This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...

I need you to promise me that you won't have me committed for this one... I am attempting to clean up my eating habits right now...a week before Thanksgiving. I'd be the first to call myself a fool if it wasn't for one secret weapon: myfitnesspal. This glorious website takes all of the guess work out of getting in shape and is very simple to use. Trust me, I couldn't properly save word documents until college. Straight face. Anyway, the site includes many tools with which you can track your success, giving you the opportunity to set real goals and keep them. Here are some of my favorite features:

1. You can type in almost any brand name food item and a nutritional listing will appear. Generic items, like fruit or cheese, are also listed. Can't find what you're looking for? You can add the item to the database. This database is shared by all the members that use the site.

2. The program not only tells you how many calories you have consumed, but also other key players like carbs, sugar, and fat. That way, when you're thinking about eating that candy bar because you have calories left, you'll reconsider your sugar high.

3. The site starts by asking you some personal questions like how much you currently exercise, how much you weigh, gender, etc, and then will ask you how much you plan on exercising and how much weight you want to lose. It then calculates the amount of calories and exercise you will need daily to reach said goal. It will produce a goal date based on your promised exercise and average weight loss from people like yourself.

4. The exercise section allows you to input your exercise contribution and will then automatically add those precious calories back to your allotment. Be slightly wary of this section. I believe the calories burned that are listed are averages and may not correspond to your weight and height. To be safe, try and use machines that record your calories burned or find out how many calories your body type burns for specific exercises.

5. The best thing about this sight is the water icon. It reminds you that eight glasses a day keeps you healthy and offers a helpful visual to keep you on track. Something so simple as drinking water is sometimes forgotten; this little gem reminds me everyday. 

6. Although I have not used any, the site also lists tons of apps that can aid in your weight loss goals while on the go. 

I promise my next post will be about food, but for now, enjoy this little morsel.

When it rains, it pours...Apples

Sometimes you  have to deal with bumper crops with courage and just dive in headfirst. If it seems like I've already written 38 posts about apples, it's because I have. Is that really too much? Compared to what? Here's a secret- I really don't love apples that have been baked! I love eating them fresh, perhaps with some honey and peanut butter, but when they're cooked...hard to say. Apples have an odd way of drying out (for such juicy creatures) that is borderline repulsive to me sometimes. Carry on, Christian Soldiers. If your friends ask you to make apple things with them, you man up and commit. Here are some of the things I've been making.

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Pies, crisps, sauce, caramel...let's just say I'm going to start embracing other flavors soon. Here's a lil takeaway recipe:

Apple Sauce

Peel and dice 6-7 medium apples (I used Golden Delicious and Stayman Winesap). In a heavy pot, combine apples with 2 cups of water, a 1/4 cup of brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, a pinch of clove, and a small knob of butter. After the sauce has cooked down (about 45 minutes, but use your best judgement), take mixture of the heat and add a lil glug of vanilla. Consume.

You'd better cool it off, before you burn it out

Even though Fall masquerades as a lighthearted season, things can become stressful at a moments notice. When did Thanksgiving go from 10 to 23 people? Why is Christmas music playing in Walgreens? How did I misplace all of my coats? Was it the wrong choice to not return the extra Halloween candy? Insanity. Sometimes, we even manage to add more stress to our lives by making dumb-biddy choices, such as:
1. Frying the turkey while drinking 
2. Venturing out on Black Friday while still doped on tryptophan
3. Vowing to make everyone homemade treats for Christmas (let's be serious, not everyone appreciates flavored salt)
During these times of madness, I enjoy making things that I know always turn out nicely, if not beautifully. This weekend, I made Chai-Spiced Banana Bread for a dear friend and pesto with the last of the herbs before Jack Frost ate them. 

PESTO
Let me just make something very clear. I am not the authority on proper pesto making. I just think it's scrummy and I like making it with things that are on hand. This pesto happened to have basil, parsley, pecorino, cashews, garlic, and olive oil. In my eyes, a good pesto always has nuts or seeds that act as a binding agent, a bit of sharp cheese, garlic, and basil. The beauty of this sauce is you can combine most things together and they won't backfire on you. I pulsed all of these ingredients together in a food processor and drizzled in oil until I had a pleasing consistency. 

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Chai-Spiced Banana Bread

The banana bread ended up being a birthday treat for an old friend. Like pesto, banana bread can be made with an abundance of alterations that are usually tasty. To make this bread, I mashed the bananas, and then added the eggs, vanilla, and melted butter to the mix. Then I got an idea. I got a wonderful, awful idea. I tossed a chai tea bag into the butter that was browning. At this point my mother would say, "there goes the only chance that bread had". However, this choice actually worked in giving the depth I wanted. 

After I mixed the dry ingredients, I poured the wet mixture in and mixed with a spoon just til the two combined. The batter went into a greased, lined loaf pan and went in the oven for about half an hour (I ended up using a fatty pan, which would explain the short holiday in the oven).

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Recipes:

Bread (adapted from "Scientifically Sweet")

350 F 9x5 pan 50-55 min

3 large bananas, mashed

1 ½ cups (215 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup (165g) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 tbsp (56 g) melted butter, slightly cooled 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pesto

1 1/2 c basil

1/2 c parsley

1/2 c olive oil

1/4 c cashews

2 Tbsp pecorino 

1 Tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper