Tiny n Fit

Tropical Black Bean Brownies

June 19, 2013 · By tinynfit · 1 Comment

Hello and happy Sweat Pink Wednesday!! What the heck am I talking about?? Well, before I reveal the recipe I am proud to announce that I am officially a Sweat Pink Ambassador! What is a a Sweat Pink Ambassador you ask?

“Sweat Pink Ambassadors live the Fit Approach mission every day: they sweat hard, play hard, and inspire those around them to achieve their best selves.”

Living a healthy, fit, and joyful life is my passion and it is my hope that I can gain inspiration to continue pursuing my passion and help inspire other to pursue theirs as well! Everyone deserves to be happy and healthy! I am so thankful to be a part of this amazing community! Now, on to the recipe!

I randomly bought a can of black beans last week, and with a large container of Hemp Force Protein Powder I received at Blend, I got the creative juices flowing and decided to make black bean brownies- with a tropical twist! Several of you that saw these on my instagram and requested the recipe- so here ya go!

Tropical Black Bean Brownies

2013-06-18 17:09:23

Yields 16

Deliciously chocolatey black bean brownies with a tropical twist- with coconut! And with an added protein boost with chocolate maca hemp protein! Grain free, refined sugar free and dairy free!

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Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

45 min

Prep Time

10 min

Total Time

45 min

Ingredients

1 can (14 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

2 eggs

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¼ cup granulates stevia (I used Truvia)

¼ cup Chocomaca Hemp Force protein powder

½ teaspoon coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon coconut milk or almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus 1 tablespoon (to sprinkle on top if

1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking pan by lightly oiling it or lining it with foil

Smash beans with potato masher until mushy (or blend in food processor)

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and combine with remaining wet ingredients, add to bean mixture

Combine wet into dry ingredients until just mixed. Fold in chocolate chips if using

Bake for roughly 20-25 minutes (oven varies) until brownies are set up and a toothpick tests clean

Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting into them - highly recommended

Notes

Definitely cool these completely to prevent any crumbling! Enjoy alone or top with some greek yogurt for a healthy treat!

By Krista

Adapted from The Roasted Root

Tiny n Fit http://tinynfit.com/

I inhaled these as a beach snack while in Sandbridge last weekend. I keep them in the freezer and let thaw for a couple minute for a frozen sweet and healthy treat after dinner! Enjoy!

But wait!! The news doesn’t stop there! Notice the new layout? I am officially self-hosted with a new snazzy layout! I feel so blog-grown-up! Special thanks to Michelle for my inner battle deciding to go self-hosted

That about wraps it up for today! Hope everyone has a fantastic Wednesday!!

Question: What do ya think of the new layout?

Ever tried black bean brownies? What about other strange ingredient food?

Filed Under: healthy, review · Tagged: blend retreat, recipe

Marvelous Beach Weekend!

June 17, 2013 · By tinynfit · 1 Comment

Hello there and Happy Monday lovers! Time once again to join the Marvelous in My Monday thanks to Katie!

I had a marvelous weekend at Virginia Beach with my bestie Michelle! First, the bf arrived while I was packing Friday afternoon to make a special delivery:

YUM!

My all time favorite- pistachio gelato!! That’s love

Michelle and hit the road after dinner and just had to stop for this photo op in my hometown:

Virgina is for ~~lovers~~ bloggers!

After a pretty quick and traffic-light drive we arrived around midnight to our glorious little home away!

(obviously taken next day in sunlight) Our studio was below the deck!

I found this cute place on Airbnb.com Our hosts, Andria and Parks, were so gracious and friendly!

Pics don’t do this cute studio justice! Our bedroom, our kitchenette, bathroom, and back patio!

They even had a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge for us, some fruit, and this cute spread for breakfast!

Coffee, home made lemon poppyseed muffins, roasted almond, and dark chocolate (which I broke into before I even set my bags down)

We crashed as soon as we got into bed. The next morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on our little patio.

Overnight oats with greek yogurt, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, unsweetened coconut topped with cashew butter and granola!

We needed a couple supplies for the beach so of course a trip to Target was in order! We also stopped by an adorable farmers market stand and stocked up! If you’ve seen my Instagram or Twitter feed on weekends, you know my love for farmers markets!

Star Trek cups? Heck yes!!

I found their new Simply Balanced items and picked up these granola bars. Their line has no hydrogenated oils, HFCS, artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or sweeteners! AND I just HAD to get the Star Trek cups- which I’m sure the bf will LOVE when I move in And I finally found the carrot cake flavor Luna bars! Score! The verdict? AMAZING!!

But this granola I found at the farmers market is amazing. My friends, I ate my weight in this granola on the ride home (after we stopped again so I could buy out their supply!)

Fantastic stuff!!

Tummies full and wallets emptied (thanks again, Target), we packed up and hit the beach for a day of sun and relaxation!

After a well spent day in the sun, we headed back, cleaned up and went out for a seafood dinner and spent the evening sipping wine and watching chick flicks

Sunday we slept in a bit and went for one last walk on the beach.

squee I love this beach so much- its a quieter, more family oriented beach south of VA beach proper. It was so incredibly relaxing to have most of the beach to ourselves. Life goal: own a beach house here!

We said our goodbyes to the beach, packed up the car and headed to brunch at Back Bay Gourmet! While Michelle had their crab omelet, I was still a bit full from breakfast so opted for a couple sides:

Scrambled Egg whites and home made granola with yogurt and berries.

We both agreed our egg dishes were quite salty, and the cranberries in the granola seemed crunchy, but otherwise it was a decent brunch.

Sunday evening I did a quick grocery run, food prepped for the week, did my laundry, and yoga! It was such a marvelous weekend and an awesome way to start off this Marvelous Monday!!

Question: What’s your favorite local, less crowded spot to visit? This beach, a hiking spot near Wintergreen ski resort, and the bf’s mother’s farmhouse in upstate New York!

Do you go to farmers markets? Every chance I get! Especially for new towns, I love seeing new local finds like the granola!

What’s your favorite brunch food? Egg white omelets, yogurt and granola, and grits- sans cheese!

Happy Monday everyone!! Coming soon: a new look to Tiny n Fit now that I am fully self-hosted!! Woohoo!!

Filed Under: healthy ·

South Africa Part 3

June 14, 2013 · By tinynfit · Leave a Comment

Ok, its been far too long and I promised a final recap of my trip to South Africa in April. Missed the other recaps? Catch up here on Part 1 and Part 2.

I teased you in the last post about something exciting we did during our last days with this photo:

At our lodge Zebras (pronounced by the locals as zehhbruhs) and warthogs roamed the properly freely. Could you imagine waking up and seeing these guys hanging out in your backyard? It was surreal to say the least! And the nice kitchen ladies and groundskeeper gave us some fruit and zebra food to feed them!

Our last night we decided to go on a night game drive- on a vehicle with flashlights to see the animals! We could not have been more excited!

And a little pooped

I love watching sunrises and sunsets, and my last South African sunset did not disappoint:

I took that with my trusty yet dying, 4 year old point and shoot canon. Amazing.

Not only did we see the big five on our first game drive (plus a cheetah!) we rounded out the super seven by seeing a (lone) hyena:

(please excuse the fuzzy pics, the crappy photo can handle movement or night)

AND wild dogs!! Even the game driver was SO excited

And before you say ‘awe,’ these are not cute fluffy puppies. They are somewhat mean looking hyena-like dogs you would not want to pet.

We came back to the lodge for a(nother) crappy dinner but were SO excited to share with our day game driver Robert that we had seen the wild dogs! He had not seen them in months!

The next morning I took a lovely outdoor shower:

And was super stoked for breakfast- someone brought out peanut butter!! Woohoo!!

Never been so excited for a ‘normal’, edible condiment

We had an early afternoon local flight back from Nelspruit to Johannesburg, and even though I couldn’t drive the whole way, I was able to get a photo of me sitting in the right-sided car

S and I shopped around the tiny airport

he he

And before we knew it, we were on our long flight home to the US…

With our own seats and free liquor!!

Even with the extra space and free libations, the 18 hour flight was SO much longer than the flight there. I think I was just very anxious to get back to my ant-less bed and normal, healthy food.

Even with the tiny glitches and weird food items, I had a fantastic time in South Africa. We were beyond lucky to see so many amazing animals that people who hire private game rangers and drive around literally for weeks and still never see all we got to see! If an African safari (ahem, game drive) is on your bucket list, do it! Here are some tips for your trip:

Pack light clothing. It’s Africa. It gets hot. Also bring sunglasses, sunblock, and a hat
Pack layered clothing. Yes, its Africa, but the early mornings and evenings can be chilly, especially in their fall and winter months.
Pack snacks like granola bars and nuts. You never know when you’ll get hungry!
Pack patience. South Africa has a much slower pace- which I loved, but may be a shock to some. Also be warned you may not have phone service when you want it. You’re on vacation, though, so unplug and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed my South African recaps! Feel free to email me with any questions you may have- especially if planning a trip there yourself!

Rock on Lovers and Happy Friday!

Filed Under: healthy ·

Sweaty 75

June 12, 2013 · By tinynfit · 3 Comments

Hello and happy Wednesday lovers! I hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent the weekend with a movie night in, celebrating a coworkers birthday, new brunch spot and mattress shopping! Since the bf and I will be moving in together soon, we decided to shop around for a new mattress that will help with my crazy sleep issues. It’s adorable how concerned the bf is with my getting a great night sleep I am a crazy light sleeper with recurring shoulder and hip pain, and the bf wakes me up all the time when he tosses and turns. Of course we had to settle on the most expensive mattress out there:

Hello future paycheck moneypit

Source

We didn’t purchase then but may in the coming weeks. We really have nothing to lose- 25 year warranty and a 21 day return-if-we-hate-it policy? Sounds good to me! I just have a hard time justifying a few WHOLE paychecks on a mattress. I suppose it is an investment for my health, and that makes it worth it to me.

Nothing else exciting is going on around these parts, aside from heading to the beach this weekend, but I do have a great sweaty workout I did last night to share with you! I had some crazy ADD trying to figure out what to do at the gym, so I took some inspiration from a crossfit workout my box was doing today and made this up:

Give this a go- those 75 reps are no joke!

That’s all I have for you today! Hope everyone is having a good week so far

Question: Anyone have a tempurpedic mattress? Thoughts?

Rock on lovers

Filed Under: healthy ·

Friday Favorites- Granola and Yogurt Edition and BONUSES!

June 7, 2013 · By tinynfit · 5 Comments

Happy Friday loves! I haven’t done a Friday Favorites in months! Without further ado:

It’s so odd to think I gave up both dairy and grains a few months ago to try to be ‘healthy.’ I honestly found that I feel so much better eating healthy protein-packed greek yogurt and granola. Here are some of my favorite finds I have been LOVING lately!

Siggi’s Skyr Greek Yogurt.

I love Greek yogurt and Chobani will always have my heart, but I love Siggi’s Skyr Yogurt. What is Skyr? According to Siggi’s:

“Skyr is the traditional yogurt of Iceland. It is made by incubating skim milk with live active cultures. The whey, the water naturally found in milk, is then strained away to make for a much thicker, creamier, concentrated yogurt. So to make just one cup of skyr, with all that water going out, you need 3 – 4 times the amount of milk required to make a regular cup of yogurt. As a result of this process skyr comes out with 2-3 times the protein count of standard yogurt.”

*Warning for your sweet tooth: It is a bit more tart than other Greek yogurts and more thick, too. I love it! I’ve been having it along with Muesli Fusion and Kind granola for snacking and breakfasts! I also use it as a filling in my egg white ‘crepes’ I eat for brinner!

Strange but oh so good!

Another Skyr yogurt product I found at CVS of all places- B’more Organic Skyr Vanilla smoothie!

It is a fantastic smoothie with more than 30g of protein per bottle! Plus, no added sugar! What’s more- they “donate 10% of after tax profits to Jodi’s Climb for Hope—a non-profit dedicated to funding cures for breast cancer and MS.” Awesome! I poured this over some granola from Teaism I got near my office for a healthy snack!

Muesli Fusion- I actually have been a fan of muesli- a loose, raw granola-like cereal more common overseas- since I went on a European cruise back in 2008. The ship was based out of England so their breakfast spread was catered to the European clients- meats and cheeses as well as their version of oatmeal- muesli! Cold, wet oats with nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

My favorite flavor!!

Anyway, I got to try, fell in love with, and snagged a couple bags of this awesome stuff while at Blend Retreat. It is by far the best muesli I have ever had! I have been making overnight oats- something I never do!- for the past couple of weeks. My favorite flavor has some great stuff in it, too! Oats, chia seeds, almonds, cranberries, hemp hearts and unsweetened coconut! Here’s my recipe for the best overnight oats featuring Muesli Fusion:

Scant 1/3 C Muesli Fusion
1/3 C plain greek yogurt (I switch from Siggi’s to Chobani, whatever I feel like having)
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
1 T sugar free jam (any flavor, I love raspberry and blueberry)

Mix all ingredients in a plastic container, store in fridge overnight. Add a splash more almond milk in the morning, top with favorite toppings (I love more hemp hearts and Kind granola) and dig in! You can also heat it up in the microwave for a minute or two as well- I love it both ways!

Kind Granola- I stopped eating granola when I went strict paleo/Whole 30 since granola has oats in it (paleo= no grains of any kind…aka persistent grumpy Krista). I had heard about Kind granola and seen it in the stores so thought I would give it a try. I LOVE it- it is super crunchy (a must for granola), gluten free, no funky ingredients, and lots of fiber! Plus- it has super big clusters! Totally loose granola like oats is just weird- give me the clusters!

Lastly, a couple bonuses for you guys!!

First, to top off your yogurt edition Friday Favorites, I have a new recipe for you-which includes greek yogurt!

MANGO cranberry almond greek yogurt flax oat powerhouse bars!!

Whew that’s a mouthful (no pun intended ) But how do I fit in all the amazingness that are in these bars without such a long title?? Seriously, these bars are packed with yummy stuff and will make a great stick-yo-your-ribs snack!

Onto the recipe!!

Mango Cranberry Almond…Powerhouse Bars