paleo sweets + workout treats

not surprisingly, over the past few weeks, i have had alot of friends and family that are interested in and even started eating paleo. (yay!)

of course, with any new lifestyle change or diet - comes questions. one question that i have received quite often relates to sweet tooths and drinks. beyond water and green tea as in the paleo diet, if you look at the "basic guidelines"  there isn't much else - especially in the dessert area. 

to me one of the most fun parts of paleo is using the list of "approved" foods and finding creative ways to replace the things i and (we) loved so much pre-paleo

so if you are one of those struggling not so much on the grains and dairy part and more on craving your favorite sweet drink or slice of cheesecake - here are some of my favorite paleo approved foods/drinks that will help to stay on track.

keep in mind though - all of these should be eaten in moderation. a cookie is still a cookie :)

SWEET DRINKS:

side note: it is actually encouraged to have a "sweet" drink once in a while to keep you thirsty as only drinking water will not aid in that continuing "thirst"

coconut water:

hate coconut? me too! well, that is until i tried un-sweetened and unprocessed coconut. it is much milder than what you have probably tried. this is the brand that i have tried and they have almost a whole shelf just for coconut water now - even this past week in vegas - they now have it in the regular convenience stores near the water. just remember to get the unsweetened or "no sugar added" :)

fruit water:

so unfortunately, coconut water isn't cheap. but you know what is? home-made fruit water!

my wonderfully creative husband came up with this a few weeks ago. since going paleo, we definitely have an abundance of fruit around the house so making this is pretty damn easy.

all he did was cut and mash about 4-5 strawberries and added about 1-2 tablespoons of agave nectar (you could also use honey) and then added water! thats it! 

note: this still counts towards your carb and sugar intake so don't overdo it and still drink plenty of regular water!

nightime drinking:

well, it is friday and i'm sure some of you plan on doing a little happy hour action, so i thought i would take this opportunity to mention what the best paleo drinks are:

red wine and TEQUILA!

when i say tequila, i don't necessarily mean your standard margarita since that triple sec isn't exactly sugar free :)

BUT, below is probably the best "paleo" drink there is according to Robb Wolf (author of The Paleo Solution)

its what he calls the "NorCal Margarita"

2 shots of gold tequila

Juice of 1 lime

Splash of Club Soda

PALEO SWEETS:

Ok, now on to the good stuff. SWEETS!

Below is some AWESOME paleo brownies

you can get the recipe here: 

http://www.bakergal.com/2011/08/bakergal-chewy-paleo-brownie-recipe.html

(there is even an option for a vegan version!) 

paleo chocolate chip cookies! horray! 

hint: the semi-sweet chocolate chips from whole foods are amazing in this recipe!

you can find the recipe from my previous post: 

http://www.two-monkeys-in-a-tree.blogspot.com/2012/02/birthday-and-bachelorette-festivities.html 

trail mix bars:

ok, so from the name of these, they don't seem like "sweet treat" but they are! i used dried blueberries and they are awesome! i found myself snacking on these more than the cookies!

recipe as follow:

ingreds:

.5 c slivered almonds

.5 c pecans

1/4 c almond flour/meal

1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 c almond butter

1/4 c coconut oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp raw honey

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup of dried cranberries or dried blueberries

directions:

on a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown @ 350 degrees

once toasted, pour mixture in food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped (coarsely ground)

in a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter in microwave (20 secs)

remove and stir until smooth

add vanilla extract, honey, and sea salt

mix thoroughly

fold in nut mixture and almond meal until mixed thoroughly

fold in blueberries and/or cranberries

press mixture into an 8" x 4" loaf pan (or closest size)

REFRIDGERATE for about an hour before eating

keep in fridge for storing

(ps - this makes a GREAT pre-workout snack!)

WORKOUT TREATS:

so, josh and i have been needing some good gym shoes since joining our new gym. well, at least for me, i have just been wanting some super crazy bright shoes :)

last weekend we got a notification from our gym that luke's locker had the nike frees 30% off! so we got over there right away and got us a pair! 

MUSCLE SORENESS RECOVERY:

so not saying that this will rid your muscles from all soreness after a good workout, but i am saying this makes them feel A LOT better

its called "foam roller" and the insert gives you a whole bunch of ways to use it depending on where in your body you are aching and need relief. 

josh got this for me at academy for about $40

don't want to spend $40 on some good old foam? 

you can get a similar size width of PVC pipe from lowes or homedepot and cut it down to about 4 or 5 feet. 

its cheaper AND actually works better :)

WORKOUT CLOTHING:

so, i am definitely not one to spend loads of money on workout clothes. especially, since there are places like old navy and target around. 

one item i DEFINITELY won't spend a load of cash on?

work out tops.

but thankfully target is awesome and has these! right now they are on sale for $8!

that means its only $24 for 3! usually you can maybe get 2 for that but more like only 1!

FRIDAY SIDE NOTES:

so, hands down - my favorite spring trend?

BRIGHT COLORS!!!

i get so happy every time i walk into target since that is their "trend collection" right now!

in about 2 months josh and i and three other couples are going to mexico. when i saw these at target for ONLY $12.99! I got a pair for myself and the three other girls! so excited!

can you guess which color is mine? ;)

so not only do i love bright colors but i also love skinny jeans!

so what is my new obsession? bright skinny jeans :)

white: target for $24.99

red: old navy for $24.99

coral: forever 21 for $14.50

teal: target for $24.99

blue: forever 21 for $14.50

thats 5 pairs of fun jeans for less than $125 (including tax)!

bright, cheap, skinny jeans ftw :)

happy friday!

austin and such

over the weekend, the hubby and i had a mini-vacation in austin. we had mini-adventures, reunions, and celebrated my godfather, lee's birthday. 

ever since josh saw "the salt lick" on the food network he has been dying to visit. so since we were in austin, i knew where we HAD to eat on saturday afternoon :)

they are known for their bbq and apparently wine as well. so we ate some great bbq and picked up a bottle of wine called "hill country blend". so fitting :)

eventually josh and i want to put a pergola in our tiny, quaint backyard and we saw this and decided to snap a pic for inspiration. you can't see it very well in the pic but i LOVE the glass spheres above the table for outdoor lighting!

our second stop was to visit the restaurant: oasis.
when i was in college it was still being rebuilt due to the fire back some years ago.
net-net: absolutely gorgeous, but the food was "eh".
recommendation: if you want the same view but better food/drinks go next door to billys bbq - they have an awesome beer sampler :) 

the cute hubby :)

the view at oasis:

unfortunately the lake is still very low. everywhere there is light dirt - there should be water :( 

so that night we were supposed to go see ester follies show (kinda like snl) but we were too late, so we made our way to a bar on 6th street

this was on the band's song request sheet and had to snap a pic :)

one of my old friends, isabel found out i was in austin and had us meet up with her at red7. 

cloud nothings was the band playing and they were amazing! so amazing in fact that i am still regaining my hearing and hope to have the ringing in my ears go away soon. ha :) 

isabel and i :)

on our way out, we had breakfast at this super cute place called "snack bar" and this was the sign outside. it was such a good shot with all of the colors, i immediately regretted not having my camera. but as the saying goes "the best camera is the one you have on you"

FOOD:

since going paleo, i have been craving spaghetti super bad, but fortunately, i found this great recipe for paleo "spaghetti". instead of noodles, you julienne zucchini and it was actually better than regular spaghetti! paleo ftw!

word of caution: in order to "julienne" zucchini, you will probably need a mandolin. 

mandolin = sharp blade. 

sharp blade = slit finger (ow)

oh! and i got this inexpensive ipad kitchen holder! let's just say josh was not a fan of seeing the ipad next to the stove with cooking oils accidentally getting too close 

(and possibly getting the the screen)

it even comes with a pen so you never have to touch the ipad!

another paleo friendly snack i tried out were kale chips! super yummy and seriously satisfies cravings for chips :)

its just olive oil and a touch of salt in the oven at 350 for 12 mins!

another cool thing with starting the new paleo diet is that we got rid of all of the processed foods and any sugar/beans/wheat products and got to donate it to our local church! whats kind of bothersome though, is how there was pretty much nothing left besides tea and seasoning. makes you kinda think about how many processed foods we're (or we) eating

here is all of the food we donated :)

oh and the most exciting thing about this post (at least to me) is we got our new microwave installed today! we have probably gone the last two months without one. we had just been too busy to order one until last week! :)

 so today (actually in about one hour) i will be starting at washington gym. its the same gym that josh started about a month ago. we'll see how it goes the first day, but after knowing how josh's first day went - lets just say i'm equally scared as i am excited haha

new gym = excuse to buy new shoes, right?

 i did a search on pinterest and i found these bad boys. after searching and searching multiple stores for these, i realized they were customized :)

mine will say "mrs monkey" 

(between the tongues on the shoes)

SIDE NOTES:

i got my order in from the impossible project! the impossible project finds and restores vintage polaroid cameras and additionally reproduces film with different filters on it. so excited to use it!

 so i decided, that when i have a vision for a different part of the house, i am going to photoshop my rough ideas/decor. that way its easier for me to keep track of things and also to see if i will  even like it. better than buying and then taking back!

below is our guest bathroom, which it very outdated and BLAH.
for the most part, i am just wanting to create some color contrast in the bathroom. as you can see its all one tone. plus the lighting in the bathroom is horrible and makes it have a yellow/drab cast.

for the items above the toilet:

the print is some lyric art that i made that says:
"don't do nothing because you can't do everything. do something. anything"

as far as the flowers: they will be "faux" peonies. white peonies were our wedding flowers
and the two black and white images next the flowers?: one is a sunset of cabo (where we got married) and the other is the houston skyline (where we live)