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?

Good morning! I have a recipe to share with you along with some more weekend pics and a workout. Last night I came home from work and felt inspired to make a quick grab and go snack. I eyeballed a lot of this recipe so these are very rough measurements!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp rolled oats
• Roughly 1 cup almond butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp coconut flakes
• Water - as needed for consistency

Directions:

• Mix everything together besides water
• Add in water until mixture can easily be rolled into balls without falling apart

This is a super easy snack to make to have on hand and perfect for before or after a workout. I ate one after my early morning workout this morning. I tried a new gym only a couple blocks away from our new apartment. I wasn't feeling very creative in making up my own workout so I did this workout from one of my favorite bloggers, Jen at peanutbutterrunner.com. I switched the chest flies to pushups and added in 45 seconds of a cardio exercise after each round (burpees, skaters and jumping jacks.)

When I can get myself out of bed real early, I like to workout before hopping on the train to work because it gives me the freedom to come home and relax after work.

Before I go I wanted to share a couple more photos from last weekend. On Sunday we had brunch at Toast and it was delicious! I ordered the smoked salmon egg toasts. Such a perfect brunch meal. Michael ordered banana french toast and an egg sandwich. His french toast was definitely the best.

I also finally found a winter coat to help me survive when it gets cold...

In all seriousness though this is a SUPER warm down jacket that I got at Burlington for such a good price. And with that I'll leave you with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y3815zqDHQ

- Rach