Blank pages

I love tuning into a radio station and get The song, a song that fits so well for a moment. Music can add so much to an experience... Like driving through the Redwood forest while listening to Bon Iver. Or, watching a documentary about the ocean and just as the music build up the most - humongous whales fly out of the water for a few seconds before they hit the ocean and makes the biggest splash you`ve ever seen.

As I was driving home from the gym, tired, thirsty and hoping for a "second wind" this morning, a song came on the radio that completely picked me up. The song is called Unwritten, it`s by Natasha Bedingfield, and it was the perfect moment to hear these lyrics:

"Unwritten"

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten.

Singing along, loving the lyrics - inspired me and made me feel empowered to go after more, to fill the blank pages of this day with more accomplishments! I got home and threw on my running shoes and went for a run. It was an awesome run. I think I`m sharing this to say that we all can take this day and fill it with great things, great accomplishment, great love. Make this day be lived to the fullest.

My May play-list has several up beat songs like this, watch out - some of these songs can be a little "too" catchy ;)

1. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
2. Stronger - Kanye West
3. Hanging by a moment - Lifehouse
4. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
5. Marry You - Bruno Mars
6. Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the waves

7. The cave - Mumford and Sons

Happy Saturday!
-Kathrine-

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Counting meals

Another week is behind us and a few days of rest ahead. I look back on the last few days with a sigh and smile on my face, happy to have witnessed such a beautiful fairytale wedding. 

 I just finished my second meal of the day. A fresh green vegetable juice was my first one, now a few hours later I`m eating a bowl of Udi`s gluten free natural cereal with hazelnut milk.
One little tips for making sure we get enough food in our bodies every day is by putting numbers on our meals. So instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner (3 meals a day is not optimal) you would start calling it meal nr. 1, meal nr.2 etc.
There are plenty of reasons of why we should eat smaller meals more often; proper bowl movements, steady energy levels, muscular endurance and all over stamina -  5-6 meals a day is what we should aim for. These meals should mainly consist of vegetables, fruits, lean protein and good carbs.

As far as how many glasses of water we drink, we should aim for at least 8 big glasses of water a day. One way of counting glasses is to keep 8 thin bracelets/hair ties on our left arm, and for each glass we drink, move one over to the right arm. This might be a good idea, i`m not fully convinced =)

Anyways, about to go teach my spinning class followed by a 30 minute session of stretching. Then it will be time for my meal number 3.
Thanks for stopping by my blog =) Have a beautiful day!

-Kathrine-

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Lists

My breakfast tasted exceptionally awesome this morning. Fueling up on oat meal porridge made with banana-hazelnut milk and cinnamon prepares me for a day of vigorous work outs and other challenges that comes along.
It might sound silly but making a choice to eat a good breakfast gives me a sense of accomplishment and belief in myself for the day. I know I`m setting myself up for success. When it`s time to work on housework, paperwork (bills) and relationships I will have enough energy and capacity to pour in to those things.

I don`t know about you, but I`m a list person. What to pick up at the grocery store. What to do for the day/week/month/year. Sometimes I write out in full sentences what I need to be doing throughout the day; 5am wake up, get dressed, 5.20am have a banana, make breakfast and pack the bags, etc.
This morning I`m thinking about lists and how they can be a tool for great success. Some people could use a list over what to Not get at the grocery store. Or how about a list of things you wanna speak over yourself. "I can do this, I am beautiful....".
There is also unwritten lists. It`s a list over things we do most every day but don`t have to write down to remember. It can also be a list over things we tell ourselves - things we believe about ourselves most everyday. This can be a positive list.

Then there's the negative list - it includes shame, guilt, doubt, fear, anxiety, anger, blame, ignorance and pain. For example, a person trying to loose weight feeds this list with shame and blame after a meal. Another example can be someone who is dealing with a messy financial situation and feeds his or her list with doubt and anxiety.

We all have areas in our lives that are challenging, but we decide every single day what direction our life will take. If you have a list that keeps filling up - without feeding your success (personal, relational, spiritual, financial etc) then start dealing with it. If the "old way" does not work, try something different. I don`t want the person trying to loose weight to hop from one diet to the other, or the messy finance person to go rob a bank. But rather take those negative lists and work through them. Then take courage and make new decisions that will fuel you towards your goals and dreams.

The sun is shining, the day is ahead of me and it`s gonna be a good one. Bring it on!

-Kathrine-

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EASTER DESSERTS

After an intense spinning class with speed drills and lots of hills this morning, I found time to prepare some goodies for our Easter celebration with family tomorrow. Desserts are crucial on beautiful days like these... One of the things I have grown to like is dark chocolate.

I made a cake, following a recipe and got perfection. Dark chocolate Ganache Tart is an amazing treat - rich in flavor, creamy in texture and it has a crunchy crust with an edge of celtic sea salt. If a cake has ever been dense - it is this one, I feel like it will take weeks to finish it.

The recipe is made of Debbie Lee and goes something like this:

For the crust you need:

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup fine nut flour (I used a mix of almonds and hazelnuts)

1/4 cup coconut butter

pinch of sea salt

In a standing mixer with an S-blade ix all the ingredients till it becomes a dough. Press the dough evenly into a 9-inch pan. Cover with plastic and let sit in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. 

For the Ganache filling:

2 1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup coconut butter

Blend all the filling ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into the chilled tart crust. place in the refrigerator for a few hours. 

Instead of the normal piece of cake - I cut my cake up in small squares and will serve it as a little nibble treat.

Another dessert I`m serving is a creamed citrus salad; blood oranges, some grapefruit and a couple of regular oranges cut up mixed with vanilla whipped cream. One bowl has the mixed version, another bowl has just the fruits. I will have a bowl of the citrus fruit as my appetizer. Becaus fruit is best eaten on an empty stomach.

Happy Easter everyone =)

-Kathrine-

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a little update and laundry

Wow all of a sudden things got really busy! My days have been packed with instructing classes and training people. 
I am also working on a new website that will be replacing my blog - it is so so incredible and I cannot wait to show you all!!!! =) I`ll let you know when it`s ready to launch...

Laundry. That thing that we always have to do, that thing that we will never run out of =). Lately I`ve refreshed my times of laundry by adding a little scent. It`s weird how such a little adjustment can make a boring tasks very ...nice. It started when I bought an unscented laundry detergent. I was hoping to escape the added chemicals. But without any scent the laundry was just clean - without the clean smell.
I decided to add some drops of equalyptus oil to my laundry and instantly my whole laundry experience changed. The garage (where my laundry machine is) smells fresh and nice and our clothes too! Love it. I`m pondering on getting a few more scents like lemon, mint and vanilla to add to my landry ;)

-Kathrine-

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April Playlist

Music can fuel a long run, a hilly bike ride and a vigorous work out at the gym, and today I decided to post my recent play list. This one has incredible fast paced songs that will help you in your work out. I`m heading out for a run now... Ah, I love spring =)

1. Touch - Natasha Bedingfield
2. Nothing to worry about - Peter Bjorn and John
3. Triballa - Ibiza (North Dakota  remix)
4. Blast the speakers - Warp Brothers
5. Without a fight - Janelle Monae
6. If I had you - Adam Lambert
7. Palladio - Silent Nick
8. Robot Rock - Daft Punk
9. Stronger - Kanye West

Have a beautiful day!
-Kathrine-

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Carrot cakes and allergen friendly baking

In a perfect world we would all be eating carrot cake for breakfast every single day. It would be any size you would like it to be, with an extra dash of cream cheese frosting. My friend was spot on when she said "carrot cake and cream cheese frosting is simply made for each other".
Even the name of the cake takes away any shame of indulging - carrots, walnuts and raisin - those are all legitimately healthy foods - come on now =) 
Well, in the real world, this cake is a "no, no" for allot of people. This cake normally comes packed with gluten, dairy, sugar and eggs, just to mention a few common allergens.

I decided to make a post that included alternative options in baking. Whether you are allergic to eggs, dairy or just need to stay away from sugar for a while - you might find some handy tips here:

Starting with the flour: if you need your carrot cake to be gluten free, try using a blend of brown rice(2 parts), tapioca(1/3 part) and potato flour(2/3 part). Like for instance the carrot spice cupcakes I made a few months back, they were made using this flour blend.

Another option for flours is using almond flour. My favorite one is not a "gluten free" carrot cake at first glance, it`s gluten free in nature and a phenomenal carrot cake. Not to mention it is also dairy free and sugar free. You can find the recipe for this almond flour based carrot cake on Elana`s pantry.

Replacing butter in cakes can often be done by using grape-seed oil, earth balance butter, applesauce or coconut oil. In place of milk try using nut milks like hemp milk, almond milk or coconut water, if fitting try hazelnut milk (has an incredible taste as oppose to allot of the nut milks).

If you are like me, allergic to eggs - most of the time you can stick to the recipe you have found, but simply replace the eggs with egg-replacer. A homemade version of egg-replacer is mixing flax meal with arrowroot powder and some tablespoons of water. Another option is to use a mushed up banana.
The cake will not be as fluffy so if your concerned about presenting the cake you might wanna consider to make several cakes and stack them on top of each other for that "big-cake" look. If you are making cupcakes out of it, it doesn't really matter how much the dough rises since you cover it with frosting anyways.
For a bunch more ways on how to substitute eggs in baking, read more here. 

For the sweet part of the cake you can find many different substitutes. Some people use regular sugar, others prefer the more natural sweetener like honey, dates or stevia. Bananas, fruit juice, raisins, maple syrup and sucanat are other good options for sweetening your baked goods with.

Agave nectar started out as a life saver for many people, but has as of late gotten a bad reputation on it for being mostly chemically refined fructose (more then 70% as oppose to high fructose corn syrups 55%). Read more about agave nectar here and decide for yourself if you wanna use it.

A sweetener I just learned about, trehalose is suppose to be a very healthy alternative to table sugar! It`s said to be the sweetener that everyone would use, if they only knew. I personally have yet to try it in my baking, but I am very optimistic after having read up on it. Can be purchased online here.

I ended up baking one batch of Elana`s almond flour cake with eggs, and one without. The one with egg got the real deal cream cheese frosting, the no-egg cake got a coconut cream frosting that you can find the recipe on here.
Personally I found the "special" one, the allergen friendly one to be really good! A little different because of the frosting but definitely something I see myself getting used to and maybe even crave. So this gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and sugar-free carrot cake turned out amazingly yummi - no need to be without now =)
And as far as the frosting goes - now we know where to go for white frosting alternative for our cupcakes and carrot cake.

-Kathrine-

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Pink Potato salad

The sun is shining, my lunch break is almost over and after that it`s time for my daily 30 minutes of stretching exercises.
I was expecting a very basic boring steamed vegetable dish for lunch -  but it turned out to be ah-mazingly yummi... I wanna dare to say that it looked and tasted a little bit like candy actually. So I decided to share the recipe with you all:

 This meal can be eaten alone, or as a side dish. It will be an incredible addition to any BBQ or potluck as the colors are very summery and fun. This is also the perfect alternative to a regular "potato salad" that often has mayonnaise and other fattening ingredients in it.
My first and foremost thing about food, is obviously that it is allergen friendly. But second to that is the importance of flavor. I have always loved food and crave tasty meals. This simple dish is rich in flavor, allergen friendly and pink on top of all that...! serve me some of that please =)

Pink Potato Salad:

2 yams

4 carrots

2-3 handfull of green beans

4 medium sized beets

Steam cook these vegetables in a pot for about 35 minutes 

Sed aside and let cool while you mix the dressing:

1/4 Cup of extra virgin olive oil

1-2 Tbs apple cider vinegar

1 Tbs brown sugar (substitutes are honey, agave nectar)

dash of salt (celtic sea salt is my favorite)

1 Tsp Hot and sweet mustard

Cut the steamed vegetables up and drizzle dressing over. Mix and serve 2 people.

-Kathrine-

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Giants!

Sunday funday in San Fran.. =) We got to go and see a baseball game - it was my very first, and it will not be the last one because we had allot of fun. I love my husband!

We had seats with a beautiful view over the bay area. Sad day as the Giants did not win. But hey, it was opening weekend and they have like 150 more games to play before this season is over.

Anyway, today I am running from one thing to the next - training, classes and paperwork. I made a delightful lunch that has been on our weekly rotation list now for a long time. It`s a simple dish with a few ingredients. Again, I am using heirloom tomatoes and basil as a part of my dish, but it is just that good! Here is the recipe for my basil avocado salad:

• Brown rice, cooked
• Heirloom tomatoes
• Avocado (ripe)
• Basil (fresh)
• (Optionals: nuts, cheese, olive oil...) 
• Cook up brown rice, cut up the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Serve it mixed with the rice or separate.

Try this recipe, it`s incredibly good. 

-Kathrine

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Yes!!

Beautiful morning indeed. The Farmers market in Redding is in full swing and already have quit a few stands up. This is exciting! For all you Redding people - you can find the farmers market down by the city hall on Saturdays from 7AM to noon. After checking out the stands, you can walk around beautiful gardened areas with fun sculptures and fountains that are nice to just hang out around.
There was not much fruit yet to be purchased - but there was a few stands of colorful vegetables, herbs and plants. I brought some onions, beets and chard leaves. Plus a packet of 3 peanut butter cookies for the husband, for the simple price of $1!

 

Beets are full of incredible vitamins, both in the heart of the vegetable and in the leaves. I got a bunch for $2 at the market and decided to add it in my juice. Along with cabbage, chard and a few carrots it made up for the strongest vegetable juice I have ever made. Wehw! Beet juice can come in handy in baking and garnishing food. I juiced one beet with its stem and got a shot glass of juice. I knew this was gonna be too strong to drink (after that first juice..) so I mixed it with quinoa. Pink food is always more fun=) Use beet juice as food coloring in cakes, cupcakes and icing.

I wish I had done this with my last cake. It would have looked much more delicious then what it came out to be (beige isch color). Anyway, some of you asked for the recipe for that cake, and here it is (the recipe is from raw bento`s blog):  

Recipe for Raw cheesecake:

Cheesecake filling (in a high-speed blender):
2 cups soaked cashews
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3-4 pieces of lemon zest
3/4 cup nut milk
4 tbs maple syrup
2 scraped vanilla beans

Crust (in a food processor):
1 cup walnuts, soaked
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soaked
8 dates
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of cinnamon

Make the crust and work it into a pie pan, then when the filling is ready pour it over and set it in the freezer. This cake goes with allot of different toppings. Drizzle your favorite nuts on top, caramel sauce, berry sauce or a dash of whipped cream.

I have to give a little thanks to my wonderful Spinning enthusiast! They come to my classes with beautiful big smiles, ready to work hills, climbs and whatever else I give them as a road map. You know who you are - and I just have to say again - thank you! You guys are so amazing and so much fun to pursue fitness with. I am working on getting another class going for Tuesdays at 4PM. I will keep you all posted on this subject.

-Kathrine-

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Mango.

I just really like that word. Mango. A few years ago I traveled in Vanuatu for six weeks and one of the places we stayed at had a huge mango tree in the front yard. It was incredible to go and find a ripe fruit at any time of the day, pull out the knife and eat it. Ah - simplicity. We ate an enormous amount of amazing fruits during those weeks - coconut, papaya, mangoes, bananas, pine apple... good times.

This Saturday morning is gonna be good. I am getting ready to go to the gym - gonna get my work out on! Then off to the newly-opened-for-the-season farmers market before I head back to the gym for my spinning class.

Juicing fresh vegetables sure makes vegetables go allot faster then if I was to eat them all. This morning all I could find was carrots, a pear and a mango. So I juiced the carrots and the pear. Then I blended it in my high speed vitamix with the mango. A little bit of fiber, a lot of sugar (! pre work out meal) and at-least it was all natural foods.
Changing up my diet (when I say diet this does not mean micro dieting. It just means that I am referring to what I am eating) this week has been incredible. 4 cups of fresh vegetable juice until mid-afternoon. Then a normal lunch, and a lighter dinner later on. I am full of energy =)
 

Have a beautiful Saturday Loves

- Kathrine -

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Raw Cake Goodness

My No-dairy-quest is forcing me to find other solutions for yummi creamy cakes. So earlier this week I made this raw vegan cake........

 

It`s a cake that keeps the best in the freezer - so I can eat one piece a day, without it going bad =)

It also goes well with different toppings like chocolate sauce, berry sauce (like in the picture on top) or mango puree (picture below). The crust is made of walnuts, sunflower seeds and dates. The filling is mostly soaked cashew nuts blended with vanilla beans.

-Kathrine-

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Lunch-time

My green cocktail for lunch was incredible. I can feel my body "waking" up, as I am cleansing my body. I want to drink green juice everyday for a while now. Just to give it a little detox and get all "wintery" stuff out of my system..

As you can see, I added fruits to my juice and that is mostly because it covers up the edgy vegetable taste. Some of you are able to do straight up vegetable juice, and that`s awesome.

 

Looks like the sun is shining... I want to go for an outdoor run. First one since fall!

-Kathrine-

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Fresh fruit and vegetable juicing

On this half sunny, half cloudy morning I took our new moped out for a little drive. 7AM is still very peaceful as far as traffic goes, with my newly learned skills in driving the moped that is perfect for me. 

Lately I have not been wanting to eat vegetables. It comes in waves, sometimes all I want to eat is a different kind of salad for all my meals. Then there are times when all the greens I get is in stir fried foods. Waking up in the morning tired, is a sign to me that I need to pat attention more to what I eat and make sure I get allot of high quality whole foods rich in nutrients.
As I was cruising around the neighborhood this morning, I wondered if I could do the far drive to the one grocery store in town that makes fresh green juice. I considered the roads, the busyness and my skill level and quickly decided that it was not a good idea.

It dawned on me that I have a juicer in my garage, it was given to me a year ago by some sweet friends of ours and I have not even used it. You see, the last juicer I had was a crazy little machine I got at a thrift store for $6. It juiced my vegetables well, but it was super loud and it took at least 20 minutes to clean up! Joy filled my heart when I discovered that it was broken and I could throw it away =)

Anyway, I got home, parked the moped and found my "new" juicer. I used all kinds of vegetables - carrots, apples, lemons, golden beets, spinach and cucumbers and got 2 cups of really refreshing and tasty juice.

"The juice of fresh fruits and vegetables is the richest available food source of vitamins, minerals and enzymes." -From the book Juicing for life.

I am excited for my next cup of juice!

-Kathrine-

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Coast goodness

This weekend J and I took a little vacation on the coast of California. We stayed at Glass Beach Bed and Breakfast Inn in Fort Bragg and got to relax and just enjoy life for a few days. (The place we stayed at provided a really nice breakfast - even for a gluten free girl!)

The ocean is very special to me as I grew up on a tiny island on the coast of Norway. I love waves and the ocean breeze. One thing in particular that was exciting, was finding hidden hiking trails in the midst of the tallest trees on earth. J and I hiked, took pictures and had a really amazing time together.

 In Fort Bragg there is a raw food diet cooking school (Living light culinary art institute) that also has a little cafe. They serve raw ice cream and cakes, soaked and dehydrated grains, smoothies and juices and such. I had a tasty piece of raw cherry pie with chocolate sauce. This week I want to make a few alternative cakes/pies that are free from dairy, eggs, gluten etc. My first one I have already started making, it is a raw cheesecake. It will be really really good. Ill post it here later today =)

Happy Monday Everyone!

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