Hey there! How was everyone's Labor Day weekend?

Mine was great - considering the awesome protein pancakes recipe I'm about to share with you :) On Friday evening, Michael and I headed up to the Poconos to stay with a couple of our friends at their house. I had never been up there before and it was just beautiful. So peaceful, quiet and we couldn't have gotten more lucky with the weather. I don't have many pictures because I wanted to disconnect a bit this weekend from technology. On Friday night we sat on the porch and had a few too many drinks in the cool weather. We had intentions to get in a workout Saturday morning, but instead we slept in and drove up the road for a diner breakfast - you know, the greasy kind that cures all feelings of a hangover? So great.

After getting some food in our bellies, we geared up for a full day at the lake with a huge cooler filled with LOTS of beer and snacks. We got to the lake and headed into the water for a full day of floating - with our floating cooler. We swam (floated) all the way to the other side of the lake and back, and didn't get out of the water for a good 3-4 hours. 

Obviously in Gator gear for an awesome Gator win on Saturday night! Full of beer and all sunned out, we headed back home to relax and grill a delicious dinner of chicken, asparagus and zucchini. 

We headed back to Philadelphia yesterday late morning. Today has consisted of lots of relaxing! I got in a great workout earlier, mostly because I had all the time in the world and didn't have to rush! I love that, don't you? I'll post my workout later this week - it was a sweaty one! Now we're just enjoying being lazy (aka blogging + watching Arrested Development the rest of the day) before getting back into a busy working routine tomorrow.

Before working out, we woke up slow and I wanted pancakes, but after a weekend full of not the healthiest meals, I wanted a healthier version - cue the homemade protein pancakes! These are easy to make and if you're one of those "ew cottage cheese!" people, I'm sure greek yogurt would work just as well :) 

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Good morning! How's everyone's week going? Mine seems to be flying by like crazy - I think it's a mixture between being consistently busy at work and not getting home until 8 every night due to teaching or working out after work. Busy is GOOD. Do you agree? A quick catch up before I share a Fluffy Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe!

Last night I taught my first spin class in a while at FitLife, which is conveniently located right near my apartment. It was a lot of fun - spin is definitely one of my favorites to teach.

As far as half marathon training goes, I've ran once this week and it was a disgusting, humid run. My right shin is acting up a bit, so I've been focusing on cross training and strength this week - I'll get back to it next week. I was going to taper off and do a shorter long run this weekend anyway, so I am still on track.

NOW, let's get to the fun part, shall we? Maybe you've noticed that a lot of my baked goods on the blog lately have been muffins. This is because 1. I love muffins. 2. The only type of pan I have is a muffin tin since I moved. I don't have a loaf pan or brownie pan yet to make bars or blondies - so muffins it is!

I wanted to whip up a light snack or desert I could have on hand for the week and these came out perfect. I hate when baked goods are just way too sweet and these are a great level of sweetness.

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1 cup oat flour (blended up oats!)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or more, this is when less is NOT more)

Here's what to do:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350
• Mix together all of the dry ingredients (except the sugar) in a medium bowl
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, sour cream, milk and brown sugar
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth
• Fold in the chocolate chips
• Grease a muffin tin and fill with batter a third of the way
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are just golden brown - let them cool

The recipe yields 12 small muffins.

The sour cream in these gives them a rich feeling, almost like pound cake, but the oat flour keeps them nice and light. I love using sour cream in baked goods - it really adds a lot. If you don't believe me, check out this article.

Have a good THURSDAY! Almost the long weekend :)

XO - Rach

What's your favorite kind of muffin?

Long weekend plans?

Scared of sour cream in baked goods?

Although the name of this recipe is not so appealing, this Pea Soup & Homemade Croutons is extremely easy to make and so delicious! The soup is filled with fiber to fill you up and the croutons make it feel a little fancy without the fuss. It's still hot here in Philadelphia, and I made this soup right after I was DRENCHED in sweat from a humid run on Sunday morning, so I have really no clue what urged me to make soup, but I was flipping through a cookbook and came across a pea soup recipe and it just called to me. Of all things? Like usual, I didn't follow the recipe. I don't like following recipes, I just like creating them and hoping they come out great - it keeps it fun.

Here's what you'll need:

For the croutons: 

• 2 slices of cubed wheat bread
• Olive oil or olive oil spray
• Kosher salt & pepper

What to do:

• Preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 300 degrees
• Lay out the cubed bread on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil/spray with olive oil spray
• Sprinkle salt and pepper
• Bake for 25 minutes

For the Soup: 

• 2 bags of frozen peas (told you I like to keep things simple.) I used 2 10 oz bags.
• 1 white or yellow onion
• 6-7 cloves of garlic (you can tone this down, I just REALLY love garlic.)
• 5 cups of low sodium chicken broth (or veggie broth if you are not a carnivore.)
• Salt, pepper, paprika to taste
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons butter

What to do: 

• Melt the butter in a big dutch oven pan
• Add the chopped onions and garlic (rough chop)
• Saute until the onions become slightly transparent
• Add in the broth
• Let it come to a boil
• Add in both bags of peas and lower heat to simmer, covered, for 10 minutes
• Season to taste
• Turn off the heat and let everything cool
• Once cooled a bit, add to a big blender or food processor to puree
• Lastly, add in the sour cream and blend

That's it! Told you it was easy. I can't wait until the weather cools down a bit so I can try out new soup and crockpot recipes.

I ventured out for a 3 mile run this morning and it was HUMID. The humidity really affects how I run. My legs feel like cement pillars and my lungs feel like they can't hold enough air. Does anyone else feel this way or do you like running in the humidity? I stopped to walk a bit. It's crazy to me how our bodies respond differently to different times and temperatures. I don't get how I can run a nice 8 miles one day and then 3 miles another day feels like crap. OY.

But I guess that's life, sometimes we win and sometimes we don't :)

Alright I need to go make breakfast and get myself together! I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.

XO - Rach

What's everyone got planned for the long weekend?