Gluten Free | Banana Muffins

One of my many inspirations are the Tone It Up duo. They have great referrals of workout routines that I take to the gym when I'm not at Yoga, and they have delicious recipes as well. One of them being their Gluten Free Banana Muffins... I know what you're thinking, "you must really like banana". Shockingly, I actually do not prefer banana unless it has to do with baking. They have given me horrible stomach pains ever since I decided to complete the General Motors diet last summer. One of the seven days of the program is just eating bananas and drinking milk all day. Although the diet really worked, that was the day my body rejected bananas whole on their own.

On to the good stuff.... I absolutely love my Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, but if you want something a little less sweet, these are your muffins. Especially because I made them into minis instead of full size. Making them the perfect on the go snack for breakfast or a yummy little treat in the day.

This full recipe can also be found on the Tone It Up website.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup Almond Flour

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

1/2 cup Quick Oats

1/2 cup Ground Flax Seed

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

2 large Bananas, ripe and mashed

1 Egg

2 tbsp Coconut Oil, melted in microwave for 20-25 seconds

1/3 cup  Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray muffin tray with non-stick spray, grease with coconut oil, or use muffin liners.
In a large-sized mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
Peel and mash ripe bananas with a fork in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Add in egg. Mix until egg is fully incorporated into the banana.
Add in melted coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla, and maple syrup. Mix until combined.
Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Mix until fully combined but be careful not to over mix.
Pour batter into muffin holes until about 1/3 full. Fill remaining holes without muffin batter with water to make sure that muffins bake evenly.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. The muffins may still feel like they are not cooked fully. Once they cool down, they should firm up.

Let cool in muffin tray for 5 minutes.
Transfer to cooling rack to let cool before eating.

I also dusted a tad bit of cinnamon on top 
Store in an air tight container for up to 5 days.

Yoga in the Mountains

Not only do I love yoga, but I love this girl as well. So much so, that I visited her in Seattle for her birthday. And a weekend it was!

Aaleen Cox, resides in Seattle, and never turns down.

This day in particular we went hiking at Rattlesnake Mountain Trail, and along the way we did some yoga here and there casually on the way up. This was unlike any type of hike I have done in the past. This is definitely a way to try something new in your practice, and that I did. This also tests your balance, strength and brings you a new appreciation to the wilderness. I love facing new challenges, and especially when I have the chance to face them with the people I love most.

Dancer's Pose; Natarajasana (Naht-tahra-jah-sauna)

Crow Pose; Bakasana (Bah-kah-sahna)

Tree Pose; Vrksasana (vrik-SHAHS-anna)

This is just called having fun and embracing life! 

Wheel Pose; Urdhva Dhanurasana (OORD-vah don-your-AHS-anna)
Urdhva- upward
Dhanu- bow

 Then on the way down after all of this success, this happened... It was champ Friday though!

Gluten Free | Raspberry Coconut Cake

Let me start off by saying this was on a TOTAL whim. I was on a baking spree today and thought I should use a remainder of my ingredients and come up with a summer cake for my family brunch tomorrow. Not only is it gluten "sort of guilty" free, but it's fresh and light as well. I have been on a sweet binge lately and this more then satisfied my craving.

Ingredients:

-Raspberries 

-Pinch of sea salt

-1/2 cup almond flour

-1 cup coconut flour

-1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 tbs honey

-2 eggs

-1 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

- 1/2 cup of cold water

*Preheat oven to 400

-Try and use a deep dish cake pan about 12' inches, if possible (otherwise just bake for longer). Spray with nonstick or coconut oil spray prior.

-Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl and in a separate medium bowl, mix the liquids together... Leave raspberries for last

-Slowly mix the liquid into the dry mix

-Chop raspberries with a large blade, but try to leave them in bigger chunks as possible.

-Mix in raspberries slowly with a flat rubber spatula and flip into batter about three or four times

-Flatten the mix in the dish and sprinkle a bit more toasted coconut on top and bake for 20 minutes

-Let sit for about 10 minutes, then sift powdered sugar on top 

Lastly, and most importantly. Pair this cake with a nice glass of red wine and enjoy! 

Paleo | Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Trust me when I say, these (or you may think me) will be your best friend after attempting to make these. Not only do they taste absolutely orgasmic, but you could not even tell they're Paleo... As in, you can tell yourself "but they're healthy right"?

In case you are not aware of Paleo; also known as "caveman" diet. It's a diet that consists of foods that can be fished and hunted, such as seafood and meat, and foods that can be gathered, such as eggs, fruits, herbs, insects, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, spices, and vegetables. Sounds crazy right? I actually practice mainly Paleo, Vegan and Vegetaran dishes in the kitchen. My method is to find dishes in mainly these three categories that you could not tell actually taste that great for you but really are. ESPECIALLY when it comes to sweets, since I am a "cupcake lover".

Moving on to the good stuff... I came across this recipe on Pinterest and haven't looked back since. Even as many looks in "EWW" I have received. After trying these, not one person has not asked me for the recipe. This recipe can be found on Taylor Made's blog and the recipe is as follows...

Ingredients:

2 bananas

*1 cup sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter)< I actually prefer Justin's Almond Butter w/ a hint of honey

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (or dark chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a muffin tin with paper/silicon liners.

3.  Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together in a blender/food processor until everything is incorporated.

4. Mix in chocolate chips.

5. Fill cups 3/4 full with batter (you can top them with more chocolate chips if you want!)

6. Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Let cool on wire rack and remove from tin.

8. Let them actually cool before you burn your mouth off. Although, they just could be worth it...

Makes about 12 muffins.

If you plan on making all twelve just for yourself (guilty), these also are great to put in the freezer and for a grab and go breakfast muffin! I also highly suggest making them now.... It is Saturday after all.

Yamas | Niyamas

This was the first book I read after my training last year and I highly recommend it, whether you're looking to go down a spiritual path, strengthen your yoga practice, or just looking for a good read. I particularly took a long time to read all 196 pages of this amazing book. I wanted to be able to grasp every Yama and Niyama as much as possible.  

This book completely opened my eyes to a new world and how I should live it. The Yamas and Niyamas come from The Eight Limbs of Yoga that originiate from the Yoga Sutras from Pantanjli. The Eight Limbs of Yoga are eight steps that act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. 

Two of the Eight Limbs are Yama; the ethical standards and sense of integrity. Basically, "Do unto others as you would have them undo to you". And Niyama; self discipline and spiritual observances. In each Yama and Niyama there are five, a total of ten. 

The five Yamas are as follows:

Ahimsa: Non Violence 
Satya: Truthfulness
Asteya: Non Stealing 
Brahmacharya: Non Excess 
Aparigraha:Non Possessiveness 

The five Niyamas are as follows:

Saucha: Purity; Cleanliness 
Santosa: Contentment
Tapas: Heat; Self Discipline
Svadhyaya: Self Study 
Ishvara Pranidhana: Surrender

Even though I want to practice them all and eventually bring them to my everyday life without a reminder from myself. It is a progression, and time and patience are the most important through out this process. The ones I am currently reminding myself everyday when I wake up, dedicate to my practice or remind myself throughout the day would be Brahmacharya, so every time I want to shop, I try to think of this one. Santosha, being content with my everyday, whether I'm happy or sad, but being content with being happy or sad. No matter how tough life can be, we must be content. And the most important one to me of them all that I am especially focusing on for the year is, Saucha. I always say at the end of my practice or classes to my fellow students. "Peace within our hearts, peace within our words and peace within our thoughts". I believe if we can achieve all of these we can live a pure and clean life. Everytime I have a bad thought, I catch and remind myself of Saucha to bring myself back to what I've already worked so hard in achieving. 

The Yama's and Niyama's are such a great reminder of how we treat ourselves, treat others and loved ones. This book was a great way to explore and re-evaluate my life and what's really important. You don't have to believe in God, Buddha or anything or one in particular to read this. If you have desire to want to change or better yourself. This is a great first start.

-Samantha Lee

Green Smoothie Challenge

I came across this challenge via Instagram, their username is SimpleGreenSmoothies. 

They do monthly challenges ever so often and provide you with the recipes. For $5.00 you can go to their website and print off a PDF file of all 30 recipes. That way you can go to Costco and buy almost everything in bulk and store a majority of it in the freezer beforehand. Otherwise, they just send you the recipes and grocery lists weekly.

I recommend buying mason jars for this challenge, which you can get for as little as $23.87 on Amazon. That way if you're doing this at all for dietary reasons, it fills up to two servings. One as a snack, and the other as a meal replacement. I chose to do this mainly to apply to my New Years resolution, which is Saucha in Sanaskrit AKA Purity one of the Niyamas ... Along with reaching the goal of Miranda Kerr's body as well. 

There are a few recipes I have made that are a few of my favorites that you should try. Below I put a few extra tips for getting the best results...

• The trick to making a green smoothie is blending the liquids and the greens first, then adding in the fruits etc. 
• If you have a Vitamix or Ninja, these are the best blenders (and a great investment).
• I find myself sometimes straining some of the smoothies because of the thickness and texture. When you do that they end up becoming more of a green juice, rather then a smoothie, which is just as delicious!
• I sometimes sub certain fruits such as bananas in particular. Or i'll add in a few other things such as, Flax Seeds, PB2, Probiotic Good Belly drink etc.

SXSW Part II

I'm going to keep this short since I'm past this at this point...

After Patrick "the clinger", in the same night I met a beautiful stranger. His name was Tom, we made eye contact multiple times that night before he made a move. Finally his friend and him had a plan... How I knew this? That's because I could see them discussing the plan only a few feet away from me. Since Tom was 6'4, they thought the best plan was for him to stand right in front of me so I couldn't see anything in front of me. His friend then turned around and apologized immediately for his friend Tom doing so... Pathetic, but Tom was beautiful so I couldn't hold it against him or even call him out on it.

We hit it off instantly and after the concert we decided to hang out a bit more after that. As
Tom, his friend and myself walked to my car we walked through the Capital of Austin. They then saw bulls and children statues that they thought "Oh, hey, that would be a great idea to get on and take pictures.". So I began taking pictures for them on it. Then Tom asks me to get up there with him and take "prom like" pictures, I thought, why not?... Horrible idea, because the cops came and took our ID's to make any checks for warrants etc and gave us a huge lecture on how disrespectful it was and how we could go to jail for years for any damage. After all of that mishap, we went back to their hotel. They offered me a vicodin to "help with my hangover"... Yeah, I'm good thanks. They shortly passed out after that and I snuck out. Tom and I met up one other time that week but nothing happened sadly since neither of us were "prepared".

We messaged a few times back and forth weekly for a few weeks. I then told him I was going to LA and he said he was more then willing to meet up. Even days leading up to my trip we were texting back and forth. When I get in I messaged him asking him if he was up for meeting that Monday evening. He does not end up texting me back until that night at midnight. You think I'm going to be up waiting around for you? He gives me some work excuse, which is fine, but I don't have time for that. I had to make the most of my time while I was in LA and I ended up meeting up with my DJ from SXSW anyways multiple days. We partied until 5am, hung out with good people, jammed to good music, and danced the nights away.

Needless to say, Tom is out of the picture. People prettier then you never works out anyways. I stand by my moto. "You should never be with someone thats way better looking then you as a woman."

-Samantha Lee