Tangent Sunday and My Favorite allergy-free Muffin recipe!

- It's been beautiful all weekend so a piggy back ride was mandatory after church!

-Woke up with super tight left quad... So this is now my BFF. Come on body, get it together.

Gavin is a pro at rolling out his quads.

- Jake and I have a huge date night next Satuday... A Greek Gala! It's a formal affair so I will be getting all dolled up.  The first time I've done this since probably our wedding day.  I decided to rent a dress from this site so I am super excited to see how it looks in person. Quite the risk taker since it arrives the night before! Hopefully it fits!

Has anyone ever used a dress rental site?  Thanks Michelle for the idea :)  It's still a pretty pricy option, but after looking into buying a dress I'll probably never wear again, it seemed like a great idea! After I wear/return the dress I'll let you know what I think! 

- This morning I made Gavin and my favorite paleo, grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, no sugar added banana muffins (Gavin's muffins don't have the chocolate chips, just mine. Chocolate chips don't count as sugar, right?).  These seriously make me forget a world exists with grains, dairy, and added sugar! YUM.

Brittany's Allergy Free Banana Muffins
(Adapted from Paleo Kitchen's Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread)

Ingredients:
4 bananas, mashed with a fork (the more ripe, the better)
4 eggs
1/2 cup sunflower butter (room temperature or it won't mix well)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 generous cup Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips (optional, but why would you not?!)

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cups.
- In a stand mixer combine bananas, eggs, sunflower butter, coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Add in the coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Blend into the wet mixture, scraping down the sides with a spatula. Distribute the batter evenly into the lined muffin tins, filling each about two-thirds of the way full.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. These are very moist so store leftovers in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy!

OH I ALMOST FORGOT.  These turn green.  Do NOT be alarmed.  The naturally occurring chlorogenic acid that is found in all plant leaves and stems is also present in the seeds of the sunflower seeds. Chlorogenic acid is an antioxidant and is one of the reasons that sunflower butter is good for you (as well as being a great source of vegetable protein, potassium, vitamin E, and other vitamins and minerals).  When chlorogenic acid meets alkaline baking conditions (i.e., if you add baking soda), it turns a dark green (see photo, below).   This completely harmless effect happens after the muffins completely cool down (and increases with additional hours.) This is a great muffin recipe to make with kids when they are learning about plants…or for St. Patrick’s Day!

The Best Birthday Cake Ever and Taco Tuesday

It's official.  I have finally tasted the best Birthday Cake of my life.  Oreos, chocolate, creamy topping... how can one go wrong?  My coworker, Leyshla, had a birthday on Tuesday and I decided that a birthday cake must be part of the celebration!  I had seen a recipe on Pinterest that I've been dying to try, so I quickly whipped up this little gem on Monday night:

Feliz Cumpleanos! 

Introducing: Oreo Poke Cake.  Processed, boxed-cake goodness.  I usually bake from scratch and try to avoid using boxed products. But let's be serious, I had approximately 15 minutes total to whip this bad boy up, put it in the oven, and complete the finishing touches - all of which was done between packing boxes for the big move.  And the end result?  Better than any cake I've ever tasted.  I was told I was welcome to bake the same cake and bring it every day until the end of time.

Happy Birthday, Leyshla! Funnest 22 year old I know!
(Please note the choice of healthy snacks in the background.  Clearly I work with a bunch of health freaks.) 

"Died and Gone to Oreo Heaven" Poke Cake

Ingredients:

1 Box Chocolate or Vanilla Cake Mix

Ingredients needed to make cake (usually eggs, oil and water) 

2 (4 oz.) packages of Instant Oreo pudding

4 cups milk (2% or higher - unfortunately low-fat won't set up well)

Cool Whip or Fresh Whipped Cream

Crushed Oreo Cookies (I used around 10 oreos)

Directions:

1.) Mix cake mix and bake according to box instructions

2.) When cake has ~ 5 minutes left to bake, combine the oreo pudding mix and milk.  Allow to sit for 2 minutes to thicken slightly.

3.) As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes in the cake with the back of a wooden spoon as shown below

4.) Pour the pudding goodness on the cake

5.) Using a spoon/spatula, spread the pudding evenly and push gently to ensure it fills the holes

6.) Lick the pudding bowl and spatula clean. YUM.

7.) Allow cake to cool 15 mins on counter, then place in the fridge to cool completely

8.) Remove from fridge, spread cool whip over pudding mixture

9.) Top with crushed oreos.

10.) Share with others, or keep for yourself.  It's up to you.  :)

(Keep Refrigerated!)

Time for the filling!

In the future, I'm going to try making this from scratch - or at least the cake part.  Although I'm not going to lie, this was the fastest, easiest and most delicious cake ever.

If you aren't drooling, you may have a problem. 

In addition to the cake festivities, it is a tradition on birthdays to go to Mi Guadalajara for lunch.  We took a 3 hour break and enjoyed delicious Taco Tuesday!  It was my last field trip with the CDMC crew.  I am really going to miss this group. :(

Tomorrow is my last clinic day as a student ever. EVER! I can't believe this part of my journey has come to an end.  I have spent the last 13 months getting to know the clinical world of medicine and attempting to make a difference in my patient's lives.  Centro Medico del Carmen has provided the best, most supportive environment to learn in and I'm so grateful I was placed there!  I would definitely give anything to be able to work for a Doctor like Dr. Watson!  I may cry like a little baby tomorrow when I have to say goodbye to my favorite clinic in the world.  No bueno.  Luckily I am coming back to San Diego in April for a wedding, so I don't really have to say goodbye.... right?

Personal Stylist and Cookies and Cream

If I could open my closet and find one thing... It would be a personal fashion designer. Fashion is not my forte.  (Unless you consider matching my running outfits.  Then I could probably hold my own.)  I have always admired people who look like they walked out of Vogue magazine no matter what they are doing or where they are.  I can't remember the last time I wasn't wearing a hoodie and yoga pants when I went to the grocery store. On the rare occasion I do feel inspired, it is because of a little site called Pinterest. I usually find a great idea for an outfit and I falsely say to myself, "Oh, you could totally pull that off!" Somehow when I put on a comparable outfit... It just doesn't look the same.

Perfect Examples:

Why I could never pull off these outfits:

1.) I couldn't walk in the high heels if my life depended on it

2.) We all know that nail polish wouldn't last 5 minutes because I'm too impatient to let it dry completely
3.) I own 2 purses and neither would match any of the outfits
4.) There is far too much white clothing in those outfits.  Unless a bleach pen is included in the purchase of the outfits, those shirts stand no chance with me.
5.) The only girl in this planet that can pull off neon yellow shorts is the girl above.
6.) There are far too many accessories that are needed to complete these outfits and I would, without a doubt, lose all of them.

Since I've been feeling rather uninspired in the fashion department lately, I did something really irresponsible yesterday.  Some call it retail therapy, I call it spending money on things I really don't need and really really have no place buying since my fashion sense is that of a 12 year old girl.  Two hours and a lot of money later, I had a bag full of adorable new work shirts.  I immediately felt buyer's remorse and will be returning all of them tomorrow.  A grad student should not be buying new clothes.  Oh well, some day when I actually money I can go on a shopping spree!

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We had our Pinterest Potluck on Friday and it was a huge success.

Here were the goodies that the other girls brought:

Egg Baked Potatoes

Pizza Cresent Rolls

I was in charge of dessert and after wasting far too many hours on pinterest, I eventually came up with my own recipe.  Introducing... Heavenly Cookies and Cream Bars.  Aka, it's-hard-not-to-eat-the-whole-pan-in-one-sitting-Bars.

Yummy.

Heavenly Cookies and Cream Bars

1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs (or other cookie of your choosing)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of coarsely chopped Oreos 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup shredded coconut or other nut (optional)

Wow, my iPhone takes really great pictures. (or not)
Note:  The two missing bars were the victims of my roommate's midnight snack

Instructions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13″ baking pan with cooking spray.

- Combine Oreo crumbs with butter and then press mixture into the pan evenly

- Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs.

- Sprinkle Oreo cookie pieces, white chocolate chips and chocolate chips evenly over condensed milk. Press everything down lightly with a fork.

- Top with shredded coconut and try not to drool.

- Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly brown and bubbly. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

Notes:

- Do not use fat-free sweetened condensed milk because a.) Clearly this is a low-sugar, low-fat recipe and you shouldn't waste your time trying to save calories and more importantly, b.) it will not set and you will end up with a pan of goo. 

- I never measure the chocolate chips because I figure: the more, the merrier.  I've also made this bar with variations such as: butterscotch/chocolate, cranberry/white chocolate/macadamia, and I'm sure all of you nut-friendly people would love peanut butter/chocolate. So play around with the proportions and flavors.  You won't be disappointed.

Bon Appetit!