meet me at the bar

so about those FITzee bars i was telling you about- well, we love'em.  ESPECIALLY my little guy!  the older he gets, the pickier his appetite becomes.  so, i'm glad he is quite fond of them *wipes forehead*

they make for a healthy, kid friendly, toddler-tested-fitmom-approved snack.  this is the Apples 'n Oats bar (whey protein + gluten-free oats + dried apples and cinnamon), but there are 9 flavors to choose from.

so, i talk about the 80/20 rule (80% clean diet / 20% whatever i desire in moderation calculated into my macros) a lot and how i prefer to eat real, low - no processed food over bars or shakes.  however, when i do chow down on a bar (and i do), it needs to meet certain standards for me and these do! FITzee bars are:

*all natural

*portable for on-the-go

*cost-efficient

* no mess

* ideal carb:protein:fat ratio

*easy to digest and eliminates hunger

*lactose, wheat, & gluten-free

*naturally sweetened

 *low sodium

  the result? one amazing energy bar designed to replicate a balanced meal that is suitable for every person and any lifestyle!

they are sweet, chewy and i adore the little chunks of apple and oats in there.  see the nutritional contents for each bar on the FITzee Foods menu here.

the latest FITzee Foods meal i'm feelin' is the read beans and rice with chicken andouille.

i added some fresh green onion and shredded cheddar almond cheese on top before i mixed it all together.  comfort food at it's finest!  i told you, they have it all.

[wpvideo PfvpPdPz]

in deep thought at the squat bar during this morning's early workout, as always!  i do hope your Thursday was a PRODUCTIVE one.  if you don't do it, it won't get done.

le

skee-wee!

well it's about time!!! for this post, that is.  

non-fitness related, but this is definitely a part of  le.  i give God all the glory and praise for allowing me  to be apart of such an illustrious, historical,  organization of exceptional, talented women.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated! #21 ;)

we are the ladies of 'AKAtch 22'.

 God has blessed and enabled me along with 21 other ladies to give our time, our efforts, and our service to this respected organization.  to be able contribute to and continue this historical legacy is an honor i don't take for granted.  i love these ladies and look forward to a lifetime of sisterhood with them.

enjoy these highlight photos from a very, very special day in my life.

gifts, gift, and mo gifts from the celebratory brunch held for us at the end of this past June 30th, 2013.

i heard my name, so out i came!

one by one we entered into the main ballroom as new initiates for all of our friends, family, and new Sorors to see.

posing with the incredible Soror Shakia after our ceremony. 

Sorors Tiffany, Ijeoma, and Dami. my special day would not have been the same without these ladies and i'm excited to be able to call them Sorors. thanks for the photo, Tiff ;)

this guy right here... i've been waiting a looong time to show my hubby some SKEE-PHI love!  Sonny made it back from his 4th Musclemania bodybuilding show in Miami that same morning, just in time.  i sure did want to go to Miami with him though, not even kidding :shocked:

and then i got the surprise of my life - THIS guy came aaaaaall the way from Afghanistan to celebrate with me and see the fam!  he has been overseas working since the beginning of the year and we have missed him terribly.  he's my only sibling and we are super close so i was pretty dang happy to see him.  cue the ugly-cry-face.

posing and celebrating with the beautiful sister Sorors Brandi and Shalonda just before AKAtch 22 made our grand entrance.   excuse my raccoon eyes from crying my face off all morning.

i look up to and admire my mentor, Soror Brandi, tremendously.  this woman is always on point.  ALWAYS!

making memories with a dear friend of mine and 21 klub, Tiffany.  thank you for..... simply everything.

my girl Andonnia and i!  my sister for life.  i was honored to be able to share that day with her.

Chiso had noooooo idea what was going on,

but his little confused face was priceless.

there might not be any fitness up in this post, but i couldn't get away with mentioning food.

Matthew caught me finally sitting down after it was all over to EAT!! i told him to tell those waiters to NOT touch my plate cause i was coming back. and boy did i.  i had one of everything from the humongous buffet, dessert included. #allout

i loved all my gifts...but this one touched my heart sincerely and means so much to me.

just a quick snippet - the journey really is just beginning...

thank you to my precious FAMILY & FRIENDS for supporting me in countless ways throughout my entire journey.  my heart is completely full of gratitude for each of you!!!  to my dear Aunt Hazel and Godmother whose role was pivotal in my journey to AKA...i love and appreciate you. i thank my loving mother and Soror Andrea for joining me at my ceremony table as well and for their incredible support.

thank you for reading!

le

what is gluten?

 our physical activity for today? plain ol' walking.  or in Chiso's case, riding.  he got out of the stroller and did his thing on the playground though!

*****

so, what the heck is gluten?

see above! i'm sure you have seen 'gluten-free' this and that on just about EVERYTHANG up in your favorite health food store these days. is it really that big a deal? well, if you have not been diagnosed with celiac disease, then naw, prolly not.  in essence, 'gluten-free' is a speciality diet, just like dairy-free, grain-free, vegan, vegetarian, carnivorian :shock: , etc., etc., etc.

most grocery stores now have a special gluten-free/natural section these days- just ask.

hear me loud and clear though -- gluten-free does N-O-T deem a product healthier than it's gluten-filled counterpart (e.g. rolled oats vs. gluten-free rolled oats)! your body may respond differently, but the nutritional stats are identical.  if you can tolerate gluten and enjoy it, there is no reason to avoid it!  don't let another celebrity touting the 'weight-loss'  benefits of his or her new gluten-free diet steer you away from the foods you love.  chances are they are/were affected by celiac disease and function a whole lot better after eliminating gluten from their diet.  if you do have celiac disease, after consuming gluten you might experience:

• gas
• bloating
• belly pain
• constipation (especially in children)
• fatigue, exhaustion (immediately after eating a meal that contains gluten)
• joint/bone pain, skin problems, depression

so how do you test for it? an elimination diet is your best bet.  i did this myself with dairy via my bikini competition training and well, it was spot on and very effective.  as you know, i have since introduced dairy back into my life in small amounts cause well, i love frozen yogurt, soft serve, just ice cream in general.  no restriction ova here.  so, try eliminating gluten from your diet for 2 straight weeks and see how your body responds before and after you consume gluten again. document your experiment!

 it's quite super that FITzee foods is able to provide a plethora of options for their customers to suit their individual dietary needs!

Q: have you ever attempted a specialty diet lifestyle? (vegetarian, vegan, etc).  have you kept up with it?

 i was a vegetarian for about 8 months before calling it quits a couple years back.

le

strawberry spinach pancakes + Angie's Popcorn GIVEAWAY

strawberry spinach salad meets strawberry spinach pancakes.

these are similar to the Spanana pancake recipe but i kinda went off the top of my head this morning with this one.

strawberry spinach pancakes

the stuff:

• 1/2 cup raw oat bran or ground oatmeal
• 3 oz ripe banana
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 3-4 strawberries, sliced
• 1 packet stevia (optional)

do this: 

combine everything except the berries in your blender or food processor.  coat your skillet with no stick cooking spray and set to medium heat.  cook each cake 4-5 min on one side; flip and cook 3-4 on the other.  top cakes with strawberries and Walden Farms pancake syrup before dig in and check out the IG vid i posted this morning while you're at it!

stats are for the entire stacky stack.

********

i just want to say YOU ROCK for helping Fit Foodie Le reach 1K Facebook Fans over this past weekend!!!!! what!? small to some but a huge milestone for me man.  i appreciate every single click of support! that said,

it's that time again.

 i can't get enough of doing these giveaways!!! ever. they make me so happy and i'm not even the winner. giving really does feel better than receiving.

after fighting the urge to eat this entire sample box myself from Angie's Popcorn- this variety pack shall be the next Fit Foodie Le giveaway prize.  ASAP.  THANK YOU,  Angie's!

as you know, i looooove me some Boom Chicka Pop- it's my favorite movie-watching snack.  they have a variety of flavors like the ones pictured above and i am on my way to trying them all.

 if you're already following me on Facebook, you are good to G-O! click below if you'd like to jump in on this:

---------->a Rafflecopter giveaway<----------

contest starts......NOW!

remember-  what you allow is what will continue. remain humble, but don't be afraid to stand up and speak up for yourself.

have a great rest of your monday and head to Facebook and get 'ta Liking!

le

dairy & nut-FREE chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cupcakes

this just might be the coolest dessert i've ever made. literally.

:shock:

 i owe it all to Kristin over at Yellow Bliss Road for these babies.  noooo idea (as usual) how i even found her blog (i just get click happy and end up finding awesome stuff every single day) and i had so much fun recreating this into a dairy-free (for the most part!) dessert for my lovely fit foodies.

chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cupcakes (can be dairy-free, nut-free) 

the stuff:

• 1 can garbanzo beans (no salt added)
• 1/2 cup raw organic oat bran OR ground oats
• 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
• 1.5 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup Coconut Crystals
• 6 tbsp Enjoy Life dairy & nut free semi sweet Chocolate Chips OR mini dark chocolate chips
• 1 pint So Delicious dairy-free, soy-free, no sugar added Vanilla Bean ice cream - or any ice cream you prefer really! i also used Almond Dream Toffee Almond Fudge. mmm hmmm.
• 35 - .5 oz paper cups

do this:

• set the ice cream and the chocolate chips aside
• throw everything else into your food processor and BLEND until smooth and uniform. no lumps. blenders don't work well for this cause the batter is super thick, fyi
• fold in your chocolate chips to the batter in a separate mixing bowl
• coat your MINI muffin pan with no stick cooking spray and portion out 35 cookie cups (about 1.5 tbsp of batter each)
• bake 10-12 minutes on 350 degrees or until golden brown, then let them cool completely. you can eat a few while they are hot though
• once completely cooled, take out your ice cream and let it soften for about 20 minutes at room temperature
• line the paper cups with cookies and spoon about 2 tbsp of ice cream on top, pressing it down into the cookie. top it off by making a smooth flat surface using the bottom of your spoon
• freeze for about an hour (that's the longest i could wait but shoot for 2)
• rip the paper cups off those suckers and top them however you like!  i used extra creamy whipped cream and more mini chocolate chips.

so,  only take them outta the freezer if you're gonna eat them right then since it's ice cream and all.

  stats below are for the cookie solo; 2 tbsp of the 100 calorie per serving vanilla bean ice cream mentioned above came out to 25 cals.   which means 1 cupcake = 78 cals total.  the stats change though depending on the type of ice cream you use of course.

you could also use Arctic Zero low-calorie ice creams as well, yep.

i took 87 pics per angle. 

and can you tell i found a new pic app? serious overkill.

this one's the toffee almond fudge ice cream. yeah....

wrapping this up now.

k this is it.

forreal.  fun, fun!

aaand a little fitness motivation before i let you go and a reminder to not eat all the cupcakes at once.

enjoy friends!

 Q: what is THE best ice cream flavor, hands down? there are so dang many these days, but Marble Slab's sweet cream is TOP NOTCH in my book! also, Dryers caramel cone crunch, Lord have mercy. haven't had either of them in years though. leave me a comment and let me know yours ;)

le