Fresh Air

It is freaking FREEZING outside! Are you kidding me???

 

-1 degrees with a high of 19 degrees today.

 

I am really longing to head back to sunny St. George with it's 60 degree weather.

 

I wanted to share with you a little about my weekend. The things I did, the things I ate, and the people that were with me!

There are a group of girls that are training with me for the Boise Half Iron Man being held this June.

Since training takes a lot of time swimming, being on the bike and getting out running we knew we needed to figure out a way to be able to do those things outside as much as possible. (I can only stand so much time running on a treadmill!!)

The weather here in Utah Valley isn't so conducive to that plan.

So, down to Dixie we went.

It started out with 6 of us, but then dwindled down to three. We are all Mom's, and you know how that can go right? So, the lucky one's were Leanna Hunt, Jennifer Otteson and me.

We had the best time together, but hope that the other chickas can join us next time for sure.

We arrived Friday afternoon and got settled in our own rooms in a beautiful home that belongs to some good family friends. (Thanks Cochrans!)

 

We went shopping for swimsuits and yoga mats.

 

We then found a great Natural Grocery store called, what else?... Natural Grocers, of course.

We loaded up on tons of organic veggies, fruits, and nuts to make our juices, smoothies, soups and milk.

We also purchased some organic chicken and salmon and some herbs and spices to flavor.

Basically on Friday 

we chilled and sat in the hot tub and 

visited about the coming day. 

We went to bed pretty early because 

we planned on jam packing as much in 

on Saturday as we could.

 

SATURDAY

8am: 5 mile trail run

9:30am: breakfast

10:30: BE HOT yoga (75 minutes of Bikram yoga)

12pm: Lunch

2pm: 15 mile bike ride

4:30pm: Deep tissue Massages

6:30pm Dinner

After dinner we watched EAT, PRAY, LOVE.

I kept falling asleep, not because I didn't like the movie, but because I had been up since 4:30am and was so exhausted after our awesome and active day.

SUNDAY

It came to soon.

We cleaned up the house,

packed,

Ate breakfast and packed our snacks for the day

and headed to ZIONS NATIONAL PARK.

 

We hiked up Angels Landing.

The weather was beautiful, until literally when we were pulling out of the park and it started to snow. 

I am so glad we had the good weather while up there.

Home to our families by 6pm.

I recommend to all of you to get together with some friends or your family and head for the sunshine. 

St. George is only 3.5 hours away. 

It's warmer and the air is much cleaner for sure!

The whole trip cost us hardly anything because we made all of our own food and shared the expense of 

both the food and gas.

Although we each wish we could have had a few more days down there together,

we burned a ton of calories, laughed a bunch and had a really fun time,

we are so grateful for the time we spent.

 

We also made some awesome food while we were down there, food is usually the best part, right?

It was nice to know what we were eating and have the control to make sure it was exactly what we wanted.

Since Leanna and I are mostly eating raw we enjoyed sharing recipes with each other for 

smoothies, juices, soups, salads and snacks.

We basically existed off of this recipe that Leanna shared with me:

 

 

Tropical Lemon Cranberry Coconut Chia Bars

Packed with chia seeds, dried cranberries, pistachios, and lemon, these bars are chewy, light, and tropical. I like to think of them as a tropical macaroon bar. They also make a perfect breakfast when you are running out the door!
Inspired by Navitas Naturals.
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approx 1.5 lemons)
• 1.5 cups regular oats, ground into a flour in food processor
• 1/2 cup regular oats (not ground)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut + additional for sprinkling
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup Agave nectar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup pistachios
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the chia seeds and lemon juice. Set aside to gel up while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Take your 1.5 cup of oats and process them in food processor until a flour forms.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together the oat flour (regular oats processed into a flour), baking powder, 1/2 cup regular oats, kosher salt, lemon zest, dried cranberries, pistachios, and shredded coconut.
4. In another small bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, applesauce, and agave nectar. Mix in the gelled up chia seed mixture until combined.
5. Add wet to dry and stir well until blended. It will take a while to mix it thoroughly.  Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out smoothly with a spatula. Sprinkle additional coconut on top before baking.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350F until golden around the outer edge. It will very lightly spring up when pressed.
7. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Cut into 16 squares. Approx 200 calories per square.

I made another batch this morning that are cooling nicely as I type.

Try them! You will love them. 

They are baked, so not officially raw,

but they are full of good nutrition and made from the best ingredients.

I'll share some more recipes this week like my favorite Raspberry Basil Smoothie and more.

Join me in my many adventures over the next few days,

and be sure to mark your calendars for February 24 at 7pm 

to join me and a very non-typical farmer named Dale Allred owner of Jacobs Cove Farm. 

He will be speaking at Elevate and sharing all of his amazing wisdom with us. 

There will be samples of his produce. 

You can sign up for his CSA while you attend as well. 

I'll be talking much more about this as well in the future.

Together we will get through this ridiculous weather.

Just comment below if you are interested and I will contact you.

Tip of the day: Make yourself up several different varieties of herbal tea throughout the day. It will keep you warm and hydrated.

My favorite:

Warmly yours on this frigid Wednesday,

Cody

P.S. Happy Birthday to my amazing sister Kerry!