Look at my basil!
In just 9 days it’s gone from this:
to this!
I shall be enjoying pesto, caprese salads and more homemade fresh spring rolls in no time! Do you grow any of your own herbs or vegetables?
I usually grow a variety of herbs every summer, and some tomatoes too, although I didn’t plant any this year. My Mom has a great garden chock full of cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes though, so I’ll just swipe some from her. 
In other news, I have oodles of varieties of food today which I am pumped for! First up, breakfast:
Kashi Honey Almond Flax Crunch.
Ex-tremely crunchy, sweet and just plain fun to eat. Sometimes I feel like I might crack a tooth on it though…
Fat-Free Raspberry Vanilla AE Yogurt. AE is a local dairy that makes top-notch products. Their cottage cheese tastes like ice cream!
And a banana. Pretty standard…and brown!! 
Fun Fact: a banana + raspberry yogurt is one of my favorite combos ever. 
Lunch contains a plethora of goodies as well!
Spinach, carrot & green onion salad. I know – kind of random – but I had all the ingredients right in front of me in the fridge last night, so into the pool they went.
Special K Italian Herb & Tomato Crackers and Summertime Salsa Goat Cheese.
Normally I don’t love eating Special K branded products – they have a ton of weird ingredients in them – but I was looking for something that would be tasty with the goat cheese salsa I picked up at the Farmer’s Market this weekend, and these fit the bill!
They’ve got a great, zesty flavor and are nice little dippers for my goat cheese.
Which I mixed with some of my homemade salsa to extend the dippeage! YUM!
Rounding it all out we’ve got a Pink Lady Apple and Colby Jack Cheese Stick. I never buy cheese sticks and I’m not sure why… They’re a great, portion-controlled snack and really great with apples!
All in all, a great little day of eats! 
In other news, I wanted to announce the four winners of the Subway $5 Gift Card Giveaway! Congrats to:
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Meghan M: Posted giveaway on my blog!
Corinne: my favorite turkey sandwich on honey wheat toppings include cucumbers, tomatoes, and spinach. sometimes i throw in red onions or pickles for pizzaz. just had subway on sunday for lunch…craving it again. thats usually how that goes
Crystal: Just tweeted about your giveaway @CCJade23
Casey: I have to have tomatoes and banana peppers! The only time I actually eat banana peppers is at Subway, for some reason.
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Congrats! Email your mailing address to IowaGirlEats@hotmail.com so you can get to enjoying your sammies!
With that, it is my pleasure to say, happy hump day…already! Viva short weeks!
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How do you feel about “fake” sugar – splenda, nutrisweet, stevia, etc?
My Father-in-law is off fake sugars at the moments and says he feels great. It kind of makes me want to jump on the bandwagon and give it a try…
love that cereal!!! my dad always asks me if i crack a tooth when i eat it though..i guess my chomping is so loud haha. how much do you usually portion out?
I used to use Splenda DAILY — now I’m faux suga-free an intend to stay remain that way
Totally off subject and a bit random…but you seem to have lots of containers in your daily food, what do you carry it all in?
I use plastic grocery bags and things tip over in the car
If I use a shopping bag from (crate and barrel or somewhere) the condensation form the cold things tear it so just wondering what you use =)
[...] combo of a Pink Lady Apple and Colby Jack Cheese Stick got two thumbs up from me yesterday, so I repeated again today. Plus, they’re two easy items to just throw in your lunchbag and [...]
Bleh, fake sugar! >=\ Although, I do use blue agave from TJ’s when a recipe calls for it. Oh and, bleh, BROWN banana! I’m like you, I don’t like spots on them. Once they start to freckle I get anxious! =X