Emergency snacks

Hello again! 

So... as a project break I decided to make some homemade Larabars. According to the Whole30, these are approved because the only ingredients are whole dates, raw cashews, unsweetened coconut, and pink Himalayan salt. Word of caution though... these should not be eaten when you are craving something sweet or are emotional eating. These are used for emergency snacks ONLY. For example, in a month I will be road trippin' it with a friend to NC to see my boyfriend. I will take these to eat when I don't have my daily meals with me. They will also be a good hiking snack. 

I made 9 of these bars. There are a ton of different recipes on Pinterest, but I chose this one!

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole dates (make sure you take the pits out if they haven't already been removed)

3-4 T of unsweetened coconut

2 cups of raw cashews

1/4-1/2 tsp of pink Himalayan salt

Directions: In a food processor, add dates and process until it forms a paste. Scoop date paste into a bowl. In the food processor add the cashews and coconut. Process until there are chunks of nuts still present. You do not want to process until it becomes like a nut flour, that means you have processed too much! Add nuts/coconut to date paste. Sprinkle the salt onto. Combine the mixture with your hands until it is all incorporated into a ball. Separate into nine equal balls. Form each ball into a bar and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate! 

There you go! Whole30 approved emergency snack! I tasted a little piece as I was making these and let me tell you what... these suckers taste very sweet! I think my sweet tooth is disappearing with the Whole30. I don't know if I could eat a whole bar because the dates are soooo sweet. I think they still taste good, I'm just saying that it is amazing how much our taste buds change when we eat whole and healthy foods! 

Later Taters!

Day 22 Whole30- workout

Good afternoon cupcakes!

This morning was my first weekend staying in my apartment since I moved in 6 weeks ago! I've been on the go, so this weekend it has been nice to relax and take my time doing things. This morning I slept in. I heated up my breakfast consisting of eggs, peppers, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and avocado (my last prepped meal from last weekend's prep). I let my food settle for about an hour and then headed to my apartment gym. 

I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I knew my shins needed a break from interval running on the treadmill. I decided to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes. When I got 10 minutes into my walk, I had a burst of energy. I decided to do burpees for 30 seconds at every 1 minute interval. So I did this for about 10 minutes and then finished the last 10 minutes walking fast. 

After that, I decided to do some HIIT work. I started a circuit consisting of 30 jumping jacks, 15 bench jumps,10 each side of bench step ups, and 10 burpees. I did this for 3 rounds.

Bench hops

bench step ups

Next I used a resistance band to do inner thigh and butt work. I put the resistance band under my feet and side stepped to one side of the gym and back for 3 rounds. 

This is what the side step looks like, but I did not have this type of resistance band. I had the one pictured below, so that's why I put the band under my feet and held the resistance band hand straps up by my shoulders. 

Next I did some lower ab work. I did a 10 leg raises on a decline bench (first picture below) and then 8 reps of straight leg ups on the equipment pictured below (second picture). 

About 45 minutes- 1 hour post gym, I was feeling hungry but also wanted something light. I decided to make a bowl of some fruits and carrots and homemade nut butter. 

I have some lovely graduate school projects to work on all day... four more week until I have a month break. I am soooooo in need of a break. 

Later taters!

Day 21 Whole30- grocery shopping & food prep

Hello cupcakes!

I just went to the grocery this morning. If anyone tells you that eating healthy is expensive... they don't know the truth! This is cheaper than eating out at most fast food places and also a lot better quality. I cannot wait to actually have a farmers market to go to every weekend when I move to Charlotte. Today I shopped at Walmart for the sake of time. I was time limited because I had to be somewhere this morning. So my receipt total was around $72 once I subtracted my brita filter and sunscreen. The total was about $62. I eat about four meals a day and some snacks if hungry. So, 62/7 (7 days a week)/4 (4 meals a day) each meal is a little over $2! Whoop!

I made some kale chips from Taralynn's blog. All it takes is olive oil and I used pink Himalayan salt, garlic powder, and chili powder. Bake 250 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is my favorite flavor of La Croix!

This was my first time using my new julienne peeler! I used some zucchini and sweet potatoes.

I added the sweet potato and zucchini slices to a pan with some sliced green onion and coconut oil. 

I cooked up some chicken breast tenderloins. 

I sauteed some red onion and green pepper and cooked in coconut oil.

I cooked up some zucchini and mushrooms in the microwave. 

I cooked up some eggs!

Here is my unstuffed pepper prepped meals. I will top it with avocado later.

I also cut up some strawberries and added some blueberries. I LOVE fruit!

My prepped meals are as follows:

Preworkout: fruit and my homemade nut butters

Breakfast: zucchini, mushrooms, eggs, and avocado

Lunch: unstuffed peppers

Dinner: zucchini and sweet potato noodles with chicken with a little bit of Whole30 mayo

Prepped snack: carrots and homemade nut butter

Happy weekend!

Later Taters!