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The best thing about the Healthy Living Summit 2012 (so far) is receiving a big box of goodies from SUPERVALU INC. and being encouraged to get my bake-on, stat! The Summit is nearly six weeks away and, already, there’s some bonding action going on among the attendees that opted to participate in the WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest. I can’t wait to see what my blogging buds come up with, but in the meantime, this is what I’ve been working on!

The big ol’ box contained so, so many goodies! Animal crackers, granola, raisins, peanut butter, apple sauce, spices, beans, salsa. Upon opening the box, I immediately started snacking on animal crackers while brainstorming potential breakfast ideas. Moments later, Courtney warned me via Instagram that the animal crackers were no jokin’ good and to beware. It was too late, half the bag was already gone!!

The basis of the contest is to create a fun, healthy breakfast using at least three of the provided ingredients. My initial reaction was to bake some sort of protein cookie using the peanut butter, granola, and raisins. But after further thought, that recipe wouldn’t be very me. A more me recipe would be a savory, eggy breakfast.

A savory, eggy breakfast using using some of the leftover pie crust from last weekend!

FoodFash Black Bean Quiche with Mango Peach Salsa (yields 6 servings)

1 batch of your favorite pie crust

1 can of WILD HARVEST black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bunch of green onions, finely sliced

2 packed tablespoons of chopped, fresh cilantro

3 eggs

1 cup of milk

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of WILD HARVEST cayenne pepper

salt to taste

serve with WILD HARVEST mango peach salsa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill an uncooked pie shell with black beans, green onions, and cilantro. Add eggs, milk, cayenne pepper, and salt into a blender and blend until slightly frothy. Pour egg mixture over beans, making sure that most of the filling is covered with egg. Bake for 50 minutes, rotating quiche once mid-way through baking. Let quiche stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with WILD HARVEST mango peach salsa and enjoy!

Man oh man am I happy I went the savory route. The cayenne pepper adds that kick (that I find so necessary) and the mango peach salsa satisfies that sweet/salty craving that is so appropriate for brunch. And not only is this breakfast such a weekend treat, it’s also filled with loads of protein and fiber – the perfect fuel for a weekend adventure!

*SUPERVALU INC. provided the above WILD HARVEST products for free for the purpose of this blog entry and the 2012 WILD HARVEST Blogger Recipe Contest.

It seems like just yesterday Meghann and I were sitting at the Southwest terminal at Tampa International Airport, waiting to board our flight to Phili for last year’s Healthy Living Summit. At this very moment, I cannot even begin to comprehend how quickly the 10 months since HLS has flown by and how much my life has changed during that time. But I can tell you with certainty how my much I’m looking forward to this year’s HLS and why. Oh, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it!

As soon as we arrived at the hotel, a small group of bloggers got to work stuffing swag bags. And even though this wasn’t an official Summit event, I loved it just the same, if not more. I was relatively new to interacting with other bloggers and had never attended a blogging conference before, so this gave my social-self an opportunity to meet friendly new faces while giving my awkward-self a bag stuffing distraction. I have already booked an early flight to Boston this year to help my ~~blogging friends~~ real-life friends Meghann, Heather, and Julie with Summit prep work.

After bag stuffing, a huge group of us went out on the town for a hip dinner. You know how much fun it is eating a meal with a dozen other people who love food the same way you do? LOTS! The most notable part of this night was getting to not only meet with, but converse with, Kath. Kath’s blog was the first blog I remember reading and hanging out with her was like checking “meet celebrity” off your bucket list. Seriously, I was star struck for a moment. But Kath’s vibe was so kind and friendly that it was impossible to feel like a stranger for more than that initial moment.

And then there was the roommate sitch, which I purposefully left for last. Meeting these girls was hands down the best part of the trip. We were all from varying parts of the country and, likewise, were all so very different. But after a few minutes of chitchat, it was as if we’d known each other for years. We’ve all kept in touch since last August and I’ve even been fortunate enough to visit with Lauren in Eugene, OR and Emily in North Adams, MA. And in a mere two months, I’ll be able to give Krista and Emily big hugs and catch up on all the fun we’ve been having since the last time we were together.

There are no less than a million other things that I’m looking forward to when it comes to #HLS12, it truly is one of my all time favorite events. And in this one instance, I’m so thankful at how quickly time is flying – August 16th will be here before ya know it!

*Photos from Meghann, Lauren, Kath, and Me