Rainbow Banana Chocolate Muffins

16 March
I have a go to banana muffin recipe that my boys adore.  I have it down to a science and can have a batch of these whipped up in about five minutes.  I often add chocolate to make these even yummier, however I was recently out of chocolate chips and only had some mini M&M’s.  I added those and with the colors bleeding, the batter became whimsical and colorful.

Try these out – you won’t be disappointed.


Rainbow Banana Chocolate Muffins
(makes 18 muffins)
Ingedients
1/2 c. canola oil
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 very ripe bananas, medium size
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 c. flour
3/4 c. mini M&M chocolate candies

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor bowl add the oil, sugar, vanilla and bananas.  Pulse until smooth.   Next add the baking soda and salt.  Pulse 2-3 times.  Add the flour and pulse 2-3 times, just until combined and then add the chocolate candies.  Again, pulse just 1-2 times to distribute them evenly.

Scoop the batter into muffin tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.

Egg White French Toast – A Super Healthy Breakfast for 200 Calories & 10 Grams of Protein

21 February

I have a confession…sometimes I skip breakfast.  Another confession…I hate wasting calories on food I don’t love.

OK, OK, so I know skipping breakfast isn’t healthy and there are numerous reasons why breakfast should never be missed but there are times I just simply forget or don’t have time.  This brings me to my second confession regarding wasting calories…
Sometimes I just don’t want to eat something that I am not looking forward to.  As a girl that is in a constant battle between fitting into my skinny jeans and my love of food it just isn’t worth it to me.  However, my egg white french toast is both a great item to eat for breakfast and it will keep you in your skinny jeans.   The recipe can be whipped up in less than 5 minutes and it is soooooo delicious!  I try to keep this recipe extra healthy by using Ekekiel Bread which is 100% flour less and made of organic sprouted whole grains.  The bread also has 6 grams of dietary fiber per slice and no sugar!  The calorie content may change slightly depending on the type of bread and toppings you use, however the below recipe is for how I like to eat mine.

I hope you have a chance to try this out for yourself.  Please let me know what you think!

Egg White French Toast
Ingredients
1 slice of Ezekiel Bread
1/4 cup egg whites (I buy the egg whites in a container for ease)
dash cinnamon
non-stick cooking spray
1 teaspoon light butter (I like Land of Lakes)
1 T. Pure Maple Syrup

Directions
Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat.   Meanwhile, pour egg whites in a shallow dish and sprinkle in a dash of cinnamon.   Soak break in egg white mixture for about 15 seconds and then flip over and soak the other side of the bread.  Spray the skillet and put the french toast in – cook 1-2 minutes per side and serve.  I like to enjoy mine with some light butter and maple syrup but this would be great with fresh berries or jam as well.

Here is the egg white and cinnamon mixture:
Soak the bread:
Flip over and soak the other side (see how much the bread absorbs):
Cook in a skillet with your non stick spray for a couple of minutes per side and here is what you get:
I like to enjoy mine with light butter and maple syrup:
YUM!

Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

09 February


I love brown sugar…there is something so delicious about the warm, caramel like flavor that nothing seems to compare to.   One day while watching the Food Network (of course) I saw a recipe being prepared with simple syrup when I had an “ah-ha” moment – Brown Sugar Simple Syrup!

I made the concoction which is so simple – by combining 2 parts light brown sugar to 1 part water.  Simmer in saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has melted.  Add a dash of salt and voila –   a yummy, delicious syrup with a warm, caramel flavor.

Some of my favorite ways to use this syrup is over oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, in coffee, yogurt, salad dressings and so much more.  I would definitely try it.  I store mine in the refrigerator and use it all the time.  Enjoy!

Skinny Oatmeal Chocolate Breakfast Cookie

01 January


I adore chocolate chip cookies.  I could eat them morning, noon and night.  So, when I came across this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Wedges from Cooking Light I couldn’t help but think this would make a delicious breakfast to ring in 2014!

Yes, they are still chocolate chip cookies but this recipe is lower fat and overall more healthy, so I thought, “why not?”  Instead of individual cookies you bake this cookie in a pie pan so it is super quick to put together.   I also have to add that each wedge has only 138 calories.


I hope you try this treat out for breakfast or as a snack.  It is delicious and my family just loved it. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Breakfast Cookie Wedges
Ingredients
1/3 c. dark brown sugar, packed
2 T. canola oil
1 T. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 egg white
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. quick cooking oats
3 T. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cooking Spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine First 7 ingredients; stir until well combined.  Add flour, oats and chocolate chips to sugar mixture.  Stir just until combined.

Scrape the dough into a 9-inch glass pie plate coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 13 minutes or until set. Cut into 8 wedges.

Weight Watchers Two Ingredient Cake Mix & Pumpkin Muffins

30 December

The new year is approaching and I am so excited for 2013!  All the possibilities and the chance for a fresh start.   As I began writing this I was thinking about why there are new years resolutions and promises for fresh starts?  After all, we could start fresh any day – what makes January 1st (or 2nd :)) that different?

I can only speak for myself, but I have had an awesomely gluttonous November and December.  It started off with my over the top, rich, decadent Thanksgiving stuffing and I have been indulging (heavily) every since.  Parties, cocktails, cookie exchanges, wine, big dinners, little dinners – everything has been awesome and abundant.  I am beginning to feel the tightness in my jeans, not to mention my protruding muffin top.  Something has to give and I decided to make this year more about healthy recipes.  Starting  now….
You may have heard of these already, I initially found the recipe on Pinterest and have fallen in love with them.  It is super basic, just two ingredients, but soooooo delicious.  I also have to add the caveat that I don’t even like pumpkin.  So here it is:
Weight Watchers Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins (calorie information below)
 
Ingredients
  • One 18.25 box of cake mix, any flavor (for the variety in the photographs I used Devil’s Food, but have made them with yellow cake mix and they are dynamite)
  • One 15 oz. can of 100% pumpkin puree
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
Sift the cake mix in the bowl, this is very important – do not skip this step. See how chunky the cake mix is….
Next, add the pumpkin and mix until completely combined.
Spoon into muffin tins and bake.  For my oven, the mini muffins take 13 minutes and the larger muffins take about 21 minutes.  It really depends on the oven though.
These muffins are so yummy and delicious and really resemble the taste of a brownie.   Let’s also not forget how good pumpkin is for you either.
If you have any yummy, healthy recipes I would love to know what they are.  Please leave a comment or email me and let me know.
Calorie Content: This really depends on how big your muffins are.  For my batch, I calculated the total amount of calories for the entire recipe to be 2060 calories and a total of 18 grams of fat. I made 24 mini muffins and 8 large muffins.  Based on this, I calculated each mini muffin to be about 40 calories and each large muffin to be 150 calories. 

and my two sidekicks…