November Foodie Penpal Reveal + End of Crunchmaster Crisps Giveaway

If Friday were a tangible thing, I'd give it the biggest hug just about every week.  I say "just about" because, well, I'm sure we all have those Friday's where everything seems to go awry.  Let's hope this is not one of them!

It is the last day to enter for your chance to win Crunchmaster Cheesy and Grammy Kid's Crisps, so enter now for your shot.  I'll announce the winner hopefully Monday next week.

We're already giving November the boot (or is it giving us the boot? Hmmm) and heading into December with Christmas fast approaching.  As a kid, I remember everything taking "forever", but now it won't slow down! Seriously, didn't we just finish handing out candy to little monsters kids in costumes?

And now I'm sure most of us are rushing around looking for the best gifts for friends and family.  Not to mention all of the holiday outings at work and outside of work.  The holidays should be more relaxed, but it seems more rush-rush and hard to keep calm.  Am I alone here or does anyone else agree?

I'm a person who thrives on knowing my schedule ahead of time and rarely like changing my daily routine.  I recognize this is a problem and I'm currently learning to get over (some of) it. What would I really like to be doing?  Just relaxing with my wife, Kelley, and sitting around watching full seasons of our favorite shows or going to partake in various outdoor activities.

In reality, I go crazy if I don't get a scheduled work out in and spend at least 2 hours in the kitchen. If anyone knows where that switch to turn off this obsessiveness is, please, let me know ASAP!

Enough rambling, it's Foodie PenPal Reveal Day!! A big thanks to Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for hosting this giant connection of people across the world.



Both the person sending to me, Christina, and the person I sent to do not have a blog. This is okay, but I just tend to enjoy it more when I can read the other person's blog talking about what I sent them.  Oh well, still fun nonetheless.

Christina seemed to be busy with holiday events since I just got the package yesterday, so I only have pictures to show.  Maybe I'll mention these goods in a future post once I get to try them.

Sea Snax, ginger peach green tea, another autum-spiced tea, The Chia Co. chia shots, Go Raw Real Live Bar, another local item, Bearded Brothers Ginger Peach Energy Bar, Crunchy Cranberry and Cherry Almond Snacks, and a funky tube of hummus ready to eat.

Being from Austin, TX, she sent me some good looking local salsa from El Chile I can't wait to try.  I love Austin, and since I'm just in Fort Worth, TX, it's really not that far away.

I've been wanting to try the Sea Snax, so I'm excited to get these.

The Chia Shots are something new to me. I buy chia seeds in bulk, but never see them like this, so it will be fun to bring the to work for a quick pick-me-up.  The Go Raw Live Bar will be another fabulous work snack.

Again, the Bearded Brothers bar will be a work companion and I'm excited to try!

And tea is always a welcome item to me.  I haven't tried the hummus, but am intrigued; I'll update once it's finished.

So, thank you, Christina, you did great sending me some goods.  I will enjoy all but the Cranberry and Cherry Crunchy Snacks; more sugar and other things I can have, but my family will definitely love it!

Are you familiar with the Foodie Pen Pal Program? It's definitely worth looking into and always fun to see who you get paired with.  You meet two new people and maybe learn a little something. Check out Lindsay's dedicated Foodie PenPal Page to learn more and sign up for the next event.

For December, Lindsay will not be hosting a regular event. Instead, she's asking for us to donate what we would've spent on our pen pal to victims of Hurricane Sandy.  She'll have more on her Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day post, so head on over there to learn more!

Thanks to all who stopped by! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and gets any necessary shopping done....like I need to do!

WIAW + Easy Egg White Garlic and Veggie Frittata

Hello and welcome to my (at least lately) once a week post!  I used to be better about posting at least 3 times a week, but it's apparently busy season at work with life in general.  I've noticed a few other bloggers have decreased their postings too, so I don't feel so bad, but I do prefer writing to all of you about food over working.

Anyway, how's it going?  Are you taking advantage of the Cyber Monday week?  Seriously, retailers find any excuse to extend their "deals" to keep on advertising and get people shopping.  It works for me....when online....I despise going out in the crowds to shop.

Amazon has some pretty awesome deals all this week and although I should be looking for others, I always end up looking at the food deals....for myself! I can't help it, I have an addiction to seeking out good food!  Anyone else with me here?

Speaking of online shopping, time is limited and I want to get everything for friends and family now, so I'm cutting the post short.  Plus, I just tried to upload pictures and apparently I've met my 1GB of storage allowed.  So I have some clean-up on aisle Picasa Web Album before I can post more pics.

When you're in a crunch for time but still want a delicious and healthy meal, this loaded veggie frittata is a must! I like to microwave steam my frozen veggies while I let the pan pre-heat on the stove.  You could just toss them right on without steaming, but it will take longer to cook them...obviously.

Easy Egg White Garlic and Veggie Frittata

Ingredients

1.5 cups of frozen or fresh veggies of choice

3 egg whites; or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites

2 cloves garlic, chopped

A dash each of cumin, black pepper, dried basil, chili powder, and cayenne

1/2 tbsp Coconut Oil

Optional topping of choice - I like salsa or brown mustard

Directions (Follow them, or not, I'm sure it'll turn out great!)

-Set a wide, medium depth saute pan on the stove over medium-high heat

-Steam your favorite mix of vegetables. I used mushrooms, broccoli, red bell peppers, celery, and onions

-Add oil and garlic to pan and saute until fragrant; about 45 seconds

-Add the rest of your veggies and spices and stir to combine everything together. Let cook for 1 to 2 minutes.

-Add egg whites to pan and twirl to evenly distribute.

-Cover pan to let top of eggs cook from the steam for about 1 minute.

-Check to make sure top of eggs is set and remove from heat.  Slide onto plate, add toppings if desired and enjoy!

I love the fact that you can use a slice of the frittata as a delicious sandwich filler.  If you haven't tried....do it, sandwiches are awesome.

Okay, off to do some shopping for loved ones....and maybe some for myself.  Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I do have a nice salad topped with roasted veggies and eggs that made a great dinner.  Thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wendesday!!

And of course I had a cup of both types of my chocolate and vanilla winter squash protein dip for dessert.

If you haven't entered yet, click here to enter for your chance to win a box each of Crunchmaster Kid's Cheesy and Grammy Crisps. The contest will end this Friday, November 30th.

WIAW + Crunchmaster Gluten Free Kids’ Crisps Review and Giveaway

If you ignore products labeled “gluten free” simply because you can have gluten, now’s the time to change! Although they’re called “Kids’ Crisps”, these Crunchmaster goodies will bring a smile to the kid in all of us. Look, it’s even right on the box!

Crunchmaster was kind enough to send me samples of their new Cheesy Crisps and Grammy Crisps to try and review. I already knew how healthy and delicious other Crunchmaster snacks like their Multi-Seed Crackers were, so I expected the same with the Kids' Crisps. With a clean list of gluten free, whole grain ingredients, how can you go wrong?

Right upon receiving the samples, I obviously went for the Grammy Crisps first and was glad I did. Even before I had to avoid gluten, I had the hardest time finding anything like a graham cracker that met my healthy ingredient standards. Thanks to Crunchmaster Grammy Crisps with their whole grain, low fat and sugar goodness, I can enjoy once more!

These aren’t the typical long rectangle graham crackers though; they are bite sized squares (easier for little kid’s hands) that are perfect for snacking. The delicious cinnamon and sugar coating is not overly sweet and with only 5g of sugar per serving (this is usually way higher in other sugary snacks), I am just fine with that. More room for marshmallows and melted dark chocolate!

I think the box does a pretty good job at describing the goodness inside.

I brought the Cheesy Crisps to work for an easy snack to grab when “crunched” for time. See what I did there? As a former Cheese-Its consumer (before I read ingredients), these are not the same cheese cracker I was used to. But that’s not a bad thing; their wholesome ingredients and extremely liberal serving size of 60 triangular crackers for only 120 calories put them in a different class from other, lesser crackers.

The Cheesy Crisps taste pretty good alone, but make for a perfect topping on a salad or tomato soup. I actually like using the Grammy Crsips as a topping crushed over yogurt or even better, a healthy dessert dip! I didn’t like how the coating “coated” my fingers when eating, so it’s easier to just throw in soup or yogurt and eat with a spoon. So beware, with great taste comes great clean up! A little spin on the great power/great responsibility saying you hear in comics so often.

The verdict? Buy them, share them, eat them, and best of all, enjoy them as a much healthier option than what’s out there. I will gladly take a little cinnamon and sugar or cheese on my fingers in trade for a healthy, wholesome snack. Being gluten free just makes these more available to more people. So, I’m saying this in my own words since Crunchmaster is not compensating me in any way….choose these snacks for you and any kiddos you know; you’ll both be thankful.

Before you go scavenging the nearest store, why not enter to win a box of each? Then go scavenge. Crunchmaster, the generous company they are, agreed to give one lucky reader a box of each of the Cheesy Crisps and Grammy Crisps. How cool is that? First, lets move on to a few things I did not eat Wednesday and in no particular order. As always, thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting every week!

Low-fat Peanut Butter Banana Bread cooked in a pie tin

Bean and Veggie puree with Beanitos for dipping...a lot!

Crazy mix of scrambled egg whites, beans, spaghetti squash, broccoli, brussels, and mushrooms with nutritional yeast and plent of seasoning....yes, cayenne included!

Roasted these delicatas and pureed in my food processor with skin to make delicious protein powder infused dips!

 

A couple of my microwave bread creations using this recipe as a base. One is chocolate and the other is butter rum using a LorAnn Butter Rum flavoring oil.

Okay, back to that giveaway. There are 6 easy ways to enter, just leave a separate comment for each item below. A winner will be picked at random after the contest is over and announced soon after. Please make sure to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you. The contest will end on Friday, November 30, 2012.

1. Check out Crunchmaster’s website and tell me what cracker you want to try or like most.
2. Follow Crunchmaster on Twitter
3. Like Crunchmaster on Facebook
4. Follow Just Add Cayenne on Twitter and Tweet the following – "I entered to win Cheesy and Grammy Crisps from @luvcrunchmaster with @I_Love_Cayenne and so should you! "
5. “LIKE” Just Add Cayenne on Facebook. If you already “Like” Just Add Cayenne, leave a comment letting me know.
6. Support Just Add Cayenne and subscribe to my blog. Just leave a comment if you are already subscribed.

This giveaway has ended. Thanks for viewing and please check back for future posts and giveaways!
Thanks for visiting and good luck! Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!

Crazy, Stupid Diets and The One Thing That Makes Them Work

After reading about how a woman dined only on Starbucks fare and lost 80 pounds, I laughed, but it also makes me mad.  Why do I let these things get to me?  I know better, but some people seem so blind. Danni from Healthy Kitschy Kitchen agrees and she just posted a similar rant about this. In fact, we seem to share a lot of similar views. Check out her blog for some healthy tips, great rants, and delicious recipes.

Notice the word on the bottom. Do you want your day's worth of meals from this?

This will be short because time is limited, as I've said just about every time I've posted lately. Sorry for being a broken record, but I felt the need for this post.

There have been and still are so many meal-based fad diets like.....

The Subway Diet - We all know Jared and his giant pants he holds up.

Jared and his pants. (source)

A Very, Very, Stupid McDonald's Diet - Ever see Super Size Me? Nuff said. I can't stand to just pass by the place.

There are tons of crazy and stupid (hence this post's title) meal-based diets out there; here's a comprehensive list I found on Diets In Review if you care to see more of these aggravating diets.

I figure most of you reading are fellow foodie bloggers and can laugh at how absurd these things are, but sadly others actually get sucked into to the weight-loss claims and feel the need to try themselves. If you are one of the "others", let me save you some time and frustration....DON'T DO IT!

The basic reason a non-nutritive diet of nothing but McDonald's or Starbucks can let you lose wait is basic calorie math; if calories in < calories out = weight loss.  Here's a handy chart if it helps....

The Cause, Effect & Result of Your Daily Calorie Intake

The Cause	The Effect	The Result
Calories In Beats Calories Out	Caloric Surplus	Muscle gain, fat gain, or both.
Calories Out Beats Calories In	Caloric Deficit	Fat loss, muscle loss, or both.
Calories In = Calories Out	Maintenance	Everything remains the same.

source

Yes, it gets more complicated than this when you take into account the thermic effect of food, but that's another post for another day. For the most part, if you take in less calories than you use, you will lose weight.

If you really want that, just eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey (~1200 calories) spaced out in 3 or 4 sessions each day and you will lose weight.  I'm assuming most of us burn at least 1200 calories just living.

Here's your breakfast, lunch, and dinner in one!

But please...don't do that either! Instead, avoid what the media says and do actual research on food; it is your health after-all.  Or, choose real, whole food not found in packages and you'll be on your way to a healthy way to change your body.  As a big bonus, when you consume whole foods like fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats, you rarely need to count calories.  These foods will naturally fill you up with their healthful fiber which helps keep you from overeating.

Now, some of us have other issues like intolerances and allergies (including me), and that part is just trail and error...and help from the doctor.  Either way, a whole food diet will always beat meal-based diets where certain food groups are cut out b/c they are "bad" or you are limited to one place for all of your meals.  In other words.... whole food diet > meal-based/fad diet.

Tell me, what are your thoughts on these crazy diets?  Are you one of the "crazies" who fall into the media trap and try for yourself?  I admit I'm guilty of this in the past.

On a separate topic, I just got this Soyajoy G3 soy/nut/seed milk maker and am really excited to share my new creations with you.  I just made quinoa milk for my first run and it's still cooling now, so I'll update you once I try it.

Also, only one day left to enter my Navitas Naturals Giveaway; don't miss out!

Have a wonderful day; it's almost the weekend!

Delicata Squash is Back and a Let's Do...Organic Winner!

Guess what......it's Monday. Yay. Boo.

But something I am excited about is the presence of Delicata in the store; first of the season!  I talked about my love of delicata in past posts like....

"Squash" Your Fear of Cooking

"Squashed" Again

Delicata - Fun to Say, Fun to Eat

and of course it's mentioned in my post on 6 Non-Traditional Grain-Free Cereal Options.

So, if I haven't mentioned already, I love this variety of winter squash! I see a lot of bloggers rave about Kabocha, so I need to grab some once I see it in my store's produce section. It's hard to think anything can be better than delicata though; I'll be the judge of that.

Hopefully I'll have some tasty new recipes and pictures to share using delicata and other winter squash this season. Stay tuned!

Speaking of sharing, my Let's Do....Organic Coconut Flour Review and Giveaway ended on Friday (9/14/12) and I have a winner to announce.  Congrats to Katherine for winning a bag of Let's Do...Organic Coconut Flour! Thank you to all who entered and keep checking back for the next giveaway.  Actually, I do still have a Navitas Naturals Giveaway going on until this Friday (9/21), so go enter now!

I am almost out of my coconut flour and will be getting more soon.  This stuff is perfect in healthy dishes both sweet, like this Gluten-Free Coconut Protein Granola, and savory, like Baked Coconut Salmon Cakes.

I have yet to make STUFT Mama's Coconut Cookie Dough Crumble, but will do so before running out.

Now that there's Delicata in my kitchen, I can see a coconut delicata dish creation very soon.  Hmmmm.

Have a great start to the week!!

WIAW #28 How Do You "Fall" Into Good Habits?

Well what do you know, we're cruisin' through September at ludicrous speed! Spaceballs...anyone? For you dorm dwellers, I'd recommend adding this movie to your collection; it provides comic relief to an intense study session, I promise.

Speaking of studying, how do or did you prepare for a long session? I don't have to study anymore, but I could never just sit down and get right to it.  I'd take a while to collect reading and writing material, snacks for snacking, a drink, and do any random thing I could find to delay actually sitting down to study.

Are you the same, or can you just jump right into studying?  For things like exercise and choosing healthier food, I can stop or start pretty fast.  No need for "baby steps" to cut a certain food that I know is bad from my diet.  If I see/hear it's bad, then it's not on my plate or in my cup from there on out.

When I get ready for a run or to lift weights, I don't waste time getting started like I would trying to study. Obviously, I know I must warm up before lifting, but for my runs, I just start going and warm up for the first mile or two. If I delay, the looming workout will get into my head and I'll over-think everything.  Not good...just get out and do it!

I was not as health-minded for most of my college days and would eat fast food, Cheez-Its, sugary cereal, and many other foods I simply turn my head at now. But my change was not gradual; I heard how bad trans fat was and immediately cut out anything with the stuff.  So basically, no more fast food or those addicting Cheez-Its.

They removed hydrogenated oils, but this list paragraph of ingredients looks worse than what's listed in dog or cat food.

I got over it fast as I noticed how much better I felt before, during, and after exercise and everyday life.  The people who whine saying "But it's just so hard to give X Food up." or "I don't know where to start." just tick me off.  Sorry if this is you, but if you know it's bad, why continue consuming it? If the vet said your most loved pet will get severely sick or even die if you keep feeding them their favorite treat, would you still give it to them?  I hope the answer is no.

So, as the title for today's post asks, how do you fall into good habits?  Is it a gradual change or can you change on a whim? I figured this is a perfect question to ask along with this month's What I Ate Wednesday theme of "Fall Into Good Habits." Thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayon's for putting on this fun event every Wednesday!

Speaking of WIAW, lets move on to my eats.  Time has been pretty scarce lately, so sorry for the lack of pictures this week. Hope you enjoy what I do post (some are recycled from the past), I plan on getting back on track by next month with more pics.

Breakfast

Just like last week, I enjoyed a bowl of steamed veggies with spaghetti squash and tuna. Of course there was coffee brewed with Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder to round it out; sooooo good!

Lunch

I froze the extra Coconut Salmon Cakes from last week and had them again for lunch; freezing extra food for later is the best! Usually. A dessert cup of Lucuma Powder sweetened quinoa pudding rounded out the meal perfectly.

Dinner

Giant salad with brussels, red pepper, cucumber, tuna, and homemade pureed lentil dressing thick enough to be a dip; protein smoothie with Navitas Naturals Cacao Powder and homemade Let's Do..Organic Coconut Granola; one.....okay, two, microwave overnight oatmeal muffins with unpictured peanut butter spread in the middle.

Happy WIAW, Thanks For Stopping By!!!

Just in case you missed them, I have two product reviews and giveaways I highly recommend you read and enter to win.

Let's Do...Organic Coconut Flour - Ends this Friday, 9/14

Navitas Naturals Cacao and Lucuma Powder - Ends next Friday, 9/21

Both companies do their part to be economically responsible and have deliciously healthy products I know you'll love.  Good Luck!

Navitas Naturals Fun and Functional Powders: Review + Giveaway

It's confirmed, every healthy kitchen should have at least one thing from Navitas Naturals in their pantry! The very kind Mic from Navitas Naturals was gracious enough to send me these to review....

Cacao Powder

Lucuma Powder

Cacoa Goji Super Food Power Snack

Click on each link to read more about these delightfully nutritious and delicious "super foods" and ideas on how to use them.

I tend to get more satisfaction from tasty food when it's either A) made by yours truly (me) or B) from a socially and environmentally responsible business.  Since I lack the ability to make such functional food, Navitas Naturals falls under my "B" category.  Here's what their About Us section has to say..

The “Navitas” in our name is the Latin word for energy.

And like our name implies, our mission is to provide premium organic functional foods that increase energy and enhance health. Part of this effort is to continually search for the world’s most beneficial natural foods. Navitas Naturals is a certified organic, green business headquartered in Marin County, California.

We specialize in organic functional foods, and strive to lead the industry in this expanding market. Health conscious consumers choose our nutrient-rich products because they are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Our premium quality “superfoods” are always free of additives and trans fats; the absence of these elements speaking to the purity and effectiveness of the products.

Our company is committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. We source our premium functional foods through direct partnerships with farming communities around the world. An essential part of our mission is to create economic opportunities among indigenous people in developing countries, and our support of native agriculture helps expand development of global organic farming practices.

I've tried several cacao or cocoa powders in the past and some are very pungent or lack flavor. Navitas Naturals' Cacao is mild and creates a happy medium for me.  If anything, I would ask for a little more chocolate flavor, but I just add a little extra in my smoothies to get what I'm looking for.

The easiest way to use the cacoa powder was to add to the ground coffee in my French Press for pleasant chocolate coffee beverage to kick-off the day.  If you don't have a French Press, just add the cacao to your grounds in a traditional brewer for the same effect. With a little milk added, you have hot chocolate coffee! You don't need a sweetener, but if you prefer, I recommend a few drops or a packet of stevia to do the trick.

Here are some other recipes I posted in the past and recreated with Navitas Naturals' Cacao Powder with great success:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Spread – Better than Nutella!

Microwave Chocolate Protein Cake - Enjoy with Hot Cacao Coffee

Sugar Free Chocolate Protein Brownies

 Basically, you need/want this in your kitchen. Read this post I wrote in the past on the benefits chocolate powder and for more healthy recipes. For more recipe ideas, click here.

I have never heard of Lucuma before it was in my wonderful review package from Mic, but I won't forget it now! I mixed the powder into smoothies, baked treats, and plain yogurt to add an extra depth of flavor and nutrition.  It has a taste reminiscient of maple and pairs well with blueberries or all alone. Forget the non-nutritive sugar, Lucuma is where it's at.

Cacao and Lucuma Green Smoothie with homemade protein granola and almonds

And for the Organic Raw Cacao Goji Power Snacks? YUM!  These have both the cacao and lucuma powder and are similar to most no-cook treat recipes found on the web.  One difference; they are already made for you and nicely packaged to bring in the car or keep at work.  I still have these at work and use them for my emergency hunger attacks if my lunch was not enough.  Try them, you won't be sorry.

I'm still using all of these and hanging on to the cacao powder for dear life; I don't want it to run out! Thank you, Mic, for sending such functional "super food" my way, I'll be getting more cacao powder soon.

Cinnamon Quinoa Pudding sweetened with Lucuma Powder...recipe to come soon.

Sorry, this giveaway has ended, but you should still try Navitas Naturals if you get the chance.

Have you read enough about how wonderful these products are and now you want to try for yourself?  Well lucky you! If the title didn't "give it away", Navitas Naturals has agreed to giveaway a package of Lucuma and Cacao Powder to one lucky reader.  You have 6 easy ways to enter as listed below.  The contest will end on Friday, September 21, so get your entries in and sit by the calendar in anticipation.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry; a winner will be picked at random after the contest is over.

1. Check out Navitas Naturals' page and tell me what product you want to try most.

2. Follow Navitas Naturals on Twitter

3. Like Navitas Naturals on Facebook

4. Follow Just Add Cayenne on Twitter and Tweet the following – "I entered to win Lucuma and Cacao Powder from @NavitasNaturals with @I_Love_Cayenne and you can too! "

5. “LIKE” Just Add Cayenne on Facebook. If you already “Like” Just Add Cayenne, leave a comment letting me know.

6. Help support Just Add Cayenne and subscribe to my blog. Just post a comment if you are already subscribed.

Thanks for reading and Good Luck!!