Healthy Banana Bars

A little while ago I came across this recipe for Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Road Cake. And this morning, as a reward for the busy day I had yesterday, I decided to finally enjoy some quality baking time. Unfortunately I didn’t have one of the title ingredients — honey. But the fact it was the healthiest banana bread I had stumbled across in some time (possibly ever) made me decide it was worth trying anyway. And the substitutions I made seemed to work out perfectly. The only thing I think I could have added but didn’t think of until it was too late was chopped walnuts. Walnuts are always a great addition to banana bread. Oh well — next time! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup Splenda (or other sweetener of choice)
• 1 egg (or flax egg if making vegan)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 heaping tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons apple sauce
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine banana, Splenda, egg, vanilla, maple syrup, peanut butter and apple sauce in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Ensure all banana lumps have disappeared.
3. Stir in flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
4. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Even out mixture.
5. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. You can check on it at 25 minutes but I find the bananas cause the mixture to take a long time to cook.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes or so as bread will continue to cook on the inside and then serve.

Note: Loaf can easily be cut into squares which are convenient to take with you as a quick snack or breakfast on-the-go.

Five Minute Hummus

This is the perfect 5 minute hummus recipe. It literally takes that long (plus maybe an extra 30 seconds to wash the food processor afterwards). It’s quick, easy and contains nothing but good for you ingredients. Plus the cumin gives it a nice little kick so it becomes more than your average hummus. Hope you like it!

Five Minute Hummus

Ingredients:

- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

- 1 clove of garlic

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 2 tablespoons tahini

- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- about 1/4 cup oil (I used grapeseed oil but olive oil would also be great)

- paprika (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. Blend chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin and salt in a food processor.

2. Slowly add the oil bit by bit until the mixture achieves the consistency you’re looking for. Keeping scraping down the sides if necessary. I found I didn’t need the full 1/4 cup of oil but if you like your hummus really creamy, don’t be afraid to use the whole quantity.

3. You can serve right away with a little paprika sprinkled for decoration or keep it in the fridge for later. It lasts well over a week so you can have it on hand for a good while!

Roasted Chestnuts

In a desperate attempt to accomplish every kitschy Christmas tradition that exists – a couple of weeks ago I forced my sister to help me track down chestnuts. I was determined that even if I couldn’t roast them on an “open fire” as the song suggests – I was darn well going to roast them and hear them pop. Unfortunately, other things got in the way and the chestnuts, tragically, went unpoppped.

But I wasn’t going to let them rot in my mom’s pantry so I brought them back to my place and set out on a journey to discover how to properly cook chestnuts and this is what I discovered.

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wipe down chestnuts with a damp cloth and lay them on a tray, flat side down.

2. Cut an X into the tops of the chestnuts.

3. Cook the chestnuts in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

4. When they’re done most of them will have popped open at the X.

5. Once they have cooled a touch, peel the shells off the chestnuts. Some of them might be dark and hard – those ones are bad and can be discarded. But the ones that comes out a light brown colour are ready to be eaten!

Edamame Beans

Looking for a quick, nutritious and yummy snack? Edamame beans are the answer! They’re ready in 10 minutes so they’re the perfect post-workout or tide-over-until-dinner-treat. Hope you get a chance to try them out!

Ingredients:
- 1 package Edamame beans (in their shells)
- salt (to taste)

Directions:
1. Bring water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil.
2. Add desired amount of Edamame beans. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and rinse beans under cold water. Drain.
4. Place beans in a bowl and dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle desired amount of salt (I like mine really salty but you can be conservative if you’re trying to cut back on your sodium).
Note: DON’T EAT THE SHELLS! Edamame beans are meant to be pulled out of their skins with your teeth or popped out with your fingers if you prefer. But the skins are too tough and furry to eat so have a discard bowl ready for them as you munch your way through the beans. Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins

It has been far too long since I have made breakfast muffins – so this batch definitely hit the spot. They’re very easy to make and you likely already have the majority of the ingredients sitting around your kitchen.

Lemon Blueberry Oat Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

- 1 and 3/4 cups rolled oats

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

- 1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda)

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup milk (I used soy milk)

- 1 egg

- 2 tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)

- zest of 1 lemon

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place 12 muffin cups in a muffin tin (or lightly oil it is you don’t have any cups on hand).

2. Combine 1/4 cup oats and brown sugar for topping. Put aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

4. In a small bowl stir together milk, egg, oil, lemon zest and vanilla.

5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.

6. Gently fold in blueberries.

7. Scoop mixture evenly into each of the 12 muffin cups. Gently sprinkle oat and sugar topping over each muffin.

8. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

My thanks to Quaker Oats for the recipe – it was just what I needed!

Chicken Spring Rolls

I have to say, I have greatly enjoyed all the recipes I’ve made in the last few months but I think this one just might be my favorite. The veggies are fresh, the chicken is flavorful and the sauce is just the thing to bring it all together. It took less than 45 minutes and you can easily multiply the recipe to create lots of leftovers for future lunches. If you do though I’d recommend tucking a damp cloth in the container to prevent the rice paper from drying out. I really hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Chicken Spring Rolls

Serves 2 (or 4 rolls)

Ingredients:

For rolls:

- 4 sheets of rice paper

- 150g chicken (I used 4 boneless, skinless fillets but 1 large or two small chicken breasts would probably do the trick)

- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or other oil if no available)

- 1 teaspoon sesame oil

- 2 garlic cloves (minced)

- 1 teaspoon fish sauce

- 1 tablespoon soya sauce

- veggies of your choice (I used cucumber, carrot, cilantro and lettuce which I found to be perfect – the next time around I might consider adding avocado to give it a creamier texture – sliced radishes, celery, peppers and green onions would also work)

For sauce:

- 3 tablespoons soya sauce

- 1 garlic clove (minced)

- 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar/honey/sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

- juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Combine grapeseed oil, sesame oil, garlic, fish sauce and soya sauce in a container. Marinate chicken in this mixture for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

2. While chicken marinates, thinly slice veggies and rip lettuce and herbs. You can also take this time to stir together the ingredients for the sauce. If you run out of time for either of these steps you can continue them while chicken cooks in step 3.

 

 

3. Place chicken and marinade in a frying pan on medium heat. Cook until chicken is done. Remove from stove and slice thinly. If you want the chicken to be extra flavorful you can pour the remaining marinade over top.

 

 

4. Lay everything out so you have room to work. Fill a large bowl or rounded plate with warm water. Place a sheet of rice paper in water for 30 seconds.

 

 

 

5. Place wet rice paper on a large plate and lay out chicken and veggies on bottom edge.

 

 

 

6. Fold sides over and roll up tightly. Eat up with some sauce!

The All Time Best Smoothie

After many cases of trial and error through the years I finally discovered the trick to the thickest, creamiest smoothie:

Frozen Fruit!

If you make your smoothies with all frozen fruit they come out with a texture so thick they practically have to be consumed with a spoon! Using a frozen banana also helps to create the thickness and a little bit of Splenda goes a long way in terms of frothiness.

The following is just one example of the fruits you can use but feel free to play around with whatever you have on hand. As long as there is frozen fruit, banana, yoghurt and milk – you can’t go wrong!

Amazing Smoothie

Serves 1 as a meal or two as a snack or beverage

Ingredients:

- Half a banana (sliced and frozen)

- 4 strawberries (cut in half and frozen)

- half a peach (cubed and frozen)

- quarter of an avocado (cubed and frozen)

- 1/4 cup yoghurt

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 tablespoon Splenda

Directions:

1. Begin by blending frozen fruits in a food processor.

2. When they have broken down add milk, yoghurt and Splenda. Continue to blend.

3. Transfer to a glass and drink up!

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes

This is definitely the healthiest pancake recipe I’ve ever come across – no flour, minimal sugar and nutritious additions like flax and pumpkin puree. I got the recipe from the wonderful blog, Clean Eating Chelsey, which you should definitely check out if you’re interested in healthy eating. This recipe is delicious, nutritious and can be made vegan to boot!

Pumpkin Oat Pancakes

(Makes 6 small patties)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup oats

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

- 2 teaspoons vanilla

- 2 tablespoons ground flax

- 4 tablespoons water

- 6 tablespoons pumkin puree

- 5 tablespoons milk (I used soy milk)

- 1 tablespoon sweetener (I used Splenda but you could use brown sugar, agave or honey just as easily)

Directions:

1.In a small bowl combine flax and water. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Grind half the oats in a food processor. Combine ground oats, solid oats, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Stir in vanilla, pumpkin puree, milk, sweetener and flax mixture.

4. Heat a frying pan to medium heat. Pour mixture into disks (you can do whatever size you like – I did them small so I would have six).

5. Once bottoms have turned golden, flip them and continue cooking. Once they have fully cooked, remove from heat.

They are best served with butter and maple syrup but are also suitable as a grab and go snack. Enjoy!!

Sweet Potato Fries

These are my favorite snack/side dish because they’re so yummy and also super good for you. Plus they’re very easy to make. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Fries

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

- Sweet potatoes (about half a sweet potato per person – or more if you have healthy appetites!)

- Olive oil

- Salt (to taste)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Peel skin off the potatoes. Chop potatoes into thin strips (try to make them as even as possible so they require the same amount of cooking time).

3. Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil until evenly coated. Add salt and combine thoroughly. You can also add any other herbs or spices you’d like (pepper, cayenne, etc).

4. Lay potatoes flat on cooking pan and place in oven.

5. After 20-25 minutes you can remove the pan, flip the potatoes and return them to the oven.

6. After another 10-15 minutes (so about 40 minutes total cooking time) they should be evenly cooked. There will likely be some crispy sides and some tender sides but that’s okay – the variety just makes them even more fun! They are best served right away but can also be kept in the fridge and reheated later if you have leftovers.

Useful tip: When you have a free moment chop up a bunch of them and keep them in an air tight container in the fridge. For the rest of the week you’ll be able to grab the amount you need and toss them in the oven for a convenient side dish.

Enjoy!!

Carrot Bran Muffins

I decided I wanted to make use of some carrots I’ve had sitting around and also finish off a box of All Bran Buds that were past their expiry date. I came across a recipe on food.com which got me started and then made  substitutions and alterations based on what I had lying around.  So if you give this recipe a whirl – don’t at all feel obligated to stick to the ingredients rigidly. I had a lot of fun making things up as I went along and encourage you to do the same. So here’s the recipe to get you started:

Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup bran (I used All Bran Buds and ground them into a powder in the food processor)

- 1/4 cup all purpose flour (to help the muffins rise a little)

- 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

- 2 1/2 tablespoons ground flax

- 1/3 cup dried fruit (I used dried blueberries but raisins would be great too)

- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

- 1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda)

- 1 tablespoon cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 egg

- 1 3/4 cups milk

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 2 tablespoons melted margarine

- 2 tablespoons apple sauce

- 1 rounded cup shredded carrot

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In medium mixing bowl combine flours, bran, flax, sugar/Splenda, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda.

3. In large mixing bowl combine egg, milk, lemon juice, margarine, apple sauce and carrot.

4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and combine thoroughly.

5. Divide mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups (do not use paper liners).

6. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. When removed the tops should be firm to the touch. Let them cool before removing from pan and placing in an airtight container for up to a week.

I strongly recommend enjoying them warm with a little bit of butter or margarine. They can also easily be frozen and taken out and warmed up whenever you need a quick breakfast. Enjoy!