Giveaway Archives - Page 2 of 2 -

Go Green Tropical Smoothie

Post author:Melanie
Post published:March 28, 2013
Post category:Beauty/Fashion / Giveaway / Lunch / Misc. / Workouts
Post comments:3 Comments

HAAAPPPY GOOD FRIDAY! This week really flew by for me and I’m not complaining about it one bit.

We are going to have one VERY relaxing Easter weekend! We already celebrated Easter with Dana’s family last weekend, so this weekend we will be celebrating with my family on Sunday. Tonight we have zero plans, and tomorrow we are going to do some spring cleaning! Yes, I’m excited about it. I’m hoping it’ll be nice enough that we can open the windows and let the “winter air” out of the house.

I’ve been loving my new NutriBullet. I whipped up another smoothie and have been having fun mixing in different veggies and finding combinations that keep my taste buds intrigued Yesterday’s was a tropical-ish smoothie.

Go Green Tropical Smoothie

1 cup pineapple
1 small-medium ripe banana
2 small celery sticks
1 big handful of kale
almond milk**—as much or as little as you would like to reach desired consistency
aloe vera juice (optional)

**Coconut milk would be a GREAT substitute.

A little lunch action…mixed greens with tomato, guacamole, and an over-easy egg alongside a leftover almond biscuit and a juicy apple. Perfectly satisfying.

In the afternoon I snacked on some walnuts and raisins to give me a quick energy boost.

Afternoon Workout

I pulled up YouTube on our Apple TV and flipped through some workouts and found the ToneItUp girls arm workout. I completed their arm workout and then went right into Insanity’s cardio abs routine. After that I headed down to the treadmill and cranked out a half hour walk. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t take the pup out for a walk outside, but it is SO muddy and I just didn’t feel like dealing with that yesterday. Sorry Mooser. Maybe next time.

Dinner

I roasted a large handful of Brussels Sprouts in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. While those roasted, I cooked a couple of mini turkey patties on the stove, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Once everything was done cooking, I plated up the sprouts, then the turkey patties, onions, and mushrooms, and I finished the dish off with some shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese.

I ate a couple spoonfuls of cooked quinoa while I waited for this to come together.

Talk about taking a trip to flavor town! The only seasonings I used in this whole dish were salt, pepper, and olive oil, but the foods all took on their natural flavors and it tasted absolutely delicious.

I spent the evening ~~sobbing over~~ watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I read these books a long long time ago, and watched the movies, but it has been so long. Oh how I love a good chick flick! For an evening snack I had a handful of dates with pb; definitely my biggest weakness lately.

Okey dokey, I’m off for the day! I hope you all have a fantastic Good Friday!

Do you celebrate Easter? Do you have any fun plans this weekend?

I Prefer Small Meals and Snacks

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 14, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Giveaway / Gluten-Free / Workouts
Post comments:5 Comments

First and foremost, I want to wish you all a….

I am such a lover, so this Hallmark holiday really puts me into an EXTRA lovey dovey spirit. Whether you celebrate Valentine’s day or not, I hope you all have a wonderful day full of love and joy! I’ll be doing my best to spread the love today.

*************

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which means it was a day to fast in between meals (it means a lot more than that but I’m not getting into that right now). Being that I am not one to eat big meals, I am more of a small meals and snacks throughout the day kind of gal, this is always a little challenging for me. It involves some planning to make sure I build significant meals to keep me energized throughout the work day and not hit any slumps. Like most of us, I need A LOT of energy to get through the day.

In the morning I unrolled the yoga mat and put on a Yoga/Pilates OnDemand. The workout was about 25 minutes and it felt GREAT. My body was pretty sore and tight before the workout, but once I was done with the session, I felt much more relaxed and less tense. After yoga, I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then finished with a plank.

Then it was time to get breakfast going. I cooked up a batch of quinoa, topped it with kale, a little bit of cheese, salt, pepper, avocado, and an egg.

How’s that for breakfast creativity? That was definitely a bit out of my breakfast comfort zone (aka banana and peanut butter). And as if that wasn’t enough, I gobbled up some lemon blueberry bread. Multiply this bite in my hand times about six.

I was set.

Breakfast held me over into lunch and then some. For lunch I made a Greek yogurt bowl with chia seeds, FAGE non-fat Greek yogurt, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries.

And last and maybe least (dinner isn’t too impressive), for dinner I made a salad with cabbage, lettuce, beans, peas, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and honey mustard dressing. I snacked on carrots while I threw the salad together. I was really hungry by the time dinner rolled around.

Part two of dinner was trail mix with some raisins, peanuts, almonds, and dark chocolate chips.

After a day of eating only three solid meals, versus my regular small meals and snacks, I am absolutely sure that I prefer the more frequent small meals and snacks. I felt pretty blech all day.

I am fully aware that some cultures fast all day long for different reasons, and I tip my hat to them. That takes incredible willpower and dedication which is why I refuse to complain about having to do this one day. Making any changes to a typical daily intake, also really makes me realize how fortunate I am to have food available to me at all times.

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Intelligent Nutrients Giveaway Winner

Switching gears here, once again. It’s time to announce the winner of the Intelligent Nutrients shampoo and conditioner!

The winner has been randomly chosen. Congratulations to…

Alicia @ The Wannabe Foodie!!

I’m very excited for you to try these products! Send me an email at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your address information. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you to all who entered! If you follow me on Twitter, be on the lookout for another giveaway coming your way. My twitter handle is: @NuttyMelanie

Happy Valentine’s Day my friends! xoxo I hope your day is filled with love.

Question: Whether you are dating, married, or single…Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? Anything fun planned for today?

My Intelligent Nutrients Experience and A GIVEAWAY! {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

Post author:Melanie
Post published:February 11, 2013
Post category:Fav Products / Giveaway / Health / Misc.
Post comments:21 Comments

It’s Monday and I know personally I sometimes struggle with the thought of Monday but I just may have something to perk you up.

A week ago, I was invited in for an organic experience at an incredible health and beauty shop called Intelligent Nutrients in the Mall of America. I have so much to tell you about this wonderful company. Here it goes…

The Founder

In 1978, a man by the name of Horst Rechelbacher founded Aveda Corporation, a global plant-based cosmetic company, and ushered a new consciousness into the world of beauty. Nearly two decades later, he sold Aveda to Estee Lauder. He shifted focus to Intelligent Nutrients, a health and beauty company that lives to the highest standards of 100% food-based, safe, non-toxic and organic ingredients. source

The Philosophy

“Everything that we put on our bodies must be nutritious and safe.” ~ Horst Rechelbacher

All of their products are 100% certified organic. It would be safe to consume their beauty products (although it’s not recommended unless you like eating soap :wink:). Their products are completely free of pesticides.

Nutritional Chemistry: Their products are free of sulfates, plastics, parabens, silicone, mineral oil, petrolatum, petrochemical-derivatives and synthetics. Instead, they are formulated with state-of-the-art science that makes them potent and high-performing.

Plant Stem Cells: They utilize plant stem cells cultivated without soil in the purest lab conditions. This revolutionary process lets us release the life force of the plant in its most pure form – with some delivering as much as 1000 X the anti-oxidant activity of the entire plant.

source

The shop = gorgeous

The products: They have everything from skin care, to body care, hair care, nutraceuticals, aromatics, and more. Check out their complete list of products.

Almost every one of their products has something called Intellimune which is a super antioxidant seed blend. They take thousands of certified-organic fruit and vegetable seeds packed with even more potential than the plants themselves. Because they are the source of all life, they cold-press them without chemicals for a potency far greater than the sum of its parts. They then take these highly antioxidant-dense seeds and cold-press them without chemicals or heat for absolute potency.

The results: Intellimune fights off free radicals, reduces inflammation, protects healthy cellular activity and growth and helps to slow unnecessary premature aging and disease in the process.

source

My Experience

Are you still with me? I know this is a lot of information but it so exciting to me. Upon arrival I was greeted by the very welcoming team. David (who is a remarkable man BTW) started my visit with a tour of the store, while explaining the philosophies of IN as well as product information, allowing me to test out some products, and ask as many questions as I wanted.

Next, I was sent to the biofeedback area. Here I placed my hand on a sensor, first alone without any scents in front of me, and then a second time with a particular aromatherapy under my nose. This biofeedback read my stress level as well as different areas of my brain such as creativity, intellectual, physical, and emotional levels, among others.

The first reading told me that my overall state at that moment was very nurturing and that the intellectual part of my brain specifically was being stimulated. This was probably because I had just received a lot of information from David about IN and in general I am a very nurturing and compassionate person.

The second reading with the scent under my nose, came back as somewhat more physical and I had an increase in energy from that particular aromatherapy.

I was absolutely intrigued.

Next it was time for my scalp massage. David massaged oil into my hair ( I believe it was the destress express oil) as I immediately began to relax. Next he shampooed and conditioned my hair with the Pureluxe Harmonic hair products.

He left the conditioner in my hair for a while, and wrapped it in a warm wet towel as I relaxed and enjoyed the aroma oxygen bar. He also massaged some oil onto my hands and let them rest under a warm wet towel. I felt like a princess.

The finishing touch was a hair blowout completed with round brushes. I was in pure bliss. Total relaxation mode.

Before I left I snapped a photo with two of the three team members. As you can see by my droopy eyes I was still in total zen mode. I had fallen in love with this place, people, and these products.

Even after just one treatment, I could absolutely feel and see a difference in my hair. I had fewer split ends, it was softer, and it just felt clean. I felt great.

They sent me home with an extremely generous care package which I was more than grateful for.

To be perfectly honest I could go on and on about this stuff all day because of how amazed I was with my experience and these products. I encourage you to check out the Intelligent Nutrient website and learn more. I am so impressed by this company.

But before you leave, I have more to share. YOU could be the owner of an Intelligent Nutrient’s Pureluxe Harmonic Shampoo and Conditioner!

IN and I are hosting a giveaway for one lucky Beautifully Nutty reader. We want you to experience these wonderful products. Here is your chance to win!

To enter for your chance to win:

Comment on this post telling me why you would enjoy this product
Earn a second entry: Go to http://www.facebook.com/beautifullynutty and “like” BN on facebook.
Earn a THIRD entry: Tweet “I entered to win @intelligentnutr hair products from @NuttyMelanie http://bit.ly/U6z15b

Make sure you include extra comments on this post telling me you “liked” on facebook and tweeted. 🙂

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday February 13th, 9 pm central and the winner will be announced on Thursday February 14th. This giveaway is open to continental U.S residents only (again, so sorry to my out of country readers!).

I am VERY excited about this giveaway. Good luck!

Disclaimer: The services and products from Intelligent Nutrients were given to me as complimentary gifts. I was not paid nor asked to write a review based on my experience. All opinions expressed about this company are my own.

Simple Chicken Roll-Ups and a GIVEAWAY WINNER

Post author:Melanie
Post published:December 20, 2012
Post category:Dinners / Fav Products / Giveaway / Snacks / Workouts
Post comments:1 Comment

With the whirlwind of the holidays among us, I am doing my best to remember these stress reliever techniques so that I am able to enjoy this busy beautiful time. I really truly am trying to relish every second of the holidays because to me this really is the most wonderful time of the year and it comes and goes so quickly, but I’m only human, and I’m pretty darn exhausted. My two cups of coffee in the mornings have been very helpful though. 🙂

Monday

I had the majority of my Christmas shopping done but still needed a few things so I set out to finish it up.

For lunch I refueled with a deli chicken wrapped pickle and havarti cheese as well as carrots and hummus. There was no time to waste, it had to be quick!

I made myself a batch of homemade trail mix for the road and headed out again.

Want to know one of the great benefits of having a birthday in November? I still have birthday gift cards, which means when I go Christmas shopping for others, I also get to go shopping for myself and I don’t have to feel guilty one bit because I am not spending a penny on myself!

I found this workout tank at Macy’s on sale, plus I had a coupon…so the grand total was $9. I thrive off finding good deals like these!

For dinner I had a very tasty salad made of mixed greens, broccoli, black beans, olives, sunflower seeds, avocado, and ranch dressing.

Mom, dad, and Abbie stopped over after dinner to hang out for a bit.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a doozy of a day. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before work, went to work, ran some errands, then came home to a leaking fridge which was flooding the basement. It was a stressful day to say the least. Again, I need to remember the stress reliever techniques!

My evening meal was extraordinarily simple yet very delicious. Lettuce cups with hummus, deli chicken slices and avocado. I rolled them up and really enjoyed the cute little concoction.

Wednesday

I took the day off from any type of workout on Wednesday. My body was needing a day to just chill.

On Tuesday evening I got a batch of butternut squash soup ready in the crock pot. The recipe is very similar to this carrot pumpkin soup recipe, except I used butternut squash puree instead of pumpkin or carrot. At noon on Wednesday, we covered the crock pot and set it to low for 6 hours.

The result:

A dish you can feel real good about eating. Healthy, delicious and ready for me when I get home from work. Perfecto!

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PARKERS FARM PEANUT BUTTER WINNER

It’s that time to announce the big winner of the case of Parkers Farm peanut butter. The winner has been randomly selected using a random number generator and the winner is…

Becky @ Olives n Wine!!

Congrats Becky! Please email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your address so we can get those goodies sent out to you asap!

Thank you to all of you who entered! I am so incredibly thankful for all of you.

It’s Peanut Butter Giveaway Time! {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

Post author:Melanie
Post published:December 17, 2012
Post category:Dinners / Fav Products / Giveaway / Lunch / Snacks / Training / Workouts
Post comments:49 Comments

Hi friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was very low-key and pretty darn fabulous. I have an amazing giveaway to announce, but I would still like to catch you up from the weekend so…..

The last time I left you was Friday morning, so I’ll take off from there.

Friday

I had a few appointments, one being a hair appointment. It was time to brighten up the golden locks. The last time I had my hair highlighted was in February, and it was starting to look dull, so I figured it was about time. It’s amazing what a simple change to your hair can do for your spirit. 🙂

Before and after:

You know what else helps lift my spirits? A box of pita chips from Wild Harvest delivered right to my door. They have recently come out with natural pita chips and sent me a few samples to try! They sent sea salt, parmesan garlic, and cinnamon sugar flavors. The sea salt ones were opened this weekend and I am VERY happy with them. They have a slight buttery taste to them and just the perfect amount of saltiness. I’m excited to try the other flavors.

I only had a few minutes for lunch but managed to whip up a tasty plate of shredded chicken with avocado, feta cheese, and pepper.

Dinner was protein-packed and simple: a Morningstar Garden Veggie patty with a runny egg on top.

After dinner, Dana and I hopped into our warm car and made our way around town looking at Christmas lights. It’s a tradition we started last year which includes a trip to Dairy Queen and gawking at lights like little kids. I LOVE IT!

Saturday

It was raining and 35° on Saturday morning, so our plans to run outside were deviated. We headed to the gym and ran out 5.5 miles on the treadmill. It was miserable to be perfectly honest. The boredom factor was at an all-time high, BUT we made it through.

My pre-run breakfast of banana with Parkers Farm peanut butter, cinnamon and honey…

The afternoon was spent deep cleaning our house. Dusting, mopping, windexing, shining up the stainless steel appliances we’d gotten from Unclutterer, catching up with the laundry, washing the drapes….I mean deep clean. Such a gratifying way to spend a rainy Saturday!

What adds to the gratification? Knowing that a pot roast would be ready in the crock pot at dinner time after a day full of crazy cleaning.

The pot roast came out a little tougher than usual and I’m blaming that on the fact that I tossed it into the crock pot completely frozen, but it was still good! I used this roast recipe from the last time I made it, except minus the beef broth (because we didn’t have any) and I substituted with water instead.

Later in the evening I dominated a game of Skip Bo while Moose snuggled by my side. Kidding, he literally sat by me for 5 minutes before moving elsewhere, but I still thought it was sweet.

Sunday

The usual Sunday morning ritual of reading the paper, cutting coupons, and going grocery shopping, then home around noon for a sweet lunch…

Mixed greens, strawberries, avocado, black beans, mandarin oranges, and poppy seed dressing.

I made my way downstairs to the treadmill for a 40 minute walk, managed to wrap some presents, and clean the kitchen, but besides that, it was a pretty quiet and very relaxing day. I really needed a weekend like this. I am well-rested and have a very clean house. I hope you had a great weekend too!

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Now onto the realllllyyy good stuff…

IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME! {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

Parkers Farm, a Minnesota-based company, makes the most phenomenal peanut butter, one that you see throughout many of my posts (including this one actually). They also make other products like salsa and cheese spreads. Because I am such a huge peanut butter lover, I am stoked about this giveaway.

They are offering a case, which is 12 jars (16 ounces each) of their peanut butter to ONE lucky reader. The winner can choose between 1 of 3 varieties: creamy, crunchy, or honey creamy!

The peanut butter is perishable so this giveaway is only open to continental U.S. residents only (sorry to all of my other readers!) and no P.O. Box addresses please. The PB can be frozen for up to a year so no need to worry about not being able to use it all right away although in my house it wouldn’t be an issue. 🙂

To enter the giveaway: Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite way to eat peanut butter. Earn an extra entry by tweeting or posting on facebook “I just entered to win @ParkersFarmInc peanut butter from @NuttyMelanie http://wp.me/p2J5VV-1lF.” Just be sure to leave a second comment on this post with your tweet or facebook post. I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday. Good luck!

Relive the Memories

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 2, 2012
Post category:Dinners / Giveaway / Home Life / Sweet Treats / Wedding
Post comments:0 Comments

Wow, we had the most amazing one year anniversary. Thank you for all of the anniversary wishes! We celebrated mostly on Sunday. Here is a run-down of the glorious day.

Morning Massage & Coffee

We headed to Spalon Montage for our 9:00 am couple massage. We were given huge plush robes to wear and then were escorted to our room where two separate massage tables were set up. We each enjoyed a 55 minute full body massage. It was heavenly!

Afterwards we made a stop at Einstein Bros for a morning cup of coffee. They had a vanilla hazelnut blend which was oh so good.

Lunch

We made our way home to eat a quick lunch, pack, and bring Moose over to Dana’s parents place for a sleepover. I made myself a mixed green salad with bacon, tomatoes, Muenster cheese, salsa and a runny egg on top.

Dana’s parents gave us a marital bliss chocolate bar which I had to share with you all. Too funny and too perfect. That sounds about right, huh? Winking smile

Hike at Ritter Farm Park

Once Moose was all settled in, Dana and I headed over to Ritter Farm Park which is the park we went to after our wedding ceremony to take pictures.

Of course I asked Dana to play along with my girlish self and reenact some of our wedding photos. The things he does for me I tell ya. BTW this is when the camera battery died. Thank goodness for the iPhone.

We went for a walk through the park and I remembered it was the last day of the September push-up challenge. I dropped down and did my final 10 push-ups for the month right there in the dirt. Even though the month’s challenge is technically over, I don’t plan on stopping the push-ups. I do plan to continue and progress, I just may not do them everyday. I have a new challenge this month that I will tell you about tomorrow.

Drop it like it’s hot.

The Holiday Inn

After we were sweaty and smudged with dirt, we made our way to The Holiday Inn which is where our wedding reception was held one year ago. (“Whatchu doin’ ? Nothin, chillin’ at the Holiday Innnn…”).

Upon entering our room we were greeted with this sweet sight: a bottle of champagne, chocolates and a note from the staff including the woman who helped us plan the details of our reception. I thought that was VERY nice of them.

We decided to pop the cork, pour ourselves a plastic cup of champagne, and head down to the hot tub (no glass in the pool area of course).

When we first sat down in the hot tub the atmosphere was quiet and relaxing. That lasted all of about 6 minutes because the gates from a birthday party were opened and little ones flooded the pool and hot tub. It’s a good thing we both like kids; we thought it was hilarious. I can’t handle hot tubs very long anyway so it was a short lived visit.

We continued with the relaxed theme the rest of the evening. We poured ourselves a glass of wine from a bottle that a friend of ours had given us we think as an engagement present; either that or it was a wedding gift. We used our chalices from the wedding.

Next, off to dinner at Rudy’s Redeye Grill. They catered our wedding and did a fabulous job.

Excuse the poor lighting, but I started off with a side salad with balsamic dressing (croutons removed and not eaten).

For my main course I had the almond crusted walleye and their infamous green beans (photo on the left) which is the same meal I had at our wedding minus the mashed potatoes (photo on the right). I enjoyed my meal a little bit more this time around…a little less commotion and we didn’t have to get up and kiss every 4 minutes like we did during our meal at our wedding reception. Smile

With a little help from Dana, we polished that walleye off in no time. I probably could have polished off the beans too but decided not too feel miserable and saved them for my lunch the next day.

Next onto cutting the cake top that we saved from the top tier of our wedding cake. We wrapped it in saran wrap and aluminum foil a million times and freezer Ziploc bagged it twice. We stored it in the freezer for a year.

On Saturday we took it out of the freezer, unwrapped it, rewrapped it in loose parchment paper and saran wrap, and let it defrost in the fridge. An hour or so before we were ready to cut into it, we removed it from the fridge and let it sit out on the counter. It was perfect by the time we cut into it Sunday evening.

It tasted JUST AS GOOD as it did on our wedding night if not better. I have to shout out to the wonderful Ms. Arna Farmer of Arna Farmer Catering & Cakes for doing such an incredible job on our cake. Out of three cake places we taste-tested, hers was by far the most delicious and to top it off, hers was the most affordable of them all. I recommend her to anybody. Amazing.

We had so much fun reliving all of the beautiful memories of our wedding day. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. I love reliving the memories, yet living life in the present, and am thrilled to see what our future holds. Thank you again to all of you who helped make our day so special. Love you all.

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Back to the grind now….I still need to share a peanut butter banana cookie recipe with you all! I’m hoping tomorrow I will share that with you.

Oh, and in case you missed it, I’m hosting a LARABAR giveaway. Check it out here.

Have a great day friends! Catch up with you real soon.

A Very Special Day and a GIVEAWAY {CLOSED}

Post author:Melanie
Post published:October 1, 2012
Post category:Giveaway / Misc. / Wedding
Post comments:45 Comments

One year ago today I married my best friend. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to call him my husband. He defuses my stress, teaches me how to be patient, reminds me to stay positive, and loves me unconditionally. We accept challenges that life throws our way and work through them together.

We have had such an incredible first year of marriage full of love, travel, races, and so many other wonderful memories. He is the love of my life and I am thrilled I get to celebrate a lifetime of anniversaries with this man. I am so blessed.

We celebrated our anniversary yesterday with an extremely relaxing “us” day. I’ll fill you in more on that later. Open-mouthed smile

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GIVEAWAY

When following the SCD or Paleo diet, it can be a little challenging finding any pre-packaged foods whose ingredients actually fit into the “allowable” foods list. There is one however that I have been in love with for quite some time that does fit the mold, and that is the delicious LARABAR. Their ingredients are natural, simple, and I can pronounce and understand what each and every one actually is.

They are a perfect pre-workout snack, afternoon pick-me-up, on-the-go breakfast, or any time snack. I always keep one in my purse so that when hunger strikes, I can refuel.

They come in so many awesome flavors from Peanut Butter Cookie to Lemon Bar, to Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte, so there’s sure to be one that is perfect for everyone’s taste. I personally haven’t met a LARABAR I haven’t liked. You can check out their flavors here.

Do you want a chance to win some free LARABARS to put into your purse or pocket for when hunger strikes?! Here’s your chance. I am giving a way a caddy of 16 mixed LARABAR flavors to one lucky reader (courtesy of LARABAR).

{GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

Enter to win:

Leave a comment on this post with your favorite LARABAR flavor or one you would like to try.
Earn an extra entry by liking Beautifully Nutty and LARABAR on Facebook. Then, post another comment on my blog that you have liked us.

Giveaway ends Wednesday Oct. 3rd at 9:00 pm Central Time. Winner will be announced Thursday Oct. 4th. Open to U.S. residents only (sorry to all of my international readers!).

GOOD LUCK my healthy friends!

**Disclaimer: All opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. LARABAR has provided me free bars for this giveaway.

Gluten Free Cereal Bowl

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 31, 2012
Post category:Breakfast / Friends / Giveaway / Lunch / Workouts
Post comments:1 Comment

I owe my wonderful breakfast yesterday to my new and dear, fellow blogger, fellow Paleo’er friend, Shannon. While in Boston we swapped recipe ideas, and she shared a breakfast one with me that I knew I had to try.

You ready for this?

In the bowl: blueberries (I actually used frozen then thawed because that is what I had on hand), a heaping handful of fresh Driscoll’s raspberries, a handful of chopped walnuts, chia seeds, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a drizzle of honey.

Oh my gosh. I loved this. It’s just like Shannon said, “it’s like eating a bowl of cereal, except Paleo style.” Coming from a gal who loves a heaping bowl of cereal with milk, I was happy to find an alternative that was more healthful and fit my lifestyle right now.

Lunch was eaten at work but it still deserved a photo because it was truly delicious. In the to-go Gladware container: mixed greens, mini bell peppers, olives, tomato, black beans, avocado, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard. Man, I’m good. Winking smile

After work I headed over to hang out with my babes, Bets and Emmy (my cousins who I love to pieces). They were making cake balls for a family birthday party and were pretty hilarious in the process.

Em, don’t quit your day job to start making cake balls.

I am so proud of both of them; they are both going through major career endeavors and have worked so hard to get where they are. Open-mouthed smile

Dinner last night was embarrassing being that it was completely unstructured.

When I got home I snacked on a handful of grape tomatoes from the garden which by the way have become completely out of hand. The branches are so long that they are falling into the next plant and pushing them over. We have A LOT of tomatoes. I’m not complaining though!

After the tomatoes, I moved on to a few large handfuls of trail mix. After the trail mix, I needed something salty of course, so I dug into the pickle jar. After that, I was full.

Not a very balanced meal at all. Well, wait a minute…grape tomatoes, nuts, raisins, pickles….yes there were chocolates in the trail mix, but overall, it could have been a lot worse.

I needed to get the body moving, body movin’ get your body movin’, so I harnessed on Moose’s new leash and went for a stroll through the neighborhood.

When I say harnessed on his leash, I mean I harnessed it on myself. We bought a new leash for Moose that attaches to his collar like normal, and the other end of it attaches to a band that goes around the owner’s waist. It is hand’s free and has a bungee cord which allows enough give that I’m not being ripped out of my shoes if he sees a squirrel, but not so much give that he is ever too far away. I’ll try to remember to take a picture next time.

This was my first time using it on a walk with just Moose and me, without Dana, who he listens to a lot better than me. It went pretty well though I must say. I will definitely be doing it again. I would love to make that an evening routine. It was gorgeous out with the sun setting and the temperature cooling down.

It was the perfect way to end the night.

Now, I am off to tackle my Friday to-do list, and then we have a wedding to attend tonight, oh and did I mention my brother and his girlfriend are coming into town from up north? It is going to be a great weekend.

Have a beautiful day!

*************

It’s time for the Sneaky Pete’s Giveaway winner to be announced!

Random.org picked comment #2.

Congratulations Jamie A.! Jamie if you could email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your full name and address I will have your beverages shipped right to your door!

Thank you everyone for participating!

French Onion Soup & A GIVEAWAY!

Post author:Melanie
Post published:August 28, 2012
Post category:Dinners / Giveaway / Lunch / Recipes
Post comments:10 Comments

Well, I survived my Monday, did you? It is gloomy around here this morning which immediately puts me into a lethargic mood. I am going to get the legs moving on a walk to see if that can amp me up a bit.

Breakfast

I didn’t have a chance to snap a photo of my breakfast yesterday but I had a peach flavored Chobani with blueberries on top (Chobani hooked us up at the HLS with some great coupons btw). I learned that I don’t enjoy the peach blueberry combo and will probably never do that again. It wasn’t terrible but there definitely wasn’t the peanut butter-banana-combo love action happening in the least bit. I didn’t really think that one through. I was in a hurry. The peach yogurt would have been great by itself but I was trying to increase my fruit intake! Well, better luck next time.

Lunch

I booked it home for lunch and threw together a semi-sweet salad made of mixed greens, Driscoll’s raspberries, crunchy grapes, avocado, feta cheese, and walnuts. I topped it off with a light drizzle of Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard dressing.

I finished lunch off with an apple and a bite of peanut butter before heading back to work.

Dinner

Dinner was wonderful last night for many reasons:

It was VERY simple.
It was ready for me when I got home from work and errands thanks to the crock pot.
It is one of my all-time favorite soups.
I got to use cute soup bowls that my co-worker gave me.

On the menu was French onion soup. Into the crockpot went 3 yellow onions, 2-32 ounce boxes beef broth (reduced sodium), a splash of Worcestershire, a few cracks of black pepper.

I covered the soup and set it on high for 4 hours.

The soup turned out great but I would change the cooking time next time. Instead of the short cooking time, I would cook it on low for about 7-9 hours. I couldn’t time it right with work to do it that way so I had to do it the high temp way, and the onions ended up a little crunchy. I like them to be more tender and ended up sautéing them for a few minutes in a separate pan on the stovetop and then adding the back into the soup.

So, here is the recipe for you that I would use the NEXT time I made this soup, and it would turn out perfect.

French Onion Soup Crock Pot Style

Ingredients

Soup:

2-32 ounce boxes of low sodium beef broth
3 Vidalia onions, chopped into 2-3 inch strips
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire
2 tsp black pepper

Topping:

Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
Bagel chips, homemade croutons, or crunchy bread*

*I made my version gluten-free so I used thinly sliced almond bread which I toasted in the oven.

Directions

Place soup ingredients into large crock pot. Cover and turn on low for 7-9 hours, or until onions are tender.
Ladle soup into microwave safe bowls. Top with crunchy bread of choice, then cheese. Microwave for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.

ENJOY!

*************

Sneaky Pete’s Oatstanding Giveaway

Now, sound the horns. It’s time for my very first giveaway on Beautifully Nutty!

When I was at the Healthy Living Summit in Cambridge, I sampled a beverage from Sneaky Pete’s Beverage Co. called Oatstanding which is an oat-based beverage. Oats have been shown to have many health benefits. The soluble fiber in oats can help to lower cholesterol, can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, and can help to improve overall heart health.

One bottle of Oatstanding has 3 grams of fiber (2 grams of soluble fiber) which is equivalent to about one bowl of oatmeal. The majority of people do not get the recommended amount of dietary fiber daily, so this is another way to help increase your fiber intake.

Besides the health benefits, this product also tastes good. I am a gal who enjoys a sweetened beverage now and then, and this one was refreshingly light, and had just the right amount of sweetness to it (only 5 grams of sugar). It is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up and also great for on the go.

They offer 5 different flavors: Apple Away, Grape Escape, Mango Mystique, Peach Perfection, and Raspberry Beret.

They have a great site full of even more information on their product. If you would like to learn more, click here.

They are so excited about their product, that they want to giveaway a sample of all 5 of their flavors to one of my lucky readers (U.S. residents only).

Enter to win: Simply write a comment on this post about your favorite on-the-go drink or snack. The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced Friday morning. Good luck!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED.

Have a great day. 🙂

Note: I was not paid by Sneaky Pete’s for the opinions in this post, however I did receive the beverages at no cost for this giveaway. The opinions expressed about this product are solely my own.

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