sundaybrunch | Chi Organic Girls

Why HALOOOOOO there! We love giving away love to our readers but even better is a giveaway with pocket sized healthy treats, just in time for Valentine’s Day. So have you ever tried Wonderful Halos mandarins? At 50 calories each, these little orange fruits pack a punch of vitamin C without the seeds. We were given a bag to try but we’ve been buying these bebes in bulk since winter citrus became the rage again (or in season as the laymen say). You can just throw them in your lunch bag, peel them without ruining your manicure, and with minimal desk mess.

But let’s veer off the beaten grove path. You can also cook some sunny recipes with Halos to brighten up your day.

One gloomy Sunday, we went bananas for mandarins with our brunch.

Baked Orange French Toast from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

We kept close to the recipe but shaved off the zest of a Halos mandarin and subbed cinnamon for nutmeg. Make sure you butter the pan or use PAM spray as our forgetfully blissful selves missed this step and our french toast had separation anxiety from the baking pan. Taste overrides appearance, however, and this orangey french toast didn’t disappoint. We tossed some mandarin pieces on top with a drizzle of pure maple syrup for pure deliciousness.

Blueberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins from Damn Delicious

This tasty and healthy recipe from home cook and blogger, Chungah An, features greek yogurt, fresh blueberries and orange zest. These little muffins were simple to make, moist, fluffy and fruity!

Looking for more Wonderful mandarin Halos ideas? Wonderful Halos has a cool creative blog with more than just recipes. Just in time for Valentine’s day, you can find sweet crafts and snacks to delight kids and adults alike.

Orange you glad we shared these recipes (hehehehe)? Now for the giveaway details so you can make your own holiday halo-ful:

Your Wonderful Halos Gift Basket giveaway includes a juicy bunch of Wonderful Halos mandarins,a Wonderful Halos branded lunch box, backpack, water bottle, chapstick (mandarin flavored), sunglasses and stress ball shaped like a mandarin.

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway and happy halo-ing!

If you read our last post, we tried to coerce you into running the Fit Foodie 5k…we are still trying. Come with us!!

One of the sponsors of the race is Pure Canada Maple with their delish maple syrup. Who can say no to a big ol’ stack of pancakes with maple syrup? You can even modify them to make them healthy no grain paleo banana cakes…or something goodish for you :).

Here’s some things we didn’t know about PURE CANADIAN maple syrup! Don’t be going for none of that processed syrup wanna-bees.

It has many health benefits for runners (or wanna be runners like us). It naturally contains essential vitamins and nutrients such as maganese, riboflavin, zinc (just in time for cold season), magnesium and potassium. Many of these are vital elements for muscle repair.
It doesn’t cause the same blood sugar spike as many sugars and alternatives like the oh so pervasive corn syrup.
It contains polyphenols similar to those you find in healthy tea, red wine and flax seed and 54 different antioxidant compounds.
It has simple carbohydrates that are easily broken down by the body into glucose and used for fuel during exercise.

Enter our giveaway and tell us in the comments what fit foodie recipe could you use Pure Canadian Maple Syrup in to win a maple prize pack*. We would love some roasted brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of Pure Canadian Maple Syrup.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!

*Prize pack may include a variety of the following items: maple water, maple syrup and other maple themed items.

Infographic shared from the Pure Canadian Maple website.