10 miles and "energy cookies"

I have to start every post, of course, with a comment on how early the alarm went off and how hot it was by the start of the run. With that out of the way, today was a gorgeous day for a 10 miler in central park. We did the outer loop, followed by the inner loop. By mile 8, I wanted to stop running, but I kept at it thanks to the group. I think it's time for new shoes; the bottoms of my feet were definitely feeling it by the end!

We had a clinic with a nutritionist after the 10 miler. She had some great suggestions on foods that give us eneregy: coconut water instead of gatorade (no artificial sweetner), greens, proteins. It was food for thought. (Teehee). We had awesome "energy cookies" waiting for us at the clinic. The recipe is below, thanks to Andrea Moss of Spark! Wellness. They were delicious! I signed up for a 45 minute consultation with her through the team. I will be sure to report back.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Energy Cookies (these were delicious!)
3 large ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1.5 cups)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c coconut oil--barely warm, so it isn't solid (or you can use olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal (you can make your own by pulsing almonds in a blender until they are the texture of sand)
1/3 c coconut, finely shredded and unsweetened.
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine grained sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
6-7 ounces dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks on top third.

In a large bowl, combine bananas, vanilla extract and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough is a bit looser than regular cookie dough, but don't worry. Drop dollops of dough, each about 2 tsp in size, an inch apart onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven, until cookie bottoms turn golden. Be careful not to burn them.

Makes about 3 dozen bite sized cookies.