Atypical Appetite for the Typical Individual : Snack

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins for a Fast and Easy Morning

Is anyone ever in a hurry in the morning? Seven days out of seven I am in a hurry. I generally run every day and most of the time it’s in the morning, if I’m not running I’m going to my internship or class. But I also love to sleep. This makes it really hard to get a sufficient and nutritious breakfast in.

I believe breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. It helps keep you fueled and happy for the rest of the day and if you eat one that’s big enough you won’t have as many cravings in between meals. I mean just think, you go from not consuming anything for 8 hours to needing your body to function, and preferably function well. If you don’t give it enough energy how can you expect to function well?

These banana muffins are just what I need to help give me a head start to my breakfast. Of course, that’s not all I eat, especially not after working out. But if I just fry up some eggs and veggies and grab a muffin I’ll be good for another three/four hours. They just give me that extra kick and are so yummy!

Here is the recipe! It’s super simple and if you’re like me you’re bound to have a few bananas laying around that are a touch too brown for general consumption.

1 stick of butter

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 small mashed bananas

2 eggs

1 tsp of vinella extract

2 cups of flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a muffin pan. Mash the bananas to the consistency you want. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the mashed bananas, eggs, and vinella extract and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet mixture and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and then spoon into the muffin pan. Cook for 17 minutes of until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

There are so many variations to banana bread that you guys should feel free to play around! You can add blueberries instead of chocolate chip or even your favorite type of nuts! I hope you enjoy!

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Classic Strawberry Smoothie

Audrey Carpenter Snack , 0 Comments

Does anybody else love strawberries? I have been in a strawberry craze this entire past week and it doesn't show any signs of stopping. I've always loved strawberries. When I was little I always asked my mom to make me a strawberry flavored cake for my birthday. It was my go to. It's still my favorite fruit, but in college I always seem to waste fresh strawberries. I'm not sure why but I always seem to buy them and unless I immediately wash and cut all of them they just end up sitting in my fridge.

This week, however, I said no more! My solution to stop this mindless wasting of delicious fruit was to throw them in a smoothie. I decided to start this new rule where if my strawberries are starting to go bad I immediately toss them in the freezer. It has saved me countless strawberries and given me more supplies for my smoothies. I think I probably made a smoothie a day last week and I even ventured into making smoothie bowls!

Now, it is really easy to make a disgusting smoothie. If you simply combine fruit and ice and water you will get a real fruit smoothie, but it will probably taste extremely bland. This will be a real disaster if you're trying to get to a Smoothie King or Tropical Smoothie standard. It is important to remember to add creaminess and texture to your smoothie for ultimate yumminess.

While the fruit may change, I always add the same key components to my smoothies. I start with a frozen fruit, this week it has been strawberries. Then I ALWAYS add half a frozen banana. Even if you don't taste the banana it adds an extra level of creaminess. I add rolled oats, honey, peanut/cashew/almond butter (whichever I have laying around), and liquid. If I have almond milk I will use that, but if I don't water works just the same. The liquid is also very important because if you add too much it comes out soupy but if you don't add enough the ingredients won't mix in the blender.

Then I pour it into one of my mason jars and head out the door depending on the day (most days). Or if I have more time I will make a smoothie bowl out of it! I usually add granola, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, really anything laying around that needs to be eaten. It is a great breakfast or afternoon snack. My favorite part about smoothies is that they are crazy easy to customize so look forward to many more smoothie recipes and tips from me! Hope you guys enjoy this one!