Saturday Greenery

March 2nd, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (6 Comments)

It’s Day 2 of The Greener March Challenge! Here’s today’s lunchtime salad – KAPOW!

Saturday Salad

Oh, wait. I mean, Hi! Did you eat something leafy and green yesterday? And today already too? High five!

If you’re about to become a lean green eating machine for the next 30 days or so, we should talk about salad sooner rather than later.

If you’re already a salad shooting pro, please share your salad secrets with us!  But if salad is something you’re only feeling so-so about, let’s talk about how to make salad time quick and easy. Because when it’s quick and easy, it’s more likely to happen.

When I hit the produce section and start ransacking through the leafy stuff, I typically grab a head of red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale and a big container of spinach or the “spring mix”. The baby arugula is a more recent addition into the greens rotation and I’m loving it.

Store Prepped Greens

I prep my own green mix each week (ish) and with the help of my OXO salad spinner I can tear up, rinse and spin dry the heads of green leaf and red leaf lettuce in about 10 minutes. Given that Zak and I are the main salad eaters here, this lasts two adults (who eat salad just about every day when this is in the fridge) for about 5 days.

Homemade Green Mix

When there’s a container of other greens in the fridge (like spinach, spring mix and/or arugula) we can stretch this even further.  If the leaves are (mostly) dry before I put them away, they last much longer.  If they’re too wet they’ll turn nasty and brown much sooner – this makes a good salad spinner worth every single penny.  This big container of pre-prepped greens is also handy when it comes to wanting some lettuce for sandwiches, burgers or wraps or small side salads.

Having greens prepped and ready is not only helpful, but FUN!  You get to sink your hand into the pile of leaves and pretend you’re one of those toy claw machines – but this is even better because you’ll come up with an awesome prize every single time.  (Stupid toy machines.)

Although this is not an example of The Claw Machine and instead more of a salad photo bomb by Zak who was hungrily standing by during green prep and then the photo shoot.

Salad Photo Bomb

My time ran out.

Today’s salad lunch was comprised of the green mix listed above.  Red leaf, green leaf, spinach and arugula – coated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar (that I recently got from Trader Joes – it’s sweeter than the Spectrum brand I usually buy!) plus a couple tablespoons of water and a little salt and pepper. I am also currently obsessed with crumbly blue veined cheeses ever since that blue cheese and salmon salad from a couple weeks ago.

Greens Tossed in Oil and Vinegar Gorgonzola

This is Gorgonzola, for the record. Only because I didn’t read the label very carefully, I just picked it up and shot it into the cart like the grocery shopping marksman that I am.

A little chopped bacon, Gorgonzola cheese, two hard boiled eggs and about a 1/3 of a red pepper for today’s lunch time prize.

A Greener March

I win!

This salad was constructed and consumed with tomorrow’s scheduled 8 mile half marathon training run in mind, a big salad before a big run is always a part of my plan.

So what greens did you eat today?  Are you all stocked up and ready to rock?  Do tell!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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The Greener March Challenge

March 1st, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin' - (10 Comments)

It’s March 1. It’s time to start thinking spring.  It’s time starting thinking green.

In my post about choices leading to habits, I mentioned the role that green smoothies played in my journey to better, more enjoyable running.   Devann left a comment on that post about rounding up some friends to do a 30 day green smoothie challenge and she invited me to join them.

I like it.  Let’s do it.

I want to invite YOU to join the challenge too.  I’m going to tweak this just a bit and challenge you to simply eat something leafy and green every day for the entire month of March.  Green smoothies are great, but in my mind, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a smoothie – greens for me often come in the form of salads, or sometimes Brussels sprout form or sauteed coconut kale form or green juice form.  It doesn’t matter what form you eat your greens in, just eat them!

So if you only eat leafy greens occasionally, I’m very excited for you to see what happens when you eat greens every single day for a month.  Daily greens changed my life – no joke.  Try it and see for yourself if it can make a difference in how you feel too.

And although I eat greens just about every day already, Devann’s comment made me realize that I haven’t actually made a green smoothie in a while.  With a green March in mind, I stocked up on spinach yesterday to start today with green smoothie for breakfast.

This morning after a WHITE run in a green coat,

Green Coat Run

I grabbed a banana and the bucket o’ spinach for my classic green smoothie base

Banana and Spinach Green Smoothie Base

and from there (thanks to the Beet Broccoli Cottage Cheese Orange Juice and Strawberry Smoothie) I added some cottage cheese, a couple florets of broccoli, a few frozen strawberries and a splash of OJ too.

Green Smoothie Ingredients

Cute baby boys in the background are optional. (8 months old yesterday!)

Really, you can just take whatever smoothie ingredients you typically prefer and throw a handful of spinach on top before you start the blender up.

Top it Off with Spinach

And then it’s time to rock out with your greens out.

Greener March Challenge Month Smoothie

There you go.  Greens every day for a month.  Can you do it?  (My own challenge will be to write about the greenery I consume each day this month!)

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, a snack, however, whenever, wherever – I hope you’ll give it a try.  Ready, set, GO!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Choices Lead to Habits

February 26th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (9 Comments)

Do you know the best thing about running on cold and dreary days?

Cold and Dreary

It makes running on the sunny days that much brighter.

(I know that sounds corny but it’s true!)

My weekend long run for Week 4 of half marathon training was seven miles. It was 30-something degrees and I wore all my usual winter running gear with the addition of a windbreaker over my fleece. By the time I was three miles in, I was starting to feel HOT and overdressed. Sometime around mile four I finally took off my neck warmer and mittens and shoved them in the pockets of my jacket before tying it around my waist for the remaining three miles home.

The rearrangement of layers and clothes reminded me of a time when there was no way I could run with that sort of “burden”. Pockets awkwardly shoved full of things, flopping around and flailing about – forget it! I had to spend a considerable amount of mental focus on simply putting one foot in front of the other, there was no way I could deal with any other physical distractions on top of that. I would marvel at the people who could run a race wearing a tutu or dressed as Gumby.  How on earth is that foam creature moving so swiftly and effortlessly down the road?

But now I have no problem running with something a bit cumbersome tied around me or if the weather is less-than-perfect or even as a rhetorical Gumby.  With my windbreaker tried around my waist on Sunday, I retraced my steps to figure out how I got here.  I’ve got two habits to thank:

Habit #1 – Just Keep Running

Habit #2 – Eating Real, Whole Foods

The more you run, the easier it gets.  Eating well makes a real difference too.

But what if running really sucks?   And what if eating healthy foods is boring?

You Need a Reward.

When you feel rewarded from doing an unpleasant activity, it’s easier to keep going. Without a reward, you’ll eventually stop.

I don’t know what kind of reward you might need – but for me, my first running “reward” was weight loss. Yes, vanity was my reward. How’s that for inspiring? My ego kept me moving! But once I reached my weight loss goals and my reward was earned, it was harder to keep running.  I don’t want to do this anymore!  Running sucks!  I worried though that if I didn’t keep running I would gain all the weight back.  Weight maintenance was one source of motivation, but it wasn’t enough.  I need something more.  I needed something else to help me stick with this tortuous activity.

I eventually discovered the connection between eating better and easier running – it happened by accident with green smoothies.  Once I realized that more greens meant running could actually be enjoyable, I started making sure I always ate a salad the day before a scheduled run.  It was easy to make the choice to eat something healthy because I knew I would be rewarded with a better run tomorrow.

Soon I was adding more fruits and vegetables to my meals and snacks every day, leaving less room for junk and processed foods.   I came to see that when I stopped “wasting energy” digesting empty calories and replaced those calories with higher net gain foods, not only did I have more energy for exercise, but I had more energy for all the regular day to day stuff too.

Once eating better and running regularly became easy and normal, I didn’t need a reward anymore.  Progress wasn’t always linear, but running got a lot better once Habits #1 and #2 fed into each other in a delightful little positive feedback loop.  Now I’m shopping for a tutu for my half marathon in at the end of April.

(Not really.)

The point of this story is show how choices can lead to habits.  Sometimes it takes long time, but the choices you make every day have the potential to become lasting habits.  And when it’s hard to make the “good” choice, look for your reward to help you get there.  (Even if that reward a little superficial, who cares?  Whatever it takes!)

It can seem a lot less overwhelming to think about making one good choice as opposed to the all effort it can take to create a new habit.  It’s easier to be more forgiving with yourself too when you don’t make a good choice, as opposed thinking that you’ve “failed” or have “fallen off the wagon” when it comes to making habit change.

A good choice you make today has the real potential to lead a good habit down the road.  May your road be full of running Gumbies in tutu’s.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Avocado Perks

February 24th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (37 Comments)

I’ve got too many ripe avocados right now.

Over Easy Eggs with Avocado

Although I think this is comparable to complaining that your pants are too loose or that you have too much money.

I like avocado and egg salad sandwiches, so I decided to throw some of my abundant avocado onto my over easy eggs this morning.  This was an awesome breakfast combo, which is why I’m here telling you about it now:

Avocado on eggs is good.  Eat this.

(If over easy eggs aren’t your favorite, I don’t think you’ll go wrong with avocado in an omelet or on top of scrambled eggs either.)

As I was dicing up a quarter of an avocado on to my eggs, I remembered a headline I saw last week that claimed Avocados Fire Up Fat Burn.

From that article:

Eating half an avocado daily can help you shed up to 4 pounds monthly.

Really?  How?  Why?  I mean, you could eat Twinkies and lose weight so long as you worked them into your calorie allowance (please don’t try that) so of course you can eat avocado and still lose weight.  The fat content of an avocado can leave you feeling very satisfied, and therefore leading you to eat less – but is there more to it than that?

This was how my wild, post-breakfast internet avocado goose chase commenced.

Avocados are loaded with fat and fiber, both of which help keep your blood sugar (and therefore, your appetite) in check.  But turns out that avocados also contain something called mannoheptulose, a sugar that prevents glucose phosphorylation.

(glucophosphowhat?)

Translation: the sugar found in avocados can actually inhibit insulin secretion, which can aid in fat loss if that’s something you’re working toward.

And if you’re not thinking about weight loss right now, there’s still a bunch of great reasons to eat more avocado.  It can help improve cholesterol numbers (both LDL and HDL!) and is good for your eyes and skin too.

As if we needed more excuses to eat our creamy green friend!  I hope now though that you’ll feel free to stock up on avocados when you see them on sale – I did!  Perhaps that avocado sale can help get us all one step closer to complaining about not being able to zip our wallets closed or needing to punch a new hole in our belt?  Either way, I’ve got avocados coming out of my ears – or going on to my eggs, at least.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Dear Ali: How Can We Make Real Butter More Spreadable?

February 20th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dear Ali - (23 Comments)

A very good friend of mine left a question on Facebook last week about butter and if there was some way to make it more spreadable.

Dear Ali,

I have started using “real” butter because someone has opened my eyes to the benefits of it.

(and really, I didn’t need much pushing. Here, eat this creamy tastiness! OK!)

Any tips on how to make it more spreadable? I know some people leave it out on a butter plate thing, but since it’s just me and my man, we don’t use that much butter and seems like it would go bad before we used it all.

To answer this question, the first thing I wanted to know was how long can butter sit out before it goes rancid?

The California Milk Advisory Board says that butter can be kept at room temperature for “short periods of time”, and wikipedia is slightly more helpful with answer of “several days“.  Another site says you can leave butter out for 10 days without spoiling.

So whether you choose “a short period of time”, several days or 10 – there was one thing everybody seemed to agree on when it comes to leaving butter out of the refrigerator:

Protecting your butter from air and light will help it stay fresh longer.

If you don’t use a lot of butter at your house, it sounds like you should be able leave a couple tablespoons out at a time in a small, plastic opaque storage container with a tight fitting lid.  A regular butter dish seems like it would be fine too, though not air tight, and in that case you might only choose a butter dish if you move through butter in a “short period of time”.

My favorite solution though is something that I’d never heard of until I went looking for an answer to this question – an adorable piece of kitchenware called a french butter dish.

Butter Bell Crock

Also known as a butter bell, a butter crock, or a butter keeper.

Whatever you want to call it, here’s how it works:

You put a little water into the base of the crock and pack the other piece with soft butter.

Butter Bell Diagram

The water forms airtight seal helping to preserve your butter at room temperature,

French Butter Dish

and TA DA!  Soft and spreadable butter without the worry that it’s going to go bad if you leave it out of the fridge.

Stuffed with Butter

I learned that butter can be kept for a MONTH when stored this way – so long as you change the water every couple days and keep your French butter dish it in an area that stays below 80 F.

And with that, please take note of the new item on my counter top.

Butter Keeper Counter

It says not to store it near the stove or other “heat generating” appliances – I haven’t had an issue with this distance from the stove, but I can always slide it away or move it from the counter completely if I felt it was getting too warm.

With my butter dish research I have concluded:

1.  This works great!

I’d been keeping our butter in the fridge, but I must admit that I LOVE having soft butter on hand and use it every day.

2.  We use a lot of butter here.  

My butter keeper holds 1 stick of butter.  Between cooking eggs, buttering toast and sauteing vegetables (plus some homemade corn bread that we just had on the side with chili for dinner) we seem to work through a stick of butter in less than a week.  Good thing butter is a healthy fat.  I really like having soft butter on hand and ready to go.

Spread the Butter Love (with a giveaway!)

Now I must tell you that my sweet little butter keeper was a gift from my very sweet friend who asked the soft butter question.  She went out and bought a French butter dish for herself, and then she surprised me with one too so we could both try it out!

And I totally love it.  I love it so much that I want to keep the butter lovin’ rolling – I want to give away a French butter dish to one of you too!

If you’re a butter lover and you’d like to be entered in to this little giveaway (either for yourself or maybe to give to a friend!) comment on this post with the words “I love butter!” and I’ll randomly pick a winner and update this post with the winner on Friday, February 22, 2013.

This giveaway is closed as of 2/22/13 7:54 AM EST

The random number generator from random.org gave me #9!

The 9th entry came from Hilary who said:

I love butter!!! Probably a little too much!

Me too, Hilary.  Me too.

Whether you want a French butter keeper or not, I’d love to know how you make butter more spreadable.  Please share your butterly wisdom with us!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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In the Long Run

February 18th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (3 Comments)

Let’s say you want to run a half marathon, but you take a look at a couple training programs and you’re worried that you don’t have time to commit to every single run prescribed in the plan or if you’re really going to be able to keep going through all these snow filled days.

Half Marathon Training

This is me right now.  I am definitely not getting in every single run called for in training plan I’m following, and I’m OK with this.  I want to take my training seriously, but I can only loosely follow a training plan for now.  I have to be realistic about the other obligations I have in my life – taking care of an infant is definitely the biggest draw on my time.  Add chasing a baby to homeschooling two older kids, keeping up with all the tasks involved in maintaining household of five people, not to mention lots and lots of cold, dark winter mornings and yeah… I’m lucky to get out and run three days a week.

Maybe you have a family too.  Or school or a job or all of the above – and yet you still want to add “Train for a half marathon” to your list of things to do.  I totally get it and I’m not going to tell you that you’re nuts.  In fact, I’d like to tell you how to do it without injuring yourself.  Or at the very least tell you how I plan to do it.

Most training plans call for four to five days of running or cross training each week.  Even though I’m not able to get that much running in, I’m still going to sign up for the Flower City Half Marathon that is now less than 10 weeks away.

The Long Run

Based on everything I’ve ever read about training for a distance event, and in my own experience too (with two marathons and three half marathons under my belt), I’ve come to understand that in order of priority, your long run is the most important when it comes to getting ready for a distance race.  That’s the training run I always make time for – even if means running long a day early or a day or two behind schedule – as long as I can get the long run in, I call that “good enough” and keep moving forward.

This seems obvious – of course you have to run long!  But if you find yourself needing to shuffle your training schedule around or drop a few runs or cross training days, you should still be able to make it across the finish line in one piece so long as you can keep up with the scheduled long runs.

Speed Work

If you hope to improve your time, then speed work and running faster during training runs is what’s next  in line in order of priority for me.  As much as I’d love to set a new PR for this race (which would mean coming in under 1:48), I’ve come to accept that it’s probably not going to happen this year.  And that’s OK with me too.  I’m using this race as way to stay motivated and keep running through these cold months – instead of hiding inside and lounging around in a pair of holey sweatpants.

Everything Else

When you look all the other runs on any training plan – those middle-of-the-week 3, 4 and 5 mile runs – I like to think about these runs and workouts as adding pennies to a piggy bank.  On their own, they don’t seem like they matter much – but once you’ve got a lot of them in your “running bank”, you see that they absolutely add up to something.  My plan is to do as many of these as I can without compromising the needs of my family and the homestead.

Keep On Keepin’ On

Sunday marked the end of Week 3 in my training plan.  It was cold and snowy and blowy out, but I suited up anyway and paid my long run dues (and said a silent “thank you!” that the long runs aren’t very long just yet!) and also managed to get in two other runs this week, with a few days of yoga too at a new studio that I’m trying out.

As always, you have to decide for yourself what’s best for you and your body, taking your current health, running experience and athletic conditioning into consideration.  (In other words, please don’t do anything stupid!)

But if you keep up with your scheduled long runs, I think the outcome just might surprise you… in a good way!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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These are a Few of My Favorite Greens

February 16th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (1 Comments)

At this very moment, my house is quiet.

Zak is at drum practice, the girls are off on a mini-adventure with a beloved aunt, the boy is napping.

I can hear crickets.

Yes, crickets in the winter. Hard to believe, eh?

Well believe this – I just finished this kick-ass salad for lunch.

Bleu Cheese and Salmon with Arugula

The ass-kicking was thanks in part to the pile of arugula I added to the greens mix.

Arugula

Arugula, spinach and red leaf lettuce, tossed in a little olive oil and balsamic.

Spinach Red Leaf Lettuce and Arugula with balsamic and olive oil

Topped with some leftover grilled salmon and crumbly blue cheese.

Bleu Cheese Salmon and Arugula Salad

This was great. Arugula is such a spicy, peppery green. And crumbly bleu cheese? It adds some awesome flavor and maybe even does some good for your cardiovascular health too. I’ll eat to that!

I think the best part about this salad was that it was so different from my usual lunch time salads. I purposely bought arugula and bleu cheese for salads this week, but I threw this together today without much forethought and found it surprisingly satisfying.

So satisfying in fact, that it got me thinking; sometimes I think I’m craving something sweet or some kind of treat, when actually what I’m craving is variety. What I’m actually hungry for is something new, something different.

I think it can be easy to mistake cravings for boredom or a need for stimulation. This was good reminder on the importance of asking yourself what you’re really hungry for, especially when you find yourself rummaging through the cupboards for a treat or snack even though you’re not truly hungry. The answer might be something completely unrelated to food – perhaps some other, underlying need altogether that you need to address.

This concludes today’s lunch time contemplation. This must be what happens when my house is too quiet.

Salmon, bleu cheese and arugla make a great salad though! No need to ponder that.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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A Beet Broccoli Cottage Cheese Orange Juice and Strawberry Smoothie

February 15th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Morning Craziness - (1 Comments)

Yes, Really.

Crazy Smoothie Concoction

I’m not exactly sure where to begin with this one.

I guess I’ll just tell you that a reader named James has left a couple of comments on the Mama’s Weeds Facebook page about smoothies/health shakes he’s made. The first one was with sweet potato, banana, orange juice and cinnamon.

Sweet potato in a smoothie? I’d totally make that.

(But I haven’t yet.)

Then a couple days ago, he left another list of smoothie ingredients.

Beets. Broccoli. Cottage Cheese. Orange juice. Strawberries.

You’re kidding me, right?

I mean, I’m not afraid of vegetables and I’m not afraid to try new things. But BEETS? And broccoli? And cottage cheese? Blended all together like this is a perfectly normal combination of ingredients and there’s no need to raise our eye brows or give each other sideways glances over this crazy hot pink smoothie that we’re drinking?

But James said “Trust me it’s good”.

So how could not?

Another reason I made this is because I couldn’t get this dang smoothie out of my head. This smoothie idea has been keeping me awake at night. I mean… beets. And broccoli. With cottage cheese. In a smoothie.

I’m losing sleep over this, people.

Well, I did it. I had to. After a fast Friday morning four mile run, I gathered my ingredients and took the cottage cheese smoothie plunge.

Crazy Smoothie Ingredients

OK James, I trust you. But only because you put sweet potato in a different smoothie and that sounds like something I’d drink.

Let’s do this. Yes, really.

Cottage Cheese Broccoli Beets Orange Juice and Strawberry Smoothie

I’m not going to lie to you.

Cottage Cheese Smoothie

I liked it. Yes, really! I drank the whole dang thing without the slightest hesitation or giving anyone sideways glances or raising my eyebrows or anything.

(I’m pretty sure the kids gave each other sideways glances as I was making it though.)

I’ll happily admit it – it was pretty dang good.

If you’re not a vegetable lover and know you should probably be eating more of them – this could be a great way to get a wider variety of produce into your diet. Or into your kids diet. Or anybody else you cook for who should be eating more things that grow from the ground.

Just maybe don’t let them watch you make it.

And maybe start with that sweet potato smoothie so they’ll trust you when you hand them a magenta smoothie and they’re wondering where all the beets went.

(Thanks James!)


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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Crunchy Coconut Cups

February 11th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Short or Sweet - (10 Comments)

Yesterday marked 11 weeks until the Flower City Half Marathon at the end of April.  Since we’re going to chat about running on Monday’s from now until then, this week I want to tell you about my current favorite pre-run snack – originally inspired by Lisa’s Coconut Oil Chocolate PB cups.

I make these all the time, people.

Coconut Oil Almond Butter Cups

ALL THE TIME.  (yes, that required shouting.)  These are easy and delicious, and even good for you too.

The hardest part about this recipe is getting the dang coconut oil out of the jar. And if you live in a warmer climate or if it’s summer time, then never mind – even this part will be easy for you since coconut oil melts at 76 degrees.

Melt Coconut Oil

Chocolate Crunchy Coconut Cups

print this recipe!

2/3 c coconut oil, melted
1/2 c almond butter
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c chia seeds (optional)
1/4 c hemp seeds (optional)
1/4 c shredded coconut (optional)
pinch of salt

I’ve got a secret for you: I don’t usually measure the ingredients when I make these.  Once you’ve made these a couple times you’ll be eyeballing ingredients too. They’re really that easy.

I’ve tried these a bunch of different ways – made in two layers like Lisa, with peanut butter, with almond butter, with crunch, without crunch. No matter which way you shake it, these come out good.

(Except that time I forgot the maple syrup. Maybe that time they weren’t as good.  But they were still kind of good.)

We’ve come to prefer crunchy around here – and my crunch trifecta is comprised of hemp seeds, chia seeds and shredded coconut.

Hemp Chia and Shredded Coconut

Melt your coconut oil however you prefer. The microwave, the stove top, or maybe the air in your house if you live some place balmy and warm.

Given I took this picture on my 6 mile training run yesterday –

Snowy Trail

let’s just say I put my coconut oil in the microwave for about a minute.

Mix your melted coconut oil, almond butter (or nut butter of choice), maple syrup and cocoa powder.

Melty

Then stir in your crunchy mix-ins (plus a little salt).

Crunchy Trifecta

Once you’ve got all your ingredients combined, set up 12 cupcake wrappers and get moving before your coconut oil mix starts to solidify.

Ready to Fill

Fill large wrappers with about 2 Tbsp of your mix.  I typically use the small mini-muffin tins (and filled with  1+ Tbsp), but we rolled with the big papers today.

Coconut Oil Cups

And since I usually eat two of the little ones at a time anyway – the big ones save me a step.

(All those steps I have to take to the freezer going back for a second one.)

Once your wrappers have been filled, pop them in the freezer for about 20 – 30 minutes to allow them to firm up.

Presto chango coconuto cupso!

Crunchy Coconut Oil Cups

Unwrap them now if you like, or unwrap them right before you eat one – doesn’t matter. Move them to an air tight container and store in the freezer – or fridge if you decide you like them a little softer.

Coconut Oil Cups for Freezer

Coconut oil is great for a lot of reasons, but one of the best things about it is that it’s rich in medium-chain triglycerides.  MCT’s are converted by the liver into energy almost immediately, and so this makes these cups a perfect pre-run snack – or any workout or any physical activity really.  Chasing kids?  Doing lots of housework or yard work?  Leaving soon for your job as a professional dog walker?  Eat a coconut cup!

(P.S., I use coconut oil so much these days that I’ve even started buying it online.  I’ve come to find that it’s considerably cheaper from Amazon than it is at the grocery store.)

With the quantity of ingredients outlined above, these big ones clock in at nearly 250 calories a piece.  (Yowza!  I’m glad I know that now!)  They are nutritionally dense, good calories, but still – calories are calories and they do add up.

Almond Butter Coconut Oil Cups Nutritional Stats

250 calories is reasonable for a snack, just don’t chow down on three of them in one sitting.

(Unless you used the small wrappers.  Then go ahead and eat two.)


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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A Cheese Omelet That Makes All the Other Cheese Omelets Jealous

February 8th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (6 Comments)

QUICK! Go get your grocery list!

I’ll wait.

Cream Cheese Brick

Add cream cheese to the list.

(I’ll wait.)

It turns out there’s more than one good place to smear cream cheese.

Like a bagel? That’s one.

Cream cheese frosting? Why not.

For cheesecake? Getting my fork…

And how about into an omelet?

Sneak Peek Cream Cheese Omelet

Yes, please!

This fantastic cheese omelet idea is thanks to:

1.) the brick of cream I bought for a recipe but didn’t end up using

2.) an impeccably timed post (see item #1) from the fabulously funny Eggton who made creamy grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and made me start thinking about all the good places to put cream cheese.

Take a small-ish hunk of cream cheese (or a big-ish hunk, I won’t tell) and mix it in with a little shredded cheese (pepper jack!) – and maybe the tiniest pour of half and half to help make it spread into some nearly cooked eggs. Fold those eggs over so the cheese gets all melty and warm. Then it’s time to welcome The Omelet of Your Dreams onto your plate.

Hello Creamy McDreamy,

Cream Cheese Omelet

I’ve been waiting for you.

Cream cheese in an omelet is so good that I’m at a loss for a metaphor because I can’t stop wiping the drool off my chin and out of my keyboard.

If you’ve got time and/or patience, dice up some onions and peppers or other omelet veggie favorites to include with this cream cheese masterpiece.

Cream Cheese Omelet Brussels Sprouts

Or, if you’re not so good at the patience thing like me, just plop your some left over roasted vegetables on the side of your plate and call it lunch.

Call it dinner, or call it breakfast even! Brussels sprouts for breakfast? I am not afraid.

Cream Cheese Omelet Cut in Half

Seriously. Go make this right now. RIGHT NOW.

Don’t eat it at your computer though – not without a drool shield at least.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


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