Blog announcement and GF Vegan Zucchini Bread

Hey friends!

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend.  I’ve been a little tired lately due to lack of sleep so hopefully I can catch up on it before my work week starts up again on Tuesday.

Couple of things I want to talk about today..

First, I’m contemplating making some changes to the site.  I’m not sure if my blog title should solely be my name or if I should have a clever title that has more to do with what I blog about on the site.  It’s a tough decision because I also use my site to help network myself with dance and hopefully post more dance and choreography videos soon.  It’s been on my mind lately and i’d love feedback from anyone:) I may have a problem balancing career stuff with personal blog stuff so i’m not sure how to handle that yet.

Secondly, I’d like to put a small disclaimer out there.  I’ve heard some negative feedback about blogging in general and i’d like to clear it up.  There are many bloggers out there who have a degree in nutrition or fitness, or have a lot of education in those fields and certainly more knowledge than I do.  I respect those bloggers and hope to someday be one of them, but until then, I continue to learn, study, and discover more about food and fitness each day and want to share it.  I’m not a doctor and do not give professional advice, I simply wish to share my experiences, workouts, and some recipes that I have really enjoyed.   What I blog about is simply what I have learned that works for my body and is a continuing learning process.  I wanted to share my story and my experiences about my dance career and the pressures I faced with food and body image, to hopefully help anyone else out there with the same issues.  I know that the lovely twins over at Pure2Raw really helped me when I found their site and read their story.  I guess what I’m trying to say is this, I do not have professional credibility pertaining to nutrition, fitness, or diet plans, but I do have a love for all of those things.  I try my best to learn what I can and share my knowledge.  I post workouts that I love and know that work, diet tips that don’t sound crazy, and real personal experiences about my relationship with food.  Listen to your body and do what’s best for you.  I’m just here to share and hear from you!

Lastly…

There are so many things I want to do with this site! I’m hoping and saving for a good camera to start documenting recipes with, and hopefully have some new exciting fitness jobs in the works.  My goal for the site is to be able to help people in a gentle, relaxed way. I’d like to share my story as well.  Ive posted a little about it but I’d like to open up and hopefully help others who are facing the same issues. That sounded very dramatic, and it isnt, I just want to share and maybe be a help to someone in the future.  Prove to the world that healthy eating is easy as well as tasty and that fitness can be fun.

I’m sorry that turned into a dramatic moment…

On a lighter note…I baked! It was so good to be in the kitchen and bake.  It’s been awhile since I’ve baked anything besides a treat and it was delicious! Does anyone else just snack while baking? I sure do.  Spoonful of dough here, handful of dark chocolate here, a lick of almond butter there, and handful of grapes all while putting it in the oven.  So now you are probably wondering what I baked.  Well…

GF Vegan Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

original recipe from The Edible Perspective

• 1/2c + 3T oat flour
• 1/2c + 3T raw buckwheat flour
• 1c water
• 2T coconut oil, melted [or other oil]
• 3/4c lightly packed, grated zucchini [drained]
• 3T sucanat [or pure cane sugar]
• 1t vanilla extract
• 1/2t baking powder
• 1.5t cinnamon
• 1/2c walnuts, chopped [or pepitas/sunflower seeds for nut-free] (I used dark choco chips instead)
• 1/4t salt

1. Preheat your oven to 375* and line a 9×9 square pan [or 9” circular] with parchment paper, grease with cooking spray, or grease with coconut oil/butter and dust with flour around bottom + edges.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine buckwheat flour, oat flour, baking powder, sucanat, cinnamon and salt.  Stir until well mixed.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together zucchini, vanilla, and water.
4. Whisk in melted oil and immediately add wet to dry, stirring together until just combined.  Over-stirring will result in a gummy texture.
5. Gently fold in the chopped walnuts.
6. Pour into pan + spread evenly.
7. Set in middle rack and bake for 37-42min, until cracked and golden brown.  The edges should be pulled away from the pan.
8. Let cool for 5-10min before removing from pan to cut.

Thank you thank you to Ashley at Edible Perspective for this yummy bread!

Take a look at this deliciousness!!

It was so delicious that Carson even had two helpings! I didn’t tell him it was all healthy until after he finished it:) Little did he know that GF and vegan could taste so good!

Overall it was an awesome weekend (Remmie is doing so well with his potty training so I am a proud momma!)

Do you have any blog dreams?

What are your goals with your site?

xoxo

Jessie Ann