The Baking Bug and A Slow 3 Miles

Do you ever just wake up and want to bake something? This morning I woke up in the baking mood, so I decided to bake! I love to cook and can be creative with food but baking is not my forte, so I always follow recipes when I bake and this morning was no different. I had some overripe bananas that needed to be use so I decided to make banana bread, the recipe I use is from the cookbook Secrets of a Skinny Chef by Jennifer Iserloh, it is healthy and absolutely delicious. I also decided to bake some granola from the Carrots’N'Cake Book by Tina Haupert.

First up was the granola. Basically the granola contained oats, coconut, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins and cranberries. It was sweetened with agave nectar and cinnamon. I had all the ingredients on hand, my only substitution was I also added some dried cranberries to the mix in addition to raisins. I baked it in the oven for less than 15 minutes, stirring once and it came out perfect, much better than buying prepared granola….thank you TIna!!! If you want the full recipe you will have to get Tina’s book Carrots’N'Cake, you will love it!

Next up was the banana bread. I prepared the bread batter while the granola was cooking, as soon as the granola was finished I pooped the bread right into the oven. This is my go to recipe for banana bread, it’s healthy, easy and delicious. If you’d like the full recipe you’ll have to purchase Secrets of a Skinny Chef by Jennifer Iserloh. This cookbook has so many delicious recipes that I know you won’t be disappointed if you buy it. The only substitution I made was I used pecans instead of walnuts for the topping because that is what I had on hand.

I love the way the house smells when I bake, but it makes me want to eat everything that comes out of the oven. I managed to only have one serving of granola and I slice of banana bread, not an easy feat. I probably would have eaten more but I was distracted by Abby, who is in the process of potty training, so far so good. I got rid of the diapers on Monday and today she did not have one accident….I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will continue doing well.

After Chris got off of work he wanted to run and I said yes!! I have been feeling down these past few days and a run always makes me feel better. Chris wanted to run 2 miles, I negotiated 3 miles…..maybe not such a good idea. My orthotics are still bothering me, I actually have 2 blisters one on each foot in the same spot from them but I do have an appointment with the podiatrist tomorrow so I am hoping to fix the problem because they are definitely providing me with great support. In addition to the orthotics I had terrible heartburn form the hot sauce I used at lunch, not ideal for running. During mile 2 Chris had to stop due to side cramps so I stopped an walked with him for a few minutes. Then at the start of mile 3 he stopped again but I continued on finishing the 3 miles in the slowest time I’ve had in many years.

At least my best pace was 7:10, probably when I was running down one of the hills. Not all runs can go as we expect or plan, some will be slow and some will be fast, I just have to learn to take the good with the not so good. My personality is competitive by nature, not necessarily with other people but more with myself, so when I don’t run as fast as I think I can I feel disappointed. These feelings is what causes me to end up injured because I push myself much harder than I should at times. Today’s run was slow and that is okay, as I build my endurance again I know I will run faster.

Check out my blog tomorrow for a great giveaway!!!

How do you stay focused when you don’t accomplish what you set out to do?

Tagged as: Carrots'N'Cake, running, Secrets of a Skinny Chef