Who Forgot To Mention Hot Yoga Is Hot

Can I just speak to how much I love you all?  Honestly, I knew I missed you but the response I have gotten has brought me darn near tears multiple times since posting yesterday.  YOU ARE AMAZING! 🙂

For any of you who haven’t spent much time in Denver, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Denver is Sunny.

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Nine days out of 10, you’re going to have the sun shining for a good chunk of your afternoon.

 Yesterday was NOT a Sunny Denver Day.

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Yup, July 30th and I was wearing a sweater and long pants yesterday.  No wonder everyone is struggling with the beloved Summer colds.  Whomp whomp.

It rained relentlessly morning, afternoon and night.  Monsoon rain, with cloud overhang that I’m used to seeing in the Midwest, not Colorado.   It was the topic of conversation for everyone at work and out and about.  Us Coloradan’s aren’t used to weather like this!

Make The Best Of It

All I wanted to do yesterday was crawl back in bed and curl up with a good book.  I had running on the agenda, but in the end, I was inspired by something much more weather friendly.  Hey, a hot room sounded PERFECT.

Workout 

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I made it back to Core Power Yoga for the first time since moving to Denver, and let me tell you.  All my instagram followers, you forgot to tell or remind me how challenging these classes are. I was DRIPPING buckets midway through class.  Talk about a detox.

There is nothing like the post run endorphin high, but man that class felt good.  60 minutes of a C2 class had this lady smilin ear to ear, and ready to EAT!

Good Eats

My gut has been all kinds of cranky this past week, so I’ve been drinking tons of juices and smoothies to get me through the mornings/afternoons.  And yesterday was one of those days.

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At least they’re delicious!

My eats during the day have been mostly liquid to appease my gut, but dinners are still chewable ;).  And healthy!

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Yesterday’s dinner started off with a cucumber, squash and tomato salad dressed simply with olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh basil.  YUM!

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Zach and I ran out of greens earlier in the week and stumbled upon this meal.  No real recipe, we just used the mandolin slicer to pickle slice the veggies (one small cucumber and one small squash), added a few fresh tomatoes from the garden, and threw enough dressing to cover the mix.  I recommend letting it sit in the fridge and marinate a bit if possible, but trust me it’s fresh either way!

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Also on the menu were homemade grilled falafel burgers and a side of Trader Joe’s pretzel bread.

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All together now!

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With a side of kambucha to wash it all down 🙂

Fresh, healthy and delicious!  Let me know if you guys are interested in the falafel recipe, I’d be happy to share!

Zach and I spent the rest of the evening finishing up the final season of Dexter (we gave up cable and got Netflix.  Best.Decision.Ever).

I may or may not have enjoyed a Whole Foods vegan cookie and a glass of wine while we waited up for Zach’s mom and sister to make it into Denver.

That’s right!  Family in town for the weekend!  We’re heading up to Breckenridge tomorrow afternoon to enjoy my favorite part of Colorado in the Summer!  Let’s hope the weather straightens it’s act up.

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I leave you with a picture of our very happy furball.  We bought her a new scratch pad which she became attached to IMMEDIATELY.   We may or may not have entertained ourselves for a little while watching her go crazy on some cat nip.  Don’t judge.  It was one AM and we were all slap happy!

Have you ever done hot yoga?  Did you sweat yourself off your mat?

Falafel recipe?

Tips for an angry gut?

Plans for the weekend?

Oatmeal Cookie Butter Cookies

Oh MAN do I have a good one for you all today!

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That’s right.  Trader Joe’s is a brilliant man — and he made a smart lady out of me last night int he kitchen with his Crunchy Cookie Butter.

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These cookies remind me of the cookies you get from a really good bakery (specially Latecia’s in my old Chicago neighborhood).  This batch made one LARGE cookie for me (plenty to share if you’re  nice) but the proportions are EASY to translate into a much larger batch.

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Oatmeal Cookie Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of Crunchy Cookie Butter
  • 1 tablespoon of oats
  • 1 tablespoon of whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of applesauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon of milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
  • small handful of Reese’s Pieces

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a cookie sheet evenly
  • Begin by mixing the cookie butter (room temp), oats, flour and applesauce in a bowl
  • Mix the baking soda, vanilla and milk together in a small container before adding it to the mixture
  • Carefully fold and combine the ingredients together until it looks like they are evenly distributed
  • Add the Reese’s pieces
  • Put the dough onto a greased cookie sheet (I baked one large cookie)
  • Cook for 12-15 minutes

Notes:  You’ll notice these proportions are VERY easy to multiply in order to make a batch of cookies.  You could easily double or even quadruple the recipe and make a bunch of smaller cookies! YUM!

Please, I cannot recommend this cookie enough.  Give her a shot — and thank me later.

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Quick and Sweaty With a Sweet

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday Everyone 🙂

As you all know, my evenings sans Zach include an embarrassing amount of bad TV.  True story. Well, I almost had a panic attack last night as I turned on the TV and our OnDemand was not functioning.  THE HORROR!

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Thankfully, the torture only lasted one show and everything was good in the world again.  Teen Mom — here I come!

{Exaggerate much, Ashley?}

Thankfully, I had some wonderful food to distract me, even during the “scare.”

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A strawberry shortcake roll that has literal strawberries, cream cheese, cucumbers, tempura shrimp and ell I believe.  It’s amazing.  But not as amazing as the sweet treat I made last night staring a new favorite ingredient:

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That’s right, this one is a good one.  I’ll be back later this afternoon with the recipe.  It’s one you don’t want to miss.

This Morning

I stayed up later than I normally do watching Lindsey on OWN {judging can continue now . . . }, so waking up this morning came a little quicker than I’d like.  Either way, I got myself out of bed after one snooze and got to movin.

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I did a repeat of the hill and sprint interval workout from last week for a little over 3 miles total.

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The workout includes a quick warm up, diving straight into a hill routine, an endurance routine, a hill/sprint routine, and then a cooldown.  It’s a good one!

TIME SPEED INCLINE NOTES
0:00-6:30 4.5 0.0 Warmup
6:30-7:30 5.0 0.0 Begin Incline Run Section
7:30-8:30 5.0 15.0
8:30-9:30 5.0 0.0
9:30-10:30 6.0 10.0
10:30-11:00 5.0 0.0
11:00-11:30 7.0-9.0 5.0
11:30-12:30 3.0 0.0 End Incline Run Section
12:30-13:30 3.0-4.0 0.0 Begin Sprints and Walks Section
13:30-14:30 8.0-10.0 0.0
14:30-15:15 3.0 0.0
15:15-16:00 8.5 0.0
16:00-16:30 3.0 0.0
16:30-17:00 9.0 0.0
17:00-18:00 3.0 0.0 End Sprints and Walks Section
18:00-19:00 6.0 0.0 Begin Endurance Section
19:00-20:00 6.5 0.0
20:00-21:00 7.0 0.0
21:00-22:00 7.5 0.0
22:00-23:00 8.0 0.0
23:00-24:00 3.0 0.0 End Endurance Section
24:00-24:30 6.0 0.0 Start Flat and Hills Section
24:30-25:00 6.0 6.0
25:00-25:30 6.0 0.0
25:30-26:00 8.0 0.0
26:00-26:30 3.0 0.0
26:30-27:00 7.0 0.0
27:00-27:30 7.0 6.0
27:30-28:00 7.0 0.0
28:00-28:30 8.5 0.0
28:30-29:00 3.0 0.0 End Flat and Hills Section
29:00-34:00 4.0 0.0 Cooldown

Followed by 5o incline sit ups

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I finished a sweaty mess in the best way possible, ready to tackle the day!

Back Later with a new favorite cookie recipe 🙂

Question of the Morning: Favorite TJ’s Goodie?  Now that they’re back in my life I need tips!

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