Guacamole & Chips

My boyfriend is a Mexican food fiend.  Add his obsession with avocado and this recipe was a no brainer for me to make.  While I was thinking about making it, I realized while the dip itself is good  for you [as long as you don't go overboard] what you dip in it can get questionable.  I decided then to make my own homemade chips and that with the guac.... just WOW.  So for you readers, this entry is a twofer (double win).

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 red onion (diced)
• 5-10 Cherry Tomatoes (diced)
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1/8 tsp (just a dash) Crushed Red Pepper
• 1/2 tbl Cilantro
• 1 1/2 tbl Lime Juice
• 1 tbl Lemon Juice
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• Salt (to taste)

Directions:

• Dice onions and cherry tomatoes - set aside.  Cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and scoop the avocado into a bowl.
• Crush the avocado until there are only a few lumps (I use the back of a fork, but a blender would work wonders too)
• Add the chopped onions and tomatoes to the guacamole.  Also add the spices and mix well. Taste before serving to adjust the spices to your liking.  The chili powder and pepper give it a kick, so you can go light with those or amp it up for a real spicy treat.

Homemade Chips

Ingredients:

• 2 Flax Seed Wraps (or any whole wheat wrap of choosing)
• Olive oil spray
• Dash of Salt
• Dash of Pepper
• Dash of dried Rosemary

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut wrap into bite size triangle pieces.  Place in a bowl and lightly coat with cooking spray (I use organic Pam Olive Oil spray).  Add salt, pepper and rosemary and mix well to coat all "chips."
• Place single layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes.  Keep your eyes on them since they brown VERY quickly.
• Nom wisely.

(These are a great alternative for bagged tortilla chips with salsa too since you know exactly what goes on them).

CCK's Cookie Dough Dip

So ask anyone I've talked to recently, and they will tell you that I have been dying to make this recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie for some time.  I finally had a reason to make it, and I am so happy with it!  This dip ended up tasting just like cookie dough, so excited!

I forgot to take a photo, so I just grabbed the one off her blog (the link to the original recipe is below).

Also to note, the best thing to dip with looks like graham crackers or fresh fruit!  Eating it straight would be perfectly acceptable too.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained) (250g)
• 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
• tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 tbsp. If you use peanut butter, it’ll have a slight “pb cookie dough” taste, so if you don’t want this, try the recipe in this link instead. Just don’t bake it.)
• up to 1/4 cup milk of choice, only if needed
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (Or liquid sweeteners such as agave, maple, etc.  A mix of brown sugar and Truvia is also an option)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips or  Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips
• 2 to 3 tbsp oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit for a thinner dip.)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a good food processor (not blender), and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips.

My Changes*:

• 2 1/2 - 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 pkt Truvia
• 1/4 cup skim milk

*Since the party guests were not very open to healthy, I decided to mask the chickpea flavor a little more than I would if I was making it for myself.  Added a bit more vanilla extract and mixed mainly brown sugar with a packet of Truvia.

Overall, both thumbs up for this recipe!

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/

The Perfect Pancake

This morning, since I had a guest, I had another adventure in breakfast making.  I successfully made healthy pancakes!  They're great on their own, but there is an endless variety of ways to dress this up and make them special, so these are a wonderful base as well!  I introduce "The Perfect Pancake."

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 Cups - Chobani Non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup - Egg Whites
• 1/2 Cup - Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
• 1 Cup - Spelt Flour (Whole Wheat Flour should work too)* 
• 1 Tsp - Almond Butter*
• 1 Tsp - Baking Soda
• Dash of Salt

*You can find spelt flour at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.  It's healthier than Whole Wheat, but either one work!

Directions:

• Mix Wet ingredients in a bowl (Greek Yogurt, Egg Whites, Almond Milk) 
• Add in Dry ingredients (Flour, Baking Soda, Salt) and stir until mixed. Then add tsp of almond butter [and or mix-ins of your choice]. Stir Well to form a nice batter and let sit for 5 mins. 
• Heat up a non-stick pan, lightly coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 Cup of batter per pancake. 
• Once batter starts to bubble, flip pancake. Cook 2-3 mins per side. Top with your favorite ingredients and enjoy!

Cooking Tips:

For cooking spray - after spraying the pan, I take a paper towel and wipe it down. It still will help the pancakes from sticking, but without the excess spray!

As I mentioned above, these can serve as just a base.  Some suggestions for add-ins:

• Banana Pancakes - 
• Instead of almond butter, mash up 1 banana and add it to batter.  Then add either walnuts or dark chocolate chips (or both!)
• Gingerbread Pancakes - 
• Another substitute for almond butter would be Trader Joe's Cookie Butter (yes, I'm slightly obsessed).  It tastes like Dutch Speculaas (aka Gingerbread sugar cookies).
• Chili Chocolate Pancakes - 
• Add in dark cocoa powder and just a tad of chili powder.

Nutrition Facts:

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Serving Size: 3 Pancakes

Calories: 182.6.  Total Fat: 1.7 g.  Sodium: 470.7 mg.  Potassium 25.9 mg. Total Carbs: 25.9 g.  Fiber: 3.8 g.  Sugar: 3.7 g.  Protein: 16.1 g

Adapted from: http://www.everydaybelle.com/2011/06/greek-yogurt-pancakes/

Color Me Rad and a [Not So] Colorful Smoothie

Yesterday was quite the eventful day here in Hartford.  One of my best friends came in to visit from NJ and we ran in my first ever 5K called Color Me Rad.  Now if you readers have ever heard of Day Glo - this race is basically the Day Glo of runs.  For those who haven't heard of either, let me enlighten you...

This is us when we started.

This is me at the end of the race.

Basically, as you're running your 3.1 miles, colored cornstarch is being thrown at you from all directions.  There are kids, babies, teens, adults, men in tutus who all run the race so it's a super high energy, fun race.  On a side note, I ran it in 27 mins and 15 seconds... let me do the math for you - that's a 8 min, 47 second pace for almost 30 mins consistently).  As a non-runner before this event, and 50+ lbs heavier, I am so proud of myself and have to brag just a little.

This brings me to the recipe.  How did we start our day off here?  With a healthy breakfast smoothie of course!!  Here's the recipe I threw together for Steph...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tsp nutmeg*
• 1-2 pkts truvia*
• 1/2-1 cup spinach 

*Optional (and highly recommended) - Use 1 tbl of Cookie Butter from Trader Joe's instead as both a sweetener and a dose of healthy protein and good fats.

Directions:

Add all ingredients to the blender (starting with the liquid ingredients first).  Blend until smooth.  Keep in mind, this won't come out a bright pretty color, but it sure does taste good!

Notes:

Frozen Bananas - I don't eat bananas nearly quick enough before they go brown and die on me.  What I've learned to do... when they brown past eating ability, chop them up into bite size pieces and then stick them in the freezer.  By chopping them up first, it will be way easier to use in future recipes from smoothies to banana bread.

Sweet Potato Chips

This has become really my go to snack.  All you need is a mandolin slicer, a variety of spices, and of course a sweet potato (this last one is pretty obvious).  ...Ok, so you'll need a cookie sheet and cooling rack that can fit over the cookie sheet too.

I make 2 versions - sweet and spicy - so depending on your mood, give both a shot!  The spicy suckers are a great side to a sandwich, while the sweet delights really compliment any meal as a dessert.

Spices--
Sweet: 1/2-1 tsp Almond Extract; Cinnamon, 1/2 packet of Stevia (or sweetener of choice), and Nutmeg
Spicy: Olive Oil or Canola Oil Spray; Garlic Powder; Onion Powder; Curry Powder; Chili Powder; Paprika; Pepper; Ground Basil (or Oregano, though I've been told this reminds nommers of a pizza like taste)*

*You'll notice there aren't amounts because this is all really seasoned to taste.  If you like it spicy, add more paprika and chili or you can take it down a notch and just use a premixed Italian Seasoning (try the salt-free kind).

Preheat the oven to 375. Slice the potato into thin, even slices about 1/8th inch thick.  If you have a mandolin slicer, you're more likely to get consistent pieces, which is pretty important.  What I found using a knife, however, was that scoring the top of the potato before going to town cutting it helped me keep the slices more even.  After it's chopped to pieces throw it in a bowl and cover the slices with the liquid ingredient of choice.  Top with spices and use your hands to really mix it up, making sure they're evenly coated.  You don't want 1 chip to be covered in chili powder... trust me on that one.  My mouth still burns.

On a drying rack that has been placed over a cookie sheet - layer the slices in a single layer.  Place it in the oven for about 10-12 mins.  Since I'm still working on the perfect timing, I would keep your eyes on them after about 10 mins to make sure they don't burn.  To know they're ready, the edges will start to curl up and the center will begin to slightly brown.  It moves from browning to burnt pretty quickly, so pull those babies out and let the cool for 5 mins (this gives them time to crisp up like real chips).

After that, the final step is the easiest of them all - ENJOY!

What exactly is a nom?

According to Urban Dictionary the definition of "nom" is as follows:

         The sound made when eating something (or someone).  Can be referred to as "nomming" as verb, and is often pronounced in the sentence "om nom nom".

         Origin: Sesame Street, when Cookie Monster would devour cookies

         If one sees a person eating a giant sandwich, this can be described as an epic nom.

Just nomming on some breakfast for dinner.

So what does that have to do with this blog?  ..Well, a lot!  If you asked me in December, 2011 what a nom was I would have described it as Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice-cream and a Burger King Whopper Value Meal.  Add some ramen noodles in there too and you understand what my diet was like.  As my mother said, "Abby, a vegetable to you was french fries."  Today, I would answer that same question with Balsamic Quinoa Salad or Curry Tofu.  Ask anyone who knows me and they can tell you I've come a long way to discover that healthy, natural foods are simply DELICIOUS.

I graduated college in May 2011 after living in the dorm as an RA for 4 years.  This meant I never learned how to cook and relied only on the food I could get either through my meal plan or at the local restaurants around campus.  Needless to say, this wrecked both my waistline and my wallet.  I never had to learn how to cook for myself, and I couldn't even imagine beginning to try!  Fast forward 6 months after graduation and I decided it was time to change things up.

I found out I was going to be an Aunt for the first time to a little boy and I had a revelation.  Little boys like to run around like crazy monsters... Now, my nephew lives across the country so I'll barely get to see him as is.  Topping the scale at 223 (I'm only 5'7" mind you), I realized that the few times a year I do get to see him I want to be the Aunt that can keep up with the energy levels.  This was really just the spark (it being January and the whole New Years Resolutions probably didn't hurt either).  I got really into the gym and while I was eating healthier, I still wasn't cooking myself.   That didn't stop me from discovering Pinterest though and finding recipe after recipe that was both delicious looking and *shock* healthy.  What really deterred me from making those dishes?  Well, it's the mess associated with cooking.   Lucky for me, I have the best boyfriend who has agreed to clean as long as I cook.  Yes, that means I can make the biggest mess I want and as long as he gets to be my guinea pig I get to have fun in the kitchen.

Recently, I've decided that for both my bank account and health I'd start making those recipes I had been ogling for months.  It turns out that after years of me refusing to be domestic, I actually love it.  I can totally see myself making family dinners every night and you know what - I'm ok with that.

That brings me to the point of this blog... As I experiment with the healthy recipes I find across the blogosphere I will post them here with my notes.  That may include adjustments, additions, or just plain silly stories (remember, I am a novice so I'm still learning).  It's my goal to try a new recipe every week, so let the cooking begin!