Healthy and Hearty

Power Banana Walnut Muffins

*UPDATE: I tried them again and added in 1/4 cup avocado oil, 1 tbsp maple syrup, and swapped cane sugar for coconut sugar and they came out insanely moist and delicious!!

*Am I the only one who has one option when it comes to using old, over ripe bananas? I always think about making banana bread, but for some reason it never comes out right (I have said I am not the best baker…). I decided to bake, with no recipe, and bake from the heart. Let me say, I saw the broadway show, Waitress, and was inspired by the songs to bake today, as well as I had time to kill and figured why not? If they’re awful, I can always try again! Thankfully, these not only came out good, but were VERY tasty and so easy! My husband even loved them! *WIN*

I know the basics of a baking recipe include sugar, flour, and depends on the fat added, if any. I decided to skip the butter or oil and go with sugar, flour, eggs, ripe banana, walnuts, baking soda (which helps the muffins rise), vanilla extract, collagen power, and a pinch of kosher salt. The reason I am calling these POWER muffins is because they’re made with healthy alternatives such as organic cane sugar (Not very alternative but I wanted to get rid of the sugar I had, don’t judge me) and cassava flour. I also included a scoop of collagen power. The benefits of collagen is profound: helps with joints and muscles, hair growth, skin, and nails. It also helps with aging. YUP.

I started by adding sugar, 2 cracked eggs, and vanilla extract to a medium sized bowl and whisked. Then, I peeled and diced the bananas and whisked them into the wet mixture. In a separate bowl, I added the dry ingredients: flour, collagen powder, salt, and baking soda. The trick to getting these muffins very airy but moist is to whisk the egg/banana mixture until the batter becomes foamy/bubbly. The bubbles will help expand the muffins and hold moisture, causing the natural layers of the muffin and “bounce” to them. Add the wet into the dry mixture and whisk to blend. Throw in a handful of chopped walnuts and scoop into a pre-greased muffin tin.

Bake at 425 degrees for 11 minutes. I was aiming for 12 minutes, but at around 11 minutes I started to smell them and saw they were golden brown. I cannot wait to hear how you liked these ones, they’re definitely going to be made (and tweaked with) again! NOMaste 🙂

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Power Banana Walnut Muffins

Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American, Healthy, muffins
Keyword banana, collagen, healthy, muffins, paleo, walnut
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 12 muffins
Author nomastehungry

Ingredients

  • 3 Bananas very ripe
  • 2 large Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Cane sugar organic
  • 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup Cassava flour
  • 1 scoop Collagen powder
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Pre-grease a standard muffin tin. Set aside

  2. In a medium bowl, crack two eggs and add the 1/2 cup sugar.  Mix together with a hand mixer or a whisk.  Add in the ripe bananas and vanilla extract.  Whisk until mixture forms small air bubbles and looks a little “foamy.”

  3. In a large bowl, add the flour, baking soda, collagen powder, and salt.  Mix together.

  4. Pour the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk to combine all ingredients.  Add in chopped walnuts and whisk again.

  5. With a tablespoon, scoop and pour batter into each muffin cup, fill with batter halfway to allow room to rise.  Bake for 10 minutes or until you can smell the muffins.  Let cool for two minutes.

“Brussels and Broc”

Peanut butter and jelly. Spaghetti and meatballs. Chicken and waffles. Classic and delicious combinations. I love a classic grilled cheese and tomato soup, but as I am on my reset (week three hollaa!), no bread for moi. However, I am obsessed with vegetables. Like, seriously. I love all green veggies, not just for the nutritional content, but because they taste so damn good. Another classic combo to add to the list: brussel sprouts and broccoli, or as I call it, “brussels and broc.”

This recipe is short, quick, and painless. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start with slicing brussel sprouts in half, or cutting the ends off. Chop broccoli florets and rinse both veggies. Place into a large bowl and toss with your favorite oil… I prefer avocado oil (has a high smoke point and taste great). Season with salt, cracked pepper, and in my case, dried rosemary.

Take a baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Spray oil onto the foil and pour the veggies onto the baking sheet. Bake for 17 minutes, then turn the oven off and let the veggies stand still for another three minutes. You’re welcome 🙂

Pan Seared Herb Chicken

Chicken, it’s what’s for dinner. I have to be very honest, chicken can be so boring and mundane, especially when it’s chicken breast. It dries out very easily, due to it being lean and low-fat. It can also be chewy if cut wrong, and can go rancid if kept out or in the fridge too long. One thing I love to do is bread chicken breasts and make chicken cutlets, but being that I am completely revamping my nutrition, that’s not an option. I threw out my grill pan a while ago because I butchered it (see what I did there?), so how else should I make chicken? *LIGHTBULB* I can pan sear it!

A while ago, I purchased Herbes de Provence from Trader Joe’s and can not stop using it. I’ll use it in marinades, seasoning for vegetables, sweet potatoes, and decided tonight was a perfect opportunity for using it with chicken. I have not pan seared chicken in a very long time, solely because I always have a horrible outcome: chewy, under-seasoned, barely cooked chicken because I lose my patience. The trick I used was extra butter. Yep, you heard right, butter. I swear by Kerrygold butter because it’s grass-fed and has a delicious taste, also really good for cooking! I pan seared my chicken tonight in the butter and it was everything I needed. Here’s how it went down:

  • Start by rinsing three pieces of chicken breast (preferred organic). Trim the sides and slice thin. Pat dry and place in a large bowl.
  • Take four tbsp of the Herbes de Provence and pour into the bowl of chicken.
  • Mix together by hand so that all the chicken (and both sides) are fully coated. Let stand for 10-15 minutes.
  • Heat a large sauce pan. Cut 3 tbsp of butter (do not freak out here) and melt in the pan.
  • Add the chicken (three at a time) into the pan. Sear on each side for 6-7 minutes. You’ll know when the chicken is ready to flip when the sides of the chicken turn white.
  • Repeat for the remaining chicken breasts.
  • Top with pesto (my recipe linked here) and pair with veggies!

Here’s a picture tutorial for those who need some visuals (#multimodallearningbaby)

  • Chicken marinading with Herbes de Provence
  • Chicken placed in butter, first side cooking (6-7m)
  • Second side cooking
  • Second batch of chicken breasts

I hope you enjoy this one, it’s very straightforward, simple ingredients, and oh so yummy! NOMaste 🙂

Cauliflower “Fried” Rice

Bienvenidos semana tres de Reset. For those who are confused, I did not move to Spain. I am currently approaching week THREE of my reset and am super excited to see subtle changes to my body as well as my overall health. I am feeling more energized, my pants fit easier, and my face doesn’t look like I am carrying acorns in my cheeks. My reset isn’t about dropping weight as it more of just looking and feeling like my best self. I weighed myself, and was legit depressed for two days about the number, but honestly, it is JUST A NUMBER. I want to get back to health and healthy foods, something I have a major passion for. I wanted to try incorporating cauliflower into my meals and this was the best way, making a “rice”.

I bought store bought, so sorry for those who want to make it from scratch. I have done this and I’ll tell you, it’s a mess. Buying store-bought cauliflower rice is the easier way, and it’s hassle free! I accidentally ordered a Misfits Market box of 18, yes 18 POUNDS, of vegetables, so there is virtually no excuse not to use them. We got Anaheim peppers (which are milder than jalapeño peppers, but can depend based on origin), cabbage, onions, jalapeño peppers (8 of them… hello salsa!), string beans, avocado, and more. I’m grateful to have received (and been able to keep) the produce even if it were by accident. If anyone is willing to try, and be open for whatever is delivered, definitely check them out!

Cauliflower rice is not so different than traditional fried rice, except it holds more moisture. I started by chopping an onion, carrots, cabbage, one Anaheim pepper, and green beans. I heated a large sauté pan and added avocado oil (my favorite brand is Primal Kitchen). I tossed in the chopped onion, pepper, and carrots to simmer and sweat. I then added in the chopped cabbage, let it seam, then after five minutes, threw in the green beans. I cooked with a cover so everything can wilt and render down, mainly for the cabbage to bring out its moisture.

Afterwards, I pushed all the vegetables aside so I can add in the egg, there is no excluding this part, it is the best part of fried rice. I scrambled the egg and tossed it together with the veggies. My last step was to add the cauliflower rice, so with a helping of garlic powder and salt added, I poured in the bag of cauli-rice and stirred. This sat cooked for 8 minutes, so the cauliflower can begin to sweat (there’s a lot of sweating happening in this dish).

I seasoned with a generous helping of coconut aminos and sesame oil and continued to let it cook for another 5-7 minutes. Turn the heat off and let stand still, then ladled into large bowls for my lunch for the week. The taste of this dish is very umami and while it does not taste 100% like the real fried rice, it is a pretty darn delicious rendition! NOMaste 🙂

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Cauliflower “Fried” Rice

Course Dinner
Cuisine Healthy, Meal Prep, Vegetables
Keyword dinner, healthy, meal prep, veggies, whole30
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 cups
Author nomastehungry

Ingredients

  • 1 package Cauliflower Rice
  • 1/2 large onion chopped
  • 1 cup carrots chopped
  • 1 cup red cabbage chopped
  • 1 cup green beans chopped
  • 1 Anaheim pepper chopped and cleaned
  • 2 eggs lightly beaten
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp coconut aminos
  • garlic powder to taste
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Prep all vegetables by slicing and roughly chopping the onions, carrots, pepper, cabbage, and green beans.  Separate the cabbage and green beans from the onions, etc. Set aside

  2. Heat a large sauté pan, add in avocado oil, then stir in the onions, carrots, and pepper.  Stir and coat with oil for five minutes.

  3. Add in red cabbage. Cover and let sit for five minutes. Stir once or twice to prevent burning.

  4. Add in green beans.  Cover and let sit for five minutes. Stir to prevent burning.

  5. Push vegetables aside, and add in the egg.  Scramble egg and stir in with the vegetables.  Season with garlic powder and sea salt.  Cover and let sit for three minutes.

  6. Pour in cauliflower rice.  Stir to mix together. Cover and let cook for eight minutes, stirring occasionally.

  7. Add in coconut aminos and sesame oil. Stir together.  Let cook for another three to five minutes.  Serve immediately.

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