Did you know Peter Pan makes a natural peanut butter? You did? Why didn’t you tell me?

You know what I love about this peanut butter? Mostly everything. But in the interest of time I’ll give you two reasons why it is good–the taste and the price.

Moving on…

I stumbled upon this interesting recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bean Balls on Christin’s website and thought I’d give it a whirl in the Fitness & Spice test kitchen.

You will never believe this but I made a few substitutions and I have to say these cookies turned out ahh-freaking-mazing! But I cannot take one bite of the credit as the original recipe (is probably better and) comes from the the greatness of Christin’s Kitchen.

Here is the recipe inspired by Christin’s cookies…

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a shot of protein!)

• One can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• One can Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup Peter Pan Honey Roasted Natural Peanut Butter
• 3 tbsp Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 20 drops Stevia (What? You don’t have liquid stevia in the house? Improvise! You can do it!)
• drizzle of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1/2 Dark Chocolate bar chopped
  

Combine all ingredients except for the almond milk and the chocolate in a food processor (I used a Vitamix blender) until well combined.  Drizzle a tiny amount of almond milk in while the food processor is running, until the dough is smooth. Scoop the dough into a bowl and fold in the chocolate. Spoon the dough with a cookie scoop onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

You’re probably wondering…

What are the calories and macros per cookie? I have no clue. I don’t track that stuff. But don’t fret, these cookies are really Really REALLY filling so there is little to no risk that you’ll eat the entire batch in one sitting.

How many cookies does it make? I used a big cookie scoop and it made approximately 1 dozen cookies.

Will my kids like these cookies? I don’t know your kids but if they have good taste they will. If this is the case, I recommend telling them they are made with beans that way you won’t have to share.

Will you make these cookies again? Does Peter Pan fly?

Now I really must go dare you to make these cookies. “All you need is faith and trust and a little bit of pixie dust,” said Peter Pan.

You know you need more sleep when you start thinking about really random things like…

• Just how many blades will be on a razor in 10 years?
• Is a beer under 100 calories really a beer?
• What are we going to do with all of those big buildings with a bunch of books when they stop making real books?
• Where will all of the librarians go?
• Was Mr. Slim Goodbody the same guy as Richard Simmons?
• Does anybody remember Mr. Slim Goodbody?
• Is Goodbody one word or two? And is it hyphenated?
• Why didn’t I think of Google?
• How many Arnold Schwarzenegger jokes could I pump out in 60 seconds?
• Am I really 7 degrees away from Kevin Bacon?
• Why hasn’t Apple changed their tagline to something really clever like…”Apple…we’re as easy as 3.14159265″
• Am I Oprah’s long lost half sister, too?
• Why can’t my gym be more like Twitter and only allow 140 characters?

Now I really must go to sleep before I start hunting down a mid-night snack…after all, I’m no CHEATANATOR!

What do you get when you take the best parts of a medicine ball and mesh them together with the squish of a beanbag and the bounce back of a stress ball?

U got it!

No really, that’s the answer. You get a Ugi (U got it!) ball and a 30-minute workout you can take anywhere and look good doing it, too. And not just “a” workout, a portable-cardio-core-and-resistance workout all wrapped up into one.

Check out this video and see what I mean:

(NOTE: If you’re viewing this on the Fast Track To Fat Loss website, here’s a link to the video: http://youtu.be/0xRQJ3tPJvw)

For a fast, fun and challenging workout, I’m all over Ugi.

Want one, too? Ugi is offering a 15% discount on all orders now through May 25th when you enter the code FITBLOGGIN at checkout. You want it? U go get one right here: www.ugifit.com.

Now I really must go thank MizFitOnline for introducing me to Ugi and let her know that Girl, U got it going on!

Yesterday I spent entirely too much energy thinking about how much money I spend and how (seemingly) little I have to show for it.

So today I’m turning the tables and am going to spend my energy focusing on the things I take for granted that don’t cost a thing like these…

10 Free Healthy Living Gifts

1. Water. (Free tip: Next time your at Starbucks ask a barista for some ice water it’s free and triple filtered from what I’m told. Who knew?)
2. Vitamin D. (Hello, Sunshine!)
3. Playground workouts. (Here’s a great article on mensfitness.com if you need some ideas)
4. Jump rope. Don’t have one? Skip it. No, really, skip!
5. Walk the dog. Don’t have one? Take mine. No, really.
6. Run the stairs at your local high school track. No school in sight? Go climb a tree or a hill.
7. Spring cleaning.
8. Volunteer. It’s good for your heart and it’s priceless.
9. Have a heart to heart talk with a friend or sole mate.
10. Sleep.

Now I really must go get some rest so I have the energy to count my blessings and pay attention!

What do you do when you don’t get your day started off on the right foot? You step on your left foot, of course.

The same wisdom applies when your diet and exercise program gets off track, right? All you need to do is to get back on the right path. STAT.

I learned this lesson (again) just this week.

According to a pair of pants I tried on I’ve been a little off track with my program lately. To put it nicely, those suckers were sucking the life out of me. So I took a little advice from my good friend Colin Powell and I got mad and got over it.

It took me no time at all to diagnose the problems:

1. I’ve been half-arsing cardio.

2. I’ve been eating too little during the day and making up for it by eating too, too much at night.

3. I’ve stopped updating my accountability partner.

My bad.

But even after tightening the reigns over the last few days, those pants of mine aren’t so tight.

What a difference a few days can make.

Now I really must go make a mad dash to the track, generally speaking.

I’m on the road again!

Stop by and visit me on the Attune Foods website where I’m sharing my personal “gluten-light” philosophy.

But before you go, I want to tell you about my latest obsession just in time for the dog days of Spring! Here it is…

Frozen Protein Cereal

• 1 Vanilla or Chocolate Protein Shake
• 1 or 2 heaping handful(s) of Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

Make a blended protein but use less liquid than usual so it’s nice and thick. Top with your favorite Erewhon cereal and eat with a spoon.

Go ahead, make one! All the cool kids are doing it.

Now I really must go get off my glutes and skip on over to my latest Attune!

Ingrown toenails are neither funny nor sexy. I know this because I have one and it does not have a sense of humor or does it look good in even in the cutest of sandals.

So what have I learned from this ingrown toe situation?

• I will never take my feet for granted again. Probably.
• I have never had a better excuse to go shoe shopping in my entire life because surely my old shoes are to blame, right? Right.
• Soaking the big guy in warm water and epsom salt for 5 to 10 minutes seems a few times a day seems to help.
• If not treated properly it could lead to having your toenail removed (GASP!) and/or nasty infections according to Dr. Google.

And last but not least, I learned it is entirely possible to get a good lower body workout even while nursing this nasty injury. Why? Because it forces you to push through your heels so your poor aching toe does not push against the front of your shoe. I guess I should be pushing through my heels anyway during moves like squats, single leg bridges, deadlifts, and even climbing the dreaded revolving step mill as it engages the ole glutes and hamstrings rather effectively. I should know because after yesterday’s workout this ingrown toenail has proven to be a pain in my butt, literally and figuratively.

Have you had an injury recently? What have you learned from it, you poor thing!?

Now I really must go back to Google to continue my research for the ultimate pedi cure.

Do you know what I love about breakfast?

Everything.

Everything plus you can eat breakfast foods anytime of the live-long day. And lately I’ve been taking full advantage of that little perk.

Asparagus and sun dried tomato frittata for dinner again tonight? Yes, please.

In addition to eggs for dinner I’ve been obsessed with eating little bits of wholesome grains during the day with cereal and granola. Like:

• Sprinkling a handful of Attune’s new Munch granola on Greek yogurt for a quick, crunchy, healthy yogurt parfait
• Topping a salad at lunchtime with a few tablespoons of Uncle Sam’s (wheat berry and flax seed) cereal in place of croutons
• Stirring some Crispy Brown Rice cereal with mixed berries into a really thick protein shake after a workout and eating it with a spoon (Do this! It’s amazing!)
• Adding Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice cereal to the top of Joanna Banana soft serve “ice cream” instead of (way too many) nuts for dessert

What’s your favorite way to enjoy breakfast foods when it’s not really breakfast time?

Now I really must go recycle some Attune boxes…I’m a bit of a cereal killer!

You know what I realized this week?

Life is like me and my blog…really, really short!

Watch this quick video and see what I mean…

Life is short. Go play!

Now I really must go seize the whey…and wish my Mom a very happy and healthy Mother’s Day!

We all know it’s a requirement to eat Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo. So do that.

But maybe, just maybe it should also be a requirement to do a 5 by 5 workout in celebration of the 5th day of the 5th month of the year.

Want to join me for a quick and spicy Cinco de Mayo workout? Si? Then…

Pick 5 exercises, grab some weights or a resistance bands, and do 5 sets of 5 reps.

For example, here are the 5 exercises I picked for my full body workout today:

1. Deadlift

2. Overhead press

3. Squats

4. Rows

5. Lunges

Do 5 reps of each exercise and repeat the circuit 5 times.

Ai yai yai!

Now I really must go take a siesta…I’ll see you to-Mayo!