Goin' to Cali!

Happy Monday everyone...crazy how fast the weekend goes by!

Last week was so full of excitement I didn't get a chance to write on my blog...first of all, CORT AND I WERE ACCEPTED TO USC! I still can't believe I am moving to California in 3 months, but I could not be more excited!! The health and fitness industry is huge out there so it is such a great opportunity, I can't wait!

Our acceptance came at the perfect time, since my birthday was just 3 days later, the big 2-0! Cort baked me this delicious confetti cake and I had no problem taking down 2 enormous pieces. Yum!

In other news, some people have asked what I do for my workouts each week, and it pretty much looks like this...

Monday: 40-50 min run, box jumps, and 20 min of yoga
Tuesday: Crossfit!
Wednesday: Crossfit!
Thursday: A 1 hour workout of hill sprints, burpees, push ups, and squat jumps
Friday: 40-50 min run, 3 sets of 30 lunges, and 20 minutes of yoga
Saturday: Crossfit!
Sunday: OFF! =)

I go to Crossfit Nittany for my crossfit workouts. I was determined to find a good gym when I got to school and I was lucky to find this awesome crossfit gym with really intelligent and experienced trainers. They totally kick my butt and I am officially hooked!

After my run today I was starving and didn't feel like taking too much time to make dinner, so I decided to use the left over salmon from last night, and combine it with some quinoa and lentils, both of which only take 20 minutes to cook on the stove. It may look a little bland, but it was the perfect meal to fill me up... full of omega 3's, fiber, whole grains, and protein.

Yesterday my meals were much more exciting to look at so I had to share some pics. For lunch I had a big plate of cut up veggies, fruits, kale chips, and nuts. For dinner I made a fresh piece of baked cod over dark greens, zucchini, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. Two really simple and delicious meals!

I bought a bag of organic frozen peach slices at Wegman's yesterday and I plan on making a fruit smoothie with those bad boys tonight, so I will let you know how it turns out! =)

"Peanut Butter Cup" Shake

Hey everyone!

I have a delicious new recipe for you. A 'healthified' peanut butter cup shake! It is a great snack to make after a workout, or for a guilt free treat when you are craving something sweet at night. It is so easy to make, there is no added sugar, and it is dairy free!

Peanut Butter Cup Shake

Ingredients:
-1 frozen banana (Peel and cut the banana before freezing!)
-1 spoonful of all natural almond butter (you can use peanut butter if you don't have almond butter)
-2 spoonfuls of powdered peanut butter
-1 spoonful of all natural unsweetened cocoa powder
-A splash or two of unsweetened coconut milk

Directions:
-Put everything into your food processor or blender and blend until smooth (but still thick!)
-Top with fresh berries and a sprinkle of powdered peanut butter and enjoy!

Florida!

Hey everybody!

I had the most amazing trip down to Florida, and I was seriously bummed about coming back today. Every time I go down I cannot get over the high quality of the food, beautiful weather, and happy people! It is just such an awesome place. We went to several really cool restaurants, but my favorite was (and always is) Christopher's Kitchen. My brother Mike works there so he always gives us the heads up on what to order, although pretty much everything on the menu is out of this world. It is a completely organic and vegan restaurant, and every single thing you order, whether it is an entree or a smoothie, comes out looking like a work of art. More importantly, don't think that just because it is a vegan restaurant you won't enjoy it. Cort and my mom are both steak lovers, yet they were licking their plates with me after our meal!

Cort and I went a total of four times over the past five days, and I miss it already! Here are a couple of pictures of our food...

How insanely delicious does that look? Why can't we have high quality food like this in Pennsylvania?!? A lot of times when you go out to restaurants to eat, you feel pretty full and sluggish afterwards, but I honestly felt great! 

Besides enjoying as much good food as possible, I also took time to enjoy the beach! I got up early everyday to get a good workout in, then spent the rest of the day with Cort and the fam!

Miss it already! Have a great week everyone! 

Fresh and Healthy Tuna Boats

Yesterday was such an awesome day... Cort, Ben, Bob, and KC were in the SPARTAN RACE! It was so fun to watch, especially since the guys killed everyone in their heat so congrats to them! Between watching that and the Crossfit games this weekend, I am definitely feeling bummed I didn't register to compete in anything this summer, so I'm looking for some good races to do this fall!

Now for the good stuff (food!)... I wanted to share one of my new favorite lunch/snack ideas with you guys, tuna boats!


I normally have a salad for lunch with some tuna on top, but today when I went to make lunch we were out of lettuce, so I thought I was out of luck! However, my mom recently bought some endive leaves for a recipe she was making, so I decided to use these little guys to make tuna boats! Endive leaves are great to use because they hold different fillings really well, and they are super crunchy. I topped three endive leaves with my tuna salad and some sliced tomatoes. I added some other cut veggies with some spinach hummus on the side to complete my lunch!


Tuna Salad Recipe:
-1 can of Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna (or any white tuna of your choice)
-1 tbsp of nonfat plain greek yogurt
-freshly squeezed juice from half of a lemon
-a bit of sea salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of onion salt

So light, colorful, and delicious! 

Power Muffins!

Hello!

I have had such a crazy week and I haven't had much time to post, but I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! This week has been so insanely hot I had to get up almost every morning at 7am to get my work outs in, so I was looking forward to sleep in this morning!

I have another recipe for you, I have FINALLY perfected my muffin recipe! There is no flour, oil, dairy, or processed sugar in these. They are perfect for breakfast, a midday snack, or to satisfy a craving before bed!

Power Muffins! (aka Banana Oat Flax Muffins)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup raw honey (or any natural sweetener of your choice; pure maple syrup, agave, etc.)
1/4 cup almond yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened organic apple sauce
2 mashed bananas
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 egg white

*Makes about 9 small muffins

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and spray muffin tins.

2. Put the dry ingredients (oats, cinnamon, and baking powder) into a blender or ideally a food processor and blend until oats have turned into a flour.

3. Add in the remaining ingredients and blend together.

4. Pour batter into muffin tins and sprinkle with a few oats. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Cut in half and enjoy with peanut butter, almond butter, or jelly!

I enjoyed two of these with peanut butter, an omelette with 2 egg whites and 1 egg, and some fresh fruit for breakfast this morning. Great way to start your day!

Homemade Peanut Butter Granola Protein Bars!

Happy July 1st!! This summer is seriously flying by.

My weekend was full of pool time and lots of yummy and healthy food, and I have a great granola bar recipe for you.


Peanut Butter Granola Protein Bars

Ingredients:
-2 cups oats
-1 cup peanut butter (*organic, natural peanut butter, the only ingredient should be peanuts!)
-2 tbsp. of natural almond butter
-1 tbsp. of natural cocoa powder (*only ingredient should be raw cocoa, no sugar)
-1 scoop of vanilla protein (I use plant fusion)
-1 tbsp. of cinnamon
-1 splash of coconut or almond milk
-1 tbsp of honey


Directions:
Combine oats, cocoa powder, vanilla protein powder, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

                              

Transfer the granola to a dish and flatten it out. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let it set. Cut into squares.

These bars are honestly so delicious. I always put a square of it on top of vanilla almond yogurt with some fresh berries for dessert, and YUM! Definitely try it out, it's so simple and a great snack to have instead of buying the processed protein and cereal bars from the grocery store.

Some other simple and healthy meals I made this weekend...

Comment if you want to know any of the recipes :).

Clean Eating

Last night my mom and I went to this vegetarian cooking class. I was so excited to get some new recipes, and although the food tasted good, I was a little disapointed. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that vegetarian dishes need to be loaded with olive oil and cheese in order for them to taste good. I was expecting light, healthy meals, and almost everything the chef prepared was the exact opposite. For example, the zucchini potato pancakes were fried in oil, the butternut kale salad was drenched in olive oil, and so on.

I think it is important to remember that just because something is vegetarian, it doesn't automatically make it healthy. Don't try to mask the flavors of vegetables with cheese and unnecessary oil. It may take a little bit of time to get used to, but after a while you will seriously start to crave the vegetables themselves, simply cooked in water with some lemon, sea salt, and pepper... yummm.


So this morning I was all pumped to make my own apple cinnamon oat muffins.

They look pretty delish right?! Well they tasted amazing, but I messed up the texture somehow so I am going to experiment with my recipe a little bit to see if I can fix it, because I think you guys would really enjoy the them!


And now I am off to water Eric's tree, his parents asked Cort and I if we could take care of it while they were away. If anyone who knew Pitman hasn't been to the environmental center to see it yet, it is so pretty, such a great little spot!

This afternoon my workout will consist of a mash-up of a few things...


-2 mile warm up run
-The "Powerful Real Time Sweat Workout" from bodyrock.tv
-20 minute swim 


It's going to be tough, but you can't beat the feeling you get after finishing a really hard workout!