My Favorite Smoothie Recipe

This is my go-to smoothie recipe on the weekends. It’s quick and easy and I have these ingredients on hand at all times.

Ingredients:

1 Banana
1/3 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Frozen Fruit
1 scoop vanilla protein powder of your choosing

Technique:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.
2. Enjoy!

*I once substituted a fresh mango and blackberries for the banana and it was amazing!

I fell in love with this Mandarin Sunshine Blend of frozen fruit from Dole that my husband found. It contains pineapple, strawberries, and mandarin oranges. It’s perfect for breakfast! I always enjoy my smoothies in these blue Mason jars that we have. My husband thinks this slightly odd, but they are the perfect size and they are cool looking.

Weekly Update: 7/20-7/26

Yikes! How is it almost August already? Slow down already Summer! It was a pretty busy week for me, between trying to fit in all of my workouts and getting more hours at work due to being short-staffed, all while trying to find a new job. I feel like I managed it all okay, but I’m certainly exhausted. I had some very early mornings at work, but also saw some amazing sunrises. There has to be some perks to being up that early right?

Monday: rest day

Tuesday: 8 miles (on the treadmill after work)

Wednesday: track workout + Iron Strength

200, 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400, 200 ladder for a total of 4 miles, with the warm up and cool down

Thursday: 5 miles with Fleet Feet

I made some delicious bananas foster filling to go in chocolate cups at work. It’s also fun setting food on fire early in the morning.

Friday: rest day

It was a busy day at work today so I was glad to take a rest day. I also had another job interview after work. Luckily the interview was at a coffee shop so I was able to re-caffeinate myself beforehand.

Saturday: 16 miles

I felt great during this run and it was the longest run that I’ve had since Rock’n’Roll DC in the Spring. Yay! I really don’t like carrying anything extra on my long runs if I don’t have to, so I planned out a few different loops that added up to the 16 miles that I wanted to run. (I really need to get a hydration vest one of these days. I just don’t want to break down and spend the money, but I do have my eye on the Nathan Intensity.) These lovely loops enabled me to make quick stops by my house to refuel and get some water. It was perfect! Really one of those runs where everything just clicked. I was feeling it a little the next morning though.

Later we took Haylie to a farm that’s not too far from where we live. You can pet pretty much all of the animals there, which is really neat. Haylie walked right up to this calf, said “hi” and started petting it. She cracks me up. There was even a random kangaroo there.

Sunday: Orange Theory

It was strength day, which includes going all out on a 9% incline. Why do they try to kill me?! Seriously though, I was pouring sweat by the end of that workout. Monique is one of the best trainers and she really motivates me to push myself.

We went to a nice brunch with my cousin at Matchbox. I got the huevos rancheros which are always so good! I wanted to try the frittatas, but wasn’t feeling that adventurous.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

What’s your favorite brunch menu item? Isn’t a great run so motivating?

Favorite Summer Drinks

It’s the Friday Five with: Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney today! Today’s topic is 5 favorite summer drinks.

1. Lemonade (at the fair)

I love how much sugar they put in fair lemonade. It almost gives the lemonade a crunchy texture. Since I’m a pastry chef it’s a requirement that I have a huge sweet tooth. When I was younger, I also enjoyed sucking any remaining juice out of the lemon that they put in. I have since gotten away from doing that as I’ve heard it does horrible things to your teeth.

2. Cherry Limeade

Specifically from Sonic. I feel in love with Sonic when we lived in Texas and was so excited when I discovered that there is one about a half hour from where I live now. If it was any closer I might be there all the time.

3. Arnold Palmer

What is not to love about lemonade and iced tea?! What a delicious combination!

4. Wish Lemonade (Peach & Pomegranate Lemonade)

I had this recently at Maggiano’s Little Italy. It was on their “Eat-A-Dish for Make-A-Wish” menu and was so yummy!

5. Starbuck’s peach green tea with lemonade

This is so refreshing and perfect for those hot summer days!

Apparently there is a theme here and I have a love of all things lemonade. There’s nothing wrong with that. Happy Friday!

What’s your favorite summer drink?

Lemon cake with raspberry mousse filling and Swiss meringue buttercream

White Cake:

Ingredients:

8 oz. Cake Flour
8 oz. AP Flour
2 ¼ tsp. Baking Powder
8 oz. Butter
3 cups (1 lb. 5 oz) Sugar
¾ tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 cup (8 oz) Egg Whites
1 ½ cups (12 oz) Milk

Technique:

1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Beat butter and sugar together.
3. Add salt and vanilla.
4. Set mixer to low and add egg whites.
5. Alternate adding flour and milk. Scrape down the bowl then mix for 20 seconds at medium high.
6. Bake at 350°.

*To make lemon flavored, replace vanilla extract with lemon extract and add the zest of one lemon. *

Raspberry Mousse:

Ingredients:
1 cup raspberry puree
3 sheets gelatin (bloomed)
1 cup heavy cream

Technique:

1. Whip cream to stiff peaks
2. Melt bloomed gelatin into raspberry puree
3. Fold into cream

*You can use this recipe with other fruit puree as well*

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Ingredients:
3 lbs. Butter (room temperature)
12 oz. Egg Whites
24 oz. Sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1. Over a double boiler, in a large metal bowl whisk together the granulated sugar and the egg whites stirring constantly until the mixture reaches approximately 140 degrees F and the sugar grains have dissolved and are not longer grainy to the touch.
2. Pour this mixture into the bowl of your mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high-speed until it is thick, glossy and white in color. The peaks should be as firm as firm can be. This takes ~10 minutes.
3. Switch to the paddle attachment on low-speed. Be sure your butter is at room temperature. Add the butter in a little at a time, but in fast additions.
4. Add vanilla extract.
5. Slowly increase the speed on the mixer and beat until smooth and glossy in appearance.

Enjoy!

Weekly Update: 7/13-7/19

This is going to be fairly short and sweet this week, but I did take a lot of pictures.  Typically I write this while my daughter is napping on Sunday afternoon, but someone decided to pass on her nap.

I can’t believe July is halfway gone already. This summer is just flying by! My mom is sending out Haylie’s invitations for her 2nd birthday today, which will be here before I know it. I had a pretty good week workout wise and sent out several resumes as well.

Monday: 2.5 miles stroller running

It’s always amazing how much more challenging a run is when pushing a toddler in a stroller. At least it was cloudy and not as humid as it had been.

Tuesday: 7 miles

I just did not feel like dealing with the heat and humidity, so I hit the treadmill. It actually was a much easier way to ensure that I was able to increase my speed with each mile.

Wednesday: Track progression workout of five 600s + Iron Strength

I won an awesome Camelbak Podium bottle for increasing my speed on each of my 600s. I was so excited! I also got in my Iron Strength workout in the afternoon.

Thursday: 9 miles

I ran 4 miles before work then 5 miles that night with Fleet Feet. I also made this fun Ninja Turtles cake for a co-workers son’s birthday.

Friday: rest day

I went to a park near our house with Haylie and we had a blast. She is fearless. I think she might be the next American Ninja Warrior! I’m totally hooked on that show by the way.

Saturday: 12 miles

After my run, we went to IHOP for breakfast and I got the peach blackberry cobbler pancakes that I’ve been dying to try. Yum! Then we went to a farm near our house. There were chickens, pigs and goats for Haylie to see. My husband picked up some veggies to make a roasted salsa with and I got some peaches and blackberries.

Sunday: Orange Theory strength day

I made a yummy peach blackberry cobbler with the fruit that I picked up at the farm. I really should have made some ice cream to go with it considering the heat! I was glad that my workout was indoors.

Have a great week everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

What are your favorite fruits right now? How do you feel about double workout days and stroller running?

Out with the Old & In with the New

This week I am retiring my Nike Structures. It’s a little sad. These were the first pair of Nike’s that I’ve purchased in a long time and I loved them. I don’t normally get too attached to a particular pair of shoes, but I feel like this pair and I really bonded during the truly awful and incredibly cold runs this past winter. This was also the pair that I wore while training for and then running in the Rock’n’Roll DC half. That half marathon was quite the experience in and of itself. They had a good life and it was time for me to move on. I decided to mix things up a little this time around and got a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspires. They are super cute, even though my husband says that they remind him of a watermelon. This is my first pair of Mizunos so I’m hoping that they are a good fit for me. I’m really liking them so far.

In other news, I will be out of a job next month, if not before then. While I’m ready to move on, it is sad to see the place where I’ve spent the last 3 years of my life closing down. Like I said before, I’m sure that this is a blessing in disguise and it will all work out. If anyone is in need of a pastry chef on their staff please let me know. 🙂

I’m looking forward to what the future has in store for me, despite my fear of the unknown. Happy Thursday!

Weekly Update: 7/6-7/12

Well this was certainly an interesting week. It’s probably not one that I care to repeat, but this too shall pass. I’m very grateful for all that I have in my life. I have a great support system of family and friends. My husband has been my rock. He’s really great about going with the flow and supporting my decisions.

My workouts were pretty good at least.

Monday: Iron Strength Core Blast Workout

Tuesday: 5 miles

Wednesday: 4 miles

This is when the week took a turn for the interesting. I was all set to go to my track workout on Wednesday morning only to discover a flat tire. I was more upset about missing that workout than the actual flat tire. I had to wait for AAA to come put on my spare. Luckily I was able to get a run in with my friend at work that morning. I thought that I would be able to get the tire patched, but no such luck. I ended up going to Costco to purchase a new tire and it was going to be at least a 2 hour wait. My friend was kind enough to take my back to work then back Costco to pick up my car later.

Thursday: 5 miles with Fleet Feet

We were told at a meeting today that our company is being absorbed by another, smaller catering company. So we will be downsizing and moving to a new location. We are each going to have a one-on-one meeting to discuss our future with the company. My meeting is on Tuesday, so in the meantime I have no idea if I will have a job after next month, which is when the lease on our current space is up. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I’m not really sure what to think right now honestly, but I am sure that I’ll figure something out and land on my feet. Things like this seem to be a risk that you take working in this industry.

I did made this yummy cake at work! It is a birthday cake, recipe courtesy of Christina Tosi at Momofuku milk bar

My Mexican sunflowers are blooming! These are some of my favorite flowers just because they are so pretty looking. The petals are orange underneath which I think is so cool.

Friday: rest day/grocery shopping

Saturday: 10 miles

I ran 2 miles by myself then met up with one of the ladies from my Ragnar team to run another 8 miles. It was a little rainy, but it felt pretty nice and it wasn’t too hot.

I tried the chocolate chip cookie dough Yasso bars before and they were really good, but these sea salt caramel ones are amazing! It’s hard to eat just one at a time. If you haven’t tried these yet, you really should! Plus they are pretty much guilt free. What’s not to love?!

Sunday: Orange Theory

It was ESP (endurance strength power) day and I definitely felt like I got a good workout in. Then off to wash some laundry. We concluded the weekend by watching How to Train Your Dragon 2, which was a really cute movie. Sometimes you never know how it will go with sequels, but this one was good. I’m a sucker for almost all kid movies. They just make me happy.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Monday!

Have you tried these sea salt caramel Yasso bars?! What’s your favorite snack? What’s your favorite “kid” movie?

5 Fitness Trends I’ll Never Try

It’s the Friday Five with: Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney today! Today’s topic is 5 Fitness Trends I’ll Never Try. These are 5 trends that I highly doubt I will ever try, but you never know. It’s not to say that there is anything wrong with them, but they just aren’t for me. If you like them then by all means enjoy!

1. Barefoot running: I actually just saw a lady running in those shoes with the separated toes on Wednesday and commented to my friend that I was running with how I could never wear those. I need the support! Not to mention, that I’m really accident prone so with my luck I would step on a large piece of glass or something.

2. Wraps: I just don’t get it. It’s not a permanent solution and they are expensive. I know some people love it, but I’ll pass. Sorry.

3. Cleanse: I hear about these all the time and it probably is good for you. I heard about some cleanses where people lose all of this weight, but when I see the recipe it’s just water with a few things added to it. So of course you are losing weight, you’re starving yourself! I’m sure the juice ones are better, but this also seems pretty expensive.

4. Soccer: This isn’t really a trend per se, but a friend of mine keeps trying to talk me into playing soccer with her. I’ve seen her legs and she gets really beat up. All I can think is that it wouldn’t be fun to run on legs in that condition and I would hate to get injured for any upcoming races. I’ll stick to watching soccer in the safety of my own home.

5. Crossfit: This is actually one that I want to try honestly, but again with the crazy expensiveness of it. It looks like an amazing workout though. I asked a friend of mine about the cost and she said it’s only ~$100+/month (I don’t remember the actual cost) and I about died. The only reason I tried Pure Barre was because I bought a coupon from Amazon for it. I loved Pure Barre too, but those prices! Don’t get me wrong I do spend entirely too much money on my running habit, but one expensive habit is enough for me. 🙂

What is a fitness trend you’ll never try? 

#1MillionMinutes Puritan’s Pride Mad-Lib

“This week Puritan’s Pride is offering a prize to EVERYONE* who completes this blog prompt mad lib! Want to get in on the fun (and the prizes?!) Copy and paste the mad lib below, fill in the blanks with your own answers, and make sure to share your link on the #1MillionMinutes page to get rewarded!*”

I’m so _pumped    [adj] to fuel my #1MillionMinutes goals with Puritan’s Pride! All summer I plan to _dart    [verb] my way to a healthier, fitter me, and I’ll need help staying hydrated and fueled during all my _rugged_[adj] adventures!

I will make sure I stay on track and will rely on  _healthy protein bars   [noun] to keep me well fueled before, during and after workouts, and my _favorite strawberry lemonade Nuun_ [noun] to keep me hydrated!

I’m most excited to try _Strawberries & Cream Protein Powder (product) and Multi-Purpose Protein Powder (product) from Puritan’s Pride because they look _delightful (adj).

One supplement I’ve never tried but am curious about is _Ginseng_ [noun]. I think it might make me extra _energetic  [adj].

Bring it, #1MillionMinutes! I’m ready to go!

Weekly Update: 6/29-7/5

It seemed like this week just flew by with my husband’s birthday and the 4th of July, but I was glad for a little extra time off from work to spend with my little family.

Monday: rest day

Tuesday: 3 miles

I was excited to try out my MRTT visor as I’m hoping it’ll help to keep the sweat out of my eyes as well as the sun. I felt horrible and thought I was going to be physically ill at the end. Perhaps it was something I ate or the humidity just got to me.

Wednesday: Track workout/crazy Garmin/Summer work party

For our track workout we did: 1600, 1200, 800 and 400 with increasing effort to all out for the final lap. We ran a recovery lap in between each interval and a 2 lap warm-up and cool down for a total of 4.25 miles

My Garmin decided to switch itself to Danish. With the help of my husband, we were able to navigate through the settings, but it seemed to want to be remain in Danish. I ended up calling Garmin and had to reset my watch. Luckily I thought ahead and had already backed it up which is much easier now with the blue tooth.

Later I took Haylie to work for a little Summer party that we were having. My husband stopped by for a little bit as well.

Thursday: ~7 total miles/My husband’s Birthday!

My work running buddy was a bit behind schedule so we did a quick 2ish miles. I’m not entirely sure how far it was since I apparently forgot to start my watch.

We took Haylie to swim class before I ran 5 miles with Fleet Feet.

Friday: Splash Park/Iron Strength workout

We took Haylie to the splash park for the first time which was so much fun. I wish the water had been a little warmer, but she didn’t seem to mind too much. I think the slide was her favorite.

During her nap, I did the Iron Strength workout again. I think it will get a little easier if I keep at it. It’s a challenge for sure!

Saturday: 10 slightly misty miles/Happy 4th of July!

It was raining just slightly as I started out, but it felt pretty nice and did eventually come to a complete stop until after I returned home.

We stayed up late to see some fireworks near our house. I’m not sure how excited Haylie was about it, but we still had a nice time. She enjoyed playing with some pop-its instead.

Sunday: Orange Theory

We all played outside for a while in the afternoon. Haylie got a kick out of her new Minnie Mouse water shoes. Then we watched the soccer game after dinner. That was such a great game! I was so excited for our team at the end. They had to have felt so incredibly happy and proud.

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Did you watch the soccer game? Has your GPS watch ever wanted to be in a different language? How was your 4th?