Good morning lovely people!
I hope you all had a restful weekend and are busy kicking Monday's butt. My Monday is moving at a glacial pace, the fatigue of the holiday seems to not want to leave but I suppose we all get this feeling and trudge along to make things happen! As I have mentioned on my social media, I am trying to focus on the meaning of balance, and how I can achieve that for myself in health, fitness and mindfulness. It is really not an easy thing to do because life really does get in the way. Here are a few things I try to do everyday (despite how hectic our days can be):
I leave my phone far away from me, so that I am not tempted to keep hitting that snooze button in the a.m.
I drink a glass of water in the morning to wake my body up and replenish the water content lost while sleeping.
When I have my coffee in the morning I try to do so without social media being the first thing I see.
I plan my day and decide when I can gym/run etc, to know that my fitness aspect is accounted for.
I drink my green tonic (which is on my Instagram) to clear my body of toxins and give me a much needed energy boost.
So far this is what I do every morning to keep me as grounded as I possibly can be, and trust me, even though it seems like nothing, one or two of these items can easily be forgotten which derails me a bit during my day. I do my best to stick to it and when I can't I try and do it later in the day.
As for this weekend, and taking balance into consideration, I baked these delicious cookies. They are gluten free, refined sugar free and dairy free- Yaaaas!! They have a lovely chewy center and taste their best when they are fresh out of the oven and have cooled for about 10 minutes (if you can wait that long before taking a bite). Here is the recipe, I hope you all love it and if you are not a fan of gluten free etc. trying something different is always a good change and if then you decide it is not for you, you can always add sugar and half almond flour/half all purpose flour.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups sifted almond flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. vanilla essence
Method:
Combine the coconut oil and maple syrup and melt over medium heat, once slightly cooled add the vanilla essence.
Sift the dry ingredients together, and combine the dry and wet ingredients and give it a good mix.
You will start to see the coconut oil separating from the dough which is normal.
Start to roll the dough balls on a tray lined with parchment paper. I used a fork to flatten them slightly and create a nice design.
Bake at 200C, for 8 minutes (monitor it carefully as everyone's oven is different).
No longer than that and allow to cool before eating them.
