Tag Archives: blog series

[Not] Norwegian food: Pop Tarts

Our boys love Pop Tarts. And I have to admit, they are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me as well.

Growing up, you could almost always find them in our pantry. Okay, not really. What we typically had were generic ‘Toaster Pastries’. You know, the store brand knock-off that came without frosting, and often with at least one major fracture, if not totally crumbled. Yeah yeah, I gripe, but we certainly ate them!

I know the boys enjoy them, but a couple of things keep us from having many on hand. First is the artificial stuff. I am really trying to reduce the amount of artificial stuff we eat. I won’t totally eliminate it, but less is better, right?

But the bigger reason is the price. I’ve only found one store in Norway that carries them. And since they are an import item, they come with the hefty price tag of around $10-11 per 8-count box. So I won’t be picking them up anytime soon. Yeah, there are some things you will pay a high price for to have a taste of home. [Like white cheese jalapeño dip – which I have yet to find anywhere.] But Pop Tarts are not on that list!

We are grateful to friends and family who’ve brought Pop Tarts to the boys when they’ve visited us. The boys always ration them out, saving them for weekends and special days. But I now have a solution that keeps my boys happy, saves me money, and keeps the artificial stuff and preservatives out of their tummies!

I attempted homemade strawberry Pop Tarts yesterday. And while I still need to perfect the process, I am quite pleased with how the first batch turned out. Like the generic wannabes, they lack frosting. But unlike any of the boxed treats, they have nothing fake and I can feel a little better about them!

The boys each had one with their breakfast this morning. No mention of no frosting, only “wow, these taste like Pop Tarts!”

Thanks to the Smitten Kitchen – fantastic recipe that does not call for any ingredients that are unavailable in Norway!! You can find the recipe HERE.

Norwegian Food (norsk mat): Det sunneste man kan spise

I recently read an article on NRK.no about the five healthiest foods you can get in Norway. (here – Google Chrome should give you a translation option if you want to read it in English)Fifth place went to milk.

Fourth was blueberries.

In third, oatmeal.

Second place was mackerel in tomato sauce.

And first place? Carrots.

There were other foods on the list, but these were the five that the nutritionists seemed to agree on the most. All seem to be quite popular here. And you can typically find all five in our kitchen, as you can see from this picture taken today. I’ll write a bit about each of these in the coming weeks, including availability, how they are used and what we think of them.

Norwegian Food: The series

I’ve recently had people ask for more posts about food here. So over the next weeks I will be introducing you to some of the food. You’ll see that some things are quite different from American food, but others are very much the same.Mat
(noun) Food.

Used in a sentence
Jeg lager mat til middag.
(I’m making dinner.)


Related Words
måltid – meal
tilberede – to prepare (food)
oppskrift – recipe
smak – taste
frokost – breakfast
lunsj – lunch
middag – dinner
kveldsmat – a light evening meal

Christmas Cheer Wrap-up / Feedback Request

Below is a quick rundown of the Christmas Cheer blog posts.I am trying to think of some new themes to write about in the coming months. Do you have any ideas? Any suggestions or requests? As I mentioned in an earlier post (here), I want to be more open about the struggles I face, whether that be as a mom, a wife, an expat, or from another facet of life. So from time to time I will be sharing things along those lines. But are there other topics that might be of interest? Let me know!

Christmas Cheer Blog Posts:

  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2: Oslo
  3. Part 3: Decorated Trees
  4. Part 4: Sandefjord Corner Boutique
  5. Part 5: Coca-Cola Santa
  6. Part 6: Christmas in Jail?
  7. Part 7: Santa’s little helpers
  8. Part 8: Nisser on our cups
  9. Part 9: Jul med Ika
  10. Part 10: Stars
  11. Part 11: Knitting Christmas
  12. Part 12: Christmas Music
  13. Part 13: Bergen Windows
  14. Part 14: White Christmas
  15. Part 15: Bryggen i Bergen
  16. Part 16: Early Christmas
  17. Part 17: A bit more of Oslo
  18. Part 18: Quick and Easy Craft
  19. Part 19: Sometimes it’s Tough
  20. Merry Christmas from Sandefjord