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.

Cookie Giveaway & Workout Wednesday Filed under ( giveaway, group fitness )

Hi guys! Happy Wednesday. Week going well so far? Mine has been busy, but good. A lot of you had questions about the Trader Joe’s peanut flour I used in my cookies. YES! It does taste like nut butter in a recipe! Its kind of like PB2 for baking. I am really enjoying the product and can’t wait to try it out in more recipes.

Since I haven’t made any new or unique recipes this week, I decided this would be a great time for a giveaway! One winner will receive their own batch of Peanut Butter (flour) Chocolate Chip cookies!!

There are two ways to enter (note: you DO NOT have to have a blog to enter):

• Leave a comment telling me your favorite Trader Joe’s product
• Lave a comment telling me your favorite fall recipe (with a link)

Each entry requires a separate comment to count. The winner will be picked with a random number generator! You have until noon on Saturday, September 25 to enter. Good luck!

And since its workout Wednesday, here is the plan for the week:

• Monday: Ran to warm up, taught Body Pump
• Tuesday: Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Off or short run (I have a race coming up and very little time to run- yikes!!)
• Thursday:  Teach 45 minute Step & Pump
• Friday:  Teach Body Step
• Saturday:  Teach Body Step and Body Pump launch
• Sunday: Off

Packed week! The Body Pump launch on Saturday is going to be really fun because its two weeks before the real full up launch for all the programs. Its a launch that is only being announced on the gyms facebook page. I am eager to see how it goes! What is your plan for the week?

Quick & Easy Vegetarian Bowl Filed under ( Beans, clean eating, group fitness, Healthy, protein, Vegan, Vegetables, vegetarian )

Last nights dinner was a tasty and easy one! I saw Jessie post about her go to Vegan Protein Bowl and it made me crave my own favorite quick & easy vegetarian (or vegan) bowl. I usually make this dish by roasting my vegetables, but I went a slightly different route last night so I could use my new steamer insert that my friend Mandi gave me for my birthday.

 

I chopped up a parsnip and sweet potato…

 

and steamed them up…

 

I mixed the steamed veggies with Bush’s reduced sodium pinto beans…

 

and Success Brown rice. The mixture was topped with salsa. For a little extra yum factor, I usually place shredded cheese on top.

 

Delicious & healthy.

And for workout Wednesday, here is my plan for the week:

• Monday: Ran to warm up, Taught Body Pump
• Tuesday:  Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Ran outside
• Thursday:  Teach 45 minute Step, 45 minute Pump
• Friday: Off
• Saturday:  Teach Body Step
• Sunday:  Walk with Lindsay

What is your favorite healthy meal? Any workout plans for the week?

Happy Birthday to my sister, Kim!!!! (Her birthday was yesterday but I didn’t post!)

Les Mills Quarterly, Greek Food Deliciousness Filed under ( group fitness )

Hope you're having an incredible weekend. Mine has been good but exhausting! Last night, we drove up to Columbia for the Les Mills Quarterly. When we arrived, we had dinner at a Greek restaurant right next to our hotel. I LOVE Greek restaurants, as they offer SO many yummy vegetarian options. Here's a picture of me and my friend Kristen at the restaurant:


I had snacked in the car, so I just ordered the Tabbouleh for dinner. It was incredible:



After we finished dinner, we headed for bed. We got up bright and early at 5:15 and headed to the gym for pump. The room was setup and empty when we got there:


This looks like a lot of steps, but it was actually the smallest quarterly I have ever been to! The day was AMAZING. I am super excited about all of the new releases! This set of releases is dedicated to breast cancer awareness (especially Body Step) and I think that is just so incredible/special! We ended up cutting out a little early because we were all exhausted but I ended up taking Body Pump, Body Step, Body Vive, Body Attack, and Body Flow (which was the PERFECT way to end the day). 5 hours of group fitness classes!! My calorie burn was out of control! Here is a picture of the instructors from my gym that attended the quarterly:

We drove the two hours home and since then I've been doing a lot of eating ;) Josh and I also ran to Lowe's and to the food store (to pickup some food for the football BBQ we're hosting tomorrow!). Now its college football and relaxing time! What are you up to?

A big congrats to all the blogger chicas out there who ran races today (like Meghann and Caitlin) and good luck to Lauren and LilVeggiePatch who are running races tomorrow!

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.

Pumpkin Spice & Goals Filed under ( Family, goals, group fitness )

Pumpkin seems to be EVERYWHERE these days. While I love all things pumpkin, squash, and apple… I am not ready for fall- I am a summer baby all the way! Luckily, SC weather isn’t anywhere close to ready for fall either. I hit up Starbucks this morning for my first (of many) pumpkin spice mistos! I get mine with two pumps of pumpkin spice (I think four is over kill) and loved every sip.

There have been a lot of posts floating around about goals and getting back on the fitness train. As I am working off my remaining pregnancy weight, I decided it was about time for me to set some goals! I loved how Heather laid out her goals, so I am going to do something similar:

Diet

• Get at least 75 grams of Protein a Day
• Drink more water!  At least 80 ounces/day (extra is required for breast feeding & working out)
• Eat more complete meals, less random snacking
• Lose remaining pregnancy weight gain by Thanksgiving (~8 lbs to go! Post Pregnancy updates will be monthly now)

Fitness

• Start teaching Body Pump and Body Step or Attack by the end of September
• Slowly increase Body Pump weight back to pre-pregnancy totals by end of December
• Focus on increasing running endurance- complete the two races I signed up for in October
• Take a Bikram yoga class

Life

• Stress less about the little things- enjoy every moment with Kaylin! I didn’t buy her this onesie….but I am pretty sure she loves it. The bottom picture is blurry, but captures her smiling:

 

• Make sure Kaylin gets in tummy time and a book reading every day
• Continue to meal plan and cook nutritious meals at least 5 of 7 nights a week
• Get back to work work (mid September)
• Purchase furniture for new screened in porch and living room
• Pick out paint color and paint two walls downstairs
• Make weekend “dates” to see friends
• Have a “date night” in or out with Josh (and Kaylin) at least once a week

There you have it!!  Do you have any goals right now?

So far… Filed under ( Family, group fitness, Restaurant Review )

I haven’t cooked or baked anything new/exciting yet this week, so I figured I would just share what I’ve been up to…

I’ve fit in two great runs and took Body Pump from the wonderful lady who has been subbing my 545 AM class. I am ready to start teaching again! Whoop!

While I took pump, Frank and Kaylin slept on Josh. Not sue why we have a King sized bed when we only use 1/3 of it

I don’t like to eat out toooo much, but I enjoyed a great meal out with Josh, Amelia and her husband. I also hit up brunch with Mandi at one of my favorite spots. I tried their iced coffee for the first time=so good!

I also got some awesome early birthday gifts including a Starbucks card from Amelia (hello pumpkin spice goodness!!), lots of fun goodies from Mandi & Bryan (including Savannah Bee Company honey and an adorable cutting board), and a gift certificate to get my hair done from my parents!

 

I also spent (obviously) almost all my time with my little lady. She has been rocking tummy time:

and I got tons of housework done! Frank hates when I wash the sheets:

Walk time for Frank. What have you been up to?

Sesame Crusted Tuna, Healthy Eating Rules & Body Pump Filed under ( group fitness, Healthy, Seafood, Vegetables )

Hooray for Wednesday!! Glad you all enjoyed the Body Attack video and thank you for responding with your healthy rules. Here is a quick summary of some of your rules/thoughts:

• Eat lots of fruits and veggies (Maria eats an apple a day (which I think is fabulous), and Eve tries to make her plates at least half fruits and veggies (wonderful tip!))
• Drink plenty of water (Taylor aims for 64 ounces of plain water aside from her other beverages- great job girl!)
• Eat balanced meals (proteins, fats, carbs)
• Eat mini meals
• Portion control desserts (Jenna likes to "live a little" (such a great phrase!!) and have a few pieces of candy or a little dessert every day)
• Stephanie noted she never skips a meal because it just leads to overeating (agreed!)
• MizFit eats intuitively (she just rocks :))
• Jessica tries to make sure she is actually hungry when she eats (not just eating to eat- another great tip)

My day started off right with a quick run and Body Pump. Body Pump is Les Mills barbell strength class that provides me with my huge muscles ;). Here is a quick promo video to make you want to lift some weights:

After pump, I had work and then ran some errands. I adjusted my plans for dinner tonight because I wanted to use up a lot of our fresh produce. For Josh, I made Tuna Medallions with a Sesame Crust based on this recipe (I wish I liked tuna....). I was VERY nervous about making this as I have never seared anything. Josh had his tuna with a dinosaur plum:

...and a big spinach salad with pea pods, broccoli, broccoli slaw, water chestnuts, whole wheat cous cous, almonds, and a little olive oil...

And here is the tuna! I over cooked it just a hint (but I was nervous!):



All together now:

I had another lovely mix of tomatoes, peppers, onions, green beans and white beans with a little olive oil and chili powder, cooked under the broiler in the oven in tin foil. I put the cooked veggies on top of crisp romaine with some salsa. YUM!

And cantaloupe = this times 2 plus nut butter :)

and.............Josh (so so sweet) stopped on his way home and picked up my FAVORITE candy as a special treat. What a guy....love these raspberries and blackberries and I hardly ever eat them :)

On a side note, I also did Polly's Yoga for Runners today. Felt fabulous! Do you do any yoga, tai chi or pilates? If so and you're a runner, do you feel like you have a better run the day after a yoga practice? I definitely do!!

Top Chef tonight- hooray.

Melty Mozzarella Sammies Filed under ( group fitness, Italian )

Thank you all for your yucca suggestions!

Hope you had a nice Tuesday. Mine went pretty well!! I worked, did a little bit of light cleaning & laundry, and headed out to teach Body Attack. I have received a lot of questions about the Les Mills group fitness classes I teach & take, so I wanted to insert this video of a portion of a Body Attack class I found on youtube.

Hope you enjoyed it! When I got home, I made up an easy dinner for Josh and I. Josh had a toasted Arnold thin topped with WFs pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, spinach, a little marinara sauce and a shake of S&P. On the side he had some more mozzarella, steamed green beans and an orange:

I had the same thing minus the pepperoni, plus sliced tomato. On the side I also had tons of steamed green beans and cantaloupe (addict):



Question- Do you all have any general healthy eating rules that you try to stick to on most days? I try to eat a fruit and veggie with every meal (even if it is just a little lettuce on a sammie). I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Quick & Easy Schwan’s Pasta and Veggies Filed under ( Beans, group fitness, Healthy, product review )

How has your week been so far? Mine has been very nice. Aside from the usual work & working out, I have been able to spend some time with Josh & Frank, fabulous friends (Happy Birthday Mandi!):

and even fit in a little baking! Vegan pumpkin chip mini muffins:

As always, my nights have been a little more on the busy side. In order to make sure we still have tasty and healthy dinners, I’ve been doing my usual prep ahead of time. Two products from Schwan’s (disclaimer: I received these products for free) have made this even simpler! First off, Schwan’s sent me individually packaged chicken breast filets:

 

These filets are the perfect size and have made preparing Josh’s dinners a snap:

I also tried their fabulous Mini Bow Tie Pasta and Vegetable blend mix:

 

Pasta & veggies with no other strange additives in one bag? Winner! This product can be the perfect side dish or main dish (with a few simple add ins).  So far, I have made a Mexican-ish vegetarian main dish using the pasta/vegetable blend. I simply cooked the mixture up according to the package directions (which took less than 8 minutes total). Next, I added in drained and rinsed black beans, additional corn (cut right off the cob) and salsa.

Later, I topped the dish with cheese. Other topping ideas: sour cream, cheese, Greek yogurt, jalapenos.

Other fun ideas for the mixture:

• Mixed with marinara and mozzarella cheese cubes
• Baked in the oven with mini meatballs and marinara
• Cooked, then chilled, topped with a little olive oil, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and served cold as a pasta salad.
• Mixed in and baked into a frittata

I can’t wait to try all of the above! This Schwan’s product and many others are perfect for easy dinners (especially given its back-to-school time!).  Like I said, the above took me literally about 10 minutes to prepare and I think most of their products can go from freezer to table in 30 minutes or less. Thank you Schwan’s!

And since its workout Wednesday, my plan for the week:

• Monday:  Ran to warm up, taught Body Pump
• Tuesday:  Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Morning run outside!!
• Thursday:  Teach 45 minute Body Step, 45 minute Body Pump
• Friday:  Off
• Saturday:  Les Mills quarterly (aka almost a full day of taking Les Mills classes- can’t wait!)
• Sunday:  Off

What is your workout plan this week?

Another big Happy Birthday out to Josh’s brother Justin!!