Hi Friends!

It’s time for another Foodie Penpals Reveal Day!

 

It’s been a while- December FPP was for Charity-but we’re back! This month I received my package from Debbie at Accidently Delish. She spoiled me with all sorts of goodies

Let’s take a closer look:

Highlight #1: Homemade Granola

In addition to some lentils (she knows I am the lentil queen), and some store bought granola, Debbie sent me some homemade granola that is to-die-for. I don’t know how she knew, but banana chips are my FAVORITE!! Look how many are in there!!! Happy girl.

Highlight #2: Lentil Chips

I’ve seen Plentils in the store before but never bought them for myself. They were a fun change from regular tortilla chips! Debbie also sent me some Scat bars, which I’d never tried, some Vanilla Cranberry Pomegranate Almonds (how good to THOSE sound?!) and a Valentine. LOVE!!

Highlight #3: Thoughtfulness

She sent me a sick pack, to help me fend off the winter germs and to help deal with them if I do get sick. Great idea!

Hands down best part of the package: Homemade Cookies

I tell all my penpals that I love homemade goodies and Debbie knocked it out of the park with these cookies. They’re not pictured because I ate them all before I took pictures of the rest of the stuff. Seriously, so good. They were Chai Oatmeal Raisin Cookies…you can find the recipe on her blog HERE.

Amazing. Thanks so much Debbie for a wonderful package!!!

————————–

So, if you’re new to the blog, you may be wondering what Foodie Penpals is all about. Here are the details:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by February 4th as pairings will be emailed on February 5th!

*If you’re from Europe, please CLICK HERE to signup.

————————

So…what are you waiting for?! Come join in the fun!

Wanna see what everyone else got in their boxes? Check out the links below for other reveal day posts!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

As you guys know, I teamed up with one of my best blogging buddies, Elle from Nutritionella to create the Elf for Health Holiday Challenge. It was a huge success, much bigger than we had ever dreamed of with over 900 elves spreading health & wellness during the holidays! As it turns out, our elves LOVE supporting one another so much they requested we keep the challenge going throughout the entire year. How awesome is that?

Naturally, we needed a new name and logo fit for every season, not just for the holidays.

Our elves voted to rename the challenge Healthy sELF – it keeps the spirit of the original Elf for Health Challenge and also encourages us to make healthier choices for ourselves all year round.

Here are the details!

The Healthy sELF challenge will officially kick off on February 4th. To make Healthy sELF sustainable for everyone, we scaled back to three weekly challenges – Mondays, Thursdays & one on the weekend. Elves will not be paired like they were for the last challenge so we really encourage participants to be active on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!

That being said, there is a new Healthy sELF Facebook Group! It’s a great place to meet new elves, give encouragement, boost your self-confidence, share recipes, healthy tips, workouts, personal successes – whatever you like! Just request to join and we’ll add you to the group.

A couple of fun things we’ve added to this challenge:

• a new hashtag – use #healthysELF when you’re Tweeting & Instagramming so other elves can get to know you
• a monthly newsletter with the month’s challenges plus short health-related articles & posts from our very own elves
• elf spotlights within the Facebook group
• healthy sELF ambassadors – we recruited some awesome, health-inspiring girls to help with the tasks of running the challenge so keep them on your radar for challenge reminders, social media shout-outs, newsletter submissions & elf spotlights

Allison from Life’s a Bowl

Divya from Eat Teach Blog

Brittany from Read Run Repeat

Gina from 10 for 10 Challenge

Amalia from Live Travel Eat & Run

• and new buttons – grab your favorite below! Too big? Smaller sizes are available on our challenge page !

 

CHALLENGE CALENDAR

We’ve put together a challenge calendar using the Elf for Health survey results to plan the upcoming challenges through the month of May. We like to plan ahead, can you tell? This calendar as well as the monthly newsletter signup form can be found on the Healthy sELF pages on our blogs.

SIGN UPS

Use the form below. Look out for a confirmation email to confirm your participation & monthly newsletter subscription. If you don’t receive a confirmation email, check your spam box. If you still can’t find a confirmation email, let one of us (Elle or Lindsay) know and we’ll add you to the list! Friends outside of the US, this challenge is completely internet based so anyone can participate… all you need is access to the internet and an email address.

We hope you’ll join the fun! I’ll leave you with our Healthy sELF mantra – 5 simple ways to help you be your best sELF!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

We’re doing Weekly Eats a day early this week because I’m bringing you all the details about the Healthy Self Challenge tomorrow. I know a lot of you guys enjoy these posts so I didn’t want to skip it!

So, what have we been eating for the past week?

1. Post Crossfit Breakfast:
Whole Wheat Oatmeal pancakes - I ran out of eggs so I used 1/2 a mashed banana instead- worked great! *Please note that the link to the pancakes goes to a post that contains a giveaway. It’s an OLD giveaway so don’t enter. Just look at the recipe!* I also ate part of hubby’s black bean omelet and a pear.
2. Giant salad w/ quinoa, beans, peppers, avocado, hb egg & cheese, green beans and a pear.
3. Soup (see below for more details), peppers, an egg and a pear.
4. Tuna Salad (see below for more details) with chips, a pear and green beans

1. I found this Joyce Chen Spiralizer at a second-hand store a few months ago for $3. It had never been used. I finally busted it out and made some sweet potato spirals to go in my soup! It was awesome.
2. Into the pot they go!
3. Lentil veggie soup w/ a few leftover shrimp and some naan. For the soup I used frozen veggies, lentils, quinoa, veggie broth, curry powder and paprika, plus some shrimp. Topped with avocado.
4. I put the extra soup in my Lunch Pot for lunch the next day. My mom got it for me for Christmas and it’s awesome. You can find it on Amazon here.

1. Some nights I really wish dinner could just make itself. After pulling a bunch of stuff out of the fridge, hubby and I teamed up to make a delicious dinner!
2. I made some guac- 2 avocados, a jalapeno, juice from 1/2 a lemon, some onion, tomato and cilantro.
3. Then we made tuna salad. Tuna, hummus, guac, salsa, peppers, hb eggs, quinoa and lots of curry powder.
4. Scoop onto a toasted piece of bread, top with cheese and microwave for 20 seconds to melt the cheese and voila- tuna melts!

1. Eat your veggies, friends!
2. Stirfry veggies and lentils, brown rice and salmon. The salmon has a splash of soy sauce, freshly grated ginger and sweet thai chili sauce on it…I just added it all while it was right in the pan, then pan seared, flipping occasionally.
3. Curried sweet potato soup with quinoa, black beans and avocado.
4. Sunday food prep in full effect!

This week’s Sunday food prep. I pulled it together, even though I was exhausted from being at a Crossfit competition all afternoon, because I know how much easier it makes the week. Here’s what I made:

• Baked fish
• Greek Black Bean Burgers- recipe soon! Hubby says they’re the best I’ve ever made
• Hard boiled eggs
• Quinoa Breakfast Bars- Hubby eats them for breakfast during the week
• Curried Sweet Potato Soup
• Trail mix- almonds, lower sugar craisins, pumpkin seeds, granola and dark chocolate chips
• Quinoa
• Black Beans
• Guacamole
• Carrots

Monday Eats:
1. Greek Black Bean Burger, carrots and a pear for lunch
2. Fish nachos, green beans and carrots for dinner
For the nachos, I used onions, red peppers, black beans, previously cooked cod, cheese, avocado and tomatoes on blue corn tortilla chips!

Can’t forget the treats! I was tired of a nearly-empty container of ice cream taking up space in the freezer so I made a little milkshake! A few frozen strawberries that I partially defrosted, a scoop of ice cream and a splash of skim milk, all mashed together and topped with a few chocolate chips!

Let’s chat: Have you had any good eats lately?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s Monday. That means time for more Bean Bytes.

 ———–
Link Love
————

Monday

Helpful tips about images in blog posts:
The Definitive Guide to Using Images on Your Blog via Shareaholic

This bothers me just like it bothers her:
Do you know what happy calories are via Foodtrainers

Just did this:
Facebook Stalkers Beware- Clear yYour FB Searches via Katy Widrick

Free workout videos coming up!
Summer Bodies are made in the winter via Renewed Fitness

Lots of great info:
How to Build Influence on Social Media via Chef Katelyn

Tuesday

Great message:
Hard Does Not Mean Impossible via Running Rachel

Astounded and honored to be included in this list:
60 Must Read Health & Fitness Blogs for 2013 via Greatist

Wednesday

Want these!
Chipotle black bean stuffed peppers via A Couple Cooks

Love healthy snacks- great ideas here:
Healthy Snack Ideas via Nutritious Eats

This saves my life every day. you all should use it.
Buffer App & Google Chrome Extension via Then Heather Said

Thursday

It’s all about the knees.
5 exercises to strengthen your knees via Love Life Surf
Workouts while recovering from a knee injury via FitKnitChick

Great advice for group runners
Pack Rules via Miss Zippy

Loved this:
Stop playing the victim- choose to be the hero of your own life via Strong Inside Out

Love me some black beans:
Buying, Storing and Cooking Black Beans via Project Eat Me

My editorial calendar saves my life.
Editorial Calendars 101 via Shareaholic
*side note- if you’re a blogger and you’re not reading the shareaholic blog, start now. So much good info.

Great reminder:
You may need more calories than you think via Go the extra Mile

love bodyweight workouts:
13 Legit reasons to start bodyweight training via Greatist

Friday

Loved this:
5 Reasons to let go of perfection via Savvy Sassy Me

Totally agree with this:
Why Fast is Relative via Run Fit Kin

Great Tutorial on homebrewing Kombucha
Cotter Brew via Cotter Crunch

 ———
Sponsors
———-

Check out Saturday’s post on my January Sponsors. I introduce you to four awesome ladies. Then see below for proof that people DO notice the ads! Let me know if you’d like to sponsor for February!

——————–
Scenes from the Week
——————–

1. I made my own tanktop out of a t shirt that was too big. Love it.
2. Anytime Fitness is FINALLY opening right around the corner. Can’t wait.
3. We had some terrible weather on Friday.
4.We’re cute.
5.  He’s cuter…even when he begs.
6. Quote Love.

————–
In the News
————–

Stigma against obese people the last acceptable prejudice
How to help an overweight spouse lose weight
Diet soda not necessarily better
Restaurants turn camera shy
Report questions AND’s sponsor ties
Grocery store bans products marketed towards kids with cartoon characters
Try smaller bites and sips to eat less
Clearer food labels might help with healthy food choices

That’s all for today!
Enjoy.
–Lindsay–

PS. One week from today, Elle and I are kicking off Phase two of our Elf4Health Challenge that we did over the holidays. Come back Wednesday for all the details! Sneak peek:

Hi Friends!

It’s time for another sponsor shoutout! If you’re new to the blog, this is where I take a quick minute to introduce the lovely ladies that have sponsored my blog for the past month. You may have noticed the ads for their blogs on the left side of your screen! I think they’re all fabulous and want you guys to go check out their blogs!

So let’s get started.

First up, Emily of Fit and Free with Emily

Emily actually sponsored my blog last month as well. You can see what I wrote about her the first time around- it’s all still true! But since the last shoutout, she’s written some pretty amazing posts that I want to point out to you.

Emily is recovering from Binge Eating Disorder and has started a series on her blog called Life of a Binge Eater. In the first post she does a beautiful job explaining What Binge Eating Disorder Is.

In her second Life of  a Binge Eater post she talks about how It Starts Slow. If you or someone you know suffers from this disorder, I’d highly suggest checking out her posts. She is a wonderful writer and a great source of support and encouragement for so many people.

On a lighter note, she’s also posted some delicious recipes like this Split Pea and Barley Soup!

Go check out her blog and leave her some love!

Up next, Melissa from Bare Book Reviews.

Melissa also sponsored The Bean last month. You can get to know her a little better in my last sponsor shoutout post. If you’re a book lover like me, definitely check out Melissa’s blog. She has SO MANY great book reviews and suggestions. It’s a great resource for finding new books to read!

She did a whole post on her Top 10 books for 2012. In that same post, she describes something new she started for 2013 called BarePairings. In BarePairings, if a book leads her to develop a recipe or find a new recipe, she shares it with her readers. I LOVE that idea! So fun. Check out this post to see some of her first pairings.

In this Eyes and Ears post she explains a little bit about how she reads so many books, as well as reviews an audiobook, which I thought was a fun idea!

Go check out her blog and find a new book to read!

Next up is Ashley from Running Bun.

Ashley is a super fun gal that I can’t wait for you guys to meet. I mean seriously, just look at her picture. I love it! Makes me smile every time. She’s a superstar runner with two adorable dogs and is also a fellow vegetarian!

If you’re a runner, you’ll love Ashley’s blog. She has a big dream this year, to qualify for the Boston Marathon and I have no doubt she’ll do it!

She also wrote a post about her decision to get a running coach to help her reach her goals. And a Q&A post about her 2012 year in running.

Ashley also participated in my Elf4Health Challenge and wrote a great post about what she’s thankful for. I loved reading her list.

She’s also quite adventurous with her non-running workouts and has great reviews of her first TRX class and her first Physique 57 class. PLUS she posts some yummy recipes like this Spaghetti with Carrot Ginger Sauce!

Ashley also does a Friday Finds post every week, which is similar to my Bean Bytes post. She finds some great stuff every week! Go give her some love!

Last, but certainly not least, is Krista from Tiny and Fit

Krista is tiny little bundle of energy who has been through a lot. Despite all her struggles, her blog is upbeat and fun! She recently posted this post with some fun facts about her and let me just tell you we are two peas in a pod.  We both HATE pickles, shower at night, and often wander off randomly while shopping, much to the dismay of our significant others

Krista also isn’t afraid to listen to her body. She recently quit her Whole 30 challenge and i’m so proud of her for not being afraid to do what was best for HER. She followed up her post on stopping the Whole 30 challenge with another great post about the stress of the challenge.  She’s also just started Crossfit! WOOT WOOT!

Krista’s father committed suicide and she is very active in the area of suicide awareness and prevention. She’s doing amazing work to help educate others about the warning signs, myths and resources for suicide prevention. You can read more about her work here.

 Go check out Krista’s blog!

So, are you interested in getting some exposure for your blog or etsy store?

I’d love to have you a February Sponsor!! You can find all the details here. It’s super affordable and I’d love to get to know you and introduce you to my readers!

Have a great weekend, friends!
–Lindsay–

PS. The winner of the Love Grown Foods Giveaway is Sarah @ Fitcupcaker! Congrats, girl! Send me an email.