Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lemon Blueberry Scones + a Giveaway!

Double Trouble.




You, my friends, should consider yourselves very lucky.  Because, today, you are a getting a double-dose of delicious-ness.  Not only will there be an awesome scone recipe, there will also be an even more awesome giveaway to enter (scroll down for details).

Sounds great, huh?


First up:  the scones.

To sum it up in one sentence, they are berry filled lemony goodness that could actually qualify as a healthy breakfast, or a great snack.

Boy, that was one jam-packed sentence.


Lemon Blueberry Scones - inspired by this recipe
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp raw cane sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top
  • pinch salt
  • 5 tbsp cold unsalted butter (for vegan version, sub margarine, or other vegan butter, and omit salt)
  • zest from one lemon
  • 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/2 cup vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
  •  1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Whisk together flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt in large bowl.  Then, cut butter into small pieces, and add to flour mixture.  Mix until well combined.  Next, add blueberries (if using frozen, don't thaw) and lemon zest to dry ingredients, and gently stir.  Mix in yogurt and milk.  Eventually, using your hands to mix will be necessary to incorporate all the flour.  Once well mixed, form dough into a circle that's a little under 1 inch thick.  Cut into eight pieces and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until firm to touch, and golden brown on bottom.


Now, onto the giveaway.

This one is sponsored by the mighty fine folks from slimkicker.com.

SlimKicker is a fitness game and calorie counter that makes dieting easier and more fun than it's even been before by turning your goals into a level up game.  You can advance through each level by tracking your healthy calories, exercising, and completing challenges like quitting soda for a week.  Along the way, earn points and rewards to keep you motivated.  Also available are recipe ideas for certain diets such as Weight Watchers and Dukan Diet.

The reward for winning the giveaway is your very own Ozeri Touch Professional Digital Kitchen Scale in the ever stylish black.


How to enter the giveaway:

Simply comment with your original suggestion of a fun and creative fitness or diet challenge.  This should be only 1-2 sentences long, and completely your idea.  Also, please be sure to include your name and email in the comment. 


(contest open to U.S. residents only)


The person with the best challenge idea with be declared the winner in a weeks time, so stay tuned.

I look forward to reading about all of your great ideas.

Oh, and keep in mind:  If you're one of the only people the enter, your chances of winning are much much higher.

The giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations Crisha!  For you prize, contact the slimkicker folks at team (at) slimkicker.com.
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24 comments:

  1. Here's my challenge idea: go barefoot running for 15-30 mins every day. I've done it for the past month or so, and it feels so much better than running with shoes or sneakers on. It also prevents injuries too in the long run.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks for entering!

      And that's an interesting idea. I actually love walking/running barefoot so maybe now whenever someone tells me to put shoes on, I;ll just say that I'm preventing injuries!

      Delete
  2. My challenge idea: instead of quitting sugar and sweets all together, try limiting them to one little portion every other day. I notice that when I try to cut it out all together, I end up on a sugar binge because I crave it too much, but if I just limit it to 50 calories or so per day, I'm much happier and my sweet tooth is satisfied!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I totally agree that getting rid of sweets can actually be bad in the long run. I love the idea of trying to limit yourself to just a bit everyday. it's too bad that, with me, just a little bit can sometimes turn into a lot a bit, especially when the sweet tastes really really good. i try to just make healthier desserts most of time so i don't feel as guilty eating more than I'd like.

      Thanks for your entry and good luck!

      Delete
  3. Mmm! The scones look terrific! Blueberry and lemon is definitely one of my favorite flavor combinations!

    My challenge idea is this: Instead of pressuring yourself to dedicate one whole day to food prep for the week...make a conscious effort to make a few more servings out of dinner...that way you have one or two lunches for later in the week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love blueberry and lemon too. in fact, I also have a muffin recipe posted on this site with the combination. Whenever i see a lemon cake recipe, i just have to go and add blueberries, it's sort of like a tradition.

      Anyway, thanks for the entry to the giveaway. i may even try out that strategy as a good lunch late in the week is always something i find myself lacking.

      Delete
  4. I could eat Blueberries all day.

    Here is my challenge idea: During the week and at work, set a timer for every hour. Every time the timer goes off, drink a little bit of water and do an "office lap." Sometimes when you're at a desk job, we forget that we need to keep drinking and moving. I usually come back to my desk feeling refreshed and generally feel better hydrated throughout the day. :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh, that's a good one! I know I sometimes have trouble staying hydrated so this method would be super helpful.

      Delete
  5. since I'm obsessed with watching law and order: svu, my challenge would be to modify the law and order: svu drinking game (click here for context http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2011/07/law-order-svu-drinking-game/ ) by, instead of drinking, doing 10 pushups, 10 squats, 10 burpees, or 10 sit ups every time one of those things happens in the show, it would be a great way to be productive while watching TV :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, turning watching TV into exercise? Sounds good to me!

      Delete
  6. My diet challenge: when you go to the grocery store, keep an eye out for any (healthy) food item on clearance. Grab it, and think of a creative new dish that you can make with it, that way you are eating healthy and staying under budget! (I do this quite a bit, since I love browsing the clearance rack :)

    Another challenge (because I can think of two right off hand) is to reduce the amount of sugar or fat in any recipe you are making, which will start you training yourself to adapt to and like the flavor provided by less of those (start off reducing the amount of oil/butter/sugar/etc by half, then later reduce that by half, or even replace them all together by something like stevia or applesauce or spices and extra liquid, etc. It will push you to get creative with adding flavor elsewhere!)

    Thank you for the scone recipe! I do like scones, as does my mom.

    I'm Kaleigh, veggychristian@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both of those ideas are really nice. I find myself lowering sugar in recipes often, and it really does help you to adjust to the taste, and eventually you don't even notice.

      And thanks for including your name and email!

      Delete
    2. You're welcome! I do like to follow instructions :)

      Delete
  7. Those look really good! For some odd reason I can never bring myself to make scones, I've always wanted to, but there's some magical power resisiting :P

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I had never made them before, but then I made these, and now I think I may be hooked! They were super easy and really tasty. If that magical power ever goes away, i recommend these.

      Also, did you want to enter the giveaway? Details are in the post above, if you're interested.

      Delete
  8. yumm! Those scones look amazing!

    An idea for a health challenge-- try to go a whole month without going to a grocery store. I'm doing this for the month of July- only buying from farmers markets and farm stands. Of course, this doesn't work if you don't live in an area with good produce, and it also assumes that most people have enough rice/pasta on hand to last a month :) Really nice to cut out processed foods for a while though!

    Name: Emily E-mail: Ejbradfo@gmail.com

    Love your blog! Just made the single-serving carrot cake for me and my roommate and it was Soo yummy (and quick! which is great)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I love love love farmers markets. Every time I go on vacation somewhere I visit that towns market. Just out of curiosity, have you tried that challenge idea? If you have, I'd like to know how it went.

      And, also, thanks so much for the comment about my blog! The single-serving carrot cake is one of my favorite recipes (I eat it for breakfast often!), so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

      Delete
  9. For a fitness challenge - to stay healthy, do the sort of exercise that you enjoy. If you don't like running on the treadmill, you don't have to run on the treadmill. Explore different activities, like Zumba or cycling, until you find one that you enjoy.

    I'm stylefriendly. I can be reached at stylefriendly at gmail dot com.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It is really important to exercise in a way you like. That way, everything goes more quickly and your goals are easier to achieve.

      Thanks for entering!

      Delete
  10. Challenge: Work out with a friend! Challenge each other, but at the same time support each other. You can both come up with ideas or alternate preferred work outs! Walk a little longer each day, run a little faster. Just have fun with it!
    (The friend I work out with is my dog, as silly as that sounds. He was a rescue and weighed bout 50lbs overweight when we got him. I take him for walks and runs and feed him a healthy diet and he's inspired me to get fit!)
    Name: Becca! bhurt1115@gmail.com :)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Aww, that story about your dog is so great! I have rescue dogs too, and they are such a joy to have around. They keep me pretty fit, too.

      Anyway, thanks for your entry, but the giveaway is actually closed. I'm so sorry for any confusion.

      Delete
  11. Yum yum yum! Lemon and blueberry? So perfect. I definitely liked this so I can come back to the recipe & make it later!

    ❀ It's Carmen

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    1. I have to agree that lemon and blueberry is one of the best combinations ever. And please do make these scones, they're great!

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete