Luv What You Do

Balancing a Busy Life with a Healthy Lifestyle

Baked Apple Breakfast Quinoa May 8, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast,Grains,Turkey — Luv What You Do @ 9:07 pm
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People are always shocked to hear that I eat quinoa for breakfast.  I mean, I don’t eat it every morning, but as this post shows, there is no meal (including dessert) that quinoa can’t participate in.  For the people who are curious along with surprised, I often share with them this recipe.

 

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Last night as I was pulling it together (you can prep ahead to save time in the mornings), it occurred to me that my bananas weren’t ripe enough.  Like that ever happens…usually I am overloaded with overripe bananas (hence all of the banana bread).  I knew that I could follow the recipe without banana, but that the nuttiness of the quinoa needed a little something sweet to balance the flavor.

 

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The only thing available in my house was some natural applesauce, so I decided to give it a go.  I also added in apple pie spice and then placed my concoction in the fridge overnight.  This is totally not necessary but helps speed things up in the morning.

 

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This morning, it took just 3 minutes and breakfast was ready.

 

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I topped my quinoa cake with almond butter which was delicious (although not so colorful).

 

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It was quite a filling breakfast that kept me moving almost until lunch (my stomach started growling around 11:30am), which was only slightly embarrassing.

 

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The Baked Apple Breakfast Quinoa was good, but my favorite remains the banana!   Although if my bananas are still green, this will make a good stand in for tomorrow’s breakfast.

 

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So now that I showed you how I started the day…let me also share how I finished it (in terms of food anyways…there was some Downton Abbey involved as well).  Another easy and healthy dinner…turkey taco salad!  Even easier because the BOY had the turkey done before I  got home : )

 

 

Do you eat quinoa for breakfast?  What’s your favorite recipe?

 

 

Baked Apple Breakfast Quinoa

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 egg + 1 egg white

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

Chopped apple (optional)

1 tbsp ground flax

Apple pie spice

 

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.  Stir well.

Microwave for 3 minutes until center is set and cake like.

Cool slightly before eating.

Top with jelly, nut butter, coconut, maple syrup, etc.

 

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread April 23, 2013

Filed under: Bread,Swimming — Luv What You Do @ 9:46 pm
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I was hoping to get out on my bike one more time this morning before heading out of town for the weekend.  The weather looked wet, and I wasn’t feeling motivated to get up and moving.  Instead, I went to the park district for a swim.  Between running Sunday and biking Monday, my body was pretty tired.  However, I continue to be impressed with the fact that I am actually going to the pool.  I’ve been swimming so many times this year that I’ve lost track!

 

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This morning, I started off with freestyle laps.  I did three at my typically slow pace and then sped up for the forth for 15 minutes of intervals.  Then finished off with a little over 10 minutes prone on the kick board.  After 25 minutes, I was beat from head to toe and my heart was pounding from the intervals.  I happily spent the next 10 minutes in the hot tub before dragging myself out to get ready for work.

I know I don’t even need to tell you guys how much I love making banana bread!

 

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So when someone hands me a bunch of nana’s right before I am heading out of town, I just HAVE to make some banana bread (even if the nana’s aren’t that brown).

 

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In search of a new banana bread recipe, I came across a Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread from Lovin’ From the Oven.

 

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Even though I was thinking about a double chocolate swirl type bread, this recipe definitely caught my eye.  I wanted to bring some mini bread loaves to work to share with a few coworkers, so I used three small pans instead of one big one.

 

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The breads baked up beautifully with a crispy top, and I was tempted to tear off a tiny taste of sweet crust.

 

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But I was able to resist!  Barely…my kitchen smelled so wonderful! 

 

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Instead, I packed them up into colorful bags suited for sharing with friends!

 

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The breads still smelled amazing as I drove from the pool to work this morning, and my coworkers were thrilled to have homemade bread waiting for them at work.

 

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This post is filled with more amazing banana bread recipes!

 

 

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

From Lovin’ From the Oven

 

Ingredients

For the bread:

3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

dash of salt

1 1/2 cups flour

For the swirl:

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbs cinnamon

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and four a loaf pan (or spray with cooking spray).

Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. sprinkle baking soda and salt around on top of the banana mixture. Then gently stir in flour. Be careful not to over-mix!

In a small dish, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Add 1/2 of the batter to the loaf pan and then sprinkle half, or a little more than half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture all over the batter in the pan. Add the rest of the batter, and then sprinkle the leftover cinnamon-sugar on top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Note: If baking muffins or mini loaf pans, adjust baking time to ~35 minutes.

 

They’re Back April 17, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast,Fruit,Oatmeal,Vegan — Luv What You Do @ 9:41 pm
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Overnight oats are back!

 

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Woo Hoo!  It’s been a little while since I’ve had this breakfast, so I whipped up a batch in prep for tomorrow morning’s track workout.  I am meeting a coworker at the indoor track near work, so it was an early morning…perfect for breakfast in the car.  I convinced my coworker to try one of my new favorite interval workouts, so we’ll see how it goes.  With breakfast and a friend waiting, it will be hard to sleep in…even if it is another grey day!

 

Not yet back…the sun!

 

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It’s been way too long since we’ve seen you!

 

Also back in the picture…

 

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Banana Soft Serve (with almond butter)!

 

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This stuff is amazing!  But even better with a tiny cookie dough ball.

 

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It’s about as close to a homemade DQ blizzard as you can get!

 

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Although my workouts are going well (I ran 9.5 miles this weekend), my eating has been a bit overboard.  It’s really time to get that BACK on track!

 

 

What’s back in your world???

 

 

Banana Almond Butter Soft Serve

 

Ingredients

1 frozen banana

2-3 tbsp almond milk

1-2 tbsp almond butter

Chocolate chips (optional)

 

Directions

Place frozen banana and almond milk in food processor.  Blend until smooth, adding more milk as needed.  Add almond butter and chocolate chips (if using) and blend until well combined.  Eat immediately!

Optional: Stir in more chocolate chips, peanuts, or Vegan Cookie Dough Balls!

 

Indoor BRICK April 13, 2013

Filed under: Biking,Running — Luv What You Do @ 5:04 pm
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With the launch of running season behind me and a Shamrock Shuffle 8k PR in my pocket, it is time to dive into some more serious training.  Ok, so probably not super serious, but definitely more time consuming!  I took the time to schedule out my workouts leading up to the half marathon on May 5th and sprint triathlon on June 16.  I am behind a bit in long runs, but have a weather dependent 10 miler scheduled for tomorrow with a friend.  On the calendar for today, my first BRICK of the year!

 

Unfortunately, I had a conference call this AM and missed my new spin class and the weather was not conducive to busting out my bike.  Total bummer because it’s almost May and my bike is still hanging up in the garage.  Since I am new to joining the park district, I sometimes forget about the resources I have access to for training.  When I arrived this morning, I asked if I could use the spin room for my workout.  They said that’d be fine but since the room was locked, it didn’t work out.  They mentioned that there are spin bikes, with clips in the gym that were currently empty.

 

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I walked over to the bikes and discovered this high-tech spin bike.

 

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Have you seen anything like this?

Since It’s been over a year since I had a gym membership, I have not.  I flipped through some of the programs and got started with an endurance ride.  However, the ride was pretty boring and so 10 minutes in, I switched to intervals.  It was much more engaging to have the instructor in the video pushing me along, but the music was pretty lame.  He claimed it was to help me ‘relax my upper body’.  Personally, I prefer something a little more upbeat, so I plugged into my ipod while following the directions written on the screen.  After 45 minute, I was sweating and pleased with my ride.  Not as exiting as a spin class but definitely better than pedaling away alone on a stationary bike!

 

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I changed my shoes, wiped down the bike, and found my way to the track for a 15 minute run.  Ahh…now I remember why this workout is called a BRICK.  It took me about 8 minutes to get into my groove, but the last half of the run left me feeling strong!  It was definitely a solid workout considering I had to stay indoors.  Here’s to hoping the rest of this year’s BRICKS can take place outside!  We had late lunch plans, so I came home to shower and have a quick snack.  I was craving a banana and almond butter, but my banana was super mushy…yuck!  So I mashed it up, stirred in the almond butter and a dash of cinnamon.

 

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I know it probably doesn’t look appetizing, but I dug in with a spoon and it tasted awesome!  The perfect carb/protein combo to tide me over until lunch.

 

 

What was your workout today?

Any random post workout snacks that you like?

 

A Breakfast Fit For Race Day April 10, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast,Oatmeal,Triathlon — Luv What You Do @ 8:46 pm
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This breakfast came together accidently.

 

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Although I wish I could take full credit for being innovative and creative, I really just had some leftover quinoa that I didn’t want to waste and a few overripe bananas from my mom.

 

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And a need to make a breakfast that could travel with me over the weekend.

 

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Ta Dah!!!

 

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The quinoa adds a hint of nuttiness, which is PERFECT for a pre-race brekkie!  And a PR!

 

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I ate my first slice warm straight out of the oven because I had to run off to spin, and then packed two to go for my weekend race in the city.  The last slice I froze for later in he week.  It will be great to eat on the way to the gym.

 

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On the exercise front…

I signed up for my FIRST triathlon of the year!  I will be doing the Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon on June 16th!  Can you tell I’m excited?

I probably could have stayed in bed yesterday morning!  After an active weekend in the city, including a fast 8k race, my bed was a happy place for me to stay (possibly all day).  But with a half marathon in just a few weeks, a spring triathlon, and the promise of a hot tub, I left my comfy bed despite the gray skies and pouring rain.  Although I had intended on a bike/swim medley, I ended up only going to the pool for 25 minutes of swimming and 10 minutes in the glorious hot tub, nestled in next to the jets.  It was glorious!

 

 

Banana Quinoa Baked Breakfast Oats

Makes 4 servings

 

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked oats

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp ground flax seed

3 overripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

1 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.

Stir together uncooked oats, cooked quinoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and flax.  Set aside.

Mash bananas until smooth.  Beat in egg, almond milk, vanilla and beat well.  Stir in dry ingredients until just blended.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, until middle is set.

Eat warm or freeze for later.

 

Buttermilk Banana Bread March 20, 2013

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 9:27 pm
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Are you sick of me complaining about the weather yet?

I hope you’re not sick of brown bananas and banana bread!

 

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I tell you this much…I am totally sick of waking up to this scene!  Good thing it was Monday and the BOY’s car that needed to be brushed off instead of mine : )

 

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One thing that I never get sick of is seeing leftover bananas in my kitchen.  I’m sure you are curious about what I do with all of this banana bread besides use it to warm my house on cold days (and save on candles because it smells so darn good)!

 

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For the most part, my banana bread is meant to share.  The BOY won’t touch a banana and if I ate a loaf of banana bread every week, my jeans wouldn’t fit any more.  So, I bring bread to work meetings, friends’ houses, my parents, and store some in my freezer for anything that may come up.

 

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I’ve been staring at this recipe for about 4 pounds worth of flour and with just a few ounces left and buttermilk in the fridge, I figured it was finally time to give it a try.

 

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As you know, I have baked and tasted numerous banana breads, so I just had to slice off a bite of this one before moving it to the freezer. 

 

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It is one moist and delicious bread! 

 

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More Recipes with Buttermilk

Dark Irish Soda Bread

Cornbread

Walnut Blueberry Banana Bread

Buttermilk Pancakes

 

 

Best Ever Banana Bread

From Gold Medal Flour

 

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3-4 medium)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

 

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of one 9×5 loaf pan.

In large bowl, mix sugar and butter. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and nuts (if using) just until moistened. Pour batter into pans.

Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before slicing.

 

Friday Morning Vacation March 15, 2013

Filed under: Bread,Breakfast,Life,Running — Luv What You Do @ 11:52 am
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I am beyond thrilled with my last minute decision to take the entire day off of work instead of working 5 hours in the morning and then driving back home (30 miles) before driving down to St. Louis!

 

I slept in well past my first patient, and I finally learned how to make flip pancakes!

 

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Yum!  These are incredible!

 

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I had time to make another loaf of Irish Soda Bread to take with us this weekend.

 

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And then sat down to catch up on blog reading, emails, and tea drinking while my bread cooked. 

 

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A little after 10am, I pulled my bread out of the oven and headed outside for some fresh air and sunshine.  Both have been lacking this week!  I also just needed some quiet and alone time, and the path is always so peaceful!

 

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With the all of the ice, snow, and rain these past few weeks, the path was a bit of a mess.  There was ice along some parts that needed to be walked over and a flood so bad that I would have needed a canoe to get across.  Running (and walking) along the trail, I felt calmer than I had all week!

 

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I walked in the front door just after the start of the Indiana vs Illinois basketball game, and.sat down to watch the game with a shamrock shake.

 

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Yea Right!  It’s just a kale, orange, mango green smoothie, which is super tasty!

I definitely need to have more Friday morning vacations in my life!

 

 

 

Friday Morning Pancakes

Adapted from Two Ingredient Pancakes

 

Ingredients

1 banana, mashed

1 egg

1/4 cup almond meal

 

Directions

Combine all three ingredients and stir well.

Pour batter onto a pre-heated, coated-in-non-stick-cooking-spray skillet or fry pan.

Cook and flip!  Top with your favorite pancakes toppings.

 

Molasses Banana Bread March 9, 2013

Filed under: Bread — Luv What You Do @ 8:29 pm
Tags: , ,

I buy my bananas at Costco for two reasons.

#1) I eat a lot of bananas (and their price is the best!)

#2) Leftovers make great banana bread (or baked banana oatmeal!)

 

I saved these last three bananas to make bread to bring to a friend’s house this weekend.  I could have sworn that I had previously made a banana molasses bread, but couldn’t find it on the blog.

 

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So I did a quick internet search and found a new recipe to try.

 

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The best part is that it is a quick and easy recipe!  You only need ONE bowl, so it’s perfect for over ripe bananas.

 

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Baker’s Note: If you are measuring oil and something sticky (like molasses), measure your oil first and then use the same measuring cup for the molasses.  It will slide right out and is super easy to clean.

 

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I followed the recipe as written except that I left out the nuts.

 

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The worst part about making bread to bring to a friend’s house is that it is frowned upon to slice yourself a taste test.

 

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But if the batter and smell are any indication, this bread is a real winner!  So upon further inspection it turns out that I was actually thinking about this Maple Banana Bread that I made earlier in the winter.  Maple Syrup/Molasses…that’s easy to confuse!  Either way, they both sweeten up banana bread beautifully!

 

Looking to try a new banana bread recipe, I shared some of

my favorites on National Banana Bread Day!

 

 

Molasses Banana Bread

From Random Pocket Notes

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas

1 egg, unbeaten

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light molasses

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

Mash bananas well until no lumps remain. I used my hand mixer.  Add unbeaten egg. Mix well.

Beat in sugar, molasses and olive oil.

Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt just until blended. Do not overstir!  Stir in nuts (or chocolate chips) if using.

Pour into greased loaf pan.  Bake for one hour or until tester comes out clean.

Cool slightly before slicing.

Freezes well!

 

Banana + Chocolate + Chia March 8, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast,Running — Luv What You Do @ 9:22 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Even though morning comes quickly, my days are full, work is busy, and my commute sucks, I try real hard to make time during the work week for things I enjoy.  This isn’t always easy and takes planning.  Sometimes it’s big things, like dinner with the girls and sometimes, it’s the little things like watching a TV show with the BOY.  Exercise is also a big priority!  Although recently I’ve only been getting in 4x week.  My Thursdays used to be an easy day to get in an AM workout, but since I made some schedule changes, this has become harder.  I was venting about this to some friends at work when one of them said that it’s tough but sometimes you just have to get up before 6am.

 

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What?  Yea Right!  Okay, actually she was right!  And when she mentioned Wednesday night that she would be hitting the indoor track EARLY on Thursday, I said I’d be there.  I began pulling out my workout clothes and packing my gym bag shortly after walking in the door.  And then moved on to the next day’s EATS.

 

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My recent favorite has been this Chia and Flax Breakfast Bowl.  It is seriously the best and leaves tons of room for creativity!  Megan made this amazing Chocolate Chia Protein Bowl, and I loved the idea of adding some chocolate, so I did!  I stirred in some cacao powder (who doesn’t love chocolate and banana?) Wednesday night and added a light sprinkle of granola Thursday morning before hitting the road.

 

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The track is near our office, so I snacked on a few bites of breakfast before my run, saving the rest for afterwards.  It was a gorgeous morning that would have been perfect for an outdoor winter run!  But I was happy to find my friend and motivator already running laps around the indoor track.

 

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We kept a nice pace and it was fun to have company for my early morning run!  It was exactly what my sore legs needed after Tuesday’s speed intervals.  I was only sad that we had to cut it short to get ready for work.  I would have much preferred an hour at Starbucks first!  But then again, who wouldn’t?!

 

 

Banana Chocolate Chia Breakfast Bowl with Flax

 

Ingredients

1 banana

1-2 tbsp flax

2 tbsp chia

2 tbsp cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla

Dash of cinnamon

1 cup almond milk

Toppings

 

Directions

Mash your banana well.  Stir in the flax, chia, cacao, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk until well combined.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, top with berries, granola, nut butters, etc.

 

Two Ingredient Pancakes [Take II] March 3, 2013

Filed under: Breakfast — Luv What You Do @ 10:37 am
Tags: , , ,

I owe you a sincere apology this morning.  It seems that during my quiet Saturday night in eating Mediterranean with the BOY and watching Indiana Basketball while also updating some old blog posts (mostly just adding some tags and fixing some pictures), that I overloaded your inboxes and readers with old posts. 

 

Yikes!  I am so sorry!  That is a lot of Jen for one morning!!!

 

I seem to do well with baking, but fail pretty obviously at blogging.  I hope that you possibly, maybe enjoyed seeing some old posts that you hadn’t read before or learning something new.  For those of you who use WordPress, any tips on making changes or updates without overwhelming my readers???

 

While you are easing into your Sunday catching up on emails, posts, and online shopping, I have no doubt that breakfast is on your mind.  I was reminded last night that I made only one attempt at Two Ingredient Pancakes, and was due for a second try.

 

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So this morning I mashed up a banana, stirred in an egg, and made three actual pancakes with successful flipping!

 

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Since the BOY and I have absolutely NO plans for the day, I decided not to rush out the door for 10am yoga.

 

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Instead, I enjoyed a warm cup of tea with my breakfast and watched some TV with the BOY.

 

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There is always the 11:30am yoga class to attend!

Happy Sunday!

 

 
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