Give Away!

***Update, we have our 3 winners!
Congrats to Kathy, Melissa and Amy!
Please email me at kupuggie@gmail.com***

I have give aways all the time on my food blog with fun food related items, but I have yet to have a give away on my Life As A Mrs. blog! So here it goes!

I recently received a handful of coupons from my friends over at Pssst to share with my blog readers!

So what is the give away? Three lucky winners will each win 2 coupons for the New Fiber One Yogurt!

zero guilt snacking

• Make snack time a treat for your taste buds and your waistline
• 50 calories + 0 grams of fat + 5 grams of fiber = zero guilt
• Four delicious flavors — Strawberry, Vanilla, Peach, Key Lime Pie

Each coupon is for $1.35 cents off one multi pack of yogurt.

All you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite flavor of yogurt you like or what is your favorite ingredient to add to yogurt?

This give away will end on August 27, 2009 at 9:00 am. Winners will be chosen by random.org.

Good Luck!

Product Review: Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix

I recently purchased the Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix. I have been wanting to try it since I bought it, but just haven't had the chance. On Tuesday night, I met Chris after he was done work and we played 9 holes of golf. We didn't get home till close to 8 p.m., so we wanted something quick and easy to make. Chris opted for a BLT, but I decided to make a peanut butter waffle!

We typically use Bisquick. I honestly couldn't taste a difference between the two, besides the fact there's a lot more fiber and it's a bit more calorie friendly! The box tells you that if you use it for a pancake mix, it they maybe thin, but I couldn't tell any difference with a waffle, they were the same size and consistency as a regular mix.

The mix has 20% of your daily fiber needed. For 1/2 cup of mix, which is about 3 pancakes, it is only 180 calories! For two waffles it's 280 calories. I will definitely by this again when this box runs out!

How To Eat Clean Safely

Recently, I've been hearing a lot of people doing colon cleansing and other "cleansing" diets to lose weight. They aren't healthy at ALL. I was reading the July 2009 Self Magazine and came across this article and wanted it to share with my readers.

There are many health benefits to eat clean, but that doesn't mean doing a "cleansing diet" where you consume nasty liquids to lose weight. Eating clean means opting for foods that are naturally free of man-man stuff but full of good for you nutrients that keep your body systems humming along.

If you are interested in doing a one week cleanse, follow these simple rules, to do a naturally and healthy way. You may or may not lose weight, but it's a healthy way to clean out your system.

Skip added sugar:

• White sugars, brown sugar, honey are all sugar pumps, that puts calories into your diet and spikes blood sugar. Consuming too much of it also promotes inflammation, which can increase your risk for heart diseases and certain cancers and make you feel foggy and fatigued. So stay away from foods that list sugar, high fructose corn syrup or dextrose on the ingredient label.

Avoid Bad Fats:

• Saturated and trans fats can clog your arteries and promote inflammation. Nix trans fast by sidestepping fried foods and anything made with hydrogenated vegetable oils(check labels). Limit saturated fats to less then 7 percent of your total daily calories by wiping out high-fat marbled meats and choosing skim or 1 percent fat dairy products instead of full fat ones.

Pump Up Proteins:

• Lean proteins from sources such as chicken and wild salmon preserve your lean body mass, and having some at every meal stabilizes blood sugar levels and helps you feel fuller longer. Divide your body weight in pounds by 2, that's how many grams of protein you should aim to get each day.

Be a Teatotaler:

• Alcohol is taxing on your liver, plus it lowers your inhibitions, making it harder to resist unhealthy foods. Stick to water, seltzer, tea and coffee.

Reach For Fiber:

• Soluble fiber in oats and beans is filling and it helps pull cholesterol out of the bloodstream, moving it through the digestive track.

Chew, Swallow, Repeat:

• Taking in calories at regular intervals keeps your blood sugar stabilized and metabolism revved. Have breakfast with in 90 minutes of waking up, and aim to eat about every four hours.

For a complete one week menu, check out Self.Com.

Exercise For A Cause

I came across this awesome website this morning and wanted to share it with everyone!

The website is called, Plus 3 Network. Every workout you do cause raise money for different causes. There are corporate sponsors who donate 5 cents or more for every mile you bike, run, walk or swim and log on the site.

What an awesome website! For my 3 mile run yesterday, I donated .18 cents to the Breast Cancer Fund and my sponsor is Ahnu Footwear.

Check it out!

Blog It Forward To Fight Hunger

My local grocery store ShopRite, has an awesome program which the called "Partners In Caring". This program helps out the local community with many different things. One thing that they are working on right now is hunger.

The ShopRite organization recognized the pervasive problem of hunger experienced by so many people right in the neighborhoods served by their stores. It’s a problem that not only exists during the holiday season, when attention is focused on charitable giving, but it also exists throughout the year. ShopRite had already been helping to fight the problem of hunger for more than 20 years through its support of the Feeding America network (formerly America’s Second Harvest) and through participation in the Checkout Hunger program, but wanted to do more.

In 1999, ShopRite conceived and began its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, a year-round, community based hunger fighting initiative. With the help of more than 50 manufacturers, the program is committed to helping to feed and meet the nutritional needs of families and the elderly who may otherwise go without. These generous companies are a major reason why ShopRite Partners In Caring has been such a success.

Today, the ShopRite Partners In Caring program supports 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies with food or meal components. With a $2 million annual donation, more than $20 million has been donated since 1999 in the fight against hunger.

How It Works

Companies that have joined ShopRite in the fight against hunger are marked in stores with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf label. By choosing these products, ShopRite customers support manufacturers who contribute to the program.

Each of the 217 ShopRite stores in the six states that ShopRite serves (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland) selects qualified local organizations to benefit from the program. These local food charities use their designated funds to acquire supplies at a food bank.

Who Is Served

More than 36 million Americans go to bed hungry every night – 12 million of them are children. They could be your neighbors, people you know in the community or maybe somebody you said “hello” to this morning. ShopRite is committed to making a difference in the lives of its neighbors. That’s why ShopRite Partners In Caring dollars ultimately service a variety of organizations with feeding capabilities including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, child care centers, battered women’s shelters, senior programs, drug rehab centers, programs for the mentally and physically disabled, after school programs and other organizations that support those in need in ShopRite communities.

Every time a customer purchases products with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf tag, they support the brands that support the fight against hunger. At ShopRite, customers are not just filling a grocery bag; they are helping to fill empty bowls for thousands of hungry families in your community.

ShopRite Partners In Caring is the Recipient of the Following Awards – among others:

• Good Neighbor Award – Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
• Retailer of the Year Award – America’s Second Harvest/Feeding America
• Outstanding Achievement Award – Hudson Valley Food Bank
• Crystal Toque Award – Philadelphia and South Jersey
• Outstanding Spirit Award – Monmouth and Ocean County Food Bank
• Connecticut Food Bank – Bill Liddell Award
• Corporate Excellence Award – Food Bank for New York City

Facts About Hunger in America

• More than 36 million Americans (11 percent of U.S. households) suffer from food insecurity
• Food insecurity is when you are unsure when or what your next meal will be

• Statewide food insecurity rates in the ShopRite area are:
• New Jersey – 7.7%
• Delaware – 7.8%
• Maryland – 9.5%
• Connecticut – 8.6%
• Pennsylvania – 10%
• New York – 9.8%

• More than 12 million children are growing up hungry

• Nearly 2 million seniors suffer from food insecurity

• During 2007, nearly 18 million children received free or reduced lunch

• There are many complications of hunger, especially for children, including:
• Weakened immune systems
• Cognitive and behavioral development problems; can cause irritability, fatigue and difficulty concentrating in younger children. Also proven to cause depression in some teenagers
• Slow or unusual development in areas such as speaking, behavior and movement

• A $1 donation can purchase 10 pounds of food from a food bank

*Facts are as reported by Feeding America

For more on the program, visit www.ShopRitePartnersInCaring.org

Today's Workout

I was talking to one of my friend tonight, Kim aka Geo. It reminded me to post something that I wanted to post earlier today but forgot! So thanks Geo!

This morning's run was a bit rough, though I did complete it, it was a bit hard. As I was running I thought at first it was because I hadn't run since last Wednesday. Then I thought, well I didn't get enough sleep last night either, and it was super humid/hot out already at 8 am this morning. Then I got to thinking more and knew that wasn't the problem. Yes, it's hard to keep up consistency in running when you do take a few days off, but the real problem was the food I consumed this weekend.

I had a lot of empty calories. What are empty calories you maybe asking your self? Well basically, if you don't know, empty calories come from foods that have high calories, are high in fats and really don't provide you with any nutritional value. Empty calories don't fill you so you want more, they also quickly add up in the pounds department if you go nuts.

I had A LOT, as I said this weekend. Like Cold Stone Creamery, cake batter with some gummi bears, 2 bear claws, applesauce spice bars, pizza, wings, cheese fries, Ben and Jerry's ice cream(are you kidding me!?) I haven't eaten like that in WEEKS, like 20 weeks! Which is fine from time to time, we all have some bad days on the eating train, and it's just important to get back on track, which I did today!

Your body needs substantial, nutritional calories to preform at a level where you don't feel run down or exhausted in your first ten minutes of any exercise.

I am glad that I'm able to see why my run/exercise wasn't great today and that I'm able to fix it without a problem!

Running Update

I thought this image of this guy running was funny. Anyways, a running update!

I'm running 10 minutes straight!! I know for you runners out there that's nothing! But I am finally running 10 minutes straight, walking 1 minute, running 10 minutes again, walking 1 minute and finishing the cycle with an 8 minute run. For a total of 30 minute workout, running 28 minutes and walking 2!

It's going to get more challenging when I get higher up, because instead of increasing the time only by one minute every two weeks, you increase it by 2 minutes each time!

I'm getting there my final goal is running 30 minutes straight, once I can do that, then I'll be looking for 5k's to sign up for.

But running in August in this area stinks. I have to get up at like 6:15 AM-ish, just to beat the heat and humidity!

Happy Running!

My Birthday Flowers!

Here are my birthday flowers my awesome hubby got me for my birthday:


Here is a cute picture of the hubs, before he cooked our yummy lobsters:

Finally! A Cricut!

I finally got a Cricut! It was my birthday present from my in-laws! I've been asking for one for awhile and finally got it!So what is a cricut? It's basically a cutting machine. You can do just about anything to making cards, to making place mats, bulletin boards, vinyls, glass etching, there is so much you can do. It would of been super great to have it last year when doing my own wedding invitations, but none the less, I'm super excited to learn more about it and start making projects!

Fiber One Yogurt

This stuff is really good!! If you like it, here is a coupon courtesy of My Blog Spark:

Print Your Coupon!