Lots of new (fantastic!) products!

Surprise! I decided to post tonight because I miss you all in the blogging world! Here's some of my lovely eats over the past few days. There aren't that many picture because my appetite disappeared for a few days (weird, that NEVER happens!) but I also definitely didn't take pictures of everything I ate. Here's a few things though.


I wasn't very impressed with this can of soup and won't buy it again. I also eat so little red meat at this point (mainly because of laziness in cooking it--not for any moral or health reason!) that when I DO eat beef my stomach ends up hurting. I picked out the chunks of beef and threw them away. Obviously not too impressed.

On the other hand, this free sample of a kind of cereal that I had never tried ended up being pretty good. It had a slightly disconcerting fake chemical-y taste, but it was still pretty good. I'd give it about 6 out of 10 stars. I might even by it at some point. Actually, scratch that. I'm trying to eat less processed food and foods with fewer ingredients. But hey--it was free, and my policy on free food is NEVER TURN IT DOWN! ;-) It had decent nutritional facts:


My go-to snack. I ate so many carrots last week that my hands/skin turned orange! Not even kidding! Oops. *sheepish grin*


I mixed up another packet of this amazing drink with some 1% milk and some black coffee--mocha style! :)


It was a little bitter so I added one packet of this that I had gotten as a free sample a while ago. It made it slightly better, but I think I'll refrain from adding coffee next time. It didn't work as well as I had hoped.

Speaking of free things (which is THE BEST part of being a food blogger!) LARABAR contacted me last week and sent me some samples which arrived very recently. I always gt excited to see this waiting for me:

And I opened it to reveal:

I was SOOO excited! And I immediately put one in my purse for an emergency snack, which came in handy today as I was running around like a mad woman! I tried the Cashew Cookie and I was SERIOUSLY impressed!! (Somehow, I've never tried this flavor--even though I adore cashews.) Even though the only ingredients are dates and cashews, somehow the texture and flavors were PERFECT! It was quite magical, and no, I'm not getting paid to say that. ;-) I adored it and I WILL buy it again in a heartbeat, especially if it were to say, hmm, come on sale!

(Image used from the Larabar website)

And speaking of new (for me) products, I finally tried this new So Delicious dairy free blueberry yogurt. I bought it because it is sweetened with agave nectar which is low glycemic so it doesn't bother my blood sugar levels as much as regular sugar. I'm normally not a huge fan of soy yogurt at all, but I LOVED this! (Seriously, what's up with so many new absolutely totally freakin' delicious products? Notice how I'm not complaining though!) I would certainly buy this again! It had an interesting texture; kind of like some of the whipped yogurts they (used to?) have out. I thought I wouldn't like the texture but it really grew on me! And the sweet ripe blueberry flavor was incredible! I topped it with a little low sugar cereal and it made a great snack!



I posted an Operation Beautiful note this week. (Actually, I happened to take a photo of this one. I try to post one whenever the opportunity arises.)

Some juice while reading blogs. Vitamin C anyone?


I made a lovely breakfast a few days ago. Nice and nutrient-rich while being pretty light.


I have, of course, been balancing out nice healthy meals like the one you see above with copious amounts of these:

(I apologize for the blurry pictures!)

Those chocolates are taking care of my fat and sugar allowance (har har, it was a joke!) and this Diet Coke is successfully fulfilling my chemical and fake sugar crap requirements. ;-)

I regret none of it. :-)

Breakfast today was the classic "Crap, I'm getting REEEEALLY low on groceries!"

Two slices of Nature's Pride 12-Grain bread with PB and my LAST piece of fresh fruit in the house! (Maybe I'll finally get to go grocery shopping when this weekend from hell is over--not to busy after I make it through tomorrow!)

Well tomorrow I'm teaching a bunch of private lessons (9am-3pm), helping out with a little kids' orchestra (3-5pm) and then playing a 2 1/2 hour community symphony concert. And I have very few groceries, so packing food tomorrow should be interesting....

But I'll worry about that later. Now, I'm off to read in bed for a few minutes and then sleeeeep! Good night!

Amazing Grass giveaway winner!

Happy Friday everyone! The weekend is soooo close! :) What are your weekend plans? Anything fun?! I am extremely jealous of all of the wonderful food bloggers who are in San Francisco this weekend for the FoodBuzz conference!

Without further ado, the winner of the Amazing Grass giveaway is #19:

Melissa said...

I would love to try the Whole Food Energy Bar

Melissa, please e-mail me within 24 hours so I can get your prize to you! My e-mail is:

violingrad19 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Don't fret if you didn't win! Teri Jo has graciously agreed to give my blog readers a 15% discount on any Amazing Grass order you place by using the code "healthy123" during your checkout on-line.

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I'm sorry that this post also isn't a "real" food blogger post! I have a long day today and tomorrow...taking a long test from 1-3:30pm (details later...it's a secret for now!), teaching from 4-5:30pm and then a dress rehearsal from 7:30-10:30pm with an hour drive each way.

Then tomorrow I teach from 9am-5pm and play an orchestra concert from 7:30-10:00pm, also with an hour long drive both ways!

But I promise I will put up a real post definitely by Sunday, if not sooner! Don't give up on me yet! ;-)

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!

Happy November, though I'm a little late.

Hi everyone,

I hope you all have had a lovely start to a new month, or at least a better one than I've had. Basically, I'm having roommate problems (she's doing MANY things that irritate me!), and being the people-pleaser of all people-pleasers that I am, I am UNABLE to get myself to say anything to her. I can't even muster up the courage to squeak out, "hey, do you have a moment to talk now?" I know I should have mentioned some things a long time ago, but I kept trying to ignore them, thinking that I was doing the right thing by keeping the peace and not making her upset. Well, it has tuned into a fiasco where she's walking all over me, and yet I insist on keeping quiet. I WANT to talk to her, and in theory it sounds like a great idea. But we were both home all day yesterday and today and I am NOT able to get the courage to do so. Even just thinking about doing it, makes me start shaking, trembling and breathing heavy! I really don't know what to do, and I don't know why it is so hard for me, and so I've mostly just been staying in my room reading or on my computer (I am reading your blogs!) while she's home.

But even more importantly, and much more disastrously, is that my boyfriend is starting to have doubts about our large-scale compatibility issues, due to how INCREDIBLY uncomfortable I am with bringing up to HER (my roommate) stuff she's doing that bothers me. He's (understandably) concerned with how that would play out in the long-term for us if we were to get married or something. He's worried that I wouldn't be able to tell him if there's stuff he's doing that bothers me, and he might very well be justified in worrying about this. I generally do keep things to myself, usually just assuming that I'm too easily irritated and/or being selfish for mentioning such a trivial thing. (By the way, the things my roommate is doing don't seem trivial; for example, she never locks our front door when she leaves the house, she brought a dog home for 3+ weeks without so much as asking me if I minded, and she regularly uses/moves my stuff without asking me. All of these things to me seem downright rude and unacceptable, and I'd like for them to change.)

The point is, due partly to my extremely sensitive personality, partly to how I was raised (in an extremely controlling environment where open conversation was prohibited) and partly to countless other factors, the "simple" act of saying, "Hey, can we talk about a few things?" is for all practical intents and purposes IMPOSSIBLE for me. And I love doing the impossible--I'm very stubborn, but in this case, it is actually damn near impossible and I don't think I can do it.

Both of these things have made for an EXTREMELY emotionally DRAINING week so far. (In addition to having my car in the shop all last week causing me to miss a rehearsal and forget about an appointment!) I'm spent. Beat. Drained. Trying to remain positive. Trying to keep smiling about...something...anything...life? Health? Friends? It's honestly very hard.

(I also apologize for no food pictures tonight. I just wanted to be able to get some stuff off my chest and I would ADORE any positive feedback you have for me!)

But enough depressing stuff.

How about you? Are you a people-pleaser? Do you care what others think about you? Do you try to keep the peace? And is there anything that you were trying to do the right thing in, that you later learned was really just hurting you instead?

I'm going to leave you with a few more giveaways while I'm at it. Then I'm off to go read my new obsession, the recently published biography of the 1986 U.S. Gymnastics Champion, Jennifer Sey, "Chalked Up". It is fascinating and I'm almost finished, despite starting it on Saturday. :)


Don't forget to enter my Amazing Grass giveaway!

Zesty Cook is giving away a blog makeover!

Balance is Beauty is giving away a variety pack of Glo Bars!

Lucky Taste Buds is giving away Kathy's Krackers!

AnAppleADay is giving away organic hot chocolate!

One Frugal Foodie is giving away two months worth of yummy cereal!

Have a great night!!

Getting my car back!

Good morning!

I'm so excited because I finally get to pick up my car that has been in the shop since Monday for inspection!! {Yes, it *is* Friday today! In their defense, I think they were doing the best they could, and several repairs needed to be done before it would pass inspection, but it's still frustrating not having my car!}

Here was my lovely breakfast: oat bran, cottage cheese, sliced mango, PB. Simple, but excellent!

With coffee. (Please ignore the messy desk!)

And of course, I had some more Amazing Grass yesterday! (Speaking of which, don't forget to enter my giveaway!) I love drinking these while I'm fighting off a cold, because I know that I am inundating my immune system with nutrients to help it do its job!

Mixed with some OJ.


This was delicious!

I also had about 2/3 of this bar on my way to work:

I think I like the original flavor better, but this was still good!

And another leftover half of this bar. (My snacks are random!)

And one more delicious snack!
The flax is just in the picture because I had a few tsps of it in the yogurt, but you can't see it! Notice the yummy PB coating the spoon handle! I pretty much just don't eat anything with out nut butter anymore! {This is a very good thing!} :D

Well, I'm off to pick up my poor little car that's finally fixed, so I'll leave you with a few giveaways around the blog world! Enjoy!

-Plugging my Amazing Grass giveaway, one more time! ;-)

-Kid Glue is giving away Goji Gourmet cookies.

-Averie is giving away Fruition Pro Bars.

-Jen is giving away Kay's Naturals.

-Jamie is giving away Barney Butter!

-Jamie is also giving away women's running shoes!

-AnAppleADay is giving away a Soda Stream machine.

Amazing Grass giveaway!

I have had the pleasure of sampling several Amazing Grass products over the past few days. Now it is time for the giveaway! I think blog giveaways are so much fun because we all share a love for healthy living, fitness, and blogging! :)

However, you either have to read my regular post first, or just scroll to the bottom to get to the giveaway. ;-) So without further ado, here's a few of my good eats over the last two days, including a few more Amazing Grass products.

I took and Original GreenSuperfood bar to work on Tuesday and ate it before 3 hours of teaching. It held me over very well, gave me a lot of energy and was supremely delicious. These bars are

Raw

Cold Processed

Alkaline

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Vegan

And here's what's in it:

Organic Dates, Organic Agave Nectar, Amazing Grass Green SuperFood (Organic Wheat Grass, Organic Barley Grass, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Spirulina, Organic Spinach, Organic Chlorella, Organic Broccoli, Organic Acai, Organic Maca, Organic Carrot, Organic Beet, Raspberry, Organic Rose Hips, Pineapple, Green Tea, Organic Flax Lignans, L. Adidophilus, Alpha and Beta Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Lactase, Cellulase, Organic Peppermint), Organic Cashews, Organic Almond Butter, Organic Almonds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Dried Cranberries, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Dried Coconut and Organic Vanilla Extract. Allergy Information: Contains Almonds and Cashews


I also stopped into a grocery store to pick up a gift certificate for my mom for her birthday that's coming up and while I as there I bought this new drink to try:


I work around a lot of kids (I teach at least 20-25 kids every week, from several different school districts!) so I'm amazed that I'm not just always sick. However, it is eventually inevitable, especially at this time of year. I have had so many children come in either actively sick or with a "residual cough" as they call it. So I bought some Vitamin-C rich juice to drink up.

This morning I had the brilliant idea to mix the Mango juice with a Wheat Grass packet!


It was seriously delicious! I can't wait to mix another packet of GreenSuperfood into more juice!

With it, for my breakfast I sauteed 2 small leaves of kale and a bit of red onion. (Trying to emphasize the greens to help my immune system as much as possible!)

I also made a one egg omelet with Monterey Jack cheese:

Yesterday's breakfast was a similar omelet:


Eggs, cheese, kale, avocado, salsa.

With some juice and coffee:

A snack from yesterday. This PURE bar flavor is definitely my favorite! And they were on sale for 2/$3 but it rang up as 2/$4 so I got two bars for a total of $1 from the store! :)

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Alright, now for the most exciting part of this post! A giveaway!

Here's what you can win!


And here's how to win them! There are many ways.
(Please leave a separate comment for each entry!)

1) Leave me a comment telling me what Amazing Grass product you would like to try the most and why.

2) Spread the word!! Please link back to this giveaway on your own blog and leave the link where I can check it out! If you don't have a blog, tell at least 3 friends about it!

3) Add me to your blogroll and/or Google Reader!

4) Follow me with Google Friend Connect

5) Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/gymcat

That's all folks! I'll select a winner a week from today on Thursday, November 5th!

Amazing energy from an AMAZING product!

I hope everyone's having a great week so far!

Last week, I received an e-mail from Teri Jo at Amazing Grass offering to send me samples of their products for me to try and review on my blog. I received the shipment yesterday and got super excited when I opened it to reveal this:

Of course, I had to immediately try one, as I've seen them all around the blog world, but never gotten to taste them! It was perfect timing as I was due to go play racquetball with a friend and I was hoping for an energy burst! I mean, the list of ingredients is incredible! So many antioxidant-rich greens and fruits and vegetables!

I tried an Original Blend Amazing Meal and mixed it with 10 ounces of water in the shaker that she also provided for me.

Enjoyed with a Chobani yogurt with Uncle Sam cereal.

And the result? AMAZING!

I love the taste and the fact that it mixes well with water, so there are no chunks of powder left in it. And the thing I loved the very most?! Was how much energy I had all night while playing racquetball! In fact, my friend and I ended up sharing the court with extremely advanced players (we aren't really to that level!) and we played an intense game for two hours and this meal provided me A LOT of energy to use up while playing! Never mind that I am SOOO sore today! Or the gigantic blood blister that I got from the intense game. (Eww, I know!)


Naturally, I couldn't wait to try another one, so this morning, after getting a much needed 9 1/2 hours of sleep, I tried this:


This was absolutely delicious! It tasted like chocolate milk, and being the chocoholic that I am, of course I loved it! :)

I will definitely be taking one of bars along for a snack while I'm teaching violin all night to little kids and I'm super excited about trying those, too!

Also, check back to my blog for a giveaway coming up soon. I'll give you one hint: it's AMAZING! :)

So in other food news, I made a delicious omelet for breakfast, consisting of:

-1 egg, 1 eggwhite
-sauteed kale and red onion
-sliced avocado
-Monterey Jack cheese
-WF salsa

The end result was spectacular!

With coffee:

It's OK, you can be jealous! ;-)

I must have really been on a food roll today because I also made a PHENOMENAL sandwich:

-Nature's Pride 12 Grain bread (this is exceptionally delicious bread!)
-tuna w. light Italian dressing
-avocado
-Monterey Jack cheese melted on the bread right after toasting it...like this:
-1 gigantic leaf of sauteed kale with EVOO:
Layer it up:
And the end result was definitely something I need to make again, soon! (Read: tomorrow most likely!)

Here's a deliciously ripe pear that I snacked on yesterday:

Here are three quick giveaways for you all, to keep you busy until I have my own giveaway, coming up very soon!

Jenny is giving away Fiber One muffins! Fiber is good, muffins are good. Yep, I want to try these! :)

AnAppleADay is giving away TSP Spices, that come in little 1 tsp serving sizes!

And Missy is giving away a Progresso Panko Gift Pack! Looks great!

I'm heading off to bed now. Have a good night!

Yes, I am a dork.

I went to the gym yesterday, to use the treadmill while watching the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships! I had a great time, and a 90 minute workout (roughly 30 minutes running, 60 minutes walking) but I do fear that this officially qualifies me as a gymnastics dork! :)

Anyway, the highlight of my week was the delivery of a case of Chobani Greek yogurt that I won!

It started with a big box that said:

Which I opened to reveal this:

I can't get these in the grocery stores around where I live, so I think it was at this point that the incredibly excited shrieking began! Luckily no roommates were home or they would have thought I was OFF.MY.ROCKER and probably would have started calling around to find a mental facility to commit me to! ;-)



All three flavors have similar nutritional facts and they are quite good! They have a little too much sugar for me to buy on a regular basis (I normally stick with unsweetened!) but they are truly INCREDIBLE! They are so creamy, very sweet but not overly so, and are pretty large portions for 140 calories! I have REALLY been enjoying these and I can't wait to eat the rest of them. As of now, I've tried all three flavors and they are all fresh and crisp tasting, so it's impossible to pick my favorite!

Thanks to Ellie from Inside I'm Still Dancing and Chobani for giving me the chance to try these!

Onward...to several breakfasts I've enjoyed recently.

Keepin' it simple with oat bran, almond butter, and a blueberry Chobani!

Slightly more complex...oatmeal with a banana, PB, blueberry Chobani and cottage cheese. This ended up being way too much food and I saved some of it for later in the day.


Swap the banana for grapes and you've got the same b-fast!


Nothing you haven't seen. Oat bran with cottage cheese, a banana, flax, carob chips and PB. Drool worthy. (OK, I've gotta admit that most of my breakfasts are freakin' amazing and it's definitely my favorite meal of the day!)

With coffee. In case there was any doubt, I have coffee EVERY SINGLE morning, no exceptions, even if it doesn't make it into the picture! :) But in this case it did.

One more...


I went on a cooking spree earlier this week and braved my acorn squash, with the crappy knives that I have in my current living situation. When I finally move out next year, I WILL be buying sharper, better knives! But for now, I made this...

Just roasted with EVOO til they were done. I don't even remember how long. Sorry.

And I made my usual pan of veggies. I added kale this time for variety!


Finally I made a pot of split yellow peas simmered in this:

with a spoon of this:

It turned out great, but sadly the pictures of it did not! :-(

Those veggies came along as part of a meal the next day:

Along with a Chobani and Fiber One cereal:

One more bagel while out and about. (Example of my on-the-go lifestyle: On Saturday I left my house at 8:30am and got home around 1am! Word.) Although this bagel and its side dishes were my Wednesday dinner when I taught from 2pm to 6pm and then drove an hour to an orchestra rehearsal from 7:30-10:30pm!

I try to keep spreading the Operation Beautiful love while I'm out!


Plus my favorite:

Sliced with hummus is good:

But plain is the best!

And:

By the way, I ADORE this particular flavor of Luna bar!! I seriously eat (at least!) one of these ALMOST EVERY SINGLE DAY! (Even though most of the times the pictures don't make it onto the blog!) Yes, I know it's not exactly a whole food, but it's SOOOO delicious and low glycemic so it keeps me full for a long time!

Best snack ever.

And don't forget dessert:


I grabbed lunch with my boyfriend this week. Foot long ham on wheat with cheddar, yes I would like it toasted, please. :)

Many of my nights end with a glass of wine! Resveratrol is important! ;-)

This bag of chips didn't last too long. I guess it doesn't when you count three servings as "dinner" and call it even. *Ahem* Which I might or might not have done. (In my defense I was driving home, ready to gnaw off my arm and didn't have any other food on me. Those suckers didn't stand a chance, anyway!)


Chocolate gelato while reading blogs? Yes, please.

Finally, I've been downing these and Emergen-C like it's going out of style, due to how many kids I tach ever week and how many of them (and their parents and their siblings...) are sick! I'm amazed that I HAVEN'T yet gotten sick!

I'm sorry that this is so long!

Hope everyone is having a great day!