Enticing Healthy Eating
If more of us valued food and cheer and song
above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world
- J. R. R. Tolkien
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Life Lately: Eat your Beans...For Breakfast?

12/26/2014

 
Recent updates and a feature on one of my favorite food companies EVER that even makes a bean-based breakfast cereal.
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Hello to all! If you're new to Enticing Healthy Eating I'm happy to see you here and I hope you'll enjoy a little updates of sorts. If you're a return visitor, I'm also happy to see you here.Hope you're doing well and still recovering from some happy holiday festivities.
My dad is still going through some rough times with his treatments for his cancer. For everyone who reached out and showed love and support when I originally told about his recent diagnosis in this post, THANK YOU. You don't know how much it meant to me and my family. 

A question I'm getting used to hearing often is "How is your dad doing?" My mother and I both usually end up giving the usual reply that he is doing okay. He has good days and bad days. But the truth?...It's been rough. Even more rough than I had imagined. Not just for him, but for my mother and I as well. 

What remains true is we are staying positive and all doing our best to keep our hopes up to see results and improvement in my dad within the next few weeks? months?.....All we hope for is good news. Everyone's encouragement and support helps tremendously.

Now let's break up the doom and gloom with some more cheerier topics of late, shall we?
One recent surprise to my doorstep was this bountiful box full of Arctic Zero ice cream! The kind folks over at Arctic Zero outdid themselves by sending me not just one, but TWO of each of their newest flavors. 
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The first time I tried Arctic Zero about a year ago, I was sold. Who else makes a whole pint of ice cream with only 150 calories?! And the nutrition stats are up to par. 

So far I have tried the orange cream. It was heavenly and reminded me of summertime, which I miss so much! I think the Orange Cream would go perfectly as a topping to a fresh peach cobbler. Note to self for the future when I can get my hands on some seasonal, fresh peaches...
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This amazing, customized fitness journal and day planner made it's way into my life through a giveaway I won off of another blog. Journal Menu specializes in giving you a unique tool to track your fitness goals and progress in a customized journal.
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Erica from over at the Journal Menu company helped me create my own custom fitness journal and day planner. And check it out! I love it. She helped me with all of my questions and special requests to make the journal that was just right for me. 

I highly recommend them for any of you out there looking to track your fitness goals! Especially with the new year coming up. New Year's resolutions, anyone?...
The Christmas festivities were abundant! Even though I have only been working at my new job for about 2 weeks, I even received special gifts, cards, and homemade treats from every single one of my coworkers. It warmed my heart and I feel blessed to be working with such sweet people.
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This was one of my favorite additions to my ornaments this year--a holiday penguin perfectly outfitted for a University of Arkansas alum. Many thanks to my buddy, Amanda, for this one!
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Quick story about this one: I originally saw these initial mugs at Target while out shopping about a week before Christmas. I wanted to go ahead and get myself an early Christmas present with my initial but they were out of K's. Sad day.

Then, lo and behold, my good friend Shae surprised me with one of the same exact mugs I had been eyeing for a Christmas gift! All stocked up with some teas. It was meant to be. Thanks, Shae!
target initial mug, target mug, initial mug K
Baking up Christmas treats with my mother is at the top of my list of favorite holiday traditions. 
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My mother and I even visited Santa this year! I only asked for 2 things:
1. My father's recovery from his illness
2. An engagement ring
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One of my favorite gifts I received this year was this handmade leather wallet adorned with blue roses. My mother has a friend at her work who has an uncle that hand crafts leather accessories. This one was designed for my adoration of blue roses.
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A special Christmas breakfast just makes the day even better, right? Using the Flapjacked protein pancakes apple cinnamon pancake mix, my mother whipped up these green pancakes. A protein pancake Christmas tree. 
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Speaking of engagements, Wade and I are about to embark on a vacation together to Austin for New Year's! We will be there for 5 days on a little mini vacation.
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Since we had both played around with the idea of possibly moving to Austin in our future we thought it would be a good idea to check it out first. I already have a long list of ideas of places to visit, things to see and do, and most importantly....ALL THE FOOD to eat. Of course. Priorities, people.

I'm still open to suggestions of ideas of "don't miss" things to see or do in Austin, so let me have 'em friends.
Now to elaborate a bit on the title of this post: eat your beans...for breakfast? Why yes, yes you can! In cereal form! If you haven't heard of LoveGrown Foods breakfast foods, you're in for a treat.

I was delighted and honored to find out I had been accepted into the LoveGrown "family" as a LoveGrown ambassador at the beginning of December. They even sent me my very first Love Drop recently filled with my 3 favorite LoveGrown products (Honey Power O's cereal, Strawberry Power O's cereal, and Apple Cinnamon Hot Oats) along with a comfy t-shirt and some coupons! 
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I first became a fan of the LoveGrown company when I read about how this business came about in the book Cooking up a Business. If you're a food lover, I HIGHLY recommend this book to you. Add it to your reading list straight away. 

In the book they go into detailed stories about how some recent healthy food companies came to be. I guarantee if you read the story behind this company, you'd be a fan as well. And THEN you try out their breakfast products and...well, there's no turning back. 

You see, the LoveGrown breakfast cereals, in particular, are very unique in that they are a bean-based cereal made from navy beans, lentils, chickpeas, and brown rice. Currently they are offered in the flavors of Original, Honey, Strawberry, and Chocolate.


The nutrition stats of all of their products are phenomenal, especially compared to other breakfast options. If you want to find out more about them, do check them out at Lovegrownfoods.com. You can find their products in many stores now so I bet you can find them near you! And go check them out on their instagram HERE, facebook HERE, and twitter HERE.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy the Power O's cereal is used as a topping for my protein smoothie power bowls. Just over this past Christmas week, I whipped up a couple for my mother and I to share. Mother and daughter smoothie bowl dates. This is happiness in my book.
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Well, I'm off to Austin! The next time I will be speaking to you guys will be in 2015.

Cheers to you all. If you're planning on drinking and partying for New Year's Eve, just make sure you do so responsibly. Or if you're going to get a little crazy...just make sure you have a good hangover breakfast to wake up to. Maybe you should eat some beans for breakfast. *hint hint*

Signing off! Happy New Year's to ya!

Linking up with Heather today for Friday Favorites
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And Amanda for a little Link Love

What was your favorite part about the holidays this year?


Favorite breakfast cereal? Would you eat beans for breakfast if it was in a tasty, cereal form?

Butterscotch Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies: The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014

12/15/2014

 
I was thrilled to get the chance to participate in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2014.
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Who doesn't enjoy finding a package of a dozen surprise cookies lovingly baked just for you in the mail?...Or how about THREE dozen?  Thanks to the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this was a special treat I indulged in this year along with getting to bake up these scrumptious butterscotch cranberry oatmeal cookies and shipping them off to 3 food bloggers for them to enjoy!
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The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap began in 2011 and is hosted each year by Lindsary atLove and Olive Oil and Julie at The Little Kitchen.  For the 4th year in a row, this event brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things cookie. 

I was even more apt to join on board with this massive cookie swap when I found out all of the money raised by bloggers joining onto this cookie swap and any additional donations they may give go directly to the Cookies for Kids' Cancer program.

Not only did I get another excuse to bake up some cookies in the oven and ship them off to some lucky food blogger recipients, but I also got to contribute to a great cause. Cookies for the win!
First to arrive were these Apple Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites from Farrah at Fairyburger. Turns out Farrah and I also have a love for cats and we've quickly connected in the blogging world ever since I received these FANTASTIC cookies. Thanks, Farrah!
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Next to arrive was a Christmas Santa cookie tin full of Whole Wheat Peppermint Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies from Heather at Divas Run for Bling. How did you know that dark chocolate is one of my favorites, Heather? Yum!
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For my own cookie contribution, I went with these sweet little treats. They have a chewy texture and the sweetness of the butterscotch morsels really balances out with the tanginess of the dried cranberries. Cranberries are festive and butterscotch is one of my favorite flavors. That's how these cookies came to be born.
I actually didn't receive a third dozen of cookies this year, but I will NOT be complaining with the abundance of cookies and treats already around my house right now. Probably a good thing for my waist line.

Butterscotch Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Serves: 22 cookies

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temp.
1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend OR regular brown sugar
1/4 cup stevia
1 large egg
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup white whole wheat flour OR whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup rolled quick oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup butterscotch chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together the butter with sweeteners of your choice (I used stevia and Splenda brown sugar blend) using a handheld or stand mixer until smooth. Add in the egg, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Beat again until just well incorporated.

In seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture to the wet mixture slowly. I added about 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, blended it well, then the second 1/3 portion of the dry mixture, etc.

Stir in the oats, cranberries, and butterscotch chips until well incorporated. Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets with parchment paper. Press the dough down just slightly to result in a flatter cookie. Bake 10-12 minutes until just golden brown.

Remove from oven, allow the cookies to set on baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool down.
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To find out what the other Food Blogger Cookie Swap participants baked up this year, head on over to the link up HERE to see just how massive and widespread we can share cookies and help raise money for a great cause!

Linking up with Mary for Delicious Dish Tuesday
Eat Drink & Be Mary
And Heather over at Housewife Glamour for Friday Favorites because these are my new favorite cookies to bake up.
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What is your favorite type of cookie?


Are you doing a cookie swap this year or have you ever participated in one?

ARWB Ornament Exchange 2014

12/14/2014

 
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Hello friends! This post is going to be short, sweet, and to the point because my schedule has been a bit more packed lately. In a good way! Because....

I finally got a job! It's just a temporary job lasting through next summer working with the University of Arkansas but I'm really excited for this particular position because I can already tell I will learn a lot of useful skills. 


Plus the people I work with are fantastic, the location is near my parent's home in case there is an emergency situation with my father due to his recent medical problems I wrote about in my last post, and it's a great way to get my foot in the door working with the U of A should I choose to continue working with them in the future.
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Totally kidding...I really think I'm going to like this job. 
Back to the subject of this post, the ornament exchange. This year I participated in the Arkansas Women Bloggers ornament exchange. The ornaments were supposed to be handmade, which, to me, just adds an extra special touch to the ornaments anyways. You see my little motto over there on the side>>>

"Happiness is Homemade."

While I had meant for the motto to be in relation to my recipes and cooking, I've come to realize over time that this motto can actually be applied to many other things in life. Like Christmas gifts! 

And the ornament I received in the mail this year was such a special gift. Especially for an Arkansas Razorback fan like myself. 

Carmella over at Southern Fried Gal made this! 

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I love it. It now sits proudly displayed on my parent's family Christmas tree right up near the top, front and center. Thank you so much, Carmella! 

And if you're interested in seeing what the other Arkansas Women Bloggers got to exchanging this year and using their crafting skills, head on over to the Arkansas Women Bloggers Ornament Exchange link-up page. 

Oh, and if you're interested in what I made this year?...Head on over to Laurie's blog, Junque Rethunque! 
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    Happiness is Homemade

    Hi there!  I'm Kaylin, a foodie, health nut, and recent college graduate. Born and raised in Arkansas, recently moved to Texas. On this blog you'll find a lot of tasty food and recipe ideas, healthy lifestyle suggestions, and random musings of my trials and tribulations of a 20-something. 
    I hope to inspire you to create some delicious things in your own kitchen because I believe happiness is homemade. 

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