I’m excited to announce the winner of the HUMAN Healthy Vending giveaway: Sable @ Squat Like a Lady, who commented, “My fave grab & go snack is either string cheese or any kind of bar – Clif, Luna, whatever =)”.

Sable will receive a reusable HUMAN Healthy Vending filled with healthy snacks:

- Late July Organic Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
- Froose Gummy Snacks in Berry Blast
- Simply 7 Hummus Chips
- Hippie Chips in Sea of Love Salt
- Clif Mojo bar in Sweet & Salty Trail Mix
- Good Greens Bar in chocolate peanut butter
- Snikkidy Baked Fries in Southwest Cheddar

Congrats Sable and thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway!

HUMAN Healthy Vending Giveaway Winner! is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

Pregnant or not, it pays to have healthy nibbles within reach because your options are pathetically limited if you’re forced to rely on restaurants, convenience stores or the office vending machine. I’ve tried – more than once – to convince myself a McDonald’s Happy Meal was ‘healthy’ because at least it’s better than my go-to order of a double cheeseburger with fries Now I keep my kitchen stocked with several snack options so I can stash something in my bag any time I head out the door.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Apple
• Banana
• Clementine (so easy to peel!)
• Grapes
• String cheese and Triscuit crackers
• Kashi granola bars
• Half of a peanut butter sandwich
• Dry cereal
• Herbed popcorn (homemade and air-popped, then sprinkled with garlic powder, rosemary and Parmesan)
• Soy crisps
• Homemade peanut butter sandwich crackers (natural PB on whole-grain crackers)
• Protein shake (put a scoop of protein powder in an empty sports bottle and just fill with water and shake when you’re ready to drink it)
• Nut mix (usually almonds and cashews)
• Homemade trail mix: nuts, popcorn, peanut butter chips, dry cereal, chocolate chips

Fortunately, I’m not the only one aware of how limited our on-the-go snack options are. I recently learned about HUMAN Healthy Vending, a company that’s on a mission to make healthy snacking easier. HUMAN vending machines are eco-friendly (not to mention pretty cool-looking) and are stocked with goodies like coconut water and Larabars. The best news? They’re hosting a giveaway!

One reader will win a  reusable HUMAN Healthy Vending full of these healthy snacks:

- Late July Organic Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
- Froose Gummy Snacks in Berry Blast
- Simply 7 Hummus Chips
- Hippie Chips in Sea of Love Salt
- Clif Mojo bar in Sweet & Salty Trail Mix
- Good Greens Bar in chocolate peanut butter
- Snikkidy Baked Fries in Southwest Cheddar

To enter, leave me a comment telling me your favorite healthy and portable snack. Giveaway is open to U.S. readers only.

**The giveaway is now closed **

The giveaway will close in a week and a winner will be chosen at random.

FTC notice: items are being sent free of charge to one winner; I am not being compensated for this give-away

Healthy Grab and Go Snacks PLUS a Giveaway! is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

• Breastfeeding: First, let’s be clear: this is not the point in time where you hear me spout off about how superior breastfeeding is to formula-feeding or how more moms should really do their babies a favor and stick it out with nursing, even when they can’t or choose not to. I’ve nursed both my kids and have had a relatively easy time with it; I realize not everyone can breastfeed, and not everyone wants to. I only mention this because I think it’s one of the big factors in helping me lose the baby weight, not because I’m trying to tell any other mamas how to feed their babies. Whew, glad that’s out of the way! Moving on…there’s a lot of confusion about breastfeeding and weight-loss. In theory, nursing helps you lose weight because it burns a lot of calories (roughly 500 per day). But for every woman who says she could hardly keep the weight on while breastfeeding, there’s another who couldn’t lose the last 5-10 lbs. until weaning; it’s different for everyone and there are no guarantees. With my first baby, nursing didn’t seem to do squat to help me lose weight. This time around, I think it’s definitely helped – I eat a decent diet and I exercise a few times a week but I’m in NO WAY strict about my eating or exercise habits, yet I still managed to lose all 37ish pounds of pregnancy weight by the time my baby was 8 weeks old; I chalk that up to breastfeeding, at least in part.

• Short, intense workouts: Ok, I know we’re all busy, so I’m not here to convince you my life is any more hectic than yours. In fact, I can’t stand when people humble brag about how busy they are. But when you have a baby (or two), your so-called ‘free time’ (ha!) is unpredictable; you never know when it’ll start or when it’ll be interrupted by a hungry, crying baby. That’s why, with the exception of an occasional run, I’ve focused my exercise efforts almost exclusively on short but challenging workouts. As soon as the baby goes down for her first nap, I throw on workout clothes, fire up a video and get through a routine in 15 minutes or less – sometimes I even have time for a quick shower before she’s up again. My go-to workouts have been ZWOW routines (free on YouTube) and Lindsay Brin’s Bootcamp 2 DVD, which is designed specifically for postpartum women. Other options include BodyRock or your own HIIT routine. If you push yourself hard during those 15 minutes of exercise (once you’re fully recovered from giving birth of course), there’s no reason you can’t see the same results you’d get from a longer but less intense workout.

• A new food attitude: You’d think that not having to worry about my calorie intake would mean all-day bingeing on chips, pizza and every other bit of junk food that falls under my gaze. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that relaxing with regards to calories (thanks to the additional calorie burn from breastfeeding) actually stops me from obsessing about food all day. Just the fact that I can have that piece of chocolate or extra serving of pasta or whatever else means that I often don’t even want it. I try to eat healthy meals most of the time, but I also let myself have treats or bigger portions without thinking twice about it, and that attitude adjustment has made such a difference in my eating; it feels so much more natural because I can enjoy food – both the healthy and not-so-healthy – without becoming preoccupied about what’s going into my mouth and what I’m trying so hard to keep my hands off of.

Moms: what have you found to be most helpful in helping you lose the baby weight and getting your body back? I’m always looking for more ideas!

Body After Baby: What’s Working For Me is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

Looking at my day of eating, I know I need to up my fruit and veggie intake, and I realize I used to eat a lot more protein before I got pregnant. That was mostly because I was lifting heavy – which I don’t plan to start again until I’ve lost some more fat – but I liked that higher-protein diet because it was so filling.

Then there’s the obvious: that chocolate cream pie isn’t doing me any favors But I’ve finally come to the realization that I enjoy sweets way to much to pretend that I’ll ever be able to cut dessert out of my life; it doesn’t always need to be a big slice of pie, but it’s a rare occasion for me to not eat something sweet at night. Better to be realistic and just work dessert into my overall calorie intake – what can I say…chocolate makes me happy!

• Breakfast: Two pieces of whole-wheat toast and a clementine
• Lunch: Salad with spinach, romaine, carrots, bell peppers, feta and Italian dressing
• Snack: Triscuit crackers, apple and string cheese
• Dinner: Enchiladas verdes (a last-minute meal and they were awesome!) – no, I didn’t eat the whole pan!
• Dessert: homemade chocolate cream pie

What I Ate Wednesday #4 is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

This meal started out as me trying to make something halfway decent out of the few items we had on hand, and ended with me scrambling to remember exactly how I made it so I could get it down on paper; it was that good. Things like that don’t happen to me often, but when they do I can almost convince myself I have a real talent for cooking

Like so many of my recipes, this one is easy to tailor to your tastes or the ingredients in your fridge; you could swap the broccoli for asparagus, try a shallot instead of an onion or use Parmesan instead of Pecorino (or, better yet, both). Experiment and enjoy – there’s not a whole lot that can go wrong with a frittata.

Pecorino and Broccoli Frittata is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

Even though it’s nowhere near cold here, I’m still craving fall food – I’ve got chili already in the slow cooker for tonight!

Looking back on last week’s workouts, I hit 4 of out my 7 fitness goals:

1. Lindsay Brin cardio/toning workout
2. Lindsay Brin core workout
3. ZWOW workout #36
4. Run – I did somewhere in the range of 2 to 2.25 miles but of course my GPS crapped out about 3 min into the run – SO frustrating. That’s one of my biggest fitness pet peeves.

I also took a long walk on one of my rest days. Overall it was a pretty good week fitness-wise; I actually took off two days in a row because the Lindsay Brin and the ZWOW workouts left me sore for that long.

Here’s what’s on the agenda for this week:

Fitness Goals:

• 2 Lindsay Brin cardio/toning workouts
• 2 Lindsay Brin core workouts
• 1 ZWOW workout
• 1 lifting workout (TBD)
• 1 run

Meals:

• Slow cooker sweet potato and black bean chili
• Pizza bites
• Baked black bean and sweet potato flautas (lots of beans and sweet potatoes on the menu this week )

Got any favorite fall meals to share? What are you cooking this week?

Meals and Goals for the Week: October 8th is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

Did you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Last month, I teamed up with One Beat CPR to present the Heart Health series, and today I want to share a fantastic opportunity that they’re offering in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As part of the Heart to Endure-Survivor Series, One Beat CPR is providing free CPR certification for breast cancer survivors throughout the month of October.

One Beat CPR, South Florida’s premier CPR & First Aid Training Center, recognizes October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month with an initiative that helps cancer survivors save lives.

Any breast cancer survivor or woman currently battling breast cancer is invited to attend one of four CPR certification classes at One Beat’s headquarters located at 3801 SW 47^th Avenue Suite 505, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314 for the opportunity to learn life-saving techniques and become ASHI [American Safety & Health Institute] CPR-Certified.

The classes will be held at the following times on a first come, first serve basis:

Wednesday, October 3^rd at 3:00pm

Saturday, October 13^th at 8:30am

Wednesday, October 17^th at 3:00pm

Friday, October 26^th at 8:30am

One Beat Founder, Lon Rosen, states, “We recognize that the women battling breast cancer or who have survived this disease are fighters, and we want to give them all of the education and tools necessary to make an even greater impact on their families and community in the event of an emergency situation. If the Heart to Endure-Survivor Series helps save even one life, it was worth it.”

Space is limited. To reserve a spot in one of the available classes, call One Beat CPR directly at 954.321.5305 or email Rhonda@onebeatcpr.com and mention “The Survivor Series.”

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Heart to Endure Survivor Series is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

I logged 2 hard-earned miles (at an admittedly slow pace), which I know is nothing to brag about. But as a novice runner, the farthest distance I’ve ever run (before baby #2) was no more than 2.5 miles, so I’m thrilled that I’m not back at square one after not running for 9ish months. More importantly, it felt amazing to get out there again. As a rule, I never, ever trade sleep for exercise (getting up early is at the top of my All-Time-Most-Hated list) but only being able to run on weekends just isn’t enough. Once this baby gets into a regular sleeping schedule I might just have to start getting up for morning runs.

Anyway, let’s get to my meal plan and goals for the week:

Fitness goals:

• 2 Lindsay Brin 10-min cardio/toning workouts
• 2 Lindsay Brin 5-min core workouts
• 1 Zumba for Wii workout
• 1 ZWOW workout
• 1 run

Meals:

• Spicy and Savory Stuffed Sweet Potatoes – from Peas & Crayons
• Tacos/burritos
• Broccoli cheese frittata
• Freezer meal (probably lasagna)

What are your fitness goals for the week? What are you cooking? I’m always on the lookout for meal ideas!

Meals and Goals for the Week: October 1st is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

My kid ate broccoli! My kid ate broccoli!

That pretty much sums up this recipe.

Even though I consider myself a veggie-hater, I actually do like broccoli, so my saying that I loved this recipe doesn’t mean all that much. But the fact that my son – who completely fits the stereotype of the broccoli-hating toddler – had not one but two servings of this stuff tells you all you need to know.

It’s week 4 of the September Cookbook Challenge and the cookbook of the month is Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals. Broccoli puree with Parmesan is best summed up as broccoli + mashed potatoes + garlic + Parmesan cheese; it’s a brilliantly simple idea that would never have occurred to me in a million years.

The dish was as quick and easy to make as promised in the book. I usually hate making side dishes for everyday meals, since it takes extra time, but this was fast enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to make it again.

With the September Cookbook Challenge complete, I can say I’m definitely inspired to try more recipes from Quick Fix Meals. Three out of the four recipes I tried were very good, with one being just so-so. I know it’s probably not fair to rate an entire cookbook based on just four recipes, but I’ll do it anyway This one gets 4 stars out of 5. Looking forward to the next challenge!

September Cookbook Challenge: Broccoli Puree with Parmesan is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!

This was a fairly typical day of eating for me, although it’s lower in protein than I’d like. Now that I’m (slowly) getting back into strength-training, I need to get back to my higher-protein habits. As is often the case lately, I indulged in lots of carbs and ate dessert (small desserts!) not once but twice. It’s safe to say I’m thoroughly enjoying the extra calorie burn of breastfeeding!

Let’s get to it:

Breakfast: Cheerios and strawberries

Lunch: Salad with romaine, carrots, bell peppers, feta, croutons and Italian dressing

Snack #1: String cheese and Triscuit crackers

Snack #2: Almonds and cashews

Dinner: Easy Skillet Lasagna- this was awesome

Not pictured: Peanut Butter Oreos (how long have these been around? why am I just discovering them now??); 2 after lunch, 2 after dinner.

Thanks to Jenn for hosting another WIAW. Join the fun at her site!

What I Ate Wednesday #3 is a post from: miamihousewife Thank you for subscribing to my feed!