Homemade Organic Granola Bars

I bought a few bags of Taspen's Organic Granola Bars a few weeks ago at the Green Market, so I didn't make them myself, although I hope to make something similar when I run out because they're absolutely DELICIOUS and seem fairly easy to make (once you get all the ingredients). It would definitely be easier to keep buying them, but they're a little pricy ($10/8 oz bag, about $6.50 per bag with the 3-bag deal I used) and would be fun to make at some point! Here are the ingredients:

Raisin Explosion-
Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Peanut Butter, Raw Unfiltered Honey, Organic Raisins, Organic Unsweetened Coconut, Organic Raw Sunflower Seeds, Organic Raw Pumpkin Seeds and Organic Chia Seeds


Almond Bliss with Chocolate Chips & Cranberries- (131 cals for a 1 oz bar, )
Organic Roled Oats, Natural Almond Butter, Raw Unfiltered Honey, Organic Dried Cranberrries, Organic Chocolate Chips, Organic Unsweetened Coconut, Organic Raw Sunflower Seeds, Organic Raw Pumpkin Seeds and Organic Flax Seed.

Check them out on http://www.taspensnaturalhealing.com/store/index.html . Yum yum yum!

Chocolate Beer Cupcakes with Irish Whiskey Buttercream

Ingredients
Chocolate Beer Cupcakes
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup stout beer
½ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Irish Whiskey Buttercream
1 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (I use Spectrum Organics)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 to 5 tablespoons coconut milk
3 to 4 teaspoons Irish whiskey

To make the Chocolate Beer Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) cupcake pans with 14 cupcake liners. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together stout, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix. Fill the cupcake liners about two-thirds full with batter. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean with a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

To make the Irish Whiskey Buttercream
Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the shortening until smooth. With the mixer running on low, add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon nondairy milk at a time, as needed, until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. You may not need to use all of the nondairy milk. Add whiskey, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired taste. Beat on high for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy.

The Verdict: Pretty good, the cupcake part was delish, very light and moist. The frosting was ehhh, maybe just not used to the milk/butter less frosting? I'd change up the frosting next time.

SLUTTY Brownies

I have no idea why they are named this but they are very... easy, lol! and yummy! and in no way healthy so don't make them unless you are bringing them to an event where there will be little or no leftovers :)

You'll need:
1 package of chocolate chip cookie mix
1 package of double stuffed oreos
1 package of brownie mix
(oil, eggs, whatever the mixes call for)

First make the cookie mix according to directions on the package (add about a teaspoon additional water and oil because it's going to cook longer than normal cookies). Press cookie dough down into a brownie pan. Next place oreos in a layer on top of cookie batter (don't crush them, I think they are prettier when you cut into them and can see all the layers). Then make the brownie batter according to the box- no modifications necessary. Pour on top of oreos and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min, let cool, and enjoy. These are to die for, the oreos get really fudgy and gooey in the middle, the frosting is heaven, it's really good and was a big hit.

Morning GLORIOUS Muffins!

Modified from Can You Stay for Dinner's Morning Glory Muffin recipe, these are amazing, sweet, healthy and were a blast to make!

Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2/3 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (generously used this, I love cinnamon!)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple (including juices)- I skipped this and used a cup of cinnamon applesauce instead.
1½ cups shredded carrots (2-3 medium)- I didn't use quite this much, but will happily add more next time.
½ cup raisins
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup walnuts

AND...
about 5 sliced strawberries
1 diced nectarine
about 3 diced dried apricots
a few dried cranberries
...and I think that's it. But there might be more.

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cups. (I made mini-muffins, and it made about 3 dozen).
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together oil, eggs, and pineapple (including pineapple can juices/applesauce). Stir egg mixture into the flour mixture, just until combined.
Stir in the carrot, raisins, coconut, and walnuts (and other ingredients). Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. (About 15 minutes for minis)
makes 12 (or 36)

Review: I could eat these all day long, and on the first day I made them, I honestly had 6 (like having 2 regular-sized muffins, and with the chunks of fruit and bits of walnut, I didn't feel guilty about it at all). I have since limited myself to 1-2 per day, so that they'll last longer, but I am (and everyone else who has tried one is) loving them! When they run out, I'll be making a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins using the same recipe. The only issue was that the paper's a little tough to remove, any ideas for making this easier? Cooking spray inside the muffin papers? In any case, these are winners in my book and I was SO excited to share them that I came back and posted lots of new recipes, of course saving the best for last :) Yum, yum, yum!

Avocado Fries- a new adventure!

Another Pinterest find :) These. are. delicious. Here's the recipe and some better pictures. It calls for a cookie sheet, which I didn't have, so I just crumpled up tin foil a bit and sprayed a little cooking spray to keep the fries from sticking and allow the heat to get to them evenly. It worked :)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups panko crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-in. wedges
Grated parmesan for serving (optional)

Just:
Preheat oven to 450.

Coat avocado slices in the flour, then egg, then panko. Spread on a cooling rack that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, then place on a cookie sheet. Spray/lightly coat the top of the wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then bake for about 20 minutes at 450, or until they are golden brown (I turned my oven up to 500 for the last 5 minutes).

Review: Awesome :) These would be great dipped in a little sour cream or just on their own. Squeezing a little lemon juice on them would also be a lip-puckering good time. Enjoy! Again, sorry for my lame pics, but the site has better ones!

Next Up- Lemon Garlic Tuna Burgers: Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezy (mmm)

Inspired by Rachael's Pinterest also, I made this recipe from Can You Stay For Dinner? It can be found here. It was easy to make, made many meals, and is absolutely scrumptious. I've since made these again and stocked up on tuna to make it once again in the near future. The recipe says that it makes 4 patties, but I thought they were too big, so the 2nd time, I made them smaller (which is how I got about 8 patties instead of 4, and they were perfect)

Ingredients: (Note: I love how Andie prices everything out on her blog)
2, 6 oz cans tuna fish, drained and flaked 1.98
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 0.30
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions 0.20 (I used a yellow onion)
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley 0.20 (I used spinach)
2 cloves garlic, minced 0.10
1/4 teaspoon each, salt and pepper 0.02 (Skipped the pepper)
juice of half a lemon 0.35 (Didn't skip this!)
3 tablespoons sour cream 0.30
1 egg 0.15
4 English muffins 1.25
4 leaves romaine 0.50
1 small tomato, sliced 0.99
___________________________
Total: $6.34, or $1.59 per burger

Combine tuna, bread crumbs, green onion, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon, sour cream, and egg, and mix well with your hands. Form into 4 patties (they will be wet), place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. Serve the burgers on toasted English muffins with romaine and sliced tomato. Spread additional sour cream on each burger, if desired. Note: I also served this with avocado, and it was spectacular.

Nutrition info for 1 burger (not including bun):

Calories: 175.3, Fat: 3.7g, Sodium: 323.4mg, Carb: 9.7g, Fiber 0.4g, Sugars: 0.4g, Protein: 24.2g

Long Time, No Share- Sorry!

I have been baking/cooking in Florida, but I haven't been blogging about it and for that I must apologize. It's no excuse, but my beloved digital camera crashed a few months ago and while I've tried a few things to see if I can fix it (to no avail), it seems that I'll have to get a new one. I have snapped a few shots with my 3G iPhone (no flash, no zoom, not really a great picture-taker, but still something), and luckily, the sites that have inspired my recipes have some great pics you can check out. So let's catch up on some recent favorites. First, let me say that I'm LOVING reading 2 healthy blogs- one is Peanut Butter Fingers and the other is Can You Stay For Dinner? . Both Julie & Andie are fabulous writers and positive sources of motivation/inspiration for my 2012 healthy lifestyle. Since I'm following these blogs, I found out that Fitness.com has their Fitterati Blogger Awards voting going on now, and you can go find the best blogs for healthy eating, exercise, and more here. Awesome :) I've also been using Pinterest to keep track of recipes I find that I want to make, as well as those that I've made (I'll be updating/moving some of these around after I write this post). Enjoy, and please don't hesitate to send a text or give a call if I go this long without posting again and tell me to get my hiney in gear. Thanks in advance :)

First up...Spinach Mini Muffins (inspired by my sister Rachael, who found the recipe at Eatingwell.com)

These should take about 40 minutes total (prep and baking)
Ingredients:
12 ounces fresh spinach, (I labored over fresh spinach for way too long, and while they turned out delicious, I think next time I'll definitely use frozen spinach- and hopefully my Quick Chef or an alternate food processor)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese (I used ricotta)
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
2 large eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (skipped)

Prep:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Pulse spinach in three batches in a food processor until finely chopped (or, if you want to spend a really long time on it, roll up spinach leaves together and chop, chop, chop until you have about 10 cups!). Transfer to a large bowl. Add ricotta (or cottage cheese), Parmesan, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper; stir to combine.
Coat 8 cups of the muffin pan with cooking spray. Divide the spinach mixture among the 8 cups. I used mini muffin tins and this recipe made a LOT (like, enough to refrigerate and freeze to enjoy the following week).
Bake the spinach cakes until set, about 20 minutes (about 15 for minis). Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto a clean cutting board or large plate. Serve warm, sprinkled with more Parmesan, if desired.


Note: Baby spinach is immature or young spinach—it's harvested earlier than large-leaved mature spinach. We like the sturdy texture of mature spinach in cooked dishes and serve tender, mild-flavored baby spinach raw or lightly wilted. Baby and mature spinach can be used interchangeably in these recipes (yields may vary slightly); be sure to remove the tough stems from mature spinach before using.

10 ounces trimmed mature spinach=about 10 cups raw
10 ounces baby spinach=about 8 cups raw

Nutrition (love that Eatingwell.com has this info, be sure to cut it into 1/2 or even 1/3? for minis)
Per serving: 141 calories; 8 g fat ( 4 g sat , 3 g mono ); 123 mg cholesterol; 6 g

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (170% daily value), Folate (46% dv), Vitamin C (40% dv), Calcium (30% dv), Potassium (16% dv).

Review: I thought these were delicious and very mini-quiche-like and the recipe made so many! They'd be awesome in a little crust, but were great the way that they were. The only thing I'd change is that I used Pam in the tin and did not use papers and the bottom of the muffins tasted a little Pam-my. I'd probably do something different next time to avoid that. These were nice as a snack or a side dish and I'll definitely make them again.