Blueberry Banana Muffins

My mouth has been watering ever since I read ELR’s post about her blueberry banana muffins. She said everyone had to try them and I agreed! LOL! Yesterday, the idea of these muffins kept popping into my mind. I decided I had thought about them enough, it was time to take action. As I mentioned, after the gym last night I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some blueberries, bananas, whole wheat flour (couldn’t find whole wheat pastry flour), and some other random items I needed. After a shower and dinner, I created my first batch of homemade muffins. I’m really starting to enjoy making things, who would have thunk it!

I tried one of the smaller muffins last night. They turned out great!!

I had another one for breakfast this morning along with an egg and a mug of tea. It left me feeling energized and ready for the gym. I did my normal workout of warm-up, chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, and a 20 minute walk on the treadmill.

I made myself a blueberry banana Green Monster. It wasn’t my favorite. I couldn’t really taste the blueberries. I thought it would be sweeter than it was. I’m thinking I’m a blueberry fan when they are cooked. They seem more flavorful to me. Or maybe I’m just not picking out the right ones. I’m stumped!
After a quick shower, I came up with this concoction for lunch
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Baked beans, tuna fish from a can, olives, feta cheese, and red pepper flakes sprinkled on top. I know it doesn’t look appetizing and I realize it looks like it could have come out of one end or the other, ha! Believe it or not, it did taste pretty good. I think it would be better with black beans, but I had thawed out a whole container of baked beans and I need to eat them up. I had a few Kashi cheddar crackers on the side as well as a handful of carrots.

Note: I had written this post early afternoon, but didn’t get around to posting it because things came up. So just getting home, figured I would finish it up and share what I had for my afternoon snack and for dinner. Exciting, don’t you think?! I ate an apple and a Kashi granola bar around 3ish. For dinner I raided my mom’s refrigerator for leftovers. I mixed leftover mac & cheese with leftover ham steak. My sister made me a salad with sunflower seeds, Craisens, mozzarella cheese and light ranch dressing. Oh and I had what was left in a Cheetos snack bag. I spent most of the evening with my niece and nephew. But after they went to bed, my stomach was growling. So I ate a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips strategically placed throughout my peanut butter mound. I also had a mug of mango peach white tea. It tasted as good as it smelled!

Vita-Mix = Green Monster

Guess what?! I finally got a Vita-Mix! For the last month or two, I’ve wanted to get one. I’ve been reading so many different recipe ideas and a lot of them require a good blender. I have a cheap one but it doesn’t blend frozen foods or ice at all and the last time I used my blender, it emitted a burning smell. Uh, not good! I’ve done a ton of research on Vita-Mix and other blenders and I have read nothing but positive things about this blender. Yes, it costs a pretty penny. But for me I feel like it will be a worthwhile investment. I had been looking online for good offers when my mom spotted a sign at our local Costco stating that the Vita-Mix would be coming for a two week period. It was a sign, it was meant to be!! I bought one yesterday. Brought it home and read all the instructions and recipe book, still have watch the dvd. My first blend was of soap and water to give it a nice cleaning, lol!

I was off to the gym early this morning. I completed a total of 30 minutes of cardio, my normal 10 minute warm-up on the elliptical and then 20 additional minutes on the Arc Trainer at the end of my workout. I worked my back and biceps, along with two ab movements.

One of the drinks I’ve really wanted to try is the Green Monster. I’ve read so much about them on all the blogs out there. I was so excited to get home after the gym, so I could attempt creating my first Green Monster. I desperately need to go grocery shopping and that was in my plans last night, but because of dinner plans I didn’t make it. But after dinner I quickly stopped by a grocery store to pick up spinach and milk, so I would have all the ingredients for this morning! I made the “Amazing” Cantaloupe-Banana Green Monster. I used 2.5 cups of organic spinach, 1 cup of skim milk, half a banana, about 1 cup of frozen cantaloupe, and a handful of ice. It was as good as everyone says it is. Very light and refreshing!! I can’t wait to try out different recipes to find my favorites! I paired the Green Monster with a slice of toasted Ezekiel bread with peanut butter.

Behold!

I know I look serious, but it really does taste great!