Bootylicious WINNER

 Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

Hi Guys! First and foremost thank you to everyone who participated in my first giveaway! Hopefully I can continue the trend and gather some of my favorite things to giveaway next! I'll be like the next Oprah... only younger, louder and without millions haha!

My giveaway winner is .... ALYSSA! from Fashion Fitness Foodie! I've known Alyssa for a long time now! Almost 6 years?? She definitely was a motivation and inspiration for me to start my own blog and if you haven't checked hers out, you definitely should! Congrats girl! I'll give you your granola this weekend on our running date!

Last night I participated in my first #fitblog chat on twitter! I had so much fun hearing other bloggers personal opinions about health and "diets". I definitely don't agree with the word diet. Diet to me means short lived. It takes a strong mindset and lifestyle change in order to truly make a difference in your health. It has taken me years not to be consumed with the number on my scale... and some days I still am.

I have learned that being healthy and fit is different for every individual. For me, it's how I feel in my own skin (and clothes). It's how good I feel after I work out, even if some days it takes me sitting in my workout clothes for 30 minutes before I drag myself to the gym. Get excited about healthy eating and learn what works for you. Not everyone should cut out carbs or fats (well I definitely agree with lowering your saturated and trans fats intake). Find recipes that are healthy and taste good - that way you aren't denying your mind what it really wants without denying your body of the good nutrients it needs.

There are so many resources out there. I love browsing the whole foods website for recipes. Go to your local bookstore and pick up a few cookbooks. Make Fishy Fridays or Meatless Mondays to help spice up your week! Don't be afraid to try new things. I used to hate avocados and now incorporate them into my diet at least once a week! And brussel sprouts roasted with olive oil and garlic are soooo good!

If google kept track of everything I have searched and I showed you guys you would think I am nuts! "Are lean pockets actually healthy?" "What do beets taste like?" "Is real bacon better for you than turkey bacon?" Knowledge is empowering and can help you truly make a decision to figure out what is best for you and your lifestyle.

Last night after fitblog I was starving for dinner. I only ran 2 miles since my shoes have officially given out on me. I made roasted cauliflower and a burger that sorta went like this...

Minus the bun - I used an arnolds thin and reduced fat cheese. And I may or may not have added a slice of bacon... :-) Moderation! Eating lean meat with lean bacon and toppings in my opinion doesn't hurt once a week. Plus it was the best tasting burger I have ever made!

Here are a few of my eats for the day - I finally am linking up to join WIAW for Jenn at Peas and Crayons!

Oatmeal with Berries for Breakfast

Apple Slices for a Mid-Morning Snack

One of these for lunch!

Carrot Sticks and Ranch for a Mid-Afternoon Snack

and I'm planning on re-creating this Salmon for dinner!

Hope you guys get out there and enjoy the 80 degree weather today! Hopefully cardio kickboxing with kick my butt tonight! Sophia at Raven Waves awarded me the bootylicious award! haha PERFECT!

Here are the rules:
1. Post this award with the picture and name whoever tagged you in it
2. Do the STUFF
3. Award to 7 others and tell them you did so!

THE STUFF:
1. Name 3 things that are lying right next to you –My cell phone which is prehistoric and doesn't even have a camera. No joke. Someone stole my iphone while I was boot shopping one day and I am waiting for the iphone5 to come out! Some Love Grown granola (Sweet Cranberry Pecan - yum) and two (yes 2) cups of water. Just in case I get lazy and don't feel like walking to the kitchen for a refill. I'm truly that smart ;-)

2. Name 2 foods you cannot live without -STRAWBERRIES! I am addicted to them like you guys are to chocolate. Thank god they were buy one get one free this week! Avocados - I just can't get enough guac! Does mexican food count? My fav!

3. Name 1 thing you did today – Packed my lunch, drove to work, and made some oatmeal. Yup, it's still early.

 You ladies are next! I could only think of 4 off the top of my head!

Bess

Alyssa

Cait

Jenn

What are some foods you can't live without?

Painkillers and Nachos

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

I am officially almost half-way done my week. I have off the next two Fridays and I am so looking forward to a nice 3-day weekend! I can hardly wait!

Luckily CL (yup, that's the bf) had off this entire weekend so we were able to go out for a date night Friday and spend family time on Saturday with both his and my parents. I almost forgot what it was like to have the whole weekend uninterrupted to spend together!

Sunday rolled around and my friend Stacey and I met up at the Baltimore-Annapolis trail for our weekly run. Personally, I can run longer distances on a treadmill than I can outside so I am thankful to have someone to push and motivate me out on the trail. But I think it is about time I invest in new running apparel since my pants are starting to become see through (whoops!) from all the wear and my shoes are about to die out on me. Yup, I got a blister on the top of my big toe - I have never even heard of that happening from a 3 year old sneaker. Hint taken.

Most of you know that after running you become extremely hungry... almost unbearably hungry. Apparently I thought it was a good idea to wait 4.5 hours later to eat... which resulted in the most amazing plate of nachos ever. period. game over. this one is a winner.

 

Even the ducks flew out of the water onto the dock to join us...

How could you have this view at lunch and not instantly be in a great mood (not good, but great)...

And of course nobody goes to lunch on a Sunday without a drink...

It was a perfect weekend. Sun, date night, drinks, fish tacos (mmmm) and CL. That's all I need to make me happy.

On a foodie note - if you have never tried store-made organic guacamole... go buy some right now!! Seriously, I love making my own but not when avacados are 2 dollars a pop. This was cheaper and convenient and tasted soooo good on top of my Faux Chipotle Burrito Bowl that I made for dinner last night. I don't know how guac makes everything taste delicious, but it does it's job well!!

If you visit their website they have a $1 off coupon when you sign up for their updates! I have an email address just for when I sign up for promotions! Best decision ever - especially since I just printed out a free app coupon for my girls lunch on Saturday.

Have you liked Chic Meets Healthy on Facebook yet? You can by clicking here.
Also! Don't forget tonight at 10pm is when I am pulling a winner for my Love Grown Granola giveaway! Enter here!

Homemade Donuts - Auntie Annes Style!

H-A-P-P-Y F-R-I-D-A-Y!!!! I hate saying goodbye to a week, but I love saying hello to the weekend!! Sorry I teased you guys with my donut pan photos and made you wait until now to finally see what I created!!

I am happy to report everyone at work loved these donuts I made for my boss' birthday! She is just too sweet so I had to make her a sweet treat! I searched high and low for the perfect recipe. I wanted to challenge myself a little, but if you are looking for something a little simpler try Oh She Glow's Baked Doughnut's recipe or Fashion Fitness Foodie's Healthy Donuts recipe.

These donuts tasted just like Auntie Anne's cinnamon-sugar pretzels... sooo good and the smell filled my kitchen for hours! Thank god I packed these up and took them to work or I would have had lots of miles to run!

Baked Donuts - Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups warm milk - {I used vanilla soy milk}
1 packet active dry yeast
2 tablespoons butter - {I used vegan butter}
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour - {I used white because I thought the color and texture would be best}
A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated - {substituted cinnamon}
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted - {I used vegan butter}
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:
Place 1/3 cup of the warm {soy} milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Be sure your milk isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt - just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. {I don't have a fancy machine, you can incorporate with a spoon just fine} This is where you are going to need to make adjustments - if your dough is overly sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. Too dry? Add more milk a bit at a time. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place (I turn on the oven at this point and set the bowl on top), and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Most people (like myself) don't have a doughnut cutter, instead I use a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. If you cut the inner holes out any earlier, they become distorted when you attempt to move them. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes - start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately if not sooner. {I stored in a tupperware container and brought to work, microwave them for 10 seconds and they are still delicious}

Makes 1 1/2 - 2 dozen medium doughnuts.
 
FYI: If you missed Bess' post for Janae, a bunch of us bloggers sent virtual hugs in support of her being unable to participate in the Boston Marathon due to a stress fracture. She is always upbeat and cares so much for her readers! Send her some of your hugs!

Things I am lovin' on lately:

• ALL my new followers! Seriously I swore I only had 23 yesterday and today when I looked there were 27! Thank you - that totally made my day!
• The sunshine coming out the past two days - the sun's gorgeous rays really do make you feel so much better and is a mood lifter! Get out and take a walk during your lunch break - totally makes you more productive!
• How amazing the blogger network is - I loved seeing how many girls sent hugs to Janae! What's your good deed of the day?
• The Annapolis-Baltimore trail. I am so glad my girl Stacey introduced me to this trail because it is perfect for a flat run, bike ride or great view to take your dogs for a walk! 13 miles of awesome scenery! 
• The fact that it is FRIDAY and the weekend is here! We have family stuff planned for tomorrow, but Sunday I am venturing out in DC all day! Packing a picnic and some flats for walking around the city!
• Peanut Butter and Co.'s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and White Chocolate flavors - our PR department at work was sent a variety 6 pack! Love it!
• Our interactive department won TWO ADDY awards yesterday! I had goosebumps when I heard my name being called as the Interactive Project Manager! 

and...

I received three bags of Love Grown Foods granola last night! 

Which can only mean it's an occasion for my first giveaway! I'll be giving away the Cocoa Goodness Granola bag to a lucky winner. Sorry - but only US residents are eligible. Maybe I'll add an extra sweet surprise in the delivery ;-)

Here are 3 easy ways to enter:

1. "Like" Chic Meets Healthy on Facebook here

2. Tweet about this giveaway... @caramundy is having a @lovegrownfoods giveaway! enter at http://tinyurl.com/6kxvu2p

3. Become a Follower of Chic Meets Healthy

Leave a comment for each entry and one lucky winner will be picked randomly at 10 pm on Tuesday 4/26! Good Luck!!!

Amazingness

What a gorgeous Monday! Seriously, a little vitamin B goes a long way! We decided to take a nice little hour break from work to catch some rays... and air!

I also came back from our walk with a handful of flowers that I may or may not have stole borrowed from the park and people's planters. Who plants flowers without expecting them to be picked?!

This past weekend was just as awesome as this weather. Watch out for lots of new breakfast recipes coming! I finally purchased one of these bad boys...

Yup, that's right. I decided to join the baked donuts group in order to save my boyfriend thousands of calories and guilty trips to the local corner store to pick up a box of donuts. I also tried out soysage. Which, if you ask me, is pretty fun to say and pretend you have a New York accent. If you are afraid of "fake" meat, try it in my frittata recipe!

Soysage and Veggie Frittata:
3 egg whites plus 2 eggs
1-2 tablespoons skim milk
1 roma tomato diced
1 large handful of cooked spinach
1 soysage (Light Life) italian sausage link (sliced)
turkey bacon (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray a pie pan with cooking spray. Slice and crisp up your turkey bacon and soysage in a pan. Remove and add to your pie pan. Add diced tomatoes and spinach to pan. Wisk your eggs and skim milk in a separate bowl and add to pan. Cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

This is the easiest way to introduce soysage virgins to a vegetarian meat. Plus, this breakfast is easy to make if you want a perfect looking omlette or if you are having guests over for breakfast. You can always sprinkle the top with some shredded cheese for extra deliciousness!

Saturday night we caught up with our friends in Bethesda. I'm really good at never being ready for a photo.

Hope you made it outside today! I took the pups for a walk/jog around the neighborhood. I'll leave you with this....

Ka-Bob-Less

It's almost Friday!! Lately I have been contemplating doing my first vlog. Don't you ever wonder how your favorite blog authors sound? So I am asking all of you if you think a vlog is a good idea, and if so what would you like to know/see??

I love nights where I make veggie burgers because the next day I get to have the leftovers for lunch. And speaking of today's eats - for breakfast I had a big glorious bowl of my peanut butter puffins with 1/2 skim 1/2 soy milk for breakfast. Why half and half? Welp, I haven't had soy milk in awhile and I wanted to make sure I still loved it. Plus my skim milk has less fat and the same amount of calories per serving but the soy milk has slightly less carbs. Does anyone know the benefits of soy milk over skim?

I haven't had cereal for a few months and this was just what I needed to turn me into an addict! When I was younger and my mom would buy the reese's cereal I would always eat around the chocolate ones (not a fan of chocolate) so this cereal is like a gift from God! Can you tell I was too tired to wash my hair this morning? Whoops!

I did a 2.6 mile run, 1 mile on the eliptical, seated dips and leg lifts at the gym tonight. I was trying to keep it light since I was a little sore from cardio kickboxing last night.

I was feeling like salmon kabobs for dinner and my george foreman helped me out :-)

Sorry for the horrible pics! If you can't tell I "grilled" some marinated salmon, mushrooms and pineapple and served along side brown rice and an edamame/pepper mixture. Super tasty and took a total of 10 minutes to cook! Not bad.

I am planning a ladies brunch for some of my girlfriends to come over and catch up on our busy lives! It is so hard getting a group of girls together at the same time now that we all have careers (still weird to say) and live in different areas. I can't wait to cook for all of them and serve up some cake balls. I'm thinking carrot cake sounds like a brunch dessert. Right?

Here is my wedding finds update for the day...

Living in Maryland (home of the crab and old bay seasoning) this gave me a great idea for wedding favors. I think when you personalize your favors to your own style and loves, it gives your guests something extra to remember your special day. I'm already thinking up my own "crab bag" favors for when the day comes!

do you think a vlog is a good idea? what questions would you want answered?
does the spring make you obsessed with weddings too? 
what are the benefits of soy milk compared to skim milk (from a non vegan approach)?

xoxo,
Cara

Hump Day Lovin'

Happy Hump Day!! This warm weather was just what I needed to motivate me to get my butt back in the gym this week! About a month ago I signed up for two free yoga classes at a studio I once went to with Chris' mom. Monday's class was relaxing, but I definitely didn't feel any burn the day after and wanted to go straight to the gym afterwards. I have been craving a good sweat since I skipped out on the gym ALL LAST WEEK. Yup, I let it happen...and it could happen to you. haha

I finally went back to kickboxing class today after not going the past two weeks. Who am I? Cardio kickboxing is my favorite class and after today's workout I will never skip again! I left with a red face and a body dripping of sweat and it was just what I needed to kick my butt into gear! I headed across the street to the grocery store to stock up on healthy essentials while saving 28 dollars (just in time for the premiere of Extreme Couponing).

I am definitely thinking of renewing our Sam's Club membership because I have several kitchen essentials I buy every week that I could easily buy in bulk. Black beans, corn, salmon, onions, ground turkey breast, eggs, milk, greek yogurt, and tons of fruits and veggies. I need to get back on that bulk buying train!

I bought my first tofu/veggie italian sausages. I am excited/nervous to try them out. Has anyone ever had the light life sausages before? I read good reviews and figure I can always try them out in a frittata this weekend! I also stocked up on some soy milk and this box of goodness...

Peanut Butter lovers rejoice! I am excited to get back into a cereal routine! I also decided to make some black bean burgers for dinner tonight.

I love how this

With a little help of this

Can turn into this!

I am going to make a point to start incorporating more vegetarian meals into my weekly schedule. I could definitely live off of these burgers. You can find my recipe here. I also need to get my hands on a food processor so I can be like Alyssa at Fashion Fitness Foodie and make my own cinnamon raisin peanut butter!!

I made empanadas this weekend, but since I haven't been eating bread lately it was way too much for me and I never realized how hard they are to stuff! I give major props to anyone who makes these for a living. But they did photograph well...

One thing I am looking forward to this spring is the return of maxi dresses. Thank you Carrie Underwood... you show off this look flawlessly!

I'll leave you guys with some more wedding inspired photos I found at my new obsession bridalbar.com. Seriously, this weather has me going crazy over wedding blogs!

xoxo,
Cara

Guest Blogger! Cait @ Fit, Fierce, Fabulous!

Happy Monday everyone! I had a fabulous idea over the weekend to introduce guest bloggers once or twice a month. I think it is a great way to spice things up and share some of my favorite blogger friends with all of you! I asked Cait over at Fit, Fierce and Fabulous to be the first one! She is fab and it is easy to see why so many love her!

April begins wedding season, and nothing makes me more excited than wedding planning and couples in love so I asked Cait what her fabulous wedding would look like!

My pretty friend Cara asked me to be a guest blogger and I’m so excited to be talking with you all today! HI! I’m Cait from Fit, Fierce and Fabulous. Want to know a little bit about me? I love the color pink (more like a tiny bit obsessed) anything with cheese, dr pepper, shopping, being a total girly girl, and anything to do with weddings!

No, I’m not married, or even engaged. But I have been with the boyfriend for 3 ½ years now. When will he pop the question you ask? Well I think any of us girls in relationships tend to daydream about the big day, or even better, the big moment where we can plan the wedding of our dreams. Even if you're not in a relationship, don't tell me you haven't though about running around in a big silk gown pretending to be the princess of the ball!

My favorite décor? Well, here’s a few of my favorite of what I would love to do (someday) for a spring/summer wedding

Cute macroons like these leave you feeling satisfied, plus there colors are divine

the different pinks are good for creating a variety of shades and gives the table a pop!

I’m a huge fan of daises!

Whatever is in this fabulous looking drink, count me in!

I have other ideas of course, but maybe I’ll save that for another time. Clearly I could just tak forever about this idea, but I don’t want to waste your precious time friends! If you’d like to see a great proposal, check my blog post out! It is sure to make you get a few tears! Have a fabulous day!

Love, Cait

In case you are craving more wedding ideas here are a few I am dying over from stylemepretty.

I love gray as a color!

Umm cake ball pops that look like balls of yarn, chic!

Simple and elegant

I love long tables for seating at weddings

The cutest Save the Date idea. Teachers take note!

Making homemade chicken empanadas for dinner tonight so check back tomorrow for the recipe!

Chic Meets Healthy is now on Facebook! Like the page to get updates on healthy living ideas, chic finds and my blog! Click here to check it out!

xoxo,
Cara