Newman's Own Organics, Take Two

Last month I wrote part one of my review of Newman's Own Organic snacks, and after much eating and sharing of the products, here is part two.

Newman's Own Organics are about "great tasting food that happens to be organic", products we loved as kids, but better. Everything they use in their line is organic, including Palm Fruit Oil, which has no trans fats, is not hydrogenated, and is used in Europe as an alternative to partially hydrogenated oils. If you aren't familiar with hydrogenated oils, they are added to processed foods to prolong their shelf life. They cause a myriad of problems to health, and have been called the "silent killer" because of the damage it does to the body over time.

Let's start with their dried fruits, Apricots, Prunes, Berry Blend, and Cranberry. Right off the bat I noticed that the apricots had a color that was darker than normal, as did the cranberries. We don't usually buy prunes (hoping to put that off for a few more years), but they were plump, shiny, and had almost a creamy taste. Eliza took off with the bag, and called them "big raisins." My favorite of the four was the berry blend, which includes blueberries, cranberries, raisins and cherries. I ended up picking out all of the cherries and blueberries, they had such a great pop of flavor.

We had three last bags of cookies, Chocolate ABC's, Fig Newmans, and Mint Newman O's. The ABC's were a graham type cookie, perfect for a snack when Luke got home from school. You could tell the sugar flavor was natural, I always think of apple juice when I eat organic cookies, and this was similar. It was the same with the Fig Newman's. I'm a sucker for anything chocolate mint, so I saved the mint O's for last, and they could have used just a bit more mint, but that's just me.

When we tackled the pretzels, (Rounds, Minis and Thins) I didn't think there was going to be much of a difference between normal pretzels and the Newman's. But there was. The best way to describe it is a heartier flavor, and for the heck of it, I compared the Newman's ingredients to another brand of pretzels. The N's list organic unbleached wheat and rye flour, brown rice syrup, sunflower oil, malt, yeast and sodium bicarbonate. The other non-organic brand lists wheat flour, vital wheat gluten, salt, corn syrup, vegetable oil (also may contain corn, canola, cottonseed, soybean), sodium bicarbonate and yeast. Hmmmmmmm. That explains it.

I saved the best for last, the signature series chocolate bars. Chocolate bars!! They come in milk, mocha milk, orange, dark, super dark, and dark espresso. Now, I'm all about the antioxidant power of dark chocolate, and Newman's delivered, the bars are made from cocoa beans grown on Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms.

All of the bars had a deep, rich color, with a great snap when you broke it apart. Aside from the orange (I'm just not a fan of fruit flavored chocolate), once a bar was open it was very hard to stay away. The mocha milk was my favorite, it was like a coffee milkshake, and my guinea pig Eliza is still walking around asking for "mokamilk."

As I said in part one, I'm happy with the Newman's Own Organics, you can tell the ingredients are high quality, with a pure, clean taste. And this review was my own, I was not compensated in any way for my thoughts. And they are good thoughts.

Spring is Flinging

I woke up this morning, and even before I got out of bed, I had a feeling in my bones that spring is on it's way. Or it could just be that the sun was shining. Whatever it is, I like it.

Yesterday was lovely as well, and I made it outside for a 4.5 mile run in my new Nike's. I feel good in them, my toes are happy with all the room they have to stretch out, and I'm not striking with my heel as much as I do in my Asics. So far so good! After that I made my Aunt Linda's famous Irish Soda Bread, sorry to say I can't share that recipe, but I added a photo to drool over.

Today was a good mail day, my friend Jennifer lent me her Nike plus ipod, which makes me want to run right out the door to try it out. I'm listening to it now, and having flashbacks to high school and college days, because of the Nine Inch Nails (who I love), among other things. It's going to be fun to run to someone else's music!

I need a new book to read, I finished John Krakauer's Where Men Win Glory. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I kept thinking about it. It's primarily about Pat Tillman and the cover up of the details of his death, along with the history of the Taliban and the War on Terror. I was living in NY during 9/11, so this book definitely touched a nerve. So now I think some Chick Lit might be in order.

I just realized Daylight Savings Time is this Sunday.....whoo hoo!

Tipp Hill Four Mile Shamrock Run

What a fun race!

I've been looking forward to this run for a while, it's one of the most popular runs in Syracuse, and by the number of people running, it certainly looked it.

This was my first time running Shamrock, although I've done several training runs of the area with Lake Effect runners. The course is only four miles, but it's hilly. Thank you for the input on my last post, I stuck with the old, although I was very concious of how my size eleven left foot felt in the size 10 Asics. I didn't have a time goal, I just wanted to have fun, and not wimp out on the hills.

The sun was shining, the roads were dry, it was about 32 degrees, and I had on my Lucky Charms tshirt, along with my requisite green Bondi Band. We were a group of the usual suspects, Jeannine, Bill and Carol, and our friend Norine. We headed to the 10 mile pace group, and looking back, we could have gotten away with lining up closer to the start. As usual, with a crowd that size, we didn't realize the race had started until those in front of us started moving.

It was really difficult to get going, I had to dodge around so many people, sprint along, then at some points, slow way down. I wanted to take it easy, because the hills were going to come at the end of the race, and I'm used to banging them out early.

The run seemed to go by quickly, I think around mile three I passed a bar and saw Mike's orange Cleveland Browns hat (I know) in the crowd, and I jumped up and down and waved to him and his brother Rob. Then it was time for the last long hill, so off I went. There were people walking all around me, and I passed a couple of young guys which is always fun. I made it to the top for one more loop around the park, and I could see the time clock, which made me excited, until I realized how long that loop was going to be. That was one thing I didn't like, repeating a part of the course when you just want to finish.

My final time was 39:19, with an average pace of 9:50. I was happy to do it under 40 minutes.

We headed over to Nibsy's to meet the boys, who had some prime real estate at the bar. We also chatted up some Lake Effect runners, if you want to check it out, there is a photo of me over at my friend Ray's blog, I'm on the left with the beer in my hand (shocker).

Spent the rest of the day a Jeannine's house, to watch the kids play in the snow, SU lose to Louisville (so much for that number one ranking), and search for celebrities on Twitter. And there was much mocking of Norine's fanny pack. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Stick with the old? Or try out the new?

I have the four mile Shamrock run tomorrow, which should be a lot of fun. The weather is supposed to be half way decent, and I'm making plans with some of my fellow runners to meet up after at an Irish bar.

I am debating on which running shoes to wear. I've run four times in my new Nike's, yesterday I ran six miles in them. I'm feeling a couple of aches in spots I haven't felt before, I think it must be because I'm getting used to this style shoe. The larger size is great though, I can't believe I ran for so long in too small shoes.

I've worn my Asics for all the training runs for Shamrock, and there are some decent hills. There is a notable difference in the shoes, the heels of the Asics have much more padding, which I kind of like for the hills. Although when I put them on now it feels like I'm wearing high heels!

Any suggestions? Wear the shoes I've been training in, even though they're too small? Or wear the Nike's, even though I haven't worn them outside, or run any hills in them?

Above, the source of my dilemma. Note the 12 pack of Stella Artois, it's been buried in the snow ever since my sister was here two weeks ago. Guess the snow is finally melting.

What I think of when I should be sleeping

Two nights ago, Mike kept me up until 2 a.m. with his snoring, and Eliza's been waking up at night with a cough. But last night Mike slept in the guest room so I could catch up on my sleep, so it figures that my old pal insomnia paid me a visit. I lay there, with my mind going, and had the following thoughts:

Part of the reason I want a dog is that it will eat whatever food scraps the kids drop on the floor.

Losing your voice makes it hard to yell at your kids.

Whenever I hear Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" I think he's going to sing "Bake me a pie of love."

And I think it's funny that when I hear "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, I'm reminded of the Sopranos, but Eliza is reminded of the movie Bed Time Stories.

The reason I bought Wheaties Fuel was because Peyton Manning was on the box.

I wonder how painful Botox really is.

Shamrock Shakes are in season.

What wine am I going to drink now that they've discontinued my Tunnel of Elms Chardonnay?

I'm still irritated with Lost. Okay, we get it, there is good and evil on The Island.

Speaking of television, I love that Joey Tribiani quote "You don't have a TV? What do you point all your furniture at?"

I like my minuscule "vision board" next to my laptop screen, but the only thing on it is the NYC Marathon logo.

It drives me nuts that Wegmans has a tile floor in the produce section, which is so freaking loud when you push your cart over it.

I haven't gone cross country skiing all year.

Whenever I go to the bank, I feel like they're going to yell at me, or not give me my money.

I can't believe Luke is going to be six in May.

I think I read a good cross section of books. Right now I'm reading Where Men Win Glory, about Pat Tillman, before that I read The Historian, about Dracula, and before that, the Overnight Socialite, chick lit written by the wife of a guy I went to High School with.

Speaking of High School, my reunion is this fall.

Which is making me wonder about botox.

Healthier Helper

Apparently spring is on it's way in some parts of the country, but it's definitely winter where I live. I'm still making meals that are on the hearty side, which makes sense since there is a ton of snow on the ground. I made a mexican lasagna over the weekend that went over well, using whole wheat tortillas instead of pasta, salsa instead of tomato sauce, and cheddar in place of mozzarella.

I'll admit it, Hamburger Helper has been a part of my culinary life, it's cheap, it's easy, it fills you up. But its sooooo bad for you, with a cringe inducing amount of sodium and fat. I once saw an dish called "cowboy pasta," and since I usually tweak things to my liking, I made it over and now call it Healthy Helper. It's full of protein, due to the beans, and either ground beef or turkey, and the whole wheat pasta gives a dose of healthy carbs. I've thought of adding tofu hamburger crumbles, instead of meat, which might work too if you're a vegetarian.

The recipe makes a huge amount, so use a large skillet. I save some for lunch the next day, and freeze the rest.

Healthy Helper

one pound ground beef, turkey or tofu crumbles

one large vidalia onion, chopped

three cloves of garlic, chopped

one 30 oz can of low sodium tomato sauce

one 15 oz can of black beans

one 15 oz can of petite diced tomatoes

one can of corn

1 1/2 cup of uncooked whole wheat pasta

8 oz of pepper jack or cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of salt

olive oil

Cook, then drain the meat, and set aside.

In a large skillet, add enough olive oil to cover, and sautee the onions and garlic until soft.

Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, beans, corn, salt, cayenne, ground pepper, pasta and meat.

Bring to a boil, turn heat down to simmer, and cook until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir occasionally, at the end of cooking, mix in cheese, add more salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Yum.

don't forget the Le Creuset giveaway!

Marching on

I like March. The whole going in like a lion and out like a lamb thing appeals to me. I'm getting a bit tired of snow and running in mess, I thought about wearing my new Nike's for my outside run on Saturday, but I'm glad I didn't. Two seconds after I got out of my car, my right foot was submerged in a huge pile of slush. It was warm out, but while I ran I still managed to find some snow to slip in, so after that I took my time and was careful about where to put my feet. Toward the end of the six mile route, I found a big puddle to splash my left foot into, it was either that or get hit by a car, so I stayed to the side of the road. Then that night I lost my voice, and it's still gone. I've been slamming the Amazing Grass, I do NOT want to get sick, this Saturday is the four mile Shamrock Run, and I'm really looking forward to it.

In addition to the Shamrock run, I'm doing my first Virtual Race for the Cure! Mel, from Tall Mom on the Run is running the Marathon for the Cure this spring. In order to help raise funds, she decided to hold a virtual run on March 27. I'm planning on a 10k, in honor of my mother in law, D, who is kicking breast cancer's ass, and her sister C, who is a breast cancer survivor.

I'm still behind in my quest for 1,000 miles in 2010. I managed 56 in February, but I've been good about yoga and working my core, and overall toning. My Wii Fit said that I've met my 5 pound weight loss goal, but judging by how my clothes fit, it feels like it should be more. Could I possibly be building muscle? I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but it also takes a lot of muscle to take the place of the fat, so who knows.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out my Le Creuset Giveaway.....my mom read the post and told me I can have her yellow Le Creuset pot! Thanks Mom.....