Oh she Glows Strawberry banana & nut butter muffins modified gfree styles

I love baking on sundays! Pure bliss. Getting in a good walk with Laila and/or a nice sweaty hot yoga session. And then chilling and baking something yummy for our snacks for the week. Today i opted for some sort of banana recipe from one of my fav go to blogs for delicious recipes, Oh She Glows. Now this recipe had gluten ingredients but i just modified and made it gfree. I will put in brackets my modifications and you can make my way if you are gfree or her way if you aren't. I think her way would be amazing as well but my stomach wouldn't have any of that!

Ingredients (9-12 muffins)

• 1 cup whole grain spelt flour (I used 1 cup of Brown rice flour, you could probably use any gfree flour though, like coconut flour)
• 3/4 cup unbleached white flour (I used almond flour, you could definatley use tapoica starch as well or any other gfree flour that you like)
• 1/4 tsp. Himalayan sea salt (i forgot to add, oops...needed to help preserve them longer and lot's of nutrients in sea salt that an active body needs)
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (i forgot this as well, too distracted my making my modifications i think?!?!?)
• 1/2 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar) (I find she uses a little too much sugar for my liking so as usual i half the sugar. I used 1/4 cup of organic sugar cane sugar)
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans (I don't like nuts in my baked goods, so no pecans for me
• 1 tsp of xanthan gum (only needed if you are making these gfree)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
• 1.5 tbsp. ground chia seed (or flax) + 1/4 cup water (this is used to make these muffins vegan. This is equal to about 1 full egg)
• 1.25 cup almond milk
• 2 heaping tbsp. coconut butter
• 3 tbsp. nut butter (i used almond butter, i almost think i'd add a bit more next time)
• 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1 large banana mashed, left a bit chunky
• 3/4 cup strawberries, chopped (i used frozen strawberries, no recommended unless you thaw and drain first, while the muffins are really yummy they are mushy in sections since the strawberries added more moisture as it melted and baked)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Grease a muffin tin and set aside.
• In a small bowl mix the ground chia and water and set aside.
• In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients (flours, salt, cinnamon, Sucanat, pecans, baking soda + powder). Set aside.
• In a medium sized bowl, mix all wet ingredients (chia + water mixture, milk, warmed coconut butter, nut butter, maple syrup). Mix well.
• Add wet to dry and stir.
• Fold in chopped strawberries, reserving 1/4 of them to sprinkle on top of muffins.
• Scoop mixture into muffin tin and sprinkle on remaining strawberries.
• I made 12 smaller muffins, you can also make 9 bigger ones. In my oven i baked them for 30 min Angela, from Oh She Glows, baked them for 25 min and she made 9 large muffins)

Yummy gluten/yeast/dairy free pizza crust

The other night i had a hankering for pizza and pizza on my brown rice tortilla's was getting old and i always make extra at dinner for lunch the next day and the tortilla was always soggy and barely edible. So i decided i wanted a quick and easy recipe for a gluten free pizza crust that didn't involve waiting for it to rise. I did a google search and came across a few recipes. One from Veganza caught my eye out of the 5 or so i looked at it. I had no expectations for it to turn out since gluten free cooking and baking can be tricky at times. I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is the recipe. I will be making it again...not next week but the week after for sure!

1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup besan/chickpea flour (OR half cup maize flour; OR half a cup of blended chickpea and maize!) I used Maize aka corn meal flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca
teaspoon of salt
teaspoon of xantham or guar gum (optional, but advisable since gluten is what binds dough together. You need something to keep it together or it'll be a crumbly mess)
tablespoon baking powder
tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
up to 1 cup of water, or as needed
small handful of mixed seeds, ground flax/LSA, nutritional yeast, etc (i used flax seeds)

Method:

1. Sift together flours, salt, gum, and baking powder. Stir or whisk until well combined.
2. Add half a cup of water and all the oil to flour mix. Stir until combined, then knead, and form into a dough ball, adding more water as necessary. (Note: this won’t be stretchy like wheat dough. It will be more like pastry dough.) Only add as much water as you need. Too much and the crust will be crumbly.
3. Knead through mixed seeds, etc.
4. Very lightly flour pizza stone/tray (rice flour is good for this). Put the ball of dough on your pizza stone/tray. Flatten it gradually, pressing it into round, pizza-base shape, making sure the edges aren’t crumbly, fixing them as you go. Make sure the dough is evenly distributed as you go. Use a rolling pin to make the process faster. (If it’s not, you can patch holes up by taking dough from other areas – I didn’t have to do this, though, as the dough was quite workable).
5. Roll the edges of the pizza base over, so that the edge centimetre is twice the thickness as the rest of the base, pressing firmly.
6. Bake base for 10 minutes in preheated oven at 450 F. Remove from oven and cool a little. While the base is baking and cooling, sort out your sauces and topping.
7. Add sauces and toppings to pizza. Using a pastry brush, brush edges of pizza base with olive oil. Bake pizza in 450 F oven for 20-30 minutes, or until pastry and toppings are cooked/browning.

Great visit with Dr. Pain

A lot of us runners affectionately refer to our chiropractor Brett Leblanc as Dr Pain. He hurts you sooooo much but all in name of getting you back to your sport as quickly as possible. I went to see Brett on Wednesday for my now confirmed Plantar Fasciitis. Something runners can be prone to. No fun:( From my last post you know that i was really bummed out by this. I love running more than anything and it's my main form of staying in shape and relieving any stress.

During my visit Brett not only confirmed that i do indeed have Plantar Fasciitis but that my ankle movement and mobility in my left was restricted as well as my right, just not as bad. So he pulled, yanked and adjusted those ankles and then began my shockwave therapy treatment, which has accelerated healing powers. SCORE! OMGEEEEE It sure hurt! Basically it's a very intense short energy wave that travels faster than the speed of sound into the affected area. The sessions are about 10-15 min and normally the patient is better within 3-5 treatments. Brett estimates 3 weeks and 3 treatments until i am all healed up AND he even said i can continue running while getting the treatment just not for the 48 hours following. As it's still tender for that duration. My heel is still pretty tender even though it was 48 hours this morning i decided not to run but rather concentrate on my arms and abs again! My arms and abs have taken a beating this week! I have alternated between arm/ab workouts one day and then next yoga or some deep stretching the next alternating. I am going to see how my heel feels tomorrow morning and attempt a run. I find it's not as tender when i have my runners on, probably because my arch is very supported in my orthotics.

Plantar Fasciitis isn't the only thing treated by Shockwave therapy. It also treats a slew of injuries:
Achilles Tendinopathy
Scar tissue treatment
Tennis elbow
Jumpers knee
Calcific rotator cuff tendinitis
Stress fractures

He also gave me 2 exercises to help as well...one before running and one after. Although i haven't been running this week i have been doing them anyways so i remember them and start getting the benefits from them. So here's hoping i mend quickly:) I am staying positive despite it! Keep on keeping on.

Maintain the positivity

I'm not gonna lie i was feeling really down on myself all day. I was and still am a little about my injured heel. This is day 3 of it hurting and i am self diagnosing myself with Plantar Fasciitis. I'm off to see my chiropractor tomorrow (i find he's more like a physiotherapist though with his treatment methods) for an official diagnoses. But i have many of the symptoms (hurts more in the am and gets better throughout the day, dull aching pain) and a few of the risk factors (high arches, an avid runner and tight calf muscles).

While i had been preoccupied with feeling sorry for myself all day it wasn't until i got home and did a 20 minute Lululemon easy yoga workout followed by Tone it up's stretch and release as well as foam roller workout that i started to feel better about my situation and myself. You cannot be too hard on yourself for an injury or play the "what if" game that's not going to help you get any better and it's going to end up delaying the healing process. I need to keep my chin up and keep on trucking. It will get better and i need to think positive thoughts like this to help myself heal and help me get through this. At this point i don't know how long it'll take to heal but i am optimistic that since it's only day 3 and i am smart enough now not to push through and seek help immediately that it will heal quick and if it doesn't then so be it. A longer break then wanted but c'est la vie.

Our bodies are really smart and tell us when we need to dial down the intensity of our workouts and tell us when to give it a rest and do some workouts that are easier on the body. I think it's important to take a week here and there where you aren't as intense with your workouts and walk more, do some easy stretching yoga, easy bike rides etc. I did relax a little after my last half marathon but not enough i only took the day after off and was back to running by Thursday. Perhaps this is a lesson to take more time off running wise after a big race like a half marathon or a full marathon? I still plan on doing the full in May in Ottawa if this heals up quick enough. If it doesn't then Ottawa May 2012 wasn't meant to be as the time to complete my first full marathon. I am going to listen to my body, as hard as it is, and take this time to do lot's of active rest and i can still work on my abs and arms:) So it's a time to concentrate on those areas more. If this ends up being longer than a week off running healing process then i will get back into pool running like i had to a little over a year ago during my last injury. I had hurt my ankle while training for the Legs for Literacy full marathon and never was able to do it.

I'm going to try to keep my head up high and not let this get me down. There is a reason for everything and a lesson to be learned with each set back whether an injury or something else in your life. Life isn't meant to be easy, it's full set backs and roadblocks that make us stronger and better as a person, as a whole.

How do you guys cope with set backs and roadblocks in training and in life? What are your positive strategies to keep positive? I would love to hear them.

Trying new workout's

Hey all. So i know it's been awhile again! Sorry. Life gets busy as you all know:) I just wanted to share and talk about a new fitness blogger i have discovered. Cassey Ho of www.blogilates.com she is the creator of Pop pilates in San Francisco. She not only posts great workouts but lot's of recipes too. I haven't tried making any of them yet. But they all look great and she even has one for a healthy microwave oatmeal muffin! Nothing like a quick clean snack!

So if you are looking for something new and to switch it up i would definitely check her out! Yesterday i did 3 of her workouts. I did the RIP workout which is basically an arm/ab circuit done in the plank position for the whole circuit...whoa kicked my ass. I also did the Slim n' sexy summer arms workout and this one was so hard...my arms were jello after. I then wanted to work on my abs some more so i did Cinch that waist ab circuit. To end it off i did Tone it up's Ghost Buster cardio 3 times through instead of the 5 times since i was doing my long run this morning. Not so smart the day before a long run. My legs were on fire for my whole run this morning. But it felt great despite that.

Karena Dawn from Tone it up running in an Oakley ad.

I just got back from a walk with Laila and my mom...nothing like a good walk to get the lactic acid out of your legs i find! I will foam roll like crazy tonight and i plan on going to hot yoga tomorrow to stretch it out even more. Speaking of which i am really enjoying hot yoga at Dynamic Fitness in Moncton. If you haven't checked out a class there i truly recommend it. I try to make it twice a week as i find it really compliments my running which these days is my main focus and workouts. I typically run 3 days a week. Mondays is a tempo run about 8-10km, Wednesdays is a speed track workouts at CEPS and Saturdays are my long easy runs. I find i injure myself if i run anymore than 3 days a week so i cross train with hot yoga and full body or arm/ab circuits. The great thing about circuit training is that they work your cardio at the same time. I love having a home gym now. I'm slowly building it. I have a treadmill, some weights, a kettle bell, bosu and gym quality stability ball. Which is almost all i need. I would like to get some more weights though some 10's for sure. I really don't lift heavy anymore now that i am into circuit training and running being my main workout. I would like to get an elliptical one day too though as i find they are great for cross training and that's one thing i miss using at the gym.