Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Helloooooo there! 

If you're looking for a chocolate-y delicious, nutty biscotti recipe, you're in the RIGHT place! I made these a couple weeks ago and let me tell you, these babies are a sinch to make and fun to dip in your coffee/tea/hot cocoa.....and they make for great gifts, too!

Enjoy and have fun!

Time: ~1 hour Makes: about 2 dozen biscotti

Recipe Inspiration: laughingspatula.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup sugar

• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup toasted nuts (I used slivered almonds and     coarsely chopped walnuts)

• ½ to 1 cup dark chocolate chips, make it as chocolate-y as you want!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the 3 eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients. (if dough seems a bit sticky and dry - add a few tablespoons of water so that the dough is thick, but not dry

4. Mix in the nuts and the chocolate chips until the dough holds together.

5. Spray a baking sheet with olive or coconut oil. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two logs the length of the baking sheet. Transfer the logs onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.

6. Gently flatten the tops of the logs and bake for 25 minutes, until the dough feels firm to the touch.

7. Remove the cookie dough from the oven and cool 15 minutes. On a cutting board, use a serrated bread knife to diagonally cut the cookies into ½-inches slices. Lay the cookies cut side down on baking sheets and return to the oven for about 20 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel pretty firm.

8. Once baked, cool the cookies completely then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. 

Extra deliciousness: melt a small bowl of chocolate then dip the biscotti halfway. Place on wax paper or plate to cool completely.

Let's Get FIT - no equipment needed Circuit!

Let's get FIT.

I know it's a holiday weekend, which means friends and family are around, vacations, concerts, road trips, etc are all happening as well, BUT, here's a QUICK WORKOUT that you can do tomorrow and monday (and a couple times a week throughout the summer) to keep you on track.

I'm ALL about a healthy balance of having fun and staying on top of your fitness, so enjoy yourself and make your workouts fun. It's the ONLY way for a workout routine to stick.

Here's how I roll....NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED!

FIRST: Get warmed up!

Warm-up ideas:
2 minutes jump rope or jumping jacks
Jog or speed walk for 5 mins on treadmill
High knees and butt kickers for a minute each

Do each exercise for 1 minute, repeating the whole thing 3 times

1. Fast body weight squats
2. Pushups
3. Ab bicycles (abs tight and controlled!)
4. Side plank (30 seconds on each side) --SQUEEZE THOSE ABS IN!
5. Step-ups (on a bench or chair, start with right leg then after 30 seconds, start with left leg) --AWESOME for your tush!

Almond Banana Oat Muffins

Almond Banana Oat Muffins

These TASTY moist muffins were fun to make and you'll get about 2 dozen muffins out of this recipe! I brought these to work, snacked on them in the mornings or after a workout, and they were super filling! They also passed the hubby-approval test....I lost count of how many he ate this past weekend! :)

These would be fun to bring to a work meeting or brunch with friends as a healthy option and they pack well, too. Feel free to add nuts to the recipe as I only put almonds on top before they baked. Chopped walnuts or pecans would be delicious or if you're a raisin or dried fruit fan, go ahead and toss 'em in with the chocolate chips!

Recipe inspiration from: nutritiontwins.com

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats

•      ½ cup honey or vanilla Greek yogurt

• ½ cup Almond milk

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• ½ cup all purpose flour

• ½ cup light brown sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 large, ripened & mashed banana

• 4 tbsp canola oil

• 2 beaten egg

• ½ generous cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

• ¼ cup sliced almonds (for topping)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 410 and spray muffin tin or put in cupcake liners.

2. Mix the rolled oats and yogurt together; add the milk and let the mixture sit for 10-12 minutes until oats get soft and absorb milk.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder until evenly combined.

4. In yet ANOTHER bowl, mash the bananas then whisk in the egg and oil. Using a spatula, mix in the oat-yogurt-milk mixture until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined – do not overmix!

5. Stir in chocolate chips (and any other dried fruit or nuts you want to add)

6. Fill muffin cups about ⅔ of the way full and sprinkle sliced almonds on top of each muffin. Bake for about 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean! 

Happy Baking! YUM!

Circuit Blast

Circuit Blast

Today, I'm featuring my workout group at work! We always have a BLAST together doing CIRCUITS so I'm calling this CIRCUIT BLAST......SOooooooo corny, but it's awesome and you'll feel awesome after doing it! 

Try for at least 2 times a week to build strength throughout your whole body. I'm all about FULL body workouts in short bursts of time. If you're going to workout, might as well make it efficient and powerful.

That's me in the pink tank top raising my fist....pretty excited :)

LET'S GET STARTED! 

CARDIO (gotta do it….burns that fat off!)

5 min warm up - fast walking with incline on treadmill 

30 second sprints (hop off for 15 seconds in between sprints) – start at 8.5 increasing a couple mph each sprint until you're at 10 mph! (6 sprints total)

Hop off, it's circuit time...YOU CAN DO IT! 

CIRCUIT

1. 40 mountain climbers with hands gripping a weight ball (balancing works your core)

2. 20 jump squats (option: holding weight ball)

3. 20 backwards lunges with a twist (option: holding weight ball)

4. Hold plank for 1 minute……straight into 10 rocking planks - stay parallel to the ground and squeeze your abs! 

5. 20x (each leg) pulses towards ceiling - on all fours 

REPEAT 3X

Then.....stretch and have fun :)

(Whole Wheat) Carrot Cake Cookies

CARROT CAKE COOKIES

Happy Easter!

These cookies are delightfully soft and have that delicious carrot cake spice flavor with every bite. Bake these for a healthier alternative to carrot cake (they're easier to share too!). 

Have a great Easter weekend :)

"Do not be alarmed, You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has Risen; he is not here!" -Mark 16:6

Ingredients

• 1½ cups whole wheat flour

• 1/4 tsp of salt

• ½ tsp of baking soda

• 1 tsp of cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg

• ½ cup of butter (I knooooow, I don’t usually bake with butter, but it adds a smooth/creaminess to this recipe!)

• ½ cup of brown sugar

• ½ cup of white sugar (could try 1/4 c honey or 1/2 c coconut sugar as substitute)

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

• ½ generous cup of grated carrots, about 1 large carrot (wash and peel first)

• ½ cup shredded/flaked toasted coconut*

• ½ cup of lightly toasted chopped pecans (optional)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 cup cream cheese

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil or line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized bowl sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

4. Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter mixture. Fold in the carrots, coconut and pecans.

5. Form cookies by dropping a small spoonful of dough on the prepared cookie sheet two inches apart.

6. Bake until light brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes.

7. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly. Top with a small amount of frosting, if desired

To make the cream cheese frosting

1. Whisk the cream cheese, vanilla extract and powdered sugar together until well combined and smooth.

2. This should be a pretty thick frosting so that it doesn't run off of the cookies.

*Toasting coconut flakes - Preheat oven to 350F, spread evenly on a baking sheet. Every two minutes or so, take out and move coconut around with a spatula and after about 6 minutes, it should look just lightly toasted brown. Coconut does tend to burn quickly so watch it carefully. Let cool then add to recipe!

Cucumber Tuna Bites

Yummy Cucumber Tuna Bites

I don’t usually post an appetizer recipe, or hors-d'oeuvre as someone fancier than I might say, BUT I couldn't help myself because these were just so fresh and tasty I had to share with you! These would be a perfect starter for any dinner party or bridal shower because what shower doesn't have cute little “sandwiches” of all kinds! 

I also love that you can eat 4 or 5 or even 8 of these and not feel bad because they have almost ALL healthy ingredients! Feel free to add more veggies or pickles, since that is common with tuna.

Start planning for your next gathering (or just something yummy for yourself like I did!)

Makes about 20 open-face cucumber sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:

• Peeled cucumber, sliced
• 2 cans of tuna, drained of all liquid
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped finely
• 1 carrot, chopped finely
• 1/4 onion, chopped finely
• 1 heaping spoonful of mayonnaise (***you have options: light mayo, cottage cheese, plain yogurt depending on what you like and how healthy you want it to be)
• Crumbled goat cheese (feta would also taste good!) - I didn’t measure but a couple tablespoons sounds about right, adds GREAT flavor!
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all chopped veggies and tuna in a medium bowl 
2. Add *mayo and goat cheese and stir until all ingredients are mixed together
3. Spread cucumber slices on a big plate and put a small spoonful of tuna mixture on top of each slice
4. Serve cold and enjoy!

Almond Chia Cookies

Almond Chia Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups almond meal (food processed almonds or you can buy almond meal)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond meal, chocolate chips, coconut, chia seeds, baking powder, salt and sugar.

2. In a separate bowl, beat egg then whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla.

3. Add wet and dry ingredients together and mix until just combined.

4. Chill in the fridge for at about 30 minutes

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

6. Shape small spoonfuls of dough into balls and place on baking sheet with a little space between each cookie. Press down slightly with a fork to flatten a bit.

7. Bake until edges begin to brown, 7-10 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and let cool before serving on a wire rack.

Enjoy these HEALTHFUL cookies!