Sauteed Cabbage

So this is the easiest recipe ever, like so easy its not really a recipe. But its delicious and we've been obsessed with it for months so its getting posted. Now, I know that sauteed cabbage doesn't sound super divine or anything, but we have it about twice a week and it always leave me wanting more.

Before I post the recipe I have to come clean.... This isn't my recipe at all. Like not even a little bit. It's 100% Mark's creation through and through, and boy it sure is a good one.

Cheap, easy, and tasty, what more do you want in a side dish? Not to mention it counts as a serving of veggies ;).

Sauteed Cabbage

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

1/3 onion, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons oil (I LOVE it with coconut oil)

Salt to taste (at least 1 teaspoon)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once oil is hot lower temperature of burner to medium-low setting.

Add onion and cabbage, stir to coat, the IMMEDIATELY add salt. ( <------ Mark says this is a vital step). DON'T SKIP.

Stir everything again and let cook until cabbage is soft and semi-translucent, about 15-20 minutes.

Put on plates and serve.

Enjoy :)

See, I told ya this wasn't even really a recipe.

Non-translucent cabbage

Semi-translucent cabbage

Baked Egg Rolls

Mark was never a huge fan of egg rolls, that is until I introduced him to those freezer section ones and deep fried them. They are delicious, don't judge.

A couple months ago Larry, the security guard at my place of employment brought some homemade beef ones to work. They were amazing, but also deep fried.

Needless to say we needed to find a healthier way to indulge in the Chinese restaurant staple. So here I give you my version of vegetarian baked egg rolls.

Although the wrapper is missing that "deep fried" crunch, the fillings flavor is spot on.

Make these with your next stir fry.

(Pictures follow recipe)

Baked Egg Rolls
Adapted from here

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon oil

1/4 of a head of cabbage

1-2 carrots

1/2 onion

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. While the pan is warming, attached the shredding blade to your food processor and run carrots through. Place shredded carrots on a large plate and set aside. Now attached the large blade to your food processor and pulse cabbage until chopped semi-finely. Place cabbage on plate next to carrots, set aside.

Next, slice onion thinly and mince garlic clove. Add onions to warm pan and saute for 1-2 minutes, then add carrots. Stir a couple times before adding cabbage. Once cabbage is in the pan allow everything to cook for about 2 minutes, add garlic and stir to combine.

Pour in soy sauce, sprinkle in ginger, and crack in some pepper, stir everything and cook for about another 2 minutes. Place mixture into a bowl to cool.

Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or aluminum foil.

Once filling mixture is cool its time to start assembling the egg rolls. To do so, place an egg roll wrapper in front of you making sure a corner is facing you and brush the sides of wrapper with water. Put no more than 4 tablespoons of filling just below the center of the wrapper. Fold corner facing you over the filling, then fold the side corners in to hold the filling. Place seam side down onto baking sheet; repeat with remaining filling.

Spray tops with some cooking spray and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Enjoy :)

Curried Lentil Soup

Lentils. Not that anyone could tell from this blog, but I'm slightly obsessed. I'm 90% positive I could have them everyday for the rest of my life and be satisfied. If I chose my last meal before passing it would be lentils with some sautéed cabbage. I would estimate that we go through an average of a pound of lentils per week here in the Welchmeyer household. Obviously my doing, but Mark enjoys them about as much.

Most of the time I just boil them in some broth for a quick side with dinner, hardly blog worthy. What is  blog worthy, however, is this quick curry flavored lentil soup. I've made it for lunch every Wednesday for the last 2 months and will continue to make it for the foreseeable future.

On top of being ridiculously filling and embarrassingly simple, its one of those meals that leaves an awesome aftertaste in your mouth for hours. Based on my recipe for basic lentil soup I posted awhile ago, this is a worthy upgrade. One that I highly suggest trying. Serve with some crusty bread or crackers for a healthy, light lunch.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

This is the kind of dinner you're thankful for turning out. This is the kind of dinner that you pull out of your ass because its 7 o'clock and all you have in front of you is thawed shrimp. This is the kind of dinner that makes you want to blog it for the next time your ill prepared.

I know this isn't anything new or inspired, but its just what we needed after a long day. Not to mention, it was the perfect dish to break in our new 12 inch All-Clad skillet!

Isn't she a beauty?

Retail price: $180.

Store price: $99.

Final price after using $50 gift card: $57.

Who's winning at life now Charlie?

I'm done now.

Gingerbread Oatmeal

Just when I thought nothing would ever top my double dark chocolate-peanut butter oatmeal...

I was looking for something "Christmas-y" but healthy to make for breakfast Christmas morning.  Something sweet, but with a different flavor profile from all the holiday cookies I had been baking, when it occurred to me that I had yet to bake anything gingerbread related. Immediately I googled "gingerbread breakfast" and got a hit for gingerbread pancakes. While those sounded amazing, they also sounded more time consuming than desired after a run. Quickly remembering that oatmeal is one of my favorite foods ever I googled "gingerbread oatmeal" hoping for a recipe to at least get me started, seasonings wise.  

And oh boy, did I ever hit the jack pot! I only deviated slightly from the recipe I found online but don't want to be one of those people who review recipes but  I didn't prepare the oatmeal as specifically stated. Regardless, my version turned out absolutely divine and I have no doubt the original is just as tasty.

Sound the alarm. We have a new favorite oatmeal recipe here folks.

Gingerbread Oatmeal
Adapted from here

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups milk of choice

1 1/2 cups thick cut oats

1 tablespoon coconut oil

5-6 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons black strap molasses

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring milk and salt to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Once boiling add everything else, stirring to combine well.

Bring back to a boil then reduce heat to low.

Cook until desired thickness, stirring often. This will take about 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat, divide between bowls, and serve.

Enjoy :)

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I wanted to call this blog post something way longer albeit much more accurate (Chocolately Protein Packed Greek Yogurt Pancakes), but settled with  "Greek Yogurt Pancakes" to save everyone some brain power. You're welcome. Just know that the title doesn't emphasize the facts that this recipe is choco-rific and much more nutritious than normal pancakes.

I was originally given this recipe from my sister-in-law, Elisa, a couple months ago by her handing me a recipe card and saying "let me know what you think" leaving me with no indication of how these would turn out. Being the curious creature that I am, these were made for dinner the next day. Here is a screenshot of the conversation Elisa and I had afterwards:

To summarize: These are pancakes, made with greek yogurt, and actually taste close to the real deal. These are pancakes with a pretty decent amount of protein, meaning I won't be hungry an hour and a half later, very little flour, and no sugar. Sign me up.

Fast forward to this past Saturday when we were looking for an excuse to open our container of Wallaby Greek Yogurt (our favorite), the pancakes popped into my head and Mark was more than willing to oblige. While I was mixing the ingredients I remembered that I had an unopened container of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa and decided to experiment. Can you really go wrong with adding chocolate to pancakes? I think not.

Turns out I thought right. The biggest difference I could tell between actual pancakes and these was that these were a bit harder to cut through. Rubbery might be the right word, but it seems so off-putting. Either way, these were enjoyed and will be made again.

We topped ours with the usual butter and syrup but feel free to do whatever you want. I have a feeling peanut butter would be a really good topping.

Muffin Frittatas (3 Kinds!)

Now that I work outside the home having quick, healthy breakfasts readily available has become essential. I no longer have 30 minutes to make something every morning, so I have started prepping meals on Sundays while watching football. This recipe is a take off the english muffin breakfast sandwiches I posted awhile ago, except these include all the vegetables and meat right in one package. This makes is really convenient because all I have to do is toast an english muffin, slice some cheese, throw one of these muffin frittatas in between and I'm good to go.

I made 3 different kinds of frittatas here: 1 only sausage (for Mark), 2 just vegetables and black beans, and 4 with everything. Having these different varieties will help from getting bored throughout the week. As for the range in the servings section, it all depends on how you are planning to enjoy these bad boys. Obviously having one with an english muffin or a bowl of cereal is plenty, but if you don't have time I would recommend eating 2 or 3 with a piece of fruit for a full meal.

Muffin Frittatas

Serves 3-7

Ingredients:

1/2 cup kale, chopped

1/4 cup broccoli florets, chopped

1/2 carrot, diced

1/2 bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/4 pound sausage

1/3 cup black beans

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop up all the vegetables and onion, set aside. Heat a little bit of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add vegetables and onion and cook until vegetables are soft.

In a different pan cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Spray 7 slots of a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Scramble eggs and milk in a bowl. Place sausage into the bottom of 5 slots of the muffin pan. Spoon vegetable mixture equally into 5 or 6 slots and distribute black beans into all 7 slots. Pour egg and milk mixture into each slot to fill 3/4 way.

Place pan in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully fork out muffin frittatas. Allow to cool and then store either in the fridge or freezer for on-the-go meals.

Enjoy :)

Caramelized Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Quinoa

As much as I love having oatmeal or egg sandwiches for breakfast, every once in a while, like this past weekend, I want something different. The answer to this problem came rather easily as Mark and I both found the same recipe to try.

Since the recipe combined our favorite grain (quinoa) and our favorite fruit (apple) it seemed like a great thing to try. However, we didn't have the raisins or the nuts that the recipe called for so we tweaked it ever so slightly to work with what we had on hand.

We really enjoyed the end result, but agree that it is better topped with the warmed milk. This dish was a light but filling diversion from our breakfast routine that I am sure we will make again.

Ingredients needed

Quinoa boiling

Apples caramelizing

Mine topped with almond milk and maple syrup

Caramelized Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Quinoa
Adapted from here 

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup dry quinoa

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

1/2 cup applesauce (homemade or unsweetened)

1 small apple, diced

1 teaspoon coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

1 teaspoon brown sugar

warm milk*, optional

maple syrup, optional

Directions:

Combine quinoa, water, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover, and lower heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until quinoa is done.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and turn heat to low. Core and dice apple, then add to the brown sugar mixture. Cook on low for 5 minutes or until apples are starting to get tender.

Divide quinoa equally between two bowls. Top with 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon each. Add apples and serve hot.

Mix and top with warmed milk and maple syrup, if desired.

Enjoy :)

*Notes:

Use non-dairy milk, such as almond or soy, to make vegan friendly.

Mini Sweet Potato Muffins

Remember that bag of sweet potatoes I told ya about earlier? This recipe is another product of that bag needing to be used up. Wanting to appeal more to Mark's (sweet) tastebuds this time around and make something that would hold up a couple days, I thought muffins would be a great way to go; Mark is happy they are sweet and I am happy they have vegetables. As for making them mini? That just allowed me to use my brand new mini muffin pan I purchased this weekend. I call that a win-win-win.

Lightly sweetened with some applesauce and a minimal amount of sugar these bite-sized muffins make a tasty afternoon treat. Some would argue *me* that these should even be considered healthy. Consisting of whole wheat flour, fruit, vegetables, and no butter is enough for me to snack guilt free. You should too :).

Sweet Potato Hash For One

3-lb bags of sweet potatoes were on sale at the grocery store the other week, naturally I bought it. Then we got super busy being that it was Restaurant Week and all, to make a long story short come Friday we still had a 3-lb bag of sweet potatoes to use up....

This recipe is a product of that predicament.

Fried potatoes with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes topped with an egg... Yes, its just as good as it sounds. Add a little cayenne pepper and the dish becomes especially appreciated after a run in 20 degree weather. It was flavorful and the epitome of fall eating.

Make it. Now.

Wish I would have taken a picture while it was still in the pan

Well I am off to think of other ways to live off sweet potatoes for the upcoming week. Having to come up with ways to use up sweet potatoes, feel bad for me please :).

Sweet Potato Hash For One
Adapted from here

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato, cubed

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped

1 roma tomato, chopped

1 egg

sprinkle of cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes & onions, cover, and cooked until soft.

Uncover and add mushrooms, bell pepper, tomato, cayenne, salt & pepper. Cook for 5 minutes more or until mushrooms and bell pepper are soft.

Make a hole in the middle of the pan and crack an egg into it, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes more until the whites are set.

Carefully plate and serve.

Enjoy :)

Restaurant Review: The Wedge Deli

I'm a sucker for co-ops. From the strange items you come across to the interesting people who to always seem peruse the aisles, I think they are infinitely interesting. Living in a Minneapolis means that there are quite a few co-ops nearby, one of which is The Wedge. Mark and I always drive by it on our way home from the farmer's market and I always want to stop (I know, I know. Right after I get done at the farmer's market?!). Luckily one Saturday we were too hungry to wait the 20 minutes to get home for lunch and stopped in to The Wedge for a quick look-see before visiting their deli for some grub.

Since The Wedge is located off of Lyndale Avenue, and we were visiting on a Saturday afternoon, the store was beyond crowded. This didn't sit too well with Mark as we had just fought off the crowds at the farmer's market, so we booked it back to the deli. The deli was extremely accommodating of the vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. After studying the lunch offerings for a millisecond Mark and I decided to order the works burrito with chips and a make-your-own sandwich, respectively.

While we were waiting for our orders to be ready I noticed that they had a juice bar on the far right side of the deli. I don't know if I have mentioned my obsession with juice bars before, but if there is one in the vicinity I have to go and get a juice. It probably goes hand in hand with my vegetable obsession. Anywho, after asking for some behind-the-counter advice I went with something called a calcium cocktail. It was a vegetable juice made with kale, cabbage, beets, and carrots. Thanks to the beets and carrots the drink had a slight sweetness to it, which took away from the heavy flavor of the kale. I enjoyed my juice and Mark thought it was ok, but next time I would probably go with a tomato based drink.

Tempeh Spring Rolls with Pseudo Peanut Sauce

A couple weeks ago we went out to eat at a Thai restaurant which had spring rolls on their appetizers menu, we didn't order any but I had been thinking about/craving ever since. Fast forward to last weekend when strolling through the aisles of the grocery store I came across spring roll wrappers. Having never used them on top of my unusual yearning for spring rolls meant only one thing: I was buying the wrappers and would attempt to make my own, with a fail-safe meal in mind of course.

I looked at a couple recipes online but decided to just use what I had on hand and hope for the best. I sliced up some raw vegetables and tempeh (which I marinated) and then came the fun part: figuring out the magical powers a little warm water has on a rice paper wrapper! Seriously, I pulled out the dry wrappers and thought for sure I was going to crack them and the rolls would just fall apart, but after dipping them in water for 10 seconds they were instantly rip-proof and semi-flexible. So one by one I dipped, filled, and folded until all my rolls were done. It was THAT easy.

Ingredients

Basic Lentil Soup

Now that fall has arrived full force here in the midwest my body is in soup-desire overdrive. There hasn't been a day in the last week that I haven't had an aching for some kind of soup. A couple days ago I wanted a light lentil soup and came up with this not-so-imaginitive recipe, but hey its exactly what I was looking for. Served with some drop biscuits, butter, and honey my rather boring soup became infinitely more swoon-worthy.

I would highly suggest serving this soup with a more calorie dense add-on as it is, albeit healthy, extremely low in the calorie department. So get everything simmering, make yummy Panera-like sandwiches, and in 30 minutes time you will have a body-warming meal on the table.

Served with aforementioned biscuits

Basic Lentil Soup

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

4 cups broth of choice

1 cup water

1 cup dry green lentils, picked over and rinsed

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrot, chopped

1/8-1/4 cup salsa (or a can of diced tomatoes)

4 teaspoons of your favorite herbs (I used basil, oregano, and thyme)

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

Directions:

Bring broth and water to a boil in a large stock pot over medium heat.

While liquid is heating chop carrots & onion and mince garlic cloves. Once broth is boiling stir all remaining ingredients into pot.

Bring everything back to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer.

Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

Serve with a side salad and bread.

Enjoy :)

Super Quick Chunky Tomato Soup

This soup was the invention of a busy weeknight. Going into it we had no idea how well it would turn out, definitely a welcomed surprise. We served it with some grilled cheeses and called it a well balanced meal. I scarfed it down too quickly to take any pictures so just take my word. If you find yourself hungry and wanting some tomato soup and grilled cheese give this 20 minute fix a try.

Super Quick Chunky Tomato Soup

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 can whole tomatoes, chopped

1 8 oz. tomato juice

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 carrot finely, chopped

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onion, garlic, and carrot. Stir and sauté until onions are translucent and carrots are soft.

Place tomatoes, tomato juice, paprika, basil, cayenne, bay leaf, and salt & pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir and add onion mixture.

Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Divide between 2 bowls and serve.

Enjoy :)

Spicy Meatloaf With Sweet-Spicy Glaze (Individual Size!)

I like to think I'm pretty in tune with my body and her needs. But every once in awhile she throws me a curve ball. One of those curve balls happened the other day when I woke up craving meatloaf. Having a craving so specific is nothing weird to me, I never crave "something sweet" or "something crunchy". No, when my body wants needs something she is always very good at telling me exactly what it is. And most of the time I understand. When she said "I need a big, juicy bison burger topped with the works" earlier this summer I thought to myself "who doesn't need more bison in their life", this past weekend she screamed "Sebastian Joe's for some Chocolate Coyote" and we were there 30 minutes later.

But lets just get one thing straight: I hate meatloaf. The girl who had to be dragged to the table whenever meatloaf was announced for supper, who subsequently drowned each and every piece in HFCS-laden ketchup? Yep, that was me.

Needless to say I was caught off guard when the craving hit, and I tried to ignore it. As the day went on however, I just couldn't get meatloaf out of my head. So I caved.

Worst case scenario? I would end up eating a bowl of cereal *shucks*. I was willing to take the risk.

After a little research into meatloaf recipe basics I jotted down some additions to try to give the dish a chance of being somewhat enjoyable for me. I went with the spicy-sweet combination and added some collard greens (any greens would do) as adding vegetables to any dish automatically raises it 10 points in my book. Since I only had 1/2 lb of ground turkey to work with I divvied up the mixture among three ramekins and topped each with a spruced up ketchup glaze. After a short time in the oven the apartment smelled so good I almost forgot I was making meatloaf.

Spicy Three Cheese Quinoa

Quinoa is Superfood (the superhero of foods). The flavor options seem to be endless and the nutrition profile gets an A+ in my book. Now that we got that out of the way let's talk about what I did with quinoa over the weekend for lunch.

I added cheese.

And garlic & onion.

And vegetables.

And adobo sauce.

Did I mention cheese?

The end result was creamy with a little bit of a kick (thanks to the adobo). The veggies added a little texture to give some life to the tiny beads of quinoa; chicken or hot dogs would work nicely as well. Or bacon. No judgement here. If you don't like spice, leave out the adobo sauce and if you don't have any adobo on hand use red pepper flakes.

Thanks to the quinoa and cheese this dish was filling and satisfying. Next time I am going to put some breadcrumbs on top and bake it for awhile.

Yum.

Spicy Three Cheese Quinoa

Serves 2 as a main course for lunch / 4 as a side for lunch or dinner

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry quinoa

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp olive oil

1/8 cup milk

1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2-4 tablespoons grated romano cheese, divided

2 tsp adobo sauce

salt & pepper to taste

1/8 cup finely chopped carrot, optional

1/4 cup chopped broccoli, optional

1/4 cup chopped kale, optional

Directions:

Rinse quinoa and cook according to package, set aside.

While quinoa is cooking, chop onion and veggies, mince garlic, and shred cheese if needed.

Heat olive in a skillet over medium heat, add onion and garlic, and allow to cook until fragrant (about 2-3 minutes).

Add veggies to skillet and turn burner to low.

In the meantime combine milk, cheddar, mozzarella, and 1/2 of romano in a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir occasionally until everything is melted, then lightly salt & pepper cheese sauce.

Check vegetables and make sure they are soft, then add then to the cheese mixture stirring to combine.

Stir in adobo sauce and taste, adding more salt and pepper if needed.

Stir in quinoa and mix well. Turn up burner heat to medium and allow to cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Divide evenly between two bowls and sprinkle with the remaining romano cheese.

Enjoy :)

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Last week ended up being crazy busy for us, as I had to be downtown 3 days in a row unexpectedly. I barely had a second to breathe let alone plan dinner, so the slow cooker was dusted off about a week earlier than expected. Not that I minded spending 15 minutes in the morning to coming home to a wonderfully smelling kitchen.

One of the things I made in the crock pot, besides this delicious chili, was "baked" sweet potatoes. All I had to do was wrap them in foil, throw them in the crock pot, turn on low, and come home with a ravenous stomach and a plan for a quick meal! Have I given thanks to the slow cooker Gods yet?

On the bus ride home I had come up with an idea for the sweet potatoes that involves semi-gutting then re-stuffing them with a tex-mex mixture (a lot like stuffed zucchini or squash). Given my love for the sweet potato/black bean combination and my craving for spice I jotted down a hodgepodge of ingredients I thought would go well with the bean and potato base.

Its basically a "dry" chili with tons of flavor. Now I know this recipe isn't revolutionary in any sense, but it was new to us and ready in about 20 minutes. Mission accomplished.

You could use the mixture as a side dish, filling for a vegetarian burrito, or maybe a sweet potato hash! Oh the ideas that went through my mind as I devoured mine.

Banana Bread - As Healthy As I Ever Want It

This past weekend Mark and I were craving french toast but were fresh out of bread. This caused a major conflict for us because we try to only go to the grocery store twice a week, once on Sunday for weekly shopping and once on Wednesday to restock our empty apple inventory... it was Saturday. For normal people just making a loaf of bread to use would probably be an option and a delicious problem solver, but unfortunately I have yet to master the skill of working with yeast. I don't know what it is but nothing ever turns out when I try using yeast. A bread making class is in my future. In the meantime I must get a little creative (or so I think until I do a google search).

Regardless, we ended up happy and with french toast on Sunday morning.

I decided to make a healthified banana bread and use it as the french toast base. Now, I'm not crazy enough to think that lowering the amount of oil and replacing the sugar with honey makes banana bread something I can eat and eat, we wanted a comfort food breakfast and thats what we had. However, in terms of calories and added sugar this recipe is much lower than most while still being tasty (a slice of this has about 100 calories while a slice of Starbucks banana bread has almost 500!). So take it for what you will and remember healthier versions of your favorite treats are still treats and enjoy them accordingly.

Steps off soapbox.

Getting back to this banana bread: I used less sweetener because I made it with very ripe bananas, cut the oil down to just 2 teaspoons, and used half whole wheat/half all-purpose flour. The result was a soft, moist bread that tasted sweet enough to be a dessert and light enough for a snack. It was perfect for the baked french toast I made the next morning (recipe here).

The eggs were for the french toast, not the bread

Yum!

Topped with butter and honey

As for the leftovers? They will be used as peanut butter and jelly sandwich bread for a post workout snack shortly!

Yum.

Banana Bread - As "Healthy" As I Ever Want It

Makes 1 loaf,
Serves 10-12

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour (I did 1/2 WW and 1/2 all purpose)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional

1/4 teaspoon salt

2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup honey (I used a little less)

2 teaspoons oil (coconut or canola)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In a smaller bowl mix together mashed bananas, applesauce, honey, oil, and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well to combine.

Lightly spray a 9" by 4" loaf pan with cooking spray.

Pour batter into pan and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Enjoy :)

Recipe Review: Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls

So much yum!

Sometime last week I received an email from Mark's sister with a few recipes attached. This is a semi-regular occurrence between the two of us and I always get really excited because we seem to have the same philosophy on food: healthy without sacrificing flavor.

Two of the recipes were ideas for fall apples, one was for a chicken salad, and the other was for a black bean and quinoa burrito bowl. I knew right away that I wanted to try the burrito bowl first; it just called to me like all other mexican style dishes. So I soaked a huge batch of black beans and cooked them up the next day.

Other than using fresh black beans instead of canned I followed the directions exactly topping ours with fresh tomato, greek yogurt, and guacamole. Yum! Being as its the burrito filling without the wrap I thought I would miss the tortilla but I was wrong. Mark didn't even complain! It doesn't need anything else. Both of us just loved it.

Seriously... Make. This Tonight. It's definitely a winner.

Head on over to The Shiksa in the Kitchen for the recipe.

One last bad picture

Beet & Tofu Burgers

This dish just kind of worked. It was completely experimental to the point where I had a backup plan of scrambled eggs if a disaster ensued. You see, Mark's sister had given us some produce from her garden and one of those items happened to be beets. Up to this point I had never had a beet in my refrigerator and had only recently introduced them to my palate. The beets longingly stared at me for four days from the second shelf of the refrigerator before I decided it was time to have a go at creating something with them.

I almost immediately knew what I wanted to do with the beets, make a plant burger. This might have been because my most recent encounter with them had been in this form and was an enjoyable experience. After scoping out the kitchen I noticed some tofu that was in desperate need of being used before getting forgotten. I started doing a little research and went off that to help brainstorm my own version of a plant burger. Since veggie burgers tend to be mushy enough as it is I pressed the tofu and cooked up some rice (I don't know what the rice does but many of the recipes I looked at used some). Throughout the rest of the afternoon I wrote down my incoherent thoughts until I came up with something that looked like it had a chance of being edible and maybe even slightly pleasant.

I got to work chopping, sautéing, and food processing my burger patty mixture. After the patties were formed I threw them in the freezer in hopes of firming them up a bit. This didn't work but it was worth a shot. Then I fried them up, threw them on buns topped with cheese, greens, and condiments and dug in.