St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day.  Just doesn't mean much any more :(  Went to the grocery store today and saw people sporting green - like grown up people sporting green!  I didn't even really think about it.  Such a party pooper I am.

Gary & I ate at Kroger's.  I've eaten the salad bar there before but not the hot bar.  A hot meal - one entree and two sides - for $7.99!!!  Our super Kroger has a seating area.  It wasn't bad.  I got roasted chicken (a tad heavy on the Shake 'n Bake), lima beans, and green beans.  I would eat there again.

Gary ended up helping a friend all afternoon and ate dinner there, so I was on my own for dinner.  Really didn't feel that hungry, so I just heated up some of the oatmeal I'd made the other day.  That was dinner until....

I got busy in the kitchen and made two batches of muffins.  Had 1/2 of each one of those.  Also licked my fingers when I made some more Energy Bites!

The protein powder muffins were pretty good.  They are kind of spongey.  They "fell" when they came out of the oven, but they are still pretty good.  They are gluten-free:

Banana Bread Muffins - oven 350 degrees

3/4 cup ripe banana (1 banana)

3/4 cup egg whites (I just used 2 eggs)        
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cups oats
2 scoops protein powder
1/4 cup sweetener
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon - I used 1 teaspoon

Put ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Place in muffin papers.  Bake 15-18 minutes.

The other batch of muffins have more of a muffin texture.  They are Banana Muffins:

Banana Muffins - oven 400 degrees

2 1/2 cups oats

1 cup plain Greek yogurt                               
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flax seeds
2 ripe bananas

Place oats in a blender and pulse for 10 seconds.  Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.  Place in muffin papers and bake 18-20 minutes.  (I added almond extract, vanilla extract, and chopped pecans.)

Both recipes are pretty good.  I think I'll stick with the protein powder muffins most, because it's lower in carbs.

I've been buying almond butter from Good Foods Co-op.  I like to support that store, because it's local; however, it's farther from home, and I don't make it there often.  Today I just bought almond butter at Kroger's.  I couldn't tell if anything is added, but I don't think so, since it is ground as you use the machine.  I don't know how much per pound it is, and I can't remember how much almond butter is at Good Foods.  Good Foods grinds their own and puts it in containers on the shelf.  I know that is just almond butter.  I need to do a cost/taste comparison.

I also bought some fruit to puree for a topping for pancakes.  I did blackberry, blueberry, and strawberry.  I added some of my canned applesauce to each of them.  I used the VitaMix and didn't bother to wash out the blender between batches, so I have somewhat of a mixed berry puree for each of them.  I think the overriding taste will still be the individual berries.   I put them in small containers to freeze.

In addition to all of that, I cleaned the den carpet and rearranged the furniture in there!  Busy day.