Choc-oat-banana cookies

I've been craving classic Toll House chocolate chip cookies all week, but we're out of eggs. Now that I have a day off, I could go to the store... but it's cold out and I'm feeling lazy. Yet I still want cookies. I saved a recipe for Banana-Oat cookies a while ago and remembered that they were vegan (a.k.a. no eggs required)! I adapted the recipe a bit to fit my craving, so here's what I used:
1 banana, mashed (I bet they'd also be good with the equivalent amount of applesauce with a little extra flour to thicken it)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup honey OR 1/3 cup agave nectar + 1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup almond milk
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 rounded cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350*F. Combine banana, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and almond milk in medium bowl. In separate bowl mix together oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir dry mixture into the banana mixture and mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on greased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes until they are lightly browned. Place on wire rack to cool. Makes a 18 cookies.
(This recipe would also be great when you have that one lonely overripe banana-- you don't want to waste it, but it's not enough for banana bread either) :o)

It seems like I'm always out of eggs or chocolate chips when I want to make cookies. I hid these in the fridge last week, but it looks like Ross found them anyway!

Good pantry staples

They're not very photogenic, but they taste better than they look and they satisfied my craving for cookie dough which, in the end, is all I could ask for from a cookie recipe.

A note about agave nectar: I love brown sugar, but I can take or leave white sugar. I'm skeptical of Stevia and I think artificial sweeteners are disgusting chemical concoctions that will never improve the taste of my food. I do love honey as well, but it crystallizes quickly if I don't use it right away. I finally bought some agave nectar to try and a straight spoonful tastes like really mild honey. This is my first time baking with it and I can't tell the difference (Ross still doesn't know). It's supposed to have a lower glycemic index than sugar and honey and since it's sweeter, you use about 2/3 the amount (2/3 cup agave nectar replaces 1 cup sugar). I'm hoping to get some fresh, local honey at the farmer's market this summer but until then I do like agave nectar as an alternative option.
Yes, my blog makes it look like all I do is work, eat, run, (try to) sleep, and bake. And yes, that's an accurate portrayal of my life right now.

Seeds of Change

I was saving these pictures for a future post, but I think I'll share a little now. Ever since reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver last summer, I've become really interested in local "slow food" movements and gardening. Slow food is a post in itself, but now is the time to prepare for gardening!
I got a bunch of awesome books for Christmas about container gardening and organic gardening. I'm also a member of Seed Saver's Exchange and I hope to use some of their heirloom seeds in my garden this summer. (Don't worry, I've joined a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group in case the garden doesn't work out.) Ross was feeling crafty last week, so he built a container garden on our balcony!



Didn't my husband do an awesome job?! Since it's been sunny the last few days, I have actually started to believe that spring is coming even though it only reaches 40 degrees during the day, which is plenty cold for me! Sunday or Monday, I'm hoping to get the right soil for the containers and start some seedlings indoors. Ross has even offered to build a little incubator for my seedlings. It's nice to have a handyman around!
For now, I'm headed to bed after making a long to-do list for the next few days. My first day off after several consecutive night shifts is always hard. This is what I want to do all day:

When in fact, I try to only sleep from 8:30am until 1 or 2pm (Ross usually has to drag me out of bed at 2 after I've hit the snooze button every 9 minutes for an hour) and then workout and have a normal evening before going to sleep again. We went out for sushi and now I have a full, happy tummy, clean sheets, and no work tonight!

One Moment in Time

Despite what I said earlier this week about looking forward to my runs, I really didn't want to work out this afternoon! Tonight is my 4th 12-13 hour night shift in a row and the previous 3 have been busy nights with critical admissions, double admissions, and picking up extra patients when a co-worker's assignment went downhill.
I put my workout off as long as possible, but finally had to follow my own advice and Just Do It. Instead of driving to the gym, Ross convinced me to run outside with him. It's 41 degrees and sunny! However, we got to the path by our apartment and it was still covered in snow/slush and it's just hilly enough that I'd be sure to fall quickly. So I went to the apartment gym which I try to avoid-- the treadmill there is so old and noisy! I do like the fact that the machine faces a mirror though. It allows me to make sure I'm running in a straight line, which is harder than it sounds! My feet tend to splay out(leftover from my ballet days I'm sure) and it hurts my knees after a while if my ankles, knees, and hips are not in one line.
I got a blast from the past on my iPod song shuffle while I was running: "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston from the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul! The opening lines say, "Each day I live/ I want to be/ A day to give/ The best of me/ I'm only one/ But not alone/ My finest day/ Is yet unknown." The Truffle Shuffle 5k is next weekend and Emily reminded me that the 2010 Cowtown Marathon is tomorrow... can't wait until they announce the 2011 date and we can start counting down!
When I finished my run, I had the innagural brewing on my new coffee maker to look forward to.

Coffee connoisseurs may scoff, but I'm so excited I found a small, inexpensive coffee maker. I don't need a 10-cup brewer since I'm the only one who'll be using it and I drink one cup three days a week.
In other news, my primary patient at work is doing so well! Her cheeks are getting rosy and she opens her eyes and looks around a lot more. I'm the one who "caught" her in the delivery room and I've been a little attached to her ever since :-)

Larabar

I'd always seen Larabars next to the Luna bars and Powerbars in the grocery store, but something made me buy some this weekend and they're SO GOOD! They only have between 2-6 ingredients (for example: dates, almonds, and cherries) so they don't taste anything like over-processed energy bars. And since they're made from fruits and nuts, they're much more filling than granola bars (I can plow through a box of granola bars in one sitting). I guess this is my plug for the week because you have to try these! They have mini-bars that make a great snack. I just opened one at work... and then dropped it on the floor and I'm extremely bummed. Once you try them, you'll understand!

Eat, Sleep, Run

I have a Nike t-shirt hanging in my closet with "Eat, Sleep, Run" emblazoned on the front. Senior year of high school, I was in my running element! It's embarassing to think how long ago that was. Yet I still think of myself as a runner. I'm so happy to be getting into it again. I'm actually starting to look forward to my workouts!

I recently discovered a blog by my friend Amari from high school (by the way, anytime you see an underlined word in my blog, you can click on it and it'll direct you to a link regarding whatever subject I'm talking about). It's a great blog and the other night when I couldn't sleep, I started reading hers and some of the other blogs she recommends. I ran across a one called Healthy Tipping Point and found some tips for beginning runners that I could really identify with! If Emily and I can do this, anyone can :o)

Here are the tips, with a few of my own comments added in:

1. Start slow and short! You don’t want to burn yourself out mentally OR physically. Don’t try to pound out a 5 miler on your first run, and don’t be disappointed if you have to stop after 10 minutes. Similarly, don’t try to be a speed demon right away.

2. Try the Galloway Method, which is basically walk/run/walk/run. You walk for 2 minutes, then run for 2 minutes, then walk for 2 minutes, etc. This gives you time to catch your breath and cool down. Gradually decrease the amount of time you spend walking and increase the amount of time you spend running.

3. Stay hydrated! This is equally important in the winter and in the summer.

4. Find a running buddy. It’s best if you can run with someone slightly better than you who is willing to walk when you need to. A running buddy holds you accountable, pushes you to improve, and gives you someone to chat with — which helps the time fly by. (Emily Gilmore is my running buddy even though we don't exactly go on runs together since we live in different states. But she's hard-working, determined, and committed. I can't skip a workout because I KNOW she's not skipping a workout!)

5. Sign up for a race! I love doing races. Races give you motivation to succeed, and it makes your workout schedule have a “point.” (See my personal training goals a few posts ago).

6. To fight the urge to slow down or quit, listen to music, plan your day, or just zone out! Running serves as excellent mediation. Focus on your breathing, the feel of your blood coursing through your veins, and the sensation of power pushing through your legs.

7. Think positive! Too many people focus on how hard running is. Well, of course it's hard work. And it's even harder if you think about how mucy you're dreading it or you bitch and moan about it. I talk and think about running as my life’s passion, even though I'm just (re-)starting out. Put a positive spin on exercise, and it won’t seem like a chore!

8. Just do it. Seriously. This is what gets me out the door most days. Sometimes I don’t want to run, but I just lace up my shoes and GO. Within an hour, my workout is DONE and I feel more energized, happier, and more positive! It's hard to remind myself of the rewards of working out before my run, so my bottom line had become JUST. DO. IT.

Ms. Cranky Pants

I am in a bad mood, so I'm going to vent. Feel free to skip over this post because I'll warn you right now, it's going to be pretty whiny.

Lately I've recognized a fun pattern on my nights off where I'm tired and go to bed at the same time as Ross, but then wake up around 2am and don't fall asleep again until 7:30am. Awesome. It's probably the root cause of my bad mood today. I woke up at 2am Saturday morning and stayed up until 10:30am. Then I napped until 1pm. I stayed up after that and Ross and I went to my cousin John's basketball game and out to dinner with my Aunt Theresa, Uncle Charlie, and cousins John and Jimmy. Came home and accidentally fell asleep on the couch at 9pm but by then, I'd had 2 1/2 hours of sleep in the last 19 hours, so it's safe to say I had been awake a normal amount of time and didn't sleep the day away. I crawled into bed at 10pm, woke up at 1:30am, and have been awake ever since. I'll say it now and you can assume it holds true until next month when I'll say it again (I try to limit it, since it's really a self-evident truth): I HATE NIGHT SHIFT!
Secondly, when I do start to get sleepy again around 6am after killing time for several hours, the neighbor we share a wall with wakes up and starts smoking. I swear they sit in bed right on the other side of that wall and smoke a pack of extra-nicotine cigarettes for an hour and the smoke seeps through. The smoke is not coming through the vent, mind you, but the drywall itself, insulation and all. This makes me incredibly angry, causes my bronchioles to spasm and I start to wheeze and I absolutely cannot sleep by that point. I lay there for an hour and a half inhaling this second-hand smoke, working up a sweat because I'm so angry. It takes every once of my self-control not to start throwing things at the wall or to march up to their door and scream at them for being such idiots. The apartment complex won't do anything because, "they have a right to smoke in their apartment." Well, don't I have a right to breathe clean air in MY apartment?! I'm soooo over apartment living.
Which brings me to the fact that I'd love to start looking for a house, but I'm suddenly making less money than I did in Texas. Not only did I take a $2.50/hour pay cut, but I'm not used to having income taxes taken out of my paycheck. Night shift differential almost makes up the difference, but moving to day shift (while much improving my personal life) will not improve financial matters. Not that it looks like it'll happen soon anyway.
Recently, I added that application on Facebook that counts the most frequently-used words in your status updates. Here are mine:
1. work
2. night
3. tomorrow
4. days
5. good
6. Ross
7. baby
8. today
9. off
10. NICU
No surprises there!

Unstoppable

Floor seats!

For Valentine's Day this year, Ross bought me tickets to see Darius Rucker and Rascal Flatts last night! We had so much fun! (Never mind that he was so excited after buying the tickets and taking pains to make sure I wouldn't find out about them, he showed them to me the day after they came in the mail last month). I've always loved Rascal Flatts. I think I identify with more of their songs than any other band. Their lyrics are awesome!

*God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you*

Loving the concert

However, after last night, Ross and I are both Darius Rucker fans as well. They play about 3 songs of his over and over on the radio and I like them; I also fell in love with his distinctive voice in Hootie and the Blowfish, but didn't know a whole lot about his country career. Turns out, he's a great performer! When he gets his own tour, we'll definitely be going to see him again.

*This could be one of those memories... history in the making*

When Rascal Flatts came out for their encore, they brought Darius too and they all sang three songs together. So cool!

*I wanna love you the best that, the best that I can*

If you want to see more pictures, click here. Ross got some good ones because we were so close to the stage!