Mason Jar Salads and More book giveaway

During the busy back-to-school time, don't forget to pack yourself a healthy lunch. Julia Mirabella's new book about grab-and-go layered lunches in Mason jars can help -- and you can win a copy.

Unless you've been living under a very large rock on the South Pole, you know it's back-to-school time.

And you don't know that simply because the calendar page flipped to September: You know it because it's being crammed down your throat everywhere you look, whether you have school-aged children or not. Major retailers have been working hard since practically July to sell you oodles of backpacks, lunch bags, plaid skirts and Number 2 pencils.

(Is there even such a thing as a Number 1 pencil? I imagine it being all uppity, like "I'm Number 1! I'm Number 1!" What a prick.)

And yes, I realize I'm dating myself with the calendar page and pencil references. Should have been an iPad reference, I guess. Whatevs: I'm still pretty analog.

Food bloggers are also guilty of riding on the coattails of the back-to-school fever. Packable snacks, cutesy lunchbox options and "kid food" boards are popping up all over Pinterest.

(Don't get me started on "kid food." Really, if I get started, I'll get all ranty and won't be able to stop.)

But while we're all focused on getting the wee ones back to school with the right supplies and a good lunch, we may have forgotten about ourselves. At least in the lunch department.

Bringing your lunch to work is a great way to reduce your dependency on fast food, processed food or other less-than-healthy food options -- and you know that helping you do that is pretty much The Ninj's raison d'etre. So put down that nasty-ass frozen Lean Cuisine because The Ninj wants to talk about a better, healthier lunch option that is still yummy and portable: Mason jar salads.

Banana espresso breakfast muffins (+ a giveaway)

Banana espresso breakfast muffins: a healthy, easy recipe reminiscent of banana bread but with a shot of espresso for a delicious morning pick-me-up.

 You know what's better (and a wee bit healthier) than coffee for breakfast? Coffee in your breakfast. In the form of banana espresso breakfast muffins.

Yeah, I'd call that stealthy. Here's how they happened:

I was excited when Staples asked me if I'd like to try out the Verismo home brewer from Starbucks. One of the biggest pluses is that the brewer comes with a recipe booklet for making many of your favorite Starbucks drinks at home. I mean, how cool is it to just whip up a chai latte or an iced Americano or a caramel latte whenever you want?

It's very cool. And handy.

And easy to use: just pop a coffee pod into the sleek brewer and press a button. There are also milk pods (made of real milk, not "creamer" chemicals) for making the specialty drinks, so there's no separate heating or frothing necessary. And the used pods are collected in a little built-in container which makes clean-up a snap.

Artichoke hummus (and a book review)

I came upon this recipe for artichoke hummus in an unusual way. Knowing that The Ninj enjoys cooking and living in a generally healthy way, a college friend of mine asked me if I'd like to review a lifestyle book to which she had contributed. Since she herself is an awesome writer, of course I agreed to check it out.

So what does this have to do with hummus, you may be asking? Don't worry, I'll get there.

The book turned out to be Vibrant Living by Molly Shattuck, a health and fitness advocate and philanthropist from Baltimore who has designed a program to help people embrace a healthier lifestyle in 21 days.

Now, bear with me – I, too, was skeptical. I'm not an advocate of fad diets or “fix your life in 3 easy steps” kind of crap. You know me by now. My motto is everything in moderation: I think we often sabotage our efforts to be healthier and fitter by shunning every single “bad” food or by only eating restrictive, special diets that are too difficult to maintain, as well as setting unrealistic fitness goals.

I'm happy to report that Molly's ideals are quite similar (good thing, or it would have made for some awkward email exchanges with my college pal). She, too, embraces the idea that being fitter and eating better involves a fundamental lifestyle change but that need not be difficult or require you to subscribe to a packaged meal plan or to eat crazy-ass food. Her program emphasizes taking 21 days to establish a new routine of daily exercise (she includes easy-to-follow workout plans that don't require more than a pair of sneakers) and, my favorite part, eating “real”, unprocessed food.

Hellz yeah, Molly! High five from The Ninj.

Which brings us, at long last, to the artichoke hummus (See? I told you I would get here).

Best of 2013: your favorite recipes and mine

A round up of The Ninj's most popular recipes of 2013 and some that deserve a second look.

Yowza -- 2013 was a big year here on the blog, wasn't it?

In honor of the year's end and all the yummy recipes we've cooked together, I've created a year-end wrap-up of your 10 favorite recipes (as indicated by total page views), as well as my 10 favorites that I think you might want to give a second look.

As I mentioned last year, cooking these recipes and writing these posts is a bit like being a parent: you insist you love each one equally but, really, in the deep honesty of your heart, you have favorites.

Did any of your personal faves make it onto these two lists? And what do you want to see more or less of in 2014? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Top 10 Most Popular Recipes of 2013

1. Black Bean Chocolate Cookies
2. Homemade Nutella
3. Overnight Crockpot Oatmeal
4. Oat and Yogurt Breakfast Bars
5. White Bean Burgers
6. Cherry-Apricot Quinoa Breakfast Cookies
7. Fruit Leather
8. Guinness Beef/Venison Stew
9. Watermelon Soda
10. Maple-Pumpkin Mini Muffins

The Ninj's Top 10 Favorite Recipes of 2013

1. Port and Cherry Brownies
2. Chicken and Biscuit Casserole
3. Homemade Granola
4. Asian Pork Burgers with Quick Pickled Cucumbers
5. Vermont Potato Chowdah
6. Pasta Con Sarde
7. Roasted Red Pepper Spread
8. Lightened Clam Chowdah
9. Carrot Cake Cookies
10. Banana-Zucchini Muffins

Protecting your garden: a Nite Guard Solar giveaway

This is my first-ever giveaway and I'm very excited!

Being all ninja-like, this is a different kind of giveaway. Many bloggers are contacted by a brand and agree to write a post on the brand's behalf in exchange for merchandise to give away to their readers. Not so with The Ninj.

I contacted Nite Guard directly because I already own and love their pest-deterrent product.

Let me tell you about it -- and then you can enter to win it!

Regular readers are used to hearing about my ongoing battle with the deer and the bunnies in our garden and wee orchard (they like fruit and veg as much as much as we do, apparently). Since both the garden and the orchard are situated in the front of our house, I'm loathe to put up unsightly fencing around them, so I'm always on the lookout for non-fence alternatives to keeping the critters away from our plants.

Two years ago, I decided to try the Nite Guard Solar "predator control system" (doesn't that sound badass??!!!).  If you're not familiar with this product, it's a solar-powered unit, pictured above, that automatically delivers a single flash of red light each second from dusk to dawn. Nocturnal animals think it is a blinking eye (from up to 500 yards away), a potential threat to be avoided. It also has the added benefit of being mistaken for some kind of security camera on your property, thus discouraging potential human trespassers.

One great feature is that Nite Guard Solar is effective against animals of various sizes: bunnies, raccoons, coyotes, deer -- even hawks and owls. The key is to position the units at the eye-level of the animal you are trying to deter. For example, since bunnies and deer are our biggest concern, I have my units positioned at two different heights.

One of my Nite Guard Solar units in the wee orchard

Weatherproof and solar-powered, the units require no attention from us other than repositioning. You see, even the silliest deer will stop believing that the flashing light is a threat if it never changes position. So every two weeks or so, I move the lights to a slightly different location (I mount them with zip ties, so they're easy to remove and reposition).

And they have worked -- with no fencing required.

That's exactly why I decided to contact Nite Guard for my first giveaway. I wanted to share this easy, safe, effective method for protecting the garden with my readers, and the Nite Guard folks have graciously agreed to supply one lucky person with FOUR (4) Nite Guard Solar units, which normally retail for $19.95 each!

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment below, telling me what kinds of critters are bothering your garden and if you have any proven tricks or tips for deterring them.

Just a couple of other details about the giveaway:

1. Entry for the giveaway ends at 11:00am East coast time on Tuesday, July 30, 2013. Any comments left after that time will not be included in the drawing.
2. Only comments left in response to this blog post will be considered valid entries (talk it up on Facebook, by all means, but that won't count as an entry, nor will an email).
3. Only one comment per individual will be considered in the drawing.
4. One comment will be chosen at random (using random.org) as the winner.
5. The winner will be notified via the email address provided when the comment is left (so be sure yours is accurate) and also posted on the blog after confirmation.
6. The winner will need to respond and supply me with a mailing address within 48 hours of notification, which will then be shared with Nite Guard LLC.
7. The four units (average retail value of $79) will be sent to the winner directly from Nite Guard LLC; The Ninj is not responsible for prize fulfillment.
8. The giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only, please.

Of course, if you'd rather not leave it to chance, you can purchase your own Nite Guard Solar units right away!

(Note: While Nite Guard LLC is providing the prize for this giveaway, they did not approach me about sponsoring it nor did they compensate me in any way. The opinions and comments expressed are entirely my own.)