Train with Grains ~ Banana Blueberry Chocolate chip muffins

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As a mom of a very active 4 year old, I am often on the go.  Teaching my yoga classes, hitting the gym for strength training or out for training runs in between all the other “mom” things I need to do keeps me busy on a daily basis. As a result, I am not the best at having healthy snacks to throw in my bag. I am scoring high points with meals on a regular basis, but snacks, not so much. My little guy will be content with bananas or apples or blueberries…really any fruit and this kid will inhale it all and I usually have a bag of almonds in my bag, but sometimes I want more. That is when I cave in and hit up the closest Starbucks for their Banana/Chocolate chip muffin…..I know, I know, you don’t even need to say it. But it is so good, especially when they warm it up for you. I can’t help it, it is a guilty pleasure, especially as a treat the day after a race. I am not alone right? No? Just me? Alrighty then….

This began my quest to find a healthy guilt free muffin recipe. A muffin where I would enjoy eating the entire thing and not just the muffin top – Seinfeld anyone? Again, just me? Well I found a recipe that is so, so, so good and ticks all my must haves for a healthy muffin treat.

Banana Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. Zero flour, zero white sugar, zero oil.  Just all good and all delicious melt-in-your-mouth-give-me-more-I-want-all-the-muffins!

They were quick and easy to make. I will generally ignore a recipe if the ingredient list is too long or if the time to make it is too long, but this was perfect. They are great to eat on the way to the gym or to teach, or as a great snack after I have completed a training run. The best part, they are also 100% kid approved, he doesn’t miss the flour or white sugar one bit 🙂

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned or quick)
  • ¼ cup brown sugar (I use Giddy YoYo raw cane juice crystals)
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ cup chocolate chips, mini or regular (I used a little less than ½ and then piled in the blueberries)
    • Since the original recipe is just banana and chocolate chips, I went crazy with the blueberries! Pile in as many as you want 🙂 But be sure to add them after you have mixed everything together.

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying cavities with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners**. Set aside.
  2. Add all ingredients except for chocolate chips to a blender or food processor and process on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
  3. Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Optional: sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the top of each muffin.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.

 

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Notes

** If using paper liners, you’ll want to spray them with cooking spray as well, since the lack of oil in these muffins could make them stick to the liners after baking.

Be sure to check out the Good in Every Grain website for more RECIPES

Share your favourite pre or post run snack or meal on Twitter or Instagram usuing the hashtag #TrainWithGrains for your chance to win a $50 “Good In Every Grain” prize pack!

 

 

 

 

 

#thankyourunning

When I first started running seriously, I decided that running a marathon was something I wanted to scratch off my bucket list. Why not right? Who needs to start small with a 10k when you can go full throttle?! I figured since I used to run with my dad growing up and I did track when I was 12, it would be a breeze! Obviously, I was super naive and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. But I started training…badly. But I trained. Race day I was severely under trained but stubborn enough to push myself to finishing in just under 5 hours. Injured (obviously), I took time off from running until I started to run again for fitness a few months later.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2009, that was when I met my husband. On our third date he had just ran a 10k race and I realized how much I missed it. We started running together training for a fall 10k, that lead to more 10k’s, a 10 miler, and a half marathon. Now here I am with a plethora of medals, that my son loves to play with, for many half marathons, 5k’s, 10k’s, another marathon. I even started working with a coach to take my running to the next level.

In the fall of 2014, I made the decision to stick to the half marathon as my furthest distance and I started enjoying running even more than when I had been marathon training. Running for me has always been my way to escape and clear my mind, it’s my meditation and when I do my best thinking. As a yoga teacher who teaches many power classes in a week, I often say “I thought of this as I was running”. To be able to move and feel and see my body getting stronger has only increased my love of running even more.

This photo was taken during the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (Half) in October of 2014, it was the race that brought my half marathon time to sub 1:40. By far my proudest running  moment! I know that there are bigger moments just waiting to happen.

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Thank you running for showing me the strength inside of me, for keeping me moving and improving, not just athletically but personally as well.

Thank you running for showing my 4 year old how much fun it is to get your legs moving. He has already run an 800m and a 2.5km race, and he wants to run more and more 🙂

 

 

Share your thank you running story via Twitter or Instagram or by uploading your story at thankyourunning.com with Brooks Running (@BrooksRunning). You could win a trip for 2 to Amsterdam for the 2016 European Athletic Championships! Don’t forget the hashtag…#thankyourunning

Start sharing 🙂