Patriotic Banana Splits

On my morning run, I thought about the significance of Memorial Day and how proud I am to be an American.  I also thought about what to fix for breakfast for the kids when I got home.  These two parallel thought processes combined into what I called Patriotic Banana Splits!

1. Take a banana and split it in half lengthwise.  I also split each length in half.

2. Spread peanut butter or almond butter on top.

3. Sprinkle cashews on top.  This is my sons favorite nut.

4. Sprinkle a few white chocolate chips, to make this fun and also to represent our country's white stars.

5. Sprinkle blueberries and raspberries on top.  You could use strawberries.  I didn't have any because they were quickly eaten after purchases yesterday.  You may have to chop up your berries to fit them in!  And there you have all of your red and blue to complete the US colors.

These were easy and a hit!

Breakfast - Power Yogurt!

For around 400 calories you can have a simple to prepare and fulfilling breakfast!

I will share a new idea over the next week for you to consider, starting with my quickie option for work or on the go travel.  Here is all you need:

1. Greek yogurt.  I use either Chobani or Fage brand.  Only plain!  The ones with fruit on the bottom contain lots of unnecessary additives and sugar.  What I use has 1 ingredient: cultured pasteurized nonfat milk.  That is it, but it is nice to add some sweetness or else it kind of tastes like sour cream!  Which is why I have ingredient 2.

2. About 1 ounce of berries.  I rotate between blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.  I put these in a ziploc bag (you will understand why in a moment).

3. 1/4 cup mixed nuts.  You can choose your favorite or a mix.  Personally, I love the variety of

Brazilian nuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, and peanuts.  I am nuts about nuts!  I put these in a small container or ziploc bag.

4. 1/4 cup granola.  I would like to make my own one day but for now, I buy the Udi brand as they are gluten free and not too sweet.  There are only 3 ingredients in the simple Udi brand that I buy.  As a general rule of thumb, I try to consume products with 5 or less ingredients if I can.  I add the granola to the nuts.

I do measure my ingredients to make sure I am hitting the right portions for myself and hit the right split of carb/protein/fat.  If you don't want to stress yourself counting or measuring, don't worry about it!

Once I get to work, I first smash the heck out of my ziploc bag of berries.  I spoon the yogurt into a bowl and add the smashed berries.  You can really mix it up too, to get that sweetness all around.  Then I sprinkle the nuts and granola on top.  Voila!  Sometimes if I am starving and short on time I will eat this breakfast in phases: first the bag of nuts and granola and later the yogurt and fruit.  The key to me is to always match a protein with a carb.  I avoid having a carb by itself wherever possible.

This is the before picture.  I will prep up to 5 of these at a time for the week and stick them in a tupperware in the fridge, then pull out a set each day to put in my cooler to take to work.  They also can make a good lunch if you are on the go and do not have access to a microwave.  I have done that in a pinch as well.

Yogurt with smashed berries.

Adding the granola and nuts topping.

The final product!  I mix it in just enough!

I do not like soggy granola.