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Entries tagged as ‘banana’

Second-to-Last PDR!

September 28, 2009 · 3 Comments

Saturday morning (wow, more than two days ago!) I set my latest personal distance record of 12 miles. I have run ten miles twice before, but this was my first dirty dozen and also the longest I will run before Nike Women’s, which is in fewer than three weeks!!

I tried to make this run like race day by actually eating breakfast beforehand. Usually I eat half a Clif Z bar, but I was driving ~30 minutes to the run site and had to be there early, so I wanted a full breakfast for my run fuel. It means I had to get up at 4:30 (?!) but I certainly enjoyed my two slices of whole wheat toast with almond butter. It fueled me perfectly and didn’t upset my stomach at all, so looks like that’ll be my breakfast on race day!

And the run itself went really well. We were running on a trail through a park, and since we started right at 6 a.m., it was pitch-black for over an hour. Thankfully they handed out little blinking Team in Training lights (which were so cute!) and of course I ran with people. The course was nice, though, and we even saw five bunny rabbits!

I felt strong throughout the entire time, too. The only problem was at one water stop, the guy there told us we had four miles left. Turns out it was six. It was not a happy moment when we realized that! I encountered one tough part when around mile nineish I just got really tired. For the first time, my legs seemed like they were giving out on me and it was tough to push through. Thankfully, that feeling only lasted about five or so minutes and I got a second wind to finish the run. I was feeling good for the last mile, so I cranked up my iPod and ran in pretty hard. It felt so wonderful to finish, and I was on a high for the rest of the day (and still am, to tell you the truth).

I subsisted through the run with diluted Gatorade, which served me pretty well. However, I didn’t take in any other calories during the race. Most things have not set well with my stomach, so I’m not sure what to do. I don’t have a whole lot of time left to experiment, but I know physiologically I need some fuel while I’m running! Any other ideas?

Speaking of delicious fuel, I have another fun thing to report. One of the things I lugged with me while moving into my dorm room was this lovely Costco-size jar of almond butter:

And ever since then I have been anxiously awaiting this day.

You know what an almost-empty jar of almond butter means, right?

Oats in a jar! I made a normal portion of oats (1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 banana) in the microwave with some cinnamon.

And then just dumped it into the jar. It was SO good, practically almond butter overload. And super filling, obviously, thanks to the hefty dose of healthy fats. Look at all that almond butter on the bottom of the jar… Now I really want some more! Thankfully I have another jar in my fridge, it’ll just take me a while to get through it. But you know what I’ll be making as soon as I can!

More exciting news: new shoes! I went out Saturday afternoon and picked up a new pair of my Nike Equalon 3s. They’re the exact same as the ones I’m currently retiring, but I need fresh ones and want time to break them in before the half marathon. I ran in them this morning, and I think everything will be just fine.

Old shoes v. new: I want them to stay pretty and white forever!

Last thing (I promise!): I’ve been thinking about the blog a lot lately. I always figured this blog would slowly retire after the half marathon, and that’s probably still true. But I’ve found that I really do love blogging and the associated community, so I am currently brainstorming ideas for a new blog. I have a few things up my sleeve, but I want to hear from you! What do you think would be a cool idea for a (food/fitness/health-related) blog?

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: almond butter, banana, oats

Ten Miles, Part Deux

September 13, 2009 · 4 Comments

I woke up yesterday morning so excited about running 10 miles again. That means I’m officially crazy, right? Oh well, at least it made it a whole lot easier to get out of bed when my alarm went off. And since the quality of sleep I get on a Friday night here in college isn’t stellar, I’ll take any help I can get.

I was also a little bit nervous because my training hasn’t been as top-notch as I’d like over the past couple weeks, thanks to that little foot injury (which seems to be completely gone, thank goodness) and the fact that I was sick the week before last. But all is good! I’ve been lifting weights, which I love, and doing my hill workouts on the treadmill and fitting in a little yoga when I can.

Despite my worries, the 10 miles (which was really ~10.5…officially my longest run yet!) went really well. I ran it a few minutes faster than I did the last time, but to me the time really doesn’t matter. I’m doing this for fun, and my only goal is to finish and finish strong. I felt absolutely fine after this run, so I definitely know I can run the 13.1. And even after lots of walking yesterday afternoon and dancing in heels for a few hours last night, I woke up this morning with zero soreness. That’s comforting to me because it means I’m doing something right!

One of those things has to be the food! I indulged in my favorite postrun meal yesterday:

Yum. This was a super-simple bowl of oats, cooked on the stove top with a banana and half-water, half-skim. After it was done, I added cinnamon, ground flaxseed, and a dash of chia seeds. If you’re not familiar with chia seeds, they’re pretty darn cool. They’re super-high in omega-3 fats, as well as fiber and protein and many other nutritional goodies. Plus, they act as a thickening agent so as the oatmeal sits it gets a little bit thicker.

So what else is going on? Well, I stare at this poster every day, and I’m getting pretty stoked.

I can’t believe that in exactly five weeks, I’ll be in San Francisco having finished the half marathon this morning. One of my good friends is also doing Team in Training, and her event—the Nation’s Triathlon—was this morning. I talked to her, and she said the atmosphere was just amazing and the support of Team in Training made the event easy. I also check out the Nike Women’s Marathon website often, and I can’t wait for October 18!

Last bit of news:

I reached my fundraising goal!

As of last Wednesday, I am officially there. You can check it out here, but thanks to the support of over 60 donors (!?) I made my goal. It amazes me that this cause means something to that many people and that I have so many supporters. I will be thinking of ALL of you in five weeks, don’t doubt it. And by no means is my fundraising over, so if you feel like donating please feel free.

Apparently I’ve been a quote mode lately on the blog, so here’s a couple more:

Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.

Talk to you soon!

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: banana, chia seeds, flax, oats

Double Digits!

August 29, 2009 · 8 Comments

I somehow pulled myself out of bed at 5 this morning and met my Team in Training group for 10 awesome miles. To me, this is remarkable considering several things:

I didn’t have a great night’s sleep.
I didn’t eat a proper dinner last night and just ate a really big snack right before I went to bed.
I didn’t hydrate enough yesterday.
I had a pretty scary experience this morning that was rattling.
I haven’t really run since last Saturday, thanks to the foot. (I have been icing like it’s my job and was very nervous about my foot hurting during this run.)

But I did it. That should tell you: anyone can really do anything you put your mind to. So often we set our standard so far below what we can actually achieve. Did I ever think I’d be cranking out 10-milers fairly easily? Nope. And I tried very hard to not let those aforementioned things affect me. No excuses!

“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.”

My biggest concern this morning was my foot. Since the pain was minor Thursday and Friday, my coach and I decided I should try it out today. I kept my phone with me and would have just called him to pick me up if it started hurting badly. I am not interested in an injury of any kind. There was still a little bit of soreness (a 2-3 on a 1-10 scale), but it was constant and I was watching out for the pain getting worse. It didn’t!

The 10 miles was surprisingly not too hard. I made sure to drink plenty of water and Gatorade throughout, and we were fine. It felt so awesome to finish and it’s really comforting to know for sure that I could, right now (well, maybe not right now…my legs are a little tight), run that half-marathon. With the cooler temps in San Fran and the race day adrenaline, I’d have no problem with the three other miles.

My big run was followed by my big breakfast. I turned to my trusty oats, which are my very favorite post-run food for a couple reasons. They’re obviously nutritious, and my yummy combo is packed with whole grains, healthy fats, fiber, and protein. Also, often after I run my stomach isn’t quite up to eating at my normal speed, and oats are perfect because you can nibble on them. Try that with cereal and milk and you’re left with a soggy mess.

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This is a full half-cup of oats made on the stove top with half-cup of skim milk, half-cup of water, a perfectly ripe banana, cinnamon, flax, walnuts, and a few chia seeds just for fun.

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Now I’m off…to ice my foot.

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: banana, chia seeds, flax, milk, oats, walnuts

Housekeeping

August 24, 2009 · 4 Comments

It’s taking a little while to get settled, but I think I’m just about there. One of my biggest things is figuring out when I’m going to fit in exercise: between classes, socializing, studying, sleeping, and eating I don’t have a whole lot of time, but I want to find regular weekly blocks for running, yoga, and weight lifting. I’ll figure it out! Luckily all the group exercise classes at my college gym are free this week, so I am going to check out a couple. Starting hopefully with yoga tomorrow!

Today I fit a workout in thanks to my nifty resistance bands. I worked upper body (biceps, triceps, chest, back, and shoulders) along with a few butt exercises. (The goal for tonight is to do some ab work, I’ll report back if I’m successful.) I am constantly amazed by resistance bands. They’re so convenient to have around and travel with, and I’m pretty sure you can do any type of exercise. And maybe I’m crazy, but I feel like they work my muscles a little differently than regular weights. Maybe it’s the stabilization factor. Love ‘em!

Monday would usually be a run day, but my foot still hurts. When I got home after Boston last Sunday night, the outer edge of my left foot was really sore. I figured it was just from the hours of walking we did and the combined 12 miles over two runs. I iced it periodically on Sunday and Monday, and I was fine. My next run wasn’t until Wednesday, which was just a short hill workout. It didn’t hurt after that, but I iced anyway just in case. Then all was good until my run Saturday morning. Toward the last mile or so, it started to hurt a little bit and it has been sore ever since. Sigh. Needless to say, there was no running today—’twas replaced by copious amounts of icing—and I might head over to the doctor in the next couple days. Any other suggestions?

Next item of business is my Team in Training fundraising. I am so happy and so proud of people that have donated so far, but I’m still looking for ways to raise even more since every single dollar brings us closer to finding cancer cures. I’m thinking of hosting a food-related silent auction on the blog to raise money. Anyone—readers or fellow bloggers—could donate food- or health-related items, whether it be a baked good, a special local treat, or something similar, and then the bidding will be open for probably 48 hours. 100% of the proceeds, of course, will go to Team in Training. What do y’all think? If you’d be interested in donating something, please let me know in a comment. I’ll ask for formal commitments soon. Together, we all really can help fight cancer. Bake for a good cause!

All right, now y’all are thinking…this is a big food blog, so where’s the food?! I don’t have a lot to post in that area, but I will show off one of my favorite snacks. After my little workout this afternoon, I enjoyed this treat in the comfort of my own dorm room.

I combined some Greek yogurt (not really sure how much…1/2 a cup?!) with some banana chunks, Kashi Heart to Heart, and almond butter. Yumm… (Plus, don’t you like my cute bowl?)

Above is the pretty before picture, and here is the way it looked when I actually ate it.

Off to do…dare I say it…homework.

Categories: Food · Strength Training
Tagged: almond butter, banana, Greek yogurt, Kashi

Whew

August 23, 2009 · 7 Comments

I made it! All moved back into my dorm room no worse for wear. But as usual, I’m starting the day from the beginning. Move-in day started with an early wake-up call for my Team in Training run.

My running buddy and I had a “we really are runners” moment this morning. We were standing around at the park, waiting for everyone to arrive. It was pitch-black outside, obviously, and we were both discussing our not-quite-enough sleep the night before. Then, one of us said, “Hey, we’ll be fine! It’s only six miles today!” Wait a second…only six miles?! That’s still a pretty awesome accomplishment. It’s so easy to get caught up in everyone else’s achievements and even our own; we all need to recognize the value of all of our actions. No matter how many miles, or laps, or reps, you did—it’s all awesome!

It was a cut-back week before 10 miles (!) next Saturday, and we ran a new route that turned around at this pretty garden. (Sorry for the blurry pic, I used my iPhone.) The run is aptly named the Rose Garden route.

I had to fuel up before a long moving day, of course, so I went for a two-course breakfast.

Course number one was oatmeal, cooked on the stove with skim milk, half a ripe banana, almond butter, and ground flax.

This is the best oatmeal combination. Ever.

While course number two was another Amazing Grass smoothie. I combined half a ripe banana, ~2 oz. of skim milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, and another SuperFood smoothie packet. I chose the kids’ packet because it was chocolate-flavored, obviously. Served in a margarita glass for optimum enjoyment, it was delicious!

Moving in went really well, and I’m thrilled with my new room. Here are some decor pictures for y’all:

First and foremost is my “trophy” the lovely Whit gave me in Boston.

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And I have a fruit bowl! Sitting atop my fridge, waiting for more fruit to join the party.

Speaking of my fridge, here it is in all its glory. I love it dearly.

Oh wait, you actually want to see what’s inside?

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Not too much for the moment, actually. Just the bare essentials! Top shelf has Ezekiel English muffins and Oroweat Sandwich Thins.

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While the second shelf has my water pitcher, two giant tubs of Fage Greek yogurt (thank you, Costco), and an enormous jar of almond butter. It’s not as good as my homemade kind, but it’ll do. Plus, it was only $6.99 at Costco. Can you believe it?!

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Then my tiny freezer holds an ice pack (for my sore foot…I’ll talk more about that sometime) and some frozen (hand-picked!) blueberries.

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Of course, being the foodie that I am, that’s not all the food in my room. The bottom drawer of my desk holds these goodies. A box of Kashi Heart to Heart in the back, some old-fashioned oats, canned salmon, my Adora calcium supplements, a case of Clif Z-bars, super-dark chocolate (every girl needs chocolate!), a case of Larabars, and a few cans of black beans.

My utensil drawer contains my super-cute bowls and plates (which you’ll see plenty of, believe me), measuring cups and spoons, utensils, and cinnamon. I bet I’m one of the few college kids with cinnamon in her room.

Other fun items: my Team in Training poster up on my wall…

…for constant motivation!

And my yoga mat. A girl’s gotta release her stress somehow.

I’m off to do a little more organizing and preparing for class tomorrow. Ah, school’s back…

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: almond butter, Amazing Grass, banana, flax, milk, oats, strawberries

A Cautionary Tale

August 20, 2009 · 5 Comments

Beware: even if you buy a fresh, boneless salmon fillet from the store, there could still be little bones. If you’re not careful, one of those said bones could get stuck in your throat. Thankfully, we have a lovely, local emergency room and I was in and out in probably under 20 minutes. That is my public service announcement for the day!

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The dinner was good, though I didn’t eat most of it. My mom baked a wild salmon fillet in parchment paper (at 400* for ~20 minutes) with red onion, summer squash, zucchini, mushrooms, chipotle powder, and paprika. The few bites I had before the bone incident were quite good.

[Before my dinner, I had my regular Team in Training Wednesday night workout. It was a hill day, so parking garages it was! I can’t believe I have less than two months until the race…it’s coming up so quickly! I’m getting close to 70% of my fundraising, too! You can see my progress in that area by clicking any of the Team in Training links.]

My groceries have been totally out of sync this week. Because of poor planning on my part, I had to go to the grocery store Monday and Wednesday. I now have bananas and milk, but no cereal and no almonds to make almond butter. Sigh. I thought about making oatmeal, but I didn’t want any without almond butter. So I settled for a bowl of cereal.

No Kashi Heart to Heart, but at least it was in the Kashi family. This is a serving of Cinnamon Harvest with ~3/4 of a large banana, half a cup of skim milk, and a teaspoon or two of ground flaxseeds. It was really good! We have this cereal on hand most of the time, but I very rarely have a full serving of it for a meal.

Thanks again for your opinions! I’ve been thinking about the future of the blog a lot, and I’m planning a post about it for later today or tomorrow. Hope y’all are having great days!

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: banana, flax, Kashi, milk, mushrooms, red onion, salmon, summer squash, zucchini

All the Right Reasons

August 19, 2009 · 5 Comments

I’m sure y’all will be happy to know that my morning smoothie was brown today for a good reason! (Wait. Is there another good reason for a smoothie to be brown besides chocolate…?!)

Thanks to the HLS swag bag, I pulled out one of these SuperFood packets.

I have several to try, but obviously I went to a chocolate one first. For only 30 calories, this little packet delivered a lot of nutrition and a whole host of vitamins, plus that yummy chocolate taste. I probably wouldn’t buy these regularly, though, because they’re pretty expensive and I do a good job of getting my fruits & vegetables in naturally. Fun to try, though! I’ll certainly enjoy eating the rest of my samples.

AmazingGrass

Besides the Amazing Grass, my smoothie was pretty normal. Four ounces of skim milk, the chocolate powder packet, one medium banana, ~3/4 cup of frozen strawberries, and half a scoop of chia seeds.

Whoops, there’s another new ingredient! Chia seeds are basically amazing. You can read more about them here, but they’re a wonderful source of fiber, omega 3 fats, and micronutrients.

It’s really cool: I soaked half a scoop of chia seeds in a little water for just a few minutes before I made my smoothie. The seeds soak up all the water and create this gel-like substance. It really thickens the smoothie, adds a little texture, boosts the nutrient value, and doesn’t change the taste. Awesome!

I think this was the best smoothie I’ve ever made. All I could taste was chocolate and banana, plus maybe a hint of strawberry. It would also be great to add in a handful or two of spinach (which will up the nutrients without changing the taste) and some almond butter. I loved it!

I do have one more HLS swag bag item to review.

Don’t know if you’ve heard of ProBars, but they’re bars that are organic and completely vegan (no animal products). I’ve never bought one before because they’re quite large (at ~400 calories, they’re meant as a meal substitute) and expensive. But we got a regular size ProBar in our swag bags to try, as well as one of ProBar’s new smaller bars, called Fruition. This bar has only 160 calories, which is much more snack-like. I know there are several different flavors, and I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed when I saw that peach was the flavor I got in my bag. Peaches aren’t my favorite fruit, as you can probably tell by never seeing them on the blog!

But I still brought the bar along to have with lunch yesterday. Surprisingly, it was really good! It wasn’t too sweet like the PURE bar I tried a few days ago and it had a nice crunch from the oats. I enjoyed the flavor a lot.

Last but not least…I broke out the resistance bands for the first time in a while yesterday for an upper body workout. I’ve been loving the 30 Day Shred, obviously, but I want to get back into more regular resistance training. Here’s what I did:

bicep curls
tricep extensions
reverse chest flies
bow and arrows
front raises
side raises
seated rows

I did two sets of 20 for each exercise, and it was a great 20-minute workout! My upper body was definitely tired when I was done, and I can feel it a little bit today. Yay!

Thanks for putting up with this rambling post, and thanks again for your thoughts on yesterday’s post. Keep em’ coming!

Categories: Food · Strength Training
Tagged: Amazing Grass, banana, chia seeds, milk, strawberries

Need Your Opinions

August 18, 2009 · 12 Comments

Morning! My meals have been a little short on creativity since our kitchen supplies are running low thanks to traveling. But I did get to use a swag bag item:

With my breakfast this morning! 1/3 cup oats with water, milk, one whole banana, flax, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.

Look at all that delicious melty Barney Butter.

I also whipped this up yesterday with the limited contents of my kitchen. I basically hunted through the fridge and pantry, tossing random ingredients onto the counter. I ended up with this concoction, and it was actually delicious. It was also super-easy to assemble, so I’ll definitely make it again. I spread a thin layer of hummus (about 1 tbsp.) on a whole wheat wrap and added 1/3 cup black beans, ~1/4 cup edamame, a little chopped zucchini, and some diced red onion. Simple but awesome and really flavorful!

I hit the swag bag up again to try this Amazing Grass product yesterday with my lunch.

I actually really liked it! There was a light chocolate coating, but the interior of the bar was most definitely green. It was hearty and filling with a nice texture. I have only seen these at Whole Foods and from what I remember they’re pretty expensive. So I probably won’t buy more but I will gladly eat one if someone ever gives it to me. I think today I’m going to be trying another thing from the swag bag (the new Fruition bar), so I’ll report back on that later.

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But here’s where y’all come in: Next week I’m heading back to school, and I’m not sure what I want to do with the blog. I could focus solely on my half-marathon training, continue to include posts about my meals (which will be how I eat healthfully in the dining hall and with what I keep in my dorm room), and/or I could concentrate more on health/nutrition information and articles. What do you think? What do you want to read about? Let me know your thoughts!

Categories: Food
Tagged: almond butter, banana, black beans, flax, hummus, milk, oats, red onion, wrap, zucchini

Another PDR

August 14, 2009 · 2 Comments

Hello again from Boston! I was up and at ‘em early this morning to meet Kate and blog reader Amanda for a run around the Charles River. I was pleased to step outside the hotel and find that it was a wee bit chilly! I am so used to running in 90-100* that this felt like heaven. Still humid, though, and by the end I was plenty sweaty.

We set a pretty good pace at the beginning, and I was feeling fine until about mile five or six. For some reason I started to feel tired, and I think it was because my legs were sorer than usual thanks to Wednesday night’s hill workout. But I felt pretty good for the last mile and finished strong.

It was so pretty running around the river, too, though it was different not knowing the route! Wish I could run here all the time. The three of us had an awesome time, chattering away about food and fitness most of the while, and those two lovely ladies pushed me to complete a new PDR of 8.5 miles, which we did in about 80 minutes. It felt great!

So where did the two food/fitness bloggers head to after our run? Why Whole Foods, of course. We stopped in for a few minutes to pick up some breakfast supplies. Last night at Trader Joe’s I got some cereal and a few bananas, and this morning I grabbed a single container of Greek yogurt (since I don’t have a fridge to keep more), a small amount of freshly ground peanut butter (since I learned from a previous trip that PB doesn’t make it through airport security), and a few berries from the salad bar.

I combined everything to make a little hotel room breakfast parfait! You can’t see it, but there’s Greek yogurt and cereal on the bottom, topped with blueberries, strawberries, banana, and peanut butter.

And here’s a little “in action” shot for ya. ‘Twas a good breakfast!

I’m off to do more Boston exploring…see y’all later!

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: banana, blueberries, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, strawberries

Too Much Excitement!

August 12, 2009 · 4 Comments

I don’t even know where to begin.

Guess we’ll start with that! I am a proud new owner of an iPhone, and I couldn’t be more excited. I got it this afternoon and have been playing with it ever since. Can’t wait to have fun with it this weekend in Boston!

[Speaking of Boston, let me know if you’re going. I’m leaving in the morning and am so pumped. Also let me know if you’re interested in running Friday morning…Kate and I are trying to get a group together to run eight miles. Leave me a comment and I’ll e-mail you with more details.]

I had a long day at work and headed directly over to a local park, where my Team in Training group ran some hills for about 45 minutes. Ouch. I don’t think my quads will be too happy in the morning. All went well, though, and I came home for a flurry of cooking and baking and cleaning and packing.

First up was dinner. I baked a whole wheat wrap in the oven (on the pizza stone!) for a few minutes until it was a little crispy…

Then topped it with a little almond butter and some apple slices. It was okay. :/ I think it would have been perfect had I taken the wrap out one or two minutes earlier; it was more like a cracker than the chewy-crispy wrap I wanted. I ate most of it, then had a little slice of regular toast.

Afterward, I did some baking for this weekend (which I’ll show tomorrow) and made my super-special dessert.

That’s right. Banana soft serve. This morning I did the “banana math” and figured out we had two extra bananas since I’ll be gone this weekend. So I chopped them up and threw ‘em in the freezer. Later tonight, as a special dessert for me and my mom, I whipped them up in the food processor for a full five minutes. It went through some funny stages and made some weird sounds, but then this delicious banana soft serve ice cream appeared. And oh my word was it good. Thick, creamy, and full of nice, ripe banana flavor. My mom kept raving about it while eating it and while she was scraping the food processor with a spoon. “Is this really just bananas?” Why yes it is. And it’s so good, you must try it. Especially topped with almond butter. But of course not regular almond butter…remember these from a while back?

I made cocoa-roasted almond butter.

I took a couple handfuls of these almonds and made almond butter the regular way, adding some cinnamon and a tiny bit of maple syrup. It is dangerously good, I’m warning you. Thank goodness I only made a very small batch.

Now I’m off to (maybe) pack and (definitely) sleep. See you tomorrow!

Categories: Food · Runs
Tagged: almond butter, apples, banana, wrap

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