peanut buttery no-bake treats and a tabata workout

I’m excited to share with you all kinds of good stuff today!

Hadley was out cold by 7:10 last night, and after putting her to bed I got this weird burst of energy that had me up doing all kinds of things.

When I was going through the fridge looking for things to throw in Jamie’s lunch, I found a couple of week-old cucumbers at the bottom of the veggie drawer that are nearing “use or lose” status. In this house we either eat of ton of vegetables or no vegetables, and how many we eat always revolves around how readily available they are. Not cut up and ready to eat = usually not going to get eaten! So I sliced them up, threw some in Jamie’s lunch, and finally threw some in my big water bottle to chill overnight. Jamie thinks it’s gross, but I love cucumber water! I find it very refreshing. I’ve also read that there are a few health benefits as well.

After I did some slicin’ and dicin’ with my cucumbers, I did some dessert prep (all I had for dinner was a BLT and strawberries, so I was hungry!). Try this out; it’s so good!

1. Peel a banana, split it in half, and put it in a bowl or on a plate
2. Heated one tablespoon of Justin’s Maple Almond Butter for 30 seconds
3. Drizzle on top of banana
4. Lightly sprinkle with Kashi Granola (optional)
5. Freeze for 30 minutes
6. Enjoy!

While dessert was freezing, I mixed up some breakfast for J (I told you that I was practically bouncing off the walls for no reason). I made him a hearty bowl of Peanut Butter “Cookie Dough” overnight oats which I watched him devour this morning.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats (do not substitute for quick oats)
• 1/2 cup milk of your choice (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and Jamie uses vanilla soy milk) + another splash in the morning
• small spoonful of peanut butter
• two teaspoons of honey
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds (Do not omit or the oats will not thicken)
• Optional toppings: Honey roasted peanuts, fresh berries, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, etc.

Directions

1. Stir all ingredients together in a bowl
2. Cover with plastic wrap
3. Allow the bowl to sit overnight in the refrigerator
4. In the morning, add a splash of milk and stir everything together again

I stumbled upon my chia seeds in the produce section with the prepared fruit trays, but you can also order them online here.

Once I “settled down” for the night to peruse my favorite blogs and eat my dessert, I read a workout that I had to try. I didn’t get to run yesterday due to Hadley’s nap schedule being totally off, so I decided to try this tabata workout that I found here.

I took the recommendation and downloaded the free tabata app which made the workout mindless because the app timed everything for me. I substituted a kettlebell for a 20 lb. hand weight and the jumping rope for jumping jacks.

I was dripping in sweat and regretting my decision to workout for the entire 16 minutes, but finishing that last set felt fantastic. I’m going to do a little more tabata workout research today and hopefully knock out another one here shortly. Give it a try for a quick, high-intensity workout!