Now time to Enjoy!
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What are your favorite oatmeal toppings?
Watch my Oatmeal Grow…
Diet
A Healthy Snack for Kids of All Ages
When I heard Foodbuzz was teaming up with Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner to help raise money for the Save the Children Foundation, I knew I had to help. They are trying to inspire families everywhere to roll up their sleeves and get cooking together. You can join Frigidaire Kids’ Cooking Academy to get great recipes, how-to videos and tips, all designed to help involve kids in the kitchen.
When you join, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children Foundation to help make sure that more children have access to healthy foods. Plus, to help spread the word, everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win the daily prize, a kids’ apron set, and the grand prize: a new Double Oven Range from Frigidaire. http://www.maketimeforchange.com/
Also, for every blogger who publishes a post with a kid-friendly recipe, $50 will be donated to the Save the Children Foundation. This is where I (and my adorable little brother) come in!
Crazy Healthy Granola Bars
~This granola bar recipe is extremely versatile, and can be made to suit any diet. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and, of course, sugar-free!
Makes 30 bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup of squash puree (ex. pumpkin, butternut squash, or just throw in a baked sweet potato!)
- 1/2 cup nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, walnut butter, coconut butter…)
- 2 eggs or egg substitutes (I used a mix of flax egg and chia egg. Mix chia or flax with water and let sit for 20 min)
- 2 cups grains (oats, puffed millet, dry cereal…)
- 2 cups of extra add-ins (dried fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate, spices…)
Preheat oven to 375*. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Feel free to add whatever you want to it. The mixture should stick together when raw. If it does not stick together, simply add more nut butter and squash. You may halve, double, or triple the recipe at your pleasure.
Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Let it cool for 5 minutes until cutting into bars.
For those stuck on granola bar add ins, try these ideas:
- PB&J bars: peanut butter, chopped peanuts, dried blueberries and strawberries, oats. Eat sandwich style with jelly.
- Elvis Bar: Substitute mashed banana for the squash. Peanut butter, and bacon bits.
- Carrot Cake Bar: oats, shredded carrot, raisins, coconut.
- Alex’s Bar: My favorite combo. Bananas, unsweetened chocolate, and peanut butter. Must I say more?
- Apple Crumble Bar: oats, almond butter, sliced almonds, cinnamon, apple chunks
- Fudge Bars: Take all the chocolate and cacao you have in the house and dump it into the batter with cocoa powder.
- Reese’s Bars: Chocolate and Peanut butter.
- Gingersnap Bars: almond butter, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg.
Your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, and adorable siblings will love creating their own healthy, sugar-free granola bars! Let them search through the grocery store for their favorite ingredients, and help them learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods. If your child can read, teach them how to identify “bad” ingredients from the ingredients list.
They will have so much fun using their hands to mix the ingredients together. Just make sure they wash their hands first! While the granola bars are baking, help them create labels to individually wrap their bar creations. They will have fun with naming their own special bar and creating a fun label with paper, crayons, markers, pencils, stickers, and tape. I named my first batch “Crazy Bar” because I literally tossed in any nut, grain, fruit, or unsweetened chocolate piece I could find in my cupboard!
These granola bars are the perfect snack for the young and old. Instead of reaching for a candy bar, grab this tasty, unsweetened treat to satisfy your hunger cravings. Kids will more likely eat their own creations anyway 😉
Now you go have fun, and make some healthy granola bars while teaching the little ones around you how to be healthy! If they start forming good habits now, they can stay healthy throughout their life.
Note: it is best to keep the bars refrigerated because they will last longer.
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
Is there a little kid in your life who you would make granola bars with and teach them healthy eating habits?
Also, what is your favorite granola bar flavor (if you like granola bars)?
Easy Ginger-Miso Dressing
I have been hoarding this recipe for a long time…
It is my absolute favorite homemade salad dressing! I have been searching and searching for my favorite salad dressing served at Japanese Steakhouses, and when I made this dressing I realized it tastes just like it!
Easy Ginger Miso Dressing
~This salad dressing is gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and, of course, sugar-free!
Serves 1
- 1 Tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon miso
- teaspoons of lemon juice or water
In a small bowl, mix the ginger and miso together. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice (or water), and whisk. Add more lemon juice (or water) in teaspoonfuls until desired consistency is reached.
I like my dressing thick, but thin enough to pour. Feel free to double or triple the dressing as needed depending on the size of your salad and the number of people you are serving this to.
Health Benefits
- Ginger: Ginger is best known for helping digestion. Ginger can help when you feel nauseated or cramped. It can also minimize the symptoms from colds, allergies, and respiratory conditions.
- Miso: Made from soy, miso is high in iron, copper, manganese, vitamin B12, and vitamin K. It naturally contains probiotics that help the digestive system. Studies have also shown that consuming miso reduces the chances of getting Breast Cancer for women.
- Lemon Juice: Helps stimulate and aid in the digestive system, and helps to get rid of toxins in the body. It can help the skin stay healthy and clean while decreasing the amount of phlegm in the body.
Compare all of these wonderful benefits of the Ginger-Miso dressing America’s most popular salad dressing, Ranch.
2 tablespoons of Hidden Valley ranch dressing has 140 calories, 14g fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 260mg sodium, 1g sugar, 1g protein.
Ingredients: Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.
Not only is the ranch made mostly of oil, but it is full of unhealthy preservatives. It also contains harmful MSG. I think I’ll stick to my ginger-miso recipe.
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What is your favorite salad dressing? Do you like making your own, or is there a certain store-bought variety you like?
Usually I just drizzle some balsamic vinegar and olive oil on my salads, but I fell in love with this Ginger-Miso recipe as soon as I created it!
Blogger Four-Square
Yay! I was tagged by the lovely Sarah from the Smart Kitchen and Nicky from Picky Nicky to do this fun little game 🙂 Now you all sit back, relax, and learn a little about me.
Four TV Shows I Watch
I don’t really watch TV that often, but…
1. The Office
2. Wheel of Fortune
3. Millionaire Matchmaker
4. Hell’s Kitchen (do they still play this on TV even??)
Four Things I’m Passionate About
1. Food and Nutrition. Can you tell?
2. Singing
3. Tennis
4. My family
Four Words/Phrases I Use Too Much
1. Gee whiz!
2. Oh my goodness gracious!
3. Chaa Man
4. I’m goin to bed…
Four Places I’d Like To Go
1. Washington D.C. (I’m going in April!!)
2. Europe. Travel around. See the cultures, history, artifacts, and, of course, eat the food!
3. Disney World. I think its about time. I live about an hour away from it, and I have played about 20 tournaments in Orlando…somehow I’ve never made it.
4. Heaven
Four Things I Did Yesterday
1. Played Tennis. It was extremely windy yesterday. Made it difficult to hit the ball
2. Lift weights
3. Went to choir practice. It was a fantastic practice, by the way!
4. Made and ate lots of food. Duh!
Four Things I’m Craving
1. Any kind of omelet
2. My mom’s salmon patties with lots of dill
3. A big ol’ tub of fresh blueberries
4. Sauteed Veggies galore!
Four Things I’ve Learned From The Past
1.You can’t change people, you can only change yourself
2. Eating too much peanut butter can make your stomach hurt.
3. Don’t try to do a two-fingered handstand while playing baseball in the backyard.
4. Always look before you slam the trunk door to your car, you could hit someone hard on the head and they will have a knot on their head for a month. Trust me…
Four Things I’m Looking Forward To
1. Sleeping tonight after a nice, warm shower, a cup of hot water, and reading a good book.
2. Seeing where life takes me after college
3. Having a job, creating a business, becoming a multimillionaire, and then retiring (maybe)
4. Exploring the world and all the different cultures (and foods!)
Four Things I Love About Winter
1. Spending it in Florida
2. Curling up by the fire, under a blanket, with a book, and a cup of hot tea
3. The Christmas Lights
4. Wearing Button-up jackets with scarves
Four Newest Blogs Added To My Reader
Hmm….I haven’t added new ones for a while, but…
1. Little Miss Healthify
2. Eden’s Eats
3. The Adventures of VEgirl
4. The Flourishing Foodie
Four Bloggers I’m Passing This Along To
1. Kelsey @ Clean Teen Kelsey
2. Kayla @ Little Miss Healthify
3. Kelsey @ The Snacking Squirrel
4. Lauren @ Whole Wheat or Bust (Lauren, you just ruined the whole “K” theme!)
I added this next one because no post is complete without pictures!
Four Recipes I have been hoarding for myself for way too long:
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
Answer one of the questions from above (or more if you want). I want to learn about you, too!
The Way to Every Person’s Heart…
Make Customizable Pancakes!!!
One Size Fits All Pancakes
~These pancakes can be made into anything you want them to be! Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and, of course, sugar-free!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (whole wheat flour works well, too)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups milk or milk substitute
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 egg or egg substitute (like a flax egg or chia egg)
- 3 tablespoons oil or applesauce (omitting this is fine)
- Optional: Add ins like the variations listed below.
Instructions
- First, whisk the milk and apple cider vinegar together and let sit for a few minutes to create a "buttermilk."
- Then, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients together and mix well. It is better if batter is a little lumpy.
- Pour pancakes on a lightly greased pan heated on medium heat.
- Flip them when the batter starts to bubble.
- Enjoy with toppings of choice (suggestions below).
Makes a lot of pancakes. Probably feeds 6, but I usually eat about 2-3 servings worth 😉 Make ’em as big or as small as you like!
Sugar-Free Ideas:
Someone once asked me how I replace America’s beloved topping to pancakes: maple syrup. The answer: I don’t replace! I fill my cakes with scrumptious fillings (lots of fruit and nuts), and top it with nut butters, fruit, and any other random topping might keep in my pantry!
Ideas:
- Pina Colada Cakes: Make batter with pineapple and coconut. Top with more pineapple and coconut!
- Mocha Cakes: Mix cocoa powder and instant coffee into batter.
- Granola Cakes: Mix dried fruit, oats, and nuts into batter.
- Reeses Cakes: Mix peanut butter and unsweetened chocolate into batter.
Great Pancake Ideas from other Bloggers:
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What are your favorite pancake recipes? Do you like to top yours with a bunch of stuff, or fill ’em up? Or maybe you like them plain?
Banana Bread Bonanza!
Yes, I did it again.
Many people have asked for more grain-free recipes after the Grain-Free Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Bread, so, of course, I had to get to work and create another recipe for all of you!
This recipe uses 3 over-ripe bananas, so it is the perfect go-to recipe when you have too many brown bananas to deal with.
Grain-Free Sugar-Free Banana Bread
~This recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and of course, sugar-free!
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 3 eggs
- 3 Tablespoons Ground flax
- 3 Tablespoons Chia Gel (For each tablespoon of chia, mix 2-3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 15-20 minutes. The chia seeds will puff into a gel)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or dried fruit
Preheat oven to 350*. First, mash the bananas. Then, mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour batter into a lightly greased bread pan-or even try a muffin tin! Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.
The bread will rise while in the oven, but will sink when taken out. Let the bread cool for fifteen minutes in the pan (this is necessary for the bread to set since it has no flour in it), and then plop it onto a plate or cutting board and enjoy!
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What are your favorite ways to use up all of those overripe bananas? Usually, I freeze them to make banana ice cream or smoothies, but this bread recipe is now my favorite!
I started collecting recipes for overripe bananas a couple years ago because I thought a book title, “101 Ways to Use Overripe Bananas” would be great! Because this happens to all chefs and non-chefs across America-what to do with all those brown bananas? What do you think? Would you read a recipe book like that? What recipes would you put in it?
****Also, are you sticking to the sugar-free New Year’s Resolution??
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