[Editor's note: I'm eating lunch right now, and hungry, and so, well, this whole post might be food related.]

The dish I made for ‘s birthday party (he turned 3) was a huge hit, so I’m going to share it with you. I got it off an iPhone app, but you really don’t need a recipe, per se.

Chop up some bacon. Cook until crispy. Remove bacon from pan, and remove most of the grease (save a tablespoon or two). Add some garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan, and once they smell delicious, add frozen green beans. (I’m sure you could use regular green beans, but those are not to be found in these parts right now.) Stir-fry until crisp-tender. Add the bacon bits back in, stir together, and voila!

If you use thick-cut pepper bacon, you might want to ease up on the red pepper flakes. It was hot. But still yummy. Several people requested the recipe, including my brother-in-law, who does not eat vegetables.

had a very busy weekend, and I did not see him very much. That’s how it is sometimes. But that was quality time we spent at Sam’s.

I am desperately in need of some turtlenecks, which I despise (that being the reason I don’t own any normal turtlenecks – apparently sweater turtlenecks don’t bother me). However, I have at least one sweater that I need a turtleneck for – it’s one my made decades ago, and my skin is now irritated by the wool. One little layer would solve that. Is there any such thing as a non-nerdy turtleneck? They remind me of junior high, and I always feel so… prim and proper, but in a bad way, while wearing one.

To leave you with some more food thoughts, I have perfected my salad dressing of the moment. We got a huge container of mixed greens at Sam’s (really, very huge – we’ll have to eat salad every day, and even then some of it might go to waste, but it’s so much better than the crap we’ve been getting from our grocery delivery service). Lately, I’ve been doing an impromptu salad dressing, just pouring on some white wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkling on some salt and fresh-cracked pepper.

A few weeks ago I had some roasted pecans left over from making fudge, and those were a tasty addition. However, the piece de resistance? Sweet roasted pecans. Chop, stir in melted butter and some sugar, and then roast (400* in the toaster oven for 4-6 minutes, but watch very carefully because they burn easily, and this I know from experience). Sprinkled on my salad, it is just… wonderful.

Of course, if the thought of a forkful of lettuce sprinkled with vinegar makes you gag, I suppose you could mix it all up in a little bowl with a whisk before pouring on the lettuce. Once I used our immersion blender, which made quick work of it.

So, there you go. A mostly food post. And now, I must finish this leftover pepperoni pizza.

My saving graces in this “experiment” were 1) Teeccino, and 2) the Tea Garden‘s decaf Vanilla Chai Latte. So you can see that I haven’t entirely cut caffeine out of my diet, because the decaf Chai probably has 5-10 mg of caffeine, and I still consume chocolate, so there’s a little more. I have also purchased caffeine-free (not decaffeinated, since that process doesn’t actually remove all caffeine) tea for when I want a change. So other than the chocolate, I’m at less than 25 mg of caffeine per month.

So on to my review of Teeccino!

Let me start my review by saying I’m not a lover of black coffee. My favorite drinks at Starbucks in the recent past have been the White Chocolate Mocha, the Mocha Frappuccino, the Honey Latte, and the Sugar-Free Vanilla Latte. Occasionally someone will give me a bag of coffee as a gift, and if it’s whole bean, of high quality, and I use my coffee grinder and then my French press and do it just right, I might be able to enjoy a cup of black coffee. But I’d rather have it with cream and sugar, at least. My initial thought is that if you love black coffee, Teecchino is not the way to go for you, unless you’re really committed to giving up caffeine. It just doesn’t taste close enough to coffee to bridge that gap.

However, it is still a good product. 4/5 stars.

I ordered a sampler product that I found on the same page as the Sampler Pack. It contained the Sampler Pack with all 10 flavors of Teeccino, a 50-packet box of Steevia (a fiber-based sweetener that I’ll also review), and the Swiss Gold One-Cup Brewer (reviewed as well).

Teeccino is billed as being not only caffeine-free but also low in acidity, which apparently is something people have problems with in real coffee (not my complaint).

As far as the flavor breakdown, here’s my thoughts:

• Original (75% organic), Light Roast – good introduction to the basic flavor of this “coffee.” As I read elsewhere on the internet, you really have to like the taste of chickory to like this product, and though I don’t know how chickory tastes, I’m guessing that’s the strong taste that comes across.
• Vanilla Nut (75% organic), Medium Roast – very nice vanilla flavor. A favorite.
• Hazelnut (75% organic), Medium Roast – mild hazelnut flavor.
• Almond Amaretto (75% organic), Medium Roast – very strong flavor. Didn’t like.
• Mocha (75% organic), Medium Roast – the worst one in my opinion. In their defense, I’m very picky about my mocha flavor (which is why I don’t order mochas at Caribou, because I don’t like the chocolate they use). Others might like this a lot, but it didn’t do it for me. The only one that I couldn’t finish (there are only 3 cups in a sampler, so that says something).
• Chocolate Mint (75% organic), Light Roast – strongly minty. Reminds me of Starbucks at Christmastime, and I think it would be quite enjoyable then.
• Maya Caffe (100% organic), Dark Roast – this is the one I settled on, and have been drinking for the last year.

The above noted, as a general rule I brewed my Teeccino with the one cup brewer into a portable thermos that I brought to work (which holds 1 1/2 mugs worth), flavored with French Vanilla creamer by Coffeemate. In the beginning I was using the Steevia Sweetener and half-n-half (or even whipping cream, which we had lying around the house, intending to make ice cream). I like the flavored creamer the best, since it covers up that which is different about Teeccino and makes the experience most like drining real coffee.

Briefly, some other links:

• Another review of Teeccino [link removed]
• A list of 5 coffee substitutes from About.com

If anyone has tried any of the other products listed on the About.com list, please let me know if they’re good or not!

Teeccino’s website suggests gradually switching over, and I think there would be several good reasons to do this (which is not what I did – I went from coffee to black tea to Teeccino in short order). First of all, gradually switching will help avoid some of the side-effects of quitting caffeine, namely headaches. My method using black tea helped with this too. I had very few headaches that were easily knocked out by Advil. Secondly, by working the Teeccino into your diet gradually with regular coffee, I think you’d get more used to the flavor, instead of the “shock” it was to me. I highly suggest doing it the way they suggest if you can.

I did see Teeccino available (in limited flavors) at my local natural foods co-op, and you can purchase it on Amazon too if you don’t want to order directly from Teeccino (though I had excellent service from them and the packaging included a $1 off coupon). If you’re local, you can buy it at Kowalskis too, but I have not seen it in any of the major grocery chains (not even Super Target).

It’s not bad being caffeine free. I never reached that point where I feel more energetic (that the Teeccino website claims I’ll get to, though I’m doubtful), but I’m no more tired than I was when I was consuming caffeine. Some of the reasons I quit were: caffeine is not helpful when dieting, caffeine has inflammatory properties and I’m trying to keep my tendinitis under control, and theoretically eventually I’d have to give it up temporarily to give birth, and I’d rather not go through that process under duress. Plus, it’s nice to keep some of that money in my wallet and not give it to Starbucks (though I miss the girls who work there terribly, but the friendly staff at the Tea Garden took up the baton and memorized my drink order, even though I only visit once a month now).

It’s a good substitute if you really want to be caffeine-free. It doesn’t fully replace the joyful coffee experience, as it smells different (though the varieties that are strongly flavored, like Amaretto, override this), has different undertones, etc., but that’s a hard one to do. It’s not espresso, and it never will be, but that’s OK. Teeccino is an essential part of my morning routine, and I prefer not go without it (notice that I said “prefer,” and not “can’t” – because it’s not addictive like caffeine).

[Editor's note: It took me about a year to write this review from start to finish. My apologies if anything seems a little off because of that.]

This, of course, is what I’m struggling with at the moment. My goal for the day (just one day, mind you) was to eat healthy. I had my caffeine-free Teeccino along with some instant oatmeal for breakfast. I had a sandwich for lunch made of left-over pot roast (you simply have to try Jen’s recipe – I linked to it a few weeks ago and we made it this weekend and it was awesome!) and a slice of cheese. I also had celery with low-fat peanut butter. See how good I was? I was even going to skip the trip to the Tea Garden today since I’ve decided it would be prudent to cut back to once or twice a week, but then I got notice from a co-worker that I will be here all afternoon by myself, and that calls for some warm, toasty, Chai comfort.

But, while out to get my Chai (my decaf Chai, that is), I was overwhelmed with the desire to consume something else. I knew that back at my desk I had some lovely yogurt and a strawberry fruit leather, just waiting for my return. I took a very long walk (exercise is good, right, and this was the only chance I’d get until after dinner), all the time strongly craving something very specific. I was good. I returned to my desk with only the Chai, and quickly ate my yogurt and fruit leather. It wasn’t nearly as good as what I really wanted. But so much better for me, right? Even if I end up eating a few squares of Dove dark chocolate (the only chocolate I have in my cube), that’s gotta be better than what I really wanted.

Which was a large chocolate shake and a Moon Pie.

Now, I’m not actually at the caffeine-free stage yet (goodness, I’m cranky and lethargic enough as it is), but it would definitely help as I cut back the caffeine if, when I order decaf, I actually get decaf. I’m just sayin’. I know that tea has less caffeine than coffee, so I’m still making net progress, just not as much as I’d like to be.

Needless to say, work is even less fun without caffeine. Apparently during the withdrawal process one gets cranky and lethargic (this in addition to mind-splitting headaches that I’ve mostly managed to avoid via medication), and it takes a few weeks. But, it takes a few months for one to actually feel more energized than they used to. Talk about a slow return on investment.

And so, I present to you, two recipes from this weekend:

• Hot and Sour Soup
• Spring Risotto with Zucchini and Peas

They’re linked in the sidebar over there (–>) under recipes.

I had some cute pictures to share with you about our anniversary celebration, but left the memory stick for the camera at home. Silly me.

Have I mentioned I’m trying to cut back on caffeine? Way back, actually – my ultimate goal is to be basically caffeine free, but I’m not sure how successful that will actually be or if it’s reasonable (or even desirable), so at the moment, I’m focusing on “less.” This means I’ve been drinking a lot of tea, and I’ve only had one headache so far (and it was on Sunday, and I often get headaches on Sunday, so maybe that doesn’t count?). Orange Spice black tea in the morning (two cups seems to mean I don’t get a headache, and I’m trying one cup today), and some chai (decaf, which means it has much less caffeine, but is not actually caffeine free) in the afternoon, and then caffeine-free tea at night. I remember a while back when gave up meat for 3 months and I gave up colored sodas how difficult that was, because there are so very few options at that point. And I know that when we go out for dinner (and I can’t have caffeine after 5-ish already, or I’m up all night), my caffeine-free options are pretty limited and it is sad. But, I am armed with the knowledge that reducing the caffeine in my life may very well make me a happier person, or at least help with some medical issues (since caffeine is bad if you have inflammation, like my tendonitis, which I am trying to get control of, and getting rid of all the muscle tension in my back), and reducing your caffeine intake is supposed to help with weight loss as well.

To that end, a product called Teecchino is coming to my house on Thursday (or at least that’s what UPS promises me). I promise to do a review of it, especially since I spent nearly $40 on the sampler set (with shipping and all). So, look for that in the next week or two.

The homework frenzy starts Friday – first book up? Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America, by Mae M Ngai. It’s for The Color of Public Policy, a cross-discipline class for both Political Science and Ethnic Studies (I’m taking it for the Ethnic Studies aspect, a requirement for the Urban Teacher Program).

This, of course, led me to a quick search on TasteSpotting for “greek salad” (only a few posts, which taught me some of the above). But lately, what I’ve really been craving is … eggs. I know, weird. Warm eggs, specifically. Eggs Benedict would be lovely, but so would a nice poached egg just about any way you want to prepare it for me. (I actually prefer my Eggs Benedict without the Canadian Bacon, aka ham, so if you want to go ahead and give me real bacon or a nice salmon cake, that’d be excellent – notice how I avoided making any cheesy pun with the words excellent and eggs there? I’m looking out for you.) And if you search TasteSpotting for “eggs,” you get nearly 300 beautiful pictures, and I want to eat all of them.

Normally, a craving like this would signal to me that my diet is lacking in protein at the moment – such cravings usually come in clumps, like when I want chicken or eggs or cheese, and then I realize the common denominator and that I haven’t eaten much of that particular item lately. But I am absolutely, positively sure that my diet is not lacking in protein. No way, no how. The quantity of steak consumed by myself is, well, just disgusting. We went out to dinner (Granite City, which I highly recommend) on Thursday for date night, and I got a steak, which meant leftovers. Those were eaten on Sunday for lunch, followed by a lovely dinner of… grilled steak. Yes, I did used to be a vegetarian. Used to being the key words there. There’s nothing like a steak from the butcher made lovingly by exactly the way I like it (medium rare, with the “special seasoning” rubbed in).

So if I don’t need protein, why exactly am I craving eggs? It’s not like I need cholesterol in my diet (though I don’t need to worry about it either – my test results always come out lovely, thanks to good genes). What else is it that eggs provide?

While I ponder this, I’m going to go drool over pictures of eggs on TasteSpotting. Join me if you wish (sorry, can’t post a link directly to a search on their site)….