Hello, hello! At the end of 2014, I continued with a mini series I began a few years ago and featured the top posts of the year on PBF. Beginning last month, decided to continue the series for the duration of 2015 and highlight the top 15 posts from each month on the blog at the end of every month. (That post was actually one of my most popular posts from the month of February. Crazy, huh!?) These are not necessarily the top new posts I publish each month, as throwback posts from several years ago always seem to pop up and claim top spots each month which makes me both smile and scratch my head (especially when it’s an old horribly photographed post from 2009 or 2010)!
Here are your most popular PBF posts (according to pageviews) from the month of February, divided into three categories: Recipes, Fitness and Extras. (Note: This series does not include any giveaways or Things I’m Loving Friday posts.)
RECIPES
1. Gluten Free “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake
The number one recipe this month went to this decadent chocolate cake! I can understand why because it’s bursting with fudgy flavor and is 10,000 times more moist than gluten-free chocolate cakes I’ve tried in the past. If you decide to give it a try, don’t skip the homemade icing… It’s the best part. (But I am definitely on “team icing” and not “team cake” so take that into account. Icing = The reason why I eat cake!)
2. Gluten Free Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
I’ve already heard back from a handful of you who have made these muffins with great success. That always makes me smile! I’m so glad you’re loving them as much as we do in our house!
3. Easy Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bars (or Balls)
This simple recipe is a breeze to throw together. I loved the end result and ended up eating the bars both as a light breakfast and as a tasty mid-morning or afternoon snack.
Back in October of last year, I featured this ridiculously easy recipe on the blog and it’s been a popular one ever since. The recipe includes a tasty marinade that can be used for everything from chicken and pork to shrimp and grouper. It’s easy to throw together in the morning and requires ingredients you likely already have at home!
Hoooow did this recipe claim a top spot this month!? I laughed when I saw this throwback recipe from 2010 pop up as one of the most popular recipes this month and can only think it must’ve gained some traction on Pinterest or something. The photography is horrible, but the recipe is a winner, so at least there’s that!
FITNESS
1. Legs + Abs + Arms Boot Camp Workout
This 32-minute workout targets the whole body and allows you to pick and choose which exercises you want to do in which order. I love this style of work out because it allows me to get the exercises I don’t like as much (I’m looking at you, mountain climbers) out of the way first!
I created this workout when I was vacationing in Florida last month and after my sister and I ran through the whole thing, she asked me to write it down for her so she could go through it again in the future. I decided to share it on the blog for anyone who might be interested in pairing sweaty cardio with challenging upper body exercises.
If you’re looking for a 30-minute workout to complete at the gym or at home, look no further! This post features a treadmill workout, an elliptical workout, a total body burner and an at home circuit workout all in one spot.
4. Collection of Boot Camp Workouts
I published this round up post in 2013 and it includes a bunch of my favorite boot camp workouts. I loved seeing this one claim a top spot this month!
5. Training for a Half Marathon on a Treadmill
(Photo from the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon)
This is another older blog post (hello 2012!) and it highlights my experience training for my very first half marathon on a treadmill.
EXTRAS
1. Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
This blog post was a fun one to put together and it doesn’t just apply to Valentine’s Day! You can find lots of fun gift ideas for loved ones that you can use on anniversaries or other special occasions in this post as well.
I’m so glad you guys seem to like random blog surveys as much as I do! This was a fun one to write and share!
3. Leah’s Sarasota Baby Shower
Traveling to Sarasota last month to celebrate my beautiful friend Leah’s baby shower was such a blast. I loved seeing some of my very best girlfriends from college and sharing the experience with you guys once I returned home.
I typed up this blog post early last year and had a great time brainstorming unique bridesmaid gift ideas! I included both gift ideas I used for my own wedding and gift ideas I had in the back of my mind from the times I’ve been fortunate enough to stand beside a bride on her special day and receive something incredibly thoughtful.
5. How To Create Workout Images with PicMonkey
This blog post was a reader request (from multiple readers!) and I’m happy it ended up going over well on the blog. I love sharing blog-related tips and tricks with you guys, so please don’t hesitate to let me know of any additional tutorials/how-to posts you’d like to see in the future!
Top 15 of 2015
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No surprise the chocolate cake was the top recipe post! It’s delicious! I love that you’re sharing the top posts, what a fun way to give a recap!
I love this series!! My favorite post was your 30 minute workouts..I’ve already tried out a few and they are great. Also love the survey, I might have to do that on my blog soon 🙂
Love the Easy Baked Chicken Recipe! So easy, healthy, and yummy!
Gluten or no gluten, that chocolate cake looks delish!!
I love that you recap these – a lot I’ve read, and it’s great to see what I missed! Thanks for sharing them 🙂
Kim
http://trendkeeper.me .. Snow day?!
I know lots of people pop in every now and then and don’t read daily, so I was hoping it would be a fun way to recap posts that may have been missed! So glad you like it!
What a fun idea! And a good way to for your readers to revisit some of our favorites!
Mmmmm that chocolate cake looks amazing! Thanks for putting this together…fun to look back to revisit something or see what I’ve missed! 😉
That cake! Holy cow. I can see why it’s a popular one! I’m an icing fan too, but it has to be the perfect ratio of icing to cake. I’m weird like that haha.
I love posts like this. It is always fun to see what others are liking. And those muffins are TOTALLY worthy of a top spot!
I swear, the posts I put hours of effort into barely get a comment, but then I post a picture of me eating guacamole in my pajamas and I get a record number of page views. 🙂
Oh I know!!! It’s always so unpredictable!
The chocolate cake looks amazing! I made the chocolate cranberry balls this past weekend and brought them to a relay race; they were such a yummy treat after running 9 miles in the frigid cold!
I could definitely go for some of that cake right now!!
those gf orange chocolate chip muffins look delicious!
I want to eat all of this! Happy March!
I love the recaps on your food and workouts. I am still dying to try the energy balls/bars.
Thanks, Daisy!!
The easy baked chicken was a favorite of mine! Big hit in our house!
Yay! So happy to hear this!!
People love dessert! And I’m one of them! Great posts, Julie! 🙂
That chocolate cake looks delicious! Not surprised it was top haha, also love your workouts 🙂
I love this idea of doing a little recap at the end of every month!
Love all the recaps! I need to fiddle with my analytics some more because whenever someone goes to the landing page of my site it doesn’t actually log it as whatever that day’s post is. So the highest page views are just my main page url which doesn’t give me an accurate picture. I must investigate this.
Thanks for rounding up all these posts from Feb!
Oh that is frustrating! Are you using Google Analytics?
Yeah I am. Maybe I need to take a better look at how my posts are labeled or what happens when people just click back on a previous post while still on the homepage. That causes the data to say “page 2” for example instead of the actual post name.
I love looking back to see what posts got the “top spot” in previous months. It’s so fun to see what others liked and I love it when an oldie pops up 🙂
Me too!! So random!
So glad you brought back the post about training for a half on a treadmill! I did that too – for a Disney half in January and I live in Chicago. Running in winter totally intimidates me. I am debating about signing up for the Chicago marathon lottery. That would probably involve a lot of treadmill miles because I travel a lot for work.
I am always searching for your meatloaf recipes, they’re my favorite to turn to! I also really love your two ingredient pumpkin cookies with homemade cream cheese icing 🙂
It has been so long since I’ve made meatloaf! I need to change that! Have you made the BBQ meatloaf? That one is my favorite!!
Yep, that’s the one I follow! Sometimes I use ketchup instead of BBQ sauce to make it a little more traditional (but with all the same spices as your original recipe), and it turns out just as great! I have also made your chicken fingers with the bread crumbs and eggs (long time reader- ha!) and I love to use the leftovers on salads. Your recipes are always a hit in my house, thanks for sharing them! 🙂
I am trying that chicken recipe tonight! Looks delicious!!!
Enjoy!! Hope you like it!
I’m looking to start a new workout routine and love the boot camp idea. Although that chocolate cake looks so tempting too! Great post.
http://www.mintnotion.com
That cake looks like absolutely everything I could ever ask for in life! Oh my lanta! And I agree with the icing statement! Without icing cake is just fancy bread. 😉
I still need to make those stuffed peppers! YUM!
Great post! All of those recipes look delicious 🙂 it’s so fun to have close girlfriends that you can travel to see! And, it’s exciting when friends start to have babies to add to the group!
I made the Chocolate Cranberry Energy Balls this weekend to eat right after work before I go workout. They’re amazing! I’m going to go back to that recipe again and again – thanks for sharing. I actually forgot the cocoa powder this time but they’re still delicious.
so happy to hear it!! 🙂
I have to try that chocolate cake!
Love this series! Can’t wait to look through your bridesmaid gift ideas.
I want to make those stuffed peppers tonight!