Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness

I’m trying to help out my buddy, Katie at Chocolate-Covered Katie because she has decided to do something so awesome that I couldn’t help but want to be apart of it!  She is doing a page view charity drive for the Enough Project in an effort to stop genocide. 

 

Here are some details on the project:

 

What exactly is a Page View Charity Drive?

 

Basically, it’s this: Every time someone views a page on my blog, Foodbuzz pays a certain amount of money.  It’s not much, but it can add up.  (Not that I blog for the money; even with thousands of visitors per day, the $ I get isn’t very much!)  

 

What I’m hoping to do with this charity drive is to get as many page views as possible.  More page views = more money raised.  Then, at the end of the month, I’ll send all of the money over to my pet charity (i.e. the charity with which I am most involved), The Enough Project.  (It’s the same charity for which I raised money last year on the blog.  It’s also where all my Africard profits go.) 

 

“What can you do to help?

 

• Spread the word!  If you have a blog, please help me get the word out by blogging about, or even just mentioning, the “Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness” page view charity drive on your blog.  (Feel free to use the logo as well.)

 

• Throughout the month, blog about, and link to, ANY chocolatecoveredkatie.com post (such as a Chocolate-Covered Recipe).  Each time someone clicks on any link to my blog, more money will be earned for the cause.  Good time to make Fudge Babies or Peanut Butter Babies, perhaps?  Or Banana Butter… or Melted Banana Trick oats?

 

• During the month, click on as many pages/links on my blog as you can.  Each post you click on, and each link you follow, earns more money for the charity drive.  Or, when you see my posts in Google Reader, simply click on the posts instead of reading them in Google Reader format (which doesn’t translate to any page views).

 

• Browse the Chocolate-Covered Recipes, read up on processed foods or veganism for omnivores in the FAQ section, find every flavor oatmeal imaginable in All-things-Oatmeal, see “My Life in Cupcakes” in the About Me section, check out the Most Popular, or just peruse old posts.   

 

November is the month of Thanksgiving, and I have so much for which to be thankful. 

 

But there are thousands of people in this world who aren’t so lucky. 

 

We bloggers talk incessantly about “perfect” meals and “delicious” foodie products.  We spend hours browsing the expensive offerings at Whole Foods, making our meals as aesthetically-pleasing as possible, and photographing said meals with fancy digital cameras.  But the people being helped by the Enough Project are happy to get ANY meal.  And while people like me run for fun, others in the world are running because they have to in order to survive.   

 

It really puts things in perspective and makes me want to help as much as I possibly can.  I’m not going to set a goal amount, since I really have no idea what t expect.  But no matter how much we end up raising, every little bit helps, and every little person can make a BIG difference! ”

Hump Day Happiness

Black Friday Insanity!

Well, it’s hump day again!  I can’t believe Thanksgiving is in about a week already.  That means Black Friday shopping is just around the corner!   I’m excited about going this year.  About three years ago, some ladies in my family started a tradition of leaving at about 4am to go out among the crazy people who trample people to get the deals every year.  The group usually consisted of my aunt, her two daughters, and I.  My Mom hates shopping so Black Friday would’ve been like a nightmare for her.  Me, I don’t even buy anything some years.  I just go for the memory making that takes place. 

Last night was pretty relaxing.  After work, I went to the gym to get in my workout.  Here were the stats from last night:

• 5 miles on the treadmill (30.58)
• 3 sets of 30 seconds each right side, left side, and middle
• 3 sets of 10 pushups
• 3 sets of 75 twists holding the 6lb. medicine ball
• 3 sets of 30 hip flexors @ 100lbs. each (90 total inner & outer each)
• 3 sets of 40 at 50lbs. on the oblique twist machine (like my terminology?! haha)
• 3 sets of 15 knee raises
• 2 miles on the elliptical (12.03)
• 1 last set of 100 twists with the medicine ball

I’d say it was a pretty good workout!   All that and I still got home by 7:00!  I was pretty hangry when I got there, so I popped some broccoli slaw in the microwave and started my concoction.  When it was done steaming, I mixed it together with a wedge of Parmesean Peppercorn Sonoma Jack’s Cheese, a can of stewed tomatoes (these were an awesome addition, btw!), and two hebrew national 97% FF hot dogs for some protein!  This dish was mouth watering, believe it or not!  The sweetness of the stewed tomatoes mixed perfectly with the saltiness of the hot dogs and cheese.  YUM.  Then I baked  microwaved a sweet potato and added a splash of SF vanilla syrup and pumpkin pie spice.  It was scrumptous.  On the side, I ate an appleberry vitatop for some whole grains   It was a HUGE meal, but it was soooo good…and very filling!  I slept like a baby last night because my belly was satiated. 

Anyway, this morning I woke up with a rumbling belly.  My metabolism must not have calmed down yet after that intense workout last night!  I prepped last night and mixed together 1/2 C. FF cottage cheese, 2tbsp. SF blackberry jam, and 1 sliced kiwi (with skin!) for brekkie this morning.  I did my AB Ripper X this morning, hopped in the shower, got ready for work and sat down to enjoy my delish breakfast (topped with 1C. fiber one of course!).  It was yummy. 

Last night I also got my lunch packed for today which consists of  1 1/2 C. broccoli soup (I added a hebrew national hot dog for some protein), 8 Dr. Kracker hummus Culinary Crisps, and an orange.  I also packed a peanut butter fudge vitatop for pre-workout fuel along with an FRS blueberry pomegranate energy chew.

 

Here are the nutritional stats for these little guys.  They contain a bit much sugar for my taste, but they definitely give me a little bit of an extra boost when I’m trucking along on the treadmill!   Not to mention, I don’t like all the artificial stuff in them, so I usually only have 1/2 a serving.

 

I’ve also been quite obsessed with another product that I recently received in the mail for review.  The next post will tell you alllllll about it.  It’s called “Skinny Water”…I can hardly contain my excitement.  I’m actually sipping on one right now!  They are SO good.  More details to follow.