Entree
Today I have a fun post sponsored by Naked’s new Power Garden juices.
I’m not particularly a fan of hiding fruits or veggies in other foods, because it’s so often done in a deceitful manner to deceive kids. I don’t like lying about what’s in foods, but I definitely love maximizing the nutrition of my favorite recipes. It’s why I put zucchini, pumpkin, or carrots in muffins, apples in oatmeal, loads of veggies in pasta sauce, and spinach in smoothies.
Naked is known for their juices and smoothies that pack pounds of fruits and veggies in a single bottle. Their new line, Power Garden, has two flavors loaded with the good stuff: Tomato Kick and Berry Veggie.
Naked asked ddsdsrgdhfgfhetrtre23fgteyt2rt5555GFgFgfGT$g/df’[/fd4;.4;d5[/5[[//[]/]%
Ahem… I may or may not be sitting on a porch with a bunch of helpful toddlers…
As I was saying, Naked asked a few of us to create some recipes using their pumped up juices. I’ve probably mentioned 5,495.394 times that I hate tomatoes, so I was pretty sure I would use the Berry juice for my recipe, but once I got to thinking, I decided to embrace the challenge and use the Tomato Kick juice.
The result? Pretty snazzy:
Slightly spicy meets cilantro-citrus infused enchilada sauce, made with Naked’s Tomato Kick juice- a fun way to add in an extra dose of veggies. A great way to jazz up your favorite enchilada recipe. Complements these pineapple-laced enchiladas quite well!
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 Tbsp butter {vegan or regular}
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 12 oz tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup Naked Tomato Kick juice
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 garlic cloves minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp orange zest
- salt to taste
Bring sauce pan to medium heat. Melt butter then stir in cornstarch. Add Tomato Kick juice and whisk until combined, then add tomato paste and remaining ingredients.
Once thouroughly combined, reduce heat to low and simmer about ~10 minutes or until sauce slightly thickens.
Serve over your favorite enchiladas and top with orange zest.
Powered by
Check back Monday June 17th to learn about The Naked Power Garden Pinterest Sweepstakes.
Power Garden is Naked Juice’s new veggie drink lineup with 1lb. of veggies in every bottle*. With delicious flavors that only Naked could blend, Power Garden offers one of the easiest ways to get your daily servings of veggies and fruits, along with good sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Learn more at “>”>http://
www.nakedjuice.com/veggiedrinks. *weight of vegetables, prior to juicing
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Naked via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Naked.
What’s your favorite way to pump up the veggie content of a recipe?
Health Info
I remember sitting at my 8th grade graduation {yes, that’s a thing} getting so excited to start high school. There were quite a lot of reasons to look forward to starting a new school of course, but what I looked forward to the most was the freedom.
You could pick your own classes, sign up for sports, and park wherever you wanted. I was incredibly dismayed to learn there really wasn’t so much freedom after all. I mean, you couldn’t even in eat in class. Blasphemy. How was a growing teenager supposed to last 3 whole hours between first period and lunch? Don’t even get me started on how long you had to wait to eat if you had last lunch. Torture. Just torture.
I quickly learned to keep my locker stashed with snacks I could quickly grab and chow down on in between classes. I’ve always been a snacker and don’t see anything wrong with that- it’s a great way to keep from getting too hungry and scarfing down more food than you need later in the day.
Here are some of my favorite quick and easy snacks:
Thank goodness you were allowed to eat in class in college. 😉
What’s your favorite go-to snack or quick recipe?
Join Glam, Foodie, and Activia for a chat on all things snacks: quick, easy, and healthy!
New Activia Harvest Picks is a deliciously fruity and silky smooth yogurt. You will enjoy a Harvest of real fruit in every silky spoonful.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Activia via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Activia
Thoughts
Lately I’ve done something I promised I’d never do.
For that I’d like to apologize. I’d also like to not apologize.
Maybe you’ve noticed. Maybe you haven’t.
I’ve bombarded my blog with sponsored posts.
I know. I know.
I didn’t meant to. Recently I’ve had some great opportunities to work with different brands and programs and I’ve jumped at the chance to form new relationships and explore these opportunities.
I promised myself that I would only pursue the opportunities that meshed with my blog, my values, my interests, and readers’ interests. And that I’ve done. But it’s the second part of the promise I made myself that I fell through on.
To not overwhelm my regular posts with these sponsored opportunities. So how’d I let it happen?
Well, I’m a procrastinator. Seriously. I think it’s a true disease. I’ve gotten a little overwhelmed and behind on regular posting. Finding the time to cook something interesting, let alone brainstorm an idea, or photograph what I do manage to scrap together, just isn’t happening right now. I’m preoccupied with my little one. And I’m ok with that, though I’m not ok with letting things fall to the wayside.
See the thing is, I may be a procrastinator, but when I tell someone I’m going to do something, I stick to my word. The beauty {and curse} of sponsored posts or reviews is that they come with a deadline. A deadline I have to stick to. So while I may put off my own ideas and thoughts, I can’t put off someone else’s. A deadline set in stone has been the only thing to get my butt in gear the last few weeks. {So…can someone assign me a due date for all the other crap I have to get done? Pretty please?}
While I do apologize for the frequency of these posts as of late, I also don’t apologize- I don’t apologize for doing them. I know sponsored posts are looked down upon by a lot of people. I used to be one of them. But I’m being completely honest here- I’m not going to turn down a chance to make a little money by doing something I enjoy as long as it jives with my goals and brand. I view sponsored content as a writing prompt- someone else is coming up with the idea and I’m giving my take on it. I don’t just make crap up, I give my honest thoughts on the topic. It’s something I learn about and want to share with you.
I started this blog for me, true, but I continue to write it for you too. If I didn’t want people reading, it wouldn’t be on the internet. Because I write it for others now too, it’s become a sort of job. Not a job in that I have to do it or it’s my sole means of income, but a job in the sense that it takes time and effort and work to generate content.
Sponsored posts {and advertising} are a way to compensate me for the time I put into the blog so I don’t feel guilty about working on my blog instead of doing something else with that time. It doesn’t seem like a lot of time goes into blogging- it’s just posts on the internet, nothing earth-shattering- but the time does add up. There are costs in operating a blog too. These opportunities take care of some of these things for me.
Especially now, when I’m having trouble getting my act together to get back to work on a steady basis {I’m a small business owner}, this blog is allowing me to contribute, however modestly, to my family income.
This leads me to 2 things.
1) Thanks for putting up with me. I hope you keep it up 😉
2) My new non-promise {because promises can be broken} is instead an intention. My intention is 2 fold:
a) to continue to only accept partnerships with brands that align with the core of this blog and myself as I see fit and
b) to get my rear in gear and resume regular content asap.
I can promise that I won’t do this:
In order to help with option b, I have to admit I can’t get with the program quite yet and have some great guest posters lined up for you in the coming weeks.
Thanks for hanging in there and sticking by me. If you have questions about any of the above, about anything blogging or otherwise, or if you have something you’d like to see here on SoS, I’m always happy to hear from you!
PS You all came up with the most amazing flavor ideas for Greek yogurt. These brands oughta pay attention! The winner of the Chobani giveaway is:
Meg!
Email me your address! 
Holidays
Celebrating the New Year was a little different this year. I traded the bubbly for a mocktail and happily crashed minutes after the ball dropped. The moment the minute hand on the clock passed midnight marked not only the year, but {maybe} the month of our little one’s arrival.
It became a night full of meaning beyond the start of just another year. It’s the start of a year that will be more different, and more special, than any other.
I’m not much of a resolutions person. The arbitrary start date of January 1st doesn’t do a lot for me. I much prefer goal setting with a particular motivation in mind. That being said, I have a sneaking suspicion that 2012 is going to bring about the biggest life changes of any other year I’ve experienced. Perhaps the resolution thing is a good idea.
I just have one real resolution. To take all things baby and being a mom in stride.
To do the best job possible, without letting it becoming overwhelming. To give myself permission to not do things perfectly. To not feel guilt. To not let life become nothing but baby-centric. To not worry about the little things that don’t matter. To not try to control everything and instead just let it what happens happen.
It may just be one resolution, but I say it’s a pretty big one.
Instead of a list of many resolutions I’ll never think about again or never be inspired to follow, I decided I’d rather give myself some simple words of advice to keep in mind for the year.
Words to Live By: 2012
Never underestimate the power of a morning walk.
An idea not pursued is a dream failed.
Sometimes you just need to get out of the house to change the direction of your day.
You can’t fail at something you don’t try; Not trying is utterly boring.
A clean house is a happy house.
There is always something more important.
What are your 2012 words to live by?
New Years’ Mocktails
With a good drink in hand, I barely noticed everyone else was drinking beer and bubbly. Plus I woke up feeling stellar. My drink of choice for the evening was a pomegranate blueberry sparkling soda mocktail, inspired by a coupon I’d received to try the new Trop50 juice beverage.
The Trop50 orange juice beverage is delicious- light, refreshing, and citrus-y like orange juice should be, but with half the calories and sugar. The pomegranate blueberry flavor is just plain fun. I love juice, but not the idea of drinking sugar {I prefer to get my sugar from cookies & fudge 
}, so this low sugar version is a great solution. You can actually taste the blueberry in the pomegranate blueberry flavor, which is rare among juice blends.
Trop50 is celebrating it’s low sugar goodness and the new year with a real resolutions giveaway:
Tropicana® Trop50® delivers the goodness of fruit juice with 50 percent less sugar and calories, and no artificial sweeteners.
Trop50 True Resolutions celebrates the real reasons behind New Year’s resolutions. Share your secret motivation and you’ll earn a coupon for $1 off Trop50 for yourself and 50¢ off coupons for up to 50 of your friends. You can even submit incognito with a fierce disguise. Bonus: Whether you submit a resolution or not, you can also enter a sweepstakes to win a $1000 gift card.
Enter Now
Don’t forget to visit Trop50 True Resolutions to share your secret motivation and earn a coupon for $1 off Trop50 for yourself and 50¢ off coupons for up to 50 of your friends. You can also enter to win a $1000 gift card. I was selected for this Tropicana Trop50 sponsorship by Glam Media. I received compensation to use and facilitate my post.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Tropicana® Trop50® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Tropicana® Trop50®.
Dessert
Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com
It’s the time of year when both desserts and drinks are high on the priority list. The holidays are a time of celebrations, special occasions, and indulgent treats. Just because traditional drinks and cocktails aren’t too high on my priority list this year, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other fun, festive drink ideas to go around.
To help brainstorm some alternative drink and dessert combos, I turned to the latest and greatest source of inspiration: Pinterest.
Check out some of my favorite desserts and drinks for the holiday season: {click images for source}
Almond Joy Milkshakes and Samoa Bark
Peppermint Punch and Saltine Toffee
Chai Coffee Cake and Chai Lattes {of course!}
Apple Cider Caramels and Spiced Apple Cider
Pomegranate Apple Spiced Punch and Sugar Cookies
Peppermint Coffee Cupcakes and Peppermint Lattes
Cookie Dough Fudge and Cookie Dough Cocoa
Cheez-It Bark and…Butterbeer?!
What holiday dessert and drink combo will you be celebrating with this year?
Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.
