Leap Year

Leap Year comes but once every four years, and every time it does, I can't help but feel bad for the people born on this day. I think it would suck to only have a proper birthday to celebrate once every four years.

This year, companies are diving into leap year sales apparently. Random deals like Buy one get one free drinks at Caribou Coffee, and my husband's personal favorite, a free Spicy Chicken Sandwich from Chick Fil A.

Source

I was sad to watch the season finale of my favorite show on TV last night, "Parenthood." I love this show and am so sad that NBC made it's season so short, especially after it already took the whole month of December off.

Source

I'll use the extra TV time to catch up on the "The Good Wife," as my DVR kept messing it up due to football in the fall, so I need to start the season over from scratch, now to find those early episodes... any suggestions?

Also, the random winner (thanks to Random.org) of the Chobani give away is...

#16 Meredith M

Send me an e-mail at AlexaTaleof2Cities@gmail.com with your contact information by March 7 and we'll have a case of Chobani sent your way.

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Foodie Pen Pals

This month I decided to participate in Foodie Pen Pals after hearing about it on Mellissa's blog. It sounded like a fun idea. Send a package full of surprise treats to someone you're randomly matched with, and receive one in return from another random match!

I felt bad signing up at first because I knew my gluten allergy would limit things, but my Foodie Pen Pan Jacqueline did great!

The goods

She sent me a full package full of gluten free goodies, most of which I've never tried before, and have been really enjoying. She also went over the $15 limit and included a bottle of her personal favorite bourbon. She had asked me in our initial e-mails if I liked bourbon (yes!) and said being that she's from Kentucky she had to integrate it in the package.

She also included some treats for Cooper, Chicken Jerky sticks that are made in the USA (we only feed Cooper American made dog treats) from Trader Joes. Cooper is very picky about treats, but he loves them! He doesn't get a whole stick, but we break off a couple pieces for him, and he goes nuts when he smells them.

Enjoy getting mail that's not bills? Want a Foodie Pen Pal? Email theleangreenbean@gmail.com and get on the list for next month.

Also, today is the last day to enter the Chobani give away and have a free case delivered to your door step!

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New Chobani Flavors Give Away

As I've stated before, I'm a huge fan of Greek yogurt. I love it's creamy thickness, I love it with cereal, and I love it's versatility to be used with cooking.

Recently, my favorite Greek yogurt brand Chobani put out some new flavors, and now you have a chance to try all of them!

First let me tell you, of the three new flavors: Blood Orange, Apple Cinnamon and Passion Fruit, and all three are delicious!

Apple Cinnamon has become my absolute favorite of all the Chobani flavors! It's like Apple Pie Ala Mode. I love to open it up, stir it around, then freeze it and eat it a few hours later, it makes me eat it slower and enjoy each bite. Sometimes I think Greek yogurt of any flavor is too bitter to eat solo, but the Apple Cinnamon is not in my opinion.


I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't tell you about the new Chobani Champions flavors (the kid version of Chobani as well), including the new Chocolate Vanilla flavor. It is absolutely wonderful and feels like a treat more than a yogurt.

The good people at Chobani have said they'll give one reader a prize package will include a case of the new flavors 12 cups total with four of each of each flavor- 0% Blood Orange, 0% Apple Cinnamon & 2% Passion Fruit.

Here's how you can win:

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite yogurt flavor
   
2. Tweet about the give away and leave a comment with your twitter name saying you did
   
3. Post the giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the link

Leave a separate comment for each for increased chances to win.

All comments must be received by Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time in order to be eligible to win. The winner must contact me via e-mail to claim their prize by Wednesday March 7, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern or a new winner will be chosen.

*Chobani provided me with a case of the new flavors to try, but did not compensate me in any other way for this post.

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Chicken Enchiladas

As promised, here is my recipe for Chicken Enchiladas.

You'll need:

• Two Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Packet of Taco Seasoning
• Can of Fat Free Refried Beans
• 8 Tortillas
• Regular Size Jar of Enchilada Sauce
• 1/2 Cup Sharp Cheddar

I usually bake up my chicken the night before, seasoning it with the taco seasoning pack, and baking at 400 degrees for 30 minutes to be a step ahead for dinner the next night.

Once chicken breast is done, I shred it with a fork (careful if you're doing it fresh from the oven and it's hot!) and then spread the refried beans on to each tortilla, then fill it with a portion of the shredded chicken. It should look something like this:


Then, fold up the filled tortillas and line them up in a baking dish, fold side down. Once in the dish, pour entire bottle of enchilada sauce evenly on top, then top with shredded sharp cheddar. For the sauce, I like the Ortega brand in Medium, it gives it a perfect kick. Yes, I know that sauce has corn syrup in it, no, I don't care.

Ready to bake!

Then, bake the dish at 350 degrees for 25 minutes and voila! Easy, and delicious! Each enchilada has five points if you're counting Weight Watchers Points when I use small, corn tortillas. Ben is always advocating for more cheese, but I think the half cup is the perfect amount for me.

I usually enjoy one enchilada in a sitting with two tablespoons of light sour cream (I do NOT do fat free dairy products besides milk, gross). This is a great six point, end of the day meal.

Thanks to these awesome baking dishes from Crate and Barrel we received from our friends Chris and Sarina as wedding gifts, I always freeze two of the enchiladas in the small dish and make them for a quick dinner for one if I need something in the future. They bake up just great after being frozen.

Tomorrow I'll be doing an awesome give away, that I'm really excited about, so be sure to check back then!

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Sunday Recipe Work Ahead

Sundays have become the days that I plan ahead meals, and make ahead what I can for the week to help Ben and I eat healthier during the week. I don't know why I haven't done this sooner, even if I can do part of a meal Sunday nights, it makes cooking during the week so much easier.

For instance, tonight I'll be making a lightened up version of The Pioneer Woman's Corn Chowder and baking seasoned chicken for my Chicken Enchiladas (I'll provide this recipe at a later date, it's easy and delicious!).

I'm also planning to make this Hawaiian Curried Chicken with Pineapple Salsa.

I mainly wrote this post to tell you all about an awesome give away I'll have coming up in the next week. I'll give you a clue, it's a great company for eating healthy, with great flavor, and I've done a give away with them previously, but now there are new flavors! Stay Tuned!

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Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Burgers

For my Valentine's Day lunch at work, I enjoyed leftovers from the night before. Homemade sweet potato fries, and a buffalo chicken burger inspired by ones I've seen in the case at Whole Foods, but can't buy because they're made with bread crumbs.

Yes, those are Chick Fil A ketchup packets

The easy recipe is as follows:

One Pound Ground Chicken Breast
1/3 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles
1/3 Cup Gluten Free (or regular) bread crumbs
1/8 Cup Original Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 Egg White
Mix together, form into patties and bake for 20-25 minutes at 400


You can add more red hot sauce if you like it spicier, but you'll probably want to add more breadcrumbs then so the burgers aren't too soggy. You could also add red pepper flakes for more kick!

For my weight watcher friends, this recipe made five burgers for me, and each burger was worth five points.

Also, I'm sure excited/grossed out by Jack in the Box's latest creation, the Bacon Shake!


Now, if you ask my husband, you'll know that I've had the idea of bacon ice cream treats for months. I've suggested crumbling bacon into an M&M McFlurry, or putting it on top of a hot caramel sundae, so you're welcome Jack in the Box.

The nutrition facts on this are obviously daunting. 773 calories and 40 grams of fat in a regular 16 ounce size. And, to boot, it's not even real bacon, it's bacon syrup they use to flavor it!

Either way, when I'm near a Jack in the Box, I'm trying it, and I'll report back. I doubt it will be as good as if real crunchy bacon were whipped up in the shake, but I'll take a few sips (which will probably turn into three extra pounds that week, whatever) and let you know!

Real Cold And WW Update

So, this weekend it actually got for real cold in DC. Not the wimpy cold natives of this area think is cold, but biting wind, and bone chilling cold cold. I went into Whole Foods Saturday afternoon, I came out 20 minutes later and there was wind whipping and snow swirling around like a snow globe, holy crap!

For the next two days, the temperatures were in the 20's and wind chills in the teens. Not crazy cold, but definitely not comfortable to be out in for long periods of time.

Luckily, I got in my run Saturday morning, I did a nice four miles to take it a bit easy.

Sunday night, I had made a nail appointment with a groupon for a place in DC to get another Gel Manicure (I wrote about those previously) so I took the metro in, and had some delays due to track work that were quite cold as I sat waiting on the plank for the next train to come at outdoor stations.

Updated Nails!

Thankfully, my nails looked great though! And I still love that I live in a place now that I can get pretty much anywhere by a reliable (most of the time) transit system seven days a week.

Weight Watchers has been going great. Last Friday I weighed in and was shocked to see 148.8 pounds, 1.2 pounds lost last week! I was shocked because I didn't feel like last week was as good as it could of been, but when I think about how I was eating before, it was much better than I would have ever done on my own.

I credit a lot of how Weight Watchers is going to changing up my breakfast. I've been having a more protein filled breakfast, rather than just cereal and milk or cereal with yogurt, and it's helping me feel more satisfied.

Someone likes protein filled breakfasts too

I usually always have egg whites with some sort of low fat cheese, and either turkey bacon, chicken sausage or a slice of gluten free bread to go with it. It takes more time to put together, and I get up about ten minutes earlier because of it, but it's completely worth it.

The breakfast is usually four points maximum, and tastes great! Plus, it helps me not start my day on a carb high, which will inevitably lead to my blood sugar dropping and super cravings and hunger just a few hours later.

I do still always eat a bowl of cereal the mornings before I run, because I know that that's what sits best with my body for running. I feel the carbs serve me better those mornings, and that is also usually only one morning a week, as I run after work during the week most times.