Running behind , per usual! I set my alarm for 6:26 this morning to get in a workout before my flight. It was a good one – a brisk early morning bike ride there, a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical and a nice ride home. I fit in 2 sets of push-ups, but had time for nothing more!
I was hungry when I woke up, so I had a half piece of toast with AB&J
So glad I did 99.9% of my packing last night, because I am flat out of time. I had just enough to shower, primp, pack a lunch (yet another airplane lunch!) and whip up some breakfast. I probably should have made overnight oats for a no-prep breakfast, but I was craving my new favorite:
Smoothie in a bowl with hazelnut butter + Mix My Granola.
The mix:
- 1.5 cups soy milk
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup frozen berries
- 3/4 frozen banana
- Granola
- Hazelnut butter
It wasn’t quite as thick and pureed as other days. I need to go back to my original recipe because it also blended better (I had some trouble with this one and had to add more liquid). Last week’s was more like a pudding than a smoothie and this one melted fast like a smoothie would. Not sure what the diff. was!
Celebrate Every Birthday
Y’all know I love birthday cakes!!
The American Cancer Society recently launched “The Official Sponsor of Birthdays”, a campaign collaborated with the Culinary Institute of America to host the “Taste More Birthdays” cake contest. The contest challenged CIA’s baking and pastry students to create a better-for-you and easy to replicate birthday cake. The groups turned to Ace of Cakes Chef Duff Goldman to judge the finalists and select the official birthday cake of the American Cancer Society.
KERF has the honor of hosting a guest post by Alexandra Mudry, winner of the contest.
Watch Alexandra’s You Tube video here!
Take it away Alexandra –
My Healthier Take on Birthday Cake
Think back to your favorite childhood birthday party. Remember the look of wonder on your face when the lights went out and your cake — candles aglow — came gliding in? I remember those moments, and in many ways, I keep trying to recapture them with each and every cake that I make. My name is Alexandra Mudry. I’m a baking and pastry student, at The Culinary Institute of America, and I am honored to have the privilege of introducing the official birthday cake of the American Cancer Society today.
Healthy living – eating right and exercising on a regular basis — is a way in which each and every American can fight cancer every day. As much as I love cake, I know that most of them don’t quite fit the definition of healthy living. That’s why the American Cancer Society, The Culinary Institute of America, and Duff Goldman from Food Network’s hit show “Ace of Cakes” came together to create a new, healthier take on the birthday cake as the official cake of the American Cancer Society — and hosted the “Taste More Birthday’s” cake contest to find it.
Why would the American Cancer Society be interested in birthdays? Because they recently started a new movement to fight for less cancer and more birthdays. There are 11 million cancer survivors in America, and they cherish each and every birthday as a victory over their terrible disease. The More Birthdays movement exists so that Americans can stand together to ensure, through healthy living and spreading the word, that cancer doesn’t steal any more birthdays.
To help Americans celebrate their birthdays in a more healthful way — and create a tasty treat in the process — I came up with my take on red velvet cake. My red velvet cake delivers plenty of taste but has much less sugar and fat than a traditional recipe. In addition to cutting back on sugar, eggs, oil and butter, I added some inventive ingredients like roasted beets, dried cherries, applesauce and whole grain flour to help kick the nutrients up a notch.
After an exciting day of baking at Charm City Cakes — home to Food Network’s hit show Ace of Cakes — Duff Goldman (the ace himself) picked my cake as the winner. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity, and I hope that my cake will help people enjoy many more birthdays.
Click here to bake my cake yourself: http://morebirthdays.com/morebirthdays/cake_contest.asp
***
KERF Goes To BlogHer: 2009
Remember BlogHer last year? It was a BLAST and a whirlwind and so much fun with my mom, 2008’s Official Sponsor!
This year I am lucky to have two official sponsors (although no mom to hang out with 🙁 )
Boca, as the sponsor of my Balanced Living writing gig at Gather, is sending me to the whole shebang! Flight, hotel + BlogHer. I was absolutely thrilled with the opportunity and continue to enjoy writing my blog posts at Gather too 🙂
My second sponsor, Stonyfield, is picking up the expenses. I am a huge fan of their Oikos greek yogurt (obvi!) and was honored to accept a sponsorship from Stonyfield. I’ve got a stack of co
upons for some free Oikos organic greek yogurts that I’ll be distributing to some lucky folks (hey hey Chicago blog readers!!)
Thank you to both sponsors for making this trip possible for me. My flight leaves at 11:15….
Follow me through BlogHer on Twitter: @KathEats.
Let the festivities begin!
Holly (The Healthy Everythingtarian) says
soooo exciting! have lots of fun at BlogHer…wish i could be there too! woowoo on sponsors, free Oikos and a whole lotta fun!
safe travels 🙂
Diana says
Exciting! Have Fun! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Diana
Christie @ Quit Your Diet says
Hoooray! Have fun at Blogher, can’t wait to read about it!
Becci says
I hope you have tons of fun! Enjoy Chicago!!
katherine (the runner wife) says
Have a wonderful time!!
Daria (Summer of the CSAs) says
Yay healthier cake! Hope you have a good flight and an awesome time at Blogher!
Cait (Cait's Plate) says
YAY! So exciting! You’re such a world traveler now-a-days! 🙂
Have so much fun at BlogHer.
Also – can I just say that I absolutely love that you set your alarm for 6:26!? HAH! It cracks me up, I think it is so cute.
Whitney says
Hope the rain stays away for our walking tour this afternoon!
Can’t wait to finally meet you.
Vanessa (Last Night's Leftovers) says
I am loving your smoothie in a bowl. Have a great time at BlogHer! (Jealous)
Amanda (My Summerizations) says
that cake contest was so cool! i definitely clicked on the link and checked out more. have fun at blogher! hopefully the chicago weather will be nice for you all!
Runeatrepeat says
I was thisclose to going to Blogher, but had to back out due to my new job 🙁 I hope you have a blast!
emmy says
Have a great time!
VeggieGirl says
Can’t beat Futter’s hazelnut butter!! 😀
Enjoy!!
Courtney (The Hungry Yogini) says
Wow! What an awesome adventure! Can’t wait to read allllllll about it =)
Deva says
Have fun, I can’t wait to read about it! 🙂
Eve says
Have a great time! That’s so fantastic that you have sponsors for this trip. Enjoy 🙂
Shannon (The Daily Balance) says
Have so much fun!! Can’t wait to read all about it 😉
jess says
I wish I was going to BlogHer – have a great time and enjoy Chicago!
Megan (The Runner's Kitchen) says
Mmm, I love birthday cake! Especially with butter cream frosting. But I’d be willing to bake (and eat) a healthier version 🙂
Susan says
I’m a big BlogHer fan, can’t wait to hear about your experience this year!
AnnQ says
Have a great time! (and good for you for fitting in a workout before your flight 🙂 )
Amanda @ Cakes and Ale says
Have a fantastic time here in Chicago… the weather is looking pretty good so far today – hopefully, you’ll have a sunny weekend! Chicago in the summer is the greatest!
Mel @ She Runs Brooklyn says
awesome that you’re on your way to the blogher conference! I just checked out the price to enter: $600.. yikes. you’re lucky!! can’t wait to read about it 🙂
Justy2003 says
Have a safe trip to Chicago! Can’t wait to hear all about the BlogHer conference…I remember how fun it was for you last year!
Whitney says
Have a good trip! Lucky you with TWO sponsors!
Katharina says
Ooo wow! I can’t wait to see your post about it! HAve fun and safe travels.
Ashley says
Whoa so is this thing free to visit for any old Chicago blog reader?!? If so I’m totally going into the city!
leslie says
can’t wait to hear all about the conference! have a safe flight!
Kath says
Mel,
The tickets aren’t $600 – I think $199? And Ashley, sadly it’s not free and it’s sold out, but you can come meet me on Sat night! Send me an email if so.
Kath
Rebecca says
i just read your recap from last year and am so excited to be going this year!!
Faith says
Sounds like so much fun! Have a wonderful time!
Ashley says
Man that is depressing. I hate being poor!
I’ll drop you a line Kath!
Pam says
Congratulations!
www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says
SO exciting! Have a wonderful flight and enjoy your time in Chicago! Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Dawn says
Love the smoothie in a bowl–looks delicious!
Funky Lady says
Love the Oikos…my baby boy got my last one for the week packed into his lunch today because his full fat yogurt was all gone! Bummer!
funkylady21.blogspot.com
Cynthia (It all changes) says
Can’t wait to hear all about BlogHER. It sounds so amazing.
I love the idea of not just fighting cancer but having more birthdays. I will have to try that cake as red velvet is one of my favorites.
I’m looking forward to what you are packing for lunch 🙂
Rebecca says
Have fun!! I’m eating Oikos right now (and just got a whole mess of it all over my keyboard -it’s worth it though) 🙂
Jenn (www. j3nn.net ) says
Have fun at BlogHer! It sounds incredibly awesome and it’s very generous of Boca and Stonyfield; love them both!
Jenn
britt says
hope you have a great time at blogher.
that smoothie soup looks so good. i have been wanting to try one for a while but i just can’t get away from my daily green monsters. ange has got me addicted to those. one day though, because the topping of nut butter and granola are too good to pass up.
lynn (The Actors Diet) says
how wonderful – have a great time!
sue says
have a safe flight, and a great time at blogher!
Susan @ Nurse on the Run says
So jealous of BlogHer…and CHICAGO!! Have an awesome time…take pictures with the Bean!!
Jessica says
Amazing! Have a great time!
both your breakfasts look phenom even if the second wasn’t what you hoped for 🙁 it is still beautiful!
-muffy
Bec says
have a great time!
The Duo Dishes says
Sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. You’ll have a blast.
Sarah says
Oh have fun! I love the windy city!
Courtney Worthington says
You’re going to have such a good tiiiime!
Nekeisha says
A co-worker died this morning she had bone cancer and a childhood friend’s mother died the day before her 57th birthday also of cancer, she was buried yesterday. Cancer is such a far-reaching disease, my friend’s mother died at 56 so I and all who knew her can see the great importance of just one day, one more birthday. I am a big beliver of this cause.
Andee (Runtolive) says
Sounds like an awesome trip! I remember your post recap from last year, have a great time! I love the smoothie idea, makes just “drinking” the smoothie a lot more fun when you can eat it!
Jessie says
How fun!
Visit my site to enter to win an AMAZON.COM gift card!!
Jessie says
sorry this one has a link 😉
Jill - GlossyVeneer says
I hope you enjoy BlogHer again this year. I’m a little bummed that I’m not going again, but that’s okay. I’m just looking forward to seeing people’s recaps!
Sues says
So, So disappointed I won’t be at BlogHer. But we have so many exciting things coming up, we couldn’t do it. But we WILL see you at the Healthy Living Summit. And hopefully some other upcoming events as well 🙂
Have a blast!! Can’t wait for your updates!
Sues
HeatherBakes says
Have fun on your trip!! Chicago is so much fun (good museums and GREAT shopping!)
faith says
i cant wait to hear about blog her, so fun!!! you must have found chia seeds because there is no way that little baggie is lasting that long :p
so my next trip to c-town might be soon….you’ve unveiled the best chinese….what about the best thai???? does it exist in NC???
have a wonderful time!
Kath says
Nekeisha,
So sorry to hear of your losses 🙁
Faith,
Same bag!! Using them sparingly. Thai Taste on East Blvd. is good!
Kath
junghwa says
i LOVE oikos!!!!
Michelle Hisae says
You have 2 sponsors?!! I didn’t even know you could do that, haha. A free trip (almost) – amazing! Have tons of fun and bring back lots of pictures, of course.
Canadian says
You know, I think regular birthday cake is great. Yes, sugar, fat, and all. It tastes great and it absolutely fits into a healthy diet. The only thing is, cake is a “sometimes food”. If you only “sometimes” enjoy cake, like at birthdays and other special events, then you don’t have worry about making it healthier. I only have a dessert once a week or less, but when I have them I’m aiming for yummy not nutritious.