Friday Favorites

Hello and happy Friyaaaaay! What a week!

Tuesday morning I decided to try a new way of making banana pancakes. In the past when I’ve tried to make them on the stove in a pan like traditional pancakes, flipping them has always been rather difficult. This time, I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the oven to 400 degrees. I threw two bananas, two eggs, two tablespoons of peanut butter (you could use any nut butter you prefer), one quarter teaspoon of baking soda, a dash of cinnamon, and a tiny bit of vanilla into our Magic Bullet. Once blended, I poured out roughly two tablespoons of batter per pancake on the parchment paper. I baked these for about 15 minutes (edges should start to brown just a little). I put a tiny bit of pure organic maple syrup on mine, but I’m sure they would be delicious with honey, butter, peanut butter (or another nut butter of choice), fresh fruit, or any other number of toppings. This recipe makes plenty for two people, maybe even three if you aren’t super hungry!

If you left out the vanilla and topped with compliant options (almond butter, fruit), these would technically be Whole30 – however, you’re not really supposed to make any baked goods (even if all the ingredients are technically approved). The point of Whole30 is to reboot your system and kick any cravings to the curb. Kinda hard to do that if you’re still indulging in ‘pancakes’. That being said, when you’re done Whole30, these are a nice, occasional breakfast treat – much better than gorging yourself on french toast, waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, etc.

I cannot sing the praises of this activity table enough. When I’m home alone with Stella all day, it is the only thing she is content to play in for more than a couple minutes. She loves all the toys on it, and how she can twist around to see everything around her. She loves to hold her hand out when Milo comes over to check up on her – which of course he takes as an open invitation to lick her. Gross. She loves talking to me while she kicks like crazy and smacks her little hands down all over the place. Kyle and I both are so glad we decided to get this for Stella. Money well spent! They also sell it at Buy Buy Baby. Soooo if you have a 20% off Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupon, make sure you use it!

My favorite dinner this week, hands down, was this recipe for copycat Chipotle carnitas. I just threw some pork tenderloin rubbed with olive oil, oregano, and cumin into the crockpot along with onion, garlic, jalapeno (I left the seeds in), lime juice, and orange juice. After it was done cooking, I threw it in a saute pan on the stove with some of the juice. I browned the meat until the juice had evaporated and I was happy with the color. I served Kyle’s over rice with some romaine, red salsa from Trader Joe’s, salsa verde from Trader Joe’s, fresh pico de gallo from the commissary, store-bought guacamole, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream. I served mine over a much larger helping of romaine, both of the salsas, pico, some red onion, and guacamole. I think this may actually be our favorite Whole30 meal to date. It will definitely be one of our go-to dinners from now on!

Last but certainly not least, my favorite picture of Stella from this week. I couldn’t tell you why it’s my favorite. It’s super blurry, crooked, and her hair is a mess. I just can’t help but smile when I see it. Gosh, I have so much love for this little girl!