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Hi Friends! I was so excited to tell you guys about the #surviveon35 challenge that I forgot to tell you about my weekend!

Friday

We kicked it off by heading to happy hour with my in-laws! We went to a restaurant with an awesome rooftop patio.

I drank Oberon- one of my fav summer beers.

We displayed our true feelings.

Afterwards, we went to dinner. Hubby looked over to the next table and noticed Lindsay was sitting next to us! So fun!

Saturday

We got up early and drove to the farmer’s market in our old college town.

Then we grabbed some bagels and coffee and headed up the hill
for a little picnic breakfast on the quad.

Here’s the farmer’s market haul: Wheatberries, basil, onions, potatoes, focaccia, tomatoes, a couple peppers and some flowers!

Zinnias with basil in the bouquet!

 We took a walk around campus and saw lots of turkey vultures:

My in-laws dropped off some stuff they found in the basement, including hubby’s GIGANTIC high school class ring.

We walked around the art fair but didn’t buy anything:

We ran a few errands and stopped at a second hand store where I scored this little beauty for $2.50. I cannot wait to make some veggie noodles!

I made THE BEST sandwich I’ve had in a long time. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow in WIAW but just look at it. Food is beautiful.

I learned that scotch tape works really well for removing temporary tattoos:

We had movie night. I don’t sit still for movies very often but i LOVE this movie.

I made popcorn.

All of my animals LOVE popcorn. Especially Tucker.

Sunday

We bought some giant, industrial shelves for the garage from Costco.
Hubby is so happy.

We went to a bunch of random stores. I spent $20 and got the following:
Batman Begins- We’re going to see Dark Knight Rises this weekend,
but i’ve never seen the first one so we picked it up for cheap.
A resistance band with handles- I hate the ones I have now!
Pens- I’m CONSTANTLY looking for a pen. You can never have too many.
12 pens for $2.00? I’ll take it.
Laser pointer- All the animals love it.
Our old one is lost/ran out of batteries/or something…

It rained. Like a substantial amount. For the first time in forever.
Look at our grass. So that was good.

What wasn’t so good was the fact that it happened about 2 hours before we were supposed to play a volleyball tournament.
So our games were delayed. And our courts looked like this:

What was good was that despite the puddles, and the fact that we had to sit through another lightening delay, and the fact that we didn’t finish until almost 11pm on Sunday night…WE WON THE TOURNAMENT.
That means free beer and pizza next week 🙂 Worth it.

Final random thought:

How was your weekend?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

I have some exciting news to share with you guys to kick off the week! As you guys know, I’m a Fitfluential Ambassador and with that comes the opportunity to do some really cool things. One of those cool things is the challenge I’m going to share with you today!

I was selected, along with 9 other Ambassadors to participate in a challenge sponsored by Anytime Fitness. Tomorrow there will be an interview with the CEO of Anytime Fitness published on the Fitfluential blog that talks more about the challenge, but the basic premise is this:

I’m being given $70 to shop for and purchase enough food to feed the hubby and me 3 meals a day for 7 days. That’s $35 a week per person…or $5 a day.

This equates to the average amount you would receive if you were participating in the SNAP program (formerly called Food Stamps). The budget is adjusted for ambassadors based on family size.

We’re being challenged to:

• Stay within our budget
• Share our meals with you via instagram/twitter/facebook
• Show you guys that you can cook healthy, nutritious meals on a tight budget

You guys know I LOVE sharing healthy meals with you and I am SO PUMPED for this challenge! But guess what? There’s a kicker! Anytime Fitness is going to select 2 of the 10 ambassadors as winners of the challenge at the end of the 7 days and they will donate $1,000 to the food pantry of our choice! 

Amazing, right?!

Winners will be chosen based on the number of likes, shares, tweets etc they receive via social media, as well nutrition and creativity!

Some of you guys might remember the post I wrote earlier this year called 5 Reasons to Volunteer that included a section at the end about my favorite food pantry in Columbus. I’ve always held a special place in my heart for food pantries and have volunteered at several over the years. I would LOVE to win this challenge and be able to give that $1,000 to the food pantry at the Mid Ohio Food Bank!

But I need help from you guys! The challenge starts Wednesday so I would love your support in liking and sharing my pictures/tweets/etc!

I also want to extend this challenge to all of you!

Do you think you could survive on $35 a week and still eat some healthy, delicious meals? I’d love to have some of you join me in this challenge!!! If you decide to join in, I want to hear all about your journey! Tweet me your thoughts, tag me in your pictures, show me your grocery list…are you up for it?

Tomorrow I’ll be shopping for our groceries for the week! I already have my menu plan mostly figured out… but there are still a few spots I’m working on.  Wanna help?! Let me know what you think I should be eating. I’d love to hear your suggestions for cheap and healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners! Do you regularly shop on a strict grocery budget? Do you have any tips for me?

Let’s hear it!

–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

If you follow me on Instagram (theleangreenbean), Twitter or Facebook then you may already know what’s coming today! Another dip recipe. Last night my hubby officially declared me the “dip expert”. He says between this dip and the Spicy Feta Dip I made last month,  I have mastered the dip.
So I’ve got that going for me.

Today’s dip is guacamole. But not just any guacamole. This is PUMPED UP GUAC!! It has black beans, greek yogurt and all sorts of other fun mix-ins! It’s packed with fiber, protein and healthy fats. Doesn’t get any better than that my friends!

I made this recipe last summer (almost exactly a year ago, in fact) and haven’t made it since. Last weekend, I realized I had several ripe avocados and I decided to whip up another batch!

I’ve updated the recipe a bit so it’s reposted below:

Black Bean Guacamole

Print Recipe

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This isn’t your mother’s guacamole recipe. With a ton of fun mix-ins, this guac is packed with flavor and nutrition.

• Author: Lindsay
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 medium avocados
• 1 c black beans, cooked
• 1/3 c plain Greek yogurt
• juice from one lemon
• 1/2 c red onion, diced
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Place the black beans in a small food processor and pulse several times.
2. Add one of the avocados and the lemon juice and pulse until well mixed.
3. In a small bowl, smash the remaining avocado with a fork.
4. Stir in the greek yogurt.
5. Add the black bean mixture, along with the onion, tomato, jalapeno and cilantro.
6. Mix well and serve with tortilla chips.

So there you have it! It gets even better if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.

I was trying to get some nice photographs for you guys but Tucker had other plans:

What’s your favorite summer dip?
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

We’re back on the mainland. We got home Friday and actually landed just 1/2 an hour before the power went out at the airport because we got some major storms here in Ohio. The power was out at the vet but luckily we were still able to pick up the dogs and then we hunkered down for the evening and were some of the lucky ones that didn’t lose power!

Anyways, we’re still kinda in vacation mode around here because hubby took off work through the 4th, so I’ll leave you with some pictures of Maui. We headed to Maui on Friday after meeting up with my parents for a couple days in Kauai. We met my sister and her friend at the airport and all stayed together at a condo in Wailea. We LOVED it 🙂

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

It’s that time of the month again…Foodie Penpals reveal day!

This month I really lucked out and got to receive my package from on of my blogging besties Maddy. She totally spoiled me and was even sweet enough to make sure I received my package before I left on my trip!
Let’s check out what I got:

She wrapped everything up so nicely in pretty tissue paper.
i LOVED opening it 🙂

Inside, I found all sorts of goodies!

I loved that Maddy sent me some of her favorite things.
There was salsa that she likes to eat with her eggs,
apple butter that she likes on her toast,
fruit leathers and luna bars to stick in my purse for on the go snacks
and a few chocolate nut butter samples in a flavor I haven’t tried yet!
And since no package is complete without some treats,
she sent me some cookies and dark chocolate…YUM!
There was also some flavored sparkling water and spicy kale chips.
Even baby Em sent me one of her favorite cookies!

My favorite part was the red pepper pasta from her local farmer’s market!!
I used it that night to make a pasta salad and it was DELICIOUS!

Huge thanks to Maddy for all my delicious treats!!

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

I sent my box this month to Jenny, who doesn’t have a blog..but she wrote up a little guest post for me to share with you guys about what she received:

I considered myself pretty lucky when I found out I was paired with the blogger who was running this whole foodie trade.  And let me tell you, Lindsay delivered a great box! My box came and I was very excited to open it. When I picked it up, I noticed how heavy it was. The first thing I tried was the Love Grown Granola.  This granola was so delicious, crunchy, filling, and it was nice with a few roasted almonds.  I paired the granola all week on my Chobani yogurt for a quick work breakfast.  The next goodie I noticed was homemade gluten-free banana muffins. I thought it was a great idea that Lindsay added a home baked item. I will admit I was a little leery about the idea of gluten free and chick pea flour, but they were so flavorful and the texture was really great.  I really enjoyed them and it was nice to know they were healthy and I would never know they were made with chick pea flour.  The little packets of Justin’s butter was a great snack; I added the almond butter to the loose bag of dry ingredients to make granola bars.  They were so yummy.  I always thought that making granola bars would be difficult, but these were so easy and very filling.

Lindsay also gave me a few different LU Bars and a mint Cliff Bar. They were great snacks, and I really enjoyed the Banana Foster flavor.  The other snack that I brought all week to work was the Nature Peanut butter cookies.  Lindsay said that one of her past pen pals gave them to her and that she loved them, and I agree! The last two items was the Jar of Frog Grass Salsa made in Ohio and the bag of Glazed pecans.  The salsa was so chunky and had a great spice to it, and the pecans were so great just the right amount of salty and sweet. Lindsay also gave me 5 popular food magazines that I have been reading by the pool. 🙂 This box was a great combo of sweet, salty, spicy, and healthy.  I cannot wait to participate again and continue to get to know more readers and bloggers.  Thanks again Lindsay for my box and creating this fun little trade.

I was so happy to hear she enjoyed everything!!!

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

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-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 residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. 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 interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

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

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

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

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

I love Hawaii. That’s all.
Happy weekend 🙂

Lindsay

Hi Friends!

Just popping in for my last update before we leave for vacation.

So yesterday, this happened:

(Warning…these first pictures are a little gross so if you’re squeamish, scroll down a ways….)

To be more exact, that happened yesterday night. About an hour before the vet closed. A mere 36 hours before we leave for vacation. It didn’t look that bad when it first happened. It didn’t really bleed that much…but we knew we needed to have a better look at it. So we got out the clippers and hubby buzzed the hair all around it so we could see what was really going on. Then we stuck Abner in the bath tub and cleaned it out. Then we had an extensive debate about whether we should take him to the vet. In the end, we ended up going. We’re not exactly sure how this happened, but our guess is that he scraped his side on a board or nail trying to chase something under the deck. We decided that even if he didn’t need stitches, he might need antibiotics so we piled in the car and headed over. Luckily we only live 5 minutes from our vet and they could see us right away.

15 minutes, 5 staples and $100 later we were on our way.

Abner was a champ and just stood there while the vet stapled him so we lucked out and didn’t have to pay to have him sedated. They gave him a cone and told us he had to wear it the whole time he’s at the kennel.

That didn’t go over well. He’s never worn one before and when we put it on, he basically just stood there with his head down and refused to move or walk. Luckily, my in-laws have a donut collar for their golden when he get’s hot spots and I ran over to borrow that from them. So far it’s working much better. You can tell Abner is much more comfortable in it and the wound is close enough to his shoulder that he can’t reach it.

Soooooo i’m crossing my fingers and spending the morning watching him to see how he does…and then this afternooon the boys are off to camp. He’s walking around fine with this on so hopefully he’ll do alright at the kennel with it. I’m super stressed and really hoping the people at the kennel will keep a close eye on him and make sure the staples stay in and don’t get infected.

But what can you do? Sometimes life is just out of your control.

In other news….

I got my nails done yesterday.

My foodie penpals box came!

I used the pasta that my penpal sent me to make a big pasta salad,
which we ate for dinner with black bean burgers.

I went on my first CONSISTENT three mile run in a long time.
I ran all three miles at a 9:10-9:15 min/mile pace.
Usually I start out way to fast…but I’m working on it!

I started packing healthy snacks for the plane.
Fruit, nuts, seeds, granola/protein bars…
Since it IS vacation, I treated us to some snacks we love but don’t usually buy:
Quaker Oat Squares, Chex Mix and goldfish!
They’re all still relatively healthy so I can feel good about eating them…
But since we don’t usually buy them, they’re a nice treat!

I started packing last night. It looks like my closet threw-up on my floor.
Usually I’m a last-minute packer but I’m glad I started early for this trip.

I will probably cry when I drop these two off later.

Oh well, like I said…some things in life are just out of your control.

Oh, and tomorrow?

Yeah….I’ll be here 🙂

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends!

So the next two days are going to be a bit of a whirlwind as we get ready to go on vacation! Our food situation will probably start to get interesting and quite creative as we try to use up the food we have left before we leave.

We spent the weekend tracking down some things we needed for our trip like water shoes, neck pillows and plane reading material. Let’s review shall we?

Friday I ate the last of my frozen yogurt granola bites! Time to restock.
I ate a leftover pancake for lunch, along with some frui, hummus & veggies.
I walked the dogs a couple miles..but we’re getting to the point where it’s almost too hot to walk them during the day…so I walked with them for two miles and then dropped them off in the AC.
Then I headed back out to do two more miles on my own!!
I met hubby and one of his coworkers for a happy hour drink.
Afterwards, the hubby and I set out to track down water shoes- check!
And get some half price mysteries for me to read on the plane!
We also went in to one of the discount stores just for fun.
Hubby expressed his feelings about Miracle Whip 🙂

Saturday I got up and enjoyed some blueberries in my cereal.
Summer is officially here!
And I treated myself to some foamy milk in my coffee 🙂
Then hubby & I headed out to do some shopping.
Neither of us go shopping very often so we treated ourselves.
Both of us picked up some stuff we can take on vacation.
While we were out we tried out a new Greek restaurant on a whim.
It was awesome. We shared the hummus & the veggie pita. So big & so cheap!
The owner also recommended some greek beer for each of us to try.

Hubby ended up getting more stuff on our shopping trip on Saturday…but I did find a shirt, a tank top, a dress and some shoes at Marshall’s (bottom picture). I also found a kettlebell, which I’ve been looking for, and a jump rope!

On Sunday I headed out by myself to do some shopping while hubby did some projects around the house. I found a bag on sale at Gap that I’m going to use as my carry-on but can also double as a beach bag while we’re there. I ended up finding two other dresses that I liked better so I’m returning the green one. It just doesn’t fit me quite right…but i’ll be on the lookout for one in a similar pattern. I also found a couple more tank tops and a pair of white shorts. I feel like I’m the last person in the world to buy a pair of white shorts or pants. I also found a new sports bra and another pair of sandals on sale. But the best deal of the weekend was that orange dress. It’s BCBG, originally $140. I found it on the sale rack at Macy’s and I also had a coupon, so I picked it up for $17!

I made us some eggs & toast for breakfast on Sunday…
along w/ fresh fruit and some Chobani & granola.
I also caught Marcus and Abner laying unusually close to each other,
so of course I had to capture it!
We stopped by my in-laws to drop off a father’s day present
(a beer bottle cap remover..very cool!)
And I made Sweet & Spicy Shrimp with Soba Noodles for dinner.

Today I’m getting my nail done. I’m SO excited. I haven’t had them done forever because I was working at an assisted living facility and we weren’t allowed to for sanitation reasons. So, today I’m getting a shellac french manicure. I love them because they last forever and you don’t have to deal with fake nails breaking! I love french manicures because they look fancy but it’s not as obvious when they start growing out!

Tonight we’re getting a head start on our packing so we’re not doing everything last minute and soaking up time with the pups before I have to drop them off at doggy camp tomorrow 🙁

How was your weekend?! Do anything fun?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

1. a morning treat
2. an empty trauma room
3. fish tacos
4. close-up of a flower
5. a sign at the home improvement store
6. Tucker in a hat
7. A happy hour drink with hubby
8. Some deck time at 6pm
9. My view at the concert of a local band

10. Best bit of my weekend- Saturday night relaxation
11. A door you should always look for
12. The fan from a low angle
13. Some art in our kitchen
14. Time spent on the deck
15. On of my favorite yellow t shirts
16-18. Some bonus animal cuteness for you 🙂

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

PS. contrary to what this post may lead you to believe, I do, in fact, do other things in the summer besides sit on the deck with my feet up!
That just happens to be a favorite activity 🙂

Hi friends!

Just popping in to share another go-to meal with you guys. This one is seriously too easy to require a recipe…but it’s one of my favs so I wanted to share it with you!

These sandwiches are so easy to pair with some veggies and fries for a quick, healthy meal!

Here’s my favorite way to make them:

Start by “frying” the eggs. Slice some homemade bread. (I suppose store bought will do…but homemade is better!) Slather on some hummus.  Add the eggs. Top with a slice of cheese, red pepper strips and avocado slices. Spread a little butter on the bread and put it on a panini press/George Foreman grill. When it’s golden brown, take it out and eat it!

Side note- if you eat meat, you MUST TRY THIS: Make the same sandwich, minus the hummus, but add pulled pork. I’m telling you. BEST.SANDWICH,EVER. Seriously. Try it. They make that sandwich at one of the sandwich shops downtown and it is my favorite sandwich of all time.

If you don’t eat meat, try just adding a little bbq sauce to your next egg sandwich. Deeeeeelish!

Best thing about these sandwiches?
They’re perfect for breakfast, lunch OR dinner!

So tell me, what’s your all-time favorite sandwich?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–