Banana

Easiest Chia Pudding Recipe

categories: Breakfast, Posts, Recipes

Chia Pudding

This is probably the 100th time you’ve seen me mention wanting to get my act together and get fit.  I’ve mentioned wanting to get healthy and back in shape. That’s only because I’ve been telling myself this over and over and making no real strides to progress. Sounds like a personal problem, right? Well, I’m pleased to announce, I signed up for (way more classes than I should have) of Pure Barre. And yes, I’m actually planning to stick with it. I’m even going back to counting my calories using my favorite tracking app, My Fitness Pal. (more…)

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Mom’s Favorite Whole Wheat Banana Nut Pancakes

categories: Breakfast, Posts, Recipes

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Pancakes

For as long as I can remember, every time my family and I went to IHOP, my mom always swapped out the plain old buttermilk pancakes for harvest grain and nut and topped them off with pecan syrup. That’s just the way it was. IHOP = Harvest Grain and Nut Pancakes. We don’t, however, go to IHOP regularly. Mostly because mom and I are usually on a diet or health kick, and walking into any IHOP means we’re definitely overeating. How can you not overeat when you can get a whole omelet with crispy hash browns and a side of pancakes?! It’s almost impossible. So we reserve IHOP for rare occasions. (more…)

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No Added Sugar Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

categories: Desserts, Recipes

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have this love/hate relationship with the beginning of every year. It’s new, it’s a fresh start, it’s 300-some days of opportunities. And it’s also the dead of winter, with no holidays to look forward to. On the bright side, that means we can all focus on our forever resolutions to lose weight. I don’t even consider it a New Year’s Resolution anymore, because I wish for it all the time. For everyone else who’s in the same boat, I have a fun, delicious solution for your dieting sweet tooth! Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are a game changer. The cookies are packed with everything good for you like bananas, oatmeal and peanut butter. You likely have most of these ingredients in your pantry anyway. Best part? No added sugar (except honey, which is a natural sweetener anyway). So it’s vegan, sugar free and gluten free. It’s a win-win situation. What I really like about these cookies is they take almost no time to make. The baking time only 15 minutes. (more…)

Skinny Banana Bread

categories: 500 Calories or Less, Breads, Posts, Recipes

Skinny-Banana-Bread

It’s been more than four months since my last blog post. Well, my blog has really been put on the back burner because I’ve been juggling work, travel and trying to drop a few pounds (26 pounds to be exact). And with losing weight for me, comes a disinterest in food overall. Imagine! As much as I enjoy cooking for those I love, they’ve been starving while I’ve been keeping my calorie intake to a minimum. I can’t give cutting back on eating all the credit. Believe it or not, I started running — yes on a treadmill, and yes at a pace faster than speed #3. The treadmill terrified me until I got to know a spunky girl with a big heart and a whole lot of attitude that made running on the treadmill look like fun. For those who know me personally, I would have never have used the words “treadmill” and “fun” in the same sentence. That combined with her constant pushing me to go to the gym after work really paid off. Just because I’ve lost a few pounds, doesn’t mean I won’t be enjoying my fries and sweets. I’ll just have to get smart about consumption and quantity. (more…)

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Mom’s Fruit Salad

categories: 500 Calories or Less, Desserts, Posts, Recipes, Salads

Fruit Salad

 

My mom makes an amazing fruit salad, and that’s because of her secret ingredients (namely the sauce). I’ve only made her fruit salad on two occasions. It’s not complicated but it packs in a lot more calories than you’d suspect. So don’t be fooled by the word “fruit.” Although I’ve measured out the amount of condensed milk and orange juice, you may have to adjust to your taste. I will warn you, however that you don’t need to add more than 1/2 tsp of orange blossom water. Too much will be flavor overload on your senses. (more…)

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