A Healthy Coco-nutty Banana Bread Recipe!!!

Hello everyone!

So as promised I'm going to post the recipe for the banana bread I made this Sunday but first lets cover off what I ate. To be honest it wasn't much. I was sick the night before and seriously weak on Sunday so I nibbled on some fruits for most of the day.

Then for dinner I made this:


A fillet of wild Pacific salmon with a balsamic reduction, a small amount of whole wheat pasta, and the star of the meal - spicy garlic kale! To make the kale I first boiled it until soft. Next I heated a small amount of olive oil in a pan, added finely chopped garlic and allowed it to infuse the oil. Then came the kale. Sautee all together and add some red pepper flakes to taste. Season with salt and pepper and voila! :o) My personal favourite is to cook broccolini this way!

But really we all know you're here for the banana bread - and here it is!

A Healthy Coco-nutty Banana Bread Recipe


I adapted this recipe from the banana bread recipe found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook; Here is my version . . .

3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
a pinch of salt
3 large free-range eggs
1 cup of raw cane sugar - preferably fair trade (turbinado would work well too)
1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
3 large ripe mashed bananas
1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup of blanched almond slivers (or any nut of your choosing)
1/2 cup of unsweetened Almond Breeze
Nonstick cooking spray

1 - Preheat your oven to 350F

2 - Coat two loaf pans with cooking spray

3 - Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl

4 - Using a whisk mix the eggs, sugar, and apple sauce until just combined

5 - Add flour mixture to the eggs/sugar/apple sauce

6 - Add the vanilla, bananas, coconut, nuts, and Almond Breeze - whisk until combined

7 - Divide batter evenly

8 - Bake for approximately 50-55 minute or until tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean

And the results!?!? WOW!!! Seriously I was beyond impressed. I more than cut the sugar in half. And it didn't have a drop of oil. I was expecting it to be potentially dry or bland. Not at all!!!

This Healthy Coco-nutty Banana Bread is a complete winner!!! Give it a try bloggies - you won't be sorry!!!!

Someday somebody's going to ask you . . .

. . . a question that you should say YES! to . . . for once in your life . . . I have a question for you!

This is the story of the boy and I. We met two and a half years ago at Starbucks in Cook Street Village in Victoria. He was an undergrad and I was a law student. I was a big city girl and he was a boy from a small island. Two very different people that turned out to make a perfect pair.

Truth is I knew he was the one from the very beginning. In fact the night before we were going to go out I said to a friend of mine "I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this!" It was a funny thing to say because I'm not prone to pronouncements like that.

But I was right . . .

And so yesterday it happened!! I knew something was up because he was acting funny. Insisting we go out for dinner and things like that. I also called him from work and he was out and would not really say what he was doing. I just knew . . .

We went out for dinner but really it was just an excuse to get me outside the house while he set things up. When we came back he had dimmed all the lights except one light which acted as a bit of a spotlight on an open ring box. Holding the most beautiful and perfect ring! :o)

Next to the ring was a card. The boy did this so I would remember what he said, knowing I would be too excited to actually remember. Also on the table was a beautiful dozen long stemmed roses.

He led me over to the ring, grabbed the box, and went to go kneel down. That's when I started bouncing up and down with excitement . . . and accidentally managed to head butt the poor boy! LOL Oh bloggies I wish I was joking but I'm not! I head butted the boy. When he was going to propose!

This led to some serious comic relief. We both laughed and laughed and made jokes about being so new to this engagement thing. :oP

Eventually we calmed down . . . he got down on one knee . . . he asked . . . and I answered. And the rest is the beginning of a wonderful story!

And when did it all set in? Not until I called my parents and told them. After I got off the phone with my Mom and Dad I was overwhelmed with emotion and cried. Tears of joy.


Yesterday bloggies I slept the sleep of the happy. The delighted!!!

And since you asked here are some ring shots I took at work. Please excuse the bling over-load. I love my ring. It's perfect!!!!

A hand shot! :o)

Turns out the Code is a wonderful background for the ring. It gives my point and shoot something to focus on!


Kind of a profile shot of the bling! I heart it!


And from above! I'm going to have to take some more shots in better light. These ones don't do the ring justice. In fact I spent a good chunk of the day sticking my hand in the recesses of my desk (the dark spots!) and watching how the light still came back to me!


And one last shot . . . these are the pictures we received after the center stone was set but before they shipped the ring:


And there you have it! :o) The story of the boy and this girl! The story of the proposal! The story of our love!

Weekend Wanderings

This here is my attempt to pretend that I'm not distracted by the shiny thing on my finger! :oP

Weekend wanderings time it is . . .

Saturday was the day the boy's family left. They were driving back towards the Coast and for an instant both the boy and I thought "Take us with you!!!!" lol That wasn't going to happen though. So we waved goodbye and headed about our weekend.

First order of business was some grocery shopping. They were having a sale on Almond Breeze again. You better believe I loaded up!!!


This week's haul: 5 packages of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze, a huge bunch of bananas, strawberries, 2 bags of raw white prawns (they were two for one), 2 large bunches of kale, and for the boy a grapefruit cocktail.

Total? $32 and change!!!!!!! Woohoo!!! I managed to score some good deals this week and I was rather impressed with myself!

Quickly I nibbled one of the massive bananas and headed out with the boy to go couch shopping.


Believe me that did NOT tithe me over until lunch! In fact come 1pm I was a starving cookie. So I busted out a bit of the pasta sauce from the Thursday night (I made a huge amount and froze a couple of batches) and paired that with half a cup of whole wheat pasta. That was gobbled up along with a lovely salad and a POM spritzer.


After lunch we headed out to do more couch shopping. Thankfully we were successful and our new espresso brown beauty will arrive this Saturday!

Once all was said and done we finally headed back home. Feeling Green Monster deprived I quickly whipped myself up a drink:


See how my Green Monster went up-market!?! lol In the foreground is a plate of cookies the boy's mom made for him. I didn't eat any but he was so sad that his family had left that he had to have a taste of his childhood. :o)

BTW these cookies are the reason I don't bake chocolate chip cookies at home. There's no point. I used to try but the boy always preferred his mom's. Turns out you can't compete with the taste of childhood - those cookies are so much more than cookies to him!!

Dinner was a lovely impromptu Asian creation. When you live in the sticks you learn to improvise and come up with your own ethnic fare:


First I started by cooking up some very thin rice noodles and straining them. In another pot I sauteed tomatoes, spinach, onions, and a tiny bit of carrots. To that I added some smoked tofu and prawns. For the sauce I added a couple of splashes of soy sauce, a squeeze of lime juice, Thai fish sauce (not as gross as it sounds), Thai hot sauce, and a tablespoon of almond butter.

Voila! :o) It was num, num, num!!!

And that bloggies was my Saturday. Later tonight I'll recap Sunday and Monday eats. I also know I owe you an engagement story and some pics, as well as, a banana bread recipe.

Stay tuned . . .

Newsflash!!!!!!!

We now interrupt our regular scheduled blogging to bring you some breaking news . . .

Today at approximately 7pm the boy surprised me with a dozen red roses, a beautiful card asking a very important question, and a gorgeous ring.

He got down on one knee. I jumped up and down. He asked. I answered.

I'm engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On top of the World

Morning bloggies!

Please excuse my absence from the foodie/healthfulness blogosphere yesterday. I was actually quite sick pretty well most of Saturday night and felt weak as a result on Sunday. Due to my sluggish state of being blogging wasn't on top of my list. Neither was eating for that matter.

Having said that by the evening I was feeling much better so I baked and came up with a ridiculously light and yummy banana bread recipe that involves three of my favourite things: almonds, bananas, and coconut flakes!! I promise to post the recipe here soon! :o)

For this morning though I thought I would share with you one of my favourite pictures. It's a picture that was taken of me after I ran my first (and only race) last year. It was the Time's Colonist 10K in Victoria. I was beyond thrilled with myself! Running was something that hadn't come easily to me.

Finishing the race was so very important and it made me feel on top of the world:


I want that feeling back!!!!!!! BAD!!!!

So now that my leg muscles have finally (!) released I plan to get my butt in gear and start putting in some serious miles. I have a half to run in October, don't you know?! :oP

Lates peeps!

And the Mountains Shall Bring Peace to the People

. . . And they did bloggies! They did!!!! My Rocky Mountain day with the boy's family was just what the Doctor (and the trainer) ordered. I relaxed, enjoyed a Friday off, ate some great food, and made some lovely memories!

Yesterday morning did not start with my usual Green Monster. *gasp* :oO I'm shocked too! Truth be told yesterday morning we got up and headed out in such a hurry I didn't even have a chance to blend my ingredients. So instead I made myself a protein shake (with water) and drank 1/2 of it on our way to our first stop.


A rather un-exciting and un-green start to my day! Eventually we arrived at our first destination, a Bavarian inspired ski resort town. We were too early for things to have really gotten going for the day. Nonetheless, we had a good time walking around and popping in and out of the shops.

Speaking of shops . . . they had some lovely bakeries! Oh the temptation!!! Let's just say it's a good thing my office is not located nearby or else I'd have problems! lol The boy and his family decided to indulge and I took the opportunity to steal a small piece of the boy's apple fritter:


I'm kind of fond of this picture! Especially since you can see the super cute German bakery in the background. :o) And the pastry? To. Die. For. Most apple fritters I've had in my life have been overly greasy. This one was perfect. Not greasy. Not heavy. Very light. And full of good sized chunks of apples. Apple fritter perfection!

By this point it was nearly lunch and I hadn't eaten very much all day. I was mungry! Crazy mungry!! You can imagine I was thrilled when the boy's family decided we should stop for lunch before heading to the hot springs.

We chose a cozy restaurant in a lakeside town not far from the hot springs. The specialty of the house seemed to be breakfasts. I ordered the kids breakfast that came with one egg (medium poached), one slice of whole wheat toast, pan fries, a slice of oven roasted ham, and a small slice of orange. In the interest of disclosure I should add that while waiting for my food I stole two fries from the boy's fish and chips.


Next we headed to the hot springs. The views on the way up to the pools were nothing short of spectacular:


We spent a couple of hours at the springs. I was so relaxed by the time I got out, I could have had a long nap! :o) As an added bonus the hot mineral water helped my muscles release. Which means I can get back to running now - yaaaaaaaay!!!!

On the way out from the hot springs we came across some local wildlife. I'm not originally from the mountains. I'm from the big city and sights like these still leave me awestruck:


That bloggies is a pair of big horn sheep!!! Can you imagine they were just sitting there on the side of the mountain? No need to go to a zoo or anything. When you live in the Rockies you regularly get to see sights like these in the wild. I love that about this place!! I chose this particular picture because it was my favourite but the truth is that there were a couple of dozen of these guys on the mountain!! :o)

Next we headed to a local coffee joint that turned out to be uber-cool! I was a happy camper. My trip yesterday managed to combine the best of urban sensitivities with mountain explorations.

For starters, I shared a piece of lovely berry pie (it was tart, just the way I like it) with the boy and his nephew:


Next, the boy had loose leaf gunpowder tea. The tea itself came in a beautiful and heavy Japanese style pot. The tea cups were little egg like cups. They were translucent and beautifully delicate. I would love a pair like these some day!


As for myself, I had the yummiest tea beverage I have had in my whole life!!! It was essentially a London Fog made with loose leaf earl grey tea (with the most delicate aroma) and steamed soy milk. Mind you since the coffee company, Kicking Horse, is Canadian they called the drink a Newfoundland Fog:


It was delish and filling too! Which is a good thing because it managed to tithe me over until dinner. In the intervening period I had a bit of an adventure with the boy and his nephew. We were happily walking along the main street when I saw a totally adorable cocker spaniel running towards us. But it didn't have an owner tailing it! :oO

The little doggy ran into the street and I screamed while the boy tried to signal a pick-up truck to prevent it hitting the doggy. Not suprisingly the little doggy got scared and ran around the tires of the truck. Immediatelythe driver got out, grabbed the dog, and handed it off to the boy. So here we were in the middle of a town several hours from home holding a dog that didn't belong to us.

We checked it's tag and realized it was a local dog. I figured the number on the tag had to be associated with a local resident so we ran towards the local city hall. But it was closed! Luckily we had passed a pet store and gambled that they might know the owner.

Sure enough they did! We walked in and explained what had happened. Their reaction? "Oh Teddy . . . you got out again!" :o) Turns out they knew the owner and promised they would return the dog.

So that was our good deed for the day! Truth be told had the doggy not had a tag I would have been tempted to keep it. And this is coming from a person who's afraid of most dogs! But this one was so calm and beautiful. It didn't bark or snap or anything. It was perfect. Some day I want one just like Teddy.

With a happy heart we eventually met up with the boy's parents and headed to a local Scottish pub where I had some comfort food:


The salad was beautiful! And underneath those lovely piped potatoes? Shepard's Pie. Nothing like comfort food to end the day.

All in all you could say I was a very happy camper! :o)

See you tomorrow bloggies . . .

A Double Double!

Hello peeps!

I have to play catch-up with my food posts so this morning's blogging is going to be a bit of a drive-by! lol

I've been eating a lot of fruit and veggies lately and have cut down on my meat consumption. I'm still being careful to keep up my protein though so I'm quite pleased with myself!

Also, I don't know if I've mentioned it but since I started food blogging I make sure to keep my food choices more creative. It also keeps me more accountable about what I eat. AND I find I'm spending less money on groceries too! BONUS!! :o)

Okay let's start with two day's worth of foods. Here we go bloggies:


Yesterday's breakie marked the return of the low-fat whole wheat Alpine grain bread. I smeared the inside of it with a teaspoon of almond butter and it was delish! Paired it with an apple and a banana and I was a happy camper.

I bet you thought I was cheating on my Green Monsters! :oP Fear not . . . it made its return for lunch and this time it had company. lol I thought I would change things up by bringing along Quatchi of Vancouver 2010 Olympics fame!


Snack was 1/2 a small bag of Mrs. Palmer's baked whole wheat pita chips. Very yummy but a little high in calories if you eat the whole bag so I only ate half. One of these days I will try reproducing the yummy garlic/parmesan flavour of this chip!


By the evening the boy's family had arrived back from their trip to Alberta and since everyone was mungry we headed out to a local Chinese buffet. This was my meal - a lot of broccoli, some delicious wonton food, a slice of roast beef that I didn't eat in the end, and an egg concoction. The soup and the veggies were so yummy I came back for more! :o)


Now for Day Two of my eats . . . .

Breakfast was my Green Monster surrounded by the family's breakfast eats. I'm staying clear of the frosted Christmas Fruit Loops. Mostly because they're sugar crack - they're seriously yummy!


Lunch was another one of my new favourite buns with peanut butter this time paired with a boatload of fruits! An apple, strawberries, a banana, and a fat-free yogurt. It was all very fresh! It left me feeling full but not weighed down! :o)


And now for the blurriest picture I've ever posted on this blog! lol My apologies but I didn't realize it was that bad when I took it. My dinner was 3/4 of a cup of whole wheat pasta and a home-made meat sauce.

To make sure my meat is lean I grind lean cuts of meat myself in the food processor. They're super lean and actually work out cheaper too!


And to make up for my blurry picture transgressions here is an in-focus picture of my salad! :o) I put strawberries and cucumbers in it and topped it with a fat-free pear vinaigrette! Yummers!!

Okay bloggies I have to get going. Today they boy's family and I are going to the Hot Springs. I'm looking forward to it - especially because it will be like a giant Epsom salt bath to help loosen my tight calf muscles!

Hasta luego!