Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (No Refined Sugars!)

Saturday mornings. You gotta love 'um. Especially when you've been traveling a bunch and haven't had a day off in a while. Brett and I got home Friday night from Arkansas and went to bed excited for a weekend without work. 

When we're in town, we love the Saturdays mornings when we get to spend time with our friends Mary and Justin and their two kids. What started as Brett and Justin working out every once in a while has turned into Saturday morning workouts with sometimes all four of us in their garage lifting weights, jumping rope and getting our sweat on. Since I often do cardio to workout, these high-intensity interval workouts are always a welcomed change of scenery...not to mention they kick my butt. Also if you're injured like I am and can't run, interval workouts are another great way to get out some endorphins while you (patiently) wait for your body to heal. At the bottom of this post you can find the 30 minute interval workout we did (or check out the new workout tab for other workouts I've posted before!)

Yesterday Mary and Justin were free so we planned for a late morning workout with lunch afterwards. Since I had the morning off I figured I make some banana bread to take over. I've been wanting to try out an oatmeal banana bread recipe, with minimal sugar, for a while and I'm happy with how this loaf turned out! It's subtly sweet, but if you add the chocolate chips you won't miss a thing!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

(Makes 12 servings)

 Ingredients:

· 1 1/2 cups mashed banana (about 3-4 ripe bananas)

· 1/4 cup agave nectar (or liquid sweetener of choice)

· 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

· 1 flax egg (1 T ground flaxseed + 3 T water)

· 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

· 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

· 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

· 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

· 1/4—1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl mix make your flax egg by whisking 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water together. Set aside for 5 minutes

3. In a medium sized bowl combine the wet ingredients, from the  mashed banana to the almond milk.  Then add in your flax egg and stir until well mixed.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, from the whole wheat flour to the nutmeg.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

6. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips.

7. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Let the loaf cool and then slice and enjoy!

This bread was delicious right out of the oven (of course I had to try some before I served it to people. Each slice has almost 5 grams of fiber and almost 4 grams of protein! If you like a sweeter bread, up the liquid sweetener to 1/3 cup.

30 Minute "Spartacus" Interval Workout

1 minute for each exercise.

15 second rest between exercises.

1 minute rest between sets.

1. Spider Man Push-Ups

2. Russians

3. Plank Push-ups

4. Side Plank Arm Raises (30 seconds each side)

5. Groucho Walks

6. Mountain Climbers

7. Squats with Press

8. Alternating Bicep Curls

9. Calf Raises with Shrugs

10. Hand Stand (against a wall)

For definitions or pictures of each workout see below!

Spider Man Push-Ups 

Russians:

Start in a table top position with one leg raised. Then quickly alternate kicking one leg up at a time.

Plank Push-Ups:

Side Plank Arm Raises:

Groucho Walk:

Get in a low squat and stay squatted as you take six steps forward and then six steps back. Repeat.

Mountain Climbers:

In a plank position, alternate bringing one knee up to your chest and then back out. Move quickly.

Squats with Press:

Alternating Bicep Curls:

Calf Raises with Shoulder Shrugs:

With weights, raise up onto your tip-toes and while on your toes do two shoulder shrugs. Repeat.

Hand Stand:

Hold a handstand as long as you can while your feet are resting against a wall. 

Eat Consciously,

     Faith

Travel, Travel and More Travel.

I've realized that I like Arkansas more than I thought I would. I guess I always envisioned this state as flat and boring, but there are parts with lots of mountains and hills and so far Fayetteville and the nearby suburbs have proven to have good coffee shops, museums and restaurants.

A cappuccino with soy from a place called Mama Carmen's Coffee in Fayetteville, AR.

It's kind of embarrassing to admit that one of the hardest things about traveling for me is my inability to cook and try out new recipes. I used to hate cooking growing up and would always tell my Mom that I would rather clean the entire house than help cook dinner. My, how things have changed. Having all these good restaurants to eat at hasn't made things easier either. I keep coming up with new ideas of things I want to bake once I get home and can't wait to experiment in the kitchen. I've even made a list so I don't forget.

Another hard thing about this trip is lack of endorphins I've been able to get. Somehow I hurt my hip last weekend. I've only gone on two runs since I've been back from Africa and the day after a really short run I realized that my hip was killing me, even just to walk. So with a hurt hip, lots of meetings, and staying at our friends house it's been challenging to find time to exercise.

We finally checked into a hotel last night and this morning I was able to do some elliptical, walk on the treadmill and lift weights. Even though I didn't get to get my heart rate up very high, it still felt so good to move. I'm hoping this hip problem won't last long and that I'll be able to start training for my next half marathon soon. I have a limited window of time that I can train for another half marathon before heading overseas again, so I'm hoping I'll be able to start next week. We'll see!

A typical breakfast while traveling...microwaved oatmeal with chia seeds and almond butter.

We fly home tomorrow and I can't wait to spend a whole week at home! I'm hoping to soak up some sun, go on a long bike ride and whip up some new recipes to share with you all. Stay tuned.

Juicy Chia Pudding (Two Ingredients!) and the Coziest Cabin Ever!

I think this past weekend was one of my favorite weekends that Brett and I have spent together since getting married. And with all the traveling we've done, that's saying a lot. (You can scroll to the bottom for this random chia pudding recipe or keep reading about our weekend.)

Even though I just got back from Africa on Sunday, Brett and I had to leave for Arkansas five days later for work. Brett being the thoughtful husband that he is knew that a restful weekend would be just what the doctor ordered after lots of travel and a month a part. So as a surprise Brett rented out a cute little cabin for us to relax in this weekend before we had to start work. It was the cutest, coziest cabin ever and it was the perfect way to spend some quality time together after being a part for a month.

Here are some pics of the cabin. There was a hot tub and fire pit outside and an electric fire place inside. They even had the fire all set up and all you had to do was light a match! S'mores were eaten for sure.

I loved everything about this little cabin!

Brett and I went on a hike together on Saturday and Monday and Brett did a 10-miler by himself on Sunday! My hip has randomly started hurting so I didn't join him on the 10-miler, but he had a blast challenging himself to get up and back before dark.

Here are some pictures of the views we saw from our hikes and also from the drive to our cabin. Even though everything was mostly dead from the cold weather, the sites were still stunning.

At the end of this hike there was a cave that we were able to explore. At the very back of the cave there was a large "room" with a waterfall inside.

The cabin we stayed in had a full kitchen too so we bought some groceries in town before heading out into the boonies for the weekend. At one point I wasn't "feeling" any of the food we had so I got creative and made some chia pudding with chia seeds I brought from home and juice. I'm not usually a big juice fan, but this hit the spot!

The key is 3 tablespoons of chia seeds to 1 cup of liquid. 

Combine the seeds and liquid and stir well. Stir again after a minute...and then again after another minute. Then wait about five minutes and stir again before letting the pudding sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. The pudding will thicken and then you can jazz it up with any toppings you want. We had bought some bananas and granola and it made for a good combo.

After a month in Africa with less than ideal nutrition and a bad stomach bug that lasted about a week, I've been adding chia seeds to everything to get my digestive tract back in working order.

You can obviously use any kind of liquid for your chia pudding. I usually use almond milk, so juice was a good change up.

What are some of your favorite ways to use chia seeds?