Whole30

I am committing to a Paleo Lifestyle and in order to stay committed, I have signed up for Whole30! My friend Victoria is going to do it with me so that we can support each other! Day 1 will begin Monday, March 17th (my slow cooker meal for my friends is pork and sweet potatoes so completely Paleo friendly). I would start tomorrow, but after eating dairy tonight with my pizza, I wanted to give my body a day of rest to rid itself of tonight's meal. I am starting fresh on Monday and I could not be more excited!!

Today's paleo friendly breakfast was not my usual egg white and oatmeal pancake. Instead I made an omelette (yes, I used whole eggs) with bacon and topped it with avocado. It was really hard for me to not count points, but in my head I knew that the omelette was 4 points for the eggs, 1 for the bacon and 1 for the avocado. But I controlled myself and did not weigh anything. Paleo is about eating whole foods and if you restrict yourself, then you limit the benefits of the food. I forgot how delicious an omelette was when it was made with whole eggs and not just egg whites! I also made a nutribullet with spinach, apple, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, almonds, walnuts and goji berries blended and topped with chia seeds, goji berries, slivered almonds and shredded coconut! It tasted amazing!! And normally I would not have had the bullet with the eggs because it would have been too many points, but I'm holding back from counting! Ryan had the exact same meal and he loved it!

Last night's dinner for Tina's birthday was delicious. I ordered chicken fajita with no burrito. The vegetables were so delicious and I only had a little guacamole and black beans but I really didn't need it!

I am so excited to see Bryan Cranston in All the Way tonight on Broadway and have a "last supper" at Nizza!

Warm Chai Cupcakes on a cold snowy night with a green pancake for breakfast!

A Nor'easter has come to NYC and it has brought winds, snow, ice, rain and a lot of unhappy commuters with it. I am so ready for winter to be over and for the warmer weather to be here! I hate being cold and bundled up and not being able to walk a lot! But in preparation for the storm, Ryan and I mad Carrot, Walnut, Chai cupcakes with a vanilla maple frosting. The chai mix was something I found at Home Goods last weekend with my mom. It is gluten free and if you use non-dairy milk, it is dairy free as well. I don't like to use mixes a lot but when I do, I love added my own ingredients to it to make it more special! To a chia mix, the thought of a walnut carrot addition sounded perfect. I used Wholesome Chow Chai Mix and Wholesome Chow Vanilla Frosting Mix and to the frosting I added maple syrup and vanilla extract. The cupcakes were so moist and the added carrot and walnut added so much to a simple mix and the maple in the frosting made this cupcake super delicious!

Carrot, Walnut Chai Cupcake with Maple Vanilla Frosting
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Weight Watchers Points: 9 per cupcake

Cupcakes
Wholesome Chow Gluten Free Vegan Chia Spice Cake Mix
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup Lactaid Milk 2% (Use non-dairy milk to make these dairy free)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting
Wholesome Chow GF Vegan Vanilla Frosting Mix
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Lactaid Milk 2%
2 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

TO MAKE CUPCAKES
1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Line or grease cupcake pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.

3. Meanwhile, shred carrots and chop walnuts.

4. Add olive oil to milk and vinegar mixture and whisk well.

5. Whisk (or use stand mixer) baking mix with the liquid ingredients and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.

6. Add carrots and walnuts and continue to mix until blended well..

7. Pour batter into cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes.

8. Let cool before adding frosting.

TO MAKE FROSTING
1. In stand mixer, whip butter until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes.

2. Add frosting mix, maple syrup, vanilla extract and milk, whip on low speed for 1 minute until mix is well combined.

3. Increase speed to high and beat for 5 minutes until frosting is fluffy.

TO PREPARE FROSTED CUPCAKES
After cupcakes are cool, add frosting to each. Frosting can be stored in fridge if not used immediately.

Serve and Enjoy!

It's snowing a lot and when I woke up this morning, a lot of my coworkers were working from home. Now that I moved so close to the office, I didn't think it was fair to not try to come in and work. But I did get to sleep in a little until 7am. I decided to make a warm breakfast at home before trekking out in the snow so I decided to make my usual egg white and oatmeal pancake. This time though, I added spinach to the mixture and blended all of the ingredients in the nutribullet (similar to my green eggs). I blended the oats as well, though next time I might blend all ingredients and add oats at the end. The batter was super green and Ryan even thought I was making a bullet to drink. 3 hours since breakfast and I am still full and satisfied which is my biggest struggle when I eat breakfast at home before coming to work. I try to eat lunch at 1pm to make the day spread out so that I am not starving by 3pm/4pm which is when I will start snacking and craving sugar. But that means I usually try to eat breakfast at 9:30am so I don't have to wait too long until my next meal. I cooked up the batter and topped it with almond butter, flax seeds and a banana. Ryan made corn bread for breakfast and a spinach, grape, orange and raspberry bullet! We ate breakfast together before I layered up to go to work.

Ryan is working from home and doing some work around the house. I don't mind being at the office when its a snow day - the work day is slow but its a different experience than when everyone is here and busy! We are ordering pizza for lunch and I got to order a separate salad since I am not eating pizza that isn't gluten free.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm and dry today in this crazy weather - just remember, the more snow storms we have, the closer we are to winter being over!!!!! My biggest problem with this weather is how little activity I have. I can't wait until its warm and I can start walking to and from work and biking more. I probably have to take the bus/train to Bar Method tomorrow morning - the citibikes are buried under 3 feet of snow right now!

XO

Maple Glazed Pork Chops

Yesterday was a very busy day! It started with an early morning Bar Method class. Amanda did pretzel so I was in a great mood the rest of the morning (even with 20 minute train delays)! Bar Method helps me feel stronger mentally and physically and even though waking up and working out early on a Saturday morning seems crazy sometimes, I feel like I can take on the weekend after I workout.

For breakfast Ryan and I had egg white and oatmeal pancakes topped with powdered peanut butter (Ryan added Nutella), flax seeds, and coconut. We made a nutribullet filled with kale, pineapple, cucumber, goji berries, and pumpkin seeds. This was the perfect breakfast and kept us full and energized all day!

After breakfast we went into the city to go furniture shopping for our new apartment!!!!! It's so exciting to be able to furnish a new apartment and start fresh as a married couple. I feel like a real adult! Our current apartment was our first home living on our own as a couple. We have a lot of amazing memories in the apartment but it is time to move on and get a new start. The apartment is so much bigger so we need a lot of furniture that we don't have. We bought a couch, entertainment center, bedroom dresser an rugs! We still need a dining room table and chairs and some other small things. It's really exciting and I want everything right now but Ryan keeps reminding me that it will all come together slowly and work out. I'm just so anxious!!

We then went to see St. Francis College vs. Sacred Heart men's basketball game. It was bittersweet because it was our last "home" game living in Brooklyn. The games are so much fun to go to and they are right around the corner from home - I hope we still come to a game even when it's not so close! We have LIU vs. St. Francis Battle of Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center next month and we have court-side center seats!

We got home from the basketball game at 7:00pm (my day started at 7:00am). Ryan joked that it was getting close to my bed time and we still hadn't had dinner! So we whipped up a quick and delicious meal. We've been eating a lot of chicken lately because it's easy and quick to make during the week. Tonight we decided on french cut, bone in pork chops - something different! This recipe was so easy and after getting home late, we wanted something that would be quick. By 7:30pm we were eating, so Ryan was very happy!!! We ate and watched the SAG awards before making homemade granola bars for dessert. It was a fun, busy day and today we are taking it easy waiting for the New England Patriots football game this afternoon!

Maple Glazed Pork Chops
Servings: 2
Weight Watchers Points: 15

2 Bone-in Pork Chops
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Season both sides of pork chops with salt

3. Heat pan over medium heat and add coconut oil. Allow oil to melt and get warm.

4. Add pork chops to pan and sear on each side for 3 minutes.

6. While pork chops cook, mix cinnamon, vanilla extract and maple syrup in a small bowl.

7. Transfer pork chops to a baking and evenly spread maple syrup mixture over both pork chops.

8. Bake chops for 15 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

We had vegetables and Amy's Gluten Free Cheddar Broccoli Bake on the side!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Nutribullet

This is a fabulous dessert...something sweet, thick, peanut buttery, and a variety of fruit can be used to change the flavor for whatever you might be in the mood for. If you don't have a nutribullet you can use a blender.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Nutribullet
Servings: 1
Weight Watchers Points: 4

1 cup Spinach
1/2 Pear (I used peach in the photo)
1/2 Banana (use frozen for a thicker texture)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp powdered peanut butter
1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

Put all ingredients in nutribullet and blast for 40 seconds.

Enjoy!

XO

A Morning Bar Class To Start The Day!

Tuesday, January 14th 7:30am w/Anna T.

Warm-up and Arms
Thigh
Seat
Abs
Back Dancing
Final stretch

It was an early morning and it was hard to wake up but I made it to the studio on time and looked forward to my morning class. Things are going great today as Ryan and I viewed a new apartment yesterday in Peter Cooper Village and our application was approved and we will be signing the lease tomorrow. It all seems so fast since we only just started thinking about looking, but welcome to NYC - nothing stays on the market long enough to think before you act. We are SO excited for the new/fresh start and I am excited to move back to the city. I grew up in the city and it will always be my home. I love Brooklyn in a way I never thought I would, and it was our first home together and it will always be close to our hearts. Ryan proposed on the Brooklyn Bridge promenade, we spent our first year of marriage in this apartment and we learned to live in a small space and enjoy each others company! But it's time for a change and a move will do us good! The apartment is 3 times the size of our current apartment and has a dishwasher, washer/dryer, and is located in Stuyvesant Town which boasts a fitness center, cafe, study, skating rink, summer movies in the park...it's a mini college campus and we will be joining a great community. I can see us here long term and loving it. I went to middle school across the street from our new apartment and I can't wait for the move to be real! The apartment is also so close to both of our offices that we can walk to/from work. I tested it yesterday and it was 30 minutes from my office and 15 from Ryan's. With all of the walking I did yesterday, I had 6 activity points....6!!!! I barely get 2 on a weekday. It felt great to be out and walking and not stuck at my desk. I can't wait to have a beautiful walk to work every morning (or more like walk home since I will still be commuting to and from Bar Method in the mornings).

It's a busy week and we have a family dinner tomorrow night at my parents and we were out late last night viewing the apartment so dinners have been short and sweet. Tonight might be portobello mushroom turkey burgers and a peanut butter chocolate nutribullet blast for dessert. Ryan made gluten free vanilla cupcakes with a homemade chocolate frosting Sunday night and they are delicious. I had one last night and it was so hard not to have a second. I am so impressed with his desire to cook, juice and bake and I see how happy he is with his lifestyle change. All of this will be so much easier too in our new apartment where we will have more kitchen space (and a dishwasher to clean the juicer and pots and pans so we are more inclined to cook and juice more often)!

Victoria sent me a link for a baked oatmeal muffin which I am going to try to make tonight as a breakfast prep. I have been eating the scrambled egg cups but I am craving oatmeal! I am going to add shredded coconut and chopped walnuts to the oats to sweeten them! I can't wait to share the recipe and photos (3 WW Points each).

Have a great day!

XO

Seussical Sunday

This morning I decided to have a little fun with our breakfast. Instead of an egg white omelet with spinach, I decided to make "green" eggs...no food coloring needed! Just some egg whites, spinach (and/or kale) and a nutribullet (or blender). They tasted delicious and looked very cool on the plate next to some bacon and almond flour pancakes!

Green Eggs
Servings: 1
Weight Watchers Points: 1
1/2 cup All Whites 100% Liquid Egg Whites (3 egg whites)
1 cup spinach
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in nutribullet
2. Blend for 30 seconds or until spinach and egg whites are combined well and liquid turns green
3. Heat pan on medium heat and spray with oil
4. When pan is hot, add egg and spinach mixture and mix until desired consistency
5. Serve with a side of ham for a Seussical breakfast!

We had gluten free Almond Flour Pancakes on the side. This was my first time making them and the consistency was a little watered down. They tasted delicious but I wish they were a bit thicker like a flour pancake. This recipe will take some time to perfect and Ryan and I look forward to all of the testing involved!!!

Almond Flour Pancakes
Makes 10-12 Silver-Dollar Pancakes
Servings: 1 pancake
Weight Watchers Points: 1
1/2 cup Almond Meal
1 egg
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 packet stevia (or 1-2 tsp sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Seltzer Water (seltzer makes the batter fluffy!)

1. Combine all ingredients, except for the egg whites.

2. Whip egg whites using an electric mixer on medium speed until white peaks form.

3. Fold egg whites into pancake batter.

4. Heat pan over low-medium heat and spray with oil.

5. Spoon pancake batter onto pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side (pancake batter will not bubble when it is ready to flip).

*Make sure the batter is mixed well so that you don't have a pancake made out of eggs only!

6. Top with 100% pure maple syrup, honey, or peanut butter and berries! Enjoy!

XO