quest for the peanut butter cup

I LOVE peanut butter cups. I know we should not have emotional attachment to any food...but, seriously, I LOVE peanut butter cups. This may be obvious, but a paleo lifestyle and the aforementioned creamy, salty, chocolaty, treat do not good bedfellows make. That being said, these crazy whole, natural food eaters have developed some kick ass treats to tame even the most chocolate obsessed persons cravings. Except, for mine, that is. Sure they have amazing recipes for chocolate almond butter cups...but screw that. I don't like just any nut butter and chocolate together, I like a very particular brand. I have never gone for any of those fancy peanut butter cups at chocolatiers, or for the buckeye balls or whatever they are called. I only like Reese's Peanut Butter cups...and I especially LOVE them in Easter egg form.
We of course are right in the middle of the dastardly bunnies holiday and the peanut butter eggs are out in full force, so what's a girl to do?
Well I finally concocted something that tricks me into thinking I am being satisfied by a very similar taste sensation. Sure it's not the same mouth feel, but it does kinda taste like if you blended peanut butter cups into ice cream and then let it melt a little, and that totally works for me, on many levels.
So here is my peanut butter egg smoothie(gosh I love my Vitamix). You may try  and get very frustrated with me because it Wwill not taste like Reeses, but listen, it totally works for me, and if it works for me, maybe, just maybe, it will calm your nerves as well.

Throw this all in your blender and if you have the smoothie option use it, if not I suppose blend until smooth.
and also you can tinker with the amounts, that is what I did until I found the perfect taste.

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (regular almond milk will do, but I found I need the vanilla, you could always throw in some vanilla extract though)
1 ripe banana
1 heaping tsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 heaping tsp almond butter ( I love the flavor of MaraNantha)
1 heaping tsp raw local honey
1/3 or just a big handful of ice.


ooh now I have to go make one, made my own mouth water;)

enjoy
xoxo

the quest to get back to the quest

ok ok so I have taken some time off. Poorly used time. Time spent eating things that no traditional man would ever consider putting into his whole food fed mouth. But I did it, and now I must own it, and get back on track. I will say that I had lost 30 pounds and have kept it off. I have kept a mostly paleo/gluten free diet (um peanut butter eggs fall into that category right? damn you easter bunny). But lets face it, all that fricking work I did has done me no good if I don't get back on the pony right?

Crossfit called me back. I kept letting it go to voicemail, but finally it got so annoying I had to pick up. So I started back two weeks ago, and am happy to report I have continued, whether my warm, comfy bed liked it or not. It was very tough at first, um not that it is not now, but it was really, really bad at first. I wanted to cry (actually I might have) and I hated every painful, short of breath, minute of it. But I persevered. Mainly because that jerk of a crossfit coach seems to believe in me and make me do things he says he knows I can do even if I don't think I can.  And this is what brings me to this blog post today.

So, trainer heard that I was going to Florida in May, and he asked me how I wanted to be when I went. I told him, not as fat as I was the year before. He said if I gave him 30 days in April, he could make me into a new person (he so crazy). This is also the month of my 40th birthday...I want to go into 40 in an awesome, not lazy way. I want husband to have to take me for a brand new wardrobe for this Florida trip. I want to fit on those damn Orlando rides without bruising my thighs. So trainer's challenge has been accepted and I am going to take you on the journey with me, no matter how truly horrible it might be at times.

At the beginning of April I will post before pics....oh god...I don't really want to commit to that, but it seems like it is the right thing to do. I will also post...gulp...my measurements. Then I will tell you what I do each day and we will see where I end up.

Sounds exciting doesn't it? Ok, maybe not for you, but I am feeling pretty psyched about it, which, if you know me at all, is truly strange.

Words of encouragement strongly advised.

thanks
xoxo