Dairy Free, Egg Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Chip cookies

Today, my cousin (who is an amazing photographer, like unreal, like legit, real, her blog can be found HERE) texted me this recipe. Completely unprompted, just texted me a paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe in the middle of the day. We get each other.

So tonight, instead of going out like a normal 21 year old, I baked cookies and watched One Direction on X-factor. I know. You all want to be my friend. It's fine. I accept.

Here's the recipe. No milk, no eggs, no processed sugar. Just pure organic deliciousness.

Ingredients:

*2 cups almond flour
*2 tablespoons coconut flour
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon baking soda
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
*1/2 cup maple syrup of agave (i prefer maple)
*3/4 cup dairy free chocolate chips

Mix it all up until it looks like this:

 Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray it, whatever, I just hate cleaning. And scoop 1 tablespoon scoops onto it, like so--

 Set oven at 350, and bake. Here's the thing, Brooke said hers took 10 minutes. Mine took 17. So just keep an eye on them after 10 minutes.

Make sure the cool COMPLETELY before you try to take them off the tray. Or else they will crumble and fall apart. And then you eat them. & then they're delicious.

Ps- I'm going to start posting my outfits when I blog, because as we all know, there is nothing better than food and fashion.

Plaid boutique Dress and tennis shoe wedges. Rock on 90's, rock on.

Hot pink skinnies from Target, cream sweater from Brandy Melville, platform tennies. (I'm obsessed with them)

Peace, yo! x

Paleo Cinnamon Banana Muffins

I am so happy tonight. I am so happy for two reasons:

-Tomorrow, the election will be over. Thank GOD. I don't care who wins, I only voted for the propostions to be totally honest. I didn't vote for president because I wasn't passionate about either of them. I like some things Obama stands for, I like some things (very few) Romney stands for, but really, I don't like either of them. So I voiced my opinion via proposition, not president. (I know you're all like ''Who cares, we came here for muffins, not political gibber jabber".

-And two, tonight I made muffins. PALEO muffins.

So here's how it went down, and here's how you can make them too.

Banana Cinnamon Bun Muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

4 eggs

1/3 cup almond milk 

1/2 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 1 banana)

Cinnamon Topping

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons ripe banana, mashed

2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional, not paleo if used because of the sugar in the syrup)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl mix mashed banana, eggs, and almond milk and mix with a hand mixer until well blended.  Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and with a hand mixer until well combined.

Add batter until prepared muffin cups.  Filling to about 3/4 filled. (Mine only filled 11)

In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, mashed banana, melted coconut oil, and maple syrup (if using).  Drizzle mixture over top of muffins and using a toothpick swirl the topping into the muffin batter. 

Bake muffins for 20 � 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  

Allow muffins to cool in pan 5 � 10 minutes then transfer to wire rack.  

If you make 11 muffins, each one is about 82 calories. YA.

Enjoy yo! 

No Mayo Tuna Salad!

This recipe came to me while I was on the eliptical watching Breaking Bad. Sometimes I question my sanity...but nonetheless this was amazing, filling, nutritious and delicious.

-1 can of tuna in water (drained)
-mustard to taste
-about 2 tablespoons of 2% greek yogurt (do NOT use 0%, it will be too tart and you'll hate it. Just trust me)
-1/4 of a granny smith apple, sliced
-1 tablespoon raisins
-1/4 of an avocado, sliced

*mix, mix, mix, mix, mix*

Until you get this delicious looking Waldorf inspired tuna salad.

& here's the nutritional info.

High in protein, loaded with healthy fats, low in sodium AND carbs? You're welcome America. x

Maturity vs. Keeping it to Yourself

Disclaimer-- I'm PMSing. I'm moody, and anyone that so much as looked at me the wrong way today was getting it. I mean if looks could kill, I'm like Medusa today. Does that even make sense? Whatever. Go with it. Or else...

So today, when one of my lovely friends showed me this on instagram...

I KNEW that I had met this month's unlucky guy! Obviously, I commented. Which yeah, I guess makes me immature too but at least I can admit that :)

(xo is always the bitchiest thing I can thing to sign out with...thanks Gossip Girl)

Sooooooo sweet. I bet his mom is so proud. And then he screen shotted his er--clever? responses and posted them for all of instagram to see. Wisely leaving my comments out because that just would have been embarrassing for him.

So, I've got good news and bad news for you LITTLE BOY. Good news is you think you won by posting your comments back to me. Bad news for you is that I run a very successful blog AND we have mutual friends so I hope you see this.

Sincerely,
Mature...xo

Are you following us on Instagram?

Here's some of Happy Life, Healthy Life's recent Instagram pictures! Just search for "happylife_healthylife". Also be sure to 'like' us HERE on facebook! x

3 sets of 15 pushups.

In, Out, Up! 3 sets of 12

Curl ---> Press. 3 sets of 15

My leggies.

Yes.

Happy Life, Healthy Life.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I'm baaaaaaack! If you 'like' Happy Life, Healthy Life on facebook you knew I was coming back and if not, well go 'like' now so you can still get updates even when I'm not posting!

This week I want to talk about what I like to call the Series of Unfortunate Events. Not the books. These events make Claudia want to rip her eye balls out of the socket and even worse, it makes her talk in 3rd person.

Random food porn will be featured today because I'm hungry.

These events go something like this:

1. June rolls around, seemingly out of no where.
2. Girls realize it's summer and will need to partake in events that require a swimsuit.
3. Girls get on the scale, girls cry.
4. Girls post pictures to their motivation boards on Pinterest entitled "Lose 10 pounds by this weekend!" and "Tiny thighs in 6 days!"
5. 6 days later, the weekend rolls around, girls haven't lost 10 pounds, and don't have tinier thighs.
6. Girls decide they will eat 1,200 calories and work out every day.
7. Girls give up after a few days because they can't function like that.
8. Girls come to Claudia STUMPED as to why they can't lose weight fast.
9. Claudia writes down her blog's URL and tells them to read the entire thing starting from the beginning.
10. Girls still don't get it, so Claudia writes this post.

In case you're in a hurry and don't have time to read the rest of this post, let me give it to you straight right now: The number on the scale means nothing, it is physically impossible to lose 10 pounds of fat by this weekend, you cannot spot reduce your thighs and eating 1,200 calories will come back to bite you in the ass. Now I will explain.

Let's start with the number on the scale. I know I've posted before about why I hate the scale, however, I feel like I should restate it. I hate the scale. I hate it because we allow this stupid number to dictate how feel about ourselves, when really, if you want to go by a number, there are SO many other numbers that will tell you more about your body. For example, your body fat, how much weight you can lift, your mile time, etc. Furthermore, I hate BMI (body mass index) more than anything. It's complete BS. Based on your height and weight, you get a number. 18.5-25 is 'normal', 25-30 is 'overweight', 30-35 is 'obese', and 35-40 is 'severely obese'. This clearly doesn't take into account that muscle weighs more than fat because:

At 6'2 and an estimated 240 lbs, that's putting Arnold at a BMI of 30.8. Obviously obese.

Tom Cruise. 5'7, 166 lbs, BMI of 26. Totally overweight.

So stop it. Stop it now.

Now let's talk about why you can't lose 10 pounds by this weekend. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you read my post on why you should never go on a cleanse. And if you haven't, click here and go read it. Done? Cool. It is physically impossible to lose that much weight that fast. Whatever you lose cleansing or restricting, is water weight. And it's coming right back as soon as you put a carbohydrate in your mouth.

I love it when people say "I just couldn't live without carbs!" No shit. Literally, you can't. Phew.

People ask me a lot on my facebook page what a normal eating/exercising day looks like for me. So here it is:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oats (makes 1 cup oatmeal) with 1 scoop protein powder and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Snack: Varies a lot. Usually though a Lara Bar, rice cakes and almond butter, greek yogurt with honey and granola, an apple with peanut butter, etc.

Lunch: A huge salad with chicken or salmon, beans or 1/2 sweet potato, and 2 tablespoons of dressing. If I don't feel like a salad I'll do a turkey sandwich! Two slices of bread, a serving of sliced, organic, turkey, mustard, and avocado.

Snack: Same as above.

Dinner: Same as lunch for the most part or whatever my family is having!

After dinner snack: Usually a handful of chocolate covered almonds for my sweet tooth :)

My exercise routine is a little crazy but it's my thing. Monday/Wednesday/Friday I lift weights, Tuesday/Thursdays I do 40-60 minutes of cardio.

Basically my dream relationship.

Also, a little insight on exercise, you can NOT spot reduce areas. I see SO many posts out there like "the skinny arm work out" and the "7 days to skinny jeans work out" and it's just so ridiculous. I am not saying these aren't good work out routines. But if it only took 7 days to get into skinny jeans, we would no longer have an obesity crisis in America. But people know that we Americans want what we want and we want it fast. Hence why drive thrus are so popular. Yes, you should lift weights, but the only way to get rid of the fat above the muscle is by getting your heart rate up. So yes, you can do the "7 Minute a Day" work out. But if your heart rate is only up for 7 minutes a day, it's going to take you a long time to see results.

Eating clean is the ONLY way I have ever been able to see my abs. I have been doing ab exercises since I was 9 years old. Finally, at 21, I cleaned up my diet, eat around 2,000 calories a day, and I have abs (in the morning but hey, I have them!). By eating clean, I mean organic, trying to eat VERY rarely out of a package, and if you do eat something out of the package, make sure there isn't a laundry list of ingredients and that if you don't recognize any more than 4 of them, you don't put it in your body.

Now, eating clean and exercising the way I do, it took me 10 weeks to lose THREE POUNDS of pure body fat. Yes. TEN WEEKS. Ten weeks ago my body fat was 20.1% and yesterday, it was 17.9%. And I only lost three pounds because guess what? Muscle is SO much denser than fat! I lost inches, not really so many pounds. And best of all, my body is healthy and stable! I don't bloat after meals, I have energy, it's crazy and if someone told me a year ago this is where i'd be I would have never believed them. It takes TIME. And time is just about the only thing us girls aren't willing to give for a hot healthy body. We are willing to sacrifice our bodies, our minds, our moods, our favorite foods, but time? Absolutely not. CHANGE IT NOW! And it will NOT happen over night. It look my body a full year just about to balance out and to trust me again.

If you treat your insides kindly, they will respond kindly. Give your body delicious, wholesome, natural foods. Take your body outside on a beautiful summer day for a walk. Lay in the sun and let it soak in all that Vitamin D. Once you make peace, and let your body know you're going to treat it kindly, it will thank you in ways you've never felt before. You will have boundless energy, your skin will clear up, you will lose the bloat of all the yucky food and preservatives you've fed it with, and you will just glow. Trust me. Speaking from experience, I have never felt better, and I have never been less hungry :) Stay healthy, stay happy. x

Childhood Obesity

I know I'm getting old when my friends (okay facebook friends), start having babies on purpose. Or get pregnant, and can't audition for "Teen Mom" anymore. I always say that I hate kids (pretty sure I'm emotionally damaged from babysitting...so not worth the 15 bucks), but my 'antichrist' attitude has changed over time from 'I hate kids' to 'I hate parents', to recently, 'Ugh that's so mean...okay, I hate parents that feed their children crap'.

Childhood obesity has more than TRIPLED in the last 30 years. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of children aged 6�11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12�19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period. What the HELL America. This is not only disgusting, it is devastating. Because of our choices over the last 30 years, we are now the first generation expected to die before our parents. Our life expectancy is 10 years shorter because of the food landscape today.

Since I'm a visual learner, let me show you an example. Let's put some faces to statistics that, unfortunately, we've become so used to.

This is Brittany. She lives in West Virginia which last year, was named the most unhealthy state in America. Brittany is 16 years old. Because of the food that she has eaten, Brittany has 6 years to live. She is literally eating her liver to death. At this rate, her body is unable to keep up and will give out in SIX short years.

This is Stacy Edwards and her two children. Justin is 12 years old. He weighs 250 pounds. Katie is 4 years old. She's obese before she's even started elementary school.

If you feel no sympathy for these people, let me try and get you angry:
Think about smoking. Smoking costs WAY less than obesity now. Obesity costs us Americans 10 percent of our health care bills. $150 BILLION dollars a year. In ten years, it's set to double. $300 billion dollars a year. And let's be honest America, we don't have that kind of money layin' around.

We spend our lives being paranoid about death. Murder, homicide, abductions, etc. It's in all the papers, on the news, and even on milk cartons (probably flavored milk...DAMMIT guys). We cope with this unnerving, irrational, fear by going through Del Taco because fuck it, we're going to die anyways right? Well, look at how well that's working out for us.

Heart disease, all cancers, and stroke are the top three causes of death in the United States. And then there's diabetes in red also. Oh yeah and the reason they're in red? Because they're diet related diseases. AKA, completely preventable. Look at homicide all tiny at the bottom. We need to seriously reevaluate our choices.

Obviously, obesity is a huge problem. Pun intended. So why choose to post on childhood obesity specifically? Because we have to break this chain. The last three generations of people have been so terribly unhealthy. If we continue this pattern, of feeding ourselves and our children the way the majority of America eats, we are doomed. Doomed for more heart disease, more cancer, more strokes, more Type II diabetes, more deaths.

Feeding your children processed, sugar filled, unhealthy, junk, is a direct form of child abuse. Think about that. You are setting your child up to crave those foods and in turn, you are setting them up for chronic disease. YOU control the type of foods your child likes. If you feed your children nutritiously dense, healthy, WHOLE foods, they will be hard wired to crave those foods. Alternatively, if you feed them chicken nuggets, cookies, soda, pizza, etc., they will be hard wired to crave those foods. Furthermore, (oh I'm on a roll now guys), let's talk about being pregnant for a second. It all starts there. I have never been pregnant but I have heard from every other girl that has been, that the cravings are insane. And sometimes, you just gotta give in. SOMETIMES ladies! If you're eating fast food for every meal, Doritos, Cheetos, nacho cheese from 7-11, slurpees, Twinkies, and pizza because "you can because you're pregnant", you're already abusing your unborn child. You're already setting that child up to crave these things!

Now, I'm not a barbarian. I'm not saying my future child will never eat dinosaur chicken nuggets or get a cookie cake for his/her birthday. But there is a HUGE difference between special occasion food, and making this your child's daily diet. So let's talk about some solutions.

1. Educate Your Children

I watched a video of Jamie Oliver holding up produce to a class of kindergarteners, and none of the children could identify an eggplant, a beet, a tomato, or a head of cauliflower. Scary. If kids don't know what things are, they won't eat it. And if you think I'm wrong, you're wrong.

2. PACK YOUR KID'S A LUNCH

This is huge. (That's what she said). I realized today while researching my topic, I was never allowed to buy lunch from school. I never really questioned it, my lunch was just always on the kitchen counter in the morning. Cafeteria food IS fast food. Maybe not McDonalds or Taco Bell, but it is highly processed, preserved, sugary, salty, greasy, finger food. Most schools don't even allow forks or knives because they're considered 'dangerous'. (Lol). So we are forced to feed our children food that they can eat with their hands. Burgers, pizza, burritos, sloppy joes, chicken nuggets, french fries and chimichangas. And then to wash it all down, they serve them flavored milk. I'm not even going to get into that because you can read my rant on flavored milk HERE.

3. Cook For Your Family

I know you're busy. I get it. We're all busy. Let me answer your prayers. It's called a Crock Pot. GET ONE. Then go HERE (I even Googled for you) and explore. Healthy crock pot breakfasts, lunch, dinners, and desserts. Welcome!

4. Stop Buying Your Kids Video Games

Also, you stop playing them too. Get up, and go play. When was the last time you played anything outside? When was the last time you saw your kid play anything other than Call of Duty? Teach them how to throw a football...boy or girl! There is something sexy about seeing a girl throw a football, teach her now, she'll thank you later.

5. Don't Use Food as a Reward

Pretty self explanatory. Your child is not a dog. And when they accomplish something in the future, they'll turn to food. Take your little girl to go get her nails done or your little boy to the batting cages.

There's obviously a fine line between being obsessive about what you and your child eat, and being mindful. So, be mindful, be happy, be healthy.

Ps- Whilst writing this I ate 4 pieces of dark chocolate. Keepin' it real over here. x