Decadent Zucchini Brownies

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES! 

I can't take credit for the photos, because we ate these before I could even snatch a picture, BUT these zucchini brownies are the bees knees! I made them a couple weeks ago for a dinner party and we all loved the first serving so much that we brought the pan to the table and just about ate the whole thing! They are very healthy, but yes, do include sugar. You will also be using a much healthier carbohydrate with oat flour. I really like Bob's Red Mill oat flour from the grocery store in the organic section. It's smooth and bakes really well.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have...and my husband, and friends :)

HAPPY BAKING! 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups oat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable/canola/coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (~2 zucchinis)
• 
  
• Any of the below are optional add-ins:
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray an 8x8" baking pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, mix together the oil, sugars, and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir with spatula. Fold in the zucchini thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the batter can absorb the moisture from the zucchini. The batter will start to get less powdery and more doughy so keep folding and stirring. Add a tablespoon of water if it's too dry.
4. Add chocolate chips/walnuts/coconut, if desired. Spread in prepared pan.
5. Bake 30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
6. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

YUM!

One-pot Thai Peanut Pasta

What are you making for dinner tonight? 

One-pot Thai Peanut Pasta?

 

SO EASY!

Place all the below ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes! See bottom for substituting noodles for zucchini noodles!

Ingredients:
12 oz. whole wheat thin spaghetti
2 C. vegetable broth
2 C. water
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. ground or fresh ginger
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, diced
1/2 onion, diced

1 cup cooked chicken chunks (or nix and keep it vegetarian)
1/2 C. chopped roasted peanuts
2-3 Tbsp. peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (can sub for soy sauce)

Optional: Toss on right before you eat:
Juice of two limes, 1 cup of chopped cilantro, and some chopped peanuts.

EVEN HEALTHIER: ZUCCHINI NOODLES 

Simply sub out the spaghetti pasta for 2-3 spiralized zucchinis and cook until noodles soften, about 5-7 mins. *Only add one cup of water or vegetable broth.

Happy Cooking!!!!

Apple Pumpkin Crumble

APPLE PUMPKIN CRUMBLE

I hope you are having a great fall so far! I can't tell you how excited I've been to stock up on pumpkin, squash, and all the other delicious seasonal veggies. Make sure you get out to a pumpkin farm at some point to pick up some goodies, then you'll be ready to bake!  

SO, I know I have some unique recipes on my blog, but this one is totally delicious and I had a lot of fun creating it so I hope at some point this fall you give it a whirl. I would also suggest topping your crumble off with a scoop of vanilla greek yogurt or ice cream! Enjoy! 

Let's get started: Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease 8x8in baking dish.

Ingredients: 
Crumble:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
4 T. Honey
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
2 T. oil (melted coconut, olive or canola oil)
1 t. vanilla

Pumpkin layer: 
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

Apple layer (pretty simple): 
1 large green apple, diced small (I cut slices instead of diced and they took a lot longer to soften upon the oven)

Directions:
1.Sift together oats, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2.Whisk together the honey, yogurt, oil, and vanilla in small bowl.
3.Combine wet and dry ingredients. Split crumble mixture in half and press into bottom of baking dish. Setting the other aside for the top layer.
4. Mix pumpkin puree, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl and spread evenly over the crust. 
5. Spread green apple pieces over the pumpkin layer.
6. Use your fingers to sprinkle the other half of the crumble over the apple pieces. For a finishing touch, sprinkle some walnuts or pecans on top.
7. Bake for 25 minutes. 
8. Let cool and enjoy with yogurt or ice cream on top! YUM.

HAPPY FALL BAKING! 

EASY Fruit Crisp Topping

EASY Fruit Crisp Topping

 Peaches!!!.....from Thorps, WA 

If you have berries, peaches, pears, apples or heck, even plums or nectarines, MAKE FRUIT CRISP! What are you waiting for?!?!?! It’s one of my favorite desserts AND it’s pretty darn healthy, sooooo it’s a done deal. You’re making this tonight, and lots of other nights.

Hope you enjoy! I have tried numerous crisp/crumple recipes, healthy and unhealthy, and I would like to think this is a happy middle…..mostly healthy and a lot of YUM.

Ingredients and directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray 9x9 pan

2. Cover bottom of pan with 2 generous cups of diced fruit or berries 

3. Mix together in medium bowl crisp ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 T brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 t salt

2 T lemon juice

2 T honey (or pure maple syrup)

1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)

1 tsp vanilla

4. Crumple together with folk or fingers and sprinkle over fruit in baking pan (use all of the crisp topping)

5. Bake for ~20 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling on sides or the crisp starts to brown slightly on top

6. Let cool and enjoy with a scoop of honey greek yogurt (or ice cream) :)

Whole Wheat BERRY Chia Muffins

Whole Wheat BERRY Chia Muffins

Say whhaaaat?! I know what you're thinking, that's a lot of healthy stuff for one muffin, but that's the best part. You can enjoy a muffin (or two....or three) without the sugar/fat overload you would get from a muffin at a coffee shop or bakery. I know it's WAY easier to buy one there, but I'm telling you, make a big batch and you'll have them to enjoy for the whole week. Not to mention, it's a lot better for your wallet! 

Nerd-alert! BUT, the picture above is of me and my husband berry picking last month. We go every summer to stock up on berries for summer and fall. This year, we went to a raspberry and blueberry u-pick farm and had a fantaaaastic time eating berries all day till we were sick. I then proceeded to make berry crisp everyday that week....whoops! :)

Recipe inspiration: http://www.domesticate-me.com

Ready for action? 
Makes: 18 muffins
Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:
1 large egg
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup non-fat Greek yogurt (honey, vanilla or plain)
¼ cup melted coconut OR canola oil
2 tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ cups whole wheat flour (you can also blend whole wheat and all-purpose flour)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 generous cup fresh or frozen berries (I used the frozen berry blend from Costco - blueberry/blackberry/raspberry)

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the egg and sugar for about a minute. Add the yogurt, canola (or coconut) oil, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Don't over mix to avoid dense muffins. The batter will be pretty thick, which is just fine.
5. Gently fold in the berries and chia seeds.
6. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin, about 1/2 full. You should have enough batter for about 18 muffins.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, using a toothpick to make sure the center is cooked through and the toothpick comes out clean.
8. Carefully transfer muffins to a rack to cool....then EAT! 

HAPPY BAKING! 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread!

My wonderful friend, Erin passed along her recipe for Zucchini Bread and included one of her home-grown zucchini's to bake with (it's the size of a melon, see below)! 

I adapted her recipe a bit to include some whole wheat flour and chocolate chips....because 99.9% of my recipes include chocolate so it has to be in there somewhere :) I think this turned out preeeeeeetty darn great and baked perfectly, too.

Makes: 2 loaves
Time: ~1 hour

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F

In Mixer: beat 3 eggs
Add: 2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini

In a separate bowl, sift together:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

- Add dry ingredients to mixer, mix into batter
- Stir in a generous 1/2 cup of chocolate chips 
- Pour into two lightly greased bread pans (I sprinkled chopped walnuts on top as shown below)
**Bake both loaves for 50-60 mins**













HAPPY BAKING!

Fit Summer Circuit

Fit Summer Circuit

I JUST did this circuit today with two of my fit-crazed coworkers (like myself hah) during our lunch break and it was a blast! 

We got through it in about 20 minutes, with a short pause between each full circuit to catch our breath. Talk about some serious endorphans! :D I hope you give this a try and feel yourself getting stronger....or at the least, proud of yourself for trying something new and challenging. Remember, you gotta start somewhere, so if 4 times through is just too much, try 2 circuits and see how you're feeling, then go from there.

***Do note***if you're not sweating profusely and breathing heavy, you need to keep pushing!!! Why work out if you aren't exhausted and sweaty afterwards?!? You'll be SO glad you did!

GOAL: 4 stations, 1 minute each, 4X all the way through

NEED: a bench, mat and to get pumped up before you start ;)

1. CARDIO - fast toe taps on bench

2. SQUAT with single leg side extension (switch leg after each squat)

3. AB leg extensions on mat - slow and controlled, keep back flat on the mat and squeeze in!

4. PLANK elbows to hands, (start on opposite arm after 30 seconds)

Now crank up the music and get er' done!