Garden Lites Muffins

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Garden Lites. Thank you for supporting He and She Eat Clean. All opinions are my own.

Muffins with veggies as the first AND primary ingredient?! Yes, they DO exist. Crazy, we agree!

We are so excited to tell you about this new product we found in… you guessed it… Costco! It was the Sunday after we returned from our hiking trip to Colorado and we were there to fill our refrigerator and freezer back up. We just so happened to walk by a table that had many different flavors of muffins out. I recognized the name but had never tried the product before. We tried each flavor and we were AMAZED. As soon as I got home, I reached out to them to see if they would work with us because we knew that YOU would also love them.

These muffins are not just any muffin. Yes, the names are something that you would expect and relate to, like blueberry oat, banana chocolate chip, and chocolate but the ingredients are definitely not what you would expect! As I mentioned, veggies are the first and primary ingredient in every product. Not only that, they are gluten free, dairy free, nut free, non-GMO and Good House Keeping Nutritionist approved!

We know that everyone’s first thought is that these muffins would be a great way to get kids to eat more veggies but they are not only a great way to get kids to eat their veggies, they are also a great way to get adults to eat more veggies! We are often worried about kids eating enough veggies but we tend to overlook the fact that we, ourselves, are typically lacking in the veggie consumption department.

The Blueberry Oat Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Chocolate Muffins all contain 120 calories per muffing with zucchini as the first ingredient. The Ninja Power Muffins (yes, like Ninja Turtles!) are only 80 calories with zucchini as the first ingredient and the Chocolate Krabby Square Muffins are only 60 calories also with zucchini as the first ingredient. Garden Lites muffins are great for lunch boxes (of kids and adults!) or great for an on-the-go breakfast. We took a few in a cooler to eat after our hike last weekend. It was the perfect post trail snack that held us over until we got home!

As with many products in Costco, this product may not be available in every Costco and may not be available all the time. If you don’t see it in your store, request that they order it! You can also find a store near you that carries it using the store locator on their website (here and also listed below).

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the 100 workout

It has been awhile since we've released a fun, random workout. :) This one is tough but see how many you can make it through and then have your goal be to complete it all the way through as you progress. If you can do this whole circuit, start timing yourself and try to beat your over time each time you do it!

For things like the high knees (90), mountain climbers (70), and butt kicks (30) just count to the number listed (or have a timer to go off after 90 seconds, etc).

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If you are in need of a workout plan that doesn't take up too much time but still gets you the results you desire, try our Busy Body 4-Week Workout Plan or pick out another workout plan of your choosing here.

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the 100 workout

100 jumping jacks
90 high knees
80 star sit-ups
70 mountain climbers
60 froggers
50 squats
40 jump lunges
30 butt kicks
20 burpees
10 push-ups

5 Reasons Why You Should Never Hike

5 Reasons Why You Should Never Hike

1. There’s really nothing to see…it’s all trees!

You know that Bill Bryson book A Walk in the Woods?  Well, yeah, that’s basically all hiking is, so why waste your time setting out on some crazy adventure just to see more trees?  You’ll spend countless hours in the woods just to get a glimpse of some random scenic viewpoint.  Don’t waste your time…you can just drive to a magnificent view like Clingmans Dome in Great Smoky Mountains National Park or Dante’s View in Death Valley National Park.

2. You’ll get lost

Typically, GPS does not work well and, let’s be honest, nobody really knows how to use a map and compass.  Trails are hard to follow (especially in the fall when leaves cover the trail) and trail junctions are often confusing, so think twice before setting out this weekend! If you must go out to hike, don’t hike so far in that you lose cell reception, which is a great segue…

3. No cell reception

As mentioned above, you will definitely get lost at some point when hiking and you won’t be able to call for help or use Siri to help you down to your car because you will lose cell reception in the woods. 

You can use your phone camera to take pictures of all those trees and even get a cool selfie with the trees, but you won’t be able to do anything with it – on the trail there’s no Instagram, no Snapchat, no Facebook…nothing!  What good is it to set out on a hike if you can’t even share it with your friends?  Sure, you can post/share it later, but why would you ever want to post something after the fact…doesn’t that defeat the purpose of social media?

Pro trip – use hashtags like #wanderlust #adventure #authentic #blessed #goodvibes #YOLO #like4likes

4. Dangerous animals

Where do I even start?  First of all, there are tiny critters just waiting to wreak havoc on your life – annoying bugs, ticks with Lyme disease, mosquitos with Zika, poisonous spiders and other even tinier critters like parasites, waterborne pathogens, and viruses that will hit you without ever seeing them! 

On top of those small critters, you get into some serious dangers from larger animals like bears, mountain lions, cougars, coyotes, wolves, and snakes…animals that will actually eat you!  These angry animals are lurking behind random boulders, waiting at switchbacks and probably hiding in those trees you came to walk amongst.  These animals are most active at dawn and dusk, so you should only hike in the middle of the day.

Pro tip – ticks are attracted to the scent of Starbucks coffee, so if you go to Starbucks you probably should never hike or just avoid that trip before you head out to the trees. 

5. Weather never cooperates

No matter what, it’ll either be too hot, too cold, too cloudy, too sunny, too windy, too humid, or too wet and, often, it can be all the above in the same hike.  That just sounds miserable, right?  Unless you have $1,000+ to drop on the top gear at your local REI, it will be miserable because you will not be prepared for the rapid climate changes you’re likely to face.  It’s not just about being comfortable…all of these different conditions can have drastic affects to your health – too hot and it’s heat exhaustion; too cold and it’s hypothermia.  These are serious concerns for every hiker…why would you want to raise your risk for such conditions?

Pro tip – flannel shirts are best all-around for enduring any type of weather condition.  It’s warm enough in cold weather, blocks out the wind and serves as a great sweat towel if it’s hot and humid.

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In case you haven’t noticed yet, these warnings are meant to be satirical.  Hiking is our favorite hobby and we’d love for others to get exposed to hiking and all the rewards it provides. We've shared a TON of hiking trip reports and tips here but stay tuned for much more!

As always, follow the Leave No Trace Principles.