Sweet 'n spicy deliciousness and giveaway winner!

I am like a kid in a candy store in Whole Foods. I swear I can walk around bright-eyed for hours in that place. This morning I woke in the mood for chocolate! And so I choc-ed it up, protein-cupcake style.

Chocolate - covered Strawberry PC

Timberrrr!

 Ingdedients:

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use SunWarrior brand, it's da bestttt)

5 thawed frozen strawberries, mashed

1 T egg whites

1 t chia seeds (optional, good source of omega's)

pinch baking powder

stevia (1 serving)

h20 to moisten (~2T)

Directions: 

Mix with fork until brownie-like consistency

Spray coffee mug with cooking spray

Microwave ~1 min 30 secs

Top with sweetened low-fat Greek yogurt 

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Post-digestion, I hit up 'bucks for the usual "Venti Pike's Place coffee with 1 inch steamed soy". Tip: If you think Starbucks is a little too strong for your taste buds, ask for Pike's Place. It's their lighter blend. Deeeeeeeeeelish.

Now back to Whole Foods. Not kidding, I think I spent 1.5 hours there. And I didn't even eat, ha! I did score some major goods however. Some notable mentions..

(click to zooom)

- Flax seed meal (ground flax seeds; can't wait to use in pizza crust)

- Almond meal (ground almonds; gonna make homemade protein muffins and cookies)

- Coconut butter (heat a little in microwave the drizzle over oatmeal, toast, etc. Great source of healthy fats)

- Black Cherry Berry tea (just tried and ahhhmazing)

- Nutritional yeast (we all know how much I use this stuff)

- Organic Lite Honey Mustard dressing (planning a salmon dish with this one)

- Raw bee polin (a prebiotic and a natural sweetener)

- Spirulina (probiotic; add to smoothies)

- Pesto paste (all organic ingredients. Just add EVOO. And sans parmesan so allergy-friendly)

- Maca powder (good source of vitamin C and known for crazy energy boost. Add to smoothies. Love the stuff)

After cleaning the kitchen and re-organizing (stay tuned for a "what's in my kitchen" post coming soon), I made hands down the best salad I've had in a looooong time. Sorry to toot my own horn, but toot toot ;) First I cut up lot of veggies.. 

Spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and avocado 

Then added diced Tempeh 

(And garbanzo beans (chickpeas), sunflower seeds, sea salt, and black pepper)

Next I made the dressing. I used my favorite hummus in the whole wide world, Jalapeno and Cilantro (Trader Joe's). If you don't have a TJ's near you, you can add some fresh cilantro to traditional hummus (and a teeeeny bit of diced jalapenos if like a kick).

Sweet n' Spicy dressing (1-2 servings)

4 T hummus

2 T nutritional yeast

1/2 - 1 t honey

water, to thin out consistency

(Dressing was so good that I forgot to snap a pic until after I inhaled it)

Add dressing and mix.

The spice of the cilantro was perfectly complemented by the honey. The hummus and avocado added nice texture while the sunflower seeds added the perfect amount of crunch. I not kidding when I tell you this is the best salad I've had in long time. Get on it ;)

* * *

If you've been following my workout schedule, you can see that I've clearly been slacking on the weights and yoga - two very important components of running. I blame it on vacation and catching the spring running bug. I took a BodyPump class yesterday and it felt great to be back. Tomorrow I willlll do yoga. Hold me to it ;) 

Have a great night everyone! I'm heading to the gym then it's a girls night out :) What are your plans???

 * * *

And the winner for the Wildtree.com giveaway package is...

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:42Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Beth Skendrovic!!! Beth, e-mail me at Biochemista@gmail.com and send me your shipping address :)