I mayyy be running on fumes [and some serious caffeine] today, but it’s a good day because my college roomie and her hubs are here! They got in late last night and will be staying with us until next Wednesday. We have so much planned over the next week from wine country [obviously] and hiking to bars and baseball. It’s going to be a ton of fun and super exhausting but I’m ready for it.
In the meantime, Lindsay is hosting another Pin It Party today so, of course, I’m playing along! If you missed the last parties, check them out!
Over the past few weeks since Best Body Bootcamp has finished up, I’ve really concentrated on figuring out what is right for my body in terms of food and workouts. I’ve experimented with more intense weeks of workouts and lighter weeks. I realized recently that stress has been tearing me down and the lighter workouts have been my friend [thank you, Lindsay]. That said, I’ve still been killing it at the gym, just at a more relaxed pace. Funny what happens when you actually listen to your body, huh?
Ironically enough, I’ve started incorporating more running into my workouts. It’s also made me realize I have some core work to do.. gotta get that strength!
In looking for inspiration, my ever-growing Pinterest board has been quite helpful. Turns out, I’ve pinned some pretty awesome workouts and I wanted to share some of my favorites that I’ve done with you.
Upper Body
Lower Body
Core
Combo
Full Body
These will all get your heart racing and muscles burning. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
It’s been a week since we moved in and I’m happy to say that we’re really getting settled now. It feels so good to sleep in our bed, eat at a dining room table instead of the coffee table, and play in the kitchen again!
Speaking of playing in the kitchen, I broke out my brand new spiralizer and Vitamix this week. Holy cow I’m in love! I’ve spiralized zucchini and sweet potato so far and can’t wait to play with more. I also may never buy nut butter ever again. In 2 days I made toasted pecan butter and coconut cashew butter. Seriously. Fresh nut butter in 5 minutes? Amazing.
Couldn’t decide between the 2 nut butters.. why not both?!
Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Fried Plantain and Coconut Fried Quinoa with Macadamia Nuts – Half Baked Harvest
Speaking of Pinterest, I’m loving all of the easy storage and decoration ideas I’ve found! Did you know lentils aren’t just for eating? 😉
Crafty and delicious!
Last week, I won one of the Love Grown Foods 14 Days of Giveaways packages. I was far too excited to dig in before taking a picture, but this stuff is awesome! I’ve had it once before but I forgot how good it is. Perfect on top of my oats!
There’s coconut in there too!
I’m looking into getting a personal training certification. I plan on pursuing NASM since I’ve read so much about it and it seems like that is the most universally accepted certification. Thoughts? Tips? Think I’m nuts? 😉
This whole “new life” thing is pretty exciting and pretty scary. But I think I’m doing alright. That said, if anyone would like to solve all of my life’s mysteries and tell me what I should do with my life, I’m all ears! Haha happy Friday!!
Food for Thought
What is your favorite type of nut butter?
Have you gotten a personal training certification?
Soon enough, my parents will be out here visiting us and we’ll be having just as much fun, right? 😉
This past weekend was nutso! Our furniture was delivered early Friday afternoon and after spending a full 2 days of unpacking, I still decided it was a good idea to go run the Hot Chocolate 5K. Obviously I’m glad I did though! So for you, I have lots of pictures to recap an otherwise uneventful weekend.
Started my weekend with a large almond milk latte. READY TO UNPACK!
Obviously the first beer we bought in California had to be the first beer we drank in our new place!
Salmon melt on ACME bread at The Bureau 510. Had to refuel big time after a long day!
Breakfast of Champions from Liba Falafel at the farmers’ market. There’s a poached egg in there.. and the rosemary peanuts and brussels slaw were ridiculous.
I was entirely too excited to finally get some dino kale from the farmers’ market. And this salad was crazy good! I missed my big bowls.
Spicy Pork Bibimbop, no rice, extra veg at Spoon. Definitely getting it this way every time.
Oh, you don’t eat oatmeal in your car before a race?
FINISHER! Time to eat entirely too much sugar. Worth it. It was no PR, but having not run in a few weeks, I’ll take a sub-25 min 5K.
Love meeting up with the SF Tone It Up girls! Great run yesterday 🙂
Ingested 100 lbs of sugar? Let’s have some veggies for lunch..
At this point, we’re almost totally unpacked and trying to make everything fit. If you have any creative storage tips, PLEASE share! I’ve been Pinterest-ing like a mad woman and am always open to more suggestions.
Food for Thought
Have you ever run a Hot Chocolate race?
What are your favorite creative storage tips?
It’s no secret that I’m completely addicted to Pinterest; mostly for recipes, but I do pin other things like workouts, house inspiration [you know, for when we find a grown up house], etc. Lindsay is hosting her third Pin It Party and there was no question that I’d be hopping on the bandwagon!
Check out my 5 posts I’d love to see on Pinterest!
Happy Wednesday, friends! Nathan sent me this video yesterday and I had to share it. This guy is incredibly inspirational and it’s so nice to see someone with such a positive attitude. It’s definitely worth the watch.. I hope you enjoy!
Now onto the food..
I have to admit, my eats have not been the most exciting lately. I’ve been loving big salads and roasted veggies and there are really only so many times I can show the same old stuff. So today I wanted to share another new twist on my protein oats and a couple other favorites that I’ve enjoyed recently.
Zucchini Bread Protein TVP Oats
I decided to explore a few breakfast options [only a little] and tried Zoats. I really enjoyed them but wanted to give them my own little twist and I’ve been devouring ever since! And obviously zucchini is not in short supply right now, so this is the perfect recipe to use some up!
Serves 1
Ingredients
– 1/2 cup almond milk
– 1/2 banana; mashed
– 4 egg whites
– 1 small zucchini; shredded and squeezed dry
– 1/8 cup rolled oats
– 1/8 cup TVP* [If you don’t have TVP, just substitute another 1/8 cup of oats]
– Cinnamon
– Nutmeg
– Your fave nut and/or seed butters [Optional.. but why wouldn’t you?!]
– Your fave granola [Optional.. see note above]
Directions In a small pot, bring almond milk to a boil with mashed banana and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Turn the heat down to medium high, add in your egg whites and mix continuously so the egg whites don’t poach. After the egg whites are partially cooked, add in the zucchini [make sure you squeezed as much of the moisture out as possible!] and mix to combine.
Let the zucchini and egg mixture cook for a few minutes, then add in the oats and TVP. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally until the oats reach your desired consistency. Once cooked, top with 1 tbsp nut or seed butter, a sprinkling of cinnamon, and your favorite granola for crunch!
*You can purchase TVP from iHerb.com. Use discount code ZAF482 at checkout for up to $10 off your purchase!
Pretty close to the original protein TVP oats, but with a little spin 🙂 This is also a perfect #PowerbowlChallenge breakfast. If you’re not participating, get with the program!
Snacks
I’m sure you’ve heard Chobani’s recent news and after having to toss a few of my beloved flips*, I’ve decided to take a little break and branch out to other brands of Greek yogurt. I’ve discovered some new flavors from Oikos that are off the chains! Yep. I went there. And I highly recommend you check them out.
I love that the lids say “with room for toppings” 😉
*Chobani’s customer service is incredible. If you’ve had any issues with your yogurt, be sure to contact them and they will send you coupons for free cups!
Salad Topper
I finally found a store in my area that carries miso and was super psyched to start cooking with it. I’m in love with Kathy’s miso dressing and have made miso-dipped tofu multiple times!
The tofu is perfect to throw on top of salads or into a wrap. I can’t wait to try it with tempeh and other proteins!
Hi friends! I wasn’t sure I’d get a post up today, but I decided that since I have some time, I wanted to drop in and share a few things.
1. Just My Imagination is having a huge semi-annual sale. Today through August 25th, you can get 40% off your entire order using code 40OFF at checkout. You don’t want to miss this!
2. Nathan and I are in concert mode this week. On Tuesday we cashed in his birthday gift and went to see Buddy Guy and George Thorogood. [Buddy was the jam!] Tomorrow we’re spending our day at Hot August Blues. What beats an all day blues concert outside when the weather is gorgeous?!
3. Speaking of the weather, I can’t believe it’s August. What is this 60 degrees when I wake up and 80 as the high?! It’s beautiful sweater weather but I’m not quite sure I’m ready for fall yet.
5. As far as this past week’s recipes go, I’m needing to finish up this post so I can melt down a piece of chocolate banana peanut butter fudge to spread on a piece of toasted paleo bread for today’s snack! So on that note, I’m out! 😉
I really do have entirely too many recipes pinned and sometimes I get into a kick where I want to make everything! Unfortunately, most of the time I have high hopes and it just doesn’t pan out. This past week, however, I’ve been making, baking, and devouring! It’s been fun.. especially the devouring part 😉
I pinned this recipe forever ago. Seriously, my board says it was pinned 43 weeks ago. That’s almost 11 months ago and I still had yet to make it! It looked like a perfect, summery salad so I added the ingredients to my shopping list and had this salad for lunch for two days. I added beets and feta on day one and left out the mango because it wasn’t ripe yet. Day two had the mango and beets, no feta. Either way, it was dynamite! A definite repeat.
As good as it looks. Actually, it’s better than it looks. The recipe says that it serves 4 and after consulting with Bev, herself, it was noted that is for a side serving. I added some sweet potato to the mix and doubled up my side for dinner! Best of all, I had 2 side servings leftover which I’m turning into lunches by topping a bunch of swiss chard with it and adding a few extra things like tomato and mango. Another success!
I saw this bread in Gina’s post last week and was very intrigued by it. I’ve never made paleo bread before but the idea of bread out of almond flour sounded wonderful! I thought I had all of the ingredients but ended up having to sub half of the almond flour for brown rice flour when I ran out but it still came out great! I think I could have taken it out of the oven a couple minutes earlier since it is a little bit dry, but I guess that just means I have to smother it with peanut butter, right? 😉 [The other half of that broken piece in the middle didn’t last much longer than this picture!]
Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Fudge – Ingredients of a Fit Chick
My sweet tooth has been out of control lately and when I saw this sweet treat a couple weeks ago, I knew it would come in handy! I love having snacks like this at my fingertips for when the cravings hit. Let’s see how long they last!
I have also found one of my most favorite salads at a restaurant ever. Most of the time when I order a salad, I’m disappointed by the size. I understand not everyone eats salads out of mixing bowls, but apparently at Looney’s, they are all for it! The picture doesn’t do the size of this salad any justice. Nathan’s friend told me if I couldn’t finish it, he would be happy to help. He must not know me very well..
Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken – Looney’s Pub
If you ever find yourself at Looney’s Pub, the Greek salad topped with grilled chicken is highly recommended!
Food for Thought
How often do you go back through the recipes you’ve pinned to make something new?
Are you a “normal-sized” salad eater or do you go for the mixing bowl?
My recent order from Relay Foods left me with a bunch of sweet potatoes [I’m not complaining!] so I was searching for different ways to prepare them. I found tons of sweet potato burger recipes on Pinterest, including this one from The Lean Green Bean, which I thoroughly enjoyed last week.
This totally inspired me to figure out another burger recipe. I’ve also been trying to cut back on grocery costs so I loved being able to stretch all of my ingredients in burgers. Not to mention, they’re so versatile!
Chipotle Lime Sweet Potato Tofu Burgers
Makes 8 burgers
Ingredients
– 1 large sweet potato; steamed
– 1 12oz. container extra firm tofu; drained and pressed
– 1/2 cup quinoa; cooked
– 1/2 medium onion; chopped
– 2 stalks green onion; chopped
– 2 chipotles in adobo; chopped
– 2 cloves garlic; minced
– 1 lime; zested and juiced
– 2 tbsp coconut flour
– 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
– 1 tsp chili powder
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp cumin
– Salt & pepper to taste
– McCormick Salt-Free Fiesta Citrus Seasoning[LOVE this stuff!]
Directions Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mash together until well combined. Form into 8 patties and place on a prepped baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Enjoy on a bun with lettuce, tomato, & onion or over a bunch of roasted vegetables. Always top with avocado or guacamole.. it practically completes the burger!
Every year for Valentine’s Day, Nathan and I try to figure out something special that we can do for dinner. Years ago, that entailed dressing up and going out to a nice restaurant. We’ve since learned that everyone and their mom goes out to a nice restaurant for Valentine’s Day making for crowded restaurants and a long wait for food. Sounds extra special, right? 😉
Nowadays you’ll find us scouring the grocery store for a fun protein to play with. Typically Nathan is in charge of preparing the majority of dinner and I handle dessert. One year we had filet mignon in a mushroom green pepper sauce with roasted fingerlings followed by blackberry cobbler and chocolate raspberry truffles. Another year we did a pan-seared whole duck with a cherry glaze, duck-fat pan-fried potatoes, and asparagus.. you get the idea.
As I was brainstorming for this years menu, I thought it would be really fun to experiment with homemade dim sum. Not only is it delicious, but it would be a great activity to do together! So, of course, I ran on over to Pinterest and found a bunch of recipes we can try.. for when we’re feeling brave 🙂
Dim Sum Valentine’s Date
Sweet and Spicy Soy-Glazed Edamame – Shared Appetite
This is a quick and easy recipe and you can munch on these bad boys while you’re making everything else!
Wonton Soup – Martha Stewart
Wonton soup. It’s just a staple.
Mango, Avocado, and Cucumber Spring Rolls – Cupcakes and Kale
A fun twist on a typical app. The mango will give it a slightly sweet flavor and the avocado will make it nice and creamy.
Asian Shrimp Dumplings – Dashing Dish
Dumplings or pot stickers are such an easy thing to do when you have wonton wrappers. Not to mention, I love this low cal option!
A little bit more time consuming than the pot stickers above, but well worth the effort. These steamed dumplings are always full of flavor and this recipe looks to be on point!
Char Siu Bao (Barbecue Pork Steamed Buns) – Mike and Molly’s House
This would be the ultimate. If we’re feeling brave enough, I’d love to make everything from start to finish. The barbecue pork, the yeast dough.. homemade pork buns would take the cake.
Mango Pudding – Eating Well
You can’t skip dessert on Valentine’s Day. This mango pudding would be the perfect way to end the meal.
And, of course, don’t forget to pick up your favorite sake, some Tsingtao and have a wonderful date night! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Food for Thought
What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Are you going out to dinner or staying in?
Barr & Table 