Bananas!

Recipes are my favorite posts mostly because I'm obsessed with food. I love talking about it, I love eating it (who doesn't!) and it's awesome how many different things you can do with food.

The recipes in this post are all about, what else…. Bananas!

Let's start off with Banana Almond Pancakes. These were one of the first breakfast recipes I tried when I started Paleo, and it didn't go smoothly. Because there is so little flour and the main ingredient is, you guessed it, bananas, the texture is completely different from regular pancakes...something I wasn't used to. But the second and third times were much better as I got used to the texture and played around with the recipe a little bit. These are now my go-to breakfast (besides bacon & eggs) and very easy and quick to make.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 2 egg
• 1 Tbs coconut flour
• 1-2 Tbs almond butter
• fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup nuts of choice (walnuts, macadamia, almonds are good), chopped
• 1 tsp. coconut oil
• Dash of sea salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Mash bananas in a bowl.
2. Add the eggs, coconut flour, almond butter, blueberries, and nuts and salt, and whisk until well blended.
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat along with a small pat of coconut oil.
4. Pour small discs of batter onto the hot pan (around 3-4" around). They'll be easier to flip if you keep them from the edges of the pan.
5. Flip when batter loses its "tackiness" around the edges.
6. Cook other side slowly over medium heat until fully cooked.
7. Reapply oil to the pan after each round of pancakes.

I recommend using 2 or more tbs of almond butter or else you much of that flavor. I don't use the ripest bananas because they are not as easy to mash up. I also don't have coconut oil so I used regular butter. What'd you say? Butter isn't paleo? Ohh....well....

This is the best looking batch i've made so far

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Ingredients

Ingredients

Raw Banana Ice Cream

I've never made Raw Banana Ice Cream. I've never tempted to make any kind of ice cream, but after looking at this recipe, I may give it a try. I came upon this recipe while on the Whole Foods Facebook page and thought I should share it with you all. If you don't "like" them on Facebook, I recommend you do - they always have interesting recipes and food tips.

I bet it tastes better than regular ice cream. Ok, maybe that's pushing it... If you do  try this recipe and you are on Paleo, don't forget to substitute the peanuts for another kind of nut...walnut would probably be the best option.

Ingredients: 

• 20 pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups sliced very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup raw peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons cacao nibs

Method: 

Put dates into a medium bowl, cover with lukewarm water and set aside to let soak for 10 minutes. Drain dates and reserve soaking liquid. In a food processor, purée dates with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the soaking liquid, honey, oil, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. (Discard remaining soaking liquid.) Add bananas and purée again until almost smooth. Transfer to a stainless steel bowl and stir in peanuts and cacao nibs. Cover and freeze, stirring occasionally, until almost solid, 4 to 6 hours. Let ice cream soften a bit at room temperature before serving.

-Julie

Beat The Streets Fundraiser

This post is to go a little more in depth about what Joyce posted on the Facebook page about the Beat The Streets fundraiser next month.

If you didn't see it, Beat The Streets is a fundraiser WOD taking place at CrossFit Renaissance on Saturday, October 5th at 10 a.m. The WOD is:

2 Person Teams, AMRAP 15 Min:

• 10 reps Shoulder to Overhead (115lbs/75lbs)
• 25 reps Deadlifts (115lbs/75lbs)
• 50 reps Box Jumps (24"/20")

Here's a post from Steve Liberati, the founder of CrossFit Tribe in Pennsauken, NJ and the founder of Steve's Club and Steve's PaleoGoods, wrote on his blog a few days ago about Beat The Streets, and a video from last year's event at Tribe with highlights from some of the kids he's helped over the past few years. Really good stuff in the video... The kids in the video belong to Steve's Club and are all from Camden and the surrounding area who do CrossFit at Tribe. This club is growing rapidly across the country and is helping so many kids who most likely would end up dealing drugs or getting involved in violence if they weren't a part of it. Another neat thing about Beat The Streets is that it's taking place all across the country at different CrossFit affiliates on the same day. (Lauren Gallagher -- maybe you can talk your sister into doing this at her box in Arizona?? Just a thought!)

The suggested donation is $25 and the proceeds go directly to Steve's Club. Bring a friend or two as long as you have a two-person team! Completing a hard ass WOD followed by a Renaissance BBQ which is always a great time, what could you possibly be doing on a Saturday that's more fun?

Let Bill and Joyce know you are going through the Facebook invite...the sooner the better.

PS -- Read my post here from a few months ago if you want to learn more about Steve's PaleoGoods. If you are on Paleo or not, these products are worth checking out. They are delicious!

-Julie