Today is the birthday of the wonderful, amazing man that I'm fortunate enough to spend my life with. Birthdays are celebrations, and celebrations call for dessert, so today I'm sharing with you guys a new sweet tooth creation I've come up with. Meet my latest food obsession: chocolate drizzled salted caramel rice crispy treats. Lately, as I stand in my kitchen deciding what to make for a meal, I find myself somehow breaking off a piece of one of these rice crispy treats as a pre-meal snack. While having a conversation with my hubby the other night, I all of a sudden found myself with one of these babies in my hand. It was like I blacked out and awoke with a sticky, delicious treat in my possession. Okay, perhaps I'm being dramatic... but I just love these! The recipe ... [Read More]
gluten free
Review: ProCakes High Protein Pancake Mix
It's no secret that I love pancakes. I regularly include them in my diet on at least a weekly basis, and I've gotten into the habit of making my own healthy batter. I often add protein powder or throw Greek yogurt into the mix, especially if it's a post-workout meal. I think it's important to include some protein in every meal to keep it balanced, and what some pancake mixes on the market today are missing is a good amount of protein. Say hello to ProCakes - a gluten free, no added sugar, high protein pancake mix. Recently launched by, Caren Magill, a fellow FitFluential ambassador, ProCakes pancake mix is made with whey protein, organic coconut flour, gluten free baking flour, and almond flour, and sweetened with xylitol, a naturally occurring sweetener derived from tree bark. A ... [Read More]
Meatless Monday Recipe Idea: Black Bean Veggie Tacos with Cashew Cream [Gluten Free]
Hi friends! Another weekend has flown by, and it was a good one for me. I kicked off my weekend with a much needed massage at the student massage school near me, San Jose National Holistic Institute. The students perform whatever massage they've been working on in school, and this time it was a Swedish massage. The masseuse did a good job of working on all of my achy muscles for an hour -- for $20. Needless to say, it was awesome! Afterwards I headed over to the mall to spoil myself a little, and I picked up a new Athleta workout top and some beauty loot from LUSH and Benefit Cosmetics. I'm kind of in love with LUSH. I spent some time in there playing around with things and wound up nabbing a facial cleanser and seaweed mask that I tested out and loved this weekend. I don't go shopping ... [Read More]
My Gluten Free Experiment Ends + Favorite GF Finds
My friends, check out my dinner a few nights ago: Regular fettuccine pasta in a lightened up cream sauce with spinach and tomatoes. Why? Because my experiment with eating gluten free is officially over! I talked about it in length here, but to make a long story short, I decided to give up gluten for a solid month (it wound up being an almost 6 week stint) to determine if I had a sensitivity to it. I suffer from allergies, which cause sinus aches and skin issues, and was curious to find out if gluten could be the culprit. The short answer: It's not! Aside from 2 minor mishaps - eating a cookie around day 7 before it even dawned on me that it most likely had gluten in it, and caving in and eating a piece of warm bread at an Italian restaurant in Lake Tahoe - I was completely ... [Read More]
Banana Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes [Vegan & Gluten Free]
Being the big pancake lover that I am, I obviously couldn't let National Pancake Day pass me by without whipping up a new flapjack recipe! Before talking about my yummy creation, I want to share a picture of the newest addition to my family -- a baby boy name Daniel Richard! I became an aunt for the third time this morning when my younger brother Danny and his girlfriend welcomed him into the world. How precious of a little face right? Being across the country from my loved ones is hard when things happen with my family. I would love to hold him while he's so tiny, but I'll have to wait a few months for my next trip to the East coast to meet him. Moving onto other happy things, pancakes... When I picked up some buckwheat flour at my local health food store yesterday, I immediately had ... [Read More]
Mediterranean Pasta with Lemon Ricotta [Gluten Free]
Happy March! Doesn't it feel like February just flew by? Since I began trying out a gluten free diet (a discussion on my experience with going gluten free to come soon!), I've tried a bunch of different GF pastas. I know that some people feel ehh about pasta and can take it or leave it, but I am not one of those people. Two of the GF pasta brands that I've liked thus far are Tinkyada and TruRoots. I don't care for that overly corn-y taste to some of the gluten free pastas, and these two brands are on-point with offering a similar tasting pasta alternative to the real, gluten-filled kind. My carb-loving self enjoys whipping up healthy, yummy pasta dishes, and I didn't want to be completely missing my pasta fill just because I'm experimenting with a gluten free diet. For this dinner, ... [Read More]