Hey everyone!! Sorry, I’ve been on vacation in Gatlinburg so I haven’t really had a chance to post anything! I’ve missed it!! I can’t wait to get right back to it(:
Black Rice Salad
Oh my word, guys this dish rocks (: Oh, and it can easily be turned into a soup by adding chicken broth (which rocks too!) AND! It can easily be turned carnivorous just by adding your favorite source of meat! If you’re vegetarian, and need some extra protein, just add some yummy shelled edamame! (:
Ingredients:
-1 cup uncooked black rice, cooked by package directions.
-1 cup fresh green beans,stems removed
-1 large, cleaned, grated carrot
-heaping 1/4 cup slivered almonds
-1 carton cherry tomatoes, all halved
-1 small, purple onion, thinly chopped
-1 8 oz package mushrooms, roughly chopped
-2 tablespoons orange sauce (I use the Panda Express brand)
-dash of salt and pepper
Notes: Dried cranberries would be LOVELY with this, I didn’t have any on hand though :/
Directions:
1.Cook your rice, let cool for a few minutes.
2. Make sure all of your veggies are chopped to size and all stems are removed from the beans.
3. Add everything to the bowl and make sure it is well incorporated.Voila! Salad (:
Notes: Black rice is a very VERY healthy choice, a little high in calories BUT it’s a whole grain, it’s gluten, cholesterol and sodium free food! It’s considered a superfood, people (: Oh…and it’s delicious (: Way better than brown rice, so glad I came across this stuff!
Marshmallow & Coconut Fruit Salad
Did everyone have a good Memorial Day?? I know I did, family , food, and uhm… more fun food ;D Cook out food really is just more heart warming than any other food ever. I can’t cook on the grill without getting warm fuzzies thinking of all the Fourth of July’s, Labor Days and whatnot I’ve spent with my wonderful family. I really do love you guys, but you know that (: Now that I got that sappy sweetness out of the way (I do apologize) lets get onto THIS little bowl of sweetness (:
Marshmallow & Coconut Fruit Salad
Ingredients
-carton of blueberries
-carton of strawberries, halved and leaves removed
-2 large, firm bananas, slices
- large, seedless chunk of watermelon, cubed
-3/4 container of Walden Farms 0 calorie marshmallow topping( you can find it at kroger for sure)
-1/4 cup or more shredded, unsweetened coconut (you could use sweetened, it’s just not my favorite.)
-dash of vanilla
-dash of lime juice
-3 tbsp. mini marshmallows.
-Splenda to taste (I don’t think it needed it, but just in case.)
Directions
1. Make sure all of your fruit is cut into bite sized pieces.
2. Toss everything in a bowl and mix well, make sure everything is evenly coated.
3. Cover and refrigerate if you aren’t eating it immediately. If you are, ENJOY (:
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Single Serving Brownie Batter
Soooo…you know how I was going to try to NOT eat dessert for a whole week? FAIL! I woke up Saturday and guess what I had for breakfast? Tiramisu Gellato. Delicious, yes! Healthy….no. (:
I think I’m better off just eating healthy desserts when I want it then not eating it all week and crashing and burning at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning with a MASSIVE sweet tooth (: Yay for healthy brownie batter with beans! Oops, did I just tell you that. Please try it still…I promise it’s delicious.
Ingredients:
-11 sweetener packets OR a scant 1/2 cup of Splenda.
-1 tsp (or less depending on preference) instant coffee
-1/2 cup beans
-2 tbsp. sugar free chocolate syrup
-1-2 tbsp milk, depening on how thick you want it.
-1/2 tbsp. fat free cream cheese (you can omit, it just makes it smoother.)
-1 1/2 tsp. peanutbutter, or your favorite nut butter.
-1 tbsp. dark choco chips, melted. (can omit, just use more sugar free chocolate syrup if your watching your sugar or caloric intake.)
-1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
-1 tbsp oats.
-1 tbsp walnuts (or favorite nut) chopped.
Directions:
1. Put everything into a blender or food processor, except for the oats and walnuts. Blend until smooth.
2. Stir in the oats and nuts until fully incorporated, put in a bowl and let chill for a bit, as the flavors inhance as it sits.
Notes- I’m freezing mine for a period of time to see if it tastes like thick fudge, feel free to try (:
Cheesy Bean & Mushroom Bake
I feel like I’ve been overloading you with green bean recipes, but I don’t want that big bag that I got from Meijer to go bad! Hence: A yummy new bake that’s reminiscent of bread pudding and breakfast casserole. (: Oh, how I love cheese. ♥
Ingredients:
-2 cups green beans, stems removed
-2 egg whites
-6 tbsp. milk
-2 tsp salt…more to taste definitely, dash of pepper
-2 pieces of 35 calorie bread (or regular), toasted lightly and cut into cubes
-3/4 of an 8 ounces package of sliced and cleaned mushrooms
- 1 ounces fat free cream cheese
-1/2 cup fat free cheddar cheese
-1 slice fat free pepper jack cheese (it has a spicy kick, so feel free to use your favorite flavor of cheese)
-1/4 tsp. oil
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.Bring some salted water to a boil, put in the green beans for six minutes
3. Meanwhile, saute the mushrooms in the 1/4 teaspoon of oil and a dash of salt and pepper until flimsy, but not mushy.
4. Drain your green beans once the 6 minutes is up and add some salt and pepper. Set aside.
5. Whisk your egg whites,cream cheese and milk together with salt and pepper.
6. In 2 large greased ramekins, divide your toasted bread cubes evenly, divide the mushrooms on top of that evenly, then the green beans evenly. Pour over the egg mixture evenly into each ramekin. Top each with 1/4 cup cheese and each with half a cheese slice.
7. Bake in the over for about 20-25 minutes. You may need more salt depending on your taste. Enjoy!
Secret Healthy Granola
The best kind in my book! I loooooove…LOVE granola(especially this one with a yummy, protein packed secret ingredient), but I’ve really had trouble finding recipes or store bought brands that aren’t completely drowned in sugar, oil or butter. Plus, you sound all fancy if you makehomemade granola oo la la..Okay, enough with the snobby British accent, you probably just want the recipe (:
Ingredients:
-2 cups whole oats
-1 banana
-1 tbsp honey or sugar free maple syrup
-3/4 cup water
-3 tsp cinnamon, divided
-2 tsp vanilla, divided
-1 1/2 tsp. oil of choice
-1 can chickpeas (AHHH SECRET NOW GIVEN )
-10 sweetener packets or 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of Splenda, divided.
-1/2 cup of your favorite nuts and seeds (I used walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds)
-1/2 cup dried fruit ( I used dates and raisins)
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.In a blender, process the banana, water, honey, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt until very smooth.
3. In a large bowl mix your oats and the banana mixture together set aside. Don’t worry if it looks to goopy, it for sure crisps up (:
4. Drain and rinse your chick peas, then mix them in another bowl with oil, 1 tsp cinnamon, 4 sweetener packets (4 tbsp. splenda) and a tsp vanilla.
5. You will most likely need two separate pans for this, it’s a pretty big amount, but it condenses once bakes. Make sure you really spray the baking sheet that you put the granola on with cooking spray, you don’t want it to stick, that’s sad :( . Also, make your oven racks close together so both the chickpeas and granola cook evenly.
6. Put in the oven for 45 minutes, taking out and stirring ever 10 minutes, and braking apart any big clumps in the granola. The last 5 minutes, add your nuts and fruit of choice to the granola.
7. When you take it out of the oven, in a large bowl dump out the chickpeas and IMMEDIATELY sprinkle on the remain splenda and brown sugar while it’s still hot, let it cool for a few minutes so it cools and sticks, then mix in your granola-fruit mixture. Voila! Weird but AWESOME granola!
Notes: The chickpeas do not taste like beans at all, they’re like an earthy candy. Ahhh! I enjoyed mine like cereal with milk and a sliced banana on top.
Savory Sweet Potato, Pork and Date Casserole
As you can tell, I’m on a sweet-main dish kick lately…not that that’s a problem ;) I think it’s from the fact that I haven’t eaten a single dessert for a whopping..oh 3 days. Almost 4.
GASP! What kind of torture have I willingly allowed myself to go through?
Okay, in all honesty it’s not THAT bad…but I’ll be happy when next week is here so I can make some awesome new dessert…Strawberry Fudge? Holla (:
Savory Sweet Potato, Pork and Date Casserole
Ingredients:
-3 oz dried, chopped dates
-4 ounces pork (pre-cooked) , cubed
-one HUMONGO sweet potato, when I say HUMONGO I mean the big Mac Daddy Overlord of Sweet Potatoes. (:
-1/2 cup fat free cheddar cheese
-2 ounces fat free cream cheese
-2 tbsp sliced, canned olives
-3 tbsp. milk
-3 tsp. cinnamon, divided
-2 tsp brown sugar, divided
-3 sweetener packets
-dash of vanilla, dash of salt
-spray butter (optional..but delicious:D )
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Pierce your sweet potato, a lot, you don’t want it to explode in the microwave (: Put in the microwave for 6 minutes, flip it, cook for 2 minutes or until it’s mushy but still slightly firm. (Just not falling apart).
-Meanwhile, combine the cheddar cheese, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 sweetener packet, a dash of salt and vanilla, then stir and set aside.
-In a separate bowl put the cream cheese in and microwave until soft and slightly runny, whisk in the 3tbsp’s of milk, 1 tsp of cinnamon,chopped dates, and the other two sweetener packets.Set aside.
-Slice your baked potato into circle slices, spray an 8x8 pan with nonstick cooking spray and place your potatoes in the bottom of the dish evenly, you may have to layer them a little. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of brown sugar.
-Pour the cream cheese-date mixture over the sweet potatoes, on top of that spread out the cubed pork evenly. Top that with olives, then sweet cheddar cheese mixture.
-Sprinkle the top with a handful of chopped dates, the remaining tsp of cinnamon, and the remaining tsp of brown sugar.Then spray with optional (but not really:D) spray butter.
-Pop it in the oven for 5 minutes, then move it to the top rack for about 5-7 minutes, just so the brown sugar and butter gets delicious-er. (:
Sweet Bean, Raisin and Peach Salad
Guys, I found the.best.deal.EVER at Meijer today!!!!
Ya know the clearance section of the produce, like if they order too much and whatnot? Well I just happened to come across a HUGE bag of FRESH green beans (bigger than the bags they bag your actual groceries in!!) for…
2 dollars?
1.50?
No!!!! $1.00. Yes I know, it’s just green beans, but hey, when life gives you lemons make lemonade (: In other words….LET ME BE HAPPY ABOUT MY GREEN BEANS (:
Sweet Broccoli, Peach and Raisin Salad
Ingredients:
-3 cups fresh green beans, stems trimmed.
-1 peach, diced
-1/4 cup and a tbsp. raisins
-3 tbsp. fat free miracle whip OR light mayonnaise
-1 to 2 sweetener packets, depending on your preference
-1/8 tsp. salt
Directions:
-Boil a large pot of salted water, once boiling put in the green beans, return to a boil , take off the lid and boil for 6 minutes (you want them to still be slightly crunchy)
-Prepare a big bowl of ice water for the beans, this stops them from continuing to cook and get soggy after you take them out of the boiling water.(This is blanching)
-After the six minutes is up, drain your beans, stick them in the water, gently swirl them around, and drain them again (:
-In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, sweetener and salt. Set aside.
-Mix the beans, raisins and peach dices in a bowl, then mix in the mayo mixture, make sure everything is coated evenly (: Maybe let chill for a bit in the fridge…
or if you’re my best friend soul mate eat it out of the bowl (:
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Did you happen to miss the best meal of the day yesterday?…
Dessert. It’s a sad, sad version of Ally when she tries not to eat dessert for a whole week. Tragic really. I’m gonna die. But that’s besides the point.
So this is why I made Carrot Cake Oatmeal…I gotta get some sweet in somewhere ;)
Ingredients:
-3/4 cup matchstick carrots, or carrots put in a blender until chunky, not pureed
-1/3 cup of old fashioned oats
-1/4 bran cereal (branflakes, finerOne, etc..)
-1 cup water (or milk if you’d like)
-1/4 cup liquid egg substitute
-2 tsp cinnamon
-3 sweetner packets, or 3 tbsp. splenda
-1 tsp. brown sugar
-dash of vanilla
-dash of salt
-2 tablespoons of chopped pecans
-1 tablespoon fat free cream cheese, microwaved and melted
-drizzle of sugar free maple syrup
Directions:
1. Put water, cinnamon and oats in a medium sized pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil.
2. Once boiling, put in branflakes and carrots in the mixture, reduce to a medium low heat and stir. Let cook about 3 minutes longer,covered.
3. Remove the lid and stir, it should be thick at this point. Stir in the liquid egg substitute, make sure you stir it constantly, or it will scramble. Haha, ew :P. The egg will cook, don’t worry. Also, it makes it super creamy..and adds a little protein.
4.Add sweetener, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir, then put in your favorite bowl, top with cream cheese, pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup.
hey…yeah..yeah you right there. You hear me? if you sneakily put some butter on the top no one will know..and hey then it’s still healthy.
Our little secret. (:
