Pumpkin Banana Bread

Kelly Hutchinson's Pumpkin Banana Bread is healthy, vegan, and yummy!

Ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

¾ c canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)

½ c maple syrup

2 tbsp agave or honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¼ c unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)

2 tbsp ground flax meal

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 c white whole wheat flour

3 tbsp quick oats

3 tbsp pecan pieces

2 tbsp chocolate chips (or other chips or toffee bits)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and coat loaf pan with nonstick spray (or line with parchment paper).

2. Combine bananas through flax in a mixing bowl, stirring until smooth.

3. Add baking soda, salt, and flour. Stir until just combined.

4. Spoon into loaf pan and smooth the top.

5. Combine oats, pecan pieces, and chocolate chips in a food processor. Process until smooth.

6. Sprinkle oat mixture over top and press into loaf using the flat side of a knife, making 3 stripes.

7. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the loaf comes out clean.

Notes:

The top will be a little sticky if you opt for chocolate chips.
If serving to vegans, opt for agave if they do not consume honey.

 

 

 

 

Who is 'Michi'? What is his "Ladder"?

Michi's Ladder is a simple way to assess your diet plan! Here's how it works... Michi's Ladder is composed of five different tiers of food. Tier 1 is the highest (i.e. best foods for your body - low-calorie, low-fat, with high amounts of nutrietns), and Tier 5 is the lowest (i.e. worst foods for your body - high in calories and fat, or low in nutrients). The goal is to focus on maintaining a diet that primarily consists of foods in Tiers 1 and 2.

So what do the tiers look like?

Tier 1: The Pious Tier
Foods in this tier include apples, asparagus, blueberries, broccoli, spinach, quinoa (and the most of your basic superfoods)!

Tier 2: The Happy Tier
Many of the foods in this tier are also superfoods, but these tend to be higher in fat. This tier includes foods like coconut, avocado, cheese, olive oil, and raisins

Tier 3: The Swiss Tier
These foods are ok, but in moderations. They include items like lean beef, honey, white rice, and popcorn

Tier 4: The Dodgy Tier
These are foods we should really try and stay away from - hot dogs, chips, artificial sweeteners, and potato salad

Tier 5: The Newburg Tier
And these foods are the worst - french fries, soft drinks, pastries, onion rings, and nachos are just a few of the items on this list

Michi's Ladder offers no serving amount or specific timeline for when to eat; instead, it is designed to help you assess your diet and make positive substitutions and changes. A great exercise I like to use is to print out the guide (click here for a copy of the Michi's Ladder Guide) and assess my current choices. Which Tiers do most of your foods fall into? Be honest with yourself!

Once you've determined this, it's time to climb the ladder! Look at tiers above yours and find out if there are suitable substitutions you can be making. For example, if you eat a lot of butter (Tier 4), consider switching to olive oil (Tier 2). Or if you find that you enjoy a lot of ice cream (Tier 5), how about switching to non-fat frozen yogurt (Tier 3)? Remember: the higher the tier, the more nutrient dense your food will be.  (Note: While you may notice some healthier foods in the lower tiers, these are either calorie dense or nutrient deficient.)

Need help with your nutrition? Send me an email or follow me on Facebook! I love to help people reach their goals :)

 

 

 

Training for a 5K?

The free C25K (Couch to 5K) App has you covered! This App will give you three workouts a week for 8 weeks to get you ready for your next race!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bible Verse of the Week

Nehemiah 6:9 "For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking 'Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen my hands."

In this passage, Jerusalem was working to rebuild it's walls, and its enemies were trying to frighten them into quitting. I love this verse, because what is reminds me is that God has called me to do a work.  Whether it's my job or something else, discouragement will come. It's when we take on the tasks that God has called us to that others, namely the Enemy, will work against us.  People living in disobedience or even Christian mediocrity don't always respond well to those who are pursuing excellence. That's ok... shake it off, and continue doing what God has called you to do with greater determination!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes

I love October and all things pumpkin! This great pancake recipe from The Frugal Farmwife is healthy and delicious!
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup pumpkin, sweet potato, or other winter squash, puréed
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger - a few shakes of each
Or
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Beat eggs until foamy. Add pumpkin and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Pour about 1/4 cup to batter onto a medium-hot griddle. Bake until brown on bottom, flip, and repeat.

Note: I encourage you to keep these pancakes relatively small as the larger they are, the more difficult they are to flip.