Tag Archives: banana

Pretty Good

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Hello there; I hope everyone’s having a nice weekend.  It’s been a good Saturday around here, I spent lots of time with the husband, I got to take a few walks, and I received some good news I’ll be sharing later.

Our plan this morning was to cash in a Groupon for brunch, so to kill time while the restaurant opened I headed out to the Farmer’s Market and the Co-op.

While I was up on that end of Elmwood I stopped in at Wilson Farms for my new favorite coffee.

Half Jamaican Me Crazy Coffee (regular) and half Jamaican Me Crazy Cappuccino (sweetened).

Adam and I also drove over to the lake to check out the crazy fog.

Spooky!

Then it was time for brunch at Empire Grill.

But apparently brunch is only a Sunday thing, boo.  And the bad news didn’t stop there, Adam and I hated our brunch lunch order.  I really don’t want the blame the restaurant (the food wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either), we just made really bad order choices for our preferences.

We split a Blue Point Toasted Ale,

the Caribbean Shrimp and Mango Salad with mixed greens, mango viniagrette marinated jumbo shrimp, black bean and pineapple salsa and a mango viniagrette,

and the California Turkey Wrap with coleslaw, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onions and a chipolte aioli.

I sort of hate raw spinach and I hate wraps so, again, it wasn’t really the restaurant’s fault.  Nonetheless, I ended up eating basically nothing for brunch.

Thank goodness for Banana Split Cupcakes!

Amid chowing down on two cupcakes, Adam and I took a trek to the post office and got to enjoy almost 2 miles of walking and talking, win!

Random sidenote (super random when you consider that this isn’t even a new top) – how awesome is it that this shirt has a bustle?!

I had fancy plans for dinner, but when Scrubs reruns are on you never turn down pizza.

Adam and I split another Buffalo chicken slice,

along with a big pile of baby carrots.

Yep, pretty good for a Saturday!

Make Like A Banana And Split

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Oh my goodness, I am just too excited!  My baking project turned out so well that I’m going to hurry through blogging dinner so I can tell you about it.

Dinner wasn’t bad.

It’s just that nothing can compare to cupcakes.

I made this lentil soup packet from Manischewitz.

And Adam and I split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza as our carb.

Done and done; now I can talk about dessert!

Do you see why I was excited?

It’s been forever since I’ve eaten an actual banana split, but once I got the idea of Banana Split Cupcakes into my head I couldn’t get it out!

Banana Split Cupcakes

  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 large bananas, well mashed
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
  • 12 Tbsp hot fudge sauce
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 5 oz vanilla bean ice cream, fully melted
  • maraschino cherries
  • rainbow sprinkles
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Line a cupcake tray with 12 paper liners.
  2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl combine mashed banana, white sugar, egg, and melted butter.  Stir to combine, then fold in flour mixture and mix just until smooth.  Fold in walnuts.
  4. Fill each cupcake liner halfway with batter.  Spoon 1 Tbsp fudge sauce into each cup.  Top with remaining batter.
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Allow cupcakes to completely cool before icing.
  6. While cupcakes are cooling, use an electric mixer to beat together softened butter, powdered sugar, and melted ice-cream.  (This icing will keep best if stored in the fridge rather than at room temperature).
  7. Ice cupcakes then top with cherries and sprinkles as desired.

I wasn’t sure how the ice cream icing would work, but it ended up being perfect.  And it goes without saying that a layer of fudge in the middle of a cupcake is pure joy.

I ate two cupcakes (and did lots of nibbling) and it’s definitely time for me to put in my retainers so I don’t eat a third one!

For your own good, I beg of you; make these yourself this weekend!

Still Feeling Thankful

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When I thanked Canadians for their great tv last night, I forgot the real reason we should all feel greatful to our friends up north:

Ryan Reynolds.  <– thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!

Now, I’m not going to say that looking at pictures of Ryan Rynolds made me hungry, but it was time for breakfast.

A toasted leftover serving of buttermilk pancakes pulled from the freezer, topped with a strawberry-banana mash.

We still haven’t gotten good summer fruit up here (plums, where are you?!), so I had to work with the frozen variety.  I threw half a frozen banana and a big handful of frozen strawberries into a skillet with a little bit of butter.  A few minutes of cooking and spoon-mashing later…

There’s a layer of maple syrup on there too, so you know this tasted good!

to enter to win today’s (Applegate Farms $-off coupons) giveaway:

Visit  http://www.facebook.com/applegatefarms and leave a comment saying you are visiting from EatingChalk.com.  Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you’ve done so.

Working (Against Me)

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Hello, again!  I realize I’ve been a blogging slacker, but I’m ready to recommit.  Just like I committed to a workout this morning.

I had a lot of things working against me for this run –

  • I’ve been eating nothing but junk the past few days
  • I have not been hydrating properly at all
  • I haven’t been getting enough sleep
  • I just came from the orthodontist and I got on the treadmill feeling like someone had kicked me in the teeth
  • I skipped two training days and hadn’t worked out since Friday!

It’s a good thing that I think even a terrible run is a good run, because it did end up being a terrible run!  And with all the things (listed above) working against me, ironically what ended up killing me was my tight calf muscles!  I don’t even know what was happening with my legs but the best way I can describe it is that my calf muscles felt like rubber bands that were about to snap.  It took me 20 minutes before I felt even remotely warmed up.

Before I got on the treadmill I did adress the fueling issue.  I slammed a tangerine PowerBar Gel,

and bought myself a grape G2 and a water.

All total I stayed on the treadmill for an hour, doing some running and mostly walking.  1 hour, for 5 miles on the nose.

I’ve been in such a crabby mood the last few days and even though my workout was terrible it totally lifted my mood!  Mother Nature was looking out for my happiness too –

After a quick errand and a crucial shower, I was ready for lunch.  My teeth, in brand new retainers, were not feeling as ready as my belly though.  I ended up doing fries and ice cream, healthy living blog style.

A big pile of oven-roasted green bean fries.

Cooked 30minutes at 450* with a bit of salt and cooking spray.

And a bowl of banana soft serve.

I food processed 1.5 frozen bananas, a splash of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and 2 Tbsp of Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter with Honey.

Both items ended up being de-lish-us!  Hopefully they will help me fuel through my afternoon, since I’ve got a monster to-do list to tackle:

  • fold/put away my laundry
  • fold Adam’s laundry
  • finish putting away my school stuff
  • clean the bathroom
  • clean the kitchen
  • get set up for job hunting tomorrow
  • send some blog e-mails
  • backup my files from this school year
  • schedule some doctors’ appointments
  • fix my nail polish
  • start reading a new book
  • make dinner

What’s on your to-do list today?

Fish Food

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I promised that I would introduce you guys to our new pet, so meet Levinson.

Levinson is our own little orphan Annie.  The husband found him in the basement (where the laundry facilities are located) last week.

As the days ticked by, the rouge fish’s water got dirtier and dirtier and the husband was distraught.  He left this note.

Once enough time had passed so we were certain that we were saving a fish called it and not stealing a beloved pet, we adopted a fish.

Welcome home, Levinson.

Levinson eats beta fish food, but we like to eat pancakes.

(The best recipe ever for) Buttermilk pancakes to be exact.

I made the husband a bear.

And I ate my borning circle pancakes with half of a banana,

and some maple syrup.

What are your favorite kind of pancakes?

I’m Feeling Wicked

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Congrats to those of you who guessed it; last night Adam and I saw “Wicked” at Shea’s Performing Arts Center!

I’ve seen the show once before in NYC and I have to admit that the Buffalo rendition totally exceeded my expectations!

Gregory Maguire is one of my favorite authors, and Wicked is actually my all-time favorite book.  I tend to read mostly memoirs and non-fiction, but Maguire’s adult fairy tales are totally my jam!  I don’t love all of the changes that the play makes to the story, but the added hilarity definitely allow me to overlook them.  Adam loved the show as well, which was the most exciting thing at all for me.

We bought ourselves a champagne before the show started,

and nibbled on some Smarties during intermission.

It was a glorious date night, thanks Mom and Dad!

This morning’s breakfast was centered around trying out a new vegan yogurt find, Amande is made from cultured almond milk.

I tried the coconut flavor today, atop a sliced banana and topped with a dollop of Smuckers Natural PB with Honey and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.

I didn’t love love the yogurt (nothing can top the tang and thickness of Greek), but I thought it was the best vegan alternative I’ve ever tried.  I wouldn’t buy it regularly, but I am looking forward to trying the strawberry flavor in my fridge.  The bowl was pretty good,

though I have to admit, I was missing my usual crunchy/sweet nut addition.

I had to head to school a bit early because I was meeting with a professor about a project and I needed to go grovel at the financial aid office as well.  Part of the reason I have been feeling wicked is because I have NOT been keeping on top of my work!  <– more on that in a minute

Lunch was all about the leftovers; a piece of corn bread,

and a serving of steamed spinach,

topped with maple turkey sloppy joes.

The “sauce” mixed with the spinach was divine; I’m never eating ‘joes on a bun again!

I also snagged a few bites of free cotton candy from the student union.

Boo-yah for free spun sugar!

I mentioned feeling wicked above, and I think I put that shame to good use.  After classes ended today I headed to the dietetics lab (computers and silence) with a friend and hunkered down there until after 8pm!  I finished a ton of work and I’m on such a roll that I’m planning on making it a late night of studying.  The goal is a 12-1am bedtime alternating 30minutes of tv with 45+ minutes of studying. 

We grabbed lattes – medium, non-fat, half pumps of almond rocca syrup –

before the study session but dinner never really happened.  My stomach has been feeling off all day, hurting and bloated, so nothing ever sounded appealing.  I’ll probably grab a snack at some point this evening and I’ll just blog about it in the morning.

Have you ever seen (or read) Wicked?  What’s your favorite Broadway show?

Blah, Blah, Blah.

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Blah, blah, blah.  Today was just blah.  My mood was blah, my food was blah, my workout was blah, my photos today basically redefine the word blah…

We started our morning by pulling the pre-made chia seed and banana buttermilk pancakes out of the freezer.

I topped mine with a smear of Smart Balance Light and drizzle of maple syrup.

They were good, not boring and blurry like the picture suggests.

Adam drove me to school – a high point in the day because the wind here is ca-razy! – so I could attend my final Biochem lab, my last science lab ever in my degree!  That last lab bit would be a lot more exciting if we didn’t have a huge lab final next week that is totally throwing off my study plans for my other finals.

In the afternoon I also attended a study session for another exam that is making me want to curl up in a ball and cry.  When I take my Metabolism final two weeks from now we will have a 5minute break after the test and then we’ll be sitting for a comprehensive exam that spans the material from a course two semesters ago through now.  Yay.  <– can you see why I’m in a blah mood?!

In between test bad news #1 and test bad news #2 I did manage to go to the gym.  My half marathon training schedule (which I promise to share on Monday) had me slated for three miles, so I hopped on the treadmill.  Aaaaaand I confirmed that I can’t run three miles without having to stop for breaks.  Ugh!  I ran 3 frustrating miles, followed by a 10minute cool down for a total of 3.5 miles and 40 minutes.  With a 5-minute strength/stretch session afterward.

For lunch I packed overnight made in the morning oats.  I combined and let stew –

  • 1/3 cup raw oatmeal
  • 2/3 cup skim milk
  • a 0% Plain Stonyfield yogurt
  • 1/2 a sliced banana
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp raisins

Tasted delicious, but looked as brown and boring as my breakfast –

Plus some greens in the form of roasted green beans.

Still tasty cold, and two days later, ps.

I was feeling seriously blah when I got home, and felt myself heading toward Crankypalooza.  So I did the not-being-a-psycho-wife thing and took a long shower, scrapped our dinner plans, ordered nachos with extra black beans and sour cream, and cuddled on the couch with Adam to watch some Scrubs.

A serving (weighed out because if you don’t weigh it you’ll seriously just eat the entire bag) of mini Reeses was also consumed.

I’m not sure if it was the cheese, the cuddling, or my Zach Braff crush, but my bad mood lifted!  And I knuckled down and finished off all of my remaining work for one of my classes; which further helped to lift my mood.  Bring it on finals week!

Are you having the crazy weather and winds in your neck of the woods?  Keep dry readers!

Toppings Heaven

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Happy Hump Day!  I hopped right over the hump today with a nice morning workout.

Elliptical for 30minutes, on level 6 random (with several sprint intervals).  Plus a short session of stretching and strength moves.  I love my walk home from the gym because it helps me to continue to stretch out my legs.

After a quick shower I tucked into a heavenly breakfast.

I think some people think eating a yogurt bowl for breakfast will be boring, but with the right toppings it can become dessert.

Today’s bowl basically did move right past breakfast and into dessert –

Chopped banana, a sprinkle of cinnamon, Yoplait 0% Plain Greek Yogurt, butter toffee almonds, toasted coconut, a dollop of marshmellow filling, and 1 Tbsp Smuckers Natural PB with Honey.

Man, oh man!  Boring was not on the vocabularly list.

What are your favorite unorthodox yogurt toppings?