Link Love #13

Have you entered my thinkThin giveaway yet?

If you’re like me, you’ll probably agree that Tuesday is only just a little bit better than Monday. You’re one day closer to the weekend, but not quite halfway through the week yet. That’s why I like to share some of my favorites with you on Tuesday.

Health

Rotten Gut Bacteria, Starving and Weight Gain – Sarah Kay Hoffman

Rotten Gut Bacteria, Starving and Weight Gain – Sarah Kay Hoffman
Women, Food, and Body Image – Galit Breen
WHY You Work Out is More Important Than HOW You Work Out – Nia Shanks
Fight Stress with Food – Lindsay Cotter via LiveWell360
Ditching the Plan – The Healthy Maven

Fitness

The Total Body Pumpkin Workout – Lifting Revolution

The Total Body Pumpkin Workout – Lifting Revolution
Puma Plyometric Workout – Fit2Flex
My Favorite Core Exercises – She Rocks Fitness
Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Fusion – Femme Fitale
Bodyweight Ab Workout – Pumps & Iron

Food

Vegan Whole Wheat Oatmeal Applesauce Banana Bread – Ambitious Kitchen

Whole Wheat Applesauce Banana Bread – Ambitious Kitchen
Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal – Eating Bird Food
Smashed Sweet Potato Fritters, Pistachio-Pumpkin Seed Crusted – Lunchbox Bunch
Crockpot Carne Asada Nachos – How Sweet It Is
Peanut Butter Protein Truffles – Peachy Palate

Food for Thought

What was your favorite post from the last week?
What is your favorite day of the week?

Sundays in the Kitchen

Somehow, even after a 4-day weekend, Monday still seems to come too soon. So to drown my pre-work week sorrows, I decided to spend the day in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm!

I had a special request (weeks ago.. oops!) for chocolate chip cookies, so I started there. Last month, Brown Eyed Baker had a chocolate chip cookie throwdown featuring 4 recipes, one of which was our favorite from Alton Brown. Showing Nathan was a mistake.. he immediately wanted to have a throwdown of our own. Rather than having our throwdown, we decided to try the winning recipe; The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

How can you resist chocolate chip cookies like that?! We certainly couldn’t and the verdict is in; we may just have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie!

To combat the indulgent cookies, I got my healthy cook on and prepped some delicious meals for the week. A new recipe from the Tone It Up girls, Carrot & Pumpkin Soup, will be making many appearances this week during lunch along with Jamie Eason’s Turkey Meatloaf Muffins via Sarah Fit. We also have some honey wheat rolls, bulgogi beef prepped for tonight’s dinner, and my latest creation;  Blueberry Ricotta Muffins. I was so happy with the way they came out. They’re super moist and are perfect to have with a little jam.. or in my case, peanut butter. Because everything is better with peanut butter!

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Serves 12
Adapted from The Lean Green Bean

Ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk [I use Almond Breeze]
1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree [Not pumpkin pie mix! I use Libby’s]
1 egg
1/4 cup demerara or brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Optional Toppings
Jelly or jam
Any nut butter
Earth Balance Coconut Butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients from coconut oil through vanilla extract. Slowly mix in your flour and baking powder until that is just mixed through. Don’t over mix! Gently fold in the blueberries so they are equally distributed.

Grease a muffin tin and scoop into tins in 12 equal parts. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through. Let cool, top with your favorite topping *cough peanut butter cough* and enjoy!

Nutritional Stats
Per muffin

124 Calories  /  4g Fat  /  20g Carbs  /  3g Fiber  /  10g Sugar  /  4g Protein

Food for Thought

Do you prep your meals for the week on Sunday?

Foodie Penpals – June Reveal!

Getting my foodie penpal package in the mail is definitely one of my favorite fun things to receive each month. And once again, I was completely spoiled!

Lauren at Lawfully Wedded Wife sent me a package this month. I told her that I’m a member of Tone It Up and being a member herself, she absolutely rocked it! From the healthy ingredients to make my lean, clean, and green meals, to the yummy little bites, I couldn’t have asked for more. (Nathan jumped in on the food action this month, too!)

Left to right: Organic Spelt Sourdough Pretzels, Soba Noodles, Peach Preserves, Chick Pea Flour, Chocolate Covered Almonds, Unsweetened Banana Chips, Whole Wheat Flour, Wasabi Flavored Nori Chips, May’s Unique Vinagrette, Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta

So far, my favorite item has to be the banana chips. I’ve never had unsweetened banana chips before, in fact, I never realized that others were sweetened! These chips have gone into my oatmeal, protein cookies, and also dipped into a little peanut butter for a snack 😉

I also love the May’s Unique Vinaigrette! I have salads all the time for lunch, so this is a nice, new way to dress them up.

The peach preserves have also been thoroughly enjoyed! Homemade peach frozen yogurt quickly appeared.. and then disappeared even faster! Recipe coming soon, so check back!

I haven’t been doing much baking lately, but I’m super excited to use the chick pea flour to make a pizza crust! Nathan is a huge pizza eater, so I’m always looking for fun new ways to make it healthier and I’ve seen chick pea dough recipes all over the internet. Soon enough I’ll be eating my healthy pizza 🙂

Like I said, I was completely spoiled. And I love that so many of these ingredients came from Lauren’s local farmers’ market! It definitely made me want to take a closer look at my market next time I go. But in the meantime, I can’t wait to enjoy the rest of my goodies! 🙂

Thanks again, Lauren!!

Speak Up!

Do you participate in foodie penpals? If so, what has been your favorite item that you’ve received? If you don’t participate, what are you waiting for?!

Learn more about joining the Foodie Penpals program from The Lean Green Bean!