"Decadent" Chocolate Raspberry Oat Bran

I had a request in the comments section for the recipe for my Chocolate Raspberry Oat Bran so I figured I'd just make a new post about it instead of responding in the comments.

As I mentioned before, I love oat bran because it's smoother than rolled oats, but you could easily do this with rolled oats as well. The cooking time would just vary a bit.

I really don't know if this even qualifies as a "recipe" but here it is nonetheless!

"Decadent" Chocolate Raspberry Oat Bran
source: me

1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup almond milk (or regular milk)
1/2 a banana, thinly sliced
1/3 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

1 tablespoon Nutella or other chocolate nut butter

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small pot and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-high. Stir vigorously every minute or so until it thickens to the consistency that you want (usually mine takes about 5 minutes). The raspberries and the banana will completely disintegrate into the mixture so that there won't be any chunks (though if you want chunks you could just add the raspberries or banana later).

Once the oat bran is cooked, serve and top with a dollop of Nutella.

Enjoy!

Super Bowl Detox Smoothie

This morning I was in dire need of a Super Bowl Detox.

I blame these:

And these:

And definitely these:

And we can't forget the (unphotographed) margaritas. Ouch.

A smoothie made with all kinds of nutritious stuff thrown in fit the bill perfectly for a little healthy pick-me-up after a night of indulgences.

Have you ever seen the so-called "Green Monster" smoothies? Well, this was definitely a Green Monster.

Don't freak out on me. It doesn't taste green....it tastes like a normal fruity smoothie. What makes it green is the big handfuls of baby spinach that add great nutrients, but add no flavor whatsoever.

The best thing about a smoothie is that you can make it however you want and use up fruit that's on it's last leg. In my case I had half a container of fresh blueberries that were about to go to Fruit Heaven, but instead got to become part of this scrumptious and nutritious smoothie. That's a much better way to go, if you ask me! (We'll just ignore the fact that they got pulverized in a blender...at least it was a quick death!)

Here's what my smoothie was composed of, but feel free to get creative with your own and use up what you have!

Super Bowl Detox Smoothie

source: me

1 banana (mine was frozen)

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 cup 0% greek yogurt

2-3 big handfuls of baby spinach

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Raspberry Wheat Bran Muffins

How about a healthy AND delicious muffin? Yes please!

{No, Libby, you can't have one. These are alllll for me!}

That's exactly what I said when I saw these Raspberry Oat Bran Muffins featured on Peas and Thank You a while back. I finally got around to making them and I'm so glad I did!

I think raspberries are probably my favorite fruit, so incorporating them into a muffin just makes me swoon. Throw in some healthy fat (coconut oil) and a good fiber source (bran) and you have a winner!

I made a few substitutes that are noted below in purple.

Raspberry Oat Bran Muffins

Source: Peas and Thank You

Makes 12-14 muffins

1/2 c. non-dairy or organic milk (I used almond milk)

1/4 c. orange juice

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c. canola, coconut or safflower oil (I used coconut oil)

1/2 t. almond extract (subbed lemon extract b/c that's what I had)

1/2 c. organic brown sugar

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour **see note at bottom

3/4 c. oat bran (subbed wheat bran)

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. salt

1 c. frozen or fresh organic raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine milk, juice, applesauce, oil, almond extract, and brown sugar and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, oat bran, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Add wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Gently, gently, gently add raspberries and fold. Gently.

Fill muffin cups 3/4ths of the way, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted gently in the middle comes out clean.

I did the nutritional breakdown per muffin on these and it is as follows:

Calories 150, Fat 5.15 g, Carbs 24.8, Fiber 4.4 g, Sugar 10.71 g, Protein 2.18 g

**Ashley's Note: I had the hardest time finding Whole Wheat Pastry Flour when we lived in Texas. Here in Arizona they carry it in bulk bins at my grocery store, but if you can't find it you could try subbing half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. I think Bob's Red Mill also makes whole wheat pastry flour if you can find that.

Also, these freeze really well! I immediately stuck half the recipe in a ziploc freezer bag and threw 'em into the freezer for later. All you have to do is heat them in the microwave for a minute or so to defrost. An easy and convenient breakfast on the go!

See that one in the back left? Let's just call that Quality Control. :)

Breakfast of Champions

I love eggs. They are one of my favorite foods in the world....scrambled, fried, poached, etc. I just love 'em!

But as we all know, eggs have a lot of cholesterol and aren't always the healthiest thing to eat. So many people switch to egg whites, but if I'm going to eat egg whites instead of my beloved cholesterol-laden eggs, they better be spruced up a LOT.

That's how I came up with this delicious little gem of a breakfast sandwich one morning when I was thinking "How can I make these egg whites edible?" And it worked! This is definitely my favorite new breakfast option!

I think I'll call it...a Healthy Egg White & Hummus Sandwich. Very original, no?

I use the kind of egg whites that come already separated and in a handy little carton.

I cook up the equivalent of about 3 egg whites I think...? I don't measure, I just pour until it seems like enough so it varies from day to day. Anyway I cook them up in a skillet with a little salt & pepper.

Then I spread a toasted bagel (I used one of those 140 calorie bagel things in this case) or a piece of whole wheat toast with about 1 Tbsp hummus. As I mentioned in my last post, I am really crushing on the White Bean & Basil hummus from Trader Joe's but any version would work (though I think a flavored hummus would add more of a kick).

Then I throw some baby spinach on the sandwich and call it a day! Sometimes I saute the spinach a little first to get it to wilt down and sometimes I don't.

The calorie content comes out to between 200 and 300 calories depending on how many egg whites and what kind of bread I use. But it keeps me full for HOURS!

This is such a delicious AND nutritious breakfast! I highly recommend that you give it a try!

What is your favorite healthy yet delicious breakfast?

What do I do with Wheat Bran?

Remember how I talked about cleaning out my pantry a few weeks ago? Well, as I was taking inventory of all my pantry items, I found an almost-full bag of wheat bran and had no idea why I even had it in the first place.

What the heck do I do with wheat bran?!

Then I turned the package around and noticed a yummy sounding recipe for Cranberry Quick Bread.

And I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand. I also needed a breakfasty (it's a word) item to send with Alex to work the next day for his "Birthday Breakfast" with his squadron. I love when things like that happen! It's just meant to be. :)

So I got to cookin' and this recipe came together in NO time! The hardest part was waiting the hour that it takes to bake. But when it's done, you get rewarded with this beauty:

YUM! Golden brown perfection!

And the taste is really great too. It's not too sweet with the lovely contrast of tart cranberries and the bran and walnuts add a nice texture to it.

This recipe is one that I would make again and again. In fact, I would probably go make it right now, if it weren't for the fact that I'm sitting in an empty house without any of my kitchen tools. Turns out, a random package of wheat bran isn't such a bad thing to have around after all!

Disclaimer: Although this recipe may seem healthy, since it includes things like whole wheat flour and wheat bran, it really isn't (see nutritional info at the bottom of the recipe). I'm sure there are a lot of healthy substitutions that could be made for the oil, egg, orange juice, etc. but I haven't experimented with that yet. Maybe I will sometime soon though.

Wheat Bran Cranberry Quick Bread

Source: Bob's Red Mill

• 1/2 cup White Flour, Unbleached

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

• 1 cup Wheat Bran

• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar

• 1 tsp. Baking Powder

• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

• 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

• 1/2 cup Walnut Pieces

• 1 cup Cranberries (I used half dried and half frozen)

• 1 Egg

• 1/2 cup Milk

• 1 cup Orange Juice

• 1/3 cup Oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, milk, orange juice and oil. In a separate bowl, combine flours, bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, walnuts and cranberries. Add dry mixture into wet and mix until just combined. Pour into a greased 9x5x3” loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the bread is firm in the center. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove to rack and cool before slicing. Makes 1 loaf, yielding 12 slices.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size: 1 Slice (87g) - Calories 220, Calories from Fat 70, Total Fat 7g, Cholesterol 20mg, Sodium 200mg, Total Carbohydrate 39g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 22g and Protein 4g.

Ashley's Notes: These could also easily be transformed into muffins, by placing the batter in muffin tins and decreasing the cooking time by about half (just a guess).

Yes, I Still Shave My Pits

I made my own granola today.

But yes, I still shave my pits. I'm not that granola. :)

(Thanks to my husband for that brilliant idea of a post title. He makes me laugh.)

When I was visiting Seattle my friend Megan fed us some of her homemade granola and was talking up the ease and cost effectiveness of doing it yourself. I can honestly say that I never even really thought about making my own granola, which is weird for me since I'm always looking for new things to cook/bake.

Anyway, after eating Megan's delicious homemade granola I knew I needed to try making some of my own soon. Then I saw Heather Eats Almond Butter post about how she made her own granola using this recipe from Healthy Coconut.

Double Coconut Nut Granola? Um...yes please!

And let me tell you, this stuff is like CRACK! My hand kept finding its way in the bowl after it was done cooking!

See?

I can't wait to add this to yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream....so many possibilities!

Double Coconut Nuts Granola

Source: Healthy Coconut

• 1 & 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup slice almonds
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (I used coconut "chips" instead of flakes...they were a bit more substantial, which I like)
• 2 tbsp agave (You could sub in honey if you don't have it)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (If you don't have it, any oil would probably work here...although then it would only be Single Coconut Granola)
• 1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put agave and coconut oil on very low heat until thin. Stir in almonds, walnuts, coconut and vanilla. Mix until they are coated well. Add oats to the mixture and mix well.

Transfer the mixture on a greased non-stick cookie sheet. Spread them evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and then stir mixture. Bake for another 10 minutes or so. Watch it carefully. The mixture will turn brown quickly.

Blissful Breakfast

This morning was one of those lazy weekend mornings that just felt so right. The weather was PERFECT. Like, amazingly perfect. 70 degrees and sunny.

70 degrees?!?!? I'm pretty sure it hasn't been under 85 degrees since ohhhhhh.......March? Yeah...amazing.

Makes me totally excited for Fall now!

My breakfast was also blissful, so I just have to share it with yall.

Two Eggo Low-Fat Nutrigrain waffles topped with Almond Butter Mousse a la Girl Meets Health (just almond butter stirred into plain greek yogurt), blueberries & ground flax (for some awesome Omega-3's).

BLISS I tell you!

Seriously, Gracie, that Almond Butter Mousse was a brilliant idea and I love you for it!

I also enjoyed a refreshing iced coffee.

(P.S. It's not showing up great in the photo but my new nail color is called Cajun Shrimp (by Opi) and I loooove it. It's a coral/pinky color.)

It was so beautiful out that we ate our breakfasts al fresco in the cool morning air. I got to look at this cutie while I ate my blissful breakfast:

He ate some leftover homemade Peach Waffles that we made a while back and froze.

This was all that was left after I demolished my plate:

Now we're off to College Station to watch the Aggies win their first game of the season! Whoop!! Can't wait!

Are you excited for football season? NFL or college or both? I love college football but do not care at all about NFL.

Make Your Own Greek Yogurt

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

We've all heard that statement before. But have you heard the lesser known version?

When your grocery store runs out of greek yogurt, make it yourself.

No? Well, you should.

It all started when for the 2nd week in a row, my grocery store was completely out of all types of greek yogurt. Apparently they decided it would be a good idea to rip out and remodel their yogurt section right about now.

So for the past two weeks in a row I've been desperately searching every nook and cranny of the store for where they might have stuck the greek yogurt....to no avail.

I knew I couldn't go another week without my beloved greek yogurt. I've been eating greek yogurt for breakfast EVERY MORNING lately. With fresh peaches and granola and a drizzle of agave nectar. YUM.

Needless to say, I was becoming desperate.

So instead of my missing greek yogurt, I picked this up:

Plain old regular yogurt. YUCK. For some reason I seriously can't stomach regular yogurt but I LOVE LOVE LOVE greek yogurt. I think it's something about the watery nature of regular yogurt that I hate...which also explains why I love greek yogurt because it's not watery.

I know it seems irrational but I never claimed to be a rational person.

Anyway, I bought the regular 'ole yogurt and had a plan up my sleeve.

You see, I'd once read somewhere that you could easily strain your own yogurt and make it into greek-style yogurt. I just so happened to have cheesecloth on hand (yes, I'm serious and yes I know I'm a foodie dork who hoards things like cheesecloth "just in case").

However even if I didn't have cheesecloth, I've read that you can do this with a coffee filter or a thick paper towel too. So don't despair if you don't keep things like cheesecloth on hand like me!

I lined a colander with two layers of cheesecloth and then placed the colander inside a glass bowl to catch the water that drains out. Then I piled in the yogurt and stuck it in the fridge overnight.

When I woke up in the morning, I found this gloriousness:


I was SHOCKED by how much water came out of the yogurt overnight! SHOCKED. And really excited.

The consistency was PERFECT and it tasted just like greek yogurt.

I proceeded to pile half of it back into the container and half of it straight into my mouth.


Now there's no reason to distress if the grocery store runs out of greek yogurt.

PHEW!

Major relief.

Now THAT'S making lemonade out of lemons!

Peachy Keen

We're still working through our box of {delicious!} Fredricksburg peaches and loving every minute of it! In an effort to go through a couple of them that were about to be overripe, I decided to bake something with them.

I remembered a recipe I saw recently on How Sweet It Is {a blog I just recently found and LOVE} for Peach Pie Muffins. They sure looked delicious but the best part about the recipe is that they were healthified...no butter or oil at all!

Yesssss....that means I can eat 6 at a time and not feel guilty!

Wait...forget I just said that. I'll distract you by showing you this:

Don't mind my electric blue nail polish! I know it's hard to focus on anything else but try to focus on the muffin deliciousness.

{Side Note: Electric blue nail polish: Appropriate or inappropriate for a casual marketing office? Today at work I felt a little like the rebellious gothic kid in junior high....but I kind of liked it.}

Anyway, back to the muffins!
See those gorgeous yellow chunks? That would be fresh peach chunks nestled in cakey muffinness...uh YUM!

Here are some photos of the process:

Adding the peaches to the batter

All mixed up

Droppin' spoonfuls of batter into muffin tins {Droppin' it like it's hot}

All baked up!

Peach Pie Muffins

Source: How Sweet It Is

{My changes in red}

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce {I added a couple more tablespoons...see below for explanation}

1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt {I added a couple more tablespoons}

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups chopped, fresh peaches

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place muffin cups in muffin tins.

Mix sugar, applesauce, yogurt and egg until creamy. Add vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir until completely smooth. Fold in peaches. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Top with course sugar - Dangit! I forgot to do this!.

Bake for 15-20 minutes {I baked for 22 minutes because mine were still undercooked after 20 minutes}, until toothpick poked in center muffin comes out clean.

My only problem with the recipe was that I mixed up the batter and it was wayyyyyy too thick for muffin batter. It was practically like cookie dough thick! I don't know why that happened but I ended up adding a couple more tablespoons each of yogurt and applesauce to thin it out. This resulted in a super moist dough...almost too moist {if there is such a thing} but they still tasted and looked great so I didn't care!

UPDATE: Upon further inspection, I realized that the reason why my batter was heavier/thicker is because I ignored the part of the recipe where it said to use pastry flour. I just used straight up whole wheat flour. Oooops!

So I guess the moral of the story is that you can use normal whole wheat flour in this recipe but you will need to thin it out with extra yogurt and applesauce. :)

My Go-To Breakfast

On this blog I talk a lot about what I eat for dinner, but I don't often talk about what I eat for breakfast. Well, if you're curious here ya go:


That would be a packet of instant plain oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter and a good squeeze of honey. I call it PB&H Oatmeal. It's sooooooo good and it keeps me full for hours and hours.

I used to be an oatmeal hater, until I started reading healthy living blogs and realized you could do a lot to spruce it up. I soon realized I didn't hate oatmeal, I just hated plain and boring oatmeal.

Add in the honey and peanut butter and I am ALL OVER it and practically licking the bowl clean. So even if you think you hate oatmeal, please give this a try. You can thank me later. :)

Breakfast for Dinner

What's for Dinner? 4/26/2010

Once again, we had no food in the house and no time to go to the grocery store. So we improvised with stuff we had in the house and made breakfast for dinner. It was a random assortment of things: toasted croissants, scrambled eggs with cheese, avocado and a meatless sausage patty. Alex had bacon instead of the meatless sausage....and I may have had a piece or two of the bacon too. :)


Now back to watching Dancing with the Stars. Jake Pavelka is such a cheese!

Brinner {What's for Dinner? 3/4/2010}

Alex and I both love breakfast {most important meal of the day right?!?} and sometimes when we're at a loss as to what to eat for dinner we choose BRINNER! It's simple, cheap and tasty...just the way we like it!

Alex found this recipe for Beer Pancakes online and we decided to try it. We used Shiner Bock beer. I wasn't quite sure what to think about them but they were definitely fluffier than normal pancakes made with Bisquick and they tasted good too! It's a keeper!

That would be beer pancakes with margarine & strawberries, a fried egg (overeasy) and grilled bacon!

Alex recently discovered that you can cook bacon on the grill and he's all about another opportunity to use his grill...

All he does is make a little "pan" out of 2 layers of aluminum foil and then he folds up the sides. Then you just crank up the grill and lay the bacon on it. Cool, huh?