Happy Valentine's Day loves!! What better way to start my day than by eating heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries? :) While many people frown upon this holiday, I am a romantic person at heart, so I love a day devoted to love by nature. Sure, it's a Hallmark holiday where many people very stereotypically buy flowers and chocolate and go out to dinner, but I want to talk about what Valentine's Day is really and truly about: celebrating love and relationships. So let me ask you, what's the most important relationship in your life? If you thought of your partner, child, or mother, yes, I'm sure they mean the world to you. But what I'm getting at here is that the most important relationship you'll ever have in your life is the one you have with yourself. No matter ... [Read More]
Archives for February 2014
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Stuffed Strawberries
In honor of Valentine's Day taking place in a few days, I have a delicious dessert recipe to share with you all today. It all started when I heard about Davida's Valentine's Day Bake Off. Naturally, I wanted to participate, but there weren't any baking ideas immediately popping into my head....and then I thought of making a homemade version of Nutella. Since it's V-Day, the idea of strawberries were also on my brain. Technically there isn't any baking involved in this recipe, but I figure that there's no room to be a stickler for rules when chocolate is involved, right? ;-) I think many people would agree with me when I say that Nutella is heavenly tasting. I think it's slightly ridiculous that people see it as a "nutritious" thing to eat for breakfast, but I do not pass up the ... [Read More]
Weekend R&R: Wine Sipping in the Rain
Hi friends! Hope you all had a glorious weekend and made it through your Monday well. The weekend here in the Bay Area was a dark, rainy one. We barely have gotten rain at all in the past year, and now it has been gloomy and rainy probably 6 out of the past 10 days. Crazy mother nature! Some notable eats of my weekend include this butternut squash enchilada casserole, recipe a la Sarah at Making Thyme for Health: A "quick run" into Whole Foods turned into me walking around for longer than expected, spending way more money than expected - but when does this not happen when I go to Whole Foods? I get a little too excited there, especially with my February gluten free diet. It's like the gluten free food mecca! My favorite find was Kind Healthy Grains Cinnamon Oat Clusters with Flax ... [Read More]
Avocado Walnut Pesto Tofu Salad
When I was younger, I didn't eat nuts -- no cashews, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, nada. I can't decide which came first: me deciding that my tastebuds weren't a fan, or me putting them on my silly can't-eat-because-of-the-high-fat-content-list. Well my friends, I've gotten older and wiser, and now am a firm believer in including heart-healthy fats in my diet on a daily basis. Nuts (and most definitely nut butters!) are a frequent part of my eats. I'll throw a half-serving on top of my yogurt, or eat a serving as a snack here and there. So when California Walnuts contacted me asking if I'd like to try a bag of their walnuts to play around with in the kitchen, I gladly accepted. The nuts came in a kind of earthy feeling burlap sack, which I thought was a cute touch. To check out some of ... [Read More]
Back in Action with WIAW
Happy Hump Day! I haven't done a What I Ate Wednesday post in awhile, but today I'm back in action with my first recap post since starting my experiment with going gluten free. Apparently I'm all about the blogger parties this week since this is the second day in a row that I'm joining in on one! A big thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting the party. My breakfast was a chocolate cinnamon protein shake. I know that most of you reading this are shivering just at the thought of a smoothie, but I had gotten in a quick workout first thing in the morning so I was all nice and schweaty and ready for something cold. In the mix: chocolate almond milk + Designer Whey chocolate protein powder + Just Great Stuff chocolate peanut butter powder + banana + cinnamon + ... [Read More]
My Top 5 Workout Motivation Techniques
Hi friends! I'm linking up to the Fit Tip Tuesday party over at Lisa at The Skinny on Health again this week. My topic today is one that I'm confident everyone can relate to: finding that oomph to exercise when you just don't feel like it. I thought I'd share my tips of how I push myself to go workout on the occasion that I'm not in the mood for it, so here we go! 1.) Read motivational quotes - A quick way that I pump myself up to go exercise is to check out some fitness and life quotes like these... 2.) Pump up the music - Sometimes all I need to find my fitness motivation is to change up my gym playlist or download a few new songs that get my body moving. A few of my current favorite tunes include: Colbie Caillat "Hold On" John Newman "Love Me Again" Ellie Goulding ... [Read More]