The below was taken directly from the blog THE LUNCHBOX DIARIES:
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Spreading the Love

Yesterday a little love showed up at my front door step.

When the lovely Laura from the Love Grown Foods contacted me about reviewing this granola, I jumped at the chance. I’ve seen this brand all over the blog world, and I was excited to give it a try!

I did a little happy dance when I got my package, and I immediately opened all three flavors and dug in. Shocking, I know.

The Sweet Cranberry Pecan is amazing – just enough sweetness with big pieces of pecan surprises in almost every bite. The Raisin Almond Crunch was outta this world. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of pecans and almonds in this granola. Sometimes companies say nuts are included in the mix, and you end up with 2 broken almonds. But that’s not the case with Love Grown Granola!

The Show Stealer – Oh my gawwwd! The Cocoa Goodness is just that. Lots and lots of cocoa goodness. Somehow, big chunks of this goodness kept ending up in the palm of my hand. Weird.

Look at those hearty pieces of granola!

I even ventured to add some of the Cocoa Goodness to my morning cereal combo.

A healthy way to get chocolatey bites in my breakfast? Be still, my heart.

I have a feeling these bags of goodness won’t make it through the long weekend…

The below was taken directly from the blog SWEET TOOTH SWEET LIFE:

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Sometimes, I wish I had an endless supply of money at my disposal.

“Ummm, Courtney, I’m pretty sure the rest of the universe is in the same boat as you…”

Alright alright, sure, we could all use a little extra money every now and then, right? But earlier this morning, as I was picking away at the remnants of my shellac manicure and wishing I could just go and get another one, I couldn’t help but think about how nice it would be to have some extra spending cash on hand to do things like that.

Yes, that’s what they looked like almost three weeks ago. This is what they look like now…

But honestly, up until yesterday, they still looked just as good as the first day, just a bit grown out. You’re actually supposed to go back to the salon and have the manicure “soaked off,” but I, umm, am lazy and have been picking mine off. Woops.

So anyways…I got to thinking about more about that endless supply of money and the little things I would splurge on a daily/weekly/monthly basis:

• Weekly mani/pedi appointments
• Monthly massages & facials
• Daily iced coffees from Dunkin’ Donuts, Flavour Café, or Starbucks
• A cleaning service
• A personal chef who would cook me a gourmet meal twice a week
• A personal trainer (I want someone to seriously kick my butt!)
• Someone to mow my lawn and pull weeds
• Someone who will put away all my laundry once it’s clean (my least favorite part!)

*****

That was fun! But before I sound too needy or greedy…let’s move on to lunch, shall we? It was a good one.

Considering yesterday’s goodie package of Love Grown Foods granola, I couldn’t resist not digging in today. I paired more of the Raisin Almond Crunch flavor with a vanilla Chobani, strawberries and blueberries.

I guess I’m already gearing up for the holiday weekend?

Along with my yogurt bowl, I enjoyed some carrot sticks and a leftover corn muffin which was still as amazing as ever. I really think I have a cornbread problem…do they make AA for that? Would it be called CA? Maybe CLA (Cornbread Lovers Anonymous)?

Geez, I can be such a tool.

Question for the Afternoon…going along with the beginning of this post:

If you had an endless supply of spending money, what daily/weekly/monthly indulgences would you splurge on?

The below was taken directly from the blog MOM FOREVER AND EVER:

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SPREAD SOME LOVE AROUND…..I want to share with you…lovegrownfoods
I found an amazing company called Love Grown Foods and they have the most amazing flavors of granola – my favorite being apple walnut delight- perfect alone to mixed with yogurt- so far I have had all the flavors and this is my favorite of the five. If you are searching for that perfect snack treat that is good for you and made with love go try them out. By the way you can order online and have some love delivered right to your door too. They retail for about 5 dollars a bag and are the most amazing treat…if you are a chocolate addict I suggest you try the cocoa goodness. They have 5 varieties of love for everyone. (picture belongs to them)

Apple Walnut Delight
Cocoa Goodness
Raisin Almond Crunch
Simply Oats
Sweet Cranberry Pecan

What is amazing about this company- ???
Everything in the package I can pronounce and it is gluten free. No hidden crud, healthy for you so you can live.
Now go check out the store online, or check out where they are sold and pick up a bag or two- you will be hooked like I was from the first bite. Go check out love grown foods and tell them I- momforeverandever sent you if you buy some- no I am not getting anything- nor was I paid- if a product is great I want people to know and want to spread the word. I just want to share the love with you folks. God Bless. SPREAD SOME LOVE AROUND…..I want to share with you…lovegrownfoods
Someone emailed and asked me if I have tried them all- yes I have- they are all delicious….

if you have tried them please post and let me know your favorite flavor…

The below post was taken directly from the blog EATING RD:

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Hey all!  I can’t believe June is almost past us and summer is on!  We already have had the weather hit near 108 F and it’s been a hot one.  You’d think I would get used to this since I’ve lived here all my life.  yea… no.  Even waking up at 4am for a bike ride does not help escape the heat unfortunately.  I guess I may have to revisit swimming again One thing I love to cool down with is a refreshing smoothie, popsicle, or anything topped with frozen fruit.  We need to make a Costco run and get one of those giant bags of frozen fruit because I think we’ve been going through at least 3 bags of raspberries, blueberries, and cherries every week!  For me, I’m all about contrasting flavors as well, so I have to top it with some kind of crunch.

Love Grown Foods sent me some of their granola to try and boy was it tasty and crunchy!

I love when granola has those big, nutty chunks that stick together.  Here is the Raisin Almond Crunch…

Unprocessed Ingredients: Certified Gluten-Free Oats, Honey, ALMONDS, Raisins, Organic Agave Syrup, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Coconut, Sunflower Seeds, Spices, Milled Flaxseed, Cinnamon, Sea Salt.

Nutritional Facts: Servings Size 1/4 cup
Amount per Serving: Calories: 130, Total Fat: 6g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium: 25mg, Total Carbohydrates: 17g, Dietary Fiber: 2g, Sugars: 7g, Protein 3g

The only thing with granola is the fact that it is pretty energy dense and a serving size is 1/4 of a cup.  I could easily eat at least a cup of this stuff, so it’s always good to portion out.

Here’s what 1/4 cup looks like…

I like to top a smoothie in a bowl with it mmmm

This is great and refreshing after a ride too.

Another thing I usually can’t get enough of is eggs!  I was able to try Eggland’s Best with a coupon I received from the FoodBuzz tastemakers program.  I like the fact that these eggs are packed with nutrition!

And they have that cute little stamp

Nothing beats a good ol’ omelet for breakfast or dinner.  This time Chris stuffed ours with spinach and roasted bell peppers and cheese.

Or I just like to saute an egg in the pan with a little olive oil, top it with some cheese, and place it atop a 1/2 slice of naan for a snack.

I don’t know how I got the yolk to separate from the white without breaking, but it looks neat!

splat.

Chris and I have also been addicted to kefir!  We LOVE this stuff!  It’s great for GI health/regularity and immunity.

Here’s the usual stash I buy to stock up. . . I think we have a kefir problem.

We usually drizzle some on our cereal and frozen fruit in the morning or I’ve been drizzling it on fruit for dessert.  Careful with the flavored varieties though because they are loaded with sugar!  I usually stick to plain and then have vanilla for a small treat.

Hope everyone has been having a good summer so far!

What are you loving lately?

The below was taken directly from the blog LITTLE BITTY BAKES:
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YFT (yay for Thursday)!  Thursday is a good day in my book.  It’s when I start to get that whew, made it through another week feeling.  It’s also usually the day my dinner of choice is ice cream.  Yep… when I say YFT, I mean YFT!

So, since it’s Thursday, and since yesterday I managed to escape my dentist visit with “just one small” cavity after not visiting for 2+ years (whoops!), I made these little cookies.  Because when you eat as much sugar as I do and walk away with just one cavity, you load up on sweets in celebration.

Oh, these chewies are tiny little guys.  As in, you can eat 5 and it’s like eating 2 cookies.  Just be careful, or 5 will turn into 10, 10 will turn into 15, and…

Little Bitty Chocolate Chewies
Makes about 4 1/2 dozen bite-size cookies

• 1 cup chocolate peanut butter
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups Love Grown Oat Clusters (I used Sweet Cranberry Pecan)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In medium mixing bowl, stir peanut butter, agave, egg, and baking soda until well combined.  Stir in granola; mix until well combined.

Drop cookie dough by teaspoonful (or 1” cookie scoop) onto prepared cookie sheet.  Bake 6 to 8 minutes.  Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.