My Bubbie's Sweet Tooth

For those of you that don't know, Bubbie is yiddish for grandma. And my grandma has a bigger sweet tooth than myself--I've seen your stash of chocolate in your pantry grandma.

If there is one thing my grandma has always had in her home--that's jewish pastries. Rugelach, hamentashens, mandel bread you name it, she has it. 

Since I love the desserts she always has, I decided to make mandel bread, my favorite jewish dessert. Mandel bread is similar to biscotti, but softer like a cookie. There is nothing better then mandel bread and a fresh cup of coffee. 

• Ingredients 
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• Cinnamon sugar for dusting 
• 
  
• Directions
• 1. Mix together oil and sugar, then add eggs one at a time. After the eggs are blended in, add the vanilla. Mix together all dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to sugar/egg mixture.
• 2. Once the dough is smooth, add the chocolate chips. 
• 3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. 
• 4. Once dough is chilled, oil your hands (with pam is fine) and form 4 long rows with the dough on an un-greased cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper). 
• 5.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. While the bread is baking, place cinnamon sugar in a bowl. 
• 6. When the timer goes off, pull the bread out and let it sit for 5 minutes. Don't turn the oven off. 
• 7. Cut the bread into chunks and roll in cinnamon sugar and then put back on the baking sheet. 
• 8. Crisp the pieces in the oven for 3-5 minutes and then pull out and turn the oven off. 
• 9. Let the mandel bread pieces cool and then enjoy! 

•                           

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Why Do You Workout?

I am always asked,"why do you workout?"

Well, the truth is I grew up in a home where brownies, cookies, and cupcakes were always available. Which is why I find it important to feed your body right while indulging every once in a while. Hence, my sweet tooth.

Throughout middle school is when I really started my weight gain. Come the summer of 7th grade I was expanding like no other. I will never forget going into American Eagle and buying my first pair of capri's in a size 14. Mind you, I was only 13-years-old. I was also very active growing up doing softball, cheerleading, (I won't get into how awful I was) basketball, and girl scouts. The problem was--I just loved to eat.

When I realized my weight gain was going to do nothing more than just increase I did something about it. I got on the treadmill and I ran. I started running five days a week for a mile. Over the course of three years, I increased my workout from 1 mile five days a week to 3-4 miles five days a week.

I did change my eating habits--as I realized toaster strudels were not the healthiest choice. The problem is, when you're 13-years-old, you don't know what's healthy and what isn't healthy.

To me, I thought "healthy" was only green, gross, or made me gag--wrong!

I quickly learned how many calories to consume to loose 1-2 lbs a week and what to feed myself to keep my metabolism up. The secret is, eating every two hours is very important. Even if you're not hungry, eat a handful of almonds or a spoonful of peanut butter.

So when it comes to, "why do I work out?" The truth is--I do it for myself. So when you have you're moment when you realize it's time to get fit, remember one thing--you're doing it for yourself and no one else.

And always remember to indulge every once in a while.

I would love for you to share your story with me--why do you workout?

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Bananas for Yonanas!

This past summer I visited a place in Delaware called, Annie's Banannies that was something I had never seen before. They took frozen bananas, put them into a machine, and it came out life soft serve. I thought the idea was crazy. Not only was I confused, but I had to try it! So I took my sister, boyfriend, and myself to this shop and it was delicious. I was satisfied just like I would be if I had some vanilla soft serve, but this was pure fruit, no additives!

This brings me to my new gadget, the Yonanas maker that I found at Bed Bath and Beyond. It does the same thing I saw at Annies Bannannies, which made me more than excited. So I bought it! I then picked up a bunch of bananas and got to peeling and freezing. You can also use any other kind of fruit as long as it's frozen for 24 hours. I froze bananas and strawberries and then the next day I tried my baby out. The frozen fruit needs to sit out for about 10-15 minutes or the machine will jam (yes, I was impatient and experienced this). I used 2 bananas and 4 strawberries and made a good serving for myself and my mom. I topped mine with granola (just a sprinkle) and my mom used chocolate syrup. The nice thing about this treat? It's a serving of fruit, no extra sugars, and is around 100 calories a serving. Who would turn that down? The picture of my first try is below! The possibilities are endless, I am going to use pineapple and mango next...yes please!

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Best workout for 2013

Hi Everyone! Hope you have been enjoying the New Year. As of 2013, I have been like the rest of society and I am trying to get in the best shape I can. I have increased my mileage from 3 miles to 3.6 and I have made my workouts more intense. If you are up for the challenge, follow this workout!

In my first posting, I showed an example interval workout, but I wanted to show another one and give more details about this workout. Interval training or HIIT (High intensity interval training), is a shorter workout that is more intense and burns more calories. I currently do HIIT 3 days a week (M,W,F) and then a light jog/walk/run 2 days a week (T,TH). My HIIT workout is about 38-40 minutes long and I complete 3.6 miles. I have already noticed within a week in a half my lower stomach becoming more toned. I expect it will take a month before I really see a major difference, so please be patient!

Minutes         Speed
0-4                 4.0
4-6                 6.0
6-7                 7.0
7-8                 4.0
8-10               6.0
10-11             8.0
11-12             4.0
13-15             6.0
15-16             7.0
16-17             4.0
17-19             6.0
20-21             8.0
22-23             4.0
23-25             6.0
26-27             7.0
28-29             6.0
30-31             8.0
31-32             4.0
33-35             6.0
35-36             7.0
37-40             4.0

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Cake Pops

Craving sweets, but have a New Years resolution? Cake pops are a great solution. It's basically a bite of cake on a stick. Did I mention moist cake covered in hardshell candy coating? Now I have your attention. I made these cake pops for our Hanukkah party this year, but they can be easily changed depending on the occasion. I will say they are tricky at first, so take your time!

What you will need: 

• Boxed cake mix, of your choice, I used french vanilla 
• Eggs 
• Vegetable Oil 
• 1 tub of vanilla icing 
• Wilton candy melts, color of your choice 
• Lollipop sticks 
• A block of styrofoam 
• Sprinkles of your choice 

Directions: 

• Bake cake as directed using specified amount of eggs, oil and water. 
• Once cake comes out use a knife to cut the cake into 4 even pieces, let it cool completely. 

• After the cake is finished cooling, take a large bowl and one chunk of the four pieces. Begin crumbling the cake into the bowl. Crumble very fine. Continue will all four pieces. 

• Once the cake is all crumbled, take 3/4 of the icing and use a spoon to mix it into the crumbled cake. Use the back side of the spoon to mix so that the mixture becomes smooth. 
• Use your hands to roll 1 1/2 inch cake balls. Place the rolled balls on a lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer for 10 mintues. You do not want the balls to freeze! 

• While the balls are in the freezer, set out your sprinkles into bowls and begin melting the candy melts into a bowl or cup. 
• When the 10 minutes is over, take the balls out and dip each lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and stick into the balls. This allows the stick to stay put inside the balls before you dip. This is very important! Or the balls will just fall into the icing.

• After all of the sticks are dipped and cooled take each cake pop and dip it into the icing, let the excess drip off, and then stick it into the styrofoam. 

• After it is stuck in the styrofoam, use sprinkles to decorate. You can either roll the cake pop in the sprinkles or just keep them in the styrofoam while you sprinkle. 

• Complete dipping and sprinkling the cake pops until all are placed in the styrofoam to cool. 
• Once all the cake pops are cool, place them in tupperware and store in the fridge. When you are ready to serve them take them out thirty minutes before and display in a fun way! 

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I'm back!

I am incredibly sorry for not posting recently! In short, I am now a college graduate from the University of Maryland, I traveled to Mexico where I enjoyed 80 degree weather and plenty of margaritas, and my computer crashed, womp, womp.  I just replaced my hard drive and re-installed everything, except for my pictures. Anyone ready for a posting about cake pops? Before I left for Mexico, I made some cake pops for the holidays and everyone raved about how moist they were. Stay tuned! Tomorrow I will post my cake pop recipe, as well as a new workout to burn calories and be fit and toned for spring.

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Exercise on Vacation?

I have finally finished college and as a graduation present my boyfriend and I are headed to Mexico for a getaway. Many of my friends go away during winter break to escape the cold with their family. I was thinking about it though, am I really going to workout? I am the person that wakes up everyday by 6-7 AM to hit the gym for a run on the treadmill, but I will be in paradise, which will make getting up that early very hard. I am not sure how many of you plan on going away this winter, but even if you don't these are some exercises you can do while on vacation this winter or coming summer.

Walking on the beach: Walking in the sand burns more calories than walking on the flat ground. Some experts say you can burn twice the amount of calories! Be careful to not overdue it shin-splints can occur if you run.

Activities such as snorkeling, bike rides, or hiking: Put on the snorkeling gear and swim some laps to burn calories while enjoying the beautiful scene of the ocean. Bike rides are a great lower body workout. The legs get the most out of this workout. The more you peddle and the more calories you will burn. Hiking is a great full body workout where you can use your upper body and lower body strength to push yourself to keep climbing!

If the hotel has a gym: I think it is best to keep your physical fitness up while on vacation, so if you enjoy the gym like I do, I would suggest going every other day while on vacation. It is not fair to let yourself not relax while on vacation. Keep your fitness up while still sleeping in and getting your tan on!

It comes down to what works best for yourself while your on vacation. Use the activities at the hotel and the beach as your gym and fitness equipment. Don't push yourself to go to the gym if you know you will be staying active in other ways. The bottom line is, have fun!

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