My Birthday Banana Bars

July 15, 2011 By Laura

Today I am 28.

Just 2 years away from the dreaded age of 30. Surprisingly, I don’t really care about turning 30. In fact, I am looking forward to it.

It seems like a solid age. One where you’re more established in your career and people take you seriously. ~~This should be fun to look back at in 2 years…~~ 🙂

But I digress (progress?). Today I am only 28.

I was going to pontificate on 28 things I’ve learned or do some equally inspiring; however, I was up most the night working.

Kidding, kidding... I still love my job. Now pass the caffeine.

(Lesson learned #1: the “real” world doesn’t care that it’s your birthday – you still have to get yer shizz done.)

Instead, I’ll share with you a special delivery I got last night right when I was about to have a nervous breakdown around 11pm:

Sea salt and olive oil on the side

This is my favorite cake. Sweet, salty, fudgy deliciousness. Midnight snack worthy, fo’ sho’.

Part 2 of the delivery is the book you see in the background – Vino Italiano. I cannot WAIT to devour this one.

Did I mention I’m going to a wine/food trip to Italy this fall?! More on that later. 🙂

So what if I spent the beginning of my 28th year up all night working?

This year the July 15th is under a Capricorn full moon (insert Twilight Zone music here) and that apparently means abundance, career, and money. I can get on board with that.

Tomorrow my awesome mom throwing me a birthday party at her house. Think: pool, corn hole, grilling Big Green Egg-style, and mas cerveza y vino and 30+ friends. ~~There may not be any photo evidence.~~

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On top of all that, I invented my new favorite granola bar (which I’m munching on as I write – ‘scuse the crumbs).

It’s bananas. Nutty. No sugar added. Crunchy and almost raw. (Almost = “dehydrated” in the oven at 170 degrees.)

Try it out with your favorite nuts and seeds. I used Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and cashews.

For a little bit of added sweetness, I used NuNatural Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia (yes, they sent me samples… no, I wouldn’t lie to you).

I love how the vanilla scent it added went with the banana flavor! (B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I was trying realllly hard not to do that – blame Gwen Stephani.)

Vegan and gluten-free, ya’ll.

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Banana Nut Bars

1 ripe banana
25 drops NuNaturals Pure Liquid Vanilla Stevia
1 T nut butter (I used PB)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2T chia seeds
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C cashews
10 Brazil nuts

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Place first 4 ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add seeds and nuts, pulsing until seeds are beginning to break up and incorporate into the banana paste.

Spread batter onto parchment-lined baking sheet to desired thickness (mine was about 1/4 inch thick).

Place in oven for 6-8 hours, flipping 2-3 times after first 3-4 hours. Turn oven off and allow to continue drying out overnight (~7 hours).

Break into pieces/bars and enjoy!

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EXCEPT I will post the winner of the awesome earbud giveaway! If you’re a runner/walker, you should especially check these out – they won’t wiggle out and the music quality rocks.

You have until midnight tonight to enter – good luck!!!

What’s your favorite way to celebrate your birthday?

Are you a big party-type of person or an intimate dinner? Somewhere in between?

Overpronation, Procrastination, and WIAW

July 14, 2011 By Laura

Active.com is a great resource for runners.

I enjoy their weekly emails with tips on issues such as: how to fuel your body, preventing various injuries, and working out in sweltering heat.

Today’s email included an interesting article on overpronation.

Overpronation is when one’s ankles roll inward too much.

It is widely believed that this can lead to over-use type pain or injury (shin splints, joint pain). Many people (myself included) get specially fitted for running shoes and/on inserts in hopes to correcting the “problem.”

Today’s article from Active asserts that corrections for over pronation should not always be made. They say:

“…doing so can and often does result in one symptom going away and another, usually a more complicated one, developing elsewhere.”

Here’s what really resonated with me:

Often over pronation is the symptom of another problem. Most common is a lack of normal ankle range of motion. If the foot/ankle isn’t bending properly, the knee is restricted and can’t “travel forward enough for the body to move its center of mass over the foot.”

The result? Overpronation. That pronation causes the knee to drift to the midline, which means the hip turns excessively inward. Snowball.

Correction through shoes and inserts either a) doesn’t work or b) makes the underlying cause worse because the overpronation “is a needed compensation for a lack of mobility elsewhere in the body. Taking this compensatory element away without first addressing and correcting the true underlying cause will inevitably force compensation (frequently accompanied by pain) in another part of the body.”

Source: http://bestrunningshoereport.com/

So what should you do?

See if you over pronate with a squat test. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and attempt a squat. Are your knees bent 90 degrees or less? Are your heels still on the ground? Are your feet still forward (not turning outward)?

No? If you can’t do the squat correctly, the article says your foot pronation is likely “due to inflexibility of your ankles and that is what should be corrected.”

Bottom line: Before you go out and buy special shoes or inserts, see a professional to have a complete evaluation (pelvis, hip, knee, ankle and foot) done by a professional.

On to my actual Wednesday eats in honor of WIAW.

1 day later than usual due to procrastination/over-sleepiness rather than the pursuit of true Wednesday eats.

Breakfast

Banana Green Smoothie

Vanilla protein powder
Maca
Banana
All-Bran (lots of it!)
Peanut butter
Spinach
Coconut milk
Cinnamon
Vanilla
Water + ice, to taste

Lunch

Lightlife Buffalo “Chicken” wings, celery, and cucumber

Salt + Pepper Pop Chips – how did I wait so long to try these?!

Snacks

Kombucha, plum… and a BlackBerry

Similar to breakfast, but with a chocolate casein protein powder

Dinner

I made spaghetti squash and topped with tomatoes AND…

Angela @ Oh She Glows’ Creamy Avocado Sauce.

If you haven’t made this before, you are missing out on some serious creamy deliciousness. Sooooo good.

My modifications:

Added red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, and red onion
Subbed 1 T of coconut milk for the EVOO
Used just 1 clove of garlic

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Don’t forget to enter my Exceed earbud giveaway! These are pretty awesome – I’ve never even felt like they were going to fall out.

It’s my birthday eve!!! The bad part about being an adult is that I still have to work all day.

What do you think about pronation?

Do you over or under pronate? Have you even been evaluated?

Hear This: My First Giveaway

July 13, 2011 By Laura

Thanks everyone for all you comments about my earbuds yesterday.

Auria has offered to giveaway a pair of their awesome earbuds to one of YOU!

They are donating a pair of EXCEED ear buds (the fancier version of my PROVOKES).

Like I said yesterday, I love running with these because they fit my (small) ears. They don’t go IN your ear canal; rather, they sit at the opening of your ear canals. This contributes to safety, as external sounds can still be clearly heard without compromising sound quality.

This set of earphones also features:

Finger-touch volume control
Integrated microphone to make calls (works with iPhone 4/3GS/3G, Blackberry and Androids)
Function button to control audio/video and answer/end calls
High-quality audio
Black mesh carrying case sized to hold most smart phones.

To enter the giveaway, do each of the following and leave a separate comment letting me know:

Leave a comment telling me what song pumps you up to go one more mile or what color ear buds you would like (black, white, black with hot pink)
Follow me on Twitter
Tweet about the giveaway (you could say something like: “#GIVEAWAY @Sprint2theTable is giving away a set of Aria EXCEED earbuds http://wp.me/p16jDn-B3“)

The giveaway will end ON MY BIRTHDAY: Friday, July 15, 2011 at 11:59 EST.

One winner will be announced via my blog on July 16th, 2011. You must provide me with your contact information to win.