Almond Joy Bars

So I was a little skeptical after tasting the "almond candy" portion of the bar. But the whole thing together? YUM. I think these taste great as a frozen treat, so I keep mine in the freezer. You can also keep them in the fridge or at room temperature. Your choice!

What you'll need:
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup coconut oil, solid + 1 tsp
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Almonds, chopped or slivers

What you do:
1. Combine the coconut, 1/4 cup coconut oil and maple syrup in a food processor. Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.
2. Line a 9"x5" baking dish with wax paper. I didn't do this and it was a serious pain in the butt to get them out!
3. Pour the coconut mixture in the pan and pat down with a rubber spatula.
4. Freeze for 20 minutes.
5. A few minutes before you take the bars out, heat the chocolate chips and 1 tsp of coconut oil in the microwave. To make sure you don't burn the chocolate, heat for 20 seconds, then stir. Repeat until completely melted.
6. Remove the bars from the freeze and cut into 1"-2" sized pieces. Dip one side of the bar into the chocolate and place (chocolate-side up) onto a plate. Repeat until all of the bars are coated and place back into the freezer for 5 minutes, or until the chocolate is hardened.
7. Place the remaining chocolate into a plastic baggie, cutting one of the corners to create a piping bag (or use a piping bag if you're fancy like that ;). Remove the bars and drizzle the chocolate on top. Sprinkle almonds on the melted chocolate and drizzle a little more chocolate.

Overnight Oats

I made the big, bad mistake of buying unflavored protein powder. I have been purchasing the vanilla flavor for months and I really enjoy it. So why the switch? A sale.

Damn sales.

Anyway, I've been trying to get through it. I decided I'd try to use it in some recipes, including overnight oats. But gauged on the overwhelming response that the recipe is amazing - the powder sucks.

Regardless, I powered through two batches and look forward to trying the recipe again - with flavored protein!

What you need:
2/3 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp peanut butter (I used PB2)
4 tsp chia seeds
2 tsp maple syrup
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 scoop protein powder
1 banana, sliced

What you do:
1. Combine everything in a bowl.
2. Split mixture into two mason jars or tupperware containers.
3. Let sit in the fridge overnight.

Collard Green Wraps

This is a Tone It Up recipe that I'm pretty please with. I really like how well the collards hold up as a wrap - and stay fresh in the fridge for weeks. I also really like the idea of the parsnip rice, but made some modifications to mine that (I think) made it taste sweet. The portions are also pretty large, so plan on having this all week for lunch or cut it in half!

What you need:
Parsnip Rice
2 parsnips, washed and peeled
1/2 cup cashews (original recipe called for pine nuts)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp apple cider videgar
3 tsp dill
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp salt / pepper

Wrap fillings - whatever you have in the fridge!
4-6 collard leaves
2 bell peppers (your choice of color)
1 carrot
tomatoes
onions
cilantro

What you do:
For the parsnip rice
1. Chop the parsnips in a food processor until it is rice consistency.
2. Add the cashews and pulse together.
3. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined.

For the wrap
1. Take one collard leaf and lay face down. Add 4-5 spoonfuls of the parsnip rice to the center of the leaf.
2. Add your preferred fillings on top of the rice - and any additional condiments (I added spicy mustard).
3. Roll like a burrito, then cut in half!

Workout Planner

Occasionally I do things other than cooking and felt flowers. And by occasionally, I mean every day I design things. Signage, brochures, invitations, flyers, marketing plans, billboards....and so on.

And while we're being honest here, I'm also a keep-it-on-the-down-low-Tone It Up-er. As cheesy as some of it may be, the workouts, change of pace and corniness of it all have kept me motivated the past seven months! The new spring challenge starts on Monday and instead of paying the $12 (plus S+H) for the branded workout journal, I made my own! Cue the graphic skills.

It can be yours too, for free! Here's the deal.

1. Download the PDF. 
2. Print one copy of page 1.
3. Print eight copies of pages 2-5 .
4. Cut all of the pages in half (hamburger style :).
5. Lay your cover page (i.e. workout planner) face down.
6. Then arrange as follows:
• get busy
• monday
• tuesday
• wednesday
• thursday
• friday
• saturday
• sunday
7. Repeat until you have all the pages in order.
8. Head to your local UPS Store (or similar business center) and ask the nice ladies (or men) to 'bind' it for you. My UPS store only charged me $2.20 (+tax). 

Click here for the dropbox folder with the PDF

Fall Veggie Soup

Tis the season of soups and crockpots. First new recipe, here we go.

What you need:1/2 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 large parsnip, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, chopped
thyme, salt and pepper to taste
4 cups water

What you do:

Place everything in the crockpot for 5 hours on low...or until all the veggies are soft.

October Self Portrait

For the last month I've been on what some call a "health kick." I've been waking up about a half hour earlier and going to the gym or working out from home, about five to seven days a week. I've been shopping weekly for fresh ingredients for my lunches and prepping them on Sundays (mostly variations of high protein salads with a pretty tasty homemade dressing, so nothing fancy). I'm drinking water - and I don't mean "more" water...I used to have about eight ounces of water a day to now about 70! I also pretty much cut out beer because the way it was making me feel and added more protein to my diet.

Mind you, I'm typically a pretty healthy eater and was working out about one to three times a week. Some feel that a 5' 2" girl who weighs 106 pounds doesn't need to be on a "health kick." And really, it's not. I'm tired of feeling blah about my body. About my clothes not fitting the way I'd prefer. I was tired of feeling like I was always making up for my terrible weekend bad eating and drinking habits.

But I feel like I have to explain all of this. Like there has to be some deeper reason or issue causing my shift in attitude and daily routine. There are a few personal reasons, all of which relate to me doing this for me.

As a 31 year old woman who may (or may not be) getting pregnant in the next year or so, I want to be in great shape so I can support a growing a baby. And bounce back to a healthy body.

My grandmother had, and now my mom is dealing with severe osteoporosis. Earlier this year my mom had to undergo hip surgery because of a fracture. Why not do anything in my power to make my body stronger to possibly prevent or defend against such diseases?

I've been listening to my body and doing what feels good! I'm feeling stronger, I'm feeling better about how I fit in my clothes. I'm also feeling pretty proud of waking up at damn 5:30 so many days a week and sticking to this! So I'm going to keep soaking up this motivation while I can and see where it takes me.

My new favorite snack

I'm currently obsessed with this tapenade recipe I altered from the Tone It Up recipe book. As a dip, sandwich spread, or just to eat by the spoonful - it's so delicious and good for you too!

What you need:
1 cup kalamata olives
1 cup green olives
1 cup artichokes
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes

What you do:
1. Mix everything in a blender until your desired consistency. If your sun-dried tomatoes are not in oil, add 2 teaspoons olive oil.