Banana Almond Microwave Muffin

From start to finish, this took under 5 minutes to make! :] It may not look the most appetizing, but it’s great as a grab-and-go breakfast. I threw all the ingredients into a mug before going to school for my morning workout, microwaved it and bam! There you go. :O I didn’t want to microwave it for much longer, lest it get all dry and difficult to eat. Two minutes seems like the perfect consistency–moist and tastes just like banana bread (which it pretty much is)! The guy sitting next to me asked if that’s what it was and said it smelled amazing.

This is another one of those crazy meal-replacement calorie bombs, but…so many nutrients and good fats! :] It’s much better than many alternatives out there!

Banana Almond Microwave Muffin

455 calories, 35g CHO’s, 22g fat, 32g protein, 6g fiber, 126mg sodium!

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup almond meal
-1 scoop Designer Whey French Vanilla protein powder
-1 egg
-1 banana, mashed

Instructions:
1) Mash the banana and mix everything together in a microwave-safe mug.
2) Microwave for 2 minutes.

A pretty spring sunset from outside the gym the evening before! :]

Advertisement

Blueberry Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

I was playing piano at the nursing home today and generally speaking, when I (a) run out of songs to play or (b) there are only a couple people left, I’ll usually stop playing so I can go over to hang out with them. I was playing mostly “easy listening”-type pieces today, so when I went over, one of them told me, “You managed to put her to sleep! Several times!”
B: I was not asleep! Only partly.
D: You’ve tamed the savage beast!
B: You’ve tamed the savage beast!
D: It makes my day to hear you admit it.

They’re so cute. :D

---

As per our usual tradition, we had another post-course celebration/potluck after Respiratory [back towards the end of January]. (You can generally assume that almost all the posts I write are written into the future because I’d never have time otherwise. :x ) That was also the weekend of PAX’s international festival, and since my neighbor went home for the weekend, I saw no reason to head back home (I was tired/sleepy, it was late, and it gets kinda lonely there sometimes because it almost seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere when I’m the only one there).

So instead, I holed up in Swathi’s apartment for the night/most of the next day and we attempted to study and be productive, but mostly just ended up talking and making food. She likes to kid that to me, she is Adam’s replacement because I invariably end up sleeping over at her place whenever he goes home for the weekend. Recipe obtained from flour-ish.

Blueberry Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients:
–1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
-1 3/4 cups rolled oats
-1 ripe banana, mashed
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (I think we’ve been using kefir in place of actual buttermilk)
-1/8 cup brown sugar
-1/4 cup honey
-2 tbsp canola oil
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-3/4 cup blueberries (frozen worked well)

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2) In a large bowl, combine: flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3) In a medium bowl, combine: applesauce, buttermilk, banana, sugar, oil and egg.
4) Make a well in the dry ingredients and fold in wet mixture. Stir until just moist, then fold in the blueberries.
5) Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins

I guess I’ve been hella into baking stuff lately. I snatched this recipe from Blogilates. She’s awesome, even if Sylvia and I were cursing her (we didn’t really mean it; sorry, Cassey Ho :[ you rock!) while slaving over some of her workouts this summer. I made a couple modifications, namely, accidentally forgetting the 3rd banana, the almonds, and substituting soy milk for the water.

Whole Wheat Banana Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients:
(1 loaf or 12 muffins)
-2 medium bananas, mashed
-2 eggs
-1/3 cup applesauce
-1/8 cup honey
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 cup soy milk
-1/2-1 cup almonds (I forgot these :X)

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350. Whisk honey and applesauce together. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix/sift together flour/salt/cinnamon.
2) Add to large bowl of wet ingredients.
3) Stir in baking soda + water. Fold in almonds.
4) Spread into pan or muffin tin.
5) Bake 1 hour for a loaf, ~30 minutes for muffins, or remove when top is brown and it passes the toothpick test.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins

Short update on my spine-cracking progress: I have graduated to once again being permitted to do low-impact exercise again! (In other words, I’m allowed to stretch, do non-crazy yoga, swim, and use ellipticals/stationary bikes.)

My no-spending challenge is going quite well so far (hopefully, I’m not speaking too soon). Last week, I managed to pilfer 12 sandwiches, 2 slices of pizza and 5 burgers–all free of charge. This will most likely extend the life of my loaves of bread to the end of next month (and if not, there’s still lots of cereal to be had!).

I really love it when they have events at school that provide a bunch of food. :] I’ve taken to bringing empty sandwich bags with me in my backpack for such occasions. <3

I made these this morning before running off to school to study some more biochem (it is kicking my butt :'( ). It’s adapted from a recipe on allrecipes.com, but I changed a bunch of stuff (decreased the amount of sugar and oil, added some oats). I’m sure you could use fresh strawberries too (it’d likely have even more flavor), but I have a giant bag of frozen strawberries, so I’ve been trying to find uses for them. They aren’t too sweet, but they’re surprisingly filling, and have been approved (by that, I mean taste-tested after I ate the first one and lived) by my housemate (dietetic intern) and three friends in my program. :]

Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients:
(Makes 12.)
-2 cups whole wheat flour
-2 bananas, mashed
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1 cup frozen strawberries, diced
-1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
-2 tbsp EVOO
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup dark brown sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-muffin tin or use paper liners (I ran out halfway through, so I did half and half).
2) In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, sugar & bananas.
3) Combine flour, baking soda + cinnamon and stir mixture until moistened. Stir in strawberries until evenly distributed. Spoon into muffin cups until completely filled (they don’t puff up too much).
4) Bake for 20 minutes.