I have been working my butt off- literally! with barbell squats. Favourite exercise at the moment. I am aiming at 'arse to grass' aka deep squats to really get those legs and glutes burning. So far, I have lost about 1 cm on my thighs. Win. My leg and glute workout generally consists of squats, sumo squats, reverse bench lunges, walking lunges, leg presses and I will throw some calf raises in, too. I superset these for some extra fat burn. I have been trying myself at couple mins of HIIT before weight training which usually means I step inside the free weights area a sweaty betty, hair stuck to my forehead and breathing like an old man.

Almond Pancakes

These little beauties are a result of a conversation I had today with Dan one of the brilliant trainers at Pure Gym.

He was saying to me how difficult it is for the body to adapt to 'no grains', especially for breakfast. I have to admit, I have been cheating my way through breakfast for the first 4 weeks with a small bowl of porridge each morning and my home-made baked oatmeal. I took a little inspiration from the Civilized Caveman and swapped a few things here and there and voila! Out came some delicious almond protein pancakes. In terms of taste and texture, they taste exactly like your ordinary scotch pancakes, maybe a little grainier, but same fluffy consistency. I like my pancakes plain, but there is always room for a little honey, or agave for those of you with a sweet tooth. And berries that you can toss in for a fruity kick!

Ingredients

Melt 1 tsp of coconut oil in a pan

Beat 2 eggwhites and 1 yolk until fluffy

 Add 4 tbsp of ground almond (or almond flour) into a separate bowl with a little salt

Fold in the eggs and stir vigorously before adding 3 tbsp of vanilla soya milk. You can use almond milk or coconut milk, too.

 Add a tiny bit of baking powder, about 1/5 of a tsp.

By now, the coconut oil will  have melted and you can pour them into the pan. Make sure you whisk the batter thoroughly for an even and smooth batter.

....and flip!

 Voila. Cooking effort- about 15-20 mins of mixing, whisking and frying.

I usually make a large batch for the whole week and freeze it. Saves me cooking every day and usually means I can hit the snoozer for 10 mins in the morning :) 

Happy cooking, 

Much love from the Cavegirl x

Hot Child in the City

Ice cream post up soon!

Tasty Healthy Sweet Treats

Here is a collection of tasty sweet treats from my new diet plan, courtesy of the Cooking Caveman and Primal Women Jackie and Katie They are my favourite Paleo bloggers at the minute. I am always on the lookout for healthy and tasty treats to sweeten my day :) These lovely Paleo yummies have caught my eye, they're easy to make and fit perfectly into your lunchbox!


Apple Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients:
• 2 Cups Chopped Red Apples with the skin on
• 2 Cups Raw Almonds
• 1 Cup Shredded Coconut
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• Vanilla flavour
• 2 Tsp Coconut Oil (microwave for 1 min)
• 3 Eggs

Process:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 C
2. Combine all of your ingredients EXCEPT your eggs- I used a fork and a hand blender- until all the pieces are small but still a little chunky.
3. Combine that mixture with the eggs in a large mixing bowl and mix well
4. Scoop the mixture into a muffin tray
5. Bake until done, around 20-25 Minutes
Njoy!

Another tasty sweet treat I made today was...

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Cake

Ingredients (Cake):
• 3 Mashed Bananas, spotted
• 1 Cup Almond Flour
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 Cup Agave Syrup
• 1/2 Cup Walnuts

Ingredients (Swirl):
• 1 Banana
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon Honey (If you don't have this, use organic raw honey and then have a total of 2 Tbsp cinnamon in the swirl)

Process:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 C
2. In a mixing bowl combine the first 8 ingredients of the cake and using your hand mixer combine all ingredients well, set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all your swirl ingredients and mix well by hand
4. Grease your 8x8 baking dish- I used a silicone pink baking dish that doesnt require any greasing
5. Fold in your cake batter and spread evenly
6. Now drop spoonfuls of your swirl mixture all over your batter and then using a knife cut in the swirl however your little heart desires.

This is one fantastic receipe I got it from the Cooking Caveman himself

So keep looking out for my little tasty receipes.

Much Love
The Cavegirl

The Original Cave Woman...

Welcome 

Hello I am the original cave women, well not quite but I love fitness, health and everything that goes in between.