A Day of Faves

Morning!  How was everyone’s Monday?  Its definitely a warm beverage kind of morning over here:

half a cup of vanilla VIA drowned with almond milk.  Yum.  

Yesterday included lots of my favorite things: exercise, shopping, babies and

kale chips!

I walked the Rose Bowl (with maybe a couple stretches of jogging in there to shake out the legs), Colleen and I made a trip to lululemon to get some OHmazing pants, and then visited with one of her friends and her two beautiful babies.  I *love* snuggling babies – can’t wait until ours makes its debut! 

So the kale chips…so easy!  Break the leaves off the spine into big chunks.  Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.  Spray a cookie sheet lightly, dump the kale and spread into a thick layer.  (If you cook a whole head, the pieces will overlap.  That’s okay.)  Dust with a thin layer of olive oil spray, sprinkle some sea salt and cook at 350⁰ for about 10 minutes or until they start to get crispy.

My only problem (if you can even call it that) is that I have to eat the whole batch I just made because I find they don’t store well – they get soggy or wilted.  Anyone have a solution for that besides getting a dehydrator and cooking them that way?  I actually plan on doing that in the next few months, but I was just curious. 

More recent eats:

breakfast burrito with 2 eggs, veganaise, daiya (vegan cheese), greens and copious amounts of hot sauce

BLT wrap (with facon of course) with avocado, veganaise and daiya

half a sweet potato with goat cheese crumbles, roasted broccoli and pasta salad.

Time for some breakfast and then its off to work!  xo Shaina

Something to think about (pardon the French, but seriously.....):

Protein on the Run

Hey hey!  Halfway to the weekend and Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Colleen!  J

Early busy morning over here - started on the yoga mat.  I thought it would be a good time to share a great recipe for easy, grab-and-go protein bars.  I’m in love with these because they’re a great snack, pack a lot of protein, can be completely dairy & gluten free and will fill you up between meals.  AND because they totally taste like you're cheating - but you're not!  Each bar has roughly 220 calories and 8 grams of protein (depending on the brands & optional ingredients you use).

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cup dry oats (gluten free oats are available for the GF folks!)

½ cup raisins (dried cranberries, date chunks, etc. also work – I like to change it up each time)

½ cup mini chocolate chips (dairy free chips available at Whole Foods for my vegans)

¼ cup chopped raw almonds or walnuts (optional)

3 scoops vanilla protein powder (I like Nikken Body Balance or Sun Warrior)

2 Tbsp ground flax seed

1.5 tsp cinnamon (and maybe a little extra – I like cinnamon)

Wet ingredients:

1 mashed ripe banana

½ cup pure maple syrup (try to find Grade B – usually at WF or a health food store.  You can use agave nectar as well)

½ cup of your favorite nut butter (I’m on an almond butter kick right now!)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.     Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. 

2.     Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well.

3.     Spread mixture into an 8x8 baking pan lined with wax paper.  Press into corners until flat and even throughout the pan.

4.     Place pan in the freezer for a few hours or until firm. 

5.     Remove pan from freezer and cut into 15 small bars.  Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap for an easy grab-and-go snack!  Bars can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.  

**bars will soften at room temp so eat within 15 minutes of removing from the freezer**

I’m off to work…have a good one!  xo Shaina

Thought for the day: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." -Aristotle