Recipe: Banana Blueberry Poppyseed Muffins

adapted from Feeding the Whole Family

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup poppy seeds
2 cups banana puree (2 ripe bananas plus some water)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup almond milk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups.
Put flours, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and poppy seeds in a large mixing bowl and stir, set aside. Place bananas, syrup, almond milk, applesauce, and vanilla in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together using minimum strokes. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cup to top with batter. Bake 25 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins

Recipe: Double Your Money and Make A Stack

1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon real salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons honey
1/2 banana
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup almond milk
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup water

Using a food processor start with the almonds and get them grainy. Add the oats and give them a spin in the food processor. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and pulse a few times.

Add the wet ingredients and turn on till combined.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring to scoop onto hot griddle.

Topping:
mix plain greek yogurt with honey and drizzle on top.
add fresh or frozen berries

NTC

I'm a big fan of Nike Training Club App and love to go to the gym when the group fitness room is open and I can do my NTC workout by myself. It kicks me hard!

Do you have the app? Sometimes I'll do a 15 minute Get Focused workout after I run for an hour. And other times I'll do a 30 minute Get Lean or Get Toned workout after a 40 minute run.

I also like their Facebook page for Nike Women cause they throw some inspirational stuff on there and post some extra videos.

Do Nike commercials always rule or what?

"can you count, suckas"

pinterest fitness board
You're Gonna Be A Big Success
Nike kicks

Wake Up and Fight

eat better, feel better
pineapple chop
greens
green smoothie

Listen: New Direction-Black Lips

Recipe: Coconut Waffles

I love using coconut flakes and coconut flour in my granola, so I decided I'd throw it in my waffle batter and see how it tasted. Success.

1/3 cup almonds
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/3 cup coconut flakes
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

I turned the almonds and oats into flour with my food processor then added the rest of the dry ingredients and gave it a few pulses.
Then I added the wet ingredients and turned on the food processor for a minute.

Pour on hot waffle iron and top how you like.

I used Costco frozen mix berries which are a freezer staple.

Recipe: Almond Oat Flour Honey Pancakes

1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons honey
1 egg
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

optional:
zest of an orange
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

I used my food processor and ground the almonds and the oat to make them into a flour (instead of buying them as a flour). I finished adding the dry ingredients and gave it a pulse.
Add in the wet ingredients and let the food processor run for a minute.

Place 1/4 cups of batter on to a hot griddle.

Topping options:
banana
almonds
honey
berries
citrus sliced
almond butter
peanut butter
yogurt

Watch: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Monday and it's been on my mind since (as good documentaries tend to do).

Could you go on a juice fast for 60 days? I don't know if I could even do 10!

Watch the trailer here.

And I really want a fancy juicer. Growing up my mom had the Juice Man and we'd have fresh carrot-apple juice at breakfast.

Do you have a juicer? What kind?

Two New Cookbooks

Last week I got two new cookbooks: The Cleaner Plate Club & Everyday Food: Light. I've skimmed through them many times already and have started to tab the recipes I want to try.

+The Cleaner Plate Club has great tips for feeding kids and I love the illustrations and pictures in it. It really breaks down everything; fruits, vegetables, snacks and all about real food.

+Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazines have always been a favorite and I've been a big fan of the cookbooks I've owned of her's. (Power Foods and Everyday Food: Great Food Fast) I really love how there is a nice photo of each recipe. That's huge for me in a recipe book.

Did you get any new cookbooks for Christmas? Do you like having a variety of cookbooks or do you stick to one or two?

Recipe: Steel Cut Oats with Kiwi + Banana

It's amazing what adding a new fruit to your breakfast will do. Kiwi is such a burst of flavor that it's the perfect sweetness needed for my steel cut oats. I love the color and combination with banana.
Next time you're at the grocery store. Pick up a fruit that you don't buy very often and add it to your next breakfast.

steel cut oats with kiwi and banana for one

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup steel cut oats
couple dashes of real salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bring to a boil then turn to medium-low and put a lid on for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile prepare the bowl:
1/2 tablespoon flaxseed meal
1/2 tablespoon chia seeds

peel and chop one kiwi
peel and cut one banana

Stir the steel cut oats with the flaxseed and chia seeds and top with kiwi, banana, and drizzle with honey.

Recipe: Winter Harvest Bowl

I participated in a challenge that my favorite food blogger put out for the holidays. It was a Holiday Recipe Challenge. We actually made the winning recipe while I was home, a Cranberry Pear Tart.
You can see my recipe on page 37 of My New Roots Holiday Recipe Challenge Cookbook.

I made it with my sister Egan (also the illustrator of the recipe above) and we loved it.

Things I like about this recipe:
+ It reminded me of stuffing (sans bread and meat) probably because of the mushrooms, celery, onions, sage and thyme.
+love how the sage and thyme took the dish to a whole new level. felt fancier.
+love the fresh kale, a leafy green is a great addition to this
+the citrus and apple give it a juicy and refreshing taste
+the nuts add a nice crunch

Winter Harvest Bowl
4 servings

2 sweet potatoes (or winter squash or butternut) diced and rubbed with olive oil
bake at 350 for 20 minutes

2 cups water and 1 cup brown rice (any grain would work here) cook with lid on until tender.

2 tbs ghee
1 onion minced
3 stalks celery minced
1/2 lb mushrooms minced
1 lemon squeezed
1 tsp fresh sage minced
1 tsp fresh thyme minced
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 apple diced
zest of one orange

top with
ribbon-ed kale
diced orange

Heat ghee in large skillet, then add onions for about 5 minutes

Add celery, mushrooms, lemon juice, salt, sage, and thyme.

Then add cranberries, sunflower seeds, and orange zest.

Just before serving at the diced apple and let it warm up.

To assemble:
place rice in bowl and top with a pile of roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed harvest, fresh ribbon-ed kale, and orange slices.

enjoy with company!

Birthday Cake

I made the Oatmeal Cake for mom's 60th birthday.
It's so light and the texture is amazing.
Give me berries and whipped cream for dessert every time.

*i used a flower shaped silicone "pan" to bake the cake in. cool shape, perfect slices.

Listen: Poultry Slam

Have you listened to This American's Life Poultry Slam?
All the acts are interesting, but the one that gets me is Act Three: Latin Liver.
Listen to it! It's so interesting. I've never heard of foie gras before, but it's goose liver and apparently very delicious. The bummer is how they force feed the geese and their liver gets to a size of a football. Gnarly. Enter Eduardo and his exciting and almost unbelievable philosophy of how to make award winning foie gras without mistreating animals.
Think about it.

Birthday Breakfast

My mom has a birthday on the 26th of December. Lucky huh! We made certain it was special this year because she was turning 60. I made waffles cause waffles are good and we piled on the citrus, pears, and pomegranate. I could eat these every morning.
My sister Kristine broke down the day over on her party blog. It was a great day.