Pretty Pictures

First, I'd like to remind you all that I have a great Fiber One Giveaway going on right now.  It closes on June 30, so don't forget to enter if you haven't yet! 

I've also been having some fun with my camera lately.  Summer is definitely one of my favorite seasons for taking pictures.  The abundance and variety of flowers is especially amazing.  Below are a few of my recent pictures.  I hope you like them!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  I sure did :-).  I went on a 70 mile bike ride in the countryside with a friend.  My farthest previous ride was 65 miles.

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Fiber One Giveaway

I am happy to announce another giveaway for everyone to take part in!  But first, to set the stage....

I was recently chosen to receive a Fiber One Dietary Guidelines gift pack from General Mills through My Blog Spark, and it contained some delicious varieties of Fiber One cereal.  As many of you likely know, fiber is an important part of our diet.  The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans say people should consume 25-38 grams of fiber daily, and that the average American consumes only 15 grams.  Incorporating fiber into your diet doesn't have to be hard.  Alongside fruits and veggies, you can enjoy Fiber One cereals that offer at least 30 percent of the Daily Value per serving. (Some Fiber One cereals offer more than 50 percent!)

As for my favorite Fiber One cereal, I'm going to have to go with the Raisin Bran Clusters®.  Yum!  Below are the other varieties:

Now one of you has the chance to receive a Fiber One Dietary Guidelines gift pack just like me!  This giveaway will be open to U.S. residents and will end on June 30, 2011. The winner will be picked via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to the winning e-mail to claim their prize or another winner will be drawn. Make sure you leave a valid email address in your posts!


Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment stating whether you think you get enough fiber in your diet, and how you might try to incorporate more if you think you're lacking.  Leave your email address too please!

Extra Entries: Become a new follower of my blog. (1 entry)

Link to this giveaway in one of your blog posts and comment below with a link to that blog post. (1 entry)


Thanks for entering and good luck!

Disclosure: General Mills provided me with the free product, information, and gift pack through MyBlogSpark.

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Baked Oatmeal Bars

Today I've got a recipe to share!  Granola bars are a favorite of mine, and I was looking through some bloggers' recipes and found a promising one from Kath Eats Real Food for Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars.  I tweaked the recipe a bit to give it my own spin and came up with Ashley's Baked Oatmeal Bars:

Ingredients
1 3/4 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/8 c. honey
1/2 c. raisins
1 1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg

Directions
Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then combine. Pour mixture into parchment lined baking pan and cook for 30 min. at 350 degrees.  Cut into bars and store in refrigerator or freezer.

The bars were quite tasty, but not very sweet.  Next time I make them I'll add some applesauce and more honey.  Here's the final product:

Do any of you have a favorite granola bar recipe? 

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Sunwarrior Protein Powder Review

Is it really June already?!  Summer is going to fly by!  I thought I would have more time to blog, but unfortunately that is not the case, but I do have a post for you today.  I was sent some complimentary Sunwarrior Protein Powder packets for review, and they are pictured below.   I find Sunwarrior Protein to be quite unique in that it is 100% raw vegan, 83% pure protein, hypoallergenic, non-GMO, gluten free, and has a complete amino acid profile among other things. 

I'd give all of the flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and natural) an 8 out of 10.  I mixed each with milk in a blender, but the end product still had a somewhat floury and gritty texture.  The actual taste for each was good, and I also liked the nutrition facts and ingredients.  I just wish the powder didn't create a fine, floury tecture since I really like smoother drinks. 

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!  This is the perfect exercise season, and so far I'm taking full advantage of that fact by running or biking every day.

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Permalean Protein Bars Review

EnergyFirst sent me a couple Permalean Protein Bars to review in addition to the protein powder and green drink powder packets I reviewed earlier here.  Permalean Protein Bars are advertised as "the only 100% All-Natural, Low Sugar, Low Carb, Low Calorie, healthy nutrition bar in the world!"  I like that kind of confidence :-).  Below are the two bars I was sent:

Chocoholic Chocolate: 9 of 10.  This bar tasted like a tootsie roll to me.  It was chewy with a rich chocolate flavor.  The texture was a tad gritty, but not bad.

Stark Raving Peanutz: 9 of 10.  This bar had a tootsie roll/ 3 musketeers/ Snickers texture, but still tasted like a protein bar.  I liked the thin milk chocolate coating and peanuty inside. 

The nutrition facts for both bars was great, and I was also pleased with the ingredients.  I think these bars would be great to eat for a quick breakfast or a post-workout snack.


On another note, I hope everyone's summer is going well.  I'm enjoying mine so far!  The weather has been fabulous, and I even got in a couple 3 mile runs last week.  I haven't been able to run quite that far since my IT band started to bother me this winter, but I'm slowly increasing my mileage now.  So far all is going well.

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Graduation: A blessing and a curse

The semester is over, and many people are graduating from high school or college and moving on in their life.  I'm not graduating this spring, but I do have friends that are.  I'm sorry to see them go, yet happy for them as they pursue their dreams and goals.  This is definitely an emotional time and sometimes I'm not sure how best to handle it.  I think the best thing one can do is to move on with confidence and trust.  New friends will be made, new opportunities will arise, and the pain of parting will subside.  These comforting words can be hard to internalize in the moment, yet such is life: people come and go, relationships begin and end, and change is the only constant.

This definitely reminds me of The Beatles song "Hello Goodbye".

Here's to new beginnings! 

I had to end on a positive, cute note :-).  I took this picture just a few days ago in Champaign.

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May Flowers

It's May!  I can hardly believe it, but I'm very excited for summer!  I have just two weeks of class left.  I am planning on doing a lot of biking and running around the Champaign-Urbana area.  I'll probably need to do that in the early mornings or late evenings if this summer is as hot as I heard last summer was.  Ah well, I can be flexible.

I have some flower pictures to share with you today.  These aren't all ordinary flowers though... see if you can spot the 'special' ones ;-).

Did you notice anything odd about the middle two pictures?  Those are actually fake flowers!  Yes, I didn't realize that fact until after I'd already taken a few pictures.  I was drawn to the flowers because of the beautiful rain drops on the greenery surrounding them.  When I finally took a closer look at the flowers themselves I noticed they weren't real.  I had myself a good laugh after that - haha!

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EnergyFirst Review

Today I am going to review a few EnergyFirst products for you all.  EnergyFirst sells a variety of products including whey protein isolate, protein shake kits, green drink powder, and protein nutrition bars.  Here is the EnergyFirst mission statement:

"We change lives. We create energy, success, and ultimate well-being through our Program and paradigm for healthy living. Core to our Program is the EnergyFirst Shake, the world’s best tasting, highest quality, all natural meal replacement protein shake."

That is certainly a powerful statement demonstrating serious commitment, and it must be working since they currently have 8,331 fans on their facebook page.

I was sent the following complimentary products for review: two protein powder packets, a green drink powder packet, and two protein bars.  I'll be reviewing the drinks today!

The first protein powder I tried was the ProEnergy Ultimate Vanilla.  I mixed it with milk first, tried a few sips, and then added some wheatgrass.  The final product is pictured below.

ProEnergy Ultimate Vanilla: 9.5 of 10.  This powder provided a very rich vanilla flavor and blended quite well into my milk.  I loved how smooth the resulting drink was.  After I added the wheatgrass, that flavor was most predominant, but I could still taste the vanilla.

ProEnergy Chocolate Decadence: 10 of 10! My first reaction to this drink was WOW!  It was so rich and creamy, yet not overly sweet or too chocolately.  It was a mild milk chocolate flavor and not bitter at all.  Like the vanilla, it blended very well into the milk.

Greenergy: 9 of 10.  I mixed my green drink powder with 1c. milk, 1/4 c. frozen blueberries, and 1/2 of a frozen banana.  The result wasn't as sweet as I might have liked, but it was still quite tasty with a mild 'green' taste.  It's similar to a green smoothie using spinach leaves, but the powder blends in much better and also provides some extra nutrients.  I think this would be a quick and easy way to add some additional 'greens' into your diet.

Overall, I really enjoyed the above EnergyFirst products, especially the Chocolate Decadence whey protein isolate - YUM!


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Becoming Raw: Book Publishing Company Review

Today I am happy to provide you with another book review courtesy of Book Publishing Company.  I also want to remind you that Book Publishing Company is running a special campaign this April called, "Live Delicious - Eat Vegan." They'll be giving away a free vegan cookbook this month, and you can enter here!

I was recently sent a complimentary review copy of Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets. 

This is a substantial book with 352 pages of information about raw vegan diets.  I appreciated all of the scientific evidence and data included that demonstrated both the potential risks and benefits of raw diets.  The advice in this book is essential if you want to ensure that your raw diet is providing you with all of the nutrients you need.  I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in beginning a raw diet or simply incorporating more raw foods in your current diet of choice.  This book concludes with a section of over 45 recipes, and I was excited to see that very comprehensive nutritional analysis are given for each recipe! 

I'm going to share one of the recipes with you here: Tutti-Frutti Ice Cream!  There are only 2 ingredients for this great dessert: 2-3 frozen ripe bananas and 2 cups of other frozen fruit.  This recipe can be made with a juicer, food processor, or blender.  I used my handy-dandy food processor and included a little milk in order to create a slightly creamier ice cream.

While I have made banana soft serve before, this was even better.  The frozen blueberries added great flavor, making this a truly fun and tasty dessert.  You can top this treat with a few nuts for an added flourish and some crunch too!

Have a great day!  And for all of my fellow students, keep in mind that summer is *almost* here!  I know these next few weeks are going to be very busy for me, but the promise of summer is helping me sustain a positive outlook :-).

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March Showers Brought April Flowers

Hello all!  I'm thrilled by all of the blooming flowers everywhere.  I especially love the Magnolia Trees.  Their blooms are gorgeous, and they smell heavenly.  I thought I'd share some pics I've taken in the past week.  That's all I've got time for right now since I'm spending most of my time working on final papers.  The end of the semester is fast approaching! 

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