Clean Cookie Dough Dip!!!

It's healthy?! Whaaaat?!

So I'm basically going to cut to the chase here. I was scouring the internets looking for something "healthy-ish" I could bring to a Super Bowl party David and I were invited to this weekend... basically so I wouldn't pig out on wings, chips, and queso. And I found THIS:

Does this not look like heaven in a cup?! It's an AMAZING dip to have with some apple slices. YUMMO. 

Ingredients:
1.5 cups chickpeas
2 packs of stevia
1/4 cup of any kind of nut butter

Directions:
1. Purée chickpeas and stevia in blender. Do NOT add water. Scrape down the sides and continue to blend until smooth.

2. With a spoon, fold in nut butter.

3. Roll into a "cheeseball" shape and coat the outside with mini dark chocolate chips.

4. Dig in with some apple slices and enjoy! 😊

Mac and Cheese Alert!! CLEAN EATS!!! :D

If you are anything like me, you love a good indulgent meal. But what if we could engineer that meal so that it didn't undo our entire days? We've been working hard, right??

I want my cake... and I wanna eat it, too.

Well, this isn't exactly cake. But it IS one of my favorite dishes of all time. Mac and Cheese!!!

You'll need:

• 8 oz. elbow pasta of choice (I choose a gluten free or a whole wheat)
• 8 oz. shredded cheese of your choice
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• salt and pepper to taste
• onion powder and garlic powder to taste

Here's how you make it:

• Cook the macaroni according to the package's instructions. 
• Place the spinach leaves in the bottom of the strainer
• Pour the pasta over the top to drain and wilt the spinach.
• Save 1/2 cup of pasta water and return the cookied macaroni and wilted spinach to the pot.
• Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to the pot, and stir in the cheese until melted.
• Stir in the greek yogurt, and all spices until smooth and creamy.
• If you want the sauce thinner, stir in the remaining pasta water. 

Serve immediately. Yum! Enjoy, my fit friends. ;)

Girl Scout Cookie Inspired Shakes!

Well.... it's that time of year again. Have you noticed yet?

If you have a Girl Scout in the family (or neighborhood, or church, or... hell... semi-immediate vicinity), you have recently become aware of one thing and one thing only:

It's cookie time.

If you're anything like me, I could eat a whole sleeve of those damn thin mints and not even blink. Which doesn't really jive very well with my health and fitness goals this year. So what's a girl to do?

Make lemonade out of lemons, of course!

Here are some tried and true Girl Scout Cookie inspired recipes that will leave you thinking you had the real thing. The kicker is, you're actually nourishing your body with dense, superfood nutrition as you "indulge"!

Enjoy!

Healthy Candy Apple? Why of COURSE I'll Have One!

Hey friends!
This is a PERFECT healthy treat if you've got a wicked sweets craving.

Once you slice the apples and remove the core:
✔️melt some nut butter and flax seeds together
✔️spread on your apple
✔️top with a few dark chocolate chips, granola, or topping of your choice 
✔️enjoy! 

Share this post with a friend who loves sweets!!

PIZZA!!!

Happy Friday Eve, Fitfam!

Ok, so I'm a pizza freak, and needed to share this with you.

Gluten free? Check.
Good for you? Check.
Delicious? Check check.

Zucchini Boat Pizza:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Half zucchinis and cut out some of the "flesh" so there's a slight dip to make a "boat" shape.
3. Add tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, cheese, and toppings of your choice.
4. Bake for 20 minutes! Voila!

Enjoy!

Happy New Year, Fit Fam!

Despite the fact that I always get a touch of the holiday blues once the hullabaloo of Christmas is over (I mean... who DOESN'T love the indulgence of the holidays?!), for me, January brings with it a sense of renewal.

Relief.

Resolve.

No matter what your opinion of "New Years' Resolutions" may be, I do admire the spirit in which they're made. A new year brings with it such promise. It's new. It's fresh. It's... boundless. The window of possibilities is wide open, and you literally have NO limits to what you can do. If you stick to your guns, that is.

I want to share with you what I cooked up for myself (both literally and figuratively) for this year:

1. By December of 2015, I will be debt free, with the exception of my home mortgage. That's credit card debt, student loans, and car payments. Period. It's a huge endeavor, and quite frankly a little scary to commit to writing. But I'm so tired of those monthly payments. I'm tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

2. I will be the healthiest, strongest, most fit ME I can be this year. I'm pulling out all the stops, folks. I will break a sweat every day, and I will be mindful of the nutrients that enter my body. I will make a plan each week, and I will follow it. Because life is full of unexpected twists, turns, and amazing events (ummmm my sister's wedding?!), I will adhere to the 80/20 rule with fidelity.

And that's it.

With that said, I also want to share with you an amazeballs (literally) recipe I found for CLEAN Mint Chocolate Truffles. I am an admitted chocoholic, so these are an awesome healthy treat to indulge in every now and then. And they are SUPER easy to make... Enjoy!

Total Time: 4 hrs. 10 min.
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cooking Time: None
Yield: 12 servings, 1 truffle each

Ingredients:
5 oz dark chocolate, 70% cocoa or higher, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
½ cup lite coconut milk
½ tsp. pure mint extract (or pure vanilla extract)
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa

Preparation:
1. Place chocolate, coconut oil, and mint extract in a small bowl; mix well. Set aside.
2. Bring coconut milk to a gentle boil in small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add coconut milk to chocolate mixture; whisk gently until combined.
4. Place chocolate mixture, covered, in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
5. Using a melon baller or spoon, scoop out 1 Tbsp. of chocolate mixture. Roll into a ball. Roll in cocoa powder until evenly coated. Repeat steps five and six until there are twelve truffles.
6. Store in refrigerator for up to one week or in freezer for three months.