You don't need no stinkin BUTTER!!

Ahhhh Banana Bread........

I was so excited when my banana bread experiment was a SUCCESS!!! My husband laughs at me because I replace everything with Greek Yogurt when I am baking, cooking, and preparing foods. Anything that calls for butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, cream, the list goes on. I decided I would make a banana bread without butter, using non-fat Greek yogurt as its replacement and see how it turned out.

The Greek yogurt and ripened banana made this bread so flavorful and moist, the pecans and walnuts added an extra crunch. This is a must try for everyone who loves banana bread but doesn't love the added calorie guilt that most breads come with.

*If you are allergic to dairy products instead of Greek yogurt you can use apple sauce.

You will need:

4-5 ripe bananas

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of Non-fat Greek yogurt

2 eggs

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup chopped walnuts and pecans

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Grease baking dish

3. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients, whisk to combine and then add your chopped nuts

4. Beat eggs and sugar together until creamy

5. Mash the banana and non-fat Greek yogurt together

6. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

7. Pour into the baking dish and place in the oven

8. Bake for 45-60 min

(Every ones oven is different, your bread is done when the tester stick comes out clean)

Cool for 10 minutes and enjoy with coffee or tea!!

Box it up..........ASAP!!!!

You can have your cake and eat it too.......

Portion control is key with every meal, especially a meal eaten out. When you're at home you can control the portions and ingredients that go into the meal you're making.
If you have been following my recipes and workout tips then this blog is just a friendly reminder of what to immediatly do when you sit down to order your meal.
Ask the waiter or waitress to bring a box with your food. Once you receive your meal open the box and put half of your meal if not more into the box and set it aside.
Out of site and out of mind will work everytime. Just before you start eating your meal drink one glass of water, take small bites and eat slowly. You'll be surprised at how satisifed you will feel. When eating your meals you want the feeling of being satisfied not full! In keeping with that mentality you will also keep that slimmer waist and a happier gut. Bon Appetite!

It's okay to cut the cheese....

We all love a yummy warm Italian dish, but we don't all love the calories. With this dish you can cut the cheese and not even know it. These stuffed shells are totally vegetarian and delicious!

You will need:

Whole wheat shells

1/2 cup part skim ricotta,

1/2 cup soft tofu

2 heads of garlic

1 onion

1 bag of spinach

5-7 whole mushrooms

hand full of mozzarella cheese

1 egg

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Take your 1/2 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese and 1/2 cup of soft tofu and place in your blender with 1 egg white. In a skillet steam a bag of spinach and garlic. Combine the spinach and garlic in the blender with some s&p, Softly blend all of these ingredients.

Boil a pot of water and drop your whole wheat shells into the boiling water and cook until al-dente. Pull the shells out when they are half cooked and let them cool.

In a separate pot sweat out one onion and one head of garlic. Open and pour in one can of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato paste. Once all of these have cooked together drop in some more basil, 5-7 whole mushrooms, and S&P.

By this time your shells should be cool to touch, stuff each shell with the blended mixture and top the shells with the quick and easy veggie marinara you just made. Sprinkle some part-skim mozzarella on top cover with foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes, then remove the foil to let the cheese brown for another 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Commercial Belly Blaster Challenge

We all do it, we are all guilty of it, and quit frankly we enjoy every minute of it after a long day on the job........TELEVISION.

We don't all do it, we are all guilty of it, and quit frankly we don't enjoy every minute of it after a long day on the job.....EXERCISE.

Below are 4 Abdominal exercises to do during your commercial breaks without any broadcast interruption.

1. Lay flat on your back with both legs in the air with feet flexed. Reach for the ceiling with both hands doing a semi crunch (if your neck hurts then place hands behind neck lightly touching the neck, try not to push on your neck.) Continue doing this semi crunch through one commercial break.

2. Balance on your butt, with your knees bent and feet off of the ground. Clasp your hands and twist to each side touching the floor. Continue this oblique twist during the next commercial break.

3. With your other half in the house grab them and both of you lay flat on the ground, knees bent with toes touching. Come into a full sit up and clap eachothers hands, lay back down and repeat. Continue through the next commercial break. (If you live alone you can cross your arms over your chest and come into a full sit-up.)

4. Lay flat on the ground with legs out in front of you, hands behind your head. Bring your right leg in and bend at the knee while your left elbow comes in and touches the knee, alternate on both sides and continue through this commercial break.

After you have done all 4 of these abdominal exercises your commercial break should be over and ready for you to rest. At the next break continue all 4 workouts. Your abs should be burning by the end of your show.