Just Annouced Coming Soon: The Hammer and the Chisel

I am so excited for this program to release! When it was just announced at Coach Summit, the excitement in the room was palpable. Not only does it combine the experience and knowledge of TWO of the world's most successful trainers, Sagi Kalev and Autumn Calabrese, but it is a perfect couples program. Could you imagine doing this with your partner and both getting in the best shape of your lives?

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Who wants to do this with me in Novemeber!? I know I am stoked!

Toasted Coconut Banana Bread

It's my husband's birthday! Of course, I wanted to make him an amazing delicious cake, but I also had a few ripe bananas set aside for banana bread (one of his favorites). Well, you know how I love to experiment in the kitchen. The result was this amazingly moist and delicious cake (bread), topped with a few white chocolate chips and shreds of yummy coconut.

To start, you'll need a few ingredients, but only one bowl! This entire treat gets mixed by hand in about 5 minutes in one bowl! Less dishes = Happy mama! Don't forget to preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and use a 4x8-inch loaf pan. I gave mine an extra spray of olive oil for non-stickiness. Here's what you need:

-4 very ripe bananas, peeled
-1/3 cup melted butter
-1 cup of sugar equivalent (can easily use 3/4 cup, or drop it down to 1/2 cup if you want it less sweet, use 1/3 cup honey, etc.)
-2 eggs, beaten
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-Pinch of salt
-1 cup organic coconut flour
-1/3 cup of all-purpose wheat flour (optional)

In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt on the top and gently mix it in. Next, stir in the sugar (or Splenda, stevia, honey, etc of your choice), beaten eggs, and vanilla extract. The reason this is more liquid than my normal banana bread base is because with coconut flour, you need more liquid as the coconut meat absorbs more-- otherwise you will have dry and crumbly bread!). Lastly, gently fold in the coconut flour.



I love to have my daughter help me with the baking- she especially liked being a part of daddy's "love cake." Just don't stress! Flour can get swept up and chocolate chips get spilled. Have fun with it! This is also the point where you would add in any optional mix-ins, such as chopped pecans or walnuts, or in this case we used 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips. It was a birthday cake, after all. :)

Bake for about 25 minutes at 350°F, and then remove from oven and sprinkle shredded coconut on the top. If you put it on in the beginning, it will burn- you want it to have that nice toasted look. Put it back into the oven about 10-15 more minutes---until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mmm... Doesn't it smell so good!?

So, now that your toothpick is clean, you want to remove it from oven and cool it on a wire rack. This prevents it from continuing to bake and get dry- don't leave it on a hot stovetop!



The next part can get a little tricky... Remove the coconut banana bread from the pan. I like to do this by placing a clean kitchen towel over the top and turning it over, giving it a little shake 'til it falls out of the pan onto your towel. Then I use the towel to place it right side up back on the rack to cool some more. Slice and serve warm! Mmm! Goes great with your #morningcoffee too!



Here is the nutrition content for the base bread, without the mixins.



If you enjoyed this recipe, please subscribe to my blog so you'll get notified of new posts, and share this recipe with someone you love! As always, live healthy, live happy! Love, Amanda

Star Diamond Coach Amanda Noddings
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Get Your Veggies in with this Easy Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce!

Everyone wants to be able to cook a healthy meal for their family that is delicious, easy, and that no one complains about, right? This easy and simple crock-pot spaghetti sauce is just that- decious, healthy, and fairly hands-free!

Fire up the crock pot, cause this recipe is simple- dump and run! I love anything that saves me time and energy. I start with placing some frozen pre-made turkey meatballs in the bottom of the pot- you can make these ahead yourself, or simply go with store-bought. If you make them yourself, the added bonus is you know exactly what's in them!

Next, cover the meatballs with your sauce base. I buy cans of tomato puree, or else I throw a heaping bunch of tomatoes in the vitamix, press blend, and whalah! Organic, no sugar or salt added tomato puree! You can add herbs and seasonings of your choice to the sauce-- I go with oregano, basil, and garlic.

This is the best part- start piling in the veggies! I am not kidding you, my husband and kids go bananas over this sauce- and its absolutely loaded with veggies. I add chopped carrots, yellow squash, green zucchini, chopped up tomatoes, and mushrooms. Many of these things my husband won't eat separately, but when cooked together, they take on the flavor of the sauce and its all fair game! Its colorful and delicious- and you eat with your eyes first, so your family will be all over this stuff!

Start this up in the morning, or in my case, about noon- and its ready for my family to eat at dinner time, after cooking on low for about 6 hours. All my husband has to do is boil up some whole-grain pasta and plate it! When he comes in the door from work, the house smells amazing, and everyone is ready to gobble it up. The most time-consuming part is chopping the vegetables, which doesn't take long at all!

And there you have it! Quick, clean, crock-pot spaghetti sauce! Try it some night soon and let me know how it goes! As always, Live healthy, live happy. Love, Amanda

Star Diamond Coach Amanda Noddings

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