Liv Life: September 2015

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

GoMacro Mini Review and Giveaway... and a little Nice Cream!

Balance... it's a word that I always took literally until I learned enough to know better. Can you balance on your head? Or on one foot? That was balance. Until I got to know Marco.

I met Marco some 15 years ago at our local Carlsbad Farmer's Market. A regular face at my favorite organic farm stand, Marco taught me how to pick the best peaches. He taught me about immunity and how to feed my body to improve it. And he taught me about balance.

"The key to keeping your balance is to know when you've lost it"

anonymous

Balance... a word that now defines the life we strive for has helped my kids maintain sanity in an ever increasing competitive school world. It's helped us remember to take time to look at the sunset, and it's helped us to live in the present while still planning for our future.

And balance helps keep us healthy... which brings me to GoMacro and their line of bars. While I try to maintain home cooked, plant-based meals, the schedules of two very busy kids, an airline pilot husband who needs food on the road, and me trying to keep everyone happy, sometimes doesn't leave time to prepare decent meals. As such, I'm often on the lookout for convenient bars to toss into dance and camera bags, but I only consider those that meet our dietary needs (dairy-free for all of us, plant-based for most of us).

Enter GoMacro, the bar that meets those high standards, and exceeds them. (Before you think they've paid me to write this post, let me say here that I have not received any payment from GoMacro, however they have offered to supply one reader a box of assorted Mini GoMacro Bars for our giveaway. This review comes from my love of the product and a desire to share!) Add in irresistible taste (chewy, not chalky bars that taste like real food) and you have even more of a bonus. Vegan, Soy-free, and organic... three very important factors when I'm looking for bars, and frankly their tagline sums it up perfectly:

"Some people sacrifice nutrition for taste. Some people sacrifice taste for nutrition. With GoMacro there are no sacrifices."

Founded to promote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, GoMacro is a family owned company inspired by whole food nutrition. Facing breast cancer in 2003, founder Amelia turned to her farm-fresh foods and a macrobiotic diet to help beat the disease. Together, she and her daughter experimented with the whole grains and fruits grown on their farm along with natural sweeteners to create macrobiotic products and today we all benefit from the result.

GoMacro fuels teams like the LA Clippers, the Florida Panthers, and tennis players in my home town at the Carlsbad Classic. In addition I can personally vouch for GoMacro's importance at Liv's competitive dance competitions (I pack a bag to share), and while I'm not sure it counts as a "sport", my son took a case of bars to his UCSB fraternity volleyball event to help they guys keep up their energy :)

It's all about balance...

And with flavors like Morning Harvest (Apple and Walnut), Protein Pleasure (Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip - and Liv's personal favorite), Prolonged Power (Banana and Almond Butter), and Balanced Goodness (Coconut and Granola - my favorite), there's a recipe for everyone.

And here's the best part - the ingredients. Real, sustainably sourced, plant-based, and organic foods. Here's an example of the ingredients list for the Protein Pleasure Bar:

Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup*, Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Protein Blend (Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Protein, Organic Pea Protein), Organic Puffed Brown Rice, Organic Fair Trade Chocolate Chips (Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Cocoa, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Peanuts

Let it be said... I love these bars and place my Mom Stamp of Approval squarely on the box. And I'm super excited to partner with GoMacro to give away one case of assorted GoMacro Minis (the size is perfect for a snack on the run and preferable to the larger bars in our household). Simply enter the giveaway below for your chance to win, but if you can't wait and want to purchase bars now head to GoMacro.com and use the discount code "BLOGGER" for a 40% discount on your first GoMacro purchase (Free shipping on orders over $100).

Thank you GoMacro! My camera bag is never without extra memory cards and a "Balanced Goodness" Granola Coconut GoMacro Bar. It is indeed the perfect balance.

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Congratulations to our winner: Morgan C. from Washington DC!
GoMacro Mini Giveaway

1 case (24) assorted GoMacro Mini Bars
1 winner chosen at random from the entries below
Giveaway opens 9/22/15 and ends 10/3/15 at midnight PST
Value of prize $30.95
Open to US Residents only

Nice Cream (Nana Ice Cream) with GoMacro Topping

iPhone photo... someone keeps borrowing my camera for school projects!

Have you tried Nice Cream or Nana-Ice Cream?? Oh my goodness you simply must! Who knew frozen bananas would blend up to such a creamy, rich and totally irresistible concoction?? Top with granola or pieces of chopped GoMacro Bars and you have a frozen treat that will have you cheering when your kids ask for thirds!

frozen Bananas
diced GoMacro Bars

Place about a cupful of frozen bananas into a blender and blend until light and creamy (time depends on the power of your blender). Spoon into a chilled bowl and top with dice GoMacro Bars.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal

Oatmeal ranks up there as a personal Liv Life favorite. Be it for breakfast, dinner, or a quick afternoon snack, oatmeal's heartiness leaves me satiated, and it's nutty flavor brings a blank slate just waiting to be adorned.

I can't say the same for Liv though... while she is a fan of oatmeal, it doesn't reach a "favorite" in her ranking. However, with the proper topping, I can move that ranking pretty darn high.

Topping oatmeal with blueberries and bananas is always a sure hit in her book, but frankly she'd prefer an old favorite - oatmeal with rainbow sprinkles. As I'm not making rainbow sprinkles a "nutritious part of her everyday breakfast", her next request (months ago) was Cinnamon Apple.

I'd like to say I jumped right on that request, but alas, it went in one ear and out the other. But thankfully my blogger friends have my back.

This month's Blogger C.L.U.E challenge of "Fall Fruits" sent me searching A Palatable Pastime's index for apples, pears and pumpkins. And behold... the first thing that jumped out has put me back on the Best Mommy Ever path.

Sue's recipe for Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal is just what my girl-child ordered, and she loved it so much she actually had not one, but two bowls on Labor Day morning.

See? My blogger friends have me covered, and Sue is simply amazing. With over 40 years of cooking experience, her specialties lie with heartland and southern cooking. She's won numerous recipe contests (understandably!), but what caught my eye was a feature on Debbie Field's e-zine. How cool is that? (I've had a little crush on Debbie ever since I tried her White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies when I was in college).

In any case, thank you Sue for making me a Super Mommy in Liv's eyes again. Your Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal recipe is so much better than anything out of a package and perfect for quick early morning breakfasts. Liv sends her Apple Cinnamon love!