Iron, Iron, Baby Green Monster and Banana Apricot Spelt Oatmeal Cookies

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