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Joining the Glee Clan…

I’m not sure where I’ve been for the last few years but until tonight, Bo nor I had ever watched even a minute of Glee.

After this week’s constant Twitter chatter regarding Glee and the episode I went on a hunt to find Season 1 Episode 1. I searched Hulu and other websites but couldn’t find the first episode. I didn’t look on Netflix as I assumed the wait time would be at least a few weeks. Luckily, before I headed over to iTunes to download the episode Bo told me he had received the wonderful email news:

Glee: Season 1: Vol. 1: Disc 2

Arriving on or around: Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010

Knowing that this little red envelope would be waiting for me in our mailbox kept me excited and smiling all day. Today was a grueling day of meetings straight from 9am to 5pm. After sitting quietly in meetings all I wanted to do was get home and sing out along to Glee! Even though I have no artistic abilities at all I am an appreciator. And hey, without appreciators there wouldn’t be a reason for the artists, would there?

Bo and I picked up quick and easy salads on our way home from our new apartment. We had to drop off a few things before the big move on Friday. We gave Organique 

a second try after Saturday’s epic fail. We loved the food Saturday but the service was absolutely horrible! Tonight I went with the safe and simple choice- salad. Organique features far more toppings than the average NYC salad place including sauteed onions, balsamic portabello mushrooms, and lentils! Tonight I went with an Asian theme and made a huge salad filled with:
-romaine
-lentils
-portabello mushrooms
-sauteed onions
-carrots
-edamame
-organic ginger soy dressing

The flavors were perfect and EXACTLY what I was craving. I love that by mixing a new dressing with everyday salad ingredients you can give the vegetables a whole new flavor. Okay, that was a bit obvious, but you know what I mean. Hopefully, after these few stressful weeks are done I can get back to cooking healthy meals on Sunday so we don’t have to pick up takeout on weeknights.

I’m cutting this one short to head over to the sofa and catch the first episode of Glee. Here’s to hoping Bo likes it too!

Don’t forget to click here to enter my Yoplait Giveaway!


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ashleyd /

Yoplait Greek Review and Goddess Giveaway

Are you ready to appreciate and nourish your inner goddess? Don’t we all deserve an at home spa treatment after hours of stress, hard work, and exercise? Yoplait agrees!


I discovered this fact when the friendly folks at Yoplait and Myblogspark sent me the Yoplait Greek Goddess pack. This pack is in honor of their new Greek yogurt which encourages women to nourish their inner goddess. The prize pack included 2 coupons towards the yogurt, comfy slippers, a full size white towel wrap, and a home spa kit including a loofah and other goodies.

I was most excited about the yogurt coupons and the wrap. I had a DG wrap all through college that I loved due to it’s convenience. I’ve already taken this wrap to the gym so my hands free blow drying days can return. I’m tired of holding the towel with one hand and the blow dryer with the other!

I’m not going to lie, it took me a while to find the Yoplait Greek Yogurt in NYC which was a bit annoying. As a health and food blogger I didn’t mind but I know the average person wouldn’t go out of their way to find a product when there are multiple similar products available in wider distribution. The new yogurt comes in four flavors: honey, plain, blueberry, and strawberry. I wasn’t able to find the honey in my stores. Once I found the new product, I first checked out the nutritional information which was pretty good but still had more sugar than I normally like in my yogurt. The plain flavor has lower sugar and calories than the flavored ones and all pack a whopping 30% of recommended daily calcium!
nutritionlabel
I bought the blueberry and strawberry to sample since these tend to be my favorite Oikos or Chobani flavors. This morning I used this in my “morning mess” in place of my Dannon Light n Fit or Chobani. Unlike Chobani, there weren’t any chunks or separation in this yogurt. It was very thick, creamy, and smooth while also having a tasty not too sweet flavor.
Yoplait has some great resources on their website including recipes, coupons, and more information about their wonderful breast cancer initiative. I was impressed by the number of recipes they already have posted for this new product. My favorite is the lemon blueberry muffins. I have a soft spot in my heart for all things blueberry. These would make a great spring treat especially since the price of blueberries is decreasing daily in NYC!

Lemon-Blueberry MuffinsPrep Time: 15 min
Start to Finish: 30 min

Ingredients

1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Greek Fat Free honey vanilla yogurt
1 egg
1 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries
1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffins cups, or line with paper baking cups.
2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, yogurt and egg using wire whisk or fork. Stir in remaining ingredients except blueberries, until flour is moistened. Gently stir in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
3. Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.

If you click here you can print a $0.30 coupon.

Now, I want to ensure one of you has the opportunity to rest and relax goddess style! Yoplait will send an identical prize pack to one lucky reader. All you have to do is enter! Here’s the how:

1) Which flavor of Yoplait Greek yogurt would you most like to try?

For extra entries feel free to do the following:
-Tweet about the giveaway: “@healthyhappier wants you to win the Yoplait Greek Goddess prize pack and nourish your inner goddess http://alturl.com/u5f4” and let me know via comment

-Blog about this giveaway linking to this post and let me know via comment.



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Where’d you get that mug?

There is no denying that I am a Southern girl. I wear pearls almost daily, my daily conversations often include “y’all”, I live for college football Saturdays in the Fall (GO DAWGS!) but don’t know a thing about NFL, I dressed up for each and every one of those UGA football games, I’ve dined on fried pickles, chitlins, and gizzards more than once, and I love my Tervis tumblers. 
 
This topic came to mind today after my guest appearance Gina’s Show Me Your Smoothie   post today. I have had multiple readers email me asking about the monogrammed glass in this picture
 
The above picture is one of the many Tervis tumblers we own. Tervis tumblers, unbeknowst to me, are evidently a Southern thing since no one I work with knew about these amazing glasses. I received many questions from coworkers during my first day in the NYC office. “What is that glass and where did you get it monogrammed? That is so cool that it has a straw!” My dear friend Meg was the first person to get me hooked on these amazing mugs. We were lucky to receive 6 of them as wedding presents and we are constantly using them. Here are some of their primary benefits and facts!
–Tervis invented the world’s first insulated tumbler in 1946
-Lifetime guarantee
-Microwave, dishwasher, and freezer proof
-Keeps iced coffee cold and hot coffee hot
-Made in the USA
-Feature lids and straws that stay in place therefore increasing portability
-Come in an array of sizes
 
-Feature tons of ready to order designs but can also be personalized. The one above is the personalized one we received with Bo’s monogram while the one below is my favorite. Can you believe I used to fill this 24 oz Tervis up with Diet Coca Cola at least three times a day before cutting back? Phew! NYC 12 pack prices have some healthy side effects (yes, a 12 pack at our grocery store is $7.99!)
 
If you’ve never tried one of these before I challenge you to order one. I guarantee you’ll order more because you’ll quickly be annoyed that it’s dirty, being used by your kids, or being hoarded by your significant other.


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