Showing posts with label pesto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pesto. Show all posts

3.30.2012

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!

The Lean Green Bean


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,

3.17.2012

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!

The Recipe Project
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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,