Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Ready to be Rockin'

by Meghann on April 15, 2009

I received an e-mail today confirming my registration for the 2009 San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon. In the e-mail I love how they informed me there are only 46 Days Until the Rockin’ Begins! I am now officially pumped for all that ‘Rockin.’ ;)

But, before I get to the Rockin work is where it’s at for the moment. Damn.

I spent the majority of the afternoon pulling collateral for some remote employees. In between running back and forth between my side of the office and the side with the closet that holds the collateral I managed to find time for a mid-afternoon snack.

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I had a 100 calorie pack of Almonds and a Passion Fruit Dried Fruit Leather Abbie had given me in my Easter Basket.

I ended up rolling the Almond in the Fruit Leather.

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It was the perfect combination snack.

I bought corn tortillas on a whim at the grocery store this weekend and decided Tacos would be on the agenda for tonight.

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I have had Happy Herbivore’s Chickpea Taco concept saved in my recipe section of my inbox for ages. It seemed like the perfect time to test it out. It could not have been easier, I basically coated a can of Chickpeas with Taco Seasoning and roasted them in the oven for 20 minutes.

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I filled three corn tortillas with Chickpeas, Salsa, Lettuce, Tomato, & Jalapenos. They were really, really good! Tacos are always so easy and fun to eat.

On the side I tried the Kashi Fiery Fiesta Pilaf.

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It’s hard to believe, but this may have been a little too spicy for me. I love spicey, I just don’t like it when it catches your tounge on fire so you can’t taste the flavors of anything else.

Then for dessert I took all of your lovely suggestions from my Honest Foods Giveaway post and deiced to try 1/8 of the Maple Almond Nut Granola Plant crumbled on Ice Cream.

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Its amazing how much crumbles a little piece of the plank produces. THe pieces were perfect in the Ice Cream and I can’t wait to try some crumbles in my cereal tomorrow. :)

Don’t forget you have until midnight EST tomorrow night to enter the giveaway!

Now I am zonked and ready for bed! But, first I have some serious DVR catching up to do.

Good Night!

{ 24 comments }

Food, Cookies & a Giveaway!

by Meghann on April 15, 2009

Yes, that’s right I have a giveaway for you!

But first you have to read about my lunch to get to the giveaway. ;)

At least it was a very yummy lunch!

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I used the other half of my WildWood Hickory BBQ Smoked Tofu to make a killer sandwich that also included Swiss Cheese, Romaine Lettuce, Tomato and Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce.

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I really liked the smoked tofu in the sandwich, it gave it a nice smoky tasted that complimented the bbq sauce perfectly.

On the side was leftover Steamed Green Beans and Roasted Eggplant.

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Fresh steamed greens always seems like a pain when I am making it because of the the de-ending of the green beans, but the finished product is always to fresh and amazing tasting… even the next day, ;)

My Supervisor, Shelley, was the lucky recipient of Peanut Butter and Juli’s Customizeable Chip Cookies in my Second Blogging Bake Sale the other week. We were both very excited when the package of cookies arrived today!

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Juli did a wonderful job packaging these babies up. Not one cookie was broken and we even had a hard time trying to have the cookies break free.

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Shelley had requested one dozen off Chocolate Chip Cookies and one dozen of Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I decided to sample a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie, but honestly would you have expected any differently?

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This cookie was good!!! It was melt in your mouth delicious and had the perfect balance of Chocolate & Peanut Butter chips. The cookie was soft and chewy. I LOVED IT! Thanks Juli for contributing the wonderful cookies in the bake sale and thanks to Shelley for letting me sample one! :)

Ready for the giveaway yet?… Almost time I promise! Let’s just get the review out of the way so you know how great the prize is going to be!

Honest Foods sent me a sampler of some of their products the other week to review for the blog. I tried one of their Almond Trail Mix Baked Whole Food Bar after my trail race on Saturday and I really enjoyed it and look forward to trying the others. Today I was excited to sample their elusive Granola Planks for my midmorning snack.

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organic oats, whole nuts, seeds and fruit are baked into a well, plank. it keeps our granola fresher, plus there’s no crumbs. you get only big, delicious clusters that smell fresh-baked.

Each plank has 2 servings at 190 calories per serving and 300-400mg omega-3. The ingredient list of each bars is simple and understandable, just the way I like it.

Honest Foods Granola Planks come in three unique flavors: Pomegranate Walnut Crisp, Maple Almond Crunch, and Blueberry Vanilla Crackle. I tried about an 1/8 of a bar of each.

Pomegranate Walnut Crisp

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I really enjoy walnuts in granola and I think that really made this one standout. I am always afraid when fruit is a high point in any bar as I don’t like how it tends to over welm the bar, but the dried bits of fruit were perfect and not too fruity at all. The bar was nice an chewy with an occasional crunch.

Maple Almond Crunch

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I am not the biggest fan of Maple flavoring, but it was so subtle in this bar that it was not a problem at all. It was just enough to give the bar a slight sweetness, but not enough to make me think I was eating syrup.

Blueberry Vanilla Crackle

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I have to admit I tried this flavor before and I enjoyed it then, just as I enjoyed it now. nothing beats blueberry & granola and this seems to of added and extra crunch with the larger pieces of almond.

Overall, I really enjoyed the granola planks and can not find other ways to enjoy them. I like how one of the suggestions on the packaging says to ‘pop in the toaster for a warm crunchy treat’ I think that’s exactly what I will do next with it. :)

So, now I think we are already for the giveaway.

Giveaway Time!

The people over at Honest Foods were kind enough to not only offer myself a sampling, but to a lucky reader as well.

For your chance to win a sample pack of Honest Foods Bars & Granola Planks simply leave a comment on this post by Midnight EST tomorrow evening (Thursday) letting me know what would be your top choice for enjoying the Granola Plank would be. Do you want to slather it in Nut Butter? Top your favorite yogurt with the crumples? or eat it plain? Let me know!

For a second chance to win link back to this post on your blog!

That’s it! Now get to leaving comments and I will announce a winner on Friday in my breakfast post!

GOOD LUCK!!

{ 404 comments }

Taxes

April 15, 2009

Happy Tax Day Everyone!! I hope everyone has submitted their tax returns and are awaiting a hefty refund! I am very much a Type A person when it comes to taxes and completed mine way back in February. I have already received my tax refund and deposited it straight into my savings where it sits more »

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