Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Muffins

I decided to change things up from my usual banana-based weekend baking and made some of these instead:

I used the recipe from The Lean Green Bean as a base and made a few minor modifications. They turned out perfectly – bursting with berries, moist, sweet but not too sweet, and very much toddler approved. Little dose he know, I snuck a big old zucchini in there ;). They’re perfect for a quick snack or breakfast and were also insanely quick and easy to make, basically the most important factor according to me.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Oat Muffins (adapted from The Lean Green Bean’s recipe) ~ 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cups organic, naturally sweetened vanilla yogurt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 small to medium sized zucchini, finely grated
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, plus another 1/4 cup to place on top of muffins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° and either grease or line a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. Mix together coconut oil, egg, yogurt, vanilla & grated zucchini until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients; mix well.
5. Fold in 2/3 cups blueberries.
6. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full.
7. Gently press 2-3 blueberries on top of each muffin.
8. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of muffin comes out clean.
9. Let cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I made these on Sunday and put 1/2 in the freezer for safe keeping. That way i’m not tempted to finish a dozen muffins in half a day ;). The modifications that I made were omitting the sugar, using vanilla instead of plain yogurt (since I omitted the sugar), coconut oil instead of butter & the addition of a zucchini. I was a little worried that they would have that really flour-y taste that can come with using whole wheat flour, but they absolutely did not.

And here, because I just can’t help myself:

I could just take a bite out of those little legs. I won’t, obviously :D.

Have a great Tuesday!

Weekend Things

For those of you who tuned into A Touchy Subject ~ Part I last week, you might agree that it wasn’t the most upbeat post. But, much like everyday life, it can’t all be rainbows and butterflies because that’s just not real. I plan on continuing to post on the topic every week or so because there’s a LOT to tell. And like I mentioned in the post, I know people out there can relate. I follow certain blogs strictly for that purpose; I feel like I can somehow relate to the author.

And also, thank you for tuning in, if you did. Every word was straight from the heart and 100% honest. Or better yet, Real Talk.

OK, onto some Weekend Talk. On Friday Ryland and I went to the happiest place on earth (IMO), Trader Joe’s. I LOVE that store and basically everything in it. So I bought basically everything in it…even though the Canadian dollar has seen better days :/. But their prices are low so I figure I still beat the system. If not there, then I still saved on gas!

But either way, I bought tons of my favorites, these being one of them:

Have you tried these??? If not, you just have to. They’re crunchy, delicious, basically guilt-free and just the best snack ever. Ryland and I ate the whole bag in one sitting and patted ourselves on the back after for eating so much green ;).

I also bought some stone ground tortillas and whipped this up:

I spread some garlic tomato sauce on the tortilla, sprinkled it with oregano and shredded Havarti cheese, and topped it with spinach and red onions. It went into the toaster oven at 375° for about 8 minutes and was consumed in half that time. I gave the kiddo some, positive that he’d peel off the spinach, but nope! It was a good  lunch. So good that this happened:

He’s literally asleep here. What a guy.

I baked some cookies too because ‘Tis the Season. I went with my favorite, Cake Batter Cookies. Not only because they’re delicious, but I’ll admit it, they’re SO easy to make.

I brought a bunch to a Christmas party on Saturday night and one of my friend’s called it “the perfect cookie.” I’ll take it ;). I’ve made these the last few years and always follow this recipe. Warning – don’t go to this website unless you’re prepared to drool heavily. Sally is a baking goddess.

What else can I tell you…well I won’t talk about how it was windy and rainy and miserable out for most of the weekend because that’s just depressing. We watched a couple more overly cheesy Christmas movies and as mentioned before, we went to a Christmas party at our friend’s house. An Ugly Sweater Party to be exact. It was really fun, especially because there were lots of kiddies there in ugly sweaters too. Ryland stayed up wayyyyy past his bedtime but he was just the cutest little party animal. He was pretty worn out on Sunday and spent some quality time catching up with his beloved elephant blankie.

Ok…I’ve talked your ear off enough today. I’ll see you in a few!

Chocolate Carrot Mini Muffins

I’m always making really oat-y snacks for myself and Ryland, but I thought we could use a break from that and decided to switch it up with some chocolate-y goodness in the form of mini muffins. But being a nutritionist-in-training, I had to throw in a healthy twist. I went with carrots, which I really do like, just not with my chocolate. Good news! You can’t even taste them. But they’re there and that’s what counts :D. And look at what they can do for you! 

In addition to the carrot goodness, they were also light, fluffy, moist and just the right amount of sweet. The recipe I used called for buttermilk, which I didn’t have, so I used vanilla yogurt instead. If that made any difference, it was definitely a good difference. Not too mention the added protein, calcium and B vitamins. Two thumbs up for that.

Chocolate Carrot Mini Muffins ~ makes 24

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 medium sized carrots, finely ground in food processor

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° and grease a mini muffin tray or line with mini muffin liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together first 6 ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and mix in the yogurt, coconut oil, vanilla and carrot. Add mixture to dry ingredients. Gently mix until well blended.
4. Fill each mini muffin cup about 2/3’s full.
5. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.
6. Let cool for about 10 minutes in pan before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

These are good for about 3 days and they freeze well. I got 20 muffins in my batch, but I also filled the cups up almost to the top. If you fill them 2/3’s, you should definitely get at least 24.

I’m not crazy about the amount of sugar that went into these. Based on how they turned out, and the vanilla yogurt in place of the buttermilk, I think they would’ve been fine with 1/2 the amount so I’ll keep that in mind for next time.

The carrots were a great addition, but i’m thinking I’ll give zucchini a try for the next batch. You can call me the Sneaky Veggie Bandit ;).

Enjoy the rest of your day!

 

Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I just want to start out by taking a minute to say how grateful I am everyday for all of the brave, selfless men and women who fought for our freedom in this wonderful country, both of my late grandfathers included. We are so incredibly lucky to call this place home, thanks to those who made so many sacrifices.

Lest We Forget

To Duncan’s great relief, I decided to take a break from making my usual super healthy oat bars/cookies/muffins and went with some good, old-fashioned, high-cal, high-fat chocolate chip cookies. I don’t know about where you’re from, but it poured all weekend long here in Vancouver. Definitely stay-in-and-bake kinda weather. I used a pretty basic recipe and made a couple small modifications. The end result?

DROOL

I mean just look at how thick and chunky-chocolatey these babies are! I made a batch of 12 and they lasted maybe 24 hours. We had a few friends over…and they each had one…the rest were all Duncan and I. Sometimes I just have zero self-control, mainly when it comes to stuff like this. Good thing I only made a dozen. What a fat disaster that would’ve been otherwise :/.

Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies (approx. 12 cookies)

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature & soft
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350º and grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper
2. Sift together flour, salt, cornstarch & baking soda, set aside
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, maple syrup and brown sugar until well blended.
4. Beat in the vanilla and egg until light and creamy.
5. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.
6. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
7. Drop large spoonfuls of cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, about 2″ apart.
8. Bake 9-11 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (although they’re ooey and gooey and delicious when warm!)

I’ve never actually come across a chocolate chip cookie recipe that calls for maple syrup…I just kind of decided to add it it. There is a very faint maple taste, so if you’re not a fan of that, just skip adding it in. I kind of think it adds to the chewiness though, along with the cornstarch.

Annnnnd now I’m craving another batch of these in a bad way. I kind of have a rule though where I’m only allowed to eat stuff like that on weekends . So I guess I’ll go bake something oat-y instead. Duncan will be so pleased.

Have a good one!

Totally Nutritious Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies but don’t make them often in fear of eating every single one before they’ve even cooled down. But something amazing happened this weekend. I found this recipe, whipped up a batch, and let me tell you, they are SO good. They’re moist, guilt-free, delicious, and packed with protein and fiber. Who would ever thing to use chick peas in cookies?? Well whoever did, thank you. And even though I wanted to eat them all, I couldn’t because they’re so filling! I had Duncan test one before I told him about the chick peas and he gave them his stamp of approval. I mean of course that’s changed now that he knows the truth, but still. Ryland is a big fan which is awesome because they make a perfect snack for his lunchbox. These bad boys are going to be a regular occurrence around here.

There’s no added sugar but the chocolate chips and maple syrup give it the perfect amount of sweetness and they aren’t overly peanut buttery. I made them Saturday and am proud to announce that today there is still ONE left!!! That’s kind of a big deal.

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

**recipe belongs to http://www.beginwithinnutrition.com/**

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
• ½ cup all natural creamy peanut butter
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup vegan mini-chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Add all ingredients except for the chocolate chips into a food processor. Blend for a few minutes or until well combined. Cookie dough should smooth and creamy.
3. Transfer cookie dough to a bowl and fold in chocolate chips.
4. Use a tablespoon and scoop dough into balls and drop onto cookie sheet evenly spaced.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

I kept these in the fridge once they cooled down. I’m not sure if that’s necessary, but I just felt like that’s where they should go. And they are ooey gooey delicious when warm so you can heat them up in the microwave or toaster oven if you like. It was a really good decision.

On another note, we went to a pumpkin patch on Sunday and of course I took a million pictures of my kid with pumpkins. Here are a couple of my favorites:

He tried to take a bite out of the one he’s holding…ended up with a mouthful of dirt instead which he really didn’t seem to mind. Boys will be boys.

Alrighty, time for this chick to get to work. Happy Monday! If that even makes sense ;).

Coconut Oil is Everything

Coconut oil has been around forever but it seems like it’s become HUGE throughout the last few years. And it’s not just for cooking and baking with, no way my friends. I currently use it for a few different things, but my #1 favorite use – moisturizer. I’ve always had issues with a dry face, especially in the fall and winter months. I’ve tried a million different moisturizers, all of which either leave my skin flaky, red, extra-sensitive or so oily that you can see your reflection. AND, once I hit 30, I became obsessed with the little fine lines creeping up around my eyes. So I wasted money on eye creams too…whether they were doing anything or not…anyone’s guess. Anyway, once I started looking into all the benefits of coconut oil and read that it can be used as a moisturizer (an anti-aging one at that!!), I decided to give it a shot. I was a little skeptical because hello…wouldn’t putting oil on my face make it kind of umm, oily?? NOPE. It is SO absorbent and i’m telling you, no more dry skin for this chick. My face feels softer and I swear it’s doing it’s anti-aging magic too. My grandma and uncle recently told me that I look 18…thank you coconut oil!!! I know they were exaggerating a little (a lot), but still.

I have a separate jar for my bathroom because I also do a weekly hair mask (I massage a spoonful into my hair until completely saturated and wash out a few hours later), and I also use it as a shaving cream and full body moisturizer. I’m basically much softer from head to toe. When Ryland’s nose was all dry and red from his cold, coconut oil to the rescue. Worked like a charm.

I use tons of this stuff in the kitchen. Baking, stir-frys, soups, salad dressings…the list goes on. I actually put a spoonful in my coffee this morning for the first time along with a little milk and brown sugar. I thought my coffee would look and taste oily…not at all. AND, I definitely notice an energy boost. The particular jar that I use in the kitchen is expeller pressed and refined for a neutral taste. I like the taste of coconut, but not in everything. My bathroom jar is “virgin” which leaves me smelling like the beach :).

Seriously though, there are so many uses for coconut oil and it’s SO good for you. Healthy fats are vital for good nutrition and this is one of the very best sources. I came across 101 Uses for Coconut Oil on this awesome blog awhile back and there are a bunch that I want to try. I basically spend all my time ordering my family and friends to drink lemon water and replace everything with coconut oil. Not at all annoying i’m sure…

Oh, before I go, I have to talk about a small miracle that happened last night. Duncan came hiking with us! This is a miracle because….I don’t want to call him lazy…but let’s call a spade a spade. He LOVES the couch and TV with a passion so this is a really big deal that had to be documented.

On that note, Happy Friday! Happy weekend!

3 Ingredient Granola Bars

Well Thanksgiving was a total write-off on my end. I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like absolute garbage. Every muscle from head to toe hurt, I was cold and sweaty, dizzy, and totally useless. I could barely pick up my kid. Speaking of said kid, he’s been fighting a pretty nasty cold for the last week so both of us were extremely whiny, needy, grumpy and impossible to deal with. Poor Duncan & Parker. Thankfully, we’re both on the mend and feeling a million times better. As much as I was feeling sorry for myself, it absolutely breaks my heart when this little guy is under the weather.

But the selfish part of me loves the extra cuddles I get. He’s been extra needy lately and only wants mom…the selfish part of me loves that too. It can be a little exhausting, but it’s also really sweet. And definitely won’t last forever! Soon enough, I’ll be chopped liver :(.

On Monday I was feeling ok enough to make use of some ripe and baking-ready bananas. My goal is to make things that are nutritious and tasty enough to include in Ryland’s lunchbox for daycare. This time around I decided to go with some super easy, quick and healthy granola bars. There are only 3 base ingredients, + whichever add-ins you like.

3 Ingredient Granola Bars

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1.5 cups quick oats (you can also use old fashioned oats if you like)

Optional add-ins

• 2 tbsp *pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, *raisins or dried cranberries
• 1 tsp. *cinnamon

(* denotes add-ins that I used for this particular batch)

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking dish
3. Mash bananas with a potato masher
4. Stir in honey
5. Stir in oats (and cinnamon if desired)
6. Fold in any additional add-ins
7. Pour into baking dish and flatten surface with a spatula so that it is level and evenly spread to all corners of the dish.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes. It is ready when the edges are slightly browned.
9. Let cool in pan for at least 10 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

I cut them into bars once cool, and individually wrap them in plastic wrap so that they are very “grab & go.” They’re good for about 3 days so freeze any that might not get eaten within that time.

Ryland loves them, I love them…Duncan is stubborn as a mule and assumes they taste like bird food, so that’s fine. More for us!

Have yourself a lovely day! As my dad always says, be good and do right ;).

Chocolate Chip Banana Pumpkin Oat Bread

OK, so a few posts back I mentioned not loving the taste of pumpkin…but it’s fall and I just felt extremely obligated to incorporate it into my baking. And it just so happens that when it’s mixed in with bananas and chocolate chips, especially the chocolate chips, it’s pretty good! I basically just followed my recipe for Seriously Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, replacing the 1/4 cup of applesauce with 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree. I also added some ground cinnamon and nutmeg. It tastes very fall-ish. The pumpkin taste is quite subtle, which is probably why I was a fan.

Chocolate Chip Banana Pumpkin Oat Bread

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 cups oat flour (can be made by grinding up 2.5-3 cups oats)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Grease a 9′ x 5′ loaf pan
3. Place first 5 ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth
4. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl
5. Add wet ingredients and mix well
6. Fold in chocolate chips
7. Pour into loaf pan and bake on middle rack in center of oven for 35-40 minutes
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing

This is good for about 3 days so I cut a few slices to leave out and froze the rest. I think anything with chocolate chips tastes better warm so I pop a slice into the microwave for 15 seconds before chowing down. My toddler is my biggest food critic and he looooves this stuff. In my books, that’s a baking victory!

I consider this a baby step in the world of baking with pumpkin. Maybe i’ll get a little more adventurous next weekend. If not, Parker will gladly eat the rest of the puree :).

Have a great day!

Beat it, Cancer!

Hey hey! How was the weekend for ya? Awesome, I hope. Mine was pretty good. Did a little baking, hiking, wine tasting…as in the better part of an entire bottle. Fine, the entire bottle. I also participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure yesterday in support of a coworker of mine that is unfortunately battling breast cancer. She’s just started chemotherapy but managed to make it down to the event to see us off. I admire her strength and courage so much. I can’t imagine how terrifying it must be to have that monster in your body. My aunt beat breast cancer earlier this year, thankfully. I know too many people affected by it in some way. I wish cancer was a person so that people could beat the living you-know-what out of them. Seriously, just BEAT IT, cancer. No one likes you anyway.

The event itself was pretty amazing. The weather was absolutely perfect and the energy was so positive and humbling. And so much pink! The best was seeing so many grown men wearing tutu’s. Two thumbs up to them. I brought Ryland with me….he slept most of the time but here we are just before the finish line:

Other highlights of my weekend included a Saturday morning hike with 2 of my favorite dudes. Let me tell you, it is HARD WORK going uphill with 25 lbs strapped to your chest.

 

And because I did all that hiking and walking, I felt like I really deserved this:

Good thing I burned a bunch of calories because I’m too embarrassed to even tell you how much of this I ate. Did I share with Duncan? Nope! Did I hide it in the back of the freezer so that he doesn’t finish the tiny bit that’s left? Quite possibly.

Oh, we also went to my nephews first birthday on Saturday. There were about 8 kids, although it felt like 50. Such a sweet group of kiddies though. Most of us parents are friends from high school so it’s really awesome to watch our next generation together. Getting a decent picture was basically impossible, but at least they’re all in it!

And here’s my jellybean.

I just love him so much. It’s ridiculous, actually. And I love bandana bibs almost as much. Paperairplane.ca makes the BEST bibs for such a reasonable price. And it’s great to support other mamas.

Wow, I didn’t realize I had so much to talk about! I better leave it at that for the day. Have a good one!

Seriously Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Seriously.

Hey there! Hope you’re having a great day so far. Duncan and I went on a 3 night cruise and got home yesterday so my days are a little mixed up. Feels like Monday so it’s really exciting every time I realize it’s already Wednesday :).

Our cruise ship was docked in Seattle all day Sunday so we decided to get off the boat and go on a little adventure. Although we’re Packers fans, (apparently), Duncan really wanted to check out Century Link Field since it was game day. We ended up walking to the stadium in the middle of a massive procession of Seahawks fans…Fan Walk? 12th Man Walk? I think it has a name. Anyway, that brought us to the parking lot where we had our first taste of real, live tailgating! It was so cool! The energy and atmosphere was electric. You can tell that a lot of these people really do live and breathe the game. I’m pretty sure we were literally the only ones there without any Seahawks gear on.

LITERALLY.

How cool are they??? I can’t believe all four dogs were ok with wearing sunglasses. No way Parker would let that happen! You can’t see it in the picture, but the lady dog in the far back corner was wearing a pink jersey and had a little pink bow in her hair. So sweet!!

The rest of our trip was really good. We missed Ryland like crazy, but I think it’s important…vital, actually, to have a little break once in a while. We get so caught up with being parents, work, life in general, so sometimes you need a chance to get away and reconnect. We didn’t realize how much we needed that until we were actually there. Of course I had a little mom guilt going, wondering if being away from him for that long was the right thing to do or totally selfish, but I know deep down it was a good thing. The best thing we (as in all parents) can do for our kids it to be happy ourselves. And I know he had a blast with his Grama while we were away and didn’t sit there feeling abandoned by his mean old mom ;).

OK, so let’s talk Banana Bread. Seriously. Healthy. Banana Bread. I’ve tried so many variations which have all been OK…but not great. Until now. So here’s what I did:

Seriously Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp olive oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups oat flour (can be made by grinding up 2.5-3 cups of oats)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chunks or chips

1. Pre-heat oven to 350º
2. Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan (I use coconut oil cooking spray)
3. Place first 5 ingredients into blender and blend until smooth
4. Add baking powder, baking soda, chia seeds, and about 1/3 of the oat flour. Blend until smooth and add remaining oat flour in small amounts until thoroughly blended.
5. Fold in chocolate chunks/chips.
6. Pour into loaf pan and bake on middle rack in center of oven for 35-40 minutes.
7. Let cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan. I place a plate on top and just turn it upside down and it comes out easily.
8. This is good for about 3 days so freeze any that might not get finished. Although there was no possibility of that in my house ;).

I’ll be honest…nothing beats my moms classic banana bread with tons of calories and butter and whatever else, but for a guilt-free option, I think I did pretty well here :).

Enjoy the rest of your day!!