was allegedly from the body of a Saint or other religious figure despite the fact that there is a known historical record of people faking these relics in order to sell them and make money off of them.  But I had already decided that I would have no shame in being an obviously-American tourist during my time abroad, and I took pictures of EVERYTHING.  Here are the most interesting relics I encountered throughout Europe (but mostly in Italy).

1. The Arrow of St. Sebastian: I was able to take a study trip during one of my weekends in Rome, which involved visiting the Roman catacombs.  The section that we went to was dedicated to Saint Sebastian, and at the end of our tour, we were taken to a the church at the site of the catacombs, and this was the sculpture that is used to display the alleged arrow that pierced St. Sebastian.  You may be wondering, "Hey! Where is St. Sebastian actually buried though?" and my answer is: yepp. Under that marble sculpture.  Allegedly.

2. The Footprints of Jesus: So this was also at the catacombs of St. Sebastian.  These are supposed to be Jesus' actual footprints.  If you look closely, the toes look like rectangles.  The footprints don't even look human, but people come from all over the world to pray to and worship these footprints, so I had to at least take a picture of them.  They're the only footprints I know that people worship, and the chances of them being real are... slim.

3. Saint Jerome: Saint Jerome's body is located in St. Peter's, along with the bodies of many other religious figures (mostly popes).  The first time I saw one of the glass tombs like this, I got really freaked out, but I ended up going to St. Peter's so much that it became a normal sight for me.  The fact that people came and prayed to an actual dead body was absolutely fascinating to me.

 4. Reliquary Arm: When my Grandma came to visit me during my semester abroad, we decided to go to Florence for the day and sight see.  We ended up in the church of Santa Maria de Novella, where there's a huge museum filled with relics of all kinds.  This is a reliquary arm bone, but I was unable to find who the bone supposedly belonged to.  You can see the bone if you look inside the clear oval in the arm.

 5. Reliquary Teeth: This was another one of the relics on display in Florence, and once again, I'm not sure which saint it belongs to.  I was just really creeped out by fact that they displayed the relics on a bust of the saint, and also that they used her dress to display the reliquary teeth and organs.  It doesn't get too much creepier than that tbh.

Why I've Had To Turn Into "That Girl"

My Grandma has always been fascinated with identifying the "roles" that each of our relatives bring to our family.  My Grandpa is the wise, quiet listener, my Aunt Jackie is everyone's biggest cheerleader, and my Mom is the one who's way too generous and would do anything for us.  Up until very recently, I was known as "the lazy one."  From early childhood, I would fall asleep in any location, taking naps every day that were three or four hours long, on top of sleeping ten to twelve hours a night.  Despite the amount of Z's I got, I constantly felt sick and tired, leaving me with barely any energy to go the gym or do other activities that a normal woman my age does with no trouble.  On top of that, I felt like I couldn't eat anything without feeling sick afterwards. I was told by doctors that it was just stress, or that if I exercised more, I would feel better (oh?).  After the first half of Senior year ended, I decided that enough was enough.  I switched doctors, and made it clear to my new physician that there was definitely something wrong with me.  Several blood tests and about a week later, I got a call at my internship from a nurse that yes, it "looked like" I had tested positive for Celiac disease, I was Vitamin D-deficient, needed to start taking Omega-3, and did I have any questions.  I had a million, so of course I answered "No, thanks for letting me know! Have a great day!" and hung up.

While shedding some tears in my cubicle and munching on one of those giant cookies they give you at diners, I went on Google and looked up what I was no longer allowed to eat.  Big mistake.  I learned that eating any wheat, barley, malt, or rye products not only made me feel sick and tired, but had the potential to give me tons of fun health problems later in life, including anemia, early onset osteoporosis, infertility, nervous system disorders, GI cancers, seizures, migraines, dementia, diabetes, you name it, it could probably happen to me.  To be honest, I was more upset about the fact that pasta was no longer a thing I could do anymore. 

It has been 57 days since I was diagnosed (but who's counting) and I have to say, I feel 10,000% better.  I now exercise every day and feel well-rested after sleeping for 8 hours like a normal human. I'll admit, I've cheated and eaten some gluten-ous products, but I'm learning how much better I feel when I avoid them at all cost.  As someone who's been a picky eater for my entire existence, I was really dreading having to find gluten-free products, and as someone who's also completely socially awkward, I dreaded even more having to be that girl at restaurants that's constantly saying "excuse me, do you have a gluten-free menu?" and "Can you tell me what type of flour you use in this dish?" UGH.  At this point, I have a confident list of the best gluten-free replacement meals and snacks, and even though I don't know why anyone who didn't need to avoid wheat would ever take on that task, some of them are decent snacks even if you can eat all of the bread you want. 

Disclaimer: Nothing.  NOTHING will ever replace my favorite bagels.  Bagels will not be included on this list because I refuse to dishonor them by calling any gluten free bagel "close to the real thing"




1. Annie's Rice Shells and Creamy White Cheddar: It's the only boxed mac n cheese replacement I've had that doesn't taste like feet.  Just add a little extra butter to what the box recommends and it's a great fake mac.





2. Barilla Pasta: It legitimately tastes just like real pasta.  This brand has saved me a lot of tears when I need some fettucini alfredo.  Another bonus is that most restaurants have caught onto the fact that this brand is the best, so a lot of Italian restaurants use it as their go-to GF dish.

3. Any of Conte's Brand Stuffed Pastas: This company makes ravioli, and I have yet to find another edible replacement for it.  Every product I've tried from Conte's has been at least decent.







4. Udi's Double Chocolate Muffins: Sometimes (most days) I just don't have the time or energy to make myself eggs for breakfast, and I really can't stand cereal.  The package says to keep these in the freezer, but I just keep them in the fridge and microwave them as I need them.  They're really good, and somehow not crumbly like most other GF baked goods are.



5. Russo's Pizza Bites: Okay, so when you make these, they don't look like pizza bites.  They're actually more like fried ravioli or something, but they still taste pretty good.  My only complaint is that you have to cook them much longer than the bag says.