Five (IV)

Friday again! I swear…I will post more often at some point…but, for now, another five on Friday! This is my fourth Five on Friday post and includes five things I’m loving right now:

 

1. Pop Chips! I won a three month supply from this awesome blog and we’ve been working our way through the boxes of pop chips. Josh likes the plain, Kaylin loves the sweet potato, and I can’t get enough of the sour cream & onion:

 

 

2. Evolution Harvest Freeze-Dried Fruit. I’ve been getting these on occasion for Kay when I stop for coffee at Starbucks. They’re a great grab and go healthy snack. She loves them, especially the strawberry/blueberry.

3. Brunch out. Brunch is my favorite meal to eat out. My go to spot will always Charleston’s Cafe. However, we tried Page’s Okra Grill this past weekend and really enjoyed it. Sadly, the owner passed away this week. If you’re in the Charleston/Mount Pleasant area- give Page’s a go!

 

4. Body Step! We launched Body Pump & Step last weekend and I adore the new step release. The music is fantastic and the athletic options make the release TOUGH.

5. Stroller runs with friends. Running with a stroller definitely makes me feel strong! Running with another mom with a stroller makes it even better. My friend Trish & I always call ourselves the stroller mafia haha. I have recently been running with Caroline too. Such a great way to catch up with friends and the kids totally keep each other entertained.

 

What are you up to this weekend? We have a fun supper club event, I’m teaching Step, and have a couple runs planned. Otherwise?

Five (III)

FRIDAY! Always exciting. We have our Body Step & Pump launches this weekend. I’m launching Step alone and am teaching half of pump, so I have choreography coming out my ears :). Other than that, its my Aunt’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT LORI!!) and two of our good friend’s birthdays this weekend, so we have a couple brunch dates. What are you up to?

This is my third Five on Friday post and includes five things I’m loving right now:

1. The Method dish soap. I love the pump on the top of the bottle!! I also love how it doesn’t dry out my hands.

2. Harris Teeters HT Traders Breakfast Blend. I bought this on a whim because it was on sale. It is really tasty:

 

3. My GF/DF Almond Meal Muffins. I made these again last weekend and I’m making a TON of them to give out to the participants at our Les Mills launches this weekend.

4. This:

 

(Source)

This is so Frank at the end (or middle) of a walk. Thanks for sending Jenny!!

5. Moms that are way more creative than me. Heather has an awesome blog and is always posting great kids crafts and delicious recipes. Plus, her kids are totally adorable. I plan to make her cinnamon play dough soon.

Healthier Green Cupcakes

Happy (almost) St. Patrick’s Day!! Kaylin’s daycare class is having a party tomorrow and asked each of the parents to bring in an item. I signed up for cupcakes and decided to hunt for a healthier alternative. I found this recipe and decided to give it a go. I used slightly less spinach (~3 cups vs.. 4), and the results are delicious! We all (Josh, Kaylin & I) give this recipe 2 thumbs up:

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce (244g)
• 3 cups of spinach
• 1 box of store bought White Cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Classic White Cake Mix but you could also use a more natural cake mix)
• Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray.

Puree the applesauce and spinach in either a magic bullet or food processor (make sure all of the spinach is completely ground up).

 

Mix the spinach and applesauce mixture into the boxed cake mix using a hand or stand mixer. Fill the prepared muffin tin with the batter. Top with sprinkles (Kaylin did this part). Bake for ~15 minutes.

  

Enjoy!!

Five (Part II)

Hello! Happy Friday! I’m very excited for the weekend!! I caught a cold from the peanut this week and feel like I’ve been dragging all week long. Any weekend plans? I’m hoping to do a long run today, teaching step tomorrow, and we have a play date planned for Sunday. Also hoping to spend lots of family time together this weekend.

This is my second Five on Friday post and includes five things I’m loving right now:

1. This delicious looking cherry almond soda bread. I’m making this next week for St. Patrick’s Day (this lovely lady pointed out this recipe in one of her recent posts). 

2. Body Attack! I launched the new release at the gym this week and its amazing. Track 4 leaves me almost breathless. Love.  Lisa Osborne (the Program Director) always delivers.

 

 

3. The car wash. Pre-peanut, I used to wash my car pretty regularly. Now, I take it to Liquid Highway. You don’t truly appreciate a clean car until you have a toddler ;)

4.  Annie’s Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese. I don’t buy a lot of boxed meals, but I recently received a coupon through Influenster to try out one of Annie’s new frozen meals. Josh, Kaylin & I all loved this! The meal is made with organic pasta and butternut squash. You can make it either in the microwave or oven (I used the oven option):

 

5. Balega running socks. OBSESSED. I used to wear any old pair of socks when I ran. Since changing to these socks, my feet feel so much better:

 

Enjoy the day!!

Strawberry Mini Muffins

How was your weekend? Mine was great- lots of time with this peanut:

Such a great running partner! We also had a good amount of family time, including brunch at Josh’s parent’s house. Josh’s Dad makes the best coffee:

We also went out for Mexican food. Looks like the peanut likes chips, guacamole & salsa as much as I do (note: she didn’t actually take a full on bite of the guacamole haha):

For brunch at Josh’s parents, I brought strawberry muffins. They are refined sugar and dairy free. I used this awesome weelicious recipe with a couple tiny changes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey or agave nectar (I used agave)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients.‬
• In a separate bowl, whisk egg and add milk, oil, agave, vanilla and stir.‬
• Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, slowly combine the dry ingredients with the wet until incorporated (try not to over mix the batter).‬
• Add the strawberries to the batter and slowly combine.‬
• Line or grease a mini muffin tin and fill 2/3 of the way with batter.‬
• Bake for ~15 minutes or until toothpick tester comes out clean.‬
• Cool and serve.‬

 

      

Have a good one!