Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Let's face it. Peanut butter and bananas are a match made in heaven. I'm down with a PB and banana sandwich any day, and I will be the first to order banana ice cream with Reese's Cups at Cold Stone Creamery (they're banana flavor is insane!). Although no one is stopping me from going to Cold Stone every day and getting a huge scoop of ice cream, I try to have at least some self-control, so I set out to satisfy my ice cream cravings in a healthier manner. Lately, I've been on a huge smoothie kick (blueberries, raspberries, oj, spinach, and flax is a winner!), and this peanut butter banana smoothie hits the spot in oh-so-many ways!

You've got fiber, calcium, protein, and all sorts of other goodies in each smoothie - tasty and healthy! I use frozen chunks of bananas instead of adding ice, which lends the smoothie a creamier texture, and soy milk, creamy peanut butter, cinnamon, honey, and vanilla make it taste super rich. I have also made this with regular dairy milk, and it tastes just as delish, but I've noticed that soy milk (or even almond milk) gives the perfect creaminess, similar to soft-serve ice cream. You can even add a tablespoon of cocoa powder for a peanut butter-chocolate combination. I use my 14 oz. personal-sized blender, but a larger blender would work just as well, I'm sure! Happy blending! 

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie (serves 1)


*1 frozen banana (method for freezing below)
1 cup plain or vanilla soy milk
1 heaping tablespoon creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract


Blend everything together in a blender until smooth. Serve immediately and enjoy!


*How to freeze bananas: 
To make four future smoothies, peel four ripe bananas and cut into six to seven (1-inch) chunks (depending on banana size). Split the chunks evenly between two plastic sandwich bags, making sure the bananas are in an even layer, and freeze the bags flat until the bananas are completely frozen. 

Baked Curried Sweet Potato Fries

I'm convinced that sweet potato fries are one of the best foods on the planet. Ever. They are sweet and savory at the same time, they taste amazing with nearly any kind of spice you've got in your cabinet, and they are highly addictive! I can never eat just one of these fries, and before I know it they're all gone, and I have a hankering to go and make another batch. If you want to try and squeeze more veggies in your diet, baked sweet potato fries will definitely do the trick. 

These guys are full of fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C! They're basically health food disguised as a guilty pleasure, but they are so good for you and so delicious! To spice them up, I use curry powder, cinnamon, chili powder, and ground ginger, and the amount of each spice can be adjusted to your taste. These never come out the same way twice, and that's what I love about them - sometimes they've got a spicier kick and other times they are more mild. Unfortunately, I love to dip them in barbecue sauce or honey mustard, possibly detracting from their nutritional value, but I say a little barbecue sauce never hurt!


Baked Curried Sweet Potato Fries


1 medium sweet potato, washed and patted dry
2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch course salt 
ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Without peeling it, cut the sweet potato in half (not lengthwise), slice each half into 4 equal chunks, and then continue to cut these chunks into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. The fries will be short, but this helps them cook faster and crisp up more. You can basically cut them any way you like, but I've found this is the best method for getting the perfect fries. 

Here's what they look like before going in the oven!


Line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil, and drizzle the olive oil all over the foil. Spread the oil in an even layer on the foil, and add the potatoes to the pan (I've found this prevents sticking better than drizzling the oil over the potatoes). Sprinkle the spices evenly over the potatoes, and toss everything thoroughly to coat. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning them over about halfway through, until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked all the way through. 

Spice up the morning with Breakfast Burritos!

I love pretty much everything about breakfast food. I love how it's often easy to whip up and get on the table, I love that it energizes your body for whatever the day brings, and I especially love how the smell of pancakes or bacon or coffee floats around the house, getting me in the mood to get the day started. I also love burritos, and when breakfast foods like scrambled eggs and sausage get wrapped up in a warm tortilla, something crazy delicious is about to go down! I've been on a scrambled egg kick lately (eggs are super cheap and quick!) and my new favorite thing is to brown up some veggie sausage, wilt in some baby spinach, add some eggs and scramble up the whole lot for a super tasty meal. 

One of my favorite food bloggers, Jenna from Eat, Live, Run, posted a recipe for breakfast quesadillas, and she does the exact same thing with her eggs as I do, but she goes a couple steps further and adds crumbled goat cheese and hot sauce to hers! I adore quesadillas, but I hate having to wait for them to get crispy, and my frying pan just ain't big enough for the kind of tortillas I want to be eating! So I adapted her recipe into the ultimate quick, cheap, and easy breakfast burrito. I've made this recipe two days in a row, and I just might go for a third day because these are seriously so yummy! 

Feel free to use chicken or pork sausage if you're not in to veggie sausage, and if you don't like goat cheese, try some sharp cheddar or pepper jack - just make sure it's got a lot of flavor! I would even use wilted baby arugula instead of spinach. The possibilities are virtually endless!


Breakfast Burrito 
(recipe serves 1, but it is easily doubled or tripled)

2 eggs (preferably organic), whisked and seasoned w/ salt & pepper
1 veggie sausage patty (or 2 veggie sausage links)
1 cup fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
1 whole wheat or plain flour tortilla, warmed
hot sauce, for serving (optional)


Heat a small nonstick pan over medium-high heat, spray with a little cooking spray, and add the veggie sausage. Brown the sausage on both sides, and cook until it is no longer frozen. Break up the sausage in the pan with a spatula and cook for a few more seconds. Add the baby spinach and cook until completely wilted. Stir in the eggs and scramble until the mixture is completely cooked and no longer runny. Place the warm tortilla on a plate, top with the scrambled egg mixture, the goat cheese, and a drizzle of hot sauce. Fold up the tortilla burrito-style and enjoy with more hot sauce!


*For best burrito wrapping, fold the left and right sides of the tortilla about 1 inch inward, then fold the side closest to you away from you. Gently roll the filled tortilla to the farthest edge and hold this edge so the burrito doesn't fall apart. Burritos are delicious, but sometimes messy, so grab a few napkins while you're at it!

This Bread is Bananas... B-A-NA-NA-S!!

Thank you, Gwen Stefani, for inspiring the title for this post on, what else, banana bread! I am nuts about banana bread, ya'll! This recipe in particular is my mom's recipe, and although I don't know where she got the recipe from, it is nevertheless a deeeelicious one. I won't ramble on too long about how perfect this bread turned out. I mean, just take a look at this loaf! So golden brown and tasty...

What I like most about this recipe is that all of the ingredients are things that most of us have in our kitchen at all times, perhaps excepting the bananas. I had three super brown bananas on my counter that were either going in the freezer for smoothies or following the path to banana bread greatness... you guys obviously know what fate the fruit came to. So the next time there's a bunch of spotty, overly ripe bananas laying around on your counter, don't (please, please, don't) throw them away! Mash them up, quick and simple, and make some banana bread! 

Mom's Classic Banana Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (you could also use 1 3/4 ap flour if you don't have ww)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled

3 ripe bananas (about 1 pound), mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups - it helped to measure it out)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and place oven rack in middle position. Spray a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and fold together until everything is just mixed (don't over mix). Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then cool the rest of the way on a wire rack or tray. 

*1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts would be good in this too! I would even add a 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for a little somethin' somethin'.

*Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" seemed like a perfect inspiration for this post :)