Have I Told You I Love Peanut Butter?

Today after work Bridget and I did the same routine we did yesterday. She picked me up at the train station, I ran to her car, we drove to the gym, then attended two classes.

The first class was Kickboxing, which included all of your basic kickboxing moves plus others that were a bit more challenging. Overall, I thought the class was pretty good, although it was not as challenging as I would have liked.

Following Kickboxing, I took my favorite Group Power class, which kicked my behind. Holy soreness tomorrow! Gotta love the burn.

When we got home we were both starving, so we cooked up some salmon and I stirfryed some veggies.

My creation...

Asparagus, zucchini (so good right now), carrots, and red bell pepper. I seasoned the veggies with some onion powder, garlic powder, and lots of peppa'.

I decided to put barbecue on my salmon and oh my gosh it was awesome! I love barbecue sauce and I live for fish so that's a double win.

The salmon was baked perfectly. Lots of flakiness going on, and it also had a really buttery texture. Perfection.

***

Enough of dinner, lets get on to the good stuff.  Remember today when I promised to make something for you all? Well, I never let go of promises, so make something I did!

Any guesses?

Nope, you guessed wrong. I decided on homemade cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter. I am obsessed with PB and Co.'s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. If you haven't tried it, then your not truly living. You must get your hands on a jar now, I mean like tomorrow.

Anyway, I came up with the following recipe and it turned out very yummy!

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter

Ingredients:
1 cup peanuts (I used salted, whatever you prefer)
2/3 cup Raisins
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Agave (honey, cane sugar, and maple syrup would also be yummy options)
1 1/2 tbsp. Olive oil (any oil will work here)

Directions:
Add peanuts to food processor and blend until creamy (about 3-4 minutes). Stream in the olive oil, cinnamon and agave. If you like your peanut butter more or less creamy, add more oil as needed. Transfer peanut butter to container and fold in the raisins. Eat spoonfuls and spoonfuls!


Confession: I did not fold in the raisins, I put them in the food processor where they became chopped liver. If you want plump, whole raisins in your peanut butter you must fold them in.

Voila!

Cinnamony, raisony, creamy peanut butter. Yes, those are made up words.  I may even call this recipe killer. Maybe, like I said, killer is a strong word. I suggest you go make this now, so you can live a happier life! Seriously, though.

Bowl of poo

Today, after work I came home and snacked on some cauliflower and hummus-my new favorite combo. I usually eat hummus with carrots, but yesterday I tried it with cauliflower and I don't think I'll be eating carrots with hummus for a long while!

The whole day while working all I could think about was working out. I hadn't had a good, sweaty workout in quite some time-bad Caroline. So, this morning I awoke knowing that after work I was going to go to the gym and have a killer workout. Killer it was! I wanted to do fifty minutes of cardio and that's exactly what I did.

Twenty five minutes on the elliptical vary between resistance and incline, ten minutes on stair-master (level 9 today), five minutes on the erg, and ten minutes on the arc trainer. Ever since Gabriela blogged about her first experience on the erg, I figured I should give it a go since I have never attempted it myself. Let me tell you that my shoulders will be sore tomorrow, even after just five minutes! Phew.

***

After my sweaty workout, I came home ravenous. I began with an apple

Fujiiiii

Then steamed some broccoli and cauliflower. Along side that I had some protein cereal

In the mix:

1 1/2 scoop of chocolate Sun Warrior protein powder

1 cup organic soy milk

2 tbsp. peanut flour

1 cup Kashi GoLean

cinnamon

stevia to taste

Over the weekend Bridget's cousin referred to this as a "bowl of poo." I beg to differ! It may look nasty, but it is oh.so.good.

This is one of my favorite combos! It is so good. Once it is mixed all together it becomes so creamy and think, you must try it.

After dinner, Bridget poured me some vino

In a solo cup...classy. I did not end up having any, even though I do adore wine. Apparently, I just wasn't feelin' it tonight. I think it tomorrow night will perhaps be a better night for some beloved vino.

Since I didn't indulge in any wine, I still wanted something to finish my meal. Bring on the carrots and peanut butter! Seriously one of the best snacks ever. Healthy fats + vegetable = win!

I'm currently plopped on the couch, surfing through channels until I find something worth watching. House Hunters anyone?! I think I will have to settle on that, it is my favorite show after all. Have a relaxing night and I'll see ya in the morning!