Wordless Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Today's post might be more appropriately called "Fluid Friday," since I'm writing about one of our favorite breakfast juices/drinks--V8 V-Fusion Light.

Now, before you stop reading on the basis that I just used the words favorite and V8 in once sentence, please "hear" me out! ;) V8 V-Fusion Light does not taste like vegetables (I'm not a fan at all of regular V8) and comes in three varieties: strawberry banana, peach mango, and pomegranate blueberry. All are made with the juices from a number of fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, white grapes, oranges, apples, strawberries, and bananas. One 8 oz. serving of our favorite, strawberry banana, has only 50 calories and no fat (yay) or fiber (boo). So, for only 1 WW point, you can have your fruit/veggies (1/4 cup veggies and 1/4 cup fruit = 1 combined serving of fruits and vegetables) and drink them too!

Just a word of warning...while normally the regular version of something tastes better than the light, I would not recommend regular V8 V-Fusion. We've tried it before, and it tastes much more like vegetables, with a thick consistency, which is not how I like my juice! So, we stick to the light version, which means a smaller serving of fruit/veggies per 8 oz, but also less than half the calories, too!

Wordless Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Do you like chocolate? If not, I'm actually surprised we are friends...or maybe you accidentally stumbled onto my blog... ;) juuuuust kidding. But seriously, if you do crave things like warm chocolate cake or chocolatey brownies fresh from the oven, then you MUST check out the chocolate muffin mix made by Vitalicious.

This mix makes in an oh-so-chocolatey muffin that barely tastes like it's good for you. Of course, in addition to chocolate goodness, these muffins are surprisingly healthy, with 100 calories, 1.5g fat, 6g fiber...that's only 1 WW point per muffin! I think they're best served warm from the oven, but I've successfully frozen them in the past and just reheated a muffin or two at a time in the microwave. These are a perfect snack, and I even like them for breakfast (is there EVER a bad time for chocolate??). In fact, when we go on vacation, I'll pack a few in an airtight container, along with some bananas and juice, and voila--a healthy and fairly inexpensive "continental breakfast" right in our hotel room.

While they are available online, I've also found Vitalicious products at Harris Teeter in the Carolinas, and they're probably available at a store near you! If you're interested in trying these out but aren't sure you want to commit to making a dozen, they do come pre-made in packs of four in the frozen food aisle, though they're more expensive than the mix.

p.s. As you can see on their website, there are a ton of other varieties. I've tried the frozen version of the brownies (not bad, but I always end up coming back to the muffins) as well as the golden corn vitatops (muffin tops).

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday

2 years ago, on this very date, Brian asked me to marry him. Given the chance, I'd say yes all over again!

In celebration of E-day, here are the top ten things I love about my husband...okay, I honestly couldn't really pick my top ten, so these are just ten things I love about him!:


1. He loves God.
2. He is a gentleman.
3. He puts up/goes along with my picky preferences in the kitchen.
4. He is patient and sensitive.
5. He listens well and gives great advice.
6. He trusts me and takes my advice.
7. He has the same quirky sense of humor that I do.
8. He loves me with his actions and not just his words.
9. He sings my silly songs along with me.
10. He makes the bed every morning.

Foodie Friday

Today's post is in honor of summertime and all the cookouts, baseball games, etc. that go along with this warm, but wonderful season! We've found that Ball Park Lite Beef Franks are a good substitute for the full fat dogs without losing much/any of the flavor. Before I even give the stats on these low fat franks...I knooooow that hot dogs still probably aren't the healthiest food to eat. However, we like them, and they are a quick and easy meal when we're on the go. Plus, if you pair them with some baby carrots on the side, then it's not so bad, right? ;)

Ball Park's Lite Beef Franks have only 100 calories and 7 grams of fat per frank for a total of 3 WW points. Now, that may sound pretty high, since that doesn't include the bun, but is actually quite a bit better than Ball Park's regular beef franks, which have nearly twice as many calories and more than double the fat. There are, of course, even "healthier" options that are fat free and/or made with turkey that you may enjoy. While we don't like the turkey/fat free hot dogs by themselves, I think they would taste good with some turkey chili and melted low-fat cheese, which is how we often enjoy our lite franks!

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday

I'd be lying if I didn't openly admit that I am now "one of those people." Yes, I think it's fair to say that I'm a "crack"berry addict. I love, LOVE having access to my email, the internet, maps, and oh-so-many other fun things just about anywhere I am thanks to my Blackberry Pearl.

Today, I'm going to list my top ten favorite applications, most of which (to be fair) were at some point suggested to me by my tech-savvy husband who has the same phone as I do (but in black, of course). Even if you don't have a Blackberry, I would guess much of this information still applies to other smartphones.

1. Opera Mini - A web browser that I think works better than the default, making web pages appear pretty darn close to "normal" on the Blackberry.

2. G-Mail- I use gmail for everything, so having quick and easy access on my phone (with great features that allows me to search, archive, delete, etc.) was a must!

3. Pandora - If you're not already addicted to this free music service, having it easily accessible on your Blackberry is sure to put you over the edge. ;)

4. Google Maps - A definite Google gem, this mapping program gives you a fairly accurate (usually within a couple thousand feet) idea of your current position, and you can even share your location with friends via the "Latitude" option.

5. You Version - Really cool app that gives you searchable access to ~15 translations of the Bible. I like being able to easily/quickly read a verse in several translations right in the middle of Bible study/church (though I don't think people always realize that's what I'm doing...hehe).

6. Google Sync - Yet another application in the Google suite of mobile products...I love it because it allows me to sync with the online version of Google Calendar (which we use daily to keep our work and social lives quasi organized). How fabulous is it that I can access and modify the calendar right from my b'berry, and my husband can then see the changes on his phone (once it's synced) or computer?!

7. TwitterBerry - There are a number of twitter apps, and this is the one I like. I briefly tried Twibble, but felt like TB had a nicer interface, so I stuck with it.

8. Yahoo Messenger - Pretty self explanatory, and while I really don't use this all that often, it's nice to have on occasion.

9. Google Reader - Okay, can you tell I REALLY like the Google mobile apps? This one allows you to subscribe to websites so that you can see the latest updates in one place. I use this to keep track of my friends' blogs :)

10. Mvelopes - This last app is the only one on the list that isn't free, but I still thought it was worth mentioning. We use the mvelopes online system to keep track of our spending and finances. Since it has a mobile version, too, I can log in on my phone and see how much money we have left that month in any category (groceries or clothing, for example) when I'm out shopping.

Mozy Online Backup

It's the nightmare of any graduate student...your computer crashes and you lose a year's worth of work and data.

So, I not only back up my laptop on an external hard drive we have at home (lovingly configured by my husband), but have also been using an online service called Mozy for the past year to double-back-up my data. We had been paying the minimal fee for "unlimited" space, but now that our year's subscription has ended, I'm switching to the free version, which still provides a sizable 2 GB of storage. This isn't really enough memory for me to back up all my pictures and music, but that's what the external hard drive is for. I use Mozy online for backing up things that I update on a daily basis and really don't want to risk losing, like my research and teaching stuff.

Anyways, I've not had any crashes or problems to truly test out the system, but I'd recommend it based on its ease of backup (it does it automatically, so you don't have to remember!). If you're interested...check it out! If you do sign up, please use my reference code so I can get more free space: DYHWBB