I’ve been in a bit of a baking mood lately, but I don’t want to bake a whole loaf or batch of cookies just for myself! I really wanted to try out a pumpkin bread, so I decided to surprise my brother and sister-in-law by making them a loaf and leaving it at their house! I did this last Thursday when I was hanging out with Molly. Due to some issues with my slowly failing iPhone (new one coming soon!!!) I finally got some pictures from them since I forgot to take them myself… oops.
I found this recipe for vegan, gluten-free pumpkin bread from the Fitnessista! I recently discovered her blog and really enjoy reading it!
I didn’t have any gluten-free flour, so I used whole wheat flour instead. See that tiny corner that’s missing from the picture above? Haha that was my taste-test to make sure it was good before I left it for them!
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
Cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup brown sugar
~ 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp molasses
2 flax eggs (2 T flax with 4 T water – soaked for 3 min)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional – could also use nuts!)
Making the bread was super easy! I combined all the dry ingredients, then all the wet ingredients and then mixed the wet into the dry! I also ended up adding a little more milk as I was mixing, because the batter was very thick. When I put it into the pan it was fairly thick, but before it was ridiculous. I also used a very shallow pan, so I baked it on 350 for 15 minutes, rather than the 30 minutes she suggested. It turned out great!
Apparently they couldn’t stop eating it! Haha that’s when you know you’ve made something good!
This morning, I only had 4 miles on my training plan. It was freezing and sprinkling when I got up (ok 52, not actually freezing) but I felt like taking my run inside. I decided to do some speed training on the treadmill, and came up with a great HIIT workout for you all!
HIIT 30 min Treadmill Workout
0 – 5 min: warm up speed
5 – 6 min: 7.5
6 – 7 min: 6.7
7 – 8 min: 7.5
8 – 9 min: 6.7
9 – 10 min: 7.5
Here is where I started what I call Pyramids! You go up in speed and then back down.
Pyramid 1:
10 – 11 min: 6.7
11:00 – 11: 30: 7.5
11:30 – 12:00: 8.0
12:00 – 13:00: 8.5
13:00 – 13:30: 8.0
13:30 – 14:00: 7.5
Then you repeat from the beginning of the pyramid. I did 3 pyramids which finished at 27 minutes.
Then, do a cool down speed for the last 3 minutes and there you go! And remember, change the speeds based on where you are in your running, these are just the speeds I use!
Since I ended the intervals at about 3.25, I continued running and throwing in a few sprints until I hit 4 miles at 32:33. Then I jogged to cool down a bit and then walked for another half mile to let my legs relax! I felt really great after this run, I love sprinting because it really gets your heart going!
What is your favorite cardio workout? Running, aerobics, biking?
Do you like baking things for other people, or would you rather keep it for yourself!?
I love baking things for other people! I usually just like a taste of baked goods, so I make it for someone else, and then keep one serving or so for me! I love when people enjoy the things I make them!