Girls on the Run, Girls Gone Sporty, and Guaca-hummus, oh my!

Holy heck, it's almost the end of January!!!  What the hell have I been doing all month long?!  Seriously though, I've found the beginning of 2015 to be pretty productive so far, and I'm just now getting started.  I have BIG plans for this year.  I hope you do too!

I just wanted to put this in here gratuitously because my daughter made it and it makes me happy. 

First thing, I just volunteered to be head coach for our local Girls on the Run chapter, and I can't wait to get started!  GOTR is a really fantastic program for your elementary and middle school girls to help build inner and outer strength.  It generally runs in most schools in the spring (some schools do fall as well) for 10-12 weeks, culminating in a GOTR public 5k that the girls will complete as a team.  So basically, I will be working with them to not only teach them how to push through a 5k physically, but also to gain self-confidence, build teamworking skills, and learn that they can reach any goal they set out to achieve.  I'm so stoked!  Plus to make it even better, my daughter gets to do the program with us and I can be with her as she achieves her goals.  Happy mommy moments!

If you would like to learn more about GOTR or if it's offered in your local area (and how to start a chapter if it isn't), or if you want to volunteer as a coach or as a runner for the 5k, click on the image below and search for your region:

Another fun new journey for me this year is being accepted as a Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador!  GGS is a wonderful website dedicated to helping women of all ages, shapes, and lifestyles to become fitter and healthier.  The page creator Laura hosts weekly YouTube live workouts, as well as sends out FREE newsletters with healthy eating tips, recipes, exercises, and even special offers and fitness gear reviews/giveaways.  Plus, she has a whole army of awesome ambassadors that you can search through to find fantastic blogs with everything from vegan diets to bodybuilding journeys and all places in-between.  I'm honored to be part of this wonderfully strong group of women!

So, now I will move on to my recipe.  I'm a big-time hummus addict, I use it on tons of stuff.  It works beautifully in place of cheese on a sandwich or wrap, it is an excellent veggie/pita dip, and I even like it a black bean veggie bowl in place of (or on top of) rice.  Well, I also love avocados, and we happened to have a few extra that were wasting away since we forgot to make guacamole with our dinner the other night.  Throw them together with some choice ingredients, and bam--a wonderfully easy and healthy guaca-hummus that doesn't get that nasty brown look after a few days!

After two days--looks just like hummus without the brown guac grossness, mmmmm!

Guaca-hummus Recipe:

1 15oz can chickpeas (save the juice for later!)
1 avocado, nice and soft
1 roasted red pepper
Half handful of chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients into your food processor or heavy-duty blender, and add your chickpea juice to desired consistency.  Then, eat it all!

See, easy peasy.  That's my type of recipe!

Now, let's all go forth and have a fabulous rest of our week.  My week will be full of classes, including my Cupid's Burn Bootcamp that I've previously mentioned.  For those in the snow tundras, please be safe out there!!  Find some fun home workouts on YouTube (see the Girls Gone Sporty page above for a few!), hunker down, and enjoy the downtime.  For the rest of us, let me know how you plan to get out there and sweat for the rest of this week!!