My Latest Creation

     I finally had some time today to work on a banana muffin recipe. If you make them you can always change the recipe to create it the way you like it.  They aren't overly sweet, are low in fat, and high in fiber. They also have a protein boost in them. I think these will be great to have right before a run in the mornings.  Let me know if you make them and how you like them. I appreciate any criticism or complements. I started with a basic whole grain muffin recipe I found in a cookbook entitled Healthy Recipes From the Heart of Our Homes by Phyllis & Shirley which I bought at Shar's Kitchen Store. Then I added other ingredients to it to make it my own. I also changed the butter in the recipe to coconut oil and apple sauce.

Banana Zucchini Walnut Muffins


Preheat oven to 400*

1 3/4 cups freshly ground wheat pastry flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon or sweet spice blend
2 T. baking powder
1/2 C. fresh corn flour (I used corn meal)
1/2 C. rolled 7-grain or oats, ground to powder in blender

Mix together dry ingredients

2 eggs
1 C silky tofu
1/4 C coconut oil
1/2 C apple sauce
1/4 C honey  (or you can substitute black strap molasses)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together wet ingredients in a blender, add to flour mixture along with remaining ingredients and mix until just moistened:

2 mashed bananas
1 C shredded zucchini squeezed in a paper towel to get extras moisture out.
1 C. walnuts coarsely chopped
1/2 C golden raisins

Use an ice cream scoop and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. I like to line them with the paper/foil baking cups.
Bake for 14-18 minutes until firm to the touch.
Cool on racks

     I also found a yummy banana blueberry walnut bread on cleaneating.com. Just type in banana blueberry walnut bread on their search space. I want to try it next.

My Son's 30th Birthday

We had so much fun last night at my son's birthday party. It is always the best to be with our family and friends celebrating together. There was so much yummy food too to top it off.

Share the Bounty

When I got home from vacation last week I went out to my garden to see how it was doing. These are what  I harvested from one picking. I have been passing them out to my friends and I ate fresh tomato pasta 3 days in a row. It was so good.

Fresh Tomato Pasta


7 tomatoes diced
1 C. fresh basil chopped
2 T. fresh parsley chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 lb of low fat mozzarella cheese cubed
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1 lb whole wheat seashell, penne, or spiral pasta

This is also good with garbanzo beans as well which adds more fiber and protein.

Combine everything but the pasta and let it sit for one hour. Cook pasta until aldente, drain but don't rinse and add to the tomato mixture. Toss and eat. Also good with grated Parmesan on it.

This is a family favorite in the summer when fresh tomatoes are plentiful and delicious.

The Sunniest Day

I did my long run today. I love running through the beach towns and looking at the beautiful views. It was  a lot of fun. I ran down the steepest hill ever today. It was so steep I couldn't see the bottom of the hill until I was at the very top of it. I had to go down it with my brakes on otherwise I felt like I would fall forward. It was crazy and I was glad it wasn't very long.

I never said running is glamorous but it sure is fun.

Tinkerbell had so much fun chasing bubbles on the beach.

Cinderella was the cutest surfer girl on the beach. She loved playing in the ocean and looking for sea shells. We all had a beautiful sunny day.

A Day At the Beach

Tinkerbell and Cinderella had so much fun building sandcastles and burying themselves in the sand.

My first post

     I have been procrastinating putting in my first post. I kept thinking I should start out my blog with a banana bread recipe, but I have yet to create the perfect banana muffin recipe. I will post it later.
     I am going to write about my vacation on the southern California coast. The first morning there I woke up to the sound of a lot of people laughing and talking. I looked out the window and saw a group of runners going by. It made me excited to get up and go for my first run in Cali.

     While running down the scenic 101 highway I saw groups of bikers, groups of surfers, and other groups of runners.
     Then I looked up in the sky and saw a flock of pelicans and I thought to myself it is always more fun to do things in flocks.