Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread

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Do you ever go to the grocery store and “accidentally” buy too many bananas so that you can either store the extra in the freezer or wait for them to over-ripen on your counter so that you can make banana bread?

No? Yes! No? Just me?

Well. I advise you to try it out. I also advise you to add dark chocolate chips and fresh raspberries to your grocery list, because this raspberry chocolate chip banana bread is so, so good and you’re going to want to make it.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

So let’s do it!

First, we’ll gather the ingredients. The stars here are the bananas, raspberries, and dark chocolate chips. Obviously. But we’ll need some other things too – flour, baking soda, brown sugar, milk, and an egg. Also, we’re going to use Greek yogurt instead of butter. Not because we don’t love butter, but just because.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

Next, mash up those beautiful, brown bananas. Mash them really, really good. We basically want them to be like liquid. Then stir in the brown sugar, egg, Greek yogurt, and milk until everything is super combined. Throw in the flour and baking soda and give the mixture a couple of stirs. Lumps and pockets of flour are a-ok. I realize that this will be hard for you perfectionists out there, but you can do it. Leave some imperfections. Fold in the chocolate chips and raspberries, being careful not to over stir. Finally, pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and place it in the oven.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

In 50 minutes your kitchen will smell far too delicious and you’ll have an exquisite loaf of bread on your counter. This is happiness.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

So much happiness that I had to give most of this loaf away. Which was really hard to do. Probably the hardest thing I had to do all week. Except for that 17 mile run yesterday. #strugglefest.

So yeah. What I’m trying to say is this stuff is really good. Basic banana bread and chocolate cacao nib banana bread are good too, but this chocolate chip raspberry banana bread is like really good.

Soooo… uh… make it. And eat it. And drink some coffee. And have a FANTASTIC Memorial Day weekend!!

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
 
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This Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread is a snazzy version of regular banana bread. It's simple, a little bit healthy, and so, so very delicious with bursts of chocolate and raspberries.
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups + 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 medium very ripe bananas
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup full fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons milk (any sort of milk will work: cow, almond, coconut, soy, etc)
  • 1 pint raspberries
  • ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a small bowl combine the flour (just 1 ½ cups) and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In another small bowl toss the raspberries with the remaining 1 teaspoon of flour. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl mash the bananas until they are very, very mashed.
  5. Whisk in the brown sugar, Greek yogurt, egg, and milk until they are thoroughly combined.
  6. Stir in the flour. Lumps are ok.
  7. Fold in the raspberries and chocolate chips, saving some to sprinkle on top.
  8. Pour batter into the loaf pan and top with the remaining raspberries and chocolate chips.
  9. Baked for 50-55 minutes.

 

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

PS- what are you doing for Memorial Day? I am headed up north to the cabin to hang out with my family for the weekend! So excited.

raspberry chocolate chip banana bread

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Thursday Things 05.21.15

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Thursday Things 05.21.15

It was my younger brother’s birthday last night (22!) so I took him and his boyfriend out to dinner at Tiny Diner. I had never been there before, but am glad we went to check it out. The food was amazing and the restaurant itself was super fun. I love the decor! My only complaint is that it was just a smidgen to cold to sit outside and enjoy their patio. Perhaps next time.

In the meantime, I won’t be complaining about any of these things:

One more day until the long weekend!!

Jenna

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05.10.15 Weekly Recap: Food + Fitness + Fun

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05.10.15 Weekly Recap

I was all over the place last week: Sunday = Brainerd, Monday = Minneapolis, Tuesday = Winnipeg, Wednesday = Calgary, Thursday = Minneapolis, Friday-Sunday = Denver. It was crazy, busy, but it was a great week overall. Here’s the recap:

FOOD:

Clearly since I was barely home, a majority of my meals were eaten out this week. A lot of them were in the airport. And since I was only home for a few days I didn’t go to the grocery store to restock my refrigerator. No joke, it’s just eggs and condiments in there. I had a lot of almond butter fried egg sandwiches. Therefore, I’ll just call out the things worth calling out.

  • Mother’s Day Brunch. My mom and I made brunch together at the cabin. We put together a delicious mushroom, spinach, asparagus quiche, thick cut bacon, crusty bread, fresh berries, and hot coffee. It was delicious and bright and fun (proof). My parents and I devoured it.
  • Brunch at Linger. This place was so fun. There was a litebrite-esue bartop, unlimited mimosas, and an interesting bathroom. I ate an amazing chile relleno. After brunch my friend (Katie) and I headed up to the rooftop for a little bit where there was a nice view of LoHi and downtown Denver, but then it started to rain so we moved along.
  • Dinner at Root Down. Ohemgeeee, this dinner was amazing. Katie and I split the kale and pea salad, seared Columbian arepas, the Roman gnocchi, and a bottle of Syrah. Everything was delicious. We sat there for a longggg time eating and chatting and working through our bottle of wine.
  • Dinner at Kaos Pizzeria. First of all, this place had an awesome happy hour – $2 beers! Second, there pizza is delicious. We had the margarita and the prosciutto.
  • While in Denver we also had a quick late-night dinner at Mead St. Station, coffee at The Laughing Latte, happy hour at Machete, a glass of wine at Old Major, lunch at Vine Street Pub, and beers at Tavern.

FITNESS:

  • Sunday: Easy run. A nice 4-mile run up north by the cabin. Total = 4.0 miles; 8:58 min/mile.
  • Monday: Cycle class + hill workout. I started my Monday with a DharmaCycle cycle class. I planned to do a prime yoga class, but a mix up at the studio led me to cycle, which was fine. Then later after work I did a hill workout. Actually, I’m not sure I would go as far to call this a “workout”. I basically just ran jogged up and down a large hill 8 times with some flat miles before and afterwards. Total = 10.6 miles; 9:20 min/mile.
  • Tuesday: Strength training. I was planning on going for a run, but decided that strength training would be a better option for my body. I started out with a 10 minute warm up on the elliptical, then did 2 rounds of each of the following circuits – 1st: Romanian deadlifts, stranding triceps extensions, biceps curls; 2nd: dumbbell chest press, bent over rows, plank knee-to-elbow; 3rd: lunges, shoulder scaption, plank with hip dips; 4th: side leg lifts, hamstring curls, side plank hip dips, pushups.
  • Wednesday: Short speed workout. I happened to be in Calgary when Running Room was having one of their group runs, so I went to check it out! They had a bunch of different training groups doing different workouts. I joined up with the Half Marathon group that was doing a speed workout. We warmed up by playing freeze tag. Freeze tag! How fun is that?! I think I was 12 the last time I played freeze tag. Then we did 3x 200 meter sprints followed by 4x 50m sprints in a relay format, then a little cool down. It was a lot of fun and everyone was super nice and welcoming. Plus, we met at the store right down town and ran through a beautiful park by the river. I’m glad I joined up with them rather than doing a run on my own. Afterwards I just did a little 4 mile run on my own. I ran along the river and it kind of felt like I was in Minneapolis. Calgary is a very pretty city! Total = ~5.5 miles.
  • Thursday: Rest day.
  • Friday: Long run. I took a half-day vacation so that I could fit in my 20-miler before flying out to Denver. Such a fun vacation, right?! Thankfully my friend Monica was willing to run the first 9 miles with me; otherwise I really don’t think I would have made the whole 20 on my own. I mean, I guess I probably would have, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. The last 11 were tough, but I had Comedy Bang Bang (episode #349) to entertain me. Total = 20 miles; 10:00 min/mile.
  • Saturday: Yoga Flow. My friend and I checked out The Freya Project yoga studio in the Highland Denver neighborhood. The studio was super cute and the class was great. We went through a ton of hip opening and IT band stretches. It was like the instructor knew exactly what I needed.
  • Sunday: Rest day.
  • Totals: 1 strength training session, 1 cycle class, 1 yoga class, 4 runs (40.1 miles).

OTHER FUN THINGS:

  • I was in Canada on Tuesday and Wednesday visiting my Winnipeg and Calgary warehouse sites. I have been working with these sites since February, so it was great to finally meet everyone in person and see the warehouses with my own eyes.
  • The TC 1-Mile was Thursday night! I volunteer with the Marketing Committee for Twin Cities in Motion and my role was to put together the Cheer Zones along the course. We had one at Eli’s, Rock Bottom Brewery, and Maruso. I led up the one at Maruso, handed out Thunderstix and cowbells to the spectators, and cheered on all the runners. It was a chilly, rainy night on a new course (it used to be on Nicollet), but it was still super fun.
  • My friend Katie and I spent the weekend in Denver. We just wanted to get away from Minneapolis for a little bit and explore the city even though we were just there in October. We spent the weekend eating and drinking at a lot of good restaurants (see above) and walking around different areas (like Cheeseman Park). Unfortunately the weather wasn’t super awesome (quite a few rain showers), but we made the most of it and will definitely be going back for another visit!

Hope you had a great week!

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Coconut Cashew Butter

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Coconut cashew butter. I don’t even know what else to say.

coconut cashew butter

But I’ll try to say at least a few more things.

For starters, IT IS SO GOOD. Cashews are amazing and coconut is delicious. So of course processing them together into one concoction is just amazing. I mean, seriously. So good.

Then I’ll follow that up with, IT IS GOOD FOR YOU. This little jar is made up of cashews and coconut with a little bit of honey (maple syrup for the vegans) and some coconut oil. That’s it. It’s jam-packed with healthy fats that will provide you with tons of energy throughout the day.

That’s all you need to know, right? It’s good & good for you.

coconut cashew butter

Wait. One more thing, IT IS EASY TO MAKE. Process the cashews. Process the coconut. Process them together. Add in the honey and coconut oil then process some more. The most difficult part of this is finding the energy to pull out your food processor. Oh, and the anticipation. It takes some patience to sit and watch and wait for the cashews and coconut to turn into a beautifully smooth and delicious spread. But, totally worth it.

The longer you process, the smoother it will be. I like mine with a little gritty texture (crunchy over creamy for me always), so the amount of time it takes to make this will depend on your preference.

coconut cashew butter

Just be warned, this stuff is addicting. I find nut butters to be a very dangerous thing. I’m obsessed. I’ll take to it with a spoon straight from the jar. One spoonful turns into two, turns into… umm… more. Yes, it is healthy, but too much of a good thing is still too much.

Tread carefully, but know that I do fully support spoonfuls from the jar. It’s good on toast too. And probably in oatmeal as well. And probably many other things. Enjoy!

Coconut Cashew Butter
 
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A creamy delicious spread made up of coconut and cashews - super delicious & super good for you!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cashews (I used raw, but roasted would work too)
  • 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 tablespoon honey (or pure maple syrup, if vegan)
  • ½ tablespoon coconut oil (or more, if needed)
Instructions
  1. Add the cashews to the bowl of a food processor. Process for at least 5 minutes or until the nuts become smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl.
  2. Add the coconut flakes to the food processor and do the same thing – process until smooth.
  3. Add the cashew butter along with the honey and the coconut oil in with the coconut butter. Process for another 3-5 minutes or until your desired consistency has been reached. Feel free to add a little bit more coconut oil if the spread seems too thick.
  4. Transfer to an airtight container (like a little mason jar) and store on your counter for up to a week. But really, will it even last that long?!

coconut cashew butter

 

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Thursday Things 05.14.15

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Thursday Things 05.14.15

Guess what?! I’m in Canada again. Can you tell by the bear in uniform?! It was Winnipeg on Tuesday then Calgary on Wednesday. Before that it was Hutchinson, then Fargo, then Merrifield. And then tomorrow I’m off to Denver. It’s been a whirlwind of travel! Between May 7 and May 17 I will have stayed overnight in my condo a total of 2 nights. But you know what? It’s all good stuff.

Good stuff like this stuff:

Also, the TC 1 Mile is tonight! Join me at the Maruso Cheer Zone. I’ll give you a cowbell and some thunder sticks and you can have a drink and cheer on the runners. Dealio? Don’t forget your rain jacket!

<3jenna

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45-Minute Variety Speed Treadmill Workout

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45 Min Variety Speed Treadmill Workout

It’s spring. As much as that means skirts and patios and sunshine it also means sweatpants and umbrellas and lightning. The fluctuation in weather just comes with the season so we have to be prepared.

Therefore, a sweater in your purse for when it gets chilly. An umbrella in your car for when it suddenly starts to downpour. A treadmill workout in your pocket for when there is lightning outside, because FYI, it’s not safe to run outside when there is lightning.

And of course by “pocket” I am referring to however you file away potential workouts these days – write it down in a notebook, take a screen shot of the image below to save to your smart phone, pin it on Pinterest (PS- lots of good workouts on this board), print it out and put it in a binder, etc. These are all valid methods.

With whatever method you prefer, make sure to save this 45-minute variety speed treadmill workout for days when it’s lightning or too hot or, gosh darnit, for days when you just prefer the treadmill to the outdoors.

This workout features 6 rounds of interval running in a pyramid fashion. The interval duration fluctuates between 3-5 minutes and the speed varies between 6.7-7.1 mph (9:00-8:30 min/mile). In between each interval is a recovery period for half the amount of time of the interval (e.g.: interval = 3 minutes, recovery = 1.5 minutes) at a brisk walk.

Here’s the plan, Stan:

45 Min Variety Speed Treadmill Workout

I plugged in the speeds for an advanced beginner, but feel free to adjust these up or down according to your abilities. The running intervals should be hard, but not an all-out sprint. If someone was talking to you during the run, you should be able to carry on a very choppy conversation with them. Take the recovery periods at a brisk walk or an easy jog. I usually start out with a walk for about 30 seconds to drop my heart rate quicker, then jog for the remaining time.

Do what works for you and your body.

This is meant to be a challenging workout, but there is beauty in the variety of speeds and intervals – you won’t get bored and time will fly by. Plus, it’s way better than getting struck by lightning outside. I hope you enjoy it!

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