Harley is not a good running buddy.
She sprints ahead then suddenly stops to smell flowers (or dog poop). She jerks herself from one side of me to the other. She feels the need to try to say “hi” to every canine and human being she sees.
And even though she has a super high energy level, her running stamina is lower than mine (ha!). She’s more of a sprinter. In ten minutes flat it goes from her pulling me to run obnoxiously fast, to her running by my side, to me pulling her to keep running. For a person who doesn’t love running, it’d be more fitting for me to have a dog whose a great runner and pushes me. Instead, I’m the motivator!
Nevertheless, between boxing all week and strength training my biceps and shoulders on Wednesday, pretty much my whole body is feeling achy today (even my abs, which hardly ever get sore!). I wanted to do some sort of workout but knew it shouldn’t be anything too hardcore. It’s gorgeous outside today, and Harley needed her daily dose of exercise. So, I decided to take the puppy to a nearby park to try to go for a run together.
Overall, mission accomplished! We did 45 minutes of run/walk intervals, and she didn’t aggravate me too much (although she did almost trip me at one point!). I got a cardio workout in and right now I have a sleeping dog at my feet. Sweetness.
Moving on to the title of this blog post, I have 2 creations from today to share with you. Both of them include a cherry taste, which is kind of random since I like cherries but am not the biggest fan ever. Guess I was feeling em today!
Chocolate Cherry Energy Bars
I like beans, but never think to put them into my recipes unless they’re an obvious choice (i.e. quesadillas). I’ve had black bean 
brownies before and thought they tasted good, but I was never a huge believer in including beans in a sweet recipe… until today that is. I made up this snack bar recipe and they seriously came out SO GOOD. They’re great for a wholesome snack on-the-go, and are a nice way to sneak a little bit of beans into an unsuspecting kid or spouse’s belly (I’m talking about you Adam!).
Makes 12 bars.
Ingredients:
- 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed (15 oz, Eden Organic)
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal (Bob Mill’s) mixed with 1/4 cup water*
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 mashed banana
- 1 TSP vanilla extract
- 1/4 TSP salt
- 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats, dry (Quaker)
- 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (Designer Whey)
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (Gold Medal)
- 1 cup cherry flavored craisins (Ocean Spray)
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli)
Preheat oven to 350.
In a food processor, combine beans, flax seed + water, honey, banana, vanilla and salt.
Add oats, protein powder, and whole wheat flour and pulse to combine.
Add 1/4 cup of water, craisins, and chocolate chips, and pulse again. Check the consistency – you can add more water if it seems too dry.
Spray a 13X9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Per bar: 175 calories, 4 g fat, 6 protein, 33 g carbs.
Cherry Vanilla Smoothie
I made this smoothie for lunch today, and was happy when I noticed on MyFitnessPal app that it packs 42% of vitamin A and 75% of my recommended daily calcium intake. Score!
Makes 1 serving
You Need:
- 1 cup of frozen cherries (VIP dark sweet cherries)
- 1/2 scoop french vanilla protein powder (Designer Whey)
- 4 oz of vanilla Greek yogurt (Stonyfield Farm Organic)
- 1 TSP vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond milk (Almond Breeze Unsweetened – and as usual, regular milk or any other kind will work too)
- 1 packet of Stevia sweetener, optional (add if you like things on the sweeter side like me!)
Just combine all ingredients in a blender, and your smoothie is ready to drink.
Stats: 280 calories, 4 g fat, 22 g protein, 32 g carbs
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