saturday snack / 012

I have found that one of the hardest parts of trying to make healthier choices, when it comes to what you eat, is the in between meals stage: snacks. To make it easier for you, each week I will bring you a new healthy option for snacking.

Strawberries and cream, what could be better? Strawberries and cream topped with peanut butter! However you choose to make the cream of your strawberries and cream, I have a healthier version. Insert Greek yogurt. Higher in protein, and lower in fat and calories than your traditional "cream." I'm proud to say that this version tastes just as good, and comes without all the guilt.

Serving Size 1 • 90 Calories • 5g of fat • 1g saturated fat • 1g cholesterol • 56mg sodium • 142mg potassium • 7g carbs • 1g fiber • 3g sugar • 6g protein •

Strawberries and Cream
3 strawberries
1 tablespoon 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons Creamy Peanut Butter

Wash the strawberries and let completely dry. Scoop out the Greek yogurt into a bowl, and dip your strawberries in the yogurt making sure to cover all sides of your strawberry. You may need to use a spoon to get the yogurt to cover your strawberry. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and set in the freezer for a couple of hours. Microwave peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl for 20 seconds. Drizzle over your yogurt covered strawberries. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Enjoy! 

 Check out other healthy snacking options!

second a day: April

Truth: This month was a little rough when it came down to recording our days. We still got it in, but I think the newness is wearing off. Whats getting me through is seeing the entire month's mash up when I put it all together. I love seeing these. I love seeing the videos Travis sends me. I love when we are together and film our randomness. I just have to keep reminding myself to do it, because I really do love the end result.

This month we celebrated my grandparents 40th wedding anniversary on Catalina, had date nights, went to farmers markets, ate ice cream, hung out with crazy Charlotte, saw my cousins band play, and of course made it to the go-kart track. It was a fun, but very very crazy month. Take a look:

Song: Matt Kearney Count on me

To read more about our monthly challenge check out the first post here. 

Watch past months mash ups here.

#milechallenge2014 April report

Sadly, we only got around to one adventure this month. If it had to be any where with anyone I'm so glad it was this one. We were in Catalina with family and had a morning off, so we gathered up the cousins and headed out to explore. If you didn't already, you can read more about our hike here.

April was a whirlwind of events, and we are lucky we were able to squeeze in this hike. We knocked out 2.5 miles total during our adventure. It makes me happy that my cousins and brother were super excited about getting outside and being apart of our challenge. It makes it a lot more easier to get outside and be active when you have good company!

Running Total: 39.1 + 2.5 = 41.5

Read more about our yearly challenge // Catch up on past month reports
Follow along on instagram with the hashtag #milechallenge2014

Hiking Adventures: Catalina Island

WHO: Travis, Elise, Ryan, Devin, Bella, + Taylor

WHAT: Exploring Catalina
WHERE: Avalon, California
WHEN: April, 2014
WHY: We were on Catalina Island for my grandparents 40th wedding anniversary, and we had the morning off for free time, so we decided to go exploring.

The "trail" we decided to take was more of a road for golf carts, and not really a designated hiking trail. We looked up hikes on Catalina but they were mostly hikes that spanned the entire island. We have goals of completing that hike, but for now this short hike was perfect for everyone. 

Our hotel, Hotel Metropole, was right off the main street of Avalon which is the main city on Catalina. This made it easy to head out the door and explore. For the hike we took the main street and walked up Marilla way, turned right onto Vieudelou Ave and continued onto chimes tower way. This took us up to the old bell tower but we kept going and eventually the trail loops back around and we ended up back on the main street again. The total walk from our hotel and back was 2.5 miles. Catalina is a very "hilly" island, but once you go up, you have to come back down. Everyone had a great time, and I'm glad we were able to include my cousins and brother into our mile challenge for the year!

saturday snack / 011

I have found that one of the hardest parts of trying to make healthier choices, when it comes to what you eat, is the in between meals stage: snacks. To make it easier for you, each week I will bring you a new healthy option for snacking.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a fish person at all. In that I don't like fishing, I think fish are slimy and disgusting, and I hate the taste of it. For some reason, tuna I can deal with (along with shellfish). I think maybe because my mom would make us tuna sandwiches when we were young. I really really wish I could stand the taste of fish, because it is packed full of beneficial omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids that are healthy for your heart! So, whenever I think of it, I make a batch of tuna for tuna sandwiches.

I took this concept, made healthy modifications to the traditional tuna recipe and then sized it down to snack form. Traditionally, tuna is made with mayonnaise, which is filled with saturated fat. Switch it out with plain greek yogurt for not only a lower fat option but also added protein. Add a spoonful of your mixture onto a cracker and you have a healthy snack! I used triscuits and New York style bagel crisps.

Serving Size 1* • 85 Calories • 0g of fat • 0g saturated fat • 31g cholesterol • 290mg sodium • 200mg potassium • 2g carbs • 0g fiber • 1g sugar • 17g protein •
*serving size is for 1/4 of the tuna recipe, and not including crackers. 

Tuna

Servings: 4

2 5oz cans tuna

1 teaspoon 0% fat plain Greek yogurt

1 medium stalk of celery

1 tablespoon chopped red onion

1 tablespoon chopped green onion

Juice from 1/4 of a lemon

Salt, Peper, and garlic salt to taste

Drain tuna cans of water, place in a bowl. Add Greek yogurt and mix with a fork. Chop up celery, red onion, and green onion and add to the mixture. Add in lemon juice and seasonings.

Enjoy!

 Check out other healthy snacking options!

Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Bites

You guys, I just discovered oat flour. This changes everything and opens all kinds of new doors, especially because it is way too easy to make. I really love this new to me discovery because I buy oatmeal in bulk at Costco, and if you follow me on Instagram, you know my obsession with oatmeal is a bit over the top. Seriously, throw the oatmeal in your blender, or food processor, and blend until the oats are a powder like consistency, and violá-oat flour you can use in place of white flour for a gluten free, lower calorie alternative.

I'm rambling on about oat flour because I found the most perfect recipe to try it out on. These chocolate chip banana oat bites are my new favorite food obsession. It has kicked my ABC smoothie off the top spot. Not only are these bites delicious, each square is under 200 calories, low in fat, and gluten free. The added bananas give these bites a banana bread like taste and texture without all the added fat and sugar that comes along with grandmas banana bread.

Monique over at Ambitious Kitchen is on point with every recipe she turns out. I have yet to try a recipe from her blog that I was disappointed with. These banana oat bars are no exception. I made a few changes and am reporting back to you.  You shouldn't be surprised that one of the adaptations I made was adding peanut butter.

 • Serving Size: 1  • 122 Calories • 3.2g of fat • 1.3g saturated fat • 1.6g cholesterol • 103mg sodium • 144mg potassium • 22g carbs • 2.3g fiber • 12g sugar • 2.5g protein •

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Bites

(Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen) 

Makes 16 squares

2 1/4 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 medium ripe bananas

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup chocolate chips

For the topping:

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by spraying with nonstick cooking spray. 
• Prepare oat flour: pour oats into a blender or food processor, and blend until oats resemble a powder. You may need to stop and stir up the oats to ensure all oats have been well blended.
• Combine oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. 
• In a separate bowl, or blender, mix together bananas, apple sauce, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and honey. Add to oat flour mixture until everything is combined.
• Gently fold in your chocolate chips to the mixture and spread your mixture evenly over your prepared baking dish.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until done. Once done, let cool on a wire rack. 
• In a small dish, following the instructions on your chocolate chip packaging, heat up chocolate chips and drizzle over the top of the bars. Place peanut butter in a separate dish and microwave for 20 seconds, stir and another 10 seconds. Drizzle over the top of your bars. 

After I cut these up, I stored half of them in the freezer and half of them in my fridge. These are good straight out of the fridge, or warmed up with your soy latte as a morning snack. Yes, I eat a snack between breakfast and lunch. Or if you aren't into the whole big breakfast deal like I am, or barely have time to get ready in the morning, these bites of deliciousness would be perfect for you as you're running out the door in the morning.

Enjoy-whenever you decide is best to eat them!

DIY: Gallery Wall

Gallery walls seem to be a thing right now, and that is perfectly okay with me. I had a small scale one in my last apartment, but was super excited when I saw this big open wall in my new apartment. I knew instantly what was going to go up. A gallery wall is a fun way to make a big impact and totally customize it. Every time a new person comes over, they go straight to this wall and look at all the different things I have hanging up. I love that my gallery wall reflects me. I especially love that I was able to incorporate some special pieces from our trip to Europe. We acquired two small hand painted paintings from local artists in Rome, and two prints of paintings from Paris. Other things incorporated into my gallery wall are a few of my favorite art prints, photographs and a few quick DIY projects thrown in.  

There are a lot of tips and tricks floating around the inter-webs for hanging up multiple frames in the form of a gallery wall. I just usually measure out the width, or height, of my wall space (which every I am more constrained by) and then leave the tape measure locked at that measurement on the floor. I just start arranging and rearranging my frames until I find a combination that works for me. From there I have my handy man hang everything up. He does a good job and does the job in about half the time it would take me.

1. Shopping Bag, from Laduree
2. This is your life Canvas print, by Louise Carey
3. Silhouette wall hanging DIY
4. Buildings of Paris print, by City Fabric
5. Be You Print, by Sugar Paper
6. DIY Paper mache letter with turquoise paint

     * Personal pictures I had printed.
     ! Paintings and prints we picked up from our travels to Europe.

As far as frames, I have accumulated many of them over time. Some from IKEA and Target and others from places like Marshalls and TJ Maxx.  I love that there is a mix of frames too. I know my mom and grandma would have a fit that the frames don't all match, but I think that's what I like most about my gallery wall.

Here are some of my favorite frames: Target 1 / Target 2 / IKEA 1 / IKEA 2 / IKEA 3 / IKEA 4 / IKEA 5

I think my love of Paris is pretty evident from my gallery wall alone; my biggest art print is of Paris, I have 2 pictures of the Eiffel tower, 1 art print of the Champs-Élysées, and the most adorable shopping bag we got with our macaroons from Laduree.  One day we will make it back. In the mean time, I'll enjoy looking at the momentos in my gallery wall.

PS: Coffee table DIY post will be up next week!