I'll have the regular...

For many years I have been a local at my neighborhood Dilworth Coffee. I much prefer a small coffee shop to a big chain.  I used to always change up my order, whether it is a regular coffee, iced chai, non fat vanilla latte or whatever.  I'm a bit of a coffee addict. My son hears the Keurig in the mornings and says "Mommy Coffee!" About 9 months ago I took on a very bad habit of ordering nonfat white mochas. I let the stress of moving, working full time, having a 1 year old, etc. take over and quickly became addicted to the sugary goodness that is a white mocha.  I was literally having them everyday...sometimes twice. It was a terrible habit that I knew I had to break.  About two month ago I went in and the barista started ringing me up for my regular white mocha and I said I think I'll have a plain latte with almond milk. They LITERALLY gasped and said "who are you?!?!"

I told them that I have decided to lower my sugar intake and start taking my eating seriously. Again, my working out has never been a problem, it's the food!  They cautiously said OK sounds good and made my almond milk latte which was amazing by the way. The nutty flavor of the milk gives it a great sweet taste with no added sugar. I occasionally add one stevia in the raw if I want something extra sweet. Give it a try:)

The reason I decided to blog about this this morning is because I was asked by the barista this morning after ordering my iced almond milk latte how my new healthy lifestyle was going. I was caught off guard not thinking she would remember me saying it but I was so thrilled and told her about all the great changes I have been making.  Two lessons learned:

1. Tell people about your new healthy lifestyle and they will help hold you accountable!

2. You don't have to give up your favorite things (regular coffee shop runs for me) but just have a find a way to modify them to make it work!

If I can do this you can do this! Let me know if you need help figuring out how to modify your favorite things to make them work for you!

Homemade Granola

After yesterday's black bean hummus I sent Beck off to watch some cartoons while I experimented with some homemade granola..but don't you worry he comes back at the end in true Beck fashion! I have never made homemade granola  but have been dying to try it. I buy organic granola from Trader Joes regularly to put on my greek yogurt and to eat with milk like cereal and love it. I figured it couldn't be too difficult and I like to control what ingredients are in it. It is hard to find a store bought granola that has exactly what you want. I normally fail and first attempts experimenting in the kitchen but this was seriously amazing! I am so impressed with myself and will be making this exact recipe over and over. I enjoy dried fruit, raisins, etc. but didn't have any in the pantry so I left them out. Here is the recipe and instructions.

2 cups oats (old fashioned or rolled oats)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 dried fruit (optional)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla


1. Gather all of your ingredients and preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Mix the oats, coconut, almonds, dried fruit and cinnamon in a bowl and stir.

3. Mix the coconut oil, butter, honey, maple syrup, and vanilla and wisk together until smooth.

4. Pour the "sauce" over the dry ingredients and stir until well coated.

5. Place the mixture on a stone pan or a metal pan lined with foil.

6. Bake at 300 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through. It smells amazing while cooking!

The mixture will get golden brown but won't feel totally crispy when you remove it from the oven. Let the granola cool completely and it will crisp up and be delicious! I stored in a Tupperware container to eat all week long. 

Here is where Beck enters....

I had put all of the granola in a container and while I went to get the lid, Beck climbed on the container and started eating the rest of the granola off the pan. He loved it! I quickly snapped some picture and then put him in the bar stool to let him finish it off. This is an adult and kid friend granola...bonus!

Black Bean Hummus

First of all Happy Father's Day to my dad and husband who are both amazing fathers! I am so blessed to have you both in my life.  Since it was Father's Day my husband opted for a nap after church so my son and I had some quality time in the kitchen! I have just recently started to let my son help with the food prep. I obviously can't have him help with stuff on the stove or oven yet but he loves helping. Not to mention I can actually cook without him hanging all over me and pulling out every pot, pan and cooking utensil in the cabinets. Yes it gets messy sometimes but I am loving this time that we spend together!

Sunday is usually my food prep day anyway so we decided to make some homemade granola (on the blog tomorrow) and some homemade black bean hummus. Here is the recipe and instructions:

1 can black beans
1/4 cup tahini
1-2 cloves garlic (yes i used pre-minced garlic)
1/2 lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp water
salt
pepper
cayenne

1. Gather all of the ingredients

2. Drain and rinse the black beans.



3. Put the black beans, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne in a food processor (I have a Ninja)

4. Let your kids blend the ingredients together!!

5. Once the first ingredients are blended well add the olive oil and water and blend until smooth.

6. Eat immediately with pita chips, veggies, on a sandwich, etc. or store in the fridge for later. This is why I love the Ninja because I can just take the blade out and throw the lid on. The less dishes the better!

And this is what your kid will do when you take away the blender. He seriously threw a fit...terribly twos have already begun. Yes he has a fake tattoo...he loves them!

Here is a video of my son Beck helping in the kitchen!

I'm official!!!

I decided at the end of last year that I wanted to become a certified health coach. I have been a spin instructor, kickboxing instructor and running coach for years but wanted to make it "official." I absolutely love helping people reach their goals whether it is with weight loss, finishing a race, eating healthier etc.  I studied for months in between my full time job, moving into a new home, being a wife and mom and everyday life. I really wanted this and I pushed myself to make it happen.  I went to the testing center this morning and left with a smile on my face. I am officially an ACE Certified Health Coach!!!

My new favorite cooking accessory!

One of my good friends recently became a Pampered Chef Consultant. I've always been a fan of Pampered Chef stuff but never really had that much of their stuff. At her first official party a couple of weeks ago she made chicken in this baker in the microwave in just a few minutes...and it was juicy and delicious!  As a mom I am always needing quick easy healthy meals and this baker is saving my life. The other night I had leftover green beans and oven roasted potatoes that a friend brought over for dinner but all of the main course (meat) was gone. I had a few chicken breasts in the fridge (who doesn't) so I threw them in the baker with a little seasoning and in 8 minutes I had juicy delicious chicken to go with my leftovers. I used it again today at lunch and then cut up the chicken and threw it on some spinach with a little feta and balsamic vinaigrette and had a great salad.  It's not a cheap investment but I guarantee you will love it as much as I do. Apparently there are recipes to put in this baker all over Pinterest.  Enjoy!

What kind of mom are you?

I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday and came across this amazing photo series about different types of moms. You can check it out here. Before I became a mom I never really thought about the different ways that moms and dads raised their kids and the choices they made.  I knew the way that my parents raised me and always assumed that their way was correct. Come to find out...there are many ways to raise your kids. Also, people will not agree with the way you raise your kids...and that is OK!

Once I became a mom I too quickly fell into the judgey mom category. I started thinking thoughts like "why don't you tell your kid no" or "why are you letting your kid eat that" and the list goes on and on.  It is so difficult for so many of us to keep our opinions to ourselves. I think with so many reality shows these days that show women bad mouthing each other and just speaking their minds it makes us think that is OK and normal...and it isn't!  Everyone chooses to parent different ways, feed their kids different things, etc. and we should not be judging them. If you want to do something for your kids, by all means go for it...but don't think that you have the right to force that same opinion on others. I am going to focus on doing a better job of this and only worrying about how I raise my kids and I encourage you to do the same. Let's stick together moms!!!

Matthew 7:1-5

Morning Person?

If someone asked me if I was a morning person or a night owl I would definitely say morning person, although you wouldn’t have guessed that over the past year.  Prior to having my son last year I was up working out most mornings.  Something about being done with my workout and ready to take on the day by 6:45 a.m. is extremely exciting to me.  For me if I wait until after a day of working, grocery shopping, paying bills, phone calls, cooking, running after a toddler etc. etc. I can easily talk myself out of working out.  I quickly got out of this routine after my son was born because as any new parent would tell you, you must cherish every second of sleep you can get.  I was lucky to get in a few runs each week between feeding sessions in addition to teaching my spin and kickboxing class each week...and working a full time job!

Even when I was a regular morning workout person I will admit that I never heard that alarm and jumped out of bed smiling ready to take on a workout.  I would hit the snooze, moan and groan and think of excuses to go back to sleep.  When I would finally roll out of bed (except the times I went back to sleep) and get my workout in I started to feel better and better.  It would take until the workout was done to be fully awake and realize how incredible it felt to start my day out on the right track.  I don’t think there has ever been a time that I thought what I was about to do was a good idea when the alarm went off.  In contrast I also don’t think there has ever been a time that I regretted the workout once it was over.

As I write this post I have already taken a 5:30 a.m. spin class, had coffee, showered, fed the dogs, packed my sons bag for daycare and turned on the news…and it’s only 7:05 a.m.! I feel empowered to take on the day and know that I will accomplish so much today because of it.  Although I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I wake up smiling and laughing I will continue to workout in the mornings as much as possible so I have no excuses!  I encourage you to try the same thing for one week.  Take at least three days during a week and wake up 45 minutes to an hour before you normally would and get some sort of workout in.  Go to a class as your gym, do a home workout dvd, go for a run, etc.  You won’t regret it!