recipe sunday: strawberry chocolate cake batter smoothie.

a few weeks ago, when I was stuck in bed with the norovirus, I took to pinterest and started looking up recipes. Now, if you know me, I am a huuuuuuge smoothie fan. In any way, shape, or form. And I kept stumbling across the "cake batter" protein shake. I kept finding various cake batter flavored recipes for spreads, smoothies, and ice cream. The key ingredient? Almond extract.

yeah, i know. I was surprised too! I thought you were only capable of getting cake batter taste (yum) the good old fashion way: by baking a cake. Yep, my mind was blown. So I decided to make a version of my own:

strawberry chocolate cake batter smoothie.

here's what you need:

1/2 cup coconut milk (or any other milk)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 scoop vanilla vegan protein powder (or whichever one you like; here's my favorite)
2 medium sized bananas
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1 drop almond extract (a little goes a loooooooong way, so be careful!)
2 cups ice

here's what you do:

1. cut up bananas and strawberries.
2. place ingredients in blender in the above order. The order is important! The weight of ice, and then the fruit, pushes all of the ingredients down into the blades creating a  smoother smoothie.
3. blend away!

this recipe packs in about 26g of protein, making it the perfect breakfast/lunch/post workout smoothie. Depending on what type of milk and protein powder you use, it's vegan and gluten free too!

blend on, baby.

xo,

adrienne.

let's be realistic: one week of change.

wanna lose 10 pounds in 1 week? Um, duh. Want to shed 20+ inches in 7 days? Without a doubt! Want to become a top model, coveted by top magazines, designers, and photogs? SIGN. ME. UP. Just let me do all that riding my unicorn, with $1billion in my pocket, dating Oscar winning Leonardo DiCaprio.

let's be realistic people. 

if you're like me and are a normal job juggling, tax paying, pleasure succumbing person, non of the above is realistic. In my last post, I declared that I am 'losing the wait.' I'm giving up the negative self-doubting and self-questioning, and picking up positive, balanced thinking, and healthy habits.

and realistically speaking, I wanted to share (amongst many, many other things) my health-centric journey with you. This isn't about losing weight (I'm well within my BMI), but it's about getting healthy, physically and mentally. It's about being the very best version of myself: healthy, honest, and strong, without denying myself the wonderful pleasures of this world (I'm looking at you, Pinot Noir).

so here is my journey of change, week one. I made sure to only change one thing in my routine: physical activity. Having coming out of the down season, and taking 3 weeks off from running due to injury (right foot, left knee, hips), I wasn't quite in my best running shape. But I laced up, stretched out, and pounded that frosted Michigan pavement.

i didn't change anything I ate. Don't get me wrong: there was salmon, smoothies, and salads. But there was also McDonalds, bagels/schmear, and a trip to Dunkin Donuts. What? I'm being honest, here!

it's been one week since I started my journey, so here's my week in review:

left: monday 23rd march 2015, right: monday 30th march 2015

physical activity: 

• ran 7.23 miles, over 2 days
• completed 1 fifteen-minute Nike Training ab workout

food:

• not my best. Can I just live?!

weight:

• starting weight: hahahahahahaha... nice try.
• current weight: down 5lbs. mostly water/margarita weight.

left: monday 23rd march 2015, with the newspaper to prove it. center: monday 30th march 2015. top: first week. bottom: newspaper of first week. 

i'm not going to lie: i actually feel a little better. Maybe it's physiological, but it's probably just psychological. Sharing this with everyone, and just having a plan has given me that nudge to get it right and get it tight.

live on, everyone!

xo,

adrienne. 

the perfect pre-post workout vegan smoothie.

mornings are hard. Like really hard. Even for us morning people. It's hard when even just waking up on time feels like an accomplishment, let alone dragging your derriere to the gym/studio/trail all before you shower, make breakfast, and head to work.

unfortunately, when sleep is in high demand and low supply, I start to cut corners. And those corners are usually with breakfast. I hate feeling hungry, especially after I've gotten my morning workout in (or more probable, before my afternoon run). And I hate feeling tired, even when I got 8+ hours of good solid sleep. But a certain something easy, tasty and fast makes my mornings a smidge easier: my hybrid morning perfect pre-post vegan smoothie.

now it's equal parts smoothie, iced coffee, and protein shake so it tackles all of the bases you'll need to get your day moving in a healthy and whole way. Caffeine fix? Check. Protein quota? Double check. A serving of fruit? Triple check. Now that that's all covered... Try it out!

ingredients:

-8oz chilled double brewed coffee OR 1 serving instant espresso in 8oz of water

-1 scoop vanilla vegan protein powder (Vega Sport is my up most favorite! Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, 100% amazing). Don't worry, any other protein powder will work. 

-1 tsp. coco powder

-1 large banana

-1.5 cups ice

1. Throw all of the ingredients in your blender, in the order above. The order is important: the weight of the ice and banana helps create a smoother blend. Trust me, I've got your back on this one.

2. Blend until desired consistency. If it's not blending smoothly, feel free to add in a little almond/coconut/rice milk.

3. Pour into your cup, and drink up, butter cup!

as I said, mornings are hard no matter what. Hopefully this little recipe makes them suck just a bit less. Oh, and don't forget to tell me what you think!



veg on, lovelies.

adrienne.