hooray for my 100th post! (giveaway!)

pop the champagne!

(okay fine, i can't drink that right now remember? 90days2nudity? ya.)

pop the sparkling water!

it's my 100th blog post!

i can't even believe that this blog started 2 and a bit

years ago and has grown and touched

so many different people in many

different ways.

i'd like to thank all you secret blog

stalkers for taking a moment to come and visit

me on here to read my rants

or find out how a vacation was and never

leave any comments.

real nice.

joking.

anyway, what's a celebration of this

magnitude without cake!?

and since i'm the cake mama, i thought a giveaway in honor of this

historic moment would be quite fitting.

one lucky blog visitor can win a 6" cake and 2 dozen

cupcakes with butter cream swirl (your choice of flavor) for your next

special occasion!

that's a $75 value folks!

here's how to enter:

1. like "thecakemama" on facebook.

2. share a link to this blog on facebook.

2. leave a comment on this post telling me what special occasion you'd

like a cake mama creation for and leave your email!!

winner will be selected and announced on the blog

on september 1, 2013.

oh and of course, there has to be some rules:

1. giveaway is open to residents of the lower mainland, british columbia, canada (but you can

like my facebook page nonetheless lol!)

2. the offer is what it is, may not be changed or rearranged 

or have it's cash value applied to a different order.

3. giveaway must be redeemed within 12 months of winning. 

4. winner must respond within 48 hours of announcement or another winner

will be selected.

that's it folks, thanks for following!

Chewy Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (the sneaky healthy way)

These beauties were gobbled up as quickly as they were made! While they still contain the fundamentals of a good cookie, I was able to make a few substitutions to add some protein and omega 3s!

The recipe:

1 c butter softened

1 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c brown rice flour 

2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

1/4 c flax seeds

1/4 c chia seeds

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp salt

3 c quick cooking oats

1 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and continue to mix. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and then add the chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, spoon batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are light brown in color.

Cookies will be extremely soft so be careful when transferring onto a cooling rack!

Enjoy!

Approx calories per cookie: 150 

 

Super Protein Blueberry Pancakes

You'll have to bear with me folks while my laptop is down *tear* and I type this recipe out on my itty bitty iPhone keypad!

Here goes!

1 c brown rice flour

2 c steel cut oats 

2 tbsp chia seeds 

2 tbsp flax seed 

2 whole eggs

2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder

2 c blueberries

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 cups coconut water

Sprinkle of cinnamon (as you like)

In a food processor blend the steel cut oats, chia seeds and flax until as fine as you can get it. I have a tiny food processor so mine turned out a bit chunkier but I like the texture it gives the pancakes!

Throw all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix until a nice batter forms. I used a 1/3c measuring cup to spoon into a non stick pan and it yielded 11 servings.

Follow me on Instagram @jzzygettinbzzy for more recipes!!

I'd love to hear what you think of them!

cucumber boats

these, my friends will definitely become

a regular staple in my meal planning rotations.

they're pretty versatile which is why i just

titled them "cucumber boats" since

you can pretty much fill them with whatever you want!

these ones in particular have spicy thai tuna

in them and the cucumber does a great job cutting 

the spiciness :)

alternatively, you could make a chicken salad

and what you'll need for that is:

a food processor

cooked chicken breasts

peppers

avocado

salt free seasoning

(if you're a red onion fan, have at 'er too)

using the avocado as the good 'fat',

you will not require any mayonnaise like a 

traditional chicken salad requires.

chop the peppers into large chunks

before putting into the food processor,

as with the avocado and pulse all of the ingredients

together until you've reached the consistency you like.

using 1 whole cucumber, wash

and divide it into 3's then slice them

length-wise to produce 6 pieces.

i used a small measuring spoon to hollow out

the seed portion to create the groove for which i'd put 

my stuffing in.

after testing, i learned this is best prepared and 

served at the last minute as the cucumbers

get quite watery and you get a nice

little puddle in your container. ew.

you might wonder to yourself, 'now

what the heck am i gonna do with all of those

middles of the cucumber?!'

well, grab a pitcher, fill it up with ice cubes and water

and add the cucumber middles to it,

very refreshing!!

here's the nutritional breakdown:

per serving: 6 cucumber halves & 1 can of tuna

calories: 206

protein: 17g

fat: 7g

carbs: 19

enjoy!

#90days2nudity: what i've learned in 30 days

first of all, let me just say, i can't believe it's already been

30 days past. 

i'm slowly but surely seeing the physical changes of 

all this hard work but more important than that, i'm

seeing the mentality changes in me too.

while it may all sound so monotonous: wake up, eat healthy,

snack healthy, work out, eat healthy, snack healthy, workout again, 

eat healthy, snack healthy and then wish you could eat that bag of cheetos

in your pantry... it now all makes sense to me.

when you start eating healthier, you realize how much

you used to depend on eating as 'something to do'

"oh i'll just hop on the laptop and snack on some

(insert junk food here)" 

"picking up my kids from school, i'll bring some

crackers with me for the road"

oh, this is just me? not you huh.

damn.

well my point is that when you start learning about what

fuels your body and gives it proper energy and what

percentage of those types of food you should be eating, you kinda

start looking at food a totally different way.

yes, the plain and simple, 'oh that stuff has too many calories'

will get you at first, but then you start looking at carbohydrates

and how much of that is actually fibre, not sugar. fats, you'll start

looking at what kind of fat and where its coming from and whether

or not that's a good or bad source. then protein, does it have

too much or too little.

then knowing all of these things makes you want to put together some

awesome meals which i'll share in coming posts.

not only that, i am learning how my body

reacts to certain workouts, where i'm a total bitch (glutes & triceps)

and when i own the gym: (biceps, hamstrings & abs). knowing 

my strengths and weaknesses pushes me to go harder

on my workouts even when i know i'm dreading it.

in the words of bob and jillian (biggest loser) i strive to make

each and every workout a 'last chance workout' and 

make sure that i leave that gym with my heart in my throat

and my body sweaty.

but. if i go back home from that workout

and say to myself "gee you deserve ice cream cuz

you just killed it at the gym" then i'll completely nullify 

everything i worked so hard for at the gym.

while it sounds so tempting to reward all of those

calories burned with something calorie laden, it's

counter productive (duh) and it'll make those pounds even

harder to lose!

60 some odd days left to go..can't wait for the reveal!

apologies for the hiatus!

well friends, i have to apologize for being MIA from my blog.

i swear i always have awesome things to share but never the

time to do it. 

now that i have embarked on a 90 day fitness challenge which -by the way-

is totally rocking my socks, my daily routine has become,

 kids, work, gym, eating, sleeping, working, parenting,

gym, you get where i'm going with this.

if only i could dictate my blog entries......

never fear though, in the background i've got

a few posts in draft mode from our fantabulous disneyland trip

and olivia's under the sea adventure party so believe you me,

it'll all blow your mind.

lol.

in the meantime, feel free to follow me on instagram (jzzygettinbzzy),

twitter (jzabelala) and vine (jzabela) to witness my 

super crazy life right now, cuz i seem to be able

to keep all of THAT social media caught up haha.

until next time!!

vegas with my sissy

*drumroll*

and now the moment you`ve all been waiting for

2 months after the fact

my recap on my vegas getaway!!

i have to say it was pretty hilarious the

way it all went down. i literally called my sister one

random afternoon and asked her if she would book

a trip to vegas with me that very day.

and she did.

to say we had an amazing time would be

quite the understatement. i mean, we only

had ourselves to take care of and even

at that, ourselves needed no taking care of.

we`d get up early, visit the pool for

a sun tan and a mid morning pina colada

(no rules in vegas right?)

stroll the strip, go shopping,

eat good food at nice restaurants,

dance the night away..

and then do it all again the next day.

i mean really, 

this has got to be an annual thing people!!

we also had the pleasure of celebrating

a lovely little lady's 30th birthday which

was filled with just the right amount of

shenanigans to keep us talking for the rest of the week.

without further ado, some photos that capture 

only the gist of the fun that ensued in 72 hours!

waiting at the bellingham airport for our flight.

damn, food there is not cheap, a flippin yogurt parfait was $5?!

but then this sorta made up for it, even though

i had to pay for it lol.

post limo cruise avec bud light lime-a-rita

in a paper bag. oh yes.

my artistic-while-sober panoramic shot of the strip.

i should start selling it.

an actual wedding chapel pop up shop on the strip!

this would have been so much easier 7 years ago...sheesh.

warhol turned floral at the bellagio!

said pina colada at the pool. so good.

delish dinner at serendipity 3.

topped off with a frozen hot chocolate!

crap. we have to go home now!

cheers to my sister for a fantastic getaway.

seriously. next year?