Finally in that Summertime Grind

Now that I'm back from the beach, I can do some of the things that I look forward to doing around home during summer break.  Unfortunately, I only have two weeks until I'm gone for another two weeks, and one of those weeks is already gone.  This is going by way too fast!

What better way to start the day than a morning run at Panther Creek?  That's what I do Monday through Friday, and sometimes on weekends, too.  Summertime cross country is one of my favorite things to do, and this has been the first week this summer that I've gotten to go every day and not rush to leave! 

Here is 60+ new shark teeth that I am adding to my collection that I started last year.  I have given a couple away, but like I keep trying to tell myself, "Why have things just to have them?  Share them!  That makes it worthwhile."  I sent one to my papaw in his Father's Day card because he has a much bigger collection than I do, which is what got me started looking for shark's teeth.

I had seen this coffee on the Life is Good website and put it on my "wish list" for whenever my parents or someone is looking for something to get me.  Last week, they got it at Ingles!  I can buy it just down the road from my house!  Morristown just continues to step it up!  There are also other flavors, but my main one to try is the S'more to Love, because I am in love with smores (especially marshmallows), but next I would love to try the Banana Bread Bliss.

Since I am back from the beach now, I am not spending so much money on desserts, as was my goal after going all out last week!  Here are a couple healthy, hearty, and yummy dessert ideas I thought of.  Freezer bananas are really good, and will stay fresh that way for a really long time, so that's how I've been keeping my fruits fresh.  For the one on the left, I melted dark chocolate and drizzled it over, then stuck on peanuts and Peanut Butter Cheerios and froze it.  On the right, I sliced my banana in half to make it easier to spread, mixed peanut butter, almond butter, and honey, spread them on, and topped it with peanuts before sending it back in the freezer!

Another great freezer advantage:  when yogurts are going to expire, freeze them.  They won't.  Expiration dates are not always valid, as I have also noticed.  I have many times bought yogurts accidently without realizing that the date was a month before then, but got lost on the shelf.  It was still perfectly fine.  Smell and test the texture and taste first, but they will usually still be good as new!  Before we left for the beach, I had over a week's worth of yogurts that would hit their date while we were gone.  I was a little worried that they might go to waste, so I froze them while we were gone, and now am enjoying them as I want them when I get them out of the freezer.

For the past month or so, Ingles has had the La Yogurt flavors as the cheapest yogurts they have!  I thought at first it may be to clean them out, but they still have them freshly stocked each time I go!  I am loving this, because it is a very good brand, and way cheaper now than it used to be.  Depending on the flavor, they are either 55 or 65 cents each.  That is a deal!  The two that I get most are Pumpkin Pie and Cinnamon Maple.  There are tons of other flavors that I would love to try, they are just not available at stores where I have been shopping.  Another thing I've used here that I would love to try other flavors in is Arctic Zero ice cream.

Lately I've made a lot of maple protein shakes!  I used a partially frozen cinnamon maple yogurt, Arctic Zero vanilla maple "ice cream," vanilla protein powder, sugar free syrup, honey, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and premade milk ice cubes and blended them all up=a perfect milkshake to feed those muscles and my sweet tooth!

There is a thing going around on Instagram right now where everyone is challenging one or two people to post their favorite (or one of their favorite) Bible verses and challenge someone else to do the same.  I usually don't do those "chain message" type things that always used to go around like in elementary and middle school; I believe in Christ's plan, not the luck of forwarding a message/retweeting/etc.  This, however, is a good thing in my opinion!  It is great to have others to hold us accountable and see what many others have to share.  This is only one of a few of my favorite verses, and it took my 3 days to choose.  I decided on this one because I get really stressed out at times, but I know that if I just trust in God, He will fill me with joy and peace to power through and make the most of each and every day!

A new pancake creation!  I got this idea while Mom and I were walking through Walmart a couple days ago and passed the marshmallows.  Smores and pancakes, two of my favorites, so why not put them together?  I used my Special K Dark Chocolate Protein drink and a little cocoa powder in the batter, some marshmallows, and pieces of graham cracker.  To make it more photogenic and to add some more smore flavor (the marshmallows do better on top than in the pancakes if you want to try them), I put marshmallows and a bit more graham on top, then drizzled honey and syrup.  After a long run, these were super tasty to refuel!  One of my best creations yet! 

The next day, I got another great smores idea!  I am always looking for ways I can make dessert bowls with all kinds of coordinating snacks.  Mom made brownies for Dad's birthday next week, and I knew that she would love for me to eat one.  After hard work outside in the summer, I enjoy brownies, too, ya know!  So I took a Healthy Choice Greek Dark Chocolate Swirl Frozen Yogurt (super tasty even by itself), Yoplait Greek Boston Crème Pie, TruMoo Chocolate Milk Scoops, and cool whip, adding a brownie, Fiber One Chocolate Squares, graham crackers, and marshmallows for a terrific smore in a bowl!

Something that was on my list of things to cook this summer was to make my own recipe apple cinnamon bread.  After going to Walmart and loading up on pink lady apples, I just went in the kitchen one day and got on it.  Last summer, my neighbor who had a garden brought me lots of zucchini and had her own zucchini bread recipe that I also made.  I used her recipe as a guide, changing around some ingreedients, and whalah!  Apple cinnamon bread.

The recipe:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups banana

3/4 cups pumpkin butter, sugars, honey, vanilla protein powder

2 cups grated/finely chopped apples

2 teaspoons vanilla

**Mix the above

Add:  2 1/2 cups flour (I used wheat)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, honey, oatmeal

**Stir together and spoon into 2 loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for around 1 hour.  Depending on your oven heat, it may take more or less time, so check it!

I also keep my baked goods in the fridge when not in use to keep them fresh and moist longer.

I also got the idea to make a hashtag on Instagram for all my crafts and foods that I make, #KenziesCreations.

Are you ready for #CowAppreciationDay?  I sure am!  I love cows!  They're so cute (and tasty)!  Friday, July 11th will be our last day of practice at the park until the team goes to camp in Gatlinburg, and I have a great idea.  All the girls love doing our Bible Studies once a week at

Chick-fil-a, so we should dress up (partially) and run there from the park and have breakfast!  Katlyn and I talked about it this morning and think everyone would love to participate and hope that Farmer will let us. 

 

This morning, Katlyn and I did one of my favorite things:  a breakfast road run!  Wanna hear about it?  I posted about our fantastic morning, too.  What a wonderful way to end this week!  Happy #SmallBusinessSaturday!

Valentine's Day Weekend

This has been another long weekend extended by snow!  I am so thankful for all that!

Here, I made my own healthier version of banana pudding!  Instead of pudding, I used a banana cream yogurt (and added some vanilla froyo) and used cereal and graham crackers instead of vanilla wafers.  Add in some mushed banana, and there you have it!

Thursday morning, Dad and I got up before sunrise to face the road conditions to go skiing at Cataloochee.  The roads were a little sketchy in places, and it took a while longer to get there than normal, but it was totally worth it!  I have never seen so much snow there in all 12 years that I've been skiing!  We called it "mini Colorado."  They actually had a foot of powder.  The Meadows on the backside from the top was also open.  If you have never skied in powder, you just do not understand how much burn it puts in your legs.  I am really sore today!  It also flurried snow the whole time we were there.  I had an absolute blast.  It brought back memories of last spring break.

This morning I made my own miniature cinnamon rolls!   They're very easy and can be made however you like.  All it takes is whipping up your own icing, slicing up some bread, spreading on the icing, rolling it up, and sticking it in the oven!  Then you have bite-sized, healthy cinnamon rolls.

See, look how cute.

I am a big fan of Hobby Lobby and all their positive and inspiring decorations.  Mom and I went today to see what all has come out since Christmas, and they're already on the ball for all the spring holidays!

This was a wall decoration with one of my most challenging and favorite passages of scripture, 1 Corinthians 13.  Considering today is Valentine's Day, it went quite well.

Sometimes it is extremely hard to love people.  We may think that doing good things is, well, good, and it is.  However, we are not called to just do "good."  God's Word tells us to "do everything in love."  1 Corinthians 16:14  Without love, our good works are not true.  Sweet and simple, this passage lays out what true love is:  patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.  It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  Love always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and love never fails.

I always get a little gift from my mom and dad for small holidays, too, and this is what I got this year:  A daily "calendar" of Peanuts inspiration!  I'm so excited to see something new each day!



 

Another daily thing I've been doing lately is looking at a daily promise from God on 365promises blog.  The author paraphrases a promise from God's Word as if He were speaking directly to you, then puts it with a beautiful picture with the original verse below.  It's a great way to remember how much God loves us.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a magazine called Decision that they send out each month. The big features in the latest edition were stories about the Duck Dynasty opinions on homosexuality as based on the Bible's Words.  I started reading them today, and have seen some very interesting views of this issue.  A quote I really liked was by Ross Rhoads:  "Someone may argue, 'I was born this way.'  All people are born with the tendency to sin, but that does not justify yielding to sinful acts."  Many of the magazine's stories from "Ducking the Issue" are also online.

New Protein Bar Treat

This is one of my favorite brands of all protein bars.  Luna is by the same group as Clif Bars, just made especially for women.

This is a brand new flavor, Carrot Cake!  It is more like eating dessert than a protein bar!  It is sweet and satisfying, with icing on the bottom, and the bar is filled with grains, nuts, cinnamon, and raisins!

I often do eat protein bars for dessert with frozen and regular yogurts.  It's a great sweet treat!

Honey-Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My TNN (Trojan Nation Network, a usually 2-day-a-week half hour like a homeroom) class had a little Christmas party where we could bring in goodies to share.  I found this recipe in a Family Circle magazine and was super excited to try them!  They turned out great-not crunchy!  They're healthy, too, so this is a great Christmas time treat.

 

Here is a picture of the recipe from the magazine.  However, I used whole wheat flour, added some cinnamon and extra raisins, used honey, and left off the glaze.  Many recipes can be changed slightly for your specific taste!

Gingerbread House of the Day #2

Here it is!  The other gingerbread house I was inspired to make during second period yesterday.

I had all this stuff at home that goes great with graham crackers, so I decided to to do a Christmas craft with it...then eat it of course.  This was an addition to my dinner and dessert last night.

I used almond butter to connect the house

vanilla bean cheesecake cream cheese to hold the "doors and windows" (Recees Pieces) in place

more of the vbccc to be snow on the rooftop

light brown Heath Pieces as "shingles"

and cool whip as snow!

 

To the side I made a nut tree

pumpkin spice cream cheese

pumpkin

and pumpkin butter make the ground layers

then cool whip and cinnamon make the snow

the "tree" is a skinny graham cracker with more pscc and pumpkin

with pistachios and peanuts stuck all around and on top

 

Before I ate it, I drizzeled some honey on top, becuase a little honey makes everthing tastier!

The cool whip added an amazing flavor to it, also.

 I was thrilled with how yummy this fun project turned out.

A healthy, happy, festive treat for the Christmas season!

Quick and Healthy Cinnamon Apples

Yesterday during 2nd period at school, I finally got to catch up on reading all the blogs I follow.  It had been over a month!  I got to see some really interesting things.  I found some recipes, saw some snow, and got some ideas.

This is partially an idea I got from a blog called Carrots 'n' Cake.  This lady reminds me a lot of myself:  healthy eating, running, working out, shopping, loving pugs (I don't have one, but I want one.), trying new things, drinking coffee, and even eating the sweets!

These are two of my pumpkin pancakes that I've made before, topped with some pumpkin butter, but this time I also added some apple butter and sweet cinnamon apples!  (The link on Carrots 'n' Cake above goes to the post where I got the idea.)  All you have to do is take some apples, cinnamon, and honey and nuke 'em in the microwave til they are how you like.  I also added some syrup since they were toppings on my pancakes.

Pumpkin Spice Cream of Wheat

Ever heard of Cream of Wheat?  Many think that this is an old people, yucky food.  I disagree!  I love the creaminess and unlimited flavors you can create!  I make it often for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and even a side with dinner.

 

This one I made for a pre-church breakfast Sunday morning.  I use the whole wheat version that doesn't come with flavor already mixed in, so I can mix my own.  The liquid I use is Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, because it gives things like oatmeal and cream of wheat a slightly sweeter flavor while adding just the right amount of creaminess.  I added some canned pumpkin, vanilla extract, pie spice, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon, topping it off with some pumpkin seeds!

 

I try to find any creative way to use pumpkin that I can, especially during the fall and winter seasons!  It also has many health benefits!

 

Powerful Pumpkin Pancakes

I found this stuff at Bed, Bath & Beyond on Saturday, and had to get some.  It's packed with nutrients that I need and has a fantastic flavor.

Nutrition and health benefits and the estore to order some

Here is a spoonful of it.  I got the flax, sunflower, pumpkin, and sesame seeds, and goji berries blend.

I love to make pumpkin pancakes, but by adding this to the batter, I stepped it up a notch!  It made the flavor even better and gave them a great boost for post-workout recovery!

These pancakes have whole wheat mix, oatmeal, Linwood's ground superfood, pumpkin, pie spice, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  On top I spread pumpkin, pumpkin butter, cinnamon, honey, and a little sugar free syrup.

Tada!  Double stack!

and of course, nothing goes better with pancakes than some coffee.  Especially coffee with seasonal flavored creamer.

Almost Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made up this recipe as a snack that I could take to school. I love pumpkin and cheesecake, and this season has gotten me all excited for the sweets. As a runner, however, I try to make the sweets healthy too. So here I used Honey Maid Whole Grain Honey graham crackers for the bottom. I mixed whipped cream cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin butter, and cinnamon and spices together to spread on top. Delicious!

Powerful Recovery Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my absolute favorite foods to make for after I run, especially during the summer when I have more time after our morning practices.  They are easy to make and can be dressed up any way to fit your taste bud or energy needs.  This morning I was in need of some extra fat and protein, so I decided to add some peanut butter.  Here are the ingredients I used: (I blended them to make the batter smoother) -Planters cinnamon raisin granola nut peanut butter
-peanuts
-raisins
-a banana
-oatmeal
-whole wheat pancake mix
Once they were done cooking, I sprinkled cinnamon on top, spread blackberry preserves on some, and drizzled honey.  Pancakes like this are great for those long, tough days to keep you going!
As this is one of my favorite healthy foods to make, I'll share more creations in the future!

Great Recovery Meal/Snack

I come home from team cross country camp every year with new food ideas I want to have again.  This is a great source of grains, protein, and some fruit.  First I scrambled two slices of wheat bread in egg whites for French toast.  Then I topped it with almond butter, banana slices, cinnamon, and honey.  Last, I stacked it into a sandwich!  This has become one of my new favorites!