How was your Super Bowl Sunday? Did you watch the game? I’ve never been a Super Bowl fanatic and typically pay more attention to the commercials than the game, but we had a few friends drop by our place yesterday and it was one of my favorite Super Bowls. The game didn’t really excite me, but the company and snacks (including Liz’s Creamy Hummus and Stephanie’s pimento cheese dip) were amazing!

popchips made an appearance! I love these because they’re baked and not greasy, but still crunchy and flavorful like regular chips. Bbq is my favorite flavor, then the salt & vinegar.

I also tried out the Eat Clean Vegetarian Chili. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great It will definitely be my new go-to veggie chili recipe.

We “watched” the Super Bowl, snacked, took shots of Jesse’s homemade kombucha and then had a hot sauce tasting. Totally normal Super Bowl activities.

Moving on, have you seen the new Chobani flavors?

2% Passion Fruit, 0% Blood Orange and 0% Apple Cinnamon. <– All are delicious!

I’ve always loved Chobani but now that they’ve come out with an Apple Cinnamon flavor I love them even more – it’s like appie pie yogurt and it’s definitely my new favorite! As for the other new flavors, the blood orange is next on my list, then the passion fruit. The passion fruit it the most interesting because it has the little seeds in it for a fun crunch.

I’ve been eating the yogurt on it’s own, topped with granola or in recipes like Janetha’s Apple Pie A La Mode Smoothie.

I’ve also been making fruity overnight oats.

This little combo of Apple Pie Overnight Oats is a winner:

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 container of Chobani’s Apple Cinnamon yogurt
• 1 T chia seeds
• sprinkle of cinnamon

I mixed everything together in a bowl and put it in the fridge overnight. In the morning I topped the oats with a little Love Grown Foods Apple Walnut Delight for a delicious breakfast. Chobani + Love Grown Foods granola = match made in heaven.

I was sent a case of the new flavors to review from Chobani, but per the usual the review is my honest opinion. And, despite being sent the case I’ve already gone to Kroger twice to buy more of the Apple Cinnamon. It’s that good.

The best part is that Chobani has also offered to giveaway a case of the new flavors to one EBF reader. Just leave a comment with which flavor you’re most excited to try to win. I’ll announce the winner this Friday.

Despite the freezing cold weather we’re experiencing here in VA the weekend is off to a great start!

As I mentioned on facebook, Isaac and I toured a wedding/reception venue this morning that we absolutely fell in love with. We’ve toured three other places and while they all had some great aspects, none of them seemed “perfect”. Today’s venue was not only beautiful, the lady who worked with us was so welcoming and friendly and by the time we were leaving both Isaac and I had the same feeling – we REALLY liked the place. We didn’t sign the contract today because we have at least one more place to check out, but I have a gut feeling this will be the place we get married. So exciting! I’ll be sure to share more details about it soon.

We also checked out the SlowFoodRVA TEDxManhattan – Change the Way We Eat viewing party at Gallery5 today. I love TED talks and this whole event was focused on something I’m truly passionate about so I was excited to check it out. My favorite part was the TED talk from Jamie Oliver about the obesity epidemic affecting our nation and what we can do about it. He emphasized that teaching our kids about where food comes from and how to cook nutritious meals is essential and needs to be done in schools. It was very inspiring and makes me want to get out and do something to help make a change. I’ve already got some ideas floating around in my head!

Changing topics to something a little lighter, do you like sparkly things? If so, you must check out Sparkly Soul headbands.

As part of the FitFluential Ambassador program I was sent two of the Sparkly Soul non-slip headbands to review. I hate having my bangs in my face while I’m working out but I typically don’t wear headbands because they never stay in place for me. I won’t lie, I was actually skeptical that these ones from Sparkly Soul wouldn’t stay in place but they’ve proved me wrong! Check out the video below for my review:

The best part… Sparkly Soul has offered to give away two headbands, one thin and one thick (in the color of your choice) to one lucky EBF reader! To enter the giveaway check out the Sparkly Soul website and tell me in the comment section which headband color you like best. For an extra entry you can do do the following and leave a comment telling me you’ve done so:

• Follow Sparkly Soul on Twitter @SPARKLYSOULINC and tweet about the giveaway. Your tweet could be something like this: “I want to win a @SPARKLYSOULINC non-slip headband from @eatingbirdfood! Enter to win here: http://wp.me/pDCSr-2Na”

You’ll have until January 31st to enter and I’ll announce the winner on February 1st.

PS – I’ve only ever done one other video post before (over a year ago!) so I thought it would be fun to try my hand at it again. Hopefully you guys like it.

This giveaway has ended and Laurel C. is the winner. Congrats Laurel!! Please send me an email with your info and which color headband you would like! 

Happy Christmas eve!

As my gift to you I’m giving away two copies of the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook 2 by Tosca Reno! I love Tosca and have reviewed many of her books, including this one. Check out my review here.

You may remember seeing two of my favorite recipes from this cookbook before…

The Cherry Protein Pop’ems, a great snack for before or after a hard workout.

And more recently featured, the Vanishing Party Nuts. <– Definitely the most addicting roasted nuts I’ve ever had!

Of course there are many more tasty (and clean) recipes in the cookbook. To enter to win simply leave a comment telling me if you’ve read any of Tosca’s Eat Clean books or made any of her recipes before. Maybe you’re a big Tosca fan like me or perhaps this is your first time hearing about the Eat Clean Diet. Either way, let me know in the comments below!
For any extra entry you can do one of the following:

• Become a fan of Eating Bird Food on Facebook and leave a comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so.
• Tweet “All I want for Christmas is to win @toscareno’s Eat Clean Diet Cookbook 2 from @eatingbirdfood http://wp.me/pDCSr-2KI” and leave a comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so.
• Share this giveaway via Facebook (just click the little Facebook button at the bottom of this post) and tag @EatingBirdFood, @toscareno and @eatcleandiet. Leave a comment on this post to let me know you’ve done so.

Okay, it’s bed time for me – the sooner I fall asleep the sooner santa will come.

Happy Modern Family Day!

To celebrate I have a little review and a GIVEAWAY for you guys.

If you’ve been to a store with kitchen supplies like Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table you’ve probably seen a Microplane zester. Who knows, perhaps you’ve even tested it out on a lemon at the store like I had.

I’ve had my eye on this nifty zester for a while so when Microplane emailed me about receiving one of their new, brightly colored zester/graters to try out, I happily accepted. They’re not super expensive so I don’t know why I never purchased one before. I’m not sure, but the stars aligned and now I have one.

The zester I was sent is the turquoise premium classic hand-held zester/grater. The other new colors are hot pink and purple but the turquoise spoke to me. It doesn’t really match my kitchen, but it’s a fun color and like it!

The handle is soft, comfortable and there are non-slip rubber feet at the end of the blade to add stability when grating vertically on a cutting board, counter, inside a plate, or bowl. I also like that it’s long enough to lay nicely on top of a bowl for easy grating. The stainless steel blades are extremely sharp so I was happy to see that it comes with a slip-on cover to put on it when not in use. <– Wouldn’t want to put my hand in the kitchen gadget drawer with a blade like that sticking out.

This little tool is ideal for quickly and easily creating zest from different types of citrus peel without lifting off the fruit’s bitter-tasting pith. I tried it with a lemon and was very impressed with how well it worked. It shredded tiny, uniform pieces of the peel faster and with less pressure than my regular grater. The best part is that it’s not just for zesting! It also can be used to create fine shreds of fresh ginger, garlic, coconut, hard cheeses like Parmesan or even chocolate! I’m all about having multipurpose tools in the kitchen to save space so I’m excited to add this one to my collection.

And in case you are wondering what exactly citrus zest is used for – it’s often called for in recipes to add a boost of flavor. When used in cooking, zest refers to the outermost colored layer of citrus peel (not the white pith). Here are a few recipes that have been featured on EBF that call for lemon or orange zest: Carrot Cake Cookies, Overnight Oats and Sweet Brown Bread.

The real news is that Microplane is also offering to giveaway one brightly colored Classic hand-held zester/grated to a lucky EBF reader. Woo-hoo! Simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite recipe that involves citrus zest or why you’d like to win the zester. The giveaway will end Friday (9/30/2011) at 11:59 PM and the winner will get to choose which color Microplane they wish to receive – turquoise, purple or pink. Good luck!

Happy Saturday! I’m just popping in to post the winner for the Ball Home Canning Discovery Kit giveaway.

And the winner is Gabby of Gabby’s Gluten Free.

Congrats lady! Shoot me an email and I’ll make sure you get your kit asap.

In other fun news, I thought I would share one of my favorite workout songs at the moment. I’ve always been a fan of TV on the Radio. Most of time their music is something I listen to in the car or at home when cooking rather than when I’m working out, but they remixed one of the songs on their latest album and it’s perfect for working out.

And if you interested, here’s one of their more mellow songs that I love.

Alright, I’m off to enjoy this lovely Saturday. I hope you’re doing the same.

Question of the day – What’s your favorite workout song at the moment. I need some new jams!