1.17.2013

Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes


Good morning sunshine! My favorite meal of the day is breakfast and one of my go to breakfast options for a busy week is the apple cinnamon protein pancake. One serving has only 22g carbs, 135 calories plus 9g of protein and 4g of fiber. It's a SUPER easy recipe and makes 4-5 servings so you can store it in a mason jar in your fridge for 3-4 days.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Protein Pancake

ingredients:
1 cup of quick oats
4 egg whites
1/4 cup unflavored whey protein powder (I use the GNC brand)
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into medium size pieces

directions:
  1. Mix all ingredients together in blender (I use the Ninja, which gets the job done!) until the mixture is the consistency of batter. You may need to add more milk depending on your oats, add a few splashes if it is too dry. 
  2. Heat up a small frying pan on med-low, add coconut oil or cooking oil spray so that the pancake doesn't stick. Pour batter into a ~4 in round pancake and heat for roughly 2 minutes, keep an eye on the edges, once they start to brown you'll know it's time to flip. Flip pancake until the other side is cooked as well. You can also heat up a few slices of apple on the pan with cinnamon sprinkled on them as toppings for the pancake. 
  3. Top with honey, sugar-free syrup, fruit, or ground cinnamon to taste. Enjoy!
You can save the remaining batter in your fridge for 3-4 days, you may need to add more milk if the consistency becomes too thick. 



Sweet Green Drink

I also love to start my morning with fresh juice, and one of my favorites is a mixture of sweet green fruits and green veggies. 

If you have a juicer my favorite *blend is...
1 green apple
1 pear
1 Fuji apple
2 celery stalks
1 large handful parsley
4 large romaine lettuce leaves
2 handfuls spinach
slice of ginger root
1/2 or 1/4 peeled lemon
*makes two glasses

breakfast, blue-grass & bedroom-slippers,

1.11.2013

TODAY IS THE DAY FOR _______ .

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Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, stop and take 2 minutes to declare what this day is for.  Is there something you need to finish? Something you want to keep in perspective? Something you want to remember? Acknowledge this day right now.


TODAY IS THE DAY FOR…

time to pass slowly. feeling healthier. me to relax and create order. finishing my to do list. listening to music while I work. texting an old friend. keeping things in perspective. cuddling with Penelope. going for a run outside in the cold. kissing my love. lighting candles.  finishing my 3 day juice cleanse. me to be completely present


what are your days for?

1.04.2013

New Year: Now What?

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Woah. That was fast. All-of-the-sudden it's 2013 and my mind is racing with chaos as I try to plan resolutions and budgets and readjust to my life and work after a week of living on the couch in pajamas. I'm trying to truly understand what a New Year really means. Don't we technically get a "New Year" every day? But I mean, there is something sublimely glorious about the fresh start of January... Like this magical note I read in my Witches' Spell-A-Day 2013 Almanac (which, by the way, is super cool and never too late to pick up!).
"January is the first month in the Gregorian calendar. On average, it is the coldest month in the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest month in the Southern Hemisphere. January is named after the Roman god Janus, the god of doorways. Janus is typically depicted with two faces, so he could see both what was behind him and what was in front of him. The side that faced the past was shown as mature and bearded, whereas the side that faced the future was youthful and full of hope. Janus's name came from the Latin word door, ianua, and so January is the doorway to the new year. January is a quite month after the hustle and bustle from the holiday season. For those who follow the Wheel of the Year, it falls between Yule, when we celebrate the slow return of the light, and Imbolc, when we anticipate the first stirrings of spring. For many, it is a long, dark, cold month, but one that allows us to turn our focus inward and to prepare for the journey that is the year to come. Like Janus, may we turn our faces forward with hope and youthful enthusiasm."      -Deborah Blake 
So even though we get a fresh start every day and should always take advantage of that privilege it is also exciting to welcome a new year with a scope of goals, ideas or desires that we can bucket into "2013" and reflect back on at the end of the year. 

With all of this in mind, I did a little bit of research to figure out what's the "best way" to go about a New Year and came up with some pretty cool ideas! Ultimately I realized it's all about the individual, do you prefer to have  set of challenges or projects, or a set of specific or general goals? Do you prefer to create a vision board for the year (or life) or designate a new notebook to year-long inspirations? It' all about you and YOUR YEAR! Take the time to figure out how you wish to go about it and then do what you need to do to make it happen!

Circle!

Here are some pretty cool things I found to get you started if you need a little more inspiration...

Emily of Cupcakes & Cashmere has a causal and refreshing approach that I'm totally going to replicate!

Or perhaps a vision board is more your fancy... some Oprah inspiration to kick you off

I'm totally stoked about releasing some more creativity this year through The Paper Mama's "52 Weeks of Drawings"

How about just MAKE IT HAPPEN like Stephanie Sterjovski!!

And Stephanie got her inspiration to MAKE IT HAPPEN right here!

Check out this suggestion from Psychology Today: Five Things You Can Do Instead of New Year's Resolutions 

I love this idea of a 365 day project from A Beautiful Mess.

I'm also planning to do this, so cool!

That ought to give us all plenty to play around with as we figure out what all of this "New Year" stuff is about.


cheers to YOUR YEAR-