I've got a fun post coming up in the next few days about Christmas Clearance shopping (how to score the best deals, and looking past Christmas to find uses for this stuff all year or for other holidays!)...but that's taking a bit to organize so in the mean time I wanted to post a fun bento picture. 

My mom got me a lot of new bento stuff for Christmas this year including these fantastic hard boiled egg molds.  They're super easy to use.  i love all things cute so these really appeal to me, but I also think this would be a fantastic way to get kids to eat healthier.  i don't know a single kid who wouldn't be more likely to eat healthy food if it was packaged fun and cute!

I was also super excited to use the adorable Hello Kitty bento I got.  It's a little small, about 5 inches by 4 inches, but I was surprised that it was the perfect size for lunch.  You can really fit a lot in a small space.

These are great for me because they really give you a variety of food (and thus nutrition!)  Plus this only took about 5 minutes to put together - so simple!

CSN Stores - $20 GIVEAWAY

I'm very excited to bring all my followers my very first giveaway!  CSN Stores is a fantastic company who carries everything from cookware, home decor and outdoor items to modern bedding.

The wonderful people at CSN Stores have graciously provided me with a one time use $20 promotional code for me to give away which can be used on anything at their 200+ Stores where you are guaranteed to find something you cant live without.

I had so much fun browsing their websites.  Whether you've got an eye for the whimsical and modern like these amazing Capellini and Walt Disney chairs which would make a bold statement in any room.

Or maybe like you me you covet anything to do with cooking....my heart went pitter pattern when I saw this adorable apron...I admit it, I have a secret love affair with girly, flirt aprons.  They make cooking anything so much more fun! And if this isnt your style the selection of aprons over at csnstores.com is amazing.  so many quirky and practical styles for adults and kids.

While CSN Stores will definitely allow you to splurge, they've got some fantastic bargains as well.  Just look as this complete 8 Piece bamboo kitchen utensil set for only 23.95  It's stylish and affordable!

By now you're probably all dying to get out there and start shopping, and are wondering how to win so here's the deal.  This post will be open until 12pm EST on January 2nd.  So what do you have to do?  Just comment here with "I love a bargain!" and just for fun let me know which item you covet from any of their websites. You must comment with a working e-mail address for me to contact you should you win. 

Since I know how exciting giveaways are I'm allowing everyone chances to earn bonus entries.  So if you share the link for this giveaway on your facebook, twitter, or your own blog just comment back here with a link showing me where you shared it and you will earn another entry!

Good luck everyone and have fun shopping!

Maintaining your Wallet, Waistline, (and Sanity!) this Holiday Season

The Holiday season is a joyful, wonderful time of year.  It's also busy and stressful for many of us which often leads  people to stray from healthy eating.  Whether its succumbing to temptation (there seems to be sweets everywhere this time of year) or just being too busy to plan ahead and seeking the convenience of fast food or eating out, many of us find ourselves gaining a few pounds around this time of year.

The one piece of advice I have; take 10 minutes for yourself.  This truly is a wonderful time of year, and giving and thinking of others is often at the top of the the priority list but its important to remember that we can only take care of others when we take care of ourselves first.

So think twice before having seconds of that dessert if you know you wont feel good after.  Or take 10 minutes in the morning to pack yourself a healthy meal or even just a few snacks if you know you're going to be out all day.  The best way to avoid temptation to be prepared!  Take for example my lovely little lunch I've packed for today, because my mom and I will be gone all day and I know its going to be crowded and busy and if I plan now I know I wont be tempted later.

Top tips:

• pack food - a lunch if you can but even a few snacks is great.  Besides the wait for eating out is so long this time of year ythat your wallet, waistline and stomach will all thank you for skipping the drive through.
• Never let yourself get too hungry.  Resistence to temptation is weakened when you're starving, and no one makes clear decisions (whether it be food or christmas shopping decisions) on an empty stomach. 
• Drink plenty of water.  It's easy to rush around from party to party, store to store, or just lock yourself in your house wrapping and forget that at least 8 glasses of water a day will leave you hydrated, clear headed and ready to face anything that comes your way.
• Before buying anything this time of year - from a sweet roll to a purse - stop and ask yourself if you need it or the person you're buying for truly needs it.  Many of us get caught up in the hustle and bustle and get carried away spending more money than we have or eating more than our tummies can hold.  It's certainly ok to splurge this time of year, just stop and ask yourself if you'll regret it before making any rash decisions.
• Enjoy every moment!  The Holidays only come once a year, so make the most of them.

Spotlight - Cherimoya

One big part of eating healthy (and enjoying every moment!) is to keep things new and interesting,and of course appealing.

So I wanted to spotlight a tasty fruit which may be an old favorite or something completely new.

The Cherimoya.

What's that you're thinking; Cherimoya is real?  Maybe you're like me, a girl who a few months ago thought that Life Water's Cherimoya punch flavored water was a made up flavor.  Then my world was rocked when I discovered it was real!  As a fruit lover I was surprised to find a fruit that I'd never even heard of.

The Cherimoya is a subtropical fruit which grows on trees (though not just in subtropical locations, my fiance's family has a tree at their home).  The fruit is lumpy and soft on the outside and is usually picked hard.  In order to eat it, you have to wait until its very soft to the touch.

The Cherimoya has a sweet, light and almost tropical flavor.  Once it's ripe you can simply split it open by hand and eat the flesh of the fruit, just remember not to eat the seeds or the skin!  The consistency is a bit strange at first if you've never had it, but the flavor is unlike any other fruit.  Definitely worth a try.

Fitness Review - The Wii and the Wii Fit

I feel great when I work out, but the truth is there are a lot of excuses not to – its too hot, too cold, too windy, too early, too late, too dark, etc…

I could join a gym, but I tried that once; the fees are outrageous for a struggling college student.  I did a trial run at the local gym and while I enjoyed it I realized that the quick drive to the gym about 7 minutes from my house was costing me almost 10 dollars in gas a week!  (Something I bet a lot of people don’t consider)  That meant my monthly fee essentially doubled.

While I love walking or jogging outside, the weather definitely doesn’t always permit.  Also living in a tiny space has meant that it is impossible to do a lot of work out videos.

Then I got a Wii.

(mine however is a fantastic red)

I am in love.

The Wii Fit is fantastic.  For someone like me who loves charts and graphs and goals it is amazing.  It calculates your weight and BMI any time you want to do your body test and then tracks it on a graph for you to see your progress (and it lets you set time goals for weight loss and fitness).

There are also virtual personal trainers and fitness tips.  Even more exciting (and practical), the Wii Fit will log together all the exercises you do in a single day to let you know how much exercise time you’ve accumulated.  It also lets you know how many calories you burn.

It’s really cool not just from a weight loss perspective too.  It’s a VERY fun way to get your body moving.  It also helps you see your improvement because it records your scores for games.  I’ve also realized I have even worse balance than I knew thanks to the Wii Fit board which tracks balance on many games.

For me, the Wii and the Wii Fit are very practical - small in size and doesn’t require a lot of room to play, the cost is actually fairly low compared to a gym (especially because everyone in your house can use it), it’s incredibly fun, its motivating and it helps you stay on track.

I’ve tried other games on the Wii like Wii Sports (a separate game from Wii fit) and those are also tons of fun, and while it’s not the same as running a marathon I can definitely get my heart rate up playing tennis or baseball if you really get into it.

All in all, a great buy!



Oranges!

There is nothing better than fresh, delicious fruit.  My wonderful fiance showed up at my doorstop with a gorgeous box of oranges today.  I had one tonight and they are sweet and juicy.  A super delicious and healthy snack!

Product Review: Polaner All Fruit with Fiber

I'm a big fan of jam/jelly.  Unfortunately many are sickening sweet and laden with sugar, while the lower sugar varieties are often flavorless and taste fake.  I often found myself having to choose between watching the sugar and calories or flavor...until I discovered this:

Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon

Calories: 35

Fat: 0

Fiber: 3 

Sugar: 6 grams

Yes that's right, a measly 35 calories, a scant amount of sugar (and sweetened only with fruit juice no high fructose corn syrup here) and 3 entire grams of fiber.  Even better, it taste fantastic!  The strawberry is by far my favorite, but the apricot is delicious as well.

Right now I can only find this jam at some Targets, but I'm sure availability depends on where you live.

I often find eating out difficult; partly because of the cost and largely because I'm always worried about the healthfulness of ingredients (and overall calories).

For my grandparent's 71st birthday we went out to an Irish pub last night for dinner.  I ended up getting an Irish Cobb salad which originally would have been very high fat but I skipped the corned beef (extra turkey instead) and got the ranch on the side and it was very healthy and super tasty!  I find that salads with higher fat ingredients (like bacon, blue cheese or avocado) are so incredibly flavorful I barely use 1/2 TBS of dressing if that.

My number 1 eating out tip...ask for what you want!  restaurants can and will make almost any substitutions if you ask and are very specific about your requests.

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

There are only 27 days until Christmas.  The big tree went up in our living room this morning, and tonight I put up my small candy themed tree in my room.

I'm trying to go without sugar until Christmas.  If I can't eat it, at least I can look at it! :)

Black Friday Survival and Holiday Shopping Tips

So this week has been so busy with preparing for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year.  My mom and I go every year.  I know some people hate it, but I couldn't love it more.  The deals are amazing, the adrenaline is fun and the way people go crazy is something you wont see any other day of the year.

Yes, that clock is A.M.  I woke up at 2:40!

Overall I got amazing deals....

• Cannon SX120 camera - Regular $229 - I paid $125 and got a $10 gift card
• Wii Fit - Regular price $99 - I paid $67 and got a $10 gift card
• Quilted Corduroy jacket from Kohls - Regular price $80 - I paid $4
• Hamilton Beach Immersion Food Chopper - Regular $40 - I paid $7 (and I'm getting a 10 dollar rebate meaning I'll be getting paid $3 to buy it!)
• Food Network 3qt Food processor - Regular $40 - I paid $7 (and I'm getting a 10 dollar rebate for this too meaning I'll be getting paid $3 to buy it!)
•  4 gb flash drive and 4gb memory card - Regularly $15 each, I paid $8 each
• Super soft lined hoodie - $10 at Taget
• Toaster - $3 dollars

Now on top of that, after all day shopping I ended up with $45 in Target gift cards in my pocket!  I love getting paid to shop.  I got lots of other small things too, but these were my best deals.


So, with the Christmas season now upon us (only 27 days until Christmas!) here are my top shopping tips:

1. Check the ads, there isn't usually a huge price difference in items, but all stores are going to offer different incentives like gift cards with purchases, etc...  It pays to shop around.
2. Keep your recent, all major stores (Target, Walmart, Kohls, etc..) do price adjustments so if yo buy something and it goes cheaper within 7 days you can get your money back on the difference
3. Don't buy anything you don't love.  It's only a good deal if you want/need it.
4. Make sure to take breaks for eating (we all make bad decisions on an empty stomach) and stay hydrated.  I always carry a bottle of water around with me when shopping.
5. Use coupons!  The majority of stores have tons of coupons out right now.  A lot of them also allow you to combine coupons with current sales.  It may take a few minutes to read the fine print on your coupons but it is well worth the savings to find out if you can use your coupons.
6. Keep receipts for everything.  You may be sure you love it, but you never know if you'll find a better deal somewhere else.  I recommend keeping all receipts in one envelope (another great tip is making a note of the person the item is for on the top of the receipt for easy sorting).
7. If you have trouble with sales, coupons, prices, etc.. don't be afraid to ask for someone else.  During the holiday season there are a lot of new hires who aren't properly trained so dont be afraid to ask for further clarification or help.
8. And most importantly, have FUN.  It is the Holiday season after all.

Product Review - Deep Chocolate Vitatops

I've been hearing good things about Vitamuffin brand Vitatops for a long time, but could never afford to order them online.  The Targets near me recently started carrying them and I decided to finally give them a try and boy am I glad I did!

Stats:

100 calories

1.5 grams of fat

9 grams of fiber

4 grams of protein

I've done my fair share of attempting to make low fat baked goods and they're usually ok, but not great.  These do not taste low fat, high fiber or diet in any sense.  They are so rich and chocolately.  Not huge, but definitely a very decent serving for the calories. 

These are also great because they're made without additives or preservatives, which is great for the health conscious.  For this reason they're always sold in the freezer section.  I've paid 3.99 and 4.29 for a box of 4.  Not exactly cheap, but for someone with a huge sweet tooth these are definitely one treat that is worth the extra cost.  another factor that helps me determine their worth is quality of ingredients and unlike some diet sweets (like hostess 100 calories packs which are made with beef fat and other unmentionables) these are made with whole ingredients.

Pair a vitatop (heated in the microwave for twenty seconds) with a cup of sugar free cocoa and you've got a decadent dessert anyone would love!

Christmas Goodies & Shopping Tips

First let me start off by proclaiming my love of Paperchase.

I'm particularly fond of what I call their "cute food" products.  They have a line of stuff with all kinds of happy vegetables and cupcakes all over many assorted products and I find them irresistible.  I have a large all purpose bag I use for school, and a double decker pencil case both in this pattern:

The Holidays are my favorite time of the year.  You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who gets more gleeful about Christmas (I give everyone a daily countdown once we're a good 6 weeks - 2 months away).  i love everything about the Holidays, so when I saw these little goodies at Borders I had to snatch them up.  Paperchase makes some of the most adorable gift items I've ever seen.

My finds today almost fall into the same cute food category (though there are ornaments and presents and trees with cute faces too).  I personally think cute things make life better, and more fun.

First this mug, which I got with a 33% off coupon for 5.82  It is absolutely precious and the perfect size for hot cocoa.  I tend to have tons of different size bowls, plates, coffee cups, etc..  This is because the bigger the plate or cup the more food/drink you'll want.  Having the right shape or size makes every drink, snack or meal more satisfying.

This next goodie is actually a pencil case.  My mom bought it for me as an early Christmas present for around 5 dollars (she had a coupon as well).  I just loved the adorable faces and the festive, happy designs.  Am I going to use this as a pencil case?  No, actually its already in my purse with all the small random stuff that floats around the bottom (pens, pills, hand sanitizer, band aids, etc..)  Its lightweight, sturdy, has a zipper and a Velcro pocket on the front and back and was a steal!  I definitively recommend thinking outside the box occasionally.  I often use things for something besides what they're marketed as (and usually times getting a cuter item like this, and they are almost always cheaper).

View from the front.  It has a cute Velcro flap pocket on the front too.

View from the side so you can see the width and the adorable penguin zipper pull.

So tips for today:

• Always shop with a coupon, almost every store sends out e-mail coupons in mails or circulars as long as you can wait a day or two
• Don't be afraid to buy things in multiple transactions - the same stores who send these coupons out often only allow one per transaction so I often buy several things over a week period so I can use a coupon every time, or have my mom buy one for me (Kohls, Michaels, Jo-Anns, Cost Plus World Market, etc... all have similar coupon policies).  This may not be ideal for everyone but if you have the time and inclination, or really need to, you can save a ton of money this way
• Shop in every department - you'd be surprised what items are truly multi purpose
• Treat yourself - as much as I bargain shop, occasionally when you just fall in love with something that you know will bring you joy - its worth every penny

Eating Tips - Smaller Silverware

I often find that I eat too fast, or take bites that can be too large.  This is especially true when I'm very hungry.  I have to actively remember to eat slowly and take smaller bites, because the eating slower is not only more satisfying it is better for your digestion.

I've found something that helps immensely (and is a little bit fun!)...using tiny silverware.

I got agreat set of stainless steel coctail silverware at Kohls (and even better with sales and coupons I only paid 2.50 for all12 pieces!)  I put it next to a normal sized fork to give a good idea of the size.

These would also be great for kids who often have trouble with large silverware.  Another use is for lunches.  I've been packing my lunch to take to school all week and these tiny pieces fit great inside a small lunch container, very convenient and eco friendly because you're not throwing away plastic silverware.

Cooking - An Early Thanksgiving Meal

I wanted to make my fiance and I something delicious and comforting for dinner tonight so I made roasted turkey breast with gravy, green beans with bacon and onion, and baked potatoes with light sour cream and green onions.

I took some pictures to share how I made the green beans, something I'm always surprised to learn people have never tried!

First you dice up the bacon and cook all the way through.  Do not cook it with the onion or it wont get crispy.  I only used about 1 piece of bacon for two very large servings of fresh green beans.  You could obviously use more but a little goes a long way for flavor.

Next step is to take out all the bacon and bacon grease (essentially draining the bacon).  Then you're going to want to dice up the onion about the same size as the bacon.  I do about 1/2 an onion for every two people.  I also use vegetable broth to help cook the onions because one key step is that the onions cannot be crunchy in this recipe they need to be well cooked before you add the green beans back in.

Next you're going to add in your green beans.  You can use canned if you want/need.  I personally think fresh make a world of difference but its all availability and preference.  I used fresh (so obviously I boiled them first).

Season to taste with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. You definitely want to let this cook for 15-20 minutes to let the flavors meld.

The last step is to add the bacon just before serving.  If you add it earlier it will get soggy and chewy and look raw.

The last step....enjoy!

Product Review - Trader Joes Asian Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette

A few months ago I was in a salad rut.  I love salad, it is one of my all time top favorite foods.  That being said the dressing selection for healthy dressings sometimes gets monotonous.  I was eating Newman’s Own Light Balsamic almost every day.

Then I was in Trader Joes and I saw this dressing and decided to give it a go.  

Serving - 2 TBS

Calories - 70

If you love anything butter, with an Asian flair (and a subtle kick) then this is for you.  The dressing is spicy and sweet and the peanut butter.

Here is a salad I actually had for breakfast yesterday.  I chopped some lettuce with carrot and cabbage, topped with 2 TBS of dressing, a chopped up teriyaki chicken breast, thinly sliced zucchini and the last touch – some dry roasted slivered almonds and sesame seeds.  Delicious!