Weird Sh*t I Do During WODs

I have some odd habits.

I think the weirdest thing I do during workouts is slap my right thigh.  It's not a particularly hard slap.  It's just my mind cueing my body to stop resting and get back to whatever it is it's supposed to be doing.  I can't be certain, but I think this peculiarity derives from my horseback riding days.  It's like using a crop.  Kinda.

I grunt.  Perhaps that's not odd, but it still startles me to hear those kind of noises escape my mouth.

I talk to myself.  I urge myself on with cries of "let's go" and "back on the bar."  I also no-rep myself out loud.  

If you workout near me, you will hear me counting reps.  I usually count them down backwards from whatever number we're supposed to hit.  I do this to trick my brain into thinking that the last rep is a fait accompli.  Clever, huh?

I clap my hands once before I jump up on the pull-up bar.  I have no idea why.  

-Gym Belle-

#gympressions

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/PUO881ERFi/

Hazelnut & Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies

My parents gave me back a bag of Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards hazelnut flour that they brought back from Washington.  This stuff smells so good.  It's just been begging to become some kind of cookie.

There are not a lot of (paleo) hazelnut flour cookie recipes out there.  And I was somewhat hesitant to risk my one little bag on an experiment.  So, when I found a recipe for almond and hazelnut tart crust that boasted enough dough for some cookies, too, I decided to work with that.

I consider these cookies paleo enough for me.  That said, they do contain baking soda, salt and a healthy amount of honey, so they are not for the super-strict.  Next time, I'll try swapping in coconut sugar in place of the honey because it has a lower glycemic index.  This time, I wanted to stick with something tested.  The only thing I edited out were the chia seeds.

I mixed 1 1/2 cups of almond flour, 1 cup of hazelnut flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, I mixed 1/2 cup of coconut oil, 5 tablespoons of raw honey, 1 teaspoon of almond extract and one egg.  Then I combined wet and dry.  I was very excited to see the mixture form into a real dough.  Very often, paleo "doughs" don't hold together at all, so this was a nice change.  I put the blob on a baking sheet and put it in the fridge for a bit to get it sliceable.  

I baked the dough at 350 in three separate batches.  The smaller cookies went in for eight minutes, the bigger ones I kept in for 11.  

The cookies came out really nicely.  They're nutty and just a bit sweet, and almost cake-like in texture.  They definitely have a strong almond kick to them.  I may try a different flavored extract next time to see what happens.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-