Made At Home

Well hello there! Hope everyone had a fantabulous weekend!! Mine was near perfection. I finally got the 8 hours sleep I was craving last night, then made myself a pancake feast.

My usual protein pancake recipe (found under the “Eats” tab!) topped with a mixture of 1/2 tbsp almond butter, 2 tbsp banana baby food, 1 tbsp molasses, 1 tbsp sugar-free syrup. A random assortment that was ooohhhsogood.

I spent the morning in bed doing blog updates! I made a new header and some minor changes to my About page, The REAL Story and Fave Posts. More updates will continue next weekend. I’m going to add an exercise page with my favourite cardio and weight lifting workouts. It’s gonna be good! (I hope)

I eventually made it to the gym for some treadmill + upper body weights.

Treadmill – 1% incline

Minutes	MPH
0-5	3.5
5-6	6.0
6-7	7.0
7-9	6.0
9-11	7.0
11-14	5.8
14-17	6.8
17-21	5.8
21-25	6.8
25-28	5.8
28-31	6.8
31-33	5.8
33-35	6.8
35-36	5.8
36-37	6.8
37-40	3.5

Back + Shoulders

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
Assisted pull-up	75 lbs	6	3

Chest + Back

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
Dumbbell bench press	20 lbs ea	10	3
Seated cable row	55 lbs	8	3

Triceps + Biceps

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
Skull crusher	20 lbs	10	3
Barbell curl	20 lbs	10	3

Shoulders + Abs

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
Dumbbell shoulder press	15 lbs ea	8	3
Plank	bw	60 sec	3

First, I gotta give Janetha credit for the treadmill intervals. Or, her mom anyways ;) I started out too fast. I wish 6.0 mph was a “jogging” speed for me, but it’s more my legitimate “running” speed. So I had to take it down to get rest between the faster spurts.

As for the weights, my arms are mush. I barely made it through those shoulder presses!

Came home and refuelled with an breakfast sandwich and sweet potato cheetahs.

Yummm!!! I always crave eggs after weight lifting, I have no idea why.

I hit up the grocery store after and had an exciting food find!!!

Kashi Dark Chocolate Coconut Fruit & Grain granola bar. For the longest time we just had the Kashi chewy bars here, and only just got the cereal ones. I embarrassed myself yet again at the Superstore upon finding these bad boys.

They also had the pumpkin flavour, but this one obviously caught my eye first. Dark chocolate and coconut? Yes please!! It was pretty small, and tasted borderline stale. But my goodness the chocolate on top is goooood.

After my snack I got to work in the kitchen! First up: Beek’s Coconut Chia Granola.

You may recall Bekah sent me some of her famous granola over the holidays. I LOVED it. I offered Bekah the opportunity to come here and make the granola for me on a regular basis, but instead she told me to make it myself :P

I followed her directions almost perfectly…

Bekah’s Coconut Chia Granola:

recipe adapted from the back of the Let’s Do Organic brand of coconut flakes:

• 3 cups rolled oats, gluten-free if necessary
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2  cup pure maple syrup (I use Grade B.)
• Vanilla extract and cinnamon to taste. (I like a lot, probably 1 t of each, and then some.) 1/2 T of each
• 2 T safflower oil canola oil
• 2 T chia seeds

Mix allllll together in a bowl or directly on a cookie sheet, bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, making sure to mix up the granola one or two times while baking, to ensure even coloring (NOT burning!)

I pulled it out to stir every five minutes or so, burning my tongue on a nibble every single time :P

Best. Granola. Ever. Seriously guys, go make it yourself. The sooner the better.

Next up was another batch of my homemade protein bars. Pretty much the same as last week, but with a touch less water.

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp mini chocolate chips
• < 3/4 cup water

All mushed together and pressed into a 9×9 baking pan. No baking though, just put in the fridge to harden.

Then cut into 8 pieces and wrapped up for the week!

I changed the recipe just a tad, so the stats are slightly different: 174 calories, 6g fat, 17g carbs, 1g sugar, 3g fibre, 15g protein. Still not too shabby!

Then it was on to Homemade Sunflower Mustard Hummus.

Yes, you read that right mustard hummus.

• 1 can garbanzo beans (+3 tbsp of their liquid)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter (I used Deb’s!)
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• salt + pepper to taste

I added the mustard because I’m out of lemon juice. Oddly, it turned out quite sweet!

Last, but definitely not least, I made my meal for the week. I stumbled upon this Mark Bittman chili recipe in Runner’s World that’s chock full of veggies. Sign me up!

Bean and Vegetable Chili

3 tablespoons olive oil Canola spray
1/2 pound ground beef, pork, turkey, or chicken – 1 whole pound
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 small one big eggplant, cubed
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup 2 cups mushrooms, quartered
1 fresh or dried hot chile, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 cup canned tomato, seeded and chopped 1 can no-sodium tomato sauce
4 cups canned 2 cans kidney beans, liquid reserved
Vegetable stock as needed (about two cups)
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium; add the meat, season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned. Remove meat from pan and drain off all but three tablespoons of fat.

Heat the pan over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic; cook for about a minute. Add the vegetables; cook for 10 minutes or until they start to caramelize and dry out.

Add the seasonings and stir, then add the tomatoes and beans with enough of their liquid to submerge everything (use the stock if there isn’t enough).

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook about 15 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Serves six.

I thought it tasted a little bland so I topped my bowl with salsa.

MMmmm…. love me a chunky chili full of veggies :D

Now I am officially ready to start my work week :)

Those of you who expressed interest in the Banff Blogger Trip should have gotten an e-mail update on it :) Our dates are June 8-15 with tons of fun things in between. If you’re interested and didn’t get the e-mail, let me or Holly know: thegreatbalancingact@gmail.com or healthyeverythingtarian@gmail.com

Some things are just a no-brainer:

SO excited!!!

Okay, it’s waaaaay past my bedtime. I need my beauty rest for spinning tomorrow!

Question of the Day: What store-bought items do you usually like to make at home? I love making my own hummus. And I must say, I’m really getting into this homemade protein bar thing. SO much cheaper, and I feel better eating them knowing the ingredients aren’t as scary.