Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

I’ve been dying to have a blueberry muffin this entire last week (ever since I devoured pancakes Saturday for dinner and kept smelling the delicious smell in the kitchen….weird I know).

Anyway…I wanted to find a healthier muffin. But then I wanted to add a crumble top….you know making the muffin crunchy on top and soft on the inside……

And the most delicious bite ever.

So I found a couple recipes and played around and made this muffin. They are so good, you should have seen my sister’s face light up when she tried it after work.

These muffins have oatmeal and whole wheat flour. These muffins are low fat. These muffins also have butter and sugar sprinkled on top….oops.

But really, these are way healthier than your average muffin.

This recipe is adapted from Gina’s over at SkinnyTaste and from AllRecipes.Com 

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins 

Ingredients: 

For the Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups Quaker quick oatmeal
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• baking spray

For the Topping;

• 3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, cubed
• 3/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions:

Muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line a muffin tin with liners and lightly spray with oil
2. Soak oats in milk for about 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, honey, apple sauce, vanilla, egg whites and mix well.
4. In a third bowl combine whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and whisk to combine.
5. Combine oats and milk with sugar, applesauce mixture and mix well. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Fold in blueberries.

Topping:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon together with a fork (or your hands- like I did) until combined. It should resemble wet sand.
2. Sprinkle topping on the muffins and bake for 22-24 minutes.

You gotta try these!

What’s for Lunch…Week 1

Have you found that its hard to come up with creative lunches? I definitely have. It is easy to get into a rut of eating what is quick and easy for lunch. For me it was a cheese sandwich everyday (that’s right…bread and cheese) and for some it is fast food. I am going to start a weekly post with my lunches from the week. It is going to be a challenge for me to reflect on what I am eating for lunches and hopefully give you some ideas!

1. slice of colby jack cheese, wheat thins, strawberries 2. sliced gouda, triscuits, grapes 3. sandwich (sliced turkey, colby jack, arugula, mustard), apple 4. nachos (chips, shredded cheddar, leftover taco meat, salsa, guacamole 5. leftover spinach frittata, watermelon, basil hummus, pita chips 6. pizza roll up (whole grain tortilla, pizza sauce, mozzerella cheese), grapes, watermelon, flat pretzels 

What did you have for lunch this week?

Gluten Free Brownies

My Grandma recently found out that she has Celiac disease and has to start adjusting (and I mean ADJUSTING) to a gluten free diet. It is such a hard lifestyle change for anyone, especially someone who has been cooking and eating for 50+ years.

My Grandma makes the best caramel brownies, so I wanted to test out a gluten free version to share with her.

Gluten free flour is EXPENSIVE, so I wanted to find a wallet friendly option. In comes the black beans….

Thats right, black beans. There is no flour in these brownies! You can’t even tell. They are rich and delicious.

Not only are the gluten free, but super healthy! The beans add tons of fiber to these brownies!

This recipes comes from Caroline over at Chocolate and Carrots.

Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 19oz can reduced sodium black beans, well rinsed and drained or dried beans that have been soaked and cooked
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line a 8″x8″ pan with parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray.
3. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the chocolate chips.
4. Blend until it is a smooth consistency.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the top of the brownie batter.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Allow them to cool completely in the pan before removing, cutting and enjoying the brownies.

I promise, you don’t even taste the beans

A Pinterest Find….Tomato Soup

Maybe you read in my About page that I love Pinterest….but let me elaborate.

My mom told me she wanted to buy me a shirt that says “I saw this cool thing on Pinterest…..” because thats how much I use that phrase to start a conversation.

My sister didn’t like it at first, too busy and overwhelming, but now she is making sweet crafts she’s seen on there like….every day. (Check out her blog.)

I used inspiration to make christmas presents! This is what I made (pretty cool right?). I also got some presents from friends that were pinterest inspired! (Like this, this, and this). How fun!

And. I made tomato soup that I found while browsing. Needless to say, I am addicted.

What caught my eye about this soup is that the creaminess comes from greek yogurt. Remember how I said I am not a huge fan of eating the greek stuff for breakfast or lunch….still true, but I love to cook and bake with it! It is a great substitute for mayo, oil, eggs and cream in this recipe!

I never really had tomato soup as a kid but when I got to college I started eating it with grilled cheese and LOVE IT. There is something about the combination that is so good…I’m sure you all know this. But I always felt a little guilty eating the straight-from-the-can-overly-salty-not-really-a-vegetable condensed Campbell variety. I thought it would be fun to test out the homemade version and I was not disappointed. I loved this recipe and it made SO MUCH! The greek yogurt adds a kick of protein along with the cheese and the tomatoes provide substance. It was really filling!

I served it with mini grilled cheese dippers and broccoli from the garden! (More on that later…)

I used chicken stock instead of veggie stock (that’s what I had). I also used CRUSHED tomatoes instead of diced. Again, this is what I had and added bonus, I didn’t have to blend the soup. I also think it makes way more than 6 servings.

This soup recipe comes from Bethany over at More Fruit Please. Check her out!

Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup

Makes 6 servings

• 2 28-oz. cans of diced tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped, loosely packed
• 2 tsp of oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Over medium heat, add the olive oil to a large pot. Add the chopped onion and allow to cook until tender, about three to four minutes. Add in chopped garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Pour in the two cans of tomatoes (juice and all) and the vegetable stock. Stir in the basil, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper. Place the lid back onto the pot and allow to simmer ten minutes. At the end, stir in the Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese until well blended. Use either an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup if you prefer a smooth texture. Garnish with chopped basil and grated cheddar cheese if desired.

Mini Grilled Cheese Dippers 

Makes 12 mini sandwiches

• 1 Whole Grain Baguette, sliced into 1in thick pieces (about 24 slices)
• Spreadable Butter (I like Land of Lakes)
• Sliced Colby or Cheddar Cheese

Directions: Heat a pan over medium heat. Butter one side of each piece of bread. I made 6 mini sandwiches for my sister and I which worked out well. It only used about half of a long baguette, so it would definitely make more. You can use ANY type of bread, of course. Put half of the bread slices buttered side down on the pan. Lay small pieces of cheese on top followed by the rest of the bread slices, butter side up. Flip the sandwiches when brown.

Did you like grilled cheese and tomato soup as a kid?

Greek Frozen Yogurt

I love ice cream. Who doesn’t?

In the summer it feels like you can eat ice cream whenever you want….like the calories don’t matter….or like my sister’s friend says “no one ever got fat from eating ice cream” so it doesn’t count right?  I definitely fall into the ice-cream-whenever-I-want habit in the summer. ESPECIALLY since I bought my own ice cream machine….more on that later. So what am I to do?

My sister and I went to TCBY for our ice cream fix after running some errands and going to Qdoba for dinner. And what did I discover….? GREEK FROZEN YOGURT!

Now, I am not a huge fan of greek yogurt like chobani. I will eat it because of the health benefits but it definitely isn’t my first choice for breakfast or lunch. But I love regular yogurt and frozen yogurt. So I tried the frozen greek yogurt at TCBY and it was AMAZING! Every single bite was good until I was scraping the bowl.

I had the honey vanilla with strawberries on it. DELICIOUS. And…..

8g of Protein

4g of FIber (whaaat?!)

Fat Free

Awesome. Check it out.

Switching to WordPress!

I am so excited to switch my blog over from Blogger to WordPress. I have heard really good thing about WordPress (especially from my sister), so I am excited to get going! I previously had been writing over at blogger. Check out some of my old posts!

I started writing because I wanted to inspire students eating in college cafeterias to find healthy alternatives. I love to write about food and nutrition and to give tips to friends and family! I am going to continue doing that here. Since I got my iPhone I have been able to take much better pictures than my camera took (surprise?), so I have been taking a lot more pictures of recipes to share with you!

I have some fun new ideas swirling around in my head and I hope I can put them into motion to share with you all!

Here is a taste of what’s to come