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?

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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