Banana Oat Cookies

I made these banana cookies this weekend and it was love at first bite. I'm already planning on making them again one night this week and shaping them into bars! SO FREAKIN GOOD! As per my usual, there is no oil or butter. These things are all about healthy, so moist, decadent, can't stop eating, I really wish I had some with me right now... ok you get the point! I can't believe how sweet these actually tasted considering the only sweet added is the bananas and the coconut, no added sugar here. Bring on the all natural baby!!

Did I mention there are flax seeds in these too? I'm currently having a love affair with flax seeds, I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but they are just so nutty and happy :) Neva can you eat flax seeds or are those an allergy too? Although I just realized these have both almonds and coconut in them :( I really am a bad friend constantly tormenting you with nuts galore! Sorry my dear :(

Go buy bananas now and stick them in a brown bag so they are super brown and happy by the weekend so you can make these!


Banana Oat Cookies or Bars
These are adapted from 101 cookbooks Nikki's cookies.

3 large, ripe bananas (the browner the better!), well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup almond meal (almond slices + food processor for a few pulses)
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & sweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and apple sauce. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, flax seeds, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and dried fruit. Drop Tablespoon-fulls, onto a Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Makes about 2.5 dozen bite-sized cookies. I'll let you know how many bars once I make these again.

you know you want to chow me ... go buy some bananas!

UPDATE: So I made these in bar form last night! I put them into a 9" stoneware pan and cooked them for about 30 minutes. I cut them into 12 bars and brought them to the office. The results: "delicious" "these are sooo goood" "mmmmm" I like those kind of reactions! Sounds good to me!

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Sisterhood Award!

So I'm a total slacker and haven't blogged about an awesome award I was given by the Diva on a Diet over at Beach Eats!!

Diva has some amazing recipes and a fantastic sense of humor! I totally enjoy her posts and have a ton bookmarked ready to be made!

So the rules say I'm supposed to tag 10 people with this award... and in reality there are totally more than 10 amazing ladies out there to give this too... here are the rules.

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 people whose blogs you enjoy.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person who has nominated you for the award.

So I'm going to just post the blog list of the peeps I make sure to check every day! Feel free to join in, or if not, I totally understand. But all you readers out there, check out these links!! I'm sorry if I forgot anyone!!

• 5 Star Foodie
• Abby Sweets
• Batter-Splattered
• Beach Eats
• Bitter Sweet
• cinnamon spice and everything nice
• Confections of a Foodie Bride
• Dog Hill Kitchen
• food for laughter
• I "heart" cuppycakes
• i heart food 4thought
• Joy the Baker
• Megans Cookin
• Megans Munchies
• natalies killer cuisine
• quirky cupcake
• Saras Kitchen
• Smitten Kitchen
• Sugarlaws
• Tempered Woman
• The Wednesday Chef
• Two Peas and Their Pod
• Vegan Yum Yum

Chow!

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Chocolate Banana Muffins

A few weeks ago I made some fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts... And it was seriously tasty, gone in one day kind of tasty. I made the recipe again except this time I made them into muffins. :) I feel like when I make stuff like this in a pan... I tend to chow more of it. If it's in pre-portioned pieces (muffins) I feel bad going back for seconds and thirds. With a cake it's easy to just say... oh just a little inch wide piece... and another inch wide piece... (come on now I know you've done it!) Then next thing you know half the cake is gone and for some reason your belly seems to be a little larger... ;) So this is the version for the portion control lovers out there.


Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased muffin pan (makes 12) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

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TVP stands for tasty

Every heard of TVP? It stands for textured vegetable protein.

Sounds kinda weird and maybe gross right? But give it a chance! In this economy a seriously cheep high protein substitute is a good thing right?? It's under $3 a bag, and the bag could feed a large family for at least 2 full dinners if not more. Plus it's tasty!

It looks like some kind of dehydrated grain... then when you hydrate it... it looks like light tan ground beef... I'm making you want to try it right? Hmmm marketing skills not kicking in... Ok how about a picture of it in action?

whole wheat gnochi with TVP red sauce and portobellos

Hmmm that's not the best picture I took... is it? Darn, guess it is... well, you'll just have to believe me on this one... It's super tasty. Crazy healthy. Protein packed. Low fat. And when mixed with red sauce and pasta... you'd think you were having ground meet... not TVP. We made this up last friday (it's Lent, so no meat). Gnocchi cooks in 4 minutes so this whole thing was ready to go in about 15 minutes. Seriously I know! I love fast food don't you?

Portobello Pasta with "meat" TVP sauce
recipe by me. (Feeds John and me, that means three normal people, with sauce left over)

1 package whole wheat gnocchi
1 bottle (1 lb 8 oz) Diavola Red Sauce from Wegmans (or your favorite go to sauce)
1 cup TVP (I use Bob's Red Mill TVP)
1 cup boiling water (to hydrate TVP)
3 large portobello mushrooms sliced
2 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil spray
cottage cheese (if you are John or if you like to mix it into your pasta too)

Boil water for gnocchi.

Microwave 1 cup water in a medium size bowl or large pyrex cup for 2-3 minutes. Remove and add 1 cup TVP, let soak for 5 minutes or until water is absorbed. Set aside.

Spray a wok, or large sauce pan, with olive oil, saute garlic until brown. Add mushrooms and cook through, flipping after a minute or two to cook the other side. Add jar of sauce and TVP. Simmer until heated through.

Once water boils, add gnocchi and cook according to package directions (4 minutes). Drain, and immediatly divide between 2 or 3 bowls, top with sauce, stir in cottage cheese if desired. Serve.

Chow!

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New & Improved

Ahh the infamous poose cookie. What's poose you ask? Well, it's me, a nickname that is. What started as Cookiepuss (the lovable carvel ice cream cake) morphed into Cookiepoose and was then shortened to just poose... among other iterations. The name was bestowed upon me by my good friend John, who we now all know as fiance John! I'd go into all the iterations of his nicknames that I've bestowed upon him... but something tells me that wouldn't make him to happy :D

Anyway, Poose cookies, like my nickname, have morphed over time, and now I bring to you the NEW and IMPROVED PROTEIN POOSE COOKIE!!!

*ta daaaa*

let the drooling begin! It's a healthy cookie, packed with whole wheat flour, oats, protein powder... eat them as a snack, eat them as a meal, just eat them! I'm in love with these cookies and so is John... I have no clue how many I've made for him to date... but I make a batch every weekend. Yeah that's right, I know how to treat my man :) Onto the recipe!

Protein Poose Cookies!
recipe by me, stephchows AKA poose

ingredients
1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whey based chocolate protein powder
1 cup Quaker oats (not the quick cook kind)
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 package (7 ounces) Gerber Prunes with Apples baby food (NOT plums and apples) (contains 2 – 3.5oz containers)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips!)
.25 cup walnuts (optional)
pam cooking spray

instructions
preheat oven to 350
In a small bowl whisk together flour, oats, protein powder and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Set aside.
In a large bowl stir together splenda sugar blend, applesauce, and prunes with apples containers.
Beat in egg.
Stir in vanilla. (if you want add a little more, mom always said a little extra vanilla never hurt anyone!)
Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until incorporated.
Drop tablespoon fulls onto a silicon baking pad on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through. Will vary with oven used.

Serve warm or for a summer treat transfer into the freezer and eat frozen a few hours later!

(to make these even healthier, take out some of the chocolate chips and sub in dried fruit and nuts - delicious)

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Baba Ga-what?

Baba Ga-what? It's Baba Ghanoush! And it's as fun to say as it is to eat :) You can serve it as a dip with chips or toasted pita, use it as a spread on a sandwich, or plop some ontop of a salad. So many uses :) Mine kept for about two weeks in the refridgerator without any adverse taste or effects to my belly ;) although I'm not how it lasted so long without me chowing it all! I actually roasted the eggplants on my lunch hour at work haha. We have a full kitchen here so I figured I'd save myself some time that night at home. In doing so I had this stuff along with the hummus made up and ready to chow within 30 minutes of walking in the door from the gym. Which is a good thing because when I get hungry I get a bit testy...

Anyone else out there get crabby when they aren't fed on time? Or is that just crabby me :D


Baba Ghanoush
recipe found on A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit

3 medium aubergines (eggplants)
2 tbsp tahini
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 210C/425F/Gas 7.

Place the aubergines in the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes. The skin should be brown and they should be soft to the touch.

When done, cut them in half and scoop the flesh into a sieve. Squeeze out any of the excess moisture.

Place everything into a blender and puree until smooth.

Taste and add more lemon juice if needed.

If you want an extra creamy dip stir in about 1/3 cup of yoghurt.

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Why spend $$ on store bought hummus

Ok, it's finally here! I know I promised this last week, sorry for the delay! But let me tell you, homemade humus and baba ganoush is totally worth it. They are both super easy to make, and paired with some fresh veggies and a toasted pita... delicious.

One thing you need his tahini, I've tried making hummus without it before and it came out ok... but with it... better then the store bought stuff for sure. It really is so simple, and once you make it you'll be wonding why you spent so much on it at the store.


garlicy hummus
inspired by cooks illustrated
my version

3 garlic cloves
1 16oz can chickpeas, drained, a 1/4 cup of chickpeas set to the side
1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 Tbs tahini (sesame paste)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil - plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

parsley for garnish (optional)

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Place in a bowl and top with reserved handful of non chopped chickpeas, parsley, and a little olive oil drizzle.

Come back tomorrow for theBaba Ghanoush... Baba Ga-what?

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A Rainbow of Brown

You do know brown is my favorite color right? No seriously it is!

Last weekend I went skiing with my coworker Beth. We had a blast! 50 degree weather, not a cloud in the sky! It was beautiful! On our way out to the mountain we passed a small country house with a little sign reading "Brown Eggs for Sale" we made a mental note so I could pick some up on the way home. I, of course, forgot all about it, darn my goldfish memory, but Beth (who is 95% vegan and doesn't eat eggs) was sweet enough to remind me and stop! Thank you Beth!!

We pulled in and after a few minutes noticed an old style bell with a string to pull by the door. The man was wicked nice and I picked up a dozen large eggs, grand total $1.75. More than a dozen eggs at Wegmans... and worth every penny! I mean look at how beautiful these are! Look at the range of colors!


So far I've eaten a few over easy with some freshly toasted bread with a little butter. Now that's good eating! I haven't decided what else I'll make with them :) Any suggestions?

What about you guys, do you prefer brown farm eggs over the normal white kind? Can't taste a difference? Don't care? :)

UPDATE: Svaha left an awesome comment with tons of info, thank you Svaha!!!!

Svaha said...

My family owns an egg farm in Western Mass. Here are a few more tidbits for you:

~ brown eggs come from brown/red chickens, white eggs from white chickens

~ the darker birds tend to be a little heartier, thus the local/smaller farmers raising these birds and having the brown eggs. The big agri-farms down south have the millions of white birds (cheeper maybe? ;) that raise the store bought white eggs.

~ eggs need a few hours to 'set'. An egg right out of the chicken is almost like water when cracked open. So there is such a thing as too fresh.

~ when the young birds first start laying they'll lay small, almost toy like eggs with no yolks.

~ then the first few months they'll often lay what we call double-yolkers. They're 2-3 times the size of a normal egg and actually have two yolks in them. They can't even fit in an egg carton so we'll just rubber band the lid closed. These are a huge hit at the farm. Little kids flip when their egg has two yolks in it.

~ every now and then we'll also get eggs with no shells. A regular egg on the inside of a slightly thicker membrane with absolutely no shell at all (another hit with the kids on farm tours).

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Whole Wheat Yeastless Focaccia = Happiness

This stuff is amazing. It's SO GOOD!! Seriously 45 min from when you start you have hot fresh bread and it makes the house smell delicious! Make it for someone special tonight and they will think you were slaving away all day :) I found it over at Food for Laughter. Go check her out, she ROCKS, tons of good chow :)


So this makes a good amount of bread, and I know what you are thinking... If you live alone or with others and just can't be trusted with a bunch of hot bread (yup that's me... can't trust me, I'll eat it all), you can easily half this recipe, just put half the beer in and drink the other half (no losers here!). I made the whole recipe, shared some with my house mate, then brought a bunch into work. Sharing is a good thing :)

OH and this is the bread for you if you are scared of making bread. All it takes is a little stirring, spread it in a pan, and toss in the oven. My sister loves making things that involve stirring, it's her favorite part! Jen do you hear me?? ALL it takes is stirring! Seriously... stirring!!! That's your favorite :D So go make some!


Whole Wheat Yeastless Focaccia
recipe by: Food for Laughter slightly adapted by me

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 T raw sugar ( I used 1Tbs splenda blend)
1 tsp salt (I used a little less of Kosher salt)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano and thyme leaves I bet red pepper flakes would be good too! (I added this in my version)
1 (12 oz) bottle dark beer (I used Yuengling Black and Tan)
1/4 cup water
2-3 T olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I also added thyme leaves)
1/4 tsp salt (I used large grain sea salt)

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8X8 baking pan with cooking spray. (Next time I'm going to use a bigger pan and spread it thinner, the top crust was my favorite part... I want more of it next time :) )
~ Stir together the flours, raw sugar, 1 tsp salt, baking powder, and spices.
~ Pour in the beer and the water, and stir until just combined.
~ Spread the dough into the baking pan.
~ Drizzle the olive oil across the top of the dough.
~ Sprinkle the dough with the oregano and 1/4 tsp salt.
~ Bake for 30 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
~ Serve warm, sliced from the pan, and dipped in olive oil and herbs...

Be prepared to have to hide this so you don't eat the whole thing.

PS... I know I was supposed to post about humus and baba this week... but between phillips and this bread... it got bumped! Don't worry it will be here next week :D

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Phillips European

Today I figured I'd let you all drool a bit over some tortes from Phillips European. Phillips is one of those places that is tucked behind a hotel in a mini strip mall... It looks like nothing at all, until you walk through the doors. Once inside you realize you are in a very high end gourmet restaurant. You wouldn't think these were recessionary times with how packed this place always is. John and I wandered in on the late side Saturday night to grab some slices of cake for take out, and the place was packed! They have a wonderful pastry display case as soon as you enter. The take out option is perfect when you don't feel like waiting 30 minutes to be seated before you can dig into something like this!


John picked the black and white mousse torte. I know what you are thinking "John doesn't eat bad for him desserts" I know I know It's true, but I twisted his arm and he agreed :) Want a closer look at this bad boy?... here you go


This thing was decadent without being overly rich and overpowering... unlike mine...


The peanut butter torte. Layers of peanut butter and chocolate fudge between moist chocolate cake... It's heavy, rich, beautiful, amazingness (yes it's a word... I say so), this thing is a belly bomb. I'm pretty good at chowin, but even I was unable to finish this slice in one sitting. What's that you want a closer look of this one too?


Chow baby chow :)

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Quinoa POM Wonderful Muffins

And they have blueberries in them too! These things are an antioxidant powerhouse, they are also chocked full of protein and all types of good for you things! OK I see all you anti-health food people trying to sneak away! Get on back here! Because these things are crazy good! Taste tested on a variety of guinea pigs (house mates, fiances, coworkers) everyone really enjoyed them! The inspiration and original recipe came from Bitter Sweet. If you haven't visited her blog she makes AMAZING vegan treats and delicacies, and even if you are a serious meat eater, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love over there.

She originally just posted the image since she wasn't totally happy with how the recipe came out. But due to so many people harassing her for the recipe (me included), she gave in and posted it! Thank you so much again!!!

I gave it a whirl and changed a few things, and I'm definitely happy with how this came out. Let me know what you guys think! These are still vegan, but I did use splenda.... but totally give it a try with the agave like she says ( I added in subs for the splenda in the recipe).

I've been eating these as a mid morning snack every day for the past week. Totally powers me through until I eat lunch at 1. :)


Quinoa POM Wonderful Blueberry Muffins - vegan friendly!
Original version of recipe by Bitter Sweet, this version is my adaptation

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Fine grain sea salt
1 Tablespoon Flaxseeds (I didn't have any on hand, but want to try these with this included next time)
1.5 Cups Fresh or Frozen Blueberries (or 1/2 blueberries and 1/2 pomegranate seeds)
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
1/2 unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 Cup Splenda Granulated (or use 1/2 cup Amber Agave Syrup or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup Pom Wonderful Juice
Turbino Sugar (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease 12 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. Grind the flaxseeds to a fine powder using a coffee or spice grinder, and mix them in as well. Add in the blueberries and walnuts, and toss them to coat.

Separately, combine the cooked quinoa, apple sauce, splenda/sugar/agave, brown sugar, and POM Wonderful juice. Once the mixture is well-mixed, pour these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry, and use a wide spatula to combine. Stir only enough to bring the batter together, leaving any small lumps that form in favor of mixing it as little as possible. Distribute the mixture evenly between your prepared tins, and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar per muffin, if desired.

Bake for 18 - 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

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Whole wheat soft pretzels

I made these pretzels awhile back and instantly fell in love with them. The original recipe comes from Katy of Sugarlaws and this is the second time I've made them. The first time I added a little whole wheat flour (her's call for all APF), this time I upped it more and still achieved an amazing texture and flavor! Next time... I'm going to try adding even more whole wheat and less bread flour... so stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes!!

My original post equated these to crack... that is still the case. The recipe makes 6 medium sized pretzels, which in both occasions have not lasted the night... the recipe easily double, triples, quadrupled.... but do so at risk to your waistline, because although they aren't bad for you... eating anything in large quantities really isn't the best ;) moderation people!! and I have none with these in the house... I WILL eat them all if left alone...


Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels
INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp splenda blend (2 Tbs white sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt or whatever other toppings you want

DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy colored. Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5). Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We keep our place kinda cold (65) so I normally turn the oven on for a minute then turn it off and stick the bread in there to rise... otherwise it would take foreeeeeeeever to rise)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned. (Mine took 8 minutes then I dropped the temperature to 350 for an additional 4-5 minutes)

CHOW!

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BBC... yeah you know me!

Oh wait that's OPP yeah you know me!

BBC... that's the british channel... ehh same thing right! whooops!
And Sean and John I'm not talking about your version of the BBC!

Anyway my friend Travis sent me this recipe the other day and I told him I'd give him a little shout out and put 'er up first thing this week! Travis was one of my "kids". By kids I mean the 40 freshman (who were only a year younger than me shhh don't tell them) who I had to watch over as an RA (residence adviser) Ohhhh the stories... any other RA's out there? We had a good time, and there are way too many stories I could tell, and since my Mom is reading this "hi mom!" lets just move right along to the recipe :D


BBC Smoothie
by Travis
I'm calling it the BBC because of the main three ingredients, blueberries, blackberries, and cranberries, in about equal portions. I added Santa Cruz organic limeade and blended, and it turned out delicious.


Thanks for the smoothie Travis!! And due to popular demand the whole wheat soft pretzels will be posting tomorrow!!

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3.14 happy pi day!

Yup all of us celebrating... we be nerds! I didn't make a pie today... just some cookies so far, and perhaps muffins next.... but you can check out pies I've previously made here.

Enjoy!

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Colorful Coleslaw

This recipe makes a TON of coleslaw... so be prepared to eat this everyday for a week... or have a party of people coming over to help you eat it all :) I used some with the Buffalo Chicken I posted yesterday, and then spent the rest of the week putting it on top of whatever I had for lunch. Coleslaw and sharp cheddar sandwich anyone?? Tasty!


This is super easy and wicked flavorful. I'll totally be using this as a stand in to the normal fat filled variety. This stuff made me feel like it was summer, crisp, light... why can't spring get here already??

Colorful Coleslaw
1/3 cup light mayo
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs fat free milk
2 tsp sugar
4 cups packed shredded green cabbage
3.5 cups packed shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup red onion slivers
1/4 cup chopped whole green onion
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
black pepper
I added in some celery seeds

Stir mayo through sugar together, toss in veggies, then season with salt and pepper. Stir till combined, cover and refrigerate.

Have a great weekend everyone!!! Tomorrow is national Pi day... yes yes I'm a NERD... So we'll see if I get around to baking a pie for pi day :)

Other things to come next week... a smoothie named after a TV station... some baba ghanoush! come on it's just fun to say. Garlic hummus... AND muffins made with quinoa!!!! So come on back for some more chow and fun :) OH and I almost forgot, some amazing whole wheat soft pretzels!!

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Skinny Buffalo Wing Sammies

John and I both love buffalo wings, but rarely eat them. He will basically only eat chicken breast meat, sans the skin... so I've tried making a bunch of "healthy buffalo wing" recipes. They have gone by well, but nothing amazing. My version is adapted from The Most Decadent Diet EVER! (page 78) and it is a keeper. We wrapped the tenders up along with the colorful coleslaw also found in the same book (recipe to come tomorrow).


Boneless buffalo strips
1.5 Tbs whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 lb chicken tenders
1/4 cup Anchor Bar Wing Sauce (you know the place where buffalo wings were invented!!)
3-4 glugs Franks Red Hot

Mix dry ingredients and one at a time dredge tenders, shake off excess and place on a baking sheet edges not touching. In a large non-stick pan sprayed with olive oil, cook tenders 2-3 minutes per side. Work in batches so tenders aren't touching. Place cooked wings into a bowl and toss to coat with Anchor Wing Sauce and Franks Red Hot.

We wrapped these bad boys up in whole wheat Flat Out wraps cut in half, along with some tasty low-cal coleslaw!! Come back tomorrow for the colorful coleslaw recipe!

MMMMM bar food without the guilt!! We also chowed tasty sweet potato fries to finish off the meal!!!! SO GOOD!

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Microwaved eggs?

I'm not a fast food eater. I think the last time I was at a McDonalds or something to that effect was a good 6 years ago ... and that time was because I had no other option, a friend's mom brought us out to eat and that's where she brought us. So it would have been rude to refuse. Before that one day (oh the belly pains) I hadn't had fast food probably 3 years prior. Not to say I didn't have my love afair with big macs when I was a kid. I was a swimmer, and I ate me weight in food most days haha. What's that you say two big macs and a large fry? Bring it on. Oh but not anymore, I think it would kill me hehe.

Back to the microwaved eggs. Egg mcmuffins were another tasty thing the old fast food eating me liked. Even though fast food and I broke up all those years ago, I still think about those egg mcmuffins sometimes... so what's a girl to do? Make her own! I mean it's not rocket science!


AND if you have a handy dandy egg microwaver from the 60's or 70's that you found in the attick of your parents house... you're in luck! Actually you're all in luck, Amazon seems to sell them here. Mine looks more old school, but same concept.

Whole wheat english muffins toasted up. Some Jennie-O lean turkey bacon. Fat free cheddar slices (or part skim, or full fat) this is an occasioin that the fat free kind doesn't weird me out. Wegmans has a fat free cheddar slice that actually melts and tastes pretty darn good! Plus we all know mcdonalds cheese isn't real... or is it?? It can't be...

Anyway you can just crack an egg into each side, or in my case scramble up one whole egg with an egg white and dump half into each side. Microwave it up, and you have authentic circular eggs just like your favorite fast food place. Much healthier, and in my opinion tastier!

CHOW!!!!

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Boston Cream Pie - lightened up

John's favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie...
*bleh*

Sorry to all of you who like this pie, everyone who had a slice loved it, I just chose not to partake... I don't know, it's something about vanilla custardy pudding stuff, totally skeeves me out! Anyone else out there like me?? Or am I just the weirdo of the bunch?

*crickets*

Alright then! Last weekend was John's birthday (thanks everyone for all the well wishes!!). We were supposed to have a birthday dinner with some peeps, but said peeps were a bit under the weather... hence the postponing making the cake until this weekend. I'm not sure if it was me, or what the recipe was supposed to look like... (this is WHY all recipes should be required to have pictures!), but my cake came out... how do I say... WICKED THIN! I mean yes it's a lightened up cake, but that doesn't mean IT has to be skinny along with the eaters!! The recipe has you make 1 9" cake and slice it in half. I have a 8.5" spring form pan so used that... and let me tell you, I'm so happy I didn't have a 9" because it would have been even THINNER!!!

John came out to the kitchen while the cake was cooling, took one look and said, "so... where's the other layer?"
"that's it, I have to cut it in half"
"seriously?? It kinda looks like a big cookie, not a cake"
"oh thanks! what should I do?? Should I make another cake so it's thicker?"
"you could just cut this one in half across and then pile it ontop... so we'll just have half a somewhat tall cake"
"we can not show up with half a cake"
This went back and forth for awhile haha and in the end I said screw it! I'm going to try to slice it in half and make it like the recipe says!

So here it is...


My very thin, kinda sad looking cake. It really is more of a large sandwich cookie with frosting than anything else. I was told it tasted delicious though so that's at least good :) The cake was a bit dry, but the custard helped that out, and the frosting was wicked good. Ahhh chocolate how I love you!

The cake and custard recipe came from Cooking Light. The only thing I changes was I took half the cake batter and added some cocoa and then swirled that back into the white cake. John couldn't decide if he wanted a chocoalte or vanilla cake. So swirl it was! The other change was I used whole wheat pastry flour, which I know had some to do with the lack of big thick cake... but seriously it shouldn't have been THIS THIN!

As for the "frosting" It's melted milk chocolate with a little honey and milk mixed in.

Chow!

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POM Wonderful!

A week ago I got a comment from Janny asking me to contact her, little did I know it was to see if I was interested in taste testing some POM Wonderful!! I jumped on the chance! I've eaten the fruit before but never the juice. If you've never had the fruit, it's an experience for sure haha. It's a very unique looking fruit with tons of little pockets of the delicious juice. Some people aren't fans of the texture, if that's your case, totally try the juice from POM!! It's the only 100% pomagranit juice out there (says their site) and it's super good for you. All the delisiousness without the seeds or weird texture!

And for all you health nuts out there (yes I'm talking about myself) this stuff is a powerhouse when it comes to antioxidants! I'm a huge green tea drinker and this stuffs kicks green teas bottom!

If you go to the POM site, you'll also find a ton of recipes. I may give one of their cookie recipes a try (after I chop the butter out of course :) ) I'll keep you updated once I make something!

A special thanks again to POM, and totally give them a try, super tasty AND healthy :)

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King Cake

I mentioned awhile back that we celebrated Epiphany with our friends Paul, Kim, and their daughter (John's God daughter) Nina. The Epiphany celebration is a very big thing in Columbia, and Paul and Kim want to teach Nina about where she was born.

Part of the celebration revolves around King Cake! I'd never had it before but am all about any celebration that revolves around chow :) I totally fell in love with this cake. It's light and the yeast base adds so much depth to its flavors. If you've never made it or tried it, you should! Not the healthiest thing around (what's that you say??? how many sticks of butter??), but hey, as long as you don't eat the whole thing... ;)

Nina and her buddy Gabe decorated the cake. I think they did a marvelous job!

King Cake recipe from Emeril

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Attempt at gingerbread bagels

So this was my first attempt at reproducing the glorious Panera Gingerbread bagel... It went decently enough... but I still don't have it down exactly...

I added crystallized ginger when I balled them up... they smelled wonderfully like gingerbread at this point!

10 more minutes to rise after shaping with a hole... why must this take so long!

Hot out of the oven

crusty on the outside, chewy in the middle...

but the gingerbread kick... not totally there :( That's ok, another reason to try again! Once I have it right I'll let you guys know how I did it! Wish me luck :D

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From Bland to BAM!

So I made these quinoa bean burgers... they sounded good in theory... but they seriously had no flavor... thankfully I only cooked two before realizing this... after some red hot and some garlic added to the mix, plus some of that dijon mayo from the fries added on top... we were good to go :)


Quinoa Burgers
recipe adapted from Whole Living

Serves 4.
* 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
* 1 medium carrot, cut in large chunks
* 3 scallions, thinly sliced
* 15 ounces great northern beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs (I used panko)
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* Coarse salt
* Ground pepper
* 2 tsp chopped garlic
* red hot (to taste)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 4 pitas (each 6 inches) We used Flat Out Wraps cut in half
* 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally
* tomato and lettuce to top
* dijon mayo


Directions
1. In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil; add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until liquid is absorbed, 12 to 14 minutes; set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse carrot until finely chopped. Add cooked quinoa, garlic, scallions, beans, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; pulse until combined but still slightly chunky.
3. Form mixture into four 3/4-inch-thick paties (dip hands in water to prevent sticking). If too soft, refrigerate 10 minutes to firm. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium; cook burgers until browned and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes per side.
4. Serve burgers in pita topped with cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

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Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips

It was John's birthday on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! So this past weekend was full of baking :) Since I already gave him his presents (Disturbed concert the previous weekend *insert head banging here*, and part of a wide screen TV (the other part was for Christmas lol)) I wanted to give him SOMETHING on his birthday...so I told him I'd bake him as much and whatever he wanted. We started thinking up what to bake friday night. Here's our list

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Poose Cookies (which I updated by taking 1/2 cup flour out and subbing in 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder... they were DELICIOUS!)
Pumpkin Muffins
Roasted Banana Muffins (but something a little different then the usual)
Skinny Boston Cream Pie (postponed till next weekend)

Can you tell I love to bake?? We also made a ton of good chow, went out to Sinbads for dinner on his birthday (which we totally realized was also the 3 year anniversary of the first time we went out for lunch together haha. Just friends at that point, a big group of us from the gym went to celebrate his birthday, who would have ever guessed we'd be where we are now! EEEEE! :D ). And of course we had to take a trip to Leaf and Bean for a mint mocha latte light for John and a chocolate raspberry coffee for me, yum!

We really are such party animals, I'm an old lady at the ripe age of 27 lol. So here's the new interpretation of my Roasted Banana Muffins! I deleted a few things, added some cocoa, some walnuts, and baked it in a ceramic pie plate.

how cute is the little snowman nose poking out from the bottom of the pie plate

Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased ceramic pie plate and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.


CHOW!!!! And hide this cake... it's possible it was totally demolished over the course of one day. Good thing we work out a lot :D haha!

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Healthy shoestring sweet potato fries

Yes you heard me right, healthy fries! I've tried baking fries a ton of times and although they come out tasty, they don't taste like the fries we all know and love. THESE however...


... are amazingly close! We DEVOURED these in a matter of minutes. They were so good, and with the dipping sauce from cooking light... *swoon* to die for. The recipe has you blanch the fries for 10 minutes in hot water, and truthfully I think that made all the difference in the world for their taste and texture. I seriously want to run to the store to get some more sweet potatoes so I can eat these every night this week :)

Shoestring sweet potato "fries" with Garlicky Dijon Mayo
adapted from Cooking Light

1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons miraclewhip
1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Cooking spray


1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine vinegar and garlic in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, and parsley.

3. Cut potatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices; stack slices and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Place in a large bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain potatoes; pat dry with paper towels. Combine potatoes, oil, and salt in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 35 minutes; carefully turn over and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with sauce.


These are addicting, seriously don't just get 1 1/4 lbs get a 5 lb bag of sweet potatoes and go to town with these things :D

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