Sometimes I surprise myself.

Random fact of the day: if you have earphones on and you’re eating, you realize how obnoxiously noisy your mouth really is when you’re eating. Or maybe that’s just me.

Anyways, HAPPY MONDAY FRIENDS I hope it is sunny beautiful in your neck of the woods because it is nasty here:) Aka, snow, cold, dark. Typical Upstate New York.

Clearly, Eeyore is not happy with this.

I’m with ya, bud.

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on my last post! I loved hearing about what happiness means to YOU, and what you thought of the recipe:)

So I have a bit of an announcement. I know I said that first Half Marathon would be July 23rd, but plans have changed a bit.

Let me tell you a little story.

Yesterday I set on the canal for my long run with the Padre and his Harvard buddy (both marathoners and buddy is an ultramarathoner), so I expected to run separately because I figured I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

I was wrong. These sons of guns intimidated me at first, but I was keeping up nearly effortlessly. Before I knew it, we had run ten miles. For the first time in my entire life.

No pictures of me because it was first thing in the morning and I was sweaty. Clayton (Harvard buddy) said I looked like I hadn’t even run yet, but obvs he was just trying to be nice. So here is a recycled picture of myself:)

I know don’t you just want to be me? Especially with my faces….good thing my friends know how to handle my crazy.

The stats:

AH:) I still can’t believe I did it.

Next weekend’s long run is 12 miles. Then I taper down…

For my first Half Marathon on May 1st!!!!

Will you come cheer for me?! It is the Flower City Half Marathon in Rochester, NY, it would make my heart so happy if y’all came out to support me<3

Holy roley poley oley. I am so so so excited, and I will have the Padre by my side the whole time. I cannot wait to share this experience with my Dad. It sounds so cheesy, but he is my hero and I never would have started running without him.

After our run yesterday, we shared a special father-daughter moment hug. It was beautiful ❤

Later, I met up with Lisa at the gym for some upper-body weight lifting (I am getting BUFF) and abs/stretching. Then we went to the local health food store and bought out their Zevia and bread stash (best bread in. the. world. Only ingredients = Millet flour, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, carrot juice, water, baking soda, and sea salt. BAM) and then made this monster.

Props to Lisa for her amazing stash of extracts (ALMOND) and her Avocado of the Month Club membership. Fuerte avocados – sheBANG.

I don’t even know what to call this. It kind of tasted like a cookie. Kind of like cake. Kind of like marzipan.

Well, he’s green…how about the cookie monster?

The Cookie Monster

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado (flesh scooped out)
• 2 scoops protein powder (we used Vega Sport Vanilla)
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 1 whole dropper-full of vanilla stevia (probably 20 drops)
• a few drops of almond extract

Directions:

1. Blend, baby, blend!
2. Eat with a spoon. Otherwise we’ll look at you funny;)

We ate these way too fast. But of course I was still hungs (hello 10 mile run) so we toasted some bread. Holy lord in heaven, best bread I have ever had. I will post a picture/my obsession with it soon<3

Gloooop!

Hahaha okay that is all for now loves.

Some parting words:

GO ENTER LISA’S GIVEAWAY!! She is giving away SunButter (obsessed), Vega deliciousness, Dandy Blend, raw granola, and a book. I love her to the moon and back and you will too ❤

Put it on your calendars to travel to chilly willy Upstate New York to cheer on CK on May 1st!

I know today was supposed to be a post on “Why Syracuse?”, but that will come tomorrow:) Other things to come….

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Narsty.

Any advice for a half-marathoner newbie?

Pwease and thank you:)

What are your Monday plans?

Meeting up with some of my girls later tonight!

xoxox,

Happiness is….

Happiness is seeing the first flowers of the season poking their noses out of the ground.

Happiness is wearing flip flops on a sunny day.

Happiness is meeting a giant turtle on your bike ride in the sun.

Happiness is Protein Ice Cream after working out.

[frozen blueberries, frozen peaches, protein powder, xanthan gum]

Happiness is a Larabar on said bike ride….

…enjoyed with your feet dangling off the side of a dock.

Happiness is green grass.

But most of all, happiness is waking up the first morning of spring break and realizing that you have an entire week to do nothing but sleep, eat, and watch Jersey Shore.

And make pancakes.

Or should I say….a Bancake?

Power Protein Bancake

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup buckwheat, quinoa, or amaranth flour
• 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1 scoop protein powder (I roll with Vega Sport Vanilla)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. stevia
• liquid of choice (water, non-dairy milk)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven/toaster oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a cake pan with coconut oil.
2. Mix all of your dry ingredients together, and then add liquid until you reach a pancake-battery consistency (not too thick, but thin enough to spread out).
3. Pour your batter into your cake pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then plate and serve. Top with chia seed gel, nut butter, whateva suits your fancy:)

I topped mine with Chia Seed Jam made of…

[1 tbsp. chia seeds, 1 tbsp. carob powder, 1 tsp. maca, 1 tsp. acai, and 10 drops of vanilla stevia]

And defrosted frozen blueberries and blackberries:) See the one on the bottom right? It was HUGE. Biggest blackburry I have ever seen.

Get ready to be obsessed. It’s the pancake for all of us when we’d rather not bust out a pan and risk burning perfectly good batter. Or, when we want cake for breakfast.

Hence, the Baked Pancake = the Bancake.

This stuff tasted and smelled like Nilla Wafers. And vanilla cake.

It was love at first whiff.

Delicious…

…nutritious.

The stats? 37 grams of protein [with toppings] in this mother effer. Sorry if that language offends you, it’s something to embrace.

Talk about a protein punch.

I’m off to go on my long run with the Padre and his work buddy – who is a Harvard grad. Whatwhaaaaat

See you tomorrow babydolls! Coming up is a reader’s request. The topic? Why I chose this school.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday chickadees:)

Finish this sentence:

Happiness is…

xoxox,

Figgy Smoothie.

Good evening love doves!! How are ya?

Please say sunny and dandy because surprisingly that is how it’s going in Upstate New York! I know, shocker.

  

Oh, and I basically drooled over all of your favorite pancake recipes. I think my spring break is going to include my fair share of pancakes, don’t you? ❤

In other news, because of the sunny deliciousness weather we have been experiencing, I had to hit the pavement. It was calling my name. It was just me, the music, and Darren. So in love.

My getup was ORANGE style:

Holy cheekbones!

Darren on my left, as uge.

I pounded out a six-mile fun run, give or take 59 minutes (stoplight every two minutes, awesome). My Garmin pace was 9:54, but lord knows that the stoplights ruined my awesomesauce pace that I was ripping. Yup just used that as a verb.

Immediately after every workout, I down a recovery smoothie. Usually the recipe includes dates, banana, protein powder, dulse, xanthan gum, and EFA oil, but we were all out of dates. I KNOW I didn’t know what to do with myself…

SO I used my girl scout superpowers and got thrifty. (side note: I was never a girl scout I just like to pretend I was)

What does a girl do when she’s all out of delicious dates? She finds the next best dried fruit in her house. In my case, it was dried figs.

Say whaaaaa?!

Yup, Figgy Smoothie to the rescue!

Figgy Recovery Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup dried figs
• 1 tsp. dulse flakes
• 1 tsp. xanthan gum (optional)
• 1 tsp. EFA oil (or other oil of choice)
• 1 (heaping) tbsp. protein powder (I roll with Vega Vanilla Sport)
• 2 cups water

Directions:

1. Bend, baby, blend! Enjoy in a bowl, with a spoon. Only way to go.

I went with my favorite Pooh mug. It is giant, adorable, and makes me feel like a child again:)

This recovery smoothie recipe is based on Brendan Brazier’s recovery smoothie from his book, The Thrive Diet. I’ve found that this smoothie gives my muscles the refuel they need immediately after working out (no matter how hard or easy!), and reduces soreness and cravings by a million.

So even if you didn’t just work out, you should make it anyway. Because it’s really, really good. This was one of those times when you get to the bottom of the mug and think to yourself, Wait, wasn’t there more than this before? I swear I didn’t eat all of that already..

Well guess what self, you just did.

Time for me to go make some din! Should I roll with some socca, or pizza?! Help a sista out:)

See you tomorrow boos!!

What should I roll with for dinner?

I’m really indecisive when it comes to food. I just want everything!

Favorite post-workout smoothie or snack?

This son of a gun.

What was your Thursday workout?

Six mile fun run in the sun:)

xoxox,

banana bread blondie…cake!

Good morning bloggy boos! How are you?

I am quite the snuffalupagus this morning, I am pretty sure I have sneezed up a tornado. I think it may be appropriate to bring my own box of tissues to class. Whaddup, nasal decongestant!

I loved hearing all of your weird food stories and advice about college! In case you missed yesterday’s post, you can read it here. Long story short, I won an indoor triathlon and am choosing between two AMAZING colleges, and one that I am wait-listed to.

Finally it is sinking in that this is a decision that will determine my life path for the next four years. And possibly my life course for the rest of my life. Not going to lie, it’s a bit heavy but I am ready for it. No matter where I go, I know I will have a fun four years, at one more so than the others:) Sorority, here I come!

So what’s a girl to do with such a heavy decision on her shoulders? Um, eat.

Specifically, Banana Bread Cake.

That’s what happens when you’d rather have banana bread that looks like a slice of cake than a slice of bread. Chickayeahhhh 🙂

As a child, banana bread was my favorite thing that the Madre would make. It has a soft spot in my heart, and obviously I had to replace the sugar, eggs, and gluten with high-protein alternatives. You could basically eat this for dinner.

What, you don’t eat cake every day?

Because that’s just wrong. Make this, and have cake every day for the rest of your life.

Or should I say, ten times a day for the rest of your life.

Not that I would know or anything.

Vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free

Adapted from my Orange-Cranberry and Raspberry Amaretto Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 + 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1/3 + 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/4 cup NuStevia Baking Blend
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1.5 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened So Delicious Coconut)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a cake pan with coconut oil.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, mash both of your bananas until almost liquidy, and then add the extractives and 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk.
4. Add wet to dry, and mix thoroughly. Add more non-dairy milk as needed to make a dough that is stirrable, not tough or stiff. You want your dough to be wet enough to spread itself into a cake shape.
5. Pour dough into your cake pan, and smooth the top.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Cook it more if you want a less dense center.
7. Try not to burn your tongue eating a slice of this straight out of the oven.

Dense like a blondie, banana-y like banana bread, and sliced like a cake. What more could a girl want?!

I enjoyed a (few) large slices with apple spread frosting, coconut butter, and chopped banana. It doesn’t get any better:)

No picture of that though because it just looked narsty.

^^ See my oven mitt thumb print? Aweeee presh, my cake has a beauty mark!

That’s all for today loves! Tomorrow you will have a delicious macaroon/ball recipe and some sweet protein socca! See you on the flip, chickadees:)

Tell me some of your college stories/advice!!

Please and shank you:)

How do you handle big life decisions? Are you a worrier or a planner?

I am a huge planner. Although things can worry me a little bit, my viewpoint is that there is a plan, and you will end up where you are supposed to be.

Favorite childhood food?

Banana bread and oat cakes:) Recipe for those son of guns coming soon!

xoxox,

the cookie monster.

Good morning love doves, and happy weekend! How are you?

Today I am smiling ear-to-ear for a few reasons.

1. Last night CK got the most views in the history of the bloggy! Honeybunches I cannot even explain to you how warm and fuzzy my heart is right now, can we all have a bloggy sleepover please and eat tons of homemade cookies? More on that in a bit:)
2. Yesterday I had the honor of being featured on So Delicious Dairy Free’s Fan Page! And there is a SLIGHT possibility there will be a giveaway involved sometime in the near future:)
3. Yesterday I took Body Pump for the first time in, uh, a year. WHY DID I SKIMP OUT FOR A WHOLE YEAR I missed it so muchhh! And now my hammies are sore as a beeyotch. Glorious. From the Padre, quote: “My butt hurts.” Hahaha that marathoner cried wee wee wee all the way home:)

   
   ^^ Got mah game face on.

   Don’t be fooled by how tan I look. I am actually super pale, I love my camera! It makes me look less pasty:)

4. I slept more than twelve hours last night. Much needed, and much deserved. As a student I rarely get enough sleep (in my books I need at least 8 hours), so this was especially special:)
5. Tonight I will be having din din with one of my favorite blends (bloggy friends), Hollie! Can’t wait to stuff our faces with cookies togeths girl!
6. I am currently watching The Biggest Loser while blogging. I freaking love Hulu.
7. I spent the entire night baking. Cookies. Approximately fifty of them. Allow me to explain. I put four times the amount of baking soda necessary for my base cookie recipes, so the Madre said I had “no choice but to quadruple the recipe”. The Padre jokingly said that it would be a TERRIBLE thing to have four times more cookies in the house. I couldn’t help but agree;)

Behold, two new cookie recipes!

All are based off of my Gluten-Free Raspberry Amaretto Cookies, Orange-Cranberry Cookies, and Chocolate-Covered Banana Cookies.

As usual, they are gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, whole-grain, and full of protein and healthy fats. Uh, scoresky!

Since I didn’t want a million of the same type of cookie, I figured why not divide up the dry mix and try out a couple new flava flavs?

So I did.

Since there are so many photographs, this story I am going to tell in pictures. Enjoy!

^^ Hahaha that is definitely not normal.

Chocolate-Covered Banana Cookies (below. Click for the recipe!)

Thin Mint Meringue Cookies

Dense and fluffy at the same time, these cookies have a flavor similar to that of the childhood favorite with the appearance of a meringue cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal (almond flour)
• 1/4 cup NuStevia Baking Blend (or your choice of sweetener)
• 1/3 cup cocoa or carob powder (unsweetened)
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. xanthan gum
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp. ground flax seeds mixed into wet ingredients)
• 1 tbsp. chocolate extract
• 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp. peppermint extract
• Non-dairy milk (I used Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, except for flax seeds.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients and flax seed meal. Let sit for a few minutes.
4. Combine wet and dry in the larger bowl and add coconut milk until desired cookie-dough consistency. You want it thick enough to hold its shape, but not so thick that they may turn out dry.
5. Scoop by the tablespoon onto your cookie sheet and flatten slightly if necessary.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Enjoy!

If that thin mint deliciousness was not enough for you, here is recipe numero dos!

Coconut-Almond Macaroons

Dense and delicious, these are not your typical macaroons. Enjoy with a tall glass of non-dairy milk, or some pineapple!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/3 cup almond meal (almond flour)
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 cup NuStevia Baking Blend (or your choice of sweetener)
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp. flax mixed with wet ingredients)
• 1 tbsp. almond extract
• 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• Non-dairy milk (I used Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a cookie sheet with coconut oil.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, except for flax seeds.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients and flax seed meal. Let sit for a few minutes.
4. Combine wet and dry in the larger bowl and add coconut milk until desired cookie-dough consistency. You want it thick enough to hold its shape, but not so thick that they may turn out dry.
5. Scoop by the tablespoon onto your cookie sheet and flatten slightly if necessary.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Enjoy!

I ate way too many cookies last night.

I mean, what is a girl to do when there are bowls to lick and warm cookies to eat?

Uh, eat.

So I did.

I would call that a “great success” numero dos:)

And now my freezer is full of cookies. Looks like I won’t be doing much baking for awhile!

I am off to shower and then go see The King’s Speech. Later on I’ll be having dinner and TONS of cookies with Holls!

See you tomorrow lovlies:)

Workout Song of the Day:

Backseat by New Boyz. Don’t judge the artist name, I promise you will rock out to this song. It is best on zee spin bike!:)

p.s. I have been way too serious-sounding for my liking lately. Don’t worry my crazykins self will show itself again tomorrow, don’t worry chickadees

What are your Saturday plans?

King’s Speech, sprucing up at home, dinner, then stuffing my face with cookies and watching Biggest Loser with my homegirl.

Any cookie flavor requests?

I am MORE than happy to make more cookies:)

Are you obsessed with the Biggest Loser too?!

I recently became hooked. Why I never watched it before I am stumped. I LOVE YOU HULU

xoxox,

It Snowed on my Cookie Dough + Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake!

Good morning friends!! How are you?

I hope your Sattyday was glorious🙂

Mine was spent eating everything in sight (I was so hungry, I swear to goodness it is ALWAYS my time of the month), watching Hulu, and gymming it up with a sweaty 60 minutes on the elliptical.

I was so sore from my run with the Padre! Running outside is NOT the same as running outside, especially when the wind is blowing so hard it is going up your nose sideways🙂

My Sattyday started with a glorious Cookie Dough Bowl, con a tablespoon of raw cacao, a teaspoon of acai, chia seeds, and flax meal..oh and tons of coconut, it was snowing outside (BOOOOO!), therefore it snowed on my cookie dough.

If I tried to Latin-ify that, it would go something like “It snowed outside, ergo my cookie dough was snowed upon.” <– See what I did there?? I am a genius I tell you, that whole year of Latin I took really did the trick:)

Have you ever had coconut on your morning cereal, it is so good, I think this is going to have to happen every single morning. Some of you may think I am crazy for being late on the coconut train, but I used to hate the stuff (do not ask me why, I could not tell you). This stuff is delicious.

SNOW:) Love it on my cookie dough, but I could do without it on my grassy green lawn that is now wet, brown, dead, and covered in slushy white “snow”. I am saying it as “snow” because Upstate New York weather means it is never fluffy snow, it is either slushy or frozen.

If any of you are interested in a tropical vacation where it is warm and sunny and there is sand, feel free to book plane tickets!!

Until then, I’ll be eating lots more of these:)

Delicious, nutritious. Gett @ m3 <— I was a gangsta rapper in a previous life

—————————————————————————————————

Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake:

And now the moment you have allll been waiting for!

RAW CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE!

Remember when I devoured my piece and the piece of the lady next to me?!

That was a good day🙂

Now, I have recreated that bad boy!

Feel free to drool, no shame here at CK.

It was perfect. Not to sweet, and very chocolatey. And fudgy wudgy, just the way I like it:)

I love it when the flavor of the cacao really stands out, and isn’t overpowered by sweetness!

On a Pooh plate, obvs. Gift from the ‘rents:)

Oh, wait, you wanted the recipe? My bad;)

Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed and pitted dates (I use Medjool)
• 2/3 cup walnuts
• 2/3 cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)

Directions:

1. In your food processor, process walnuts to a flour and then add dates.
2. Process until dates have formed into a paste, and it all balls up in your food processor.
3. Add cocoa powder and process until fully incorporated.
4. Transfer to a container/small pie or cake pan (I used a round tupperware), flatten the top, and refrigerate overnight.
5. Pop out, garnish, slice, and enjoy!!

Garnished with rasps and cacao nibs.

Perfection.

Next time I am going to use my Raw Chocolate Mousse as frosting. Which is going to be very soon, since more than half of it is already gone🙂

I would have done that this time (‘twas the plansky), but I got caught up in packing food for my trip to D.C. with the Padre! (ahhhh I am so excited!!)

You could also sub another nut for the walnuts. For a Chocolate Cookie Cake, sub cashews and add chocolate chips! I will be doing this for the Baby Sister’s birthday cake in May:)

—————————————————————————————————

I’m off to go have a slice of cake and finish packing! I am writing this Saturday night because Sunday morning will be busy busy!! I am hitting up the gym early in the morning with the Padre (boooo too cold to run outside!), then scarfing down breakfast and hitting the road!

As you read this I will either be shoving a Cookie Dough Bowl in my face or on the road on my way to D.C.! It is going to be a whole 70 DEGREES, I am so excited, I am going to wear shorts!! And FLIP FLOPS🙂 Guys this is a big deal, especially with the awful Upstate New York weather I deal with every single winter.

Send me some sunshine in a bottle? Please and thanks:)

Don’t forget to send in your Mission: I Feel Pretty pictures!

And, if you are in the D.C. area and would like to meet up, shoot me an e-mail! There are some D.C. bloggers that have expressed an interest already, so hopefully you could join us!:)

Have an awesome Sunday, love doves!! See you from D.C.!

Is it snowing where you are? If not, make me jealous of your sunshine!!

YES, do not remind me, if you send me some sunshine I will melt the snow here and love you forever:)

Do you like the co-co-nut? What is your favorite way to eat it? I need ideas!

So far, just on top of cookie dough, but I think I need to get creative:)

Are you a fellow fudge-lover? What’s your favorite fudgy dessert?

CAKE, and brownies!! And fudge, obviously. Can’t go wrong.

xoxox,

Gluten Free Orange-Cranberry Cookies

Good morning bloggie babes! I have a busy day ahead of me, so this post is going to be a quickie.

First of all, you all should know how much of a messy eater I am. I’m talking food drippage in my hair, on my clothes (one of the many reasons I wear scarves..but then it just gets on those?), on my face, and on all of my class notes.

Exhibit A.

My most recent (and not so obnoxious) stains.

You should see my bio notes.

Anywho, this morning I devoured a delicious [jar] of protein oats! Unforch, I forgot to take a picture (still getting back into the blogging thing..I was hungry). Into the jar went:

• 1/2 cup GF rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond breeze
• 1 melted banana
• ~ 1 scoop Vega Sport vanilla protein powder (I am OBSESSED. Turns your oats green! Roarrr green power)
• Topped with: blueberries, raspberries, and a good 2 tbsp. or so of almond buttah from the jar

Yummmay in mah belly:)

For your enjoyment, here’s a picture of a glorious bowl of oats I had a few days back (and actually got a picture! go me):

Same oat-USVAB-banana combo as above, just with a toonnnn of PB and cacao nibs. Wassup, Elvis bowl!

Besides that, I’ve been snackety snacking on micro muffies. A microwaved muffin! Doesn’t get any better than that:)

Wanna make one? Do this:

Micro Muffie

In a normal bowl, mix:

• 3 tbsp. flour, oats, oat bran, etc.
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 tbsp. applesauce or oil
• 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp.  liquid (water, milk, etc.)
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• your choice of sweetener (I use stevia)
• handful of mix-ins (raisins, chocolate chips, cacao nibs)
• spices if desired (I used about 1/4 tsp. or so of cinnamon)

Mix it all together and nuke in a greased mug for 90 seconds, then pop out and let it cool, bottom side up (bottums up, bottums up…). It will firm up and not be so gooey, I promise:)

Top with nut butter or whateva you’re feeling, and devour! Nom nom 🙂

Okay, now for the cookies! I’ve been gluten-free since about September or October. It gives me awwwwful migraines and digestive and muscle pains, and since I’ve been off  of it, my symptoms have gone away. So, I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free baking as of late, and recently came up with these babies!

Sorry for the [awesome] picture quality..lately my Droid is my camera of choice:)

Gluten-Free Orange Cranberry Cookies

Makes about 14 cookies (it can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup almond flour (almond meal)
• 1/3 cup quinoa flour
• 1/4 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup NuStevia baking blend (or sweetener of choice)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp. orange extract
• about 3 tsp. orange zest
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used dehydrated Whole Foods brand cranberries and soaked them in hot water for about 5-10 minutes)
• about 2-3 tbsp. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (eyeball this based on dryness/wetness of the batter)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl (except cranberries), and wet ingredients in another.
3. Mix wet and dry together thoroughly, then fold in cranberries (if you followed my method of dehydrated-and-soaked, make sure you drain the water out well).
4. Drop by the tablespoon onto greased cookie sheets, and flatten with the palm of your hand.
5. Bake for about 7 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden on the edges.
6. Try to not burn your tongue by eating one fresh outta the oven.

These were perfectly moist and delicious🙂 I froze about half of them so that I can pop one in the microwave every night and have a cookie “fresh out of the oven”. Soooo good! Last night I needed a snackety snack and topped one with almond butter…do it. Now.

I’m off to work on my Econ paper! I’ll be squeezing in a workout a bit later. Hopefully it’ll be a bit more organized than my hodgepodge from yesterday!

I think I have workout ADD…I kept going from elliptical to stair climber to treadmill and back around. Maybe today will be a spinning class🙂

Are you a messy eater?

Yes. I currently have oats on my bathrobe.

What’s your favorite way to eat oats?

With a melted banana, protein powder, almond butter, and berries:)

What’s your favorite dessert/cookie?

BROWNIES! And chocolate chip cookies (the gooey kind). And cake:) Does fruit count as dessert? Fruit + chocolate = super combo.

xoxox,

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. I totally lied, this was NOT a short post. I get carried away;)