Today’s post is full of all kinds of good stuff. As you may know, I’ve been working with Bush’s Beans for a few years now. Beans are a big part of my diet and I like to include them in many of the recipes that I make, especially warm and comforting soups like this Pasta Shells and Beans soup I made recently. I mentioned I’ve been on a soup kick lately, cooking up a big pot on the weekend and enjoying it for lunch and quick dinners throughout the week. This soup is so simple – and so so good – full of veggies, beans and whole grain pasta – it truly hits the spot, especially on cold winter day.

The beans add a slight natural creaminess to the soup, that makes it a little extra special – and it just gets better and better as it sits in the fridge for a couple of days. I was inspired to make this soup after remembering one of my favorite soups my mom made for us at home when I was younger, a soup many of you are probably familiar with as Pasta e Fagioli (aka Pasta Fazul). I’ve seen this soup made in so many different ways, but my family’s version was just like this one, though with ditalini pasta instead of whole wheat shell pasta. I loved the added nutrition from the whole grain pasta and can’t wait to make another pot.

I’m sharing with you this wholesome and delicious soup recipe to kick off a Winter Comfort Food Recipe Exchange hosted by Bush’s Beans, Real Mom Kitchen and myself. Our goal is to grow and share a collection of your favorite recipes that you find comforting in the winter using beans. By sharing your favorite winter comfort food bean recipes here in the link up, you’ll also have a chance to win a gorgeous Le Creuset Cast Iron French Oven along with coupons for Bush’s Beans and a $100 Visa gift card! See below recipe for all the details.

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I think it’s safe to say most of us have the same mindset when it comes to eating come the New Year, right? Eat healthier. It is what it is, but we most often find ourselves indulging over the holidays (rightfully so!) and by the time January 1 rolls around, we are feeling pretty lousy and are ready for a fresh, clean start – as well as a miracle to get those holiday pounds to melt off. (Or is this just me? Please tell me it isn’t.)

I always find myself motivated to cook healthier meals when I get a new cookbook in my hand. Especially a cookbook focused on healthy or whole food based recipes, like the ones I am featuring here today. And, guess what? Not only am I featuring these awesome healthy cookbooks, but thanks to some generous authors, publishers (and a small gift from me), I’m also giving a copy of each away to one lucky reader to help kick start a new year of good healthy cooking! With a collection like this in your kitchen, you can’t help but be inspired to make good choices and cook great meals that your body (and family) will thank you for.

Ancient Grains for Modern Meals – It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since I first reviewed this book and made this Summer Tabouli with Farro recipe. If one of your goals is to incorporate more whole grains into your diet, then this is a cookbook you have to add to your collection. Not only is it filled with straight-forward, fresh and beautiful recipes, but author Maria Speck really takes the time to educate you on the selection, the preparation and tastes of the many different types of whole grains that are becoming more readily available to all of us these days. I started to incorporate more and more whole grains into my diet over the last several years and have noticed a great difference in my health and how I feel after a meal. It’s not a secret around here – I love whole grains.

Recipes I can’t wait to try: Chewy Almond Butter Bars, Spring Pilaf with Artichokes and Green Peas, Rustic Linguine with Summer Herbs and Olives, Warm Oat Berries with Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Clean Eating for Busy Families – I just recently discovered this cookbook after my friend Liz posted about it on her instagram as well as her blog. It immediately caught my eye for a few reasons – I love “clean eating”, I have a busy family and every recipe sounded absolutely delicious and something that I would make in my own kitchen. Most of us who are truly trying to eat healthy on a regular basis often fall into cooking ruts or burnouts when you just can’t think of another healthy family friendly meal on your own, at least I know this happens to me. It’s hard to keep everyone happy and healthy at the same time, and when I fall into this rut we end up eating more quickie meals that consist of processed foods and other stuff that’s just really not great for us. What I love about Michelle Dudash’s book as that most of the recipes take 30 minutes or less and use ingredients that I would normally have on hand. She also includes very helpful shopping lists, tools, tips and words of encouragement throughout her book that can get you on the clean eating track.

Recipes I can’t wait to try: Turkey, Vegetable & Oat Mini-Meatloaves with Marinara Sauce, Sizzling Sichuan Shrimp & String Bean Stir Fry, Pinto Bean & Avocado Taquitos, Macaroni & Cheesy Cauliflower Sauce, Orange Peel Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry, Garden Caesar Pasta Salad

The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook – If you’re familiar with American Test Kitchen cookbooks, then you know that you aren’t just getting recipes when you bring home one of their books. I have only checked out a couple from the library but am so happy to finally own a copy of this one in particular. This cookbook is chock full of charts, techniques and tips from how to prep and how long to cook different types of vegetables, how to poach salmon, how to prepare spaghetti squash, to how to slice chicken for stir fries. Every page I turn, I learn something new, including what kitchen tools and products have been successfully used in their recipes. This cookbook is a healthy cook’s treasure and I am so happy to be sharing it with you all here.

Recipes I can’t wait to try: Green Goddess Dip, Lemony Steamed Spa Fish, Pan Seared Shrimp with Tomato and Avocado, Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, Brown Rice Bowl with Crispy Tofu and Vegetables, Skillet Rice and Beans with Corn and Fresh Tomaotes

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(Is this a party on a plate or what? All that’s missing is wine!)

I was first introduced to Harry & David products by my sister in law, Paula, many years ago. She brought a jar of their Pepper and Onion Relish to my house and we used it as a dip for tortilla chips. So good – I was instantly hooked on this stuff. At a recent dinner party, my friend Sandy showed me another way to use it – over salmon, as a glaze, then broiled for a really easy yet elegant dinner (this time though, she used the Pepper and Onion Relish with Orange, yum). And let’s not forget how good this stuff is over cream cheese and shmeared on crackers, now that’s just classic. For me, this little jar of relish is what turned me on to Harry & David.

Obviously though, after my visit to Oregon a couple of weeks ago, I learned there was a lot more to Harry & David than just Pepper and Onion Relish and pretty baskets.

I am so excited to offer you a chance to win a taste of Harry & David for your very own. What I love about this basket is that all the contents would make a fantastic entertaining platter of goodies for you to serve your family and friends throughout the fall season. (Or of course, you can hoard them all for yourself like I may or may not be doing right now.) It has a little bit of everything, but most importantly my favorite little jar of relish.

And a pretty basket.

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I found myself explaining to my little one how important breakfast was the other day before school – she was giving me a hard time about eating and I was getting a little impatient (if I can be completely honest here). I told her…”breakfast feeds your mind by giving your brain energy to learn and it feeds your body by giving it energy to play with your friends”. My talk worked like magic because she went right back to the table and finished her whole wheat waffle and banana without another word.

I was pretty proud of myself after that talk. 😉 Why can’t it always be that easy?

It’s true though, breakfast really is SO important, don’t you agree? I don’t necessarily have to eat the second I wake up, but I do need to get some good food in my body after I finish that first cup of coffee and really start my day. I know right away when I’ve waited too long too…it’s not a good feeling.

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The post My Favorite Go-To Breakfasts and a BLENDTEC Giveaway {CLOSED} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I want to give away a few of my favorite things. Sounds fun doesn’t it?

My sneakers are back on my feet and on the trails again this week. I’m running.

I haven’t run – really run – in months people. It’s so hard to get started up again, physically and mentally. Finding the motivation to get moving can be really hard if you’ve been avoiding it for a while.

You want to know why I have been avoiding exercise? Because I am bored. So bored. I have no race to train for, I have no goals to work towards, and I have just gotten real lazy to be honest. I took some time off. And that’s ok. But man, this weekend I realized I was sore and achy, my muscles were tight and my body just wasn’t feeling all that great – and it’s all because I haven’t been moving as much as I used to.

My motivation needed a jump start. My iPod needs new music. A new piece of workout clothing sounds nice too. Some new running scenery maybe?

Yes to all of that.

And I want to share some of it with you!

(and maybe motivate you to get movin’, but only if you want to of course.)

Let’s Get Moving and Get Healthy Giveaway Details:

Giveaway Closed – Congratulations to Angela C.!!!

(Image from gap.com)

My absolute favorite workout clothes are from Gap Body, specifically these running pants. What I love about them is that they are snug, but stretchy, they keep me dry (and have a cool mesh panel behind the knees for air flow), and just make my legs feel good. They make me run fast. 😉

Gap Body also has great sport bras, this one is for high impact sports and is my favorite – I have purchased quite a few over the years. I always pick up these tanks too when they go on sale.

Today’s giveaway is a gift of appreciation to all my wonderful readers who I love so much. It’s just a fun way for me to say thank you (and go buy yourself some music and something nice)! Maybe it might motivate you to get moving a little bit if you haven’t been but need to?

Here’s what you could win:

$15 iTunes gift card
$50 Gap gift card
OXO water bottle (my new favorite water bottle that I brought home from FBF)
1 year subscription to Runner’s World or Eating Well (your choice!)

Starts today, Thursday, April 18 and ends Tuesday, April 24 at 12 noon (EST)

(Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only. Winner will be chosen randomly using Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application – winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to claim prize or another winner will be selected.)

Seriously love this water bottle.

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post. Any kind of comment, just say hello. 🙂

Additional Entries can be earned by:

(leave a separate comment after you complete each item, each comment will count as an entry)

1. “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook. (if you already a fan, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

2. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter (if you already follow, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

3. Share about giveaway on Twitter: “I want to win a Get Healthy prize pack from @aggieskitchen http://su.pr/1qf5gH #giveaway ”

4. Share about giveaway on Facebook with link to this post.

5. Subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen RSS feed.

6. Follow Aggie’s Kitchen on Pinterest.

The post Let’s Get Moving and Get Healthy Giveaway! {Giveaway Closed} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I’m a coffee drinker. I love my coffee first thing in the morning…so much that I’ve finally trained figured out a way to get my husband to make it for me every morning. It’s simple, it gets me out of bed with a smile and I need it to function. I’m so glad that my family understands this. This is good.

Now, I like my cup of hot coffee in the morning (is there anything better than that FIRST sip from your mug…???), but what I also love is my mid-morning iced coffee that I started treating myself to this past year. I basically just started dumping the leftover coffee over ice instead of down the sink…it was one of those ‘duh, why didn’t I do this sooner?’ type of moments…

It’s a nice pick me up after I work out, or drop off the kids at school, or to take with me as I run errands. It’s a perfect mid-morning or afternoon treat. It really is.

And it only takes seconds to make.

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