Smoothies!

One of the things I really enjoy while being off Whole30 is smoothies! I've gotten super tired of eggs, salsa, and spinach in the mornings for breakfast, to the point where I didn't even want to eat. The past two weeks have been great with a smoothie on my way to work! It doesn't keep me as full as physically chewing and swallowing my food, and it also has less protein, but it's tasty and quick.

I do my best to keep the ingredients in my smoothies as Whole30 as possible. I've never liked milk, so I don't put yogurt or milk in. I was just using water until I came across my favourite pineapple coconut water from Vita Coco! Pictured here is: Banana, almond butter, pineapple coconut water, spinach, frozen strawberries. Not pictured: cinnamon and unsweetened coconut (generally used as a garnish, but sometimes I'll blend it in).

It usually turns out a weird brown colour, but don't let that fool you! The smoothie pictured above has more strawberries than spinach. I found I wasn't getting enough spinach in the Magic Bullet cup if I blended the fruit first, so now I shove spinach in first with the almond butter, coconut water, and strawberries before I add the bananas (yes, plural). As you can see in the right hand picture below, I put the spinach in first and it's more green than brown!

I'm probably going to start venturing into eggs for breakfast again, but I need new recipes! The quiche that I make is really yummy, but it's over stayed it's welcome here. I've seen some recipes for n'oatmeal (it's not actually oatmeal, so it's gluten free and the recipes are generally Whole30 ingredient friendly), and I think they'd be great to try out. 

What are your favourite breakfast recipes? Even if they aren't exactly Whole30 friendly, I can alter some ingredients so don't be afraid to share! 

xo. Nicole

My Winter Running Essentials

Happy Valentine's Day! I can't believe it's already February, sheesh. The weeks are going by so quickly, but I find the days are long. We just finished swimming lessons with the kiddos at work, so I'm thankful for this Family Day long weekend. The snow almost disappeared completely, but then we got another huge dump overnight. We're in Alberta, and I'm ashamed to say I forgot about second Winter (haha)!

Anywho, I finished my first half marathon on February 7th! My friend and I started training in October for this, and my only goal was to finish the race. I finished 21.1 KM in 3:00:24! Our next marathon is on August 21, the Edmonton Half Marathon, and training starts in May. Winter running is actually a lot harder than I expected, despite having a mild Winter this year. The motivation to get outside when it's -10*C and lower, or going to the gym to run on those dreaded treadmills - it's hard. We did it, though! I wanted to share with you some of my Winter running essentials, minus a few things, like shoe spikes (I just never got around to buying any, though I will for next year). 

What I took with me for my half marathon:

• Gloves - I just use the $3 Wal-Mart gloves because my hands get way too sweaty and warm after about 4km to wear anything thicker. I can still switch my music and check things on my phone if needed with these gloves. They're thin enough to do that!
• Toque - Your ears will hurt if you're not wearing something to cover them in the cold, and I like having all my hair covered, too. The toque in the picture above is the one we got in our race package, but it was too small with my hair being in a bun, so it's now Rob's work toque, haha! I just use a blue knit one that I bought from Ardene's a couple years ago. Works great!
• Arm Band + Headphones - I always, always have my phone in the arm band on my arm while Running to get a more accurate reading for the Nike Running app, and some hands-free music. 
• Gum - While not Whole30, I use gum during my run. It gives me something else to focus on if I'm having a hard time continuing my run, and it helps keep my mouth moist, so I don't feel so dehydrated.
• Water Belt - I got this for Christmas from my friend! It's awesome! For the long runs, I wear it and I have some Advil, gum, and a LaraBar or two in the zipper pouch. One bottle is usually filled with Gatorade and the other with water. I found it's important to stay hydrated during your Winter runs, even if you don't feel you need to. They're definitely different than Summer runs, where you can feel the dehydration kicking in.

• Pants - I learned the hard way that it's important to have proper Winter running pants, and undershirts. So I splurged and bought some Nike pants - they're amazing! My thighs and bum hurt really bad after a 16km run with some regular running leggings, and they were definitely red for rest of the day. 
• Thermal, long sleeve top - It was pretty cheap, and I really like this one because it's got a lot of stretch, but stays where you stretch it to. I pull the sleeves to cover my hands until they warm up (with the gloves on) after 4km. 
• Hoodie - I am in love with Healthy is The New Skinny's hoodies and tank tops. I bought a hoodie and unfortunately shrunk it in the dryer (so I bought another one, a size up just in case) and now use it for my runs outside. 
• Sports Bra - This one is from Victoria's Secret! Don't forget some good socks, too. I only wear one pair because I've noticed that my feet swell up during the long runs, and my toes are only really cold for about 3-4km before they're perfectly fine.

This week, I'll also share my favourite apps for motivation and exercising!

I hope your Valentine's or Galentine's Day is wonderful! <3

xo. Nicole

Mmmm || Roasted Broccoli

K, I totally realize that I keep saying I won't just be posting Whole30 stuff, but I just want to keep sharing the yummy recipes and my victories! Today I'm sharing with you an exceptionally easy side for any meal of the day. It's totally my favourite!

All you'll need is:

• Broccoli (however much you'll need for dinner, or for several meals. I usually fill the mixing bowl!)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• Salt (or any seasoning of your choice)

Now, all you'll need to do is preheat your oven to 400*F then throw all your ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix, mx, mix and then lay on a baking sheet.

Cook for roughly 10-15 minutes and then let cool for 2 minutes. It's such a tasty and filling side dish, you could even add slivered almonds if you wanted to make it fancy. It's completely Whole30 compliant/Paleo!

You can serve with any meal, and almost any food that that meal is made of. The two pictures above are two different kinds of broccoli and both served with apple pork chops (2 different styles, too)! I hope you enjoy!

xo. Nicole

Mmmm, mornings

Since completing a whole round of #Whole30 (seriously, I DO have a post coming up all about my experience..), breakfast has easily become my favourite meal of the day. The mornings are also one of my favourite times of the day. Up until this week though, I've spent my morning getting ready for work and putting effort in to fry up some eggs, throw them on spinach, and cut up a banana. 

I used to love it when my mornings were low-key. I would skip breakfast entirely (ha, totally never doing that again), sip on a cup of coffee, and browse some of your lovely blogs. It got me going for the day and I've noticed that I've really been needing that again.

I decided on Sunday to finally just do some serious meal prep so that I can do just that. I came across a recipe for some Paleo Quiche, or breakfast casserole, in the Facebook support group for those doing Whole30, called CleanWhole30. Laura shared her recipe on her Instagram and in the group's recipe files. Sold!

I used a yam instead of a white potato because I noticed that I crash too hard otherwise. I also used some Country Naturals Gluten Free pork hot dogs (not pictured there) as the breakfast meat. I also may or may not have missed the onion while chopping and went right for my finger :( I has just painted my nails, too. 

After it was done baking, I let it cool then cut it in to 6 large pieces. I put them all in a container, so now I have 6 breakfasts waiting for me in my fridge. Serve it up with some veggies and/or fruit and you're good to go!

I really hope you get to try this, it's suuuper tasty and even easier to make :)

xo. Nicole