Recipe: Bite Me's Piquant Pasta Puttanesca

Today's Recipe: Bite Me's Piquant Pasta Puttanesca (still time to win this cookbook on my blog here.)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
½ cup black olives, pitted and halved
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (28oz/796ml) can diced tomatoes
¼ cup dry red wine
¾ lb fettuccini pasta
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1) For the sauce, heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3-4 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and sauté? until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add olives, capers, oregano, salt, crushed red pepper flakes and continue to saute for 2 minutes. Add diced tomatoes and red wine, bringing to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2) For the pasta, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until tender. Drain well and return to pot. Toss hot pasta with puttanesca sauce and Parmesan cheese. Top each serving with fresh parsley. (read here if youre interested in today's title reference)

Costume Squad T-Shirt GIVEAWAY!

This giveaway is now over. Please check out other Fitness For The Rest of Us giveaways by clicking on the "giveaways" tab on my left sidebar.

I recently discovered an AWESOME costume and T-shirt company: Costume Squad. Costume Squad is THE online shop for 80' T-shirts, Funny T-shirts, Group Costumes, 80's Costumes, Couples Costumes, Tuxedo T-shirts & more!. Check out some of my favorite categories:

80's T-shirts

 (Garbage Pail Kids, Ferris Bueller, Goonies, Jaws, Karate Kid, Magnum PI, Back to the Future, Mr. Rogers, Princess Bride, Ninja Turtles and SO many more!!!)

Funny T-Shirts

(Gremlins, Fist Pumping, Frank the Tank, Ferris Bueller, Math funnies, Family Guy, Funny Sayings, Cute Pics, and many many more!)

Sexy Costumes

(Candy Land, Seductive Gypsy, Robin Hood, Spider Girl, Wolverine, Alice in Wonderland, and more!!)


80's Costumes

(Ron Burgandy, Top Gun, Candy Land, Sexy Ninja Turtle, & Spider Girl!)


They have a HUGE seleciton of sexy costumes, 80's T-shirts, mens costumes, T shirts, dog costumes, to choose from. Their prices are awesome! Check out their sale page!! And their shipping is super fast! Want to win a $19.99 (or less) T-shirt of your choice from Costume Squad?? (Winners cannot have won a shirt from Crazy Dogs or affiliates, have been sent a shirt for promotional purposes in the last 90 days, or own a "review & giveaway" style blog of their own). Enter here: 

Mandatory Entry: Check out Costume Squad's T-Shirts & tell me which T-shirt you would choose if you won and leave your email address. Remember two entries requires two separate comments!

Optional Entries:

~One Entry: Become a fan of Crazy Dogs (their affiliate company) on Facebook

-Two Entries: Like Fitness For The Rest of Us on Facebook

-One Entry: Follow my blog via GFC (click follow in the upper left)

-One Entry: Follow me on twitter

~Two Entries: "Like" or "Share" products on their website.  (The buttons for these are on all product detail pages, above the main image)

~Ten Entries: Purchase something from Costume Squad this week

~Five Entries: Re-blog about this giveaway and leave a link

~One Entry per Tweet: Tweet daily about this giveaway with a link to this page

~Two Entries: Enter any of my other current giveaways (2 entries per giveaway)

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm on 2/11 and the winner will be selected using random.org random number generator and annouced on 2/12. Remember 2 entries = 2 comments (so for blogging about this you would leave 5 separate comments). Contest open to EVERYONE! Good Luck!

I received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.  I can not be held responsible for shipping errors, postage errors, damage in transit, or undelivered prizes.

Edenfantasys Review & Giveaway Winner!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Learn With Yoga ABC Yoga Cards for Kids Review

Learn With Yoga ABC Yoga Cards for Kids

Christine Ristuccia, M.S. CCC-SLP, illustrated by Charles Beryl

This is the cutest set of yoga cards designed to help your children learn their alphabet while practicing yoga. This set of cards is "an innovative combination of yoga postures and language development postures activities written specifically for young children." The cards blend the calming aspects of yoga with learning. "Learning is significantly enhanced when movement is  part of the activity. Movement engages the senses and stimulates brain activity". I can vouch for this- when I was in college I would read my text books while on the stair stepper and I really did retain more of the information than when I was just sitting and reading.

The set includes: 28 ABC Yoga Cards and 26 Instructor Cards to go along with (along with instructions). The cards have super cute, clear pictures so your child can see what pose they should be doing. Above the graphic is an upper and lower case script letter. So the "A" card, for example, has Aa in the upper corner and the post is "archer" so there is a picture of a girl holding that pose. Heres the A card:

The back of the card details the pose benefits and has verbal cues you can read to your child (or they can read on their own) telling them how to properly perform the pose. The coordinating instructor card also has the verbal cues and includes "reading readiness" that guides you in teaching your child alphabetic principles, phonemic awareness, syllable segmentation, and rhyming.

My niece will be visiting next month & I cant wait to try these out with her. I love "games" that are also learning activities and also sneak in some exercise! Very cute. The box says ages 2 and up. I received these cards to review from 411 Video Information.

Community Coffee Mardi Gras Gift Set Winner!

Congrats to Smash Bravo Team who said..."I LOVE their coffee but I would LOVE to try this: Cajun Praline King Cake. It looks so amazing!"  I know you will enjoy the Mardi Gras gift set! I know I did. Thank you to everyone who entered and a HUGE thanks to Community Coffee for sponsoring this rockin' giveaway!

Smash Bravo Team has been emailed and has 48 hours to claim his/her prize. As always, my winner was chosen using random.org random number generator!!

Stay tuned for more fun Fitness For The Rest of Us giveaways and check out my current giveaways here. And I will be announcing the EdenFantasys giveaway winner tomorrow morning so stay tuned!

Top Trainers Shed 5 Fast Review

Today's Review: Top Trainers: Shed 5 Fast

Lindsay Brin, 2009 ***** (4.5 of 5 stars)

This dvd is part of the new Top Trainers set. It has two 30 minute workouts. The second more challenging than the first. Lindsay leads w/ 2 backgrounders who show advanced & beginner modifications. The set is a nice wooden platform with a pinkish background & "studio set" type of lights. You will need dumbbells for this workout.

Workout One: This workout alternates strength segments and cardio kickboxing segments. After a warmup you move into the first strength set. Strength work includes knee strikes, pliet w/ shoulder raise - french press- and leg sweep, crunches w/ leg extensions, tricep dips, pliet into lunges, V sits w/ punch, pliet w/ inner thigh lift and shoulder work, and pliet w/ a torso twist. Cardio work is pretty low impact and includes jabs, hooks, knee strikes, speed bag twist, knee pulls, cross punch, roundhouse kick, front & back kicks, and jumping jacks. Concludes with a c/d.

Workout Two:  This workout also alternates strength & cardio kickboxing. Warmup and cooldown included. Strength work includes: plank shifts, pushups, squat w/ military press, lunges, one legged (balance) tri kickbacks, palm tree (core & shoulders), punches for the core, knee pulls, plyo knee pulls, KB swing w/ a hop, shifting tricep planks, side plank w/ a hip lift & twist, boomerang (twisting planks), bikes

Cardio includes: side to side jabs, kick & squat, knee pull kick combo, ab cranks, hi & lo jabs, speed bag w/ ab crank, hi & lo speed bag, side knee pulls, and jacks.

I would rate this workout a solid intermediate, but follow one of the mod's for a more or less challenging w/o. Lindsay is a great lead- great cueing- great demeanor. This dvd is versatile- choose one of the two w/o's for a 30 min strength & cardio w/o or combine them for 60 minutes of fun work! She really hits the core in this & does a fantastic job of sneaking in core work to both the cardio & strength moves. Enjoyed the kickboxing and got in some great strength work.

GIVEAWAY: Bite Me Cookbook!!!

This giveaway is now over. Please check out other Fitness For The Rest of Us giveaways by clicking on the "giveaways" tab on my left sidebar.

Today's giveaway is courtesy of the wonderfully generous authors of the Bite Me Cookbook. This cookbook is a MUST HAVE. It is huge (so many yummy recipes), filled with mouth-watering pictures, funny blurbs, the recipes are clear and precise, wonderfully chaptered, and recipes range from quick and simple to more elaborate dinner party worthy feasts. 

I made two different recipes from the book this week and was super impressed with BOTH! And the beauty of the recipes I chose- I literally had every.single ingredient on hand! The recipes are fun and fresh, the pictures have me drooling, and the witty banter in the margins make this book a one-of-a-kind must have!

Today's Recipe: Bite Me's Tortilla Encrusted Chicken with Avocado Dipping Sauce (page 141)

Ingredients
-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1 1/2 cups sour cream
-2 TBS brown sugar
-2 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-2 1/2 cups panko
-2 cups crushed tortilla chips
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-1/2 jarred jalapeños (jarred & dried)

Avocado Dip

-1/2 cup mayo

-1/2 cup sour cream

-2 ripe avocados peeled & pitted

-2 TBS fresh lime juice

-1/4 tsp ground cumin

-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1. For the chicken, place chicken between two sheets of wax paper and pound to even thickness, about 1/2 inch.  2. In a large bowl, combine sour cream, brown sugar, chili powder, thyme, salt, pepper, & garlic powder. Add chicken, toss to coat, cover & let marinate at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.  3. Preheat oven to 425*. Line baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. 4. In a large bowl, combine panko, tortilla crumbs, cheddar, & chopped jalepenos. Remove chicken from marinade and coat each piece with panko mixture, pressing down so the coating sticks well to each piece. Place on baking sheet & bakd 20-23 min, until golden & cooked through. 5. For the dip, place mayo, sour cream, avocado, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper in food processor. Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Serve alongside chicken.

We had this last night for dinner & both DH and I LOVED it! I subbed in some low fat ingredients and it worked fantastically! DH requested we have this again & he is a fairly picky eater. This dish was super easy and didnt take long to prepare or cook. I can't wait to try the other Bite Me recipes! I also made the Magical Morocoon Grilled Chicken and it was quick, easy, and delicious! Next on my list is Bite Me's Piquant Pasta Puttanesca. Puttanesca is a FAV of mine and its hard to find, so now I can make my own YUM!

You can purchase your own Bite Me Cookbook on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Indigo.ca or you can win your very own copy here!

Mandatory Entry (must be done before all other entries):

Head on over to Bite Me Cookbook and tell me something you learned along with your email address. Remember two entries means leaving two SEPARATE comments. 

Bonus Entries (after mandatory entry):

-One Entry: Like Bite Me Cookbook on Facebook
-One Entry: Follow Bite Me Cookbook on Twitter.

-Two Entries: Comment on their Facebook wall that I sent you
-Two Entries: Like Fitness For The Rest of Us on Facebook
-One Entry: Follow my blog via GFC (click follow in the upper left)

-One Entry: Follow me on twitter

-Five Entries: Reblog about this giveaway and leave a link

-Two Entries: Enter any of my other current giveaways here. 

-Three Entries: Add my button to your blog (& tell me where to find it)

-One per Tweet: Tweet about this giveaway up to 3X daily (one hour apart) 

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm on Friday, February 4rd and the winner will be selected using random.org random number generator and annouced on Feb 5th. This contest is open to US residents.

I   received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I can not be held responsible for shipping errors, postage errors, damage in transit, or undelivered prizes.

Review: Top Trainers: Your Best Body Circuit

Today's Review: Top Trainers: Your Best Body Circuit
Michelle Dozios', 2007 **** (4 of 5 stars)

This is a 57 minute cardio & strength interval circuit workout led by Michelle in a set with wooden floors & accents. She works out w/ 4 b/g'ers- one shows beginner modifications. The dvd is chaptered so you can play all or select an interval. It also includes a 35 minute express version. You will need dumbbells and an exercise band for this workout.

After a nice warmup you move into the first cardio set. You complete that and move into your strength work. Each strength set focuses on one or two muscle groups and she does a good job of burning out the muscles! You repeat the same cardio set, leading with your other side. I would say Michelle really focuses on the upper body in the strength work but includes one set of lower body strength work and includes a nice ab/core section before the cooldown. There are some nice combo moves that she puts together very nicely because the poundage worked for all moves involved. I was able to heavy up pretty nicely in this w/o.

Cardio work includes: step touch, skater, knee pulls w/ a punch, jump rope, jacks, power lunges, cross country skiing, power jacks, kicks, rocking horse, jogging, and other athletic type cardio that is easy to catch onto but will really get your heart pumping nicely.

Strength work includes: side lunge w/ row & bicps, band rows w/ pliets, pushups w/ knee drops, chest press, band tricep extension, band chest press, dip & row, band curl, wide band row, seated band row, band tri extension, band pushups, chest fly w/ leg extensions, pliet w/ a twist & shoulder raise, dips w/ military press & abduction, band shoulder raise, a squat series, and a lunge-pliet-glute extension w/ a knee lift.

Core work includes: side elbow plank with leg lift, crunches & crunch variations, oblique work, and she uses the band to up the intensity in some of the moves.

I would rate this a solid intermediate that gave me a great workout! My upper body is NICELY worked, def felt it in my core, got a bit of lower body work, along with a great calorie burn. This w/o is easy to up the intensity by adding some more impact and really heavy-ing up. Or follow the beginner mod and bring it down a notch. Michelle is a great instructor & I really enjoyed this workout! Great cuing, great energy. I received this dvd as part of the Top Trainers set to review.

Giveaway: Activewear USA $40- $100 Apparel of Choice

This giveaway is now over. Please check out other Fitness For The Rest of Us giveaways by clicking on the "giveaways" tab on my left sidebar. And get 10% off your ActiveWear USA purchases by using code 'fitnessforus' at check out!

I recently had the pleasure to work with a wonderful fitness apparel company: Active Wear USA. Activewear USA offers 30+ brands of fitness & yoga clothing for inspired, healthy, fit women to look and feel their best while competing, training, and in their daily lives. Keep reading to find out how you can win a $40- $100 item of your choice from Active Wear USA. 

Active Wear USA offers a huge line of workout clothes: tanks, cami's, sports bras, high impact sports bras, pants, capris, yoga clothes, shorts, and more. They also have fitness accessories: yoga mats, bags, towels, and more! Even though I work out at home, I still like to wear cute matching outfits and LOVE the variety of styles & brands that Active Wear USA offers. Some of my favorites are:

Tiempo Libre Activewear Tank Top and Pants

Margarita Activewear Skirt

LP-Studio by VATA Brasil Top

Head on over to ActiveWearUSA and buy yourself a cute new workout outfit or win an item of your choice (a large list of items will be sent to the winner to choose from. Item will be $40 to $100 retail value in the winner's size).

Mandatory Entry (must be done before all other entries):

Head on over to ActiveWearUSA.com  and tell me which product you would like to try along with your email address. Remember two entries means leaving two SEPARATE comments. 

Bonus Entries (after mandatory entry):

-One Entry: Like Active Wear USA on Facebook

-Two Entries: Comment on their Facebook wall that I sent you
-Two Entries: Like Fitness For The Rest of Us on Facebook
-One Entry: Follow my blog via GFC (click follow in the upper left)

-One Entry: Follow me on twitter

-Five Entries: Reblog about this giveaway and leave a link

-Ten Entries: Purchase something from Active Wear this week.
-Two Entries: Enter any of my other current giveaways here. (2 entries per giveaway)

-Three Entries: Add my button to your blog (& tell me where to find it)

-Three Entries: Sign up for Active WEar E-newsletter here (lower right)

-One per Tweet: Tweet about this giveaway up to 3X daily (one hour apart) 

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm on Friday, February 4th and the winner will be selected using random.org random number generator and annouced on Feb 5th. This contest is open to US residents.

I   received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I can not be held responsible for shipping errors, postage errors, damage in transit, or undelivered prizes.

Nacho Mama T-Shirt shout out

I am always looking for fun & unique T-shirts. Who wants to wear what everyone else is wearing. Well, look no further than NachoMamaTees. I swear I get compliments (and a laugh)every time I wear a shirt from NachoMamaTees! 

And some of my Favorites:

One Tough Cookie (LOVE this one!)

Hot Mess (hehe)

Stay Golden (LOL, love the Golden Girls!)

They have a HUGE selection of unique & fun T-shirts, their prices are awesome, and their shipping is super fast and super reasonable! Valentines Day is coming up- great gift idea for that special someone = a cute, funny, or flirty Nachomamatees T-shirt!

Check out their HUGE variety of T-shirts:

80's T-Shirts

Cool T-Shirts

Funny T-Shirts

Girls T-Shirts

Movie T-Shirts

Offensive T-Shirts

Vintage T-Shirts

Cheap T-Shirts

I received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. 

Lots of Jewels: Etsy Shop Shout Out!

Introducing a FABULOUS Etsy shop that is sponsoring Win, Lose, or Blog this season
Lots of Jewels

Lots of Jewels is an awesome Etsy shop that specializes in handcrafted artisan jewelry, custom order jewelry pieces, vintage jewelry, pottery and ceramic items. Her jewelry is amazing, SO VERY affordable, her shipping is speedy & reliable, and the quality of her goods is fabulous! She also accepts custom orders!!! Head on over & check out her beautiful hand  made jewelry & support a small business.

I had the pleasure of reviewing these beautiful earrings: 

                 Gingko Leaf Earrings

Also on my wishlist is: 

Dusty Evening Bracelet

with pearls, glass beads, and antiqued brass:

$15.00

Antiqued Bronze & Frosted Orange Petunia Flower Bead Earrings

$12.00

Antique Hammered Brass Circle & Flower Bracelet

$15.00

In Bloom Earrings

$12.00

I am SO happy with my beautiful earrings. They are the perfect size- not too large, not too small and are light enough to wear all day. The attention to detail and fine craftsmanship are very noticable and I know I will have these earrings for many many years!

Head on over to Lots of Jewels & support a small business and get yourself something cute! Thank you so much Lots of Jewels for supporting one of our weight loss contestants this season!!!!!

I received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I can not be held responsible for shipping errors, postage errors, damage in transit, or undelivered prizes.

And dont forget- you can still enter the Win, Lose, or Blog Crazy Dog T Shirt giveaway here. Head on over- entries are LOW!!!! 


And head on over to enter MY Community Coffee Mardi Gras Gift Pack here.

Top Trainers: Angie Miller Strength & Core Fusion Review

Today's Review: Top Trainers: Strength & Core Fusion
Angie Miller, 2007

This is a 68 minute strength workout that will REALLY get your heartrate up! Angie works out with 2 b/g'ers in an open area with pink pillars & curtains in the background. One exerciser uses no step and shows beginner modifications. You will need a step, dumbbells, and tubing for this workout.

The dvd is chaptered very well: warmup, dumbbells, band, core, and cooldown. You can combine all for a 68 minute sweatfest or select a workout. The dumbbell & tubing segments are great combined but are complete done alone on time crunched days. I used medium weights for this because there were plenty of reps and lots of good combo moves and plenty of good balance work. This workout is NON-stop! She does not waste any time and really keeps the heart pumping.

After the warmup you move into the dumbbell strength work that includes a nice squat series adding an oblique knee pull and bicep curls, dips off the step with bicep curls, curtsy dips off the step w/ an oblique twist, step squats w/ hammer curls, deadlifts, deadlifts w/ balance leg lifts & an oblique twist, and side lunges w/ a row & tricep kickbacks. ~30 min

The tubing work includes: band squats, pliet w/ tricep kickbacks, a nice donkey kick series w/ plenty of variations, and she concludes with pushups and pushup- side planks. ~20 min

The core work includes: standing side reaches & side bends, V sit w/ knee pulls, crunches, oblique crunches, lower ab leg pulls/ extensions, side plank hip lifts, oblique knee pulls (lying on side), and finishes w/ supermans. ~10 min

I would rate this a high intermediate workout-my heart was pumping, my muscles were burning, and I was sweating up a storm! Angie's cuing is spot on and you will always know what weight to use & whats coming up next, having said that she is very chatty in this workout. I really really liked the work in this dvd and look forward to trying more from Angie. As you know- I LOVE strength work that also gets my heartrate up, and I was SWEATING in this one! Great AWT workout, unique moves, fun but tough. I received this dvd as part of the Top Trainers set to review.

Community Coffee Giveaway: Mardi Gras Gift Set

This giveaway is now over. Please check out other Fitness For The Rest of Us giveaways by clicking on the "giveaways" tab on my left sidebar.

I recently had the opportunity to try Community Coffee's Mardi Gras Gift Set (keep reading, you can win a Mardi Gras Gift Set of your own). Community Coffee  Company is steeped in tradition as rich as their coffee. As the largest family-owned retail coffee brand in the U.S., their Company grew from a small country store in Baton Rouge where more than 90 years ago, founder Henry Norman Saurage brewed his popular coffee.

I would like to introduce you to their Mardi Gras King Cake line! YUM!!! I am a HUGE fan of flavored coffees, afterall what a great way to get a sweet tooth fix without fat and calories. Community Coffee's Carnivale Cake flavored coffee is the perfect solution! A perfect mellow sweetness for a cold morning or even on a warm morning (I live in the desert)!

Check out the Mardi Gras Gift Set:

Contains: Carnivale Cake Flavored ground coffee, a Mardi Gras travel tumbler, and Mardi Gras beads.

If youre looking for a sweet treat to have along with your flavored coffee, check out their Traditional King Cake. My mouth is watering just looking at it:

This braided Danish pastry is laced with cinnamon and baked to perfection, then iced in the Mardi Gras colors.

 And don't forget to stop by these Community Coffee links:

Coffees

Teas

Chicory

Coffee Accesories

Coffee club

Head on over to Community Coffee's store & buy yourself a Mardi Gras Gift Set OR win one here! 

Mandatory Entry (must be done before all other entries):

Head on over to Community Coffee and tell me which product you would like to try along with your email address. Remember two entries means leaving two SEPARATE comments. 

Bonus Entries (after mandatory entry):

-One Entry: Like Commuinty Coffee on Facebook

-Two Entries: Comment on their Facebook wall that I sent you
-Two Entries: Like Fitness For The Rest of Us on Facebook
-One Entry: Follow my blog via GFC (click follow in the upper left)

-One Entry: Follow Community Coffee on twitter

-One Entry: Follow me on twitter

-Five Entries: Reblog about this giveaway and leave a link

-Ten Entries: Purchase something from Community Coffee this week.

-Three Entries: Add my button to your blog (& tell me where to find it)

-Three Entries: Sign up for Community Coffee's E-newsletter here.

-Two Entries: Enter any of my other current giveaways.

-One per Tweet: Tweet about this giveaway up to 3X daily (one hour apart) 

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm on Thursday, January 27th and the winner will be selected using random.org random number generator and annouced on Jan 28th. This contest is open to US & Canada residents.

I   received a sample of this product to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest review. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I can not be held responsible for shipping errors, postage errors, damage in transit, or undelivered prizes.