Old Friends, Banana Bread Recipe, and Turbo FIRE!

Hello my loves!!!!! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week! The last time we “spoke” I was a little down because the IntenSati Warrior Challenge just had finished but all of your amazing comments made me feel so much better! Even Patricia Moreno commented!!!!! Thanks so much, ya’ll are all amazing!

A couple of weeks ago Sophia emailed Joanne and I, to let us know that she would be in NYC again and asked if we would like to do a little reunion…”HELL YEAH!!!!!!”. We all met a year ago and instantly connected and I would not pass up on the opportunity to see her again. Sophia is one of those people that the minute you meet her, you instantly love her! And Joanne is just fabulous! whenever we hangout, we usually end up talking for hours! We didn’t really know where to go but Joanne the fabulous foodie that she is suggested Caracas Arepa Bar and after looking at the menu we both agreed!

We all met up around 7:30…I brought my friend Gigi along and Sophia brought her friend Alda…

We were starving by the time we got there and it didn’t help that we had a 45 minute wait to get a table which actually did not surprise me since the restaurant was really tiny. When we finally sat down, I fell in love with the atmosphere…I am a sucker for Brick Walls AND Saints! haha


But I was not impressed with the service, I felt like they were rushing us the whole time we were there.

For an Appetizer, we all split the “Yoyos” which are fried sweet plantain balls stuffed with white cheese…I thought since I was Dominican, I have tried Platanos in every way known to man but these were actually a first for me and they were delish!


I decided on La Mulata which was grilled white cheese with jalapeños, sautéed red peppers, fried sweet plantains and black beans.


Gigi had De Pabellón which was shredded beef, black beans, white salty cheese and sweet plantains…

Whenever I had Arepas in the past, they were always Columbian and were usually light and fluffy and filled with cheese but these were very thin and crispy. I went to the restaurant expecting to have fluffy arepas and I was a little let down but honestly that is my own fault because I assumed they were the same. These were good in their own way and the “fillings” were delicious!

One of the best things about being a food blogger is meeting other foodies who love to cook and bake! AND love to cook and bake for me! As you all know my birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Joanne surprised me with CUPCAKES! But wait not just ANY cupcakes but COCONUT CUPCAKES WITH PINEAPPLE FROSTING!!!!!!!!! Dude the girl knows me TOO well!!!!!


I wanted to enjoy them right there at the restaurant but the minute we put them on the table not one but TWO different people that worked there came up to us and said that we could not eat them there and if we did they would charge us a “Dessert Tax” are you fucking kidding me? I told ya’ll that the service sucked!!!!

We took the beloved cupcakes and enjoyed them at the nearest park bench! and they were worth the walk! Thanks Joanne!!!!!!!!

But wait that was not the end of my carb overload…the beautiful Sophia brought me an Asian pastry! I have a strange feeling that these chicas are trying to plump me up! lol

I enjoyed the Bolo Bun when I got home…

Oh and it had a surprise in the inside for me…Red Bean Paste…

 

I really enjoyed this pastry, it sort of reminded me of a Cheese Danish. It’s funny because I picked up my niece after dinner for a sleep over and she was like “woah titi what is that?” and I honestly had no idea! I had to Text Message Sophia today to find out what it was haha

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This morning for Breakfast I made Banana Pancakes with Chocolate Chips for home fries and me…I topped mine with Peanut Butter and Lite Syrup

For Linner we all went to Panera Bread…Have you guys heard of this????

LOBSTER SANDWICH!!!!!!

I felt like an idiot spending 16 Dollars for a sammie but I really couldn’t help myself! But I tried to be somewhat smart and only got 1/2 a Sammie with French Onion Soup, but it still cost me 17 bucks with a diet soda…

Was it worth all that money???? hmmm the Jury is still out. Did I enjoy it? Profusely!

Sooooo ya’ll remember that I got all these bananas a week ago…

well I have been baking like a mad woman!

Today I decided to try something new…so I created a new Banana Bread Recipe with a twist…

Banana Bread with Guava Paste

• 
  
  2 cups whole-wheat white flour
• 
  
  1/2 cup Oat bran
• 
  
  4 ripe, mashed bananas
• 
  
  1 cup egg whites
• 
  
  1 cup all Natural Apple Sauce
• 
  
  10 Packets of Splenda or any Sugar or Sugar Substitute that you prefer
• 
  
  2 tsps vanilla extract
• 
  
  4 tsps cinnamon
• 
  
  4 tsps baking powder
• 
  
  1/2 tsp salt
• 
  
  Guava Paste (to your liking)

I mixed all the ingredients in a large bowl (except for the Guava Paste)

Then I poured 1/2 the batter into a pan and then sliced the Guava Paste over it. And then poured the rest of the batter over it.

Side Note: I am not sure if you guys know what Guava Paste is, so here is what it looks like if you buy it at the store.

Oh snap, look where it is made!

I popped it into the oven for 40 minutes at 400 and this was the end result…

I love when the Guayaba oozes out like that lol! I think my mom would be proud! lol

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New Challenge!

I officially started Turbo Fire on Tuesday and I am loving it thus far.

“Turbo Fire is the the intense new cardio conditioning program from fitness innovator Chalene Johnson. She'll help you get leaner with exercises that burn up to 9x more fat than regular cardio does. And with more than 20 smoking-hot music remixes, TurboFire will pick you up and push you past your limits.”

I have always been a big fan of Chalene Johnson; I still do her Turbo Jam DVDs from time to time and I was super excited when I heard this was coming out! Thankfully my sister heard my cries and got it for my birthday!

I have always been a sucker for workout DVDs and this program seems like the holy grail! So far I did The Fire 30 Class which was 30 minutes of straight up cardio with 2 fire drills (2-60 second intervals). The dance moves were not too difficult and perhaps it’s because I already know her style of workout and I did watch the DVD prior to doing it. I usually just dive right in but I took Naomi’s (she also has the set) advice and watched it first and I think it was a good suggestion because some of the move are tricky. Oh and I also did the Stretch 10 Class which was a nice cool-down.

One of the things that I love about this Set is that it incorporates Yoga Stretches into the mix. Today I did Stretch 40 Class and it was just what my body needed.

I can’t wait to follow this new training program… I like that it includes 3 different training programs; Prep Program (in case you need to ease into the HIIT Workouts), Turbo Fire Class Schedule, and the Hybrid Schedule in which you do some of the Turbo Fire workouts and also incorporate other things. I was going to start off with the Prep Program but I think I am ready to jump right into the HIIT Workouts. I am sure my downstairs neighbor CAN’T WAIT! (((insert sarcasm here))))

Well it is time for me to catch some ZZZ’s…have a great night/day loves!!!!!!!

Namaste…