And the Winner Is….

It’s time to announce the winner of our SlimKicker Digital Scale Giveaway! We got some great ideas for creative physical challenges that SlimKicker could use for their app. After some careful consideration, they chose the idea submitted by georgina070886!! Here’s what Georgina came up with:

Georgina will be receiving this Ozeri Epicurean Digital Kitchen Scale and her suggestion may be featured in the Challenges section of the SlimKicker App. Georgina – please contact me using the email address in the “About” section of the blog so that I can help you claim your prize. CONGRATULATIONS!!

Thank you to everyone that participated…keep your eyes open for more contests and giveaways!

Homemade Vegan Strawberry Banana Ice Cream and Giveaway Update!

I will admit, before becoming vegan, I had an addiction to ice cream. Even as I transitioned and discovered all of the yummy alternatives to dairy ice cream, I would keep a constant stock in my freezer. For the past month or so, I have really been focusing on reducing all of the extra sugar and processed items from my diet, as well as exercising daily in preparation for my trip to Puerto Rico tomorrow, so the ice cream has not made it home with me. That doesn’t mean that I’m not still craving it! To ease my cravings in a healthy way, I came up with this quick and easy recipe – and it did NOT disappoint! You don’t need an ice cream maker – I did this all in my food processor (a strong blender would work, too).

 

Homemade Vegan Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

Makes about 2 servings

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana, cut into small slices

3 or 4 large half frozen strawberries

approx. 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Process:

1. If your strawberries are completely frozen (mine were), submerge them in a bowl of warm water – they didn’t process well in a completely frozen state.

2. Chop up banana pieces in a food processor/blender – you will have tons of tiny banana pieces.

3. Add half-defrosted strawberries and a small amount of almond milk and process – as the fruit processes, continue to add in the milk to the desired consistency. Here’s what mine looked like:

Ice cream in food processor

4. To get more of a soft serve consistency, stick the ice cream in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

5. Add a pretty garnish and enjoy!

YUM!

You can definitely vary this recipe by adding different fruit combos, making sure that the banana is the base. I LOVE the strawberry/banana combo (remember my healthy breakfast shake?), but I am excited to try mango, raspberry, and maybe even blueberry! Like the shake, you could also add a spoonful of cocoa, or even use chocolate non-dairy milk for a different taste. Go nuts!

Giveaway Update:

The SlimKicker Kitchen Scale Giveaway has ended! The people at SlimKicker will look over the entries to pick their favorite challenge idea, and I will post the winner as soon as I can! I will be leaving for Puerto Rico early tomorrow morning, so the announcement may have to wait until Thursday night when we get back….can’t wait to try all of the fresh fruits and veggies that they have there! Adios!  =)

Our resort in San Juan – La Concha

App Review: SlimKicker and Digital Kitchen Scale GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to my plant-based diet, my energy level has been through the roof! Before my diet change, I didn’t have the energy or the drive to exercise. I would come home, nap, eat, and sit around. Now, I wake up with no caffeine or sugar and start my day energized – sometimes I even exercise twice a day!

Along with getting in better shape overall, my long-term goal is to run a 5K (I ran my first full mile without stopping on Wednesday – super excited). In order to keep myself on track and motivated, I have been trying out different fitness apps that I can use on my phone. I came across an app called SlimKicker that not only tracks your exercise sessions, but also lets you track your meals/calories and gives you challenges to work towards to gain points. The more points you rack up, the closer you get to your reward – and YOU get to pick what you will reward yourself with. To keep you motivated, you can upload a picture of your reward (whether it’s that new pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing, or a book you’ve been dying to read) and they will remind you to reward yourself when you reach your goal. It’s colorful, easy to use, and really helpful when it comes to seeing your progress. They even have recipe ideas! SlimKicker is available for Apple and Android phones and is FREE! Take a look at the different areas of the app:

First, you have your personal profile page.

Profile Page

Your profile page shows everything involved in the app – points, rewards, and achievements. Your leaderboard shows how you rank among your friends.

The Diet page lets you log your food and you gain points by eating healthy calories like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

On the the Body page, you can log your weight, set a weight loss goal, and log your exercise in order to gain points toward your rewards. They have a great selection of exercise types that even calculate the calories you burned for you!

That brings us to the Challenge page and the topic of our GIVEAWAY! SlimKicker encourages its users to complete challenges, like giving up soda for a week or eating a salad a day, to earn points towards their chosen reward.

GIVEAWAY!

SlimKicker needs YOUR help to come up with some fun and creative ideas for their Challenges. To enter, leave your suggestion for a new diet or fitness challenge in the comment section of this post – try to keep it to a sentence or two. The contest will run for exactly one week – at that time, SlimKicker will choose their favorite idea and it will be announced in a post.

The winner will receive this Ozeri Epicurean Digital Kitchen Scale:

Ozeri Epicurean Digital Kitchen Scale

Pretty sweet, huh? So leave me your best ideas for a fitness or diet challenge in the comments below – you can only enter once, so be as creative as possible! Contest ends 8:00pm EST on Friday, July 27th.

Good Luck!