ohh bananas

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I eat about 1 banana everyday.  It’s usually consumed in my oats or in a smoothie.  With the crazy deal on bananas Jake + I found the other day, there will be no lack of bananas in my diet for weeks to come.

Exhibit A:  Banana Soft Serve [from the lovely Gena]

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Infused with peanut butter sauce!!!

1T pb + 1T almond milk –>microwave 15sec –> stir –> pour in food processor after bananas are nice and fluffy

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It’s mind boggling how fluffy and creamy-like the banana gets.  The key is using frozen bananas!

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Which leads me to Vegan Overnight Oats

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My oats made me SWEAT yesterday.  So, this morning I made coffee and dumped it over ice and made overnight oats.  Except I forgot to make them the night before so I quickly through them together in the AM.  I was impatient and only let them “cook” in the fridge for about 20min. 

I also experimented using Scottish Oats. 

In the mix:

  • Scottish aats
  • Silk Almond Milk
  • chia seeds
  • cinnamon
  • vanilla

When I pulled it out of the fridge, it was too soupy.  I used too much almond milk along with not letting it sit enough.  To help soak things up a bit I added about 3T quinoa flakes.  It’s very similar to oat bran but obviously tastes just like quinoa.  It’s quick to absorb and adds a little flavor too. 

The quinoa flakes helped but next time I’ll use less milk and actually leave it in the fridge overnight.  I’ll give the recipe when I get it right next time!  Either way, the flavor was spot on.  The peanut butter banana soft serve was RIDiculous.  Really good.  Like, really really good!!  I also layered about 4 sliced strawberries in between. 

Refreshing, hearty, and delicious!

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Meet Maddy, founder of Love Grown Foods, along with her boyfriend Alex.  Maddy + Alex make granola and are pretty spectacular people!  We met at the Cherry Creek farmer’s market, about a mile from my house.  We got to talking because:

  1. I love granola
  2. I enjoy checking out local start up companies that make quality product
  3. Her business reminds me of my granola bar making days
  4. The product is spot on delicious
  5. Love their logo design!!

Maddy generously gave me 1 bag of each type of granola they sell.  I am so very excited to try them out and let you know my thoughts. 

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Part of lunch was a bed of arugula topped with last nights cucumber, mango, chickpea salad along with about 1/2 avocado and some grape tomatoes.  Last nights salad had still had a bit of dressing on it, but I also added apple cider vinegar and balsamic to the mix.  Delicious, especially on a hot day!

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I mean, how long did you think I could wait before digging in?  NOT long.

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Flavors:

  • Apple Walnut Delight
  • Sweet Cranberry Pecan
  • Raisin Almond Crunch

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Their granola just got rated #1, by Jim Leff [co-founder of chowhound.com] out of 25 different granolas.  Check it out here!

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Pros:

  • minimal ingredient list
  • very low sugar [~6g per 1/4c serving]
  • 2-3g protein + fiber per serving
  • crunchy but soft texture – basically, it’s easy to bite into and won’t break your teeth!
  • packed with cinnamon
  • they don’t skimp out on the fruit + nuts
  • large clusters that can easily be crumbled
  • love the resalable + reusable bag

Cons:

  • Like most granolas the calorie count is pretty high ~120cals for 1/4c serving – However, this is completely typical for any granola and at least the calories aren’t the result of too much sugar!

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I absolutely loved how mellow the sweetness was.  You really don’t need granola to be sweet when it’s packed with flavor + perfectly cooked.  I also liked how large the clusters were.  Typically, the healthier granolas are much more broken apart, but not this one!

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There were huge walnuts + dried apples throughout.  The apples were nice + soft too!  Definitely check out their website for more info!  If you live in CO, you can find them in King Soopers as well.

I was not paid to review their product nor did I promise a good review in return for product samples.  This is 100% my opinion :)

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In leg recovery news….My quad started to feel a bit better, but I tweaked it today and definitely set back the recovery.  I didn’t workout or anything like that but was brushing Kenna and I made a movement too quickly and a terrible pain went shooting through my quad again.  Not happy about that!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Ashley

Don’t forget to check out the updated info for the Colorado Blogger Meet-Up II!!!