According to my training schedule, I’m off duty up until race day. What’s a girl to do with all this time on her hands? Why bake of course! I must say, this recipe from Whole Foods that I’m about to show you is incredibly easy – with only five ingredients – yes, only five and it tastes amazing!! If you love peanut butter that is

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies: (flour-less!)

Ingredients

1 large egg
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup creamy unsweetened peanut butter (Costco’s organic natural peanut butter)
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat together egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand-held mixer. Beat in the peanut butter. Stir in chocolate chips if using.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, pressing lightly with the back of a fork. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly set. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Nutrition

Per serving (3 cookies): 200 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 3g saturated fat, 6g protein, 19g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 16g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 210mg sodium

Final Goods:

As you can see, I had a few pieces of dark chocolate chips left so I put them on top and I also broke off a small piece of the cookie because I just had to try them! Final verdict: A-MAY-ZING! Another way to make these is to put a thumb print instead of the fork print before you bake and place a Hershey’s kiss on top!

If you love peanut butter you have to try these! Happy Baking

Happy Monday and fresh new start to the week!

Lets start with food from the weekend:

Whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and frozen blueberries

Roasted Brussel Sprouts sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and bacon

Grilled pork chops and chicken breast

Friday night was rest day and date night (my favorite) so I indulged with some dessert!

Apple pie with hazelnut ice cream. It looks much better than it tasted. Very disappointing.

Sunday we went to a pumpkin farm: (Me in my workout gear for my 3.5 miles after, yes I did complete my run and yes, I did get lost in a straw maze… for kids)

We had a little bit of this: Corn on the cob

And a little bit of that: Liquid butter

Which resulted in a little bit of sweet tooth action: Peanut butter brownie and pumpkin pie

The food didn’t stop there. I had Kashi pizza for dinner with Alexia baked onion rings and some spinach artichoke dip. Yup. True story.

The great news is, I completed my first week of 10K training and I have the stickers to prove it:

Sunday’s long run was quite the task because I was running against the wind, but my new snazzy shoes (will post picture later) kept me going

Hope you all had a great weekend as well and remember, new day – new you!

Alright, so my proposed goal was to wake up bright and early today to run. Yeah…… that didn’t happen. In my defense – I needed sleep and hoping to make it happen tonight after work.

I think I’ll point the finger to pms symptoms. They really do get the best of us. In fact, I downed a bag of peanut m&ms today after my chicken salad. I mean, I’m only human after all – what do you expect! Sometimes you just need to do what you gotta do and enjoy every minute of it – which I did at the time, but right now the bloat, sugar crash and headache really aren’t working out for me!

I really should have followed my tips on how to overcome situations like this, but I caved. All I want to do is curl up in a ball and go to sleep until Sunday. Instead, I have a loaded weekend full of activities so I have to just suck it up and gain my energy back somehow. To help gain energy you need to keep moving even though you don’t feel like it. So, when I’m having days like these I typically go for elliptical machines because they require less energy than running. It’s better than nothing, people!

My food hasn’t been the greatest (I cheated last night and today- for obvious reasons) but it could always be worse. So far, my favorite dish was the sweet potato concoction! In fact, last night I made it again and ate the entire sweet potato. Followed by two Greek cookies. This is not a joke, I assure you. Oh, and the no snack rule hasn’t been working out for me this week either. :/

Today is as follows:

• Breakfast: Whole wheat English Muffin with Peanut butter
• Lunch : Chicken salad and peanut M&Ms
• Dinner: I should probably starve until tomorrow – very unlikely given my appetite as of late.

On a lighter note, it’s FRIDAY!!! Freedom never smelled so good! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend planned too

Truth be told, I love carbs. Who doesn’t? My digestive system. Oh, and my waistline. Nevertheless, it’s nearly impossible to ignore the irresistible craving now and then. Of course, I feel guilty for having these cravings because I don’t have the “will power” to just say no and back away from the bag of tortilla chips – until I’ve reached the last few pieces in which then – and only then – do I decide it’s time to walk away. So, that being said, in order to allow some guilty pleasure in my life, I have created my own version of a recipe I got from the “Tone it Up” girls – who are AMAZING btw! I like to call this my “Power Protein Pancake” Yes, I said pancake!

Don’t freak out just yet fellow Carb Addicts Anonymous. This Pancake is low in Carbohydrates, high in Protein and high in good Fats. It also has Amazing Grass – which I’ll explain to you in another post because it really is that amazing that it needs its own post. Oh, and did I mention that it’s delicious! Here it goes…

Ingredients:

3 tbs of Oat Bran (Oat bran is higher in protein than oatmeal, but you can use oatmeal. If you want to make sure it’s gluten-free, be sure to check the packaging for a GF label)

1 scoop of Amazing Grass Greens Super-food – Cacao Flavor (for those of you who want to just try it, Whole Foods sells this in individual packets and it comes in many flavors!)

2 tbs of Greek yogurt – my mom’s delicious homemade Greek yogurt is shown in the picture, but Fage works too (by far the best tasting, in my opinion)

1 egg white or egg substitute

Cinnamon, pumpkin or nutmeg to taste

Power Protein Pancake Ingredients

Toppings:

Organic Natural Peanut Butter (Costco’s is by far the best that I’ve tried)

Raw Agave Nectar (You don’t need much because it’s very sweet and has low GI)

Instructions:

In a small bowl combine your dry ingredients, then add the 2 tbs of Greek yogurt and 1 egg white. Mix all together until it’s completely wet – don’t be afraid of the color. Trust me.

Spray a small non-stick skillet with some EVOO. Pour the batter (about 1 cup) into the skillet over medium heat. When it starts to bubble and form on the edges, flip it over. This whole process should take no more than 5 minutes. When it’s done to your liking, top it with a tsp of peanut butter (or as much as you’d like) and a drizzle of raw agave nectar or honey. I choose agave because it has a lower GI value and you need less of it than you would honey. You now have yourself a DELICIOUS chocolate peanut butter, low carb, high protein, super-food pancake. Makes a perfect breakfast – or dinner if you’re like me! Indulge

PS: I am going to start playing with images later because I just wanted to get this post out today. Plus, my camera is old and has issues so maybe this will be my excuse to buy a new one Below are some pics I took – in order of the steps. Try it and let me know what you think! Also, since it is pumpkin season, adding some pumpkin in place of the super-food powder would be equally delicious – if not more! Get creative