Tag Archives: Vacations

Cocoa Cookie Bars with Peanut Butter Drizzle

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Let me tell you, if there is something I do not enjoy, it is packing. When it comes time to pack, I do everything in my power to not do it. I distract myself with snacks, internet, exercise, cleaning, dancing, and anything else I can possibly think of to keep me from the daunting task.

I think when it comes down to it, the reason I don’t enjoy packing is because it takes me so darn long to figure out what I want to wear on any given day, so having to plan for an entire weekend or a week full of outfits becomes so grueling. Inevitably I end up packing too much of everything, but it’s because I just don’t know what I will want to wear at any given moment.

(FYI this was a photo taken during packing struggles before Colombia)

I also have to take into consideration how I might be feeling… bloated, normal, tight jeans, loose jeans? Am I going to be walking all day or can I wear heels? What’s the weather like? All of these things a woman must consider as she is packing. My husband will never understand as hard as he tries.

Needless to say, last night as I was finishing up packing for my trip to Atlanta, I first ate dinner (that’s usually a priority), it looked something like this but different since this is a recycled photo…

I then cleaned, tried packing, gave up after 2 minutes, worked out on the treadmill, distracted myself on the computer, tried packing again…you see the pattern. Poor Moose was probably so confused as I tore around the house. He may have offered me a chill pill at one point, but I wouldn’t know. I was too busy distracting myself.

Does he not look GINORMOUS kangaroo in this photo? No offense to him or anything. 

The good news is, I am all packed. I am SO ready to take on Georgia. Bring on the southern accents, peaches, and Coca Cola.

Cocoa Cookie Bars (Gluten-Free)

A couple of days ago I flashed a photo of a dessert I made. Remember this?

The original plan was to make cocoa cookies (gluten-free style), but as I mixed away, the dough was actually more of a batter, so I rolled with it and came up with what I like to call Cocoa Cookie Bars (since they were supposed to be cookies after all).

They are gluten-free, made with almond flour, low in sugar, and super simple. I used Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dreams to drizzle on top, but you could use any creamy peanut butter you would like!

Cocoa Cookie Bars with Peanut Butter Drizzle
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Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups almond flour
  • ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ⅓ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 2 tsp. almond milk
  • ⅓ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup Truvia
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Peanut butter drizzle (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat 9×9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. In small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  3. In medium bowl, beat together remaining ingredients except peanut butter.
  4. Add dry ingredients gradually into wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean.
  6. Drizzle with creamy peanut butter (place in microwave for 30 seconds and give it a stir to help with drizzling).

I hope you all have a fantastic day! I may or may not be checking in this weekend. If I don’t get a chance, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to filling you in on my latest adventure to Georgia when I return.

Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

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It’s time for the final recap of The Healthy Living Summit. Presenting you with day 3 (Sunday)…More photos, less talky.

HLS 5k

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(photo courtesy of Courtney)

Healthy Breakfast and Good-Bye’s

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(photo courtesy of Jamie)

Harvard Square

Both Shannon and I had later flights on Sunday, so we took advantage of our extra time by walking to Harvard and admiring their beautiful campus and the surrounding area.

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It looks a little different from good old Minnesota State University, Mankato! It is a breathtaking campus.

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We oogled the fresh goods at a local farmer’s market and bought flavored nuts from Q’s Nuts, a local company, and I bought a sweet apple for the airport.

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A cupcake truck to tempt us on our walk home…we denied it after much contemplation.

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Back at the hotel, we had 45 minutes to shower, pack, and be down in the lobby to catch a cab back to the airport. In case you’re wondering, yes I did have to sit on my suitcase in order to close it, thanks to all of the great swag! My bag weighed in at 48.5 lbs on the way home.

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At the airport I polished off a small sample of Q’s nuts, my large farmer’s market apple, and then decided I needed some greenery, so wandered around until I found myself a nice little side salad. My first flight was from Boston to Chicago.

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A layover in Chicago (for 3.5 hours) led me to buy more food. Another salad…

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Hmm….what else do I want? So many temptations surrounding me.

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After about 45 minutes I decided that a bowl of vanilla Fro Yo was just what I wanted.  Those apples look pretty tasty though don’t they? I walk by them every time I am at the Chicago airport and drool by the window.

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Fro Yo two days in a row. That needs to stop now. Have you noticed I am quite the indecisive person? It’s not something I’m proud of. Smile with tongue out

Next flight, Chicago to Minneapolis. I munched on a box of Wild Harvest Organic Raisins from the conference and then tried to sleep (with no such luck). I arrived in Minneapolis around 12:30, and crawled into bed around 1 am. It was a LOOONNGG day of traveling and I was so happy to be home.

The main message I took from the conference is, be true to you and remember why you started your blog. I started B.N. to share my love for food and fitness in hope to inspire others (and motivate myself) to live a healthy lifestyle. What you read on my blog is all me. I write how I talk, and am real with you every day. Not every day is a great day, but I do try and find the positives in every situation and keep my blog uplifting and light. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

To the great friends I met over the weekend: you are all such incredible, inspirational people. I learned something from each and every one of you. I look forward to staying in touch over the years and hopefully meeting up with you all again!

I am so glad I made the decision to attend HLS12. I attained so much valuable information and am now finally starting to digest and process it all. I am in the process of putting some of what I learned to work! Expect great changes to Beautifully Nutty in the future.

I will be back to normal posts again. The recipes are piling up and I have some major catching up to do. I hope you’re excited!

Happy  Hump Day!

Destination Boston HLS12

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I made it to Boston, but I was one tired girl when I arrived.

(Back track to Thursday)

I rolled out of bed at 4:00 am to get to the airport by 5:40 or so. My flight wasn’t until 7:35 but I need to be extra early to keep my anxiety level at ease.

As I’m waiting to board my 7:35 flight, they make an announcement that due to weather in Chicago (which is where I had a layover), that there would be a half hour delay. Okay, no big deal. I go make an extra lap around the airport and come back. Another announcement…Captain wants to wait for the storm to pass. Take-off has been delayed until 9:35. Now I’m ticked.

I understand this happens and it’s for the safety of everyone involved, but I was just disappointed because Dana was waiting for me out in Boston, so that we could spend part of the day together. He was out there for business this week so the plan was when I got in at 1:30, we would go hit up the town and explore Boston together, and then he would be taking off Friday morning.

This is getting long, so long story short, I switched flights and airlines and flew standby on a direct flight from Minneapolis to Boston that took off at 10:30. I arrived in Boston around 2:30 (??) and Dana picked me up at the airport. I ran into a friend from college at the airport btw! Such a small world!

By the time we checked into our hotel, got situated, changed, and went outside to wait for the free hotel shuttle, it was 4:00 already.

(Check out the view from my room. Wowzas I love it! I love this hotel…more to come on that!)

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Even with limited time, we still made a pretty good dent in the city. We took the hotel shuttle to the T, and took the T to The Freedom Trail which is a 2.5 mile walk around part of the city, and it passes many historical landmarks. Dana and I followed along with an app on his phone and were able to catch up on some of our history that way.

Did I mention I hadn’t eaten lunch yet? Okay, I don’t function very well when I’m hungry. So, as we made our way through the walk, we were also scoping out places to eat. I had a hankering for seafood especially after Dana texted me a photo of his lobster roll from the day before.

After walking past handfuls of gelato stands, I was tempted to eat gelato for dinner, but decided something more substantial was probably a better idea. We decided on Salty Dog which is located in the Faneuil Marketplace.

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This photo below if the only proof I have that Dana was with me yesterday. I didn’t get one photo of the two of us! Bummer. We have the memories though. Winking smile  

We started with a shrimp cocktail appetizer that we split between the two of us. Such fresh perfect shrimp. I could get used to this.

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For dinner, we split the lobster sandwich that came with a side of coleslaw and fries, but we swapped the fries for a side of sautéed veggies. After seeing Dana’s lobster roll photo from the day before, I was expecting a lot more food than this. I guess that’s the difference between a lobster roll and a lobster sandwich? Oh well. The food was delicious, with a ginormous chunk of fresh lobster in the sandwich, a light spread of mayo, lettuce, and a buttery bun. I just left feeling kind of  hungry still.

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After dinner we continued our Freedom Trail journey and did our tourist thing. I am embarrassed to post this photo as I am sweaty/tired/dirty/hungry, but I do it for you.

Paul Revere’s house:

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The USS Constitution:

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I have to admit, I am a little ashamed at my lack of historical knowledge. History was my least favorite subject in school so I didn’t really pay very good attention. It isn’t too late to start learning now though! I enjoyed learning about some of the history of Boston. What a beautiful area.

We got back to the hotel around 8:00 pm and we were both famished again. We hopped in the rental car (way too exhausted to walk any more) and made our way to Trader Jo’s and to Whole Foods. We made ourselves a Mediterranean inspired bowl of goodness at Whole Foods and ate that as our second dinner. I also bought a bag of Cinnamon Almonds from Trader Jo’s which are HIGHLY addicting.

Friday

Now it’s Friday morning and I am being a lazy bum in my room until some of the festivities of the Healthy Living Summit begin! I was in dire need of sleep yesterday and slept for 10 hours last night. The hubby is back home now. I loved every second of having him here.

Now that HLS12 is finally here, I feel like it’s the first day of school. I am full of anticipation, anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement! Now that I am fully rested, I am pumped to get this party started! Cannot wait to meet all of the other attendees, and can’t wait to fill all of you in on the events of the weekend.

I hope you are all having a great Friday. Catch up with you soon!

Cabin Weekend Photo Recap

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We had such an absolutely amazing time away at the cabin this weekend. It was a sunny, relaxing, laugh-until-your-cheeks-hurt, 100% laid-back good time. :smile: The family members at the cabin were my aunt and uncle Chip and Patti, two of their kids Aaron and Ali, my aunt and uncle David and Doreen, their two boys Matthew and Nathan (their cabin is next door to Chip and Patti’s), my mom and dad, and Dana and me.

This post doesn’t need many words, so how about a photo cabin recap instead? Here it goes…

I didn’t want to leave on Sunday; I had such a blast. This is definitely what the doctor had ordered. Thank you to my gracious aunt and uncle/Godfather for having us out to your lake place. I hope we can make this happen more often!

In case anyone was wondering, I did manage to stick to the SCD all weekend. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I really want to reach my hands into the popcorn bag and the peanut M & M’s, but I resisted and snacked on some cantaloupe instead.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well! I have a healthy and delicious nacho recipe coming your way tomorrow. You’re probably going to want to check back. :wink:

Have a great day!

Well Rested, Well Fed

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Well hello there! I am back from an amazingly relaxing 8 day vacation in the Dominican Republic. Vacation was filled with copious amounts of food, sun, rain, sand, exercise, and most importantly, a lot of R and R. It was perfect. I look forward to filling you in on my trip over the next week or so. I took lots of photos. Here is a brief introduction to our trip.

The first day we got there it literally monsooned. We took advantage of our balcony and played a few card games while drinking a cold beverage and getting into vacation mode.

Most nights we ate at the all-inclusive buffet at the resort but a few nights we made reservations at the hotel’s themed restaurants. This photo below was taken at the Caribbean themed restaurant. I had fish called Mori or Mauri (?) which reminds me that I want to google it and find out more about what I ate exactly. It was a very delicious white fish that did not taste fishy and had a fairly firm texture.

While on vacation, I managed to eat a lot of veggies and fruits. I steered mostly clear of the meats as I am very picky with meats plus I don’t know the quality control measures and I am bit weird with that sort of thing–hello food safety MSU. I indulged in fresh breads, pasta, rice and beans, pastries, and cocktails on a daily basis. I have more food photos which I will share later.

Every day we did a lot of this….

Note that is my bittersweet smile as this photo was taken on our last morning there. The bugs really like me in the Dominican, as I walked away with a grand total of 40 bug bites (Dana only got a few). You can see a couple of the bites on my left shoulder. They itch like crazy, but if that’s the only bad thing I can say about the trip, I am okay with that. It’s a sacrifice I can make. :smile:

I am proud to say that we exercised one way or the other every day except for the first monsoon day there. We ran on the beach, went for walks on the beach, hit the “gym” at the resort, or went for a hike.

That’s all I’m going to share today. I am off to tackle 5 loads of laundry and apply some anti-itch cream to my bites. I can’t wait to eat my normal foods again. The foods I really missed were peanut butter, greek yogurt, and my mongo salads. We already went grocery shopping this morning and restocked the fridge with all of our good healthy foods. It’s time to get back on track. I am also looking forward to getting back on track with normal workouts. Running on the beach was great and all, but there was only so far we could go plus it’s extremely challenging running in the sand. More on that later.

I am out for now. Happy to be home! As much as I love traveling and vacationing, there is nothing quite like coming home.