Protein Packed 7 Minute Cookies

Mmmmm cookies!!!

Hope everyone had a nice Monday! Sorry for the late post tonight.

I've been trying to get a little more protein in my diet lately, for those of you who know me I live on a mostly cheese and tortilla diet...aka the quesidilla diet. I've been trying to think of ways to trick my brain into thinking that I'm eating ooy-gooy sugar filled foods...so that brings me to my DIY for the day...Quest protein cookies...soooo easy. 

I found these Quest protein bars at my local QNC. 19 grams of protein and only 1 gram of sugar?!? AND it's cookie dough flavored? Sign me up. Ps they just came out with a limited edition Pumpkin Spice flavor too!

Here's my easy Quest Bar cookie how-to/

Tonight I used the chocolate brownie flavor, but use whatever bar flavor you're in the mood for!

Unwrap your bar and stick in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it up a bit. 

Cup up (I chose to do 6 cookies out of bar but I've also done 4).  While it's still warm, roll the 'dough' into cookie like balls. 

Place on aluminum foil or parchment paper and bake for 7 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Fresh from the oven take a fork and swish your cookie down a bit to make it alittle flatter. You'll seriously be amazed at how much these babies 'puff up' and get a cookie like consistency. Now you can enjoy these as is or add a little peanut butter to the top (or do like Matthew and add them to a heaping bowl of ice cream!!) 

Seriously try these out when your next late night sweet tooth hits you, you won't be disappointed!!

And you won't feel guilty eating the whole tray!!

Nutritional facts per cookie (6 cookies total):

Calories- 32 cals

Fat- 1 gram 

Carbs- 3.5 grams

Protein- 3 grams 

Eins, Zwei, Drei, PROST!

[ok-toh-ber-fest]

a traditional festival held each October in Munich, Germany. Fortunately here in the Midwest we love it so much we start it in August and carry it all the way through October.

Being a wife of a musician, our weekends are jammed packed with Oktoberfests. This last weekend we packed the car full of instruments, dirndls and lederhosen, and drove ourselves to Peoria, Illinois. Peoria (by the way population 160 thousand or so) is a pretty cool city. They host quite the Oktoberfest and it is seriously worth the 3.5 hour "cornfields for miles drive" from Milwaukee.

Peoria Oktoberfest celebrated their 20th Anniversary this year, Congrats again Peoria! Die Schwarzwald Vagabunden from the Black Forest in southern Germany took the stage and were the headliners all three nights. They held the crowd til 11 p.m. on Saturday night and had record breaking attendance.

I know the Vagabunden Band since I was a little girl. They were invited to play here in the US many times and became close friends to my entire family (back in 2004 when they appeared at Milwaukee's German Fest I met my husband who was the 22 year old Accordion player).

Here I have a video clip for you to experience one of the many show stoppers. This one is called "Bobfahrer-Lied", a song about a bob sled race. And as you can see, members of the audience had the chance to part take in this special "race":

A quick German lesson for you before you head on over to Oktoberfest

Eins, Zwei, Drei, G´Suffa! --means one, two, three, drink!
Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit -- means a toast to cheer and good times
Band says : Zicke Zacke Zicke Zicke your response Hpi! Hoi! Hoi! --not eu, eu, eu pronouce the H!
Schunkeling--grab the persons arm next to you and sway left to right


What to wear to Oktoberfest?

I have been going to Oktoberfest since the day I was born and have seen everything possible. Anything from Medival Times, to Fiona from Shrek, to I can't believe I am going to say this but Beer Maid Halloween Costumes. Granted the traditional German Dirndl isn't the cheapest outfit (ranging from 100-300 on average) to buy but wearing the Halloween costume is a slap in the face. Have you seen those? Your butt cheeks are hanging out!! Those won't make your Oma proud.

 Little Teagan came along too!!!!

but fell asleep to her daddys music

Bye Bye Peoria til next time

Upcoming Oktoberfests in the Milwaukee Area

Bavarian Inn September 25-26 700 W. Lexington Blvd, Glendale
Pere Marquette Park Oct 1-4 950 N. Old World Third Street, Milwaukee
Bavarian Inn October 2-3 700 W. Lexington Blvd, Glendale
Cathedral Square Park Oct 8-11 520 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee

Beginners Guide To Spin Class

Happy Monday!

Spin class can be downright intimidating. The padded shorts and cycling shoes many people wear to class can make it feel intense and scary, and the loud music and even louder instructor help raise the scare factor. While an indoor cycling class is an intense cardio workout — one 45-minute class can burn upward of 500 calories! — it doesn't have to be scary. 

Since you will be sweating, choose moisture-wicking clothes with good breathability. Regular athletic shoes will do fine — there's no need to invest in cycling shoes until you know that indoor cycling is for you. Bring water and two towels to class. I throw one towel over my handlebars, and use the other one to wipe off the gallons of sweat you're about to produce.

The instructor will guide you through the workout, telling you when to increase or lower resistance, pedal faster, and rise or sit. You'll be guided through climbs, sprints, and muscle isolation. Like any successful workout, keeping your abs engaged is key. There's high-energy music blasting that keeps you moving — and motivated! — for the entire class, and be prepared to sweat. Remember that you are ultimately in control. If you want to alter the instructions to make it through the class, go ahead and decrease the tension. As with anything new--know your limits, and as time goes on, you'll be sure to build up your strength and endurance...and I hope I do too!

Everything deserves a Home

Girls night always leads to great talks, but on this specific girls night I had learned something so important. Thanks to a great friend who introduced me to "the life-changing magic of tidying up" by Marie Kondo my life is complete. I love to organize, label and make things look pretty, but a week later the mess piled up again. Until now, I kid you not this book truly is life changing.

11 dollars or so later my house is tidied up from head to toe. Ever corner, drawer, and cupboard only holds the items that spark my joy. Crazy right?

Rather going from room to room which is typically the way that most of us clean, you work in categories. First you start with clothes, then books, then papers, then so on. This way you are gathering each category together and going through those items as a whole. Grab contractor size garbage bags and get ready to be amazed. You are going to go clothing item by clothing item touching each one individually and asking yourself "does this spark joy?". It's a simple answer yes or no, never maybe or one day, or this was given to me by my lovely grandma and she would be so upset. She will be more upset that it sat on the bottom of your drawer or on the floor of your closet. I minimized my closet by about 60%. I had so much excitement when I was doing this. The next day I was getting ready and went into my closet, my heart raced when I  looked around and I started to panic. Where have all my clothes gone? Am I crazy for getting rid of everything? The closer and closer I got to the shirts I began to realize the magic of this book. I didn't shuffle through the clothes, I just picked one. It was so easy to just grab a shirt, because I was left with only those that made me happy or sparked joy.

As you continue to read the book you are moving on to other categories and quickly able to discard items that simply aren't necessary to hold on to. The object is to complete this tidying up project in as little time as possible. Dragging out the cleaning process isn't going to help and you will be set back into your old ways.

Here are some photos that I hope inspire you to join me on this journey.

And thank your for giving me joy at one point in my life... farwell

We also had two dumpsters full of garbage piled high that I wish I would have taken a picture of.

Are you on board? Take pictures and send them to us at blondebrunetteandbrass@gmail.com or tag us on instagram @blondebrunetteandbrass