Busted blender :(

A lot of people have been talking about freebie products recently........ speaking of, I forgot to mention this lipgloss from Kath - it was part of her swag from the BlogHer conference this past weekend! Thanks Kath! :) I also forgot to mention how much Mike LOVES all things Newman's Own Organics. They did send me free products to review, yes, but I have been honest about disliking other products before and I would not hesitate to do it again.
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However, Mike and I have been obsessed with EVERY NOO product we have tried. He is a huge proponent of their "oreos" and Ginger-Os!

The EVOO and balsamic is also good stuff. That said............

My mid-afternoon snack was basically a ton of these dates with 100% dark chocolate. Don't worry, this time I didn't eat the whole bagfull, although I easily could have ;)

I now FREEZE my dark chocolate to decrease the odds that I will eat the entire bar in one sitting!

I got bored later on and decided to try my hand at another raw vegan treat. This time, I made "raw vegan brownies". The bottom layer was:

- ground walnuts

- ground almonds

-ground dates

- cocoa powder, blended with other ingredients

The top layer was avocado, agave, cocao stevia drops, vanilla, a splash of salt, and a bit of coconut oil. Oddly (and annoyingly) enough, my blender could not blend this concoction. What?!?! I added water - still nada. I transferred mixture to mini-FP, which was a bit easier - hoping my blender is not busted???? :(

Spread "icing" on the brownie layer and freeze. I've nibbled on these without freezing them, and so far my concensus is "just decent". Definitely good enough to eat, but NOWHERE near as fabulous as the coconut chocolate bars I made last week!!!! Those were P.H.E.N.O.M.E.N.A.L.

For Mike's dinner, I made him some marinated chicken and Mexican rice.

The chicken's marinade:

- 1/2 c. balsamic

- 1/2 c. EVOO

- 1/4 c. lemon juice
- 2 T. dijon mustard

- salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste

- Marinade for a few hours then bake at 400 for about 45 minutes. Very easy, but he loved it! :)

As I type this, I'm snacking on more coleslaw but I'm about to go make some type of a mashed sweet potato dish, assuming that my blender is working ok.... and looking up trips to EUROPE!!!!!

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Mike is half Greek, half Italian (we both tend to falsely give the Greek side more credit sometimes since they are a larger fam and have had a bigger influence on his upbringing in many ways, but we love the Italian side just as much!)

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However, he is actually the first generation to be born in the U.S., yet we have never been to Greece or Italy! My parents (non-Greeks) actually MET in Greece, and these days I feel like everyone and their mother has been to Europe but us....

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Any advice on planning one's first trip to Europe??? I think if I am lucky we may end up going next summer!! :)