Where's the Beach?

Do you have that one kitchen appliance that you never seem to use? The one you either bought or asked for as a gift certain it'd make your life easier? For me it was a slow cooker. We had an old one given as a gift that pretty much had two temperatures settings: hot and hotter. So for Christmas a few years back, I asked for a fancy upgrade. One that had timers and various temperature settings. It even locks the lid into place, how's that for fancy? I tried using it a few times for some soups or chili. Each time I either overcooked the vegetables until they were basically mush, or it was so undercooked I ended up transferring to a regular pot and finishing the meal on the stove. Not exactly simplifying life. One of my problems is that I can't seem to follow a recipe. I pin them, write them out, email them to myself, print them even. But when it comes to following them step-by-step, I don't. I decide to add my own spin on things. Sometimes it works out really well, ...

If you follow me on Instagram , you might notice that I have been posting protein waffle pictures on the weekends. It's kind of funny because up until about a month ago, I had never actually made waffles. The only reason we have a waffle iron is because I bought it for Jason several years ago because he was always talking about wanting to make waffles for breakfast. I'm actually not a big breakfast foods kind of person. I never wanted toast and eggs, pancakes or waffles. Bacon and sausage never appealed to me, especially not now as a vegetarian. The only time I really wanted waffles was when my dad took my sister and I to this diner as children. It was called Mrs. T's. The waffles were as big as the plate, and my sister and I could easily inhale 2 waffles! Of course every crevice had to be perfectly filled with the correct blend of melty butter and oozing syrup. Maybe it was seeing so many waffles on Instagram or recipes on Pinterest, but I suddenly decided I wanted s...

A couple of weeks ago I came home to a fabulous treat on my porch. The wonderful people at Food Should Taste Good had sent me a box of goodies to try out. I mean, who doesn't love to come home to a tasty surprise like that? In the box, I found boxes of their new Brown Rice Crackers . Flavors included are: Peppercorn Blend, Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Sea Salt and Tomato & Basil. I am admittedly a chip addict. I guess I tend to crave that satisfying crunch you get from a chip. Now, we all know chips aren't typically a healthy snack. So when you can find a brand like Food Should Taste Good that makes a more wholesome chip, you get pretty excited. But now they're upping the ante a bit with their new gluten-free crackers . They are similar to their line of chips in that they're full of flavor, and fun flavor combos, and they're nice and crispy. While the chips make for awesome dipping, these crackers are great vessels for topping. Think wheat thin style...

As a FitFluential Ambassador , I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to receive a sample of ProCakes to review. I'm not always a big pancake eater. However, lately, I have been making more protein pancakes on the weekends, especially after a long run. So, I was very eager to try out ProCakes , even more eager when I realized how easy they were to throw together and how simple the ingredients list is. Here's just a bit of background information from their site : ProCakes was founded in 2014 by Caren Magill, a fitness enthusiast, bikini competitor and soon-to-be fitness trainer. She left a corporate career in social change marketing to pursue her love of healthy comfort food with zero compromise on taste and enjoyment. ProCakes is a high protein pancake mix, designed to satisfy cravings for comfort food while providing a healthy dose of protein to help maintain a lean and strong body. It’s one part nutritional supplement, one part awesome baking mix. Made wit...

You're probably shocked to see a Tasty Tuesday post. I admit that it's been a while. I do have one other recipe that I need to re-make and share, hopefully sooner than later. It's getting close to time to hit up the grocery store. What's funny is that I've noticed I tend to get more creative when I have fewer ingredients. We're getting low mostly on the fresh veggies. I knew I had a few things that needed to be used, like an opened can of pumpkin puree. I decided to attempt creativity with a Pumpkin Alfredo sauce to go with spaghetti squash and some homemade ciabatta I had on hand. I didn't have any coconut milk, but knew that almond milk would work perfectly. Since I was out of vegetable stock, I decided to infuse additional flavor with white wine. Pumpkin Alfredo Ingredients: 1 large can pumpkin puree 1/8 cup minced red onion (emphasizing minced) 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 cup (approximate, may need to add more) unsweetened almond milk or lite c...

I don't know about you, but when it's hot out, I tend to crave more watery fruit like pineapple. We've also been grilling most days, especially while we were painting the kitchen cabinets. Since I just happened to have a pineapple on hand, I decided to come up with a way to grill it. At first I had thought about sandwiches, but I ended up going with a quinoa salad instead using tempeh and veggies. I wanted to try to infuse more of the pineapple flavor in the tempeh while it poached, so I also made a puree of the pineapple. Grilled Pineapple Tempeh Quinoa Salad Ingredients: 1 pineapple 1 package tempeh - cut in half then lengthwise for 4 pieces 1 not-beef bouillon cube 2 cups water (or broth and minus the bouillon) 2 tbsp minced garlic 1-2 jalapenos, seeded if you prefer less heat Small nub of fresh ginger 2 bell peppers (I used green and yellow) 1 large zucchini, cut into thick strips 1/2 cup quinoa (I used red) 2 cups water Directions: Turn on your grill...

Lindsay over at the Lean Green Bean is at it again with another  Pin It Party ! I didn't participate last time, but really enjoyed all fo the Pin It Party posts, so I decided to join in this round. Here’s what you do: Round up 5 blog posts you’ve written that you would like to see on  Pinterest . Make sure there is a nice, pinable image or photo included in each post. Write a short post featuring the posts you chose - Put 5 nice images & links to the posts all in one place, along with a short description of each post. On first Thursday of each month, publish your post, then visit The  Lindsay’s Lean Green Bean  and add your post to the linkup! The linkup is open for about a week! I usually don't pin something FROM my blog unless it's a recipe or workout. I rather like the idea of pinning TO my blog though (if that makes sense). So pinning to a post not just a recipe or workout. 1.  HIIT Full Body Bike Workout I've really enjoyed playing...

Running & Lifting  Yesterday started off with a dark, but really great 4.5 mile run with my running buddy. I was afraid my legs were going to be heavy from the runs Tuesday and Wednesday, but they felt great. We just chatted away and boogied on down the road. I didn't pay any attention to pace until I stopped my Garmin while stretching and was really surprised to see an average of 8:43. And the best part was that I never felt like I was struggling. It was just a great run with fun conversation (which I actually missed this morning since it's a rest day). Don't you just love it when running is almost easy like that? I mean, you're working, but everything is just sort of clicking into place nicely. Now if we could figure out how to make all runs like that... During lunch I did managed to get in shoulders, back, chest and some more legs. I feel like I've been neglecting legs since I don't have access to a squat rack to lift heavy. So perhaps working them...

Morning Run This morning started out painfully early. I woke up around 4:30 to potty. And my alarm was set for just after 5 so we could run. In other words, no point in falling back asleep obviously. But man that makes for a long long day. By 10 am, it felt more like 3 pm. We set out for the run just before 5:30. At least there was a slight breeze today. That definitely helped with the heat/humidity. I will say that our pace was just all over the place though. Zero consistency going on this morning. Our first mile was a slow one (though I thought we were going a bit faster) at 9:58, but then mile 2 was 8:31. Really? How'd that happen? I'll blame it on not being awake. And oddly, that might have been the best feeling mile for me. My legs started to get pretty heavy and I had to concentrate on my breathing. So I felt like my form was getting a little sloppy, which can make you less efficient of course. So, after a slow mile then a fast mile, so continued the varied pace: 9...