Oatmeal Breakfast Cupcakes

Bananas have this habit of going from green to black. There is no in between. Maybe like a 5-minute window when I can handle the taste of a fresh banana. So, I find myself baking things that call for very ripe bananas. The oatmeal breakfast cupcakes are one of those things. 

These were a pretty great find from Chocolate Covered Katie (via Pinterest, of course). You can do a lot with them as far as add-ins go (I opted for raisins and cinnamon). They're easy to make ahead and freeze. Great to grab on your way out the door.  No processed sugar (unless you're the person who adds chocolate chips). Easy to make gluten-free and/or vegan.

I was actually kind of surprised by how they turned out. The outside texture is more of a cupcake/muffin, but the inside is like oatmeal. Not runny, but like sticky, gummy oatmeal. It was weird. Good, but weird. And I was shocked that the brother loved them. Seriously. He usually disses my healthy "chick" food. 

Oatmeal Breakfast Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

3-4 Bananas, mashed (overripe) 

1 tsp Salt

5 TBSP Pure Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar

1 cup Water

1/8 cup + 1 TBSP Coconut Oil

1 1/4 Pure Vanilla Extract

Optional add-ins: Cinnamon, Raisins (or any other dried fruit), Shredded Coconut, Chopped Walnuts, Ground Flax or Wheat Germ, Chocolate Chips, etc.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 380*F and line a 12-cup muffin pan. I personally recommend spraying your liners with a non-stick spray as well…
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir well. 
• In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients.
• Mix the wet into dry.
• Pour the batter evenly into your prepared muffin cups. 
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. 

They're really good warm with butter…or peanut butter! Enjoy!

Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread

I had last night off from work, so I went running, washed my scrubs & got out the KitchenAid for some baking fun. I had some ripe bananas and a bunch of strawberries, so I decided to make some yummy bread inspired by the Ambitious Kitchen. I replaced some of the all purpose flour in the original recipe with whole wheat and eliminated the processed sugar. It turned out delicious! Great for breakfast or a snack. Of course, I think it's even better with some peanut or almond butter…mmm...

Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour

3/4 cup WW flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 TBSP coconut oil, melted and cooled

1 TBSP sorghum 

2 TBSP unsweetened almond or coconut milk

1 cup strawberries, chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 TBSP chia seeds

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare a 9-inch bread pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
• In a large bowl, mix together the bananas, egg, vanilla, yogurt, oil, sorghum & milk.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until just combined. 
• Gently fold the strawberries, coconut & chia seeds into the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with some extra coconut flakes & sliced strawberries.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until done.
• Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy! 

Blueberry Avocado Muffins

I'm over halfway through my spring stay-cation. And while, I'm disappointed it wasn't safe to go to Aquiles and sad I didn't get to see my kids in La Union, it's been nice. (Although I now have a really big tent for no reason, and I refuse to take it back…because that would involve going inside WalMart… So, anyone up for a camping trip?)

I've gotten to sleep at night. Like go to bed by 10 or 11 and sleep until 7ish. Actually get things done during the day. I have missed that life. I've gotten to hangout with lots of different friends. I got caught up on TV & Netflix…and started into some new shows… I'm going to FINALLY finish a project that I started forever ago. I've made dinner a couple times (nothing epic…last night was literally, "there is all this stuff I need to use, let's make something out of it" night). 

But I needed to share my muffins from this morning. Totally delicious. Like seriously. And pretty healthy as far as muffins go. The original recipe is from Gimme Some Oven via Pinterest. But I changed it up a bit. I took out 1 cup of AP flour & replaced it with WW (you could replace the flour totally with a GF mix…more power to you). I took out all the processed sugar (3/4 cup) & replaced it with 2 TBSP raw honey. I added a little extra cinnamon. Between using WW flour & the extra cinnamon, my muffins turned out not looking so green, which I think is kind of nice. They look more normal.

Blueberry Avocado Muffins

For the muffins:

1 cup WW flour

1 cup AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 ripe avocado, seeded & peeled

2 TBSP raw honey

1 tsp vanilla 

1 egg

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel topping:

2 TBSP melted butter, slightly cooled

2 TBSP AP flour

1/4 cup raw sugar 

• Preheat the oven to 375*F and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt & cinnamon.
• In your KitchenAid stand mixer bowl, add the avocado and beat until relatively smooth. Add the egg & beat until completely combined. Add the honey, vanilla & yogurt, beating until just combined. Add half of the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Then repeat with the other half. Gently fold in the blueberries by hand. The batter will be very thick & sticky. No worries. 
• Spoon the batter (or I prefer to use a cookie scoop) into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with streusel topping (optional). Bake for 25-ish minutes or until done. Just keep an eye on them!

Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I'm SO excited that I'm feeling better after getting kicked by the flu. It was bad. Like, I had to force myself to drink coffee so I wouldn't also have a caffeine headache. And I didn't workout for three days and did not care. Bad. But, I was finally able to drag myself into the chiropractor, which made a huge difference. Shout out to Family Tree Chiropractic. And I started taking apple cider vinegar, which strangely seems to be helping. 

My work week began on Wednesday night, so I stayed up Tuesday night. I got in a couple X3 workouts, did a little laundry and cleaning, and whipped up these muffins. Somehow we ended up with a million apples. And I'm VERY picky when it comes to eating apples raw. They have to have the perfect texture and crunch. Of course, the apples we have are ones I don't like. So I made muffins. And you can probably expect several other apple-related recipes in the near future.

While they're not super pretty, these apple cinnamon muffins are super yummy! Also pretty healthy. I snagged the recipe from Butter Baking via Pinterest. It calls for plain yogurt, but oddly enough I only had Stonyfield Fat Free French Vanilla. It worked well! I would, of course, recommend plain Greek yogurt. Keep in mind that the texture & the way the muffins bake may vary by which yogurt you choose. You could also add about 1/4 cup of raisins, if you're into that. 

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup pain yogurt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 1/2 TBSP brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1/4 cup raisins (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray or use the little muffin/cupcake liners…I also recommend spraying those too so they don't stick. 
• In a medium bowl, stir together the oats and yogurt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter & sugar. Beat in the egg. Stir in the applesauce. Add the oat & yogurt mixture; stir to combine. Stir in the flours, cinnamon, powder, soda, and salt until just incorporated. Do not over mix! Mix the apples and raisins through gently. 
• Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

{Snack Time} Apple Dippers

I can't say that I've been cooking a lot lately. I'm all about what's basically ready to eat. Food that someone else makes for me is even better. So, I thought I would share one of my new favorite snacks. It's incredibly easy. Super yummy.  

Just mix up about 1/3-1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt with a spoonful of peanut butter, a splash of vanilla, and a dab of honey or agave (I don't always do this). 

I like to dip granny smith apple slices in it, but I'm sure other apples or fruits would be just as tasty. I just prefer some crunchy tartness! 

{Flourless} Chocolate Chunk Blondies with Sea Salt

I got in a little baking amongst everything else going on today! I had found this "healthy" sweet treat recipe on Pinterest a while back. I'm so glad I finally tried it! Plus, it was a good excuse to break in my recent Target find:

Pretty great, right? These blondies are flour-free, egg-free, refined sugar-free...but not taste-free. The big secret ingredient? Chick peas. Mixed up with honey and natural peanut butter. ANYTHING is better with peanut butter. (Fine, I realize that may not be completely true...but mostly.) I broke apart some Velata discs for my chocolate chunks. Great choice. I promise there is a difference in the taste between regular chocolate chips/chunks and Velata. It's kind of epic. 

Being me, I under-baked these babies. So mine turned out very soft and gooey. Yum. I couldn't tell you what they might be like if you actually bake them for an appropriate amount of time...but I'd imagine they still taste good! Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Chunk Blondies with Sea Salt

Inspired by: Ambitious Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 can (15 oz) chick peas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup broken Velata premium chocolate pieces 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350*F. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Combine everything except the chocolate into a food processor (really, a Ninja or Vitamix is best). Process until the batter is smooth. Fold in the chocolate chunks. 
• Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle a little sea salt on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes clean out of the center and the edges are slightly browned. 

Apple Baked Oatmeal

I made this delightful baked oatmeal one morning when we had a surplus of apples around. I believe my mom got the recipe from one of her cousins. It is really easy and tasty. The sweetness comes from the pure, natural maple syrup. No processed white or brown sugars! The downside is that you have to get up early and make it before you actually want to serve/eat it. This is problematic for me because I pretty much want to have my coffee and eat breakfast the minute I wake up. For this reason (and because I forgot to do it the night before) the nuts didn't get toasted before going in. Still tasted great. It does reheat, so theoretically you could make it ahead... However, I think it's better fresh out of the oven. The recipe serves about four people...or three really hungry people!


Apple Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup nuts, lightly toasted (optional) and divided (I used pecans)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup organic milk (I used 1%)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted
1 tsp natural vanilla
2-3 cored, sliced apples 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, combine oats, half the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir with fork to combine.
• In a liquid measuring cup, combine maple syrup, milk, egg, melted coconut oil and vanilla. 
• Spread 1/2 of the apples in a single layer over bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle dry oat mixture over. Pour over the liquid ingredients. Sprinkle remaining nuts and fruit over the top. Push fruit into liquid. 
• Baked 35-45 minutes. Let cool a couple minutes so you don't burn your mouth. Enjoy! 

Giant Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits

I made some giant gooey cinnamon biscuits for Mother's Day breakfast yesterday. My inspiration for these tasty treats came from The Kitchn, via Pinterest. However, I couldn't get over putting two cups of heavy cream in what was going to be four biscuits. Then, I discovered what all went into cinnamon chips. I did some serious revamping. I swapped ingredients and eliminated some steps. The result was great! They were delicious, and everyone enjoyed them. I'll admit that I did go ahead and pour on a mixture of organic milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Live a little, right? However, I think that the biscuits would still be tasty without that. Maybe some homemade jam instead? You could probably also make eight smaller biscuits. Here's the recipe---


Giant Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits
Original recipe from The Kitchn, with modification help from Alaska from Scratch

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 
1 TBSP natural honey
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
1/4 cup reduced fat organic milk
4 TBSP cinnamon chips (see recipe below)

Topping (optional):
Reduced fat organic milk and powdered sugar to desired consistency. I went with more of a "soak-y"glaze than icing. Add vanilla to taste. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish. 
• Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. Add honey, yogurt, and just enough milk to make a fairly sticky dough. Mix until combined.
• Dump the dough onto a floured surface and pat or roll out into a square. Cut into quarters. 
• Place about 1 TBSP on cinnamon chips in the middle of each square. Fold the edges over, making sure the cinnamon chips are covered and there are no holes. 
• Place the biscuits into the baking dish. Bake for about 16 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. 
• Pour glaze/icing on and serve warm. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients:
3 TBSP ground cinnamon
2 TBSP unrefined coconut oil (in place of vegetable shortening)
2 TBSP honey (in place of corn syrup)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and grease well. 
• Mix everything together.
• Dump the mixture onto the parchment paper and flatten it out to a 1/4" thick or so. 
• Bake until the mixture has completely melted and is somewhat bubbly.
• Cool completely before cutting.

Store what is leftover in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Coconut oil has a lower melting point than vegetable shortening so the cinnamon chips will soften quickly if you leave them out.

Healthy Banana Bread

We literally had a bunch of bananas go from green to overripe. There was no yellow. Seriously. It's kind of like how Oklahoma usually goes from winter to summer without any spring. I have several recipes pinned that call for overripe bananas. I REALLY wanted to make these banana bread brownies, but I didn't think I really needed a pan of those sitting around the house. The brother had mentioned he wanted banana bread, so I decided to make that instead. I got my recipe from "8 Weeks to a Better You" via Pinterest. First of all, this was WAY simple and fast to whip together. Just 7 ingredients. Secondly, I think it tastes great (and the mother agrees). It does have the whole wheat "healthy" texture. In the brother's words, "Oh, banana bread....Ah, it's healthy! What have you done?!" I guess the healthy taste doesn't bother me anymore. At this point, I have a harder time with the more processed, not-so-healthy taste. Judge me. If the whole wheat texture really bothers you, you could easily do a half-and-half mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. Bottom line, I definitely recommend this recipe for a healthier, more natural banana bread! It's good plain and with natural peanut butter. 


Healthy Banana Bread

Ingredients:
3 overripe bananas
1/2 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
3/4 cup natural honey
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
• Put bananas in a large bowl and beat/mash (I used a KitchenAid stand mixer). Add applesauce and honey, mix well. Add eggs, beat until combined. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl, whisk together. Pour dry mixture into the wet mixture, mix just until combined. 
• Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
• Let cool for 10 minutes in pan before turning it out onto a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

When we had family in for graduation, I made some slow cooker overnight oatmeal. I got that recipe from The Gracious Pantry, which is probably my new favorite place to find "clean" recipes. The oatmeal wasn't too bad, and it was nice having something ready to eat in the morning. I would recommend not adding the raisins in until the morning though. The definitely soaked up a lot of the liquid, so they looked pretty funky...and the brother couldn't handle it. Anyways, we had a little over 2 cups left, so I went on a quest to find a recipe for leftover oatmeal muffins. I found a recipe that I liked the basic concept of from Full Tummies. As I was reading comments, someone else had made some suggestions...so I took things I liked from both recipes and made my own! The muffins turned out really well. They kind of remind me of a very moist bran muffin. (You could probably add more flour, if you want a dryer texture. I like things pretty moist. Then, I don't need condiments.) They got eaten up pretty quickly, and even the brother liked them! (Little did he know I had used the oatmeal he didn't like to make them.) 


Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cooked oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 TBSP coconut oil (melted)
2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

(If your leftover oatmeal is plain, you may consider adding cinnamon, vanilla, or whatever you like!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease your muffin pan (the recipe makes 12 good sized muffins). I pretty much just threw it all in our KitchenAid stand mixer and mixed it up. Then, divide the batter between each muffin cup. Bake for 25-ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy! 

Pumpkin Muffin Makeover

Here's one I've been meaning to put up for a long time! I made these yummy muffins towards the end of Christmas break. I took a recipe I found (my mom's mom's) for pumpkin bread. Then, I totally messed it up (eliminated the sugar, all-purpose flour, shortening, and water). I really had no idea how they would turn out. The batter was pretty good, which is always a good sign. They smelled good while they were baking, another good sign. When I finally tried one, I was impressed. I was kind of hoping that the brother would think they tasted too healthy, so then I would have leftovers to take to school...but no. He didn't even noticed. He loved them. The mother loved them too. Definitely a success for replacing processed ingredients with more natural ones!


Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup honey (local) 
4 eggs
1/3 cup all-natural applesauce*
2 cups all-natural canned pumpkin
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I probably added a little extra) 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan.
Mix honey, eggs and pumpkin
Add in dry ingredients and mix
*Add applesauce until the right moisture is achieved
Divide batter into muffin cups
Bake for...15-20 minutes or until done.

I think that's about right! It's been awhile since I made them... and of course I didn't exactly write everything down.

Tuscan Ham & Bean Soup

This is one of those things where we had a bunch of stuff that needed used, so I found a recipe that basically worked...You can get that by clicking here, but I didn't follow the directions really at all, and I changed some stuff up. It's weird. There was definitely a time would I would NEVER stray from a recipe. That would be HORRIBLE. Now, I feel like I'm ALWAYS changing things up. The recipes are just guidelines or suggestions. My new practice seems to be working out pretty well. This soup was definitely a hit.

Tuscan Ham & Bean Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups cannellini beans (or other white beans), soaked overnight
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup EVOO
4 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 cups chicken stock (reduced sodium)
16 oz ham, cubed 
2 cups of butternut squashed, cubed (I recommend getting the kind that's cubed and frozen, like the kind at Sprouts...saves a lot of time)
1 bunch/bag of kale, chopped (stems removed, if you're really want to)
5 small red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped (leave the skins on!)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Basil, oregano, and rosemary to taste

Directions:
Heat the EVOO in your big soup pot. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic; saute until onion is translucent. Add beans, potatoes and chicken stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Before the beans are too tender, add in the ham, squash and kale. Ideally, everything will be done about the same time. Season to taste. Enjoy!

Turkey Day

This year's Turkey Day was somewhat (or a lot) more laid back and simple than last year's.  The brother skipped town to go to a football game, so it was just the mom and me.  Also, the mom had to work all day, so it really was Thanksgiving dinner versus lunch.  I'm still having stomach troubles, so I kept things pretty light.  And, there was no dessert.  It was all very delicious!  Here is my little plate (yes, that's a salad plate, and I was stuffed):

The Menu:
Cherry-Chipotle Turkey Breast (Rachael Ray)
Rustic Rosemary Bread Sticks (Eat 80/20)
Gingered Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup (Women's Health)
Sauteed Mushrooms with Green Beans & Garlic (you really shouldn't need a recipe for this)

Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without me burning a chunk of my right ring finger off... I just grabbed the handle of my make-shift roasting pan.  Oops.  It's looking really lovely at this point.  

Usually, I would also spend Thanksgiving Day planning for Black Friday.  I'll admit it's ridiculous to spend a day being thankful and then go crazy shopping the next.  I just like the rush, the excitement.  However, since Black Friday is now apparently Black Thursday, I didn't really go shopping.  I take issue with having that on Thursday evening.  I think it should be for the committed, willing to stay up all night or wake up really early, people.  Not to mention, people really should be spending time with their families on Thanksgiving Day.  Just my opinion.  Kohl's literally had ALL their BF specials online with free shipping, so I hit that up.  Victoria's Secret also had their sale online with free shipping on Thanksgiving too.  Then, I'll confess, I'm an Amazon addict...so I had alarms set for "Lightening Deals" all day.  Those kind of give you a rush...for like 5 seconds.  Not quite the same, however it was super nice not waiting in lines.

Since we opted to skip Thursday evening shopping, the mom and I took a couple of movie passes to AMC and saw "Skyfall."  I actually really liked it.  Also, the Adele song is great.  We were pretty crazy and went to the 2110 showing, so it was really late (or early) by the time we got home and to bed (for a equivalent of a long nap).  I did get up a little early to hit up Express, Famous Footwear and Pet's Mart.  That's what happens when you need new jeans, cross training shoes, and have four dogs.  Ah well.  It was successful.

I hope everyone else was able to enjoy Thanksgiving and the related festivities! 

Goodbye "Cream of Chemical" Soup

I'm glad to report that I found (on Pinterest) a better alternative to cream of anything soup (aka "cream of chemical" soup).  It works great.  Oh, and tastes great.  It's very simple.  I made up two bags of the stuff the other day.  One for my mom and one for me to take to school.  Each bag makes the equivalent of 9 cans of cream soup.  I've used it to replace cream of chicken soup in poppy seed chicken casserole and as kind of a gravy mixed with ground turkey over toast...don't ask why...it was good.

S.O.S. Mix (Soup or Sauce Mix)

Ingredients:

2  c powdered nonfat dry milk

3/4  c cornstartch

1/4  c instant chicken bouillon (reduced sodium)

2  Tbsp dried onion flakes

2  tsp Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions:

Combine 1/3 c of dry mix with 1 1/4 c cold water.  Whisk until blended.  Cook & stir on stove top over medium high heat until thickened.  (This makes the equivalent of 1 can cream soup)