Three Question Thursday + Giveaway Winner

Without further ado, the winner of the Food Should Taste Good Chip Giveaway is…

Emily: I joined the fan club!

Congrats Emily – you’re going to love these chips! Email me at IowaGirlEats@hotmail.com with your mailing information. For everyone else, I highly recommend these products. If you see them in stores, definitely pick up a bag – and don’t forget to sign up for the fan club to receive a $1 off coupon!

Soooo, last night I smeared some almond butter on a slice of my chocolate banana bread, per Holly’s suggestion. Umm…are you joking with me? It was better than you can even imagine! I had to replicate it for breakfast this morning, so I smeared another slice with almond butter and served a nice, sliced apple on the side

I didn’t think this bread could get any better, but throw almond butter into the mix? Forget it, it’s over!

Apples go perfectly with chocolate and AB too – actually, this would make a STELLAR bowl of oats. Chocolate, banana, almond butter and apple…I’ll have to keep that combo in mind…

Today for lunch, I eliminated the bread from last night’s Sweet & Sour Tuna Salad Sandwich, and piled the whole mixture on top of some crunchy coleslaw.

Those diced apples held up well overnight – no browning at all!

I also packed a perfectly ripe peach. What gorgeous colors!

Today’s Greatest Running Tips

Today’s 101 Greatest Running Tips selections continue the “Basic Training” portion of the list. These three are good ones!

Tip #22. Reach for fast, low-fat fuel: "Energy bars are good portable food for runners. Look for bars with 4 grams of fat or fewer per 230 calories. Fat slows down digestion." –Liz Applegate, Ph.D., sports nutritionist

- There are SO many bars & supplements out there so this is a really good tip to keep in mind when you’re trying to select a good product at the store!

Tip #23. Go for the goal: "I believe in using races as motivators. It’s hard to keep on an exercise program if you don’t have a significant goal in sight." –Bob Greene, personal trainer of Oprah Winfrey

- I 100% believe in this way of thinking. It’s so much easier to exercise or run when you have a specific goal in mind, or are it least following a schedule. For me, if I’m not running for anything – be it training for a race, or to “check off” a day on an exercise calendar – it’s too easy to throw out an excuse NOT to exercise.

Tip #28. Toss out the clutter: "Throw away your 10-function chronometer, heart-rate monitor with the computer printout, training log, high-tech underwear, pace charts, and laboratory-rat-tested-air-injected-gel-lined-mo-tion-control-top-of-the-line footwear. Run with your own imagination." –Lorraine Moller, 1992 Olympic marathon bronze medalist

- Now, I would LOVE a Garmin Forerunner – but currently, I don’t run with anything special. No heart rate monitor, iPod or special clothing. While the fancy stuff is awesome, you don’t need it to run – so don’t let that stand in your way of getting started or getting back out there!

I hope you guys are liking these tips. I’ve heard back from several people that they are helpful and I really do think that a lot of them are relevant to exercise as a whole and not just specifically running. Hopefully you are finding them useful!!

Well I am one tired Iowa Girl today. I woke up around 2:30am with a straight up allergy attack. It was so weird and awful, all at the same time. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – my allergies have been acting up in the worst way for the past couple of days. Any allergy sufferers out there? Are you getting hit worse than usual? Anyways, I’m really hoping today isn’t a struggle since I’m so tired. Wish me luck and have a wonderful day!

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You know what day it is…Three Question Thursday! Today’s questions were inspired by last night’s episodes of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters.

For the elimination challenge on Top Chef, the chef’s had to prepare a dish that represented one of their vices. Drunken Chicken, Smokey Steak, Procrastination Salmon, Hot-Tempered Stuffed Peppers, etc.

For the final challenge on Top Chef Masters, the chefs had to prepare dishes that represented different periods of their lives. One for their earliest food memory, another based off of when they realized they wanted to become chefs, a third that reminded them of their first restaurant opening, and a final dish representing the culinary direction they were heading in. SO – here are my questions adapted for you!

1. What’s one of your vices?

2. What’s one dish you ate growing up that you have fond memories of?

3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

 My answers:

1. Stubbornness. I am as stubborn as a mule. Also, being a perfectionist. There’s nothing wrong with wanting everything to be “right,” but sometimes I need to just chill!

2. Definitely cinnamon-sugar toast. Perhaps this is where my love of cinnamon toast crunch comes from?! Also – bologna, lettuce & mustard sandwiches. They were SO good when I was little!!

3. I honestly don’t know the answer to this question. In 5 years I’ll be…31. THIRTY-ONE! That’s insane! I hope by that time I’ll maybe have lived in a different state, gone back to Japan, seen Greece, perhaps be driving a hybrid SUV (love SUVs, but refuse to drive anything that gets less than 20 mpg), expanded my cookie "business" and maybe – maybe – have a child. Maybe.