Baking Therapy

Before I get to the eats, I just want to first say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog and/or comment. Maybe it’s just because I haven’t been blogging long and i’m excited about it but every time I get a comment or I beat my record of daily page views I do a little happy dance inside 🙂 Or maybe I just get happy over silly things.. in any case, thank you!

 

What a Monday… I realized today that I have a test in exactly 1 week that I have not started studying for (shame on me…) And a paper due Wenesday and 2 projects to work on, in addition to my usual homework and readings. Enter, stress. Yikes. Work was also slightly hectic as someone had the bright idea that we would have a tie dying craft today. The kids were asked to bring in socks, gloves, or a hat to tie dye. Who would’ve thought having 5-7 year olds tie dye would be hectic, crazy, and messy? Most certainly not me… ha. Anyways, while I have battle scars in the form of dye all over me, the kids loved it. It was a hectic day but it’s over. Only 4 days ‘til the weekend…!

 

I packed a snack for after class today because I’m usually starving at that time but I was hardly hungry at all, my lunch held me over really well. Must’ve been those 18g of protein in the tuna and the fiber in the apple and veggies. In any case, I knew that I couldn’t make it the 3+ hours at work and until dinner so I had 1/4 of this Glo Bar. This was the first time that I tried this flavor and as usual, it totally rocked.

Dinner was something that I had been craving all day, eggs and sweet potatoes.. yeah, kinda odd I know. Nevertheless, it is what I had and it went together exceptionally well.

I made sweet potato “home fries” by chopping up a sweet potato and cooking it at 400 with for 30 minutes, seasoned with salt, cinnamon, and then Agave Nectar and more salt when they came out of the oven. SO good!

Along with the home fries I had 1 whole egg and 1 egg white with the yolk still runny (I’m one of those strange people who like it that way). 

 

I decided I was in the mood to bake tonight.. nothing helps me relax, almost nothing, better than baking. So I set out to conquer… muffins! Thanks to those who sent me some great recipes, I had a lot of options. After much debate, I decided upon Whole Wheat Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins (thank you Kristine!). Sounds delicious, no?

I made a few changes to the recipe by halving it, (making 6 muffins instead of 12), using chunky peanut butter rather than smooth, all natural strawberry spread instead of jelly, and using 1 large egg white instead of 1/4 cup liquid egg whites. The recipe was still super simple and easy to make!

 

Here they are after adding the strawberry spread. The batter was heavenly.. it smelled like a peanut butter cookie!

 

The jelly is topped with more batter and then into the oven! As they were baking, the whole house smelled like peanut butter cookies baking.. omg..

 

Can you see all the melty strawberry goodness?!

The verdict? Nothing short of amazing! If you like PB & J, you will LOVE this muffins. So good. And not bad at all for you as they are full of healthy fats and whole grains. This would make the perfect breakfast (along with something else) or a great snack or dessert! I taste-tested one for dessert… quality control, right? 😉

 

There is a giveaway going on over at The Daily Balance today, where you can enter to win a great yoga mat! It is actually a week long series about yoga with lots of giveaways, exciting stuff!! I’d actually like to include yoga in my recovery. It’s not the wisest thing right now, at least not poses that involve standing or balance, but once I am further along on the road to recovery, I am going to incorporate it. I used to stretch every single day when I was running but I haven’t since that first doctor visit. I don’t like to stretch before warming up and I can’t do anything to “warm up” so I’m not sure about it. I hate to think what my flexibility must be now but as in a lot of things, you can improve flexibility very easily.

 

Well now I am off to read some blogs, watch the Bachelor, and then get into bed early. Yes.. I do watch the Bachelor. Overall, I am not a fan of reality shows but I make an exception for this show. I’m not proud to say I’m a fan but it’s just one of those shows… it’s so crazy sometimes but I just can’t help myself. We all have our vices, right? Good night 🙂

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength."
– A. J. Cronin