Banana Oat Bars

So I definitely get "into" certain foods and continue to make/eat the same thing each day for a while.  This time it's homemade granola bars.  And after all of the sugar yesterday I thought I'd seek out a slightly less sugary fix.  I found an awesome recipe at Eating from the ground up.  And this time I made sure to cut them into bars before diving into the pan and letting things get too out of hand....

I changed up the recipe slightly.  Banana Oat Bars:

3/4 c whole wheat flour
2 c quick oats
1 1/2 c Rice Krispies
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
2 TB honey
1/4 c vanilla yogurt
2TB peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
Combine flour, oats, Rice Krispies, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a bowl.  Mix well.  In another bowl combine the bananas, honey, yogurt and peanut butter; stir until fairly uniform.  Combine dry ingredients with wet and mix well.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and flatten out.  Bake for 15-30 minutes depending on how you like your bars.  I went for 15 minutes because I like them soft.  Let cool before cutting into squares.
Makes 12 bars.  (1688 cal/recipe.  141 calories per bar.)

Lemon Spinach Pasta

I usually just whip up my favorite breakfast foods for dinner when Colby will be gone all day--because if you don't know this already about me, breakfast is by far the best meal of the day.  I eat breakfast for lunch almost every day...  But tonight I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to try a new recipe that I was nervous he might not like.  We have different tastes and he gets to endure many trial recipes that in my opinion look delicious.  Good thing I have Mac & cheese hanging around when complete failures make their way into our kitchen or he would never let me experiment.  Anyways...enough of my rambling and on to the tasty pasta perfection adapted slightly from one of my favorite blogs Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Mel's pictures are always gorgeous (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE how easy to navigate and organized her blog is??? LOVE IT.  Well this of course is not Mel's photo, but go to her blog if you want to look at top notch food photography....

In the meantime, here is the recipe.  Lemon Spinach Pasta:

Pasta (6 oz or so.  I'm not sure how much I used because I just grab a handful or two and throw it in)

1 TB butter

1/4 tsp garlic powder

5 cups (or more if you're a huge fan of spinach like I am) coarsely chopped fresh spinach--keep in mind it will cook down

2 TB water

1/8 tsp chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp lemon zest

3 TB fresh squeezed lemon juice

Parmesan Cheese to taste (I use powdered)

Cook Pasta (drain).  While pasta is cooking, melt butter in skillet and add garlic powder, spinach, water, and chicken bouillon.  Stir and cook until spinach is wilted.  Then stir in your pasta and lemon zest/juice.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. 

PS...I was right.  Colby wasn't a huge fan....but once I told him he could add more parmesan cheese to it he was much more willing to approve.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

I adapted this recipe slightly from Two Peas and their Pod.  They were delicious!  The only problem was that I started digging in before cutting them into bars....self control? zero.

1/4 c butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c honey
1/4 c (natural) creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c quick oats
1/2 c Rice Krispies
about 20 chopped pretzels
(chocolate chips optional)

 Microwave butter, sugar, honey, and peanut butter for about 1-2 minutes.  Stir and continue cooking 30 seconds-1 minute or until bubbly.  Then add vanilla and stir.  Add oats, cereal, and pretzels.  Press into 9x9 pan (top chocolate chips if desired and press into granola bars) and put in fridge for about 20 minutes.  Cut into 10-12 bars.
Calorie count:  1898 for recipe, so for 12 bars it comes to about 158 per bar.  (without chocolate)

Banana Pancakes and Banana Granola

I love bananas!  And Our Best Bites is my all-time favorite food blog.  I have been whipping up their Chunky Monkey Pancakes for weeks now.  My daughter and I love them!!  I always make extra and freeze them for a quick breakfast or snack later.  Here is the recipe:

Banana Pancakes:
Our Best Bites

1 ½ c flour                            1 TB canola oil

3 TB sugar                            1 large egg
2 tsp baking powder       2 small-med ripe bananas
1 ½ tsp baking soda         6 TB mini chocolate chips (optional)
¼ tsp salt                             cooking spray or butter for pan
1 ½ c buttermilk *          
1 tsp vanilla extract        

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until moistened and combined. Place bananas in a bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Fold into batter. Toss chocolate chips with 2 tsp flour and stir into batter  (I only add the chocolate chips when I'm making them for my husband...I will admit that ever since my pregnancy, I am not a fan of chocolate).

Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet to medium heat. Coat pan with little butter and then pour on pancake batter. Use ¼ c batter for large pancakes (4-6″) and 2 T for kid-sized ones (2-3″). Wait until bubbles form and edges are set and then flip.

*At Our Best Bites Sara makes a peanut butter syrup.  I'm not a syrup lover so I go straight to the peanut butter! 


And recently I experimented with Banana Granola.  I loved it...much healthier alternative to my previous go-to granola recipe.  I think I've found a weakness for banana recipes...
In a blender, blend:
1 banana
3/4 c water (more as needed)
1 TB honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
After this is well blended, add to 2 c oats, and any other add-ins (1/4 c chopped almonds, 1/4 c coconut, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, anything else you like in your granola).
Spread onto a half cookie sheet (Double recipe for full sheet--mine never covers the whole pan though) and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes (or until oats are slightly browned); check every 10 minutes to stir.

I hope you enjoy bananas as much as I do!

  

Mommy Marathon (for free)

First of all--this is not a food post.
Second of all--this is not just for "mommy"s.

So I always thought marathons were for crazy people.  Crazy as in, "who would want to torture themselves by running for that long?" and "what crazy cool people have the endurance to accomplish such a feat?"
Fast forward two summers...I have run two half marathons and I am now training to become a crazy person.  But those two half marathons were not "official".  And neither will this marathon be.  I just CANNOT bring myself to paying so much for a race (mostly because I know I'm not in it for the race...I'm too slow.  But congrats to all of you out there who can actually "race").  Anyways..one evening after talking to my sweet husband about my crazy desire to run he went on a quest in the middle of the night (he can never sleep at night).  And I found this in my email inbox in the morning:

Kayla,

I found a marathon that you can run. It is called the "My mommy ran a MARATHON. That is 26.2 miles! I can walk like 26.2 feet!" Okay the title is still in the development phase, but the date for the marathon is July 4th (or whenever will give you enough time to train, the marathon promoters-Ellie and me-are flexible). The marathon path will be a loop of the Island Line Rail Trail (12.5 miles one way, see description below). Marathon amenities include drink/good tasting energy bar stations on demand, constant support from marathon promoters, matching t-shirt/onesie for you and Ellie if desired (or a cool Nike/Adidas running shirt), and a big kiss at the end (again from the promoters, except one kiss will be replaced with a face-blowing raspberry) . The entry fee is well free of course.

Love,

Colby

How sweet is that???!  Does anyone else have the "crazy" desire to run a marathon (or half marathon...or 5k, etc.), but don't want to pay for it?  If you do then post a comment--what's your goal?  Let's train and set an "unofficial" marathon...August 8th?!--I would set that date in stone, but the weather is totally throwing off my training schedule!!!  I may have to push it a month... 
(Use that race money--or save it--to buy yourself something super awesome after you've accomplished your goal!)  Who's in????

Black beans and Cilantro lime rice

BLACK BEAN AND RICE BURRITOS
This is one of my favorite meals.  You can serve it in a burrito, crisp quesadilla, on a taco salad, as a side, or whatever...
Since the recipe makes A LOT I freeze the leftovers.  Sometimes I will even put them in a burrito with green salsa and wrap it up, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.  Makes for an easy meal later.

Black Beans:

2 TB olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/4 tsp powder)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 can rinsed and drained (or 2 cups dry) black beans
1 1/3 c tomato sauce
add salt to taste (if using dry beans, about 1 tsp)
1/2 can tomato sauce
about 3/4 c Green Chile enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas brand)
2 TB fresh chopped cilantro

If using dry beans, don't forget to soak them!  In a  nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat for a minute or so.  Add beans, tomato juice, and sauces.  Continually stir until heated through.  Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

2 c uncooked rice
2 tsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp lime zest
4 c chicken broth
2 1/2 TB freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 tsp sugar
about 1/4 c freshly chopped cilantro

In a saucepan combine everything but lime juice, cilantro, and sugar.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender.  Remove from heat.  In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar, and cilantro.  Pour over hot cooked rice. 

*Sorry I don't have photos...I know they make a recipe worth trying most of the time.  I didn't take any pics plus my camera is cheap and takes horrible pictures so they'd probably make you not want to try this yummy meal anyway...