Daily Routine - Hemp Hearts

One thing I've really tried to stick to lately is eating healthy. Like most people, I try to stick to a healthy eating plan, then the weekend comes and that all goes down the drain. The chocolate chip pancakes are too tempting and the wings while watching hockey are too good to deny! But, one thing I've been great at sticking too is my breakfast routine.  One of my favourite things to make it a fruit smoothie. It allows me to pack my body with lots of nutrients to start my day.

I normally switch out a lot of different things depending on the week. Sometimes it's filled with bananas, the next week it's blue berries. One week I add yogurt, the next week it's fruit juice. There is one ingredient that is always a constant in my recipes though, is hemp hearts! I absolutely love them! They are so packed with nutrition and I enjoy the slight flavor they give my smoothie.

The kind that I've always gotten is Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts! They are such a fantastic brand and are without a doubt the best tasting hemp hearts I've had. Most often I buy the bags online through their website or at Costco to get the best deal.

Here is one of my favourite recipes to get my through my day.

- 1 whole banana

- 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

- 1 tablespoon of hemp hearts

-  1/2 cup of yogurt

- 1/2 cup of water

- 1 tablespoon of flax

- 1 tablespoon on natural honey

Then all I do is put all those ingredients into a magic bullet cup and mix it all together!

It keeps me full for hours and is a great way to start your day!

Do you have any recipes for incorporating hemp hearts into your diet? Let me know!

Biking to work

Ever since I moved, I have vowed that I am going to try and bike to work as much as possible. Obviously, there are some days I can't because of my schedule and you definitely won't catch me on a bike in the winter. But with the short summer we have, I must try and make the most of it.

With that, lets move on to the present day. Last Friday I attempted to ride my bike to work for the first time since moving. I got up early, knew what my route was going to be and was jumped to be fit as well as enjoy the morning on the trails. Well, I get about 7 houses down from my place, and I then have a wipeout which tears up on left foot and twists my ankle, as well as damaging my bike. Fun times. 

Without showing you a disgusting picture of my foot, it was not a good morning. It was one of those days where not only one thing goes wrong, about ten 15 things go wrong.

But I digress, my bike has been fixed by my handy man and I'm going to try it again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get farther than down the block this time.

There are so many benefits to bike riding to work or school. I can already picture the amount of money I'll be saving plus getting back in shape, which is desperately needed.

Fingers crossed for me! 

I'd like to not repeat last Friday, or else I will despise bikes forever! Haha

Vega Bars - Review

One day last week after a typical work day, I received a lovely package in the mail. Once I opened it up, I realized it was a bunch of Vega Bars! I'm always up for trying healthy and nutritional bards for those days that I'm on the run or I just flat out forgot to grab breakfast; which unfortunately, happens more often than not. The best part about these are the fact that they are non-GMO, gluten free as well as natural. 

One of the first bars I had to try was the Chocolate Coconut Almond.  This particular bar has very wholesome ingredients such as organic dates, almond flour and coconut oil, which is my new favourite obsessions. For a lot of things other than just cooking, but that is a post for another day. I was surprised that it was actually very delicious! I'm usually suspicious with anything healthy but this one had a great flavour and it was extremely filling. A plus in my book!

Also included in the package was a few Vega One bars which are considered a meal replacement. Now, I'm not a huge one on meal replacement bars, only because they never make me feel full enough like a real meal can, but I figured I'd try one out. So, a few days later as I was just about to sit down and write a few blog posts I tried the Vega One Chocolate Cherry Almond. Now, i'd have to say, the Cherry flavour wasn't my favourite, it seemed to overpower the rest of the bar a bit too much. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it kept me full for a solid few afters after I ate it. It made me see how well these would be if I didn't have time to eat running from one commitment to another.

I'd have to say that my absolute favourite bar out of the ones I was sent, was a mint chocolate protein bar, and let me tell you, it tasted like heaven in a bar! I LOVE anything mint, especially my chocolate! So, this bar will definitely be a go to whenever I want a healthy treat!

 The rest of the bars are going to be perfect for those days that I am running from work to soccer or between errands on the weekends. So overall, I was very impressed with these bars overall. They are filled with healthy ingredients and taste good, which is the ultimate factor for me. 

Disclosure: I was provided Vega bars free to review, but all opinions are my own.

Have you tried Vega products before? What is your favorite?