Tag: Super Bowl

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I made some delicious cookies for the Super Bowl Party I went to a few weeks ago. Cookies? For the Super Bowl? Yeah, I got a few questions on that, but when I found out someone else was making a Buffalo Dip, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a dessert instead of a dip. So, I whipped up some oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips and chocolate chips- and was happy with my decision. Oats+ Cinnamon + Chocolate is a really great combination if you ask me. It’s probably even worthy to make for your Valentine 😉

I’ve had this recipe for ages and I’m not sure where I got it, but I added/changed some things so I’ll just leave you with the recipe that I came up with after my alterations.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

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  • 1 3/4 cups oats
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup cinnamon chips
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375*.Combine the dry ingredients (oats through the sea salt) in one bowl.

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2. Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well.

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3. Combine wet and dry ingredients and add in the cinnamon and chocolate chips.

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4. Make tablespoon size balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes (or until cooked to your desire). Remove cookies and let cool… or eat one while they’re still warm 😉

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These cookies were a big hit… luckily, I saved a few for myself so I could have some to enjoy throughout the week 😉

Questions for you: What’s your favorite kind of cookie? What’s your “go-to” dish that you bring to a party?

Weekending: South End, Southie, Barry’s Bootcamp, Super Bowl

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Phew! This past weekend was super busy, but super fun! I know some of you may not like the play by play of the weekend, and sometimes I’m not even sure if I like it, but since I went to some good restaurants and tried a new workout, I figured it was worth sharing!

Friday

I helped my friend Jess with an event at Little Lovage Club, located under Coco Baby in the South End on Friday afternoon. She had a baby animal petting event and I jumped at the chance to help her! Look how stinkin cute these little babes are!

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After the event, we headed over to The Gallows for dinner, which was amazingggg. I love small plates and sharing, so this was a perfect place to go. We got the Braised Beef tacos, Brown Butter Cauliflower and a delicious butternut squash dish. So many interesting flavors that made for a happy little party in my mouth!

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Saturday

After kickboxing, I treated myself to a pedicure. I had no real reason to do this other than the fact I needed to do something for myself that would make me sit and relax… this was certainly something that forced me to do this!

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Side note: don’t wear skinny jeans when getting a pedicure… I never learn.

Saturday night, I headed to the city for dinner. I curled my hair with my straightener on my own for the very first time and I have to say, I was pretty impressed! It was almost faster than just straightening it, so I know once I get better at it, it will definitely be faster. What do you think??

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Apparently everyone else had the idea to go into the city on Saturday night… our night started a little rocky since we couldn’t get in anywhere!

-We tried to go to this new restaurant on Congress Street in the Seaport, but the wait was over 2 hours for a table!!! I was bummed since it looked like an amazing restaurant and I loved the décor, but hopefully we’ll make it back there.

-We then tried to go to Drink to have a drink while we figured out where to do dinner, but there was a line out the door there, too. Mind you, it was like, 7pm, so it wasn’t even late!

-Finally, we landed at Lucky’s, which was actually really fun! I bumped into my friend, Liz, so it was nice to chat with her.

-Dinner at Lucky’s wasn’t really what we were looking for, so after our drink at Lucky’s, we decided to head to Lincoln for dinner since there was an Open Table reservation available. I’ve wanted to go there for ages, so I was excited! We shared the Ahi Tuna tacos (I’m on a serious taco kick. Literally can’t get enough of them), a salad and a steak meal… random, but everything was delicious!

Sunday

I woke up on Sunday morning thankful that we opted out of having a drink after dinner. I had plans to take a class at Barry’s Bootcamp and really didn’t want to be hungover for it (when a class is $28/class, you want to be in tip top shape!). I was super nervous for the class as I’ve heard it’s insanely hard, but I am happy to say I survived and I loved it!!! I went with my friend Lindsay and some of her other friends from Recycle Studio and had a blast. Ok, maybe not a blast, because crazy hard workouts aren’t really THAT fun, but I did love it.

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We started with 12 minutes on the treadmill. You may be thinking “meh, not bad”, but try starting that out with a run at 15% incline… yeah, that hurt! Luckily, though, we started at the top of the hill and worked our way down, but as we decreased the incline, we upped the speed, so it never got any easier. My sprints were at 10mph which was crazy fast for me!

After the treadmill, we did some floor strength stuff: walking lunges, push-ups, bicep curls, deadlifts, core, and then we jumped BACK on the treadmills for 12 more minutes. It was at that time when I was like “oh hell no. this sucks,” but I pushed through it and ended strong… we ran backwards which scared the crap out of me, but I am happy to say I didn’t trip and/or fall off! #winning

We finished the class with 1 more floor set and by the end, I was beat, in the best way. I really loved how Emily pushed us to run fast and up the incline because I certainly wouldn’t do that on my own. The strength sets weren’t anything crazy hard or fancy, but I did learn some new moves that I am going to copy and new formatting, so I’m happy about that.

I can’t wait for the next time because I know I can push myself harder!

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I went to my friend Jessi’s boyfriends house for the Super Bowl on Sunday night. He had a little get together with a LOT of food. I certainly did not follow all of my tips, but I did drink water between beers, kept it to 2 beers and had it easy since the food was kept in the kitchen rather than on the coffee table. That helped a lot!

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Ummm these are mini meatloafs- how freaking cute are they?! Jessi made these and I’m obsessed and can’t wait to make them myself!

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And! I won $20 (it was $10 to play), which was just icing on the cake. I left after the halftime show since I was exhausted, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the halftime show. I could’ve done without the Red Hot Chili Pepper part because I thought that was a little weird, but I thought Bruno Mars absolutely killed it!! Anyone else?

Sorry about the super long weekend recap, but I really wanted to tell you about the restaurants I visited and about Barry’s Bootcamp, so if you made it here, thank you for sticking with me!

Questions for you: Have you eaten at any of the restaurants I went to over the weekend? When’s the last time you pampered yourself? Have you been to Barry’s Bootcamp?

Healthy Super Bowl Tips & A Commercial Workout

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I doubt I’m shocking anyone when I say I really couldn’t care less about the Super Bowl. Even if the Patriots were playing, I really wouldn’t care. What can I say? I’m just not a sports girl!

With that said, I’m sure a lot of you may be sports people, so I thought I would post some tips to make healthy choices during a not-so-healthy day of the year.

Don’t show up to the party hungry

I always hear people talk about how they will starve themselves all day if they have a big dinner or party planned for the evening. This is the worst thing to do because as soon as you show up to the party, you’re going to stuff your face, right? I’ve been there and done that and not only does it make me feel to rude to hover by the food, shoveling in as much as I can as fast as I can, I feel gross once my body registers that it was full probably 20 minutes ago. Yuck. You’re also more likely to binge on the less healthy options because, let’s face it, when we’re hungry, hunger rules over any smart eating plans, right? So, have a healthy snack or small meal before you go to the party.

Stay away from the food table

This stems right off of the tip above this. Even if I have a healthy snack before I go to a party, if I find myself standing by the food table, I’m going to munch. And much. And much. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? You’re not hungry and you know you’re not hungry but the buffalo dip/spinach and artichoke dip/chips and salsa/cheese and crackers/etc. are screaming your name because they smell and look so good. So, you let yourself have a small bite, right? And then what happens? You end up hovering near the food table and, again, eating when you’re not hungry. So, STEP AWAY from the food table and focus on conversations, people watching and game watching.

Make and bring a healthy snack option

If you know yourself and know you’re going to want to eat at the party you’re going to, pick a few healthy apps/snacks to make and bring so that you can eat those rather than some of the other unhealthier options. All of the blogs I’ve been reading have been showing “healthified” game day snack options and they look delicious!! Think: healthy buffalo dip, healthy spinach and artichoke dip, fruit or veggie platter, etc. There are so many delicious, yet healthy, options!

Make a plate of things to snack on

I never do this, although I probably should. Instead, I tend to “hover” near the food table and continuously grab things to eat. If you take a small plate and fill it with things you want to eat, you’ll probably end up eating less than if you just keep snacking. Seeing what you have to eat will help with portion control and sticking to that portion control.

Choose a lighter drink option

Beers are super easy (and fitting) to drink during a daytime game or party, but the calories add up reallll quickly with beers. Instead, try drinking something lighter like vodka soda’s or a lighter beer like some of those 60 calorie beers. Also, try drinking a water or seltzer water in between each drink… this will definitely cut down on how much you drink!

Work out before you go… or during commercials (if your friends won’t think that’s weird!)

I always get in a good workout before I know I’ll be indulging at a party. I also think it’s fun to do something during the commercials or half time, so that’s why I’ve made this workout for you. How convenient, right?! 😉

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So! I hope that helped. Are you going to a party today or are you hosting one? What are you making/bringing? What’s your favorite “healthified” recipe?