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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