Colorful beers of Vermont shown above.  Twelve different kinds of chili to vote for below:

It was so much fun enjoying the fall weather, good food and especially good drinks.   I think my favorite beer ended up being an Otter Creek Brown Ale.  It was SO good.

Oh yeah. The other thing I ended up doing while in Vermont, was pretty crazy for me: the Stratton Mountain run.  It’s described as a “2 mile run up the mountain”. So I thought “hey I run at least 6 or 7 miles every other day so 2 can’t be that bad”.  Let’s just say it was an experience I will never forget, from the rocks and streams I was jumping over, to the 17% incline to the fact that when we got to a certain point we were told “anything that looks like water is actually ice from here on up”. 

I finished around the 33 minute time and was so relieved and happy when I was done.  I felt like I had just completed something that truly pushed me out of my comfort zone.  The view wasn’t too bad at the end either!

Please email me your name and address at (sbathalon at gmail dot com) so I can forward it along to My Blog Spark for your $20 gift card!

Happy Thursday!

From April 16-29, buy 5 participating General Mills items with your Stop & Shop card, use a re-useable shopping bag and you´ll automatically be entered to win a 2010 eco-friendly Hybrid car!!  How awesome would that be??

So far, I’ve bought a Betty Crocker pumpkin spice cookie pouch (we had a bridal shower for my sister-in-law this past weekend so I was able to use the cookie mix for that!). I also bought a couple boxes of Fiber One bars, which I’m snacking on right now. I think they taste like a healthy rice crispie treat! Oats & Chocolate is my fav flava.

Not sure what I’m going to be buying this week, but I’ll be posting it once I do! A full list of the participating General Mills products can be found at http://www.stopandshop.com/savings/promotions/earth_day.htm.

After you’ve looked through the list, come back here for a chance to win your own Stop and Shop $20 gift card by answering the question:

Which General Mills products will you stock up on for your chance to win your eco-friendly Hybrid car?

I’ll pick a winner for the $20 gift card next Tuesday April, 27.

Happy Earth Day!!

We started out with the infamous chicken lettuce wraps, some veggie dumplings, and spring rolls.  For my meal I got the Buddah’s Feast steamed with shrimp…sooooo good:

Eben ended up ordering a beef and scallion dish.  I attacked the scallions since he’s not much of a veggie fan

And of course, we could not leave without trying some of the mini desserts! We chose carrot cake, since that’s my all-time favorite type of cake and the tiramisu.  They were delicious (and the perfect size)!

Carrot cake on the right, tiramisu on the left.  It was a wonderful night

Not Your Average Joe’s has an awesome menu, but go figure,  I saw the “specials” menu for the month and knew French Onion Soup was what I wanted to have. Normally they don’t have that on the menu so it was a given for me!  Eben got his usual burger  

The soup was okay. I was a little disappointed because they didn’t really broil the cheese…I like it to be nice and crunchy on top and all gooey on the bottom. Our service was pretty slow too, which they apologized for and also paid for Eben’s meal so he could use his birthday coupon another time.  Either way, I’m glad I tried it!

How was it? The flavor was great, but I was a tad disappointed considering half the bowl was full of the “crouton” or bread they covered with cheese. There was also a real lack of broth, I felt more like I was eating a bowl full of flavored onions! It really made me appreciate the canned soup I had on Wednesday and like I said, I cannot wait to buy some more of the Progresso stuff to broil in my own crock at home!

Off to Mount Snow we go tonight…2+ feet of snow = lots of fun snowboarding adventures!

It was one of those cold and dreary nights here in Boston and I knew it was the perfect night to have it. Plus, tonight I will be taking my hubby out for his birthday and know I will get the French Onion Soup at the restaurant we are going to, so I figured it’d be perfect to compare tonight’s over last night’s.

I was actually impressed by the flavor of the Progresso soup! I wish I had been able to pick up a nice baguette and gruyere cheese to throw on top to make it feel more “authentic” and filling, but all in all, on it’s own it was pretty darn good. In fact, I think soon enough I will buy a couple cans of it, along with a baguette and cheese so that I can broil it in my own french onion soup crock and really make it feel like I am out at a restaurant. 

Winner winner French Onion Soup dinner!

My husband and I were both impressed by the variety of soups we got, especially because he is more of a “meat” eater than I am so while I was excited about most of the vegetable based soups, he was equally excited about the meat ones.

So far we’ve tried all of the soups that had chicken in them and they were so good. I could barely tell the difference between the low-sodium varieties and the regular ones.  We both felt like they were a great meal on their own (with a piece of bread or crackers for the fullness factor), but could also be an awesome appetizer or calming dinner when I’m not starving for a big meal.

My favorite so far has been the chicken and dumpling. I’ve never eaten a canned soup with little dumplings in it- it was awesome!  French onion soup is my absolute most favorite soup in the world so I have been saving that one for a special occasion in hopes that I am going to really enjoy it like I do when I’m out at a restaurant.

Progresso Soup is currently holding a contest that you can enter into at www.Progresso.com/SouperYou. I’m going to enter today because the prize is an awesome  two-night stay in a NYC hotel, a full makeover, a $1,000 wardrobe shopping spree and personal consultation at a New York department store.  

I’ll report back as I try more of the soups, but for now, go enter the contest so you can get shopping in NYC!!

I am a 27-yr old female living outside of Boston with my husband, Eben. I discovered healthy eating and a love for running my senior year in college @ NU and have tried to maintain that lifestyle since graduating 4 years ago. I am not a great cook, but I do love to bake and after a great run, I am always ready for a piece of chocolate.

Please follow along as I document my healthy life and journey of ditching my corporate job to becoming an elementary school teacher.