Miami Getaway and a Recipe

Well, it's that time of year again; my favorite time of year in fact...spring!! The unforgiving winter is finally dissipating and making room for a little sunshine. I'd say the east coast has earned some warmth after such a brutal few months of polar vortexes and snow storms (I'm lookin' at you Boston!). I, for one, cannot get enough of the sunny 50 degree days that we've been having in Balty this weekend. 

BUT I owe you guys a lot of updates since I've been MIA for the past few months (blame law schools!!). Here's a look at what I've been up to as well as a yummy recipe at the end that won't even ruin that bikini bod you've been workin' on all winter long ;) 

MIAMI (insert sun emoji here)

I was fortunate enough to be offered a spot in the Miami Scholars Program at the University of Miami School of Law starting this fall! I have never been to Miami and had no idea what to expect from my visit to the school and the city, but I absolutely loved my time there. Everything from the people, to the food, to the weather (obviously) and everything in between brought me such joy. I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't want to live there!! 

I met new friends through the Miami Scholars Program :) 

Toured the campus with Mama Shelley (she came down after the scholars weekend for a mini vaca) 

Exploring South Beach

We most definitely ate our way through Miami. We went to three awesome restaurants that any foodie MUST try if you ever travel to Miami. 

1. The Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS South Beach hotel-definitely a true culinary experience. The service wasn't amazing, but the food certainly was. My mom and I describe these dishes as "Top Chef" worthy. *The lighting wasn't the best for photos, so they don't do the food any justice*

Wild mushroom soup with grated cheese and an organic egg yolk

Mom's "Colada Cubana"-foie gras with coffee

King crab with raspberries (sounds like a strange combo but no...it's amazing)

Dragon Fruit Ceviche with tuna, pecans, lemon, and hibiscus

Gorgeous cheese plate

Tres Leches--cuban rum, pineapple and ‘tres leches’ ice cream

2. Sushi Samba-This place was a lot of fun. Great atmosphere and great sushi with a latin twist. A must try is the tuna sashimi seviche with coconut, tomato, serrano, grapefruit, and cilantro. Not to mention that the sushi rolls themselves were so fresh and original. We couldn't even pick a favorite roll because each bite we took was our new favorite. PS-eat outside and catch some quality people watching!

3. OLA at the Sanctuary-Another winner! One thing that stuck out to me about this restaurant was the amazing gluten free bread they gave out. If a restaurant has good quality bread to start off the meal, I'm usually sold :D. Not only did OLA have that handled, but they also had a great assortment of fresh seafood for dinner. I had the fish of the day (a grouper type white fish) drenched with an amazing sauce and topped with more seafood. Dream come true for this fish girl. 

*Again sorry for the poor quality pics*

Mom's sugar cane tuna-"Adobo rubbed and seared, over malanga goat cheese fondue, spinach and shrimp escabeche" If that description doesn't make you want to dive into your computer and devour it...then your taste buds need help.

In addition to those 5-star dinners, we had plenty of fresh juice

And the highlight of our days on the beach...this twist on a pina colada with mint! So refreshing but we had to limit ourselves to just one a day or else we may not have made it off the beach ;)

Overall, the trip was well worth the wait and definitely much needed. I haven't officially decided where I will be attending law school but this weekend certainly made Miami a hard city to pass up! 

You might be wondering, with all that eating and beach bumming, when did you have time to workout?! 

Alright, maybe you weren't wondering that but I will tell you that I certainly made time! There was a small gym in the hotel so I was able to get in a quick workout around 5 or 6 each evening-just in time to make me extra hungry for those dinners! I usually did speed/interval work on the treadmill coupled with a 10 minute strength workout video from POPSUGAR.com. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that I'm a HUGE fan of these workout videos. You can never complain about not knowing what to do at the gym again because all you have to do is follow along with one of these videos and your sweating in 10 short minutes. They're also amazing if you can't get to the gym and need a no-equipment workout to do in your living room (the number of times Lara has walked in on me doing the Pilates glut toner workout in our living room is getting to be comical). 

OK OK OK finally time for the recipe I promised you!!!! 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins--that won't wreck that spring-break-bod!

*recipe modified from Ambitious Kitchen's Skinny Banana Choco-chip Muffins*

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups spelt flour (or you can use whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tbsp ground flax seed

2 tbsp raw shelled hemp seeds 

3 ripe bananas (mashed)

1/4 cup organic raw honey (or agave nectar

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 egg

1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup dairy free choco. chips or carob chips (really any kind of chocolate chips you desire)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray 12 cup muffin tray with nonstick spray such as coconut oil

2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, flax, and hemp

3. In a separate bowl or mixer, combine mashed bananas, honey, vanilla, coconut oil, egg, alm milk. Stir or blend until well combined with a smooth creamy texture

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well combined

5. Gently fold chocolate chips into the batter

6. Divide batter evenly among the muffin tray and bake in oven for approximately 20-25 minutes (I took mine out after 20 because I like them on the softer side) or until toothpick comes out clean

7. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes...or not...and enjoy!!