smoothies and muffins on weekends

It becoming a bit of a ritual to make muffins on a weekend morning and while they bake, enjoy a tasty smoothie. It doesn't help that it's so rainy outside!

These beauties were a huge hit!

Blueberry Peach Smoothie

makes 2 large glasses

1/2 cup canned peaches (packed in water or fruit juice)

1 handful frozen blueberries

1 frozen banana

1 tbsp ground flax

skim milk to desired consistency

Blend until smooth!

The smoothies were inspired by these muffins. I was in a peachy mood today!

Strawberry Peach Muffins

makes 12

Dry:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use the pastry kind)

1 cup whole rolled oats

2 tbsp ground flax

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (optional, I actually forgot it and didn't miss it!)

Wet:

2 very ripe bananas, crushed with fork

3/4 cup skim milk

1/4 cup canola oil (I put a bit less in)

1 egg

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup chopped canned peaches (or use fresh!)

1/2 cup sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Mix wet and dry together until batter is moist (don't over mix!). Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and spaghetti noodle comes out clean.

Serve with a smoothie or glass of milk!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!

Emilie

everything you've got pasta bowl

It's Friday! I'm not as excited as I should be though, since it's calling for rain all weekend and that will really put a damper on my bike race training. Good thing I can still go to back-to-back spinning classes at the gym!

Last night I got home after a long day in Kingston to not much food in the house. I usually resort to picking at random things (cereal, crackers, veggies) but last night I summoned up my energy and made some pasta!

Everything You've Got Pasta Bowl

2 servings

Your favourite whole wheat pasta (enough for two large servings)

Tomato sauce (I had some in the freezer) about 2 cups

1/2 can lentils (drained and rinsed)

A few handfuls of spinach

Frozen broccoli

Herbs and/or a spoonful of jarred pesto

Parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Plus- anything else you have in your fridge! Veggies (e.g. tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, asparagus), different cheeses (goat cheese or feta perhaps), proteins like shrimp or chicken. 

Cook pasta, warm sauce and toss in veggies until cooked through.

Enjoy!

I even had leftover energy to go for a run! I had to enjoy the last sunny day of the week...

What do you do to stay active on rainy days?

Emilie

greek yogurt overnight oats and a red belt

Greek yogurt was on sale last week so I decided to try the strawberry flavour (I didn't really like it plain). 

Well, on its own, I still don't think I like it, but boy does it make a good batch of overnight oats! It's a texture thing I think. I find regular yogurt so much smoother. 

Strawberry Greek Yogurt Overnight Oats

1/2 cup rolled oats

2 large spoonfuls of Strawberry Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup skim milk

1 tbsp chia seeds

Let set in fridge overnight. In the morning I added sliced bananas and berries. 

To match my strawberries I wore my new red belt for my meetings today!

Do you enjoy greek yogurt? More than regular yogurt?

Emilie

typical tuesday - May edition

I had some fun with my hotel workout this morning. It was a beautiful morning, not too humid yet at 6am so I went outside to do half my workout.

I started by drinking half of a yummy juice box.

I filled 30 minutes with: skipping, lunges, pushups, more skipping then a jog around the very large hotel. Next I headed back to my room to do a fun ab routine including a broken up 2 minute plan (10 Weeks 10 Challenges Week Three style!). It was actually a 1 minute plank, 30 second rest, 30 second plank, 30 second rest and then a final 30 second plank. It's a start.

Breakfast at the hotel was a yogurt, berry and granola parfait.

Lunch was.. well it was as if I had died and gone to heaven. My coworker has been raving about Whole Foods for a while and since we were in Toronto with an hour to spare before a meeting we headed to the closest one for lunch.

We were like kids in a candy store! I filled my plate full of every salad I could fit plus a Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice soup on the side. YUM!

My favourite part? Grind your own Peanut Butter Station! Better yet, grind your own Chocolate Peanut Butter! Wow.

Me at kilometre number 1400 in less than 48 hours. So tired...

Emilie

road food

I'm on the road again this week!

Since I will be staying in hotels I need to pack non-perishable snacks to tide me over between meals (or even act as a meal if there's no time). Easy to eat is the key since I'll be driving quite a bit as well.

Car appropriate snack/meal food:

Smoothies (any kind!)
Sandwiches (breakfast: cheese or peanut butter/jam or banana; lunch: anything goes as long as it isn't messy)
Veggies
Trail Mix Jars*
Granola Bars
Crackers
Dry Cereal
Fruit: apples, pears, bananas, grapes, any large chopped fruit
Juice boxes or carbonated beverages
Water

Trail Mix Jars
per jar


Nuts (e.g. walnuts, almonds, etc)
Dried Fruit (e.g. cranberries, cherries, raisins, dates)
Seeds (e.g. ground chia or flax, sunflower)
Coconut
Dried Cereal (e.g. shreddies, mini wheats)
Chocolate chips or other candies

Mix together in your favourite jar!

Emilie

10 weeks 10 goals - week three

Alright, so it seems I need to be more aware of my schedule when I make my goals for the week.

Week Two Recap

I was away two days last week and worked until 9pm another day, so 5 bike rides was out of the question! My lack of sleep with all the travelling made any workout on the road just impossible. So for week two I made it out for 3 rides (one being 50km!) and no runs. I did manage to pack a bunch of salads into my diet though.

Now on to next week!

Week Three

Goal #1 - Minimum 3 bike rides with one being 55km (weather permitting) + 1 yoga session and 1 ab. workout (inc. a 2 minute plank by the end of the week!)

Goal #2 - cut out the sweets! 

 (fruit, yogurt, smoothies are my desserts for the next 7 days!)

This ones going to be tough! Good thing I love a challenge.

Emilie

sky high burgers

Happy Sunday Blogland! 

It's overcast in Ottawa today, but there's a sense of excitement in the air because it's race weekend! The full and half marathons are happening today and the course takes them right through our neighbourhood. 

Speaking of races, the BF and I are right on track in our training for the 100km bike race in July. We rode 50km yesterday in just under 2hours. 

To celebrate we got some friends together for a BBQ.

He had some pretty epic burgers with SO many toppings: guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli sprouts, hot peppers, jalapeños peppers, BBQ sauce, hot mustard and a moist, spicy and perfectly cooked beef patty.

Check out the height on this beast!

 

On the side we loaded our plates with two kinds of salads: curried roasted cauliflower, chickpea and carrot salad and tabbouleh salad.

What a feast!

I hope everyone is having a restful Sunday!

Emilie