Food

October 8, 2014

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with PB and Chocolate Chips

For the last three of days I have had three very brown bananas just begging to be put to use.  I put them in my refrigerator for two of those three days knowing if I didn’t, they’d be a mushy mess by the time I got around to using them.

Finally last night, at 8:45pm no less, I decided to throw together some banana bread.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to do that at bed time?  To add fuel to the fire, I knew I didn’t want to make the traditional boring banana bread so asked Clint what he thought about Peanut Butter Banana Bread.

“Ya, sure. Why not” was the response, so off to the kitchen I went.

The recipe I found was originally from Six Sisters, but the ingredients I had in my cabinet were not, so a little improvising was required.

The end result?

Delicious – according to my taste tester.

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Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup natural applesauce
1 egg
1/2 cup Stevia
1/4 cup brown sugar OR 2 Tbsp. Delecta (brown sugar substitute)
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter chips & 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

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Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan.

Mix together bananas, peanut butter, applesauce, egg and sugars.

Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Do not over mix.

In a large bowl stir together bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.

Fold in peanut butter and chocolate chips and spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer bread to a cooling rack.

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Enjoy!

October 1, 2014

Healthier Apple Crisp

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October means Fall

And I think we can all agree that Fall means jeans, boots, hoodies, sweaters, soup, crock-pot meals, caramel apples, candy corn, football and apple crisp.

 

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Apple Crisp is a highly requested dessert in our house.   There is something SO YUMMY about warm apples and cinnamon.

Of course, I am always toying around with recipes attempting to make them just a little bit healthier.

For this recipe I went the oatmeal route instead of flour, substituted half of the butter for yogurt and used brown sugar substitute rather than regular brown sugar.  That last step is completely optional as it isn’t the ‘natural’ way, however, I like to use sugar substitutes on occasion.   All that added sugar creeps me out sometimes.

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I used an obsessive amount of cinnamon in this recipe.  I can’t get enough of the smell or taste.  You might find it to be a bit of an overkill.  If so, take it down a notch, but don’t tell me.   I’ll think less of you.

🙂

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The recipe is incredibly easy and takes no time to put together and throw it in the oven.   Your house will be smelling like fall goodness in 5 minutes flat.

 

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The husband wanted you to know that he approves, but, I also want you to note the amount of melted ice cream in that bowl.

 

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And THAT ladies and gents, is exactly why I try and make recipes healthier.

Healthier Apple Crisp

 

Enjoy!

 

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September 14, 2014

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips.

Sunday’s are my favorite day to bake and cook.    This particular day I based my baking decisions around the fact that I had a garage full of 3 men, 1 teenage boy and one 5 year old boy working on my husbands motorcycle.   I wanted a classic dessert and one that was easy to eat and simple to make.    With that in mind, I chose to make PB cookies.   How can you possibly go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?.010RECIPEchewy PB Cookies with choco chips.The boys devoured a dozen in no time flat, so I think my decision was the right one.   They were warm, chewy and the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.  These were a nice contrast to the normal crunchy peanut butter cookies that tend to be the norm.Enjoy!005.015

August 21, 2014

TurboKick Certification and St. Louis Adventures

It’s Throwback Thursday.

And I’m throwing it back to September 2013.

That counts, right?

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In front of the St. Louis Arch

 

Last Fall, Clint traveled with me to St. Louis, Missouri so I could attend a TurboKick certification class.    Turbo is one of my favorite classes to teach, aside from Insanity.

TurboKick is a mixture of kickboxing, shadow boxing,  sports drills, yoga, and simple dance moves that is highly choreographed.  Turbo makes you work your butt off while having a total blast.   Now – before you run away screaming because I said the word dance – just know it is nothing like Zumba or Jazzercise.   I am not much of a dancer…. or well… not much of a dancer in the shake your butt “look at me  – look at me” kind of way.  Yuck.  This is different.  It’s fun.  It’s work.  You’ll feel it.

 

My day started off at the JCC -St Louis which is a BEAUTIFUL facility.  Holy smokes!

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All participants signed in, met our instructor Sara, got a folder of information and then got to work!

 

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The outline for the day basically went as follows:

  • Check-in
  • Welcome
  • TurboKick Background Information/History
  • Warm-up
  • Form and Technique Practice
  • BREAK
  • Choreography and Physiology
  • Music, proper cueing, attire, creating a fun atmosphere
  • Full Workout – SO FUN!
  • LUNCH
  • Injury, Incident Reporting, Pregnancies, Age, Adaptations
  • Review technique
  • Small group technique and cueing
    • We were split into groups of 4-5 where we each were given a section to memorize and “teach” the rest of our group members
  • Full Class Demonstration with small group leaders
    • I was chosen from my small group to lead our large group – so fun!
  • Question/Answer Time
  • Practical Tests
    • We were lined up and demonstrated technique and form on cue
  • Written Test
    • Ungraded- completed in a group format.
  • GROUP PHOTO

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Sara – our Master Trainer – is in the yellow on the left.  She is SO GREAT!

I am basically dead center in the back row.  See me? 🙂

 

The Certification was scheduled to run from 8-5, however, we got out a little early since we were basically the best class Sara has ever had.   Clint came to pick me up and we headed back to the hotel so I could shower and then head out for a date night in downtown St. Louis!

 

First Up:  The Arch of course!

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I had visited the Arch YEARS ago with my family, however, it was so cool seeing it again and experiencing the sheer magnitude of this thing.   Sadly we missed the cut off for the rides to the top, but considering my finicky belly, it was probably ok.

After a quick walk around the Arch and tourist watching, we headed down to Laclede’s Landing for some beers and pizza.

 

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What a cool location!  If you visit St. Louis you MUST take a walk through Laclede’s.  Tons of bars, restaurants and even a wax museum!   I was starving by this point after basically exercising ALL day so we landed ourselves at the Morgan Street Brewery.

First up?  A flight of beers, of course!

 

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YUM!

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What a sexy son-of-a-gun that hubby of mine is. 😉

 

Clint kept talking about how we HAD to order pizza since St. Louis is apparantly known for the Provel cheese they use?  I knew nothing about it, but am always up for some pizza, so we ordered two.   Clint chose the Italian Sausage and Pepperoni and I ordered the Veggie & Portabella.

 

Oh.  My.  Gosh, you guys.  This pizza is SERIOUS.  

Heavy, rich, and so filling.  I barely could even get down ONE slice.   It was insane.

 

Sadly no photos, since we took this trip PRIOR to starting up the ol blog.  Who knew I’d want photos of my damn food?  ha

Just trust me.  If you go – order the pizza.  But just one.   And Clint and I both agree that the Veggie & Portabella is THEE way to go.

Following Laclede’s we went to this little corner bar off the beaten path and enjoyed a few beers while we watched and laughed at this large group of folks who had clearly been having a great evening of beer drinking themselves.

Our little trip to St. Louis was a quick one!  Far more time in the car than in the city, however, it was successful!   TurboKick certified and a night out in a new city with my main squeeze.  Can’t think of a better way to spend a random September weekend!

 

 

Cheers, my friends.