May Showers! June Flowers!

Finally some time to sit down and write! What a relief!

With life happening at the speed of light, I hardly have time to embrace some of my favorite activities.
I have to pass on a lot of things and prioritze my time to spend with those dearest to me and balance my work load.

None the less, I am grateful to be able to be a part and be able to even set foot in these activities.

This little bundle of joy definitely keeps me occupied, aside from work, and other activities.

Such a wonderful photo snapped by my little niece. A Sunday afternoon enjoying his cousins play soccer. Nothing like family time.

I also got the chance to take my son to the track. Although it's a bit of a hassle to keep him entertained I am sure he enjoys watching, what he does watch, hid Daddy drive his car. Here are a few pictures snapped at Adams Motor Sports Park.

 When life is so hectic its hard to make time for some real cooking. At times I have to take something fast that I can make in minutes. Luckily, I found these soups which are more than filling, at the same time healthy, and vegan.

I have been meaning to write about these soups for some time now, and share with you all! The line carries an array of options for flavors and they even have their selection of Asian entrees.

It is one of the national leading cup brands and has been around for about 16 years. Inspired by Dr. McDougall's who believes in a plant based diet. He has helped people improve their health and quality of living by educating them regarding a diet containing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, rice, pasta and legumes. In fact Dr. McDougall is one of the founding fathers of natural wellness.

Below you can find a chart extracted from the Meals on the Go - Dr. McDougall's website which demonstrates the better choices you can make in selecting these products:

		Dr. McDougall's Right Foods®	Calories		Restaurant Meals	Calories
Breakfast		Dr. McDougall's Right Foods® Cranberry Multigrain Oatmeal	320		Blueberry oat bar****	370
		Banana	105		Banana	105
		Herbal tea	0		Large latte****	190
Lunch		Dr. McDougall's Right Foods® Whole Grain Lentil Couscous	190		Grilled chicken caesar salad*****	850
		Navel orange	80		Breadstick*****	140
		Fresh raw veggies with hummus dip*	134
Dinner		Dr. McDougall's Right Foods® Black Bean Ready to Serve Soup	240		½ of a cheese pizza******	499
		Baked potato**	278		¼ of a mixed green salad with gorgonzola cheese*****	274
		Spinach salad***	93
		Total Calories (approximate)	1,440			2,428

Lots of great choices and the best part low calorie intake!

Here you can view their ready to serve soups,

 but my absolute favorite has to be the meal cups!
A total selection of 28 meal cups, which include soups, oatmeals, rice pilafs, couscous and more!

They carry gluten free and organic options as well! 

This product strives to bring you great taste, variety, and an abundance of nourishing ingredients. 

Give these a try and see how much of a difference they make in your diet and in your health. I promise that you will feel the difference. 

Good luck to all striving to eat healthier and lead healthy lifestyles! 

You can do it! 

Toodles! 

Sysco Convention

Hello bloggies!!

   It's been over a month since I have gotten a chance to post a blog. Between being a Mom, working, attending church and spending time with my family I have truly been swamped. 

At the end of March I got to once again represent FlapJack Protein Pancakes at the Sysco Convention in the Fairplex.

If you have yet to see the youngest brand ambassador visit the FlapJacked Facebook page to see my little one in action! 

https://www.facebook.com/FlapJacked

 A wonderful show full of deliciousness,  food, and one of the best chefs around, Robert Irvine. 

Here is a picture of the floor! 

So what exactly is Sysco? 

Well it's one of the global leaders that markets and distributes to restaurants, healthcare and educational establishments. Within this system one can find brokers ect. to work alongside your business or personal goals. 

This was a classic car that was displayed at the entrance of the convention featuring the wonderful farmer's market produce. Some vendor's also brought their speciality recipes to share with us. 

I honestly wished that I could have driven out with this truck home lol! 

This is one recipe I greatly enjoyed with a new vegetable/fruit. Although I can't remember what the name of it was mango radish? But here is the salad containing mango, cilantro, pineapple, and the mystery ingredient which I think was mango radish. 

There I am taking advantage of the photo booth! 

I was awed by this recipe! 

That's right add strawberries to your guacamole for a change. I tried this and it was not too shabby, I would recommend it. As I like to say, don't knock it 'till you try it! 

Here I was able to get some snapshots of Chef Irvine as he was welcomed to the stage. 

Of course my day would not be complete without taking home some goodies! Yay! 

Like always I like to close with some inspiration for your life! I share my healthy heart withy you and I hope that you will do the same, remember knowledge is power! 

I know it's hard but you can do it so.....

Lastly rememeber that you are what you eat! 

Hearty Breakfast!

As promised on my Instagram page a few weeks back I said I would share the benefits of an awesome breakfast selection. 

If your like me, and always seem to be in a rush, it's neat when you can find ways to make  life just that much more convenient. 

Normally, I am so much in a rush that I opt out breakfast all together, which is the worse idea in the world. 

Breakfast is essential and like they say the most important meal of the day. 

When all possible I tend to gravitate to juicing, it's fast, practical, and fills you up while giving you the nutrients you need. 

Here is the post I made exactly two weeks ago. 

I enjoy mixing in the frozen fruit bag from Costco with my Simply Orange Juice. 

The bag comes in a Medley with all natural fruit which include, papaya, mango, pineapple, and strawberries. I often throw in a banana just for extra Vitamin K benefits. This saves you the time of chopping! The bag comes in a decent size, if smart you can make it last a while. 

The Simply Orange brand is a juice that comes in a non-concentrate base, which there seems to be much debate about. Which juice is better concentrate or not from concentrate?

Good question indeed!!

From personal analysis it seems that when a juice comes from a concentrate process it looses nutritional value. Many would still argue that this is simply not true. 

Basically concentrate means that the water content from the juice was once removed and then added back in, dried and then rehydrated. The reason behind this derives from the longer life shelf that companies reach by doing so. But have you ever looked at the ingredients of this so called 100% concentrate juices? 

If indeed you are getting a juice that is 100% juice should there not only be one ingredient in the label? 

So indeed, be not fooled by what you read in the marketing scheme of your products, pay close attention to the ingredient section of all food you buy. Get the most for your money and make sure you are truly providing nutrients for your body and your not just falling into the scheme of false advertisement. Believe me when I say we are all victims! 

But the best thing about this line is you can find a decent selection of flavors, from pink lemonade to mango orange. You can also find products high in Vitamin D and Calcium an excellent choice for my vegans out there. 

Ancient Grain Hot Cereal

At the Expo I was given a bag of this delicious and wholesome hot cereal. Manufactured by Purely Elizabeth, her goal is to make products that are innovative nutrient rich ingredients. The idea for her oatmeal was to take regular oatmeal and make it better for you. Adding a lot of superfood ingredients to your morning oatmeal. This is a slow cooking, it takes about 20 minutes. "This is a great way to fill your body with nutrient rich ingredients and have energy throughout the day," states Elizabeth. 

And if you are still yet not convinced check out all of the nutritional facts above, taken from her website : 

http://www.purelyelizabeth.com

You can also check out more videos and see the array of products her line carries.

Enjoy a good breakfast this morning even if it's just juicing for the first time! 

Try it the worse that can happen is you don't like it! 

Happy Blogging. :) 

NASCAR Anyone?

Hello Bloggies! 

I have been so busy juggling work, family, and everything in between but none the less I couldn't be more thankful, blessed and excited to share this weekends event with you all! 

One of the fastest growing American sports is NASCAR and yours truly got a little piece of the action! 

Some of you may know exactly what I'm talking about but for those that don't let me share a little NASCAR 101 as I listen to my Aventura ITunes station this morning. 

NASCAR is an acronym for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Although it overseas many kinds of races the following are the top three: 

1. The Sprint Cup Series

2. Nationwide Series 

3. Camping World Truck Series. 

The cars used now have minimal resemblance to the stock heritage of its origins. Now you can find four types of cars out on the track; Ford Fusion, Dodge Charger, Cheverolet Impala and the Toyota Camry (hence why you see all of these companies actively promoting and marketing these tours).

The Ford Fusion on the track. 

Dodge Charger

Toyota Camry 

Chevrolet Impala

I'm strictly going to focus on the Sprint Cup series which features one of the 22 tracks located near my hometown. This trackt hosts one of the 36 races in the Sprint Cup Series. 

Welcome to the Auto Club Speedway located in the heart of Fontana, California. 

The speedway was built in 1997 and it's first winner, Jeff Gordon, made this track renownly known. 

So let's discuss a little more about the build of these cars. One of these fully equipped cars weighs about 3,400 pounds and has a wheelbase of 110 inches. A 358 cubic inch V8 engine can generate 750 horse power on the track! Wow! These drivers average a speed of 170 mph while maneuvering left turns on ovals or D shaped tracks. Laps range from 400-500 laps and as low as 150. I believe for this series it was 200 laps. 

There I am enjoying the adreline rush of sitting inside the stadium while the cars zoom by! Got to admit the people who invest in ear protection are truly smart, because boy do your ears buzz after a while. 

The California Speedway is one of the D shaped tracks. In order for one to win on this track you need a fast car, quick pit stop, smart crew shift, and an efficient engine builder. Due to the wide racing surface on this track, what it really comes down to is fuel mileage battling. 

Can't forget to give credit for the founder of NASCAR racing. It originally sprung from Bill France Sr. in 1948. 

The first NASCAR race featured three categories : strictly stock, roadsters, and modifies. In 1949 on a 3/4 mile dirt track at the Charlotte Speedway, Jim Roper won the first "strictly stock" division which flourished into the Sprint Cup Series we know today.

Of course, I can't finish my blog without thanking my friends at Von's/Safeway for allowing me the opportunity to work and enjoy some of the festivities. Thank you to my agency Encore Nationwide for booking me, I had a blast welcoming race fans into our tailgate. Even more fun was encouraging the little ones to play the bean bag toss game! But those Life Saver Gummy samples took the cake. People loved them! 

If you came by our booth on Sunday that was me sampling the gummies. I'm sure race fans enjoyed the games, samples and complimentary food! 

This was a shot prior to the the mayham! 

The booth was successful! Bringing the old together with the young! 

Me working hard :)

The Carl Edwards car on display, brought to you by Kellog's. 

Couldn't pass the opportunity to get inside. 

The crew! Professionals and a bunch of goof balls! Great teamwork! 

Here are a few snappets from surrounding areas that caught my eye. 

This shot was taken early Sunday Morning before the final race. 

And of course my lovely lady friends working their booths. 

The official partner of NASCAR handing health and beauty products. 

Toyota gals providing some arcade fun and airbrush painting! 

           So it's pretty much a wrap!

Congrats to Jimmie Johnson for putting up a great battle against Jeff Gordon. 

Of course everyone's problem this year was tires! Blowouts occurring by the minute. 

Kyle Bush took the win for the second year in a row. Another victory in the books for him. 

I sign off with the standings for the 2014 Sprint Cup Serie and a little inspiration. 

If you were not a fan before this blog I hope I left you with enough anticipation to watch the next race. 

What kind of women would I be to not support my fellow lady drivers. Although 2014 was not yet our year to have a lady representing in NASCAR, watch out for these ladies waiting to make a revolution.

Lok out for Paige Decker, Ayla Agren, and Karsyn Elledge. 

I couldn't have said it better: