Runyon Canyon Hike

Yesterday was a great day. 

I started my day off at Brick for the 10:30am team WOD. I am in love with Brick. The trainers are extremely knowledgeable and motivating and the members are so welcoming and full of energy. Crossfit is the best, I can't get enough! 

After lunch Cort and I decided to drive to Hollywood to hike up Runyon Canyon. I've been told that the hike is a must once you move to LA, so I was excited to check it out. 

It definitely did not disappoint! The weather was beautiful and there were a ton of people hiking with their dogs ( I miss my dogs so much!!). 

And there was this guy...

He just randomly busted out this crazy yoga position and literally held it for like 5 minutes. 

(I was being a bit of a stalker)....

It was a 1.25 mile hike to the top, and once we got up there the view was awesome. We had a perfect view of the Hollywood sign, although it looks far away in the picture we were actually pretty close. Hiking to the Hollywood sign is next on my list. 

Thanks to my wonderful friend Caitlin Eberly, Cort and I drove to Cafe Gratitude (click on this link and check out the menu!!) after our hike to get a bite to eat. Caitlin recommended I check this spot out and after going online and looking at the menu I couldn't wait to chow down on some serious delicious vegan food. 

I ordered the "I Am Whole" bowl which was a "Macrobiotic bowl with sea vegetables, stewed adzuki beans, raw kale, carrots, house-made red cabbage kim chee and sea whip and black sesame seed gomasio with quinoa, tahini-garlic sauce and teriyaki almonds"...Whew, quite the mouthful! It was insanely good. Just look at all of those colors! 

For dessert we got the turtle cheesecake (remember this is a vegan restaurant so the fact that they managed to make a deliciously rich cheesecake without any dairy is amazing), vanilla ice cream made with coconut milk, and two green teas. 

The desserts were definitely the best part of the meal. I am looking forward to going back for breakfast because that menu looks amazing!

Have a relaxing Sunday everyone! 

Chunky Monkey Greek Yogurt Ice Cream

I have learned to become a fan of greek yogurt pretty recently. I've tried it numerous times in the past and I always thought it had an odd flavor that I could never get used to. However, it is such a great source of protein, in fact the FAGE Total 0% Greek Yogurt that I use has 0 grams of fat and 18 grams of protein in one little container! So I have sucked it up and learned to like, in fact love greek yogurt. Especially when I use it to make Chunky Money Greek Yogurt Ice cream =).

Chunky Monkey Greek Yogurt Ice Cream Recipe

-1 container of nonfat greek yogurt 

-1 tablespoon of chia seeds

-1 small spoonful of almond or peanut butter

-2 tablespoons of chocolate powdered peanut butter (or 1 tbsp of powdered peanut butter and 1tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder)

-1 peanut butter cookie larabar (or whatever your favorite bar/flavor happens to be!)

Directions
-Mix the chia seeds, almond butter, and the powdered chocolate peanut butter into the greek yogurt and freeze for 40 minutes
-Take it out, mix it around, and sprinkle the Lara Bar on top.
-DIG IN!

This literally taste like you are eating a bowl of Ben and Jerry's. It is so thick, creamy, crunchy, and delicious!

Hello again!

Hello to all of my readers!

It has been a long, long time since my last post, and so many awesome things have happened. I've been in sunny California for exactly one month and I'm loving every minute! We are about a 10-40 minute drive to Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Laguna, Newport, Malibu... you name it. So Cort and I have enjoyed exploring California and spending time in all of these beautiful, sunny places.

I am also in love with our kitchen so I have been cooking and baking up a storm! It is twice the size as the one I had in State College and it even has a garbage disposal and an ice maker... two things I never knew I could appreciate so much.

Last night's dinner was VEGGIE-LICIOUS! I made a trip to Whole Foods after crossfit to stock up on fruits and veggies for the week. I wanted to make a protein packed vegetarian meal for dinner so I grabbed two cans of beans as well. 

This meal is so easy anyone can make it and the flavors were delish!

Bean and Veggie Bowl 

Serves 2-3

-1/2 can no salt added black beans

-1/2 can no salt added white beans

-a handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

-about 10-15 brussel sprouts, sliced in half

-1 cup chopped carrots

-a handful of green beans, cut into pieces

-2 tbsp of olive oil

-salt and pepper 

Directions:

-Toss the sliced brussel sprouts and carrots in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and put in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

-Add the sliced cherry tomatoes to the brussel sprouts and carrots, and let roast for an additional 10 minutes. 

-While the veggies are roasting, boil the green beans in a pan of water for a few minutes

-Drain the water, and add the black and white beans (drained and rinsed) into the same pan on low heat

-Take the veggies out of the oven and combine with the beans in the pan

-Let all of the ingredients cook together for another few minutes

-Serve and enjoy!

Almond Butter Berry Smoothie

It's December 6th... less then a month until California and only one more week of classes!

Last nights dinner was one of my favorites so I had to share... roasted brussel sprouts and tomatoes with salmon.

If you think you're not a fan of brussel sprouts, don't knock em' till you try them like this!

It is so simple to do. I chopped the brussel sprouts in half, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then spread them out on a cookie sheet.

I then popped them in a 375 degree oven for 30ish minutes. Half way through I added some sliced cherry tomatoes and let them roast with the brussel sprouts for the last 15 minutes.

I seasoned the salmon with some fresh lemon juice, and a bit of my favorite lemon pepper seasoning, and then stuck that in the 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Ta daaa!!

I was craving something sweet later so I threw together some frozen fruit that I had and ended up with an AMAZING smoothie. I have been buying a lot of frozen fruit lately because at this time of year the "fresh" fruit only lasts about a day until it starts getting moldy... yuck! Anyway, make this ASAP, you will love it!

Almond Butter Berry Smoothie 
-1 frozen banana
-1 handful of frozen raspberries
-1 handful of frozen blueberries
-1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt (I use Activia)
-A splash or two of coconut milk (or whatever type of milk your heart desires)
-2 spoonfuls of almond butter

Thick and Creamy! =) I may have taken a couple of bites of Cort's while he wasn't looking...

 

Lentil Loaf and a Cookie Dough Blizzard!

My go-to meal is without a doubt salmon, sweet potatoes and asparagus. It is simple, healthy, and easy for me to put together without too much fuss. However, I have been making that, or some combination of those ingredients a lot lately, and I have been wanting to step outside of the box and try something new. That is where the "lentil loaf" came in.

Lentils are absolutely amazing. I have them quite often and usually mix them together with quinoa and veggies for a protein packed meal, so I was excited when I came across this recipe on another blog for a glazed lentil walnut apple loaf . After going to Wegmans to grab a few ingredients I didn't have (onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and thyme), I followed her recipe exactly. It came out even better then I expected, it was SO delicious! Cort gave it a thumbs up and had two huge pieces. Somewhere between the sweetness of the raisins and apple and the crunch of the toasted walnuts I fell in love! The best part is that it is loaded with protein and fiber and low in fat unlike traditional meatloaf. I'll definitely be making this one again. 

Before and after baking, (the sauce on top is amazing)...

I also made some redskin mashed potatoes that Cort and I got at the farmers market downtown. Cort paired his loaf with these mashed potatoes and broccoli and I had mine with a piece of salmon and broccoli. (Notice Giada on the cover of Women's Health, she's my idol!)

Now, onto the real reason you are reading this...the homemade cookie dough blizzard. Oh my god. So delicious. The cookie dough is completely vegan, no butter, eggs or flour, yet it taste identical to typical cookie dough. I couldn't stop taking tiny bites of it while rolling it into little balls, it is so addicting! (The best part is that you can eat all you want without worrying about any raw egg). 

 

So, onto the recipe... (adapted from ohsheglows blog).

Cookie Dough Balls 

-1/2 cup unsalted cashews

-1/4 cup rolled oats

-1/4 cup coconut flour (you can use any type of flour you want though)

-1/2 tsp sea salt

-1.5 tbsp natural cane sugar

-1/2 tsp vanilla 

-4 tbsp pure maple syrup (or a bit more if dough is too dry)

-1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions: 

Put the cashews, oats, flour, and salt into a food processor and blend until ingredients are a fine crumble. Add everything else except the chocolate chips and blend for another minute. Add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times. 

Roll the dough into little balls and refrigerate while you make the ice cream. 

Vanilla Ice Cream

-2 large frozen bananas 

-1/2 tsp vanilla 

-1 tbsp almond butter (you can use peanut butter but I like to use almond butter because it gives it the creaminess without the strong flavor)

-a splash of coconut milk (or any type of milk you have)

-A handful of your cookie dough balls 

Directions

Blend until creamy and then add your cookie dough balls and pulse a few more times. Top with a few more cookie dough balls, (and maybe a dash of powdered peanut butter, I can't help myself), and ENJOY! 

           

 

Random Recap and a Smoothie Recipe!

This semester is flyin' by and I wish I had more time to blog, but it comes second to my work which seems never ending. I'm just counting down the days until Thanksgiving break, Cort and I are going to Florida with my family for Turkey Day, I can't wait!

So, since it has been over a month since my last post, I thought I would do a recap of meals/events/treats that I haven't been able to share with you guys!

 October is the month of birthday's for my family. My mom, dad, cousins, aunt, uncle, and Cort all have October birthday's so I was more than happy to go home and celebrate. We had a big party for everyone, which included plenty of sweets. My aunt brought a delicious cake from the Pennsylvania Bakery, and I baked some apple crisp that I have been craving since the beginning of fall.

I was also able to spend some time with my little bug! 

Is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Wiener dogs are the greatest. 

Some other meals I made included cashew butter oat pancakes with an egg and fresh berries on top. These were to die for, and they stuck with me all morning. Cashew butter is a great type of nut butter to use because the flavor isn't too strong but it still makes the pancakes really creamy and delicious.

Today was a pretty productive day. I've had the same pair of mizuno's since I ran my half marathon on my 17th Birthday. That makes them over 3 years old and believe me you could tell, they were literally falling apart. I have a weird connection to my sneakers though so I always wait as long as possible to get a new pair. So, today I finally gave in and got the new wave rider mizuno's I've had my eye on for a while. I broke them in on a 6 mile run... the weather was gorgeous and my new shoes felt like clouds on my feet! 

When I got back Cort and I went grocery shopping for some hamburger meat for him. He made himself two burgers with mushrooms and cooper sharp cheese on a whole wheat english muffin with a side of broccoli and roasted tomatoes. It looked so professional I had to share! Guys can eat healthy too!

I thought I would end this post with a simple recipe. I made this smoothie last night and it was BANGIN'. The best part, only 4 ingredients. 

Banana Peach Smoothie 

- 1 frozen banana

-A handful of frozen peach slices (you can buy bags of these at wegman's)

-2 tbsp of lowfat vanilla yogurt

-1 splash of coconut milk (or almond or regular milk)

Blend until thick and creamy and enjoy with a spoon!