FFF Featured Blogger (from your comments): Sarah’s Scrumptious Samplings – Sarah talks about body image, her life, and great recipes!

Hello all! I hope this Tuesday finds you well. I slept in until M woke up again this morning and feel great now. Still a tiny bit of a sore throat, but that is it. I tried to rest as much as possible yesterday to ensure I would feel good enough for spin today. I missed the gym! It felt amazing to get my spin on. I’m ready for the new music to come out, but that won’t be for another two weeks at our gym. 🙁

Have you all ever heard of something and immediately thought “that sounds like a blogger thing”? Last night, on the way home from tutoring, I heard an advertisement on the radio for Trader Joes seaweed snacks and immediately thought blogger. I could so see these becoming a big hit amongst the blog world, as they sound similar to kale chips but in seaweed form. Who knows? Maybe they already are a hit and I’m just out of the loop.

Do you ever notice sometimes how something becomes popular among blogs and then so many give it a try? I know I have fallen into that trap. Although its not really a trap. Many times things come out GREAT and I am forever thankful for finding out about it through blogs. Dinner last night shows a prime example. We had Gina’s Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili and I loved it!

I also have blogs to thank for my affection for green monsters, kale chips, meatless sloppy joes, various dessert treats I have made, parsnip fries, new squash varieties, yogurt in oats, and more. Also for not making me feel crazy for hating on cottage cheese and loving Greek yogurt. I have tried some things that do not agree with me though – quinoa or Amazing Grass products for example, both of whose textures greatly bothered me.

Now, I really hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and try things out. I question if it honestly sounds appealing to me before giving it a shot. I know I will never try things like maca powder, tempeh, or chia seeds because I am such a huge texture eater and the texture of all of those makes me gag a little to even think about. I also refuse to try things that aren’t easily accessible or too expensive for a sampling.

Plus, I know my taste buds can have a mind of their own, as demonstrated in this morning’s breakfast. The TJs commercial last night got me thinking about how I miss shopping there more. Then, I remembered some apple chicken sausages I had in the freezer. Not TJs variety but a similar sub in found in the “healthy” section of a local grocer. Publix I think? I knew I needed to incorporate them into breakfast.

When I woke up, the wheels started turning. A sweet diner breakfast! An apple “crepe” with an apple sausage! This is when my taste buds started getting a little nutty. First, I microwave “baked” an apple with cinnamon, while cooking up my “crepe”. For the record, that would be one egg lightly beaten and cooked in a skillet like a flat omelet. Nothing really “crepe”-y about it.

I wanted a nutbutter in the crepe with my “baked” apples. My taste buds wanted Nutella more specifically. What the heck?  So I spread a bit of Nutella on one half and added some of the apples to the other.

Then, rolled it up and topped it with the remaining apples and cinnamon, served with the apple sausage on the side.

It tasted good to me. Although not quite what it could have been. Something about Nutella and apples just doesn’t fit as nicely as Maple Almond Butter and apples. And I can’t complain that the crepe was too thick and eggy, because hello? It was just an egg! I would still make it again though! I like sweet eggs and anything that’s easy after all.

• What are some things you have tried that were inspired by reading blogs? Good and bad.
• Don’t forget to Ask Me Anything for a Q + A series I hope to do in November. I only have a few so far.

Evening! I hope you all have enjoyed a fabulous day. Mine included the easiest pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, so you can imagine mine went well. I also enjoyed reading your thoughts on the most common fitness mistakes SELF magazine shared. A lot of you pointed out some things worth mentioning. Here’s a few:

• Nicole brought up the great point that strength training comes in other methods some may enjoy more than hanging out in the weight room. A great thing to consider and remind us that we can all find some way to strengthen our muscles – yoga, classes, crossfit, at home DVDs, body weight functional training, etc.
• Theresa shared that another common mistake we may make is not listening to our bodies and resting enough. Good one!
• Brittany brought up being too rigid with a plan as another possible fitness issue. It’s okay to adapt workouts and training plans.

Tonight, I felt like sharing something fun. The other day Leah published a guest post I wrote for her and I felt like posting it here too. I believe many of us are familiar with Jeff Foxworthy’s You might be a redneck if… jokes. Sometimes I catch myself saying You might be a blogger if… with a country accent in my head when I catch myself doing strange things. Like the following example from today.

You might be a blogger if…you take insanely random photos of things people likely do not want to see. Like ulcers in your mouth.

My mouth hurts from these two painful ulcers underneath my lower front teeth. I caught myself capturing those buggers to share with you all and laughed at myself. It’s almost as good as the picture of me putting on deodorant I did awhile ago. 😉

Now here are some of the ones I shared with Leah and a few more to reflect my day.

You might be a blogger if…you feel like a kid on Christmas morning every time you receive a new comment.

You might be a blogger if…you can read and type faster now than when you were cranking out college essays.

You might be a blogger if…you haven’t met in person most of the people you consider very close friends and supporters. And anticipate the chance to do so. After all, blogger meetups are the best. Can’t wait until the ATL one on Oct 29!!

You might be a blogger if…you put spinach in your smoothies and eat kale as chips.

You might be a blogger if…your craving for pumpkin never ceases thanks to unending posts sharing delicious recipes that you must try. Like these…

A box of spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin, 1/2 a bag choc chips, a thank you to Power class for giving you strong arms to mix the THICK batter, baked for 10-15 mins at 350. That. Is. It. Likely my new favorite cookie.

You might be a blogger if…you cannot imagine your life without such a powerful outlet and form of expression that you can come to whenever you please and however you like.

Blogging does have some negative sides to it – comparison traps, getting caught up in statistics/popularity, feeling overwhelmed with the many things to do/see/try, and the time commitment (to name a few). However, as a whole blogging (whether as the author or reader) brings us all such an opportunity for growth. I love it!

I believe it develops us into more loving people, cheering one another on. It teaches us new things and may bring us out of our comfort zones in fitness, cooking, or self-reflection. Blogging can foster new passions and skills, like photography or writing. Do your best to not succumb to some of the pressures blogging can bring. Say “Screw it! This is for me and I will have fun!” Because you know…being involved in this community is a pretty remarkable thing. And way cooler than being a redneck. 😉

• Give me your best “You might be a blogger if…”

Something to Do: This month, I have been featuring “Random Bloggers of the Day” (which I’m thinking to continue). For the month of November, I thought it would be fun for you to have the chance to ask me anything. It’s not a Reader Request for posts, although I’m welcome to those as well, but more a way to ask general questions. I know Julie has entire posts like this if you want ideas. It can be anything from things I like, to plans for after the baby, to personal (within reason) questions. I would love to feature one question a day. Email, post a question on the blog, or do the anonymous thing on Formspring by CLICKING HERE.