And even though I’m not the Soup Peddler, nor do I play him on TV, David is a dear friend of ours, and Adam worked with him tirelessly to manage the creative and technical design of his new website. All those whimsical hand-drawn illustrations you see? That’s by Austin’s own  Gerren Lamson. Check out Gerren’s website for more of his delicious and inspiring work.

That adorable little girl? It's Mia (aka Soup Peddlerette)

On Friday, The Soup Peddler is having a 10th Anniversary celebration at Juicebox & Soup Peddler on S. Lamar. There will be games and fun to be had and they are giving away free soup and free beer. What’s not to like? I plan to stop by after work and I hope to see you there! Click here for more info.

I’m thrilled that the Soup Peddler now offers the option to pick up soups and salads for us on-the-go planners, and my office is nearby so I often stop in for lunch. And while I’m not a regular Soup Peddler delivery customer, I do like to send Soup Peddler gift certificates to new moms, and friends who could use some help getting dinner on the table when life gets complicated.

Rumor has it that the Soup Peddler will soon offer more goodness — beyond lovingly prepared meals — for sale on their website. Sign up for their email list (that link is on their contact page) to receive weekly menu and business updates from David sprinkled with the occasional essay or poem. Thank you David for doing your part to keep Austin Awesome!

As you may know, I’m a founding board member and communications chair for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance (AFBA), a local ethical, social, educational, and philanthropic organization formed in early 2011. This summer, we connected with Rachel, founder of BostonFoodBloggers.com about doing a food swap — pairing Austin and Boston food bloggers to send care packages to each other. We ended up announcing the swap in November, pairing folks by mid-month, and asking them to get their packages in the mail by mid-December.

I had only the best intentions for my pal — Rachel and I paired up with each other since we were the organizers — but ended up getting side-tracked by a personal matter between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did my best to put together some fun, Austintatious goodies from Rachel, but my package pales compared to hers. I sent Rachel:

• A copy of Edible Austin, and also the November food issue of Austin Monthly, where I was a contributor to their “Best of Austin” food feature.
• A box of pumpkin seed cheddar Doctor Kracker snackers
• A bottle of hot sauce from Wheatsville Coop
• A bottle of Good Flow Honey
• A Bearded Brothers Maca Chocolate energy bar
• Love Puppies Just What the Dr Ordered brownie (And yes, there is no period in Dr Pepper; the brownie also has pecans, which grow locally in Texas)
• Enchanted Rock Austin Natural Soap made with Balsam, Pine, Cinnamon, Lavender, Sage, and Cedarwood. 10% of the proceeds goes to Enchanted Rock’s Legacy Endowment Fund
• Fat Belly Bakery’s cheddar-jalapeno Bavarian-style pretzels

My Austin to Boston gift basket

Rachel’s package was AWE-INSPIRING. It included some of her favorite foods, along with photos she had taken in Boston of some of her favorite things, with descriptions on the back of each picture.  Her package included:

• Prints of her photos she has taken, including the best beef she has ever eaten (from O Ya), mini cupcakes from The Chocolate Tarte, Chihuly glass art at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (Adam loves Chihuly), cream of wheat at Neighborhood that Rachel says is the best cream of wheat in the world, Mac and Cheese at Church, and more.
• A coaster that says “Live Poultry Fresh Killed” from Mayflower Poultry, a business that has been around since the 1930s.
• Dozens of holiday cookie recipes from Brookline-based America’s Test Kitchen: 2010 Holiday Cookies Issue
• Wildflower honey from Warm Colors Apiary, purchased at Follow the Honey, a bee-themed store in Cambridge
• Discs of Taza Chocolate — salted caramel and guajillo chile
• Italian plum and wild concord grape jam from Central Bottle
• Mexican chocolate cashews from Q’s Nuts
• Minnie’s Mandelbrot
• Goat’s Milk Vanilla Bean Caramel from Fat Toad Farm
• Chocolate Ginger Bomb Cookies from 3 Little Figs (Chocolately and delicious!)

Rachel's Gift Basket from Boston!

Rachel is clearly a pretty amazing, creative, and giving person. She is from Massachusetts, earned a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester in New York, and a master’s in Science Journalism from Boston University. She’s also a musician; her main project is a band called The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, where she mostly plays flute. Her personal food blog is ForkItOverBoston.com, and, as I mentioned earlier, she founded and runs BostonFoodBloggers.com. She has a new day job — as community manager at Tasted Menu. The great news for me is that means I get to meet Rachel in person during SXSW, and hopefully treat her to lunch at Franklin Barbecue while she’s in town.

I’m looking forward to getting the chance to chat with Rachel in person, since we have never talked on the phone. She emailed that she is “super awkward on the phone.” This just makes me that much more excited to meet her in person. Also, I’m happy to have the opportunity to treat her to a meal, since her package blew mine out of the water on all counts.

Overall, I lost two pounds, my energy level was high, I slept well, and my skin was even clearer during the program. I gave myself license for the last week and a half of the year to kind of go back to my old habits, but I’m resolving to eat more protein, veggies, and more frequent meals in the New Year to continue my progress.

As you know, I offered to write four blog posts about my experience with Snap in exchange for them subsidizing two-thirds of the cost of the 21-day program, and since this is my final post, I asked Snap if they would partner with me on a giveaway. Leave a comment below, and one lucky reader chosen at random will receive three Snap Kitchen meals — one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner!

I recommend the following three dishes to the winner, and don’t forget to supplement with a morning and afternoon snack to ensure that you get enough calories for the day!

Breakfast: Banana Pancakes with a side of fruit

Lunch: Buffalo Quinoa Hash

Dinner: Vegetable Lasagna

Leave your comment below on what changes you will make in your diet in 2012 — or your thoughts on Snap Kitchen, and similar healthy prepared meal companies! One lucky commenter will win breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Snap!

Related:

• Snap Kitchen’s Snap Commit Program
• Snap Kitchen: Some Favorite Dishes
• Snap Kitchen: How It Works

Others are curious about how the program works. Basically, its a 21-Day program where you buy all of your meals — five small meals a day — from Snap Kitchen. For most women, the price breaks down to about $40 a day according to my rough calculations. To begin, you meet with one of Snap’s Registered Dietitians for a consultation to discuss an individual plan that takes into accounts any dietary needs, likes and dislikes.  The cost of the consultation ($40) is free with full payment of your meal plan (around $600 for a woman my size trying to lose weight).

Interior of Triangle Location. Photo provided by Snap Kitchen.

Every three days, I call one of the Snap Kitchen stores  – there are two in Austin — tell them my name and any substitutions I’d like to make, and swing by to pick up my three individually labeled bags. It’s an awesome feeling to know that I won’t have to plan or think about what I’m going to eat over the next few days. Such a luxury.

This past weekend, Adam and I were in Houston visiting family, and I needed to pick up my meals on Sunday. We decided to check out the only non-Austin location of Snap Kitchen, on Kirby in Houston. It was a last-minute stop so I didn’t have time to call ahead and ask the folks to prepare my meals, so we gathered the containers together. Here’s a photo of what almost three days of food looks like:

A few days of the commit program to go

And if waste makes you crazy (like it does me), you’ll like that the Snap Kitchen containers are completely reusable. I’ve kept mine, because I’m kind of a tupperware junkie, but Snap will recycle them as well. You can read more about Snap’s commitment to green living here.

As I look ahead to my last three days of Snap Kitchen feeding me (note: they compensated me for about 2/3 of the cost of the program in exchange for writing about my experience with the program), I know the real test will begin when I’m back to my own devices. I’ll share more about what I’ve learned and which habits I hope will stick in my final post, coming sometime in the next week.

Related:

• Snap Kitchen’s Snap Commit Program
• Snap Kitchen: Some Favorite Dishes

I approached Snap Kitchen about working with them because I already knew that their food was delicious, and much more varied and flavorful than their competitors. I was thrilled when they agreed to work with me!

While it has been a challenge to pass up all of the sweets at the office and at parties this time of year, I’m thankful that I’m never more than 3 hours (unless it’s bedtime) away from my next Snap Kitchen mini-meal. The program is comprised of five mini-meals a day — breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner for a total of 1200 calories. That leaves room for a piece of fruit or two as an extra snack if I need it in the evenings.

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite dishes so far:

A breakfast of banana nut pancakes with bananas (110 calories)  – the pancakes are made with an egg and steel-cut oats, and studded with toasted pecans. With fresh fruit on the side, they were almost delicious enough not to make me miss maple syrup.

Banana Nut Pancakes with fruit

A snack of “Devily” snap eggs (90 calories) — boiled egg whites with jalapeno hummus made me miss the mayo in Deviled eggs not at all.

Deviled Eggs

Spinach & Goat Cheese Salad (570 calories) — Spinach & Arugula, Goat Cheese, Mixed Beets, Pickled Red Onions, Sliced Chicken, Candied Walnuts, Raspberry Beet Vinaigrette. What I love about this salad is that it tastes so rich and makes me miss my usual “big salads” not at all.

Spinach, beet, nut and goat cheese salad

This skim mozzarella, cheddar, mushroom, and truffle oil quinoa snack tastes way richer than 200 calories. I could eat this every day of the challenge and never get sick of it!

Truffle Quinoa

Another favorite is this veggie “lasagna” made without pasta, but with eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, portabello mushroom, marinara, and cheese sauce. It’s been both a meal and a snack as it comes in two sizes.

Vegetable "Lasagna"

I could get used to eating this way every day, and I think the true challenge will be to keep these habits up when I don’t have someone else cooking and planning for me. Thankfully, I have another week or so of my personal Snap Kitchen chef.

Related:

• Snap Kitchen’s Snap Commit Program
• Snap Kitchen: How It Works