A high-protein banana bread packed full of goodness, no flour needed, no bowls needed, ready to add any delicious toppings, and it makes the perfect, easy breakfast for your workday. 

Sound too good to be true right?

Nope! I found the answer guys, and it's better than I imagined. 

Sundays afternoons have always been a baking day in my family. I had some bananas going bad and really wanted to find a simple recipe for bread that wasn't packed full of sugar for once. So like always, I hit up Pinterest.

I came across this recipe and almost jumped for joy. The ingredients alone are awesome (good for you and budget-friendly.) And then I read that you just have to put it all in a blender and all I thought was no mess/dishes! Credit goes to the Baker Mama for changing my life!

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 large eggs

2 cups rolled oats 

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup maple syrup

Bonus: Tip with chocolate or nuts for added texture and taste. 

(I didn't have any maple syrup so I just used black molasses left over from Christmas and a little vanilla essence.)

How to put it all together:

Preheat oven to 175*c or 350*F

Line a loaf tin with baking paper

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and mix well. 

Pour mix into baking tin.

Top with chocolate, nuts, or fruit if you desire.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a probe comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then take out of the tin and enjoy! 

It honestly tastes so good, especially with the dark chocolate on top. I will be making this every Sunday from now on so I have a healthy breakfast ready to go, or even just a protein packed snack for the afternoon. A perfect meal prep option. 

Definitely give this a go if you're a fellow lover of banana bread like me. Or you are just looking for healthier options with less ingredients. 

Do you love to bake on a Sunday too?

Steph x. 

My Current Weekly Meal Plan

I've always loved my food. It's genuinely the highlight of my day, its what gets me out of bed in the morning and I'm constantly thinking about my next meal. The further I got into my fitness journey, the more I thought about exactly what I was eating. I don't personally count my macros or calories, although it can be very beneficial to do so. But I am obsessed with nutrition now and it makes me want to keep this healthy relationship with my body.


I've started trying to actually plan out my meals for the week ahead, and I thought it would be fun to share it with you! I like to have six small meals (as opposed to three big ones) not only to keep my metabolism going strong, but also because that's always been the way I've eaten since I was a kid.

Planning your meals is such a great way to stay focused on your goals and help yourself stay on track. Plus it will save you time, so that you can spend it doing more important things. Like browsing food pictures on Instagram...

Breakfast: Proats, with Banana and Blueberries

This will bore some of you, because it's been the same for months now. But porridge is my favorite way to start my day with some good nutrition. It's quick, easy to make and very budget-friendly. I always top it with banana to keep me fuller for longer and some blueberries for antioxidants (and sweetness!) If you want a more in depth recipe, I wrote a post on it here.

1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup almond milk
A good dash of cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp vanilla soy protein powder.
1 tsp energy seed mix


Pre-Gym Snack

I'm going for two options this week: a Nutrigrain Protein bar or rice cakes with peanut butter and raisins on top. You preferably want something that's high in carbohydrates to give your energy for your workout. The protein bar is full of oats, so I love that it's light yet full of good stuff that's going to fuel me.


Post-Workout: Protein Smoothie

Because the majority of my training is strength-based, I always opt for a protein smoothie that I take with me to the gym. Being a smoothie, rather than a shake, means that I can add a few more nutrients that will help me to recover and get through the rest of my day. It's also amazing to take a couple sips of during the second half of my workout, so that I can get a boost of energy!

Smoothie: 
1 scoop protein powder
2 frozen banana pieces
1 tsp maca powder
1 Tbsp peanut butter
filled to max line with almond milk

Lunch: Meal Prep (Quorn, brown rice/quinoa, green veges) + Apple

Every Sunday for the past five months, I have been prepping my lunches. It just saves so much time and I can make sure to have a nutritious meal each day. Meal prep is always 1/4 protein, 1/4 carbs, and 1/2 vegetables. I went really simple with everything this week, but I packed it full of spices so it's going to taste amazing.
For some reason I just love having fruit after my lunch, and apples are my favorite. It's a good habit to get into if you are trying to build up your 5+ a day of fruit and vegetables!

Afternoon Snack: Tuna Wraps 

This is a great alternative to bread when you're trying to watch what you eat. I can pack these full of spinach, grated carrot, avocado, hummus, peppers etc. Tuna is another great protein source, plus it's full of omega 3s to help my brain stay in shape too! I chose a light dressing to bind it with, and these wraps keep me full for so long. If I get bored I can also make a healthy quesadilla with them!


Dinner

This is the one meal of the day that isn't planned out. Me and my Mum usually work together to come up with what we want to cook. She's a health nut too, so it's always a plate covered in vegetables and packed with chili. We might make halloumi fritters, vegetarian lasagne (with eggplant instead of pasta) or roasted sweet potato and salad. We both love cooking, so it's rarely boring.  

Dessert/Treat: Choc Protein Donuts or Chia Pudding Cups

This is probably the most dangerous part of the day for me. I always crave chocolate at night-time so I have to be careful. If I need to, I like to keep these mini choc peppermint bars hidden away. Sometimes you just need a chocolate fix!
 Along with my meal prep, I also made these donuts that are GF and refined sugar free. I don't have to feel guilty about them, yet they will satisfy my cravings. It's perfect! I also picked up these chia puddings that I've tried before and taste amazing. Chia seeds are also amazing for energy and hydration, so I need to add it into my diet more often.


This may seem like a lot, but I work out for roughly 2 hours a day and burning up that energy makes me hungry all day long. Gym-junkies tend to eat a lot and I can tell you that it's true! 

 How do you like to plan out your meals? Do you like doing it?
Steph x.


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Daily Blog: Sunday Meal Prep & Doughnut Fail

Hello, Everyone!

I've been missing doing these daily blogs, so I thought it was time that I brought them back!

Seeing as I had waffles for breakfast yesterday (they were still healthy ones) I wanted to go back to my usual porridge this morning. I'm still making it the same way with oats, almond milk, cinnamon, and a little bit of vanilla whey powder. Bringing back my favorite mug too!

I spent the morning catching up on some blog posts, leaving comments, and scrolling through Pinterest. All while listening to YouTube in the background. But now I'm having my pre-run snack of multi-grain toast covered in peanut butter and raisins. Perfect for some energy, which I'm gonna need because we are hitting the hills today! 

I just have to tie my hair back and put on my favorite moisturizer, then I'll be ready to go!

 It was such a beautiful day for a run and it seems like the Spring weather has finally arrived. Lots of people were out today, which is always nice to see.

Lunch time!

Super-hungry when I got home, so I made french toast with these gluten-free buns. I scrambled the leftover egg mix and cooked up some spinach and kale for some green goodness. Topped with feta cheese and it was delicious!

After eating that, I was still a bit hungry. To stop myself snacking on something naughty, I just made a quick smoothie bowl of: pear, frozen blueberries, tamarillo, oats, yogurt, and a green smoothie mix I had in the fridge. Not my best bowl, but it hit the spot.

Quick shower and now it's time to start my meal prep!

Lately I've changed up my protein source from tofu to quorn. If you're not sure what that is, it's a vegetarian meat substitute made from mycroprotein (something to do with fungi and mushrooms apparently.) The texture is so good and these pieces are amazing on pizza!

I'm just frying them up with some carrots in a little bit of olive oil. The idea with meal prep is to have 1/2 of it be vegetables, so that's why I added the carrots to boost it up from the protein. I also added a good helping of lemongrass seasoning and chili flakes for flavor/spice kick.

I got that out of the pan to cool, then put in both of these brown rice and quinoa packs. Since nobody wants plain rice, I mixed it with some canola oil, grated turmeric (to help with those sore muscles) some cumin, and a little soy sauce. This rice mix not only gives me carbs, but another hit of protein too.

To put my meals together, I start with 1/2 a cup of rice in each. Then I put in a cup of frozen green vegetable mix, followed by even portions of my quorn. This week's prep was so easy, and it's so satisfying to see the containers ready to go in the fridge for the week.

While I was putting my prep together, I also managed to make up a recipe I found in the Sunday paper magazine for "Smart Cookies." There's no flour in these, just oats, peanut butter, cinnamon, maple syrup etc. I did substitute coconut oil for butter, which doesn't hold together as well. They're a bit fragile, but taste like porridge so I'm a fan.

Now for the most exciting part of the day: making chocolate protein donuts! The one thing about eating healthy, is that you've gotta have your healthy treats to go with it.

To make these chocolate, obviously I have my flavored whey powder, but I also added 2 teaspoons of raw cacao powder for flavor and antioxidants. I also reduced the stevia sugar to just 2 teaspoons, since my whey is sweet and I don't want to over do it. Not gonna lie, I'm so tempted to eat the dough before I've even had the chance to cook it! I'm a bit worried because the dough is a lot runnier this time, so we will have to hope for the best.

They turned out very different from last time, although my previous donuts had soy protein, not whey. But I'm gonna run with it and see how they taste later on with the icing.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting blog organized for the week ahead. I wrote out some goals, tackled my to-do list, did some writing, and organized my blog board for the week. I need to get on top of things better and it feels good to have them in order.

Dinner tonight was grilled mushrooms and peppers in a spelt wrap with roasted sweet potato/ordinary potatoes and asparagus on the side. This is a typical meal for me and Mum: a big ol' plate of vegetables!

I spent my Sunday evening binge-watching the Big Bang Theory, getting some blog work done, and I had a protein doughnut for dessert. It was pretty dry, so I had to add yogurt on the side. Overall, not a bad night!


I hope everyone had an awesome weekend. Let me know if you want more of these Daily Blogs!

What was the best part of your Sunday?
Steph x.


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