It Finally Rained

   When you make plans God laughs and sometimes even has a guffaw at our expense. For two weeks I have been planning to lay out poolside with my friend Kelsey and several magazines. 10 AM the sun was starting to peek through, 10:45 AM the temperature is dropping slightly and the wind picked up, 11:15 AM no sun and tons of massive rain clouds with lots of wind. Bah Humbug!!!!!!

   OK my temper tantrum is over, thank you for your patience. Let's talk about food!

This is great for our parched town and I do love a cloudy day but not when it interferes with me getting a tan.

Beef sausage over a gorgeous bed of broccoli.

This was poured over my broccoli :).

   On the weekends I am lazy about food, the carhops at Sonic know me by name. Unfortunately, the school semester is over which means I have no more excuses for my occasional splurges. This morning I did at least cook my own breakfast in a kitchen and there were no carhops involved. I heated up some all beef sausage and then cooked up broccoli with Tessemae's Lemon Garlic dressing and sprinkled black pepper on top of the broccoli. Dear Lord this breakfast always hits the spot, is easy, and delicious. I can still be fed with great food and be lazy with this meal! Hooray! Happy Memorial Day Weekend Y'all.

   

Physical Therapy Humor

  We all need to laugh sometime. Come to PT and you can laugh at everyone else's pain as well as your own.  Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

  

Gym Rat

   I am in love with Scandal which I found on Netflix. Yes, I am way behind on television but I have been a little busy as of late, conquering the world and all. This series is wonderful to watch while icing your knee and drinking strawberry kombucha. Icing comes in handy when your pride makes you lift really heavy at the gym. Might not have been the best idea but I had so much fun working up a sweat this morning. Endorphins make me a much happier person to be around. For the good of the state I should work out on a more regular basis. After kicking my own ass I always have a smile on my face and I feel dare I say it, more patient with the general public.

Finding my zen while drinking Strawberry Serenity kombucha

Weekend Report

   

  The adorable tot in the photo had a dance recital on Sunday and is clearly meant to be a star. The tot is my niece Anna and she likes barbies, coconut milk, dance, and flowers. This kid is so cool that she puts Liza Minnelli to shame. I love her to pieces, especially when she demands that I play with her and her vast collection of dolls. We had a great time bonding this past weekend and I could not be more proud of my tiny dancer.

   Anna, my brother and his wife live in Lubbock which has a grocery store called Sprouts. This store is the bomb and I always try to go whenever I am in Lubbock. I found a new brand of almond butter called Wild Friends and it is delicious and inexpensive.

Lordy this won't last long at my house! 

   

    

Niece #2 Clara closely guarding her book.

My four legged child Catfish on our run getting strong on mile 2.

   A nice thing about living in Texas is that I am close to family and can see my two fabulous nieces on a more regular basis. They are growing up so fast and reaching so many milestones and I get to watch them do it. Can't wait for tomorrow's workout which will be grueling (the best kind of workout) and long. Whoop Whoop! I will report back from the gym :).

Catfish needs a nap. 

The Pool is Closed

   I am very sad today because the pool is closed. The freaking semester is over and I need to chill out by the pool with my cranberry kombucha and book. The pool should be open after Memorial Day. Bah humbug, I need sunshine and chlorinated water stat!

   Instead I took my disappointment to the kitchen and made double chocolate cookies. Yep I definitely feel better since I baked these cookies. They are delicious, but two of them kinda stuck to my pan.

The glorious batter.

Some of the magical ingredients.

Hooray they are ready!! Nom Nom!

    This afternoon I took a trip to Natural Grocers for Califa Farms almond milk which is fantastic. While perusing the aisles I of course found other things which usually happens in this store. I picked up Kevita which is a yummy probiotic drink, St. John's Wort, and I finally found coconut sugar. I have been looking for coconut sugar for weeks and it is now in my possession. I will be making all the paleo goodies.

    This morning was amazing because I actually slept for 8 hours straight and it was glorious. Catfish my mixed mutt and I went for a mile run. While his ears whistled in the wind my knee remained stable and I had no pain as I chugged along. Go Hertha Go! After our jaunt I washed and detailed my mom's car which earned me major daughter points. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Cookie Recipe from PaleOMG

Soft & Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Serves: 13-15

Ingredients

• 1 cup thick almond butter (I used Barney Butter Smooth Almond Butter because it’s similar to thick nut butters. If you use too oily, the cookies won’t come together. You were warned.)
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1 egg, whisked
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• ¼-1/2 cup Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together almond butter and coconut sugar using a large spoon. Then add egg and mix again until well combined.
3. Add ¼ cup of cocoa powder at a time. At this point, I used my hands to incorporate the cocoa powder into the dough. Add all the cocoa powder and completely combine.
4. Then add baking soda, vanilla, salt and chocolate chips and combined until everything is well mixed. This was all hands for me. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. (This should be a very thick dough at this point. If it’s not, you need a thicker almond butter like I said before).
5. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out around 2 tablespoons of dough and make into a round ball. Place on silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. This dough will create 13-15 cookies that size.
6. Once you’ve placed all the balled dough onto the baking sheet, use a fork to press the cookies down just slightly. No need to really flatten them out, just get them to look more cookie shape instead of ball shape. If you press them down too much, they’ll come apart when they bake so be careful.
7. Place baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes until removing from baking sheet to place on cooling rack. If you try to remove these from the baking sheet early, they will come apart. So don’t be stupid hear. Patience is a virtue.
9. Eat up!

Why Be Good When You Can Be Great?

   

   This semester I was able to show myself that I could fight my way out of hell inch by inch. In spite of everything I was able to succeed and make myself proud at the end of the day. I spent weekends reading pages and pages of material, writing papers, organizing presentations, and reading some more. I hardly saw my friends or family but it was all worth it. My computer became my best friend because I used it to research and write up papers so often. But it was all worth it. I was going through a lot emotionally and I still kept pushing forward. I drank too much coffee, I put in hundreds of hours at the library, and I paid attention in class. But it was all worth it. After checking my grades and seeing that I made straight A's, I cried for 5 minutes while staring at the screen. Those two classes meant the world to me and were more precious than money, sleep, or partying. Those two classes signified that all my hard work meant something. Why be good when you can be great?

   For those of you in school, starting a new job, or making any type of change the hard work is worth it. Don't stop due to a small hurdle or a change in the plan. Don't quit. Keep pushing forward despite the odds! The odds were not in my favor this semester and I still succeeded because I refused to quit. I believe a person can be as successful as they want to be because it comes down to choice. So, what will you do?

 

Weekend Report

   Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there! I gave my mom some serious pampering for Mother's Day, mainly because she takes care of everyone else first before herself. So I secretly made appointments to get her hair done and get a facial. She loved being waited on and looked utterly fabulous afterwards. I had fun watching her get to feel like a girly girl and not a nurse, or a wife, or a mom taking care of the rest of us. Happy Mother's Day to the best mom I could have asked for :).

   Yesterday, I was able to witness my best friend Greg walk across the stage to receive his 2nd degree which is a BSN of nursing.  He received his first degree in Biochemistry three years ago. His boyfriend Logan and I totally cried and screamed our heads off as he walked across the stage. So proud of you darling, Go Greg Go! My darling bestie will be moving to Denver, Colorado with the love of his life in mid June. I am both sad to see him leave but so proud that he is brave enough to chase his dreams and move to be with his sweetheart. I wish nothing but the best for these two amazing people on their life journey together.

Isn't he adorable?

I can't believe I met Greg back in 7th grade! We have grown up so fast.

Logan and I before we started tearing up.

       Last night I had trouble sleeping due to all the driving and excitement of the day, so I made cookies! Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies came to be partly because I found a recipe on paleomg.com and I had few ingredients. The recipe is pretty simple and the cookies are almost all gone. Paleo treats are still treats and should not be consumed all the time but a girl has cravings and these cookies are a tad healthier than eating an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's.

Paleo cookies nom nom.

Yay Cookies!!

   No workout for me today instead I will lie in the sun and eat a cookie. The end of the semester is a beautiful thing. Hope every mom has a delightful day!