Well…we did it. Last night around 7:30, Ben and I went to fill up his car with gas (the couple that fills up together, stays together!) and decided that while we were out, we should probably go ahead and get…Dairy Queen Blizzards!
Pumpkin Pie Blizzards, to be specific. 
I don’t eat a lot of blizzards – they’re just.too.much. – but I will always make an exception for a pumpkin pie blizzard. The sweet pumpkin soft serve and crunchy bits of pie crust make this the ultimate Fall delight. Yum!
I ate half and saved the rest to enjoy tonight. Whee!
Pumpkin made it into my breakfast this morning, too. FYI – most of my friends know about my love for all things Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods, so one of my girlfriends that I met up with this weekend brought me a WF + TJ’s care package!
It consisted of an adorable, re-usable Whole Foods bag that was bursting with Trader Joe’s goodies!
We’ve got Pumpkin Butter, Australian Licorice and Almond Butter - yes! Isn’t that the sweetest gift ever?
Now, I do love my pumpkin butter recipe, but I have been dying to try the Trader Joe’s variety for quite some time. This morning I toasted up some whole wheat bread, spread on a glob of pumpkin butter and topped with a sliced banana.
WOW! This tasted just like the Holidays!
Super sweet, so you only need a little, but really – toast doesn’t get much happier than mine was this morning! This might even get swirled into my leftover blizzard tonight for an extra pumpkin kick. 
Thanks to my friend Lindsey for the fabulous little package!
Lunch is Trader Joe-less, but fab nonetheless: a big Mixed Salad.
In the mix:
- Mixed greens
- Roma tomatoes
- Deli ham
- Baby carrots
- Feta Cheese
Crunchy, salty & satisfying.
I also packed a Raspberry Yogurt for 2:00 snackeage.
So yesterday I stumbled upon an article about fad diets and their obvious pitfalls and shortcomings. I found it interesting because my girlfriends and I tried a few in college to fight the dreaded freshman 15 and always got the same results: quick, yet unsustainable weight loss, accompanied by extreme hunger – blah! Click here to see the full list of the craziest fad diets. Here are my picks for the worst offenders:
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Morning Banana Diet: This became such a craze in Japan that grocery stores couldn’t keep the fruit in stock! On this plan, which is supposed to boost metabolism, you’ll eat one or more bananas with room-temperature water for breakfast and have an optional snack at 3 p.m. You can eat anything you want for lunch and dinner. There are no desserts, dinner has to be eaten by 8 p.m. and you have to go to bed by midnight.
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![cookie[1]](http://iowagirleats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/cookie1.gif "cookie[1]") |
C is for Cookie: Sanford Siegal, M.D., is the creator of the Cookie Diet in which followers eat six of his specially formulated cookies along with one meal a day. It’s not surprising people lose weight on this diet, considering they’re eating a mere 800 calories a day — a calorie count so low that experts would classify this as a crash diet that is not sustainable.
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![grapefruit[1]](http://iowagirleats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/grapefruit1.jpg "grapefruit[1]") |
Tart Diet: Beyoncé revived interest in the Master Cleanse when she used the juice fast to slim down for ‘Dream Girls.’ Drinking a mix of maple syrup, lemon juice, water and cayenne pepper for days is hardly a healthy approach to weight loss. Even Beyoncé said she wouldn’t advise anyone follow her diet lead.
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![cabbage[1]](http://iowagirleats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/cabbage1.jpg "cabbage[1]") |
Soup’s On … Always: All soup all the time should be the motto of the Cabbage Soup Diet. Sarah Michelle Gellar is a famous follower of the plan in which you slurp soup made from a watery mix of cabbage, peppers, onions and celery for seven days. It’s no surprise that you lose weight because you’re not eating much, but after your soup fast is over, the pounds pile back on. |
Personally I think that there’s no magic pill for weight loss, which is what a lot of fad diets tout. A magic weight loss formula. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t exist! Fad diets may cause you to drop a few pounds quickly, but at what expense? Extreme hunger? Irritability? Swift weight gain once you’re off the diet?
Have you ever gone on a fad diet?
Like I said, my friends and I got sucked into a few in college, but usually realized sooner rather than later, that it just wasn’t the long term answer for weight loss. I’ll never forget the time we went on the low-carb Atkins Diet and the “duh” moment I felt after realizing replacing apples with burgers probably was not the way to go in order to achieve a healthy body!
I honestly have never tried any of the fad diets that you mentioned… a family member did try the cabbage soup diet… that didn’t work out well!
My pantry is STOCKED with TJ’s almond butter and pumpkin butter
I’ve never tried any diets, but my mom did that cabbage soup diet back in her 20s! She said it was AWFUL, and just made her go to the bathroom non stop…LOL!!
I had a pumpkin blizzard a few weeks ago. It was SO good. I got huge globs of graham cracker AND whipped cream. Yum!
[...] Original post by Iowa Girl Eats [...]
For those of us in Iowa and the Des Moines area please see the following about trying to get a Trader Joe’s to the area.
A Facebook petition:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2927095400
And the Trader Joe’s website has a “Location Request Form” you can submit:
http://www.traderjoes.com/static/location_requests_form.aspx
When I was at my thinnest EVER, I for some reason thought a “detox” was in need. I attempted the master cleanse and last about 12 hours. Three cups of the smooth move tea did a number on me and I felt awful.
Stupid, stupid.
That’s a great gift bag–all the best from TJ!
We’re twinners today! I have raspberry yogurt too!
I’m not sure if we have a Trader Joe’s in our area… Definitely worth checking out. We do have a WF though!
The biggest fad diet I ever did, if you can call it that, was eating only fruits and veggies for three days with only water to drink. I’m a strong advocate of eating when truly hungry and eating a balanced diet so this didn’t last long. Others seemed tempting at a time but I figured if it was that easy, it wasn’t healthy.
Thanks for the shout out girl!! Dang – that blizzard looks pretty life changing. I am actually stalking you site right now and making my grocery list. XXOO
Of all the blizzard’s I’ve had, I’ve never tasted the pumpkin pie blizzard. It looks out of this world!
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard? Why have I not tried one of these?! I might need to talk my hubby into some blizzards tonight for dessert.
The only fad diet done is the “Special K” diet. Yea, just eating cereal will drop a few pounds, but once you go back to regular food consumption, they all come back. So silly!
that is one blizzard I have NOT tried!
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard? OMG I’m so there!
I’ve never gone on a fad diet, fortunately. I’ve gone on a few “diets” which were basically just eating less. lol Fad diets aren’t as big here as they are in the US.
This makes me sad. I haven’t had a blizzard in years (before my ED)! I still haven’t conquered that obstacle b/c I used to LOVE me some DQ Blizzards! Glad you enjoyed the fall flavor. I am an M&M girl myself.
I was thinking about you last night as I, too, got a care package full of Trader Joe’s goodies as an early birthday gift. I got the pumpkin butter and almond butter as well. I enjoyed the pumpkin butter on freshly made banana bread for breakfast SO GOOD! I also received two boxes of pumpkin pancake and waffle mix. If you are interested, I would gladly share the other box with you seeing as we are in the same town. Let me know.
I LOVE “Dairy Queen’s” Banana Split Blizzard! I have to try the Pumpkie Pie one, YUMMY! =)
I tried the Cabbage Soup Diet and lasted a think “3″ days! =O
Oops – wrote on the wrong day…..
I got home yesterday to a package on my front step from my sis in Cali – in it a fresh jar of TJ Almond Butter. In your “TJ almond butter experience” what would be something I could try it on to get the full flavor? I wish we had a TJ here….I’m dying for some of that licorice too!
I love those little bags. I want one for snacks when I travel.
There is a DQ in the skyway and I always walk by it and see that blizzard. I want it EVERY time I walk by.
Hmmm… I may have to cave in and get it sometime soon before its too late!
I am going to by my first jar of pumpkin butter today! Yay me!
I have tried the South Beach Diet before and experienced the same results you mentioned of all fad diets. The fact is, being on a diet sounds like a short-term thing, being healthy means you are in it for the long-haul!
I’m a huge fan of the Reese’s PB cup blizzard myself, but pumpkin pie definitely sounds worth a try!
I agree with you completely on the fad diets – there’s no miracle weight loss. I usually run the other way when I hear the word “diet” so I’ve never tried one myself!
I am so jealous! I have been dying to get the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard for weeks. Okay, just tell me, is it as good as it sounds? Is it worth every single indulgence? DQ happens to be a mile from my house, so if you convince me, I may just run there now!
Yes… I have tried a fad diet… I follow Miss Diva Beyonce’ and tried to master cleanse for all of 1 days…. it was disgusting and I said HECK NO!!! So, I wasted a lot of money on lemons! (Fad Diets are SILLY)! And I am embarrassed to say there was a time I gave into one… but then hopeful to see how far I’ve come in my health mindset.
P.S. Iowagirleats… I will NEVER get tired of reading your blog! I hope you have a GREAT rest of the week! You deserve one!
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[...] 1 Tablespoon pumpkin butter [...]