Kona Kase — A Belated Review

Where has the time gone?? It seems like suddenly the days all flew by. I got the March Kona Kase weeks ago, but time slipped away and I haven’t been able to give you a full review…until now!

The aspect behind the Kona Kase is to bring the latest in health snacks and treats for the health nut every month, all in a convenient box in your mailbox! You can get all these goodies for just $15 a month.

I loved the inspiration saying on one of the cards in the box:

Anyway, the box had a few new (to me, at least) items, and a couple that I had seen before. I’ve tried the CLIF Shot Bloks while I was training for the Run The Bluegrass, but they’ve been hard to find, so I’m excited to stow away the cran-razz flavor for when I’m able to get back into training! And the Clif Bar Crunch Granola Bar was a nice change for my mid-morning snack at work.

The other yummies included:

Suncups: I absolutely love creamy caramel and chocolate! These are like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, only with caramel, and organic.

TCHO: Inside the box I had four different flavors of chocolate from San Francisco. PureNotes Dark Chocolate (with subtle “nutty” notes), SeriousMilk “Classic” Milk Chocolate with caramel notes, PureNotes Dark Chocolate, and SeriousMilk Cacao Milk Chocolate with lush and fudgy notes. The “notes” were definitely subtle in each flavor. I was a little disappointed in the lack of “nutty notes” in the one flavor (I love nuts in chocolate), but the Cacao Milk Chocolate was smooth and flavorful.

Wild Friends Nut Butter: I’ve never had sunflower seed nut butter, and this was chocolate-flavored, but it was delicious! Especially with my crisp Jazz apple, it made for a great snack at work. I love the pouches because it makes packing easy.

BruBar: An all natural energy bar some times means not the sweetest or the prettiest looking, but it wasn’t too bad. These bars are vegan, with whole grains. I snacked on some before CrossFit one day and it was what I needed to push through a WOD.

Everything packed in this fun, orange box, is perfect to fuel you on the go. I wish I had a hiking trip I could have packed all of this into a bag for, but instead I just spread them out throughout the month!

If you’re interested in trying Kona Kase for yourself, hit up their website for more information.

March Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

In March I decided to join a program called the Foodie Pen Pals (FPP). I had read a few different posts about the program a while ago, and I loved the idea of getting new and different foods from someone in another part of the country, and sharing some things with another.

The person I got to send treats to was Lisa, a physician assistant in Texas, who is on a vegan, gluten-free diet. I have to admit, I don’t have any experience with veganism, and very little experience with gluten-free diets. My grandfather had Celiac Disease towards the end of his life, and at the time there was hardly anything that was gluten-free that was close to tasty. Nowadays, it’s easier to eat gluten-free. So the program forced me out of my comfort zone to find goodies to send to Lisa, but it was a fun shopping trip.

I received an email from Cindy introducing herself to me as my FPP and she had asked a little bit about me so she could send me goodies from her home in Florida. I’m pretty much open to try anything, and I told her so. I was excited to get my package in the mail:

March Foodie Pen Pal Goodies!

Inside was goodies from Plant City, Fla., the “strawberry capital of Florida” (strawberry rhubarb jam? Yes, please!), Amish made honey (how’d she know I was running low on honey?), chocolates, Pim’s cookies, Jelly Belly jelly beans, and one item that actually caught my breath.

Growing up, my grandparents on my dad’s side would give us a sugar egg every year around Easter. I always loved my sugar eggs because I was enthralled with how they got the little chick (or bunny) inside this fragile sugar egg. Cindy had included one of those eggs just as a little extra Easter spirit.

Segar Egg

She included a jar of Cannon’s Country Gourmet Strawberry Rhubarb jam. I couldn’t wait to break open into this (have I mentioned how much I love anything strawberry?) and had some with my whole wheat biscuits and chili Sunday last weekend. It’s delicious–not too sweet, just right.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam & Honey

The chocolates are from Angell & Phelps, a small family-owned chocolate factory in Cindy’s hometown. Cindy said it was a lot like a trip down memory lane when she visits the shop.

Beautiful handmade chocolates!

The Pim’s cookies are European biscuits with raspberry preserves on top and a layer of chocolate coating the top. They look delicious!

The entire box has been enticing me throughout the month of March. I haven’t been able to really try much of the contents because I gave up chocolate for Lent. But now I’m savoring every piece of this silky, smooth chocolate.

Want to get in on the action? You can still sign up for April!

Here are a few details about Foodie Penpals. 

-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 & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. 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. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup.

Recipe: Greek Yogurt Devil’s Food Cake

I hope you had a happy Easter! My Easter was pretty laid back–M came home from work about 8 am and slept. I tried to sleep in, but couldn’t, so I had a relaxed morning with the pups before heading out to run a quick errand for dinner. I also met Nicole to walk our dogs and shake out our legs after our half marathon on Saturday.

I missed my family’s Easter brunch. They usually do the same brunch as what we have for Christmas brunch: ham, scrambled eggs, mom’s sticky roll, fruit, etc. So because I’ve been missing my family gathering, I decided to have some friends over for Easter brunch, only for dinner. I decided to do a small ham, with mandarin orange fluff, and Merinda brought scalloped potatoes. Not the most balanced, but not bad for the first “friends’ Easter.” I also made a devil’s food cake to celebrate Easter, the end of my chocolate sabbatical, and an early birthday cake for M. It was a simple, healthy recipe that I’d love to share with you:

Greek Yogurt Devil’s Food Cake

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1 6 ox container of Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 325*F and prepare baking dish (I used a small rectangle glass dish).
2. Combine the three ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour into baking dish.
3. Bake according to instructions on the mix box, until a toothpick comes out clean. (I baked my cake for 25 minutes.)

I forgot to take a photo of the cake before we ate half of it. Also, note to self: chocolate cake looks better on a colored plate.

I wanted to keep this low in sugar/calories/etc., so I didn’t buy any frosting, but I did buy Peeps to decorate the cake. I had this idea that the Peeps would set into the cake and I could dust it with powdered sugar. Well, we ended up not having any powdered sugar, and the Peeps didn’t sink into the cake. So I sprinkled some yellow sugar crystals for a little more decoration.

The cake was delicious–almost like a cake-like brownie. Everyone liked it, so that was a plus.

Oh yeah, and M and I gave each other Easter baskets–it’s a tradition I started with him a year or so ago. I try to make it not all about the candy, but he is always about the candy. However, this year we both got each other Cincinnati Reds shirts. (We’re going to Opening Day in Cincy.)

Here is a sample of our goodies:

M’s basket included some protein bars, sunflower seeds, Reese Eggs, and some back pain patches for work. My basket included Starburst jelly beans, Reese Eggs, Cadbury Creme Eggs, and Peeps.

Kicking Off Two New Challenges

Monday was all about kicking off two new challenges I’ve signed up for: healthysELF and FlexibleFebruary.

Remember how over the holidays I was doing #Elf4Health? Well, everyone who participated loved the camarderie and activities of the challenge and wanted to continue it, so Elle and Lindsay decided to extend the challenge for a longer time (I can’t remember exactly how long), with a new Facebook group and new hashtag–#healthysELF. If you are looking to get healthy and want a great support system, I urge you to try it (it’s free!).

Also this month, I’m participating in Clare’s challenge of #FlexibleFebruary, where we’re challenging ourselves to get in at least 60 minutes of stretching every week. I do a lot of stretching already, but it can’t hurt to do a little more. Again, this is a free challenge with some cool prizes.

So for the healthysELF challenge, we were to have a Meatless Monday. I started the day with a morning spinning class (first am spin class, and I loved it) and 10 minutes of stretching (in the Flexible February bank!). I ended up running late for work and didn’t have time to fix breakfast, but I grabbed a key lime Oikos Greek yogurt and had half a PowerThin protein bar at the office. Lunch time I needed some comfort food, so I fixed tomato soup and grilled cheese. But the best part was dinner.

I found a recipe on Pinterest that I just knew M would love, even though his comment about Meatless Monday was “Are you trying to kill me?” But this recipe bowled him over and he’s set for more meatless meals, I think!

I found this recipe for Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas and bought most of the items Sunday at the grocery, but forgot the spinach and cauliflower. I ended up just buying a bag of cauliflower already cut up because it was simpler and much less expensive than a head (shocked at the price!). I changed the recipe up a little bit, so here’s my version:

Roasted Veggie Stacked Enchiladas

1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 cups’ worth cauliflower cut up
1 small sweet potato peeled and diced into 1″ cubes
1 cup corn kernels (you can use fresh, frozen, or even canned)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (I think I might have done more than that, I didn’t measure)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper
Chopped onions (M doesn’t like whole onions)
2 cups baby spinach leaves (two big handfuls)
Salsa
Whole wheat tortillas (I only needed 2)
Shredded cheddar cheese, or Mexican mix
Cilantro (only if you like it, we don’t, so I didn’t use it)
Plain Greek yogurt for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425* F and prep a shallow baking pan with nonstick spray.
2. Cut up your veggies: peppers into matchsticks, cauliflower, sweet potato, and place on cookie sheet with the corn. Drizzle olive oil on the veggies, then sprinkle minced garlic, cumin, chopped onions, salt and pepper, over the veggies. Use your hand to mix them around until coated. Spread out on the sheet.
3. Roast your veggies for 30-40 minutes, stirring them up every 10 minutes. Veggies are done when they are tender and starting to brown in some places. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. Turn the oven down to 350* F. Prepare an 8x8x2 (or 9x9x2) square baking pan with nonstick spray.
5. (If you like cilantro, dice up some and mix it in about 2 cups of salsa.) Spread some of the salsa on the bottom of the pan (just a thin layer). Add a layer of tortilla (I ripped mine into three pieces that fit perfectly in the pan)., followed by half the roasted veggies, a layer of spinach, and a layer of cheese. The second layer will be: tortilla, salsa, veggies, spinach, and cheese (use up the remainder of the salsa and veggies in this layer).
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and everything is heated throughout.
7. When you’re serving it, you can top it with some plain Greek yogurt for a little bit of tang. (I did and loved it!)

The whole family helped in prepping the veggies for dinner!

At first M was skeptical with the “odd combination” of vegetables, but one bite and he was hooked. The sweet potato gives the mix a little bit of sweetness to counterbalance the spices.

This is definitely going to be one of our favorite meals. I served it with leftover cornbread from Sunday’s chili and some pears.

What is your favorite Meatless Monday meal?

Related articles

• Recipes: Healthy Meatless Burgers to Try This Weekend (davidvalefitness.wordpress.com)
• Meatless Monday: Spinach Lasagna (foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com)
• Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Taco Salad (chronicinthekitchen.com)

ABCs of Me!

Saw this from another HealthysELF blogger, Danica, and thought it’d be fun to share some randomness about me. Feel free to do the same!

A – Addictions
I know I’m addicted to sugar (so bad), but I’d also have to say that I’m addicted to pushing myself. I’m always trying to challenge myself to do something or be better–I can’t just sit around and do nothing.

B – Bed size
Queen — But M and I would love a king! We keep saying whenever we move into our own house (we currently rent), we’ll buy a king bed. One can only dream…

C – Chore you hate
I hate going through and cleaning up the dogs’ poop in our backyard. Uck!

D – Dogs or cats?
I used to be a cat person, but now I wouldn’t trade my pups in for the world! I still love cats, though.

Love these two pups!

E – Essential start to your day
I feel like I have an off-day if I don’t get some type of workout in in the morning (be it running or yoga). But definitely have to have some love from my dogs every morning!

F – Favorite color
I love silver, but people say it isn’t really a color. I am also a fan of the chocolate and turquoise combination.

G – Gold or silver?
See above–silver! My rings are white gold, though.

H – Height
5’8″ … though I always strive for an extra inch.

I – Instruments you play/have played
I played the trumpet all through grade school. I attempted to join the high school band my freshman year, but volleyball and horses/rodeo took up my time. (Ironically, M also played the trumpet in grade school! Aww!)

J – Jobs you’ve had
In no particular order: Western wear store sales person, customer service rep at a bagel place, construction worker, sales person at a salon/spa/beauty supply store, basketball arena usher, photographer, media relations intern, publications intern, editorial assistant, freelancer, e-newsletter/photo editor, web producer, volleyball referee

K – Kids
Only the fur kind — 4!

L – Living arraignments
Our little family lives in Lexington, Ky.

M – Mom’s name
Michelle

N – Nickname
I’m not really called by any nicknames any more (sadness!), but I have been called: Arzy, Roughie, Smart Ass…

O – Overnight hospital stays
Only when I had pneumonia in the first grade, and I was in the hospital over Christmas! Total boo!

P – Pet peeve(s)
People who don’t use their turn signals, people who are oblivious to what their dog does, litter bugs, etc.

Q – Quote from a movie
“You tell ‘em hell’s comin….and I’m comin with it!” — Tombstone (I could list many, MANY more from this awesome movie)

R – Right- or left-handed?
Righty tighty!

S – Siblings
Just one, my big sis (2 if you count my brother-in-law)

T – Time you wake up
Varies depending on what I’m doing in the morning, but mostly either 5 or 6 am

U – Underwear
Always a necessity

V – Vegetables your dislike
I grew up hating spinach, but now I’ve come to accept how awesome a veggie it is. I don’t like olives, though.

X – X-rays you’ve had done
It seems like my feet have been the most X-rayed feet ever lately! But I’ve also got films on my fingers and knee.

Y – Yummy food you make
I love baking, so anything I bake I love. But I’m starting to venture more with cooking, and so far my favorite has to be either the grilled chicken bruschetta or Anne’s chunky turkey veggie soup.

Z - Zoo animal
I’m always a big fan of the otters, seals, giraffes, and the ocelots (which are rare at a zoo)!

Gluttony

The Thanksgiving holiday is typically the start of the holiday season…a season of many nights out on the town with friends and family, parties, cookie swaps, etc. More than 30 days of food, sweets, drinks…pure gluttony.

All that baking only comes around once a year, so surely it can’t be that dangerous…right??

I spent the past four days at my parents’ farm relaxing and celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with family. Don’t get me wrong–I love spending time with my family. It’s always great being on the farm, able to ride my horses and spend time in the barn, helping out where help was needed. But I tend to go back to my old ways of excessive eating. There are always temptations around my parents’ house with cookies, etc. For some reason, what little willpower I had flies out the window and I have a hard time stopping the continual snacking. Whereas when I’m home in Lexington, I’m better about eating because I’ve limited the temptations. (I subscribe to the “if it’s not in the house, I can’t eat it” notion of willpower.)

My drive for working out snuffs out when I’m home as well. I don’t know what it is–my parents live out in the country, so the roads would be pretty quiet for a run, but I’ve never really gone on a long run. I’ve wanted to go hiking with my husband on a home visit, but the best place is more than an hour away. My sister is on a funky work schedule, so we don’t ever workout together…

I know…they’re all excuses. So why are these excuses alright when I’m visiting home?

And the excuses just continue to grow as we near the holidays. It’s dark and cold after work, I don’t want to run… Dinner with friends or spin class at the gym?… But Christmas cookies only come once a year….

So how do you deal with the gluttony of the holidays? Amp up the workouts at the gym? Add more veggies on the days you eat them? 

Related articles

• Gluttony 101: Avoiding Thanksgiving Overeating (bluemoonpersonaltraining.com)

A Great Weekend & Yummy Ending

This weekend was one that was desperately needed because it was fun and relaxing, even if it was a little busy.

Saturday, after completing my 11-mile comeback run, M and I headed up to Dayton to meet up with an Air Force buddy of his and his girlfriend to tour the United States Air Force Museum. It was a lot of fun to see all of the different planes from the different eras of the Air Force (or the United States Army Air Force, as it was called before the inception of the Air Force in 1947). I love classic cars, and I decided that the same goes for classic planes. M and his friend regailed us with different stories about their time in Japan together, which was a lot of fun to hear about M’s life before we met.

After the museum we went to a favorite restaurant of mine when we’re in the area for agility trials–Company 7 BBQ in Englewood, Ohio. This place it great, with great beer and food! M has been wanting to go there, and his friend hadn’t been there, so it was fun introducing them to a favorite place. After a few hours there, M and I had to make the 2.5 hour trek back to Lexington and crashed.

After a filling breakfast on Sunday, we ran errands and came home to accomplish a few tasks–mowing the lawn, washing the dogs, washing the trucks (mine and his work truck), laundry, pack away the winter clothes, and clean out the garage. Whew! Lots of things that needed to be done, and we got them done together. So to celebrate, I fixed us a delicious, but healthy and easy, dinner, part of which I found on Pinterest.

Grilled yumminess - grilled bruschetta chicken and grilled zucchini

I made my grilled zucchini with grilled bruschetta chicken, and a side of salad with dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and a new vinigerette. So delicious, and so easy. I can’t wait to make the chicken again (and I’m happy to say that yes, I actually do make the things that I pin on Pinterest!).

Here’s the recipe:

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Kraft Sun-Dried Tomatao dressing, divided
1 tomato, finely chopped (I cheated and got a can of petite diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup shredded, park-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, or 1 tbsp dried basil leaves (I used dried)

Doesn't this look like a scrumptious summertime meal?? It was!

1.) Place chicken in resealed baggie with part of the sun-dried tomato dressing, seal, and turn over to coat the chicken. (I did one breast in each baggie.) Set aside in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes (I was able to have mine set for five hours–nice!).
2.) Place a large sheet of heavy duty foil over half of the grill and heat.
3.) Take chicken out of the baggies and set on the grill (not on the foil) for 8 minutes.
4.) While the chicken is grilling, combine the diced tomatoes, basil, cheese, and a little bit of the dressing in a container and mix thoroughly.
5.) Flip the chicken over and place on alumnium foil on the grill, then top with the bruschetta mixture. Close the lid and grill for another 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
6.) Enjoy!!

Related articles

• Grilled Bruschetta Chicken (paonblanc.wordpress.com)
• Grilled Chicken with Plum Salsa (thecocinamonologues.com)