Wow Wow Wow! Michael Phelps is just incredible! And I LOVE how he gets so emotional about the win, too – it just shows you how much he truly enjoys what he does. It completely pays off since, you know, he beat the world record and all.
Well, I pretty much stuck to soft foods for the rest of the day. I can really only chew on one side of my mouth because the other is super sensitive, so eating was more of a chore than a pleasure today 🙁 Nothing too exciting about my meals, but there was a certain vegan baking adventure that was pretty tasty – more on that later.
WORKOUT + LUNCH
The protein-packed oatmeal definitely held me through an intense, Olympic-inspired workout. I did 60 minutes of various cardio machines and a seriously difficult arm machine workout that included bicep and triceps, shoulder press, chest press, rowing machine and the Gravitron. Nice! And just what I needed, because I haven’t been to the gym all week thanks to late nights at work. Blech.
When I got home and cleaned up, I decided to try an egg white concoction inspired by this post from the lovely Sarah over at Our Kitchen Adventures. I microwaved three egg whites for 1 minute, then stirred in 1/2 cup whipped cottage cheese and put it back in the microwave for another minute. I sprinkled everything with pepper, onion powder and chipotle seasoning.
This version was tasty, but I definitely like it with Laughing Cow even more. I need to go to the grocery store and pick up another wheel of that cheesy goodness!
With my egg concoction, I had 1/2 of a sliced red pepper drizzled in Annie’s Woodstock dressing.
And I was feeling in the mood for another mug of Coffee Cocoa, so I had one of those as well to wrap up my post-workout refueling session.
VEGAN BAKING ADVENTURE
So I knew I had a lot of extra ripe bananas left over this week and I needed to make something with them pronto! I didn’t just want to make my Choconana Pudding Muffins since you’ve seen those before. After much debating, I decided to take my inspiration from one of my favorite (and recently better acquainted with) bloggers, VeggieGirl, and try to create an eating bender version of a baked good that we’ve seen from her in posts like this one – vegan banana bread!!
~*~
Vegan Choconana Pudding Bread
Ingredients:
- 3 small ripe bananas (2 for the batter, 1 for the sliced topping)
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 ZenSoy Chocolate Vanilla Swirl soy pudding cup
Directions:
1) Combine all ingredients into a bowl.
2) Place batter inside a loaf pan. Add sliced bananas to the top.
3) Push sliced bananas into batter and move batter around so it covers slices.
4) Bake at 375* for 15-20 minutes. Or use the toothpick trick!
5) Slice into eight even slices. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition (per slice): 120 calories, 1g fat, 12mg sodium, 28g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 3g protein
Review: For my first adventure in vegan baking, I think it turned out pretty darn tasty! The bread stays super moist thanks to the soy pudding, so there is absolutely no threat of it drying out! It’s a very dense and chewy bread (thanks, old fashioned oats!) and the extra sliced bananas on top truly make it stand out. The flavor permeates through every bite, but is not overly sweet. Basically, I’m pretty proud of myself 🙂 And happy that I was able to create something delicious, but still healthy!
DINNER
After several tastes of the batter and a trial slice of the banana bread, I wasn’t hungry for anything substantial for dinner. So I started by making myself a sweet potato with ketchup.
All I do to make this baby is microwave it for approximately 3 1/2 minutes (give or take 30 seconds, depending on whether or not it starts to feel soft). You want to make sure it’s soft enough to cut through because then you know it’s ready to eat!
And for a sweet treat to end the evening, I had a bowl of frozen green and purple grapes. You can times this picture by two, because I had to go back for more 
They are just too good not to!
This day has just been so relaxing! I’ve got some chores ahead of me tomorrow, but I’m even looking forward to those because at least it entails being home and not doing work. Hurray!
Goodnight everyone 🙂
Mmm you bread looks amazing, I just bookmarked this recipe for future use, very near future of course 😀
Hope you have a great Sunday!
Yay for a relaxing day! That bread looks very yummy 🙂
That bread looks CRAZY delicious. I’m definitely keeping that recipe for a rainy day.
I love frozen grapes too, such a super snack. Yummmm.
if only the vegan pudding was available to me – i would make this in a heartbeat! looks incredible!
i watched micheal phelps too! that was INSANE!
and OHHHHHHH MY GOODNESS JENN! Banana Bread is one of my absolute favs and boy does that look AMAZING. Mail me some will you!? haha just kidding, but wow…look at you! I bet it feels amazing to be able to bake and workout instead of doing off-ice stuff! wahoo!
the sweet potato also looks so good, and I think i may have to buy some laughing cow cheeses at the store today!
and today is my chore day also 🙁
happy sunday mama cita!
I agree that the laughing cow is better than the cottage cheese, but unfortunately I was out of LC yesterday too and had to settle with what I had. Don’t worry though—I got to the grocery store right away and picked up more laughing cow. That and Greek Yogurt are 2 things I can’t live without. If we run out I sort of panic and don’t know what to do with my life! haha.
That banana bread looks so good! It looks really dense and moist so I bet it’s tasty and filling! Yum!
Looove Michael Phelps!! 🙂
YOU MADE VEGAN BANANA BREAD?!?!??!?!??!! Jenn, you rock 😀 Looks and sounds absolutely delectable!! Hooray for your first vegan baking adventure!! I vote for more!!
And you KNOW I loooove sweet potatoes & grapes 🙂
Happy Sunday, girl!!
Where did you get your nutrition info for the loaf?
I did a quick measurement over at Calorie-Count and 8 slices is over 140 kcals.
Just wondering… maybe I did something wrong?
All Vegged Out ~ Thanks!
Foodie ~ Relaxing days are the best 🙂 Thanks!
Kristie ~ I’m glad you like it 🙂
mi ~ Thanks so much!
glidingcalm ~ Thank you! Good luck with your chore day, too!
Sarah ~ Ahh I totally know what you mean about not knowing what to do when you run out of your favorite things!
VeggieGirl ~ I’m glad it meets your standards, since you are the baking queen! I think there definitely will be more adventures in the future 🙂
Saera ~ I’m sure you didn’t do anything wrong! I think the reason we got different amounts was because I actually weighed out my bananas and they were rather small. So three small bananas can definitely add up to 20 fewer calories. I will make sure to change the post to note that they are small bananas – thanks! 🙂
wow i need to try that egg/cottage cheese combo– that looks awesome!!! so does that BREAD!! oh my goodness… that veggiegirl is a baking genius 🙂 the banana bread looks like it came out amazingly!
hope you have a very relxing and wonderful sunday!
I didn’t realize you could cook egg whites in the microwave. I always think it takes too long to make eggs for breakfast, but obvy not.
I had sweet potatoes last night, too!
Ummm… that bread looks awesome. I can’t wait to trick people into liking it and then tell them it’s vegan. 🙂
Heather
love the phelps.
laugh that you can make SWEET POTATOES and KETCHUP look purdy.
😉
Miz.
fitnessista ~ The cottage cheese and egg white combo is definitely worth a try – but Laughing Cow is better!
HangryPants ~ Yep! It’s super easy, and perfect for lazy chefs like myself 🙂 And I’m excited to do the same thing with the bread! Tricking people = fun.
MizFit ~ Haha, aw thanks! 😉
Oh my gosh, the Olympics are so inspiring! It totally helped me power a workout this morning.
The bread looks delish!
I went on a kick with banana bread awhile ago, I would bake it every weekend… I used a recipe I modified from nancy clarks sports nutrition guide book… I also added extra protein wtih protein powder… I would eat a slice every day for a snack with some PB and bran cereal on top!
http://www.sportsnutritionliving.wordpress.com
im not even close to being vegan, but i find that pretty much all vegan desserts are delicious. i have a vegan friend that makes a mean vegan molten chocolate cake. its delish.
http://www.everygymsnightmare.com
that bread looks aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing. michael phelps is totally my hero! he’s great!
The banana bread looks moist and delicious! Love sweet potatoes – but never heard of sweet potatoes and ketchup? And frozen grapes sound so good right now on this HOT summer day…
wow…that bread looks delicious. Either I’m really hungry for dinner or that looks like the best bread ever 🙂
i hope you enjoy your day off tomorrow!!!!!!!
Fit Bottomed Girls ~ I know! I never could have done as much as I did today without Olympic inspiration 🙂
Christie ~ Yum, that sounds delicious with PB and cereal! I may have to do that for breakfast or a treat one of these days!!
Grounded Fitness ~ I’ve found the same to be true for me 🙂
caitlinbo ~ Thanks! And yes, he is awesome!
LK ~ Sweet potatoes + ketchup is a pretty delicious combination. It’s like healthy fries! But sweet potato + guacamole is even better, and I’ve heard sweet potato + hummus is pretty excellent, too 🙂
Erica ~ Haha, I hope it’s the latter 😉
lindz ~ Thanks 🙂
That bread looks like heaven. I cannot wait to try it!
Anna ~ Thanks, let me know what you think if you do try it 🙂
Your vegan banana bread looks amazing. Seriously good… and I’d never have thought of layering the banana on top too. Do the kind of get melty and browned? Yum. Hope to make this in the next few days… the weather is so rainy here lately, banana bread would hit the spot.
mangochild ~ Thanks so much! The bananas on top definitely get melty. They keep the top of the bread moist, which is my favorite part! Let me know how it goes if you do decide to try it!