National Chocolate Day with IDEAL Fit! @idealfit

October 28, 2016 by Tam Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I was given Chocolate Coconut and French Vanilla Protein Powder by IDEAL Fit to try, as a BlogFest attendee. As always, all opinions are my own.

It’s National Chocolate Day! October 28th is National Chocolate Day! Who doesn’t love chocolate?

Why IdealLean Protein Powder? There are so many protein powders on the market. It’s hard to find one that’s right for women. IDEALLean Protein Powder is made for women with just 80 calories per scoop and 20 grams of protein. It’s 100% whey isolate with 0 gram of fat, sugar or carbs. And it tastes great! I’m always looking for good protein powders that don’t have a bunch of stuff in it that’s not clean. I need a protein powder that will keep me full throughout my run. I usually add protein powder in my green smoothie but this time, I decided to try two of IDEAL Fit’s recipes incorporating their protein powder!

Chocolate Coconut Pumpkin Bread

I love chocolate and anything pumpkin so this recipe caught my attention immediately! Check out the recipe here. The ingredients were easy enough and the recipe is really clean.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 c oat flour
1/2 c almond flour
1 scoop Chocolate Coconut IdealLean Protein
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1/4 c agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c canned pumpkin
1 tbsp. unsweetened coconut flakes

I couldn’t find oat flour when I went to Trader Joe’s so I looked up what it was and made it myself! I took old-fashioned oats and ground them in the NutriBullet! This was my first time working with oat and almond flour and I wasn’t sure how the recipe would turn out but I think the consistency of the bread is just like regular flour.

I added the dry ingredients in one bowl.

I added the wet ingredients in a different bowl along with coconut flakes for good measure! I mixed the two and added walnuts to the recipe and put it in the oven for 35 minutes.

I had to adjust the temperature since my oven runs hot as I needed to cook it a bit more but overall, it turned out great! The pumpkin makes the bread very moist. The chocolate pumpkin is a great combination! I wasn’t sure they would go well together but it’s a great pairing and the bread keeps you full with the IDEALLean Protein Powder. I had some bread with hot pumpkin tea and it was perfect!

Chocolate Coconut Breakfast Bars

I also tried the Chocolate Coconut Breakfast Bars!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
2 scoops Chocolate Coconut IdealLean Protein
3/4 c unsweetened almond milk
4 egg whites

I had all of the ingredients required already. I didn’t add the chocolate chips as I didn’t want it to be too sweet but I threw in some walnuts since I had them for the other recipe. I added extra coconut flakes, too.

I mixed the ingredients together and baked it. Super easy!

The bars were delicious! It’s cereal on-the-go! I think you can add some pumpkin seeds or other seeds to it and it’d be great!

I had a few bars with my coffee one morning and it was really great to keep me full and keep me away from the sweet treats at work! Halloween time means everyone brings treats to work and I have worked hard to stay away!

National Chocolate Day with IDEAL Fit and IDEALLean Protein Powder has helped me have clean treats this week before Halloween when I’m usually tempted to have bad treats. The recipes are easy, clean and taste great! I may try the German Chocolate Pancakes next!

Your path, your pace, Tam

Race Recap: Aquarium of the Pacific 5k, 10/8/16

October 10, 2016 by Tam Leave a Comment

Shark attack! I ran the Aquarium of the Pacific 5k on Saturday, October 8, 2016 as part of the JetBlue Long Beach Marathon weekend events.

My good friend, Erica, signed up for it too so we found each other at the start.

We made a new friend!

I was happy to see a friend from high school who used my code to register! Thank you to everyone who used my discount code!!!

The run began at 7 am. It warmed up quickly!

There were pretty views right away!

I always love running by the lighthouse–it’s iconic in Long Beach!

The Medieval Shark is looking for prey!

Photo Credit: Run Racing

Everyone had better run away!!! I’m out to get you!

In the last .25 mile, we got to run inside the aquarium! I met a new friend, a snake, and it wasn’t on the trails!

Jellyfish!

Seahorse! I hadn’t realized how small a seahorse is!

My new friend who looked grumpy!

Running inside the aquarium and checking out a couple of the exhibits was super cool!

Finishers! After the race we checked out the booths–Nature’s Baker Fig Bars and Nuun.

Photo Credit: Preston R.

It was warm at the finish. I had my C20 Coconut Water right away!

I got to see AREC friends!

Linzie! I missed him at the VIP Reception the night before so I was happy to say hi!

The medal is awesome! This was my 101st lifetime 5k!

What a great race and the perfect way to bring the whole family out for a fun event! I loved seeing families together. There was a kids’ run, too!

Afterward, Erica and I went to get coffee at Starbucks where I ran into my Shark friend, fellow JetBlue Long Beach Marathon ambassador, Megan!

The race was so much fun! The energy was great and everyone was in good spirits!

My Balega socks!

My legs felt a little heavy at first–I think from the long week I had at work and feeling dehydrated. I went home to prepare for the half. I tried to hydrate and rest. I got my gear together and packed my post-race stuff.

The half the next day would be another amazing day at my favorite race! Hooray!

Your path, your pace, Tam

Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder & Nutritional Booster Pancake Recipe and Giveaway! 6/30/16

June 30, 2016 by Tam 9 Comments

Disclaimer: I was given 4 bags of Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder and Nutritional Boosters to review as a Sweat Pink Ambassador with Fit Approach. As always, all opinions are my own.

I’ve been using Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder and Nutritional Boosters for a month now and reviewed the product several weeks ago. Read my review here!

I’ve been adding the Protein Powder and Nutritional Boosters to my smoothies and it’s been great! I drink a smoothie as a snack or as pre-workout fuel. I had my smoothie before my recent trail race and it kept me full during the race and afterward, as I had a late dinner.

Here’s a recap of the protein powder from my previous post. All of the protein powders have 20 g of plant protein. Sometimes I don’t do too well with whey or soy protein so plant protein is a great alternative. Additionally, all of the protein powders have nutritional boosters, too! They have a good amount of fiber and probiotics.

Here are nutritional facts:

20g plant-based protein per serving
12g fiber per serving (9 g soluble fiber)
Beneficial Bacillus coagulans probiotics
Good source of omega-3 fatty acids
35% RDA iron per serving
Gluten free
Vegan
No soy ingredients
No dairy ingredients
Unsweetened

I’ve been wanting to try protein pancakes and now that I’m on summer break, it was the perfect time to experiment! I read many recipes online and here’s what worked for me.

Protein Pancake Recipe

• 1 scoop Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder and Nutritional Booster

• 1/2 cup egg white

• 1/2 cup oats

• 1/4-1/3 cup almond milk or coconut milk (I start with 1/4 cup and add a little more if the batter is too thick.)

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• dash of salt

• coconut oil (instead of butter on top)

• Optional: 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut, fruit, peanut butter or other add-ons!

I made a protein pancake with the Vanilla Protein Powder and Nutritional Booster and added blueberries and unsweetened coconut flakes. I used 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes and about 1/3 cup of oats for this batch. The photo of the pancakes is above!

I also made a Lemon and Blueberry Protein Pancake using the Protein and Fiber Nutritional Booster. It was really good except that I need to add more lemon rind next time as I didn’t get much of a lemon taste. I added fresh blueberries to the batter and it was tasty!

The batch yields 2 pancakes. I used a bit of coconut oil to butter the top instead of butter. I love butter but I’m trying to make a healthy pancake so this was the next best thing! It’s not very sweet so if you needed to make it sweeter, Stevia or agave would be good choices. I liked the taste as is and tried to sweeten each bite with fruit.

The oats help to thicken the batter and make it more like a regular pancake in terms of texture.

I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Pancake with the Chocolate Protein Powder and Nutritional Booster. It was really good! I added peanut butter to the batter itself and also topped the pancakes with some pb!

In the fall, I’d like to make a Pumpkin Chai Protein Pancake with the Chai Protein Powder and Nutritional Booster. It’d be perfect in the fall with pumpkin from the can and maybe pumpkin seeds.

You’d like to try Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powder and Nutritional Boosters, right? I knew you would! You can win a 16 oz. bag ($30 value), the flavor of your choice, by using the Rafflecopter widget. Enter by following Bob’s Red Mill on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. You can also enter by telling me which flavor you’d like to try in the comment section. The raffle ends July 6th at 12 pm PST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. 1 winner will be selected via the Giveaway widget. Open to Residents of the United States, 18 years of age or older. Must have a non P.O. Box mailing address. Winner must have a valid email address.

All winning entries will be verified. If a winning entry cannot be verified as completed, a new winner will be drawn. Winner will be provided the prize directly from Bob’s Red Mill. Substitutions unlikely but may apply. Tamarathoner is not responsible for failure of sponsor to deliver product. If you have already won this item on another blog, please disclose so that another winner can be chosen. Good luck!

Your path, your pace, Tam

SOS Rehydrate Mango Recovery Smoothie Recipe & Giveaway!

November 23, 2015 by Tam 7 Comments

Disclaimer: I was given SOS Rehydrate Mango Recovery Hydration Drink Mix to review and give away as a #sweatpink ambassador with FitApproach. As always, all opinions are my own!

I’d heard great things about SOS but had not tried it so I was excited to have this opportunity to try their new flavor, Mango!

SOS Rehydrate is a fast-acting electrolyte replacement and hydration drink that combats dehydration and is perfect for active lifestyles, days when you’re on-the-go or after a fun-filled holiday.

It’s a doctor formulated hydration drink mix and works as effectively as an IV. SOS Rehydrate has 3 times the amount of electrolytes as that of an average sports drink. It helps you absorb 3 times more water than just drink water alone. SOS Rehydrate tastes great and has 75% less carbohydrates than sports drinks.

Check out the comparison chart! And there is tons more information on the SOS Rehydrate website! I love that is is 100% free from artificial additives and only has 10 calories per serving.

I had a couple of packets of SOS Rehydrate after my first 50k at Ray Miller on November 7th. After the 50k, I wasn’t hungry nor was I thirsty. I knew my body was not quite right. I had a couple of packets of SOS the next day and felt much better. I felt cleansed in a way and my body was slowly recovering after being on my feet for over 10 hours.

I’ve been taking SOS Rehydrate with me to drink after races, too. I had a recovery drink after my Avengers Half Marathon to start balancing electrolyte levels right away.

I had a long week at work, finishing report cards and working on school activities. I had a Turkey Trot after that long week and recovered right away with my SOS Mango Recovery Drink.

I decided to make a recovery smoothie to kick off my Thanksgiving holiday. It’s been weeks of nonstop activity–the stress going into my 50k, running the 50k, recovering from my 50k, teaching, school-wide activities that I’m in charge of, report cards and more. My immune system has been down and I needed a good smoothie for a pick-me-up.

SOS Mango Recovery Smoothie:

• 1 1/2 cups of greens (spinach, kale)

• 1/2 persimmon

• 1/2 orange

• 1/3 banana

• 8 raw almonds

• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds

• 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract (great for combatting a cold)

• almond milk and water

• 1 packet of SOS Rehydrate Mango Recovery Hydration Drink Mix

I put all of the greens, fruit, nuts and seeds in my NutriBullet.

I added the Mango Recovery Hydration Drink Mix! I added about 1 cup of almond milk and filled the rest with water to the Max Fill Line.

I blasted it for about 20 seconds.

Ready to serve! Yum! It was refreshing and tasty. You can add any fruit you’d like. I had persimmon on hand from my family tree and I love persimmon during this time of year. I think adding strawberries would be really good, too.

I love that SOS Rehydrate comes in individual packets. They’re great to take with you when you’re running, traveling or busy at work. Now, you can win a box of SOS Rehydrate Mango Recovery Hydration Drink Mix, too!

SOS Rehydrate Mango Recovery Hydration Drink Mix contest runs from November 23, 2015 to November 29, 2015 at 12:00 am, PST. One lucky reader will win a box of 10 individual servings. Follow @SOSrehydrate on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. Comment below with how you’d use SOS Rehydrate to recover!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Terms & Conditions: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. 1 winner will be selected via the Giveaway widget. Open to Residents of the US & Canada 18 years of age or older. Must have a non P.O. Box mailing address. Winner must have a valid email address.

Contestants must enter on the Rafflecopter widget in order to win.
All winning entries will be verified. If a winning entry cannot be verified as completed, a new winner will be drawn. Winner will be provided the prize directly from SOS Rehydrate. Substitutions unlikely but may apply. Tamarathoner is not responsible for failure of sponsor to deliver product. If you have already won this item on another blog, please disclose so that another winner can be chosen. Good luck!

Your path, your pace, Tam

Hemp Hearts Recipe & Giveaway

November 1, 2015 by Tam 3 Comments

Disclaimer: I was given Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts to review and give away as a #sweatpink ambassador with FitApproach. As always, all opinions are my own!

I was excited to be chosen to review Manitoba Harvests’s Hemp Hearts as I was already familiar with the product.

I often put Hemp Hearts in my blast. With 10 grams of protein per 30 grams, Hemp Hearts help me feel full. I have a NutriBullet blast everyday for a morning snack and an afternoon snack.

Now and then, I throw Hemp Hearts in my salad. I like the nutty flavor.

Hemp is a super plant. It has 10 grams of omegas and 181 grams of magnesium per 30 gram serving. It’s a vegetarian protein. It’s Non-GMO, raw and vegan-friendly. All good stuff and easy to incorporate into your smoothies, salads and other dishes!

I decided to try something new since I have been eating Hemp Hearts in my blasts regularly but nothing more than that. I explored the Manitoba Harvest website and found great recipes. I wanted something I could have as a mid-day snack or a little energy bite for the times when I’m stressed at work.

Under the Recipes tab, the page is broken into categories such as breakfast, smoothies, entrees and…mid-day ‘pick me ups’! Perfect!

I chose the Superseed Energy Balls since I had some of the ingredients at home already.

This recipe appealed to me since it called for cacao nibs and I had been wondering what to do with the cacao nibs my sister just brought back for me from a recent trip to Panama. Yay!

The ingredients:

1 1/2 cups medjool dates, pitted
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1/4 cup Hemp Hearts
1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut plus extra for rolling the balls in
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder

I measured all of the ingredients. I was excited about trying coconut oil since I’ve seen it at the store but hadn’t tried it.

I put all of the ingredients into a bowl.

The hardest part was mixing since I didn’t have a big food processor. I tried different tools to mix the ingredients in the bowl but ended up mixing the ingredients in small batches in a small food processor.

I got it to mix pretty well. The recipe says to add more dates if the dough isn’t sticky enough but I thought the consistency was good.

I kept mixing until the dough looked mixed enough and then used a spoon to scoop a tablespoon of the mixture. I formed the mixture into a ball.

I rolled the ball in the unsweetened shredded coconut.

Tada! I placed them in the fridge to harden a bit.

I didn’t try them until the next day. I thought they would be perfect after my running group’s longest trail run before our big race. (Read about my longest trail run here!)

My friends loved them! I told them to be honest and they were! They liked the taste and texture. I wondered if they were too “seedy” since the recipe has chia, flax and the hemp hearts. My friends didn’t think it was too “seedy” and really liked it.

Thumbs up for the Superseed Energy Balls! Some girls even wanted some to take home!

Since I had plenty of energy balls, I had some for mid-day pick me ups during a rough work week or as an after dinner dessert bite! The energy balls are perfect since they’re sweet but have all good things in them so they satisfied my sweet tooth. I always need that during October when the month is crazy at work and I am always stressed out. I also am preparing for my first 50k race and don’t want to eat junk. The Superseed Energy Ball is great for cravings and just a little something sweet when you need it.

Giveaway! Hemp Hearts contest runs from November 2, 2015 to November 6, 2015 at 12:00 am, PST. One lucky reader will win a 2 oz. bag of Hemp Hearts! Follow @manitobaharvest on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+. Comment below with which recipe you’d like to try! Check out the recipes here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. 1 winner will be selected via the Giveaway widget. Open to Residents of the US & Canada 18 years of age or older. Must have a non P.O. Box mailing address. Winner must have a valid email address.

Winner will be notified via email (if available) and/or blog post, and will have 24 hours to claim prize. If original winner does not claim prize within 24 hours, an alternate winner(s) will be selected.
Contestants must enter on the Rafflecopter widget in order to win.
All winning entries will be verified. If a winning entry cannot be verified as completed, a new winner will be drawn. Winner will be provided the prize directly from Manitoba Harvest. Substitutions unlikely but may apply. Tamarathoner is not responsible for failure of sponsor to deliver product. If you have already won this item on another blog, please disclose so that another winner can be chosen. Good luck!

If you’d like to purchase Hemp Hearts, use code HHSP1015 to save 20% off the entire Manitoba Harvest web store. Promo code expires December 31, 2015.

Your path, your pace, Tam

INGREDIENTS

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