Paleo Brownies

Hi guys! i hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a good start to this week! i had the best weekend last weekend, i got to see luke bryan and thompson square with my family (unfortunately we missed florida georgia line due to traffic) and they were absolutely amazing. and i bought luke bryan's album yesterday, and AAAAH sooo good. i'm obsessed.

i also survived my Spartan Race last Saturday and lived to tell the tale! i have to say, it was the best $200 i have ever spent, and some of the best 3 hours and 50 minutes of my life! i can't wait to tell you all about it - but it's going to be a couple days since i'm waiting for the race photos to be released before i publish my post.

until then, maybe some brownies will make it up to you? i made these last week and DANG they're good. not going to lie, i kind of thought that they might turn out to be disgusting. but they were delicious!

also, you're probably starting to see a theme with all of these "paleo-ish" recipes. the thing is, i love experimenting with different foods and i also like eating less processed foods (like white flour). a lot of paleo recipes do just that - i get to experiment with baking, my tummy is happier without the white flour, and i still get my treat fix.

BUT, i am also not about to go out and buy a bunch of fancy ingredients just to make a recipe paleo when i don't eat 100% paleo. so when i first made these brownies i made them with 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup sugar and they turned out wonderfully! and then i saw this huge bag of coconut sugar for $9.99 at costco and my whole not buying fancy ingredients philosophy sorta went out the window. cause i mean, costco makes you buy everything you ever might possibly need, ya know?

i still think that sugar is sugar, regardless where it comes from. but i really like coconuts. so coconut sugar it is. very, very cheap coconut sugar, actually.

anyways, with that paleo tangent out of the way, here's the recipe!

Paleo Brownies

by Julianna Foster

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

6051859

Ingredients (16 brownies)

• 3 oz melted dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix chocolate, oil, almond butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients.

Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined. Pour batter into an 8x8 pan greased with coconut oil.

Bake for 30 minutes, let cool & cut into squares. Enjoy!

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country music: yay or nay? 
best part of last weekend for ya?

Half Marathon PR {Giant Race 2013}

hi guys! sorry this recap is a bit late, but i just got back yesterday from visiting a friend down in LA. we had the best time eating, going to the fair (and seeing Hunter Hayes for FREE!), hiking, and... you betcha, more eating. i had so much fun hanging out with her, and can't wait to head back down to school in a little over 6 weeks!

anyway onto the race recap! on Sunday i ran my second half marathon. my first one wasn't actually a race, i just decided to train to run a half for fun on my own last summer. (here's my recap).

this summer, i actually trained a whole lot LESS for my race. i fell so much in love with CrossFit that going for a run almost seemed like a pain at times. the longest run i went on during training was a 7-miler, which is only a little more than the half marathon distance. that being said, my main goal going into race day was to finish the race without stopping to walk. my goal that was a bit more challenging was to run a sub-2:00 half, since last summer i ran it in 2:07:16 (granted, it was around 85 or 90 degrees outside at the time).

i did the race with my good buddy Ryan and he was determined to push me to break 2:00, and was secretly plotting for a 1:45 finish. the race started at 7:00am, and we barely made it out of the porta potties a few minutes after the start - one of my complaints about race day: not enough porta potties! #runnerprobs. anyway, i felt really good when we were starting and i was just enjoying the views. the race was along the embarcadero, from AT&T park all the way out to the Golden Gate Bridge and back. it was beautiful!

i had a few jelly beans before the halfway mark, half of my hammer gel around mile 7 and half around mile 9. i felt pretty good most of the time - my leg muscles never actually hurt, it was just my joints. i've always had hip problems and they always act up when i run long distances. it wasn't too painful, though, and i managed to keep a fairly steady pace the entire race <-- super proud of this, especially with the limited training i had! CrossFit is keeping me in really good shape.

Ryan was running in front of me for a good part of the second half of the race and that definitely helped me a lot! i always do so much better when i'm chasing someone down. i have to hand it to him for really pushing me to get my butt across the finish line!

which we did, in 1:49:55 to be exact. a 17 minute PR, and i broke 1:50! i was SO stoked!! average pace was 8:23/mile, which completely exceeded my goals. i also got 3rd place in my age group, which was really cool especially considering the training i had put in going into the race.

finishing in AT&T park was the coolest. i've been going there to watch my SF Giants play ball since i was a little kid and getting to be on the field was surreal. i loved every minute of it!

i will definitely be doing this race again next year if i'm up here in NorCal!

{and a big thanks to my buddy Ryan for all the photos!}

have you run a half marathon before?
favorite race?

Scenes from the Weekend

{imagine dragons. freaking incredible live! best concert i've ever been to}

{swimming}

{spicy shrimp and avocado sushi from whole foods}

{playing in the fountain like 5 year olds} 

{pretending to be a photographer}

{love}

{chocolate coconut cupcake with coffee ice cream in the middle from sprinkles. heaven.}

{signed up for the giant half marathon in august! i'm so excited!! it's in one of my favorite cities and you run right along the water to the golden gate bridge and back to at&t park, home of my giants.}

what's the best thing you did/ate/saw last weekend?

Catch Up {early weekend countdown}

It's been such a long time since i've gotten the chance to sit down and write a post, and i miss writing and chatting with you guys so much! It's been crazy around here with schoolwork, work, writing my Mojo posts, and fitting in some time to have fun. This quarter time is flying - i can't believe it's already 8th week.

I have so much to catch you up on and so many photos that I want to share, so I thought I'd do a weekend countdown post a little bit early so that I could organize everything. prepare yourselves, this is a long one!

6 recent WODs

PIN IT

we only did 10 minutes of chelsea and everyone in my class was dying. i can't imagine doing the full workout! i used a band on the pull-ups, 105# for the deadlifts, and a 35# kettlebell. my partner and i finished 7 rounds in the 12 minutes so we each ended up doing 70 deadlifts! i did this workout yesterday and my whole body is sore today. 

PIN IT

I got up to 85# on the power clean, and used 65# on the first round of push presses and then dropped to 55# when i realized i wasn't going to be able to keep my form with 65#. i also used a band on the pull-ups and made it through 3 rounds in the 10 minutes.

PIN IT

I alternated using a 40# ball with a 60# ball - when I used the 60# ball, I only did half a lap around the gym. My arms were so sore the next day! 

PIN IT

 I used a 16# ball for the wall balls, and my partner and i had 55# on our bar and 15# dumbells for the WOD. In the partner WOD, the first exercise determined  how long the person doing the second exercise would go (when the first person couldn't go any longer, you switched, and kept switching until the 5 minutes was up). 

PIN IT

 The handstands were so much fun to practice in this workout! It was harder by the end of the tabata because of all the blood rushing to your head, but it reminded me of the old days when I was always doing gymnastics as a kid. For the AMRAP, i used a 20" box, a 26# kettlebell, and I made it through 4 rounds plus 10 extra push-ups. I was dying on the push-ups by the end - I did a total of 58 push-ups by the time I was done with the workout, and my arms were trashed. 

PIN IT

 i've been doing this workout a lot when i run out of time during the day and want to work out at night on the track (when there aren't athletes practicing there). there are pull-up bars at my track, but if you're doing this in a gym or outside, you could substitute 10 burpees for the pull-ups or something similar.

5 recent eats

 

native foods cafe with one of my foodie friends! i got their tempeh burger (with avocado, carrots, onions, and some other stuff i think) and sweet potato fries. it was heaven. 

 

addicted. the bag was gone in like 2 days. 

 

greek yogurt bowl with frozen raspberries, dried bluberries, almond granola, and barney butter. 

 

jamba when i was stuck on campus without food one day. i got their berry oatmeal (soooo good! and sweet) and a light razzmatazz smoothie with soy protein. 

 

one of the newer items our cafe is offering (see my post below about it!): mediterranean nachos! basically pita chips with veg, hummus, and tzatziki. soo good.

4 latest posts on Daily Bruin Mojo

• Q&A: A UCLA Dietician's Take on International No Diet Week 
• Interesting Ways UCLA Students Stay Active at the John Wooden Center 
• A Review of the New Bruin Cafe Menu  
•  4 Running Routes Around UCLA

3 random life updates

- i had so much fun at wango tango 2013 with my friends a few weeks ago. it was a concert put on by KIIS-FM with a bunch of popular artists, like Maroon 5, Flo Rida, Jason DeRulo, Demi Lovato, Bruno Mars, and more! i had a blast and we had so much fun that some of us bought tickets to see Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson next fall. 

-my parents are coming this weekend! i'm so excited to see them and eat some yummy food and sleep in a hotel bed. and i'm bringing them to the church i've been going to on sunday which i am really looking forward to.
-i'm seeing imagine dragons in concert next week - STOKED! can you tell i have a problem with spending all my money on concerts?

2 Bible verses
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
"Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us" Isaiah 26

1 inspiring video to watch: 
i cried when i saw this video. it's so inspiring and was a beautiful reminder of how precious life is and how often i take everything for granted - my healthy body, my brain, and so much more.  
 

WIAW: Back to the Gym!

{psstt.. check out my last post- there's lotsa pictures from my senior ball last weekend!!}

this week I welcomed back an old friend... my GYM! because of track season, i'd only been able to take a class once every 1-2 weeks and by the middle of the season, i was seriously craving going to the gym. my last track meet was last week so this week i've got my whole workout schedule planned with lots of different workouts.

but before i get to my workout, let's back up to breakfast (it is WIAW after all!)

i had a tortilla with barney butter and a vanilla chobani with sprinkles. because every yogurt deserves sprinkles!

i had my AP Gov test today (yeahhhh don't wanna talk about it...yowza! not fun) so i brought a mini Luna bar to snack on during our break.

and lunch was a banana, a hummus+colby jack sandwich, and some baked kettle barbecue potato chips

right after school i drove straight to the gym and it was blissfully empty! i'm used to going when it's crowded on the weekends, so it was SO nice to finally get a stairclimber - they're always all full whenever i go.

i did 20 minutes and then one of my friends randomly showed up so i stayed on an extra 20 minutes to work out with her. 40 minutes on the stairclimber=leg burner! afterwards i wanted to shake out my legs a little so i did 2 miles of HIIT on the treadmill. then i did a few arm weights and ab exercises (can you tell i'm excited to be back at the gym?!?!) before heading home. i was definitely a happy sweaty mess!

also, on a completely random note, super proud of how strong my arms are getting! it's taken a year to get here and there's still lots of improvement but i love them. :)

post-workout i made a big smoothie with 2 scoops vanilla protein powder, 1 cup frozen berries, 1 cup almond milk, and 2 tbsp lemon juice:

[couldn't even wait to shower to eat! ;) ]

then i had to shower up and head to my final orchestra performance of the year! 4 years of being in the music program and now it's basically over..SO weird!! life is a changin' fast around here.

rockin' the natural hair!

when i finally got home, i had a quesdilla with cheddar and salsa, and a salad with sliced deli turkey.

and then i faceplanted in bed. 

what was the best thing you ate today? 

favorite thing to do at the gym? 

The Best Night of My Life.

I cannot even begin to tell you guys how AMAZING last night was.

I GOT TO SEE TAYLOR SWIFT IN CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *insert shrieking screaming Julianna*

I was the happiest girl alive last night. Taylor Swift has been my favorite artist ever since I heard her music (the first song I remember hearing was "You Belong With Me"), and last night was the best show I have ever seen.

I went with my older brother because then I didn't have to worry about trying to drive myself home in the crowds, plus he's the best brother ever. He didn't mind my freaking out/hyperventilating/screaming like a twelve-year-old girl.

I left cross country practice early yesterday afternoon, speed-showered, put my Speak Now shirt on, and got in the car. We listened to Taylor the entire drive over to San Jose (more evidence as to how awesome of a brother Jay is) and my excitement was practically through the roof.

We got there a little over an hour early with a perfect amount of time to park, look around HP Pavilion, go potty, and get some souvenirs.

I got this amazing red T-shirt and a Speak Now wristband that I've been oogling for quite awhile on the Taylor Swift webstore but never could get myself to pay shipping on a wristband.

before the show

my excitement x 50 million bajillion

Dinner was half of this mini pizza:

And a boatload of Jay's fries:

The two openers for Taylor were seriously awesome. Josh Kelley and needtobreathe. I was really excited when I found out that needtobreathe was opening since I really like one of their songs, and Josh Kelley played some fantastic music.

At this point I was seriously freaking out. I have been looking forward to this show since the day that I got tickets, and I knew that it was going to be a night to remember. You know how people always talk about that one concert that they went to when they were young? This one was it for me.

The second that Taylor's band started playing and the curtains started opening I found myself shrieking my head off, jumping up and down, and being filled with awe at how blessed I was to be there.

She started with "Sparks Fly" and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect song to kick off the night.

If you want to see what the experience was like for me, check out the music video of Sparks Fly. This pretty much sums up the FANTASTIC show that I got to see - but it was 50 million better times in person.

I didn't get very many good photos because the lights were so crazy in there, but I can tell you that the show was incredible!! The dancers were spectacular, there were a bunch of set changes, and I was belting out the lyrics to every single song. Words cannot even describe how much this night meant to me.

She played almost every song on the album Speak Now, with about 4-5 from her older albums ("Fearless", "You Belong With Me", "Love Story", "Fifteen", and maybe a few others?). I loved every single word.

It was the best night of my life so far in all of my sixteen and a half years!!!!

I'm wearing the concert T-shirt this morning and I can't stop smiling. There is literally a grin plastered on my face from ear to ear - it hasn't disappeared since I got to the concert last night.

Who is your favorite musician? Best concert you've ever been to?