Escaping Winter: #OopsI’mInEurope… Again

My oh my, family vacations….

am I right? Don’t answer that. I know I am.

My post title may be a little misleading because I am not actually in Europe again, but I was.

Over the past two weeks I had the privilege to bounce around Germany and Holland.  I walked my little toes almost completely off my body, people watched the heck out of this strange world we live in, ate some of the nummiest and naughtiest noms I’ve ever had, and learned quite a bit about being kind to my soul when I’m feeling discouraged about my body.

Reminder: Being mean to the world because you are mad at yourself and your body doesn’t make anything better.  Taking out your body frustrations on people you love will make you feel worse: Fact.

The cool thing about traveling is that even if you completely shut down and shut people out, you can still learn no matter how much you resist it.

I have noticed that when I fall out of my routine my mind reacts more aggressively than my body does.  Suddenly, after traveling for for four days and not training I look ten pounds heavier in the mirror, all hell breaks loose, and I go from being a compassionate human who is pleasant to be around to a psycho gremlin who might punch you in the face if you offer me a cookie.

Focusing on the positives aspects of rest helped me through the days where I was unable to get my daily dose of endorphins.

#ActiveRest is the best kind of rest and lucky for me, exploring cities usually means lots of walking. 

Active Rest in Montreal meant exploring the brilliant street art that lines the roads.  I am always awed by artwork that can be seen.  Writing is art– but fifteen foot, painted on brick wall, LOOK AT ME work is something special, something awesome.

Have you been to Montreal and wandered around wondering about the art? Check out Word and Colour!

Just sending a little blog to blog love, you know? This site pairs Montreal street art with fictional write ups by those brave enough to share their words. The following is from Word and Colour’s about section on their site. BY THE WAY…AGAIN… CHECK IT OUT!!!

Blog: wordandcolour.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordandcolour?fref=ts

“We believe in people.  We believe that words and colours can inspire new ways of rethinking the world, and raise awareness about existing injustice.   We send art to writers, who write what the colour inspires. We pair the story with the art, with an aim to promote stories that share positive alternatives to mainstream stereotypes- or that confront oppression outright.  We believe that people, once aware, will work to reduce their participation in violence. We love art. And we want you to get involved.”

Sooo.. you just might be crazy if you don’t check out this awesome art!

Mimi, where’d you go after Montreal?

little ol’ me down at the bottom

Active Rest in Munich, Germany meant dodging people in the market and drooling over the most beautiful foods being sold by families who had worked hard to get them there.  I left Germany with a new appreciation for exceptionally fresh and affordable food, that is sometimes challenging to come by in Vermont. (Come on, Spring!)

So finally we ended up in Amsterdam after all of this

exploring and the only thing better than exploring Germany is..

oh, wow, you’re a really good guesser…

EXPLORING AMSTERDAM.

There’s something so romantic about the bikes and canals that each time I’ve been in this city things start to figure themselves out in my head and I find peace.

After a week of my body battling with my head I was able to find solace in the lights on the water and the grimy side streets.  I saw more people than I’d ever seen in one place in the Leidseplein streets than ever before, each face that passed reminded me that this whole life is an adventure and it’s our job as women to have compassion for our journeys. Be true. Be you. Be strong. Right?

Recipe: LivingHealthyWithChocolate’s Carrot Cake Truffles

Do I even need to explain anything that says “Living Healthy With Chocolate.”

Me: seems legit.

If you haven’t already check out the wonderful Adriana Harlan on her mouth watering site, Living Healthy With Chocolate.

You won’t regret it….. ever.

One day.. meaning yesterday.. I was scrolling through my Instagram and came across a recipe for Paleo Carrot Cake Truffles, suddenly I couldn’t stop thinking about them.  I was on a mission to make these things.

So I did.

“I want to see more of them!!”

Oh….

I…. uhh….

already ate them all (I had help, don’t worry 😉 )

The only thing I changed was adding chia seeds for a leeeetle extra protein.

Check out this freakin’ scrumptious recipe.  You won’t even really have to pretend that these are extra healthy because it’s basically a salad.  A carrot salad.  Dessert = Salad.  Everyone’s winning. 

Recipe: Carrot Cake Dark Chocolate Truffles 

Show some fellow blog love and throw Living Healthy With Chocolate a follow on Insta ❤ 

Open Fitness Journal: February 9

OHHH KILL ‘EM 😉

Monday rocked my socks off this week fuhhh-reals.

uhh, Mimi, when isn’t Monday your favorite day of the week?

Oh, still never. Okay.

In case you needed some motivation, maybe check out my post from yesterday on ALL THE BODY LOVE.

I kicked off my #LookBackAtIt Campaign and couldn’t be happier about the response I’ve gotten so far.  I am so grateful that you all are liking and sharing the goings on of be true. be you. be strong.

You guys are serious #rockstars ❤

Warm Up

500 m row

Dynamic Stretch

thoracic mobility focus

Squat Cleans

15 minutes to find 1 RM (finally hit bodyweight!!! +3 lbs)

Push Press

4 x 5 @ 65% of 1 RM clean and jerk

Back Squat

16 minutes to find 5RM (omg #PRParty 😉 )

WOD

AMRAP 9

2 pistol squats (each leg)

9 pull ups

2 hand stand push ups

9 box jumps

Ca$h Out: 24 Clean and Jerks @75#

Recipe: “Friday Is My Day Off Pancakes”

Pancakes are typically for Sundays, right?

Wrong–

this week pancakes are for Friday morning because Fridays are days off and pancakes are special.

I actually had plans to share a different but equally as yummy recipe with you all this week but so it goes, pancakes happened and I just couldn’t help myself.  I got to sleep in this morning and then one thing lead to another and all of a sudden it was 10 AM, I was eating Paleo pancakes on the love-seat in our living room, dressed fully in grey (head to toe sweats), all topped off with a cup of coffee and I didn’t even care that it was -10 degrees outside.

So clearly I was #winning this morning.

TRY THESE: THEY ARE TOO GOOD NOT TO!

-Dairy free

-Gluten (grain) free

-Refined Sugar free

you’re welcome.

(But ignore the picture quality…) everything was just happening so fast and I WAS HUNGRY OKAY?!

For the Pancakes

1/2 banana mashed

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

2 tbsp. almond meal

1 egg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. organic blue agave nectar

[1 tsp. coconut oil for the pan]

For the Topping

1/2 banana sliced

1/2 tsp. chia seeds

1 tbsp. almonds (chopped)

1/2 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. organic blue agave nectar

1/4 cup raspberries

1 tbsp. raisins

Do it like this….

Warm a large skillet pan on medium-high heat and add the coconut oil to the bottom of the pan until it is melted, covering the entire pan, and very hot.

In a small bowl mash together all of the ingredients from the For the Pancakes section of the ingredients list until there are minimal almond meal chunks and the spices are well-distributed throughout the mixture.

Using a measuring cup– portion out half of the banana-zucchini-egg-almond meal mixture onto one side of the heated pan and pour the rest of the batter onto the other side of the pan.  There should be just enough for two pancakes.

Cook the pancakes on the first side for 3 1/2 minutes and use a flat spatula to flip them.  It will be easiest to tell if the pancakes are ready to be flipped if you can slip the spatula under the pancake and move it side to side without the center of the pancake coming apart. 

Cook the pancakes on the second side for 2 1/2 more minutes– flip once more and let cook for another minute.  When the pancakes are fully cooked through to your liking, use the spatula to set them on the serving plate.

In a separate small bowl mix together the agave and cinnamon from the ‘for the toppings‘ section of the ingredients list and drizzle onto the pancakes like syrup.

Finally, in no particular order finish off the pancakes with the rest of the ingredients from the ‘for the toppings’ section.

Now, go have yourself a damn breakfast.  

Am I right? (Channeling my inner Thug Kitchen, duh 😉 )

Open Fitness Journal: January 22

Thursday January 22, 2015 could quite possibly go down in the books as one of my favorite days of all time.  

That’s a pretty big statement.

Here’s why:

It’s been one of those weeks where I have let the bad things build and build until they finally blew up.  Oddly enough, this time I let it all out in one fowl swoop and with my entire world telling me to have a bad day on Wednesday, I kicked it’s ass and proceeded to do the same on Thursday.  

It’s your turn to surprise yourself and do something incredible.

What made Wednesday so great?

An absolutely killer 23 minute WOD, you know, one of those WOD’s where you get butterflies before you do it.

I learned that mid-50 burpees if you smile EXTRA hard then you might actually think that 50 burpees mid WOD is fun 🙂

(The kicker here is that I’m not even joking.)

I also happened to get TWO EFFING BAR MUSCLE UPS on Thursday!!!!!!

lol that one time I set some goals and punched this one right in the face

And of course only took video of the 10 failed attempts and not the two that I got… apparently I only like to show you guys videos of me failing.

Someone needs to keep my ego in check, right?  Might as well be me. 

So what about you?  Who keeps your ego in check?  Who reminds you that you’re awesome?  Who tells you to keep kicking ass and smiling in the middle of a WOD?

It has to be you.

Warm Up

1 mile assault bike

Dynamic stretch

2 minute squat hold

5 x :30 sec hand stand hold

Back Squat

8 x 65#

8 x 85#

8 x 100#

————-

5 x 115#

3 x 130#

3 x 150#

singles building to 170#

EMOM 12

1 bar muscle up attempt

Rest Day: January 11 (PG-13 language ALERT)

Hi loves 🙂

(a leeetle sneak peak at my blog-love, rest day post #sorrynotsorry)

You know how normally on rest days I’m like go out and go for a walk, try something new, find a new joke… etc. etc…

Well Sunday was like this too and mind you, there is no day that I would tell you to NOT do any of those things.  BUT I have to tell you that there was so much yummy food happening in my life this weekend that I can’t not share these delicious things with you!!

Even though I always like to share with you my own recipes, this week I took a page from the absolutely wonderful and delicious blog PaleOMG, where Juli Bauer, author of PaleOMG.com, Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook, and The Paleo Kitchen shares incredible Paleo recipes that are to die for.  #OMGisthatpaleo (seriously, every time, like, duh, Mimi…. that’s the name of her freakin’ website.)

Not only is Juli bauer great for her Paleo diet friendly recipes but she’s also a CrossFit coach on the side, in Denver, CO and she’s all about doing what makes you feel good as a human.  So check her out!

Her website is too good to be true (kinda like the awesome-sauce food I’m about to share with you… I PROMISE IT’S COMING, chill out, ok?) PaleOMG.com and while you’re at it, why not throw her a like on Facebook (I bet she likes you, too) or a quick follow on Instagram. #bloggerlove

 Without further a due: enter Mimi’s lunch stage left. 

Is your mouth watering from just looking at it?  BECAUSE JUST LOOK AT IT.

Coconut chicken, served with spinach, avocado, mango, and lime.  

You can find the recipe for the Coconut Chicken RIGHT HERE

And the rest was so easy to improvise that you could probably pair it with any other fruits and veg and it would be just as yummy.

Simply put: the chicken is on a bed of spinach, tossed in lime juice, next to avocado and mango also with lime juice over top of them.  (I sprinkled a little chili powder and salt on the avo to make it even more… well… awesome.)

While waiting, quite impatiently I might add, for my PaleOMG chicken to bake I wasn’t completely strung out.

Lucky for me, I had a copy of Thug Kitchen’s cookbook to thumb through and drool over.  For those of you who don’t know Thug Kitchen, you’re welcome, and for those of you who already do, you know how much they stir things up.

With a punch line of: Eat Like you Give a Fuck, Thug Kitchen shares vegan recipes that make ‘vegan’ sound a little bit more like ‘all the chocolate.’

A few of my favorite pages from the book had to be….

IF THAT DOESN’T GET YOU ALL FIRED UP TO EAT… I really don’t know what to say anymore.

So, while your at it, having a foodgasm over PalOMG’s awesome recipes, that I know you already have pulled up in the tab next to this one, check out Thug Kitchen, too!!

Their website is both scandalous and fabulous, it deserves a good scouring:  http://www.thugkitchen.com (just again, you’re welcome)

If it wasn’t already obvious that my obsession with healthy food is getting to be a really, real thing, here is even more proof:

After all of this healthy food blog reading, yummy chicken lunch making, and really relaxing rest-daying I still managed to whip up an even yummier thing for dinner….

Yep.  The dinner of my dreams and it doesn’t even have bacon and eggs in it. (or peanut butter) #isthisreallife?

Spinach salad tossed in lime juice and honey, with blue berries, mango, steamed sweet potatoes, and pan seared tuna steak.

#tappingout

#thefoodgodsarereal

xo-

mimi

Recipe: Spinach & Sweet Potato Hash with Runny Eggs

We are all well aware that breakfast is the greatest meal of the day and eggs are a food of the Gods…

Well.. at least, I am well aware of this.

Maybe you are not and this is why this recipe has just come into your life.  #youarewelcome

Seriously.. this combines like three of my favoritest (shhh) things all on one plate.

-BACON

-SWEET POTATOES

-EGGS

this means…

HAPPY HAPPY BELLY.

For the Everything:

1 small sweet potato (shredded)

¼ cup green onions (chopped)

1/8 cup roasted red peppers (chopped)

1 cup baby spinach

2 strips bacon

2 eggs

½ tsp. coconut oil

To Make:

Wash the sweet potato with water and peel the skin with a peeler.

Using a cheese grater, grate the entire sweet potato. Be careful not to grate your fingers as you get closer to the end of the sweet potato. 

Heat a medium sized cast iron (or non stick) pan on the stove on high heat for 90 seconds and add the bacon. Cook bacon for 2-3 minutes on the first side and flip over to finish. Remove the bacon from the pan and pat down with a paper towel.   The bacon should be cooked so that it is crispy enough to chop into bits.

Let the bacon cool for about a minute and then chop into small pieces.

Keeping the pan on medium heat, add the grated sweet potato to the pan and cover with a lid for 30 seconds. Remove lid and stir sweet potatoes. (Repeat for about 2 minutes.) After the sweet potatoes have been cooking for two minutes, add the onions, red peppers, bacon bits, and spinach. Mix together until well combined and then cover for another minute, cooking on low heat so that the spinach can wilt.

Once the hash is fully combined, heated, and cooked (about 2 minutes) remove from the pan onto serving plate and cover with the pan’s lid to keep warm.

In the same pan that the hash was just cooked in, add the coconut oil to coat the entire pan. Crack the two eggs into the pan and cook for two minutes on one side and flip to the other, finishing cooking for another minute. (These eggs are best with runny centers, so be extra careful not to crack them!)

Top the sweet potato and spinach hash with the runny eggs, season with salt and pepper, and EAT IT UP

Open Fitness Journal: December 9

#omg

#PRFriday

Seriously, Fridays are for ass kickings and hard work.

Remind yourself that with the coming weekend comes fun to be had and more awesome things to laugh at.

If you’ve been having trouble keeping your chin up lately, keep it up, gorgeous.  You are so worth it and whatever is happening that is making it challenging for you to smile, just remember that next week, you can look back on it and say, hey, I got through that.

ON TO THE NEXT ONE BITCHES.

Warm Up

2 Rounds Through….

10 squats

10 push ups

10 jumping jacks

WOD 1:

ME 1k row rest

4:07

EMOM 10

Power Clean x 2 + Push Jerk – building to 125# (!!!!!!)

WOD 2

20 wall balls 14# to 10 inch target
10 push ups
20 box jump overs (no full ext.)

EMOM 16 

15 weighted sit ups (30#)

Split Jerk 1 RM

8 pound PR!!!!! (could I be any more excited about that?)

the answer is no 😉

Open Fitness Journal: January 8

Ha Ha Ha…. so….

this is what all of us Vermonters woke up to this morning….

I told myself, get out of bed, go get sweaty, and make yourself smile, realizing that it isn’t very often I get to experience below zero temperatures.

What’s the point of complaining about them and why are they such a bad thing?

They’re actually kind of fun because every time I go outside I get to dress like this…

“I can’t put my arms down!!!!!”

Isn’t this fun?  I mean, no other time in the course of the year do I get to wear a bazillion layers and be a walking monster of coziness.

The best way to counteract the cold is to sweat like crazy, don’t you think? GET UP AND GET MOVING and before you know it, Friday will be smacking on that cute butt.

Warm Up

1 mile Airdyne

Dynamic Stretch

3 x 1 minute hand stand hold

2 minute squat hold

Back Squat

15 minutes building to max reps at 150#

Front Squat

5 x 85#

5 x 95#

5 x 105#

5 x 2 @ 85% of 1RM

Clean Pulls from Blocks (above the knee)

Sets of three building to 115% of 1 RM squat clean

Skill Work

Pull Up Technique (Butterfly & Chest to Bar)

Hand Stand Walks

WOD

AMRAP 6

1 squat snatch (70#)

1 Rope Climb

10 Thrusters (70#)

10 DU

Rounds: 3

Recipe: Pistachio Coconut Macaroons

Y’all might want to sit down for this one…

Pistachio Coconut Macaroons 

Are you drooling yet?

I know, I know..

post holidays detox..

“hello… 911? I can’t stop eating!!!”

I know, I know.

But here’s the cool thing: these cookies are grain, dairy, and refined sugar free!  So you’re basically eating a salad when you eat half the pan (because I know that’s what you’re going to want to do.)

Hehehe, I’m just kidding, but there is absolutely no guilt in munching on these as a healthy dessert!  They’re so yummy, you know you want to 😉

For the Cookies:

2 cups coconut chips (unsweetened large flakes are best)

3 tbsp organic blue agave

1 tbsp coconut cream

1 tbsp coconut flour

1 tbsp ground cinnamon (duh)

1/8 cup & 2 tsp. melted coconut oil

To Top:

½ tsp. coconut oil

½ cup cocoa nibs

1 tsp. coconut cream

1/8 cup chopped toasted pistachios

How To:

– Preheat oven to 325°F

Add all the ingredients from the For the Cookies section into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix together until all ingredients stick together and are fully combined.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and use an ice cream scoop to spoon out small balls of ‘cookie batter’ onto the pan. If your ice cream scoop doesn’t have a nifty little lever that slides the cookies out, use another spoon to carefully help the batter out of the scoop.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, until they are golden brown around the edges. Let them sit for 10 minutes to cool.

While the cookies are in the oven (because I know you are a chef ninja with incredible multi-task-cooking skills) in a small sauce pan combine the ingredients from the To Top section, except the pistachios and cook on low heat until the cocoa nibs are melted and the coconut cream and oil are well mixed (about 6 minutes.)

Using a small spoon, drizzle the chocolate glaze over the cookies.  Using a teaspoon, sprinkle chopped pistachios onto the cookies with the warm glaze.

Let the cookies sit for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.  **THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT (they will fall apart otherwise.)

om nom nom nom…..

……

oops…..

there’s only one left 😉