Oikos Greek Frozen Yogurt Giveaway!

Oh yes, you read that right.

Despite the weather cooling down, I’m still eating frozen yogurt. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t enjoy it just as much in the Winter as I do in the Summer. I think it’s even better in the Winter because it doesn’t melt in 5 seconds. Agree?

Oikos Greek Frozen Yogurt is a great option for a healthier dessert. Each 1/2 cup serving is around 100 calories and packs 6 grams of protein -- 50% more than traditional frozen yogurt. Even better, it’s made without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones. What’s not to love?

I was recently given coupons to purchase 5 pints of the frozen yogurt. I couldn’t decide which flavor to try first, so I asked my instagram friends.

I took Lindsay’s and Allison’s advice to try a little bit of each at once! I happily agreed and plopped a spoonful of each in a bowl.

My thoughts? The blueberry and super fruits are incredible! I shoved a spoonful in Boding’s mouth this morning and he said “Oh, are you kidding me? That’s unbelievable.” I’m not a fan of chocolate frozen yogurt, so he judged that one. He said it was great! The vanilla was pretty standard and would be great with toppings. The only one I didn’t care for was the honey. It was just funky.

The Oikos Greek Frozen Yogurt is available in six different flavors:

The Giveaway

One of you will win:

• 5 coupons for for free pints of Oikos Greek frozen yogurt
• a $25 Whole Foods gift card for toppings

To enter: Tell me your favorite frozen yogurt + toppings combo. For an additional entry, feel free to tweet about this giveaway (@christinaorso) or post a link on your blog. Leave a separate comment for each entry.

Giveaway ends Sunday, October 28th at noon. Good luck!

Carbs, Carbs Everywhere

Last night while Santypants was on the phone with T-Mobile for a hundred hours, I prepped my morning breakfast: oats! It's been a while since I've had anything besides oat bran or Fiber One original, and oats were on my mind. I took an empty Oikos container and filled it with the following to soak overnight:

• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 tsp brown sugar

When I got to work, I added 1/2 of a banana, sliced. Then I stirred it all up and popped it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. I stirred after 1 1/2 minutes. It was soooo creamy. I've read about "overnight oats" plenty of times on Kath's blog, but have been sticking with my usual breakfasts. This is a great idea!

After it cooked, I topped the oats with a few dried cranberries, raisins, and a couple of milk chocolate chips! The melted chips make me soooo happy in the morning. I washed it all down with my usual 8 oz of skim milk! 

Later for lunch, I finished up the rest of the chicken salad with more spinach. I snacked on more grapes and an apple.

After work, I zoomed over to Target because I saw in their weekly sale ad that LUNA BARS are on sale! After tasting the peppermint cookie flavor yesterday, I needed MORE! I would much rather eat a Luna bar than a cookie, especially knowing it has actual health benefits. A box of six bars is on sale for $5.79 each, plus you  get an additional single bar FREE! The single bars are also on sale for $1.02. I got 2 boxes, 2 free single bars, and then I bought another one just because I couldn't resist. $12.60 for 15 bars = $.84 each! What a steal!

Dinner was soooooooo good: homemade pizza! This one came pretty close to beating the Prosciutto & Parrano pizza I made in September. Of couuuurse I sweetly asked the pizza man at Whole Foods to roll out the whole wheat dough for me. He looked at me funny this time, as if I hadn't asked him twice before. Maybe he just hates me. Anyway, I brushed the dough with a little bit of olive oil and added sliced mozzarella and Saint Agur gorgonzola.

Then I added a sliced D'Anjou pear...

A few slices of Prosciutto di Parma...

and stuck it in the oven for 15 minutes at 450*. When it was done baking, I topped it with toasted walnuts and drizzled it with honey! AHH!

With all that carb energy I had a dance party in my room with my two friends Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj!

Stop judging.

Chicken, Chicken Everywhere

Yesterday was my third training session. It wasn't as hard as last week but it was definitely another good work out. My abs hate my trainer, but this is probably a good thing. He told me I to add more protein to my diet, such as adding an an egg with my normal breakfast cereal/oats, and eating a half of can of tuna for lunch. That seemed boring to me, so I decided to make chicken salad. In my chicken salad I like fruit , nuts, and honey, but I despise mayonnaise. Then it occurred to me that I had a honey Oikos in my fridge....why not use that in place of mayonnaise? Greek yogurt has a good amount of protein, too!

I mixed together the following:

• 1 can of chicken breast meat
• 1/2 of a Gala apple, chopped into little cubes
• 1/2 cup of grapes, sliced in half
• 1/4 cup of walnut pieces
• 1 container of Honey Oikos greek yogurt
• freshly ground pepper

 

I had it for lunch on Tuesday over a bed of spinach:

I had to go to WF after work, and I was starving. I know that's a dangerous state to be in while grocery shopping, so I grabbed a Luna Bar to inhale while I picked up my stuff. This was a new flavor for me:

It was really tasty and I loved the hint of peppermint. It was as good as a cookie! I went to my training session at 7:30, then ran back to my house to meet my friend Santo. Santo is a fellow Blackberry user who recently ran over his phone with a golf cart. Nice job. I told him that I had an old Curve he could use in the meantime, and he was nice enough to bring me with Chickfila. This was going to be a special dinner, so I made sure I brought out the candle.

He brought my favorite salad, the Chargrilled Chicken & Fruit Salad, a Diet Lemonade (!!!)...and a lovely gift from his brother, Frankie. Frankie sells wine for a living, and thought it would be really nice to sent Santo over with one of his best wines. Really, it's a classy bottle. And pardon me for pronouncing it "Reunite"--Santo immediately corrected me saying, "No, no, Christina. It's ree-u-nee-tay." My bad.

 

This fine $5 Italian wine with an alcohol content of 8% will be saved for a very special occasion.

Greek Chicken & Potatoes

MMM PITA!

A few months ago, I found a pork souvlaki recipe on Serious Eats. I made the tzatziki sauce and it was really tasty. I omitted the olive oil because I didn't find it necessary, and it was still really yummy. You really taste the garlic and lemon in the sauce.

Here's the recipe I used:
1 cup Oikos plain Greek yougrt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup grated cucumber

Mix all ingredients together and marinade for at least an hour.

We cooked a chicken breast in olive oil and added a Greek seasoning that consisted of oregano, rosemary, and a couple other herbs. Then we stuffed toasted pitas with the chicken, spinach leaves, and the tzatziki sauce.

For the potatoes, I used olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. I baked them in the oven for about 45 minutes on 450*, turning halfway through.

Everything turned out great!

Step by Step Pumpkin Oat Bran!

Come here fall and give me a big hug!!

I dread the summer coming to an end, but this year, I think I'll go all grammy-like and embrace the seasons! Last night's soup was warm and cozy, so why not make breakfast the same?

We went on a 2 1/2 mile run together (sort of...) and then it was time to welcome pumpkin into our lives. Last night when we were at Publix getting stuff for the soup, I couldn't find pumpkin. I asked ones of the workers and she told me they don't usually get pumpkin until October. Okay, so I'm a little early! I was like eeeeek, bc it was 8:40 ish and Whole Foods closes at 9. Don't worry, Brandon's beast of a truck got us there in time.

Here is a step-by-step process of how I made the oat bran!

In a saucepan over high heat, add 1/3 cup of milk and 1/3 cup water. Add 1 tsp vanilla if desired. I always desire vanilla.


Once the liquid is boiling and acting crazier than Britney Spears, remove from heat and add 1/3 cup of oat bran.


And pumpkin:
Then add your toppings! For the pumpkin oat bran I used the following:
-cinnamon
-a dollop of vanilla greek yogurt
-a swirl of maple syrup
-a few walnuts and dried cranberries.

The work of art:
Verdict: Success in my mouth!

Beautiful Breakfast, Ugly News...Oh, and football.

Let's get the bad news over with: Facebook is now blocked at my work. All the ladies are freaking. Around 9:30 this morning I was scrolling through pics from the weekend, and when I went to click back to my own page, BAM! SPAM FILTER! NO!!!!!!!! I was so disturbed, I ran down to the girls in Accounting and they all confirmed it was blocked for them as well! One sweet lady thinks that if we raise a big enough stink, they'll let us have it back. Hmmm, probably not, but we can dream about it.

So to pull me out of my depression, I whipped out the $1 off coupon for Biggby Coffee that I had been drooling over for the past 6 days. Ever since its arrival to my email early Wednesday morning, I've been debating whether or not to get it. This week's coupon was $1 off a S'mores latte. Really!? I was drooling just looking at the coupon. But do I need the extra calories? Do I need to spend the frivolous $3.92 even after using a coupon? After the facebook crash, YES I DO.

I just got back to work with my latte and it is heaaaavenly. It's made with gingerbread, chocolate, and marshmallows. To me, that is perfect. And since I hadn't eaten breakfast, I pulled out my honey Oikos & a tangelo.


Right as I was pulling all this out, my coworker came in and offered me some grapes, so I gave her half of the tangelo. Breakfast just got even more amazing!


I'm not sure if I'm on some sort of coffee high or if these are my true feelings, but I think I like football. I watched about 7 minutes of the OSU/Navy game (Callie is so proud), about 24 of the FSU/Miami game, and maybe, just maybe, 32 of the Clemson/Middle Tennessee game.


But I feel the need to analyze why I might have enjoyed football.

OSU/Navy: Super Boyfriend removed the tv from his bedroom and put it outside on the deck. I'm not kidding. Like Super Boyfriend went Super Ghetto and used an extension cord and propped the 19 incher on the patio table. He and Brett sat in their foldout chairs to watch the game, while the girlfriends played in the A/C and read the newest People and surfed Forever21.com. It was beautiful outside Saturday, so I decided to see how the game was going and ended up catching the last few minutes, which were actually a big deal. OSU was winning 29-21 and Navy had the ball. Time to text Callie to make sure she's still alive. Her response: "I can't talk right now." HAHA! She is a huge fan and I want to thank her for convincing me to actually give the sport a chance. So for 7 minutes, I was outside in beautiful, sunny weather, sitting on boyfriend's lap, watching the game. What's not to like?

Clemson: Saturday night we went to Wild Wings with some friends to watch the game. They have $3 beers in these big plastic cups. Big plastic cups means beer slides down your throat a heck of a lot easier than in a bottle. 5, 6, maybe 7 beers later, Xtina came out. I really can't be sure how much of this game I actually watched, but I feel like it was about 32 minutes. With beer cups the size of my face and my blackberry in hand, I loved the game!

Success!!

Kidding, I didn't drink all of those.

FSU/Miami: First we had this on in the living room while Brandon was studying and I was looking up Italy hotels. The beginning of the game was really pretty. Scratch that, Callie said this is called "Pre-game activities." Wow, she is pretty much a football player. Anyway, the PGAs were fun! Fireworks, dancing horses, and girls with too much glitter on their faces! I likey! We watched the rest of the game while snuggling (ew) in bed, and I even asked a few questions. So for this game, I was perusing Italy sites, then snuggling, then (gasp!) learning something.

63 minutes of football--I think I like it. We're going to the Clemson/Texas Christian game in a couple of weeks. This will be my fiiiiiirst in real life football game. Yay!! Oh, wait, Callie says I need to say "live game" and "Clemson/TCU." Bear with me, this is a learning process.

Cilantro Lime Tilapia Tacos, Guac & Spicy Corn

Law School Orientation Day 1 down, 3 more years to go. For me? Oh heck no. For Brandon? Yes, please.

Girlfriend of the Week award -- I WIN! Awarding myself Girlfriend of the Year would be pushing it because 1)it hasn't been that long and 2) that's just outrageously cocky.

I made dinner allllll byyyyy myyyyyyselllllllfff. Brett's puppy, Hunley, helped too--by licking up everything I dropped on the floor. If you know me, you know how clumsy I am, and this is a lot.

In a bowl I mixed the following ingredients for the tilapia marinade:

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lime juice, plus zest

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp pineapple juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp cumin

salt & pepper

I put the tilapia & marinade in a ziploc bag and marinated it for almost an hour while I prepared guacamole (omg again, I know) and corn on the cob...that I sliced off the cob...so um, corn.

In a small bowl, I melted a pat of butter, then added a bit of lime juice, chopped cilantro, and cayenne pepper to drizzle over the corn.

I broiled the fish for about 10 minutes, turning once halfway through.

We placed the tilapia on top of warm corn tortillas, added guac, the pineapple/cabbage slaw from last night's dinner, and Greek yogurt. Can you tell whose plate is whose?

This was definitely a corn overload. Hello Potassium, Vitamin C and Fiber!

Greek Yogurt War

Greek yogurt is on my mind...pretty much all of the time.
Apparently, so is rhyming.

We blindfoldedly (ooh! new word!) taste-tested 3 popular Greek yogurt brands (all in Honey flavor): Fage, Oikos, and Voskos. I occasionally eat Chobani, but I couldn't find the Honey flavor at Publix or Whole Foods.

So we seriously rolled out of bed and I blindfolded Brandon...Ehhh this seems backwards...

We had three separate spoons so the flavors wouldn't mix, and I fed him a bite of all three and made him describe them. Then he blindfolded and fed me. Is this rated R content? I think so. If you're under the age of 18, please x out of this window and go back to playing on www.webkinz.com. If you're over the age of 18, please admire the following photos:

NO, I don't share. Nor do I give out samples.I'm very pleasant in the morning:

Here's how we described the yogurts, in the order that we sampled them:
Brandon

Oikos: thick, mild honey flavor, tangy
Fage: more honey, no tang, not as thick, less "Greek", sweeter
Voskos: honey tastes like applesauce, not thick but thicker then the previous, tangy applesauce

Christina
Fage: too sweet, not creamy, bad aftertaste, watered down
Voskos: not much honey, sweet, fermented rotten apples, more like regular yogurt, eww this tastes like old apple juice
Oikos: tangy, thick, creamy, slight/just enough honey

WINNER!

We refused to finish the Voskos -- gah it was awful! I'll give the brand a chance and try another flavor but ehhh that honey was disgusting.

I added some almond butter & strawberry jelly to an English muffin and we headed to the beach!=

Almond & Banana Pancakes!

Breakfast for dinner yeaaaaah!

I refuse to make pancakes out of the box. Most boxes contain trans fats, and homemade ones are so much better! Here's my recipe:

Recipe
1 cup old-fashioned oats (I used a packet of Quaker Oats High Fiber Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal MMMM)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (cinnamon helps stabilize blood sugar)
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
3/4 cup fat-free milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup almonds, smashed
Cooking spray

Directions
Whisk first 6 ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until blended. Never overmix pancake batter! Yuck! Fold in bananas.
Heat a non-stick skillet with cooking spray over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cupfuls in skillet. Cook pancakes on one side until bottom is golden-brown and the top side begins to bubble (about 2 minutes). Turn and cook another 2 minutes. ENJOY!

We also made bacon--Brandon found the healthiest bacon I've ever seen. Haha. By that I mean, lower calorie, lower fat, and lower sodium than regular bacon. It was Maverick Ranch's Nautral Applewood Smoked Bacon! So good!

First one in the pan--always a fail for me:

I ended up slicing the bananas and placing them in the batter:

Brandon's monster pancake:

Bacon!!

Plated: