Be sure to check out CandyFit’s site today to see other new recipes:

Today’s recipe is perfect for those days that you wake up craving pancakes, a cinnamon roll, or a big blueberry muffin, but want to keep it clean.

I whipped this together on a whim, and it came out perfectly! I’ll definitely be making it lots in the future.

Oh yeah. Microwave shot.

I didn’t even spray the mug with cooking oil, and it separated from the sides perfectly.

Finished product

This was one of the first protein microwave muffins that I could really enjoy just on it’s own. It had a pretty fluffy texture and great flavor. I also love having it with some peanut butter or peanut flour sauce on the side!

Give it a try!

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

P.S.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging for the next week, but I’ll be back with a post next Friday! I hope you all have a fabulous break, and I’ll have some great new updates to come on staying #plantbased and #cleaneats while traveling.

I have tendonitis in my left foot that developed basically out of NOWHERE. Well, they think it developed because I have basically been walking “wrong” for the last several years. After being told in high school that my arches were falling, I panicked and started purposefully carrying all my weight on the outside of my foot.

Apparently I have the strongest posterior tibs my physical therapist has ever seen.

Walking like that was fine, but when I run like that, it puts too much stress on the outside of my foot, hence the tendonitis. So, no more running, stairmill, or anything that involves jumping, balancing, or side-to-side stability. I can still do squats, deadlifts, and upper body workout. I can also do a heck-of-a-lot of spin classes, arc trainer, and elliptical.

REALLY NOT my favorite.

BUT – you know what I always say – just do what you can and stop whining about what you can’t. So, during my time off of school, yes, I’ve still been doing 2-a-days! But I’m being smart about it: splitting lifting and cardio, taking lots of rest time, and fueling my body perfectly with nutrient-dense foods.

Which brings me too…

What I Ate Wednesday!

Remember:

Breakfast:

Banana Butterscotch Oats: 1/2 c. quick oats microwaved, 1/2 c. almond milk, 1 scoop Perfect Fit protein powder, 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Butter & Nut Extract, 1/2 sliced banana, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. YUMMO.

Yes, to answer your question, I have become completely obsessed with that extract. See previous post.

Lunch:

I was starving by 11:30, so I ate lunch earlier than usual.

Massive powerbowl: roasted brussels, broccoli, parnsips, broccoli slaw, avocado mashed with sauerkraut, and Annie’s lite honey mustard dressing.

Ok…I’ve never even come CLOSE to liking sauerkraut…

But after seeing this idea from Powercakes, who I think got it from someone else (blogger love!), I decided to give it a whirl. The avocado tempers the sauerkraut perfectly, and it’s not too strong at all. Also, it’s GREAT for your digestive health. Give it a try!

Snack:

Since I had eaten lunch early, I had this snack earlier than usual too!

A beautiful sliced organic pink lady apple and…

This super dark picture of my awesome peanut butter sauce: 2 tbsp. peanut flour, 1 tbsp. peanut butter, 2 tbsp. almond milk, 1/2 tsp. maple extract.

That meant that I needed another little boost around 4pm to get me through my second workout.

1/4 c. quinoa, 1/2 c. black beans, and 1/4 c. roasted corn black bean salsa for a nutrient packed snack. And yes, I do usually eat with a plastic spoon at home. 

Dinner:

Happy Herbivore’s mock tuna salad (with added curry powder), ezekiel toast, carrots, green beans, and hummus

*Aside: I tried totally cutting out gluten for a while, but after adding it back in, it hasn’t caused me any trouble, so that must not be the culprit of the bloating! The search continues…

I made the hubby something a bit more hearty…

Quinoa, mock tuna salad, and avocado sauerkraut mash

Dessert:

The last of my protein brownies, banana soft serve (just frozen banana in a food processor!), and some peanut flour sauce.

I’m thoroughly enjoying having time to plan out all these awesome meals to keep my nutrition perfectly on track, because with 2-a-days, it’s super important to keep my body strong!

I’ve been eating around 1900 calories and aiming for 130 grams of protein (ranges from 110-150 really…). I’m finding that this works perfectly for my body!

I can feel myself getting stronger every day, and I always eat whenever I’m hungry.

It’s a beautiful thing :)

Cheers to Wednesday!

Avocado Athlete

Times when, over the course of 3 days, you get to spend the majority of the time doing WHATEVER. YOU. WANT. It was fabulous and so unbelievably therapeutic.

Friday night was spent celebrating the end of finals with all my law school friends: hanging out on our roof deck and hitting the town. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next day, but thoroughly enjoyed taking a 2+ hour nap – something I hadn’t done in months. I didn’t shower until 6pm, and then rallied to hit the town again for girls’ night :)

I can’t believe I thought I was tired on Saturday, because Sunday was a WHOLE different level of exhausted. I slept until 10:30am – another thing I haven’t done in months – and spent the whole day with the hubby having

nothing. but. fun.

We hopped on our bikes around noon…

and then headed down to the South End of Boston for the SoWa Open Market - FABULOUS! There were so many incredible vendors and cool finds!

The market

Kale Chips!!

Hot sauce

Raw vegan gluten free snacks

Crazy apple, onion, cabbage, beet, and pear salsa dip – DELICIOUS!

The best black bean corn salsa I’ve EVER had – made with cumin

This salsa was $5, so the hubby and I grabbed some. I would highly recommend this – definitely the best salsa I’ve ever had, and apparently carried at Whole Foods as well!

The coolest thing we found?

Quince.

We had no idea what it was. Apparently it’s a fruit in the same family as pears that is naturally very sweet after surviving the frost of winter. It is naturally very high in pectic, so it was used to make jams a lot, but fell out of popularity when commercial pectin came on the market.

This vendor sold quince paste, jam, “splash” (like a quince syrup that can be used to marinate meat or top off a cocktail), and even sweet quince mustard. We got to sample everything, but decided on the mustard, since it was both unique and versatile. As we were checking out, however, she threw in a free jam for us as well!

By the time we were done shopping, we were STARVING.

We headed on over to the food truck area of the market to find TONS of cool things to eat. Of course, we ended up eating at the Clover Food Truck, because their vegan options just can’t be beat.

Chickpea fritter

Soy BLT

Rosemary fries

The hubby with his fritter and hibiscus tea :)

After sitting and enjoying our lunch outside, we started the bike trek home, but decided that we were in the mood for some dessert too. YOLO, people.

We stopped into JP Licks for some dairy free ice cream and sat in the sunshine to enjoy it.

After spending a few hours relaxing at home, we decided we just HAD to get outside to enjoy the weather some more, so we headed out on a long walk around the river.

After covering about 4 miles, we ended at Whole Foods to grab some dinner.

My poor body needed some lovin’ on after consuming…well, we’ll just say…a bit more to drink than I should have…so I grabbed a green juice to have before my dinner.

Blueprint Cleanse green juice on the walk home :)

My dinner:

Roasted brussels

Roasted squash, roasted bell pepper, and fresh hummus

Mediterranean chickpea salad and sesame tofu

I really, truly could not have asked for a better weekend.

jadorelavie.

carpe diem.

and all that other stuff.

This is what it’s all about.

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

It’s the weekend.

What better way to celebrate than by kicking your ass in the gym and refueling with a HUGE protein packed dessert? I’ll go ahead and answer that: no better way!

I felt like my body had stopped making significant progress, so I decided I needed to switch up my leg routine and up the intensity a little bit.

I wanted to still incorporate the basics (squats, etc.), but add some new things too. After looking back at lots of different workouts my trainer had put together for me, I came up with this little gem:

• [Turkish get-ups (4 on each side) superset 30 jumping jacks] x 3
• [Deadlifts (sets of 8-10) superset 10 jumping lunges] x 3
• [Squats (sets of 8-10) superset 5 burpees] x 3
• [Reverse lunge/shoulder press superset 20 box jumps] x 3

*1 minute rest between each set (e.g. 4 turkish get-ups on the right, 4 turkish get-ups on the left, 30 jumping jacks, 1 min. rest, repeat 3 times). On the last 1 min. rest, proceed immediately into the next exercise.

Trust me. If you do this, and really time those 1 min. rests, your legs will be DEAD at the end of this.

Box jumps really do the trick.

Since finals are over and I’ve had a bit more time on my hands, I’ve been doing a lot of 2-a-day workouts where I split up my cardio and lifting. I love it! I’ve been pushing really hard, but have also had a bit more time in the kitchen, which means I’ve had time to try out some awesome blog-inspired desserts for refueling :)

First up? Stuft Mama’s almond milk ice cream, 3 ingredient fudge, and frozen peanut butter frosting.

Of course I made the ice cream and then topped it with the fudge and peanut butter frosting, but I definitely have to say that the 3 ingredient fudge was my favorite – SO GOOD, so easy to make, and so nutritious.

Yeah, that’s right. There was even a protein brownie hiding under there.

This whole bowl of brownie, ice cream, fudge, and peanut butter frosting?

350 calories, 24 grams protein.

It was a perfect end to my day :)

BUT, I do have a confession.

In order to create this fabulous dessert, I indulged in a few things that were not exactly “whole foods,” to say the least.

1) Imitation Vanilla Butter and Nut Flavoring – this is vegan and is what gives the almond milk ice cream that DELICIOUS CAKE BATTER TASTE. Also, the recipe only calls for about 1/2 a teaspoon of it, so although I’m not a fan of putting chemicals and food coloring into my body, I’m ok with it for the occasional treat.

2) Calorie free maple syrup from Walden Farms – this is definitely sweetened with Sucralose, something I’d completely cut out of my diet due to it’s known cancer-causing properties among many other dangerous health effects. Again, the recipe for peanut butter frosting only calls for 1 tbsp. and it’s something I will rarely consume. Actually, now that I discovered maple extract, I think I may try mixing that with water and stevia, but since I had already ordered the syrup, I’ll use that up over time as well.

YOLO.

Give these Stuft Mama desserts a try and enjoy a fabulous weekend!

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

This week is a double round!

Remember:

Breakfast:

Day 1:

I have a problem.

My palette has adjusted so much that I now LIKE eating PLAIN oatmeal. I had a bite and it tasted so good – so oaty :) So I’ve just been having my simple chocolate protein shake on the side of a bowl of plain oats, topped with a few strawberries of course.

Day 2:

If not plain oats with a protein shake, then it’s been my Purple Powerbowl. Just protein and fruit post-workout.

Lunch:

It’s been warmer outside, so my cravings for hot lunches have pretty much disappeared. I’m craving crunchy and cold these days! My latest obsession has been quinoa salads of all types. I’ve made my cilantro chive chickpea salad more than once, and tried adding quinoa – delish! But I’ve also tried some new ones:

Day 1:

Quinoa, black beans, cucumber, snap peas, pea shoots, chives, mushrooms, Bragg’s, and TJs Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette.

Day 2:

Quinoa, black beans, red bell pepper, snap peas, pea shoots, chives, lime juice, Bragg’s, drizzle of sesame dressing.

Snack:

Day 1:

I had never tried beets and hummus together before, but of course it was amazing. Thanks to TJs for the pre-cooked beets!

Sweet potato, beets, and hummus

Day 2:

Blueberry Pure bar crumbled up into some greek style almond milk yogurt

Dinner:

Day 1:

Powercakes’ Tortilla Pizzas! 

Gluten free, baby

Just plain old organic tomatoes! No need for tomato sauce that often has sugar and oil added

TOPPINGS!!!

Tomatoes, spices, garlic, eggplant, mushroom, TJs artichoke tapenade, and nutritional yeast

This recipe was so easy and turned out great! I added tempeh to the hubby’s pizza, and also made his with a double tortilla crust – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Day 2:

Simple stir fry with new vegetables from Boston Organics :)

Brussels, broccoli, red bell pepper, eggplant, parsnips, chives

Sautéed with worcestershire and hot sauce :)

Added organic kale and TJs pre-baked savory tofu

Topped with mung bean sprouts…

And drizzled with sesame ginger dressing!

Dessert:

I recently made Powercakes’ Apple Pie Chickpea Blondies with stevia and a base of chopped green apples. They were just 125 calories and 8 grams protein each!

Enjoyed atop a bowl of peanut flour mixed with almond milk, maple extract, and stevia.

I’M OBSESSED WITH MAPLE EXTRACT. It makes everything taste like pancakes.

Day 2:

Oh yeah…there was that one great Saturday night post-finals where the hubby and I splurged on some non-dairy ice cream (1/2 pint coffee, 1/2 pint chocolate fudge) that we enjoyed over protein brownie cups courtesy of Stuft Mama.

I used protein powder instead of coconut flour to make it even higher protein. THESE WERE AMAZING. MAKE THEM NOW.

Cheers to good eats,

Avocado Athlete

Jamaica Plain

I could go for Indian food just about any time of the day, week, or month. It’s my ethnic go-to choice for takeout, and it tends to offer tons of great vegan and vegetarian options. Even many of the delicious creamy dishes are made with coconut milk. The hubby and I like to consider ourselves Indian restaurant connoisseurs, and we have tried at least 4 or 5 places around Boston. So far, the best one we had found was India Quality, which was conveniently located 2 blocks from our house. This was no small problem.

A few months back, we found ourselves further outside of Boston in Jamaica Plain for his birthday, so I planned for us to go to a lunch buffet at Bukhara Indian Bistro, which had great reviews online.

It did NOT disappoint! Potentially the best Indian I’ve had in Boston, and certainly the best price I’ve ever seen for an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. Even though we ended up getting the lunch buffet, I loved that this menu had the vegan and vegetarian options listed separately so you knew what you were getting. Check out the menu HERE.

Daily special – chickpea crepes, Pindi Chhole (spicy chickpea, bell pepper, and tomato), and vegetable soup.

Rice, Mushroom Samosas, Mixed Vegetables, and Baingan do aloo (twice cooked eggplant with potato, cilantro, and onion)

If you live in the Boston area, are in the mood for Indian food, and don’t mind taking a brief ride on the T, I highly recommend checking this place out.

Life Alive – Urban Oasis & Organic Cafe

Cambridge

This place is a true gem. Of course it’s in Cambridge where a lot of the vegan organic hippie places thrive, but it’s not too far across the river. Check out this place’s motto:

Whether you are an omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, raw, gluten-free or other foodie…
We know you want to feel great after a meal.
Satisfied
Energized
Delighted
Sustained
Confident
Strong
Connected
Ready for Everything!

Check out the menu HERE.

LOVE IT. That’s exactly how I feel every time I leave there.

The last time I was in, I had just met up with one of my good girlfriends for a workout at Cambridge Dance Complex. We were supposed to do kickboxing, but the instructor couldn’t make it, so we made up our own workout and had a blast doing it :) She’s a vegan too *fistpump*, so afterward, we walked on over to Life Alive.

Us, looking more stellar than usual, post workout

I ordered The Rebel: Sesame Ginger Nama Sauce with flax oil enlivening carrots, beets, broccoli, dark greens, tofu & hijiki over quinoa & short grain brown rice.

But of course I had to ask for added avocado :)

My friend Annalise ordered The Romantic: Avocado, shredded Daiya, broccoli, garlic, nutritional yeast and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos all embraced in a soft whole wheat tortilla.

I love doing a few minutes of online research and finding awesome whole foods eating options everywhere in this city.

Next on the list?

Walnut Grille in Newton and Yoma Burmese Cafe in Allston. Updates to come!

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

And I couldn’t be a happier camper :) Ok, I could be, given that I still have a load of client work on my plate and spent 5 hours of my first day “off” working. But hey – the stress level has definitely dropped a few notches. Ok a hundred notches.

First thing I did? HIT THE GYM HARD for my first spin class in months.

It was an instructor I’d never had before, and it turns out she’s a blogger too! She also posts all her spin playlists on her blog – Eat. Sweat. Balance. MONEY IN THE BANK. This girl is awesome.

Sweaty me post spin class

Then I went to Trader Joes and bought whatever my heart desired.

Then I came home and got creative in the kitchen with my new goods – something I haven’t done in ages! The result?

I ate mine as is, but later served the hubby’s up with a avocado on top. I’m sticking to my mantra: AVOCADO MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER.

Yet I don’t like eating it plain…

Conundrum.

Anyway, try out the recipe and let me know what you think! Also, don’t forget to check out Recipe Friday today!

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

It’s law school finals time.

Sorry in advance for the shortened posts. I’ll do my best to keep you all updated.

Foot Injury

• My foot is still injured from that silly outdoor 5-miler I did 3 weeks ago. I think it’s finally time to go to the doctor to see what’s up. I’ve been on 2 runs since then, both around 3 miles. My foot feels ok on the runs, but pretty stiff and sore afterward with pretty severe shooting pain on the outside of my foot up into my ankle.
• Despite the injury, I’ve still been KILLING IT in the gym. I’ve been staying more consistent than ever with my workouts and nutrition. That’s what happens when I get super stressed and busy – it’s the only thing that keeps me sane.

Workout Updates

• I’ve been on the same routine for well over 12 weeks now, and I really need to switch it up. My body is tired of the same old, same old, but I haven’t had time to write a new routine with school being so busy.
• SO, today I just totally switched it up randomly.

-10 min. intense cardio warmup

-Bench press superset assisted pull-up

-10 min. intense cardio intervals

-Dumbbell snatch (10 each arm), push-ups, wide grip row circuit x 3

-Renegade rows, bicep curls, 2 min. intense stairclimber interval circuit x 3

-5 min. plank series

My body loved the new moves! I was craving something different and left the gym feeling totally SPENT.

Refuel

• I’ve been switching up my protein shakes lately too! I went through a phase where I was never in the mood for fruit, but with the warmer weather here now, I want it all the time!
• This morning I mixed up a Purple Pineapple Powerbowl

It’s the mixture of the dark cherries and the blueberries that give it the rich purple color!

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

Don’t forget to check out Recipe Friday on CandyFit‘s site!

Mexi-terranean.

Yeah, that’s right. I call it Mexi-terranean. Merging ideas from several recipes I found, I created these delicious little bad boys. They’re super easy, filling, and packed with #plantpower baby!

I served ours up with some crazy awesome sides. Since I already had the Bragg’s and lemon juice out, I massaged a ton of Swiss chard with about 1 tbsp. Bragg’s, 1 tbsp. lemon juice, and a hearty sprinkle of nutritional yeast. Of course it wouldn’t have been a proper meal without some roasted sweet potato wedges, roasted carrots, and a big scoop of hummus.

I poured all the yummy juice from the chick pea mixing bowl over the chick peas. I was worried it might burn, but it turned out delicious!

Prepping.

The result:

Cheers,

Avocado Athlete

That same day, I also picked up this new hot pink sheer tank for $8!

There are fewer things that get me more motivated to workout than new workout gear. If you get the chance, treat yourself to some new items for Spring :)

And now onto WIAW!

Remember:

Breakfast:

I finally started switching it up from my usual Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake. Yay me! Inspired by Powercakes, I started whipping up green smoothie bowls. I throw in some organic frozen berries, 1/2 frozen banana, organic frozen spinach, 2 tsp. spirulina, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 c. almond milk, and some cinnamon.

I make it super thick with my Vitamix so I can eat it with a spoon :)

Of course, topped with a few of Barbara’s gluten free cinnamon Puffins :)

Lunch:

Lunches lately have been super hearty powerbowls or this week’s powerplate – roasted sweet potato and brussels, lentils, 1/3 avocado, topped with 2 tbsp. hummus, 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast, and water to desired consistency. YUM.

Snack:

Aside from my afternoon oats, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying reverting to an old favorite – MORE HUMMUS! But there’s a reason for this…

A friend and I hit the jackpot: we were walking down the street and ran into the Sabra cart where they were handing out free hummus. We were holding a bag, and they had so much to give away that they offered to just fill our bag!

This was only about 2/3 of it:

Those lovely ladies have no idea how much they made my day, or that they saved me $10 on my grocery bill! Thanks Sabra :)

Dinner:

This week, I picked up a new sauce at Trader Joes: Curry Simmer Sauce. It’s an Indian inspired sauce and is super savory. I boiled up some organic mung bean noodles (180 calories/20 grams protein per serving!), and topped it with TONS of veggies sautéed in this sauce. I also added some garlic, onion, and fresh ginger that we had on hand from Boston Organics.