Domestically Disabled Post: Energy Bites

With all the extra time I have from not studying I've decided to take on a few recipes from my friend Cassy's blog over at healthywithsass.blogspot.com. She has already put up some amazing easy to do recipes that are perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

My favorite recipe from her blog so far has been the energy bites. I like to call them peanut buttah bawls in my best New Jersey accent.  Anyways, I made these bite size balls of yumminess this week and they are so good! Just like Cassy I tend to skip meals or I forget to eat snacks in-between meals and  I find myself famished before lunch or dinner. This usually leads to really unhealthy meal choices. Anyways, I went and picked up some ingredients from Sprouts, and in less than 30 minutes I had an amazing snack! 

Here is the recipe from Cassy's blog)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls

Here's what's in them:
2 1/2 cups of quick oats
3 heaping tablespoons of peanut butter
1/4 cup of honey or agave (vegan)
1/2 cup of cacao nibs (I used Enjoy Life mini-chips which are soy, dairy and nut free)
2 tablespoons of almond milk (You can add a little more if you feel your mixture is too dry) 
Here's how to make them:
Dump all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix together, this is a VERY sticky situation. I coated my spatula with coconut oil so that I didn't end up with a giant glob of mostly unmixed ingredients. Once it's all mixed up form into balls of any size you like, mine were ping pong sized. Put on a non stick pan or a plate and refrigerate for at least 15 min before you eat them.
I made about 15 balls from this recipe. You can also use whatever kind of liquid or nut butter you want as well. The mix in possibilities are endless. Which makes it even more awesome. 

Easy peasy!! It's the perfect snack and it's Señor approved. He seriously ate half a batch in one day. 

Try it out and let Cassy and I know how you liked it or how you changed it up. 

Enjoy!

A Long December

Oh yes, I love starting out a blog post with a nice cheesy title.  I bet all of you 90's kids out there have The Counting Crows A Long December song stuck in your head now. Nice. 

Well, it's been about a month since I last posted, but I’ll spare you guys the excuses on why I haven't been present on this blog. Chances are you probably already know why. 

The good news is I passed level 2 of nursing school! Hooray!! I'm half way to being a nurse!!! This semester was supposed to be the hardest semester of our nursing school career, and I'm happy to report that I survived it. Phew! Nursing school is full of excitement and dread. It's almost like riding a roller coaster with no sort of safety restraints, but you turn out okay at the end. 

Anyways, I have a month off before school starts up again and I plan on filling my break time with sipping warm tea, reading a book (not healthcare related), Christmas shopping, baking, hanging with family, and then heading to a long time friends wedding in Seattle. This is my first time being a bridesmaid in a wedding and I’m absolutely honored and thrilled to be a part of it all. 

Running has been going well and I'm still doing the running streak. I've modified it a little bit and have allowed myself to walk a mile instead of run on a few days. I've taught myself to listen to my body and sometimes running is just not part of the plan that day. I've mixed up my routine and I've been going to hot yoga a couple of times a week. I'm attending a new studio in town that is donation based and offered a great Groupon rate. The coupon allows me to attend for an unlimited time for two months, and with the recent burst of cold air that just came through NM going to hot yoga has been a real treat.  It's funny to think on December 1st of this year I was still running in a skirt!  I've asked good ol' Saint Nick for a new pair of running shoes, as my current pair of Asics are feeling a bit worn. I'm thinking of switching my brand of shoe to maybe Brooks or Mizuno. I love my Asics, but they just haven't been as awesome as I remembered them to be in the past. 

I think I remember reporting that I was going to do a turkey trot run. The run went okay. There were a lot of hills and I was not prepared for that. I did beat my pumpkin chase run by a few seconds, but boy was I beat up from that run. It definitely inspired me to add more hills to my running routine.  Below are a few photos I took on my runs. The 1st was from this past weekend in which the weather was freezing, but the scenery was still gorgeous. The 2nd one was from early November after the turkey trot run, I was in the foothills getting my hills on. 

It recently snowed her in Albuquerque and I've been excited about the possibility of actually going snowboarding this year. Also, it's nice to have the moisture here in the dry desert. It was seriously starting to freak me out how warm it was going into December. This afternoon we had a serious wind chill and my teeth were chattering during the first part of my run. I guess i'm going to have to start embracing the cold weather. 

Enjoying the snow! 

Anyways amigos! I hope you all are doing well and holidays haven't swallowed you whole yet. The Señor and I have a lot planned for the holidays. This year we are hosting Christmas Eve at our house for both our families. I plan on making a big pot of posole and making tamales for the occasion. This is our first Christmas as a married couple and we are enjoying the little things about the holiday. Such as getting Christmas cards addressed to us with my new last name....eek!  My husband and I have been married 4 months and it has been amazing.  We can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us. 

Making tamales with friends and family

 I leave you guys with a picture of our dog Shed. Isn't she just the cutest? She sort of looks like a rambofied Christmas dog. 

Stay tuned for a domestically disabled post coming later this week!