Tuesday, April 05, 2016

I needed a sweet treat for my injured soul... or knee... whichever - Easy Banana Cookies!!! {Training Tuesday}


So today, I'm bringing you a healthy, yummy, easy cookie recipe... but I'm doing it backwards this week. I've got to talk about my week that needed me to soothe my despair in something sweet... so don't be confused... or feel free to jump ahead to the recipe...

Week 12 of Half Marathon training


Week 12:


Monday - Run 2.58 miles
Tuesday - T25 Total Body Circuit
Wednesday - Run 3.37 miles
Thursday - Upper Fix
Friday - rest
Saturday - Pilates Fix
Sunday - rest

So last Saturday - the 10 mile race, was the pinnacle of my running... its now what's known as "Tapering"... cutting back the miles. FINALLY. On the downhill slide of the training.


I felt like I made it through this round of training feeling good - having some issues, but I dont think I'll ever train for a half marathon & not be sore or hurt somewhere. Its my horrible joints... & my 44 year old body... it is what it is... but all in all, I felt like I had done really good...

.... & then... the wheels popped off.

Monday - my body was so sore from the 10 hilly miles 2 days before... so it was basically a scuffle.  I actually had to cut my run short because there was a creeper in the parking lot where I run that I wasn't comfortable staying around for - so my run was cut about 15 minutes short...

But it was probably best - my body just was stiff & achy

& then my ran came around on Wednesday. I'm moving along better, but still a little sore & knees giving some fits... & then BAM! They really started hurting - like I stopped at one point & thought, Uh oh, I'm in trouble.

I got home & had ice on them the rest of the night... & its been downhill ever since.

I did decide to NOT do my long run on Saturday. 8 miles were on the schedule... I ended up doing Pilates. I can't tell you how much it messed with my mind... but I can tell a slight improvement on my knee already. I'm just going to give it a week of possibly some walking, or maybe some elliptical work & definitely some strength training.... trying not to let it get in my head that the last 4 weeks of training, I could loose all my endurance... cant think like that... (Oh mercy, please dont let happen)

... BUT, since I was planning on going out for 2 hours to run Saturday & that wasn't going to happen, I had to fill up the time space in my weekend... & I had a load of bananas that were ripe & I didn't want to toss them, I found a quick & easy recipe on Pinterest that I wanted to share

Easy Banana Cookies

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch sea salt
OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Just take those bananas & mash them up in a bowl
Add in the oats & chocolate chips, cinnamon & salt

Cookies:


The more you mash it together, the more it all comes together where its easy to form a cookie shape

I took a big spoon full & flatten it out a bit & viola

Cookies:

It made about 8-10 cookies with the ingredient list above.

Oven on 350 degrees - & cook for 15 minutes

The recipe calls to put on parchment paper, but I put on my cookie sheets & they were just fine.
I also let mine cook a little bit longer than 15 minutes to make them a little bit more 'roasted' & put a little bit of brown color on them.

Put on a wire rack & cool

... DELICIOUS!!!!
& so easy that I almost feel like this recipe is a given.
A kid could do it.
Or me....
about the same level of cooking skills here...




I want to note - I used the Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate chips - they are BIG chunky chips - & were so delicious in these. I imagine the dark chocolate would have been great with the walnuts if I had included them.  

Finished product - see how big the chocolate chips are?  YES & YUM!

I ended up having 4 ripe bananas so I made another batch
... & then basically ate them all in 2 days...

But hey, its fruit, some carbs & dark chocolate is healthy!  So its all good!

Honestly, I'm going to make this a habit for when my bananas start going bad. 
I loathe throwing away food.  & I'd rather eat a sweet treat.

I needed a little sweetness in my life after this tough week

Come:

.... still PRESSING ON & looking forward to better days ahead!
Hear that Ms. Knee?  Time to get your stuff together!!! Don't let me down now.


21 comments:

  1. You had me at easy! I'm not the best baker but I try lol xo, Biana

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  2. Ughhh, I'll be rooting for you & that knee! That has to be so frustrating! I'm glad you've got some yummy cookies to lessen the pain!

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  3. I hope your knee is better soon! I definitely think taking care of the knee is better so close to your race than trying to push through the pain. And those cookies look amazing! I'm going to have to give these a try.

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  4. Oh, I hope your knee is better soon! I made those cookies a few times and they are so good and so easy to eat! 🍪

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  5. I do something similar with bananas & oats, but I usually just eye ball it. & then make them in a mini muffin tin so they're more like balls. I usually add some PB2 if I have it too. YUM!

    You will not lose all your endurance. I promise. Last year I had a half marathon Oct 17th, where my longest run was 10 miles & was run Sept 12th-ish. Life was just crazy busy, so I kept up with the workouts that I could & I ran when I could. Do the same, the taper will try to make you doubt yourself, it's not worth the mental energy.

    Also, creepers in the parking lot? Oh hell no.

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  6. Good job on all the training! Yummy cookies!

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  7. I use my ripe bananas for power breakfast muffins. I hate throwing food away. These are a good alternative!

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  8. I am SO making those cookies! I always freeze my old bananas. I hate throwing them away knowing I could make something delicious out of them!
    You definitely won't lose your endurance at all. Too bad about the creeper. Yuk.
    Still praying for you, chica!

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  9. Oh my - I'm definitely trying out that recipe! I hate throwing over-ripe bananas away too -- and my freezer is LOADED with baggies of bananas, just waiting for me to go on a banana-bread frenzy. These would be a good change of pace! Keep resting that knee -- hopefully it just needs another day or two of non-running activities after those hills. Hang in there! :)

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  10. Yummy cookies!!! my friend was training for a marathon and just like halfway through his training his joints started giving out on him and just not cooperating. He still ran the marathon, but he wasn't able to do as well as he had hoped because he ended up really injuring his knee :( I hope your issues sort themselves out before you need to race.

    The boil water gif reminds of Chris Rock when he was like "oh this tea is so good, what's in it?" "water" It was one of his skits he did.

    liz @ j for joiner

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  11. You truly are like the Energizer bunny...takes a licking and keeps on ticking! Wait...or is that Duracell batteries? Totally confused now! Anywho...those cookies look scrumptious!

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  12. hope your knee is better soon! the cookies look delicious, i am trying to be good right now, but i will definitely make them next month!

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  13. You do deserve a treat after all your pain!!! These cookies sound wonderful! I will have to try them out, sometimes all I want is easy.

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  14. Your darn knee, I wish I new a magic cure pill you could take!
    These look great, now I am just wishing it was my cheat meal day, because cookies like this sound absolutely fabulous for dessert:) Maybe later this week!

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  15. Ohhh, those cookies! YUM! I hope your knee feels better soon.

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  16. So sorry about your knee. I know you push yourself hard which is a good thing but sometimes it is just a little too much. Take care and thanks for the recipe. I'm going to have to try it!

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  17. Tell your knees to quit bothering you!!! You were wise to listen to your body and take it easy. I make a similar but much more boring recipe--just bananas and oats. I like them though!

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  18. Yummmm. They are oats and bananas so so much better for you. These sound good. I also like making frozen cookie balls with similar ingredients. Tastes like cookie dough.

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  19. I usually go with banana bread but these look delicious, and more portable! I hope your knee feels better asap.

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  20. Wow, those chips are indeed huge!
    After being injured and running in pain for almost 18 months I almost forgot what it was like to run with no pain. I forgot how glorious it is and will never take that for granted. I do hope that you have that feeling back again soon. I know it's nothing that you can't get through cus you are a trooper and keep pressing on, but I really wanted you to feel how joyful a run can be without a niggle here andd there.

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  21. Sounds yummy ! I'll have to give it a try :)

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