Happy Monday! I know you need a little extra energy (who doesn't on a Monday afternoon?), so I'm sharing these delicious Trail Mix Energy Muffins. They could also be called "clean out your pantry muffins" because there's a lot of fun add-ins in these. Why skimp on all that goodness? The more the merrier! These are perfect for that pre-workout munch or even as part of your breakfast! They're full of complex carbs, healthy fats and natural sugar.

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup regular flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 oz. dark chocolate or about 1/4-1/3 cup (I used 1/2 of a large hershey's dark chocolate bar and chopped it up)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup egg whites
• 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup raw honey

Here's what to do: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Mix together all of the dry ingredients
• Add in the greek yogurt, honey and eggs
• Mix together well - the consistency should be thick
• Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray (or line with muffin liners)
• Spoon in the batter to fill the muffin tin about 3/4 the way to the top
• Bake for 18 minutes, or until golden brown

I will definitely be making these again for next week!

Enjoy :)

- Rach

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

I love lazy Sundays. Even more so when there is baking involved. These Almond & Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies are amazing - super gooey on the inside and nice and crunchy on the outside. The almond flour and coconut gives them a little earthiness.

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• large handful dark chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
• 3 and a half tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp milk

Directions: 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a large bowl, mix flours, sugar, chocolate, salt, coconut and baking powder together
• In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well - you might be able to omit the milk, but my mixture was a little too crumbly at first, so I added a tablespoon of milk and it did the trick.
• Chill dough in the freezer for 5-10 minutes
• Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown

This weekend was a great mixture of busy and relaxing. I taught two classes yesterday morning and my spin class was pretty full, which was exciting! Last night we went out to meet up with some friends and earlier today we took another picnic to the park before coming home to make these gooey chocolatey delicious cookies. YUM.

Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday!

- Rach