Healthiest Pancakes Ever

Buckwheat Protein Pancakes (Adapted from Thrive)


I didn't get a picture of them because we ate them so fast, they were that good.
Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup hemp protein ($12 at sprouts)
1 cup water
1 cup vanilla coconut milk
1 banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg


Directions:
In a bowl mix buckwheat flour, flaxseed, hemp protein, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a food processor/blender combine water milk and banana.  Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients.  Heat over medium heat.  Heating the pancakes too high will destroy all of the essential amino acids packed in this pancake.  Top pancakes with pure maple syrup or agave.  I made these the other day and they were delicious!  I thought they were going to be awful but I loved them.  I will definitely be making these a lot.  Don't be afraid of the hemp protein, you can't even taste it in the pancakes. 

Why they are so healthy:

Buckwheat:  buckwheat is not a wheat, it is a pseudograin.  It contains eight essential amino acids.

Hemp protein: Hemp's protein is complete and contains all 10 essential amino acids.  Hemp protein helps boost the body's immune system.  Hemp protein is easily digested and because it is raw they maintain naturally high levels of vitamins, minerals, balanced fats, antioxidants, fiber, and chlorophyll. 


Flaxseed:  Has the highest level of omega-3, an essential fatty acid.  Omega 3 plays an important role in metabolism of fat.  A daily dose of 10 grams (1 tablespoon) of ground flaxseeds will hep the body burn body fat as fuel.  This will help anyone who wants to lose body fat. 

Make Your Own Cleaners!

This weekend I made a ton of cleaners.  I just got done with taking a microbiology class over the Summer and was kind of shocked by everything I learned and shocked that I loved learning about it.  I love the CDC website and go on it every day now.
My conversation with Jordan:
Me: "So....how do you feel about Georgia?"
Jordan: "Georgia?  Uhhh I don't know, why?"
Me: "Because I'm pretty sure we have to move there."
Jordan: "Oh please no.  What's in Georgia?"
Me: "The center of disease control!, and I have to work there."
Jordan: "Are you just guessing its in Georgia because of the Walking Dead?"
Me: "No, it really is in Georgia! And I want to work there."

I'm guessing he thinks I was joking.  But how cool would it be to work for the CDC! 


Some things I learned this Summer:


Don't use hand sanitizer unless you are in the middle of the woods deserted and just went to the bathroom.  It doesn't really fight against bacteria/virus's.  If you are going to use it make sure its >60 percent alcohol.  


Wash your hands often!  Make sure you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.  


Don't use antibiotics when they are not needed!  You only need antibiotics for a bacteria.  Virus's should not be treated with antibiotics.  Common cold, Bronchitis are viral! 


Triclosan
Triclosan started off by just being in toothpaste to help fight against certain bacteria.  Then some idiotic person thought it was a good idea to put it in everything.  Triclosan is now in face wash, hand soap, deoderant, mouth wash etc...Triclosan is currently under regulation by the FDA, they don't know how safe it is but it continues to be in our products.   Triclosan causes resistance to bacteria.  It is not good for your body to be resistant to a bacteria because when you acquire the bacteria you won't be able to fight it off.  In a study I just read on the CDC website it said that they tested whether you could fight off E. coli when triclosan in hand soaps was present.  E. coli was resistant to triclosan and continued to harm the host.  Try to find all of your household items without triclosan in them.  Ivory soap and crest toothpaste does not contain triclosan.


Make Your Own Cleaners!
These are the ingredients I used:

I only used about 1/4 of all of the ingredients and It made a ton of different supplies.  I am going to save so much money!  I hate spending money on cleaning stuff, its so boring.

What you will need:
vinegar
20 mule team borax (I found mine at safeway)
Ivory dish soap
corn starch
salt
baking soda
hydrogen peroxide
1 bar fels naptha ( I bought two so I could double the recipe)
super washing soda arm and hammer(found mine at walmart)
suave conditioner
castile soap (Found this at sprouts, bought the smallest amount)


The Recipes:
All Purpose Cleaner:
2 T vinegar
1 tsp borax
drops of dish detergent (Ivory, does not contain triclosan)
Hot water


Basic Carpet Stain Remover:
Equal parts vinegar and water


To remove grease from carpet stains:
corn starch
(scrub corn starch into carpet and vacuum) 


Heavy Duty Carpet Cleaner:
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup vinegar
Make paste and put on stain, let sit for 2-3 hours.  
I used this and it got out a huge stain from our carpet I have been trying to get out forever


Window Cleaner:
1/3 tsp dish detergent (ivory)
3 T vinegar
2 cups water

Stain Remover (clothes/carpet) I used for yellow stains on shirts
1 part baking soda
1 part hydrogen peroxide
2 parts water

Laundry Soap:
1 bar Fels Naptha
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1/4 cup baking soda
(2 T per load!)
grate fels naptha with a cheese grader and put in food processor until it is a fine grain.  Combine all the ingredients.

Fabric Softener:
6 cups hot water
3 cups vinegar
2 cups suave conditioner
(2 T per load!)

For the dishwasher:
equal parts borax with washing soda
add 2 T vinegar to the rinse dispenser for extra shine
(2 T per load!)

Bath/Sink/tile cleaner:
2/3 cup baking soda
1/2 cup castille soap
2 T vinegar
1/2 cup water

Toilet Cleaner:
1/4 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
drops of soap (ivory)
(Don't use a spray bottle, Use one you can pour this out of)

To clean the bath:
I put borax all over our bath and then added a little bit of water and let it sit for an hour.  When I went back to scrub the bath it was perfectly clean.  I have tried so many different cleaning products for our stupid bath and this worked the best!  Who would of thought $5 borax could do so much

Favorite Health Blogs

One of my favorite things is finding new health blogs to read.  I love when I find a really good one that I didn't know about.  The first blog I was really excited about was skinny taste.  They have some really good recipes.  Now I get most of my recipes from Oh she glows.  It is more of a plant based whole foods diet blog.  I want to try every recipe from chocolate covered katie, they sound so good.

Oh She Glows
This blog is a healthy vegan blog with tons of fun recipes.


Chocolate Covered Katie
A blog with only healthy dessert recipes
I haven't tried any of her recipes yet but they look delicious.  


No Meat Athlete
This blog is full of information on training and health.  It has a lot of recipes that I want to try.  I made the homemade vegan bars and they were really good.


Skinny Taste
I used to use this blog for everything I made.  It has a lot of tasty recipes


100 days of real food
Lots of healthy recipes on this blog.  I made the homemade vegetarian pizza from this blog

Meal Plan and Work Out

Today's Meals:

Breakfast: 

1 ezekial english muffin with 1 tablespoon homemade honey roasted peanut butter and homemade mango strawberry jam.  Soooo delicious.
1 green smoothie and lime water
green smoothie: 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen banana slices, 1/2 cup apple juice, 1/2 cup water, TONS of kale!

Calories: 350

Snack: homemade peanut butter protein bar:
In food processor or blender (blendtec or vitamix) combine 1 cup peanuts, 1 cup dates, two tablespoons peanut butter, 2 teaspoons agave, 1 scoop whey chocolate protein powder.
calories: 200

Lunch: 

2 slices of ezekial bread with small amount of goat cheese topped with one egg on each slice.  Top with avocado and tomatoes.  Sprinkle lemon pepper on top.  Side of edamame.  

Calories: 400

Dinner: homemade whole wheat vegetarian pizza with salad.  
Use this recipe I found for the dough.  I wanted to try to make the pizza without cheese but Jordan wouldn't let me.
calories: 370

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing for the salad:
combine 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon regular mustard
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Dessert: dark chocolate chips
150 calories
Total calories: 1470

All over work out! at home

WARM UP: 7 minutes of abs

time yourself for 7 minutes doing any variation of abs, do not stop the entire time.

flutter kicks

regular sit ups

bicycle
leg raises
hold a plank

THE WORK OUT:

5 rounds: 3 minute rest in between each round.  A really good time to complete one round in is 6 minutes 30 seconds.  
Try to do each round as fast as you can

400 meter run

10 burpees or pull ups if you have a pull up bar

20 push ups (chest must touch the ground) Do push ups on knees if you can't do regular ones

30 sit ups (regular) 

40 squats

This workout is a killer.  You will feel so good after it though.  It is better to do this with a friend.  I did this at cross fit last week and wanted to die.  

Thrive Homemade Sports Drink Recipe (raw)

            I wanted to make a sports drink that would be perfect to drink on bike rides or on a run.  I did some research and found an awesome blog!  This blog is called the no meat athlete.  He has a lot of awesome plant based whole foods recipes I want to try.  On his blog he interviewed Brandon Brazier who is the author of the book thrive.  I just ordered this book on my birthday and it should be here soon.  This recipe is in the book.  I made it a couple of days ago and Jordan has been drinking the sports drinks on all of his bike rides.  It tastes like a coconut delight drink, it is pretty dang good.  
            I also just signed up for this free thrive in 30 program online.  Type in your email address and Brandon Brazier will email you a video every other day to watch and learn more about a plant based diet and different things you may not know about nutrition.  Sign up for free here.  This is a great way to learn about the benefits of a plant based diet.  I definitely don't agree with everything he teaches, I eat meat in moderation (once or twice a week).  But I still think this guy knows what he's talking about and can learn a lot from him.  So if you are curious about plant based diets, this is a free introductory for you!



When you join Thrive in 30 you’ll learn:

• How to combat stress using whole, plant-based foods and
  high net-gain nutrition
• The whole food truth about protein, fats and carbs—
  and how balancing your diet will help you build a younger body
• How you can alkalize your body’s pH to combat disease,
  improve sleep and lose weight
• What superfoods to use to balance hormones,
  detoxify body or lower cholesterol
• How to identify common foods that cause unexplained, mystery illnesses
• How to use nutrition to strategically fuel your body so you’ll have greater endurance, maximize the return from your workouts and recover faster
• Why nutrition, exercise and sleep are the secret
  to empowered mental health
• Long-term strategies that will help you transform your health for life

Thrive Homemade Sports Drink Recipe (raw)

Juice of 1/2 lemonJuice of 1/4 lime3 dates2 cups water1 tbsp agave nectar1 tsp coconut oil

 Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  This makes about 16 ounces, so I usually make a double recipe. 

This is so much cheaper than buying sports drink mixes and it tastes really good too.  I bought all of my ingredients for about fifteen dollars.  It will last a really long time because you only need a small amount of each ingredient.  


Dates are used for energy.  They are full of glucose that is easily digestible quick sugar that gives you energy right away. 
Agave nectar is primarily fructose, which is slow releasing sugar.  He uses agave nectar and dates to combine a slow releasing sugar with a fast releasing sugar for energy.
Coconut oil is a medium chain triglyceride (ok in small amounts)

Meal Plan

So the other day Jordans shirt was on the ground and our dog wouldn't stop trying to eat it.  We were really bored and Jordan decided to put the shirt on our dog and make him wear it.  Can I just say that I absolutely hate when people dress their dogs or put hair clips in their small fluffy dogs.  Its so stupid.  But it's hilarious at the same time!  There is something about dogs wearing clothes that just makes me laugh so hard.  One of our neighbors takes her dog out to the park the same time as me sometimes and her dog is a small little fluffy dog and she always has hair clips or pig tails in the dogs hair.  I just can't get over it.  It is so weird looking. 

This is our puppy with his newest makeover

This is pretty much what my neighbors dog looks like.  Stupid!

How do people end up buying dogs that are so ugly?  I seriously want to know.   Do they just feel sorry for them so they adopt them?  That's probably what happens.

Todays Meals

Breakfast: 2 slices ezekial bread with almond butter

calories: 350

Lunch: whole wheat pasta with egg whites and squash

calories: 377 

snack: lara bar (new favorite snack) 

calories: 220

Dinner: chicken salad with black beans, brown rice, and tomato with ranch dressing

calories: 455

All i did was put two pieces of chicken in my mini crock pot and once it was almost cooked added 1/4 cup of franks red hot sauce.  It is the only way I like to make my chicken these days.

Dessert: chocolate caramel nuts

calories: 100

Total calories for the day: 1502

sodium: 1795 mg

fiber: 37g

protein: 79g

sugars: 34g

47 % calories from carbs, 22 % calories from proteins, 30 % calories from fats

I'm trying to eat a little more protein right now because I'm doing cross fit this month