WIAW #1

So... I've never done one of these before but I'm all for jumping on the bandwagon - well unless its illegal, immoral or unhealthy.

But this is none of those - so I'm ALL in*

(*hopefully I do this right... is there a wrong way to tell the world what you put into your belly? I guess I'll find out...)

Alright - here we go! 

So breakfast...

Some egg whites, toast with honey drizzle, and a huge bowl of fruit (blueberries, grapes and pineapple) with a little yogurt and granola with pecans

My university has this great thing that lets you sign up for a sack lunch on days you have classes over the noon hour (so handy!)

And on Wednesdays, it is always a banana and peanut butter sandwich - but today I had some dark chocolate chips (that I got from the trail mix below) and threw them in... WOAH! Totally made my day.

And then some yummy grahams between classes...

Supper = giant bowl of pasta with chicken and veggies and mixed berries

Can't forget the 'snackage'

Who else is enjoying obsessed with Naked juice?

I know I am! And those cute little packages of peanut butter? Such a great idea. Genius. 

...I may or may not have 'obtained' the peanut butter and crackers from my college cafeteria... 

So this may look like a big bowl of crazy... and it it. Delicious crazy that is.

It's pistachio pudding with bananas!

So easy to make in a dorm room for any fellow college students out there!

I just mix up two TBSP of dry pudding mix with 1 cup of milk in a protein shake blender thing and shake, refrigerate and enjoy!

So that's it! I'd love some feedback from my first go at this from all you pro's out there! :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Thanks http://www.peasandcrayons.com/ for hosting this great party idea! 

Banana Pudding

Have you ever heard the song "Banana Pudding" by the SCOTS?
Well if you have, you know how easy it is to get stuck in your head (sorry 'bout it!), and now you probably have it stuck in your head and the ONLY way to get it out is to eat banana pudding!

Wait, you haven't heard the song? And it isn't stuck in your head? And you don't want banana pudding?

Go watch this

....I'll wait...

Ok! Now is it stuck in your head? Yes? Good.

This is seriously one of the recipes, I almost feel bad calling a recipe... more like a few instructions and you are well on your way to a happy belly!

Step 1.
Gather supplies:
Vanilla wafers
banana
Cool Whip
milk
pudding mix (can use vanilla, but best to use banana of course!)
Wine glass (if you wanna get really fancy!)

Step 2.
Mix pudding according to directions on package. If your package doesn't have directions, you are getting some sketch pudding my friend!

Step 3.
Layer!

First bananas

Then pudding

Dollop of cool whip

Bananas again

Pudding again

Then top with cool whip

And stick a 'Nilla wafer on top!

Yummy huh? 

...that would be a yes!

Fluff Frosting

While this picture may not look like anything to write home about, I assure you-it will be one of your new obsessions! 

This picture is of Fluff Frosting... an amazingly sweet, creamy, fattening frosting!

Wait a minute... fattening was not suppose to be up there! That's why I changed it-let's replace fattening with HEALTHY people! Yes... it truly is healthy. Would I lie to you? Of course not!

Here's what you do:

Easy at that. 

You will want to use this as more than just frosting (btw-it's a great frosting for my cupcake poppers)

I like to use it as a dip! (see below...) It goes great with fruit, graham crackers, oh heck-everything!

Oh-It's also really fun (especially for kids) to add sprinkles to the frosting and mix them in to create a fun pop of color to our dip!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Oh yes, I went there! My two favorite foods EVER combined!

Peanut Butter + Ice Cream = HAPPY TUMMY!

And get this-this recipe is (well of course healthy) but it actually is fairly easy and low calorie!

Topped with some peanut butter granola (recipe to come!) just sends it over. the. top. 

Oh-idea! Banana granola + peanut butter ice cream! YUM!

Alright, alright... little less talk-lot more action recipe! (please tell me at least some of you caught that country music song reference?)

Ingredients: 

(makes 2 servings)

-1 cup milk (can use any... skim, whole, whatever!)*

-1 cup vanilla yogurt (both regular and Greek work)

-1/4 cup powdered peanut butter (I use PB2, but to each his own!)

-1 tsp. vanilla

-1/2 tsp. salt

Optional (for creaminess factor):

-1/2 tsp. xanthum/guar gum (opt.)

-1/2 TBSP. cornstarch

-1 TBSP. pudding mix

or

-1 tsp. gelatin (dissolved in a few TBSP water)

*for a very very creamy ice cream-use fat free half & half!

Directions:

1. Mix together milk and pb2 until pb2 is fully combined

2. Add yogurt and stir until an even consistency forms (you may want to use a hand mixer)

3. Add in vanilla and salt

4. If using any of the optional creaminess ingredients - add it now, slowly-mixing well!

5. Pour into ice cream maker and patiently wait

Birthday Cake Bread

What do you get when you combine the best two tokens of joy on the face of this Earth? (no.... not myself and Taylor Swift silly! The next two tokens of joy!) 

~ Sprinkles and Birthdays! 

In case you were unaware of the new formula for happiness is: 

Sprinkles + Birthdays = :D

...it's true, it's proven!

So what do you get when you combine sprinkles and birthdays, with a side swipe of bread (another joy-bringer in my life!)

You get.... (drum roll please....)

BIRTHDAY CAKE BREAD! 

Yes... you heard me right- Birthday. Cake. Bread. 

It's sweet, it's moist, it's delicious! And best of all - IT HAS SPRINKLES!

This bread will satisfy even the strongest sweet tooth-with no guilt! It's a healthy bread! ... are you guys really surprised? The Blissful Baker never tempts you with delicious looking treats that are bad for you! 

>I've got your back!<

You could even serve these up with whipped cream or ice cream and have them instead of cake at your next birthday party! I almost definitely like this bread more than cake anyways! It tastes just like Funfetti cake! 

So why not just make Funfetti cake? Because of a few reasons.. 

1. It's healthier

2. I like to switch things up!

3. You can toast it! Or make it into sandwiches! I mean really... what could be better than a cake-like bread, toasted and made into a sandwich!? 

Nothing! That's what!

Ingredients: 

-2/3 cup Greek yogurt (vanilla or plain)

-1 egg

-1/2 cup sugar (or any sweetener)

-1/4 cup applesauce

-1 small pkg. instant sugar-free vanilla pudding

-1/2 tsp. salt

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 1/3 cup flour (whole wheat works fine)

-1 tsp. butter flavor extract (or vanilla if you don't have butter flavor)

-Sprinkles!

Directions:

1. Cream yogurt, egg, sugar, applesauce and pudding

3. Add salt and baking powder

4. Slowly add flour

5. Fold in sprinkles

6. Dump batter into a greased and floured loaf pan and sprinkle top with more sprinkles!

7. Bake in a 350* oven for about 1 hour, use the toothpick test!

8. Remove and let cool in pan for 15-20 minutes

9. Enjoy like a little kid on their birthday! 

Mmmm... sprinkles :)

PB&J Pudding

My two absolute favorite snacks at the moment are peanut butter and pudding. But yesterday, I just couldn't decide which to have... should it be peanut butter with its sticky goodness? Or, do I choose pudding, all cool and creamy? Hmm....

Then it hit me! BOTH! So I did it! I took the crazy step and decided to mix peanut butter into my pudding, and while I was at it-Jelly! I was left with an amazing, satisfying not to mention extremely healthy snack! Genius really...

Ingredients (makes 2 servings) :
-2 cups skim milk
-1 pkg. sugar free pudding mix (In my opinion, cheesecake and/or vanilla work the best)
-1/4 cup peanut butter (I always use PB2, wait-you've never heard of PB2? It's an amazing, dried peanut butter, so works extremely well when you want to mix peanut butter into different foods...and it barely has any fat and 1/4 the calories of regular peanut butter!)
-2 tsp. sugar free jelly (again, any kind works but you can never go wrong with a classic grape)

Directions:
1. Mix your milk and pudding (and PB2 if you are using that for your peanut butter) until it reaches a thick consistency (you may have to refrigerate a few hours to get it to the desired thickness)
2. If using regular peanut butter: fold in the peanut butter
3. Pour pudding mixture into two bowls
4. Dollop 1 tsp. of jelly on each serving
5. ENJOY!

     ~there are many different ways to go about eating this...
straight from the bowl with a spoon
using dipping agents: i.e. apple slices, baby carrots, crackers, pita chips
with granola/high fiber cereal sprinkled on top
spread atop a tortilla, or in a pita pocket
frozen in ice cube trays/Popsicle molds as a frozen treat!
the list goes on and on...

Let me know! What's your signature way to enjoy your PB&J pudding?!

Nutritional Info: (using PB2)