I’m happy to announce that yesterday I kicked off my first day of the Snap Kitchen #21DaysForGood challenge, a three week competition centered around healthy eating and living practices. Snap Kitchen was deliberate in choosing to host this event during a holiday month, as we all know how it goes, right? The fall holiday season kicks off with a metric ton of Halloween candy at my fingertips, and I use every ounce of will power to ignore the siren’s song of Tootsie Rolls, Kit Kat Bars and Twix. Or I don’t ignore it, and soon my son is asking me what happened to his goodies, and I blame his father. Sorry, hon.
The Snap Necessity Blend is a sweet treat that I’ll willingly choose over Halloween candy. Almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, orange zest, vanilla extract, ground black pepper, cardamom and sea salt give it a salty sweetness that cures my sugar craving!
After Halloween we take a tiny breather of oh, maybe a day before we’re hit with the Christmas shopping countdown (only 49 more days), and the Thanksgiving feast-based grocery store sale flyers. It’s all food, all the time. Cookies, pies, turduckens, honey hams and candied sweet potatoes all start to dance through my menu planning mind. It’s also the time of year that I have the least time for myself, and end up eating sodium-laden frozen meals for lunch at my desk, because I chose to use that hour for shopping.
Not this year, folks. No. Nope. Not at all. This year I’m helping myself. I’m going to refresh my mind, renew my attitude toward myself, and refocus so that I don’t throw good health to the wind during this season. I have three goals for the next 3 weeks, and they are quite doable. I want to be more mindful about the food I’m eating, and the people responsible for producing it. I want more energy, and a gratifying sense of well being. I want to learn more about what I’m eating in that I will be looking at the ingredients, and nixing those with unnecessary additives, preservatives and stuff I just can’t pronounce.
Snap Kitchen is providing me with three meals and two snacks each day, at a total of 1200 calories. I’ll admit that I was skeptical that 1200 calories would satisfy my hunger. I worried needlessly, as each meal and snack has been just the right amount of food. I know your next thought is about taste. Convenient, pre-packaged healthy foods have all the appeal of eating salted cardboard, right? I can assure you that Snap Kitchen goes above and beyond on flavor. They’re using interesting spices that I wouldn’t normally think of to add nuance and layers to entrees. Five meals and three snacks in to this game, and I have no complaints that my food is tasteless.
Grilled Kale “Hoppin’ John” with sweet potato, black beans and Spanish brown rice is a taste sensation and a comforting meal on a chilly, rainy day.
The best part of this challenge is that at the end, Snap Kitchen will name one of us the winner, and donate $3,000 to the charity of our choice. Y’all, I’ve been volunteering as a meal delivery person for Meals on Wheels and More for ten years. Nothing would make me happier than to hand them three grand. Can you help? Interact with me on Twitter and Instagram through the hashtag #21DaysForGood. Help me meet my goals to refresh, renew and refocus, and for MOW to be rewarded with a much needed donation.
Disclosure: Snap Kitchen is providing all meals during the 21 day period to me at no cost. I am participating in this event so that I can learn more about healthy foods, nutrition, and to hopefully win some cash for my favorite non-profit organization. I’d love to say my stress level will disappear, but I’ll settle for it diminishing, as you would expect it to when the burden of making your own healthy, tasty meals is suddenly gone. My opinions are entirely my own, and will be an honest representation of my experience with Snap Kitchen in the course of the next three weeks. I’m not receiving any payment other than food, and the hope that I’ll lose a few pounds in the process.
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