Andes Peppermint Brownies w/ a Twist!

These were.....wait for it...

AMAZING!

Once the fudgy, gooey, minty, bliss enters your mouth you're enjoying a little slice of heaven. 

 After reading that you probably are thinking to yourself, "Man, I can't enjoy those (all though I really really want to) because fudgy, gooey, minty, bliss comes with too much guilt (approx 300 cals worth of guilt) which is not worth an extra half hour-plus at the gym."

 Well my pessimistic friend, 

I have some good news

 EAT AWAY. 

Because these amazing, friends, I mean AMAZING brownies are made with.....

 wait for it.... (Name that show)

 not oil, not butter, not eggs.....

 So what????? 

 BLACK BEANS!

 Gahhhh I know!

 "WHAT" you shout out loud.

 "YES" I say.

 Fibrous, delicious, healthy black beans. 

With the serving size of 10 *see picture below,
These brownies,without mint topping, run ~139 cals per brownie square, and 219 cals with mint topping.

I cut them  even  smaller and got ~20 brownies (108 cals with mint topping!!!!) because I was feeding a large group.

So with all that awesomeness being said: 

 Bake and be amazed.

Ingredients: 

Brownies 
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 cup cocoa powder 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 can reduced sodium black beans (with liquid) 

Mint topping 
1/2 package of Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips 

Directions:

Preheat  350 F.
Line a 7x11 baking pan with parchment paper with enough parchment hanging over the edges to grab at--helps with removal.

In a food processor, first blend 1 can of beans with liquid, sugar, and cocoa powder until a creamy dark liquid. Then pulse in flour,salt, and baking powder.

Pour batter into lined baking pan and bake for 25 min. or until knife comes out fudgy not runny. (you'll know). 

As soon as the brownies come out of the oven cut them to the size you desire. Then, evenly pour mint chips over hot brownies. As they begin to melt, take a knife or spatula and swirl around to make cool, minty designs. Then run your knife through the pre-cut slices again  to keep the brownies separate as they cool and the chocolate hardens:

Let cool for 10 min before placing in the fridge to harden chocolate more. 

To serve, let sit out for an hour or so to help cut through the harden chocolate layer--no cracks. ( I did think about per-slicing while the chocolate was still hot and that might do the trick to help prevent cracks...try it out and let me know what you think)

ENJOY!!!!

 

Zucchini Tots

Another great snack. 

Seriously. 

These were delicious!

If you like tater-tots, I am sure you will like zucchini tots. 

Tons of flavor and much healthier.

My only regret, not making more. I ate all of them.

So double this baby and enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Curious Country Cook
Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
1 egg
1/4 cup  bread crumbs, any flavor/season/type
1/4 cup reduced fat Parmesan cheese, grated ( I used kraft)
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: 
Preheat oven 400 F.
Non-stick a mini muffin tin.
Grate zucchini into a cup. Place in a clean dish towel or paper towels and pat dry (helps crisp tots).
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
Spoon approx 1 tbs into each mini muffin tin compartment.
Spray tops with a little cooking spray --I used my misto filled with olive oil.

Bake for 15-20 min until mini tots are golden brown all a round.

 

Serve with some marinara sauce or salsa.

ENJOY!!!!

Chocolate Avo Pudding

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Are you ready for this? 

Avocado pudding.

I know, sounds insane, and little off, but truly this foodie experiment creates a rich, mouse-like, pudding that is hard to believe it is healthy.

This is a no joke chocolate recipe too. If you have a deep chocolate urge that no, kit-kat can fix, dive into a serving of this and you'll be fully satisfied.

Also, don't let the green turn you or others away make it, serve it to others, and they'll beg you for your secret.

Ingredients:
makes 2  servings
1 medium ripe avocado
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tbs agave
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/16 tsp of salt-a pinch!
2 packets truvia (or 3 tbs agave)
1 1/2 tbs semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Blend avocado and milk in a food processor/cup blender/high power blender until silky smooth. Add in everything else except chocolate chips, blend until smooth.

take a tsp of the the pudding and add it to the chocolate chips and microwave it in 15-30 sec intervals, stirring until melted. Add chocolate mixture to pudding and blend until well combined.

Pour into two ramekins or small dishes.

ENJOY!!!

Nutrition Information

194cal * 23 carbs* 4g sat fat * 3g protein* 2g fiber

Homemade Toaster Strudel

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I'm sure you've had this feeling: 

I know I have. 

They may taste "good" but man are they "bad" for you. 

My husband used to eat them a lot as a young boy, and for me, I ate it's devious counter part: pop-tarts.

Thankfully we both became healthier-minded eaters in our college days and my developed allergy of red dye 40 put those preservative filled breakfast "treats" on the back burner.

But you can't say "no toaster strudel forever," that would be deprivation and I don't like that word or that action. 
So I say, "Make my own, healthier toaster strudel"; and thus I did.

I made the puff pastry from scratch, a conquest I hold with high honor since I made it with NO BUTTER.
You can find that HERE along with it's epic story.

But you could--and by could I mean you shouldn't unless you ABSOLUTELY are in a bind for time-- but the per-packaged pastry puff.

My end result were unbelievably delicious, why did I ever buy the store bought brand,  flaky, gooey, strawberry filled breakfast pastries.

Ingredients:
homemade puff pastry dough (found here)
3/4 cup strawberry jam
1 tbs cornstarch
1 egg

Creamy icing
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1tbs milk or cream or half and half

Directions: 
Preheat oven 350 F

Divide dough into 2 equal parts (if you are using my dough recipe  ~8 oz ea.)

Roll each dough half into 9x12 squares--don't worry they don't have to be perfectly square.

Width-wise, cut the dough into 4 strips--approx every 3 inches.

Cut each strip in half, and lay the two pieces on parchment lined baking sheet: keeping the pieces next to each so that they pair up correctly.

Repeat with second half of dough

Whisk egg and brush the top of each dough square.

Combine Strawberry jam and cornstarch in a small bowl until jam is thick.

Scoop 1 tbs of the thickened jam onto the center of one half of the cut strip. Gently spread it out while leaving about 1/4 of the edges untouched to close the seam.

Take the other half of the strip and lay it directly on top of the jam filled square and pinch seam all the around to form a jam filled pocket.

Repeat with the other 8 pastry paired squares.

Brush the tops of the pastry pockets with remaining egg mixture.

Bake for 25-30 min until tops are golden brown.

Serve warm and with creamy icing.

ENJOY!!!!

Easy Puff Pastry -NO BUTTER

 

Wow, what an adventure this recipe was. 

I was seriously on the hunt for a flaky, but durable, and healthy pastry dough for days. 

No such luck.

Every blog I read, every thread I browsed,
the response was: use butter or fail.

Luckily for me, and hopefully for you, I am a strong willed and very determined woman so I decided to experiment and make my own. 

My butter replacement: coconut oil! 
(full of good fats, healthy nutrients, and a whole host of other health benefits, google it!)

I pulled directions and tweaked ingredients primarily from 3 blogs: Annie Eats, Lick The Bowl Good, and Smitten Kitten.

 I spent a tedious amount of time making sure everything was going alright, but alas, created my masterpiece;

Yes, 
to me, 
a honorable 
and Healthy feat.

I was so so proud of myself in the end, 
but after that long ordeal I truly felt I could have skipped the 1 hour refrigeration step the pastry bloggers called for.

My dough was very pliable and ready to use by the 3rd turn, but I followed their instruction just to be safe.
But my end result was unworkable, cold dough that I had to put in the oven while it preheated just to get it to roll out.

I don't know if it was because I used coconut oil instead of butter, but if you follow this recipe I left the 1hr in the fridge OUT--less time for you!

The outcome of my delectable dough was a slightly denser (perfect for my durable demand), but quite flaky, buttery tasting, delicious puff pastry.

Give it a whirl--or turn!

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coconut oil, solid*
1/4 cup ice water
2 tbs milk

 *I broke it down into 16 tbs

Directions:
In a large bowl or food processor, blend/pulse together flour, sugar and salt. Add 4 tbs of coconut oil at a time and pulse until mixture resembles small peas.--You could blend with a pastry blender or 2 forks if you don't have a food processor.

Dump into a large bowl and do a quick swish mix with your hands.
Add 2 tbs of water, and gently mix in with dough. Add 2 tbs milk, and gently min in with dough, add last 2 tbs of water and gently mix in with dough. Dough should still be crumbly but with when pressed together will hold.

Dump dough onto a clean surface. Keep in mind, the dough will be crumbly.

Fraisage dough--quick inward strokes with the palm of your hand.

Mold dough into a ball and Fraisage again. Dough should start to stick to itself.

Mold dough into a 8x4 square and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 min.

Once refrigerated, place dough on a lightly floured parchment paper and roll into a rectangle (~ 15x10).

Fold dough lengthwise into thirds.

Starting from the long end, roll up dough up into a coil

Gently roll over coil to connect seams. ~6x5 rectangle: 
Your 1st turn.

Repeat the rolling out,folding, and coiling for a 
2nd and 3rd turn.

 (notice the dough is smoother the 2nd turn)

Dough should be very malleable and smooth at this point and you have two options:

Either start shaping for your recipe or wrap dough in plastic to either set in the fridge until ready to use, or freeze.

Dough bakes well at 350 F.

ENJOY!!!!

Honey Soy Chicken Breasts

The sweet smell of all-day, marinated chicken baking in the oven is delectable to the senses. 

This simple, melt in your mouth, Honey Soy Chicken is perfect for your easy week night menu and truly doesn't require a lot of attention or clean up (YEAH!!!) 

Simple.Sweet.Soy

Ingredients 
4 chicken breasts 
1/4 cup honey 
1/3 cup light soy sauce 
1/2 tsp ground pepper 
4 garlic cloves, minced 
1tbs ginger, grated (I omitted this because I didn't have it) 

Directions:
Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, pepper, garlic, and ginger in a small bowl. 
Place chicken breasts in a zip lock bag and pour honey-soy mixture over the chicken.
Give it some good shakes and place in the fridge to marinate a few hours/over night--pretty much until your ready to cook it. 

Preheat oven 375 
Place marinated chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet (easy clean up, told you!) and brush some of the sauce over the chicken. 
Bake for 45 min. 
Take the extra sauce and place it in a small sauce pan on LOW heat to simmer. 
Brush sauce on chicken every 10 minutes until chicken is fully cooked through. 

 Serve with some Fried Rice and/or veggies. 

ENJOY!!!!!

Apple Cider Quinoa Salad

I got this recipe from THIS hilarious YouTube video.

The man knew his quinoa and had some tasteful ideas for making a simple extremely versatile quinoa salad.

I was excited and nervous to add the apple cider vinegar.

Vinegar, as many of us know, has a very strong taste, but "would it go well with beans", I questioned. I've never paired them before.

 Alas, "Never fear" I exclaimed after a taking a bite. Apple cider vinegar never ceases to amaze me. 

Besides it having a just enough of a great kick in the mouth taste, it has great health benefits and is so versatile . 

You can read about some HERE

In the end I added some of my own ingredients for my personal taste-black beans-- but as the guy says, you really can use what ever is in your fridge: Clean it out and make a salad.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked*
3 small yellow sweet peppers, chopped
1 cup black beans, rinsed
3-4 small cherry tomatoes, diced
1 small carrot, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

* click HERE to find how to cook delicious, fluffy quinoa

Directions:
Place cooked quinoa* in a large bowl or baking dish.
Add olive oil and apple cider vinegar and gently fold into the quinoa.
Add chopped sweet peppers, carrots, black beans, and salt.
Gently fold in tomatoes--not too much or they will get mushy.

* Quinoa can be hot or cold (I made mine in advance and pulled it out of the fridge. DELICIOUS!)

Viola! Done!
Now eat as is, in a pitta, or soup-- I made this for a potluck and many people loved adding it to a soup! So really it works for anything

Again, feel free to add anything you want, I think some purple onion might go nicely, and maybe some cucumber.

ENJOY!!!!

Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing

Ranch is not my favorite salad dressing, BUT I sure did love it as dip for many many other foods. However, along with many other foods during my healthy lifestyle change, ranch was almost eliminated. 

BUT NOT NOW!!!!!

Thank goodness for the wonderful person who posted this recipe and also that person who pinned it on Pinterest. 

Using my all time favorite healthy food: Greek Yogurt, how can I not love this. 

With only 2 ingredients and 200x more healthy for you, you can't go wrong.

                                  So make some and dip your veggies in it!

Ingredients:
1 packet ranch "DIPS" mix (NOT the salad dressing mix)
1 cup of Plain greek yogurt
*optional: 1/2 cup of milk (makes it more liquid-y, perfect for salad dressing, but if you want a thick dip omit)

Directions:
Mix it all together in a small bowl. 
Serve with your favorite veggies, or drizzle over a salad. 

Gahhh so good. 

ENJOY!!!!

Healthy Mexican Pizza

When I was a young girl, I loved Taco Bell's mexican pizza.
I could eat one whole paired with hard-shelled 1-2 tacos and soda. 1000+ calories without a blink of an eye. 

Thank goodness I have learned different eating habits.

But I still crave the layered beefy and bean entree. 
So using some healthier food ingredients I created this delicious alternative that tastes PHENOMENAL. 

Ingredients:
2 corn tortillas
1 tsp olive oil 
2 oz 93% or more ground beef
2 tbs salsa of choice
3 tbs black beans
1 tsp sriracha
1/8 cup shredded cheese
chopped lettuce

Directions: 

Cook ground beef to your liking (I had left overs from tacos earlier in the week)

Preheat oven to 400
Spray, wipe olive oil on both sides of the corn tortillas
Bake in oven until crispy and golden brown, turning once

Smash black beans in a bowl and mix with sriracha

When tortillas are done. Top one tortilla with warm beef, salsa, and 3/4 of the cheese.
Top the other tortilla with the smashed beans mixture. 

Microwave for 30 sec. 
Top cheese tortilla with lettuce, then place smashed bean tortilla on top of beef tortilla and top with 1 tsp of either salsa or sriracha (if you like it extra spicy) and the other 1/4 of the cheese. 

Enjoy!!!!

Nutritional Info:

all approx depending on the ingredients/brand you use. 

257 cal * 28 carbs * 4 sat fat * 19g protein* 5 fiber

Slow Cooker Chicken Quinoa Chili

I love fix it and forget it meals. 

This one in particular because it's perfect for those cool weather days, those days when you don't want do anything but snuggle under the covers, watch tv, or read a good book. 

This wasn't one of those days for me, but a girl can dream. 

However, it did turn out wonderfully delicious!

If you've been following along with my blog you've probably noticed new food addiction to quinoa. It's such a wonderful seed full of great health benefits and best of all KEEPS YOU FULL!

But the real truth as to why this recipe? 
Not that it was easy (it was), not that I could make it and forget it (I did, until the timer went off), not because it's healthy (it is!), but because I made a small loaf of french bread in my NEW bread machine and needed a good hearty soup to eat it with. 
Oh yeah!

So fix it, forget it, remember it, eat it!

Recipe adapted from Sweet Treats and More

Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts (mine were frozen!)*
1 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can of Rotel
1 can reduced sodium black beans
1 cup of frozen corn (or 1 can or corn) 
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped (I used 3 small sweet peppers: 1 yellow, 2 red)
1-2** tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

* If using frozen chicken, follow directions below. 
   If using thawed chicken reduce time to 3-5 hours. 
** I used 2 tsp for everything because I love spices!
 
Directions:
Place chicken on bottom of slow cooker, dump liquids first, then solids, then seasonings. Stir. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. 
When time is up, either remove chicken and shred, or shred in  pot.
Stir well to combine. 
Top with shredded cheese, and/or a dollop of plain greek yogurt if desired!

Enjoy!!!!

Streusel Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

This is a little decadent twist of taste to the simple coffee cake, and

 I love it. 

A rich, creamy center surrounded by warm sweet bread is the perfect partner for my espresso roast coffee in the mornings (or late afternoon, or quiet nights)

It's easy to prepare and easily adaptable for particular health concerns. 

Bake away!

Ingredients:

Cake
1 cup Whole wheat flour
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs butter (or applesauce*)
 
Filling
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Crumble Topping
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbs applesauce (or butter)
1 tsp vanilla
~1  cup of flour, divided

*If you replace applesauce for the butter you might want to reduce the sugar a bit because applesauce itself, even the unsweetened, all natural kind is quite sweet. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
Grease a 7x11 pan, set aside ( I used my Misto or Spray Pump filled with half water half olive oil)

Crumble First: Mix everything together in a small bowl with a pastry cutter, or fork. If mixture is too wet add in 1 tbs of flour at a time to help crumble the mixture. Set aside.

Filling Next: Beat cream cheese, and egg in a small bowl for 1 min then add sugar and vanilla. Set aside

Cake Last, but not Least: Mix flours, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat butter (or applesauce) and sugar in a small bowl until creamy. Add in egg, vanilla and milk. Add flour mixture into wet and beat until well combined. 

Pour half of the cake batter into pan. 
Evenly spread filling onto of batter with a spatula, leaving about a 1/2 inch of the batter showing around the edges. 
Pour rest of the cake batter on top of filling. 
Then sprinkle crumble all over the top of the mixture. 

Bake for 30-35 min. or until a knife comes out without runny dough. 

Cool for 15 min, then slice and enjoy with a nice warm cup of coffee. 

ENJOY!!!!

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Quinoa Granola

Quinoa Burns.

The first food experiment making this granola was a failure. 

Burnt to a crisp being only 15 min in the oven.

So note to self, and all, DO NOT bake uncooked quinoa at the temp of 400 degrees for 15 min. 

However,

 the second attempt  was amazing!!!!

I decided to cook the quinoa and then bake it at the lower temp of 300 (bumping it to 350 once I knew it wasn't going to burn) and it turned into a batch of cinnamony, sweet pebbles of bliss. 

It works well as a topping for yogurt, smoothies, and ice cream!!!! 

This could even be eaten as a cereal; ALL coupled with  ample amounts of protein and fiber.

Bake away my friends

Ingredients: 

1 cup quinoa, cooked
1 tbs cinnamon
1tbs honey--add more if you want it sweeter or brown sugar!
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Pat dry cooked quinoa with paper towels 

--It's okay if not completely dry--

Place cinnamon, honey, and vanilla in a bowl.

Mix in quinoa with a spatula until well combined. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dump cinnamon/honey quinoa mixture on it and spread out.

Bake in 10 min intervals for 30-45 min. 

Every 10 min stir/flip quinoa. 

It will slowly bake into a deep rich brown and crunchy mix. 

Let cool for 2 min and transfer into a air-tight container for freshness--that is if you don't eat it all right then and there

ENJOY!!!!

** this is a very very versatile recipe! Feel free to add anything you want to the granola to suit you taste**