Pretend "Health" Food

I love my job.  I do, truly.  It allows me to be creative, love people, inspire, educate, and shape the future.

That being said.....I also love snow days.  I know people think as a child they are great, but they are 

b-e-y-o-n-d great as an adult.  Seriously.  

So, today I created a new recipe!!!!!!!!!  I know, if it weren't for the snow and ice, the world would not have this recipe.  This is the first recipe on this blog that I feel real ownership over.  Yes---I did base the recipe off of SkinnyTaste.com's "Chewy Low Fat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies".  But I added a few one of my own things and I feel like I can claim it!  (Maybe I am breaking major copyright laws.  Don't sue me.  You will pay more in legal fees than I am worth.)

So I was making SkinnyTaste.com's cookies because of this little situation.  

Walmart BRUISED my perfectly-good bananas last Saturday.
They were yellow when I bought them.  By the time I traveled the
5 minutes home, they were brown and spotty.  No good Walmart.  No good.
But I couldn't let them go to waste!

So I made the Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies without the nuts (I didn't have them!).  They were definitely delicious in a healthy--I am not completely blowing my diet--sort of way.  I would almost consider them in-line with a granola bar.  You know, not a total sweet snack, but a sweet-ish snack.  Well after I made them, I had half a banana and 1 tablespoon of butter left.  So I thought, maybe I'll half the batch and make more.  THEN I had a creative moment.  Or maybe I just wanted to make the sweet-ish snack a teeny-little-bit sweeter.  So I scavenged the cabinet and found chocolate chips AND peanut butter.  

Duh.  Solution.  

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's my recipe:

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (PB/BO/CC cookies for short)

-1/2 C. flour

-1/2 tsp. baking powder

-1/4 tsp. baking soda

-1/4 tsp. cinnamon

-1 Tbsp. butter, softened at room temperature

-1/4 C. sugar

-1/4 C. brown sugar

-1 egg (Well you can't half an egg, so I didn't put all the egg white in)

-1/8 C. mashed banana (This is about a third of a small banana)

-1/4 tsp. vanilla

-1 C. old-fashioned oats

-3 Tbsp. peanut butter (I used natural peanut butter)

-1/4 C. chocolate chips

The ingredients.  I forgot the peanut butter though!
And, no--this isn't a blog sponsored by Great Value brand food.

1.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  

2.  In large mixing bowl, use mixer to cream together butter and both sugars.  Add egg, mashed banana, and vanilla.  Mix until combined.  

3.  By hand, stir in flour mixture.  Add peanut butter and stir in.  

4.  Add oats and mix by hand.  Then, add chocolate chips.  

5.  Drop on sheet and cook for 10 minutes at 350.  I rotated my cookie sheets at the halfway mark.  

6.  EAT!!!!!!!!!  

This recipe made 18 cookies.  You could easily double it to make more cookies.  Still use one whole egg if you are doubling it.  

Here are a few more tips and pictures!  

I used my Pampered Chef Mix & Chop to mash the banana.  Great idea Chris H!

I used my Pampered Chef cookie scoop for this mix.  It's definitely TOO sticky
to do by hand.  But, a large soup spoon will do the trick just fine too.  Unless
Pampered Chef wants to start sponsoring my blog, then definitely only use their
medium cookie scoop.  ;)

Pretty delicious!!!!!!!

Now I will say these aren't your I-am-CRAVING-sugar-and-I-need-a-freaking-delicious-amazing-awesome-rich-decadent cookie.  These are your I-am-craving-sugar-and-I-need-just-a-little-hint-of-sweetness-peanut butter-chocolate cookie.  And I don't too think they are too terribly unhealthy.  Only 1 tablespoon of butter and a cup of sugar is pretty awesome for a cookie!  

Let me know what you think!!  

Original recipe:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/chewy-low-fat-banana-nut-oatmeal.html#more 

Veggie Hater/Island Lover

I am a former picky eater.  And I don't know that I am totally recovered.  If it looks weird (i.e., green, orange, etc.), has an off smell, or is something I have never eaten before...my inner 3-year old goes "ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww."  I know, it's horrible.  Well with my running, I have been reading a lot of Runner's World and other running articles and apparently runners are supposed to eat healthy.  I know, right?!  Annoying.

So I have been branching out.  Over the past year, I have added celery, asparagus, carrots, green peppers, red peppers, broccoli, and green beans to my regular eating.  I would on occasion eat this BEFORE.  But like 3 bites, and I would have been done and moving on to the cheese.  I try to eat my 3-4 servings of veggies a day.  Sometimes I don't like it.  Sometimes I choke it down.  Sometimes I repeat to myself "I'm doing something good for my body" like the entire time I am chewing.  Especially for carrots.  I hate carrots.  But every now and then I eat it and it's delicious!  And I sing to myself "This is good for my body!  This is good for my body!"

Being a busy and lazy person, I know if the veggies aren't readily accessible I will totally reach for a cookie because it's fast.  So each weekend I do my bargain shopping where I find the cheapest veggies in the local ads (I check out about 4 of them) and go to Walmart and do their price-match guarantee.  Then I prep!  It only takes about 45 minutes to prep all these veggies and they last all week (sometimes longer if I do, by mistake, reach for a cookie)! 

Veggies ready to prep.  Asparagus, carrots, green beans, red & green peppers, broccoli 

Step 1:  Wash all the veggies.  While this is happening boil water in 2 pots.  (About 1 inch of water in each pot.)
Step 2:  Begin to steam/boil carrots on medium heat.  (I HATE carrots and this is the only way I can eat them!)  I steam the carrots for 35 minutes so they are nice and mushy!
Step 3: Cut the broccoli and begin to steam.  I steam the broccoli for 20 minutes.  

Step 4:  While the broccoli and carrots are on the stove steaming, cut the asparagus woody (the white part) end off.
Step 5:  After putting asparagus on cookie sheet (put parchment paper on it for easy clean-up!), drizzle a little olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper.  This time I added Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb---yum!

(Step 5)

Step 6:  Bake asparagus at 350 for 12 minutes.  While this is happening, chop the ends off the green beans.  (This is also typically where I throw in a load of laundry!)  You might also have time to cut the peppers.  I seriously had to look up a video on you-tube for how to cut a pepper!  I cut mine in strips.

Step 7:  Take asparagus out of the oven.  Preheat oven to 425.  **At this point, the broccoli is done so turn the heat off of that.**  Put the asparagus in a container and use the same baking sheet and parchment paper (reduce/reuse/recycle) for the green beans.  Drizzle olive oil, Mrs. Dash, pepper, and salt on the green beans.  Put in oven at 425.  Bake for 10 minutes, then shake the pan and bake for another 5 minutes.

(Step 7)--While these are baking, you can finish up cutting the peppers, begin putting veggies into containers to refrigerate for the week, or cleaning the kitchen.  

Veggies are done!  Ready to reheat for lunches and dinners for the week!

j

The goal is that I would reach for these veggies BEFORE something else.
I might need to wash it down with a Corona too though.  :)  

On a completely unrelated note, I got a kitchen island from IKEA and did a bit of a flip on it!!  Here is what it looked like in the store.

Bekvam Kitchen Cart $59.99 at IKEA

Here is MINE!  My dad stained it with a dark wood and added a towel rod (also from Ikea).  

My dad put the dark wood stain on before even putting it together.  He also added the towel rod.  He then put a clear polyurethane coating on it to protect it from spills.  (Like when your friend spills Corona on it....)

The kitchen with the rockin' island!  

So pretty much it's been super exciting here for me!  I am eating my veggies and enjoying my new island.  :)  I am also a little injured from running so I have been trying to take it easy.  It's REALLY hard to not run, but I know that my knee needs to heal or it will just keep getting worse.  It needs to feel better STAT because I have got a half marathon in like 10 weeks!!

Let me know what you think of my IKEA flip and my veggie prep!  I'd love ideas to streamline it more!

Furniture Fashion

Sometime in my life around the age of 12, I discovered the Pottery Barn catalog.  I am sure I was their only 12-year old subscriber   But anyway, I have pretty much always loved looking at those catalogs.  I love how classic, chic, and homey it looks.  It looks beautiful but livable at the same time.  Dream home stuff.

Well as the 25-year old "adult" that I am now, I realize that Pottery Barn is DANG EXPENSIVE.  Seriously, who can afford $200 for a dining room chair?  If I were ever able to afford that stuff, I don't think I would let anyone use the furniture.  (Or more likely, I would have ONE really nice Pottery Barn chair and the rest would be folding chairs!  Classy, right?)  Maybe, I'm just cheap.  But I still love the look of Pottery Barn.

As I've stated before, I frequented the "auction scene" this fall.  I found quite a few things that in my mind, look like Pottery Barn.  Classic.  Chic.  Maybe a little dusty.  (You might disagree, which is fine.  I'll live my PB fantasy in my head.)  My auction tips are:
1.  Get there early to scope it out.
2.  Get yourself a donut to make sure you have enough calories in your body to think clearly.  Hot chocolate is helpful too.
3.  Find what you like.  Look for well-made and quality workmanship.  If you like modern lines, look for modern lines.  I like classic and traditional and have looked at thousands of PB catalogs so I kind of know the look I am going for, so that's what I look for.  Don't be scared by an ugly wood finish or a paint color you don't like.  These things can be changed!  Be creative!!
4.  Once you have found something you like, REALLY look at it.  Open the drawers, look underneath it, etc.
5.  Decide your "top price" that you will pay.  You have to STICK to this so really think about it.  Questions to ask yourself that help you determine your top price include: "Do I need this?"  (My answer is always yes!)  "Where am I putting this?"  "Do I need to revamp the furniture in anyway?"  If the answer to that question is yes, consider the cost of that when figuring out your top price.

So here is a dresser that I had purchased at an auction for about $15.  This auction really had nothing else except this dresser.  It was a rose among thorns (i.e., junk!).  Also, I didn't really think about HOW to get it home.  I totally had to ride in the passenger side seat WITH my mom also in it.  It was a long 20 minute drive.

One of the wooden knobs was missing.  Also the wood finish
wasn't great looking.  

Step 1:  Degloss.  This probably wasn't totally necessary, but
it did get some of the gross stuff off the wood.  

Step 2:  Begin wiping on the stain with a cloth or rag.  I chose a really
dark stain.  It's important to stain it in a horizontal position so that the
stain doesn't "run."  

Step 2 (continued):  The one on the top has the stain.  The bottom
is the old finish.  

Step 2 (continued):  Staining the sides

Step 3:  Wipe on a polyurethane coating to seal the stain into the wood.  Do
this at least 24 hours after you have stained so the stain is "set."  See that scratch on the
bottom left?  That's what happens when you put too much polyurethane on.  My dad
later informed me that it is NOT like frosting a cake.  He had to sand it out and re-stain it.
Isn't he great?

Finished product!!  My dad had the idea to use the extra knobs
that we had leftover from the kitchen reno instead of the wooden
knobs that were with it!  

                                       

Excuse my not-great-picture taking skills.  It's late and I'm tired.
What do you think though?  I am not totally sold on the mirror being
white.  The old homeowners had left it and was a nice 90s gold.  The
white is much better but it's very whiiiiiiiiiiiiiite.

I'll update soon, I promise!  I have a couple of thoughts for my next entry.  It might be my recent bargain-grocery shopping adventures or maybe an update on my hallway!!!!!!!  We'll see!!