Pumpkin Peanut Butter French Toast

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P + PB + FT

Pumpkin + Peanut Butter + French Toast = Winning Combination

Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought of this odd combo and had high hopes for a recipe success!

I’ve had a jar of PB2 powdered peanut butter collecting dust in my pantry for a while now, mainly because I typically overlook it in favor of real peanut butter.

As I was trying to think of creative ways to use the jar, a light bulb went off!

What to Do with PB2?

Combine the powdered peanut butter with pumpkin!

To bring PB2 to life, you typically add water, but I figured that by adding pumpkin, the powdered peanut butter would be much thicker and also take on a pumpkin flavor.

PB2 + Pumpkin

I combined 2 tbsp. of PB2 with about a third of a cup of canned pumpkin and stirred up the mixture until it was nice and thick.

I then got to work on the French toast.

Arnold Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins

I dredged one Arnold honey wheat sandwich thin in a mixture of one egg white and 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice.

Dunk-a-Roo!

After cooking the French toast on the griddle, I spread one half with the pumpkin peanut butter and placed thin slices of a ripe peach on the other.

Open Faced P & PB French Toast

After smooshing the two halves together, I dowsed them in syrup and sprinkled the ’em with nutmeg.

Voila!

Chomp!

I couldn’t wait to dig into this bad boy!

A Bite o' Yum

Eat Up, Buttercup!

This breakfast combined many of my different loves: peanut butter, pumpkin, doughy bread, pumpkin pie spice and fresh fruit.

Win!

Workout

Today’s workout included a five mile run with this little one:

Running Buddy

She’s such a good running buddy.

Sadie’s reward for keeping me motivated through our five mile run was licking the container I used to combine the peanut butter and pumpkin.

She was quite a fan.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c. canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp. PB2 (I’m sure regular peanut butter would work as well)
• 1/2 ripe peach, thinly sliced
• 1 Arnold sandwich thin
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• Nutmeg, to taste
• Syrup, to taste

Directions

• Combine PB2 and pumpkin in a bowl and set aside
• Whisk together egg white and pumpkin pie spice
• Dredge sandwich thin in egg white mixture
• Spray a pan or griddle with non-stick cooking spray
• Cook sandwich thin slices at a medium-high heat until egg mixture is set, flipping once
• Remove sandwich thins from griddle and spread one half with peanut butter mixture and layer peach slices on the other half
• Press two halves together and cover in syrup and sprinkle with nutmeg, if desired

Recreating Restaurant Meals

One of my favorite things to do is take an unhealthy meal and make it healthy. I love the challenge and honestly believe any indulgent dish can be transformed into something that’s good for you with a little creativity.

The past two times Ryan and I visited his mom in Sarasota we’ve enjoyed breakfast at The Broken Egg.

The Broken Egg

Both times the banana walnut streudel French toast called to us. The dish was sweet and so flavorful, made with doughy bread in a buttermilk and egg batter and topped almonds and whipped cream.

You could literally taste the butter in each bite. It was flippin’ phenomenal! 

I woke up this morning craving this dish and figured I could easily recreate it in a healthier way.

I started by whisking two eggs with 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon. I dipped two pieces of whole wheat bread into the egg mixture before cooking them on the griddle.

While the French toast was cooking, I chopped up a banana and quickly cooked it on the griddle as well, which made our apartment smell amazing!

Once everything was done, I topped one piece of French toast with the warm bananas, added the other piece on top and sprinkled the dish with slivered almonds.

Banana Almond Stuffed French Toast

Banana Nutty Goodness

Of course I topped everything with syrup. Buddy the Elf would have loved it! Afterall, according to him, the four main food groups are candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup!

Breakfast is Served

Delicious Bite

 Gotta love a healthy breakfast that tastes indulgent! 😀

Ryan and I are off to take Sadie for a walk before headin’ to church.

Catcha lata!

Yoga: I Actually Enjoyed It

Something amazing happened this morning.

I took a yoga class and actually enjoyed it.

Yogi Julie

(You have my permission to point and laugh at the above picture. I posted it solely for your enjoyment. 😉 )

In the past I have not enjoyed yoga. At all. Not even a little bit.

I’ve tried to get into it, but I have a hard time keeping my mind quiet and enjoying the poses and stretching. I’m sure the fact that I’m terribly inflexible doesn’t help, either.

In past yoga classes, I feel like I’ve always been next to someone from Cirque du Soleil or something. Of course their extreme flexibility makes me feel insecure as I wobble around and strain to simply touch my toes.

Today’s class was different.

I took a power yoga class and before the class began, I approached the instructor to express my concerns about yoga, but also my desire to incorporate more stretching into my fitness routine.

In my previous attempts at yoga, I’ve tried to blend into the class.  This time, however, I found that talking with the instructor ahead of time made her more aware of the presence of a “beginner.” Throughout the class she offered modifications to the more difficult poses, which I really appreciated.

I left the class feeling rejuvenated, relaxed and even elongated. My back and hips really appreciated the extra stretching!

Namaste

(Thanks, Mama, for my new green sweater!)

BodyPump

I actually took my typical BodyPump class before yoga this morning, which was a great start to the morning. After only a week off from the class, I am already feeling more sore than usual. There’s no substitute for the ‘Pump, I guess!

Breakfast

Breakfast today was a W-I-N-N-E-R.

I started by making French toast strips by tearing apart a Joseph’s Lavash Bread and dunking it in a mixture of egg whites and cinnamon.

French Toast Strips

I warmed up a sliced Gala apple in the microwave to add on top of the French toast strips for a fruity punch of flavor.

Apple

After layering the French toasts strips with the apple pieces, I topped everything with nutmeg and syrup.

My Plate

Come Closer!

The addition of nutmeg really made this dish for me. I flippin’ love that spice!

Question of the Day

Do you enjoy yoga?

Not So Ugly Duckling

I had company on my walk with Sadie this morning!

Ryan + Sadie + the Sun

Since Ryan has every other Friday off work, he joined me on my morning trek with the pup!

Wake Up, Orlando!

I was nice to have someone to talk to other than Sadie who typically just looks up at me with a look that says, “Could ya walk a little faster? The squirrels are getting away!”

All around the lake we walked Sadie around this morning, there are many different birds, including ducks, anhingas and even swans.

Pretty Biiiird

These birds are brave. As a puppy Sadie learned not to mess with them. They’re very comfortable around people (almost too comfortable) because people come out to the lake daily to feed them.

Even the squirrels are brave little soldiers. They will literally take a peanut right out of your hand… Not that I would ever try that myself.

I love it when baby birds start hatching around the lake and there are little ducklings, cygnets (That’s the name for a baby swan… Yeah, I Googled it) and goslings tottering around. They’re adorable and are definitely not ugly ducklings!

(Just FYI, the name for a male swan is a “cob” and a female swan is a “pen.” Stop by Peanut Butter Fingers… You just might learn something! 😉 )

Breakfast

After our chilly walk, I was ready for breakfast!

Last night after dinner, I made another batch of chocolate protein pancakes so I could reheat them and have breakfast in a flash this morning.

Chocolate Protein Pancakes

I topped the ‘cakes with frozen raspberries that I heated up briefly in the microwave before adding some syrup on top of everything.

Chocolate Protein Pancakes + Raspberries + Syrup

Breakfast

The raspberry/chocolate combination was delish.

I’m excited for lunch today because I have a lunch date planned with Ryan! Yay for day dates! 🙂

Do you eat lunch at work/home or do you go out for lunch most days?

Top 12 Healthiest Frozen Dinners

My dinner tonight was not a frozen dinner, but more on that in a sec… 

First, let’s tackle my dinner highlights, shall we? 😀 

Dinner 

Since Ryan had a soccer game tonight, after we took Sadie for a 2.5 mile walk, I was all alone for dinner. 

You know what that means… Breakfast for dinner!!! 

Today I opted for chocolate protein pancakes like the ones I made for breakfast yesterday, but I changed up one of the ingredients. 

Instead of cottage cheese, I added a little less than 1/4 cup of pumpkin to the mix and blended the protein powder, pumpkin and egg whites into a thick batter. 

Blend Baby Blend

While the ‘cakes were cooking on the griddle, I added slices of frozen banana and strawberries to the griddle to heat up as well. 

Cookin'

Strawberries + Banana

In no time at all, dinner was ready. 

I placed the pancakes in the bottom of a bowl before cutting them up and topping them with the sliced strawberries, banana and syrup. 

Waiting for Toppings

Yummy

'Cakes + Fruit + Syrup

Not to toot my own horn (Toot! Toot!), but this dinner was delicious! I think it would actually make a fantastic dessert if I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. YUM. 

While doing the dishes, I also snacked on several handfuls of raspberry Galaxy Granola. 

Raspberry Galaxy Granola

This stuff is addicting… 

Top 12 Healthy Frozen Dinners 

When I first graduated from college and entered the working world, I lived off of oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Lean Cuisines and Lean pockets. 

This wasn’t due to a lack of interest in nutrition or healthy eating, but I felt overwhelmed at the thought of cooking meals daily and preparing homemade food. 

Now I realize that I can make nutritious meals in no time at all. It typically takes me less than 20 minutes to prepare a dinner and my meals are more well-rounded and nutrient-dense. I feel more satisfied and know I’m giving my body good fuel to keep me energized through my daily workouts and everyday life. 

That being said, we all have days where pre-packaged meals are our saviors! I definitely gravitate toward the convenience of frozen meals (Hello CPK pizzas!) every now and then. 

I found this list of the top 12 healthy frozen dinners (compiled by the director of nutrition for WebMD) quite interesting. The list might be helpful to those of you who are looking for the healthiest options out there in the frozen entrèe arena. 

Top 12 Healthiest Frozen Dinners

Do you eat frozen entrèes?  

I don’t eat frozen meals very often, but I  definitely use them in a pinch. (The frozen Kashi southwest chicken meal is aweeeesome!)

Latest Examiner Article 

Click here for additional information about healthy frozen entrèes, as well as tips from the experts to use when selecting the most nutritious frozen meals in my latest Examiner article!