B-A-N-A-N-A-S... Eating Seasonally.

Once upon a time if you lived up here in the Pacific Northwest you weren't able to eat bananas all twelve months out of the year. Thats because Bananas aren't native (I'm guessing you knew that one!), but today we have the ability to eat fruits from around the world at anytime of the year. For someone like me who is fruit obsessed this is amazing! But as farmer's market time rolls around once again it gets me to thinking about eating local and what it means to eat foods that aren't in season and aren't local.

One great thing about getting recipes out of magazines is that they usually feature foods that are seasonal! Usually when you buy a cookbook it is organized by category rather than seasonally. This means that half the time when I find a delicious looking recipe I find that an ingredient is out of season so I either have to fork out a ton of money or find something else to prepare. The other day I got a cookbook called "Clean Food" by Terry Walters. This book is organized by seasons! This is a vegetarian cookbook so there are so many great (and different) veggies included in the recipes! I'm really excited to try some from the spring section, but it is going to be hard not to flip through to Summer and Fall!

I can't really say that I'm willing to give up my banana a day habit, but thinking about eating seasonally is a little food for thought!

For the past seven months I have been writing down the foods that I eat in a day. It keeps me aware of calorie intake and how well I'm eating. What I've found is that I am a snacker. Not a grazer who doesn't eat big meals, I'm a big meal eating snacker! My snacks are for the most part extremely healthy, but there can be too much of a good thing. So recently I've been thinking, what if I were to take pictures of everything I ate? Would it make me more conscious of that handful of trailmix, that second banana of the day? So here is a challenge for my week: Make a food plan and snap a shot to share on here of EVERYTHING I'm eating! (side note challenge: make sleep a priority!)

Breakfast: Strawberry-Banana Oatcakes!

With half a grapefruit and strawberries on the side!

Every single time I make these, my pancake flipping technique is challenged! It looks like a mess, but it still tastes yummy! Here is the recipe for one Oatcake! (note: these take a little bit of time so they are good for a lazy morning!)

Combine:

1/3 Cup Quick Oats

1/3 Cup Egg Whites

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Add:

Mashed Fruit/Veggie of your choice! probably about 1/2 Cups worth

I love a half a banana, today I added a strawberry.

Using a big skillet on medium heat pour the mix on and smooth till its kinda flat.

When its kinda brown... attempt to flip! The oats don't keep it together as easily as a regular pancake.

Even if you over cook these babies they are still delicious.

This picture gives an idea of how big they are in a pan.

Now for the best part! The topping!!!!

Mash up the other half of that banana add 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup!

I also added a bit of strawberries today!

I will never go back to dumping syrup on my pancakes! This is just sweet enough, and pretty darn healthy! This recipe is great for people who have sensitivity to gluten and sugar!! And it is super filling! I wish I could say that I came up with this recipe, but I didn't! A fellow blogger did! She has a lot of great low-fat delicious ideas! Source: KathEats