Product Review: Seeds 4 Peace

Hey guys! 

I apologize for my rather depressing post a few days ago. I'm all better now - we're both really happy with our decision to break up and we are staying good friends. In fact, we are even getting Yagoot (frozen yogurt) on Sunday. I call that pretty good, right? 

Other news - I'm in love with my internship. I know I mentioned that before, but seriously - I love it, and I would be ecstatic if it turned into a job after I graduate. Which - isn't that scary? The thought of college graduation? These four years have flown by. I had no idea they would go so quickly! What the heck am I going to do after I graduate!? Scary. 

Fun things I did this week: 

Wine & movie night with the roomies. I <3 Bradley Cooper! 

Made hot chocolate peanut butter pancakes with my bestie, Blake

Made peach & plum crumble

Ate free cupcakes at work 

Enjoyed the view in Downtown Cincinnati where I work

Clearly, it's been a fun week. And did I mention that Tess and I (the other intern at work) are going to an Ingrid Michaelson concert. How cool is that?! I'm so excited!

Alright, I have another product review for you guys. This is the last one for a while, promise!

Let's talk about Seeds 4 Peace. I met this company while in Washington D.C. at the Fancy Food Show with my last internship, and I loved their product. The company was really friendly, and they sent me some samples of their product. It's a brand spanking new company, and they got rave reviews about their product at the food show. Pretty neat, hm? THey sent me three tubes of each of their flavors - 3 each of the sunflower seeds, and 3 each of the pumpkin seeds. Here are the flavors: 

Sunflower Seeds

Sea Salt & Black Pepper

Chile Lime

Habanero BBQ

Pumpkin Seeds

Honey Mustard

Wasabi Soy

Cinnamon and Sugar

Honestly, I loved all of the flavors, but my favorites were the honey mustard pumpkin seeds and the chili lime sunflower seeds. Both are only 180 calories for the entire tube, which I think is pretty good for seeds.

I also really like that the tubes make the seeds easily portable. I throw them in my backpack and eat them in the middle of class when I need a snack and have been in class all day. My classmates always comment on how cute the package design is, which I totally agree. The package design is super fun! I highly recommend this company - since they are new, give them some love and order some for yourself!

Okay friends, I have to get up early for work tomorrow and I still need to shower, so I'm off. I love you all. See you soon! <3

Much love, 

Ice Cream Extravaganza!

Everyone,

My apologies for being so stupid/delayed this month with updating the blog. It's been a long and rough past three weeks. I'll quickly give you the quick updates before I dive into reviewing three brands of ice cream (yum):

1. I broke up with my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years. Honestly, I'm glad it's over. I did this because I think it will be the right choice in the long run, for both of us. God has a better plan for me. God has someone better for me. And I can't wait to meet him!

2. I started my internship at Cincinnati Magazine this week - and so far, I love it! My first day was another employee's last day, so we all went out for lunch at some fancy taco place in downtown Cincinnati called Bakersfield - this cute, cowboy bar and restaurant where they serve beer in cowboy boots and margaritas in mason jars - and this local ice cream shop called Hello, Honey. So yummy. I had two tacos at lunch, and a scoop of Maple Walnut Brittle ice cream - talk about delicious. My co-workers are nice, the other intern who works with me from the University of Cincinnati is nice, and fact checking isn't so bad, once I get over my nerves of calling people. I think it'll be a good semester, and hopefully it will turn into something more permanent after I graduate. 

3. I started working out again, finally. Since school has been back in swing, I've been really overeating and not exercising, which needs to change. So today I worked out on the elliptical for a half hour and was sweating pretty hard :) It felt nice.

Those are probably the only exciting things that happened this week, besides the usual publishing of the Newswire and weekly roomie bonding crafts (this week we painted cardboard letters of our initials).

How is everyone doing?

Let's review some ice creams, shall we? Thanks to the companies below for sending me either coupons for free product, or sending me large boxes of ice cream. I loved them all, no matter how they made it into my hands.

Ciao Bella

This is quite possibly my new all time favorite ice cream. There are so many flavors to pick from! More specifically, Ciao Bella makes pints of rich, creamy gelato - high in calories, but worth the splurge. I ran into this company at the Fancy Food Show in Washington DC and spoke with them about reviewing their gelato, and who knew? We were able to work together!

I tried the following products:

Belgian Chocolate Smores Gelato

Malted Milk Ball Gelato

Key Lime Gelato Squares

Raspberry Adonia Greek Yogurt

Wile Blueberry Adonia Greek Yogurt

The frozen Greek yogurt line - Adonia - is new, and pretty delicious. I think it comes in at 130 calories per half cup, which is pretty nice in the world of ice cream calories. Both flavors were yummy and creamy. I enjoyed them. Then again, I always love frozen yogurt, but I think I prefer my fro-yo to be something other than fruit flavors. This would be a good idea for an expansion of this line - chocolate, perhaps? Key lime?

As for gelatos - wow, they were wonderful. So rich and creamy, and key lime anything is a win with me, so I loved the gelato squares (although they are pretty caloric at around 320 calories per small bar). The Begian Chocolate Smores was my favorite flavor, and the Malted Milk Ball was unusually yummy - the gelato itself was malt flavor, with pieces of malted milk ball in the gelato. Really good. I love this company because of their huge selection of unusal flavors, and everything I've tried has always been delicious. Highly recommend this company! Ciao!

Oikos Frozen Greek Yogurt

This company caught my eye while shopping in Kroger (a local grocery store) one day. I picked up the chocolate to look at the calorie damage, and - would you believe it - only 100 calories in a half cup! Woah. Needless to say, I emailed this company right away about reviewing their products, and was happy when they sent me coupons to try their yogurt free!

I tried two flavors: honey & chocolate.

Here is what the honey fro-yo looks like:

The honey flavor was absolutely AMAZING. It had really rich swirls of honey throughout the fro-yo. So good. I liked the honey flavor - this was really unusual, and something I don't normally see as a staple ice cream flavor. I'm excited I got to try it. I highly recommend it. 

I was a little disappointed by the chocolate variety. 

It was a little too ice for me, and not creamy enough. I probably wouldn't get the chocolate flavor again, but I would get any of the other flavors in the Oikos line. Stonyfield also make a great regular frozen yogurt, not part of the Oikos line, called After Dark. That is a dark chocolate fro-yo, and I love it - rich and creamy. It's greek counterpart, however, just doesn't win me over. 

Overall, if you are looking for some good, low calorie ice cream, the Oikos line is great to try. Check out their other fruity flavors, including Peach Mango and Blueberry, for more yummy eats.

Arctic Zero

Last but not least is Arctic Zero. I was really excited to try this company's products because you can eat an entire pint from 150 calories - shocking, I know - and their bars are only 85 calories a bar. I was floored and definitely had to try them!

Arctic Zero sent me a huge package of everything in their line. Crazy, right?

They have eight pint flavors: Vanilla Maple, Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate, Mint Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cookies and Cream, Strawberry, and Coffee. There are also four types of bars: chocolate, vanilla, orange, and strawberry.

By far, my favorite items were the chocolate dipped bars. These were so good and were gone almost immediately. I highly recommend the orange variety.

As for the pints - they were decent, but I can't say that I was in love with them. If you want ice cream but not all the calories, this is a great substitute. I really liked the Mint Chocolate, and all the flavors were good, but it's not something I would rave about. Like I said, good as an ice cream substitute for those dieting. However, the bars are totally worth your money. Love them. Next time you see Arctic Zero at your local grocery, give them a try for a new experience! 

Well, friends - I'm off. Still recovering from the breakup, which isn't fun, and I'm raw. Hurting. I need to stop being sad and sitting in my room all day and actually go do something for once. 

See you later!

WIAW #30: Washington DC

Hey everyone! It's been so long since I've done WIAW - I feel so deprived! 

I still have a lot to tell you guys about Washington DC and the Fancy Food Show, so this week's WIAW will be all about what I ate in DC. What do you think? :) 

Above are some things I ate at our hotel, a greek restaurant, and a fro-yo place I found while wandering around DC. I had oatmeal at the hotel, and they brought out a complimentary strawberry banana smoothie in a shot glass to each customer! Aren't they cute? The drink and the fresh pita were from a greek tapas restaurant called Zaytinya - it was super yummy. The drink was some sort of orange thyme mixed drink. 

Also from Zaytinya - an asparagus salad, baba ganoush, tomatoes & feta, fried eggplant, and... I forget what the little balls on the bottom right are. Oops. 

Still from Zaytinya - another scrumptious mixed drink, roasted brussel sprouts, some sort of ground lamb balls, atlantic char, and dolmas! Dolmas are my all time favorite. I could eat them all day and all night and still not be sick of them. 

Next, we went to a seafood restaurant called Black Salt. I had some rock fish in an asian broth, key lime pie, and two drinks - some sort of alcoholic lemonade and some wine. My first full glass of wine! I liked it more than I thought I would. I'm typically a dessert wine kinda person. I also had some greek yogurt from the food show and dessert at Zaytinya (the picture in the middle left column). Dessert was some sort of greek yogurt, apricot, and pistachio. 

Doesn't it look like a scrumptious trip? I have more pictures to share of exactly what I did while I was in DC - but that is for another time! :) Happy WIAW, loves!

Much love, 

Internships & FroYo

Tomorrow is my first day at my new internship!

I am a little bit nervous, but I know my boss is nice and dress seems to be dressy casual (which I like a lot). So at least I have those things going for me! The internship is in Clifton, not far from the University of Cincinnati's campus or my boyfriend's house :). I will be interning three days a week from 9 am - 12 pm. On those same days (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays), I will then be heading back to Xavier's campus to work on the campus paper, The Newswire. Except for tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment. Yikes!

I am interning at Daelia's Biscuits for Cheese - a gourmet biscuit company, used to enhance your cheese-eating experience. I will be managing the company's social media accounts and develop a Facebook strategy for giving out coupons to fans - I'm assuming contests, giveaways, and things like that. Do you have any creative ideas for how to award coupons to Daelia's fans? 

I have been doing really well with sticking to working out - I have worked out every single day this past week! I already see significant improvements from all the strength training I have been doing.

This DVD, along with Jillian Michaels, has been really helping me to sculpt and tone (or tone, lift, and cinch as the Tone It Up ladies call it!). I love looking at my thighs and seeing how sculpted they already are after only a work. It's crazy. I love it! I also think I have lost some weight in the past weight, which makes me really happy.

I have also been doing fairly well with eating right - lean, clean, and green - but today I splurged and had some of Ben & Jerry's new Greek Frozen Yogurt.

I got the Raspberry Fudge Chunk. It is super yummy! This frozen yogurt is a bit icier in texture than others, but so good. It really has a fresh raspberry taste to it, and a half cup serving has 200 calories. I started out eating a 1/4 cup serving, and then went back for another 1/4 cup because it was so good. I also indulged in some fresh strawberries and a small piece of pound cake with whipped cream for Mother's Day. Dinner consisted of a salad, Asian glazed salmon, and mashed cauliflower. Yummy. Back to healthier eating tomorrow!

My hope is that this will be my healthiest summer yet. I want to reach my goal weight and have sculpted arms. That's my goal! Think I can do it? :)

If I plan on working out tomorrow morning before my internship, I need to head to bed. Oh! One more thing before I sign off. Look what my boyfriend surprised me with today!

Yellow roses! Aren't they pretty? :)

That's all for now. See you later everyone!

Much love,

WIAW #25 {it's a good week}

Hello dear WIAW friends! I've missed you all!

A lot has been going on this week. First of all, it has definitely been another week of unhealthy eats. I've done way too much overeating and snack on too much desserts and sweet treats (although the pictures I took don't show that)...I'm getting frustrated with myself. I also still haven't been able to run, thanks to homework, again. That is also frustrating... my 5k is approaching and I'm worried I won't be ready!

On the bright side: I was chosen as Xavier University's next Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper! I'm so excited! Honestly, I never thought I would be picked. You know what they told me part of the reason was that they hired me?

I had lots of experience with online blogging. Thanks to my blog, I got the job! How awesome is that?

I also got an A- on a paper (unexpected), a white iPhone (my new form of constant distraction), and tomorrow is the official start of my Easter break. What could be better?

I can't wait to try Jenn's challenge this month - eat an extra serving of veggies every day! I definitely need to do that, as well as cut back on my portion sizes. I'm a much better snacker than regular meal eater, I've discovered.

Some eats this week: {peach soy yogurt, veggie lasagna, brown rice with gardein buffalo wings, bread with lentil dip, and tangerine creamsicle thinkthin bar}

And not to mention...

{Frozen yogurt!}

These were all delicious - I loved every bite of them. And I've been on an intense lasagna kick recently. I crave it all the time! It's terrible! I had it twice this week - two different variations - and I still want more. So, so good. 

This week, I'm looking for some tips on how to restrain yourself from overeating/snacking/etc. What do you do? Does it work? 

Thanks, loves! See you seen and keep the WIAW party going strong! 

Much love,

I love to shop.

Stuart skipped his first class this morning, so we stayed in bed until probably 11:40am... :) I love sleeping in late. Then we both got ready and headed towards campus... he went to class, and I went on a shopping spree.

First I stopped at American Apparel, where I didn't find anything. Then I went to Clifton Natural Foods... great idea! SO MANY GREAT THINGS. I bought hazelnuts, carob covered almonds, carob fruit and nut circles, cacao and goji chocolate squares, and free magazines to read. They had a lot of awesome things there I've never seen before, and an entire area dedicated to vegan sweets (muffins, cookies, cakes, breads, fruit and oat bars, doughnuts, and so much more...) It was hard to turn more things down.

Then I headed to Urban Outfitters. So expensive, but I absolutely LOVE that store. I headed to the sale section downstairs, and lo and behold... cheap kitchen items!! I got two Alice in Wonderland plates for only $2.99 each (I later decided I should have got a matching set of 4....oh well), a cute squirrel plate, ceramic ice cream cone measuring sppons, and a cute little plush owl for my friend Megan. Adorable. I almost bought bacon flavored popcorn (it was vegan!) for for $6 for only 3 packages, I decided to pass.

Then I walked to the new frozen yogurt store, Yogurt Vi. I really just wanted to check it out, because I heard it was like Yagoot, except you fill your bowl and put toppings on it yourself. Naturally, I didn't plan on buying any because it's not vegan. HOWEVER....the first thing I see when I walk in was orange sorbet (which is vegan, my friends!) SO EXCITED!!! I filled my bowl and put kiwi, strawberries, and mango pieces on top. I also tried a couple pieces of jackfruit (not the greatest), lychee (delicious!) and logan fruits (similar tasting to lychee, except lychee was better). Overall, this is MUCH better than Yagoot. You get more for your money and have a much wider variety of flavors and toppings. Great experience. Stuart met me there after class and he got some cheesecake frozen yogurt with a bunch of cheesecake pieces, hot fudge and fruit.

I stayed at his house until  around 4, then headed home. After eating dinner at LaRosas we journeyed to Whole Foods, where I spent a good fifty bucks....



I plan on experimenting with some recipes from Ani's Raw Food Essentials over break. I plan on making a bunch of different things, including raw pizza and cookies, so I'll post pictures later on how that went... I bought: flour, raw agave, buckwheat groats, hazelnuts, raw cashews, brown flax seeds, sucanat, chickpeas, raw sunflower seeds, raw kale chips, almond milk and vegan cane sugar. Whew!! I also bought two freshly baked vegan bundt cakes.. one carrot cake, and one mocha chocolate chip. Delicious.

Then we returned home and headed to Kroger to pick up some fruit and vegetables...

And yes...I DID put all my produce together in color batches :) Some is just for eating, and some will be used to make raw soups and pizza and breads...Overall, a great day. I also got some cupcakes from Sugar Cupcakery that are now in freezer...one is chocolate with a ginger almond butter icing...and the other is strawberry rhubarb! Tomorrow is Earth Day, and Sugar Cupcakery is giving away free cupcakes to those who bring a container to put them in, and a free cup or coffee if you bring your own mug! I'll be there as soon as they open :)

Finally, one parting picture that I found in Kroger. Princess grapes! I'm so excited they are now marketing fruit as a Disney product.. I'm sure it makes them taste better... :) And they have Disney trivia on teh back of the bag. Have a lovely night!