Catching up on past vacations - Shutterfly!

A few years ago, I started making photo books after we returned home from a vacation. The problem, of course, is that when we come home from vacation I am always behind on life in general, so often the project gets pushed back, sometimes getting forgotten completely.

So I did a survey of missing books and came up with several:

• 2015 trip to Adirondacks / Montreal / Vermont
• 2014 ski trip
• 2013 ski trip
• 2012 ski trip
• all vacations in 2011
• 2006 trip to Adirondacks
• 2006 trip to Kansas
• 2006 trip to Chincoteague

And there are probably even more, but getting through these will be a big project. Luckily, all of the photos are at least organized, so it's just a matter of drafting some words to go around them and popping them into an online book.

The strategy that has been most successful for me? Find a discount code that expires, and then stay up all night the day before it expires to finish the project. Better would be to just use the codes as I come across them, of course.

Lucky day for me - Shutterfly and Stonyfield have teamed up to offer the next discount I'm planning to use. It's simple.

• Purchase any Stonyfield YoBaby or YoTot yogurt 6-pack and enjoy $20 off your order at Shutterfly.com. Simply enter the code on the package and the discount will get stored in your shutterfly account. Details here.


• Offer ends February 29, 2016, which means I have a ridiculous amount of time to get at least one of these projects done. If I'm really moving, I can get it done before Christmas and turn the book into a Christmas present for one of our traveling companions.
• It's a one-time use offer - each household may get the discount once.

Nice things about these books are that not only do I enjoy the trip down memory lane when I make them, the kids enjoy looking through them and remembering their trip. They also make great gifts for our traveling companions, which often include grandparents.

Perhaps this winter will be the year that I catch up on all these vacations. That would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Elaine

Many thanks to Stonyfield and Shutterfly for providing the latest kick in the pants to work on one of my favorite projects. I'm looking forward to reliving a few of these vacations!

Stonyfield Fruit Snacks - Three Ways!

We don't eat a lot of fruit snacks at our house, mostly because I'd rather the kids just eat a piece of fruit.  That, and whenever we do buy fruit snacks, the kids forget about them and then end up getting old.

But...sometimes, convenience wins. So when I was offered the opportunity to test Stonyfield's newest offering - fruit snacks - I decided to go for it. Our family tested the fruit snacks in three settings: my 5th grade son's birthday party; my daughter's soccer game; our very fancy family diner. All were a hit.

First up, Connor had his birthday party (more later on that). When asked, he told me he wanted a Nerf gun party in the backyard, so I told him we could go purchase a bunch of Nerf ammo and a new gun and invite some friends over.

The party was super low-key, Ed handled all the Nerf procurement, and I handled the food and decorations. (Decorations, for the record, consisted of a table cloth, plates, napkins, and some cardboard shields that at least gave Helen something to enjoy while the boys were nutting it up in the backyard.)

The fruit snacks were a huge hit with the boys, who also consumed some yogurt, chips, and pizza.

That bowl was refilled, twice, because hungry boys like fruit snacks, I suppose.

Next up, I was in charge of snack at Helen and Connor's soccer games. I think the big winner at the soccer game was Helen's friend Taylor, who squeezed four packages out of Helen, and consumed them super fast - probably so her mom wouldn't notice what had just happened.

The fruit snacks were loved by the 2nd grade girls. And, as with all packaged foods, they were easy for me to transport to the game (much easier than the sliced watermelon I served as the halftime snack).

Also, the girls ran around making cow noises, as soon as they saw their snacks were in the shape of a tiny cow. Cute!

Finally, last night Connor and Helen decided to run a fancy Spanish café that served veggie burgers and tilapia for dinner. I was the chef, and then the customer. They were the servers. Before the meal began, they insisted that all fancy restaurants had appetizers, so they grabbed the fruit snacks and placed one package on each plate.

The restaurant diners all loved the wonderful appetizers, especially the two that are shorter than five feet.

Stonyfield gave me so many fruit snacks, that I think I can even hand them out at a school book club I'm getting ready to host.

Thank you, Stonyfield!

Elaine

Chia...In My Yogurt? Are you sure that's a good idea, Stonyfield?

I think I have finally recovered from last Saturday's marathon, but I'm still trying to be gentle with my body nutritionally (although I did purchase a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake, which I have been enjoying! I just could not resist the 25 percent off coupon that showed up in my inbox for the St. Patrick's Day dozen). I've been trying to eat a LOT of protein, in the hopes that my muscles will forgive me for what I did to them, and for the most part, it seems to be working.

Ed figured out how to smoke a salmon using the Big Green Egg that he is babysitting for a friend. I've been mixing that with some eggs to start my day. I have also been eating peanut M&Ms instead of plain M&Ms, which I realize is not really that smart of a move. And, I've been eating cheese as a bedtime snack, which prompted Ed to remark "are you still eating?" last Saturday. Yes, in fact, I was still eating. Running 26.2 is no joke.

Today, when I walked by Whole Foods on my way to work, I was inspired to pick up some Stonyfield Greek and Chia, which I ate as my mid-morning snack (Stonyfield had given me a few coupons for the product - and I was getting my courage up to actually use them). I was VERY nervous about the texture of these seeds, which appear to be all the rage among my runner friends these days. My friends even put them in their water bottles and no, I will not go there. In yogurt, however, the mystery seeds seem to work. The texture of the product isn't messed up much (no more than having fruit chunks instead of blended fruit in yogurt), and if the seeds have a taste, I cannot tell you what it is because the yogurt masks it.

These wonder seeds are supposed to be packed with nutritional benefits, and they must be the cause of the extra 2 grams of protein over my favorite Petite Creme (12 grams per serving versus 10 grams per serving - 5.3 ounces per serving). Both are about double a slightly larger container of regular yogurt.

Here's to the bajillion grams of protein I am eating daily. I hardly have it in me to tell my muscles that we are most definitely going to try our hand at 26.2 again!

Elaine

I am part of the Stonyfield Yogetter Club. As a member, they sent me coupons to test the yogurt with chia. I requested this product, rather than others that I already know I love, because I knew I would never be bold enough to try this without a little push. Thank you, Stonyfield! I'm sold! Although my favorite is still Petite Creme.

Stonyfield Healthy Family New Year's Resolutions

On Thanksgiving, I announced to my family that we would be participating in the 36 days of awesome. We would each run 1 mile every day from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I quickly amended it to half mile on days the kids opted to run on the treadmill. Not only is it ridiculously boring to run on a treadmill, watching someone run on a treadmill to try and help them avoid being tossed from it is even more boring.

And we were going strong for many, many days.

Until the flu hit.

First, Connor was down and out, and the remaining well family members decided that if someone was taking prescription medication, they could be excused from the challenge. Then Helen fell, followed by Ed, and finally I succumbed as well. At that point, we ended the challenge, high fived each other for our rather impressive streak, and spent the next several days trying to get well.

Even I, who run 4-5 days a week anyway, thought running daily was pretty difficult. It was becoming more of a drain than an inspiration for movement.

But I like the idea of having a monthly fitness goal, and I think it's important for Connor and Helen to participate since they ought to know that their health is as important as my health.

And so we sat down today and drew up the Family New Year's resolutions. At the end of each month, we've decided to give ourselves some sort of treat (the not quite 36 days of awesome will be capped off with a trip to Pinkberry - our favorite frozen yogurt store).

January - Do the New York Times 7 minute work out at least 5 times per week. (One is in the books already!)

February - Yoga month! Three times per week we'll do yoga together as a family.

March - We each chose one exercise that we will improve. We will record how many we are able to do at the start of the month and end of the month. We will practice at least 4 times per week. Connor chose sit-ups, I will be planking, Helen and Ed will be doing push-ups. I will also be running my first marathon trying to qualify for Boston!

April - Running! Connor came up with the following pattern. Day 1 - 0.5 miles; Day 2 - rest; Day 3 - 0.5 miles; Day 4 - 1 mile; Day 5 - Rest; Day 6 - 0.5 miles; Day 7 - 1 mile; Day 8 - 1.5 miles Day 9 - Rest... The hope is that we will be ready for the 5K sponsored by the school in May.

May - We'll all run the school 5K, plus we will CLIMB this month! We'll head over to the park with the climbing wall as often as we can, we will climb trees, we will end the month by climbing Old Rag!

June - Jump! We will all jump rope - at least 100 jumps, 4 days per week.

July - Swim at least 1 lap every time we go to the pool!

August - PLAY 60! Every day we will play outside at least 1 hour. Admittedly, this will be the one that requires the least change and effort for us, but the kids are likely to be at my parents for a couple of weeks, and this seemed like a good fit. Ed and I will Swim, Bike, and Run a tri-athalon (different activities every day, adding up to an Iron Man).

September - We will bike 5 days per week (possibly to school every day!). Helen will ride 30 miles; Connor will ride 100 miles; Ed will run 300 miles - and my goal will be set when I know whether or not I'll be running another marathon that month.

October - Marathon month for all - run 26.2 miles over the course of the month.

November - The New York Times Advanced Workout - 20 times over the course of the month.

December - I will run as many miles as Ed, Connor, and Helen run. Helen said "I will exhaust you!".

So bring it, 2015! And thank you Stonyfield, for the inspiration to get fit as a family!

Elaine

We will, as is our tradition, be using Stonyfield yogurt as our recovery food. Thank goodness they have so many varieties,because we're going to need a lot!

Jingle All the Way - Family 5K

This morning, I ran Helen's first 5K with her. It was a crazy amount of fun for me. We started out with a friend of hers, but he was traveling a bit faster than we were going to manage. From running with Ed in the morning off and on, Helen has learned that it's best to find a pace you can hold, and then stay the course. So rather than burning out trying to keep up, she just kept putting one foot in front of the other and let him go.

And at about mile 0.5 she asked, "have we gone a mile yet?", which is the running equivalent of asking "are were there yet" as your family heads off on summer vacation, and you haven't even escaped the city limits. No, not a mile, Helen, but we are so strong.

I sang about every holiday song I know. Helen was inspired by every baby she saw being pushed in a buggy, and we laughed a lot at the silly costumes people were wearing and all the dogs running. Extra points if the dog had on reindeer antlers!

By the time we saw a man running around with cracked eggs falling out of an egg carton, only Helen was able to shout "SIX GEESE A-LAYING", which I thought was pretty clever. We had previously seen 4 Calling Birds.

At mile 1.3, I was pretty confident Helen had run further than she ever had before, so I cheered her "distance PR". Shortly after that, she started complaining about:

• being unable to breathe
• her foot hurting
• her shoulder hurting
• and so many other aching body parts that I can't even remember them all.

I just smiled and cheered her forward, shaking my jingle bells. Two or three times, we had to walk. Helen just could not fathom running any further. Before we started walking, I would ask her to name the point when we would start running, and every time she picked up the pace before that agreed up on point - always because a dog or baby passed us that she just had to get a closer look at.

Helen crossed the line with a net time of 39:14, which is an average pace of 12:38. According to my watch, we ran positive splits - slowing down just a little bit with each mile, which was to be expected. Helen sprinted across the finish line, and she is really proud of herself. She plans to write a story about the race in Writer's Workshop at her school tomorrow, and I am very much looking forward to her version of events.

Connor and Ed ran the race together. Ed reports that Connor held a steady pace for the whole race, and at the end - Connor was not even particularly tired. I told him that meant he could've gone faster, but Ed preaches slow and steady, and it was definitely a fun race for Connor. I'm not sure what exactly the men of the family talked about, but I understand they talked through the whole thing. During the last mile, Ed had to swipe Connor's stocking cap off, for fear the little dude would overheat. Ed was worried about Connor's red face. Connor's goal was to beat last year's pace of 11:53 minute miles. And he did! This year, Connor crossed the line at 33:23, which is an average pace of 10:45. 

Bravo, all! I failed to capture any in-race photos, but I got everyone to pretend to run in our sitting room, sans the hats we all wore. Helen insisted we pretend like we were running.

Our recovery food was Stonyfield vanilla yogurt, with granola crumbled on top of Helen's two bowls and cinnamon added to Connor's three bowls! They thought we might run out of yogurt - but there's more where that came from! 

About halfway through the race, Helen asked if we could go to Pinkberry, a nearby frozen yogurt shop, afterwards. And while ice cream on a cold day might not be the first treat I think of, there was no way I was going to disappoint Helen during the race. So yes we can go to Pinkberry, Helen! It sounds like a fantastic idea.

The sweetest moment of the whole experience came at the end of the race. Connor congratulated Helen and told her "You have the family 5K record for 7 year olds"! Which is, he pointed out, a title she will hold forever since there will be no more 7 year olds in our home.

Disclosure: This post was created in partnership with Stonyfield. All opinions are my own. Stonyfield was a sponsor of the Boston Marathon last year, which makes me love them even more than I previously did.

My new protein laden diet

When I'm not running, I like to read about running. Mostly, I am concerned about a running injury, which all runners seem to get at one time or another. One of the things that can help prevent injury, is eating a ridiculous amount of protein. According to this article, I need about 66 grams of protein. There are a lot of articles that report similar numbers.

I've been trying to figure out ways to conveniently increase my protein intake, basically not disrupting the normal flow of dinner time. For me, this has meant that I try and make sure my snacks all have protein (or chocolate, but that's just because I like chocolate - and I particularly like chocolate in the middle of the day when I get bored at my desk).

For a while, I was eating Greek Yogurt from the farmer's market at my desk, but they stopped producing the full fat version, and I'm not particularly fond of light yogurt. I turned to nuts and oatmeal for a while, and occasionally I would just eat a boiled egg.

But recently, I've settled on a new source of protein in the middle of the day - Petite Creme. Stonyfield sent me a box to try, and in the name of product research, I quickly devoured two of them.

It is somehow different from yogurt. It tastes exactly the same to me. I'm getting a walloping 10 grams of protein with each container I consume. That's a pretty good chunk of my recommended grams of protein!

My kids would not eat most of these - because they have actual chunks of fruit in them, which have not been whipped or blended or made to somehow disappear. This is good for me. It means they'll keep their paws off my snack!

Elaine

I received the above Petite Cremes from Stonyfield. I have since purchased my own, and will continue to do so until I get bored with them. 

Will Run for Yogurt

 On the last Friday of spring break, I knew I'd be hard pressed to squeeze a run in. So I decided to host a kids' run for my running group. Since school was out of session, I figured the normally busy track at the nearby high school would be close to empty - and luckily, I was right.

Since Connor and Helen are basically reliable people - and definitely not the kind of kids that would just leave the track, I was able to race Connor around for a while, while Helen hung out with other kids, and then I ran a couple of laps with her as well.

After most of the kids were a little bit tired, I pulled out a box of fresh, homemade cookies and some YoBaby and YoToddler pouches. Connor was naturally skeptical about the new yogurt delivery device. I was able to coax Helen into trying one. The younger children at the event gulped them down like they'd been given the gift of a lifetime. I have to admit that most of the moms opted for the cookies.

During one of my laps, Connor and Helen opted for more of a track-and-field event in the sand at the end of the track, rather than joining me. Who knew high school students had so much cool stuff at their disposal?

Although Stonyfield claims these pouches are "no mess", Connor somehow managed to make a huge mess with one of them at the Science Fair this past weekend. I wouldn't have thought it possible - but his skepticism at the packaging combined with an ability to squeeze packages that shouldn't be squeezed combined into a mess. Hopefully, that was a one-time experience.

Cheers for the track! Cheers for Stonyfield!

Elaine

This post was created in partnership with Stonyfield. All opinions are my own.

Recipe Development: Peach, Blackberry, Yogurt Pie

Tonight, I decided I was in need of a dessert. And a few weeks ago, I was challenged by Stonyfield and Earthbound Farms to come up with a recipe that used ingredients from both companies. Technically, this was supposed to happen in June. But I failed at that.

I started by lining a ramekin with pie crust I had made for my Strawbluple that I've been storing in my freezer. It was the oat pie crust recipe from the Earthbound Farms cookbook "The Earthbound Cook", which is my all-time favorite pie crust.

Next, I mixed 2 T of Plain Stonyfield Lowfat Greek Yogurt with 1 chopped up peach and 4 blackberries.

I decided it would be hearty enough at this point, so I added 1 Tablespoon of uncooked oats.

After mixing the fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal together, I piled it into my ramekin, and realized that two ramekins would've been a better choice. But, since I didn't want to waste any of my filling, I just piled it extra high.

I covered that with a pat of the oat crust dough, baked in my toaster oven on 350 for 15 minutes and viola!

I had a personal peach, blackberry, yogurt pie!

Which satisfied my dessert craving perfectly, but didn't make me feel too guilty. However, the next time I make this, I'm adding a teaspoon of brown sugar to the filling.

Cheers!
Elaine

I received a coupon for a free product from Earthbound Farm and Stonyfield. Thanks! And yum!

Stonyfield Smoothies on the Moo-ve Ski Trip

Armed with a lunch box full of snacks and the brand new YoKids Smoothies, we set out Saturday morning for Liberty Mountain. The trip is about 90 minutes by car, and the hope is always that the kids will sleep, but that doesn't often happen. To save time, we've mastered the art of the car breakfast. Tradition dictates that we stop at the Pizza Hut on the way home, but that trip was eliminated on Saturday because Helen had a birthday party to attend in the afternoon.

Connor gets car sick when he reads on the road and Helen is chronically asking for "just one more story" in the car, which can be exhausting for the storyteller. (Why can't they just learn to knit like I do?) This trip, Stonyfield gifted me with a box of cards "52 Fun Things to do in the Car" which Helen was exceedingly excited about testing. As it turns out, the cards we read were more suited to Connor, but the games did kill a good half of the trip to the mountain, which was a blessing. Because that story about Helen when she was a baby? It's getting old. At least for me.

We were lucky enough to be joined by my friend Ellen so when we met for our 10:00 snack break, I foisted a smoothie on her daughter Esther. I knew Ellen would approve because the Smoothies are made with real organic fruits and veggie puree (don't tell Connor about this last bit!), they're not too big, and they're a nice alternative to most snacks you can grab and consume.

Three happy consumers!

So there you have it - three happy kids, drinking three nutritious smoothies from Stonyfield, with enough energy to tackle the mountain for the full four hours of fun. Esther actually made it all day, but after our four hour pass expired, we hit the road.

It was a very cold day - but we were ready! Well, after we bought hand warmers, we were ready. Note to self - next time it's cold, we're starting with the hand warmers right away!

Connor loves tearing down the mountain. And I love my new camera lens. Tough conditions, but I'm getting the hang of it!

Thanks, Stonyfield! We had a great day. And if anyone is at my house in the next couple of weeks, hit me up for a Stonyfield yogurt smoothie!

Elaine

Disclosure: As noted in the post, I received free yogurt smoothies from Stonyfield, the deck of cards, and discounted lift tickets. All opinions are my children's, and they don't give a hoot about anything except taste.

Yo! I Like High Quality Organic Yogurt

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to hear Robyn O'Brien speak at a lunch at Restaurant Nora in DC. The talk was sponsored by Stonyfield. After hearing her talk, it's hard to purchase a non-organic dairy product. Robyn wrote the book "The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It", and I heard about it at the time we were wondering about Helen's possible food allergies (which we have now decided is an allergy to mussels, and nothing else). The book discusses "food sensitivities" - which seem to be reactions like Helen's (lots and lots of puking) and food allergies (the super scary get your kid to the ER RIGHT NOW!) and ultimately says both are allergic reactions, they just differ in severity. And wow am I thankful that Helen is in the former category and not the latter. One reason to prefer organic is that the probability of having some adverse reaction to a product decreases when you know exactly what the product is, without having to worry about what it's been coated in, or what's been used in growing the product. Makes sense, right? And of course, some of the chemicals used in processing are known to be unsafe at some level, so why risk exposure at any level if you don't have to?

I am all about believing in the conspiracy, and it's not hard for me to believe that big agri-business is willing to sacrifice my and my family's health in the name of corporate profits. So I made my appeal to Ed (chief grocery shopper) and now he brings home organic milk. Here's the thing - I've been a vegetarian for a long time - as are Connor and Helen, so I figure our load of all the weird stuff that's pumped into meat is pretty light - but I might as well go the next step and eliminate all the junk that goes into dairy production as well. And, if it tastes good - well that's all the more reason to go organic.

Helen and Connor give Stonyfield YoBaby! and YoKids! two thumbs up. Mostly, they like them because the yogurt is smooth, not bumpy. Helen would probably eat yogurt with whole pieces of fruit, but that's a texture path that Connor is not quite ready for.

My favorite yogurt is honey flavored yogurt from Blue Ridge Dairy. They're a local farm and though they're not organic, they don't use growth hormones. I'm not a huge yogurt fan (most have too runny of a consistency for me), but I am a huge fan of the protein yogurt provides. I was a bit scared to try something new, having finally found one yogurt at the farmer's market I like. As part of Stonyfield's yo-getter program, I was given coupons to purchase several varieties of their yogurt, and I forced myself to try the Caramel and Honey greek yogurt. And, it was actually delicious! So now, I have two yogurts I love, which I almost always have at my office for my afternoon snack (13 grams of protein)! Yum!

It's been several months since we've been mostly organic in the dairy case, and I can't say I've felt a huge change, but I am hoping that I'm at leasts incrementally improving my children's health.

Now...to go with a CSA this year as in several past years, or focus on getting to the farmer's market on Saturday morning!

Elaine