Recipe: Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas

My Mom, Grandma, and Aunt...and all our desserts

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day with the important ladies in your lives! Our family headed over to my aunt's house for lots of food, sangria, and beautiful weather. My mom and I were in charge of desserts and we came across a recipe for frozen chocolate covered bananas and knew it would be perfect! This happens to be one of my aunt's favorite treats at Disney so we knew we had to make it. 

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com

Frozen Chocolate Bananas
Makes 12

Ingredients:

• One Bunch Bananas
• 12 oz semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (we made some of each!)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (we used coconut oil instead)
• Peanuts, Toffee, Sprinkles, whatever you would like to top your bananas with

• You'll also need popsicle sticks

Instructions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Peel bananas and cut in half. Insert popsicle stick into each banana. Line on baking sheet and freeze for at least 15 minutes (I would suggest 30-minutes to an hour).
3. Before pulling the bananas out of the freezer, melt the chocolate chips until smooth.
4. Roll each frozen banana in the melted chocolate. I used a spoon to cover the bananas and found there was less of a chance the popsicle stick would come out of the banana
5. Immediately sprinkle toppings on chocolate dipped banana. Place back on baking sheet.
6. Freeze at least 30 minutes until chocolate sets. Serve out of freezer or store in freezer in airtight container for up to one week.

Viola, your own chocolate covered frozen banana! These will be great treats on the warm summer days that are coming!

QOTD: What's your favorite frozen Disney treat?

Breakfast of Champion's

Good morning! Happy Tuesday! Tuesdays for me are the days I work out the longest. I have the day off so I can spend more time running and working out. I'm running my second half marathon in Buffalo, NY hopefully in June. So I decided its time to kick it into high gear and really get this nutrition In the morning thing down. I've posted about this before, I have some trouble fueling up in the mornings and if I run at night it's difficult to know how to eat during the day. I've been finding myself cramping up badly as well when running a longer distances; which I'm sure is because 1- I'm not drinking enough water and 2- I'm not properly eating throughout the entire day. But I do find a good breakfast will help we to feel better. 

A little side note, I'm also really looking forward to the weather changing. It can't come soon enough! I relate smoothies to the warmer seasons! So in hopes that this cold weather we are having will be over with soon, this morning starts my smoothie making on a consistent basis. 

I bought a magic bullet, it works great and is less expensive than a nutri bullet. I've been mixing it up with different frozen fruit/ fresh fruit selections and adding spinach, flax seed, and a liquid (usually either unsweetened almond milk or coconut water). The smoothies have been delicious and keeping me full for the morning into the afternoon. I feel good while running after drinking a smoothie, or I'll make one for right after my run/workout. 

I really like this little magic bullet blender because I can make an individual drink and not waste ingredients. I also love that you blend your drink in the same cup you can drink out of! 

It comes with a ring that you can put on the edge so you can comfortably drink out of it. But of course I also use my reusable Mickey straws :-)

I know this is a common thing, making smoothies and fueling up properly. But I still enjoy sharing my experiences, products I enjoy, and recipes. I would love to hear of any great smoothie combinations out there! 

-Kayla

QOTD: What are your favorite ingridents to put into a smoothie?

Recipe: Banana Dark Chocolate Chip Muffin

Firstly, Happy Valentine's Day!! Don't be afraid to indulge in some sweet treats today (mainly giant, heart shaped boxes of chocolate). Then after all the chocolate indulging is finished you can try this low-cal treat! Since I had yet another snow day yesterday I decided to give a new recipe a try. Banana Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins! This will be great to grab in the morning or to put in lunches. I've adapted the recipe below from Cook Yourself Thin.

I don't know about you guys but I'm not a morning person. I wish with every fiber of my being that I loved getting up early and getting a head start on my day. The more likely scenario is I'm running out the door 5 minutes late trying to not forget anything. This usually leaves me grabbing something quick to eat for breakfast to in the car on my way to work. 

Banana Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins
Serves 12

Ingredients
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Oats
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Ripe Banana, Mashed
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Butter (Or Vegetable Oil)
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Low-Fat Sour Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line muffin tin
2. Combine Flour, Oats, Cinnamon, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt and Banana in mixer until well combined (about 2 minutes)
2. Once combined add in Brown Sugar, Butter (or oil), Eggs, Sour Cream, and Vanilla Extract. Mix again until well combined (about 2 minutes)
3. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in Chocolate Chips
4. Use Ice Cream Scoop to disperse batter into muffin tin
5. Bake muffins for 15 minutes
6. Enjoy!



To me, this recipe was simple, and quick. Each muffin comes in at 240 calories each and tastes amazing--seriously! I ate one right out of the oven and the chocolate was all melty mmmm, it was heaven. We'd love to hear what you think if you decide to try this recipe out for yourself!

Lauren

QOTD: What's your favorite go-to quick breakfast?

Start Your Day and Run Off Right!

I'm a foodie. I love to eat, I love to snack, and I like to drink. So now that I'm getting into running I do need to change some things in my diet. This healthy lifestyle thing is great, but for someone who loves to cook and eat anything and everything whenever I want needs to change. I won't compromise my other passion for food and drink, I just won't, that wouldn't be me. But I am making more of a effort to find new recipes and to try new things. So far I've done well. I really love Pinterest to find healthy recipes. I have a list piling up of new ones I'd like to try. 

I also find I have some trouble fueling before and even after running. Thank goodness Lauren was with me before and after the Wine and Dine half marathon. She did a bit more training and research than I did. I probably would've ate the entire food and wine festival before the half (it took everything I had to wait untill after the race to indulge). I would love to know what some of you more experienced runners out there enjoy before a big race. I especially struggle with breakfast. Yes I've heard a bagel and almond butter will do the trick but I would like to hear more ideas. 

I said before I find healthy recipes on Pinterest. I just found one id like to share. I haven't tried it yet so stay tuned. Once I make it I'll be sure to give my review! 

I really like the idea of this recipe. I like that it can be made in large batches and you can make it ahead of time. Time saving, healthy, and hopefully delicious! For the recipe make sure to visit our Pinterest page!

-Kayla 

QOTD: What's your favorite healthy and delicious breakfast recipe?