An Attempt at Healthy Living

On April 8th a friend and I decided to challenge ourselves to run 40 miles in 30 days as well as live a healthier lifestyle in general. Today marks the half way point of this 30 days.

I feel like I have been doing pretty well on the running front. So far, I have ran 18.5 miles! I have never been a runner. In fact for the majority of my life I wasn't even able to run a mile... I kid you not! So I am extremely proud of myself for being able to run 3 or 4 miles routinely. I am using the word routinely loosely, because let's be honest I don't usually workout that often. I will workout for 2 or 3 times a week then take 3 weeks off. This is partly the reason I wanted to challenge myself to run 40 miles in 30 days. I want to have a more regular workout routine. Even throughout these first 2 weeks it has been hard to find time to run. Life gets in the way, but I am hoping this is a step in the right direction.

As far as eating healthy goes, I definitely have some room for improvement. Those of you who know me well know that I have some health issues that myself and doctors are having a hard time diagnosing. Because of these issues, I have adopted a gluten free diet. This has definitely helped but the problem is still there. Having an undiagnosed health 'condition' That doesn't seem like the right word :/ I have scoured the internet for healthy eating tips and recipes. So I know what I should be eating but with hectic scehdules and tempting sweets around it is hard to follow a healthy diet.

For the first 15 days of this challenge I haven't really been trying to improve my eating habits. So I am going to focus on that for the next 15 days. So, today I started the day off with a delicious green smoothie. Usually I just throw whatever is on hand into my smoothies, but I stumbled upon this recipe and decided to give it a try.

Kale, Peach & Coconut Smoothie

1 cup frozen unsweetened peach slices
1 cup packed kale, torn into pieces and stems discarded
1/2 banana
3/4 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon raw honey
(you could also add a glug of almond milk for added creaminess)

• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high till smooth.
• Pour and enjoy!

via Instagram

I have another one of these bad boys ready for tomorrow morning. One of my goals to help me stay on track is getting better at meal planning. So wish me luck on my new health kick... hopefully it will stick!

Paris + Macarons

I have been talking a lot about traveling lately and J and I are in the midst of trying to plan a Europe trip for later in the year and if it all works out we will be in Paris for our 4th anniversary. Ahhh... our 4th anniversary. I can hardly believe it!  We have never taken a trip for an anniversary before and I am so excited for the possibility. And Paris would be the perfect place. I have only been once before and that was with J (and the rest of our London program) the very first summer we met, and we were just figuring out how much we liked each other. It would be fun to celebrate our anniversary while reminiscing about our first trip to Paris.

Lately, all the talk of Paris has got me hankering for a macaron and today I decided to whip some up. Below is a pretty simple macaron recipe. You might be thinking that the words simple and macaron don't belong in the same sentence, and you would be right. Now I do believe this recipe is actually pretty simple but it was my first time attempting it and let's just say there was some struggle involved.

First off, I didn't have the patience to sift the flour as thoroughly as I should have. So, make sure you sift well, mine turned out a little bumpy. Also, I really should buy some pastry bags. Trying to do it with a ziploc bag just wasn't cutting it. The shape ended up a little uneven and next time I would make them a little bigger.

Despite all that, they tasted delicious! I will definitely be trying this recipe again and maybe even experimenting with different flavors and fillings.

Macarons with Chocolate Hazelnut Filling

1 3/4 cups almond meal or flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt 
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Food coloring of your choosing
Nutella

• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

• In a bowl sift together almond flour and powdered sugar. Add salt.
• In a separate bowl beat egg whites while adding granulated sugar a little at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form. (Add food coloring at this step.)
• With a spatula gently fold flour mixture into egg whites until fully incorporated.
• Transfer batter into a pastry bag with a regular tip (or a ziploc bag with a corner cut out).
• Pipe even mounds of batter onto lined baking sheets about an 1 1/2" apart.
• Tap sheets on counter to help level mounds and let stand uncovered on counter for 20 minutes.

• Move oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 300 degrees.
• Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes switching positions halfway through.
• Cool completely for 30 minutes on baking sheets. 
• Once cooled, spread small amount of Nutella on half of the cookies, then pair with other half to make sandwiches.

After all of this I could really use a glass of champagne with my macarons but tea will have to do.
 

And here is your daily dose of Gracie (Maybe that should be an actual thing because she really is that cute and who wouldn't want to see her cute mug everyday?!)... J is working from home this afternoon and he and Gracie got some play time in.

 

What I've Been Pinning This Week...

Well, I've really dropped the ball on blogging this week. I promise I'll be better, I've just been super busy this week. But there are fun things ahead this weekend... tomorrow is Justin's birthday! We are celebrating tonight with his family and tomorrow will be just us.

Anyway, here's what I've been pinning lately...

Style Inspiration

Issa Spring 2013

Kate Bosworth

J. Crew

Recipes to Try

Banana Bread Muffins

Gluten Free Cookie Dough Bars

Holy Yum Chicken

For the Home

Hotel soaps on display

Wallpaper

 

What I've Been Pinning This Week...

Happy Friday, everyone! Here is a sample of what I've been pinning this week. Yesterday I wasn't feeling very good and you can see that in my pins.

Being sick = watching the Food Network all day

Oh, and sorry some of the pics aren't so great... that's all I could find :(

Recipes to Try

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies - Tried these and will definitely be making them again!

Key Lime Mousse Pie (w/ white chocolate)

Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Tomato Quinoa Soup

Style Inspiration

Ashley Olsen

Royal Blue

MICHAEL Michael Kors Studded Flats