Someone is the Owner of a Brand New Waffle Maker!

Whooaaa, thanks for all the compliments on my photoshoot!! Haha. They made me feel nice as I read them this morning, in my giant flannel pants, smudged mascara and gnarly hair :P

Okay, I won?t beat around the bush here. I know you?re eager to find out who won the free Belgian waffle maker!! Drumroll pleeeease?

Woo! Congrats Sarah!!! I?ll be sending you an e-mail to get all the necessary info :)

I apologize to those of you who didn?t win, as I?m about to tease you with another Belgian waffle photo.

Seeing as I?m almost fully off the dairy now, I have to come up with a new protein waffle recipe. My old one consisted of cottage cheese, oatmeal, and egg whites. So today I mixed up a few things as I went along.

2 tbsp soy protein powder, 2 tbsp whey powder, 2 tbsp whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp ground flax, 1/4 cup egg whites, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tsp baking powder, cinnamon.

It got super crisp and crusty! I bet this would be okay as pancakes, but definitely needs tweaking for waffles. Anyone got a decent high protein, low dairy waffle recipe?

 
Topped with strawberries, homemade maple pecan peanut butter, sugar-free syrup and sweetened flaked coconut.

I usually buy unsweetened coconut, but we needed the sweet stuff for a cake recipe. Um, it?s rad.

Supah filling!!! 

Archie watched me from afar, he so wanted some.

I spent the morning applying for personal training jobs in Toronto! Not getting my hopes up though, applying for jobs online is a suck hole. People still like the old-fashioned resume drop-off.

The rain cleared briefly before lunch, so I had a sugary snack before heading out for a planned 5-miler.

Two of the medjool dates I bought at the natural food store yesterday, stuffed with almond butter. I usually buy teeny tiny honey dates because they?re cheap. Whoa. These medjools are ginormous and mega sweet. Two was definitely one too many for me, which is saying a lot.

I actually mapped out the run today beforehand, planned for two loops around the lake.

 Source 

Not to be a complainer or anything, but I really miss my trail in Fredericton!! Wain! I miss my gym too, learning to exercise in different environments may be the hardest part of moving for me.

On the bright side, there are a few hills around here and I was able to challenge myself in a new way :) Oh, and I totally ran past an old high school boyfriend on the sidewalk. Thank gaaawd I was disguised in my ballcap and sunglasses.

Came home and iced my feet, ankles and knees while eating a big ole salad.

 
My mother?s usual salad bowls no longer cut it, I had to revert to one of her mixing bowls.

Apparently running up hills makes me hungry for whole romaine hearts??

With leftover spicy buffalo buffalo meatballs in mustard/mayo/olive oil dressing.

On the icing, I remember getting a question a while back on why/when to do it. I ice after long runs to prevent pain after. I never get pain in my muscles or joints during a run. If I do, I stop. But often when I do longer runs, I?ll get pain in my feet, ankles and knees a few hours later, and it can last a couple days. Bringing the inflammation down with ice, and sometimes ibuprofen, gets rid of it 99%.

Despite the super sweet dates earlier, my inner chocolate monster still needed to be put to bed.

Please disregard the flour on this bar ? it?s from making the homemade doggie treats ;)

Pretty stellar ingredients for a chocolate bar, no?

And it was on sale! Oh yeah, it was delicious. It was chocolate ;)

This afternoon I whipped up another batch of homemade protein bars.

Much like this recipe, except I used two cups oat flour (ie oatmeal ground in the food processor). I also left out the raisins and used 2 tbsp pure maple syrup instead of the fake stuff. I seriously missed not having these at my mom?s!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping with my Nana! Yes, my 87-year-old grandmother was looking at yoga pants with me, because she does yoga too!

I ended up getting a pair of Merrell hiking shoes for my trip to Banff, Alberta in June. I?m hoping they can double as walking shoes, as my feet DO NOT like walking in my running sneakers AT ALL.

As a side note, while I was at the shoe store, three different women came in looking for Reebok Easy Tone shoes. Sigh. The salesperson was thankfully knowledgeable, and warned the women they could lead to further pain down the road. When I asked him about it, he said he?s never seen a shoe sell as much as that one! Double sigh.

Back to the food.

Baby food to be exact.

And no, I?m not on the baby food diet.

I mixed it with some of this stuff?

Soy protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon and egg whites.

Popped in he microwave for a couple minutes, and a protein cake is born.

Topped with more homemade maple pecan peanut butter.

Now. Did anyone make it this far, or did you check out at the giveaway winner? :P Don?t worry, I?ve got some free food coming up in the weeks to come!

And with that, I?m off to bed. Tomorrow shall be a fun day ? spin class with the pops, lunch at my fave vegan restaurant, and a play at my old middle school! See ya then!!

Question of the Day: Runners- what sort of routes do you prefer? Out-and-back? Loops? Pavement? Trail? Treadmill? Flat? Hills? I realized today that I much prefer out-and-back routes to loops. Loops just feel longer! And I love a soft squishy trail, no pavement or sidewalks please.