Everyday, Ordinaire

August 8, 2014 Marcia Piper

You may wanna grab a snack, or two.

This post is gonna be a novella.

(deep breath) Here we go.

Signed up for a month of Bikram at the new studio near us.

Amie, Tori, and Holly even joined me for a class -- it was a treat.

Our instructor gave us Coconut Water on 4th of July, perfect because, holy double heat!

Despite my best non-effort to be prompt, I decided to hoof the trek, in flip flops, and 90% of the time ended up sprinting to the door. So I'm the lunatic you may have seen running down Grand with a yoga mat, bag and flip flops.

4th of July feast

Grilled sausage with grilled veggies -- squash (from Marks garden), onion, peppers, sweet potato and mushrooms.

All the spicy mustard.

Newest OBSESSION -- Paleo Granola (semi adapted recipe)

1.5 cups almond flour/meal
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup mixed nuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds -- I subbed for 2 tbsp chia seeds

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Combine base ingredients in a large bowl; blend well.
Mix in your add-in ingredients.
Spread mixture onto a prepared baking sheet. (I sprayed my baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray, but you could use coconut or olive oil.)
Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine took about 30 to get golden brown), tossing after 10 minutes or so.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

Makes just over four cups

Before.

After.

I'm drooling.

Granola with blueberries and almond milk

Atop Banana Ice Cream -- any nut butter is delicious, I've also used Nutella and PB2.

All winners.

More granola milk action

Still, more.

This peach-strawberry combo was legit good.

Clearly seven photos of granola and you can tell, its LOVE.

Ball game with the family.

My uncle, the ladies man.

More Coconut Bread action with a Turkey burger and tomato from the garden.

1 large egg
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
2 pinches of sea salt + any herbs you want
2 Tbsp any kind of milk**

Stir until there are no lumps. Let it sit for a minute (the batter will get a little fluffier). Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in the pan, and pour two small sandwich sized “pancakes” into your pan (on just under medium heat). It will only spread just a little bit. When the tops start to bubble just a little and the bottom is brown, flip them both over. This recipe makes 2 sandwich flat-breads.

**I generally use half and half or heavy cream as the liquid—the bread is fluffiest this way!

For me adding an extra dash of milk is a winner.

Oh and fresh, whole jalapenos. Always.

Summer Cake with Fruit and Cream (semi adapted)

I made this for Mark to take into work, but the consensus is in -- DELISH.

Serves 12

For the cake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Pinch salt

For the fruit:
2 nectarines or peaches, sliced
1 apricot, sliced
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup blackberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9 x 13-inch pan by greasing it thoroughly with baking spray.

Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the softened butter and sugar together until fluffy and light, then add the eggs and beat until fully incorporated and creamy. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, and finally the milk and vanilla. Beat the cake batter on low for 30 seconds, then medium-high for 3 minutes.

Immediately pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the tops spring back slightly when pressed and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake completely for at least an hour.

Beat the cream, sour cream, powdered sugar, and salt together until soft peaks form. Spread over the cooled cake, then top with the sliced or chopped fruit.

Refrigerate until serving, and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 5 days.

This gal is officially a MO resident again!

Tempted Bullet Proof Coffee.

Not bad.

Not I-want-to-make-this-everyday-good either.

Definitely creamy like a latte, and rich flavors like when you order non skinny (anything other than non dairy or skim) milk.

Note: I used sugar in the raw in place of stevia.

I just can't get on that bandwagon.

Read The One and Only while in France.

Perfect book (it is MASSIVE), so it took the entire trip to read.

So good Mark abandoned his book (obviously) and read over my shoulder.

The ending is a bit -- well, read it then email me so we can chat.

Sunday Group Run is back!

The first week I woke up LATE and totally got left. And I didn't bring and Ipod so it was a spectacle -- humming to myself/talking aloud. Thankfully the group and I crossed paths and I ran the last half with them.

Lesson learned.

Don't hit the snooze button.

City Coffee and Creperie with a pal post run.

We are friends forever because she ventures out in public with me after running.

I'm certain I smell like roses.

Lived in walking distance of this place for a year and never went.

Sometimes I make bad life choices.

Belgian waffle with all the fruit on top?

You had me at hello.

Is it me, or can you not get enough peaches this season?

Gah, so good.

Mark has been making fresh bread each week with the bread maker we "borrowed" from my mom, oh -- a year and a half ago. #smoothcriminals

I'm a carbaholic so I rarely have any.

Then he went and made banana-nut bread.

All bets were off.

Did I mention it was still warm???

Yep.

This ruched frock of perfection -- Target. Sassy enough for evening, but modest enough to transform for the work day.

Winner, Winner.

Attempted Raw Dough Bites.

Pass.

New-to-me coffee "Blended Americano"

Iced americano, blended with soy, 1 pump of caramel.

Boom.

Get yourself one.

Cupcakes in honor of our two year anniversary.

And the Beck concert.

Vanilla Latte with Tahitian Sugar my friend brought me back from her honeymoon.

It smells like sunshine.

Tastes like rainbows.

Catching Air

Couldn't put it down.

Gripping.

Soap Opera-y.

You must.

Marathon Training is -- going.

My grand expectations of perfection continue to get pummeled with one week of kick ass, followed by a week of under-whelming blah.

Five weeks in and I'm feeling good, speed and tempo work has been solid, and I'm making cross training a priority. More HIIT, plank type stuff, I find if I try to do a TAM workout and stick to my training schedule I come up short.

So HIIT it will be till after October 19th.