Orchard Bar - the NEW All Natural bar...

There is a NEW, very YUMMY nutrition bar in the world.

Orchard Bar -
the All Natural Energy bar from Fruits, Nuts and Seeds!

Loaded with real fruit, heart-healthy nuts, nutritious seeds and protein-rich soy nuggets. No date paste fillers, no peanuts, no strange substances from the lab. And the best part?  You won't believe how good they taste! (This is SO true!)

I received 3 of the bars to sample and personally love them. I had to try the Strawberry first (that's my favorite fruit) and then last night I did the Pineapple, Coconut & Macadamia nut bar. They are so good. Orchard Bars are a good source of protein, high in Omega 3 and have no Trans Fat. They're rich in Antioxidents, heart healthy nuts, low in sodium and no cholesterol. (YUM! I LOVED the Strawberry ones the best - but they ALL were so good.)

I also received the Blueberry, Pomegranate and Almond bar and will probably have that as a snack tonight.

Here are the ingredients and the breakdown if you're interested:

fruit (fruit juice from concentrate (organic apple, blueberry, pomegranate), blueberries, promegranate powder, organic apple flake), organic evaporated cane syrup, organic Tapioca syrup, almonds, seeds (sunflower, flax), soy protein nuggets (soy protein isolate, tapioca tarch, salt), fruit pectin, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid, Vitamin E (to preserve freshness). CONTAINS ALMONDS & SOY.

Allergen statement: May contain traces of peanuts and other tree nuts not listed in the ingredients. (This statement was on all 3 bars)

You can find more information on the Orchard Bars online - OrchardBar.com
Visit the Where to Buy Page

Charged & Energized!

I'm sitting here at the hospital (although in the business room) waiting for my friend Susan who is having surgery. Her Dr had an emergency so Susan is relaxing and watching TV and I'm taking the opportunity to check on job emails, emails in general and catching up on a little typing too.

I was reading Good Housekeeping and they had an advertisement for the Great Grains Sweepstakes that I thought I'd share with you and we can talk about Grains and why they are great for you (and me):

Post has a cereal called Great Grains that is not ground flour and THEN processed into flakes - instead it's whole wheat kernals that are gently steamed, rolled and baked. It's less processed which is better for you, maintaining it's full nutrition. Great Grains (the cereal) has hearty grains, tasty granola clusters and wonderful fruits and nuts all combined for a filling breakfast (lunch and dinner too)

Great Grains and Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone are offering you a chance to win great prizes!

• One Grand Prize Winner will receive a Curtis Stone Stainless Steel Cookware Set and a year’s supply of Great Grains cereal
• 25 Winners will each receive a Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone cookbook, a set of Curtis Stone bowls and 3 varieties of Great Grains cereal
• 100 runners up will each receive 3 varieties of Great Grains cereal

Enter the Sweepstakes at: http://greatgrainssweeps.com/

To learn more about Great Grains cereal, visit the official Facebook page at

http://facebook.com/greatgrains

Breakfast - my favorite meal of the day!

 

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It gives our bodies the energy and nutrients it needs after a long night with no food and the hard work of repairing our cells, hurts and keeping our body working in tip top shape.


Why eat breakfast?  Breakfast helps us to:

• Concentrate and stay alert.
• Solve problems and remember important information.
• Be creative and imaginative.
• Learn (and use) fundamental skills.

A good breakfast involves protein (nuts, meat, peanut butter, yogurt, milk), carbohydrates, a little fat, a fruit.  If you choose a cereal you want to make sure it's whole grain (rolled oats, whole wheat) as the first ingredient, 2 grams or more of fiber per serving (Weight Watches encourages 3 grams) and no more than 250 milligrams of sodium per serving.  Weight Watches also encourages us to eat some fat everyday.  Be sure to include a good quality oil (canola or olive) and also eat some kind of nut butter or other fat to help you feel full longer and satisfied.

Last year I found a wonderful website with a page dedicated to Oatmeal.  Her goal was to eat more of it & to eat more healthfully!  Now, do you think I remember where that page is?  Nope.  (If you know please leave a comment) My friend Ella Johnson sent me a page with lots of lovely yummy pictures of Oatmeal so I'll direct you there.  =D


These two are my favorites from Kath Eats Real Food.  She actually uses ingredients in her Oatmeal like almonds, peanut butter, jelly, banana, fresh berries, frozen berries - I'd heard about all of those.  It's ingredients like spinach blended in that definitely did not catch my interest!  LOL

Blackberry Bran Muffin

Banana Split!  YUM!

Need More Ideas?  How about VISITING the Quaker Oats Gallery?

Apple Berry Crunch?  

 Apples, Strawberries, Cherries, Yogurt and Granola

Cherry Chocolate Crunch?  

Cherries, Chocolate Chips and Almonds

What do you like to have on YOUR oatmeal?

Share your favorite ideas and recipes in the comments below!

Improv(e) your Butt Challenge

Do we have any Quilters, sewers, crafters, designers, jewelers, etc......?  Here's a FUN way to motivate yourself to lose weight, improve your nutrition, exercise more - whatever YOU're goals are:




Jacquie over at Tall Grass Prairie Studio (here) and Katie at Sew Katie Did (here) challenged each other last year to take a break from sewing & quilting and get some exercise every once in a while and they came up with a plan to motivate themselves using something they LOVE as a reward.  I'm going to post their plan, and if you think it will help motivate you, go for it.  I'll add the link to sign up for the plan at the end - let me know if you're going to give it a try.  I just might - I love to sew & quilt!


Quilter's Butt and an Improv(e) Challenge


Alas, those of us who sit in front of sewing machines (and computers) for long periods of time are prone to that only whispered about in coffee shops syndrome known as the dreaded Quilter's Butt. There are similar maladies for other artist and crafter types who spend long hours doing anything but exercising and avoiding and making seriously legitimate excuses for not hopping on the treadmill, jumping on a bike or hitting the pool.

My friend Katie and I met on the internet and we initially connected trying to motivate each other to exercise. We know that exercise and healthy living will allow us to be more productive quilters and in the end isn't that what it's all about? We want to quilt longer and harder, so we need to be in shape.

When Katie was visiting Kansas last month she suggested I join this government site that tracks your exercise. It's a virtual transcontinental trip across the United States. She suggested that we become partners to motivate each other. I was all over that. I need all the help I can get!

Are you like that? You want to, you know you should, but you can't seem to get your quilter butt out of that chair? We thought it would be great if we could form a team and get a whole bunch of quilters to join with us. So, Team 'Quilter Butts' was formed and the 'Improv(E) Your Butt Challenge' was born.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS. To join in, you need to head to the site and sign up as a participant. It's all confidential too! You'll be able to set an individual exercise goal. When you sign up you'll get an ID number. To join Team Quilter Butts and the challenge, email me your id number and whatever you want me to put in the sidebar of my blog. (your first name, an alias and a link if you'd like.) Katie and I will add you to the team. My email is jgeringirre (at) yahoo (dot) com.

You can decide what activity you want to qualify as your exercise. The options on the site are biking, running, and run/walk, but Katie is counting her water aerobics and I'm counting my swimming. You can figure out how to convert your activity into miles. You can enter your exercise daily or whenever you have a minute or two. You'll be able to track your own miles as well as the team's. It's all on the honor system so you're on your own. Do you think that together we can make it all the way across America? We do!!

So, how does quilting fit into this challenge? Both Katie and I love to improvise, so this is an IMPROV challenge too. For every mile you log, you get one piece of fabric. My weekly goal is 15 miles. So, if I achieve my goal, at the end of the week, I get 15 pieces of fabric that I can sew together in some improvisational way. You can use scraps, or you can cut new fabric. You can add a piece one mile at a time or you can collect them on your design wall and then sew them together at the end. If you want to make a potholder from your first 15 pieces, go for it. It's up to you. Improvise!! We're going to try to keep the challenge going for at least 6 months...let's see... 4 weeks a month, 15 miles each week x 6 months...that's 360 pieces of fabric. Imagine what I or you could make from that!

I'm pretty sure I'm making a quilt. I haven't decided what colors or if I want to use scraps or cut new fabric, but I have time to decide. I'm only 5 miles into my trip across the US. I have a LONG way to go.

Let's report our weekly fitness and improv progress on Fridays. Fitness Friday has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Feel free to post photos of your quilty goodness in the Project Improv flickr group. We'll be cruising the group to look for in progress and finished work to highlight on our blogs. Be sure to let us know this is your 'Quilter's Butt' Challenge piece!

We're working on some fun motivation for all of us along the way. If you'd like to contribute to the cause, feel free to contact Katie or I.

Here's the code so you can add the button to your blog.

Enter HERE to sign up - then follow the directions in this post - or you can read the original post on Tall Grass Studio

Weekends are for relaxing...

Hi everyone, I'm doing a little relaxing right now and following some blog hops that I'm not familiar with.  I've started looking for unusual giveaways, reviews and new recipes to try.  One 2 Try did a review and is hosting a giveaway for Lotus Foods which specializes in various kinds of rice from around the world.  They have some awesome recipes on their website too!

If you'd like to try to WIN the rice cook on One 2 Try, click HERE and let her know I sent you (Tina from GivingNSharing).  Thanks!

I was thinking that this sounds so good, and I have a feeling that I'm going to be trying it very soon - even if I just have to use a brown rice!  I think it would be really good with salmon or chicken.  Maybe even leftover Thanksgiving Turkey.  Yum!

Bhutanese Red Rice Pilaf with Cranberries
(Click here to order and see other recipes)
2 cups of Bhutanese Red Rice
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 cup dried cranberries*
1 tablespoon orange zest
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
In a 1 quart sauce pan heat the oil over medium flame, add onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, making sure not to color. Add the cranberries and orange zest to the onions for the last minute. Stir in rice and coat with oil until rice is hot. Stir in water, add salt and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before fluffing; add the chopped walnuts on top and serve.

If made in a rice cooker, sauté onions in the oil directly in the rice cooker. When onions are translucent stir in the cranberries, zest and cook for a minute. Stir in the rice and coat with oil. Pour in the water, cover and let the rice cooker do the rest.