Hi Friends!

We’re kicking off a BIG WEEK over here today! On August 25th, The Bean turns 2. I cannot believe i’ve been blogging for 2 years. Where did the time go?! And what did I DO with my time before I started blogging?

First of all, if you were absent over the weekend, you should check out Bean Bytes #2! CLICK HERE to read it- lots of links to some of the best posts I read last week and some random life pictures.

Anyways, I know that a lot of you are fairly new readers, so I thought it would be fun to go back through all my old posts and round up some of the best posts you’ll find on my blog. It turned out not to be so fun for me…it took forever and my computer was a major pain…BUT i did it! And I really hope you guys will enjoy the roundups. I organized all favorite posts into categories and I’m going to spread them out over this week so I don’t overwhelm you!

Today we’re starting off with appetizers, soups and salads, side dishes, breakfasts and snacks!

 

Appetizers

Veggie Rollups
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Curried Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Dip
Spicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes
Goat Cheese & Cranberry Stuffed Mushrooms
Sweet Potato & Roasted  Red Pepper Hummus
Chunky Greek Hummus Plate
Sweet & Spicy Strawberry Peach Guacamole
Spicy Feta Dip
Black Bean Guacamole
Sweet Potato Puffs
Roasted Cherry Goat Cheese 

 

Soups/Salads

Salmon Corn Chowder
Smoked Gouda IPA Soup
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Tandoori Chicken Spinach Salad
Loaded Spinach Salad
Ginger Citrus Avocado Dressing
Salad Topping Ideas

 

Sides

Grilled Potato Kabobs
Crispy Parmesan Zucchini Fries
Avocado Dipped Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad

 

Breakfast

Buckwheat Crepes
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
Whole Wheat Banana Crunch Pancakes
Berry Breakfast Quinoa

 

Snacks

Homemade Wheat Thins
Spicy Garlic Flatbread Crackers
Brown Rice Granola Bars
No-Bake Chocolate PB Oatmeal Balls
Homemade Lara Bites
Sweet & Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
PB & J Bites
Chocolate Dipped Frozen Yogurt Bites
Almond Graham Banana Bites
Dessert Hummus- Three Ways
Crockpot Applesauce
The Evolution of a Smoothie

So there you go! Hope you find something you like! Or maybe something you haven’t seen before

Now for the fun part! Did I mention there’s a giveaway every day this week?! Just for you guys. Because without you, this blog wouldn’t be possible!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!

I think we all know I’m a HUGE avocado fan. As a future RD, I know the importance of incorporating healthy fats into my diet so we go through a lot of avocados over here. Do you think you could figure out a way to use up some beautiful California Avocados? Perhaps to try out one of the two guacamole recipes above?!

My friends at Avocados Direct  (you can find them on twitter- CLICK HERE and facebook- CLICK HERE) are going to send one lucky winner a California Avocado Gift Pack containing 8 jumbo avocados!

Wanna win?

Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to eat or use avocados! That’s it.

For one additional entry, you may tweet the following:
“Enter to win an 8 pack of California avocados from @LeanGrnBeanBlog! Just tell her your favorite way to eat them: http://www.theleangreenbean.com/appetizers-more/”

Then come back and leave another comment telling me you tweeted.

2 entries max per person.
Giveaway is open until Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 10pm
{Giveaway open to US Residents only}

Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–