WIAW #34: Fitness + Babysitting

Hey ladies and gents! Welcome to another What I Ate Wednesday! So glad to be back to the WIAW party.

Here's a look at what I ate on Tuesday... 

{BREAKFAST} Nature Valley Peanut Butter granola bar // coffee {LUNCH} Archer Farm's Raspberry Creme Brulee granola // Hard boiled egg // Fresh raspberries {SNACKS} Apple // Orange // Dark chocolate square // Half of a Hail Merry persian lime tart {DINNER} Little Caesar's pepperoni pizza // Crazy Bread

All in all, I consider that to be an okay day of eating. To be honest, I didn't really want the pizza, but it was free since I was babysitting tonight and that's what the kiddos ate. Not healthy, but I gotta take each day as it comes. Below are a few pictures - some things from today, others from earlier this week.

Speaking of falling into good habits, I'm heading back to the gym after a long hiatus. This time I think I'll actually stick with it, thanks to my dad's recent quadruple bypass surgery. I never want to end up in a hospital, let alone in surgery. And to avoid both of those things, I need to start eating right and working out consistently. So here's a look at today's trip to the gym:

{FITNESS} Ran .61 miles on treadmill // Walked on treadmill // Elliptical for 30 minutes // Weight training (thighs) 

{CALORIES BURNED} Roughly 320 cal

Also an okay day. Yesterday, I had more intense of a workout...I started working out my arms on the weight machines, which is something I haven't done in, oh, I don't know...a year. Or something ridiculous. And BOY am I STILL feeling that workout! Crazy! I also burned an intense 590 calories between walking on the treadmill and the cross trainer. Tomorrow I will be focusing on cardio + ab workouts. Yikes. Haven't worked my abs in about as long as my arms...

If you are having problems with being bored at the gym (I have this problem all the time!) I recommend that you find a great fiction book and read it. Something that makes time fly by. That's when I work my hardest! I've been reading The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson and it's wonderful. Also, drink coffee an hour before you work out. It makes your workout seem less challenging. No joke - I tried it today and it worked. I read about it in last month's issue of Women's Health!

Remember the kiddos I said I babysat tonight? Their names are Jameson (four years old) and Mac (two years old). Check out their adorable selves:

Cuties, right?!

So, today I am meeting up with local granola maker Christy from Whirly Bird Granola to get some samples and start on a product review! How exciting is that?! I love meeting local foodies and learning about their stuff!

That's all for now. But before I sign off, I have a couple questions for YOU...

How do you stay motivated to get to the gym? [I make a weekly gym schedule + I never want to have health problems]

What exciting plans do you have for Thanksgiving?! 

P.S. - Did you check out my new Holiday Gift Guide series?!

Love from Foodie Pen Pals!

First of all, I would like to give a huge shout out to my Foodie Pen Pal for this month - Carrie from Family, Fitness, Food - for working with me. My schedule was a bit special this month because of my spring break, when I was traveling in Virginia and not around a computer most of the week. She was great. Thanks so much, Carrie! You can check out what I sent Carrie by heading over to her blog and taking a peek!

I am always really excited when a Foodie Pen Pal box arrives. This was no exception. In fact, I was so excited that I was trying my hardest to open the box while still in the elevator heading back to my room!

Let's take a closer look at what was in the box!

First, let's admire those little jars of love. Although I haven't tried the tapenade yet, I love kalamata olives, so  I'm excited to try it! The pesto is already gone; I love pesto and rarely buy it because of the price, so this was great! I used it on rice to to make pesto rice, and I tossed the rest of the jar in some soup I made for added flavor. The soup ended up tasting like italian wedding soup. So delicious! 

Next, I was sent individual packets of all natural peanut butter (how did she know I needed peanut butter?!) and a large box of crackers to use my tapenades and pb on. These were both tasty as well! 

Lastly, she sent a nice sized bag of homemade almond butter granola! This was really, really delicious, and the bag is nearly gone. It is great with some vanilla flax milk and berries!

She also sent some postcards of where she lives - Los Angeles! - and one was a picture of the beach where she runs. How awesome is that? Thanks, Carrie, for the great package and for being such a good sport about working with me this month!

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I'm going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

If you’re interested in participating for March, please send  an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT. - this is SUPER important so you get on the right list!

Much love,

Guest Post: Apricot Oat Bars

Hey guys! Today I have a guest post for you from Annie over at Naturally Sweet Recipes - she and her sisters have the most ADORABLE site! They only post recipes that are sugar free, so for those of you who want to watch your sugar, be sure to check their blog out! Now, without further ado... please welcome Annie!

Hello, Passing Daisies readers! I’m Annie from Naturally Sweet Recipes and I’m so happy to guest post for Rachael! She’s got an amazing blog and I’m thrilled to have the chance to be a part of it!

I share Naturally Sweet Recipes with my 2 lovely sisters, Holly and Chelsea.  We share a common love of good food, but more particularly delicious sweets and desserts! As we’ve experienced some health challenges and learned about healthy eating, we’ve adapted lifestyle habits for better health and well being. This has led us to cook with whole, natural ingredients and bake with natural sweeteners. Naturally Sweet Recipes was born out of a love of baking and cooking and a passion for natural clean eating.

Today, I wanted to share a recipe I made when I first started going sugar free and eating more natural foods. It’s a recipe that was inspired by the food network star Giada De Laurentiis.  Apricot bars are a delicious sweet treat that are loaded with nuts, grains and fruit. Using natural sweeteners, they become pretty healthy! Add a good measure of cinnamon and vanilla and these bars are scrumptious and a bit addicting too!

Apricot Oat Bars
(adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

Filling:
1 1/4 cups (13-ounces) sugar free or naturally sweetened Apricot Jam
10 Dried Apricots, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon Honey

Crust:
1 3/4 cups Spelt Flour
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon (divided) Coconut Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon Sea or Pink Salt
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 3/4 cups plus 1 Tablespoon Oats
3/4 cup coarsely Chopped Walnuts
2/3 cup Honey
1 cup Coconut Oil or unsalted Butter, melted
1 beaten Large Egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
Optional: 1 Tablespoon flax seed

1. Start by mixing your filling of the apricots, jam and honey in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
2.For the crust, mix together your flour, 3/4 cup coconut sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, oats and walnuts. Stir in your honey. 
3. Add the melted coconut oil or butter, beaten egg and vanilla and stir until well combined. 
4. Spray a 7 by 11 or a 9 by 13 baking dish. With clean fingers, press half of the crust mixture firmly in the bottom of your baking dish. Spread your apricot jam filling all over the crust.
5. Cover the apricot filling with the remaining crust mixture and press lightly to flatten and firm. Sprinkle on bars 1 teaspoon of coconut sugar. 
6. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes. Let cool for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Thanks so much, Annie!

If anyone else is interested in writing a guest post for me, or would like me to write a guest post for them. please email me at rachael[at]passingdaisies[dot]net! I can't wait to hear from you all and I would love to feature as many of you as possible!

Much love, 

Product Review: Attune Foods (Uncle Sam Cereal)

I recently chimed in for a Twitter chat with the great people of Attune Foods! I accidentally stumbled upon this chat, just happening to be online between finals with a little time to kill, and the hashtag for the chat popped up on my screen! I though, why not, I'll join in!

The chat was great! Even better, after the chat I was contacted by Annelies from Attune Foods, asking if I would like to do a review of their products. Well, of course I would!

I was sent three boxes of Uncle Sam cereal for review: Original, Strawberry, and Honey Almond. Strawberry and Honey Almond are their two new flavors.

First, right off the bat, I LOVE that there are coupons inside some of the cereal boxes! Inside my boxes of Original and Strawberry I found coupons for free Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars! Those bars are DELICIOUS, so I was really excited about the coupons!

Attune Foods believes that overall health starts with digestive health, and their Uncle Sam cereals definitely promote digestive health with their high-fiber content. They believe in simple ingredients that make you feel your best - again, something Uncle Sam cereal definitely promotes with its minimal ingredients!

The Original flavor was pretty good. It has a deep nutty flavor, tons of vitamins, and is not too sweet. It only contains 1g of sugar per 3/4 c, and is 190 calories! A serving also contains 7g of protein and 10g of fiber! Holy cow! This is a great cereal if you just want something really simple and good for you, since it is made from flax seeds and wheat berries.

Strawberry was even better. It was slightly sweeter and features LARGE pieces of freeze dried strawberries - yummy! Good strawberry flavor, and again, this cereal has a lot of fiber, protein, and nutritional benefits. This cereal features wheat berry flakes instead of kernels, like the Original has.

Finally: Honey Almond. Seeing as I have started eating honey and eggs again, I was excited to dive in to, really, my first honey-containing product since going vegan. This was my favorite of the three cereals. It features TONS of almonds and is slightly sweet, still sweeter than the Strawberry flavor. You can clearly taste the honey and the almond in the cereal. Although this cereal features the least amount of fiber and protein, at 6g each, it still contains a lot of great nutrients.

Overall, I think this is pretty good cereal. I'm a sucker for sugar, so I'm used to sweet cereals that don't fill you up, but these are great and keep you full. They would be great on yogurt or just as a snack!

The Daisy Rating

4/5 daisies

What is your favorite kind of cereal? 

Much love,