Apples, Apples, So Many Apples!

Long time no see! It's been crazy around here with graduating from college / moving twice (three times) / getting married / going on a honeymoon / working on my photography business! Luckily, life has slowed down a bit. I've been spending my days working on photography - whether that be promotions, booking shoots, preparing a website. It's time consuming but I can hardly consider that work!

Braden and I have been keeping life pretty low key, at least for these first few weeks of marriage. This past Sunday we were invited to join his family at Sky Top Orchard in Asheville, NC. Since we didn't have any plans holding us back, we accepted and made the drive up to NC.

Our basket didn't seem very full, but we ended up leaving with more apples than I know what to do with (in addition to the apples we already had)!

This apples overload lead me to some baking frenzies. So many apples so little time. We had a good friend coming over for dinner on Monday so I decided to go the dessert route, Apple Crisp!

I wanted something simple and I stumbled upon this recipe. The only thing that took a little time was chopping up the apples, but other than that it was super simple and quick.

Apple Crisp

*Preheat oven to 375°

What you need:

6 apples cored, peeled, and sliced

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup cold butter

2/3 cup oatmeal

Method:

1. Grease 9" pie plate

2. Add sliced apples evenly on pie plate

3. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, spices and salt.

4. Using a mixer, cut butter into the dry mixture

5. Stir in oatmeal

6. Sprinkle mixture on top of apples and bake for 35-40 min!

I've been walking more often, but walking by yourself just isn't that fun. We've become great friends with our pre-marital counseling couple Susan and Kent. They treat us like family, so we feel as if we are add-ons in their family! They have given me permission to take their "other" children for walks during the day, so of course I'm taking them any chance I can.

Meet Charlie and Nana, our adoptive children.

After my walk I contemplated what else I could make with our leftover apples. We love brinner, but try to save it for Sunday nights. However, every Sunday we've been back has been busy. So, I decided to incorporate apples into sweet potato waffles. I didn't know how great the combination would be, but WOW, I think we nailed it!

Paleo* Sweet Potato and Apple Waffles

What you need:
2 apples
2 small sweet potatoes
3 eggs
2 tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup almond milk (or other milk)
1.5 cup almond flour

Method:
1. Microwave sweet potatoes for 5 minutes, let cool.
2. While sweet potatoes heat up, core, peel, and slice apples - place in separate microwaveable bowl.
3. Add eggs, honey, almond milk, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda into a blender.
4. Cut sweet potatoes open, scoop out the insides into the blender with other ingredients - blend well.
5. Add in almond flour.
6. Use almond milk to thin out the puree, you may need more or less than 1/4 cup.
7. Sprinkle cinnamon on apples, then microwave for 2 minutes. Stir apples into puree mixture.

In a preheated waffle iron, add about 1/2 cup of mixture. This recipe made about 6 waffles!

We topped them with some Trader Joes Shortstack Syrup - YUM. These were SO good, we will definitely be making them more. Knowing us, we will make them in bulk and eat them throughout the week :) Did I mention that these are paleo?!

So what's the plan for the REST of our leftover apples? Only time will tell. Braden mentioned that he thinks we should juice them. I'm not complaining about fresh apple juice.

I like the idea of using one fruit and making multiple different recipes. Next on the list, pumpkin!

As Much As I Hate Defeat...

Let's just say that my paleo sugar detox did/did not go according to plan. I completed week one of the detox a few days shy of 7. You know how things go.. snack attacks while studying, road trips, and Easter didn't help me stay on track! For the 5 days that I did stay on a strict sugar detox, I felt incredible.

I felt so sluggish the few weeks prior to the detox. It took a lot of will-power to get off the couch and get moving, especially when it came to working out. I would get tired by 8pm, but still couldn't fall asleep until well after 12. My body was out of whack.

I never really craved sugar during the first week. As a matter of fact, I felt great without having any sugar. My body had been craving lean proteins and vegetables. A week of giving my body what it wanted did wonders for my metabolism, mood, and motivation (I love alliteration). Although numbers aren't super important, I went from 122.2lbs down to 118.6 after those 5 days on the sugar detox. For someone of my size, I'd say that's pretty significant in a 5 day period.

I've reintroduced artificial sweetner with my morning coffee. I'm a personal fan of Stevia and sugar free hazelnut creamer. I have also only been having one serving of fruit a day, not because of a detox, but because I really have not craved fruit that much. For those of you who know me, I'm a fruitaholic, so this is pretty out of the ordinary for me.

I hate to admit defeat.. but I must say, 5 days of the detox were plenty to recharge my body! I would still recommend the detox to anyone who is looking to jump start eating Paleo, or even those who just want to jump start eating healthy period. You would be surprised at how much your body craves meat and vegetables.

I may do a week sugar detox once every other month just to put my body in check, but I am not looking to do anything outrageously crazy in the next coming months. I plan to eat mostly strict paleo, with an occasional treat now and then - we all deserve that!

Hope you all are having a great week!

Spring Cleaning {internally}

I've been quite the stranger to blogging recently. Let's just go ahead and say life got in the way of all my extra time. I'm currently balancing 3 "mini" jobs, in addition to class 4 days a week. Needless to say, I stay busy every day from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep!

After all of the schedule craziness, I was more than excited about heading to Daytona for spring break. We flew down to Florida last Monday and stayed until Friday. The weather was a bit chillier than any of us had anticipated, but it was still wonderful to get away for a week and relax.

We climbed 203 stairs to the top of the second tallest Lighthouse. I'm terrified of heights but I was encouraged every step of the way. I will admit.. I didn't look over the edge!

With relaxing comes eating, and with eating comes laziness, and with laziness.. well you get the point.
I've mentioned before that I did a strict month of eating Paleo. That month transformed my metabolism, my attitude, and my body. After a month of eating so well, led to a few weeks of eating well with a "little bit of this, little bite of that" of things that aren't so great (treats, sugars, etc) and I started getting extremely sluggish. My body was yelling WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!? I decided to have one last "free for all" week of eating at the beach during spring break, after all, what's a vacation without dessert every day?

I want to go back to strict paleo, but needed a little jump start to get me there. After a week of eating anything and everything, I decided to go on a paleo sugar detox.

I am doing a 3 week detox that goes back to strict paleo in the third week. The objective is to cleanse the body of all sugar, and to gradually start adding elements back in to reset my body and stabilize hormones. Have I mentioned that when I was eating poorly I had minimal to no energy. This cleanse should rid my body of any cravings and clean out my system to start eating strict paleo again. I've got to get ready for a wedding  in 5 months!

The rules for each week are slightly different. Week one is supposed to be the worst.

Following are the rules specifically laid out for each week…

Week 1 

No Sugar (including fruit), No Dairy, No grain, no legumes! No sugar includes artificial sweeteners, stevia, honey, agave.  NO Fruit.

Vegetables

Artichoke Beet greens Bell peppers Brussel sprouts Carrots Celery Cucumber Eggplant Green onions Mushrooms

Onions Parsnip Radish Seaweed Tomatillos Turnip greens Asparagus Beets Broccoli Cabbage

Cauliflower Collards Endive Lettuce Mustard Greens Parsley Spinach Tomato Turnips

Proteins

All fish Shellfish Any Game Meat Eggs

Lean Pork Lean beef Lean Poultry No Processed lunchmeat or bacon week 1

Fats

(with cutting out sugar and fruit will need fat as energy) Still don’t overdo !!!

Olive oil Coconut oil Avocado oil Almond oil Walnut oil Flaxseed oil Almonds Cashews

Pecans Pine nuts Pumpkin seeds Sunflower seeds Macadamia nuts Pistachios Sesame Seeds Walnuts

I am on day 3 of week one. I'll admit that I've missed my normal coffee and stevia every morning, but I've actually felt pretty good just eating protein, vegetables, and fats. Cutting out fruit for a week hasn't been as tough as I thought it would be, but I am still not even half way through the week. I've had a few minor headaches due to lack of sugar and caffeine, but nothing too unbearable.

On the brighter side, I've felt so much more energized and don't feel so weighed down by all the junk I was eating. Going strict again has led to new recipe discoveries, like my new personal favorite, kale chips (thanks Katie!) I'm also going to be trying some paleo pizzas later this week.

Check back in for another week 1 update! I'll also be blogging about weeks 2 and 3. Anyone care to join me?!

Happy cleansing!

You Said Blueberry What?!

It's been a while people. And by a while I mean like two weeks. How was everyone's weekend?! I spent mine relaxing mostly (watching The Hills on Netflex), I felt pretty lazy if I'm just being honest. We need days like that sometimes to re-cooperate,  no shame in that! Due to the last few weeks being devoted to getting into the swing of school, wedding planning, and catching up with friends, I haven't had much time to write about our most recent endeavors.

Where should I start?

This one needs a little background info.

Braden and I spent a few days in my hometown the week after Christmas. While we were there, my wonderful friend Paige and her family had the two of us and my mom (+ our friend Megan) over for dinner. Her mom is infamous for her awesome mashed potatoes, so naturally she made that the star of the meal. Dinner was delicious, but dessert had us especially intrigued. Paige's parent served everyone vanilla ice cream, but brought out a mysterious bottle and said "I'm not going to tell you what it is, just try it." Braden and I are usually adventurous, so we decided to go for it.

Blueberry balsamic.

Yes, I said it, blueberry balsamic paired with vanilla ice cream. Sounds awful right? Trust me, it is SO good. Of course, this turned into a great conversation about where the balsamic originated. They told us that there are two stores, one in Columbia and one in Greenville. Bray and I put it on our "to-do" list as soon as we got back to the Upstate.

Fast forward a few weeks.

We went to Greenville to check out a reception venue, and as soon as we let Braden mentioned the olive oil company. It was still pretty early (around 10:30am) so the last thing I wanted was to taste test olive oils and balsamic dressings. But, we went for it anyways, you only live once right?

As soon as we walked in we were greeted by the co-owner of the company. He explained to us the process of taste testing the olive oils. They give you a bowl with little pieces of bread so that you can test each olive oil. He explained many combinations, normal and strange, and told us about each olive oils health benefits, origin, and their best sellers. Once he got done explaining everything we were set lose to try everything!



So many great choices, they were all so good. He told us that the Tuscan Herb was one of their best sellers, which we ended up leaving with. It was too good to pass up.



After tasting all of the olive oils, you're in for a real treat. We were given a bowl of ice cream and got the run down about each of the balsamic. There were flavors from dark espresso, peach, to lavender, all of which are awesome. One of my personal favorites was Dark Espresso and Dark Chocolate. We already knew blueberry was a great choice, so we tried it in variations with the chocolate and other flavors.

Taste tester in action.

After trying multiple flavors and combinations, we ended up purchasing the blueberry and the dark chocolate. Both excellent choices.

Give Palmetto Olive Oil Co. a try! It's a fun little date spot, they make it a great experience. Not to mention that olive oil is great for adding depth to the flavor of foods and offers many health benefits. It wouldn't hurt to give some fun flavors a try when you're cooking, we've loved having the Tuscan Herb.

Here's the company's info if you're interested:
2247 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC 29605
http://www.palmettooliveoilco.com/index.php

Hope you all have a wonderful week, happy tasting!

When "Whoops" Turns into "Wonderful"

Do you ever have a hankering for something sweet, to the point where you'll search for an hour to find that "perfect" recipe that sounds incredible right in that moment? Yeah, me too. The only obstacle I've had lately is finding Paleo recipes that are just as delicious as the real thing. I've had my share of flops:  knock off chocolate cupcake made out of eggs and cocoa powder.. you do the math. But, I've also had my share of triumphs:  chocolate zucchini bread, chocolate mug cake, and the list goes on. 

Let's get real though, I'm always in the mood for cookies. Or anything sweet for that matter.

I stumbled upon a Paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe that sounded promising, so Braden and I decided to give it a try with a few twists of our own. Well.. the cookies were supposed to turn out like this..

But ours turned out like this..

How did we deal with this dilemma? We called them Paleo chocolate chip muffins, problem solved! They were so light and fluffy, much different than I expected. It was rather surprising.. and made both of our tummies happy! To see the actual recipe, skip on over to Delighted Momma's recipe. 

If you're aiming for some muffins, I've got you covered!

Paleo Chocolate Chip Muffins

What you'll need:

1 cup almond flour

1/2 cup coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

3 tbsp honey

4 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips (we used 60% Cacao chips)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°

2. Melt honey and oil together in microwave for 15 seconds

3. In mixing bowl, mix together:  oil, honey, eggs, vanilla, and salt

4. Stir in almond flour and chocolate chips

5. Pour batter into muffin tins (we made 12 muffins)

Bake for 12-15 minutes :)

We loved these muffins, there's only a few left and they were just made yesterday! It's not very often that a baking recipe turns out wonderfully when you do something wrong, I'll take it as a win. Has anyone else had a recipe flop and end up turning into something great? 

I'm off to do a little Christmas shopping! I hope you all have a wonderful day. Hooray for Thanksgiving Break!

Recent Happenings

I've really jumped off of the blogging bandwagon, and I really want to hop back on. With writing being a passion of mine, I really need to get better at keeping up with this! I've mentioned before that I have some catching up to do! What better way than to catch up in pictures?

I'm always in the mood for pancakes, and I've posted about them before in sweet potato form. I wanted to make my life a little simpler and have a little less prep time.

Enter egg and protein powder pancakes, probably the easiest combination in the world! Mix 1 scoop of protein powder, I use Sun Warrior vanilla, with 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp baking powder. They're much fluffier than I expected. I've been throwing in different mix ins (blueberries, strawberries, sunbutter, etc) but chocolate chips have definitely been a recent fav.

Another recent fave that I've mentioned before is the chocolate mug cake. I wanted to make a knock off version of PaleOMG's chocolate mug cake. Her cake is wonderful, but I felt that it could definitely be modified to be "one serving friendly."

Mix together:  1 egg, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp almond flour, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp oil, and a pinch of cinnamon. I always throw in a few chocolate chips to make it more of a treat. Microwave for 2 minutes!

This past weekend was filled with fun with friends. Friday night I went to Tigerama, a pep rally held by Clemson, for the very first time. Yes, the first time I got to go was my senior year.. and I loved it! My favorite part was when a few of our guy friends, the "320 Blues," performed the national anthem. After hanging out at Tigerama for a few hours we decided to play a few rounds of Catch Phrase, and it got INTENSE. Guys v Girls never fails to be entertaining. A fun night with friends isn't complete without some type of treat, so the girls and I headed to the store and got a huge package of cookie dough and vanilla ice cream.

Can you guess what we made?

Yep, you guessed it.. PAZOOKIE

It was totally dominated in a matter of 3 minutes, tops.

Saturday was the Clemson v Maryland game, also known as Homecoming. We spent the day tailgating around campus and eating our little hearts out. I love game days:  football, food, and friends are just a few of my favorite things. Might I add that I have the best (sassiest) friends on the planet?

Seriously, I couldn't ask for a better group of encouraging and fun people!

That's all for now!

Until next time, Happy Tuesday!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

As promised, I'm finally getting around to telling you about my recent fall obsession:  Chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Not only is it super easy to make, but it turns out beautifully, topped with melted chocolate chips that will make you want to eat the whole loaf.

Is your mouth watering? Mine definitely is. It is THAT good people!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Here's what you need:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup canned pure pumpkin (unsweetened)
1 cup chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup regular sugar

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Here's how to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, grease 9x5 loaf pan
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and pumpkin.
4. Add dry ingredients, mixing until everything is evenly combined. Then, add in chocolate chips (save some for the top!)

5. Pour batter into loaf pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top (I sprinkled a lot!), then bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Once it's ready to come up, let it cool for about 15 minutes then run a knife around the pan edges to make sure it doesn't stick.

And there you have it, it's that easy! I must say, it doesn't take much to make this look pretty. It does most of the work for you! I sliced some up and took it to a tailgate last weekend and it was a huge hit!

What's your favorite way to incorporate pumpkin into a tasty treat?

Well Folks, It's Been a While

Let's be honest, I've been SO BUSY with everything going on lately that I've hardly had time to think about blogging. I apologize for being MIA :) Let's see here.. I have a whole lot to catch up on. Last weekend Braden and I headed up to Helen, Georgia to spend some time with his family. Our goal for this trip was to relax as much as possible.. I repeat.. as. much. as. possible. The first day was spent doing various activities. We started out the day by stopping by a cute little country store that sells many different "mountainy" foods. 

 

Since starting Paleo, honey is one of my main sources when baking something sweet. Don't judge, but I've already been through two jars of honey in a 2 month span.. so Braden and I found it completely necessary to purchase another jar! He insisted on getting one with the honey comb still in the jar, which I didn't mind!

Please note the creepy old lady, I'm holding up her hand by a string. The shop had these little friends sitting in rocking chairs and would make the move or wave at whoever was passing by. Needless to say, I found them rather creepy but still decided to become better acquainted with little grandma over here.

After picking up some goodies (I got some pecan pralines, mmm my favorite) we headed to the zipline! I ziplined for the first time in Tennessee last year. I'm not a huge fan of heights so I was pretty hesitant but ended up loving it! This particular zipline was 1/2 mile long and ended with propelling down the side of the tower. I was a little nervous but ended up going for it, along with Braden, his brother Corbin, his girlfriend Mary Miles, and then Poppie decided to join us because he's quite the adventure enthusiast.

We wanted to make the most of our trip to the mountains, so we followed up ziplining with a hike up to Anna Ruby Falls. The hike was a little steeper than I had anticipated, so most of us were nice and sweaty by the time we reached the fall. It was definitely worth the climb though! If you have a chance to go see these falls, I highly recommend it!

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the cabin. We were all pretty well acquainted with the couches by the fire, while occasionally making our way out to the porch to see this view:

The next morning it was raining outside which damped our hopes to go horseback riding. Instead, we opted to make the day relaxing by making various treats. Of course cookies were made, but Gigi brought along a soft pretzel making kit. Braden and I assisted and twisted the cinnamon sugar and salted pretzels. It's definitely not as easy as it looks to make a perfect pretzel!

After baking and eating our body weight in food, Bray and I wanted to enjoy the outdoors for a little while. The rain had eased up so we decided to go for a little golf cart tour of the mountain resort. You can't beat the pretty fall foliage up there, I've never seen so many colors!

We ended the day hanging out at the stable. Since we couldn't ride, we thought it'd still be fun to pay the horses a visit. We had so much fun relaxing and enjoying the beautiful views. I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with his family, they always make any vacation so much fun.. plus we eat so much food that I could probably go without eating for weeks, haha!

How's that for a mini catch up on the past weekend? I will continue playing catch up this week with a Halloween and wedding post from this past week, and a recipe for this beauty:

Until next time, I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Faith Without Deeds is Dead

Let's just jump right into it. The Lord has been teaching me so much the past few weeks. A reoccurring theme, though, has been that faith without deeds is dead. Did that hit anyone else over the head? Lately, I've been focusing on being active in activities that involve worshipping God. Whether that means participating in a small group, going to a worship service. or simply going to church. But, have I really done anything?

Debatable. Faith alone does not mean you're righteous.

I've been reading through the book of James and surprisingly it has rocked my world. I say that's surprising, but walking with the Lord always is - so really I shouldn't be surprised haha. This morning, James 3 was speaking right to me.

Verse 2 claims, "We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never in fault in what they say is perfect." Basically, everyone stumbles and we are no where near perfect. Verses 5, 8, and 9 all speak volumes about how our tongue is used to bring harm or to bring glory. Verse 5, "the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts." Isn't it funny how our tongue is the strongest muscle in our body, and it can do the most damage when it comes to speaking harsh or contradictory words? I never realized how much harm we can do with our words.

Satan has a way of tricking us into using our words for evil, rather than using them to bring joy to others. It may sound crazy, but think about it, when is the last time you vented about someone around you and didn't think twice about it. That vent session was an outlet to curse others - and that same tongue is used to praise God. See the problem?

I was not created to be perfect. God has created us to spread his wealth and to spread His good news. Our tongue can be used for evil if we're not careful and if we're not seeking the words to say from the Lord. Be mindful of your conversations, someone may overhear that vent session and you may lose your credibility. Some may hang on to your words, so use them to glorify the Lord.

Our words are a gift to speak praise and encouragement! Live a life of good deeds and pure words, the Lord will bless that by giving you "wisdom that  is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" verse 17.

I needed that hit on the head. Who knows, maybe one of you did too!

Anyone else feeling the weight here? Maybe I should lighten it up a little! On a lighter note, here are a few gems from this past weekend and so far this week.

Of course I started out my weekend at home at one of my favorite places, Red Bowl. Our great, silly friend Burt tagged along and graced us with his presence.

This little guy was hanging out on the door when we got home!

Burt also helped while I was baking Papa's cake by decorating cookies to reflect his Clemson pride. I must say, he has quite the creative side!

The finished sugar free cake, I was so proud! Papa is diabetic, but loves sugar, so I had to make sure it was just as sweet and delicious as any other cake!

 Madre and I treated ourselves to a mani&pedi morning which was wonderful and relaxing.

 I had a hankering for chocolate yesterday but didn't want to put in too much effort. The outcome? Chocolate mug cake! Throw in 3 tbsp almond flour, 1 egg, 1 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, a little dash of cinnamon and a little bit of vanilla - microwave for 2 minutes and there ya have it! Delicious!

Tay and I went on a spontaneous trip to Greer to see Kari Jobe perform.. FOR FREE!

She was seriously wonderful. The concert was exactly what my heart needed to refresh. Thank you for reviving my soul Jesus!

That's all I have for you so far this week. Happy Wednesday people, the weekend is almost here!

What's Baking Wednesday

I thought it'd be pretty fun to start a little weekly blog post about recipes I've tried or made that week. We'll see how this plays out after a few weeks, but for now I like the idea :)

Two things I have been missing since starting Paleo are sweet breads and the sweet crunch of cereal with berries in the morning. So far this week I've tried two new Paleo recipes:  Chocolate Zucchini Bread and Paleo Cereal!

So here's how it went down.

I stumbled across this recipe for chocolate zucchini bread and was dying to try it! I'm a huge fan of regular zucchini bread, so adding chocolate into the mix definitely appealed to me.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

• 1 medium zucchini, shredded (equal to 1.5 cups shredded zucchini)

• 2 eggs, whisked

• 3/4 cup sunbutter (or nutbutter if you prefer)

• 1/3 cup raw honey

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 2 tablespoons coconut (or almond)  flour

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt

First step:  Shred your zucchini with a cheese grater. Once the entire zucchini is shredded, place onto paper towels and squeeze out excess water.

Second step:  Mix together all ingredients without the zucchini, once elements are combined well, then add in the shredded zucchini.

Step 3:  Pour into an 8x5 loaf pan and bake at 375° for 25-35 minutes. I checked mine periodically with a tooth pick to make sure it wasn't over baking.

The bread was so moist and delicious. I definitely recommend this if you're craving that sweet bread you've been missing!

I used to eat a bowl of Kashi Go Lean or TJ's bran flakes topped with frozen blueberries every single morning (I'm a creature of habit). Since Paleo took over, I have either protein pancakes or a turkey bacon omelette every morning. The pancakes take care of my sweet fix, but for some reason I've specifically been craving some cereal with milk.

Enter the Paleo cereal phenomenon.

Paleo Cereal

• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp sunbutter (or nutbutter of choice)
• 1 tbsp almond butter (or nutbutter of choice)
• Drizzle with honey and cinnamon

Mix together all nuts, nutbutters, honey and cinnamon.

Put in baking dish (I used a pie pan) and pat down mixture.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Side note, this makes your house smell delicious!

Add in some frozen or fresh blueberries and coconut milk (or almond milk) and enjoy!

I'm heading to workout at Crossfit. Today's workout is 200 double unders for time, and a 5 burpee penalty every time you mess up.. YIKES. It looks like I'll be doing a lot of burpees, which is never ever a good thing. 

Hope all of you are having a fantastic wednesday, we're half way through the work week!