Pumpkin Spice Protein Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

It’s September. In my world, this means two extremely important things:

1. Fall is right around the corner (even though the Texas heat makes this a little hard to believe)
2. PUMPKIN. SEASON. (Insert shamelessly girly, annoying squeals of excitement here)

As soon as I realized both of these facts last week, I immediately caught a bad case of what I call the “baking bug,” which is a serious sweet tooth paired with the irresistible urge to fire up that oven, bust out a spatula, and make some delicious baked goods. Since I make servings on servings of baked oatmeal and muffins every single weekend, breakfast was out of the question. I wanted dessert. Cookies, specifically. Lots of ’em. And obviously, they needed to be pumpkin-based.

Quest Bar Molten Cupcakes (with Cookie Butter Center)

I know I was all “I’m too busy to post stuff because of SXSW” in my previous post, but I NEED to share one last dessert creation that I came up with last night before I go off the radar for a bit. This one simply can’t wait until next week. It’s too amazing to keep from you guys for that long.

Marshmallow PB Supreme Dessert Pizza + Everything In Moderation

Happy Monday! I have some exciting news and a super-simple, delicious dessert recipe to share. First, I want to clue you guys in about how my brain functions when it comes to food these days and give you a crash-course on my (pretty cool) family background.

Last week, I posted a “before and during” picture to my Instagram and FB accounts, and the number one question/comment I received was “what did you change?” The side-by-side comparison really illustrates the impact that re-learning how to eat has had on my body.

The “before” part of the picture was taken last May. At that point, I’d successfully made a habit of working out at boot camp 5 times a week, and I thought I was eating healthily. I wasn’t great about regularly tracking my food, and I still thought weekends were “free.” That slice of pizza, nachos, 6 shots, and 4 vodka waters on Saturday night didn’t count, right? Neither did the hungover trip to the Chinese buffet line on Sunday. I thought my turkey wrap and Baked Lays for lunch were “good enough” and I never put much forethought or preparative efforts into what I ate during the week. Detailed meal planning and weekly Sunday food prep never happened. And I wondered why I wasn’t seeing results…

Clean Peanut Butter Blondies + Have Yourself A Merry Little Fit-mas *GIVEAWAY*

I tend to have my favorite ideas during one of two very different parts of the day. They always seem to either hit while I’m walking my dog early in the morning or at 10pm when I should be getting ready for bed. As it turns out, I’m 2 for 2 in the last 24 hours. One grand idea: Clean Peanut Butter Blondies. The other: free stuff for YOU! ‘Tis the season for baking and giving gifts, right?

Pumpkin Pie Protein Cupcakes + Holiday Week Meal Plan

It’s officially Thanksgiving week, and I’m PUMPED! I thought I’d be dreading this week, but I’m actually excited to cook for the family. My grandpa is in town, the groceries have been purchased, and I have a finalized menu for the big day. The only thing that’s left is actually cooking everything. Minor detail. :o)

I spent a good chunk of my weekend planning meals, grocery shopping, and testing out recipes. Some were great; others were definitely not. This is the beauty of planning things in advance: with a little forethought, you can give yourself time to try new recipes and tweak (or nix) as needed.