Chocolate Cherry Almond Meal Cookies Filed under ( Dessert, Family, group fitness, Restaurant Review )

Please excuse my absence! Josh’s parents have been in town since Saturday and we have been busy spending good quality time with them. How has your week been treating you? Mine has been very nice- a little bit of work, a lotta bit of play and the usual teaching. I also was able to bake up a new to me treat this week. I saw Pam post about these Chocolate Cherry Cookies and knew I must try making them (since Josh’s Mom had just brought me my first bag of Almond Meal from Trader Joe’s):

 

I assembled my ingredients and got to work:

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup dried cherries
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Desired quantity chocolate chips

Directions:

• Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place everything in a bowl and mix well (it will look like there is not enough moisture at first).
• Using a cookie scoop, scoop mix out onto a cookie sheet. Bake for ~16 minutes (if larger cookies) until bottom is slightly brown.
• Enjoy!

 

I have a tendency to go overboard with chocolate chips….

 

Last night, we enjoyed our last meal out with Josh’s parents. We went to one of our favorite Italian spots in Charleston, Mercato.  Josh’s parents:

Me & the Man:

 

And we hit up Fresh Berry afterwards :). I got Vanilla with double cherries and kiwi, fantastic:

And since I missed Workout Wednesday:

• Monday: Taught Body Pump & Step
• Tuesday:  Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Off
• Thursday:  Run outside
• Friday:  Teach Body Pump
• Saturday:  10K road race
• Sunday:  Off

Have you baked up anything new lately? Please share links :) Have a good rest of the work week.

Tuesday/Wednesday, Butternut Squash Chocolate Chip Bread Filed under ( Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, soy )

Hello! I apologize for going MIA yesterday. Below is a recap on my Tuesday/Wednesday (so far) and a great link for a Butternut Squash Bread recipe. Enjoy ;)

Tuesday: Work was pure craziness and my laptop got a major virus in the middle of it all(it is currently in IT surgery)! After working late, I ran out to teach Body Attack(which was fabulous) and came home to do more work and to eat a quick dinner. Salad:


Chobani +I later mixed in tons of pumpkin+some nut butter (YUM!):

I ran to the airport at 11:30 pm to pick Josh up from a business trip. We came home and passed out around 12:30.

Wednesday: I didn't want to miss my pump class this morning (despite the late bedtime), so I some how rocked out of bed at 5 am for 10 minutes on the elliptical followed by pump. As a result, my day has been run by Starbucks ;) (non fat misto with pumpkin spice syrup):

Work has been crazy/busy again. Since my laptop is in for surgery, I am working from home. During my lunch break, I threw together a Butternut Squash Chocolate Chip bread using this recipe (and chocolate chips instead of walnuts). I used some organic butternut squash puree that I picked up from WFs:
The result:


I had a nibble and it tastes great! I may try to use applesauce instead of oil next time around. I will let you know what my official taste tester (Josh) thinks later.

Tonight, we're doing some more grilling (bbq chicken for Josh, squash and peaches for both). I am also going to try something new to me....tempeh!With all of the controversy surrounding soy, I have been trying to avoid it as much as possible. However, since I do not eat meat most days (I eat seafood on occasion and no land based meats), it felt like it was time to give this protein option a try. Research (which always seems to flip flop) shows that fermented soy products are the best option. So tonight, I will give Tempeh a try! I will let you know what I think tomorrow. What are your thoughts on the great soy debate?

Peanut Butter (Flour) Chocolate Chip Cookies Filed under ( Dessert, peanut butter, Restaurant Review, Vegan )

First things first- Happy Birthday Cookie(Josh’s Mom)!!!! Hope you are having a spectacular day.

How was your weekend? Hopefully the weather was just as beautiful where you are as it was here.  My weekend involved tasty eats, time with friends, Josh & Frank, great workouts and lots of house/yard work. A few pictures from the weekend. Veggie Quesadilla from Poe’s:

This morning, Lindsay and I walked the bridge and then had brunch at my favorite place:

 

Lindsay came with treats!! She knows how much Josh loves key lime pie, so she snagged him a pack of this key lime pie gum:  

She also shared some of her Artisana samples with me (thank you thank you!):

 

When I got home, I got to work on a new recipe, peanut butter flour chocolate chip cookies. I used the trader joe’s flour to create these beauties. This was my second attempt and they turned out really well (unlike my first batch ;)).

 

Vegan (or not) Peanut Butter Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut flour
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil or earth balance (1 stick) (or regular butter)
• 2 tablespoons flax mixed with 6 tablespoons water (or 2 eggs)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate chips (vegan, carob or milk)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix wet ingredients in one bowl and dry in another.
• Combine wet & dry ingredients and add chocolate chips
• 
• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a cookie sheet
• Bake for 10-12 minutes
• Let cookies cool for 1 minute on baking sheet then remove to cooling rack. Makes ~ 2 dozen cookies

 

The rest of my afternoon will be spent doing some work, changing up my group fitness choreography & watching football with Josh & this sleepy guy:

Favorite part of the weekend? I really enjoyed my walk this morning with Lindsay :) Who needs a therapist when you have fabulous friends?

Sunday Footbal BBQ Filed under ( Dessert )

If Sunday wasn't the day before Monday...I would love it more ;) I got up this morning and caught up on some things around the house. I also prepared for a Sunday Football BBQ. My Aunt and Uncle were in town signing some paperwork on their future house (which is RIGHT down the street from ours- hoooray!), so we decided to do up some good food. I made Tina Bars with chocolate chips for dessert.

My Aunt brought this amazing bowl of fruit from Costco:

Josh made up some burgers and I toasted up some buns:

And I made up some oven baked fries. I had some sweet potato "fries" and lots of fruit (maybe 4 times this amount haha):

I also made up some traditional white potato fries for everyone else (they were still cooking in this picture ;)):

All in all, a great bbq! We watched a bundle of football and then I decided it was time to get my legs moving! I felt a little sore after the quarterly and knew I'd be doubly sore tomorrow if I didn't do anything today. I ended up doing 6 miles (5 running and 1 mile walking because I ran into my friend Jennifer who was walking her dog in the middle of my run):

Felt good to get a little sweaty :) I am currently making up some bbq chicken nachos and more steak fries for Josh and his friend Jeremy :). On tonight's agenda, switching up my Body Attack choreography and more football. What are you up to?

Big Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for YOU! Filed under ( Dessert )

Hope your week is off to a good start. Mine started a LITTLE rocky and I was feeling stressed. For me, one of the best stress relievers is cooking/baking. Luckily, I had agreed to bake one of my fellow group fitness instructors some of my big oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (as he requested) for subbing one of my classes.

   

Want some of these cookies and don’t feel like baking? Tomorrow, September 14, Tina at Carrots N’ Cake is hosting a blogger bake sale to raise money for her & Mal’s Team in Training. A batch of my Big Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies will be up on the block, so please please bid on them and all of the other amazing treats. I can customize these cookies based on allergies & can make them vegan! I will also ship to anywhere in the US or Canada.

What is your favorite stress reliever?

Oatmeal Peanut Butter (Flour!) Chocolate Chip Bars Filed under ( Breakfast, Dessert, group fitness, peanut butter, product review )

Hi guys! How are you doing? After all the traveling I did last week, it has felt SO good to get back in the kitchen to bake & cook!  I got my bake on last night for sure. I made vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for wonderful friends of mine:

I also finally experimented with my Trader Joe’s Peanut flour that my MIL sent me:

 

Since I always love mixing up my bar recipes, I decided to test this flour out first in an Oatmeal Peanut Butter (flour) Chocolate Chip Bar:

 

Ingredients:

• 2  1/4 cups old fashion rolled oats
• 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup Peanut Flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (raw)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce- unsweetened)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs or egg substitute

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients (first six). Add in wet ingredients and stir until combined. Spray pan (I used a Pyrex dish), press mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 28-30 minutes. Let the bars cool completely, cut & serve.

These taste like those no bake peanut butter/chocolate cookies! So yum.

Also of note, we had our first spaghetti squash of the “fall” last night! Josh had his topped with homemade turkey meatballs, cheese and marinara. I had mine topped with cheese, marinara and black beans. YUM!

And for your workout Wednesday (Thursday), here is my plan for the week:

• Monday: Ran 6 miles outside
• Tuesday:  Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Ran 6 miles outside
• Thursday: Teach 45 minute Body Step & 45 minute Body Pump
• Friday:  Off
• Saturday:  Teach Body Step
• Sunday:  Off

How are your workouts coming?? And what is your favorite kind of squash? I love them all…but I think Acorn is my favorite.

The Wrong Ending Filed under ( Dessert )

Hello! Hope your weekend was wonderful and that you got to do a lot of this...

The rest of my day yesterday was very nice. Josh and I ran some errands, I did some cleaning, some baking, and relaxing! For dinner last night, I had cantaloupe, fresh peppers, and rutabaga with some salsa and pinto beans:

I tried to sleep in this morning but had no luck! After trying and trying to fall back to sleep, I finally got out of bed around 7:30 and ran four miles. I then headed to Starbucks to get Josh and I some special coffees and then we headed to my Aunt and Uncle's for a little birthday BBQ for me. For dessert, we grilled up some fruit with a side of ice cream and cool whip (I just went for the cool whip). They put a candle in my peach and sang me Happy Birthday:

The peach was so yummy, I had to have a second. My Aunt and Uncle live about an hour from us. On the way home...I got pulled over for the first time and got a ticket :( Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I was so mad- I thought I'd get a warning but no such luck.

Despite my bad mood from the ticket, I ran out with Josh to Lowes to get some stuff we needed for our lawn. I then delivered some homemade cookies (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Chocolate with White Chocolate Chips) to a few of our neighbors to say "Welcome to the Neighborhood!!"

We have been sort of bad about getting to know our neighbors and have decided to change that. Do you know/get along with your neighbors??

Is tomorrow really "Monday"?

Practice Run, Froyo, Mellow Mushroom Filed under ( Dessert, Restaurant Review, running )

How is your long weekend going so far? Mine has been lovely! Josh and I went into Charleston yesterday and walked around. We made a stop at Fresh Berry for my "birthday cake"- delicious froyo and fruit:


Amazing! When we got home, we took the Frankster for a walk (lots of walking yesterday!!) and then headed out to dinner with a friend. We went to Mellow Mushroom and Josh was thrilled to see that they had added prosciutto to their menu!!


Josh and our friend ordered the garlic Parmesan pretzels to start. I nabbed a piece- they are as good as they look:

I got a salad (I was still pretty full from our froyo ;)) of romaine, green peppers, onions, cucumber, tomato, avocado and a side of herb vinaigrette.

Josh got a pizza with artichokes and prosciutto:

We came home and I hit the hay early. I woke up at 6:45 ready to do my practice run for a bridge race I am hoping to run in October. Here is the view as I drove to the starting line:

I was nervous to run the bridge as I've been training mostly on flat ground. However, I completed the 10k run and was happy with my stats:

And was a nice sweaty mess after:

Today I am hoping to go to the beach and maybe pick up some new running sneakers! What is your favorite sneaker brand/model?

Goal Check-in for the Weekend:

Spend at least 8 hours outside - 5 hours down already!!

Smile more - :)

Complete a test run for an upcoming race I am hoping to complete- Done!

Eat Fresh Berry - Done!

Spend lots of time with Josh and Frank - Have been doing lots of this and am hoping for even more!

How are you doing with your weekend goals??