Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pasta Giveaway Winner & Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
I first want to start by saying I'm feeling incredibly thankful that I am able to sit here and write this post today.  Unlike so many others in the tri-state area, I woke up this morning to an apartment that is heated, powered and free of any real damage from the nightmare that was Hurricane Sandy.  My iPhone is charged and I have complete access to Facebook and Twitter.  More importantly, I know that none of these things matter.  It is not lost on me that so many have not been as lucky as I have.  People have lost their lives, their families and their homes.  But one thing we can all count on is the resiliency and strength of our nation, our state and more particularly, our beloved New York City.  Now more than ever, I'm so thankful and proud to be a New Yorker.  My heart goes out to any and everyone affected by this disaster. 

In addition to being Halloween, today is the last day of National Pasta Month.  That doesn't mean we can't celebrate all year round with tasty & nutritious pasta recipes! Especially since we know that Pasta Fits into a healthy lifestyle!  Also it's time to announce the winner of my Pasta Prize Pack giveaway! 

Congratulations Tiffany!  I'm so excited that you'll be receiving this awesome Pasta Fits prize pack, including Dreamfields® Spaghetti, Mueller's® Whole Grain Spaghetti, Heartland® Gluten Free Wheat Free Penne, Ronzoni Healthy Harvest® Spaghetti, Ronzoni Garden Delight® Rotini and an Ultragrain Pasta® Spaghetti Spoon!


Please send me your contact information and we'll get your prize sent out to you! 



And finally...Today is the October Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day! :)

Here's what the program is all about...


-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 


To get more info on Foodie Pen Pals or to join for October, visit The Lean Green Bean or click the icon below.  


This month my Foodie Pen Pal package came from Lauren over at Lauren Living Locally.  Thanks, Lauren! :)  I really love the concept of her blog, which follows her adventures in cooking food from local farmers markets and CSAs.  

Here's what she sent:
Kashi TLC bars
Sea's Gift Seasoned & Roasted Seaweed Snack
Lara Bar (love them)
Celestial Tea
The cutest baby Tabasco sauce! (I told her I liked spicy things)
Homemade Granola 

Once again, big thanks to Lauren for my FPP package this month!  

The Lean Green Bean

You can head over to The Lean Green Bean FPP link up to check out what other pen pals sent and received this month.  And if you're digging this program, sign up by November 5th to participate! 

Happy Eating, Happy Halloween and Stay Strong Everyone! :)

Monday, October 15, 2012

Give Me Something Good to Eat

With Halloween just around the corner, it seems like bags of candy and chocolate are everywhere you look.  A celebration originally intended to honor the souls of the dead has become completely centered on candy corn and "fun size" candy bars.  Talk about scary!


Now I'm a big chocolate fan myself (especially dark chocolate!) and I definitely believe that sweet treats do have a place in a healthy lifestyle.  Still every year I find myself frustrated by the overindulgence that occurs around Halloween and other holidays.  Being surrounded by empty calories is just not a good way to set ourselves up to make healthy choices.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not campaigning to end trick-or-treating or anything crazy like that.  love dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating, but I think we need to make adjustments to the messages (and the treats) we're giving to kids today.  When I was little, we always wanted to just skip the houses we knew to give out apples, popcorn or toothbrushes, but maybe those people were onto something!  Of course those are dietitian approved choices, but it doesn't even need to be that "extreme"! There are plenty of snack options that can satisfy a sweet tooth without breaking the nutritional bank.

  Green Halloween is one of many awesome programs working on changing our approach to Halloween.  It's gaining serious momentum and inspiring people to think "outside the candy-box®".  I absolutely love the idea of making Halloween healthier, safer and easier on the environment!  

Some of the well-known companies involved with the Green Halloween movement include Honest Tea, Stretch Island Fruit Co., Plum Kids, Cascadian Farms and (my favorite) Lara Bars!  In fact, Lara Bars is hosting a sweepstakes to giveaway 100 LARABAR minis, which are a great healthy option for trick-or-treaters! (Hurry, though...it ends at 11:59pm tonight!)

So before you stock up on giant bags of (expensive) Halloween candy, consider giving out something GOOD to eat this year!

Have a Happy and Healthy Halloween! 

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween and it's almost time for the trick-or-treaters to start making their rounds! Yesterday, I participated in the HoBOOken Halloween 5K race, which had a great turnout of festive Halloween runners! I placed 572 out of 1113, with a finish time of  29:17, which is a 9:25 pace, and my PR so far! So I'll take it!


Check out a few pics below and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)


Me after the HoBOOken 5k!



Yip Yip! (and he ran like that the whole time!)


Gu Girls! (my favorite costume!)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Have a Healthier Halloween!

Halloween (my favorite holiday!) always gets a bad rap for leading to cavities and candy binges.  However, it is entirely possible to have a healthy haunting season by making some smart choices!


Here are a few healthy Halloween tips:
1. Try buying candy you and your family DON'T like as the sweets for trick-or-treaters. 
2. The snack-size candy bars can be a great portion control, as long as you can resist temptation and keep it to one or two pieces.  If not, best to just not buy them in the first place. 
3.  Bake up some pumpkin seeds to munch on while acting as candy-distributer.  Pumpkin seeds are packed with a ton of vitamins and minerals and have been linked to lower cholesterol and prostate health.
4. Get active by spending a day at a pumpkin patch or corn maze, raking leaves or stuffing your own scarecrow!
5. Enjoy candy in moderation: separate out your favorites and dispose of the rest!
6. Get rid of extra unwanted candy to programs like Operation Shoebox, which sends care packages to U.S. troops all over the world.
7.  Protect your pearly whites by brushing and flossing after having your treats!

It's good to know you can indulge without blowing your daily caloric budget, so I've included some lower calorie candy options below:

Lollipops: Dum Dum's ~25 calories each, Tootsie-Pop ~60 calories each
Hershey's Dark Chocolate Kisses: 180 calories for 9 kisses
York Peppermint Patties: 1 Large Patty= 140 calories or 3 miniatures= 150 calories
Twizzlers(or other Licorice): 4 Twists (strawberry)= 160 calories
Swedish Fish: 140 calories for 19 fish
Sugar-Free Gum: ~5 calories for 1 piece