Every Monday should be a holiday. I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself!
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CHEERS!
Monday Mantra 8
Back to School Granola Bars
Can you believe we’re nearing the end of August? As tourists head home, kids go back to school, and beach days slip away, I’m going to hold onto summer as long as I can! I love meal prepping, but completely slack during the summer months due to more fun activities – insert: happy hour on the deck, paddle boarding, beaching, laughing with friends. I totally can’t be alone on this! However, making healthy snacks to bring to work is a priority on my list. These granola bars have been a favorite for a long time and I’m always switching up the recipe with various ingredients. They are easy, delicious, sweet enough, and not filled with additives, chemicals, artificial sweeteners, food coloring, or high-fructose corn syrup. Mother, boyfriend, and child approved!
Healthy Granola Bars
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (sub any sugar)
- 1/2 cup flax meal
- Several dashes of cinnamon
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1 egg
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 pan. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine melted coconut oil, honey and 1 egg. Make a little well in the middle of the dry ingredients to pour the wet mixture into. Mix together until well combined. This will be a bit sticky!.. but delicious if you accidentally taste test 😉
Spoon mixture into the prepared pan, spreading evenly. You may need to wet your fingers or spatula to help pat down the mixture.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 30 minutes before cutting into. If you cut into them right away, they will be too soft and break. With homemade and lower-sugar granola bars, shapes vary! I get around 16 small bars out of these every time. I like to store mine in the fridge or even the freezer. You may notice chia seeds in the granola bar picture above – only because I ran out of hemp seeds that day. Unless you want to walk around with floss, I recommend hemp seeds only!
CHEERS to grab and go snacks!
- What’s your favorite snack to always have on hand?
Monday Mantra 7
Monday Mantra 6
… Starting the week off with some gratitude helps put things in perspective on Monday. Take a moment with the quote below and I think you’ll agree!
CHEERS to a positive Monday!
Easy Vegan Basil Pesto
When you have a limitless basil plant sitting on the porch, you may as well make pesto every week! However, a daily dose of cheesey dairy does nothing for me. I love my goat cheese, Gouda cheese, caprese salad… BUT for me, I’d rather focus on plant based foods for fuel with hints of animal sources along the way.
I browsed various vegan pesto recipes on Pinterest, but wasn’t satisfied. I had requirements of cashews and nutritional yeast yet couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. I got creative and decided to come up with my own go-to plant based pesto with all the goods in my kitchen!
Vegan Basil Pesto
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked and drained
- 1 cup tightly packed basil
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 big garlic clove, minced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
What the heck is a soaked cashew? Well? We aren’t making cashew butter! Add 1/2 cup cashews to a jar or bowl and cover with water. Leave tightly sealed at room temperature for 4-8 hours. Then drain the water out and rinse cashews thoroughly. The cashews will be soft and ready for easier blending!
Add all ingredients, including cashews, to food processor. Keep processing until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. I always add a splash of water to thin out the pesto and get it to a creamier consistency – juuust a splash!
Taste test, duh. And keep in the fridge. The pesto is delicious as a sandwich spread, over noodles, mixed in sautéed veggies… Anything you can think of! Keep in the fridge for 5 days. Mine is always gone well before that 🙂
CHEERS to fresh summer herbs!
- What’s your favorite herb to cook with in the summer? Comment below!
Monday Mantra 5
WELCOME BACK! To both you and me. It’s been a while since March.. how have you been?! I’d hate to use the word “busy” so I’ll have to say as much as I wanted to write, share recipes, talk about fitness and grow my blog – I had to step back and focus my efforts in other areas of life. And sometimes that happens! Within that time I’ve gotten a promotion at work, completed my certification as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and even traveled to Hawaii with my love. I haven’t stopped reading other blogs and I feel so inspired to write and satisfy my passions for health and fitness right here with ya!
Starting each week with a positive quote or thought is a game changer for me. I’m going to continue that every Monday, so you can join in too.
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Powerful quote above, huh? I think this one’s a biggie no matter where you’re at in life. In different situations, offices, social gatherings, family events, sports teams, etc… You may catch yourself giving power over to someone or something else. When you take a step back and think about it, there’s just no use in worrying about someone else’s behavior or the outcome of a particular situation. We have zero control over that! All we can do is focus on our own thoughts, actions, and feelings. No one else can rain on your parade unless you give them the power to do so.
So, let’s head into Monday strong and ready to take it all on!
CHEERS to taking our power back!
- Do you like starting the week off with a positive thought? I’ve started to see quotes all over Instagram every Monday morning and I love it!
Monday Mantra 4
Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. This whole time change thing really effects us, doesn’t it? I didn’t want any veggies at lunch yesterday because my body still thought it was in the morning hours. I read somewhere that it takes a week to adjust to the 1 hour change – do you agree? Who knew 1 hour made such a difference! Anyway, here we are. This week’s quote is a bit of a zinger, but I really love it. We all have our moments, perhaps judging someone else’s choices, actions, or doings. Maybe we’ve even talked about it with a friend. I’m all for venting. I’m just not for judging – there’s a big difference! I think most people are extra sensitive on Mondays, so this quote is a great eye-opener for the week.
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CHEERS to a mindful Monday!
- Do you have any Monday rituals? How do you cope with the Monday blues? I always set my coffee pot so a nice warm mug awaits 🙂
How Much MSG Are You Eating?
Happy hump day! I can’t believe we’re at the halfway hump. The weekend is near! As well as “spring ahead,” longer days, and warmer weather. I already feel like I have more energy.. Spring is a season of awakening, for sure! I’ve shared before how what you eat relates to your daily thoughts and feelings. Have you ever felt sluggish, slept terribly, had a bad dream and just couldn’t figure out why? I’ve had a family member feel the effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) after dinner, but didn’t eat at a Chinese restaurant so it couldn’t have been MSG, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, MSG is hiding in many of the foods you eat daily. The USDA is hiding the ingredient under various names.
Totally unfair, I know. Completely frustrating? Definitely. It’s so tough to navigate the grocery store today, always on the lookout for chemicals and unnecessary preservatives that show up in your favorite cereal. I’m pretty fed up! The best way to deal is to spread the news. I know a majority of people want to avoid MSG at all costs, so I hope you find this post helpful!
Just the other day, I informed my mom that MSG is in the vegetable bouillon jar that she occasionally uses to add more broth to soup. She was shocked, not to mention disappointed. It may be found in your soy sauce or even your “healthy” snack that has “natural flavoring” on the ingredient list. Concentrated protein and protein isolates are also common to contain MSG chemicals, so be sure to do your research before consuming a particular protein powder.
Here are the most common names for MSG in everyday food sources:
- Yeast Extract (you’ll be horrified by how often you see this ingredient)
- Autolyzed Yeast
- Textured Vegetable Protein
- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
- Soy or Whey Protein Isolate and/or Concentrate
For more info, head here. What can we do to avoid MSG? We can eat as close to whole foods as we possibly can. Choose foods that are less processed. Say no to chemicals! Make healthy food swaps. Nothing beats simply being aware! And with little changes day by day, we’re able to easily manage a healthier lifestyle.
CHEERS to spreading the word!
- What ingredients are you on the lookout for when checking labels?
- What’s your favorite healthy snack?!
Monday Mantra 3
Monday has struck again! I hope you had a fun and relaxing weekend. Yesterday I went to an arm balance and inversion yoga class. I was in awe of the instructor, her back muscles, and the way she balanced with such grace. Yoga sure does take a lot of practice. I love headstands, but arm balances are a whole new world to me. I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into the class, but I left with sore arms and new challenges to tackle. I usually practice yoga at home, so I was really out of my comfort zone. Speaking of which..
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This quote is so true. Think about the last time you were really proud of yourself or felt really accomplished.. Now before that sense of pride, you maybe were a nervous reck, anxious, uncomfortable? SEE! It’s amazing what can happen when we give ourselves opportunities to be courageous, daring, and adventurous.
CHEERS to trying new things!
- When is the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? .. meeting a new friend for coffee, trying a fitness class, interviewing for a job, going somewhere new by yourself..
dimpled inspiration 