Hi Everyone,

How was your Monday/Weekend? Good I hope! Let's start this Tuesday off with a good laugh, shall way?

It gets me every time! So this weekend was once again full of football. It was Homecoming here in Nole Nation so there were lots of festivities going on. We had an amazing time tailgating with friends and watching the Noles stomp Duke.




It was extremely clouded, which really helped shield us from the sun and heat. It's crazy to think I was wearing a tank top and shorts on Saturday because it is freezing here today!

Sunday, was full of running, studying for my upcoming QiFORZE workshop, and errands. I am on the hunt for brown flats and boots. Unfortunately with NO luck. I can never find something when I am actually looking for it! At least my 4 mile run Sunday morning got the day started out right.



This weeks lunch is one of my new favorites. These little egg baskets are so easy to make, delicious, and bursting with protein! The beautiful orange veggie next to my egg baskets is butternut squash. I can't get enough of this stuff in fall. It's so creamy and satisfying.


First, preheat the oven to 425 and line a greased cupcake tin with ham. I used two small pieces of ham in each one, but you could use just one larger piece.


Bake the ham by itself for 6 minutes. Then crack one egg in each ham basket and sprinkle with a dash of GF Cajun seasoning and low-fat cheddar cheese.


Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Place ham and egg baskets back in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until eggs are set. You may want to go for a little less time if you like your eggs runny. Pair with your favorite veggie and enjoy! These are so easy, I literally made them this morning while I was getting ready for work.

I'm off to work. I hope you all have a Happy Tuesday!!

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In health,

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It's been quite a week so this sign came at just the right time! Even when life gets crazy, always remember.....

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Hello Friends,

How was your Monday? Did you get your sweat on? My first sweat session of the day took place in this beautiful place!

source

Yep, this girl ran the heck out of some stadiums in the beautiful fall weather! Can you believe they will just let you in there to have at the bleachers? I couldn't when I first got here. I absolutely love running bleachers. I know, that's kind of sick, but I love how challenging they are! What about you? Do you incorporate bleachers into your workouts? Next up on the agenda was a strength training class, followed by kickboxing, and then Booty Barre! My booty is going to be good and sore tomorrow! :)

I refueled with my new favorite chocolaty treat. Ok, not really. I really had a taco salad with black beans and gallons of salsa for dinner, but I did enjoy one of these guys for dessert!


I have been craving chocolate lately and brownies are my all time favorite chocolaty treat, so I decided to create my own GF chocolate brownie. It turned out better than I could have ever hoped. The dark chocolate made them extra rich, the pumpkin and apple sauce kept them extremely moist, and the Greek yogurt and egg whites pumped up the protein. Here is the line up of ingredients.


That's a pretty All Star lineup if you ask me. The first step is to mix your oats and coconut flour in a food processor.


Next, pour the the dry mixture in a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. It should form a thick brownie like batter.


Line your mini muffin tin with paper liners and scoop 1 tbsp of batter into each one. Try not to eat all of the batter before you get it into the muffin tin. I know it's hard! The bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.



I promise you will not be disappointed in these little beauties! It is taking all of my will power not to eat the entire batch in one sitting!



I hope you enjoy them! Let me know if you try them out!

Do you like runnign bleachers or do you think I'm crazy?

In health,

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Happy Monday!

Every Monday I think...."How can it be Monday already?" Anybody else? But here we are, facing another week and all it holds head on! Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Mondays. They are full of possibilities, opportunities, and a sense of new beginnings, but sometimes the weekends just fly by a little faster than I would like them to. But what can you do?

Nothing, so here's to another Monday friends! :)

This weekend was the calm before the storm. Next weekend is Homecoming for the Noles, and after that I am traveling every weekend except for two until Christmas. Some are for work and some are for work. I am looking forward to all the trips, but it's going to be a whirl wind.

Friday night, E and I tried out a new Mexican restaurant. The food was OK, but the patio we sat on was amazing. Right in the middle of it was a HUGE lemon tree. We were sitting directly under some of the biggest lemons you have ever seen. The waiter told us that they cut down the ripe ones every morning and use them. One was right in my water!

Saturday started out with a nice easy three mile run, then it was to the gym to teach a Booty Barre and Yoga class. Then it was home for a quick lunch and back out to run errands to get ready for E's birthday. It's on Thursday! They grow up so fast. Hahaha! E went down to Gainsville to watch The Gators play South Carolina so Champ and I were home alone for the evening and enjoyed a good girly movie.

The weather was so nice this weekend, I had to sneak in another run on Sunday too. Four easy miles. I beat Garmina so I was pretty happy about that.




Next up was the grocery store and meal prep for the week. I came across a recipe the other day on Nom Nom Paleo for Egg Foo Young-ish (spinach, egg, and coconut pancakes) that looked pretty yummy so I decided to try my hand at my own version. They come out in between a veggie burger and a pancake. The recipe made 5 good sized veggie burgers so they were perfect for this weeks....


First you need to assemble all of you ingredients.


Chop up your mushrooms and set aside. Whisk the eggs together and then add the remaining ingredients. It should form a thick cookie dough like batter.


Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into a skillet lightly greased with coconut oil.



Cook for approximately 2-3 minutes or until it is firm enough to flip over in one piece.


They should look like extra fluffy pancakes when you are finished!




Since my kitchen was already a mess, and I have had a killer sweet tooth lately, I decided to make Dark Chocolate GF Brownie Bites as well! Oh my gosh, these are the best things I have made in a long time. Check back in tomorrow for the recipe!


I hope you all have a marvelous Monday!

What did you do this weekend?

Did you meal prep on Sunday? If so, what did you make?

In health,

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Happy Friday Friends!

I am so glad it is Friday! It has been one crazy week!

My toe is finally feeling better, and I was even able to go on a run yesterday and lift weights today! Woohooo! It feels so great to be back. Five days with absolutely no exercise was excruciating!

So it's Friday, and everyone can use a good laugh on a Friday (well any day really), so I wanted to share with you a few funny finds that crack me up every time!



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Howdy!

How are you this terrific Thursday? Pretty fabulous I hope!

So today I want to talk about morning routines. I am a routine kind of girl through and through. What about you?

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, after visiting the facilities of course, is make myself a glass of hot lemon water in my cute Teavana mug.

There are so many health benefits to starting your day out with lemon water, you are really crazy not to. Plus, it is refreshing and helps wake you up.

Top 5 benefits of lemon water:

1. Helps aid weight loss - Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which can help curb cravings.

2. Boosts your immune system – Lemons are packed with vitamin C, which helps boost your immune system.

3. Helps balance pH of the body – Lemon is an alkaline food and can help reduce your body’s overall acidity (I know that seems counter intuitive since they arefull of citric acid, but trust me).

4. Aids in digestion – Lemon water helps flush out all of those unwanted toxins your body might be holding on to. It also encourages the liver to produce bile which aids with digestion.

5. Improves skin – The vitamin C in lemons can actually help decrease wrinkles and blemishes by removing toxins from the blood. Happy inside = happy outside!

I usually make E and I's lunch while I sip on my lemon water and then hit the shower. Hair makeup and clothes happen while catching up on my Fox News, then it is back to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. The most important meal of the day remember! With the temperatures finally starting to dip here in Tallahassee, I put my blender away in exchange for a warmer breakfast.

My new favorite breakfast is a Pumpkin Coconut Protein Muffin. Long name and an even tastier result! I was inspired by the lovely Jess over at the Blonde Ponytail. If you don't already read Jess' blog, you definitely need to skip on over and check it out. She posts amazing workouts and recipes, plus she is extremely inspiring and a hoot!




I hope you all have a wonderful and productive day!

What is your go to breakfast?

Are you a creature of routine?

In health,

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Hello Friends!

How are you today! It's hump day Wednesday. I am so excited to report that my toe is almost back to its normal size. I can walk pretty normally and fit a Tom on today. Whoop! Baby steps people.

I was browsing around Pinterest (what's new?) and started noticing how many great healthy cooking graphics I had saved. I refer back to these all the time, so I wanted to share them with you and see if you had any favorites.

My first favorite comes compliments of Jordan over at Picklee. Check out her blog for more specific information about how to make these swaps! She's awesome!!

Source: Jordan @ Picklee

Next up, we have a handy dandy measurement graphic from Chef Juli Yoon!

Source: Chef Julie Yoon

This one via Udi's Gluten-Free, is super helpful for us gluten-free baker wanna be's!

Source: Udi's Gluten-Free

This last one is definitely my all time favoite. I am a Chobani addict and love subbing it for less healthy alternatives in cooking!!

Source: Chobani

I hope these are a helpful guide for making your next dish a little bit healthier. Little swaps can make a huge difference when it comes to cooking.

Do you try to swap out for healthier ingredients whenever possible?

Do you have a favotie healthy cooking helper?

In health,

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