Kid and Adult Approved Banana Muffins (Gluten and Dairy Free)

Well, it is my turn!! If you don't know, I am really not much of a cook... I loved to bake years and years ago but I gave it up because it was always sooooo much sugar. I have been playing with a few of my old favourites to make them healthier and I have to say I am loving it!! (I am still not much of a cook but I have been trying a few different things out in the dinner department too :) but that is another post altogether)

We have been going through a lot of bananas lately. The kids are always asking for them so I decided I wanted to try a different way of banana bread because really who doesn't love banana bread!

This one was a winner for all and I cannot wait to try it with blueberries or raspberries :)

Yields 12 muffins
Bake time: 24 minutes

Ingredients:
3 bananas
3 eggs
1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1/4 c coconut oil (melt)
3 tsp honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch pink Himalayan sea salt

Optional other ingredient
2/3 c dark chocolate chips (or other mix in such as blueberries, raspberries, walnuts, sliced almonds, etc.)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Keep chocolate chips (or other mix) to the side until the end.
2. Throw all other ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth consistency.
3. Add in chocolate chips (or other mix in) stir with spoon or spatula
4. Line muffin pan with liners or lightly grease. Divide up mixture into the 12 liners.
5. Bake for 17 minutes, check on them with toothpick if not quite finished put in for 7 more minutes and check again. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes and enjoy!

Why did I choose Shakeology?

Why I choose Shakeology over ALL of the other brands out there

A great analogy heard the other day was about a your body as a race car :) It went something like "Would you put low grade fuel into your race car? And if you did how would it run? It will only do so much right! It won't run at it's peak performance. BUT if you fuel your race car with high octane fuel it's going to run a WHOLE lot better!"

Before I invested into Shakeology I had looked at other meal replacement shakes, protein shakes, weight loss shakes, "magic" pills. I was definitely NOT a shake person! I was looking for something that could be a quick easy breakfast for me. Early mornings rushing around to get out the door had me always, always skipping breakfast. By skipping my breakfast I would get to work and then be starving around break and go grab something quick from the food court... usually a big double chocolate chip muffin or a bagel loaded with cream cheese. So not only was I starving myself I was fueling up with the wrong foods. By doing this to myself each day I was in constant starvation mode. My body kept holding onto what ever kind of nutrition it could to sustain me and in turn I was drinking a TON of coffee and pop to keep my energy up.

After reading a little into it I decided to give it a try for 30 days and see if anything changed for me. Plus the bottom of the bag guarantee was there too so in the event that I found no difference I could return it empty and still get my money back. Really what was there to lose? I bit the bullet and decided to order it along with a program because the savings were just too good to pass up, and in the event I didn't like the program or the shake I would send it back (as I had done in the past with other at home stuff...).

The first time I tried it I was surprised that it wasn't absolutely disgusting. With the amount of whole food ingredients that are in it I prepared myself for the worst tasting salad with a chalky aftertaste I could dream up. That wasn't the case at all! I mixed it up in the blender with half of a banana (I didn't like bananas!), a tsp of peanut butter, water and ice, took me all of 3 minutes! It was different of course but it kept me satisfied right up to almost lunch!

What I really noticed after a few days was the increase in energy I had. I wasn't dragging myself from home to work, work to home, getting things prepared for the kids. ALSO, I majorly cut down on my coffee intake to 1 a day and NO POP. My cravings for junk food, chocolate bars, chips, chip dip, fast food, started to go away. My body started to preform the way it was designed to. That was a major for me.

Once I noticed all of this I started to look into it a little more, and so did my husband. We looked into the others out there on the market at that time and tried to compare it to this. The way this is formulated with all of the whole food ingredients and no artificial flavours, no artificial sweeteners, no high fructose corn syrup, no soy, no fillers, it just isn't comparable to anything out there right now.

I am so grateful that there is something on the market that I am not scared to ingest into my body, my husband feels good about putting into his and we both are comfortable letting our children have it as well.

This is not a weight loss shake, it does however help fuel your body with proper whole food nutrition to help you feel better, give you energy, makes your body run a lot more efficiently and in turn weight loss will be a byproduct of your exercise and proper nutrition.

This has been a constant in my life and my families lives for almost 3 years now! I don't take this for weight loss, I take this because I want to be healthier. I want my family to be healthy, I want my friends to be healthy. We all deserve to live the best life we can and a healthy life will help you live a long one <3

~ Mandy