Reading Blogs & Eating Oatmeal. At Times Simultaneously.

I'm trying to eat healthy.

This isn't necessarily a New Year's resolution. I just want to be mindful of what I'm putting in my mouth. (For more on me and nutrition, click here)

So I've been chowing down on fruits and vegetables. I've been drinking lots of water. I've been avoiding processed foods and sugars.

I've also been experimenting in the kitchen.

Some new blogs have been extremely helpful to me during this time. It's very cool to read about women like me who are working to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

My current favorites are:

Carrots 'N Cake

Kath Eats Real Food 

The Great Fitness Experiment

Lots of recipes, pictures, workout tips, and advice. Unlike some of the wacky food or exercise writers out there, these three ladies are down-to-earth.

I've been inspired to try new things at the gym and eat new foods (flaxseed, anyone?) because of these blogs.

I've been making some really rockin' awesome food recently, so I thought I'd share just one recipe today so this blog post isn't a million paragraphs. I do like short paragraphs, in case you haven't noticed.

This muffin recipe is one I found on the blog Chocolate-Covered Katie. She has some, um, interesting recipes on there. She's into making healthy versions of desserts. Some are pretty out there. However, her chocolate chip cookie dough dip with chickpeas isn't bad. I actually like it, but it does not taste like cookie dough. I know my cookie dough.

So here's the muffin recipe! I modified it a bit, so check out Katie's original recipe if you want.

In a big bowl, stir together:
2 1/2 cups mashed banana (extra soft and ripe for best flavor)
2 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract

I know it looks gross. It's wet banana mush!

Now stir in:
5 cups rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Now throw in whatever you think would taste good with oatmeal! Dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. For my batch, I used raisins, shredded coconut, walnuts, ground flax, and wheat germ.

Now pour the oatmeal into muffin tins (with liners if you want, or just spray the tins) and bake at 380 degrees for about 20 minutes.This makes a lot, so Katie recommends freezing them. I stuck some in my freezer and have been snacking on the rest all week.

Warning: if you don't like cooked oatmeal, don't make these muffins! Basically they're like mini bowls of oatmeal in muffin form. I happen to be in love with oatmeal, so these were perfect.

Let me know if you try them and what you think! Have a great weekend.

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