strawberry banana breakfast muffins + my #4weekchallenge

Hello, friends!

So I suppose I am in need of an update as to where I have been.  I’ve been much busier than I had anticipated with work, working out, travelling around Wisco trying to be a supportive old lady, and giving myself very little time to work on myself or my blog.  Sad panda.  I’ve been in such a terrible funk lately.  I didn’t feel good about myself and was struggling with some other parts of my personal life.  Gross.  Nobody likes that.

During this time though, I realized that I wasn’t taking care of myself.  I wasn’t eating well.  I stopped working out for a bit and everything went downhill.  I felt terrible.  I craved comfort foods (mostly refined carbs…no fruits, veggies, or proteins) and when I ate them, I felt even worse.  I felt bloated from the salty, nasty, crap that I was putting into my body.  And the more I ate that stuff, the less motivated I felt and it just snowballed.

I realized that I NEED TO FOCUS ON ME FOR A WHILE.  So that is exactly what I have been doing lately.  I started my own 4 Week Challenge at the beginning of the week.  I give myself tasks each day ranging from getting a good lift in or painting my toe nails to putting together my new wine bar all by myself, cleaning my entire apartment, and creating a whole new workout plan. 

These next 4 weeks are all about me!  I will be posting updates on what I am doing for the challenges on Instagram (@itsahealthything), so head over there and see what I have been up to!  Also, I have been MUCH more active on Instagram lately.  It’s a great supportive network of people striving to be their best selves, just like I am!  It’s so encouraging to see others making progress and living their dreams.  I love the positive vibes from the Insta-fit fam.  Seriously.  Check meowt!  ;] See what I did there?

Anyway, focus……On the first day of my challenge, I wanted to remind myself how much I love cooking and baking delicious, wholesome, healthy meals and snacks.  Also, I had some nanners that were going bad from the time that I was NOT eating well.  So I decided to give myself a choice:  banana bread or strawberry banana breakfast muffins.  Well, I went for the muffins because I also had strawberries that were probably going to go bad, too.  Like I said, I failed HARD on clean eating.

I posted this recipe a while ago, but I wanted to post it again.  This oldie but goodie is a combo of two recipes that I found on (where else??) Pinterest.  Personally, I love them with a little smear of butter on them.  Something about that saltiness mixes with the sweetness of the muffins just perfectly.  Plus, I love butter.  Haha.  Sometimes I don’t know how I can be in good shape at all with my love for butter and cheese.

Anyway, here they are again!  Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Breakfast Muffins

2 ½ cups Old Fashioned Oats

1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt

2 eggs

½ cup honey or baking stevia

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Baking Soda

1 or 2 bananas

1-1 ½ cups diced strawberries

1 tsp. Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Place all ingredients, except the strawberries in a blender or food processor and blend until the oats are smooth. Pour mixture into a medium sized bowl and stir in 1 cup of strawberries. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Divide remaining ½ cup of strawberries over the top of each muffin. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

And there you have it!  Twelve delicious, nutritious muffins!

Stay tuned for more updates on my 4 Week Challenge and what I am doing to focus on ME!

Stay fit!

xoxo

peanut butter energy squares

Okay, so these were previously known as "PB Chocolate Energy Bites", but I decided to give them a new name based one little thing:  how I portion them out.  This is a great and somewhat addicting recipe to have on-hand.  I am starting to have a couple of them on my way to the gym to give myself a little energy boost before my workout.

Although they are delicious, beware!  They aren't called "energy" squares for nothing.  What provides energy?  Calories.  Specifically the sugars in the peanut butter and honey.  I finally did the math and an entire batch is close to 2400 calories.  This is why I recommend splitting them into 24 squares for 100 calorie portions.  These are definitely calorie dense, not nutrient dense.  So, while eating a couple as a pick-me-up is fine, don't eat half of a batch of them!  You have been warned!!!!

Without further ado, here is the mouth-watering recipe:

Peanut Butter Energy Squares
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup milled flax seed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/3 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the nut butter, honey, and vanilla until smooth.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.  Remove from fridge.  Press into 8x8 pan.  Cut into 24 squares to make bite-sized pieces.  Store in refrigerator or freezer until you want to eat them.

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Keep in mind that you can use any nut butter that you prefer.  In addition, you can vary the ratio of flax seed to wheat germ or cut one out completely, as long as you add 1 cup total of a second dry ingredient.  Although I suppose you could just do 2 cups of old fashioned oats if you really wanted to.  Finally, you can substitute dried fruits or nuts for the chocolate chips if you want to add a bit more of a nutritional punch.

They keep pretty well, but as the dry ingredients absorb the wet ingredients, they lose their limited "crispiness".

I hope enjoy these addicting little squares!!

xoxo,

anne