Tag Archives: banana

Getting Sappy

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Did everyone have a good weekend?  I kind of took the weekend off (not from blogging, from everything – whoops!).

I’ve got a big day – a quiz I didn’t study for, a Valentine’s date – so I needed a big breakfast.

I reheated my leftover banana breakfast risotto – 30 second increments in the microwave with stirring – with raisins and a splash of Vanilla So Delicious.

Then I topped it with maple syrup and dug in.

Delicious!  I maybe went a little too big though, I definitely couldn’t finish the whole bowl.

We had a new bottle of syrup and I accidentally went a little heavy on the maple,

I didn’t really mind.

After breakfast I dealt with the other kind of sap –

Adam and I are pretty notoriously unromantic but I wanted to show him my appreciation for his participating in this month’s challenge with me, so I picked up some vegan goodies for him.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

On the Clock

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If i don’t want to be late to class then I have to keep this post quick, just like my morning workout.

I started my day with a speedy trip the gym.  I didn’t have much time, so I decided to work on my quickest mile.  1.5miles in 12:40, booyah!  I did a few minutes each of warm up, cool down, and stretching, and then I was outta there.  I can do longer workouts on the weekends when I don’t have to choose between the treadmill and breakfast.  Today I was on the clock.

Plus, I knew this breakfast was going to be a good one –

Banana Breakfast Risotto

  • 1 cup canned light coconut milk
  • 2 cups water
  • 1.5 Tbsp butter substitute
  • 2 medium bananas, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  1. In a small saucepan, combine coconut milk and water and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low and cover the pan.
  2. Melt butter substitute in a large pan over medium heat.
  3. Add bananas and saute until they turn a deepened yellow color.  Season with salt.
  4. Add rice to the pan and toast, 1 minute.
  5. Add approximately 1/2 cup of the liquid mixture to your pan.  The liquid needs to be at a low simmer, so lower or raise your heat accordingly.  Stirring constantly, cook until all of the liquid is absorbed.
  6. Working in 1/3 cup increments and continuing to stir, add the rest of your liquid to the pan until it has all been absorbed.

This bowl was so good.  Super chewy, and nutty, and just a bit sweet; swoon!

When do you work out the longest, during the work-week or on the weekends?

The Best Reason

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I’ve got to keep this snappy, today’s a busy day.  In addition to it being my long day (classes from 11 – 8:40) I’ve also got a lot of on-campus errands to attend to.

Luckily I’ve learned that busy days aren’t a good reason to skip the gym, they’re the best reason to get a work out in!  Starting my day by working out gives me energy, gives my day a sense of purpose, and helps me have a sense of accomplishment all before breakfast!

This morning I headed to the gym for a treadmill workout.  I’m trying to balance not increasing my distance too quickly with building endurance, so I decided to run longer for slower.  I set the treadmill to 10mph and plugged away for 20minutes and 2miles.  5 minutes each of cool down and stretching and I was on my way.

I also prepared for my busy day by setting up my breakfast last night.

Sidenote – blog reading has given me major chia envy, so I was super excited when I found this bag of Bob’s Red Mill Chia Seeds on sale at Wegman’s the other day.

I decided to try them out using a method cobbled together from a few different blogs.

Last night – in a mostly empty jar of peanut butter – I combined 3/4 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk, 1/3 cup raw oats, and 2 Tbsp chia seeds.

This morning I added in a splash of Vanilla So Delicious and half a sliced banana.

The end result was fantasmic!

The chia seeds really did make a sort of vegan ‘yogurt’ and you can never go wrong with oats in a jar!

Have you tried chia seeds yet?  What’s your favorite way to use them?  Have you ever grown a Chia Pet?

Caramel Corn Sounds Good…

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I don’t know what my deal is because my hunger never abated last night and when I woke up this morning I was still starving!  Actually, what I was hungry for was butterscotch (and that was before reading Kath’s post); but that was clearly out of the question.  I went ahead and made a sweet and healthy breakfast plate.

A serving of Van’s Vitamin Boost Waffles,

topped with 1 Tbsp maple syrup,

a fresh banana,

a drizzle of Trader Joe’s Sunflower Butter,

and a sprinkle of my simply sweet granola.

This was so tasty!  The granola made the dish, you guys need to try this recipe!

P.S.  I might not care about the Super Bowl, but you know I care about popcorn 😉  The Popcorn Factory wanted me to let you guys know that their commemorative Super Bowl tins are on sale.  DISCOUNT CODE: Your readers can use code WINNER for $10 off $50 at ThePopcornfactory.com (expires March 31, 2011).

Three Courses Worth Waiting For

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Thursdays are when I have my earliest class, which means they are also my latest wake-up school days.  Makes no sense?  I’ve decided on MWF (class starts at 11) that I’ll have Adam drop me off at the gym on his way to school so I can work out/come home and shower/walk back to school for classes.  But Thursday class starts at 9:25 (and there’s no time for all that) so I can wake up on my own and walk straight to class. 

Except today all my plans went out the window because the snow was basically up to my waist.  Whoops!  I had to hurry-scurry to get in the car with Adam, which meant all of my breakfast and lunch bubbles were quickly burst.

The positive side is that I got to squeeze in my workout before my lab.  I did another quick (too quick) treadmill session – warm up + 1.5mile running (14:13) + cool down – 21minutes and 1.85miles.

The negative side is that breakfast ended up being of the not-of-champions variety.

I grabbed the Cliff Builder’s Bar because it was vegan, full of protein, and most importantly sold in the only kiosk without a line.

I gave up on eating the Cliff Builder’s Bar after two bites because it was tasteless and way to tough for my aching teeth.

Better luck next time?  I brought the rest of the bar home for Adam and I’m sure he’ll love it because he’s silly.

Unfortunately I had a club meeting on campus at 12:15, so I couldn’t get home to a proper meal until that was over.  Then I had to finish/e-mail an assignment before I could let myself eat.  I wasn’t about to add ‘shower off the gym grime’ to my wait-time, so you better believe I ate lunch like this –

Before anyone asks – Why yes, I did think the appropriate response to sweaty gym hair was a pair of pony tails.

They’re a pair of ponies, not pig tails.  Pig tails come out the sides, the end.

I made up for lost time by rocking my own world with a three-course lunch.

Course 1 – Salad.

I topped a bed of spring mix lettuce with chopped pear, green pepper, radish sprouts, and poppy-seed dressing.

Course 2 – Pasta.

Amy’s Rice Macaroni and Dairy-free Cheeze.

For some reason the gluten free version is the only vegan macaroni Amy’s makes (the soy cheese version has milk proteins in it).

This wasn’t ridiculous good like the dairy one, but it was still pretty darn good.

Course 3 – Dessert.

Banana soft serve (1.5 frozen bananas, food processed with a splash of Vanilla Silk Soy Milk until delicious) topped with crushed pretzels and these adorable vegan marshmallows.

Soooo good.  BSS is where it’s at!

It took forever to eat my epic lunch, so I should probably get down to work!

Do you or anyone you know eat a gluten free diet?

Snow Day

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In the most exciting turn of events ever, school was canceled today!

Adam says I shouldn’t be that excited about not having to go to a place that we pay money to allow me to go to (got all that?), but today was my extra long day (11-8:40), and it ended in my awful music class.  So “yippie” I say!

I’m also pretty jazzed about the bowl of Snow Day Oats I whipped up.

I started with a batch of stove top oats – 1/3 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1 small banana, and a pinch of salt.  Then I added some snow (coconut) and 3 Tbsp of fresh granola (more on that in a bit).

The oat base was good, but not as good as when I use half skim milk and half water.  I think I’m going to experiment a bit with soy/almond milk and if all else fails I’ll make my base a little lighter and my toppings a little heavier this month.

Now about that granola.  The other day I was intrigued when Brandi made stove top granola.  So today I did something wonderful.

Simply Sweet Granola

  • 2/3 cup raw oats
  • 4 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla soy milk
  1. Toast the oats in a skillet over medium heat.  2-4minutes, but use your nose and eyes to guide you.
  2. Remove oats to another container and lightly wipe any oat dust out of your pan.
  3. Add sugar and water to pan and allow to caramelize.  Do NOT stir, just lightly swirl the pan with the handle.  Cook just until a light brown color develops.
  4. Carefully pour soy milk into caramelized sugar.  Turn off the heat, and return toasted oats to pan.
  5. Using a wooden spatula, fold mixture together until well-combined.
  6. Spread onto a flat surface and allow to dry.

This granola was so quick and easy to make and the end results were soooo good!  Super crunchy and sweet but each 1/3 cup serving has only ~200calories (and as a topping you only need a few tablespoons or so).

We even made fancy coffee.

I usually hate the taste of creamers, but the nutritional stats on the Silk Hazelnut Soy Creamer we bought for Adam compelled me to try some.

Pretty darn good.

I’ve got a warm, full belly, cuddling weather, and somebody to cuddle with – life is good!

Have you gotten any snow days yet this season?

A Double Serving of Entendre

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I liked the cock.

Adam thought the cock was ok, but found it a little salty.

I’m speaking, of course, of this soup package we had for dinner this evening.

We spotted it at Wegman’s a few months ago and had to buy it, because we’re six.  Sorry, Mom and Nana, you know I can’t resist a good (dirty) pun!

We decided to finally use the package tonight, incorporating it into a nice Caribbean dinner.

Cock soup.

No, I have no idea why it’s called that, and yes, it was a little too salty.

Rice and beans.

Minute brown rice mixed with a can of reduced sodium black beans.

And fried plantains.

We bought some frozen from Goya, and revived them with a quick saute.

Adam and I also split a cheddar cheese bialey.

Sooooooooo doughy and chewy!  We picked up the bialey while we were at Wegman’s buying cookie dough.  Cookies are in the oven (Adam’s request) and all is right with the world.  You can assume I’ll eat two, but since we are moving from the blogging portion of the evening to the watching X-Files portion, no pictures are occurring.

Does it seem like we are eating down the fridge slash searching for all the dairy we can get our mouths on?  Well we are!  You’ll see why tomorrow 😀

Blojo, It’s Not What You’re Thinking

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I don’t know what my deal is lately, I have lost all my blojo (that’s blog mojo, fyi).  Sometimes I run out of time to blog, or sometimes I’m just too lazy, but the other day I actually forgot to blog before bed.  That’s crazy!  As I spend my last days before the semester begins relishing my time as a slug, I guess my eats have been pretty forgettable though.  Sort of like the pizza we ordered for dinner tonight 😉

While we wait for that delivery, I might as well fill you in on my day.  Like breakfast.

A slice of cinnamon sugar toast with Smart Balance Light, on a rye/pumpernickel swirl.

Plus a tasty yogurt bowl; 0% Plain Oikos, honey, pb, and a chopped banana.

This was the high point of my day nutritionally, – which shouldn’t be hard because Greek yogurt is pretty nutritionally impressive – mostly because lunch came in the form of corn, popped and kettled.

And several handfuls of cheezits.

Hello, carbs.

It’s time for another trip to the store but with 10* weather I’m having a hard time finding the motivation (hence the pizza dinner delivery).  However, I realize that the lack of fruits and veggies is effecting the rest of my motivation; the motivation that gets me off the couch or prompts me to write a decent blog post.  Dare I say school on Monday might be the best thing to happen to me all month?

How do you keep up your blojo?