Foodie Pen Pal Part dos

So I participated in Foodie Pen Pal program again this month!It's this awesome thing where all these fold from the U.S. and Canada sign up and then are paired with someone else to be their pen pal for the month.  The premise is to share local and healthy foods with other folks in the country.  There is a $15 spending limit on the food you send, so it can't get too out of hand.  If you want to participate email theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT.  

My pen-pal this month was Dara, who lives in New York!  She sent me an awesome snack box.  

Getting your foodie pen pal box in the mail is almost like Christmas!  It is SO exciting to see what goodies people come up for you!

 Look at all those wonderful goodies I got! 

Dara sent me some nori, baked apples, and veggie chips.  I love nori! I used to eat it in Japan all the time.  The Annie Chung snacks are great.  Those Bare Fruit apples were life changing. No joke. haha. So GOOD!  And all that they are made with is straight up apple.  No sugar, no added ingredients of any kind.  PERFECT for the way I eat when I'm really trying to clean it up and need some munchies.   I have since bought 1 other box of nori, and 2 bags of the Bare Fruit. The cinnamon apple ones are to die for.  

An Odwalla bar, Emerald nuts, and Extra gum.  I've never tried the Extra gum, and I loved it! It reminded me of an adult version of that huge gum we all chewed as children that came in flavors like watermelon, blue raspberry, and cotton candy (remember?).  

Hot Bread Kitchen granola, chia seeds, and homemade oat cookies.  I'm not usually a granola eater, but I think I may become one after trying that granola!  It was Hot Bread Kitchen's 'My Mom's Nutty Granola.'  Very good with some vanilla soy milk in the morning. Hot Bread Kitchen is a local bakery in New York, and I LOVE local.  If I've ever talked about groceries with you, you probably know how much I love local made products and supporting small business.  

Here's my cute note from Dara explaining my box.  She sent me the recipe for the cookies too! I'll have to keep that one in my recipe file, cause they were yummy!  

Thanks so much Dara! I really enjoyed you box and definitely have some new favorite snacks!  

Here's a little something extra for ya. =) Just another reason I love downtown Salt Lake.  Of the things you see!     

P.S. My foodie pen pal to send to was Kelly from Florida.  You can check out what I sent her HERE.   

Job Applications...Wow this is the opposite of easy.

In the past 6 months I've gone from being okay to just staying in Utah and working for a year, to I absolutely have to find a full time job for next year.  What's changed? That little birthday in August which will mark my 26th year.  What's the big deal? 26 is still young?  Not having insurance. That's the big deal. WHAT A HUGE DEAL!  When you're still 25, the thought of not having insurance seems okay, but then the closer you get to not having insurance, the scarier it gets.

So I've gone from only applying to jobs in specific places to applying for jobs basically everywhere.

I've sent in several in California, a few in Illinois, one in Michigan, a few in Utah, and so many other ones that I don't even know where else. Isn't that awful?

I would LOVE to stay in Utah.  I have friends, a church, a support group, and a wonderful lifestyle here, but if I were to get a job elsewhere, but not have one here, I would be forced to move on.

Being an adult is scary.  People keep telling me, you're young and single, you could go ANYwhere.  Does anyone realize how scary that is???


EDIT***

I barely hit publish and went to my Facebook walk where I saw my step mother had posted: God will lead you where you are supposed be, even though it might not make sense at first. You'll prosper anywhere!  

Man does she speak the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!

PB2 Greek Yogurt Oat Pancakes

These pancakes were sooo yummy! The texture was so fluffy!

Ingredients:

• little over 1/2 cup oats
• 1 packet stevia 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed 
• 1 tablespoon PB2.  (Find out more about PB2 HERE)  
• 1 1/2 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup soy milk  

Blend all of the ingredients together in your blender! Heat a non stick pan and add a little olive oil.  Cook until golden on each side (just like regular pancakes, silly!)   

This is for one serving!  Please note that all of the liquid ingredients are guestimates! ;)  Just make sure the batter isn't too dry or wet.  It needs to have a thick consistency but still moist enough.  Basically look to make sure it doesn't seem like there is extra liquid floating around in the texture.  If your batter looks too dry I would suggest adding more egg whites before adding more milk.  

Top with about 1 tablespoon (or less) of real maple syrup and enjoy!   

This is definitely a new weekend treat!  

Enjoying every moment.

March 8? Really?  Where is this year going?  Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose... :D

My recital is in 4 weeks? FOUR weeks.  Enter freak out mode.  I'm sure everything will be great.  I'm in a good place a far as all my music goes, but I need to work on endurance at this point.  An hour of solo music is a LOT of music.  It sure is going to be fun though!

8 weeks out until I'm done with my masters.  1 paper, 1 recital, and a handful of concerts stand in my way.  I can do this.  I can do this. I can do this!

We have been in L.A. for the PAC 12 tournament the past few days.  Sunny California... I don't know that I really want to live here, but it is always nice to spend a few days here.  Our hotel was right next to USC, so yesterday morning (after applying for 4 or 5 more jobs) I went on a nice long walk (alone of course) across the campus.  There is something so special about being on a university campus, especially on a beautiful day. Such a strong sense of hope exists, and future possibilities seem endless.  When you're an 18 year old freshman the world is at your fingertips.  My goals have altered slightly in the past 7 years, wow...7 years..., but the world is still at my fingertips.  I hope I never lose that feeling.  That excitement for life!  I'm learning to not let others get me down with their rudeness.   They can do their own thing, but I will continue to do mine.  I don't expect anyone to ever understand.  Hell, sometimes I don't even understand myself!

The future is looking bright.  So very bright, and I intend to enjoy ever moment of it.

Another reason to drink coffee. = )

A story on the Today show just said that women who drink two cups of coffee a day are less likely to be depressed.  I think I'm covered. ;)

Foodie Pen Pal #1

So I was supposed to post about my Foodie Pen Pal yesterday, but I TOTALLY forgot!  Uh oh!

So I signed up for this thing called Foodie Pen Pal at the beginning of the month.  It's this awesome thing where all these fold from the U.S. and Canada sign up and then are paired with someone else to be their pen pal for the month.  The premise is to share local and healthy foods with other folks in the country.  There is a $15 spending limit on the food you send, so it can't get too out of hand.  If you want to participate email theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:
-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT.  

It is way worth it!  So much fun!  
My foodie pen pal was Chung-Ah Rhee who lives in California.  Her awesome blog is: http://damndelicious.tumblr.com/

I was so excited when I got my box in the mail!  I told Chung-Ah that I mostly try to eat clean, so she sent me some awesome goodies!  My box contained a box Kashi honey and flax seed cereal, sesame seeds, banana chips, and some amazing homemade chocolate chip almond butter granola bars.


I  haven't had banana chips in so long, and I had forgotten how good they are!  I've been enjoying the Kashi cereal topped with the sesame seeds on days I'm lacking time to make oats and egg whites.  So yummy!

Now the granola bars...oh.my.goodness. You can find the recipe for them here.  I absolutely plan on making them sometime!  I ate one as soon as I opened the box, and then I had to eat another one right away because they were just that good!

So many goodies!  

The letter Chung-Ah included explaining everything.  = )

If you want to see the goodies that I sent out to Holly Coleman, check out her blog: http://thepioneerapron.blogspot.com/

Would you be surprised if I told you I was drinking coffee right now?

Yup, I've got a coffee cup right next to my computer right now.  Maybe that's a little dangerous, but I like to live life on the wild side every now and then.

 I read a quote the other day that said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you realize why."  The "why."  Why are you here?  Why am I here?  WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?  I don't know about you, but I need a reason to live.  I NEED reinforcement.  I need to know and believe that I am doing right by my life.  That's why sometimes, in the midsts of things I feel discouragement.  This is a marathon we're talking about, and it is easy to lose your way when you're on mile 6 of 26.  I lose my way a lot, but somehow I keep working my way back to the right path.  One key I've learned to live by is to never give up.  Just keep going.  Just keep running.  Just keep pushing forward.

The whole "it get's better" movement, IT'S TRUE! It is absolutely true, if you just keep going.  When you find your purpose, keep going!  If you haven't found your purpose yet, then keep searching! Keep going!

If you get knocked down 9 times, get up 10.  Another quote I recently read: I would rather live a life of 'oh wells' then live a life of 'what ifs.'  


I'm 25 years old.  I've already had some huge failures.  That's okay.  I tried.  I put my entire self into what I was doing, and it just didn't happen at the time.  You live, you learn, and you move on.  I like to replace 'move on' with move FORWARD.

Here's some encouragement for your Thursday morning:

I CAN DO ANYTHING GOOD!  

I still believe that people are inherently good.  I still believe that I can be anything I want to be, just like you can too!