Archives for June 2011

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

June 13, 2011 by 3 Comments

 

Gooey melty chocolate.  There’s not much that’s better!

 

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Usually when I’m playing around with recipes I have to make them several times, tweaking them each time before it turns out just right.  But this time it turned out pretty amazing on the very first try!

This is both a treat and a sweet, done in a more healthy way.  No oil or butter necessary.  Made with whole wheat pastry flour- all the nutrition of whole wheat flour without the density.  If you’re not already baking with it you definitely should be(I usually get it in bulk at my local health food store, but Arrowhead Mills, Bobs Red Mill, and King Arthur Flour are some brands to look for)!

These babies clock in around 133 calories and are super easy to make, so get in that kitchen and get to baking!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 12 muffins)
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup organic sugar
1 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray muffin pan lightly with cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Add wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter evenly into the muffin pan.  You should get 12 muffins.

Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top of each muffin.

Bake muffins for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

 

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Mmmmm- melty chocolate!  Yes, they really are as good as they look!

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P.S. I found myself thinking “work it baby!” as I was taking these pictures.  Ahh, I’m such a nerd!  Nerd smile

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Weigh in Saturday: week 2

June 11, 2011 by 1 Comment

Good morning!!!!

It’s week 2 of my weigh in Saturdays!

Last week I weighed in at 174 and this morning my weight is 173.4!!! That’s -.6!

While that may not seem like a lot to some, that’s awesome for me. I don’t lose weight quickly or easily- i’ve always lost around .6-.8 a week. Sometimes I’ll lose a pound or even two, but that’s very rare.

So I’m very excited about my .6 this week. It’s going in the right direction and I know that all of my hard work will pay off in the end!

My only struggle this week was exercise- my fitness challenge didn’t start until halfway through the week, so there were a few days that I didn’t quite reach my calorie burn. But next week should be a lot better with exercise!

How did you do this week?

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ABCDEFood

June 9, 2011 by 3 Comments

I saw this on Liz’s blog and it looked fun so I thought I would do it too!  I love surveys!

 

A: is for Apple, what’s your favorite variety?
Honeycrisp!!!!

B: is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?
I love any and all bread.  I don’t discriminate!  (though I am particularly fond of sourdough)

C: is for Cereal what is your favorite kind currently (just one!)
Cheerios.  I’m a simple gal.

D: is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?
I used to love the blueberry cake donuts.

E: is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?
Eggs are grody.  No thanks.

F: is for Fat Free, what is your favorite fat free product?
Vegetables.  Open-mouthed smile

G: is for Groceries, where do you purchase yours at?
HEB and Central Market (I work for HEB- I get a discount).

H: is for Hot Beverages, what is your favorite hot drink?
Coffee.

I: is for Ice Cream, pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.
Coconut milk ice cream is the bomb!!!  I love to put a scoop on top of a grilled banana!

J: is for Jams or Jellies, do you eat them, and if so what kind and flavor?
Preserves.  From the farmer’s market- there’s a Mennonite family that has a stand there and they have THE best preserves!  The seedless Raspberry is my fav.

K: is for Kashi, name your favorite Kashi product?
I agree with Liz that K should stand for kale.  I love that stuff.

L: is for Lunch, what was yours today?
Veggie delight on wheat from subway.  All the veggies and spicy mustard.  I was visiting a friend and we needed a grab and go kind of lunch!

M: is for microwave, what is your favorite microwave meal/snack?
I don’t really use the microwave to make anything specifically.  I really just use it to reheat leftovers.

N: is for nutrients, do you like carbs, fats, or proteins best?
Well you need all of them to survive, but if I had to pick just one I’d go with carbs!

O: is for oil, what kind do you like to use?
EVOO.

P: is for protein, how do you get yours?
Beeeeaaaaaannnnnsssss!  (I heart them)

Q: is for Quaker, how do you like your oats?
Honestly I love plain oatmeal.  I know, weird right?  Sometimes I like a little brown sugar sprinkled on top or a little almond butter.  Or sometimes fruit.

R: is for roasting, what is your favorite thing to roast?
Brussels sprouts!

S: is for sandwich, what’s your favorite kind?
One that’s packed full of veggies- lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, avocado, cucumbers, banana peppers and lots of mustard.

T: is for travel, how do you handle eating while traveling?
I usually just try my best to eat healthy.  You can’t always control your eating situations when you’re traveling.

U: is for unique, what is one of your weirdest food combos?
pretty much everything I like is a little weird.  I love plain tofu.  People seem to think that’s weird.

V: is for vitamins, what kind do you take?
The only supplements I take are B12 and an Omega 3.  Sometimes I take a multi if I feel like I didn’t eat very healthy that day.

W: is for wasabi, yay or nay?
LOVE wasabi!

X: is for XRAY. if we xrayed your belly right now, what food would we see?
ummm.  The pasta I just ate for dinner.

Y: is for youth, what food reminds you of your childhood?
Green beans and zucchini.  My parents had a garden and we always had these two things in abundance.

Z: is for zucchini, how do you prepare it?
I never met a zucchini I didn’t like!  I’ll eat it any and every way!

Your turn!!!

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Whole wheat cranberry walnut bread

June 7, 2011 by 10 Comments

This bread is epic.  I’m not joking.  We’re talking life changing here people!  This is so amazing that if you don’t have a bread machine I’m suggesting you go out and buy one right this second and immediately make this bread.

I took a bite of this and said holy sh*t this is amazing!  And I’m not much of a curser, so that’s how good it is!

As I was filling the cranberry and walnut bins at work I was thinking about cinnamon raisin bread.  (and who doesn’t think about cinnamon raisin bread while they’re at work, am I right?) and I was like OMG cranberry walnut bread!  And a star was born!

I won’t waste any more time jibber jabbering because the more time you spend here reading this the less time you spend making this insanely amazing bread.  And don’t be scared of the whole wheat thing- this bread is nice and light and fluffy!!

Whole wheat cranberry walnut bread
(Print this recipe!)

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave nectar (honey would work too if that’s what you have)
3 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
1 cup dried cranberries (whole foods has some that are sweetened with apple juice instead of sugar- I recommend those!)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Add ingredients to bread machine in the order that your bread machine recommends (mine says wet ingredients then dry)

Some people say to add fruit and nuts during the last knead cycle, but honestly I just threw them in there with everything else at the beginning and it worked just fine!

Let your bread machine do its thang! (I used the basic 1- 1 1/2 lb loaf size bread setting with a light crust)

Devour! 

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Look at those cranberries and walnuts!!!  (note to self: time to repaint nails!)

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With a little Earth Balance.

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EPIC.

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June fitness challenge

June 6, 2011 by 5 Comments

My May fitness challenge was a total success!!!  And so was the bread machine, which was my reward for the May fitness challenge!

So it’s June now!

I gave myself a bit of an exercise break after my 10K last week- I pretty much only walked and did yoga.  My knee and hip have been hurting all week so I’ve been trying to take it easy (I’m getting old!).  But it’s a new month and that means that it’s time for a new fitness challenge! 

Also I’ve decided that in July I’m going to start training for a half marathon.  There are several that I’m looking at in the fall, when I pick one I’ll let y’all know!  (I was going to wait till Feb for the Cowtown, but I figured why not do one sooner since I’m so pumped about it right now?!)

June Fitness Challenge

Goal 1:  Keep running, but cut down on my mileage a little.  I’m going to aim for running twice a week this month, but I’m going to run no more than 3 miles during a run- I want to work on consistency and maybe picking up my pace a bit.  Honestly I don’t really care much about how fast I run- it’s all about the distance to me.  But I think it would be really cool if I could consistently run around a 10 minute mile.  And I’ll also lift weights on days that I run.

Goal 2:  Ride my bike/take spin class more often!  A couple of my coworkers take a spin class on Wednesdays at noon, so I thought it might be fun to join them!  Also, Laura…. let’s go biking again soon!!!!

Goal 3:  Go to kickboxing more consistently.  I won’t be working on Mondays again for a while, so this should be easy since my fav kickboxing class is on Monday evening.

So in summary, my goal is to work out 4 days/week this month- two days running and lifting, one spin class or biking, and one kickboxing class.

 

Reward:

I’m going to get a Garmin Forerunner 305 as my reward!

 

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(click on picture for source)

I want to run outside more and I want to be able to keep track of my pace and my mileage- especially since I’ll be training for a half marathon.  These things are soooo cool- it’s like a GPS in a watch! 

I’ve also found some pretty crazy good deals on ebay.  Can’t wait to get this!!!

 

I’m super pumped about this month’s fitness challenge!  And it starts riiiiiight….. NOW!!!

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