Treating Myself

Seeing as how it is spring break, and almost Easter, I decided to treat myself a little.  To do this in a way that doesn’t give me a great deal of guilt, I went to a discount store.  I actually found some great stuff that I really needed, at prices that don’t give me buyer’s remorse!

Socks are really hard for me to keep around for too long.  Since I do coach gymnastics (and I have a germ phobia), I always have socks on.  For those of you who have not experienced this, let me tell you…Gymnastics is hard on your socks.

(source)

See those foam pieces?  Well those beautiful blocks of fun will break off into tiny pieces that I like to refer to as “pit boogers”.  They stick to EVERYTHING.  Your leos, your hair, your eyeballs, but especially your socks.  They are nearly impossible to remove, and after a good while, the socks just have to be tossed.

They’re made of bamboo!  Even though I try to only wear “older” socks to the gym, I like that these are a little more eco- and wallet-friendly than the average pair of athletic socks.  (I got a package of 4 sets for $5.99)

Since we know from previous shopping trips that I tend to shop with a theme, it only makes sense that I not only bought bamboo socks, but also these great workout tanks that are bamboo-based.

They’re also pink and blue, just like the socks.  🙂 I loved these super-affordable tanks as soon as I saw them.  They’re flowy at the bottom, but fitted at the top.  The straps are wide enough to hide a sports bra, but the built-in support is good enough to wear alone if I’m just hanging out.  They’re long and sweat-wicking.  I’m pretty sure if they had another color I’d go back to purchase that one also.  I think I’ll be living in these this summer.

I also got 2 undies from Victoria’s Secret (thank you free coupons), and I happened to choose pink and blue in those, but I didn’t think it would be appropriate to post a picture.  Even though they’re pretty.

My last purchase is not wearable, but even better.  Edible.

These things are DELICIOUS.  They’re organic, vegan, gluten free, and kosher.  Not only that, but it’s made of only 2 ingredients – coconut and rice syrup.  After eating my first bite, I knew I had to go back and buy all of the boxes that they had available.  There were other flavors also, but I decided to check out the website before I made any rash decisions in my coconut-drunk state.  I didn’t get a chance to check out the website for goodies other than coconut varieties, but I’m sold.  These particular bars seem to be snacks that could be reproduced pretty easily, but the convenience and the price point that I got them at (5 – 1.9 oz bars for $3.00) makes me think that the ingredients/time involved might not be worth it?   What do you think?

Since I missed WIAW, I’ll end with Wednesday’s dinner anyway.

Hands down my new favorite salmon recipe, some kale chips, and wild rice with food processed kale/spinach added in.

Grilled Salmon

I used this recipe, but made a few small changes to make it gluten-free.  I highlighted the ingredient changes in pink (to go with my blue background haha).  Other than these few things, I followed the recipe exactly as listed.  I added the crushed red peppers directly to the salmon along with the garlic salt and lemon pepper.

• 1.5 lbs. salmon
• lemon pepper
• garlic salt
• 1/3 cup Bragg’s liquid aminos
• 1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. crushed red pepper

Enjoy!

Anti-Obsessed

One thing that I love about my blog is that, even though I have been known to be obsessive and/or overly Type-A about everything in life, the blog is the one area that I haven’t seemed to taint with the “quota” that I give the rest of my life.  In some ways, I think that my organization is both helpful and essential since it makes my day-to-day life fall into an easy routine.  I’m rarely running late, the house has healthy foods to eat even when in a pinch, I am responsible with money, and I know what is expected of me at work and how to best accomplish tasks.  However, as my gluten-freedom has become necessity, I’ve noticed that I’ve let that control bleed into the rest of my life a little more than I’d like to admit.

Two of my less-creepy lists/calendars.

An abundance of to-dos and calendars, followed by perfunctory lists before finalized lists, and time denotations have often-times taken over my life.  Needless to say, listing is very time consuming.  Sometimes it’s a toss up whether it saves more time than I spend planning.  It’s something I’ve struggled with before; the need to stay organized vs. obsessive control of my day.  Though I’m still attempting to re-evaluate what is truly helpful and what is more stress-inducing than stress-relieving, the blog has been one area that I feel I never need to set a goal for.  Because of this battle, I can’t promise (at this time) how regularly I’ll be posting.  I will say that when things are good, I’m more likely to post.  When things are stressful, I’ll be less likely to post.

Since I am currently list/calendar obsessed, I’ll say that I made a pan of this kick-butt coffee cake to cut up and wrap individually for breakfast this week.  I also almost had a conniption when Drew wanted to take 2 pieces for breakfast instead of one of these and a piece of breakfast casserole.  *Sorry Drew*

Coffee Cake

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato flour
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp tapioca flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1.5 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup refined sugar (or sugar substitute – I actually used stevia)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar b/c it was all I had)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter – melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Mix the oil, eggs, and milk.
3. In a separate bowl, mix all 3 flours together.
4. Set aside 2 tbsp. of flour mixture.
5. To the flour mix, add baking powder, sugar, and xanthan gum.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and mix well.
7. Pour the batter into a greased (or nonstick sprayed) 9 x 9″ pan.
8. Create the cinnamon-y topping in the dry ingredient bowl.  Use the 2 tbsp. flour mixture and add to it the cinnamon and melted butter.  Pour this mix over the cake batter.
9. Bake the cake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

This is basically a generic coffee cake mixture recipe that I’ve had for years that I made gluten free with the flour mixtures.  I tried bean flours before, but the cake wasn’t as fluffy as it is here.  I’ve also tried all sugar substitute, and the cake was again, not as fluffy.  I really like light coffee cake rather than dense.  If you prefer something more dense you may want to try coconut and garbanzo bean flours rather than the brown rice and potato flours.

Yum.  Indulgent breakfast for the week.  Since it is spring break, I think I deserve it. 🙂