Raw Dessert bars

Are you going to a party and want some clean treats to share with friends? You have got to try these bars I made!

Raw Coconut Date & Almond bars

Ingredients:
2 c organic mejool dates (blended in Vitamix with 1/2c water to make date paste)
1c raw almonds ( blended or put through food processor to grind)
1/4 c raw cacao powder
1/4 c cacao nibs (optional)
1/4 c raw shredded coconut

1. First step is to prepare your date paste.
2. Grind and prepare your almonds.
3. In a medium bowl add 1/3 of date paste and mix with all your almonds (I just used my hands).
4. In a small caks pan flatten out the mixture to make your crust.
5. In your clean blender blend in 3/4 of your date paste mixture, cacao powder, cacao nibs, Pour or spoon mixture on top of your crust the flatten out.
6. Top it off with shredded coconut and maybe some more cacao nibs then cut!


Hope you enjoy! I brought these to a party, they were a hit!!!

Goal of the week: Drink More Water

We all have been told to drink 8 cups a day! For some this seems like a lot, for others not enough! With our bodies brig composed of 60% water, we need to make sure we are getting in at least 8 cups!
Water also helps with your satiation! Yes, people who drink more water tend to be more satiated when they eat which results in less calories consumed! Water is also great for your skin, kidneys, and bowel movements!

Keep a big BPA free water bottle around and sip throughout the day! Even if you aren't thirsty, your body will thank you!

Turkey Day: Raw Pumpkin Pie

Keep it clean this Thanksgiving with a Raw Pumpkin Pie, yeah I said it RAW! This no bake treat is super easy, is REAL, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, sugar-free!!

Ingredients:

Crust:
Organic Mejool Dates
Raw Almonds

Pie filling:
1 large can of pumpkin purée
Date paste (from your dates you blend)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Allspice
Unsweetened almond milk
Organic vanilla extract

1. In your Vitamix, blend your almonds with 1/4 c water so they are ground(can be pretty thick).
2. Clean out Vitamix, then place a tub of dates (pitted dates) with 1/2 c water.
3. Blend until smooth.
3. Spoon out about 1/3 of date paste in to a clean small bowl, leave 2/3 in Vitamix.
4.mix almonds and date paste.
5. Remove new almond/date paste from Vitamix and flatten out in pie pan.
6. In Vitamix blend leftover 1/3 of date paste, almond milk, spices, vanilla, and pumpkin.
7. Pour mixture in to pie pan.
8. Serve, and eat!

Thanksgiving Quinoa Cranberry Salad

INGREDIENTS
1 tub organic mixed greens
1 cup quinoa
2 large beets grated
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped scallions
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried
¼ cup Extra Virgin olive oil (evoo), or more as needed
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, or more juice as needed
1 teaspoon coriander
Pinch of cayenne, or to taste
Black pepper and salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the quinoa in a small pot and add 1½ cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and remove from the heat. Let steep for at least 10 minutes, or up to 20.

2. Put the slightly cooled quinoa in a large salad bowl along with the beets, pecans, cranberries, scallions, oil, and lemon zest and juice and sprinkle with the spices and pepper. Use 2 big forks to combine, fluffing the quinoa and tossing gently.

3. Stir in the parsley and sage. Taste and adjust the seasoning, moisten with a little more evoo and lemon juice as you like. 

4. After cooling, toss mixture in a big salad bowl with mixed greens, as much as you need to feed your crew!

Thea's 100 Rep Thanksgiving Workout: (no equipment needed)

Thanksgiving means a lot to me this year. I have so much to be thankful for, and always have. Although, this year I have made more time for myself to think about these things. Among a long list, one is my health. I tend to be super hard on myself when it comes to health and fitness, and this week I want to work on being thankful that I am able to workout and enjoy sharing my passion with others.

If you want to burn some calories before consuming them this Thanksgiving, then try my *no gym needed* workout. Invite a family member, friend, or try it alone. If you do, tell me how it goes!

Thea's 100 Rep Thanksgiving Workout: (no equipment needed)

5 Burpees
10 Air Squats
5 Burpees
10 Push-ups
5 Burpees
10 Jump lunges
5 Burpees
10 Knee-to-elbow plank
5 Burpees
10 Squat plus front kick
5 burpees
10 Squat jacks (jumping jack with a squat)

Sweet Potato Paleo Pancake

This is the season for yummy sweet potato! I wanted to make a warming breakfast, without oatmeal. I came up with this, and thought I'd share!

Sweet Potato Paleo Pancake Recipe: 

1/2 c. sweet potato or yams (puree)
4 egg whites plus 1 whole egg
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg & allspice (optional)

Almond butter

1. Whisk all ingredients together leaving out the almond butter.
2. Pour on to pan or griddle.
3. Flip.
4. Serve, I like to add on a tbsp. of almond butter or 1 tbsp crushed almonds

Delish:)

San Gimignano: Organic Farm/Wine & Spa Day

Our day in San Gimignano, Italy was one I will never forget! The weather was just perfect (which is uncommon in November), crisp and quite sunny. We headed out to downtown to check it out, after some shopping and some walking we were told we must go get gelato from a super famous place at the centre. We both agreed it was the best we've had in Italy! After that we got back in the car and the driver drove us to the winery/farm we would be having "light lunch and tasting".
Let me tell you this lunch was far from light, and the tasting was far from a taste! 4 courses later and 2 bottles down we were flabbergasted by how they considered that "light lunch". I've noticed people here can EAT, 5-7 courses is completely normal. I am a people watcher and I have noticed everyone around me always has at least 3. The wine was absolutely delicious! The white was my favorite, the red was Sammie's! We had homemade pasta with wild boar (very common in this town, the server explained there are more wild boar than there are people). They also served rheir farms home salami/prischutto with organic cheese from their farm! It was awesome. We left the restaurant a bit tipsy, took some photos and headed back to the hotel.
We headed down to the spa right when we got back, and got massages. I was SO relaxed, it was great! After the massage I went to the sauna/steam/herbal baths. It was awesome!!! I then hit the bed for a siesta!
We went back to town for dinner, it was a dead town!! We saw one open restaurant and we were thankful to find a seat! I wasn't too hungry, but their Tuscan vegetable soup was absolutely out of this world delicious!!! We split a tiramisu, I had a cappuccino and we called it a night!
Today was my favorite:)

Firenze to San Gimignano

When I woke up this morning, it was nice (yet a little scary) that I didn't know where we would be in a few hours. We hadn't planned 2 days in our trip to allow ourselves some flexibility depending on our mood. We were going to go to Cinque Terre, but after looking up the weather decided to go to a gorgeous resort in San Gimignano.
We checked out of our hotel (Said our goodbyes to RayRay) and headed to the train station. We took the train to Siena and got picked up by a great driver (who we will see tomorrow again). We were greeted by Luigi and the staff at Villa San Paolo Resort. They told us all about their place (since it's the slow season they gave us extra attention) and helped set up our plans for tomorrows adventures.
After getting our plans set we went up to our room and got on our swimsuits (realizing and laughing that the wine, Italian food, and lack of strenuous exercise is getting to us). We hopped in the indoor/outdoor pool and swam around. We tried to speak to Italians and they had no clue what we were saying we laughed so much not being able to understand a word. We came up from the pool and got ready for dinner.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant was great! We ordered an organic local white wine, wild boar pasta, and bass wrapped with potato. We also got a fruit, nut, and cheese plate(that's not it). We ALSO got a mocha hazelnut dessert! With cappuccinos!!!!!! We aren't holding back here, not one bit! More to come tomorrow.

Italia Chianti Vino ...

After sleeping in a bit we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with a cappuccino(of course) and decided to take a walk to town to use an ATM. The trip turned in to just a nice stroll on a crisp morning, because there was no ATM around. We headed back to the hotel and hung out and took pictures for a bit. We headed out with Stacy and Doug to our wine tasting at Costello De Trebbino. We took tons of photos before the rest of the people showed up for the tour.
This place is the LAST CASTLE IN ROME OCCUPIED, yes people live in a castle! I got to go in:) We learned all about the castle, the family, the wine, and olive oil. The Chianti is the most popular and famous wine in this area (I mean it is called the Chianti wine for a reason). The wine was amazing, the olive oil fresh and delicious. We all bought wine and oil and headed back to Florence.
In Florence, we went in to leather shops and I went in to ZARA(I love Zara). We then wandered for over 45 minutes to find a restaurant. We found one and enjoyed a smaller family owned restaurant! The server was hilarious and super animated! He bokked (yes bokked, like a chicken) when he served Stacy her chicken dish. We left dinner and went on a hunt for a famous Gelato place in Florence (had to get before leaving famous Florence). We found GROM, I ordered 1/2 hazelnut, 1/2 coffee. It was pretty delicious! A great way to wrap up another amazing day!

Florence

Yesterday we woke up and hung out at our hotel, RayRay(the best server in the world)was at breakfast and dinner. He has kept us entertained the whole trip, he is simply hilarious. Has given Sammie the nickname SamSam. He makes the best cappuccinos in the world, I just smile and laugh every time he is around! We went in to town to check out the more touristy things to start the day,
we saw the statue of David along with tons of cathedrals! We stopped in leather shops, gelato shops, and a cafe! Sammie ordered a salami sandwich and I got a veggie pizza! We walked for hours going in and out of shops. We stopped at a wine shop where we met Stefan. He was so helpful and kind, and although his English was broken, he was extremely helpful! We got 4 bottles of local wine. We came back to our hotel for a siesta then went downstairs to drink some of our wine with Doug and Stacy (our new friends from South Dakota).
We had dinner at the hotel with Doug and Stacy and RayRay was our server! RayRay is everywhere! We enjoyed our meal, the company, and service. I ordered the beef balsamic (very unlike me, as I usually order fish), and it was delicious! After bottles of wine we were all cracking jokes and having a great time. We then decided the next day we would join Stacy and Doug for wine tasting!

Firenze: Munilo Di Firenze

Yesterday we took the train to Florence. Once we arrived at our BEAUTIFUL hotel we wanted to enjoy and grab a small bite. We had a glass of wine with apps, two other twosomes (one from NYC, and one from South Dakota) were in the lounge as well. We all chatted and laughed. Sammie and I got along well with the folks from south Dakota. They bought us a glass of wine and we sat in the lounge laughing with the bar tender Reynaldo (we nick named him RayRay). We stayed at the hotel, as we watched some overspill from the river trickle in to the hotel floor (pretty crazy). The Arno river is really rushing right now! We then got ready for dinner and decided to go somewhere close. The couple from south Dakota knocked on our door and asked if we wanted to walk with them. We accepted.
We took a beautiful stroll along the river to dinner. We went to a pizzeria, which was awesome! We had local wine. Sammie had a pizza that was enough to feed a family, I had salmon that our hilarious server caught that morning!!!! It was so delicious! The lady had wild boar ravioli ( sounds crazy, it was tasty). The sever didn't know the name for boar so we watched him literally play charades, then he gave up and resorted to pictionary(this boar looked hilarious). We had laughs, and good conversation.
We came back to hang with RayRay, drink cappuccino's, and he spoiled us with free gelato (like we needed it).
This morning we woke up and walked down to breakfast where we had cappuccinos and more good food (see the trends here, I may gain 5lbs and I'm ok with that here). We watched the water rush as we ate, and now we are getting ready for a full day in Florence!

Roma/ Firenze

Right now I am sitting on a train to Florence (which we had to run to catch) from Rome! The lady behind us smells like HORRIBLE B.O.!!!!

We are realizing how easy it is to blow your money while traveling! Taxis, trains, hotels, food, shopping, wow!

Yesterday was a pretty chill day, we ate breakfast with Sammie's boss at our hotel, we took the shuttle down to the Vatican and walked around. Took lots of photos!! We got a coffee at a little cafe and watched the people walk around.
We then went to an outdoor market where we shopped a little and then kept walking for hours! We went to a restaurant for lunch that was so cute; Trattoria da Luigi. The sever was super nice, we got the local win which is supposed to be better/cheaper so we ordered it! It was only 5 euro and seriously it was 1/2 liter!!!! So much wine, and it was so good! I honesty can't compare it to any wine I've had in the US. The wine here is just so much more delicious! After lunch we went shopping at Zara, then headed back to the hotel for a little siesta! We then went downstairs to the bar to find a few of Sammie's clients. They were headed to the hotel restaurant for a later dinner (all dinners here are late) and we joined them. Anyways, we had wine with dinner and I tried delicious pasta! We stayed up chatting pretty late then went to bed. This morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and got right to the train station... More stories from Florence to come!!

When in Rome: Day 1

I literally only spent a half a day here yesterday, in that short amount of time I did and saw so much!!!! I was so confused on my sleep schedule being crazy jet lagged, but decided to forget about the importance of sleep and suck it up for a night!
Last night, our first night, was a blast! I took a shuttle from our hotel down to where Sammie and her colleagues were and we met up for lunch (at 4pm!!!) we ate at a place called Wanted and we shared an amazing bottle of wine along with some pizza/ calamari. We then walked in to novelty shops (it was the groups last day in Rome, but my first so it worked out for all of us to shop). We bought prosecco and drank it on the street, I also got the most delicious gelato known to man! We walked and saw the huge fountain and made a wish (packed with people it was fun to see). We then walked to the Spanish steps, which were beautiful! We shopped some more (bought a fake Prada purse, he asked for 75 euros and I got him down to 20😃). We then had dinner! I know right, so much food!
We ordered a bottle of white and red wine, this was at a world class restaurant with tons of Food Awards! We saw this couple eating what looked like a half a cow, I'm not joking it was larger than any hunk of meat I've ever seen! We decided to share a hunk of our own! Literally HUGE, but there were 7 of us so we ordered it! We didn't even finish it between our group! The server loved us when we ordered it ($$$), one of the girls ordered a round of limonciello it was so sweet, tart, and sour (I didn't love it). Then... The server brought us another round on the house!!!!! After that he brought us some other Italian liqueur (I didn't drink it, it smelled horrific). Sammie's clients paid for the whole bill! That was nice!!!!!! They left this morning, and went out like kings and queens I was happy to be a part of it!

We woke up this morning had a cappuccino downstairs and are planning on going to the Vatican/ coliseum, and wherever else we wander to! It's raining today:(

I'll try to keep you all posted!

Viaggio in Italia

I am sitting at the airport awaiting my departure to Italy. I am a little nervous, pretty tired, but most of all excited! I feel like this trip is coming at a great time, I am a little worn down and need a little kick in my life!
I think right now is a great time to mention balance in your life. Life isn't always work work work. Sometimes we need to take a step away and enjoy real life adventures. Try to not be the one holding yourself back from creating new experiences for yourself. You hold the power to change, to become, and to learn.
Sometimes we just have to party, eat, smile, and play. My intentions are to do just that, have a fun trip and enjoy myself. Forget about over-analyzing, self doubt, or fear. We only live once and there is no better time than now to enjoy and be in the moment!

A presto! (See you soon)

Thea's anywhere workout 3.0

10 squats
10 lunges
10 Burpees
10 push ups
10 crunches

10 ROUNDS