The sun was out, the weather was crisp and I had a meeting that wrapped up with Pumpkin Pie Tasti D-Lite frozen yogurt.

Glorious!

Also in the happy forecast this week:

• Boots, blazers and leggings.

The easiest work outfit ever. Especially when your alarm goes off 40 minutes late.

• Marathon ads all over the subways

I was so excited the first time I saw one, that I told the closest person nearby– a random man with about 4 teeth–I was running it. I don’t think he was amused. Or spoke English.

• Spandex.

It is wonderful.

• Candles that smell like baked goods.

Oh yes.

• Dracula.

He is badass. I wanted to take a picture with him, but didn’t want to look like a tourist. Major fail.

• Giveaways!

I haven’t hosted a giveaway in a while, so when I found out this one let me channel my inner Iron Chef, I was pumped.

The Challenge:

Develop a quick “5 minute” combo from one Lundberg rice bowl, one Stonehouse 27 sauce and 1-3 other ingredients (No more than 5 ingredients total).

Because I live in a tiny apartment with literally 1 foot of counter space and only cook for 1 each night, this was a challenge was right up my alley.

Ingredients:

1 jar Stonehouse 27 Dates & Tamarind Cooking Sauce

1 bowl Lundberg Heat & Eat Organic Countrywild Brown Rice

1 can Light Goya Coconut Milk

2 cups Mushrooms (that was a total guess by the way—whatever’s in the Styrofoam container is what I put in hah)

1 bag Trader Joe’s Just… Grilled Chicken Strips

Directions:

Turn the stove on medium heat.

Add the entire bag of chicken strips to a pan and cook until crispy. Wash, chop and add the mushrooms to the same pan. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Next, stir in the coconut milk and Dates & Tamarind Sauce. Bring entire mixture to a boil and then let simmer for 3-5 minutes.

To cook the rice, lift flap on bowl and microwave on high for 60-90 seconds. Or if you’re microwave-less like me, boil a pot of water and add 1 tbs of water to the rice. Stir for 30 seconds.

Boom!

Taste Test Time:

Ok so, I was terrified this wouldn’t taste anything like I hoped it would..

But apparently I totally had a Rachel Ray moment.

It tasted amazing!

Shannon – 1, Iron Chef – 0.

The Coconut Milk and Dates & Tamarind Sauce combination was seriously a million times better than the Chinese Take-Out down the street (I have officially OD’d on their curry chicken).

And I have enough for leftovers tomorrow! Woop woop.

Extra ingredients? Add 2 handfuls of spinach, diced onion and red peppers to the pan when you stir in the coconut milk.

If you’re in NYC, Stonehouse 27 Sauces and Lundberg Heat & Eat Rice Bowls are both sold at the Whole Foods in Union Square.

Feel free to check out their store locator pages for more information:

• Stonehouse 27
• Lundberg

—-

Want to win your own Stonehouse 27 Sauce and Lundberg Heat & Eat Rice Bowl?

To enter:

1. Leave a comment with 3 ingredients you’d add to make a “killer combo”
2. Like Stonehouse 27 on Facebook for an extra entry: https://www.facebook.com/Stonehouse27Co
3. Like Lundberg on Facebook for an extra entry: https://www.facebook.com/lundbergfamilyfarms

5 Winners will be chosen at random on Thursday, October 27th at 12:00pm EST. Good luck!

Saturday, my sister Sarah and I hit up Central Park for some good quality fast walking time.

Along the way, we somehow stumbled upon these awesome rocks…

and from that point on, any thought of exercising went out the window.

Oops.

The immature person that I am, enjoyed taking random shots of my bootylicious knees…

and my awesome new kicks!!!

K- SWISS Tubes… I am seriously obsessed. They’re so so so light and comfy to run around in.

Next we decided to hold our own extremely fab “America’s Next Top Model” photoshoot.

Yes my friends, we Smized and got our SnackFace on.

My 4 Frames:

Major lolz.

In Midtown, we grabbed some majorly needed sandwiches at Lenny’s as a late lunch.

I got the #10, “The TC” on wheat bread.. it was just ok. It needed a tomato or something.. perhaps a free cookie.

Afterwards, we walked over to Trader Joe’s on West 72nd.

(In total for the day we walked about 6 hours!!!)

TJ’s Nothing But… Banana, Flattened has been on my mind ever since I moved up here.

It seriously tastes exactly like banana bread, minus the bread.

How bizzare, how bizzare.

Alright so here’s the sweeeeet part– want to be the owner of some FREE K-Swiss Tubes?

K-Swiss was kind enough to send me some awesome free Tubes to run around in, but accidentally shipped the wrong size the first time. If you wear a size 8 1/2 or want to give them to someone who does, this giveaway is for you!

Three Ways To Enter:

1. Follow me on Twitter and tweet: “I want to win a free pair of @KSWISS Tubes from @ShannonAMay: http://bit.ly/fjDATW”

2. Follow K-Swiss on Twitter.

3. If you could create your own pair of running shoes, what would you name them? (Isn’t Tubes such a neat name?!)

Leave a comment for each entry. Don’t need a blog to enter, but must live in the USA. This giveaway closes on Friday, 3/18 at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be randomly selected using Random.org and announced on 3/19.

Most of you, I’m sure, have an amazing pet that you love to come home to and see after a long day at work or school. I know that my golden retriever instantly turns my day around when I see his tail wagging energetically back and forth as soon as I walk in the door.

Now what if I told you that there are thousands of animals in shelters across that nation that are without  a family member to greet them at the door?

Recently, animal shelters nationwide are facing extremely difficult times with pet adoptions. The combination of a harsh economic climate and society’s preference for younger pets, has left many older dogs and cats without homes. Shelters are overwhelmed with the amount of animals they’re housing and greatly need additional assistance.

In my Sales Management Class, we were recently assigned an exciting, philanthropic group project. Each group was assigned a local pet adoption agency to work with, and given a specific fundraising objective to meet. My group was provided the opportunity to fundraise and increase awareness for the Alachua County Humane Society.

Being the food blogger that I am, I figured what better way to promote awareness for the Humane Society, than my blog?

During the next 2 weeks, an amazing giveaway will take place on my Tropical Eats blog. To enter, all you need to do is submit a recipe. This can be a favorite family recipe or even a pet friendly one. These recipes will then be compiled in a virtual cookbook called Healthy, Tail Waggin’ Treats. There are currently a few other e-Cookbooks on the internet, but what makes ours unique is the special section dedicated to homemade pet treat recipes, pet friendly cakes, and more. Humans aren’t the only ones who shouldn’t have preservatives or processed foods.

After the recipes are compiled, the cookbook will then be featured on the Alachua County Humane Society website. We will provide the link to the ebook in exchange for donations that go directly to the Humane Society. Any amount would make a great difference for this animal shelter.

Donations will go towards urgently needed pet supplies including: dog and cat food, animal treats, pet crates, collars, leashes, kitty litter, baby shampoo, laundry detergent, bleach, paper towels, and more.

Thank you so much to our amazing Giveaway Sponsors!

**Enter the coupon code: SHANNON for 20% off any online order at the Star Barks, The Dog Treat Bakery.

Grand Prize Giveaway Winner

• 50 Mini LÄRABARS (5 flavors: Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Key Lime Pie, Cashew Cookie, Peanut Butter Cookie)

• 2 Honest Foods Blueberry Vanilla Crackle Granola Planks

• 2 Honest Foods Choco Peanut Butter Baked Whole Food Bar

• 1 Promax Coupon for a free Promax Energy Bar

• $6 off Newman’s Own Organics Canned Pet Food or Dog Treats

4 Winners Will Each Receive:

• 50 Mini LÄRABARS (5 different flavors)

• 2 Honest Foods Choco Peanut Butter Baked Whole Food Bar

• $2 off Newman’s Own Organics Canned Pet Food or Dog Treats
  

1 Winner & Lucky Pet Owner Will Receive:

• 1 Honest Foods Maple Almond Crunch Granola Plank
• 2 Honest Foods Choco Peanut Butter Baked Whole Food Bar
• $10 Gift Card for Star Barks, The Dog Treat Bakery
• Homemade Pet Treats from the Sweet Paws Bakery
• $15 off any Newman’s Own Organics Canned Pet Food or Dog Treats

How To Enter:

1) In order to enter this giveaway you MUST submit at least 1 recipe. Comment or send an email to tropicaleats@gmail.com with your favorite family or pet friendly recipe. If you would like to submit a picture of your item, that would also be wonderful! Remember, you don’t need to have a blog to enter.

2) After you submit a recipe, you can submit 3 additional recipes in three separate comments.

3) Tweet: “Win 50 LARABARS & help @healthybeachbum make a difference for the Alachua Humane Society! Submit a recipe for her giveaway http://tiny.cc/h8h2s”

4) Link this giveaway to your blog post and leave me another comment stating that you did this.

This giveaway will close on 10/31 at 11:59 PM. Five winners will be randomly selected using Random.org and announced on 11/1. Recipes will be compiled by 11/3 and beginning that week, the Healthy, Tail Waggin’ Treats Virtual Cookbook will be available for donations on http://alachuahumane.org/.

Thank you all in advance! Please help me spread the word.

As a quick side note, when forwarding my Blogger account to WordPress, a lot of my previous post were altered. So if you’re browsing through old recipes, I promise I’ll update the pictures and text formats soon.

But let’s get back to my Tropical Eats Giveaway. I’m sure you’re all wondering what’s up for grabs, so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer.

• 1 Bag of Quaker Ranch Quakes Rice Snacks

• 6 Quaker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies

• 1 Strawberry Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bar

• 1 Blueberry Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bar

• Fruit Gushers-- you know you love them  

• 1 Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chewy Bar

• 1 CLIFBAR White Chocolate Macadamia Nut

• 1 Odwalla Banana Nut Bar

• 1 Peanut Butter Balance Ba

• 1 Yogurt Honey Peanut Balance Bar

• 2 Sweet Potato Scones from Nutless Wonders

• 1 Mango Sunrise Fruit Leather from the Stretch Island Fruit Co.

• 1 Autumn Apple Sunrise Fruit Leather from the Stretch Island Fruit Co.

How to enter the Tropical Eats Giveaway:

1.) Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite fast food restaurant is. (We have to spice up our healthy lives every once in a while right? My favorite is Wendy’s!)

2.) Add me to your blog roll and then leave me a 2nd comment letting me know that you’ve done so.

3.) If you have your own blog, mention this giveaway in a post and leave a 3rd comment on this giveaway.

3.) Tweet: “Healthy Beach Bum is now Tropical Eats !” And link this giveaway to it for a 4th entry.

This Giveaway will close on Monday, October 5th at 11:59 PM. To all of my Canada and International readers, I’m so sorry but this contest is only open to US residents. I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday, October 5th using Random.org.

And here’s a little secret, in about 2-3 weeks I’m going to host another Tropical Eats Giveaway that has a very special twist to it. But I’ll  be sure to fill you all in on that later. Go get those entries in!