Lower Calorie WW Banana Bread/Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 bananas(the riper the sweeter)
1/2-2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
Walnuts to sprinkle on top if desired

I just mixed everything together and had to add a little more buttermilk and applesauce to make it moist enough, to be honest I just poured it in until it was the correct consistency, however I started with a little less (1/3 buttermilk and about the same of applesauce). I put mine into muffin tins, it made 12 muffins and one mini bread loaf. You could also use the mini muffins or a big loaf I'm sure too. I baked at 350 for about 15 minutes, depends on your oven, mine tends to cook fast. The loaf had to go a little bit longer. I'm not positive on the nutrition info since I did add a little more applesauce and buttermilk. I thought they were pretty good, not as good as regular but everyone ate them--I couldn't stop the boys from eating them.

I think about 118 calories per muffin according to my calculations. Does not include nuts.

Today

So I didn't think I was a very competetive person, but I've been surprised how motivated I have felt being in this competition with my sisters/sis in law. It's nice to focus on something other than the norm. It has kept me motivated to exercise everyday and to keep my eating in check. It's interesting because I've enjoyed making new meals and sharing ideas with Alisa and everyone. I definitely needed to improve the way I was eating.

I was kind of bummed b/c tonight I ate too much at dinner. Billy brought home "Rudy's BBQ", it is some dang good bbq, their slogan is "the worst bbq in Texas". So I had to try some of the turkey and the beef...and a couple bites of cole slaw. By the time I ate my dinner I didn't think I'd served myself too much but combined w/ everything else I was full after I ate, not a good feeling. I just have to forget about that and do better tomorrow.

Today we stayed home all day which was nice. We hadn't done that in awhile and I was able to get all my laundry done (I only had like 6 or 7 loads) and I also took Adam for a bike ride, it was just nice to not have to go somewhere for a day.

I hope I win!

Check out Roni’s new contest! I can win a Nutrition Smart Scale from Eat Smart and so can you! Click here for details!

Throwdown the Pounds Competition

So, Alisa said maybe instead of changing your background you could actually try posting a blog...ha ha!!

Anyway, my sisters and sister-in-law have challenged me to a throwdown the pounds competition. If you want to learn more about it you can get the rundown on KariAnn's blog. Anyway, I am pretty nervous about it, having to lose 7% of my current body weight. I keep wondering if I am competitive enough for this. I mean I'd love to win but I feel like one of my sisters/sis-in-law will win. I guess we'll just have to see. I think the bottom line is that having the motivation and support is what is going to keep me going. It was like that when I trained for my half marathon with these same ladies long distance. On a day I didn't feel like running Alisa would tell me just to go get on the treadmill. Of course I also knew I had to actually run the race and knew I needed to be in good enough shape to do so...also a motivator.

I've been trying to get in my exercise lately, but last week was a terrible one for me. Adam was sick from wednesday on and I didn't feel good either. I also had to teach preschool on tuesday but had to cancel thursday due to Adam's fever. Logan woke up friday morning with gook in his eyes, so we spent a good part of the day going to the doctor. Luckily I did pretty well with my eating, minus saturday and my mexican food craving. I wish I didn't love chips and salsa so much. Logan is still sick but I was able to get my exercise in while he took a nap today. I asked Billy to write me up a weight lifting regimen b/c that is something Iam adding to my routine. I've always been a cardio girl but now I plan to do both. He loves to lift weights so it's exciting for him that I want to lift them too. Of course I am not "freakishly" strong like him as he likes to tell me when he gets home from the gym. (Translation: some of the machines don't even have enough weight for him)

Good luck ladies!

Crepes in Texas

I'm not sure if any of you watch "Throwdown With Bobby Flay" on the Food Network, but my parents told me about one they saw that was in Austin so I started watching it. He challenged "Fliphappy Crepes" in Austin to a throwdown. They supposedly makes the best crepes in the U.S. So, I have been wanting to try it ever since. They make their crepes out of this trailer parked in a parking lot downtown. They are only open Wed-Saturday and for only part of the day so it has been tricky to get down there. I finally got down there on saturday and there were a lot of people there. Let's just say that most the people there were helping to "Keep Austin Weird" (that's their slogan here). Anyway, so I picked up 3 crepes, 2 savory and 1 sweet. I just took the boys with me b/c Billy wasn't feeling well. They were really good and now I want to try to make my own at home. They were almost like a wrap but in a crepe, the savory crepe was a little crisp but so good and the sweet one was soft like it should be. Oh and they also make them into a side salad as well. If any of you come to visit we should definitely go there. It's right by lake austin and it's really pretty. The menu is below, it's hard to see, I had to scan it in, but you can click on it and enlarge it. They are yummy.