Products I’m Loving Lately

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Coco

I’ve been trying a lot of new products, so I’m taking advantage of today’s Friday Five topic to share some of them with you. Each of these companies provided product for me to review, but none had any input or influence over the opinions I’m sharing here. 
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1. Sunshine Nut Company. I’m most excited about Sunshine Nut Company because it’s local, it has a mission, and their cashews are delicious. The founder was inspired to create a company based on a business model that can transform poor farming communities in Mozambiquie in a way that provides fairness, opportunity, and empowerment from within. They do this by paying fair wages, focusing on local manufacturing, and using 30% of net proceeds to support agricultural development, and another 30% to support centers that care for orphans and vulnerable children.  Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness, Food, Product Reviews | Tagged , , | 26 Comments

Healthy Individual Meatloaf Recipe

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Coco

Last Sunday I ad-libbed an individual meatloaf recipe that met with my husband’s approval. Since we both want to have it again, I figure it’s worth sharing. (If you want to see what else I ate on Sunday, check out my What I Ate Wednesday post here.)

individual meatloaf recipe

The recipe is based on the meatloaf recipe in my Cooking Light 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook.  Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Tagged | 12 Comments

2015 Cherry Blossom Race Recap

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Coco

I have said before that I’m not great at setting goals, and this year’s Cherry Blossom race was no different. When Facebook reminded me about last year’s PR, I spent a few days stressing over how I would be able to match that (barely) sub-8:00 min/mile pace. After visiting the expo on Friday, I was pumped with energy and convinced that I could do it. I started Saturday full of excitement, but several Cherry Blososm Festival traffic jams later, I was just plain tired. Sunday morning I went through the motions of my pre-race routine, wondering if I was in the mood to put in the effort it would take to match last year’s PR. Shortly before the race started, they announced that the course had to be shortened because of an emergency along part of the route. That took the pressure off, and I decided to enjoy the glorious weather and the gorgeous blossoms. Then I ended up at the front of my corral and …. 

CUCB 2015 Finish Time
Now, I honestly don’t think I could have kept up that pace for another 1/2 mile, but it’s still a PR since I’ve never run any race that fast! Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness, Race Recaps | Tagged , , , | 34 Comments

Strategies For The Cherry Blossom Ten Miler

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Coco

This weekend is my first big spring race, so I think Courtney, Mar and Cynthia will forgive me if I depart from today’s Friday Five topic and share my race strategies for the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler.

Race Strategies
Last year’s Cherry Blossom 10 Miler was about as perfect as a race can get. The logistics were easy, the weather was gorgeous, my pacing was even, and I nailed my goal. While I’m happy to have those good memories, they make it harder set goals for this year because I can’t imagine how it could get any better!  

Even if I can’t count on another perfect race, I can make a plan for a good race. 

Continue reading →

Posted in Fitness | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Curried Chickpea Stew

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Coco

This recipe is based on Laura’s Crockpot Chickpea Curry recipe, but I make it so frequently that I wanted to write down my own variations for easy reference. If you know Laura, you probably can guess that her recipe is more wholesome than mine, but it’s still easy, so you should check it out.  

Curried Chickpea Stew

I’ve made this recipe in the crockpot or on the stove top. Truth be told, I first tried it on the stove top because I forgot to allow for the crockpot cooking time. 😉   Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Tagged , | 7 Comments