Morning friends!
Ready to find out the winner of the giveaway? I think it’s about time…
Congrats, Danica! You were randomly selected as the winner of a free box of custom Element Bars. The company will be e.mailing you with details.
For the rest of you, the company is offering a 15% discount for any box of bars.
Thanks to all who participated. Ya’ll came up with some creative combos!
More from me later…
HAPPY Friday!
Hey. Happy Wednesday! Keeping up with my countdown? I’m three classes + five finals away from the end – so close! As I was munching on my veggie wrap at school today, I realized that everything I packed to eat as my lunch was vegan… and when I thought about it some more, my breakfast was animal-product free too. Enter spontaneous idea here: I decided to challenge myself to eat an entirely vegan diet for the day. It was a success! …and really not all that difficult. After all, it was initially an unintentional effort.
Here is what my vegan for a day diet consisted of. [Don’t judge. I eat a lot!]
Breakfast
Mid-morning Munch
Lunch
Afternoon Snack
Dinner
Dessert
Would you ever consider living a vegan lifestyle? If you are vegan, why so? I have NO desire to become a vegan anytime soon. Personally, I think it is too ‘intense’ of a lifestyle. I am fortunate enough to not have any food allergies that require me to give up dairy. Plus, my passion for baking is too strong for me to consider giving up my buttah : )
Alright, time to hook you up with free, wholesome [and perhaps vegan] goodies! Do you remember when Santa brought me a box of Element Bars? It was surely one of my favorite holiday gifts. I was so excited when I discovered this create-your-own bar company, that I may have helped Santa and his elves in their workshop ; ) You can read about my first review of my personalized bars right here.
After complimenting the company on loving every bite of each of the dozen bars, they generously offered to send me a second box of free bars to sample. Opening the package was like Christmas all over again, except this time I didn’t know which flavor(s) I would receive. Inside was a fruity trio: Blueberry Repair, Cranberry Crunch, and Fruit Blaster flavors – yummy!
The even better part… they offered to hook one of my readers up with 1 FREE box of personalized Element Bars – a $36 value!
There are four ways to enter the giveaway:
1. Visit the Element Bars site, create your dream bar, and share your creation in a comment below.
2. Follow me on Twitter.
3. Tweet about the giveaway [including the post URL].
4. Mention the giveaway in a blog post of your own.
Each of these count as 1 entry, and you must leave a comment for each form of entry. The fun ends THURSDAY, May 20th @ 8:00pm. Good luck!
Oh!… and all who participate will receive a special discount code for 15% off a box of bars, so go get creative.
Wow, Wednesday’s already come and gone. It’s all downhill to Spring Break from here!
Being the foodie that I am, I decided last night what I wanted to have for breakfast today…which was a waffle sandwich in honor of Waffle Wednesday! My taste buds were woken up on the right side of the bed today – holy yum!
2 Van’s Multigrain Waffles [Toasted] + PB&Co Bee’s Knees, 1/2 banana & Honey
…plus a jam jar of 1% milk
I packed a sampling of snacks for my long day at school – it was the perfect variety.
Apricot & Almond Element Bar
Dried Apricots + Dark Chocolate Almonds [6 each]
Carrot & Cucumber
1/2 Apple + Sharp White Cheddar
It was absolutely gorgeous weather today, so between my two sets of classes I took a stroll in the sunshine to Starbucks to redeem my free beverage coupon.
I nibbled on my Element Bar while sipping on my decaf – extra foam – latte. I know I tell ya every time, but these bars always dominate my hunger! I got through the rest of the day – no problem.
I then wandered around my lovely campus, capturing any slight signs of Spring.
Move It In March
Today’s trip to The Resort included…
3.25-mile treadmill run:
1.5-mile indoor track run [7:14/6:12 negative split]
5.25-mile ride [15-minute spin]
Almost forgot…I finally did some strength training today too, including: lunges, squats, side dips and bicep curls.
I want to give a shoutout to all the RDs today in honor of National Registered Dietitian’s Day! Your hard work is appreciated.
Hope you had a wonderful Wednesday. Talk soon!
Hillary
Howdy ho, neighbor!
I really don’t have anything exciting to talk about tonight [no news is good news, right?], but I thought I would pop in for a quick hello.
I think my Statistics exam went swimmingly today. I’ll have to wait to find out if that’s really true. Food Lab…not much to say about that either. Today’s topic of study was food preservation, so we made jams and pressure-processed carrots, etc. I did come home with a butternut squash in my backpack. Haha, gotta love free veggies!
On another random note, today’s eats were scattered across the flavor map. My grocery stash is so low, it’s ridiculous. Ya’ll know I go grocery shopping weekly, so I guess I had an extra-large appetite this week. I swear I’ve got nothing: no dairy, no produce, no chocolate! Tomorrow = Friday = Grocery Shopping Day! I think my cart is going to overflow =]
Example #1 of my fridge scrounging:
Whole Wheat Toast with Chevre, Fresh Basil & Tomato
Example #2:
Apricot Almond Element Bar
I’ve only got 3 left! I ate this after my exam around 1:00pm and it held me over through my workout until 7:30pm! That’s a substantial snack!
I was really energized after class (thanks, Element Bar), and excited to put on my new Nike Dri-Fit top and get spinning!
Heart-Pumping Cardio
Arms
Abs
Alright, I must shut up now and get crackin’ on the chem homework!
Night,
Hillary
Before consuming, I added:
Let’s just say I was not a fan. I think I made it “correctly”, but it was just too rich on my empty stomach. It reminded me of rice oat pudding. I had a few bites and then resorted to a piece of whole wheat toast with apricot jam. Hot oats are more my style. Unfortunately, I’m not as experienced as Kath and was not able to eat, capture a decent photo, and blog in under 9 minutes, so I’ll let you use your imagination.
Then I was out the door to catch the bus – in the pouring rain I might add. I spent the next 8 hours on campus dodging puddles and a sea of umbrellas. After my first two (of four) classes, I had a bite to eat for lunch and then clearly hadn’t splashed through enough puddles, so I walked to Starbucks and warmed up with an extra-foamy soy latte…and an Element Bar!
When 5:00pm rolled around, I was so happy to be heading home to a dry house for the remainder of the night. I slipped off my soaking wet jeans and into a pair of cozy pajamas as soon as I walked in the front door. The Element Bars I created are extremely filling, so all my stomach craved for dinner was some fresh veggies:
– organic lettuce, 1/4 avocado, tomato, cucumber, chevre, olive oil & balsamic –
It was definitely a dark chocolate kind of a night:
Who am I kidding…every night is a dark chocolate night!
***
Alright, time to showcase my new bookshelf that I assembled last night ALL by myself…proud parents?
Supposedly I collect recipe/food books. 21 & counting…
Well, it’s almost 8:00pm. You know what that means around here…The Bachelor! All I could think about today was the 2 hours of cheesy reality TV and hot cup of tea waiting for me to unwind from yet another Monday : )
Night All,
~ Hillary
This afternoon I dug into my box of Element Bars that Santa brought me. I might have designed them myself in his ‘workshop’, but it was still a splendid surprise to unwrap them from under the tree. This company is genius! Although there are some pretty tasty granola/energy bars in the markets today, who wouldn’t want to create their own personalized bar?
My Creation:
I told myself I would only eat half, but there was no way I was going to leave the other half alone in a drawer – it was that good! I’m really pleased with the entire bar – the texture, flavors and appearance.
There are just a couple cons I can think of: 1) the bars are expensive, 2) each of my bars has 13 grams of fat…at least it’s healthy : )
***
Yesterday I mentioned there was one final holiday tradition left that involved food. Today was Doughnut Day! I know what you’re thinking…how exactly does fried white flour and sugar fall under the category of nutrition? Well, it doesn’t. A few years ago, my uncle started a new tradition in our family of making homemade doughnuts one morning for all the cousins that were in town for the holidays. So, once a year I indulge in the best-darn doughnuts there are: old fashioned, coffee glazed, cinnamon sugar…just to name a few.
Even though I only eat doughnuts (or sticky buns, as was the case today) once a year, they are still doughnuts…so I’ve incorporated another tradition of going for a pre-sugar feast run. Today’s happened to be a sluggish 45-minutes.
Sorry I don’t have proof of what I tell ya. Got to work on my evidence, don’t I?
Well, the house is in post-holiday stress disorder, which means I can’t think straight until everything is in it’s place.
You’ll be hearing from me soon,
~ Hillary