And the winners are… August 24, 2009

You people are the best limerick writers.  Hands down.

I literally laughed my way through reading each and every one of them.  Seriously…if you need a good laugh, click here and read. Classic.

 

Our first winner is #58 Holly (fabulous name!) who wrote:

“I think that PB&J would be so yummy.
I’d like it to be happy in my tummy.
Holly– look, we share that name.
And our layout is nearly the same.
Oh, PB & J Larabar I will unwrap you like a mummy!!!”

 

Next up, #15 and one of my fave gals, Miss Ellie from Inside I’m Still Dancing, who rhymed:

“There once was a fruit called cherry
which was SO much more than a berry
It got smooshed with some nuts
well, legume- no ‘buts!)
and made my stomach merry!”

 

And finally, two-time Healthy Everythingtarian giveaway winner, #4: Lynn from The Actor’s Diet!

“here i am trying to rhyme
to win some bars that are sublime
the pb and j
make me go hey
and i won’t even spend a dime”

 

Send me your mailing info at healthyeverythingtarian@gmail.com, and those Laras will be all yours!  Trust me, you are going to want to eat these ASAP.

Happy Monday y’all!

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Welcome to America’s Dairyland! August 22, 2009

Madison a.k.a. the state capital of Wisconsin yo!

Welcome ladies and gents, children and babies, friends and families to the home of cheese – WISCONSIN (pronounced Wiss-cahhhhn-sin if you are from the Midwest)!  I thought y’all might like a little pic of where yours truly roamed her college days as well as current days.  

FYI: The State Capitol’s dome is one of the largest in the world.  Ya heard it here.

 

Flashback to last night…

Believe it or not, I got EVERYTHING done on my to-do list, with a few modifications of course.  I scrapped the Mint thang because online budgeting was too dang confusing.  Instead, I relied on my old friend Excel to whip up a nice lil’ spreadsheet.  Second, I found no plug-in converter at Target and forgot the oven cleaner.  However, I did pick up some cooking spray, butter, a dress and the new Shape magazine.  Damn you Tarjay!

grilled balsamic veggie wrap

1/2 container Siggi's Icelandic yog + raspberry jelly + ground flax

POM Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea

The lovely peeps at POM (shoutout to you Molly!) sent me some of their POMx tea to try.  It’s got a new name, new flavors and is light!  It’s real brewed tea with 100% POM juice and other natural flavas.  I’ve also got Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea + Pomegranate Wildberry White to try!

After reading the label (always a must!), I have one small frustration: fructose + erythritol-sweetened.  Although these claim to be “natural,” we all know the truth from the Vitamin Water 10 shenanigans of yore.

 

This mornin’…

With 15 miles on the brain, I set my alarm for 7am.  That way I could eat, wait an hour then venture out around 8am to get the torture party started.  Unfortunately, the allergies + cold that has been brewing all week reared its head when my alarm went off.  Hence, hit the snooze and slept for another hour.  

I woke-up at 8am, still not feeling the greatest (think sinus headache, sore throat + phlegm), but I downed a plain white bagel with a bit o’ buttah and read some bloggies while I let the food settle.  Then I geared up and headed out!

 

Distance: 15.04 miles (according to MapMyRun)

Time: 2:50

Average pace: 10:00/mile

 

No, I don’t have a Garmin – these are estimates done the old-fashioned way!  If you are a math whiz, you will see 10:00/mile for 15 miles does not equal that time.  However, I am taking into consideration a crapload of stoplights I had to wait for, two Clif Shot Blok + water breaks (2-4 minutes each) and MapMyRun error.

By the way, head over to Matt’s blog at No Meat Athlete for an awesome guide to surving a 1/2 or full-marathon!

Overall, the run felt pretty good.  I definitely felt sinusy (is that a word?), so I just kept it nice, steady and slow.  The weather was fabulous (60 degrees when I left the house – PERFECT) and since I did it alone with no music or friends running with me, I was very happy.

Happier to devour this when I got home though…

Pineapple Chobs, Cherry Cashew PURE Bar + strawbs (along with a swimming pool-size water)

I forgot to mention this to ya yesterday, but I got my own swag bag of goodness in the mail yesterday from winning Kristin’s giveaway.  Go check out her DROOLWORTHY photographs and show some love to a fellow Midwestern!

PURE bars, PURE tees and a PURE bag

By the time I got home, talked to the ‘rents, showered, ate + grabbed a Cafe Au Lait (1/2 skim milk + 1/2 coffee), I missed most of the Madtown Farmer’s Market :(.  However, I did score 1 bunch of leeks + 1 bunch of beets for $2 from a stand just closing up.

Then it was time to visit a Madison landmark…Ian’s Pizza!

no need to adjust your screens...that is in fact MAC N' CHEESE pizza!

You have no idea how many pieces of this has been consumed by yours truly at about 2:15am on a Saturday night (slash Sunday morning) back in the college days.

I arrived back at la casa de Holly, having shopped around for about 4 miles.  So yes, my legs hate me right now. Hence why I am going to finish chomping my Banana Nut Cheerios + sunflower seeds and finish dranking my green tea + Emergen-C packet to kick this allergy cold and make some dindin.  Gots lots of fruits and veggies to make up for!

 

Some q’s, just because I like to get to know y’all better…

(1) What is your state capital? Obv, look above.

(2) What is your favorite cheese?  Gruyere…I’m classy like that.

(3) What is your favorite pizza?  Cheese for everyday ordering, Mac n’ Cheese on special occasions.

 

If you want to win those new, elusive Lara flavors, you have until Sunday night!  Write me a lovely limerick about your fave Lara here and get entered for 1 of 3 chances.  Woowoo!

So Much To Do August 21, 2009

Happy Friday dudes and dudettes!

I am posting this early because yours truly has TONS she really needs to get done tonight.  Plus, it will most definitely be an early bedtime for that 15-mile long marathon training run tomorrow morn!

43 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!  Ahhhhhhh!

Since I am taking on Sarah’s breakfast challenge to eat a different breakfast for the next week, I needed a change up from yesterday’s yogurt + berries and AB+J sammie.  The obv choice was Overnight Oats!

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup Siggi’s blueberry yogurt
1/4 cup POM juice

~ sit overnight ~

3/4 cup strawbs
hunk o’ almond butter 

welcome back overnight oats

These are thick, creamy and hit the spot on a warm summer morning.  TWSS.

Mid-morning snack was something I’ve been anticipating for awhile….the Peanut Butter and Jelly Larabar!

mmmm, mmmm good!

I have officially NEVER met a Lara I didn’t like.  Delish.

Since it was Fun Lunch Friday today, the gang and I headed to one of my Madtown faves for some lovely eats, including this beauty:

Grilled Salmon Salad

This monster has mixed greens, hardboiled eggs, green beans, potatoes, red onion, tomato, grilled salmon and a lemon caper creme fraiche dressing.  Dee-lish-uss!

On the way back to the office, I grabbed a Diet Coke.  Honestly, I haven’t had many Diet Cokes in the past month – I am sooo proud of myself!  Today was a treat, and I enjoyed it with a handful of yummy pretzels.

Diet Coke + pretzels = one of the best combos eva!

How am I going to top this fabulous day of eats for dinner?  I have no idea.  All I know is I have a big head of kale screaming my name in the crisper, and it wants to be used up.  Stat.

My to-do list for the evening (PLEASE hold me accountable for this!):

• Sign-up for Mint.com to track my finances and create a budget
• Look through insurance info and decide on a health plan
• Target (pillow, oven cleaner, batteries + two-three prong converter – that’s it!)
• Bloggy thangs – changes in the works!
• Clean the living room + Swiffer the hardwood floors

And of course, cook up a gourmet dinner :).

Alright homies, whatcha up to this weekend?  Spill the deets.  I’m also thinking of going to the fabulous Madison Farmer’s Market tomorrow morn (Jenna knows what I am talking about!) and just relaxing, along with lots of yoga!

 

Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win all 3 new flavas of Larabars – you have until Sunday to put your rhyming skills to good use and take home this Lara-licious giveaway.  EVERYONE is welcome to enter!

Scatterbrained August 20, 2009

Guess what I did for the first time ever today?  Yeah, that’s right – Miss Scatterbrained forgot her camera at home. The horror!

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, so yours truly has some bangin’ breakfast and dinner eats that will surely make up for the lack of lunchie + snack pics.

Strawberry Oikos + Strawbs alongside a AB+J on Sprouted Spelt Bread

My personal review of Strawberry Oikos?  AY-FREAKIN-MAZING!

Since I’ve joined the bandwagon on Sarah’s breakfast challenge, I had to make something new.  Although the combos are faves, I usually don’t have them for brekkie.  I need to shake it up like this more often!

 

Mid-morning snack: Banana Nut Cheerios + sunflower seeds

Lunch: Green salad (1 big handful mixed greens, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup green pepper, sunflower seeds + drizzle of ranch dressing), Musselman’s Raspberry Acai applesauce + Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar

Mid-afternoon snack: 1 1/2 servings honey wheat pretzel twists + Pomegranate Chobani Greek yogurt

 

The Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar + Pomegranate Chobani = two new faves.  Seriously, pick these suckers up.  Now.

For dindin, I headed over to my friend Amy’s house, who I have known since 9th grade.  That doesn’t seem like that long, and then I remember I am 24 years old, which means I’ve known her for 10 years.  Yowza…I am a g-ma! With the help of our fellow Midwesterner Kristin, we had seriously one of the best dinners I’ve had maybe ever…enter Lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichoke Salsa!

gorgeous plates courtesy of Amy + Target

up close and personal

with a glass of pinot grigio

a VEGAN-licious dessert

That would be 1/2 Vegan Monster Chocolate cookie + 1/2 Vegan Chocolate Chip cookie over vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream each.  Perfect topper for a perfect dinner.

Plus, a side of new puppy…

this one is for you Janetha - me and Amy's new pup Charlie (seriously, soooo cute!)

Whoa…I don’t know if in fact I did eat too much today, but I am seriously stuffed!  Must be all that marathon training workin’ up a large appetite :).

After dinner, I raced back to the apartment because one of my best friends Megan made a rest stop here tonight before continuing on a loooonnng car journey tomorrow.  She showed up wearing a t-shirt that says “Polish Kitchen,” which she got at a Polish festival she recently attended – love that girl.

Now, I need to go and snuggle with my Polish gal.  Night y’all!

 

Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win all 3 new flavas of Larabars – you have until Sunday to put your rhyming skills to good use and take home this Lara-licious giveaway.  EVERYONE is welcome to enter!

Handsomely Rewarded August 19, 2009

Yes, that is today’s theme.

Confused?  As always, let’s just jump right in!  Although I wouldn’t say breakfast was necessarily handsome, but it sure was gosh darn rewarding (for my stomach, that is).

Barbie's Peanut Butter Puffins, skim milk + naner

After a two-hour meeting, my stomach hated me.  In turn, I rewarded it for its patience by channeling Cleopatra once again and eating my organic red grapes sans handsome banana leaf wielding men to fan me.

just call me Cleopatra

black beans masquerading as poop is not handsome

However, the avocado remained both handsome and rewarding :).

The mid-afternoon munchies were everything a gal could ask for.  I like to call it (d) all of the above.  Salty, sweet, handsome + rewarding.  Does it get any better than that?

honey braided twist pretzels

more pretzels dipped in my new fave applesauce

Before I knew it, I was handsomely rewarded.  The past couple weeks, my days have absolutely FLOWN by, and before I knew it, twas’ the end of the day.  I walked my mile home, threw on some running gear, popped two Black Cherry Clif Shot Bloks (great for peeps who don’t like the goos or jellybeans) and cranked out 7 miles.

When I got home, I rewarded myself with this handsome dinner…

garlic zucchini omelet atop a bed of sauteed kale

up close and personal

Luna & Larry's Pineapple Coconut Milk Ice Cream

As if that dinner wasn’t enough of a reward, I decided to bebop over to Whole Foods for some mysterious ingredients for a certain dinner party I shall be attending tomorrow night.  I enter those fateful doors and what do I see…

the THREE flavors of yogurt I had been dying to try!

…oh my children, it gets better!!!

you know what these babers are

Does it get any more handsome or rewarding than this?  I mean…Jake Gyllenhaal or the Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar? Okay, I would still pick Jake, but you get my point.

Soooo…you are probably thinking, but Holly – that’s great you had a handsomely rewarding day, but what about the rest of us?  I am one step ahead of you.  I know some of you are still trying to find the elusive Laras (it took me awhile too!) so I thought why not share the love with a GIVEAWAY!

That’s right…the best part?  There is not one set of the new Laras but THREE sets to giveaway!

Jocalat German Chocolate Cake
Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar
Peanut Butter and Jenny Jelly Larabar 

it is your turn to be handsomely rewarded

Here’s whatcha gotta do:

(1) Write me a limerick about your favorite Larabar flavor or the flavor you would most like to try
(doesn’t even have to be a new one!) in the comments section.

For a limericks refresher, click here.
(***Hint: 5 lines, rhyming pattern AABBA)

(2) Link back to this post on your blog and leave a 2nd comment with the link.  If you don’t
have a blog, just write me a 2nd comment about something random.  It don’t matter.

 

There will be three winners who will each receive the three new Laras.  The giveaway ends on Sunday night at 10pm CST, and winners will be announced Monday morning!  

That will give you something to look forward to for that icky Monday morn :).  Now I need to get to bed before I eat all the Larabars currently in sight.

Taking on the Twinkies July 23, 2009

Happy day to y’all dudes and dudettes!

I am going to interrupt your day quickly to reveal the oh-so-knowledgable winners of the Twinkie Challenge!  I totally thought this Sporcle game, “Can you name the ingredients of a Twinkie?” was too much fun to pass up.  It’s just such a good reminder to read your ingredients labels and know what is going in your body – whether you eat it or not!

And so, without further ado, our Hostess geniuses with a score of 20 out of 28 ingredients (I don’t know how you knew all those ingredients!) are…

Fabulously intelligent reader Chelsea & running machine Matt from “Run, Live and Enjoy”!

 

Send me your contact info peeps so I can send you a lifetime supply of Twinkies a fun customized gift – not sure what it will exactly be yet, but trust me, it will be good!

See ya back in a bit for more Healthy Everythingtarian love – calzones are on the menu tonight, I am excited!

It’s a Matter of Equations July 22, 2009

For the record, yours truly has always been a writing and English kind of gal.  Math and me, although acquaintances throughout grades K-12, could never quite solidify a close relationship.  Until now.

Apparently, it’s taken a love of healthy yummy food to reunite math and I in a well…loving, healthy relationship.  The key to our happiness?  Equations, of course!

 

1/3 cup oat bran + 1 (6-oz.) container Stonyfield French Vanilla yogurt + 1/3 cup skim milk +
2 spoonfuls unsweetened shredded coconut + 1/2 mashed naner
——————————————————————————————-
1/2 cup strawbs + spoonful raw almond buttah

=

breakfast heaven

Berrynananut Overnight Oat Bran

Without equations, how would I ever concoct the perfect bowl of Overnight Oat Bran (based off of Miss Snackface’s recipe)?  Hmmmm…I really need to reconsider math.  He has single-handedly revolutionalized the morning oatmeal industry and made Kath oat-famous ;).

whole wheat tortilla
1/2 mashed avocado
glob o’ pine nut hummus
handful spinach

+

Mrs. May’s Almond Clusters

+

celery sticks

=

lunch plate of love

my newest Mrs. May's product tasting

scrumpdiddlyumptious lunch

Most of all, I would probably coming crashing down on my keyboard (with key indentations on my face) in the afternoons if it wasn’t for my yogurt-mixing abilities…courtesy of Mr. Math (obv).

 

1 container any type of yogurt + 1 cup berries (+/- 1/4 cup granola (optional)) = perfection

fave afternoon schnack

The one place me and math differ?  M&M’s.  You can’t count them.  You just need to eat them.  Lots of them.  Preferably of the peanut or peanut butter variety.

my fave are the yellows...probably b/c they are the worst artificial coloring

M&M handful (x2 or more) + 1 cup of chickety chai green tea
= a serious addiction

 

The best math however, involves both inanimate and animate objects.  In my case, that would be food + friends.  Probably one of the real tried and true equations there is out there.  Sorry Einstein….e=mc^2 just doesn’t cut it.

 

Roat Osha Thai food + long-time friends + a night of beach volleyball = a good night

Chicken Pad Thai

Som Tam (my fave!) a.k.a. Spicy Papaya Salad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my plate of Thai goodness

Shrimp Massaman Curry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These three dishes – split between the three of us ladies – was the perfect dinner (plus a nice lil’ 2nd helping of each).  It was also perfect pre-volleyball fuel for our last regular season game…which we WON!  Hallelujah…we do actually have some talent! 

 

My final math equation:

X = breakfast
Y = all other food
Z = stress
a = friends
b = a job interview
c = handfuls of peanut M&Ms
d = going to bed

 

(X +3Y) x 3c
————————-
3a – 1/2Z + (bd)
=
good times

 

Take that Sir Isaac Newton.

Don’t forget to check out the Twinkie Challenge!  There will be a special, customized prize for the winner!  You have until 8am CST tomorrow – get on that people!