Eating Green

Good morning! Hopefully your weekend has been a good one so far. I've had a pretty busy week and haven't had a chance to post in a few days...in addition to the usual workday duties, my evening computer time has been spent doing something crafty for my sweetie and putting together Riker's cards for Valentine's Day. I finally finished everything up at 1:30 AM last night - thankfully just in time to order it in time for rush delivery on Friday. Phew!

Matt spent the night in Atlantic City last night with a bunch of our friends to celebrate my friend Heather's birthday (I opted out, being almost 6 months pregnant and finding it pretty tiring to stand around in heels), so Riker and I have been on our own since yesterday afternoon. I decided to do something fun for dinner with him instead of staying at home; we went out for a bite at Smashburger, where Lindsay and Ryan met up with us - Lindsay is due in a couple of weeks and she's glowing! It was so good to see her even for just a little while.

Other than fries last night (yes, I polished off every last fry that came with my black bean burger) and Friday night pizza with the neighbors - which I like to think I burnt off at yoga yesterday - it's been a pretty on-track week as far as meals planning goes. It feels so good to not have pregnancy food aversions anymore and be able to eat normally again!

Breakfasts

Smoothies, smoothies, smoothies. I've been drinking them every morning, usually with a side of Ezekiel toast and almond butter to keep me powered through till lunchtime.

Green smoothies are my norm lately, but I switched things up on Friday and just used frozen strawberries and raw chocolate protein powder. It tasted like ice cream!

Yesterday morning I wanted something hot, though, so tried a new paleo pancake recipe for the fam. It was the best version yet! The mixture included:

- Smashed bananas

- Eggs

- Coconut flour (only 3 Tbsp. was enough to hold the batter together)

- Cinnamon

- Baking soda

- Salt

That's it! I couldn't believe how much the texture resembled regular pancakes - the coconut flour definitely works better than nut flours.

I made a wild berry compote (just frozen organic berries + raw organic honey) to spoon over top, which set them over the edge. Matt and Riker also ate theirs with slices of farm raised peppered bacon.

Afternoon Snacks

Brown rice cakes (or Ezekiel toast) + almond butter + fruit slices (apples or pears) + cinnamon. It's my new addiction.

I love it for snacks and even for dessert if I'm hungry after dinner.

Lunches

Greenery!

Mostly salads, but also some sandwiches. I told you, I eat a LOT more carbs when I'm pregnant. ;) My green sandwich has smashed avocado, arugula, English cucumber, green peppers, a squeeze of lemon, and shards of sharp peppercorn parmesan cheese from Trader Joe's. Ahhhmazing. I ate this baby with a bowl of Amy's Organic tomato soup. Love all that vibrant red & green.

Dinners

Dinners on the meals plan this week included some old favorites, like lox & arugula with fried eggs. I never get sick of this one and it takes all of 15 minutes to make.

I also made a batch of Hawaiian curry with tofu from my Eat Clean cookbook. It made a bunch so we were able to eat it for a few meals.

This recipe was fantastic. It was spicy but also sweet, with the addition of raisins, raw coconut and banana slices. 

Desserts

Um, do you remember all the dark chocolate we bought at TJ's last weekend? I've actually been pretty good about having all that good stuff in the cabinets, and only broke into the stash twice this week. I've actually been craving fruit way more than I've felt like eating chocolate lately. I'll take it!

***

Speaking of food, time to get lunch going. Once Riker goes down for a nap I'm going to take a break from all things productive and park myself on the couch to watch the Olympics for a while. Love the winter games.

Have a great rest of your Sunday!

New Year Muffins (Paleo Banana Walnut)

Happy belated New Year friends! We rang in the New Year in a low key way this year, starting with a quiet dinner for two at a local seafood restaurant, Latitudes, where we ran into our friends Forrest and Casey whom we shared a drink with as well.

We ordered calamari with spicy pickled peppers for an appetizer, followed by salads and then entrees of surf & turf and lobster mac & cheese.

I literally never order mac & cheese since I usually feel guilty about eating something so rich, but it was a special New Years menu and I was dying for lobster, so I took the plunge. I have to say, I was a tad disappointed. The "mac & cheese" was more like penne alfredo and the lobster was overcooked and a little tough. Sometimes I wonder if I watch too much Top Chef because I might've liked it had I not been so nitpicky. Oh well. Foodie I am!

After dinner we spent the rest of the evening at Matt's parents' house with them and MomMom and Riker, eating snacks (like we needed more of them), some dessert (I had made a chocolate walnut strudel for the bunch) and watching Rockin' New Year's Eve.

We let Riker stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop. I honestly didn't think he'd make it, but he was a trooper and sat snuggled up with me for the last hour watching the show and waiting for his sparkling grape juice at 12:00. He slept in until 9:30 AM the next day so it was a win for all of us. ;)

***

Today is my last day of vacation, and we're going out with a bang. It started snowing like crazy around 6:00 last night and we woke up to a winter wonderland.

I love it!

Matt went back to work yesterday but had a snow day today (nothing like a 1 day work week!) so our little troop is cozied up at home together. When Riker woke up he asked for muffins for breakfast, and I heartily agreed. Not only can I not say "no" to that little Mickey Mouse voice asking for muffins, but snow days call for warm, comforting breakfasts.

 

That said, now that the holidays are over I'm getting back on the wagon with healthy eating. I threw out the remaining Christmas cookies the other day and shopped for all new, fresh foods yesterday, and it feels really good to have the house stocked with clean foods again rather than all kinds of cheeses, olives, fudge and other holiday snacks. Sooo, I didn't want to break down and make sugary, carby, buttery muffins on January 3.

I whipped up a batch of paleo muffins using coconut flour, coconut oil, bananas and walnuts. No sugar and no refined flour. These muffins are not sweet, but they have a good bread texture and a crunchy walnut top. We all enjoyed them. I liked mine best smeared with a little organic natural peanut butter.

Everything is closed today so there isn't much on the agenda other then some snowman-making once it warms up, and starting Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy when Riker goes down for a nap. We finished Season 4 last night and are on another of our SOA benders. :0

Paleo Banana Walnut Muffins

Makes 12 muffins (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients

4 bananas

4 eggs

1/2 cup pecan butter

2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Mash bananas with a fork, then add to a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, pecan butter, coconut oil and vanilla; blend to combine.

Add all dry ingredients. Mix well, using a hand mixer or wooden spoon. (Batter will be a little chunky, do not overbeat.) 

Pour batter into greased muffins tins, and top with chopped walnuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. 

Healthy Banana Bread (Grain-Free)

I promised you a banana bread recipe.

Here it is!

I'm a huge lover of banana bread, have been my whole life. Now a lot of banana breads are unfortunately, in my opinion, really dry and flavorless. I've perfected my version of this warm fall/winter loaf over the years, adding more cinnamon and nutmeg, more bananas to keep things moist, walnuts, chocolate chips (I mean, banana and chocolate, come on) and a sugary crust on top. It's to die for.

But I'm actually not here to share that one with you. Sorry!

That one I actually haven't made yet this year, and am trying to hold out on doing so. As you can imagine, it's pretty carby and sugary, and not very healthy at all. It's a great treat, but ends up getting eaten for breakfast and snacks until the whole thing is gone in less than 24 hours. I wanted to stay away from that, but I can't shake my annual fall banana bread baking/eating craving completely - especially when there are two sad-looking brown bananas sitting in the fruit bowl begging to be mashed up and bread-i-fied.

So for this recipe, I swapped out wheat flour for nut flour, cut the chocolate chips from half a bag to only a few teaspoons, removed the walnuts (nut flour is nutty enough so you don't need the extra crunch), and traded my usual refined brown and white sugar for unrefined, all natural coconut palm sugar. I also used grapeseed oil instead of canola oil or butter, since it's a healthier fat.

The result was delicious (note: that piece up there looks a little smooshed because I couldn't wait more than 5 minutes to cut a piece and eat it, warm with a smear of butter). I'm not going to lie and tell you I liked it better than my chocolate chip sugary crust loaf, but I could eat it guiltlessly for breakfast with a little peanut butter, and it honestly is really moist and flavorful. It's also gluten free if you're into that. Unfortunately it still disappeared in 24 hours, so I'm probably going to have to make another one on Sunday.

Grain-Free Healthy Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
2 cups almond flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup organic coconut palm sugar
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup agave nectar (may substitute honey or maple syrup)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grapeseed oil or other flavorless oil
2 eggs

Topping (Optional)
1 tsp. coconut sugar
3 tsp. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and sugar. Set aside

In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, agave nectar, milk, oil and eggs. Whisk well to combine. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine; do not over beat.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Top with remaining coconut sugar and chocolate chips, if desired. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.