Good morning!
Thank you so much for your enthusiastic response to my Size Healthy Contest!!! Keep those amazing entries coming in. I can’t wait to do a big recap post of all the pictures. If you post about it on your blog and send me the link, I will link back to your website. :)
I was up at 5:30am this morning. I don’t know what has happened, but I am starting to find it easier (note: EASIER, not easy!) to get up very early. I think my body is finally adjusting to my new Early Rising Challenge. I get so much work done in the early morning, it has been really great for me. A big motivation for me has been some delicious things to eat in the morning. I am a girl motivated by my stomach! ;) You know the saying, ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’? Well, I say, ‘The way to a girl’s heart is through her stomach!’ Hrmph!
I finally got my Bone Marrow confirmation letter in the mail after two months. I thought they had lost my swab kit for a while there. [You can read all about my decision and inspiration to become a Bone Marrow Donor in this post.]
I am really excited to know that I officially qualified for the Bone Marrow Network. I am nervous, but at the same time I am really hopeful that I will be able to help someone someday.
Speaking of which, I am going to donate blood today or tomorrow. This will be my second time donating blood. I have been ramping up my iron intake with iron rich foods all week.
I had a killer Green Monster this morning in preparation!
That baby was GREEN!
Iron, Iron, Baby Green Monster
Ingredients:
- 5-6 cups organic baby spinach, steamed
- 1 cup hemp milk
- 1 scoop Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein powder
- 1 scoot Amazing Grass wheatgrass powder
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 T chia seeds
- 6 large ice cubes
I also took it with a Vitamin C to increase the iron absorption.
Then I had a great RACE on Landy. Yesterday was a beautiful rest day from exercise so I was ready to run today.
Landy is what I call my treadmill, formerly known as the ‘running beast’ ;)
8km Race:
- Miles 1-2: 6.6 mph, incline 2%
- Water station: 30 seconds
- Miles 3-4: 6.6 mph, incline 2%
- Water station: 1 minute
- Mile 4- 4.97: 7.0-8.0 mph, incline 2%
Total time for the 8km race: 44 minutes and 56 seconds, not including 1.5 minutes for water stations ;)
It was a very, very tough run. I felt amazing afterwards.
PS- I MIGHT have a little surprise up my sleeve this weekend…
My post-race celebration snack was my motivation…
I made these cookies last night after seeing them on fat Free Vegan Kitchen. They are truly ‘keepers’!
Banana Apricot Spelt Oatmeal Cookies
I adapted the recipe from Susan V’s Banana Maple Oatmeal Cookies. (Yes, I am fully aware that I have a huge addiction with her recipes!) For the original recipe and nutritional info, see her post.
Ingredients:
- 1 Flax ‘egg’ (1 teaspoon ground chia seeds or 2 tsp. ground flaxseed + 2 tablespoons water OR 1 egg)
- 1 cup regular oats
- 1 cup whole grain spelt flour (or other flours will work too)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped dried organic apricots or raisins
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 banana, mashed, leave chunky
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
- Cacao nibs (I added a few tablespoons to dry mixture)
Directions: Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix flax or chia egg in a small bowl and set aside. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in a small to medium sized bowl and then add flax or chia egg. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir well and shape cookies onto a pan. Makes 18 very small cookies or about 8 large cookies. I made mine large :mrgreen: Cook for 10-12 minutes.
Are you a COOKIE MONSTA? I am!
Nanners. One of the world’s most fabulous foods. Can you believe that Eric hates bananas?!
I didn’t mash my banana too much, so it left big chunks of banana in the cookie. It was BLISS.
I had my post-race cookie slathered in heated up Artisana coconut butter. It really is like frosting, Kath!
I was sent this Green Pan to review and I tested it out with the cookies last night.
Facts about the Green Pan:
What did I think of the Green Pan?
- It worked great. The pan was excellent quality and I had no problems with it at all. I didn’t use any non-stick spray on the pan and the cookies came off easily with a spatula. The cookies all cooked evenly which was nice because I have had problems before with certain pans not cooking evenly- mainly that cookies on the edge burn. They all cooked perfectly this time. You can see the wide variety of Green Pan Products here. For info on where to buy them, see here.
Updates:
- See my first juice recipe over on Foodthinkers: Spiced Apple Pie.
- I have a short blurb in Fitness Magazine’s March 2010 issue. I was interviewed for an article on over-training and I talked about the Superwoman Syndrome. I am going to contact the masthead to see if I am allowed to upload the article on OSG! It is a great article and I think it would be beneficial to so many women.
We’re having friends over for the hockey game tonight- can’t wait! :)
Enjoy your Thursday!!!
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
that’s so funny that Eric doesn’t like bananas…i don’t really love them either and i thought i was crazy or something! I’ll definitely be trying those cookies though…for some reason bananas in baked goods don’t bother me :)
I’m loving the contest by the way…every time i see my pants it makes me smile :)
You can also sub the banana for applesauce, says Susan :)
Question: Why do you steam your greens before juicing them?
see my GM FAQ here: http://greenmonstermovement.com/?page_id=581
I love bananas!!! I don’t understand how someone can not like them. They make baked goods taste incredible!
And yes… I am a cookie monster :)
Those cookies look so delicious!
You are so brave for giving blood (and bone marrow!) needles scare me to death – any tips on how to work up the courage to do it?
I am scared of needles, but I don’t have a big phobia or anything. I actually told myself to focus on how the machine worked when I was giving blood. I was looking around at the equipment, and this totally took my mind off it. Some places have TV’s too.
ummm – a bit unorthodox but hang out in an oncology ward for an afternoon…you’ll be running to donate after that!! thanks in advance!
I can’t wait to see all of the Size Healthy entries! Also, Def going to pick up a copy of Fitness magazine when it comes out!
these cookies look awesome…and my nickname growing up used to be cookie monster so i think its only appropriate i make these this weekend!!
these look fantastic, thanks for sharing! i like that you don’t mash the banana up all the way — those chunks of banana bliss sound delightful!
Those cookies look great, and congrats on the article!
Banana and chocolate=a magical combo. Silly Eric!!
Those cookies sound awesome!! Kinda like super-charge me cookies with banana..
He doesn’t like bananas?! The horror!! ;)
I definitely posted my jeans on the blog today!! http://edibleperspective.com/?p=5512 Do you ever have to take a break from amazing grass + chia seeds? I have found that I have to lately..if you know what I mean..helllloooo fiber! lol
I take breaks from KALE. That is all I will say :D
I’m kind of scared to admit this but I don’t like bananas either! I just can’t stand the mushiness. But the cookies definitely look delicious!
Don’t be scurrred! ;) That is the same thing Eric says- they are mushy. He is a big texture person!
It’s great you signed up as a bone marrow donor. I used to work in a laboratory that did the HLA genotyping to match donors and patients (my background is in molecular biology and genetics).
And WTG on getting a ‘blurb’ in Fitness magazine! What a great accomplishment!!!
Do you happen to know what the stats are on the liklihood of getting selected? They don’t say anything about it on the website.
Unfortunately I don’t know a statistic on the likelihood of being selected. It probably depends if you have common or rare HLA genotypes.
It is very difficult to find a perfect match. Most of the time it is a ‘compatible’ match, meaning some of the alleles are different, but can be compatible with each other (i.e. may not cause rejection). We used to genotype the HLA-A, B, C, DR, and DR52 loci as a standard. Each one of those loci have 2 alleles, meaning to be a perfect match all 10 alleles of the donor must match the patient. Each one of those alleles has many different possibilities w/ regards to the gene sequence (each one is numbered, i.e. *#). You can easily imagine how hard it is to find a perfect match. It’s hard to even find a compatible one!
i am a TOTAL cookie monster. i hate to bake though ughhh wish i enjoyed it because your cookies are prob a million times healthier than the choc chip cookie ones i get at my dining hall :-O
great run!!! so fast!
Angela–you aren’t by chance anemic? Are you just very careful to get as much (and absorb as much) iron as possible?
I happen to be anemic and I was just curious! I like to see how others “cope” with the issue. I get my blood tested for it periodically but I pyhsically notice it mostly when I feel light headed, tired and my complexion teeters on the green side. Sorry if this is too much information!
I was anemic at one point when I was struggling with disordered eating. My iron levels have been great though in the past several years. According to one nurse ‘my blood sank like an anchor weight’ lol
Meat sources of iron are absorbed the best, but to maximize plant sources take with a vitamin C as it helps with absorption.
I had a period of anemia. I handled it by taking a Tablespoon of unsulphured blackstrap molasses each day.
1 T blackstrap molasses = approximately 15% DV calcium and 15% DV iron, plus plenty of others (e.g., manganese).
I still use it some each week (on pancakes, in place of jam on toast, etc., in homemade baked beans). It’s a strong taste, but I like it quite a bit.
Those cookies look delicious! I love changing my runs on the treadmills up. I usually try to add faster and slower sections in each run. It helps to break it up and not feel so monotonous!
Congrats on the article being published!
Those cookies look fantastic, I love the idea of the big chunks of banana. I will have to try out this recipe soon!
~Laura
I can believe Eric hates bananas because I do too! It’s such a drag because bananas are like, the vegan SUPERFOOD lol! And apparently a great vehicle for almond butter. Le sigh.
I like bananas, but they can’t be too green or too ripe. It’s hard to eat a bunch when they hit the perfect flavor at the same time. Thanks to GMs, though, I’ve no longer been wasting them. I freeze them and use them in the smoothies. :)
My new thing is freezing bananas…love it!
Carolyn,
I know what you mean too green there a little bitter too ripe they are too sweet. I usually get 2 that are just perfect from the bunch. Then I either cut them up and put them in oatmeal or freeze for smooties or baking.
The first time I froze a banana, I left the peel on. That didn’t end well. LOL Doh!
mmm those cookies look really good Angela!
That’s exciting you got your bone marrow stuff back :) Exciting news!