Challenge, Moderation, Battle

Posted By Alyson on Oct 14, 2013

Blogging is hard.

I have a whole slew of half written posts. I get this idea I want to write about. Write a couple of sentances, then go blank or get busy. But it’s something I’d like to do more of, for both completely selfish, but I also hope helpful, reasons.

Selfishly, venting and getting my thoughts and words in print is incredibly therapeutic. I’m the epitome of an introvert (INTJ if we’re getting specific), and I have a tendency to get all up in my head sometimes. Writing/journaling is a good thing.

Today I experienced something that I wanted to write about, then it was followed up by a friend posting a link that encouraged me further. So here goes…

In 2 parts:

1) I’m sad at myself.

2) We all have our own battles.

Well what the hell does that mean?!

No, I’m Not Paleo – Finding Balance

Posted By Alyson on Sep 23, 2013

If you hadn’t guessed from the mix in of cookie butter and puppy chow desserts.. no I’m not Paleo! I’ve been asked that a lot since I started CrossFit last December, and especially in the last few months when I (finally got my act together and) started losing weight and getting in better shape again.

There are some aspects of the Paleo philosophy that I think are fantastic and I do my best to follow. For example, eating as many whole foods as possible, seasonal, local, organic and grass-fed. However, I don’t have sensitivities to gluten or lactose and have found value in having them in my diet.. in moderation (always that word).

The Extreme Trap

One of the biggest traps I found myself in over the last four years was jumping from one nutrition philosophy to the next (purposely avoiding the word diet). I’ve done  vegetarian, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) etc etc. I’d be struggling, look for an answer in a drastic change, follow some new philosophy for a while,  then fly way off track, blame that style of eating, bounce to another, and so on. I’d eat a gallon of ice cream then blame dairy. Well genius if you eat a gallon of ice cream or a loaf of bread, you are going to feel like crap! It’s not the dairy or the gluten! So..

Know what I finally found that works? No extremes.

Que the ‘ah yeah well no sh%$!’ commentary now 😉

Peanut Butter Fudge Puppy Chow

Posted By Alyson on Sep 20, 2013

So ahh, remember the other day when I said I was having trouble ‘stopping sugar’? Well this is why! Horrible decision.. don’t make this. 😉

Ok it’s amazing. But have a handful then bring it to a teenage boy or someone else whose metabolism you’d kill for.

I’m going to master balance and moderation one of these days!

Peanut Butter Fudge Puppy Chow

• 1 box Peanut Butter Toast Crunch Cereal (I just found it at Safeway/Randalls)
• 1 bag White Chocolate Chips or Melts
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/2 box Brownie Mix
• Peanut Butter M&Ms – as many as you like but I used about 1/2 of a large bag
• Honey Roasted Peanuts (optional) – as many as you like!

Pour cereal into a large bowl. Melt White Chocolate and Butter together (either in the microwave following package instructions or in a double boiler). Pour melted chocolate mixture over the cereal and mix like crazy. White chocolate doesn’t always melt as smoothly so you may want to use your hands for mixing. Once coated sprinkle in Brownie Mix and continue to shake. Once nicely covered toss in M&Ms and Peanuts.

Thank You

Posted By Alyson on Sep 13, 2013

Tomorrow I’m competing in my 3rd fitness competition. It’s up in Dallas, not a big show, and I’ll be doing Fitness and Figure. Of course I want to do well (have we met? I’m a little competitive), but honestly no matter what happens this weekend, getting back here, my way, using CrossFit and healthy prep, I am already 100% happy with the results. I think the “why” I needed to do this again is a whole other long-winded post, so suffice to say.. it’s rather symbolic of a number of other things.

It’s been a very long 4 years to get back here. Really long.. incredibly, silly, ridiculously long (ok you get the point). And the truth is, I still really can’t believe it. I think as much as I kept saying I wanted to compete again, deep down, after tripping up multiple times, I thought I’d fail. This time was different for one HUGE reason..

COMMUNITY!

Donut Devirginized – Cookie Butter Stuffed Donut Holes

Posted By Alyson on Sep 6, 2013

I’ve been wanting to make homemade donuts for sometime. No not baked in those donut pans that were all the range a couple years ago, but the real deal, fried goodness sorta donuts. A full donut is a real commitment, plus I didn’t have the right pastry cutter shapes, so donut holes won! It just so happened that I’d also tried my hand at making Homemade Cookie Butter that weekend.. so.. I think you know what had to happen..

Cookie Butter Stuffed Donut Holes

• 1 1/2 cup Flour (all purpose) + Extra as needed
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Buttermilk
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Butter (melted)
• Oil for Frying (I used Vegetable)

Fillings and Toppings

• Cookie Butter

Toppings

• Glaze: 1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar + 4 Tbsp Buttermilk
• Sugar (granulated) + Cinnamon Mixture
• 1+ cup Powdered Sugar

Add oil to thick a pan deep enough so donuts can submerge (I used a regular medium sized saucepan) and heat to 350F. Stir together Flour, Baking Powder and Salt in a bowl. In a larger bowl mix together Milk, Buttermilk, Sugar and Butter.  Combine wet and dry ingredients. Flour a surface. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough. Pat out into a circle. At a drop of Cookie Butter to the center and using floured fingers pinch dough together so your Cookie Butter is in the middle. Repeat for 6 or so. Check your Oil temperature. Drop donut holes in rotating with a slotted spoon to make sure they cook evenly. Depending on your oil head, pan type, depth of oil, etc the time they need may vary. Cook until a rich golden brown all around. Remove from oil with your slotted spoon and let cool on paper towels. Repeat donut rolling and frying process until complete. While your donut holes are cooling make your glaze by mixing together Powdered Sugar & Buttermilk. Use a pastry brush to apply a thin layer of glaze to the donuts, then roll in Cinnamon+Sugar or Powdered Sugar. Store covered at room temperature (but not air tight or they’ll get all gooey!).

These were so much fun to make.. not to mention delicious. Can’t wait to play more with donut making!

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Birthday Bites

Posted By Alyson on Sep 4, 2013

A few weeks ago I somehow ended up with a package of these beauties..

By ‘somehow’ I mean I was at the grocery store, wandered into the cookie aisle, saw them, stood there drooling and then bought them. Crazy how that works 😉

But then I needed something to do with them! At this point I was about 4 weeks out from my fitness competition, so unfortunately having them laying around to grab was not a good idea, so they became inspiration. Lemon plus Vanilla, White Chocolate or Cake Batter flavor are tops in my book, so I decided to create a crust out of these beauties for a refreshing lemon cheesecake.