I love routine. I have followed the same steps to get ready for bed for years. I love having things planned out. Hence why I am introducing a new weekly feature for Kitchen Casual: Friday Five.

A few of the blogs I regularly follow wrap up the week with a post about the things they did for the week, what they are loving at the moment etc. It is just good to have a standing post one day of the week that is easy peasy. So this will be mine. Every week, I’ll write up a post featuring five things about food. It could be a recipe I want to try, a book I am reading — anything as long as it relates to food. I saw that now, but before you know it, it is going to evolve in to a random mess. But let’s start off on the right foot.

1) Trader Joe’s is this magical land. You enter and discover all sorts of treats. The Inner Peas snap pea crisps are my new obsession. Seriously. I have three bags of them in our pantry right now. They are the perfect balance of salty and crunchy and are low if calories and fat so they are a great guilt-free snack. I’ve seen different flavors of these carried at Whole Foods and I think Publix (for you Southerners), but the original is just perfection.

2) I will occasionally talk about a kitchen gadget I want. I love added fun new tools to our cooking collection, and I sometimes might want advice of if you have a favorite. Right now, I’m jonesing for a mandolin.

Funny story actually. We got a mandolin as a wedding present. And I was all psyched to use it. Bring on the matchstick potatoes! But the first two times I used it, I cut myself so badly I thought I would need to seek medical attention. Yes, this was probably due to error on my fault, but I became so frightened of the mandolin, I trashed it. Well now, I am ready to conquer my fear. The above one is from Oxo and I’ve seen it talked about on other blogs. It looks a bit sturdier than the other one we had, so maybe my fingers will survive. I already know the first thing I’ll make when I get it — Sauteed Julienned Summer Vegetables from Skinny Taste.

3) Let’s talk about “Masterchef.” My mom and brother got me in to this show. I had never watched it until the current season. This week’s episode was a little over the top though, I will admit. They had all these live birds running around the kitchen and you kinda just maybe thought they were going to make the contestants kill the birds right there, but they didn’t. Phew. That aside, I love hearing Gordon Ramsay say “stunning” a million times an episode. My money is on Georgia girl Jessie to win.

4) I pinned this recipe for Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake from Half Baked Harvest awhile back and keep wanting to try it out. It looks absolutely amazing. I mean, my mouth is watering as I type this. Might be added to next week’s menu planning…

5) Currently feeling the need to bake a pie. Specifically a blackberry one. This recipe from Saveur looks good. Anyone have another suggestion?

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And that is the first edition of Friday Five! What have been your favorites this week?