One Year

You guessed it! 😀

Today is my one-year blogging anniversary.

On September 7, 2009, I started Peanut Butter Fingers and began an exciting endeavor that has proved exciting, challenging, rewarding, educational and FUN.

What I Do Best

When I first began blogging, I remember feeling so self conscious about taking pictures of my food. I mean what kind of a nut job takes pictures of a salad or a scoop of peanut butter?

Fast forward one year, and snapping pictures of my meals feels like second nature.  Bloggers are a rare breed of crazy, I’m tellin’ ya.

Because of You

I started my blog because I love to write and enjoy learning about health, food and fitness.

I continue to blog because of YOU.

You guys know I get all mushy-gushy from time to time and my one-year blogging anniversary sparked that “Oh I just love you guys so much” emotion in me.

Thank you for reading this little creation of mine. Your comments, support and emails truly mean the world and keep me motivated to blog day in and day out. For those of you “silent readers” out there, you are just as important to me I send a big, overbearing hug your way! 😀

Reflecting

Birthdays and anniversaries are often a time of reflection, so in honor of this one year of blogging milestone, I wanted to drum up a few old posts to highlight some big moments that have occurred in my life throughout the past year.

One of my favorite things about having a blog is looking back through old posts and reliving fun experiences through pictures and words.

September 2009:

• My first blog post

October 2009:

• I got engaged
• Ryan and I went on a mini vacation to Ft. Lauderdale

November 2009:

• I went to Arizona to visit friends from high school
• I went to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving

December 2009:

• UCF played in a bowl game

January 2010:

• My friend Ashley got married
• Sadie turned 2

February 2010

• Ryan and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary
• I saw Wicked

March 2010

• I ran a 10K

April 2010:

• I ran a 5K with Sadie & set a PR
• I attended my first blogger meet up with Tina, Caitlin & Gina
• I turned 25

May 2010:

• Ryan and I saw Straight No Chaser in concert
• Beer Fest!
• We went camping

June 2010:

• We took Sadie to a dog beach
• Ryan graduated from his work’s leadership program

July 2010

• My family, Ryan and I went to Key Largo
• We saw Sinbad perform at Hard Rock Live
• PBF reached 1 million page views

August 2010

• I attended my first wine tasting
• Bachelorette Party Weekend I (Day One, Day Two)
• I ran the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon
• Bachelorette Party Weekend II (Day One, Day Two)

One Year Anniversary Giveaway

In honor of my one year blogging anniversary, I wanted to host a lil’ giveaway.

By simply commenting on this post, you will be entered to win a homemade batch of cookies (flavor of your choice), made by yours truly. I know it’s not the most amazing giveaway in the world, but I promise the cookies will be made with lots of love!

I will randomly select a winner tomorrow afternoon.

Good luck! 😀

PBF: What’s in a Name?

Let’s breeze through lunch today because I wasn’t really feelin’ it.

Don’t get me wrong, it was totally tasty, but I just wasn’t in the mood to eat what I packed for lunch this afternoon. It was a bit of a bummer, but I inhaled the whole thing and powered through because I’m tough. 😀

Salad Time!

Today’s lunch was a big ol’ salad that included:

• Spinach
• Arugula
• Grape tomatoes
• Beets
• Cucumber
• Red pepper
• Green pepper
• Pork tenderloin
• Italian dressing

My favorite part of this salad was the beets. I love ’em!

We've Got the Beet, We've Got the Beet, We've Got the Beeeeeet, Yeah!

Veggies + Pork

So fresh!

PBF: What’s In a Name?

I remember when I began tossing around the idea of starting a blog. I had all sorts of crazy ideas when it came to the name of my blog.

I wanted my blog name to convey a love of food without seeming too overly healthy because, let’s face it, I’m not about to live my life without indulging in mini Oreo cheesecakes, red velvet cake brownies or whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookie stacks.

Plus, would any of you really want to visit http://www.AsparagusIsDelicious.com? I didn’t think so.

The blog name I initially settled on was “Soft Serve and Cheez-its.” I even created a blog with this name through Blogger, but didn’t post more than once. It just didn’t feel right.

What Could Have Been...

Ryan was actually the one who came up with the name of my blog. He was always catching me in the kitchen with my finger in the peanut butter jar and said I was the queen of peanut butter fingers. When he suggested “Peanut Butter Fingers” as the name of my blog, I was instantly smitten.

Doing What I Do Best

Not only did the name “Peanut Butter Fingers” highlight one of my all-time favorite snacks, but I felt like it also conveyed my laid-back approach to eating. Someone who thinks it’s okay to eat peanut butter straight from the jar using their finger can’t be someone who is rigid about healthy eating or a stickler for diets, right?

And there you have it! The history behind the name of my blog! 😀

Question of the Afternoon

For non-bloggers:

• If you started a blog, what would you name it?

For bloggers:

• How did you select the name of your blog?

Houston, We Have a Problem

…A peanut butter finger problem.

This morning after I came home from my walk with Sadie, I was cravin’ peanut butter like nobody’s business.

Naturally, I popped open a jar of the good stuff and helped myself to a peanut butter finger.

Step One

Step Two (Three, Four, Five...)

Now when I say I helped myself to a peanut butter finger, I clearly mean five peanut butter fingers. 😉 That’s just how I roll.

I made sure to share some of the peanut butter with Sadie (she’s a pb fiend like her mama), which put her in quite the peanut butter trance.

"Mmmm. Peanut butterrrrr."

She snapped out of her peanut butter daze when she heard the pop of a cup of yogurt being opened in the kitchen.

Though calorie-wise, five peanut butter fingers probably add up to a significant breakfast, I knew I wouldn’t feel satisfied if I didn’t make myself a real breakfast.

I got to work preparing a simple yogurt bowl, topped with a sliced nectarine, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Yogurt + Summer Fruit

On the side I enjoyed a ‘naner. (How many of your just groaned when you read that? Cutsie food names = Pretty darn annoying… but sometimes I just can’t help myself. 😉 )

Hump Day Breakfast

Question of the Morning

What food can you not seem to stop eating once you’ve started?

I have several:

• Peanut butter
• Cereal/granola (especially homemade apricot granola)
• Ice cream
• Brownies
• Cookie dough

The Best Part of Waking Up…

Is Folgers in your cup!

Is a finger full of peanut butter!

Peanut Butter Fingers Progression

Okay, I guess that little jingle doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as the Folgers jingle, but I’d take a peanut butter finger over a cup of instant coffee any day! 😀

This morning I kicked off my breakfast with a peanut butter finger (obviously) before digging into a bowl of Greek yogurt topped with fresh raspberries, blueberries and apple pieces.

Berries, Apple, Greek Yog

Doesn’t this breakfast just scream summer?

Fourth of July in a Bowl

The Whole Shebang

Yuuuum.

Workout

I was in the mood for a good workout this morning! I guess that’s what a quality day off will do to ya!

I got all nice ‘n’ sweaty during BodyPump and followed up the strength training class with easy cardio on the elliptical.

While ellipticizing, I read Southern Living, which I plucked off the magazine rack.  The latest issue of that magazine has approximately eight recipes I wanted to make, but I will refrain because the key ingredient in all of them appears to be shortening. I can handle butter in a recipe, but for some reason shortening grosses me out. Bleh.

What ingredient in a recipe grosses you out?

Unsolved Mystery

I know I’m in the middle of a deep sleep when the alarm goes off and I’m mid-dream.

I really wanted to finish my dream, but I had to get up to make it to BodyPump, so my dream ended up being an unsolved mystery.

(In case you were wondering, in my dream, Sadie was a human baby and was missing! By the time I woke up I was pretty convinced she had been abducted. I attribute this dream to the stupid show on E! last night about the top women murderers of all time. There are some creepy ladies out there!)

Workout

Despite feeling like I had an unresolved issue looming over my head, I managed to have a decent workout. BodyPump was a great challenge, and I finished up my workout with 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical.

Breakfast

Breakfast was a tasty pb & p sandwich!

I made my peanut butter and pear sandwich using a fresh, juicy pear I bought at the farmer’s market yesterday.

Farmer's Market Pear

You know I just had to have a peanut butter finger while making this sandwich. 😉

Monday Morning PBF

I spread creamy peanut butter on half of a honey wheat Arnold sandwich thin.

PB

I topped the other half with thin pear slices before smooshing the two halfs together.

Pear + Peanut Butter

Peek-a-Boo

Breakfast is Served

This really is a great way to satisfy a peanut butter and jelly craving without all the sugar! Fresh fruit = aweeeesome.

Question of the Day

Do you typically dream about people you know?

I always dream about people I know.