Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins

My favorite thing to make with overripe bananas is banana muffins! I use a different recipe almost every time... but this most recent version may be my new go-to recipe.

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins
In a large bowl, combine:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups quick oats
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a separate bowl, combine:
2 cups of mashed bananas (about 6 bananas)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 1/3 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into oiled or lined muffin tins and bake at 350*F for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean from the center of a muffin. Makes 24 muffins.

I may play around with the amount of syrup (they were sweet, not too sweet, but I'd be fine with even less) and may try substituting some of the whole wheat flour with almond meal and a couple of the eggs with flax eggs. You could also add some fun stir-ins like mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts, but I went simple this time... a streusel topping would also be yummy!

Make-It-Up Quiche

After the Broker's Open at my house last week I got home, saw my nice clean kitchen... and was inspired to COOK. And BAKE. Not sure why exactly, but quiche sounded really good. Which is odd, because I don't remember the last time I made quiche, much less had it at all.

I did a quick search online and found a recipe for a mushroom and spinach quiche in an oat crust. I looked at it more for inspiration than actual directions, as usual. I made the oat crust almost exactly--but I didn't have (or couldn't find) oat bran, so I used wheat germ instead (kinda the same thing, right?), used a little more butter (ok so I didn't measure it at all), and probably a tablespoon more of water. And a pinch of sea salt.

More or less: Mix together 1 cup of oats, 1/3 cup of wheat germ, pinch of sea salt. Cut in about 3 tablespoons of butter with a pastry knife, fork, your hands or whatever else works for you. Add in the water (4T) and mix around. At this point I found it easier to use my hands to get the butter and water totally incorporated and mushed it all into a ball. Instead of rolling it out, I just pressed it into the bottom of my oiled pie plate--mostly just on the bottom, but a little up the sides, too. Then stick it in the over at 375* for 7-8 minutes.

For the filling, I sauteed about half a medium onion with garlic, turmeric (because it's oh-so-good for you), a pinch of applewood smoked salt, and a pinch of sea salt in olive oil until the onions were starting to get transparent. Then I added in two cubes of my frozen pureed broccoli and around 1 cup of frozen spinach (the kind that is loose in a bag, not the brick... but I doubt it matters). In a bowl I mixed up 3 whole eggs plus two egg whites and some regular 2% milk. Then I squeezed out some of the excess liquid from my sauteed veggies before dumping it in the egg mixture and immediately mixed the whole thing up. I also added some Italian seasoning and fresh basil (yum!).

Finally, I got to pour the filling in the crust (that had been cooling while I finished up the filling). I sprinkled in some cheese (shredded Italian blend), scattered some chunks of provolone (because I had it) and made a pretty design out of a variety of small tomatoes (because I had them and I love them). Baked it at 375* for about 40 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean)...

And then convinced myself to NOT eat the whole thing in one sitting.

I had it with a little salad of more tomatoes (seriously, they're like candy) and fresh basil.

And then I had another slice.

healthier cookies for one

I try to limit my junk food/treats by only eating what I am willing to make. It doesn't always work (have you tried the Ghiradelli peppermint bark squares? I still have some from Christmas and they are so good!) but it keeps me from buying too many things I don't really need at the grocery store.

Then I came across some quick dessert ideas via Pinterest... I tried a mug cake (got my chocolate fix, but probably won't do it again) and then found a recipe for the "perfect single serving size chocolate chip cookies" at No. 2 Pencil. And they were GOOD. I followed the recipe the first time I made them and made two LARGE cookies. They were a tad sweet for me but still great with a cup of cold milk.

They were good enough that I had to make them again... but with a bunch of twists! And they turned out even BETTER! (If you like soft cookies that aren't quite as sweet.)

the oil cleansing method, I

I have always had different timelines in the back of my mind for major life events. I thought I would be married by the time I was 25 and that I would have my first child by 27--like my mom. I am now 28 years old and neither of those events have taken place. (But I am seeing an amazing guy and have a wonderful nephew to spoil, so no complaints!)

I also thought that I would have clear skin by my 20's. That also hasn't happened. I hate to complain much about it because I know that there are people that have worse issues than my own, but it is still something I deal with on a daily basis. The combination of oily-ish skin and PCOS work against me.

Last week I decided to try a new cleansing regimen: the oil cleansing method.

It is just what it sounds like: you clean your face with oil. Seems backwards at first until you realize that oils cut through oils. There are a lot of resources and other bloggers out there that go into greater depth so I won't repeat it all here.

I ordered some jojoba oil and castor oil to go with the olive oil I already had. I was impatient to start so the first couple of nights I just used olive oil... it was weird taking the bottle of EVOO that normally sits next to my stove into the bathroom to wash my face... but that didn't last long. My face was so soft!!

I picked up a little plastic bottle from the store so I could have a separate oil dispenser for my food prep and face wash. I am still using mostly just EVOO with a little bit of jojoba oil mixed in (it is supposed to be good for acne-prone skin) and will eventually add the castor oil, too. (There's not enough room in my bottle for it yet.)

What I do: massage oil into face, gently wipe/rinse with a wash cloth and hot water, pat dry. I only wash at night and don't wash my face at all in the morning... unless I forget the night before. If I feel any areas of dryness/tightness in the morning I'll rub in a SMALL amount of oil--no lotions! (The only downside I have right now of no lotions is that it also means no SPF.)

After a week my face is nice and soft and seems to be less oily than usual. It also looks more "fresh" to me. I hope to keep it up and check back in with my thoughts down the road!

Like I mentioned above, there are a LOT of resources out there about the oil cleansing method... however, this blog post from Thank Your Body is the one that finally got me to just do it!

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast is such an important meal, but I can barely get myself out of bed in time to take a shower, let alone make something to eat. Enter the breakfast cookie: healthy, homemade, grab-and-go breakfast that I can eat with one hand. Perfection!

My first round of breakfast cookies was based off of this Hearty Breakfast Cookie recipe, with adaptations and additions, of course. I ran out of cookies last week and needed to make some more, but this time with another twist: I wanted to use some of the pumpkin puree I made earlier this month. Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Cookies seemed like a natural choice (with mini chocolate chips!).