This week

All I've been doing this week is go to work, workout, watch Olympics. I haven't been following my training plan as closely as I want to, but watching the Olympics is very motivating so hopefully next week will be better, haha. 

My plan as of now is 

Sunday: bike

Monday: Crossfit

Tuesday: swim/run

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: Crossfit

Friday: swim/run

Saturday: bike

Sunday should really be rest day so Wednesday can be bike, but the past two weeks I have just crashed for a nap on Wednesday and couldn't get up to bike. Also, Friday was originally a Crossfit day, but ever since I found out that Thursday is run day, I decided that's the day I'm going. :D One of the few things I can actually do at Crossfit.... moving on to today's workout.

Warmup: "and more" (various skipping, lunging, butt kicks, high kicks)

Buy In: 200m run, row, jumprope

WOD x 3

200m run

12 x power clean (40lbs)

time: 8:42 The weights just kill me..

Cash Out:

pull ups

Came home to a yummy dinner. 

I cannot seem to get full these days. After eating this, I had half a banana + sunflower butter, bowl of yogurt and strawberries, and just had a bowl of cereal as a night snack. Two dinners are the norm these days. 

Weekend Baking

On Saturday, I was over at a friend's and we made cookies. Unfortunately, I can't use my camera very well (yet), and couldn't figure out the indoor lighting, so none of the pictures turned out. I managed to get one on instagram...of course.

On Sunday, I made this.

Angela's healthy strawberry oat squares are one of the best things I've ever made. Seriously. Try it.

Today's workout was supposed to be a 500m swim and 3mi run. My back was SO sore all day (is this normal?) that I decided not to run after the swim. I'm hoping it's just my body getting used to Crossfit and not an every workout thing.

cauliflower can be delicious!

If you are not a fan of cauliflower, I'm pretty sure you will be after trying this recipe. Mama Pea's Nutty Cauliflower Wings are pretty amazing. 

Justin's Chocolate Almond Butter

I've seen Justin's nut butters all over the food blog world, and finally got around to trying it! At first taste, I thought eh, it's alright. But then I couldn't stop eating it! Nothing beats Biscoff butter though. ;)
Have you tried the chocolate almond butter? What other flavors are good?

It's a pizookie!

Yes, I still have leftover canned pumpkin from this. Katie has so many great recipes that I had a hard time deciding which one to make, but found this one to be perfect since I already had most of the ingredients. This pizookie was the perfect texture/sweetness/thickness/etc... I'm getting hungry just blogging about it! It is really so addicting--I have a hard time stopping after a slice. I also love that it is flourless and made of chickpeas; you would never guess tasting it!

 

 

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Spiced Doughnuts

So I've been working my way through my list of "recipes to make", which is why this one is out of season. Good thing I found a can of pumpkin left in the pantry! It doesn't even matter that it's almost summer--these baked doughnuts are so delicious they are good for anytime. I don't have a doughnut pan, and found that a mini muffin tin worked just fine.

Best Pancakes Ever

You guys, I'm so excited to have discovered this pancake recipe. It's one by Mama Pea of course! I love most things from her, but this one is seriously a winner. You need to go make this now!

Perfectly fluffy pancakes with the perfect balance of tartness from the apples and sweetness from the streusel topping. Some notes though--I actually didn't have ww pastry flour, and regular all purpose worked just fine. I also had to add a LOT more oats to make the streusel more crumbly instead of runny. You probably could just reduce the amount of applesauce instead.

Deyki loved it too.

Lattice Top Apple Pie

After many not so subtle remarks from my dad about craving apple pie, I decided to make one--with a lattice top! I think this was my first time making pie, and I used this recipe for the crust, minus half a stick of butter. Since I didn't really find a filling recipe I liked, there was a lot of improvisation along the way. 2 sliced apples, lots of cinnamon, lime juice mixed with arrowroot powder, and about 3/4 c of brown sugar were mixed with the apples. The result was delicious! I was really excited about how my lattice top turned out, haha. Only thing I would change is adding more apples next time!
 

Falafels

Mmmm. The last time I had falafels was on spring break in Germany. While they were delicious, it was quite greasy, so I was excited to see Mama Pea had a healthy baked version. The best part is the tzatziki sauce though! I didn't have any pita bread, but French bread worked well, turning it into a falafel sub.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I definitely have a new favorite dessert blog. How did it take me so long to discover Katie's healthy dessert blog? You might have remembered the first recipe I tried back here. I decided on chocolate chip blondies--one of the more popular recipes from her blog this time. They definitely did not disappoint! Soo delicious and rich that you wouldn't believe that they're made from chickpeas and has no flour. And it doesn't get better than 74 calories a piece.
 

Pumpkin Goodies

I did a little baking on Christmas Eve. . . probably should have done something with mint or gingerbread--nevertheless, some delicious sweets! First up was Jenna's vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I was ecstatic at how well these turned out!

I actually took a bunch of pictures on my regular camera, but these Instagram images turned out way better! It's a pretty awesome--I see why everyone's so obsessed with it now!

Next up, Happy Herbivore pumpkin bread! Loved the simple recipe and yumminess.

Quick Breakfast

This simple and fast breakfast was inspired by Allie's peach crisp.

1. Place the sliced apples into your bowl.

2. Combine all the other ingredients together.

3. Spoon the crumble on top and microwave for 2 minutes.

*Greek yogurt would make a nice topping too.

Alfajores de Manjarblanco

The other day I made these Peruvian cookies, which are very similar to macarons. Two sugar cookies sandwiching a layer of caramel. They're quite buttery/rich, so one little cookie will go a long way. So simple to make and it tastes delicious!

Ingredients

- manjarblanco (sweetened condensed milk cooked to a caramel): You can buy this at any grocery store; the brand I used was La Lechera

- 2 c all purpose flour

- 3/4 c butter

- 4 Tbsp powdered sugar

1. Mix butter, flour and sugar together.
2. Knead together until a dough is formed. (Here, I had to add a bit of water because the dough was having trouble sticking.)
3. Roll out dough on a flour surface and cut circles with a cookie cutter (the mouth of a small shot glass works well too).
4. Transfer the rounds onto a greased sheet pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
6. Remove from over and let cool.

7. Spread a layer of manjarblanco over one cookie and press another on top.
**Depending on how big your cookie cutter is, you will yield a different amount of cookies. I got about 24 sandwiches out of my dough.