Avocado Bana-na-za!

Happy Friday!! Yesterday I left you with a list of things I wanted to talk about today. But now I don't feel like talking about a lot of them. Don't you hate when that happens? I'm going to leave one or two off today because I don't want to overwhelm you with a random blog post.

Let's talk about some running first. I did my first speedwork session on Wednesday. I waited until it was dark outside and Paul and I ran together so I was safe and all that jazz. And it was AWESOME. It was nice and cool and 4 repeats felt like cake. I guess it was just one of those days!

I've been stretching like a very good girl. But not so wonderful is that my knee is NOT taking to this training thing very well. Therefore, I've had to change my plan. Which is fine, because it's the first week. And it's better to know now than figure it out halfway through training and have a busted knee. So I'm cutting a weekly run! And I'm okay with it! Go figure.

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My apartment still smells amazing. You wanna know why? Banana bread. But why is there a picture of avocados, you ask? This week I put out a call for banana bread recipes and got three that I was seriously considering. But it was a comment I received mentioning avocados that won out. So thank you Teamarcia for inspiring me! :)

I took to the web and found a recipe for banana bread made with avocado. And it did not disappoint. It's so moist and delicious and wonderful. DO IT. You will not regret it!

Avocanana Bread

 Thanks to the California Avocado Commission

• ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats (I used Cinnamon KIND granola because I didn't have enough oats)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 ripe, Fresh California Avocado, seeded
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 cup (packed) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 very ripe bananas (I had three!)
• ½ cup chopped walnuts (I left these out)
• ¼ cup buttermilk (I used coconut milk...because that's all I had. Haha.)

1. Line a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan with nonstick foil and lightly grease the bottom only.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Combine dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Scoop the avocado into a large bowl and mash lightly.
5. Add oil and brown sugar to the avocado. Cream together using an electric mixer, until light and creamy.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Stir in bananas, then walnuts and dry ingredients.
8. Stir in buttermilk and beat just until buttermilk is incorporated.
9. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Avocanana bread is quite moist and may not pass the "toothpick" test at this point. If you prefer a drier bread, bake a little longer.

Yields: 1 loaf

Make it. Love it. Make it again because it's gone.

And lastly, I leave you with my challenging thing. A few days ago, Heather from Better With Veggies put out a video challenge. And I'm taking it! I've never done a vlog before. So be nice. Or something. For some reason, it freaks me out that people I know could be watching this. I'M TRYING NOT TO CARE. SO THERE. HERE IT GOES.

Challenge. Accepted.

And please excuse my beautiful nature. I've been biking all day. Which means sweating. :)

This was the most attractive still option. That's when you know it's bad.

Have you ever vlogged before? Do you like it?