Banana Upside-down Cake

Look at those caramel covered bananas. I can't even begin to describe how scrumptious this cake smells, let alone tastes. But before I get into this amazing and easy recipe, let me ask you something: have you had a chance to visit my other blog, Reading and Recipes? I'm actually a co-blogger with my dad (Hi, Dad!). As the "Welcome" page explains, we are both very passionate people who have fun doing projects together. This is our first formal project in which we each take our special talents and put them together--he enjoys writing and loves sharing his work even more, while I enjoy baking and sharing delicious recipes with you. If you have a free second, swing by and pay our blog a visit.

Breakfast Rice Pudding

It has been about a week since I last blogged. For the few of you who might be wondering if I'm surviving this detox, I am. I'm alive and well and detoxing away! I am in the second half of my detox, which means the end is in sight. And surprisingly, or not, I'm not counting down the days. This detox really hasn't been all that bad...except for one minor issue: I've been forced to break my routine of eating oatmeal every morning. I know, I have this weird obsession with oatmeal. I eat it at least five days a week and never seem to get sick of it. Even in the summer, I make oatmeal. Nothin' like a bowl of oatmeal and some fresh fruit to start your day on the right foot. But because I had to cut gluten and most oats are processed with the same machines and in the same factories as gluten products, technically oats are not gluten-free (unless otherwise specified). So, what's a girl to do if she can't have her beloved bowl of oatmeal? Try this Breakfast Rice Pudding, obviously.

Southern Banana Pudding

I don't know why I've waited so long to post this recipe. Banana pudding is one of my all time favorite desserts. It might be because I'm from North Carolina and banana pudding is the dessert of the south (in my humble opinion). But it also might be because the combination of creamy vanilla pudding, sweet sliced bananas, and chewy vanilla wafers is nearly impossible to beat. Not to mention how simple this recipe is to make. Stick around for a bit and I'll explain.

Clean Eating Strawberry Banana Muffins

Omgosh I didn't think this day would ever come. Last night I wore my first sundress of the season. WITH flops. Yes. It was just days ago that I was wearing my Northface jacket, jeans, and long sleeves; thank the weather gods for finally giving us some warm weather and sunshine. The temperature is expected to reach close to 90 degrees in the DC area tomorrow, so we might just skip right over spring and go straight to summer--you won't hear any complaints from this girl. As long as I get to wear my dresses and flops, I'm happy happy.

Skinny Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream"

After confessing to y'all about my ice cream addiction and how I could polish off a half gallon with no problem (I really should have entered an ice cream eating contest), I figured I'd share one of my favorite healthy recipes that cured by obsession with the addictive, creamy dessert. This Skinny Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream" gives you the same sweet, creamy, chilled satisfaction that full-fat ice cream does, but with a fraction of the fat and calories.

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins

I've had a thing for chocolate and bananas lately. Well, to be totally honest, I always have a thing for chocolate, but the bananas have snuck in my baking quite a bit. Usually I use bananas as a means of healthifying (yes, I just made up a word) a recipe by reducing or eliminating the fat/oil called for and using mashed bananas instead. It's an easy and delicious way to make a recipe skinny. You should give a try sometime!

Banana Chocolate Chip Holes

You ready for another skinny sweet? Great, because I'm ready to share one with you!

Skinny Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Anyone have any fun getaway plans coming up, like jetting off to a tropical island or a relaxing on a long cruise? Around this time each year I find myself missing summer and craving warm sunshine, sand between my toes, and the sound of waves crashing. Not only do I find myself missing the beach but I also find myself wishing that I could turn into a bear, hibernate, and wake up when it's warm again. If you need to know something about me, it's that I love heat and will do anything to avoid cold weather. Until I can get powers to make myself turn into a bear half of the year, I settle by taking a trip each year to someplace warm. A few years ago it was the Bahamas, then Aruba, and this year is Costa Rica. I couldn't be more excited to visit Costa Rica for the first time and escape the cold, dreary weather in D.C.

Chunky Monkey Frozen Yogurt

Along with oatmeal and smoothies, I have another food obsession. If you have already met me, chances are you found this out within the first few days of knowing me. But if we have never had the pleasure of meeting, let me share a little secret: I am head-over-heels in love with frozen yogurt. Frozenyo, a frozen yogurt chain in the D.C. area (and my absolute favorite frozen yogurt), recently opened a location within walking distance to where I live. This is one of the best and worst things to happen to me recently, because, for example, I may or may not have insisted on making an appearance at their opening night. And this may or may not have been after I returned from a Pilates class. Some would call this crazy, and I would have to agree with them. But it's just part of accepting this obsession of mine.

Healthy Strawberry Muffins

I sure do love strawberries. I always go back and forth between choosing blueberries or strawberries as my favorite fruit. I think I'll go with strawberries for now, but that'll probably change next week. ANYWAY....my love for strawberries comes in all forms. One form that I have not tried is a strawberry muffin. This seems silly since I bake muffins all of the time. Why it never crossed my mind to add strawberries instead of blueberries, who knows. But once I saw the idea on Sally's blog, I was sold.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

Yes, another oatmeal recipe. Are you starting to get a sense of my oatmeal obsession? I found this recipe on Gingerbread Bagels blog. This particular recipe peaked my interest because it has oatmeal AND peanut butter. Such a dynamic duo.

Oatmeal Squares from Gingerbread Bagels

Skinny One Ingredient "Ice Cream"

If you love soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt as much as I do, this is a recipe you need to try. Somehow frozen banana discs that are pureed in a food processor turn into a rich, creamy whipped mixture that strongly resembles soft serve ice cream. I don't know how this is possible or how I'm just now finding out about it, but this might be my new go-to summer dessert (sorry Strawberry Banana Smoothie!).

Frozen banana discs

plus

turns into

yummy, skinny chocolate peanut butter soft serve

AMAZING!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

For the past six months, I've been working reallllllllly hard to cut back on my sugar intake. You don't need to do excessive research to know that Americans consume entirely too much sugar. If you take a peek at any nutrition label in your fridge or pantry, chances are sugar is not only one of the listed ingredients, but one of the main ingredients. Not good.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie from The Galley Gourmet

My quest to decrease sugar consumption started when my friend Sarah told me about her recent lifestyle change of cutting out all refined sugars. Do what?!? The thought of never eating foods that contained refined sugars was a foreign concept that I could not wrap my brain around. If you are one of those people who'd rather have two servings of dessert at the expense of skipping dinner, you know what I mean. But this is what made me realize that I needed to make a change-I was addicted to sugar. So, after pouting for a few days, I finally made the commitment to cut back on my refined sugar consumption.