Coffee Crunch Bars

The holiday season has begun, and one of my favorite things to do is get in the kitchen and bake cookies and treats. This one is my all-time-favorite. I have begun to incorporate this recipe into my life throughout the year too. Since it contains coffee, it is perfect for late night events or brunches. For instance, it has become my go-to cookie that I bake during tech week.

It also is a PERFECT cookie to serve Santa Claus on Christmas Eve to give him energy as he pulls the ultimate global-all-nighter.

• Servings: 32 (2 cookies per serving)
• Time: 30 min
• Difficulty: very easy
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Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Tbsp Instant Coffee (regular or decaf)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Salted Butter (two sticks), softened
• 6 oz Chocolate Chunks (or chips)
• optional: Chopped Nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first five ingredients (dry) in mixer and combine on low. Add vanilla and butter and mix on medium speed until crumbly. Add chocolate chunks and/or nuts and mix until just combined.

Put dough into two 11X7 glass pans (or one large jelly roll pan), and press down. Should be about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (less time if they are thinner, more time if thicker).

Remove from oven, cut into pieces and let cool before removing from pan.

Nutrition Information: – Per 2 Cookies:  130 calories, 1 g protein, 7.5 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat, 16 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 80 mg sodium, 15 mg cholesterol, 9 mg caffeine

 

 

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Italian Style Stuffed Peppers

Background: I have been wanting to post a recipe for Stuffed Peppers for a long time on here. Only catch…I really didn’t have one that was just right. I would look up recipes online and they just wouldn’t be what I wanted. Some turned out  like meatloaf inside a pepper while others lacked flavor or didn’t have an ideal texture. One time I attempted to make stuffed peppers, the bell pepper was still very crunchy, so the next time I boiled the peppers before stuffing and baking, and that just removed some of the flavor.  I am happy to report that I finally figured it out (all by myself I might add!) and might have come up with the combination for the perfect stuffed pepper. Have you had any of these problems while making stuffed peppers in the past? Am I the only one?? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Often, especially in January, I will ask my husband what he wants for dinner and his response is always “Something Healthy.” The first thing that pops into my mind is this delicious Veggie Quinoa Bowl that I make. Second is always Stuffed Peppers (and if you were curious what number three is, that would be my Lentil and Veggie Soup). The one thing that all of these dishes have in common is they are chock-full of vegetables.

I always have some 96% ground beef on hand. I prefer to use this over other ground meat options. Higher % fat ground beef just is too fatty and needs to be drained before proceeding. And, yes, if you were wondering, this equates to me using a lower fat meat because I am lazy. I also sometimes feel that ground turkey ends up being too dry, and I usually don’t use meat substitute unless I am cooking for a vegetarian (but even then, I usually would just use beans or lentils). The 96% Lean Ground Beef also has a long shelf life because of how it is packaged, and so you can have it hanging out in your fridge for a while. If you don’t use it quickly it also freezes really well (just de-thaw in the fridge the night before you want to cook with it). I will use this for Stuffed Peppers, Meat Loaf, Pasta Sauce, Spanish Zucchini, and Mushroom Burgers.

Pasta Sauce is also another item always on hand in my kitchen. I usually like to make my own pasta sauce from scratch using canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and oregano (and SALT). Mostly just keep it simple, but when I want to impress, I’ll follow this Buzzfeed Recipe for the Best Tomato Sauce, Which is pretty dang good. But it is time consuming, so in a pinch, it is always good to have a simple jar of tomato sauce on hand. You can also quickly turn it into pizza sauce when you add a half jar of tomato paste to it. I recently learned a trick from my mother-in-law, which is to sautée onion and brown ground beef in a pan and then just add some Tomato Basil Tomato Sauce form a jar, and it will taste very home-made and is very quick and easy.

My favorite thing about making Stuffed Peppers is it is a completely standalone dish. You don’t need much else to go along with it aside from a salad and maybe a breadstick if you want (which…My favorite comes in the bread section of Trader Joe’s, or you could make some using their Pizza Dough, like this recipe from Stick Baby and the Snail). It also isn’t too terribly labor intensive, and you can easily forget it once it goes in the oven.

• Servings: 8
• Time: 50-55mins
• Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients:

• Four Bell Peppers (Red, Yellow, Green, whatever you prefer)
• 1 Jar of Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
• 1 lb 96% Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Zucchini, Diced
• 1 Bag of Sliced White Mushrooms
• 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Organic Breadcrumbs
• Salt, Pepper, Basil and Garlic Powder to taste
• Mozzarella Cheese (fresh or shredded)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef in skillet, once cooked through and brown, add diced zucchini and mushrooms. Break the mushrooms up into smaller pieces (you can either cut them even more before you add them, or just break them up in the pan while they cook).
3. Once vegetables start to look tender, add about a half cup of marinara sauce and mix well. Just make sure everything is covered, so add a little bit more if you need to. Let that cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add breadcrumbs and mix well. The texture of the mixture should stick together and be very clumpy. Add additional breadcrumbs until this texture is achieved.
5. Meanwhile, while all of that has been cooking, add about half the jar of pasta sauce to a large pyrex dish (9X12 or large enough to hold all of your peppers) and spread evenly. Prepare the peppers by slicking them in half long ways and removing the stem and seeds. Place them skin-side-down in the pasta sauce.
6. Add a little bit of mozzarella cheese to the inside of each bell pepper half (if you want to elevate this dish, use fresh mozzarella on the inside. I had some on hand and it was delicious). Then fill the peppers with the meat and veggie mixture. Should be enough to fill all of the bell pepper halves, feel free to push the meat-veggie mix down if it is overflowing. Top bell peppers with more mozzarella cheese.
7. Bake for ~35-40 minutes at 375. Serve with a nice little salad and breadsticks or rice.

Sweet Potato Waffles with Fresh Berries and Cream

Last year for my birthday, I convinced my husband to buy me a waffle iron.

“But you never make waffles!” He would say.

“I know! That is because I don’t have a waffle iron!”

“But how often would you make waffles?”

“ALL THE TIME!”

I was really just saying whatever I could to get the darn thing, but now that I have it, I find that I really do make waffles all the time (and not just because waffles just-so-happen to be my toddler’s all time favorite breakfast food.)

The very first thing I made in my waffle iron was the whole grain waffle mix from Trader Joe’s. And, I thought it was awful. Very cardboard-y, pretty disappointing. I could do better (I thought to myself).

And so at that point, I set out to perfect a waffle recipe that did NOT use Bisquick (which is loaded with trans fat, one of the only exceptions to my “all foods fit” theory). My grandma and mom use Bisquick, so I couldn’t go to them for an amazing recipe that had been passed down from generation to generation. I was on my own for this one.

I tried whole wheat flour, I tried oats, I tried flax, I tried apple sauce, I tried using oil instead of butter…I think I went through every variation possible. Then I ended with this general combination, that included sweet potato in place of the fat (many recipes use a few tablespoons of oil or melted butter), and white wheat flour instead of dense whole wheat flour. I also added ground flax seed for a little healthy fat (since I had completely removed it with the sweet potato addition) and stuck with my 1% milk that I have in the fridge. I think coconut milk or almond milk would also taste great in this waffle, but, alas, I just don’t regularly stock it at my house (we are dairy drinkers around here).  In fact, sometimes I will even add shredded coconut to the waffle, for a little but of a chunkier texture, and it is great!

There are two things that I really LOVE about this waffle recipe:

• You really don’t need to use any toppings. My daughter eats this waffle plain, and I do too sometimes. If you do feel like putting topings on, you really don’t need much. I sometimes like to fancy mine up with a tiny amount of agave maple syrup, diced berries and whipped cream. That just feels so decadent (but really isn’t that decadent, since it is a fairly healthy waffle).
• Even if I make waffles for the whole family, there is always enough left over to make freezer waffles. I just use 1/4 cup (or a heaping Tbsp) of batter as opposed to a full 1/2 cup. The waffles come out in a square shape, just the right size for the toaster.

I also love that my daughter loves these, and I can feel good about serving them to her because they are full of vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains, and not too much sugar.

Sweet Potato Waffles

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 10-20mins
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 cup 100% White Wheat Flour
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 tablespoon ground Flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 large Egg
• 1 cup 1% Milk
• 1 teaspoon Tahitian Vanilla extract
• 1 Small Sweet potato

Directions:

1. Preheat waffle iron. Cook sweet potato in a microwave by rinsing, poking with a fork, wrapping in a paper towel, and cooking for 5-7 minutes, until sweet potato is soft.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and slowly add the cooked sweet potato (removing outer skin), mashing the sweet potato as you go. If you want less chunks of sweet potato, you could also mix the wet ingredients in a blender or mixer. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
3. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into preheated waffle iron and cook until ready.
4. Top with fresh berries and cream or agave maple syrup.

Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken Pizza on Honey Whole Wheat Crust

My husband has had a stressful week month year. The best way that I know how to provide comfort is through food. Pizza is one of my favorite meals, and I of course assume that it is every one’s favorite meals too. Normally, I purchase the pre-made whole wheat dough from Trader Joe’s. It is delicious and is a super easy weeknight meal. But I was in a mood to spoil, so I attempted my own version.

My favorite thing to make with the whole wheat crust is a BBQ chicken pizza. Now, I know half of you are probably grossed out right now. People have very strong opinions about BBQ on pizza. Love it or hate it, that is fine. I happen to love it. Mostly because I love just about anything on pizza.

I initially wanted to re-create a local favorite pizza served at Padres games: The BBQ Chicken Pizza.

For a while I would make this pizza with basic BBQ sauce , “Just Chicken,” red onion, cilantro and mozzarella cheese. Slowly I have been tweaking the recipe to BAM! Kick it up a notch. (did I just say that? Am I stuck in the late 90’s?)

Now, I make this pizza using leftovers from Honey BBQ Chicken Sandwiches and make extra sauce by combining BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, honey, and garlic powder. Then I chop the red onion and cilantro together and dice them pretty small, and then layer the red onion and cilantro in the mozzarella cheese It is pretty great!

But what really stole the show tonight was the home made crust. I thought back to a time in college, when we had to create a food product to market. My friends made a whole wheat pizza dough with flaxseed, and it was delicious. I called my friend, Rachael, and asked her what they did. She said to just take a basic dough recipe and do half whole wheat flour, half white flour and then add flaxseed.

Sounds easy enough.

But, of course, I can’t even just stick to one recipe.

Instead, I looked up about 10 different crust recipes and took a little bit from each one. I knew I wanted to use honey as a sweetener instead of sugar. I wanted to use 100% white wheat flour (as opposed to half white, half whole wheat). I wanted to add in the ground flax seeds to give an interesting texture and wanted to be able to make it in my kitchen aid.

I was able to accomplish all of that and, what-da-ya-know, it actually turned out! I love when that happens. I even had enough to freeze for a later time!

I think my favorite part of the crust was the cornmeal on the bottom. I listed it as ‘optional’ in the ingredient list, but it really made it feel like a professional operation. So, without further adieu:

• Servings: 6-8
• Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients:

• 1/2 Honey Whole Wheat Crust
• 1 Cup BBQ Chicken (+ More BBQ Sauce as needed)
• 1 Cup Mozzarella cheese (More as needed)
• Handful Cilantro
• 1 slice of Red onion
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Assemble in the following order: BBQ sauce, BBQ Chicken, half of the cilantro and red onion, Mozzarella cheese, the rest of the cilantro and red onion, parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 for 12-16 minutes or until crust is cooked and cheese is melted.

Honey Whole Wheat Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 cups 100% white wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 packet (2 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Cornmeal (optional)

Directions:
Dissolve honey, tbsp of flour and yeast in warm water. Stir and let activate over ~10 min. In the meantime, add two cups white wheat flour (or one cup white, one cup whole wheat) to stand mixer bowl. Add salt and flaxseed. Stir well. Create a well in the middle and add liquid once activated and frothy. Mix with dough hook by hand until combined, then attach hook to stand mixer and mix first on low, then ramping up to medium/high. Mix for about 6-8 min, until smooth and pulls away from the dough hook and sides easily. Add more flour or water a tsp at a time as needed. Once mixed, flour a work surface and divide dough in two. Work dough with hands into a ball. Rub a little bit of Olive oil on top of each ball and then cover with a clean, warm kitchen towel. Let rise for 45-60 minutes. Form into pizza with your hands (not a rolling pin. Let gravity do the work). Sprinkle cornmeal on parchment paper and place formed dough on top. Place desired toppings and then bake for 12-16 min at 425.

Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/3 cup Italian dressing
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 frozen chicken breasts

Directions:
Combine together. Cover chicken breasts with sauce and cook on high in the slow cooker for 2 hours and then on low for 4 more.
If you need additional BBQ sauce for the pizza, combine just the first 4 ingredients.

Served with Watermelon chunks and Broccoli Slaw

Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Agave-Maple Butter Sweet Potatoes and Zucchini

I have a friend. Let’s just call her Kellie. She has celiac disease, which means she cannot eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley). She consequently also has a hard time with dairy, so many of the meals we prepare together have to be both gluten-free and dairy-free. There always seems to be magic in the kitchen when we cook together. I am forced to come up with creative ways to prepare meals I normally make. We always end up with a delicious meal that is simple, lots of vegetables, interesting grains, and lean protein. It also ends up being fairly healthy too (except for that time we added bacon to our cauliflower and leek mashed potatoes…although that was pretty amazing)

I love using pork because it is fairly inexpensive and you can purchase two tenderloins at Trader Joe’s for under $10. It is a perfect option for entertaining because it can feed quite a few people (you can feed probably 6 people with those two tenderloins). For some reason, I always have to pair pork with sweet potatoes, it just makes sense in my head. Lastly, I consulted Kellie for what veggie she would like, and she suggested Romanesco (those little fractal, lime green veggies that seem to be somewhere in between cauliflower and broccoli). My local TJ’s was fresh out of Fresh Romanesco, so we went with zucchini, one of my old stand-bys. Overall, the meal was a success. I tried something new for the baked sweet potatoes (Maple and Cinnamon Butter instead of just butter and brown sugar), which was a really nice treat. The bag of sweet potatoes is another great buy from TJ’s. There were 6 potatoes in there for less than $2, pretty great deal if you ask me!

Now, on to the process:

You can make the glaze ahead of time , which is what I usually do when I make this. Refrigerate until ready to use. When you are ready to cook up the Pork Tenderloins, just give them a rub down with olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  You can either combine the sea salt and pepper and oil and then rub it all together, or rub down with oil and then top with salt and pep. Either way, you’ll be fine. I use a large 9X12 pyrex dish for this. Another reason I love this meal is that you don’t have to marinate the meat for a long time prior to cooking. You don’t even need to prepare the glaze ahead of time either. The pork cooks for 10 minutes, and then you pour the glaze on top, so technically, you could prepare the glaze as the pork begins to cook. You’ll be done, start to finish in less than 30 minutes.

The zucchini was going to go in the over with the pork, so I prepared it very simply, with drizzles of Olive Oil, and fresh ground sea salt (or kosher salt) and pepper. I just periodically checked on the zucchini and tossed it as needed.

I use to never make baked sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes) before I learned how easy it was in the microwave. Now, it is my go-to side dish. So quick and easy. Just rinse the potatoes well, poke them all over with a fork or knife, and cover with a damp paper towel.  Microwave the sweet potatoes (6 minutes for the first one, then add an additional 2 minutes for each additional potato) and use caution when removing, because they will be ridiculously hot.

The Cinnamon maple butter was an experiment, and it was so incredibly successful, I feel like I need to make this by the vat full and swim in it. Just used 2 Tbsp Butter, 1 Tbsp Maple Agave Syrup (my personal favorite for taste and consistency, not because it is any more healthy than other syrup. They all are equally sugar-y. I am sure any maple syrup would be fine) and a few sprinkles of Cinnamon. Probably about 1/4 tsp. If I was making this in a larger portion, I probably would have used the stand mixer, but since my butter was soft already, it was easy to mix by hand.

Now is the part of my blog post that gets a little bit sad…

I was way too excited to eat this meal to remember to take a picture of the finished product.

But I assure you it looked colorful and beautiful and would make you salivate just by looking at it!

So, there you go. A super easy dinner that is perfect for entertaining on a budget and will be a breeze to prepare, even for a novice chef.

Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin

• Servings: 4
• Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

2 Pork Tenderloins
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 Cup Apricot Preserves or Jam
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
3 Tbsp Chicken Broth
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme, Chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. Coat/rub pork tenderloins with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place pork in the oven for 10 minutes.

In the mean time, prepare the glaze by combining apricot jam, dijon mustard, chicken broth, garlic and thyme. After the pork is in the oven for 10 minutes, remove and add glaze, then return pork to the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145.  Remove, slice into 1/2 inch-1 inch thick slices, and drizzle additional glaze on top.

Microwave Sweet Potatoes with Agave-Maple Butter

• Servings: 4
• Difficulty: (super) easy
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Ingredients:

• 4 Sweet Potatoes
• 2 Tbsp Butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp Agave Maple Syrup
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Rinse potatoes well and poke with a fork or knife, about 6 times all over. Cover with a damp paper towel and place on microwave-safe dish.  Microwave the sweet potatoes (6 minutes for the first one, then add an additional 2 minutes for each additional potato) and use caution when removing.

While potatoes are cooking, combine last three ingredients until well mixed. Once potatoes are done cooking and ready to be served, slice down the middle with a knife to expose flesh and top with butter.

Simply Roasted Zucchini

• Servings: 4
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

Three large zucchini or yellow squash
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425. Slice zucchini into 1/4 inch pieces. drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for ~20 minutes, turning as needed.

Acai-less Bowl with Mixed Berries, Flax, Bananas, Hemp Granola and Honey

The Acai Bowl trend has begun to die down, which means cafes and coffee shops around the country feel comfortable with putting this item on their menu. Now, I personally love me a good acai bowl. I feel like I am doing my body a favor with giving it a whopping dose of antioxidants and fiber…and dessert… all at the same time.

Only thing with preventing me from eating Acai Bowls for every meal:  Acai is an exotic fruit from South America, thus making it a little on the pricey side. Most Acai Bowls I come across are easily $6-8. Also, Trader Joes doesn’t sell frozen Acai…or any acai that I know of. Becasue I love saving money any chance I get, I figured, why not try to re-create my beloved acai bowl with ingredients I purchased from Trader Joes in my fridge?

Challenge Accepted

When you deconstruct an acai bowl, you will notice that most of them follow a similar set-up:

• Sorbet-type texture base of acai and other fruits. Because Trader Joes doesn’t carry Acai, then neither do I! I did happen to have a bag of frozen mixed berries, which would have to do.  One of the great things about Acai is that it is loaded with antioxidants, but fruits like blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry are also jam packed with antioxidants, so I didn’t feel like I was being cheated nutritionally.  I also added some Organic Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt (because I had it on hand…and for a little extra protein) and 1% milk (because it was the only thing on hand aside from water that would work as a liquid do blend the fruit. You could use any dairy or non-dairy based beverage. I am sure coconut milk or almond milk would be delicious). I also added half of a banana to make it just a little bit more delicious (save the other half for the top, see below). Blend it all together in a super blender (Vitamix or Blendtec or Ninja-type of blender) until smooth.
• A crunchy topping. I normally don’t purchase granola because I just don’t think it makes sense to eat as cereal. Normally, you get a half a cup for 200 calories, and who can REALLY eat just a half a cup of granola for breakfast? Not me. If I have a bowl of granola for breakfast I easily have 1.5 cups, which, with milk, coffee, and fruit, my breakfast is easily over half my days worth of calories. BUT I went against what my dietetics compass was saying and bought some delicious hemp granola, for the sake of deliciousness.  I also always have Bob’s Ground Flaxseed in my fridge (because of the fat content), which I use in my pancakes, so I threw a bit of that on top as well, which helps boost the omega 3 content and add a unique flavor.
• Diced Fruit. Banana (the other half) diced was all I went with this time, but when I have other fruit on hand, I will add that too. In the past I have also topped with blueberries and diced strawberries…pretty much more of what is on the inside.
• Extra garnishes that make it taste damn good. I used a hint of shredded coconut and a drizzle of honey. You could probably skip this step, but it would take this from a 9.5 to about a 7…definitely worth the extra calories.

I’m not going to tell you this was the most amazing thing I have made in my vitamix (I’ll save that for another post), but it was pretty close. It is definitely refreshing, and delicious, and cheaper than purchasing an acai bowl from the cafe across the street. Because I was able to customize this too, I am willing to bet mine had a better nutrition profile than those heavy handed versions. Granted it might not have quite “as many antioxidants” as a traditional acai bowl, but I am perfectly fine with the amount I am getting.

• Servings: 1
• Time: 5 mins
• Difficulty: easy
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• Half Bag of Frozen Berry Medley
• 1/3 Cup Organic Vanilla Yogurt
• 1/3 Cup Milk (or Non-Dairy Beverage of your choice)
• Half Banana

Blend together in your super blender (Vitamix on High) until smooth, like sorbet. Spoon out into a large bowl.

• 1/4 Cup Hemp Plus Granola
• 1/2 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed
• Half Banana, thinly sliced
• 1/2 Tbsp Shredded Sweetened Coconut
• Drizzle of Honey

Assemble remainder of ingredients on top of mixed berry puree in order listed and enjoy.