Homemade Cinnamon Apple Chips

Whew! Hey everyone! Long time no talk, right?

This past week has been a whirlwind. Tons of packing, moving back to campus, unpacking, working on the newspaper, writing papers for internship class credit, gathering things to send to my foodie pen pal - crazy! That being said, I haven't had a lot of free time to blog or do anything on the side. But here I am, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with blogging once again!

I moved back to the on campus apartments at Xavier, the Commons, for my senior year. Its nice having a whole room to myself this time, instead of being in a double. I tend to over pack (always), so I have a crap ton of clothes and shoes here that don't fit in my dresser. Luckily I has a HUGE closet to store them in!

First things first - the three winners of the Hot Pants giveaway and the winner of the Shabby Apple giftcard - chosen by random.org!

Zagorra Hot Pants Winners

Moonsword

Tweetyscute

Dena @ 40 Fit in the Mitt

Shabby Apple $50 Giftcard Winner

Mkbell

Congrats to everyone! If all the winners could please email me ASAP with their mailing addresses & emails, that would be much appreciated. Thanks to everyone for participating!

Today we are talking apple chips. Yummy, homemade apple chips. They are delicious and have no added sugar - even better! Here's how to make them!

You'll need: 

Apples

Cinnamon

How Do I Make Them? 

1. Take apples and thinly slice them, either on a mandolin or by hard with a sharp knife. The thinner you slice your apples, the quicker they will cook. Don't worry about coring them - the seeds will fall out as the apples cook!

2. Place apples on a parchment line cookie sheet and sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon. 

3. Place a 200 degree oven and bake for 2-3 hours, until the apples are wrinkly. They may feel soft when touched, but they will become crispy as they cool. 

4. Remove from oven and eat! Yummy! 

I'm addicted to these things. Seriously. They are so good and make for the perfect snack while studying or reading.

Talk to you guys soon!

Much love,

Product Review & Giveaway: Viva Hot Pants

About a month ago, I received a pair of Hot Pants Viva from Zaggorra in the mail to review. 

According to the website and the little user manual I received with the pants, these pants make women lose weight 4x faster when they exercise in these pants. This is because Hot Pants contain Celu-Lite technology, which uses your natural body heat to generate results. 

A study done at Brighton University found that these pants raised core body temperature (after exercising for 30 minutes) by 18%, increase energy expenditure by 7% during exercise, and calorie burn increases by 26% in the hour after exercising. Naturally, the more calories you burn, the quicker you will lose weight! 

I was excited to try these pants, mainly because of the above statements and the bright colors they come in: pink, blue, orange, green, and yellow. I received the yellow pants. The yellow color wasn't quite as bright as the picture online makes it out to be - I expected a lot brighter - and I'm not sure if I would ever wear these to the gym because of their color. If they had been blue or something a little more neutral, definitely. 

The first thing I noticed about these pants is that they fit very snuggly. This is how they are supposed to fit. The next thing I noticed was that the pants make a swishy sound when you walk around in them, which can be kind of obnoxious if you are at the gym. However, in the comfort of your own home (which is where I wear them), it doesn't really matter. They also make exercising a heck of a lot harder. I did a Jillian Michaels workout with these pants on and then did the same workout later in shorts, and let me tell you - so much easier in the shorts! My guess is that this is from the Celu-Lite fabric lining, and this is why you burn more calories when you work out. The pants add more resistance to your workout, which makes your workout harder, which in turn makes you burn more calories from working harder. 

The question remains: do they actually make you lose weight faster? I took the Hot Pants "2 Week Challenge" - wear the pants when you workout for two weeks and see what happens. So I did just that. No fancy workouts or longer workouts - just what I would have done anyways. I did mostly Jillian Michael's DVDs during this time. 

The result? I lost 5 pounds in those two weeks. So I guess they do work! 

GIVEAWAY TIME!

The people at Zaggora have offered to giveaway three pairs of their Hot Pants Viva. How awesome is that?! That means three lucky winners will win a pair! What color do you want? Here's how to enter - just a leave a separate comment for each entry. 

1. Tell me why you want to try these pants and what color you would prefer to win.

2. Subscribe to Passing Daisies by email (3 entries)

3. Follow me on GFC or Blogger 

4. Tweet about this giveaway, include a link, and tag @cityxlights13

Giveaway ends Wednesday, August 15th at 11:59PM EST. Giveaway open to readers anywhere in the world.

Much love,