Recipe: Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

I'm a sucker for Quaker Oats chocolate peanut butter granola bars, but I realize they're neither very natural nor very healthy. So I decided to make some of my own. I found a recipe on Orangette that was derived from Smitten Kitchen which was in turn based on one from King Arthur flour.

I will caution you that this recipe does get a lot of things dirty (food processor, multiple bowls, etc.), but it's totally worth it. If you, like me, are trying to make this while a baby is crying, you should avoid leaving the butter in the microwave instead of in the bowl. I didn't catch that error until 10 minutes into baking, at which time I mixed it into the dish and patted it down again. Despite that, it still turned out delicious, so this recipe is fairly mistake-proof!

When all was said and done, these were hella good. Like crazy, I looked forward to having one every day, good. These were my special treat I allowed myself when I was doing an early morning feed with my little one, and now I'm quite sad that they're gone. I might try it with less chocolate next time, but let's get real, the chocolate part is the business.

A Healthier Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I thought I'd come up with my official favorite banana bread recipe with my previous healthy banana bread, but by an accident of ingredients on hand, I have found one I like even more.

I was going for something healthier but still a little decadent, so this time it was a chocolate chip banana bread. I didn't have the applesauce I used last time on hand, so I used fat free Greek yogurt instead. Turns out this version was even more delicious! The yogurt made it really rich and moist and provides a great alternative to recipes that use tons of butter or oil. Given this recipe doesn't include oil, butter, white sugar or white flour, even with the chocolate chips, it's pretty darn healthy.

Now I must admit, I ate this served warm with a little butter, so it wasn't exactly diet food, but good Lord, it was incredible!

A Healthier Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 cups white wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 very ripe bananas 

Pinch of cinnamon

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup agave nectar

Handful of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet but use your favorites)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray/grease bottom of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and set aside (I used a baking spray with flour).
2. Whisk together all dry ingredients except for chocolate chips in a large bowl.
3. Smash bananas and mix with wet ingredients and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. 
4. Fold banana mix into dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips on top if you like it extra chocolatey!
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Check after 45 minutes to avoid over-baking.
7. Let sit for 20 minutes and enjoy!

A Healthy Banana Bread

The thing about being on a diet is that you suddenly have a voracious appetite for all the things you're not supposed to be eating. Seriously, I'd give my right arm for a cheeseburger right now! So when I was hankering for banana bread, I decided to figure out a way to make it healthy.

I scoped out a bunch of online recipes, and ultimately settled on one that replaced flour with whole wheat, oil/butter with apple sauce and sugar with agave nectar. Baking off recipe makes me nervous, but this turned out great! The bread was moist and flavorful. I only had two bananas, but this would be even better with three. Next time I might try mixing some yogurt into the mix in place of apple sauce just to see what impact that has.

At only 3 points a serving, you can even spread on a little butter for an extra special treat!

Healthy and Tasty Banana Bread

Ingredients 
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 mashed overripe bananas
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus® per serving (Makes 12 servings)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce, agave nectar and vanilla. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas in with applesauce mixture until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. 
4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Keep an eye on it because some recipes say as long as 65 minutes, but mine was done in 45) Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Weight Watchers - It Works, It Really Works!

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed I've been pinning healthy recipes like crazy. Any food-lover who doesn't want to buy a new wardrobe each year, eventually has to reign in the excess and take of the lbs.

Taking inspiration from my rapidly shrinking boss, I've been kicking it Weight Watchers style for 4 weeks now. I'd been thinking about trying a new weight loss tactic for ages, and I'm so glad I finally gave WW a try.


If you don't know much about it, basically you sign up and you get a daily allowance of points based on your age, weight, gender and goals. I'm fortunately only trying to lose 9 pounds, so I was given the bare minimum of points - just 26 per day. You also get 49 points to use whenever you want for the rest of the week.

Due to our love of dining out, I've been saving up my bonus points for weekend outings and just doing the best I can to guesstimate how many points I've eaten (just how many points does a beignet stuffed with shrimp have?!). A typical weekday starts with 4-6 oz of fat free Greek yogurt and fruit, lunch is a salad with grilled chicken, snacks are fruits (zero points!) and dinner is something sensible but not too different from what I'd normally eat. That's what I like about WW, I feel like I can keep it up because I can still eat regular meals versus feeling like I'm always "dieting."

So I'm a month in, and how am I doing? Well, I'm very pleased to say that it hasn't been as bad as I thought. As long as I'm thoughtful about breakfast and lunch, I often have enough points left over for a glass of wine at night, and as I mentioned above, I've still gotten at least a weekly splurge. The proof is in the delicious pudding - I'm down over 7 pounds! Someone actually told me I was looking slimmer the other day, which made it all worth it!

In fact WW tells me that I'm losing weight too fast, which is weird, because I really am trying to eat all my points every day, and I'm fairly confident that some of my splurge days might be more off the rails than I intended. Regardless, I'm very excited to see numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in years. Now if I can just keep it up long enough to make it stick!

Want to check out some of the tasty but healthy meals I've been eating? Check out my Skinny Eats board!

Healthy Recipe: Eggs in Purgatory

Happy New Year! Like everyone else, I'm on a health(ier) kick right now. We had some leftover potatoes, so this hearty yet fairly healthy recipe for Eggs in Purgatory caught my eye. Weird name for a recipe, right? Uova in Purgatorio, the original Italian name, sounds less ominous but much harder to pronounce! This take on the Italian classic ditches most of the naughty carbs.

Given the amount of prep needed (chopping onion, thyme and garlic; roasting potatoes, etc.), this was not an ideal weeknight dinner. Since the hubby is at the Sugar Bowl (and enjoying dinner at Luke while I'm stuck cooking!), little sister came over and waited a long, long time while I cooked. 

As you can see from the photo, this was not the most aesthetically pleasing dinner. It looked much better in the pan with the perfect runny eggs sitting on top, but it's not solid enough to scoop without breaking up.

Some commenters on Epicurious had complained the recipe was bland, so I used Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies, which kicked things up nicely! What it lacked in beauty, it made up for in taste.

Two changes I'd make in the future. First, if making for company, I'd make in individual ramekins so that the eggs wouldn't get broken during serving. Second, I'd only make this on a weekend since it clocked in at over an hour of work, which is no bueno for a work night.

Note: The Muir Glen tomatoes used in this recipe were received gratis within the 2011 Reserve Gift Basket they provided me. The product was free but my affinity for them is genuine!

Recipe: Miso Black Cod

Miso black cod had its moment circa early 2003 or so when Nobu and then every other Asian influenced restaurant in creation put it on their menus. It's sweet and almost buttery. When done right it practically melts in your mouth with sweet/salty goodness.

Black cod is hard to come by, so this weekend we found escolar, a Hawaiaan fish, at the Dekalb Farmer's Market. It's also a rich, oily fish like black cod, so it was a reasonable stand in. Apparently escolar can cause some rather, shall we say explosive, results. After reading more about it, I do not recommend taking the chance! The dish we made with escolar was easy to make and totally delicious, but you're taking your life into your own hands if you use that as a black cod substitute!

Miso Black Cod

Meatless Monday: Quinoa and Bean Salad

After a weekend of decadent eating (read: a Tommenator followed by Morelli's Ice Cream!), it was definitely time for Meatless Monday. I had never made quinoa before, but I picked up some at Costco and found it easy as can be.

I'm almost ashamed to admit where I got this recipe. Food snobs like me often scoff at Rachael Ray for being both a hack and mightily annoying. But I read the April issue of her magazine courtesy of my mother-in-law and was amazed at how much I picked up from it. Consider me a reformed hater, sort of.

I was feeling very pro-Rachael, but I just tried another recipe from her magazine and all I can say is 30 minutes my butt. Ok onto happier things...

Quinoa and Red Bean Salad


And how timely, NY Times covered quinoa this weekend. Who knew it was all grown in Bolivia? I feel bad that we're eating all of their quinoa, but I feel good that I'm eating something good for me. Ooh too much thinking for Monday night, that's an ethical dilemma for another time!

Meatless Monday: Italian Farro and Bean Soup

I was looking for an excuse to use my giant bag o' Costco farro again, and I stumbled on two different recipes for a farro and bean soup similar to a dish popular in Lucca, Italy. I took a bit of the best from each recipe to whip up my own personal version.

This soup was easy to make and chock full of flavorful and healthy ingredients. It was hearty and filling enough to quiet even the most avid carnivore, and made a perfect dinner when paired with a light arugula salad.

Italian Farro and Bean Soup

Farro Salad with Fried Cauliflower

Long ago, I'd found a recipe for Farro Salad with Fried Cauliflower that caught my attention. I honestly didn't know what farro tasted like, but having been obsessed with crispy fried cauliflower served at a little pita shop near my old NY hood, I couldn't resist the siren call of that unheralded veggie. Alas, I couldn't find farro anywhere.

So it got filed away in the dark vault of recipes I'll never try, and I forgot about it. That is until I stumbled onto a giant bag of farro at the Brookhaven Costco the other day. That's what passes for excitement for me these days, so suffice it to say I was rather pleased to dust off the languishing recipe and give it a go.

Turns out it was worth the wait. Not only is it super easy and quick to make, but it's packed with fresh flavors of herbs and lemon, combined with the al dente chewiness of the farro, the crispy fried perfection of cauliflower and the fatty joys of prosciutto. A veritable taste explosion!

Seriously, though, I loved that it was light but satisfying, and if you aren't familiar with the wonders of fried cauliflower, allow me to introduce you. An otherwise bland veggie becomes a gorgeous melding of golden crunch when introduced to a sizzling pan of oil. It's utterly addictive!

And best of all, it held up well the following day and made for great cold leftovers. What more can you ask for?

Farro Salad with Fried Cauliflower

Breadmaker Honey Wheat Pizza

Mr. AT and I are the proud owners of a new Zojirushi breadmaker, courtesy of his parents. So far we are loving it. My hubby is obsessed with making fresh whole wheat bread, and I must admit it's much tastier and more gratifying than store bought.

We've discovered King Arthur's White Wheat, which is an albino version of wheat without the taste drawbacks of regular wheat. I found that many recipes for whole wheat pizza really mix traditional flour with whole wheat flour, which didn't really suit my desire to eat whole grains, so I was thrilled to discover white wheat can replace regular flour entirely. Guilt free pizza!

We have had a couple of misfires with the breadmaker, so it's worth noting that these machines are sensitive. Improperly measured ingredients or opening the machine during the process (or poking the rising loaf as Mr. AT did once) can result in shape and textural issues. We've taken to weighing ingredients instead of trusting measuring cups since overly packed flour can ruin your results.

Fortunately this dough came off without a hitch. The hardest part is actually rolling out the sticky dough without too much of it ending up on your hands or counter. Do not be afraid to dust your hands, your counter and the dough with plenty of flour to make it easier to handle. I loved the chewy texture and light honey flavor of the dough. This is healthier than regular pizza but doesn't taste healthy, which is a good thing in my book! I didn't roll it out enough, so it was a bit thicker than it's meant to be, but even so it was quite delicious, and I was oh so proud of myself for making my very own pizza from scratch.

So many possibilities now that I've got this figured out!

Breadmaker Honey Wheat Pizza Dough (adapted from KingArthurFlour.com - see link for the non-breadmachine version)

Ingredients

Dough
2 teaspoonsquick instant yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (100°F to 115°F)
2 tablespoons honey
3 1/2-3 3/4 cups King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 425°F. If you're using a baking stone, preheat the oven to 450°F.

To make the dough: Follow instructions for your breadmaker model. For the Zojirushi: Put water, olive oil and honey into breadmaker. Then add flour, gluten, and salt. Make a dent in the top of the dry ingredients and place yeast there. Do not let yeast touch the wet ingredients. Turn breadmaker on quick rise, dough setting, and let the machine do its magic.

Assembling the pizza: Put flour on your hands before handling the dough. It's sticky! Divide the dough in half, roll each piece on a floured surface into a 13" to 15" round (depending on the size of your pizza pans), and place the rounds on lightly oiled pans. (A 13" diameter yields a thin crust; a 15" diameter yields a cracker-thin crust.) Turn in the overhanging edge to form a rim. If you plan to use a baking stone to bake the pizza, place the dough on two baker's peels, dusted with cornmeal or surfaced with parchment.

Brush each round with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Based on other comments I'd read, I opted to bake just the dough for 8 minutes before putting any toppings on.

Add sauce, cheese and other toppings. There are so many options! I went with homemade tomato sauce leftover from spaghetti night, fresh and grated mozzarella, and a bit of basil as garnish.

Bake the pizzas in the pans for 12 to 20 minutes, or until the top and bottom crusts are nicely browned. If you're using baking stones, bake for 15 to 25 minutes (leaving the pizza on the parchment), or until the crust is nicely browned on the bottom. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. Yield: 2 pizzas, about a dozen large slices.

To freeze extra dough, roll it in a ball and lightly cover it with olive oil and seal in plastic wrap or a bag. When I was ready to make it, I just took it out of the fridge and rolled it out. It will last 4-5 days if refrigerated, longer if frozen.

Want to try your hand at the Zojirushi? Get yours from the Adventurous Tastes Amazon Store.

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan

After several weeks of rather decadent eating (hello Miller's burger and peanut butter banana cream pie), I'm back on a health kick. That does not mean I'm willing to forgo tasty food, though. Fortunately I can satisfy my craving for eggplant parmesan, a dish I virtually never have because of it's horrific waistline implications, without feeling bad about it.

This dish is actually made on the grill, making it a nice change from the burgers and steaks grilling norm. It's also a perfect meatless Monday option and can be whipped up in no time. The season is pretty well past for tomatoes and eggplant so try this before it's too late! I'm on an anti-carb kick, too, so I skipped the breadcrumbs on one occasion and still found it plenty tasty.

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan  

Bon Appétit | August 2002

Calorie Bombs - thisiswhyyourehuge.com

Two weeks of healthier than normal eating (limited alcohol, sweets, bread, etc) and here I am exactly the same. In the spirit of that, here are calorie bombs I wish I could be eating - http://thisiswhyyourehuge.com/. I quite frankly would really like to dive into that PB Tower of Power dessert!

How I long for the days when I dove into my sorority's chicken finger Friday with nary a thought of caloric intake. Seriously getting older is the pits for a variety of reasons, but seriously having to watch what I eat is one of the greatest bummers my world has ever know.

Yeah, yeah, I know, healthy food can taste great, but seriously, I just want to dive head first into a mountain of peanut butter, chocolate, and dulce de leche!

Now off to eat my sensible turkey chili lunch (which is in fact quite tasty and super easy to whip up in a slow cooker!)...