Reviews & Giveaways!

Hey guys!

Life, as usual, has been crazy busy. I have a feeling I won't be posting much until summer hits, when hopefully I will be able to post more! I am a bit behind on some product reviews I have, so this post will be putting three reviews into one. But first, a brief update on what's be going on with me!

Running still has not been happening, and my first 5k is on April 28. I'm pretty sure I'm just going to end up winging it and hoping for the best, alternating between running and walking. I tried to to run over Easter break and just ended up with a painful shin, so that didn't work. At least I ran a mile before getting the shin pain and painful stomach cramps.

My role as Editor-in-Chief has been going well and has been keeping me busy. I absolutely love it! It's a tradition that each year the old Editor-in-Chief buys their replacement a Louisville Slugger baseball bat - and I got mine on Thursday. It was bright pink! And it had my name engraved on it. Check it out:

Isn't it awesome?! I have to give a huge amount of thanks to Jake (who I'm replacing) - he has done a great job training me and I really, really appreciate everything he is done. 

I'm also currently looking for a part-time summer job. Seasonal jobs are so hard to find anymore. My mom doesn't believe me when I tell her that no one is hiring only seasonal and they want people who can work through the school year. Hopefully I'll be able to find something! 

I was recently sent a few pretty awesome new products to try out. First up, Rush Bowls. 

I gotta tell ya, I'm a huge fan of these. They are so neat. They come frozen, and each bowl is filled with pureed fruit and some sort of liquid (could be green tea, soymilk, etc), as well as a package of granola topping. You can thaw them overnight in the fridge and grab one for breakfast in the morning! They are so easy. And they taste like sorbet - who doesn't want to eat sorbet for breakfast? 

They are vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, nut free, wheat free, dairy free, no artificial sweeteners, no artificial anything! And not too high in calories. Overall, I loved these. I thought all of the flavors were delicious: Acai Beach Bowl. Gluten-Free Beach Bowl, Power Bowl, Yoga Bowl, and Oasis Bowl. I tend to have a thing for the tropical flavors. You can learn more about the specific bowls here! 

The Daisy Rating

4/5 daisies

Next: Bee-Free Honee! 

When I first discovered this product, I was a little surprised; I mean, vegan honey? How do you make that? It turns out this delicious stuff is made from apples! 

Although it does taste kind of like condensed apple juice, this is really delicious and definitely feels like honey. I put it on a banana, and I thought it was great. I absolutely love it! If you're a vegan who misses traditional honey, this is a great alternative. I highly recommend this. It pours like honey, looks like honey, but smells like apples. It is tart and delicious. Yum.

The Daisy Rating

4.5/5 daisies

Finally: Zevia! 

I love this company because they make it possible for me to drink pop that is healthy and calorie free. How much better can it get? 

Zevia is a Stevia-sweetened soda that tastes like all of your favorite mainstream sodas: Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, etc. I was lucky enough to be sent six of their flavors to try: Grapefruit Citrus, Mountain Zevia, Dr. Zevia, Cream Soda, Black Cherry, and Grape. They also have 3 new flavors available: Strawberry, Lime, and Cherry Cola. 

Although all we tasty, my favorites were Mountain Zevia and Cream Soda. They definitely tasted like the originals! My least favorite my Grape, but that is simply because I do not like grape flavored things. Definitely a personal preference. 

All of the sodas were yummy. They were very fizzy and had strong flavors that were easy to enjoy. These are the perfect substitute for high calorie, sugary sodas!

The Daisy Rating

4/5 daisies

GIVEAWAY

What to try some Zevia for yourself? One lucky PD reader will win a coupon for a 6 pack of their own Zevia to try! Here's how to enter! Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!

MANDATORY  - tell me which Zevia flavor you most want to try and why.

Extra entries:

-Like Zevia on Facebook and follow them on Twitter
-Like Passing Daisies on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
-Tweet about this giveaway and tag @cityxlights13
-Subscribe to PD by email (3 entries)
-Post about this giveaway on your own blog and provide the link

-Follow PD on GFC (Google Friend Connect)

Giveaway ends on April 21st at midnight.
OPEN TO USA RESIDENTS ONLY.


Happy entering!
Much love,

WIAW #24: An Unhealthy Week

Hi loves! It's another week of everybody's favorite, WIAW! 

This week was a bit of an unhealthy week for me. And also a lack of exercise week. 

I went home this weekend, where I had some baking I needed to do. I had food I needed to use before it spoiled, extra cookies, I wasn't sure what to do with, Daring Baker's recipes to make, and more. So, of course, there were a lot of sweets around. 

With leftover cookies, I made a gingersnap crust for my Blueberry Key Lime Pie (recipe posted eventually!). For DB, I made Dutch Crunch Brown Rice Bread. I also made apple caramel cake (a box mix from Duncan Hines), and some other things I can't really remember. 

Then, I went to see The Hunger Games with my parents. Fabulous movie. Right next door there is pizza and frozen yogurt, so....that's what we had for dinner and dessert! A mixed mushroom pizza with roasted garlic cloves and red peppers & greek salad with roasted red pepper dressing from Dewey's Pizza, and a mix of flavors from Orange Leaf fro-yo! It was de-lish. 

As you'll see from the picture, I had Stonyfield's key lime yogurt. I had high expectations, and this yogurt missed the mark completely. I only ate half because the lime flavor was not as strong as it should have been. Still looking for that perfect key lime yogurt! Any suggestions? 

Also pictured: Love Grown granola with kiwi and blueberries, GNU Blueberry Cobbler Bar, Cookiehead's sprouted grain mini brownies (my new favorite brownie - review coming soon!) & cranberry orange mini muffins. 

I'm also kicking myself in the butt this week about my workout routine. I didn't run on Friday because I went home for the weekend around 10:30AM, which is when I usually run. I didn't get a chance to run over the weekend, either. Then Monday rolls around, and I'm up until 4AM the night before working on a class presentation, so I take a nap instead of running. 

All in all, a rough week for me. Not to mention the homework load I have approaching me. Just staying on top of it all is a bit daunting. Hopefully, I'll be back on track tomorrow - although behind in my schedule. Yet again. Oh well. My first 5k is not scheduled until April 28, so I should be okay. I do notice that whenever I miss a week of exercising, I'm a lot more self-conscious about my weight. Even though I haven't been losing weight from running, and in fact may have gained a couple pounds from eating more than normal, I feel fine as long as I workout. But since I've been doing literally nothing - I feel more self-conscious, which really stinks! Ah, well. I just need to get comfortable with my weight again. The funny thing is, a few years ago when I weighed my heaviest, my self-esteem was much higher and I cared a lot less about how I looked. Weird how that works out, isn't it? 

Okay, guys - I want to encourage to everyone to please sign up to participate in my new program - The Recipe Project! I am really excited about it and am trying to get together some participants for this month! Please click here to learn more about it! I would really appreciate it!

Finally, I once again apologize for my lack of blogging recently. I'm going to try to get back to blogging more frequently - make sure to keep checkin' back, because I have a lot of giveaways coming up soon from some great companies!

One more week of school, and then it's Easter break! I'm so excited for Easter! YAY!!!

Much love, 

3 Ingredient Pesto Rice

Hey loves! <3 Have you entered my giveaway for Lucy's cookies yet? IT ENDS TONIGHT AT 11PM EST! Get entering!

I realized today that I never post themed food for holidays. I didn't do much around Christmas, when a lot of bloggers were crafting all sorts of Santa & Rudolph themed treats. I also didn't do anything for Halloween. Or Thanksgiving. I want to change that!

Although I decided this about an hour ago when I woke up from my nap (best nap ever), I remembered I made some pesto rice for dinner last night in my rice cooker. Talk about yummy. It's not exactly cute and it's not shaped like a leprechaun or a pot of gold, but it is definitely delicious. My ode to St. Patty's Day will come tomorrow when I host at St. Patty's party for my residents in the dorm!

Have you joined yet? Click to read more about it!

Before we get to the rice - an update on the Couch to 5k challenge!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little disappointed with myself. This past week I was feeling really good on the first two days, where my running routine on the first day consisted of:

• Brisk 5 min. warmup walk
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 min)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 min)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 min)
• Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 min)
• Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 min)

And on the second day: 

• Brisk 5 min. warmup walk 
• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 min)
• Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 min)
• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 min)

Honestly, my legs didn't hurt at all during these workouts. I was pumped, and I didn't even have to stop to take a break during the 5 or 8 minute running sessions! I was ready for Friday to come, when my workout would consist of:

• Brisk 5 min warmup walk
• Jog 2 miles without stopping (or 20 min)

Yes, I was intimidated, but I wanted to reach that goal. Then...it didn't happen. I managed to run a complete mile before having to stop, and then I walked/ran the last mile in alternating increments. It was hard, and my shins hurt a little more afterwards than normal. 

So now I'm feeling bummed. 

That's not to say I haven't made progress; I know I've been doing really well, and running that mile was 1/4 mile longer than the distance I ran in the previous workout, which is still good. I just continue to get nervous thinking about my upcoming 5Ks and wonder if I'll be able to push through it. 

I meant to run outside today, because the weather was beautiful and I still need to figure out my Garmin, but exhaustion hit and I needed to take a nap. So I did. A nice, long, nearly 5 hour nap, actually! I plan on doing some Jillian DVDs before bed tonight, so at least I get somewhat of a workout in today.

Okay, without further ado, my recipe for pesto rice! Yummy.

3 Ingredient Pesto Rice
Ingredients
1/2 jar basil pesto (approximately 4.4 oz.)
1 1/4 c. rice of choice
Water

Directions
1. Cook rice and water according to package directions, depending on what rice you choose to use. I used Arborio rice because that's what I had sitting around.
2. Once rice has been cooked, fluff it with a fork, and then mix in pesto. Stir until rice is covered.

I'm not sure what could be easier than that. Of course, you could make your own pesto, but when you are a college student who needs to save money (or needs to learn to save money, instead of buying tons of food, like me...), jarred pesto is the way to go. Especially when you get a jar in the mail from your foodie pen pal and want to devour the whole jar because its the best pesto you've ever eaten :)

I served it with some steamed baby carrots, drizzled with honey. I've been on a honey kick recently. So yummy!

Alright folks, that's all for now - have a lovely rest of your St. Patty's Day!
Much love,