Larabar – Product Review!!

I recently received two packages in the mail and I couldn’t be happier with the goodies!! Thank you so much to Rakeb at Larabar and Kristina at Stonyfield for offering to send me samples and coupons!

First up, I tried the Cashew Cookie Larabar, since I’ve seen such wonderful reviews in the blog world. I have to say, this little guy did not disappoint!

I loved the moisture and sweetness of this bar! Some Larabars, like Cherry Pie, have a delicious tart flavor, but I’m not always in the mood for something tart. Sometimes, I just need some extra sweetness in my life! And how great is it that the only ingredients are cashews and dates?!

I give this one an A+

Second, I tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly Larabar, which has made quite the entrance onto the blog scene in the past months! I agree with others that the bar tastes JUST like a PB&J sandwich. However, I was disappointed that the bar wasn’t as moist as the other Larabars I’ve had. I noticed the same dryness when I made my own rendition, but I figured this was due to the roasted peanuts. Unfortunately, I just may never find the perfectly moist PB&J bar. The Larabar version is quite tasty though!

Review: B

For my last 15 miler, I was in the Hamptons for yet another 15 miler and I need some good pre-run fuel. Enter the Tropical Fruit Larabar! This bar had the tartness I love, but it was kicked up a notch and it was great! I also loved being able to taste the shredded coconut and the fresh, fruity taste of the bar as a whole. The powerful flavor also meant that I was inclined to eat it more slowly – I ate a bite here and there while I got dressed, filled my fuel belt, reviewed my route and made one last pitstop. When I hit the road, my stomach was satisfied and happy, as was I!

Review: A++

And last, but certainly not least, one of my tried and true favorites – Apple Pie Larabar. As much as I love the other flavors I got to sample, this one is still one of the best. The spices in this bar really take it to the next level. Don’t ever get rid of this one, PLEASE, Larabar!!

Review: A++, #1, YAY!

I haven’t gotten to use the Stonyfield coupons yet, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with their yogurts both as breakfasts and in recipes so check back soon 🙂

Beet It!

Tuesday morning’s juice featured a newcomer. Being the friendly vegetables they are, the carrots and kale were happy to make room for this little guy. Eager to be part of the group, the beet went first and I smiled with glee at the bright red juice that came pouring out of the juicer. He was soon followed by his carrot and apple friends, and the juice container filled quickly. A juicy organic lemon and hunka-hunka ginger added some snap to the brew and I topped it off with 5-6 leaves of kale (sans stems) and 3 stalks of celery.

Look at that gorgeous color!

The flavor was pretty much the same as past juices, likely due to the diminutive stature of Mr. Beet, but it sure was lovely!

I sipped my “life blood” juice while packing my meals for the day. To round out breakfast, I packed a Chocolate Coconut Larabar. Lunch was a vegetable masala burger patty from Trader Joe’s in a whole wheat pitette (one of the last!) and a smear of spicy hummus from Sahadi’s. Since NYC is positively broiling right now, I knew I’d want something to cool down a bit and packed a big container of fresh cherries and a handful of raw almonds.

And for a snack to enjoy on my way home from work, I had one of my latest obsessions – ThinkThin Brownie Crunch bar.

This bar is, by no means, of Healthy Living Summit swag bag caliber, but sometimes no one can convince us to end an unhealthy relationship, no matter how hard they try (and the ingredients list makes some very valid arguments):

Protein blend (calcium caseinate, whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate), glycerin, coating (maltitol, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, sodium caseinate, dairy oil, soya lecithin, natural flavors, salt), maltitol syrup, cocoa powder, water, ground almonds, soy crisps (soy protein isolate, rice flour, calcium carbonate), canola oil, chocolate liquor, soya lecithin, tricalcium phosphate, natural flavors, salt. Vitamins and Minerals: ascorbic acid, d-alpha tocopherol, niacinamide, zinc oxide, vitamin A palmitate, electrolytic iron, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper gluconate, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, vitamin B12.

That’s a lot of chemicals!!

The oppressive heat got the best of me on my way home and I was seduced into dinner at my in-laws’ very well air conditioned apartment. I did pick up the shrimp I’ll need for an upcoming stirfry, but it now sits happily in my fridge, “chilling out,” if you will. Instead of gingery shrimp stirfry, we enjoyed raw meat, roasted chicken, marinated artichoke hearts and fresh pita. I had a small dollop of labne with the roasted chicken to give it some moisture.

The Huz’ sixth sense kicked in around 10pm and he insisted we leave immediately – a storm was brewin’! Sure enough, not two steps out the door and poor Bodhi was scrambling for cover. Our poor munchkin really just not agree with summer storms. Our abbreviated (sprinted) walk ended up being a blessing because we missed the torrential rain by about 10 seconds. We actually stayed in the lobby to catch some of the show! Thankfully, it looked like most people were safely at home, or were able to find awnings for shelter.

I had my last Soy Delicious Coconut Almond Bar for dessert while we caught a bit of the Yankees game and I flipped through the issue of Body + Soul we received at the Summit. Much more on that soon!

Have you ever been caught unprepared in a summer storm? Do you like thunderstorms?

We’ve Reached The Summit!!

As promised, here is the continued recap of my long weekend! I woke up early (too early?) on Friday to run with Meghan and Amanda around the Charles. We started from the Longfellow Bridge and stopped for a quick stretch at some park benches before settling into a quick, but reasonable, pace. As we shambled along, watching the tree roots peeking up through the sidewalk, we chatted about blogs we read, balancing blogging with “real life,” our running careers and how thankful we were that it wasn’t 90* and dark out, which is the weather Meghan usually runs in! 8 miles later, Meghan and I parted ways with Amanda because she had to go to work (blech!) and we made a quick stop at Whole Foods for some essentials – fresh pineapple and grapes for me; yogurt, granola and freshly ground almond butter for lovely Meghan. Congrats on the PDR (personal distance record), Meghan! You rocked that run, girlfriend!

Back to the hotel Meghan wandered and up the hill to my chateau I climbed. A quick shower and lots of water later and I was ready for my hair appointment! Shamefully, I hadn’t had my hair cut since New Years’ Eve because I’ve been determined to let it grow out.

Before:

When I moved to New York, I was afraid to see a new stylist for fear he or she would chop off too much length and I’d be back to square one. I’m also big on service loyalty so I committed to waiting until I was back in Boston for my next snip-snip sesh.

After:

I decided to stay in town until Gena arrived so I did some shopping at French Connection on Newbury Street. She arrived just in time so I managed to make it out the door without any purchases! We weren’t quite hungry yet so I took her on a walking tour of part of Boston. We walked through Beacon Hill, around the State House, through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, around Haymarket (where Gena bought 1.5 lbs of broccoli for $1 and I got 5 nectarines for $1!), across the Big Dig to the North End, up 3 huge flights of stairs to the yoga studio where I’d taken class the night before, back down the stairs and up Hanover Street, over to the waterfront to take in the view of Charlestown and the Bunker Hill Memorial and then back to Beacon Hill.

Not surprisingly, we’d finally worked up appetites so we enjoyed fabulous Whole Foods salad bar lunches (mine a mix of tofu, fresh veggies, quinoa salad and the like; Gena’s a glorious collection of vegetables and a container of guacamole) before heading over to the Healthy Living Summit cocktail party.

I’d been to Rustic Kitchen in the past, but never for such a swanky event! We arrived (a bit late) and were immediately immersed in a crowd of smiling, chatting, beautiful women. The food looked truly lovely, though I didn’t have any since I’d eaten earlier. I had a chance to meet Jenna, Caitlin, and Kath, and I was so happy to see Heather again, whom I’d met at Gena’s party last month. The ladies were so composed and it was great to put live faces to names finally! As much as I’d felt like I knew these women because I read their blogs, there’s really nothing like saying ‘hello’ face-to-face. I also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Megan and Betsy, and Betsy’s sister, Emily. It was the perfect combination of past and present – Megan lives in NYC and Betsy lives in my hometown, Pittsburgh! Since I’d gotten up so early to run that morning, I was ready to pass out pretty early so I had one drink and called it a night by 11pm.

After an early wakeup call on Saturday, it was Summit time!! Gena and I met up with Melissa after registration and had some breakfast. I brought a nectarine with me and had a Kashi Trail Mix bar with some chamomile tea. I got to meet Hangry Heather’s lovely sister, Nadine, and Caroline and we all enjoyed breakfasting, photo snapping and chatting while we waited for the Summit to formally convene.

(Sadly, I was fraught with a terrible case of nerves so I took almost no pictures during the Summit but please read on! All weekend pictures are courtesy of Melissa and Gena.)

The first presentation was by Janel Orvut, an RD in Boston. I appreciated her view on proper nutrition and her encouragement to enjoy indulgences in moderation. However, much of her points were not new to me, so I don’t know that I learned very much. She seemed very nice though!

Next up, Zesty gave a wonderful presentation on better blogging techniques. He brought up some very interesting points about self hosting, social media, advertising and blog appearance. You can be sure you’ll be seeing changes in my blog in the future, though nothing too drastic, I promise!

During Zesty’s presentation, I dug into the amazing swag bag and snacked on a new ProBar Fruition bar – the bar was very tasty, but the texture was a bit too soft for my liking. I think I would have preferred if it was a bit more dense, or a bit more like a granola bar. Instead, it was kind of soft and sticky. It had a great blueberry flavor though!

(The other ProBar product we received was the Koka Moka bar, which The Huz sampled on Sunday evening. Review: It seemed like there were so many great ingredients, but when they were mixed together, they just tasted like a generic “nut bar” – like a teenage artist who mixes too many acrylic paints together. After too many ingredients, suddenly you’re not looking at anything anymore. What I was tasting was good and boring at the same time. Occasionally I’d taste a sesame seed or a raisin or a chocolate chip, but generally it was nutty texture with the saltiness of the nuts and chocolate without any of the sweetness and depth of flavor you would expect.)

After Zesty’s presentation, we enjoyed a Q&A session with the six beautiful organizers and it was so great to hear them speak so frankly about their opinions on blogging, their hopes for the future (and how blogging might fit in) and what they are most thankful for in life. Meghann was so sweet and spoke so lovingly of her boyfriend – he sounds like a great guy!

The Summit broke for lunch around noon and I grabbed a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with swiss cheese, tomato and pesto. I had a little bit of potato salad and a pickle on the side. I was so impressed with how considerate the organizers were of the dietary needs of attendees. While it’s not realistic to make everyone happy, they really did a great job. The sandwich, unfortunately, left a bit to be desired, but I blame the hotel for that! Gena and Melissa were hoping to catch an early bus back to Manhattan to take care of some obligations so I took the ladies on a quick Boston tour before putting them in a cab.

We walked through Government Center, Downtown Crossing (with a quick stop at the CitySports Basement, where we each found a few cute items!), Boston Common, the Public Garden, the Commonwealth Avenue mall, the Esplanade and back to Whole Foods for some food to-go.

With the lovelies safely on their bus, I took a quick nap and met up with one of my best friends to venture out to Cambridge Brewing Company. I am so glad I could be in town to celebrate a very important friend’s birthday! I had a nom de plum beer, which was very very tasty!

And my camera finally came out of hiding!

The handsome birthday boy with his beautiful girlfriend:

Marianne, Teddy and me:

On Sunday, I slept in (finally!) until 9:30, tidied up my chateau and repacked my bag before heading to Porter Square to see my oldest Boston friend, her beloved and their adorable puppy, Copley. We snagged tasty sandwiches from Diesel Cafe (mine was tofu salad with sprouts and peanut sauce), and relaxed in the comfort of some air conditioning. They were kind enough to drive me to the airport, where I waltzed through security in no time and settled in with my book and a chamomile tea from Starbucks. I slipped my eye mask on when I boarded the plane and, before I knew it, I was home in the arms of my main squeeze. Even though I feel like I could sleep for a month straight, I wouldn’t change a thing about the weekend. The Summit was a great opportunity to meet some truly wonderful women and I am so impressed by the dedication and work Caitlin, Kath, Meghann, Heather, Tina and Jenna put into this event. I am so looking forward to the Healthy Living Summit 2010. Congrats, ladies, on such a successful weekend!!

We've Reached The Summit!!

As promised, here is the continued recap of my long weekend! I woke up early (too early?) on Friday to run with Meghan and Amanda around the Charles. We started from the Longfellow Bridge and stopped for a quick stretch at some park benches before settling into a quick, but reasonable, pace. As we shambled along, watching the tree roots peeking up through the sidewalk, we chatted about blogs we read, balancing blogging with “real life,” our running careers and how thankful we were that it wasn’t 90* and dark out, which is the weather Meghan usually runs in! 8 miles later, Meghan and I parted ways with Amanda because she had to go to work (blech!) and we made a quick stop at Whole Foods for some essentials – fresh pineapple and grapes for me; yogurt, granola and freshly ground almond butter for lovely Meghan. Congrats on the PDR (personal distance record), Meghan! You rocked that run, girlfriend!

Back to the hotel Meghan wandered and up the hill to my chateau I climbed. A quick shower and lots of water later and I was ready for my hair appointment! Shamefully, I hadn’t had my hair cut since New Years’ Eve because I’ve been determined to let it grow out.

Before:

When I moved to New York, I was afraid to see a new stylist for fear he or she would chop off too much length and I’d be back to square one. I’m also big on service loyalty so I committed to waiting until I was back in Boston for my next snip-snip sesh.

After:

I decided to stay in town until Gena arrived so I did some shopping at French Connection on Newbury Street. She arrived just in time so I managed to make it out the door without any purchases! We weren’t quite hungry yet so I took her on a walking tour of part of Boston. We walked through Beacon Hill, around the State House, through Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, around Haymarket (where Gena bought 1.5 lbs of broccoli for $1 and I got 5 nectarines for $1!), across the Big Dig to the North End, up 3 huge flights of stairs to the yoga studio where I’d taken class the night before, back down the stairs and up Hanover Street, over to the waterfront to take in the view of Charlestown and the Bunker Hill Memorial and then back to Beacon Hill.

Not surprisingly, we’d finally worked up appetites so we enjoyed fabulous Whole Foods salad bar lunches (mine a mix of tofu, fresh veggies, quinoa salad and the like; Gena’s a glorious collection of vegetables and a container of guacamole) before heading over to the Healthy Living Summit cocktail party.

I’d been to Rustic Kitchen in the past, but never for such a swanky event! We arrived (a bit late) and were immediately immersed in a crowd of smiling, chatting, beautiful women. The food looked truly lovely, though I didn’t have any since I’d eaten earlier. I had a chance to meet Jenna, Caitlin, and Kath, and I was so happy to see Heather again, whom I’d met at Gena’s party last month. The ladies were so composed and it was great to put live faces to names finally! As much as I’d felt like I knew these women because I read their blogs, there’s really nothing like saying ‘hello’ face-to-face. I also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Megan and Betsy, and Betsy’s sister, Emily. It was the perfect combination of past and present – Megan lives in NYC and Betsy lives in my hometown, Pittsburgh! Since I’d gotten up so early to run that morning, I was ready to pass out pretty early so I had one drink and called it a night by 11pm.

After an early wakeup call on Saturday, it was Summit time!! Gena and I met up with Melissa after registration and had some breakfast. I brought a nectarine with me and had a Kashi Trail Mix bar with some chamomile tea. I got to meet Hangry Heather’s lovely sister, Nadine, and Caroline and we all enjoyed breakfasting, photo snapping and chatting while we waited for the Summit to formally convene.

(Sadly, I was fraught with a terrible case of nerves so I took almost no pictures during the Summit but please read on! All weekend pictures are courtesy of Melissa and Gena.)

The first presentation was by Janel Orvut, an RD in Boston. I appreciated her view on proper nutrition and her encouragement to enjoy indulgences in moderation. However, much of her points were not new to me, so I don’t know that I learned very much. She seemed very nice though!

Next up, Zesty gave a wonderful presentation on better blogging techniques. He brought up some very interesting points about self hosting, social media, advertising and blog appearance. You can be sure you’ll be seeing changes in my blog in the future, though nothing too drastic, I promise!

During Zesty’s presentation, I dug into the amazing swag bag and snacked on a new ProBar Fruition bar – the bar was very tasty, but the texture was a bit too soft for my liking. I think I would have preferred if it was a bit more dense, or a bit more like a granola bar. Instead, it was kind of soft and sticky. It had a great blueberry flavor though!

(The other ProBar product we received was the Koka Moka bar, which The Huz sampled on Sunday evening. Review: It seemed like there were so many great ingredients, but when they were mixed together, they just tasted like a generic “nut bar” – like a teenage artist who mixes too many acrylic paints together. After too many ingredients, suddenly you’re not looking at anything anymore. What I was tasting was good and boring at the same time. Occasionally I’d taste a sesame seed or a raisin or a chocolate chip, but generally it was nutty texture with the saltiness of the nuts and chocolate without any of the sweetness and depth of flavor you would expect.)

After Zesty’s presentation, we enjoyed a Q&A session with the six beautiful organizers and it was so great to hear them speak so frankly about their opinions on blogging, their hopes for the future (and how blogging might fit in) and what they are most thankful for in life. Meghann was so sweet and spoke so lovingly of her boyfriend – he sounds like a great guy!

The Summit broke for lunch around noon and I grabbed a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with swiss cheese, tomato and pesto. I had a little bit of potato salad and a pickle on the side. I was so impressed with how considerate the organizers were of the dietary needs of attendees. While it’s not realistic to make everyone happy, they really did a great job. The sandwich, unfortunately, left a bit to be desired, but I blame the hotel for that! Gena and Melissa were hoping to catch an early bus back to Manhattan to take care of some obligations so I took the ladies on a quick Boston tour before putting them in a cab.

We walked through Government Center, Downtown Crossing (with a quick stop at the CitySports Basement, where we each found a few cute items!), Boston Common, the Public Garden, the Commonwealth Avenue mall, the Esplanade and back to Whole Foods for some food to-go.

With the lovelies safely on their bus, I took a quick nap and met up with one of my best friends to venture out to Cambridge Brewing Company. I am so glad I could be in town to celebrate a very important friend’s birthday! I had a nom de plum beer, which was very very tasty!

And my camera finally came out of hiding!

The handsome birthday boy with his beautiful girlfriend:

Marianne, Teddy and me:

On Sunday, I slept in (finally!) until 9:30, tidied up my chateau and repacked my bag before heading to Porter Square to see my oldest Boston friend, her beloved and their adorable puppy, Copley. We snagged tasty sandwiches from Diesel Cafe (mine was tofu salad with sprouts and peanut sauce), and relaxed in the comfort of some air conditioning. They were kind enough to drive me to the airport, where I waltzed through security in no time and settled in with my book and a chamomile tea from Starbucks. I slipped my eye mask on when I boarded the plane and, before I knew it, I was home in the arms of my main squeeze. Even though I feel like I could sleep for a month straight, I wouldn’t change a thing about the weekend. The Summit was a great opportunity to meet some truly wonderful women and I am so impressed by the dedication and work Caitlin, Kath, Meghann, Heather, Tina and Jenna put into this event. I am so looking forward to the Healthy Living Summit 2010. Congrats, ladies, on such a successful weekend!!

By now they’re so hungry, they could eat a zigzog!

Any guesses where the title of my post comes from? It just so happens to be from one of my favorite movies, and one I’m totally craving right now.

Speaking of crazy hunger though, my eats recently have totally reflected the hunger pains I’ve been having since I started to up my mileage! Too bad I’m still trying to work off my post-injury weight gain, but I suppose it’ll happen all in good time, right? And besides, I’ve said before the marathon training is NOT the time for weight loss. I guess there’ll just be a little more of me to love for a little while 😉

I was so inspired by Brandi’s stuffed mushrooms that I had to make them on Monday night. Sadly, mine weren’t quite as attractive as hers, but they were still very tasty!

I used this recipe from myrecipes.com and it made enough for 4 large caps and 1 small one, plus another cup of filling and additional bread crumb/cheese mix, which I toasted up after we’d finished our meal.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up a bit late so, rather than the oatmeal I’ve been having lately:

I had a sliced nectarine and a Key Lime Pie Larabar on my way out the door!

11:45am: A mega salad from Dishes! This beauty had sweet and spicy corn salad with zucchini; mixed greens; tarragon beet salad, 2 pieces of roasted eggplant with vietnamese sauce; sesame noodles with tahini sauce; and vietnamese summer rolls with grilled chicken, hoisin sauce, fresh herbs and cucumber. The summer roll was absolutely incredible! All the greens made it so fresh and there was just a touch of hoisin to give it some moisture. I seriously contemplated going back for a few more to enjoy for dinner!

3pm: After my gym class, I had a XXX Vitamin Water10. My coworker had picked up an Arizona Arnold Palmer and, while that sounded so appealing, it had Splenda in it. Drat! I know I’m better off for my sweetener intolerance, but sometimes it’s just so darn inconvenient. I was glad our little office newstand started carrying Vitamin Water though. I know it’s not perfect, but it sure it tasty!

3:30pm: Small bowl of raspberries with a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips and dried coconut.

I’d intended this dish to be oatmeal topping, but my lunch was so huge that I knew afternoon oatmeal would put me right to sleep. This dish was tasty, had different tastes and textures, and gave me a nice afternoon chocolate fix.

7:30pm: I was on my own for dinner, so I went revisited the Sesame Soba Noodles recipe I made a few months ago. This time, I used a small yellow pepper and a mini head of broccoli. Of course, I doused the whole dish in Sriracha and dug right in!

8pm: I stopped at the store on my way home from work and was in search of a new, single serving dessert. I was so happy when I found these:

These are a great alternative to the phenomenal Haagen Dazs bars that I love so dearly, but that wreak havoc on my digestive system. I really enjoyed the subtle coconut flavor and the light chocolate coating. And what goes better with chocolate than a nice glass of red wine? Nothing! I sipped a glass of the 2007 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages we’d opened for the stuffed mushrooms the night before:

and I got to work packing to the Healthy Living Summit this weekend!! I’m very fortunate that I work for a firm that has a Boston office (my old digs!) and I have meetings scheduled for Thursday. I took a vacation day on Friday so I can get some appointments taken care of and get ready for a great weekend full of friends old and new! I don’t think I’m going to take my laptop with me, though, so blogging might be sparse. However, I’ve got a few posts prepped for my absence and all of the other (more dependable) attendees will certainly be writing all about it!

I get on the plane tonight, so please think good thoughts for me (I hate flying more than anything in the world) and have a wonderful Wednesday!