Who likes to receive cookies in the mail? I do.
I was fortunate to receive these Enjoy Life cookies
Enjoy Life Products are Free Of:
But not free of taste. For baked goods that are vegan, GF, and free from many common allergies, I give Enjoy Life products their props.
Or, you can make your own Vegan + GF brownie-cookies
Or make Raw Vegan Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies
I can vouch 100% for the taste on the brownies and the cookies in case you don’t have access to specialty vegan + GF baked goods.
Yesterday I spent plenty of time with my newly minted 4 year old birthday girl!
It was a great birthday! And we also celebrated here, too.
From my Superbowl Foods & Plans post, thanks for telling me what your plans are. Seems it was an all or nothing relationship with football for you all.
I drooled over some of recipes you plan to make and what you can’t wait to dig into if someone else is doing the cooking. I’m glad you liked my recipe ideas for the big game day even though I probably won’t be making food just for the game.
Questions:
1. Are you looking forward to the weekend?
I am! Even though I’m working, I always look forward to the extra time I have with Scott and Skylar.
2. Have you ever tried Enjoy Life Foods or any specialty allergen-free foods?
I am generally not impressed with most commercially prepared foods that are labeled as gluten free. They are usually dry, tasteless, crumbly, and lack flavor. However, the Enjoy Life products are much better than most.
I did a post on going Gluten Free and one thing I stress is try to find foods that are naturally gluten free. It’s hard to create a loaf of GF French bread. It’s just asking….a lot. Throw in vegan, and it gets even harder. Successfully replacing wheat gluten, eggs, and butter can be tricky.
Instead, you may need to realize that bread is nice, but so are potatoes, or rice. They are naturally gluten free.
So is fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, and many other plant-based foods that come straight from nature.
So rather than trying to create GF pasta noodles, I just make my own zucchini pasta with veggies and peanut sauce.
3. Have you been working out lately in spite of the winter weather?
I was posting for a couple weeks how gorgeous the weather was here. Well, that’s done.
It’s still sunny, but it’s cold and windy!
Those trees are blowing from very gusty winds!
I was pushing Skylar in my jogging stroller and between her and the stroller (about 80 pounds I’m guessing) and the 35 mph head wind and the San Diego hills and terrain, I definitely got a workout in. Good thing I only do 20 minutes of cardio. Period. That’s all I could take.
I love to walk or run for 20 minutes every day to clear my head and at all costs, do it outside, not indoors. I cannot stand cardio equipment in the gym. I die from boredom or injure myself. Something about my gait and stride on a treadmill is a recipe for throwing my hips, legs, knees, and ankles out of whack for weeks!
Major props to all of you who stay can hang in there on the indoor cardio machines. I realize it’s a necessity at times. These are the workouts I do at home.
What do you do to stay motivated for your winter workouts?
P.S. You may enjoy my Morning Workout Tips post for how to get your booty moving for the a.m. workouts.
Those cookies look delicious!!
Happy belated birthday to your super cute little girl. 4 years old?! WOW–she’s growing so fast!!
I’m looking forward to conquering another one of my marathon training long-runs AND conquering my second biostatistics test. Not really big into football… but I’ll be watching the commercial breaks :)
btw, i just updated my blogroll and totally added you. I <3 reading your blog! So refreshing :)
Hey Averie! I’m a bit new to your blog but love love hearing what you have to say. Your honesty and general ZEST for life is so inspiring!! I have to ask you-you talk a lot about 20 minute (cardio) workouts. Is that really all that you need in a day? I’m not overweight or unhealthy but I’ve always thought the recommendations were for more than that and I know I always do A LOT more. I am an endurance athlete so my training is a bit skewed, but nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts!
Keep up the great work!
I don’t have time (or desire) for more than that per day. So whatever is “recommended”, I take with a grain of salt. Who are “they” who are “recommending” it and why would they know better about what is going to work for me and my lifestyle than me. Always question what “they” say. Whoever they are :)
I think most women fall into the cardio trap. I am not in it anymore.
Go to my Popular Posts Tab
Go to the Lifting/Working section mid-page.
Read those half dozen posts. It explains my thoughts.
Happy Birthday Skylar!! :D
YES to enjoying foods that are naturally gluten free. My husband and I both are, and we live for gluten free oats, buckwheat, rice, millet, quinoa, etc. We make our own pancakes and cookies usually, but the enjoy life cookies are an amazing treat. Snickerdoodle is my absolute favorite. Your raw vegan brownies look so lovely!
thank you for understanding what i mean about foods that are naturally GF..rather than trying to re-invent the gluten wheel, so to speak :)
I love those snickerdoodle cookies… full of flavor and super moist!!
you’ve had them? it was my 1st time having them!
I want a dehydrator SOOO bad – where did you find yours? Any suggestions?
Ironically I just linked this for another commenter
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/02/my-favorite-kitchen-things-recipe-links.html
I do have a dehyd, it’s the 9 Tray Excalibur. Excalibur is to dehydrators what Vita Mix is to blenders. It’s the top of the line and if you are going to buy one, get that brand, it will last you decades.
That said, unless you *really* know you are going to use it, love it, and want one…i find a low oven at 200F with the door ajar works nearly as well for many applications.
Just trying to save you money before you drop $200-250 on a magic box. :)
i’ve never had those cookies before! but they sound delicious
i’m excited for the weekend becasue it’s superbowl sundayyyyyy!!! except i have a serious amount of schoolwork to get crankin on so that will not be fun. but i also have a dinner party with the besties :)
Coooooooooooooooooookies!!!
What the hell is this crap? LOL
I need to get a spiralizer! I always love seeing spiral zucchini, it looks so awesome!
best 29.99 spent. i love my spiralizer! order it on amazon
i have a kitchen items post that shows what i have. (from memory…99% sure it’s all linked back in there)
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/02/my-favorite-kitchen-things-recipe-links.html
Cookies look awesome!! I’ll have to check those out! Sorry Ive been so out of the blogging loop until recently. So awesome to see you made the move to San Diego! Its gorgeous.
The one thing that really gets me movin in the morning is just thinking about how awesome I feel after. It sounds silly, but that thought get my butt out of bed fast!
Have a great day!
Yeah girl we’ve been back for almost a year now! Phoenix was a 9 month experiment but this was and will always now be…home!
And welcome back! I had wondered what you had been up to…it’s awesome to hear from you again!! :)
Thanks!! so good to be back! I was off on some different adventures so Ive been away for a bit. I felt like I totally fell off the face of the earth! ha! I missed everyone though! Its so great to be catching up though! Ive been reading like crazy to get updated. I love your pictures too! Wow! you look fabulous!
My workouts are inside, but we have not been going on walks lately. It is nasty in Atlanta so outside has not been an option. I am looking forward to this weekend, but I am looking forward to hanging out with all of my boys and resting! I also love Enjoy Life Foods! They have great products! I do the product surveys for them when they are trying to develop new products. The kids think that is so much fun to taste test. Have a great evening Averie!
I think your cookies look way better than the commercial ones-maybe you should go into business! :-)
awww, you’re too sweet Maryea!
I’ve never had packaged vegan or gf cookies, usually I just make my own but i’m glad to see that these pass the test! It’s sometimes not too hard to find vegan cookies, but good gf ones are scarce!
Yesss I have been loving working out! Even though I can’t go outdoors (booooo snow!), i’ve been loving the treadmill, ellipticals, and spinning:) I am a spinning MONSTA
just make your own, seriously :)
Hey I just discovered a new bar that I think is the absolute best EVER… they are called GoMacro and are gluten free GMO free, organic and vegan. they are absolutely perfect. I highly recommend!!!
those cookies look good but home made is always better!
I’ve been working out inside mostly… we’ve had some good weather here in central cali so i’ve done my cardio outside but I’ve gotten really into my pole dancing lately and my arm/back muscles are getting out of control. Do you have any advice on preventing growing bulky muscles?? I grow muscle so easily it’s insane, even being vegan!
Go Macro bars are amazing! I have been eating them for a few years. I love them. They are pricey but worth it!
I love the sound of your workout!
Preventing mass…I am not an expert but I would say lift lighter, lift lower weights/higher reps, maybe take a lifting break for awhile and do more yoga and cardio, watch your food intake and things that you know for you personally help keep weight/mass/bulk on your frame and then watch those things in your diet.
Just my off the cuff thoughts, of course!
Those cookies look good- but yours look better :)
thank you friend :)
Those zucchini noodles look amazing. I’m making another batch of your kale chips today. I made them a couple weeks ago and LOVED them! :-)
yay, thanks for telling me you’re getting your kale groove on :)