Good Earth Tea Giveaway {CLOSED}

Today’s WIAW will be a tad different.  I’m featuring two different brands and will end the post with a giveaway.  Happy Wednesday to YOU, friends!  Let’s begin:

Nasoya, makers of Nayonaise, the original vegan mayo, recently perfected Nayonaise for a smoother, creamier texture and it now comes in new distinct varieties.  Nasoya came out with this interesting graphic just in time for Easter: Have an Eggless Easter: A Guide to Simple Substitutions for Spring.

Now, you all know I don’t celebrate Easter (I’m Jewish) nor do I eat strictly vegan.  In fact, I love eggs.  However, I certainly do not love mayonnaise mostly due to the fact that itz just so bad for you.  I am all about making healthy substitutions and eating a variety of foods, and I do try to eat plant-strong.  Nayonaise has half the fat and a third the calories as traditional mayonnaise.

I decided to try the nayonaise on my eggwich first.  Use an eggless-mayo on an egg sandwich?  Yeah, doesn’t make much sense, but it did taste good!

I toasted an english muffin, fried an egg, added fresh spinach and turkey, and smeared on the nayonaise.  I put it all together and wah-lah!  I was amazed at the flavor the nayonaise added!  It was a quite a tasty addition.  Next, I added it to two turkey sandwiches made on dollar rolls on a plate perfect for Easter.

I feel like if I’m going to eat mayo nayo, it must be with turkey!  For Jonny’s lunch yesterday, I made him a turkey sandwich on matzoh (remember, we’re Jewish and itz Passover!), and asked him how it was when he got home from work.  “Turkey, cheese, and mayo?  Of course it was good!”  It passed the Jonny-test!  Plus, the entire line is vegan, a good source of vitamin B12 and made from expeller pressed oil. All products are also fortified with Omega 3 ALA for added nutrition.

Disclaimer: Nasoya provided me with product; I received no compensation.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Now itz time to switch gears and talk TEA!  Good Earth Tea specifically.  To launch their unique new tea flavors, Cocoa Tango and Sweetly Twisted, Good Earth Tea partnered with Hollywood’s hottest fitness guru, Bizzie Gold to create signature BUTI Fitness workouts inspired by these new flavors – which taste sweet without the need to add sugar.

The full-length workouts are available free on Good Earth’s website and YouTube channel and are the only place to stream FREE full-length BUTI workouts.  Pretty fun that workouts and teas are connected, eh?  Ali was kind enough to also include a box of their Original Sweet & Spicy blend!  I most recently enjoyed a cup amidst the twelve inches of snow St. Louis got over the weekend.  It sure warmed me right up!

An aromatic sweet cinnamon tea with hints of orange. Our full flavored signature blend offers up a rich, spicy fragrance followed by a sweet, warming, clean taste without added sugar.  Honestly, I usually do sweeten my teas with honey or NuNaturals, but with these teas I did not have to.  They were all bursting with so much flavor and sweetness that I was totally good without.

New flavor #1: Cocoa Tango Black Tea.  Sweet, sensually smooth flavor of cocoa envelops the unpredictably fiery hit of chili pepper.

The smell alone of this tea will leave your mouth watering.  Usually when teas are flavored “cocoa” or “chocolate,” I find that they smell really good, but the taste leaves something to be desired.  Not with Cocoa Tango – it was just as delicious as it smells.

New flavor #2:  Sweetly Twisted Black & Herbal Tea.  A sweet start takes an unexpected tangy twist leading to a refreshing finish.

I warmed up with a cup of this tea by the fire and made Jonny a glass, but added ice to his.  Jonny is not a fan of tea at all, so I was really curious to what his reaction would be.  And guess what?  He liked it!  He kept asking what the flavors were because there really is a mixture of sweet and tangy.

Good Earth has offered to give ONE Itz Linz reader a variety pack including Sweet & Spicy, Green Tea Lemongrass, and Cocoa Chai tea.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling us what your favorite flavor of tea is!

For an optional additional entry, follow Itz Linz and Good Earth Tea on Twitter and tweet the following, “I want to win a @GoodEarthTea variety pack from @ItzLinz! Enter here: http://wp.me/p2WMfo-1sE” and leave a comment saying you did so.

Itz a fast giveaway, folks!  I will announce a winner on Friday, March 29th and the winner will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be chosen.

The winner of the Good Earth Tea giveaway is #41 Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli.

Disclaimer: I was provided the teas to review without compensation; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Marvelous In My Monday Giveaway

Well hello there, Monday!  Time to get the week started with some Marvelous In My Monday with the one and only Diva Katie!

1.  Go-Go Goji Green Tea.  Green Tea, gojiberries, lemongrass, pomegranate seeds, cornflower blossoms, and blueberry flavoring.

I finally joined in with the #teatime12 party.  My dad and I went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday (which is marvelous in itself!), but what’s even better is that my dad bought me a new tea: Go-Go-Goji.  I even got a chance to try out my teapot made for loose tea.  The Go-Go-Goji tea is delicious; it’s mild, yet fruitfully flavorful!  And speaking of tea, this brings me to number two:

2.  Tea.  Fifty Shades.  Bed.  Sunday.  I was late jumping on the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon, but oh.my.goodness.  I started the book on Friday, really got into on Saturday, stayed up late, woke up early, and stayed in bed drinking tea and reading on Sunday morning.

Now I know what all the fuss was about!  I could not put it down!  I haven’t read a book that captivating in a long time.  I had to keep rereading my tea mug: stop. smile. breathe. Haha!  Now I’m anxious to get my hands on the next two books!

3.  Mama.  I’ve written about my lovely grandmother before, but she is seriously the coolest lady around and definitely deserves to be in this marvelous post.  A dear family friend was in town this past weekend, so we had a big family dinner last night at my parents.  We got on the topic of Fifty Shades and Mama confessed to reading all three books!  We had quite a fun conversation and then spent time googling pictures of who would be Christian Grey.  Heheh.  We decided Colin Egglesfield would be perfect.

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4.  Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pizza Crust.  Jonny and I have made pizza at home before, but that usually just entails buying a premade crust and then layering it with toppings.  I decided to pick up the whole wheat dough at TJ’s after reading the label and discovering how simple it was to make.  (All you have to do is spread the dough out, put your sauce and toppings on, and pop it in the oven!)  Plus, it was only a little over a dollar compared to the premade crusts which cost four or five.

It wasn’t a perfectly circular pizza, but after it came out of the oven I decided it looked like a misshapen heart, and I was okay with that.  First, I spread tomato sauce and sprinkled seasoning on the dough, and then I cooked peppers, onions, and mushrooms on the stove before putting them on the pizza.   Then, I sliced up sausage (fine, it was actually Tofurky sausage, but it tasted really good!) and put that on top, too.  Next, I sprinkled a little bit of TJ’s parmesan cheese (the best!), and cut thin slices of brie cheese made out of goat milk (also purchased at TJ’s).  It was faaaan-tastic!

5.  Giveaway time!  Last week, I told you that every Monday in June, I would be giving away a different flavor of Barlean’s Omega Swirls.  You can read my full review here, but I want to give you some additional facts about the Omega Swirls.

• Sugar-free
• All natural
• One spoonful a day keeps the doctor away and you’ve got your optimal Omega-3 dose
• DELICIOUS!!!

This week’s flavor that will be given away is Key Lime.  I have not yet gotten to try this, but it sounds delectable and perfect for summer.  You could make a key lime pie and sneak this in.  🙂  (I’m all about being sneaky with my cooking!)  Though, truthfully, once people actually taste the key lime, I’m sure sneaking wouldn’t even be needed.

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For your chance to win a bottle of Barlean’s Key Lime Omega Swirl Fish Oil, all you have to do is leave a comment down below telling me one thing about why summer is awesome.  Stay up to date with this contest and other exciting news by following Itz Linz on Facebook.  You may earn additional entries to this giveaway by subscribing to Itz Linz, following Itz Linz on Twitter, following Barlean’s on Twitter, and/or tweeting, “I want to win a bottle of @barleans Omega Swirl in Key Lime ($25 value!) from @ItzLinz!  http://wp.me/p264zq-z7”  Leave a comment for each separate entry and best of luck!

You have until Thursday, June 14th at 7:00 pm CST to enter.  Winner will be chosen on Friday, June 15th and will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be drawn.  This giveaway is open to US residents only.  Don’t forget: this giveaway will continue throughout the month of June, so check back each Monday to find what the flavor of the week is and then on Friday to see if you won!

Laters, baby.

Itz WIAW

Itz the first official WIAW of summer break!  Yippee!  For many more delicious WIAW posts and meal ideas, be sure to head on over to Peas and Crayons and click around.

Also, don’t forget to enter my giveaway which is perfect for summer – especially for making that dreamsicle smoothie that is oh so delicious.  Now, let’s talk breakfast.

3 egg whites on top of steamed kale and smothered in Trader Joe’s habanero lime salsa.  I’ve been on a tea kick lately and it’s made all the better by a pretty mug one of my students gave me at the end of the schoolyear.

My blue nails have just been matching everything lately!  I love the quote on the mug: stop. smile. breathe. life is beautiful.  It sure is.  I was drinking some black tea from my foodie penpal and sweetened it with Lemon NuStevia.

Yesterday, I attended a workshop for my school and we had a one hour lunch break.  There was a Whole Foods close by and I was super stoked to visit their hot food bar.  As much as I go to Whole Foods, I’ve never gotten lunch or dinner from the bar!  So naturally I had to have a little taste of everything.

I chose many items from their Health Starts Here line since it is very healthy with no added gross stuff (oil, etc.), but not everything I chose was from there.  Just some of my box included spinach, cabbage salad, cucumbers, peas, carrots, edamame, corn, mushrooms, peppers teriyaki tofu, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and some other kind of salad that I don’t remember the name of.  It was amazing.  I have a feeling I’ll be back.  Soon.

Dinner is from Monday night.  At the pool party we attended there was a nacho bar around 3:30, so we definitely wanted something on the lighter side for dinner.  It was light and came together in a jiffy.

Steamed broccoli, black beans, brown rice, plain greek yogurt, and more of TJ’s habanero lime salsa.  Though we did save room for dessert later in the evening.

Strawberry Coconut Smoothie – Oh baby was this good!  Frozen strawberries, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, ice, plain greek yogurt, shredded coconut, Vanilla NuStevia, and flaxseeds.  Seriously amazing.

That sums it up for today.  Make sure you become a fan of Itz Linz on Facebook to stay up to date on some exciting stuff coming up on the blog.  You won’t want to miss it.  🙂

Tell me about your good eats as of late!

Foodie PenPals: April

April showers bring… Foodie PenPals!  Today is reveal day: I get to share with you what my foodie penpal sent me and you get to find out what I sent my foodie penpal.  Contain your excitement, please! 😉

Click on the button above to get involved.  And you really should.  It’s so fun and so easy.  Seriously.  Have I sold you yet?  If not yet, check out what my foodie penpal sent me and what I sent mine and maybe you’ll be convinced.   This month Darlynn at Little Blog Dress sent me my package.  Her goodies were dead on with foods and drinks I love.  Like tea.

When I took the glass teapot out I kept saying, “Cool!  Cool!  This is so cool!”  Jonny confirmed what a dork I am.  I don’t even care though because I was SO stoked to get this teapot.  I do love drinking tea, but can’t commit to buying a teapot that you can use loose tea leaves in.  So this is absolutely perfect!  And Darlynn sent me a few samples of loose tea to try.  Perfecto!  Check out my other goods:

More tea love with the tea honey!  Some mango flavored coconut water which I’m super excited about.  Coconut water is great for replenishing electrolytes after a tough workout (and it helps with curing hangovers, too!).  The scone mix looks very simple which I’m obviously a huge fan of.  All you have to do is add water.  I may and try to add some flavored NuNatural goodness.  And that purple thing?  A homemade drink sleeve!  Darlynn said it was so I didn’t have to use those ugly brown ones most places hand out.  How stylish of me!  Hehe.  Thank you so much for my goodies!

Now onto what I sent my foodie penpal.  I got to create a package for Olivia, a reader.  Olivia was kind enough to write a guest post for me!  Here it is:

Some people may say that I am “obsessed” with food, but I prefer to say that I just really, really love it. I am an avid health/fitness blog reader so when I happened across The Lean Green Bean, I was very excited to say the least. This was my first time being a part of Foodie Pen Pals so I didn’t really know what to expect. What I did know was that I checked my mail everyday religiously because just the thought of being sent yummy food from someone who knows good food made me happy and anxious. The day I received my package I could hardly wait to open it up and see what goodies were inside. Here is what Linz sent me.

I do eat a gluten-free diet because of allergies, but Linz still was able to send me some awesome stuff. Starting from the left:

Unsweetened Shredded Coconut = delicious. I love to put this on top of my oatmeal in the morning and sprinkle some into my fruit smoothies. I’m thinking about roasting some in the oven to add some flavor to it.

TJ’s Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snacks – I love seaweed and I love spicy things. I like to tear them up and sprinkle them on top of salads. The more ingredients in a salad the better (or at least I think so!!)

TJ’s Salsa Verde– Since I live in Charlottesville, VA we do not have a Trader Joes in town and the closest one is over an hour away in Richmond…it’s almost like Linz knew to get me TJ things 🙂 Even though I worked at Trader Joe’s for 4 years I never had tried the Salsa Verde. I dipped it in some chips, but I can see this being really good in Mexican dishes.

Zico Coconut Water– I am obsessed with anything coconut and Zico is my favorite coconut water brand that is not fresh from the coconut. I think it tastes the closest to the real deal. I enjoyed drinking this yesterday after a long night out on the town! Note: the bottle is actually empty in this picture…I couldn’t wait! (Great for after workouts, too.)

TJ’s Dark Chocolate Bar Caramel With Black Sea Salt– SO unbelievably good. Caution: Before opening, make sure people are there to share with, otherwise you may eat the entire thing.

Honey Sticks­– I can’t wait to put these in iced tea and use as syrup on pancakes. The strawberry sounds especially yummy.

Walnut & Date Kind Bar– I have tried many KIND bars, but never this flavor. I actually thought I didn’t like walnuts, but after this bar I have been converted. So.good.

Ginger Chews– I can’t really explain these candies except they have a lot going on. I brought some with me to my 3.5 hr long Spanish class. They were great to snack on/ distract me.

TJ’s Boysenberry Fruit Bar– This boysenberry flavor sounds really good and I am looking forward to having it with a lunch this week.

All of the food I received will be gone in the very near future and I am so glad that I am now a part of Foodie Pen Pals!

Thanks, Olivia, for that great post!  Now it’s YOUR turn!  If you want to sign up for next month’s foodie penpals, be sure to e-mail Lindsay by May 4th.  She will send out the matches with all the details and your package will be on it’s way before you know it.  Click here for more details on this fun exchange.

Out of the above packages, what would you like to try?  If you do participate in foodie penpals, what was your favorite goodie?

Itz A Pink & Red WIAW

Welcome to another What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW)!  How did this party start?  Jenn over at Peas and Crayons put it together and each week YOU are invited!  Be sure to hop on over to her site and check out the many drool-worthy photos!  Today’s WIAW features the lovely colors of pink and red due to the fact that yesterday was Valentine’s Day!  In fact, my eats on this post are from V-day.  So enjoy!

I started my day with a Chest and Triceps workout.  I knew I would be left feeling a bit sore, plus it was Valentine’s Day, so I thought it was a perfect combination of excuses to down a glass of chocolate milk!  (And what better way to start V-day than with something chocolate?)

Why the chocolate milk after a workout?  Click here to find out!  While my chocolate milk was being slurped, I got right to work cooking a festive and nutritious breakfast for me and Jonny.  Breakfast included a gigantic, heart-shaped pancake topped with chocolate protein frosting and strawberries!

This breakfast was SO filling, barely Jonny or I could even finish our respective hearts!  During my planning period at school, I sipped on some pink tea.

Nothing screams “teacher” like a pencil mug! 😉  On Sunday, I attempted to make Chelsey’s cabbage soup, but had to improvise due to the ingredients at my house.  Basically, I ended up throwing in every vegetable that was in our fridge!  It still turned out pretty tasty and was loaded with veggies which is always a plus!

On Monday I made the mistake of eating only this for lunch.  30 minutes later I was digging into my snack plus my emergency snack pack.  The soup satisfied my appetite for the time being, but the lack of protein, complex carbs, and fat left my tummy grumbling much sooner than I had anticipated.  So yesterday I made sure to add those to my lunch:

An open-faced sammi of almond butter and strawberry chia jam on top of a slice of Ezekiel bread did the trick!  A red apple on the side rounded out my lunch, as well.  For dinner, Jonny and I went to Almonds Restaurant.  Almonds holds a special place in my heart as the Almond family also owns another restaurant, Latitude 26, where our rehearsal dinner was held.  A glass of red (duh) wine began our evening with a cheers to each other, our lives, and our love.

I love how my date even got in the Valentine spirit with his pink shirt!  Hehe.  A starter spinach salad was ordered next.  (Gotta get those veggies in!)

Almond’s spinach salad is great because the dressing is just drizzled on top instead of doused like some other restaurants.  And the croutons are extra crunchy which is an added bonus!  I ordered the grilled salmon as my entre which is always a solid choice.

I’d be lying if I told you that the pinkness of the salmon and the redness of the cranberries didn’t have anything to do with why I placed my order on Valentine’s Day…The salmon is topped with a cranberry glaze which adds the perfect amount of sweetness and tartness to the fish.  The green beans and mashed potatoes were pretty fantastic sides, as well.  My Valentine’s Day paired with my pink and red eats made for a fabulous holiday!

What is something red or pink YOU ate yesterday?

PS:  If you’re feeling the Valentine blues or just feeling down this time of year, I urge you to read this, so you can be reminded of your own health and the good things that you are blessed with [even if it’s not a significant other at this point in your life].  And for those of you following Team Roxie, here is an update on how the marvelous event went yesterday.  Thank you to all of the amazing people and supporters in this world.  If you want to become one of them, click here.

Tea For One

In my first WIAW, I posted about how I love drinking Celestial Metabo Balance Wellness Tea during my break at school.  I haven’t always been a tea drinker.  In fact, I used to hate tea, especially hot tea.  A few years ago, I began enjoying unsweetened iced tea occasionally, but it was never something I had to have.  I will drink a cup of coffee here and there, but, again, nothing I ever needed.

Caffeine really affects me.  Like, so much so that I won’t even touch it after noon time.  (With the exception of consuming some adult beverages…)  Sometimes though, I don’t mind a little extra boost mid-morning.  That is when I turn to my friend, green tea.  After trying a variety of teas, I found a brand that I fell in love with: Celestial Seasonings.  There are several reasons why I love this tea.  For one thing, they are 100% natural which is always a bonus.  Plus, they are the most flavorful teas I have ever tasted!  Usually I feel the need to sweeten my tea, but I never have to with Celestial!

The tea bags have no string or tags attached and I love their reasoning!  Companies that make obvious green efforts steal my heart.  No joke.  Just think about if ALL tea companies abided by this philosophy.  That’s a lot of pounds of waste that could be prevented each year!  Just from eliminating the string!  Craziness!

Metabo Balance Green Tea is my favorite daytime tea because of the caffeine.  There are tons of benefits of green tea that I reap when drinking this tasty tea.

Sugar Plus Spice was a tea I found around the holidays and was delicious during the evening time (caffeine-free!) when I craved a sweet treat!

Candy Cane Lane is a peppermint tea and also decaffeinated.  This was one of the first Celestial tea’s that I fell in love with and ended up giving several as gifts this past holiday season.

Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride.  Doesn’t just the name of it make you drool?  I first heard of this tea from Mama Pea when she posted her Sugar Cookie Smoothie.  Mmm.  Drooling over here.  Then, Lindsay posted about them, too, and I knew I had to get my hands on this tea!  I searched all over St. Louis for this tea.  No luck.  I ended up buying a case (6 boxes) from the internet and immediately ripped into the package when it arrived.  I have to be honest here.  I didn’t love it right away.  The first time I made it, I boiled water, and it was kind of blah.  The second time I made it, I used vanilla almond milk and that sealed the deal.  Delish!

Are you a tea drinker?  What’s your favorite flavor or brand?