A Rainy Day Calls for Eating Brownie Batter...right?

I can't be alone in hating rainy days, can I? Something about the gray, dark sky just tends to make my mood plummet into the deep, dark depths of despair (yes, I like alliteration!). The good thing about rainy days, however, is the comfort you can get by just trying to ward off the blues. You know... that perfect "read a book, bake some cookies, batten down the hatches and snuggle up with a blanket watching Disney movies" feeling. Why don't we do that on every other day?

Well, in any case, we don't, so at least rainy days give us a reason to really rest and take care of ourselves. Even if we can't shake the blues. (Seriously, I think I really might have weather-dependent moods. Any one else like that?) 

What's an awesome mood-booster? CHOCOLATE! 

It's true... at least for me. There is some science behind it also, but even if there wasn't.... I think I could support this claim on experience alone. And what makes chocolate even better. Oh, I don't know... maybe eating it in the form of

FUDGY PUMPKIN BROWNIE BATTER 

This picture just doesn't do the creation justice!

1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup water/milk or combo of the two
3 T. Egg Whites
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1-2 T. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
Pinch Cinnamon
Sweetener, to taste
(or leave out for DEEP INTENSE COCOA Flavor. It won't be sweet... but...)

1. Cook oats on stove top by boiling water/milk, then adding oats and reducing heat to medium. Stir occasionally until majority of liquid is absorbed.
2. Add egg whites and STIR CONSTANTLY while adding. I can't emphasize this enough... otherwise you will end up with some scrambled egg whites in your brownie batter, and that's just not very tasty. After the eggs are incorporated into the oats, continue cooking until even more liquid is absorbed.
3. Stir in cocoa powder and sugar/sweetener as desired. The cinnamon should help bring out the flavor a bit, especially with the addition of pumpkin
4. Stir in the pumpkin, and allow to fully heat. The pumpkin is the real 'secret' ingredient here, making this oatmeal EXTREMELY fudgy and brownie-batter textured. You CAN still taste it, which I like because I love pumpkin, but just be aware if you don't like it. You could sub banana for a milder flavor, I would expect.
5. Serve in a nice little bowl and ENJOY!

Nutrition wise, this is a pretty thick, filling recipe with plenty of protein and some good antioxidants from the cocoa. The oatmeal provides the fiber, and the pumpkin gives you a  little serving of veggies as well! The entire recipe (which can easily be doubled!) is only 130 calories and yields about 8 grams of protein! YUM!

Banana Bread Pudding and a Long Run

Let's cut to the chase... since once again, I SHOULD be doing homework and am instead writing a blogpost, because the things I made this morning was really, really good.

It was pudding...or maybe more like soft serve ice cream....or a super thick smoothie (you decide!) but it had the taste of banana bread. Really. I kid you not. EXACTLY like it... and then that added cold, frozen dreamy creaminess that 'banana soft-serve' has, for those of you who have just blended up frozen bananas know.

I STRONGLY recommend this. I think it may be my favorite thing I've made thus far! Sweet, refreshing, fruity, and really... banana bready :)

BANANA BREAD FROZEN PUDDING

1 frozen banana

1/3 cup almond milk

1/8 cup rolled oats, ground in food processer to powder

Dash Cinnamon

Dash Nutmeg

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:

Coconut Flakes

Chocolate Chips

Chopped Almonds

Peanut Butter

Caramel Sauce

1. Put everything into your blender and blend on high until you get a creamy, soft-serve ice cream/pudding consistency.
2. Top with whatever your little heart desires. I went with coconut flakes (overcoming my fear of saturated fats!) and some cocoa roasted almonds, which were awesome because a little bit of chocolate got in there in the almond bites but I also got the plain-banana bread taste in others, which I LOVED. ENJOY!

Here she is! All topped up!

Okay, so I ate the toppings first :)

 At practice today we got the pleasure of getting in a long run. I love long runs, because you can really let loose and get the acid out of your muscles but still get in a bit of a workout. I find that my mind really clears up and I start to get in touch with my body more and more as the run goes on. Plus, you can talk with your teammates! We played a little game in which we speculated where all the people we knew would be in 10 years. It's funny, but according to us, it seems that we will all be doctors or physical therapists or physchologists. That tells you a bit about the kind of girls on our team, haha....fun-loving but also loving. And smart. I love my team. They are always there for me. Plus, when I shared the embarrassing fact that yes, I started a blog, no one laughed. They were very interested in learning how to make a smoothie taste like banana bread, I'll say that!

Question of the Day: Where do you see YOURSELF in 10 years?

Natural Food Store Review +WIAW

Yesterday, I fell in love. With a store.

To be fair, it was a cute little store, stuffed to the brim with organic and vegetarian products. I had never seen anything like it near me- the closest I'd come was the giant Whole Foods monolith an hour away in West Hartford. But this was in my very town! Sadly, my new crush and I did not have much time together, since my mom had to go to the bathroom and kept reminding me to 'make my choices and get out'. But I could have stayed for an hour. Maybe two. Just LOOKING at all the possibilities. It was my new health food dream come true.

Maybe if you live down in shoreline CT you should stop by. It's called, quite literally, 'The Natural Food Store' in downtown Niantic. But that's enough of that. Here are some of my new finds, which I'm excited to try out:


Arctic Zero Ice Cream- High Protein and looks sooo good. (If you can't tell, this is the coffee flavor.)

Nutritional Yeast. I've been searching and searching and FINALLY found it!



The Uber-cool bag....



Ultra Energy Bar- with 22 grams protein. You know me and protein. It's good stuff! And look at this! Cookies and Cream! I can't wait to sample all my new goodies!

  On to WIAW. The theme is 'FALL into good habits'. What's my good habit? Well, mine is pretty simple, actually. It's...eating. For those who don't know my story, check out the food philosophy page. In short, though, my eating habits these past few weeks have fallen apart. I've really been giving in to restricting urges and it's time that I took control back. My body deserves to be fed, and it deserves a healthy, balanced diet that can fuel my running and daily activities and not leave me an emotional wreck. So the goal for me this Wednesday, and days to come, is to EAT. More. More calories, more often, more nutritionally-concious. It will be good for me.
 

Today's breakfast started off nice and hearty with some Creamy yOATgurt on the stove (recipe to follow). The flavor I settled on was strawberries and cream, topped generously with some peanut butter to make a little PBandJ yOATgurt.



I may also have had some ah-mazing coffee. Another new obsession. It's fall and pumpkin is everywhere, what can I say? It's simply delicious, and the smell just makes you want to hug someone. Spread the love, won't you?



Lunch included a veggie burger on toasted whole wheat bread, Spicy Pizza Hummus and cauliflower for dipping, and some cocoa roasted almonds to snack on before practice.

Haven't gotten to dinner and evening snack yet, but I'm pretty sure the agenda will include some fresh roasted spaghetti squash and Spinach N Veggie Wraps.



And dessert? Well, I'm thinking that coffee ice cream looks pretty good ;)

Why Everyone Should Love Speedwork

I'm anticipating another Uber-busy week coming up. School will take off as normal, I assume, and I'm going to have to drag myself out of bed and get moving each morning in order to make it to the bus stop and through 3 hours of classes before the next real break for lunch. So of course, I need to be extra prepared with a filling breakfast that can carry me through!

Before I share my (hopefully) delicious new recipe, let's talk about speed work. Duh duh duh.... I know. If you're strictly a distance runner like me, the very phrase brings chills to your spine. To be honest, despite the title of this post, I don't love speedwork. I actually kind of loathe it...but just a little less than I did before.

You see, I had to face a grueling set of speed drills this morning at 8:00 AM, which is either a really good thing or a really bad thing depending on how you spin in. If you want to look at it negatively...it was 8 in the morning on Labor Day and I would really have preferred to be snuggled down in my warm bed, head buried deep in my yummy-scented pillow. If you want to put a positive spin on it, though... the fact that it was 8 meant that my mind hadn't completely woken up to figure out what the heck I was doing to it yet, so I got in maybe 200 meters before I had a mental breakdown. Hey. That's 200 meters more than last time, so I'm happy.

But the long and short of it is: speedwork DOES help you. It can't be denied (I've looked for a way. No go) The reason speedwork helps improve performance is it literally 'creates' a different energy-usage pathway in our muscles so we can burn through glycogen more efficiently. That means increased metabolism, people!

In more detail, our body only has so much accessible glucose at any given time, and this gets quickly used up in short sprints through Anaerobic Respiration. However, longer, sustained workouts activate Aerobic Respiration, in which the body has to use available oxygen for conversions. The more we build our Anaerobic pathway, the more we can prolong the time that the body starts Aerobic Respiration, and the more we can burn through any excesses of glycogen (essentially, sugar). So it helps our body out! Yea speedwork! (I'm not cheering, either, don't worry. I still do not love it, and probably never will.)

But let's get on to something I do love. Like food. Like maybe... FROYO!! Or even better...

CHOCOLATE BANANA PROTEIN FROYO

Okay... with some chopped espresso beans too :)

1 ripe banana, mashed

8 oz Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt (could use vanilla or honey, also)

1-2 T. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder

1 Packet Sweetener (optional)

2 T. Chopped Coffee Beans (optional)

Banana

Banana and Yogurt

Everything!

AND FREEZE!

1. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Place in freezer for at least 1 hour. Take out and thaw for a few minutes, stirring up or putting in blender to obtain soft-serve consistency. ENJOY!

Nutritional Information for ENTIRE RECIPE: 250 calories, 1.5 g fat, 24g protein, 33g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber

Happy Labor Day! Have a (Funfetti) Blondie!

Personally, I think that Labor Day is an excuse to push school back a week farther.

Or, if you live on the East Coast, to get used to sleeping in again after your first week of school, completely throwing off your transition. But that's just my opinion. Not that anyone could complain about Labor Day when there's a beautiful little dessert to celebrate... (it's red, white, and blue, so clearly it was made for this day!)

Oh, and did I mention it's FUNFETTI?
Much like these little guys:

I just couldn't get enough with my little funfetti protein cakes so it was time to bake up another lovely little cake adaptation. Needless to say... this one isn't exactly for the health nut. It IS, however, absolutely delicious, and you will not regret making it. It's a party in your mouth. Truly. A sweet, beautiful, fiesta.

Blondie, anyone?

EXTRA-GOOEY FUNFETTI BLONDIES

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 +1/4 cup funfetti cake mix

3/4 cup All Purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

Extra Sprinkles (optional....but come on. Of course you'll use them)

Red and Blue Food Coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x9 pan
2. Cream the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla together in large mixing bowl. I used my handy-dandy Kitchenaid mixer, which can handle just about anything!
3. In separate bowl, combine cake mix, flour, baking soda, and a handful of sprinkles. Add slowly to wet mixture, stirring constantly (or if you don't have a mixture, between each flour/cake addition.
4. Once well mixed, pour out into pan. Batter will be thick, so you may need to spread it a bit.
5. Make lines of each red and blue food coloring on top of mix. Using a knife, make small swirls in the batter to get the marbled effect. Add additional sprinkles on top of everything.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes in oven until toothpick comes out clean. You want them to still be gooey, but if you prefer a cakier texture just leave them in for longer.
7. Cut into squares (I made 9 large ones) and ENJOY THIS HEAVEN!

Yum.

Double Yum.

Salivation...............................

Happy Banana Day! (Celebrate with a Smoothie!)

Did you know that today, August 27, is National Banana Day? Don't worry, I only discovered this recently, too. But bananas deserve some recognition, don't you agree? I mean, their versatility is praiseworthy! Banana 'Ice Cream'! A base for pudding! A link in vegan baking! An essential piece in the Elvis sandwich! A boat for every kind of sweet deliciousness!

Yeah. I love bananas.

Plus, as if it couldn't get any better, my XC team calls ourselves the bananas (although the high school mascot is the viking. Don't worry... no one could cheer 'MASH THOSE BANANASSS!' at our football games. Our football team needs no help...) We sing a little song before every meet which goes like this:

I AM A 'B'.

I AM A 'B-A.'

I AM A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' YES I AM.

I HAVE A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' IN MY 'M-O-U-T-H' AND I WILL 'E-A-T' A 'B-A-N-A-N-A' Every Day!

It's a little silly, but I love it. No race is complete without the banana song, even if the challenging teams stare at us and try to spell out in their head to figure out what we're babbling about (we sing it pretty fast).

So...Bananas. Gotta love 'em.

I tried to make something with bananas today as a celebration, but the only thing I really made was not all that creative or original. It DID taste exceptional, however (imho), so I guess I'll share :) 

MY GO-TO SMOOTHIE (Chocolate Banana!)

1 Frozen Banana, Split in Half for easier blending

1/3-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 Scoop Chocolate Designer Whey Protein Powder

Do you really need instructions for this? Throw everything in the blender and have at it! Vary your milk content to get either a thicker or thinner smoothie, based on your taste. ENJOY! I like to eat mine with a spoon, because I just don't really like drinking smoothies...

Question of the day (please leave a comment!): Did you do anything to appreciate bananas and their awesomeness today? Even if not, what interesting things do you use bananas for? 

Much Deserved Decadence

Ahhh! Putting up your feet, soaking in a hot tub, getting a nice massage in those amazingly comfortable beds under the heated blankets...that's bliss. Sadly, I haven't done ANY of those things lately. Bummer.

I firmly believe in the power of stress-reduction. For those of you who haven't read my page about my food philosophy, what you need to know about me and stress is: we're best buds. As in...frenemies. Stress is constantly on my back about something or another, but I wouldn't exactly say I like it, that's for sure! I think we all spend WAYY too much time rushing around, trying to do everything at once and attempting to make 30 hours out of a 24 hour day. Things like that are the reason that people get so anxious and tight. Let's face it. We've all had one of those days where we're tired, irritable, and everything gets under our skin. I think taking a break is the best way to head those off before they come!

And what do I do when I need to relax (if I have no access to a lovely massage, that is!) ???
What's MY go-to food?

Can you guess?
CHOCOLATE! Especially with some peanut butter and gooey marshmallows!

Like I said, it's okay to indulge sometimes. For the most part, I do eat wholesomely, but part of eating healthy is actually having some 'fun' food. Bodies need the fat for insulation and your brain is actually made almost exclusively of fat! Plus, it's good emotionally. If you overdo the health food thing... well, it gets unhealthfully obsessive. And I know first hand about that.

PEANUT BUTTER SMORES BROWNIE BOTTOM PIE

1 prepared graham cracker crust

1 (7.4 oz ...or so...makes 6) pack instant chocolate muffin mix + 1/2 cup milk

Extra Drizzle of Milk

3 T. PB, melted

About 2 servings chocolate goldfish grahams

10-12 jumbo marshmallows, flattened

10-12 big chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to whatever it says on chocolate muffin package. Combine muffin mix with milk and pour into graham cracker crust. Bake for15-20 minutes, until done but still gooey.
2. IMMEDIATELY, poke a few holes in brownie portion and drizzle a little bit of milk over pie. Place goldfish on top and drizzle on the peanut butter. (first picture)
3. Turn oven to BROIL. Place flattened marshmallows over pie, pressing 1 chocolate chip into each. Broil about 1 minute to toast up the marshmallows, remove, and let everything cool (or enjoy warm for a delicious little treat!). ENJOY!

Question of the day: What's your comfort food?

Saving the World with FUNFETTI!

Boy do I have something special to share. I think I may burst with the excitement of holding it in. This kind of thing can't be kept to ones self, after all. Not when funfetti is involved. The whole world needs to know. Funfetti just seems to make everything better.

Lately, I've been really swept up in all the funfetti craze. I've been pinning recipes right and left: funfetti puppy chow, funfetti blondies, funfetti cookies, funfetti milkshakes, funfetti dip... it doesn't end. But the one thing I haven't seen are a lot of healthy funfetti adaptations. Especially protein-chocked ones.

A girl's gotta have her protein.

So I was in a dilemma. Often, all my recipe creations are inspired by other things I have seen or heard about. But with the funfetti...there was nothing. It was an open market. I was on my own. So, with much trepidation, I went off to the kitchen to concoct

Baked Oatfetti Protein Cups!

Makes 4 mini cakes

EAT ME! RIGHT NOW! I LIVE TO SERVE!

2 scoops (27g) vanilla whey protein powder

1/2 c. funfetti cake mix

2/3 c. oats

1/2 c. almond milk

3 T. Egg Whites

1/3 c. Vanilla Greek Yogurt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Extra Sprinkles

*Optional: for a topping, you could put on some frozen Greek Yogurt, ice milk, whipped cream, or try Katie's Vanilla Fudge Frosting or Creamy Dreamy Frosting (add some sprinkles in it to make it funfetti of course!)

1. Combine Dry Ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another (no extra sprinkles yet)
2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ones and mix very well until batter begins to thicken as oats absorb a little bit of liquid. (If you wanted, I bet you could just increase the milk amount and cook on the stove to make funfetti protein oatmeal!) If there doesn't seem to be enough sprinkles, add some more (and let's be honest... are there EVER enough sprinkles in the world? No. So go ahead and pour 'em in)
3. Transfer mixture into 4 individual (4oz) ramekins.
4. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until no longer gooey in center. Dig in and ENJOY!

Now, I don't always post nutritional data, but you might want to see it for this. Prepare to be astonished. In each individual oatfetti cup, you get: a whopping 12g whole grains and 11g protein, and ONLY 4g fat and 185 calories. Yeah. I know. Mind blown. So what are you doing still at your computer reading this post. GO! Make some oatfetti cups! They're calling your name!

A Plethora of Pumpkin

School starts this week, and I cannot believe it! People always say that summer flies by... but they's be right about that. It's a sad, sad story for those of us who want that extra time outdoors in the sun, getting tan and eating ice cream at the beach (by now it's back to being too cold for good old Long Island Sound).

But I'm still excited. I mean, it's my Junior year! Okay, so I'm about to become one BUSY girl between XC and AP homework, but this is going to be the year when you really start to have fun at school: prom, spirit week, SATs, and just being an upper classman! But I'm nervous to see how I do keeping up on the blogging. It's a lot of fun, so I don't want to give it up.

I just hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

What was I doing to prepare? Oh, you know... cooking.

Lots and lots of cooking.

I figured I could make a plethora of freezer meals/ already cooked oatmeal that will get super thick and creamy in the fridge so I will have another 5 minutes here and there to do other things. It better be worth it...I was cooking for 4 hours. (Who am I kidding? I loved every minute of that four hours. It was like my little present to myself. OF COURSE it was worth it!)

One of my favorite flavors, next to chocolate and peanut butter, would have to be pumpkin. Especially since school is starting up, I can finally say that it's "fallish" enough to start putting the pumpkin in just about everything. Plus, I was trying to be economical by buying the GIANT 40oz can, only to realize that most recipes don't call for more than 1/2 cup or so...

Oh well. All the more pumpkin-y items to make!

Here are the recipes that inspired my little pumpkin party:

• Powered Up Pumpkin Oats by Lindsay at 'A Pinch of Yum'
• Pumpkin Muffins  by Katie at 'Chocolate Covered Katie'
• Pumpkin Protein Pancakes by Julie at 'Peanut Butter Fingers'
• Apple Cinnamon Chobani Bread (which I made pumpkin!) by Kelly at 'The No Sugar Sweet Life'

And best of all... I still have about 1/3 of my can of pumpkin left! Looks like there will be more baking in store for today! Now the awful dilemma as I decide what I want to make... (I'm trying to make things that will keep well or can be frozen so I can heat them up for a speedy pre-school breakfast or workout snack! See my post about what makes good pre-workout fuel here.)

Here's what I did to adapt the recipes:

• Doubled the Pumpkin Oats Recipe so I could eat it TWICE, it was THAT good. Also, substitued 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean for the bran flakes to give it some more clusters, added 1 tsp dark chocolate cocoa powder in at the end, and substituted brown sugar with honey. Also, by leaving it in the fridge overnight, it got MUCH thicker and creamier, so I added another 1/2 cup almond milk before heating again and it was AWESOME. Even better than before, if I do say so myself. You could also eat cold as a pudding and I bet it would be great.
• For Katie's muffins, I actually quadrupled the recipe so I could make 4 muffins and freeze them. Instead of chocolate chips, I added raisins, chopped walnuts, and coconut flakes. As a side note, I had to bake for longer because there were more muffins (about 20 minutes instead of 12).
• For the Pumpkin Protein Pancakes, I subbed Greek Yogurt for the cottage cheese and also added 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder to the mix. I added 1/2 tsp baking soda because I wanted my pancakes even fluffier (it worked!) and then, because I'm a naughty girl, I added chocolate chips to the batter (no measurements here!)
• The Chobani Bread was slightly more work to recreate since I was totally changing the flavors, but I proceeded with as much confidence as I could muster. HA! Recipe, you shall not phase me! Instead of cinnamon, I used pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have this on hand, combine some nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger). I subbed the agave with molasses for a different, deeper flavored sweetener (I used 1/4 cup). Instead of apple cinnamon yogurt, I used plain with 2 drops stevia, and then instead of the applesauce I used 1/2 cup pumpkin puree. I STILL used the softened apple in the bread because pumpkin-apple is actually a very nice combo and it gave the bread the extra lightness a midst a more dense cakey-part. As an attempt to be creative, near the end of the bread's baking I mixed together 1/4 cup oats, 3 T. chopped pecans, and 2 T. brown sugar and took the bread out to sprinkle these on. I then turned the oven to broil and waited to get a nice crust on top. Yumm!

Phew! Well, now you know how I spent a good portion of my day. How was your Saturday? Do you ever get really caught up in the kitchen just going around like a whirling dervish and trying to make 10 things at once? Tell me your story!After all, as I had to remember when trying to make adaptations:

IT IS BETTER TO DO THE WRONG THING THAN IT IS TO DO NOTHING.

What do you think of today's quote? Tell me!

Not Your Momma's Hummus

Despite terrible nausea last night, I buckled down to a goal I set for myself: try something completely new in the kitchen. Which was easy to do given the plethora of new things I've bought in the past several weeks to make accommodations for vegetarianism and a blog... Over here Heather asked about what everyone's pantry looks like: well, mine is kind of a mess. (Today's mission...organize it!) I have beans strewn over several shelves, the flour and sugar are way in the back and I have to push through boxes of crackers to access them, there are duplicate open packages of things (arggghhh), the nut butters are in disarray... it's a train wreck.

Plus, it leads to those feelings where you walk up looking for a good snack, can't immediately see anything you like, and maybe end up heading over to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. Maybe. (My freezer's not working...no banana ice cream could be made D:  )

NEVER FEAR! Sarah is on the job! Or maybe I should say... Beanie is. I've already had a rant about his superpowers here, so I won't repeat, but let's just say that he's magical. Maybe even more so than Harry Potter. (Not than Hermione, however. That would be stretching it. Sorry, sorry, geek reference!)

My first new creation looked something like this:

HUMMUS!

Or, because we had nothing I could dip into it, like this:

A PARFAIT!

TO START, YOU NEED CHICKPEA FLOUR

HOMEMADE CHICKPEA 'FLOUR'

(Makes 3/4 cup of flour)...And WAYYY economical- half the price of store-bought!

*1/2 Cup Dried Chickpeas, rinsed and cleaned

*3 cups water

1. Cook the chickpeas! What was once 1/2 cup dried should now give you about 1+1/3 cups. Drain off all excess water and transfer chickpeas to small bowl.
2. Here's the annoying part... and probably the reason that most people would just BUY flour. Pop each chickpea out of its little skin and put in separate bowl. Throw skins away. Don't get too frustrated if you can't get every little piece of the skin off or if you slaughter smoosh the chickpeas when doing so. You'll have a chance to get skin off again later, and chickpeas need to get smooshed anyway.

Little Demons Chickpea Skins

3. After you've gotten off all or nearly all of the skins, mash up your chickpeas with a fork or the back of a spoon. Or even use a food processer (like everything else I own, mine seems to be broken). HOWEVER, I think the little chunky texture is good especially if you prefer a beany taste so I do recommend the fork/spoon method.

4. At this point, my 'flour' was fairly dry so I called it good. Remove any other visible skins you see. If you are really a perfectionist, however, or if for some reason your bean mash is still pretty wet, use paper towels to squeeze out the excess moisture.Makes about 3/4 cup flour. AND YOU'RE DONE!

*Note, you could just prepare an entire package of dried chickpeas (1 lb) to make more all at once. I didn't because, as I said, this was an experiment, and my Dad didn't want any waste in case it didn't turn out! 

*Homemade Flour (3/4 cup) - about 25 cents

*Store-bought Chickpea Flour (3/4 cup) - about 45-60 cents

Connections on the Blogosphere

Well, I'm starting to get my blog out there, and MAN it feels great. I pretty much squealed in delight when I got my first comment and then went for a 5 minute dance rave... which my poor sister had to witness. I think she's scarred for life. But a special thanks to Rachel for being the person behind that comment. You will forever hold a special place among my 'blends' (I am now picking up on blogging slang, this particular term meaning blogging friends. Oh, I am in way over my head...AHHH).

Today's run, sadly, was back to the old routine mostly because of insufferable heat (I'm a wimp) and an overwhelming desire to return to the computer and get on with all my little blogging endeavors. I don't think I've ever done something 'halfway', and this is proof. Later today I plan on taking my little doggy for a walk just to be sure I get enough fresh air. I think, sadly, at this point I would take a laptop computer on a walk with me if A) I had one and B) I could type and walk at the same time. There simply are never enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. I don't know what's going to happen when school rolls around next week.

An Empty Bowl Awaiting Today's Recipe.... Pretty Bowls Make Everything Taste Better!

Today's breakfast consisted of a slight adaptation of Katie's Peach Breakfast Bake. An update on the status of our fridge/freezer: still not working. The repairman finally got a chance to come yesterday and it turns out we'll have to order a new part and then he'll have to return to install it. So, out came all of our frozen foods, and I am trying my hardest to be as not-wasteful as possible when it comes to them. Frozen peaches that were dethawed already? Check. Time for some peachy-keen recipes, then! (The other sad thing is nothing keeps, so I've been trying to make single-serve things. And although Katie's recipe supposedly serves 3 people, I adapted it to my needs for... 1. I mean, it only came to about 400 calories total after my modifications, so I think it was justified...Maybe.)

Here's A Picture of Mine

Hi-Ho CHEERIO PEACH COBBLER

*For the Peaches*

2.5 Cups Sliced Peaches (Thawed, from frozen bag. Or slice your own)

1 T. Brown Sugar

1/2 T. Cornstarch

1/2 T. Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Dash Nutmeg

Dash Ginger

*For the Topping*

1 Cup. Cinnamon Cheerios, crushed a little bit

1 T. Coconut Butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients for peaches in small bowl.
3. Top with slightly-crushed cheerios (you will want some to remain as whole O's)
4. Drizzle entire dish with butter
5. Bake for 45 minutes
6. ENJOY! I like it better served cold, actually, but it is good warm too. You can combine it with yogurt, whipped cream, ice cream, fro-yo, or pudding. I also might recommend some vanilla protein oat pudding!

*Note, I ate this whole bake. It wasn't too incredibly filling, I would say, so for a big fruity breakfast you might do the same. Or eat half as a small pre-workout meal and the rest at the end for your post-workout recovery snack. In any case, enjoy it how you like!

*In my recipe, entire dish, yes EVERYTHING totals up to be: 405 calories, 75g carbs (Don't freak out-most are natural sugars from the peaches or whole grains from the cereal!), 6g fat

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What is your favorite dessert flavor/indulgent dessert, specifically? Mine would have to be peanut butter chocolate pretzel. All together. MMMMMM. I plan to make some awesome adaptations of healthy things with your ideas, so keep me posted!

My Dream Day: Long Runs and Cooking Stores

Well, as you've probably gathered from the title of this blog, I'm a runner. And it just occurred to me that I haven't talked about running AT ALL so far. That must be a record for me, considering I can barely take my rest days off, I'm so in love with it. Running is just awesome. And I'll tell you why.

Feel the wind at your back (or if you're slightly less lucky, at your front) blowing away all the cares and concerns that have been brewing throughout the day. Hear the dull thud of each step as you pound along the pavement in a beautiful, easy-to-find rhythm. Let your mind wander wherever it may, because right now, you are simply in touch with YOU. Every muscle, no... every CELL, every MITOCHONDRIA, every ATOM is alive and propelling you on to destiny.

I can be a bit melodramatic at times.

But I whole-heartedly believe in what I just wrote. Going for a run is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself on a daily basis. And it's FREE! (provided you don't get swept up in all the junk...heart monitors and calorie counters and fancy watches and shoes and shorts and shirts and leggings and compression socks and, well, the list goes on...)

So the best part of my day thus far was my run. Even though I got lost on it. Maybe ESPECIALLY because I got lost on it (that made it longer than planned.) You see, living in a tiny neighborhood, I don't have many options of where to go when I run. I must have covered the same route hundreds and hundreds of times, and as much as I love it, I've got to say.... it can be kind of boring.

Today I ventured off the beaten path, quite literally, by going to some newly-discovered trails that start a mile and a half from my house (part of why I've never been is just that... by the time I run to them, I usually need to turn back because in my busy, AP-class studded life, there isn't time for long runs). I glanced over the map posted at the start of the main trail and briefly considered taking a copy to go just in case...and then decided I was too cool for that. Ha. Serves me right.

I think I must have gone all over that network of trails today before finding the one that I wanted (I did remember the specific colors of where I needed to go. That gives me some credit, right?) and it took me at least 50 minutes. It was pure, exhausting bliss. I got scratched by thorns, my calves and thighs were screaming, I was getting a little bit anxious...but it was all worth it. I'd do it again. Except now it wouldn't be getting lost. It would just be having a long run.

Speaking of things I love, I got to go to the mall for Connecticut's tax-free shopping weekend. I went to a cooking supply store, and I must admit, I found a small haven there as well. If only I had unlimited access to all the funds I needed, then I would have gone on a MAJOR shopping spree. No joke. There were some really nifty gadgets I would like to try. Like this one:

Or the Yonanas (my friend has one and I adore it. I mean... healthy ice cream? What more could you want out of life? And it's totally delicious! I've tried the DIY version but it doesn't yield the same texture at all. Speaking of which, my food processor broke! I'm in mourning.)

And here is the wall of measuring gadgets, whisks, spatulas, timers, food scales, and everything in between. It was so TALL, and packed with different options. I wanted them all.

But, since I needed new school clothes, alas, no new kitchen gear for moi. That's okay. Christmas is only 4 months and 3 days away. But who's counting? (me! me! pick me!)

Time for a delicious recipe! I was trying to think of something creative that would embrace the good mood I was in today, so what better than a DESSERT? I know you're getting tired of all the berry posts, like the Summer Lovin' Salad and the Very Berry Pancakes, but hey, it's not my fault the fridge isn't working. And this one is different. It's DESSERT, for crying out loud.

TRIPLE BERRY BANANA BARS

4 servings Nilla Wafers, Crushed to Fine Powder (About 32 cookies)

4 Tablespoons Butter

2 Very Ripe Bananas, Sliced

1 Cup Ripe Strawberries, Sliced

12 oz. Red Raspberry Preserves

1 Cup Ripe Blueberries

1 Cup Flaked Coconut

1/2- 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips

1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Extra Nilla Wafers for Crumbly Topping

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Crush Nilla Wafers by placing in large plastic bag and rolling over (closed) bag with rolling pin. Place butter in 9x13 pan and pop into the oven until all butter is melted. Swirl it around to coat all the pan evenly, and then pour in your nilla wafer crumbs. Coat all crumbs with butter and press firmly into pan. If you need more butter, USE IT! Evenly distribute sliced bananas and berries over crust. Drop preserves over everything by spoonfuls so they, too, are fairly evenly distributed. You don't need to spread them with a knife, however, they will even out more with baking. Sprinkle on coconut and desired amount of white chocolate chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk over whole thing, making sure that it too is poured EVENLY. Bake for 40 minutes or until milk is no longer gooey. Allow to cool and sprinkle with additional nilla wafer crumbs, or even chopped pecans if you like! ENJOY!

They look kind of patriotic, don't they?

Here's a little laugh for the day, just something I saw in the mall parking lot (it fits with my them of getting lost, too, coincidentally) :)