Chocolate Covered Banana Bites

I recently discovered Enjoy Life Chocolate chips which are dairy, nut and soy free.. You honestly cannot tell the difference, and they are absolutely delicious! Well.. Because of this recent discovery I have been obsessed with making anything and everything chocolate. I am a Pinterest.com addict and I am not ashamed to admit it. I love spending time on there, and finding new recipes, clothes, jewelry or just funny quotes! (It is going to become a problem when school starts back up... >.<) Well, I always manage to stumble across chocolate covered banana recipes!

Any way, I was looking around the kitchen and spotted 2 VERY ripe bananas in the fruit bowl.. I love anything banana but was to lazy to make banana bread or muffins so what did I decide to rely on? Chocolate :)

I cut the bananas into about inch thick nuggets and melted some chocolate in the microwave, dunked each one and sprinkled some organic unsweetened coconut flakes on them and placed them into the freezer! mmmmmmm boy! Are they delicious! :) I highly recommend trying them! They are super easy, fast and satisfy that evil chocolate craving! :) 

On Vacation!

Hi everyone!

I haven't been baking recently because I've been on vacation! I have thought about  new recipes I can't wait to try when I get home! So stay tuned! :)

Anna

Banana Blueberry Walnut Muffins!!

 The other day I was on a baking spree and created some wonderful goodies! The energy bites in the post below and these lovely gems! These Banana Blueberry Walnut muffins are delicious with a drizzle of honey for breakfast, a mid morning snack or even dessert! They are lightly sweetened and light! I made them with Perfect Fit Protein, which you can buy here --> http://perfectfitprotein.com/

Karena and Katrina ( Tone It Up/ Creators of Perfect Fit ) re tweeted me, and I have read so many replies about wanting the recipe! Soooo Here you go  Lovely ladies! :) Leave me comments on how you like them!!

Enjoy!!
-Anna

Banana Blueberry Walnut Muffins

2 packets of Perfect Fit Protein

1 cup Almond flour

2 tbs Flaxseed meal

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

pinch and ½ of nutmeg

pinch and ½ of salt

2 mashed bananas ( very ripe!)

2 eggs

1 tbsp Honey

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp Coconut Oil

½ tsp vanilla extract

1/3 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 21-25 minutes depending on size. 

HOLY ENERGY BITES!!

Alright everyone! Get ready for this... 


These little babies will leave you absolutely speechless! Trust me you won't be able to stop at one and you will want to tell the world about these! ( hehe I just got up and grabbed one, just writing the first sentence!) They are so incredibly easy!! My Tone It Up Ladies will love them! :) They are made with Perfect Fit Protein Powder! 

YUMMY CHOCOLATE ENERGY BITES! 


* 1 Cup Almond Butter

* 1 Packet of Perfect Fit Protein

* 1/4 Cup Flaxseed meal

* 4 Tbsp Raw Honey

* 2 Tbsp Unsweetened Coco powder

* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 1/2 pinch of Salt

* 1 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Coconut 

* 1/2 Cup Easy Life Chocolate Chips

* Optional: Crushed Almonds :)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, roll into balls and place in the fridge to harden. I personally love mine in the freezer!! :) mmmmm

Enjoy My Dahlings! :) 

Anna

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie!

If you know me, you know that I have THE BIGGESt sweet tooth ever! I could have sugar anytime of day, breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner! Since I am on a Paleo diet I cannot have gluten or dairy! I wasn't going to let that stop my sweet tooth! I stumbled across an AMAZING recipe! Im ashamed to admit i finished the batch in 3 days.. >.< 

These are the Chocolate chip Cakey Cookies from http://www.staceyspaleokitchen.com/
Go explore her blog! She has some amazing recipes!

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookie

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients.
2. In a small bowl beat the eggs with coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
3. Mix wet ingredients together with dry ingredients and fold in chocolate chips.
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop a tablespoon of cookie dough one inch apart.
5. Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

This is the recipe! I only needed to keep mine in the oven for about 10 minutes before they were perfectly golden! Seriously! Two of these heated up with a cup of almond milk is heaven on earth! :) 

Thanks Stacy for this fabulous recipe! :) YUMMY!

Starting the Paleo Diet!

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow I am starting the Paleo Diet aka "The Cave Man diet". Im starting it to keep my insulin levels in check because I have PCOS ( Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).  I don't want to fix the symptoms with birth control, I would rather try and fix this naturally through diet.  The symptoms are: weight problem (especially hard to lose weight), very bad acne ( I have horrible cystic acne all over my chin which is extremely painful), high testosterone levels (you can get those check by a doctor), elevated insulin levels and hair loss to name a few!

Basically with this diet I'm cutting out all dairy, grains and sugar. This isn't a drastic change for me since I normally eat very clean. It will be hard not to eat ice cream though! >.< (It's my weakness!!)

http://altmed.creighton.edu/Paleodiet/Foodlist.html

Thats a link to the foods i can and cannot eat if you are interested!

This diet is very big in the Crossfit world, which Im excited to join in the fall when I am back at school! :)

Hopefully this goes well! I will keep you updated! :)

It's Official! Addicted to GGS!

Good Evening Everyone!

Well it is official. My body can't go a full day without having my Glowing Green Smoothie! I have been drinking it for breakfast and sometimes a mid morning snack as well for almost 3 weeks! Except for this morning! Normally I make my batch the night before and put it in containers to bring to work with me, except for today I was off! I decided to try and sleep in, which didn't go so well, I was up by 7:30am. I worked out before eating anything, and normally my body is ok with that but since the heat has been crazy, I got very light headed and didn't have the patience to make my GGS... so I opted for a bowl of Kashi and Almond milk.. (Which was SO GOOD!)

By 3 o'clock I was dead. I don't just mean I was a little tired.. I mean I was laying on the couch and had no energy to move my body, and my head felt like it was filled with bricks! Knowing I needed to eat something soon was on my mind, but my body didn't want real food. Nothing sounded good to me.. That was when I realized I didn't have my GGS, so I made it and sipping on it now! I am starting to feel a lot better! Its amazing what this drink can do for you! :) I have started added Chlorella Tablets and Chia seeds into mine for the extra boost!

Drink up and Stay Beautiful,

Anna

HIIT Training

Whats HIIT? High Intensity Interval Training.

This is an enhanced form of interval training! Which is alternating periods of short butINTENSE periods of anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods. This is a form of cardiovascular exercise, it gets your heart rate up and speeds up your metabolism.

HIIT consist of a warm up to get your blood flowing, followed by 6-10 bursts of high intensity activity followed by a short medium to low intensity. This is great if you need to squeeze in an exercise! This lasts no longer than 20 minutes. (Don’t let the time fool you, this IS difficult!)

 Hight intensity interval training has become extremely popular in losing weight. It also improves endurance and speed. So get up off the couch and challenge yourself! 

 Some examples:

Tredmill—

 Warm up: 5 min at around 3.5 mph

Bump it up to: 7-8 mph for 2 minutes

Recovery: 3.5mph for 1 minute

Bump it up: 7-8 mph for 2 minutes

Recovery: 3.5mph for 1 mintute

 Do 6-10 intervals followed by a 10 minute recovery!

 Eliptical—

 Warm up: 5-10 minutes on easy

Bump it up to: level 15 for 2 minutes

Recovery: level 6 for 1 minute

Bump it up to: level 15 for 2 minutes

Recovery: level 6 for 1 minute

 Do 6-10 intervals followed by a 10 minute recovery!

Enjoy! Get that heart rate up and be creative with your workouts! Have fun!

Green Smoothie! :)

“Whoa! Thats green!” “Oh gosh what is that?” “Are you really drinking that?” “Ew.”

If you are a fellow green smoothie drinker, I am positive you have gotten these comments! I get comments like these all the time, but I AM PROUD of my very green breakfast!

Hello everyone,

Im dedicating this post to the wonderful Green drink :) I drink this for breakfast everyday, and sometimes as a snack as well! Don’t judge before you have tried it. Yes, its filled with yummy greens such as kale and spinach, but it also has fruit in it, such as a green apple, a few strawberries, a chunk of pineapple, and a banana. All of those fruits, especially the green apple takes the taste of the greens away! Its like magic! I also add coconut water for extra electrolytes and Chlorella tablets for extra plant protein! Blend it up and TA-DA a very refreshing, filling smoothie!

People (especially my mother), tell me I need protein in the morning, and just because this isn’t an animal product like eggs, milk, bacon, chicken etc. doesn’t mean it doesn’t have protein. Plants have plenty amounts of protein, and the added bonus no cholesterol! ( fact: Cholesterol is only in ANIMAL products! ) 

So your challenge is to try to make a green smoothie! Experiment with different fruits,(no melon,it doesn’t go well with the greens!) 

This helps you cleanse your body and give you energy :)

My travel containers, that I bought from Target! One for after the gym, to enjoy while on my way to work… and the other one for a mid morning snack! :)

Stay healthy,

Anna 

Yummy In My Tummy!

Clearly, Im not the best at blogging! I apologize! Its been a very long time since I posted something! I have been trying to get into the swing of summer. I finally unpacked all my clothes yesterday, Ive been working a lot and figuring out my goals for next school year (Fitness and Academic)! Oh and did I mention, cooking? I am a huge baker, I love anything sweet and I love creating beautiful baked goods for people I love… I am not that great at cooking though, I am very impatient and normally rush the cooking process which ruins the whole dish! I have been trying really hard to fix that problem! I stumbled across RealgirlsKitchen.com and I AM IN LOVE! I normally love anything “Duff” related. Yep. You heard me, Duff… as in Hilary and Haylie Duff.  I’ve looked up to Hilary for as long as I can remember, she was my childhood. Casper meets Wendy and Lizzie Mcguire HELLOO!!! :) Anyway her older Sister Haylie, was on a t.v show called 7th Heaven which was MY show. I never missed an episode and I have all the seasons on Dvd, and not ashamed to say I still watch them! Real Girls Kitchen, is Haylie’s blog! The food on her site, is so interesting! Don’t judge until you have tried them! They are also EXTREMELY EASY! (anyone can do it!)

For breakfast the past few days, I’ve had one of her recipes..

Its very simple, I have always been the person to put my over easy egg on top of toast.. I have never thought about arugula and spinach. Haylie uses all arugula, but I love spinach so I added that to it too :)

What You Will Need:

-1 or 2 eggs

-arugula or spinach or both

-Pam

-cherry tomatos

-Salt

-Pepper

In a pan, spray with pam. Crack the egg and let it cook. While you are waiting for your yummy egg..

Get out a small plate and create a bed of arugula/spinach with halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. When your egg is ready, place it on top of your bed of greens and sprinkle a little more with salt and pepper. The greens will wilt a little because of the heat, thats okay! Its very delicious, and healthy! I hope you Enjoy it as much as I do!! :)

Have a great day!

Anna

Biggest "Uh-Oh's"

uh oh #1- Going Cold/ Not Cooling Down

You need to get the blood flowing throughout your body and get your joints lubricated to prevent injury and increase your range of motion! Start off with 5-10 minutes of power walking, jumping jacks or really just anything to get the blood flowing, which isn’t intense! If you are going straight into weights, start off with light weight then go into your workout.

I am a firm believer in cooling down after a workout! It gives your muscles a chance to relax, and prevents tightness. If you don’t cool down, your blood tends to pool in your limbs (arms and legs) and that gives your blood pressure a chance to drop fast, which isn’t good. So make sure you walk it out/ stretch 5- 10 minutes!

uh oh #2- Over Working

After an intense workout, focusing on one type of muscle group (abs, legs, arms) you need 72 hours to recover. During your workouts,muscle fibers break and you need a chance to heal. If you work the same muscle groups every day, your body will not have time to recover which slows down your progress, and your chances of injury increase.

If you are a beginner, train your full body 2-3 times per week. As soon as you don’t have difficulty/soreness, work your upper body one day, lower body the next.

uh oh #3- Not Eating Enough

If you want to see progress, I can’t stress how important it is to eat (healthy, of course!). If you don’t eat enough during the day, your body goes into starvation mode and slows down its metabolism, making it even harder to lose weight.

After your intense workout, your metabolism speeds up for up to 46 hours after, which increases fat burn. If you don’t feed yourself properly, you wont have the energy to workout as intensely.

Make sure you listen to your body, don’t over work it or limit your food intake to where you are always hungry. If you feel pain, stop. If you get light headed, stop. Be patient with your body, you wont magically drop 10 pounds in a day or be able to run a marathon in a week. It takes time! 

Thanks for reading!