Niki's Neverending Adventure

Kind of a random title right?! Haha :) Well I hope y’all have all enjoyed my wedding and honeymoon recaps. If you happen to have missed them, check them out:

• Wedding Festivities Part 1
• Wedding Festivities Part 2
• Honeymoon

Alright… moving on to Tri Training!! I officially started training for the Annie Oakley Sprint Triathlon this week. I didn’t make out an official training plan because I have no clue what my schedule will be like when I start back to school July 5th. I do have a rough idea of how I want my training week to look like though:

• Run 3 X week
• Bike 2 X week
• Swim 1-2 X week

I definitely achieved that this week! I ran 3 times, biked twice, and swam twice. So I feel like I’m right on track! And I plan to thrown some brick workouts in, along with hopefully another open water swim next weekend when I’m at the lake!

Any training advice for me??

I rode 10 miles yesterday and 12 today and now my butt is super sore! I will definitely be investing in some tri shorts! Any recommendations for those? I have heard the Pearl Izumi ones are great so I will probably try those out unless someone else has any better recommendations.

I am totally loving the training though!! My body is love mixing it up and I’m not getting sop burnt out! I really have come to love biking and swimming!!

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Onto the next topic… Chocolate Banana Bread!! I was in the baking mood yesterday and had some bananas getting pretty brown, so I thought to myself… I should make some banana bread! And not just any banana bread, but Chocolate Banana Bread!! I have had this recipe for a while now and have only made it one time before. But it is fabulous! I think I got it from IGE, she has some wonderfully yummy recipes y’all!!

Chocolate Banana Bread

1/2 cup toasted pecans

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 bananas mashed (I only had 2)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup dark or white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray sides of loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place nuts on a baking sheet and toast for 8-10 mins. Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well mixed. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into loaf pan. Bake 55-65 mins. Enjoy!!

How great does that look?!? I had a hard time waiting until after dinner to test it out because it smelled and looked so yummy!!

My nice big slice. It was fabulous!! So chocolaty with a great banana flavor! Not to mention extra sweetness from the chocolate chips!! I highly recommend this!!

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And last but not least… I wanted to share my first attempt at making a Panini with y’all! I decided I would use my new Cuisinart Griddler to make a Tuna Panini for dinner last night, and it came out fabulous!!

First, I mixed some chunk light tuna, a tiny bit of mayo, lemon juice, s&p, and cayenne pepper. I decided to try out some more of the bread that the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program sent me!

This time we tried out the Nature’s Pride Country White Deli Rolls! They worked out really well! I couldn’t tell much of a difference in these rolls and the hamburger buns we already tried. Tasted the same to me, just different shapes! Very good!!

So, I layered my tuna, spinach, and Swiss cheese and stuck it in the Cuisinart Griddler.

Ooey gooey tuna perfection!! We loved these so much that we made them again for lunch today!!

Well friends, gotta get going. Hubby and I are going to go purchase a new gas grill!! My Nana and Papa are buying it for us as a wedding gift! We can’t wait!!

What is your favorite thing to grill or grill recipe?

Neither one of us really knows how to grill so it will be fun to learn and experiment!! Have a great Sunday guys!!

Posted in: on Sunday, June 27, 2010 at at 2:15 PM