Flax Hot Cereal and a Giveaway

Good morning!

Today started off on a good note with a good workout at the gym. After doing 25 minutes of cardio (10 min. stair master, 15 min. elliptical), today’s total-body workout looked like this:

15 reps, 3 sets each:

• Leg extensions
• Step ups
• Shoulder raises
• Bicep curls
• Deadlifts
• Side bends
• Tricep dips
• Hamstring exercise ball curls
• Ab work

For the first time this week my morning walk with Sadie was fog-free!

Breakfast

Today’s breakfast was delicious!

Wednesday's Breakfast

I enjoyed a bowl of Flax Z Snax vanilla almond hot cereal topped with Emerald cocoa roast almonds.

Flax Z Snax Hot Cereal

I filled my tumbler with free Barnie’s coffee from my gym. I am obsessed with the seasonal flavor Santa’s White Christmas.

According to Barnie’s:

“Our #1 seller combines Barnie’s® Blend coffee with the flavors of coconut, nuts, sweet caramel and vanilla.”

Coconut, vanilla, nuts and caramel? No wonder I like it so much!

Pop Secret Popcorn and Emerald Almonds Giveaway

Hooray for another giveaway!

Giveaway Goodies

One winner will receive:

• 3 packs of 100 calorie Pop Secret Homestyle Popcorn
• 3 packs of 100 calorie Pop Secret Kettle Corn Popcorn
• 3 packs of 100 calorie Pop Secret Butter Popcorn
• One box of Emerald 100 calorie packs of natural almonds

100 calorie snacks are fantastic for portion control and portability.

Did you know research suggests that eating a handful of almonds daily can help fight abdominal fat and protect you from heart disease? Sounds good to me!

To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post telling me about your favorite recipe or food featuring nuts.

My favorite nutty treat would have to be oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies or a hot fudge sundae topped with candied pecans. Healthy, no? 😉

I will announce the winner tomorrow morning using Random.org’s random integer generator.

Blogger Secret Ingredient

Don’t forget to submit your recipe featuring nutmeg for this weeks Blogger Secret Ingredient competition. 🙂 You have until Sunday night to enter. Please email me at pbfingers@gmail.com with your entry!

Behind on Breakfast

This morning I opted to dedicate my a.m. post to this awesome giveaway (be sure to enter!), so I have some catchin’ up to do since my breakfast post was severely neglected.

Last night I made homemade cranberry sauce in the microwave. Didn’t know that was possible? Me neither, but it is! Oh joy.

Beautiful, Shiny Cranberries

To make my homemade sauce, I combined a bag of fresh cranberries and water in a bowl and microwaved it on high for 3 minutes, stirred and microwaved it for another 3 minutes or so until the cranberries popped open, releasing their flava!

I stirred in just enough sugar to make it taste slighty sweet and take some of the bitter punch out of the sauce. I ate a bucket-load of warm cranberry sauce as my dessert after dinner last night. It was so good!

Breakfast

Needless to say, I just had to incorporate my homemade cranberry sauce into my breakfast.

Today’s breakfast included:

• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. homemade cranberry sauce
• 1/2 sliced apple

Apple-Topped Cranberry Cottage Cheese

Even though this wasn’t that large of a breakfast, it really filled me up! I think it must have been all the fiber from the cranberries and the apple.

Wednesday's Breakfast

I’m incorporating the cranberry sauce into my lunch wrap today too (whole wheat tortilla, Laughing Cow Swiss cheese, turkey and cranberry sauce). Yum.

Google Reader Issue

Are my posts showing up in your Google Reader? They aren’t for me and it’s making me a lil’ peeved. 😦 Any thoughts on how to fix this… I am not computer savvy!

Popcorn and Almond Giveaway

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway of several 100 calorie packs of Pop Secret popcorn and Emerald almonds. YUMMY! I’ll announce the winner in the mornin’ so don’t delay!

Poppin’ Good Giveaway

Yay for yummy giveaways!

Giveaway Goodies

One lucky reader will win:

• 5 bags of Pop Secret 100 Calorie Butter Popcorn
• 5 bags of Pop Secret 100 Calorie Kettle Corn Popcorn
• 5 packages of Emerald 100 Calorie Natural Almonds
• 5 packages of Emerald 100 Calorie Dry Roasted Almonds

Oh Nuts!

If you’re a nut-lover like me, these 100 calorie packs are a great way to eat only one portion of nuts, rather than handfuls and handfuls and bazillions of calories worth of the crunchy lil’ guys.

I’ve always enjoyed the 100 calorie packs of popcorn because it really seems like you get a great volume of food for a measly amount of calories. Fine by me! Also, did you know popcorn is a whole grain? It’s true, just ask the Mayo Clinic. 😀

“Whole grains are better sources of fiber and other important nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium. So whenever you can, choose whole grains over refined grains.” – Mayo Clinic

Thank you to Ann with Diamond Foods for providing me with the goods for this giveaway.

To Enter

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment telling me about your favorite movie theater food (healthy food options not required 🙂 ).

My favorite movie theater splurge is definitely a tub of salty and buttery popcorn. My friends Merri and Leah also told me this tip for adding some deliciousness to the popcorn: dump a bag of M& M’s in the popcorn tub, allowing them to melt all over the popcorn. Talk about a sweet and salty treat! How fantastic does that sound?

I will announce the winner tomorrow morning using the random integer generator at Random.org.

Feed Your Fingers

Also, don’t forget about the Feed Your Fingers Web site, full of fun holiday recipes and coupons!

Here’s a tasty-lookin’ recipe from the site that would make a yummy addition to any holiday party:

Popcorn Peanut Clusters

Pop Secret Homestyle and Emerald Peanut Clusters

Ingredients:

4 c. popped Pop Secret Homestyle Popcorn
2 c. Emerald Dry Roasted Peanuts
1 c. dried cranberries
11/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. unsalted butter
20 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Lightly oil a large baking sheet; set aside. In a large bowl, combine popped Pop Secret Homestyle Popcorn, Emerald Dry Roasted Peanuts and dried cranberries; mix well.

In a large (3-quart) saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup and water; bring to a boil, stirring over medium-high heat. Add butter; cook without stirring until the caramel reaches a temperature of 300 degrees, about 8 minutes. Carefully remove from heat; immediately pour over popcorn mixture. Wearing an oven mitt and using a wooden spoon, stir well to make sure that each nut and popcorn kernel is coated.

Using two metal spoons, quickly scoop out tablespoonfuls of mixture and drop onto prepared baking sheet; let cool to warm. Once they are cool enough to handle, roll them into clusters, pressing any loose peanuts into place. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a double boiler, melt the chocolate slowly until completely smooth over medium heat. Dip clusters into warm chocolate about one-third of the way up the sides. Set back on tray. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to one week.

Makes about 50 clusters.

Loaf Lovers

Remember the healthy BBQ meatloaf from last Monday?

Well it was so darn tasty that Ryan and I decided to make it again. We’re celebrating the one week anniversary of this amazing meatloaf recipe. 😉

BBQ Meatloaf Recipe

 While I added all the spices to the lean groud beef, Ryan chopped the onion since onions make me cry.

Choppin' Onions

Pre-Mixed Meatloaf

As the meatloaf was a-cookin’, we leashed up Sadie for a walk around the lake near our apartment. The city of Orlando put white Christmas lights up in the trees around the lake! It was one festive walk.

When we arrived back home, the smell of BBQ in the air was mouthwatering.

I quickly prepared broccoli for roasting using a recipe I found on Tina’s blog. I was intrigued by this recipe since it called for tossing the broccoli in  sugar before roasting. Who doesn’t need a little more sweetness in their life?

After tossin’ the broc in sugar and olive oil, I broiled the florets for approximately seven minutes, until they were slightly brown and a bit crispy.

Steaming Sweet Roasted Broccoli

Tina wasn’t lying, this really is the best roasted broccoli recipe! I am obsessed. Please note the obnoxious amount of broccoli on my plate as proof of my love of this recipe.

My Plate

The Best Roasted Broccoli Recipe (from CarrotsnCake.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads of broccoli
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

• Cut broccoli into florets
• Toss florets in olive oil and sugar
• Cover baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or tin foil
• Spread broccoli florets on baking sheet
• Broil for 5-7 minutes until edges of florets turn brown and crispy

Giveaways to Come

One of my favorite things in the world awaited me when I got home from work today: a package! Oh how I love big cardboard boxes full of goodies!

I was really delighted to receive this box of Pop Secret popcorn and 100 calorie packs of Emerald nuts to use for giveaways on this blog.

The Goods

Yay for Packages!

Ann, who sent me the box, also said I could keep a few to sample myself. Yippee! 😀  

Stay tuned for several fun giveaways featuring these goodies.

Popcorn and Nuts

Good Deal Corner:

$5 Hallmark Coupon

Wanna save $5 off your next purchase at Hallmark? Click here for a $5 off coupon to use when you purchase anything at the store including holiday cards, yummy smelling candles, ornaments and more. Love Hallmark!

Bath and Body Works Free $13 Item with $10 Purchase

Click here to receive a free item (valued at up to $13) with your $10 purchase at Bath and Body Works.

Guy Gift: Men’s Health Subscription

By using the code SD201 here, you can receive a subscription to Men’s Health for one year for a special guy in your life (or yourself!) for only $8.