Blog Archives
Let’s Start Again…
After 99 days, I’ve returned to blogging. :) I mean it this time! The first half of my senior year of college went very differently than I imagined. I could sugar-coat the year but honestly…..it blew. My schedule was so demanding that I had very little energy to put into anything creative and active.
But I won’t blame being “busy” on my hiatus. Through the fall (the first fall in 8 years that I was not participating in competitive cross country) I had to think of how I wanted to restructure my blog. “Student-athlete perspective on health and fitness” isn’t exactly appropriate anymore since A.) I’ll be graduating in 16 weeks and B.) my collegiate athlete days have come to an end. Reading back through a lot of my old posts, Strong Like My Coffee sometimes comes across like a “how-to” guide to being healthy. Well I’m not qualified to offer constant health and fitness advice, so I figured a little change in objectives was in order here.
This began as a platform for sharing workouts, recipes and health advice. Turns out you can find the same workouts on 63,783,564 sites in this world wide web. My recipes are simply copies or altered versions of other recipes. And as far as “advice”…..I just feel a little silly pouring out health and fitness tips as a 21-year old figuring it out myself.
Obviously my life will always be connected to health and running, but I’m not a health preacher or teacher. I don’t know it all! I would definitely say that a contributing factor to my lack of posts last semester was fear of looking like a hypocrite. Sharing the workouts and the smoothies and the salads without also sharing the frozen yogurt, the skipped run, or the extra peppermint mochas would seem deceiving. Like most bloggers, I can always share my own experiences with striking balance & a healthy lifestyle but I don’t see my blog as a guide or a “how-to” for health and fitness. Not a guru, just a girl who likes to run :)
So then I thought about quitting the blog altogether. I absolutely did NOT want this to become: a journal, diary, or place to brag, complain, vent, preach, or glamorize my life. It’s a tricky balance to create content that is entertaining and positive and focused around a theme. But I don’t like quitting. ;) So I’ve decided to expand my “theme” beyond straight health & fitness to all things domestic…
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned in the past two years of posts, but I am fascinated with the 1950’s and the housewife culture. I am, by no means, a feminist. Not that I judge anyone’s opinions on gender roles in the 21st century, but I personally like the Donna Reed era (It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies). It’s emphasis on dressing feminine and classy (heels, skirts and bows), domestic duties like cooking, baking and cleaning, and maintaining discretion (AKA a little social-media-modesty) is refreshing.
I would like to keep my apartment organized and decorated, prepare and cook all of my (mostly healthy) meals, make a mean mojito or manhattan, send thank you notes, read more books, make more phone calls, write and blog, watch the news, take walks outside, curl my hair, paint my nails, and learn to host a cocktail party (sans red solo cups). So why not blog about that (there’s only so many running recaps and protein smoothies you can take anyways, right?!)
More Memories, Less Selfies.
I even created a “Domesticated” Pinterest board with more elaborate and hearty recipes for when I cook for other people (because apparently not everybody craves arugala and fennel.)
So what are my New Year’s Resolutions?
I HAVE NONE.
January 1st just felt like another day, not an impending deadline to come up with new goals. Plus 2015 is full of big moments (graduating college!!!!) and the unknown (finding a job???) that I would rather take as it comes. :)
I’m optimistically thinking my upcoming semester will be significantly better than the previous. But instead of promising that I’ll start posting more, I’ll just prove it to you. ;)
-Love Kenzie
2 Years Strong!
We have a big bad birthday celebration in the house…..
Strong Like My Coffee turns 2 years old today.
My blog is a toddler!
Despite what you’ve heard about those Terrible Two’s I think exciting things are in store ;)
Anniversary…Birthday…whatever you want to call it….we need a cake! Because, I say so. (Who made the rules?!)
Last year, SLMC’s first birthday brought you this “healthified” Raspberry Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake. In keeping with my coffee cake theme, I searched for something equally cute. I adapted Chocolate Covered Katies “1 minute coffee cake in a mug” with a recipe down below :)
The blog statistics:
- In the past 365 days….
- 77 blog posts
- 278 pictures
- 14,562 cups of coffee
Stats on this recipe:
- Healthy (low-sugar, low-fat, portion controlled)
- Convenient (microwavable!)
- Quick (5 min. tops)
- Adorable (it’s a cake in a mug, c’mon!)
- Coffee-themed (how appropriate.)
And that is as statistical as it gets around here :)
The Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake in a Mug Recipe:
(Serves One)
- Combine the following:
- 3 Tbs. flour of choice
- 1 Tbs. water
- 1 Tbs. coffee
- 2 tsp. unsweetened applesauce
- 1 Tbs. Stevia (or sugar)
- tiny pinch of salt
- pinch of cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- Spoon 2/3 of the mixture into a mug (I recommend lightly spraying with cooking oil first.)
- Combine the following in a separate dish:
- 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon
- 1 Tbs. brown sugar (or stevia)
- 1 Tbs. pecan pieces
- 1 Tsp. applesauce
- Spoon half of the cinnamon mixture over cake mixture.
- Add remaining layer of cake batter.
- Add remaining layer of cinnamon.
- Microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds. Increase by 10 seconds if needed.
Bring on a brand new year of coffee, celebrations, cake, hanging out on New York rooftops and many more mornings of blogging :)
***Cheers!***
And if you are on Instagram, I just joined your world. You can follow along @stronglikemycoffee if you’re into that sorta thing :) I’m looking for good fitspo accounts to follow too!
Lookin’ Back at 2012
My 2012 in a nut shell:
- JANUARY: Start of my very first job. Star of new semester. Start of my very first indoor track season (which began pretty shaky with a not-so-stellar 3k).
- FEBRUARY: Qualified for the Conference Indoor 5k. Ran the fastest 5k time of all the freshmen in the conference. My birthday!
- MARCH: Spring Break. First actual SNOW DAY. First Outdoor track meet in Tucson
- APRIL: Track trip to California. PR (personal record) of 17:50 for the 5k. Qualified for the Conference Outdoor 10k. ‘Jocks vs. Greeks’ dodgeball tournament.
- MAY: End of freshman year. Traveled to Bozeman, Montana with the track team for Conference Championships. Ran my first 10k! Wild Huckleberries. Bulldogs on Skate Boards. Home for the summer.
- JUNE: The Maine concert with Danielle (my second time seeing them live!) :) Beach. Roller blades. Running. First 3D movie.
- JULY: New York City! Subways, Empire State Building, Grand Central Station. Central Park, Bryant Park, Washington Square Park, Times Square. 1st surgery. Long recovery. Launched Strong Like My Coffee.
- AUGUST: Pack up. Move back to school. Sophomore year!
- SEPTEMBER: Football games. Cross country meets. Recipes. New Roommate – Fernanda! Pumpkin Spice Latte back at Starbucks. Happy Girl!
- OCTOBER: Mom visits for Girl’s Weekend. FINALLY started running again :D :D :D Ice skating. Rock wall climbing. First snow fall. Pumpkin Carving. Happy Halloween.
- NOVEMBER: Beyond ready for a weekend at home. Hiked to the ‘Bridge to Nowhere‘. Emergency Room. Rode a mechanical bull. Thanksgiving with family. O Christmas Tree.
- DECEMBER: End of semester; 2nd surgery in NYC; survived the Mayan Apocalypse; Merry Christmas!
After 5 months I have over 100 blog posts, and followers in 82 countries (I didn’t even know 82 countries existed!) So here are my Top 5 Favorite Strong Like My Coffee Moments:
5.) Our hilarious adventures Not Hiking Mt. Humphries:
4.) My Dad’s 50th Birthday!
3.) All things COFFEE:
2.) My fave recipe: Strawberry Banana Oat Cookies :)
1.) The Many Faces of Missy:
Have a fun & safe New Years! I haven’t come up with a resolution yet, but I’m working on one! See you in 2013 ;)