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Friday, September 24, 2021

Friday Favorites and Happenings

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Happy Friday all! I had every intention of writing a post for Wednesday and then I went to trivia night instead and didn't get one out. But, I had so much fun at trivia night. I haven't been in years and my coworkers have been trying to get me to go for months. Well, I finally went and now I am hooked. I can't play every Tuesday, but I know I will be going more often.

Anyways, onto Friday favorites and happenings.

ONE. So I have had my Nespresso machine for about a year now. Not quite, but in November it will be a year. But that is beside the point. I love this thing. I had it at home until June when I went back into the office full time. 

So now on weekdays, I have my Nespresso coffee or espresso and on the weekends I treat myself to a latte out or we make coffee in our Moccamaster (another amazing drip coffee maker).

A few of my coworkers even bring in their own vertuo pods and use my maker.

Ok, getting to the point. Nespresso just released their pumpkin spice cake pod and I had to grab some. I am not a pumpkin spice latte fan at all. I will drink a Starbucks pumpkin cold brew, but never a PSL. They are overly sweet and taste fake. BUT these pods are amazing. It tastes like Fall, my moms homemade pumpkin cookies and isn't overly sweet at all. I think it is because it is all in the coffee rather than syrup and spices added onto the espresso/coffee. 

I can't wait to try out the Winter flavors soon as well. I got the Nespresso and my sample pack didn't come with any Fall or Winter flavors, and I was too scared to try the three sleeve pack that was out. 

Pumpkin Spice Cake Vertuo Pod
Pumpkin Spice Cake Vertuo Pods (not an affiliate link.)

TWO. Speaking of Nespresso pods, my favorite flavor by far is the Vanilla Custard Pie. I get them through Amazon (through the Nespresso store), but when I have a big enough order (ie $50 in pods), I will order them through Nespresso's website.

If you have a Nespresso Vertuo and you haven't tried the vanilla custard pie flavor, do yourself a favor and try it. 

Nespresso Vanilla Custard Pie Vertuo Pods

THREE. My coworker went to Trader Joes last weekend and she bought all things pumpkin. And it so happens that my girls asked me to go to Trader Joes this weekend for the mini cones. So now I have to get them mini cones, get me the new pumpkin ginger mini cones and check out all the pumpkin things. 

Do you have any Fall/pumpkin favorite items from Trader Joes?

These are the two new-to-me items that she let me try this week.

Pumpkin Spiced Pretzels
Pumpkin Spiced Pretzels

These are dangerously good. They are small, so I grabbed a few and it was a good thing these were not mine. But I did buy more at Trader Joes. Now to limit myself to a few each time I enjoy them. They are not overly sweet and have a good amount pumpkin seeds on them.

Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

My coworker didn't like these that much. She said they just taste like regular pumpkin seeds that are a bit sweet. She gave them to me. I think they are good. She is right that they don't have a ton of sweetness to them, but just the right amount. The sweet and salty combo is good to me. So I took them and I am enjoy them as a little snack at work.

FOUR. This week we tried the meal delivery service called Marley Spoon. One of my friends had a code for me, and I was tired of making the same items over and over again. So we gave it a try. This week we had BBQ Japanese Pork Tacos with an Apple and Celery Slaw. And we had mini meatloaves with pesto green beans. 

Both items were really good. Ok, I liked the pork tacos a lot more than Rory did because he has a weird allergy or something with raw apples. Now he can eat baked or cooked apples just fine, but something about raw apples makes him feel sick and queasy. I thought since they were marinated in apple cider vinegar, olive oil and spices, he would be fine. But he only ate two tacos and then just had some of the pork alone.

As for the mini meatloaves, the girls even liked it. I think I found my new favorite way to make green beans. Adding pesto to them. The girls were weary about them, but then loved them! I will be making this dish again.

We are trying another set next week and I hope to use this or another meal service a few times a week.

We just needed variety in our lives and this is a great way to do it. Plus I got my first box free and then the next 4 are at a discount. 

If you want to try Marley Spoon, please let me know, and I will send you an email for you to try them out. And you can cancel after one box if you would like.

FIVE. Weekly funnies.








Have a great weekend. I am linking up with A Little Bit of Everything.

17 comments :

  1. Those pumpkin seeds do sound good! My youngest son was just complaining that the only thing he misses about carving pumpkins was the yummy pumpkin seeds we used to make and roast but neither of us likes actually cutting into a pumpkin to get them. Yuck! I'll have to see if I can make a TJ run sometime soon to get him some.

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    1. Oh yes you should do that. We love pumpkin seeds too. And we love roasting them after we carve our pumpkins too! That reminds me to get some stencils for the pumpkins.

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  2. I want a Nespresso soooo bad. I love those TJ Pumpkin Seeds. Great funnies friend and Happy Weekend.

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    1. They are the best. Get one during Cyber Monday or Black Friday. Way better priced. They are so good right? Have a great weekend!

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  3. Happy Friday! Trivia night sounds like a lot of fun. I meant to grab those Trader Joe's pretzels and got distracted and then never did. I picked up a bunch of their fall things this week. We love the Jo Jo's and the mini cones as well.

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    1. Happy Friday to you. Trivia was a lot of fun this week. Oh I forgot about the Jo Jo's. I will add those to my list.

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  4. I love trivia! Trader Joe's cracks me up with all their pumpkin stuff. I prefer the apple things!

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    1. It is so much fun. I am very competitive, so it is very fun for me. I do love all apple things too. I wish they had more of that!

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  5. We love those TJ's pumpkin pretzels!! We're hoping to make a stop there on the way to the mountains in a couple of weeks and those are on my list!

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    1. I had never had them before. They are really good and dangerous. I heard the maple kettle corn is amazing too, so that is on my list. Hopefully you get to stop there.

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  6. I’m hungry now. I love a good trivia night. Those funnies are too good this Friday. Have a lovely weekend.

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  7. Trader Joe's is so inconvenient for me, so I rarely go anymore. Maybe 1-2 times a year. Its crazy, when I lived in Atlanta I was in there several times a week because I could walk to it from my apartment! I always liked the pumpkin and cranberry crackers that they bring out this time of year with some goat cheese as a snack. Chris would love pesto green beans, I need to try that. The sassy kid meme, yes!!!!!!!!!

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    1. I love the goat cheese and cranberry spread too. The pesto green beans are a hit at my house. So good. I wish TJ's wasn't so crazy or I would go more often. Or if we had two in town it would help too.

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  8. It's good you enjoyed trivia night! :) I love roast pumpkin and pumpkin soup but I've never tried any pumpkin flavoured things - it's not such a big thing here as it is in the US it seems, haha! :)

    Hope you are having a lovely weekend :) We had a fun day at the playground yesterday.

    Away From The Blue

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    1. I had so much fun at trivia. I want to do it again. Oh I love pumpkin soup. I need to be on the lookout for that. I hope you had a great weekend too!

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