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,

why not thrive? + socca to me!

Good morning rays of sunshine:) How are you?

Okay so this morning I have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. The Padre is going on the Brendan Brazier Thrive Diet for 30 days!!

GUYS I AM SO EXCITED this means the Padre will be eating just. like. me. I have never been so excited in my entire life.

Aren’t you proud of him?!

This is going to SKYROCKET his running performance and recovery, plus it will help him when he goes back to work (April 1st!). Padre will soon be eating a Cookie Dough Bowl and a Quinoa-Hummus-Raisin-Balsamic Bowl. Oh yes. Just you wait.

Here is a rough meal plan I made for him:

Thrive Meal Plan

Breakfast:

In a bowl:

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp. almond butter
• 1 tbsp. chia or ground flax seeds
• Fruit
• Almond/hemp/coconut milk, etc.

Or

In a bowl:

• 1 scoop Vega protein powder (black canister in snack cabinet)
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds
• 1 tbsp. flax seeds
• ½ cup – 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp. carob powder (optional)
• Non-dairy milk

Or

In a bowl:

• 2 tbsp. almonds
• 1 tbsp. chia or ground flax seeds
• 1 tbsp. hemp protein
• Fruit
• Non-dairy milk
• Carob powder (optional)

Or

Smoothie (blender)

• Recipes in Thrive Diet Recipe section
  • Generally, include lots of fruit, a few tablespoons of seeds and nut butter, and some hemp protein powder.

Lunch/Dinner:

• Big salad (romaine/spinach/mixed greens) or veggies
• 1 cup cooked pseudograins (quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth)
• 1 cup lentils/beans/hummus
• Handful of seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax, sesame, hemp) or almonds
• Top all with balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, and hempseed oil or EFA oil blend
• For other ideas, there are fantastic recipes in the Thrive Diet book.

Snacks:

• Energy Bars
• Vegetables with hummus
• Fruit with a handful of almonds
• Smoothie (see Thrive Diet recipes)
• ½ cup quinoa mixed with ½ cup lentils and your choice of dressing (marinara tastes great!), with veggies
• Banana with almond butter or handful of almonds

Pre-Workout Nutrition:

• About an hour before working out, Energy Pudding is best. In mini-chop, combine:
  • 1 banana
  • ¼ cup dates (about 6-8)
  • 2 tbsp. ground flaxseed
  • ½ tbsp. coconut oil (cereal cabinet)
  • 1 tbsp. carob (optional)
  • Splash of water
• Immediately before working out, if necessary, eat carbohydrates. This includes all fruits, mainly bananas, dates, and other dried fruits.

Post-Workout Nutrition:

• After a workout, a smoothie is best. Within 45 minutes, ingest a high-carbohydrate drink with small amounts of protein and fat. The general smoothie recipe is:
  • 1 banana
  • ¼ cup dates
  • 1 tbsp. hemp protein
  • 1 tsp. EFA oil blend
  • 1 tsp. dulse flakes
  • Water
  • Grated ginger (optional)

• One to two hours after your smoothie, eat a high-protein meal, such as the lunch and dinner suggestions above.

SO this means he will also be eating some of the food I cook. Sharing is caring🙂

Last week during a day when I got to come home for lunch, I (successfully) made socca! My first attempt was rather um burnt, but it’s fine this one turned out amaze and tasted even better.

And since I can’t eat things just plain (um hello, Quinoa-Hummus-Raisin-Balsamic Bowl), I had to make it socca pizza. And let me tell you, it was so good I ate it for lunch AND dinner.

So make this tonight, or you will be kicking yourself in the pants when you actually do try it and realize you should have made it sooner.

You have been warned.

Socca Pizza

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• Pinch of stevia
• Marinara sauce
• Nooch (nutritional yeast)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease a round 9-inch cake pan with EVOO.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine garbanzo bean flour, salt, stevia, and some hefty shakes of Italian seasoning.
3. Add water and oil, and mix thoroughly until all clumps are gone.
4. Pour into your cake pan and sprinkle with more Italian Seasoning.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is firm.
6. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then invert and let it cool on a cooling rack, or upside down on a plate.
7. Cut and top with marinara, nooch, and spinach lettuce or other veggies if desired.
8. Enjoy!

This was absolutely perfect.

I was expecting a funny flavor (pre-baking, the batter tastes horrendous), but it was so. good. Subtly sweet, yet savory at the same time.

I topped mine with Amy’s Low Sodium Marinara and nooch.

On my Pooh plate, obvs.

Can I just eat this every day for the rest of my life?

Sooo dense. My fave. Don’t give me fluff, give me substance.

Devoured.

So as I said, make this tonight. Don’t be kicking yourself in the pants later on;)

See you tomorrow loves!

Have you ever tried socca?

YESSS thank goodness I finally made it!

Have you ever helped a parent or family member to eat differently?

My sister went vegan thanks to my influence, and now I’m helping the Padre maximize his marathon training!

What are your favorite pre- and post-exercise snacks?

See above:)

xoxox,

I love British accents.

Whaddup gangstas! How’s your Indulgence Friday been?

Mine has been AWESOME, it is sunny beautiful here in my neck of the woods again and I am in lurve with the smell of spring. It makes me think of flip flops, skirts, puddles, and drawing with chalk on the sidewalk (yes I know am I way too old to still be doing that:)).

But because it was so sunshiney beautiful, I could not resist going on a run outside with the Padre. It was sunshiney but incredibly windy, aka we went super slow but it is totally fine it rocked and my calves are screaming. my Dad whooped my butt, did I mention he is a marathoner? If you would like to hear about my idol, aka the best Dad in the world, check out this post. But grab the kleenex first.

Running Outfit #1:

Then Padre told me how ch-ch-ch-chilly it was, so I put on my Under Armour and the Padre’s Spibelt. This thing rocks, I put my Droid in it so we could use the My Tracks app (which is SO cool by the way, it is like a free Garmin:)), but I forgot to hit “record” so we had no idea how long we ran!

Groooarrr all I know is that is was a killer 67 minutes and it was awesome:) Enjoy these pictures, feel free to giggle and point at me showing off my Spibelt but just know that you are jealous you do not have a professional runner’s fanny pack too:)

Whaddup fanny pack!

Oh and a MySpace-y picture, as per usual.

Haaaaaay Under Armour:)

Oh and then I chugged a hugh jass Brendan Brazier Thrive diet smoothie. I love him, he is a god.

Slash since you are all dying for the chocolate cake recipe, I thought I should tell you…

The Indulgence Friday recipe will be up tomorrow, I was recruited for an emergency babysitting job (I am a saint I know), so unforch I cannot eat/finish the chocolatey deliciousness that is currently chilling in my fridge, but you will have a delicious fudgy chocolate recipe tomorrow just you wait:)

So I am currently sitting on the giant gorgeous white couch con a million afghan blankets, the lappytop, and a remote that gives me access to any and every channel that exists. And watching Two and a Half Men. Anyone know a good show on Friday nights? I have every channel in the world and I do not know what to do with myself!

Wait that is a lie, now I am watching Wizards of Waverly Place, I am a sucker for all things Disney, it’s fine I’m a child inside. Maybe that’s why I am such a good babysitter?

I love babysitting:)

Did I mention the people I am babysitting for are British? Listening to them speak is like liquid gold flowing through your ears, it lulls my pretty little self to sleep like a lullaby (in a good way). I could literally listen to them talk all day, if ears could eat, British accents would be chocolate🙂

And they are my next door neighbors, which means that our houses are almost identically laid out. it is freaky deaky, it is like walking into my own house. The entire upstairs is the exact same format as mine, so it is tempting to walk into my “room” on the way to the bathroom but I resist:)

Don’t forget to send in your Mission: I Feel Pretty pictures! And if you missed my last post, I am going to be in the D.C. area Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and I would love to have a bloggy meetup with anyone in the area!:)

Have a good evening bloggy boos! See you tomorrow:)

Is it sunny where you are? How have you been enjoying the sunshine?

YES, and running and skipping in puddles:)

What is your favorite show to watch?

Lie to Me, Glee, anything on Disney, Grey’s, Desperate Housewives, Greek, Jersey Shore duh.

How are you celebrating Indulgence Friday?

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE:)

xoxox,

And Then There Was Mousse. [Indulgence Friday]

Good morning bloggy boos! I hope everyone had a rockin’ Indulgence Friday🙂

Mine was a blasty! I had an awesome time do-si-do-ing through my half-day and then lunched it up before I read a ton of Thrive during my 60-minute elliptical power sesh.

How did I do that, you may ask? I brought the giantest (shut up there is no grammar this early in the morning) rubber band I could find and wrapped it around the elliptical to hold my book flat. I wish I had a picture but I don’t so I will leave you to your imagination:)

After my workout, I didn’t even bother to shower (I know I am gross) so I used my favorite trick…HOMEMADE DRY SHAMPOO🙂

I use this stuff way too often to reveal (showering is for wusses), and there will soon be a recipe for that dry shampoo:) Actually, it isn’t really a recipe, just more of super simple secret trick that I will soon reveal to you and you will never have to wash your hair again.

Okay, that is a lie, you should shower because otherwise you will be stinky and greasy and no one likes a stinky person.

Just saying.

AAAANYwho, the Baby Sister and I headed out to a dinner date we’d had planned for a week or so, and took advantage of a gift certificate AND a buy-one-get-one-free coup that we had saved up for one of our favorite restaurants (we love our coups).

I know, we are cheapo but hey, who can refuse a free meal?

It involved a lot of this:

SLUUURP

And this:

Can I just say I love my sister. She is the bomb.com.

Who else have you met that can devour THAT bowl, and do it like this:

Um, I love my sister. We shared an epic high-five. This family loves their food:)

By the way, those chopsticks she’s using? A Christmas gift to Baby Sister from Yours Truly, since she is chopstick-ally challenged. Isn’t it adorable?

I will express it’s adorableness in photography taken by Baby Sister in an attempt to be artistic while I was in the ladies room.

Did I mention she is the bomb.com?

Pure artistry right there:)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we both devoured giant bowls of Peanut Butter Noodles.

Sorry for the awesome lighting, y’all;)

Peanut butter + noodles = how much better can it get?!

We have been obsessed since we were itty bitty and knew what Asian food was, aka we would always demand peanut noodles because we were picky and to be honest that was  all we would eat.

Now we get it every time we go to this restaurant.

Which is every week.

Girl’s gotta get her peanut butter fix!

My fortune:

Uh. Greed. Can I just say that fortune cookies are very very wise? Only a cookie could think of that;)

Then, we mosey’ed over to Sbux and didn’t buy anything, aka sat and chatted and shared jokes about the fun people that sit in the big comfy chairs with their laptops playing COD. Dream big, people, dream big:)

Then, in honor of Indulgence Friday, I recreated the foodgasmic Chocolate Mousse I had last weekend.

Oh, did I ever.

Quick, simple, and rich. This will be my birthday cake frosting this year…sprinkled in cacao nibs:)

And the best part? It is mostly raw, and can be made completely raw with the use of raw cacao instead of cocoa powder (I am a compulsive “nothing goes to waste” person, so I was not about to open a new bag of raw cacao with a wide open can of Ghirardelli staring at me). Tadaa!

Raw Chocolate Mousse

Makes about 1 cup (2 large servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 3 tbsp. cocoa powder, or 3-5 tbsp. raw cacao
• 3 tbsp. agave nectar, more if desired (I prefer a more bitter-tasting chocolate, so I used no more than 3, although I didn’t really measure)

Directions:

1. Open avocado by cutting in half, removing the pit, and then scooping the flesh out.
2. Process avocado in a food processor until creamy.
3. Add in cocoa/cacao powder, then agave nectar (this order is important in order for the powder to not go all over the inside of your food processor). Alternatively, you could do all of this in a bowl by mashing the avocado and then mixing in the rest of the ingredients thoroughly once the avocado is creamed.
4. Chill in the fridge (or the freezer is even better, if you like it super thick like I do) for at least 15-30 minutes.
5. Serve topped with cacao nibs, fruit, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, agave nectar, or whatever you fancy! Swedish Fish would work too:)

I topped mine with bloobs, raspberries, and cacao nibs. Love me some chocolatey endorphins🙂

Round 2:

With more berries, cacao nibs, and a Raspberry Amaretto Cookie🙂

The prep:

Gather your ingredients…

Simplicity at its best:)

Slice your avocado like a champ.

Whip out your trusty Chop Chop🙂

I. love. this. thing. Perfect for blending up oats, aka this thing was my fifth appendage when I got my wisdom teeth out. All of my food = blenderized in this sucker.

Process until creamy, like so:

Then transform it into chocolatey deliciousness.

 

Done, and done.

Enjoy while laughing your ass off while watching Easy A with your family. Yes, we are comfortable enough to watch these kinds of movies with each other, I like to think of it as a special bond🙂

Hahahaha I love Amanda Bynes🙂 Did anyone else watch What I Like About You back in the day? It was my favorite. show. Literally had to come home from school by three every day in order to watch this show or the world would end.

My plansky for the rest of the day? I’mma go make some protein pancakes and then get back to you with that recipe asap:)

After that? No idea, but I LIVE for the weekend and something fun will go down:)

Do you always order the same dish at your favorite restaurants, or do you switch it up?

I’m a creature of habit, but lately I’ve been getting a little bit more adventurous:)

Have you seen Easy A and did you basically pee yourself?

Yup, slash I am marrying Penn Badgley (I think that is his name, he is just hot Gossip Girl boy in my mind).

What is your favorite dessert? Or better yet, your favorite chocolate dessert?

I would have to say this mousse and any chocolate fudge cake/frosting. I am a chocolate MONSTA:)

Have a fun Saturday, loves!

xoxox,

p.s. Did I mention that I love late-night snackage..yeah, right now I am noshing on some Baked Falafel Balls. Try them with balsamic vinegar, you will never go back! (or better yet, ketchup)

Tangent Tuesday

Good morning lovies, and Happy Bunny Bunny Day! I hope everyone had an awesome Monday:)

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments on my last post! I loved hearing your stories and opinions about “supporting the troops”, whether it be through supporting someone you love, being a soldier yourself, or simply supporting the humanity of our men and women in uniform.

Additionally, I cannot be more thankful for all of you who are praying for my family. The last few months have been a trying time, which I will talk about on CK eventually, but for now needs to remain a family matter.

It warms my heart that we are in your thoughts and prayers! Please also keep Allie’s grandmother and family in your thoughts and prayers. Together, we can all get through the best of times and the worst of times! That is one of the reasons I love blogging so much, all of YOU:)

You really are the sweetest readers in the world, and I cannot even tell you how much it means to me to read your sweet comments and e-mails every day. Sorry to get all sappy on yous, but I just love you guys so much!! Let’s all have a bloggy meetup and talk about our deepest darkest secrets and eat lots of cookies and pizza and chocolate, mmmk?:)

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I really wanted to blog yesterday, but I was just too busy! The start of being a second semester senior is both stressful and exciting. Preparations for and decisions about the end of the year (and next year!) are being made, and I cannot wait to get a head start on my life:)

So, now for Tangent Tuesday! My girl Janae started Three Tangent Tuesday a week or two back, and I caught on with the tradition, but today I am just going to go on a tangent instead of telling you three random things because I like to talk too much🙂

Firstly, I got this son-of-a-gunster in the mail yesterday, and I cannot put it down. Can I just say that Brendan Brazier is a genius, aka my idol, aka reading this book is going to make me super speedy:)

If you have not tried Vega products or heard about Brendan, you clearly live under a rock (just kidding…kind of) and need to go check it out now (the funk soul brotha…name that song!). He will make you an athletic MONSTA:)

Also, I started two new classes! Psychology and Law & Government.

Psych I just love, and Mr. Hiller is bomb. He has incredible dry humor that makes me want to be his best friend. Because it’s TOTALLY not weird to want to be friends with your psych teacher.

Law & Government is a riot because it is taught by my main man, DWilson. And yes, I call him DWilson. Last year, I had a serious boyfriend (a story for another day), and he would bring me to his Law & Government class on occasion to show me off and just basically be a riot (he was the “funny guy”). So, DWilson and I are tight. We chat about wisdom teeth and all things hilarious like Jersey Shore and whoopie cushions.

You know, normal stuff.

In P.E. we started our square dancing unit, which is like a BIG DEAL at our school. First of all, everyone loves it because we don’t have to change, and everyone gets super into it and wears cowboy hats and boots. At the end, there’s a square-dance-off that is televised throughout our district and people actually care about winning this thing. And no, there is no prize like a giant jar of pickles or anything.

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HALT, QUICK NOTE!!

This is really really important. So listen up.

I discovered that Cookie Dough Bowls are even better with a tablespoon of chia seeds and a tablespoon of ground flax mixed in pre-soaking (ew, soak is such an icky word!), if it is even possible to make these any better.

Well technically, you could add a bucketful of Swedish Fish and Twizzlers and chocolate chips and marshmallows and chocolate sauce, but that is only allowed on Sundays.

So, if you haven’t had one yet, I am here to inform you that you have not lived and must go mix one up right now. Yeah, right now as in get off your tooshie, missy!

 

That is a recycled picture because I blog too early in the morning and there is no such thing as natural light in Upstate New York.

Sorry, kiddos, you would NOT want to see one of these bowls in fluorescent lighting and all mixed up, it is not a pretty sight. But then again, fugly food always tastes the best, right?;)

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Tell me three random things about you!

Feel free to rant, your comments make me smile:)

What books are you loving lately?

I need suggestions, one of my New Year’s rezzies is to read more but that is currently a fail, give me something highly entertaining and delicious:)

Tell me your stories about your senior year! Or, if you’re not out of high school, tell me about what you’re looking forward to in your senior year!

I just love being a senior, end of story. I will have to elaborate more in another post;)

Talk to you later lovlies! It’s time for me to put some real clothes on and go to psych. Have a rockin Tuesday!

xoxox,