Chia Goodness Giveaway

47 Comments

Happy Friday! 

Chia seeds can be eaten raw or ground to make a flour substitute and added to baked goods and even pastas. It can also be mixed with a small amount of water to be used as an egg replacer in baked goods. Chia seeds bring a nutty flavor to smoothies, granola and oatmeal. One of my favorite chia seed products are Ruth’s Foods Chia Goodness. Chia Goodness is also a favorite of many of my clients, one is even so in love with it he ordered himself a case!

It is a quick and easy breakfast option or even a snack! I keep a package of the chocolate flavor at my desk at all times so when I get hungry I can make myself up a bowl.  I love that you can eat it hot or cold, which makes it great to travel with.  I usually take along some whenever we travel because as long as I have a bowl or cup, a spoon and water I can eat it anywhere!

Today I am sharing my love of chia AND of Ruth’s Foods Chia Goodness with a giveaway! Three people will be the proud winners of this giveaway and will receive three flavors of Chia Goodness and a package of chia seeds.

Chia Goodness™ is a new concept in breakfast cereal. The ingredients are completely raw – just stir in milk or water, hot or cold, and wait a few minutes for it to thicken, giving it the comfort quality of oatmeal. We combine chia with our shelled hempseed, a great source of protein, essential fatty acids and trace minerals, and add other seeds, fruits and nuts to give you the best breakfast ever. (Source)

How to enter: Giveaway is CLOSED.

The winners are: JW, Jamie and Melissa

Mandatory Entry: Must Enter by March 20, 2012 at 12pm EST

1. What types of post are you most interested in reading on this blog?

Additional Entries (please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry)

Out-takes: my attempts at photographing Chia Goodness

It just isn’t picture friendly!

{Pregnancy Update} 23 Weeks & Nursery Progress

2 Comments

How far along are you: 23 Weeks

How big is the baby: Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she’s more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby’s increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won’t faze her when she hears them outside the womb.(source)

Baby’s Gender: Still a secret.  I am really on the fence this week. One minute I think boy and the next girl

Baby’s Name: Status is still the same- 5 boy names and 4 girls. <–notice something different, we eliminated one girls name.

Weight Gained: 16lbs

Clothes:  Some pre-maternity clothes are still fitting, although they are getting a little short.  The one thing I am having trouble with is workout pants, most are feeling a little snug around the middle.  The only ones that feel comfortable are my Lululemon Wunder Crops and well I have one pair and they are a bit of a luxury purchase right now…however I may give in and buy another pair.

How are you feeling: I’m feeling pretty good. I can tell I haven’t been to yoga in almost two weeks (minus the 25 minute at home session last week) because my hips are starting to ache again after about 6 hours of laying down.

What do you miss: Running. Wearing normal clothes. Being able to lift heavy things.

Symptoms: Indigestion, especially when I eat bananas.

Cravings: Asparagus and Salad with Briannas French Vinaigrette 

How are you sleeping: This week I have been sleeping pretty well.

Workouts: This week I took things as bit slow. Thursday and Friday I got some walking in, Saturday was a travel day and Sunday I took the day off because I was feeling some round ligament pain.  Monday I was just plain lazy, Tuesday I got in a strength workout and Wednesday I went did an at home prenatal fitness DVD.

Next Midwife Appointment:  March 28th.

Other News: We received our crib, a gift from my parents and we finally started phase 2 of organizing the to-be nursery.

 

Nursery Phase 2 ...because Phase 1 was too embarrassing to show

A few decorations

Seating

Dresser

Clothes we picked up in Boston and at the GAP Outlet (that santa onesie was only 58 cents)

What I’m currently reading:

A review copy of Sacred Pregnancy <– amazing book that I will be blogging about next week

and I’m reading these:

Any other books you suggest to prepare for childbirth, breast feeding and/or the first year?

Missed Past Weekly Pregnancy Re-caps? No Problem:

Other Pregnancy Related Posts:


WIAW: Thai Me Up With Chocolate

3 Comments

We are back from vacation but I still haven’t done any major menu planning or grocery shopping this week which resulted in Thai takeout last night for dinner. It was tasty but it was a reminder that I’d much rather cook us as healthy dinner at home rather than eat out of cartons. So on the agenda today is a trip to Costco and the natural foods store to pick up the necessary goods to make healthy meals for the rest of this week/month.

Breakfast: Smoothie of frozen pineapple, frozen mango, banana, almond butter and unsweetened almond milk topped with a sprinkling of Nature’s Path  Hemp Plus Granola.  I have been addicted to Nature’s Path Hemp Plus oatmeal and now recently they sent me some of their granola and I’m addicted to it as well.  I actually just had some this morning on top of my granola to add a nice little crunch. 
Snack: Pear and another handful of Hemp Plus Granola (not photographed)
Lunch: Leftovers–> black beans, cilantro-lime brown rice, sauteed cabbage, mushrooms and onions, roasted asparagus, avocado and a nice drizzle of sriracha.
Dinner: Thai/Vietnamese Take-out –> vegetable fresh roll, lemongrass tofu and vegetables and curry noodles with vegetables and tofu.  We had leftovers of this for lunch today. 

What I DIDN’T Eat Wednesday but I did eat half of sunday with some strawberries and a scoop of coconut milk ice cream –> Chocolate Inspirations Vegan Brownie.  This brownie was so good! Neil and I both thought that it looked like it was going to be a little dry but it ended up being really moist and tasty.  I also tried a few other items over the past few weeks from Chocolate Inspirations including Peanut Butter Pillows with Chocolate, Michael’s Favorite Chocolate Combo with Pretzels (dark chocolate, vegan caramel, pretzels and peanut butter) and Vegan Caramel Corn.  I have to say my favorite was the caramel corn and I honestly love their toffees, brittles and barks which I first tried a few years ago more than the peanut butter confections.  I still have one of their hot chocolate stirrers to try and I’ll let you know how those are .

RWT A-Z

1 Comment

Good Morning! Hope you are having a great start to your week.

Janetha posted this A-Z survey and so I figured why not do it?

A is for age: 26

B is for breakfast today: Oatmeal with almond butter and banana

C is for currently craving: Asparagus and Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

D is for dinner tonight: TBD

E is for favorite type of exercise: Running and Yoga

At Wanderlust Vermont

F is for an irrational fear: no idea?

G is for gross food: cheese out of a can- EWWWW

H is for hometown: Colchester/Burlington, VT

I is for something important: My husband.

J is for current favorite jam: Raspberry? or do you mean jam as in song?

K is for kids: We’ve got one on the way!

L is for current location: Burlington, VT

M is for the most recent way you spent money: After vacation pantry/fridge restock!

N is for something you need: I need to clean the t0-be nursery

O is for occupation: Holistic Health Coach, Blogger, Administrative Assistant, Recipe Creator

P is for pet peeve: Leaving cupboards open

Q is for a quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” ― Hippocrates

R is for random fact about you: I am obsessed with notebooks.

S is for favorite healthy snack: Avocado on Wasa with Sriracha

T is for favorite treat: coconut ice cream

U is for something that makes you unique:

V is for favorite vegetable: asparagus

W is for today’s workout: Hasn’t happened yet but will be pre-natal yoga and/or a long walk

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Um not sure leg, knee, teeth

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Cleaning off my desk.

Z is for your time zone: Eastern.

Now it’s your turn! If you do this A-Z Survey on your blog come back and leave a comment so I can check it out! 

Recipe of the Week: Cucumber & Tomato Salad with Balsamic Shallot Reduction

2 Comments

This wonderful salad can be served at any time, but is guaranteed to impress your guests at your next party.

INGREDIENTS
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 1 large cucumber, sliced
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the balsamic and shallots in a small sauce pan on high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and reduce the vinegar by half. Set aside and let cool slightly while you prepare the remaining items.
2.Create a bed with the spinach for the tomato and cucumber to lay on; alternate the tomato and 2 slices of cucumber until all is used. Down the center top the cucumbers and tomatoes with the balsamic shallots and then drizzle the remaining sauce over.
3.Drizzle the olive oil over and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

And We’re Back!

1 Comment

Over the last 9 days we have traveled to Boston, Raleigh-Durham, Myrtle Beach and Charleston.  It was wonderful to get away and relax somewhere warmer but we are both so glad to be home and back in our own bed. Last night we arrived home and promptly planted ourselves on the couch with a bowl of spaghetti and caught up on Modern Family.

Today we plan on doing a little more relaxing (this pregnant lady is tired out) and I hope to conquer the mess of dirty vacation clothes.  I’ll be back to regular blogging tomorrow but until then here is a photo re-cap of our trip!

 

\

 

Fitness Friday: Vacation Workouts

Leave a Comment

Goals for Week of 3/2-8:

  • Th: Pre-natal yoga
  • F: OFF
  • S: 2.5+ walk
  • Su: 2 mile walk
  • M: 2 mile walk and/or workout DVD
  • T: 2 mile walk and/or workout DVD
  • W: 2 mile walk and/or workout DVD
This week was amazing for workouts and I have to say a big part of it was because I had workout buddies (my mom and Neil) and the weather was beautiful.  The only thing this week was lacking in was a really good yoga session but I was at least able to squeeze in a short at home session.
ACTUAL WORKOUTS FOR WEEK OF 3/2-8:
  • Th: 1 hour Pre-natal yoga (at studio)
  • F: OFF
  • S: 6 miles of walking
  • Su: OFF
  • M: 2 mile walk
  • T: 1.5 mile walk and 25 min pre-natal yoga DVD
  • W: 5 miles of walking

Now that I have gotten myself into a routine I think that keeping up with my workout goals will be easy and I am feeling great about things.

Goals for this Week of 3/9-15:

  • Th: 1.5 mile walk
  • F: 2 mile walk
  • S: OFF
  • Su: 2 mile walk
  • M: 2 mile walk and/or workout DVD
  • T: Pre-natal Yoga
  • W: 2 mile walk and/or workout DVD

What are your Fitness Friday goals?