Coffee

Under a Caffeinated Influence

May 8, 2013 by Allison · 64 Comments

Yesterday I learned a well-known fact – too much caffeine can give you the shakes. Yes, I am guilty of having one or two too many cups of coffee, but since I woke up at 2:45AM for no apparent reason, I began drinking before the sun came up and continued throughout the morning. And they weren’t my typical decaf.

One cup led to two, three, and more… And around 2PM I started to feel it. My toes were tapping, my legs were bouncing, and my fingers were typing like a mad woman. Thankfully, a lot of people are out of our office this week so no one noticed.

It’s been about a week and a half since I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night and unable to get back to sleep. Surprisingly though, I don’t feel all that tired throughout the day and I’m still in happy spirits. I definitely have been embracing the old lady lifestyle and going to bed around 9PM or earlier, but that’s not anything new.

I’m not stressed but I do have a few things on my mind so that could have something to do with it. Or maybe my body truly doesn’t need more than 6 hours of sleep right now? Either way, I have an appointment with my rheumatologist this afternoon and will ask him. Maybe he’ll have some insight?!

Moving onto Wednesday’s traditional theme: my [Tuesday] eats. Let me preface my pictures by saying that my yesterday’s eats were nothing to brag about. Breakfast was satisfying, lunch was random, and dinner was no-fuss. We all have those kinda days on occasion and I had mine yesterday.

Thanks Jenn for hosting another tasty link-up!

breakfast

frozen berries, turkey breakfast sausages, & oat flour pancakes topped with sweetened cottage cheese + crunchy peanut butter + raisins

5-7 Lunch

lunch

yellow bell pepper slices, a grapefruit, tortilla chips + animal crackers, & a pita stuffed with dijon mustard + arugula + Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger

snack

an apple & a Clif Mojo Mountain Mix Bar

workout

Monday morning my back felt better so I went for a run but shouldn’t have – I didn’t have any pain during the run, but later that night it began hurting again. Yesterday my back felt better but I didn’t want to push it again so I took it easy on the elliptical… Something is always better than nothing!

dinner

an unpictured veggie-filled salad & whole wheat spaghetti with chicken sausage + tomato sauce + parm cheese

dessert

a bowl of Joe’s O’s with Greek yogurt + dark chocolate chips

P.S. We received this in the mail yesterday… I think the hospital is more ready than Ryan or I am for our family to grow!

Question: Coffee or tea? What are your typical mix-ins?

Question: When you can’t sleep, what do you do? Watch TV? Go on the computer?

— Allison

Wordless WIAW: Two Sunny Breakfasts

April 3, 2013 by Allison · 46 Comments

Thanks Jenn for hosting another tasty link-up!

~~~~~

Question: What’s your favorite meal of the day?

Question: What’s your favorite breakfast?

— Allison

Recent Eats & The Good Bean Giveaway

March 20, 2013 by Allison · 153 Comments

Yesterday I had the intention of posting my race recap. I started writing in the morning, uploaded pictures during lunch, and planned to publish when I got home but that last part didn’t happen. The past few weeks I’ve been starring at my computer screen at work for too many hours – inputting data, updating spreadsheets, confirming contracts, etc. – so by the time I get home the only screen that I wanna stare at is the TV.

Side note: have y’all watched ABC Family lately? I haven’t in ages but last night I caught a few minutes of Pretty Little Liars and the sneak preview of Twisted. Holy heck, those girls are much more mature than Sabrina the Teenage Witch ever was… Er, or I’m just getting older?

[source]

I thought I’d sandwich my race recap between my recent eats [ba-dum-bum! get it? sandwich cause it's WIAW] but then I realized that this post would be a million miles long so I’ll save it for another day. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking, just some of my pre-, during, and post-race thoughts. Today I’m sticking with tradition and sharing a few of my recent eats and surprising y’all with a good giveaway – whoop whoop!

Ryan is traveling for work this week so that means that I’ve been cooking for one – uno, solo, nada one else, single gal – and that has translated into easy and convenient comfort food. Charlie always gets mopey when his partner in crime is MIA so I’ve been trying my best to fill the void. But I evidently I’m just not as cool as dad… Charlie’s mind: daddy = play pal // momma = couch cuddler.

A few of my recent eats photo dump style. All were tasty with the exception of not so tasty green goop… Although it does fit in perfectly with this months theme

Thanks Jenn for hosting another tasty link-up!

The Good Bean Review & Giveaway

A few months ago when I was perusing the aisles of Whole Foods, I stumbled upon The Good Bean chickpeas. I’d seen a few bloggers post recipes for roasted chickpeas but my semi-homemade loving self opted to buy the snacks versus baking the beans myself. And I am so glad that I did, they were amazingly delicious!

The store by me only had the Cracked Pepper flavor so that’s what I tried first. I’m a big fan of pepper so I had high hopes… They were sprinkled with black pepper, a touch of salt, weren’t overly spicy, and were super crunchy – two thumbs up in my opinion!

Bummed that I couldn’t find any of the other flavors around me, I contacted The Good Bean and they were happy to send me a sample of their 4 chickpea snacks and 3 fruit and no-nut bars.

A little bit about the products as seen on The Good Bean website :

Chickpea Snacks

Healthy! Our chickpeas are naturally packed with intense nutrition – for a healthy heart, a healthy waistline, and for sustained energy. Tasty! They’re also intensely delicious. Dry roasted sloooowly, and then tossed with tasty spices. Yum! Gluten-free, nut-free, cholesterol-free, low fat, low in carbohydrates, nothing over-engineered, nothing artificial.

Fruit & No-Nut Bars

Fruit & nut bars are the ideal healthy snack any time of day, and the growing popularity of this category is testament how much people love them. Here’s a bar with all the textures, flavors, and wholesomeness of fruit & nut bars, but without the fat and allergens of nuts! Our bars – packed with seeds, fruits, and chocolate – are truly delicious, and pack a nutritious wallop.

After tasting each of these products, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them – I didn’t dislike any but I did have a few favorites… Sweet Cinnamon and Cracked Peppercorn were my top two favorite chickpea snacks and Apricot Coconut was my favorite fruit and no-nut bar.

Lucky, lucky you because The Good Bean has graciously offered to give 2 lucky winners each:

[2] Chickpea Snacks
[3] Fruit & No-Nut Bars

The giveaway will end Sunday, March 24^th at 11:59PM EST. I will randomly select the winner and announce her or him on Monday! To enter, please leave a separate comment for each of the following:

Comment on this post telling me which product you’d like to try the most
Like The Good Bean on Facebook
Like Life’s a Bowl on Facebook
Follow @TheGoodBean on Twitter
Follow @lifesabowl on Twitter
Follow The Good Bean on Instagram
Follow Life’s a Bowl on Instagram

*Please note: you must leave a separate comment for each to receive multiple entries – you can enter once, twice, or all 7 possible ways – the more entries, the better your chances!*

— Allison