Recipe Wednesday - Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies. They are basically the Original Toll House Recipe with just a little tweak. But instead of giving away her secret, I'm going to share my adapted, slightly healthier version. After all, a cookie is still a cookie. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1.5 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, softened
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 cup powdered Stevia (I used "Stevia in the Raw")
3/4 cup Sucanat
1 Tablespoon unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (10 oz) package of grain-sweetened chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, blend flours, baking soda and salt.

3. With a mixer, beat butter, Stevia, Sucanat, molasses and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the coconut oil and pumpkin. Then add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each one.

4. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used a small scoop and used parchment paper on my cookie sheet.)

6. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake.

According to the Toll House website, their recipe makes 60 cookies at 110 calories each. I made 49 cookies at about 92 calories each.

Sorry for the bad picture. Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera. :)

Happy Holidays!!!

OK, So I'm Feeling Like A Wimp

I was all fired up yesterday because I was going to run outside. I got up, ate a banana, and then decided to go grocery shopping first to let the banana digest. When I left the grocery store, it felt cold, windy, and was starting to snow, so I...went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. Argh!

So I felt a little wimpy about that. :)

But I did have a good workout at the gym. Here's my treadmill workout:

Time - Speed
0-6:00 (5.0mph)
6-6:30 (8.0mph)
6:30-8 (5.0mph)
8-8:30 (8.1mph)
8:30-10 (5.0mph)
10-10:30 (8.2mph)
10:30-12 (5.0mph)
12-12:30 (8.2mph)
12:30-14 (5.0mph)
14-14:30 (8.1mph)
14:30-16 (5.0mph)
16-16:30 (8.0mph)
16:30-18 (5.0mph)
18-23:30 (5.5mph)
23:30-43:30 (6.0mph)
43:30-49 (5.5mph)
46-55:00 (5.0mph)
55-60:00 walking cooldown

Totals: 60 minutes, 5.42 miles

While I was working out, I realized I listened to two songs with the title of "Halo" - one by Depeche Mode, and one by Porcupine Tree. Which do I like better? Hmmm...It's close. I really like both bands, but I think I like the Depeche Mode "Halo" more. :)

And here's the link to this week's TT Fat Loss Call: Weekly TT Call This week Craig talks about how many calories you burn during different activities (including Wii games), mindless eating and the TT Fusion 2K6 Workout.

Have a great day!!

Disclosure: This post does not contain an affiliate link. I just think the calls are fun to listen to. :)

Recipe Wednesday - Dutch Speculaas Cookies

Some of you may know I have a lot of Dutch in my background, so when I saw a recipe for Dutch Speculaas cookies in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, I wanted to give it a try. If you've ever had a "Dutch Windmill Cookie", those are kind of like a Speculaas.

When I started making the recipe, I was thinking, "did I even read this recipe before starting?" because I kept running out of ingredients and had to improvise on the spot! The cookies turned out great, though, so I wanted to share my adapted recipe. Don't be afraid of the number of ingredients - these go together pretty quickly.

Dutch Speculaas Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup almond meal/flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teapoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups sucanat
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 egg
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)


1. Blend together flours, spices, baking soda, salt and pepper.

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter, coconut oil and pumpkin until smooth. Add sucanat, honey and molasses and beat until smooth. Add egg and blend until smooth.

3. Mix in flour mixture by hand, using a large spoon or your hands. Fold in almonds, if using. (To toast the almonds, place in a skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.) I only had about 1/3 cup on hand, so that's all I used. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove about 1/4 of the dough from the bowl. Roll dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thick. (I highly recommend using the parchment paper here.)

5. Cut with cookie cutters and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 9-10 minutes. Continue with remainder of dough, placing the dough back in the fridge briefly if it gets too sticky.

6. These can be decorated with icing, but the plain ones were "kid approved" so I didn't bother putting any icing on them.


I don't have nutritional info for this recipe simply because the number of cookies will vary. The recipe said it would make 48 cookies, but I made about 70! I know I was rolling the dough a bit thinner near the end, and my cookie cutters might have been smaller than what they used.

Enjoy! :)

TT Contest Voting

The Turbulence Training Transformation Contest Finalists have been chosen! (I'm not a finalist.) This time there are 3 categories: Men, Women, and Advanced. The voting is open to everyone, so if you would like to vote, here is the link:

Turbulence Training Contest Voting

You have until Friday, December 18, at 9:00pm ET to cast your vote. The next contest starts December 27th! Go vote and be inspired by the results these finalists achieved in 12 weeks!



Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase the product, I will receive a small portion. I don't get paid for reviews, and I only review items that I actually own.

Falling Off the Wagon, Rolling Downhill, Getting Trampled by the Horse...

So the past 2 days have been pretty awful nutrition-wise.

I had been doing so well and then one little sugar craving and it all goes south. It started Thursday with a stressful afternoon at work. Then when my husband picked me up from work, the roads were so icy and horrible, it took us 2.5 hours to make a trip that should have taken 15-20 minutes. Since it was close to 7:00 and we were not at home, and the kids were hungry and cranky, we ended up having pizza for dinner. The pizza itself wasn't too bad, it was the chocolate chip cookie chasers that did me in.

So Friday I woke up craving more sugar and I gave in all day. The roads were still bad Friday evening, and we went and got family pictures taken. The photography studio was busy and noisy, which makes it more stressful, and my willpower was already toast.

This morning I had a slightly running nose and a sore throat. That almost always happens if I eat too much junk. Either my body must be allergic, or the sugar suppresses my immune system, or a little bit of both. I think I read somewhere how sugar can affect the immune system. Does this happen to anyone else? It's like a junk food hangover. Blech. Update: So 5 minutes after posting this, I was catching up on some of the blogs in my blog list and someone else had posted about this very topic! You can read that post HERE if you are interested.

But today is a new day. I had a good workout this morning and am feeling good. I did my TT intervals, and then did some running at the end in order to complete my 4-6 mile longish run for the week. The whole run felt really good and I actually ran faster and farther than I had planned. Maybe it's from all the extra carbs I ate last night, or maybe it's the new shoes....


Finally decided I needed new running shoes! These are the Saucony Triumph 7; I previously had the Triumph 6, but when I went to get new ones, they didn't have the 6 in my size.

After stretching, I walked by the chin up bar and jumped up to see how many I could do. I still felt really good and managed 7 full chin ups...while listening to Tiffany. (Yes, I have Tiffany on my mp3 player.) For some reason I found the juxtaposition of listening to girly, pop Tiffany and doing full chin ups amusing. :)

So today will be a good day because I will make it a good day. Time to kick the sugar cravings to the curb.

Have a great day everyone!!

PS. If my brother is reading this, I need your wife's Christmas list ASAP, or else she's just getting pajamas this year. :)

Results from TT Contest....

Here goes nothing! Here are my final results. As I mentioned, not as dramatic as past contests, but I am happy with where I am. That was part of this contest - losing the "contest mentality". This was about lifestyle goals. I just wanted to work out hard, eat healthfully and mindfully, and not neurotically count every calorie.

When I used to look in the mirror, what I saw was never quite right. On the one hand, I was "too fat" and all I saw was loose skin and stretch marks from my pregnancies, then I would lose weight and become "too skinny" and would set out to gain weight.

After the last contest I entered, I decided I needed to gain 5-10 lbs. In the process, I gained some very bad eating habits (like late night snacking and large portions), along with about 20 lbs. This contest was for losing that excess 5-10 lbs, but in a healthy way.

During this contest, I had an epiphany while I was at the gym. A “skinny” girl got on the treadmill next to me and entered her weight into the machine. I was surprised that she weighed EXACTLY the same as I did. My brain really thought about that one…If I think she looks good…and she’s the same weight as me…hmmm….maybe I really look OK!

I learned many other things during this contest as well, such as:

…there’s more to post-workout nutrition than whey protein powder.
…take a day off from training…and mean it!
…it’s OK to feel a little hungry every once in a while. I don’t have to snack at night.
…I like asparagus…I mean, I really like it!

I am happy with my results and am exactly where I want to be. I lost the weight safely, over a reasonable amount of time, in a healthy way. My clothes fit better and I feel great!

Here are the TT workouts I used:

TT for Athletes (phase 1)
TT for Mass @ Home
Original TT for Abs



So that's it! Right now I'm using Original Turbulence Training. I can't remember if I've used it before or not - I've done so many different TT workouts over the past 2 years! But I like it so far. And it's been even more fun because my husband has been doing the weights part with me at home. (Then I've been going to the gym for intervals on the following day.)

I'm also committed to maintaining my running endurance that I've gained, so I am trying to get in a 4-6 mile run at least once a week. I had a nice 4 mile run this morning. It was 25 degrees (F) out, but the sun was shining and I was nice and warm after the first mile.

Before I forget, here is the link to the Weekly TT fat loss call. This week covers the TT Fusion 2K9 workout, the next TT Contest (starts right after Christmas), and how to calculate your calorie needs.

Have a great week!


Disclosure: This post does not contain an affiliate link. I just think the calls are fun to listen to. :)

Race Results and Other Updates

Oh boy, has it been a busy weekend!

The 10K race on Thanksgiving went great! It was a 9:00am start, so I had a bowl of oatmeal at about 6:15am. We got to the race site at about 7:45am and it was cold, windy and rainy - yuck! We sat in the car to keep warm. I started to jog and warm up at about 8:20am, and then looked for my teammates. It was a big race though, and I couldn't find them! I decided I needed to use the porta-potty "one more time" and was still in line as they were singing the Star Spangled Banner! I got to the start line with just a couple minutes to spare.

There were 1544 runners for the 10K (and I think about 2500 for the 5K run/walk). I went into the race with the mentality that it was just another 6 mile training run. No pressure - just find a good pace and stick with it. I was recovering from the stomach flu as well (of all the rotten timing) so I wasn't looking to break any records - I just wanted to finish!

My first mile was a little over 9:00, my second mile was closer to 10:00. I just kept that pace as best as I could. My 5K split time was 29:38 so I knew I was on pace to make my goal of less than an hour. I felt really good the last half, especially the 5th mile for some reason. I ended up finishing with a time of 59:18. I was really happy with my time, and I could really tell that all of that training paid off. My overall pace was 9:33 and I placed 1151/1544. In my age division I placed 62/113 and out of 688 females, I was 412. My husband took a picture at the finish line, but I can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer. I'll try to post the picture when I find it. LOL

I was so proud of our team as well! We all finished strong and came in 24th out of 28 teams. Over half of us on the team had never run a 10K race before, so we certainly weren't in it for the glory; just for challenge and to say we did it!

After the race, we went home and I started Thanksgiving dinner. I made healthier versions of just about everything. We had a ton of turkey left over! I made a big pot of turkey soup with the leftovers. Friday I hit the local bargains and almost finished all of my holiday shopping.

Saturday morning I went for a short run at the gym. True to form, 2 guys on the stationary bikes behind me were comparing how big their turkeys were. :) Then we traveled to another wedding in Iowa. (How many people do I know in Iowa, and why are they all getting married?) Needless to say, Hubby and I overindulged a bit at the reception.

Sunday morning I went for a run outside. It was a beautiful morning and a good way to start the day. I would guess it was between 2 and 2.5 miles. On the drive home, Hubby wasn't feeling well (gee, I wonder why) and so when we stopped for lunch, he decided to order...wait for it...just an order of onion rings! I had a salad and a cup of soup (thankfully no turkey!)

This morning I started the original Turbulence Training Workout. I had a week off from TT last week, and this week I will take off from running, which means I will probably do my TT intervals on the stationary bike.

Whew! I think I am caught up! Final contest pics coming soon!!

Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase the product, I will receive a small portion. I don't get paid for reviews, and I only review items that I actually own.

Recipe Wednesday - Apple Quinoa Salad

I thought this recipe would make a good Thanksgiving side dish, or you could do what I did and have it for breakfast instead of oatmeal! I just threw this together one day because I thought it sounded good...and it was!

Apple Quinoa Salad

1/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 Tablespoons red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 small to medium apple, cored and chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
1-2 packets sweetener, to taste
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water

1. Into a saucepan, add the quinoa, lentils, apple, salt, cinnamon and water. Place a lid on the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.

2. Remove from heat and add sweetener to taste. I ate this warm, but it probably would be good at room temperature or even cold.

This makes one bowlful. You'd probably want to double or triple the recipe for a crowd.


This entire recipe has approximately:

267 calories
10.4g protein
2.1g fat
56.1g carbs
10.1g fiber

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Week In Review - Week 12!!

This is it, the end of Turbulence Training Transformation Contest #6. (Well, the 5th that I've participated in since I sat out Contest #5.) Pictures have been taken, but I'm not going to post them right away; I want to work on my essay first. But I'll post them here very soon! :)

I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. Not as dramatic as past contests, but that wasn't my ultimate goal.

Today also was my last long(ish) run before my first 10K race on Thursday. I ran 4.33 miles at a pace of 9:34 (41:27 total). Monday and Tuesday are days off, then I'll run a mile or two on Wednesday. For dinner Wednesday night, I'm making sweet potato gnocchi. A very yummy recipe from Clean Eating magazine. :)

Thursday I'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I have a pretty healthy recipe for just about everything. I'm pretty excited to try out a couple new recipes I found!

I should be back for Recipe Wednesday, but if for some reason life gets too busy, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Recipe Wednesday - Peanut Butter Cups, Revisited

Sorry I haven't posted much recently. Things have been so busy!

Recently I gave the peanut butter cups another try, changing it up a little bit. These turned out awesome! I made mini peanut butter cups, which don't take as long in the freezer. :)

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

For the outside:
1 T whipped butter, softened (not melted)
1 T pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil, softened (not melted)
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 packet Splenda
1 packet Stevia

For the inside:
1 T natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon honey (I used sugar free)
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

1. Mix all of the "outside" ingredients. It will seem like there is too much powder, but give it a minute.

2. In another bowl, mix all of the "inside" ingredients. I warmed this mixture slightly to make the next step easier.

3. Divide the peanut butter mixture into 4 parts. Place each part in a mini muffin paper, placed in an ice cube tray.

4. Divide the chocolate mixture over the 4 parts. Place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

How you want to share is up to you. :)


The entire recipe has approximately:

235 calories
5.3g protein
19.7g fat
11.6g carbs
6.6g fiber