Veggie Egg Muffins

I threw away my muffin/cupcake tin the other day. This is the third time I've made these and also the third time it's all but ruined the metal pan. I have to think it's the pan because there's no one else who has seemed to have the same issue. (Kay posted a similar recipe awhile back and that prompted me to try it in the first place.)

Also, I've tried it in three different ovens: One gas, one electric, one convection. And at three different altitudes: Colorado, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania.

It has to be the pan.

I have plans to buy some silicone pans, or at least one anyway. Have you had luck with one of those?

Or, actually...I think I will bake this in a glass pan next time and just cut it into squares.

This is the perfect weekday breakfast if you like eggs but don't have time to make them each day. And, honestly, cooking at 5:30am was never my activity of choice. I always left the house by 7:00am when I was teaching, so I would really have to be up and around to get breakfast made. This is why I usually just drank a smoothie on my way to work. Eggs are better for weekends, in my opinion.

But Scott will eat a few of these each day for breakfast. There's no way I'm getting up to make him breakfast right now. I used to in Wyoming, when he didn't have to be in class until 10am, but now he leaves by 7am and that's not quite ideal when I've been up at least once the previous night with a baby.

So I'll make these on the weekend, put 3 or 4 in a Ziploc bag and he doesn't need to get up earlier to make breakfast. It's a win-win.

These would also be perfect (i.e. fancy) for brunch or breakfast if you have company.

Veggie Egg Muffins
makes about 18 muffins or one 9x13 pan, cut into squares

10-12 eggs (I used 10 because I had 10 left in one carton, but obviously 12 would work.)
1/2 cup milk
1 green pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 t. sea salt
1 t. freshly ground pepper

If you wanted to, you could add cooked bacon or sausage, finely chopped, and make these non-veggie. I just didn't have any on hand.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray the pan liberally with olive oil spray/canola oil spray or brush with oil.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.
Stir in the chopped pepper, onion, and mushrooms.
Chop the baby spinach into smaller pieces and stir in.
Add the cheddar and make sure everything is incorporated.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to spoon the mixture into muffin tin cups OR pour into your 9x13 pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes (muffins) or 25-30 minutes (larger pan). Check the middle to see if it springs back when touched.

Breakfast suggestions, please.

I've been told (repeatedly by doctors) that I need to eat a certain way in order to reap the benefits of feeling good and maintaining the best physical state for me. I know this. I mostly ignore it because I don't like it. It's science, though, and it's just something I don't want to do because it's unpleasant.

Because I've discovered (through the forcible prescription of a high-protein diet) that I operate better on high-protein, low-carb, it's something I need to get back in the swing of doing. You see, back in May and for part of June, I was more or less forced to eat protein and only protein. I did this through protein bars and protein shots and protein smoothies. It was more or less awful and I hated it. I haven't been able to look at a smoothie since.

Since I was medically allowed to quit that diet and go back to normal life, I've been all over the place. In addition, my skin has been all over the place (I'm working on some changes on this front too) and I feel like I can't make good choices anymore about what I'm supposed to eat and what I'm not supposed to eat. So it's been a carb-fest for the last six weeks. And we won't even talk about the literally hundreds of Sour Patch Kids I've consumed this summer.

My plan was to go back to what I've been doing for the last year and just strayed from recently:

Protein smoothies
Greek yogurt
Cheese sticks
Bars with a lot of protein
Etc.

The problem is arising in the fact that I drank a protein smoothie every day for almost an entire year, and now I can barely choke them down. I don't want to make them, I don't want to smell them, and I certainly don't want to drink them.

I need a new breakfast option, something high in protein and more or less easy. What do you eat for breakfast? Any suggestions? I don't do hardboiled eggs so that's always a roadblock when asking for this kind of advice.

Any help is appreciated!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The dinner of champions.

When I'm left to my own devices, I rely on pancakes, quesadillas, yogurt bowls, or green smoothies. 

This is a favorite lately. It's what I eat when I really just want cookies for dinner. 

(Doctored-Up) Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 cup Bisquick

1 egg

1/2 cup milk (I use unsweetened coconut milk)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix the Bisquick, egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla with a whisk. After all the lumps are whisked out, stir in the chocolate chips.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat a teaspoon or so of canola oil (or butter). Medium heat (I put it on 5 1/2 or 6) and when sprinkled with droplets of water, the oil should pop (I learned that from a Little House book). I also use a paper towel to wipe down the pan with the oil before it gets too hot.

Pour the batter into the size of pancakes you would like and then cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side before flipping. If it doesn't come up easily with a spatula, then that side's not done yet (Rachael Ray taught me that). 

Anyway, this will make 4-6 pancakes, depending on the size. I usually have 3 with syrup and save 1-2 for a snack with peanut butter the next day. 

2015 Recipe Recap + Easy Breakfast Yogurt Bowl

Never again.

At least I finished.

And here's an extra one.

Because I kinda cheated back during that one week in July.

To be honest, I had about 3 or 4 more recipes I would have liked to get to but I just didn't.  Maybe I'll make them in the year ahead.  And I have a new idea for an ice cream cake for  my birthday next week, so be on the lookout for that.

1. Baked Crab Dip
2. Mint Oreo Ice Cream Cake
3. 30 Minute Leek and Potato Soup
4. Company Chili
5. Cookie Dough Ice Cream
6. Scott's Salmon
7. Homemade Marinara Sauce
8. Homemade Naan Pizza
9. Crockpot Chicken Curry
10.  Steak Fries
11. Sort of Homemade Chicken Stock
12. Carrot Cake Blondies
13. Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork
14. Mint Oreo Rice Krispy Treats
15. Basil-Oregano Pesto
16. Italian Couscous
17. Limeaide Margaritas
18. Burrito Bowls
19. Sausage Breakfast Bake
20. Maple Donut Muffins
21. Pumpkin Pupcakes
22. Maple Scones
23. Fajita Quinoa
24. Pineapple-Ginger Smoothie
25. Blender Guacamole
26. Caramel Rice Krispy Treats
27. Birthday Cake S'mores
28. S'mores Popcorn
29. Roasted Garlic
30. Peach Crisp
31. Lemon-Lime Bars
32. Honey-Sunbutter
33. 3-Ingredient Mango Salsa
34. (a link to) Mexican Stuffed Shells
35. Jalapeno Popper Dip
36. Grilled Zucchini
37. Pizza Lasagna
38. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
39. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
40. Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
41. Peanut Butter Frosting
42. Hershey's Kiss Cookies
43. Beef Vegetable Soup
44. Grandma's Banana Bread
45. Scott's Holiday Turkey
46. Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake
47. Roasted Dill Potatoes
48. Peppermint Fudge
49. White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels
50. Crispy Gnocchi and Veggies
51. Cheesesteak Calzone
52. Apricot Squares

(Do me a favor and don't count the recipes. I'm slightly terrified I skipped a number or something and I'm trying not to examine the list too closely.)

Easy Breakfast Yogurt Bowl
makes one serving

1 container of your favorite yogurt (I use Chobani most of the time)
1 small apple, diced
1/4 cup Craisins
3/4 cup of your favorite cereal (I use Multigrain Cheerios most of the time)
Drizzle of honey, optional

Put everything in a bowl and enjoy immediately.  OR put everything except the cereal in a tupperware container and it travels very well to work.  Add the cereal immediately before eating or it will get soggy.

Last-Minute Thanksgiving Ideas!

Looking at this list, you'll notice that I really only care about dessert.  There's some breakfast options. There's a couple of side dishes at the bottom. This list includes everything pumpkin, except the pumpkin pie.  I don't like pumpkin pie.

Pecan Pie

Caramel Apple Galettes

Giant Apple Turnover

Lemon Chess Pie

Caramel Brownie Pie

Apple Crisp

Biscoff Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Caramel Apple Cake

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Gingerbread

Apple Butter Bread

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Walnut Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Spice Brownies (with Cream Cheese Frosting)

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin Apple Cake

Sweet Potato Casserole

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry and Feta

STUFF AND THINGS will be happening on Thursday so, if you're so inclined, link on up!

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

Recipe challenge, week forty (though it's like week 45 and I'm failing at this, but I have noticed that the last three recipes including this one have been pumpkin-based, so that's something...hashtag fall).

Do you have any idea how many recipe posts I've started and never finished?  Many drafts. I feel like someone has inserted some sort of drain in my creativity outlet and taken it all away.  I have an idea or a thought and then it's gone. Or I have NO ideas and thoughts but lots of time to cook. Or I have no time to cook and then no ideas or thoughts to accompany that time so I end up reading or doing Pilates or watching reruns while folding laundry while eating pancakes from a box for dinner.

It's for this reason why I both want to and have to climb into the recipe archives.  I want to share past recipes because they are recipes I STILL make all the time.  Those are the kinds of recipes we need: the dependable ones.  And sometimes this is just a necessity because I can't for the life of me think of something else to do with all the pumpkin I have in my refrigerator.

I first made pumpkin baked oatmeal in 2011 and I continue to make it every year.  I recommend it with maple syrup.  The butter-flavored kind.

But really, it's perfect for me to take to work and heat up for a snack during my planning period. It serves as a ready-made breakfast all week long. And it has chocolate chips in it.  Win-win-win.

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal 
makes an 8x8 pan
(here's the original link)

2 1/2 cups oats
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg OR pumpkin pie spice (or, if you're feeling crazy, both)
1 T. melted butter
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin 
1 cup milk
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries OR chocolate chips

*The original recipe included 3 T. brown sugar. I didn't include it this time and it was just as tasty.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, milk, and butter.  Add the oats, spices, and baking powder.  Stir in the cranberries or chocolate chips.
Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  It's okay to start checking at the 20 minute mark though.  It's done when the middle springs back when lightly pressed. Store in an airtight container (in the fridge if you'd like to) for up to a week.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe challenge, week thirty-eight.

This is nothing new because I feel like I talk about these muffins every fall.

Do you, like me, fear running out of pumpkin?  Our first year in Alaska, there was a pumpkin shortage and that was slightly terrifying.  I don't remember it affecting me directly but I remember people talking about it.  To this day, I keep several cans in the pantry during the fall months.  Just in case.

Our first year in Alaska was also the year I started making these muffins at least twice a fall season.  It's Scott's mom's recipe and I don't actually know where she got it, but we love these muffins.  I've done them as mini-muffins too.

I'm cheating (again) this week and sharing a tried-and-true recipe simply because I made them for a cake walk at the school carnival this past week and I'm making them again, as I type, because I just seriously love them.  I would update with a picture but they're not done yet so maybe later.

Other things I could've put on Instagram this weekend but didn't: ice cream twice in one day, a hike up the Manitou Incline, and Jett goes to obedience school.  All will be discussed on the blog this week.  Eh, maybe not the ice cream thing. That's self-explanatory.

Cheers to Sunday night.  Kind of.  Go make these muffins. I like to eat them for breakfast with peanut butter.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Dry ingredients:
3 1/3 c. flour 
2 T. pumpkin pie spice
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
Mix together and set aside

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
1/2 c. oil
1 1/2 c. sugar

Blend the wet ingredients with a mixer and add the dry ingredients in 3 batches. You can use up to 1/2 c. of milk to thin the batter if necessary. It should be thick when it's all mixed together.

Add 1 c. of mini chocolate chips. Stir and spoon into a muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Maple Scones

Recipe challenge, week twenty-two (which was supposed to be last week)

I don't bake much anymore.  There's a plethora of reasons why and why not.  It probably has to do with the fact that I'm always doing eight things at once so it's really hard to complete a task within a given timeframe.  Baking requires that.  

I honestly have nothing to say about these other than they are good.  I mean, really GOOD.  I made them, ate three, and then took the rest to school and dropped them off in the lounge.  They were gone in an hour.  These scones are both chewy and flaky at the same time.  I don't know how I achieved that but it was pretty remarkable (if I do say so myself).  

Maple Scones

3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened coconut milk)

1 t. apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1 t. maple extract

2 t. vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup flour (plus more for rolling)

1 T. baking powder

3 T. COLD butter, diced

1 egg, beaten

1 T. sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, vinegar, egg, and extracts. 

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, a potato masher, or two forks.  If you feel like getting fancy, you can use a food processor or blender.  You just want the butter to be in tiny chunks, mixed in with the flour. 

Using a wooden spoon, mix the flour/butter into the wet ingredients just until blended.  Don't over mix.  On a floured cutting board, roll it out into a 10 inch circle (a lot like pizza dough).  You want it to be about half an inch thick.  Place it on a greased cookie sheet and slice it into wedges (I use a pizza cutter).  Brush the top with the beaten egg and then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees with 18-22 minutes until golden brown. Allow it to cool and then drizzle with the glaze. 

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 t. maple extract

1 t. milk (or enough to give it a smooth consistency)

Whisk together the sugar, extract, and milk until very smooth. 

Store these scones, covered, for up to a week.  

Maple Donut Muffins

I'm writing this post at 5:47am, as I finish the series finale of Mad Men.  I can't watch stuff like this on Sunday night before I go to bed.  I need time to process.

Thoughts can be discussed via email...no spoilers from me!  (at least until Thursday-ish)

Recipe challenge, week twenty.

It's a teeny bit lopsided there.

In May 2011, we took a trip to Fairbanks for our anniversary.  We stopped in Talkeetna, Alaska to spend the night.  For coffee in the morning, we went to the Flying Squirrel Bakery and had some donut muffins. They were huge and I'm pretty sure there is still cinnamon sugar in the cupholders of that Hyundai Sonata (wherever it may be).

I will say that I would not classify myself as a pastry person. I don't eat a lot of donuts because I just don't see the point.  Like, if I want dessert, I'll have dessert.  If I want breakfast, I'll have breakfast.  I don't really see the need to combine the two.  A semi-responsible breakfast is a license to eat dessert anyway.  You start the day off right...and it all goes downhill from there.

However, I will always remember that fluffy, sweet donut muffin.  When a dear blog friend (who no longer blogs...ahem) suggested I try out one of those donut recipes she'd been making lately, I decided to adapt one of them and change them into muffins.  Per usual, I felt the need to make things a little healthier...because it is breakfast after all.  Or Saturday night dinner in my case.  Oh well.

If you're a hypochondriac like I am*, and feel the need to limit dairy intake, this is the recipe for you. It's dairy-free and can probably be tweaked to vegan with a flax-egg. 

*Or a person with a legitimate dairy allergy.  I do not believe I have a serious intolerance and I understand that many people do.  End of disclaimer.  

Maple Donut Muffins
makes 6 muffins or 12 mini-muffins
loosely adapted from this recipe

1 cup flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. salt

1/2 cup milk + 1 t. apple cider vinegar (I used unsweetened coconut milk)
1 egg
1 T. oil
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. maple extract
1/4 cup sugar

Melted butter spread (or just butter) for brushing
Cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and toss together lightly.  Add in the milk, egg, oil, extracts, and sugar.  With a hand mixer, blend well to get out all the lumps.

Spoon into a greased muffin pan and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  When a toothpick comes out clean, they are done.  Before removing from the pan, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar.  Let cool.

These taste best right away, when the tops are nice and crispy.  The flavor is still there the next day, but the crispiness isn't there.  But this is probably because I stored them in a container with a cover.

Sausage Breakfast Bake

Recipe challenge, week nineteen.

Let me tell you: Mondays come around awfully quickly when you solemnly swear and promise to post a new recipe each Monday.  I do believe that I may start re-doing and highlighting my tried and true recipes at some point.  Because, honestly, we don't need 258 recipes in our repertoire.  We need just a few good recipes that we can make again and again and they never disappoint.

So, we'll see.

I have, as of right now, three recipes to make just so I can take pictures of them, but I don't feel like cooking big meals for myself.  My dinner rotation usually goes: sweet potatoes/black beans, pizza, Annie's Mac and Cheese, cereal, repeat.  Usually preceded by a spinach smoothie and some tortilla chips as an after-school snack. Leftovers are lunch the next day.  Breakfast is usually fancy, expensive peanut butter that I can't buy when Scott's around (because he'll eat it all) and toast (on fancy, expensive bread).  I usually have oatmeal or fruit at school for snacks.  Pre-popped popcorn also my number guilty pleasure.  I go through a bag a week.

Now that you know all of that unnecessary information, you can see that my current arrangement isn't conducive to cooking.

However...

This is a the perfect, easy brunch or lazy-day breakfast casserole.  We had it a few months ago, and I would make this for overnight guests or for a holiday breakfast.  I used chicken jalapeno sausage from TJ's and it was delicious.  Feel free to add bacon too (I've been watching Parks and Rec and bacon just seems like it would go with everything now).

You could alway split it up into muffin cups too and portion it out for a week of breakfasts.

Egg and Sausage Breakfast Bake

Makes a 9 inch pie plate (double for a 9x13 pan)

5 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 sausage links, diced (for a 9x13 pan, used a whole package…I used Trader Joe’s Chicken Jalapeno)

2 cups shredded hashbrowns (I used frozen ones, but you could go with fresh potatoes or sweet potatoes)

½ cup diced green or red pepper (I didn’t have these on hand, but would use them in the future.)

½ cup diced onion

½ t. pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the frozen hashbrowns in the bottom of your pie plate.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, shredded cheese, and pepper. 

In a frying pan, lightly brown the onion, pepper, and sausage in a bit of olive oil.  You can skip this step if the sausage is precooked, but I like the crispy flavor.

Spread onto the top of the hashbrowns.  Pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake for 40 minutes, but start checking it at 30 minutes (just in case) to see if the center is set.  Mine took about 45 minutes, but I’m never sure how much elevation is playing into things here and I also used convection.  

Pumpkin Apple Cake (or bread…your choice!)

I was pretty happy to have Scott come home this weekend. He finally arrived home late Saturday night after a month in Texas.  While it might seem like he was gone forever..it hasn't been forever but he was gone for 2 weeks, he was back for 8 days, and then it was 4 weeks.  So definitely not the definition of a long time.  But still.  Kinda seemed that way.  I maintain that long trips (2 months or more) are easier than counting by days or weeks.

This meant I got access to my old computer.  I was able to retrieve my Columbus vs. Pilgrims powerpoint, complete with real Mayflower-replica pictures.  So, of course, I spent a lot of time browsing through my old Toshiba.  It's actually really nice and then I remembered the reason for my upgrade to a MacBook:  the Toshiba won't hold a charge and won't work unless it's actually plugged in.

I did find some interesting documents, lesson plans, and pictures and it was nice to take a walk down memory lane.  This is a screen shot of some menu-planning I found from 2011.

I was an efficient little menu planner.  There were 3 months of menus that look like this.  The strikethrough clearly means "ACCOMPLISHED!"  I mean, I was baking sugar cookies that looked like states and continents.  I don't even know who I am anymore…

As you can see, I used to be quite organized.  I gave myself deadlines.  And I don't know what the asterisks mean.  Some sort of secret organizational code, perhaps? There's a lot more of them as you go through the document. "Re-blog" meant re-do for the blog because the first showcased terrible pictures.  When I showed this to Scott, he just laughed and then we said, "What HAPPENED?" at the same time.

I digress.

This is a recipe for a healthy-ish fall bread that can serve as breakfast, a snack, or dessert.  I actually left the recipe completely sugar-free and just put a homemade cream cheese icing on top, but you can make the call on that.  I'd say a half cup of brown sugar would work just fine in there.  Of course, I highly recommend frosting, or at least peanut butter or something, on the top.  I made it over the weekend as a way to use up some gala apples, canned pumpkin, and extra frosting I had leftover from cookies the week before.

I followed all the food-blogging steps:  created the recipe, constructed the recipe, photographed the recipe, blogged about the recipe.  I'm definitely trying to get back in the groove here.

Pumpkin Apple Cake
makes one 8x8 pan

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 T. vanilla

Combine all the wet ingredients with a mixer.

Then, in a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients:

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups flour

Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  I used a convection oven and it took longer than I thought it would.  However, that also could've been the 6,000 foot elevation here.  I recommend starting to check it around 25 minutes.  You could also use a loaf pan and baking time would increase to about 45 minutes.  Just check the middle with a butter knife or skewer before taking it out.  

Cookie Butter Granola (and a Moving Tip)

One of the best decisions we made when packing up the house in Missouri was to pack the food we had in our house.  All refrigerated/frozen items went into the deep freeze freezer and Scott hauled it 12 hours to Colorado.  All dry goods went into boxes and tubs.  Because one of the hardest parts of starting over in a new house is  making that first (very expensive) grocery trip, I wanted to avoid that.

Plus we had a lot of frozen duck in the freezer and Scott didn't want it to go to waste.

I was sure to bring my giant jar of natural Jif peanut butter (because peanut butter is both expensive and delicious), but I also had a jar of cookie butter hanging around.  I don't know why I buy that stuff.  I rarely eat it and only ever use it to bake with.  This jar had been in the cupboard since Christmas.

Since I eat homemade granola almost everyday, this gave me an idea.  I've been making peanut butter granola most weeks.  I make about 3-4 cups and then that lasts me for breakfast and snacks.  It's particularly tasty with coconut milk.

On this day, we were almost out of peanut butter, so I ended up using 1/3 cup of cookie butter (the chocolate swirled kind) and peanut butter.  The result was a grown-up, more filling version of Cocoa Pebbles.  

Sounds good, right?

If you don't have the chocolate swirled cookie butter (from Trader Joe's), you can use regularly cookie butter or biscoff.  Or maybe just add in some cocoa powder?  Sweetened or unsweetened, it's up to you!

Cookie Butter Granola

1/3 cup cookie butter

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup canola oil

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

3 cups to 4 cups of old-fashioned oats (depending on the consistency you want..and 3 cups first, stir, and then add more if you desire)

Melt the cookie butter and peanut butter together in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Stir in the oil, vanilla, salt, and oats.  Mix well.

Spread onto a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes.

Let cool and store in an airtight container for up to a week.  I recommend it with coconut milk (the kind the you buy in a refrigerated carton).

Everyday Banana Bread

Continuing with the trend of posting something good-for-me (and you) each week, I present Everyday Banana Bread.

You see, my family's banana bread recipe uses Crisco and Bisquick.  It sure is tasty.  I especially liked the way my grandma always put vanilla frosting on the top of it.  I picked up that habit too once I started making it on my own. 

However, I wanted to start making a banana bread that I can eat for breakfast.  Something without a lot of sugar because most of us have learned the hard way that sugar for breakfast won't make us any peppier come Monday morning at 10am.

I topped this with a little natural peanut butter and a drizzle of honey.

Everyday Banana Bread

2 mashed bananas

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

2 T. unsweetened applesauce

2 T. apple butter

2 T. oil (I used canola)

1/3 cup brown sugar (You could use molasses…I just didn't have any.)

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 cups flour

With an electric mixer, combine the bananas, egg, vanilla, applesauce, apple butter, oil, and brown sugar.  In a separate bowl, stir together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour.  Add to the wet ingredients.  

Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

(Note: You could also do this in an 8x8 pan and just adjust the baking time.)

My other favorite breakfast breads:

Apple Butter Bread

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Healthy Cranberry and Orange Scones

Healthiness: Green Smoothie with Flax

We all need a super smoothie recipe in our arsenal, right?   Here's my new favorite.

Blue Diamond should sponsor me at the rate we go through this stuff.

Protein powder, flax, xanthum gum

My new love is ground flax.  I put it in oatmeal, regular and baked.  It's great in muffins and banana bread too.

It definitely adds a nice nutty texture to green smoothies.  I highly recommend it.  I've also tried this with wheat germ, so that's an easy substitution if you don't have flax.

Green Smoothie with Flax
makes 2 big servings (that's not all of it in the glass above)

1/2 cup blueberries
1 banana, frozen and cut into chunks
Optional: 1/2 cup other frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, mango, mixed…whatever you feel like)
1 T ground flax (We use Bob's Red Mill.)
1-2 T vanilla protein powder (I like the flavor you get from it…I'd use more if it was before or after a cardio workout.)
Pinch of xanthum gum
1 cup almond milk (We use regular unsweetened.)
2 cups fresh spinach
Water, if needed, to help blend it

Blend it up!

{I'm not blind: I know it looks gross.  But it tastes so fresh and is very filling.  If it wasn't so much work to clean the dumb blender, I'd probably make 2 a day.}

Healthiness in 2014: Breakfast

Chances are that if you've written a blog post at anytime in the last 2 weeks, I read it yesterday.  I'm slowly climbing out of my Robitussin stupor, just in time for school tomorrow.  That's figures, right?  I'm recovering from 36 hours on the couch and now Scott is sick.  As soon as I feel a sore throat creeping in, I immediately think the worst: strep.  Because I've never felt pain like that before.  Then I thought: flu.  Because I was stubborn enough not to get a flu shot.  

Anyway, several hours of blog reading and 1 1/2 seasons of Damages later…

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We've all read those healthy living blogs that make us believe everything we're doing is wrong, right?  You see, for me, it goes in a cycle: read blog about workouts/healthy food consumption, roll eyes and go eat marshmallows.  Next time, I read, roll my eyes and go eat ice cream.  Soon, I start to think that maybe those bloggers are onto something and soon I'm eating vegetables for dinner and only eating ice cream a couple of times a week.  Eventually, coupled with workouts I was already doing (because the gym has been a steady part of my routine for a few years now), I start to feel and look good.  Then, I get bored, get a job, get a life, etc, and I stop caring.  I start to feel bad.  Like I'm not doing all that I can for myself.  Then, the whole cycle starts all over again.  

However, I think a lot of us are truly doing the best we can with what we've been dealt.  For some, it may be squeezing in a 5am run before work/kids get up.  For others, weekend Zumba classes because the work week is too busy.  For me, it's the motivation to attend group fitness classes after work and eat real food for lunch and dinner when all I really want is to lay on the couch while eating quesadillas.  

So I'm going to address some of the things that I think are important when it comes to health.  Because, I admit, I DO feel better about myself when I know I'm eating well and exercising.  You know you do too…

So I'm going to show you what I truly believe has made a difference in the way I feel over the last few years. 

I'm going to start with an easy one for me:  Breakfast.  I'm notorious for starting the day really, really well and then pulling out the chips and hummus for lunch.  It's a flaw.  

I don't know what gets you out of bed in the morning but, for me, it's breakfast.  Or coffee.  …How about both? I was never a breakfast-eater until maybe 3 or so years ago.  It's depressing how many years I spent not enjoying what is now my favorite meal of the day.

I also am trying Lemon Water as soon as I get up in the morning.  This website talks about the benefits of you can get from this.  Have you ever tried it?

Green Smoothies.  I really put in as much green as my blender will allow.  I stick with spinach, but you can use whatever greens you prefer. Scott has recently gotten himself into smoothies too, and the amount of spinach and almond milk we go through each week is kind of obscene.  If I don't have one for breakfast, I often have one right after school.  It's not about the energy, it's about the greens.  It just makes me feel better, after I often snack my way through a school day.  Scott likes adding celery to his smoothies.  While this initially didn't appeal to me, celery gives it the best texture and makes it more of a meal replacement.  I'm a fan of it now.
Frozen Monkey Smoothie.  These are more like milkshakes for breakfast.  You won't regret it.
Oatmeal.  I have oatmeal 5 out of 7 days a week.  Sometimes it's in the form of oat bran or regular oatmeal, but my heart is with the steel cut oats.  I love them with a little bit of almond milk and a spoonful of apricot preserves.  Yum.
Yogurt.  We've been doing a lot of parfaits lately too.  Plain greek yogurt, drizzle of honey, diced apple,  and then some granola.

Fun fact: I only like my apples diced.  I don't like to eat them whole. (This is a smaller serving in a small bowl that I used yesterday because I wasn't feeling well…usually I use a cereal bowl.)

Baked oatmeal.  This stuff is way too easy to make.  Perfect for a weekend breakfast that you can easily portion out for the work week.  I like to put a little maple syrup on top of the pumpkin baked oatmeal.
Overnight Oats.  This was more of a summertime breakfast for me, but regardless, you can't go wrong!

Also, I'm a big fan of almond butter, any form of trail mix, or granola as I'm sipping my morning coffee.

What do you eat for breakfast?  I used to be a breakfast-skipper because I hated eating early in the day.  Now I plan what I'm going to have for breakfast before I go to bed.

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Is there any topic you'd like to see me mention on this Healthiness series?  I was thinking lunch, quick dinners, workouts, skincare (something I'm really working on!), etc.  Any preference?

Overnight Oats Tutorial

Happy Monday!  Have you had breakfast yet??  My new favorite breakfast is overnight oats.  We (because Scott eats what I'm willing to make him) have been eating these for the last month or so.

When I started looking up overnight oats recipes, I noticed some pretty precise measurements..2/3 cup of this, 1/2 cup of that.  I really don't think that's necessary.  Especially because, if you're on the ball enough to make your breakfast the night before, there's no need to bust out the measuring cups.  Let's face it, I take the Rachael Ray approach (read: don't measure) most of the time.  Since some of you might fall into the same category, this is a quick way to make several days' worth of breakfast at once.

You need:  old-fashioned/rolled oats, almond milk, chia seeds, honey, yogurt.

Some recipes say "2 T. chia seeds".  That, to me, seems overkill.  I use a generous teaspoon.  I usually don't use a spoon, just my palm, to measure, but this is about what I put in.  It will do the job.

Then, the yogurt.  I use vanilla.  Again, some recipes say to use a whole 6 oz. container.  Eh.  It's more convenient to buy a giant container.  It lasts quite a while in the fridge. 

Plus, I'm not crazy about yogurt.  I have a hard time getting past the sour taste, so I just put in a large dollop.  Again, it totally does the job for you.  Maybe 1/4 a cup? (I swear, I really don't measure it.)

Then I drizzle on some honey.  You don't have to.

I add unsweetened vanilla almond milk until it looks like this.  Then I mix it up...

..and it should look kind of soup-like.

Stack them up and store them in the fridge!

They can stay in the fridge for at least a week, if needed, but they need to "cook" overnight.  

When you pull it out, you have this:

Add more almond milk, maybe more honey (I always do)...and stir it up!

That's it!