Nutrition, Food, Travel and More: anniversary

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The Muffin Tin Cookbook Giveaway

Good Morning Everyone!

Today is a very exciting day for me. It's my third wedding anniversary. Three years ago today I married the most wonderful guy ever, and I look forward to many more years. In honor of my anniversary, I thought I would do a giveaway. Also, since I am getting ready to head out of town for a grand adventure in Israel and Europe (and I'll be blogging the whole time!), I thought this would be perfect timing, as I could make sure it is in the mail before I leave town.

I am giving away 1 copy of the Muffin Tin Cookbook. Curious why I picked this? Notice anything about the cover?

That's right! I contributed to this very awesome cookbook. Brette Sember wrote (created) this amazing cookbook, and I love that everything is preportioned, so there is no "cheating" when it comes to having just one serving (or for some foods it's ok to have a few-like the small appetizers). The preportioning means there is no confusion over servings, and the nutrition information is easy to read. It was really a lot of fun to work on this project and see how creative Brette was the recipes.

Here is some more about the book (taken from the internet book description):

Muffin Tins—They're Not Just for Muffins Anymore

There's nothing you can't make in a muffin tin—and we're not talking merely muffins. All you need is a muffin tin, paper liners, and this ingenious, one-of-a-kind cookbook, and you can whip up delicious dishes that are as easy to prepare and serve as they are good to eat!

From quick-serve appetizers and sides to gourmet entrées and desserts, you'll find an amazing variety of mouthwatering options for your dining pleasure, including:

Shrimp Cakes with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce

Egg Crescent Pockets

Deep-Dish Pizza Cups

Cornmeal-Crusted Mustard Chicken with Sweet Potato Coins

Duchess Potatoes

Zucchini, Corn, and Tomato Cups

Mini Ice-Cream Cakes

The best part (besides the tasty goodness!): It's fast, easy, mess-free, and provides built-in portion control. Kids will love to help you make them—like cupcakes, only better for your family!—and leftovers are as easy as popping the muffin-meal into the microwave.

It just doesn't get any better than The Muffin Tin Cookbook . . . your next memorable meal is just a muffin tin away!

What a clever idea! Well, that is all I will say because I am way too biased about this!

For more about the cookbook, and some other reviews, check out the Muffin Tin Cookbook on Facebook, where you can find links to blogs with reviews. You should also check out Brette's blog Martha and Me.

To enter to win your own copy of the Muffin Tin Cookbook, simply leave a comment here about what you would like to try making using a muffin tin. My latest creation idea (other than the recipes from the cookbook) is to make chocolate cherry cheesecake "muffins".

For additional entries, tweet and/or post about this on Facebook (1 entry for each), and then comment here letting me know that you did. You can earn up to three entries! Contest ends Wednesday, May 9th at 11:59 pm EST. I'll be selecting one winner by random drawing. Good luck!

PS: Don't forget the check back (sooner if you want since I will be posting other things before I go away) in the later part of May to follow along with me on my travels, which includes time spent in 6 countries with multiple city stops in each. I will be blogging about the sights, food and culture, and then a little on nutrition too, especially because I will be attending a nutrition conference as part of my trip.

Thanks everyone for reading by blog. I truly appreciate all of you.

Belated Blogoversary: Giveaway and Award

WOW!

I can't believe that Nutrition, Food, Travel and More is over 2 years old. I guess what I can't believe even more than that would be that I missed my blogoversary by just over 3 months. See, we had arrived in Japan just 2 days before my actual 2 years of blogging, and needless to say, I was a little preoccupied.

But, I am getting caught up now, and I am ready to wish myself a happy blogoversary! Also in need of congratulations, this is my 500th post!

When I started my blog it was mostly to entertain myself while living overseas. I had no idea what the Azores would be like and what I would be doing while I was there. My initial intention was to write about nutrition, food and travel. I think I was mostly successful with that goal. I found over time I did more traveling than I thought so there was a lot more about travel to write about, which in turn gave me more about food to write about. Blogging also gave me more purpose in the kitchen and I have found that I can cook and do not lose focus and get bored anymore. It helps to take pictures throughout the process, at least for me. I know over the past few months, with the move, and just plain falling behind, I have gotten away from nutrition based posts.

I am a dietitian of course, but there are many other dietitians out there writing great information about nutrition daily, so I don't feel as guilty getting a little away from that, and I know that my experiences overseas make me unique in what I can post about. I hope everyone likes reading about life overseas, especially since we have just under 4 years left here. Although, I do plan on getting back into writing more about nutrition, as I work to get caught up on all the pictures and things I have left to share, including things from the island. Another major plan is to start doing Thursday Thoughts again. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about that. Trust me, I have plenty more to say in those posts.

So in honor of my belated blogoversary I am doing a small, but meaningful, giveaway. Since I live in Japan, and this is a blog about nutrition, food and travel, I thought giving away some chopsticks would be most fitting. I am offering two pairs of chopsticks (not disposable ones of course) to each of two lucky readers.

I also want to take this time to thank the wonderful Spicy RD, who did disclose her name when she won this award, for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award.

For this award, I get to share 7 things about myself with you, and pass on the award to 15 of my favorite bloggers, who must then link back to the blogger who shared the award with them, and also share 7 things about themselves.

So here goes...7 Things You May Not Know About Me

1) I loved going to sleep away camp as a child. I first went when I was around 7 years old, but when I was 11 I started at the best camp every, and even worked there when I was in high school. (yeah, not so glamorous, I worked in the kitchen, go figure)

2) I used to work at an amusement park called Dorney Park while I was in college. Strangely, my husband has also worked at an amusement park. Other than people I worked with, he is the only other person I know that worked at one.

3) What happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay in Vegas. That's where I met my husband. He was stationed at Nellis and I was living, working and going to school out there.

4) I have 2 bachelor's degrees and 2 master's degrees. Undergrad degrees are in biology and nutrition (from 2 different schools) and graduate is in public health and human relations (also from 2 different schools). I did attend two different undergrad schools at the same time. They were just miles apart.

5) I first traveled out of the country when I was 11, but that was only to Canada. In fact, it was so I could get to summer camp. My first trans-Atlantic flight was when I was 16. I went to England.

6) When I was 16, like many Jewish kids my age at the time, I went to Israel. What makes my trip different was that I went with a British youth group, not an American group. Why? My friend Jessica is British and I let her pick the trip we went on. That's when I got bit by the travel bug.

7) I am planning 2 major trips in 2012...so stayed tuned for more details and awesome blog posts!

Now I would like to pass this on to some very amazing versatile bloggers:

Andrea from Andrea's Wellness Notes

Ameena from Fancy That...Fancy This

Astra from Food for Laughter

Beth from 990 Square

Gina from Candid RD

Jessie from The Happiness in Health

Kristen from The Swanky Dietitian

Kristen from Eating RD

Nicole from Prevention RD

Sophia from Burp and Slurp

Certainly there are many more amazing and awesome bloggers out there, but these are just to name a few as I can't list everyone (seriously, I need to get back to work!).

Last up, the giveaway rules:

Just leave a comment here with a random fact I may not know about you, and you will be entered. For additional entries you can tweet this or post about this give away on Facebook, which may help people remember that I am still here, still blogging, just working on getting caught up and settled in to life in Japan. If you tweet or post on FB just leave an additional comment letting me know. Giveaway ends Tuesday November 22 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be chosen at random.

Good luck and thank you to everyone for reading, whether it's been the whole 2 years or just 2 days.

Treats for me!

Since I am traveling now, but have not gotten to share this trip with you, I thought I would show some of the treats I received before heading on my trip.

The first is a painting Ryan and I bought on the street near our hotel in Paris. It has been hanging unframed since last July. It was time we framed this, and the other painting. I love how the framing turned out. It is amazing and we love this painting now hanging in our hall.

I got a package in the mail from Krystal over at the Special K Treatment. She is in Germany, so I love the fun goodies she sends.

I think I am most looking forward to giving this a try.

How cute are these bunnies? They taste good too!

Teeny little Ritter Sport bars. If you have never had Ritter before, you are missing out.

Since this post is also one for catching up, here is a meal Ryan and I had before I went on my trip, and before he went on his. Oh, I didn't tell you. Ryan went to Boston, NYC and then to PA for his cousin's wedding. It was a last minute plan and I was already on my way to Israel during that time.

So, on to the meal. Looks about the same as they always do, especially because we have ordered these before at this place. But we love the location, so we keep going back.

This was from our anniversary dinner. Nothing fancy. Just some Italian, as a symbolic gesture for the upcoming anniversary trip to Italy. We will be heading to Florence, Rome and Venice at the end of the month (don't forget, I am looking for guest bloggers).

This is one of my favorite treats. Our landlord owns a grocery store, so when we pay rent, we often get goodies. This month we received a fresh (still warm) loaf of Portuguese sweet bread. It is very similar to Challah bread, but a little sweeter.

I used it to make a giant egg and cheese sandwich.

I think I cut the bread a tad too thick, but it was good anyway.

So what is my last treat? Golf clubs!

Do I play? Nope!

But my grandfather came across this set which he said would be perfect for me, and he thinks I need to learn, and seeing as Ryan likes to golf and wants clubs, I think this is a good idea. Now I have my own. This is just the box, and the ones inside are not the ones on the box. But you can get an idea of how big this package was. I had to carry this myself out of the building, out to my car and then into my house. It was about as tall as me!