GUYS!

Wow, I’m so sorry I completely left you high and dry for the past couple weeks! I left you hanging with my last post telling you about some “exciting news” and then didn’t have time to post a “lately” post (because I’m a major procrastinator). But I won’t leave you hanging any longer. The good news is…

I’M A YOGA TEACHER!!!!

I had been toying with the idea for about a year and Mikey finally convinced me to chase the dream. I went through a 16 day intensive training that was life changing. It was the best 2 weeks of my life. I learned a ton and I made some amazing friends along the way! I left inspired and stronger than I could have ever imagined! I receiving my 200 hour yoga teacher training (YTT) certification and I am also now a Life Coach as well!

I missed you guys a ton while I was gone but appreciate the comments and follows that continued in my absence!

I’m so excited for the next chapter of life and promise to keep you in the loop as I go through the ups and downs of chasing my dream as a Yogi. If you live in the Chicagoland area and want to take a class, learn more about yoga or are looking for a life coach, I would love to get in touch (shameless plug).

There was so much I learned over my training and I am inspired by the beautiful women I shared it with! It taught me to live each day in the moment. Stop worrying about what happened yesterday, it’s already done. And don’t worry about the future because you can’t predict what happens. Love abundantly and live your best life at this moment. We have been blessed to be in this place, with people we love and it’s far too easy to take advantage of it.

I honestly, from the bottom of my heart, want to thank you for all the support you give me through this blog. I love my Mikey’s In My Kitchen (MIMK) followers. Your comments always make my day! I promise to keep posting fatty, sugar-filled recipes with an occasional healthy recipe here and there.

Can you tell I’m inspired? My yoga rant is over and in it’s place I will leave you this recipe. Holy. Crap. It’s a doozy. Gooey, sweet and salty amazingness. Peanut butter is #1 and Nutella is #1A. Both soooooo good! These bars are super easy to whip together and will please every crowd (minus those with a nut allergy…). I highly recommend you make these stat!

I know I sound like a broken record, but truly, thanks to everyone for the support and love I’ve been showered with over the past few weeks. It means the world to me!!!

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I love a challenge.

My challenge lately has been granola.

My father in law challenged me to make homemade granola that is as tasty as the stuff he gets at whole foods. It has proved to be a greater challenge than anticipated.

But I’m getting closer.

This basic granola was batch #1. I wanted to make something super simple to taste and then go from there. Don’t get me wrong, this granola was good. But it was no where near my father in laws (nor my) expectations.

I can’t wait to share some of the amazing granola recipes I am coming up with at home. They are life changing. In the mean time, you can play with this recipe and add or subtract whatever ingredients you would like!

I went with the basics.

You start with oats. Then you add 1 cup of any nut of choice, and 1/2 cup of a smaller nut (Pepita, sunflower seed, etc). You then add your sweetener: Honey, maple syrup, agave, sugar. You choose spices or extracts of choice. You can also add shredded coconut, flax seed, chia or hemp seed. And then you choose a fruit or sweet addition (chocolate chip, craisin, raisin, dried banana, apricot pieces).

The reason I’m so excited about my granola experiment is because I’ve had a lot of fun thinking up new ideas. There are sooooooooo many brands and concoctions out there and I’ve been finding plenty of inspiration.

I’ll keep you posted as I progress and make new batches, but will start you off with this one!

Hope you’re having a great week! It is cold and gloomy here and I am looking very forward to a potential warm day/thunderstorms tomorrow!

As I mentioned last week, I have some super exciting news to share with you this week (not pregnant, Mom. No one get too excited) that I will tell you about on Friday. Until then, make this granola to crunch on in anticipation.

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Can you believe that we are already in the month of April? Wasn’t it LITERALLY just Christmas?

Life flies, kids, life flies.

The older I get, the faster the time goes. I sound like the old ladies at my church growing up. They would always say things like “time flies” or “her metabolism will catch up with her one day”. Which I realize now that the latter was more of a backhanded compliment. It’s like telling someone that they are skinny now but they hope they get fat in their twenties.

Since Easter is on Sunday, I was feeling a bit inspired by the season of life, love and resurrection. With Easter on my mind, I found some pretty pictures that reminded me of Easter, Spring and the renewal of life. I actually saw a weed growing out of a crack in our building yesterday! Summer is coming! The earth is slowly awakening here in Chicago and I can hear the birds encouraging the trees to stretch their tired winter bones into buds of life.

Even though it is gloomy today, those little birds are such a great reminder that with every season there is hope.

I am looking so forward to the month of April. I’ve got some super exciting stuff going on that I will share with you next week! Until then, here are some things I’ve been loving on lately.

Scones are always pretty. Carrot cake is always delicious. Those are things we all know. But combine them? Someone is a genius and I must say these scones from Broma Bakery have me in the mood for some spiced up carrot deliciousness.   Have you heard of Food52? If not, go there immediately. They have the most amazing recipes, stores and gifts. Goooooooooo. They also have a recipe for making YOUR OWN PEEPS! I don’t actually like eating peeps…I usually just put them in the microwave, watch them grow to the size of a small cat and then throw them away…but the fact that I could make them myself is extremely intriguing. Deviled Eggs. You either love them or you hate them. I love them.

Here are a bunch of different ways to mix up your traditional recipe! My sis-in-law is making a batch and I can’t wait to eat my weight in these little babies on Sunday at our Easter dinner with the fam. YUMMMMM.
This outfit. It’s derby day. It’s summer. It’s sweet but sexy. It’s all the things that I want right now!  I was at the grocery store last night stocking up for a party we are hosting tonight and I had an overflowing cart, my hair was on top of my head because I had just taken a hot yoga class. No makeup, no bra..I looked disheveled. I was also suupperrr hangry and in a hurry to get home and finish some chores. I was trying to stick to my list and not buy all the new flavors of Ben & Jerry’s since I was beyond starving and arriving at the point of superpissedfornoreason. I needed to eat. I needed to get out of the store. I finally got to the checkout and there is a lane that is closed but the sweet man working waved me to come through. HOWEVER, there was a woman who literally thought she owned the world standing at the end of the belt looking at a magazine while her 10 items just sat at the very front. She stood there until she was done with the magazine and then looked at me and my cart full of food and gave me the most pitiful look. She SLOWWWLLYYY put the magazine away and then of course, of course, she was buying a bottle of champagne. A bottle that the young man at the register couldn’t scan because he was underage and that also didn’t have a price tag. By the time they realized they couldn’t find the price my 200 items were piled up on the belt. Turns out the bottle was $80. I was impressed. Still annoyed, but a little jealous that she was buying grapes, low-cal flatbreads and a super nice bottle of bubbly. NOT jealous that she was rude however. It actually totally changed my mood after that whole episode. I decided to become best friends with the sweet kid bagging my groceries and be as nice as possible. Life is way too short to treat anyone like they deserve anything less than the most respect and love you can give them! And with that gigantic rant…here is an awesome list of bubbly to fit any budget!