Left Over Rice Pudding

In search of breakfast this morning, I discovered that we had a lot of leftover rice.  I'd like to tell you that it was yummy, fluffy brown rice from some healthy home cooked meal.  I can't do that, however, because the reality is that it was hard dry white rice left over from Chinese take out.  Instead of just tossing it, I turned it into something good.  I don't know if this can technically be called rice pudding since traditional rice pudding has butter, eggs, lots more sugar, and is baked in the oven.  My version is vegan, and I did it on the stove top.  Maybe a rice porridge is closer to what this really is. Whatever the case, it's really good; it's really easy, and it uses up left overs, so you don't waste any money.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dessert Hummus

I've been (morbidly) intrigued with the whole dessert hummus thing ever since it took the food blog world by storm.  If you Google "dessert hummus" you get dozens of different recipes and variations.  As near as I can tell, it originated with the very talented Evan at The Wannabe Chef.  I used his recipe as a base, and tweaked it a bit to suit my own tastes.

I was incredibly skeptical about this.  While I love hummus, I didn't really believe it could be made into a decent dessert.  It's an appetizer; it's a great snack; it's a fantastic sandwich spread, but beans for dessert just doesn't even sound that appetizing.  I couldn't imagine it being good.  I was SO WRONG.  This stuff rocks my socks.  I actually used my finger to get every last bit out of the food processor.


Usually desserts aren't the healthiest things in the world, but sometimes you can find a dessert that is at least not bad for you.  This is not only not bad for you, it's actually GOOD for you!  Chickpeas are low fat, low cholesterol, high fiber, high protein, and an excellent source of folate and zinc.  They may also assist in lowering cholesterol in the bloodstream.  Natural peanut butter is low in cholesterol and is a good source of niacin and manganese.  It's a good source of protein and is full of mono and poly-unsaturated fats, or the good fats that help lower cholesterol and have heart-protective benefits, and here's an entire article about the health benefits of pure maple syrup.  So yay!  An actual healthy dessert.  I'm so excited.

Apple Nachos

There are recipes for apple nachos all over the internet.  I love apples, and I love them even more now that it's Honeycrisp season, so apple nachos seemed to be just the ticket, but so many of the recipes are soooo unhealthy. I mean come on! Marshmallows? An entire stick of butter? Caramel sauce? Commercial chocolate syrup? Do you have any idea what's even in that sticky, sweet, processed chocolate stuff? I'll give you a hint: high fructose corn syrup is the number one ingredient in the grand majority of them. This is a snack that has such potential to be healthy, so I decided to health it up. I had mine for dinner last night! This recipe is for a single serving, so feel free to up it and make more. Had I done that, I would have eaten the whole thing!

Single Ingredient Soft Serve

This recipe is ALL OVER the internet and has been for quite some time.  I've been wanting to try it, but things like a complicated pregnancy and then a newborn kept me from having the opportunity.  The newborn isn't quite so new anymore, and he's getting pretty good at amusing himself for a few minutes, especially if I put him in the kitchen with me, so I decided that I should try this out for breakfast this morning.

All you have to have is a frozen banana or two and a food processor.  I was amazed that a couple of frozen bananas whipped up into such a smooth, sweet, and creamy treat.  I was pretty excited.  Don't get TOO excited though, because while this does have the creamy consistency of soft serve, it doesn't exactly taste like soft serve.  This is good for me actually, because I don't particularly like soft serve, but my love for bananas has been pretty well established by now.

Single Ingredient Soft Serve

Ingredients:

• 3 frozen bananas.  You want them to be pretty ripe, but not so ripe that they're all brown.

Directions:

1.  Place frozen bananas in bowl of food processor fitted with an S blade.

2.  Process until correct consistency, stopping to scrape sides of bowl.

How long this takes will depend on your food processor and on your personal definition of proper consistency.

There you go.  That's it.  Easy peasy, healthy, low calorie, low fat ice cream.  It is fantastic just the way it is, but you can add stuff, as well.  Of course that makes it no longer one ingredient, but still with a base this healthy you can splurge just a tiny bit too.  I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a very liberal shake of cinnamon to mine.  It would be good with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter or with some fresh mint or even mint extract.  If you are the chocolaty type, you could add a bit of cocoa powder or chocolate chips. Then of course are the combinations...chocolate peanut butter, chocolate mint, etc. etc.  I think this would be good with some dried fruit as well.  You could go tropical and add a bit of shredded coconut and some pineapple, or you could go tart and add cherries and apricots.  I'd soak the fruit for a few hours first though. The possibilities are endless, and the base is only about 80 calories per serving and chock full of potassium! Also, you can totally eat ice cream for breakfast!  Doesn't get much better than that!

Enjoy!

Banana Balls

I love bananas so much.  In fact, I probably eat enough bananas to better qualify as Gorilla Beringei than Homo Sapien.  Draw your own conclusions! ;)  Seriously though, I found THIS recipe last night, and I just knew I had to try it out. 

What's better than a fresh, ripe banana right?  Well maybe some creamy home made peanut butter.  Or maybe oats!  Oh how I love oats.  The beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to pick between these three wonderful things.  You get to combine them all into a healthy, super yummy snack full of fiber and potassium and folic acid.  It's perfect, bite sized, raw snack.

Sadly I don't have any pictures.  I don't tend to step by step document unless the recipe is actually mine, or at least adapted.  These didn't need any adapting whatsoever though, and the real truth of the matter is that I didn't get much of a chance to take pictures, because by the time I thought that I should maybe snap a picture or two, they were gone!

I see this snack often in my future.  I also see a lot of different variations.  I already have some ideas rolling around in my head.  Expect to see some recipes soon!  In the meantime, head on over and check out this amazing little snack!

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal Cookies

I thought about calling these "Super Healthy, Low Fat, Banana Nut Oatmeal, Stuffed Full of Omega 3s Cookies", but that's kinda long.  People would get tired of reading the title before they got to the super easy cookie recipe.  However, it's also all true.  The only added fat is from the nuts and the flax seeds, and that's the super healthy, full of essential Omega 3s kind of fat.  It's very important that you eat these cookies, actually, because you need those Omega 3s, and your body doesn't make them.  Cookies to the rescue!

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body can' t make them; you have to get them through food.  Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), Omega 3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development. They have also become popular because they may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. In fact, infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision and nerve problems. Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

Alright.  That's enough lecturing on why you should eat these cookies.  I also made mine sugar free.  The kiddo doesn't react well when sugar is involved (in fact, his father once termed his behavior on sugar as that of "a spastic robot on speed"), and it's not good for you anyway, so I do my best to limit sugar consumption in this house.  I used a sugar free maple syrup.  Let's not have the artificial sweetener debate right now, okay?  I use the only one deemed pregnancy safe by the FDA and my doctor (who has 12 letters behind his name), so I feel safe enough.  If you don't want to use a sugar free version, then feel free to use pure maple syrup.

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp flax seeds, ground
• 2 TBSP cold water
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats, ground into flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped or crushed
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large banana, mashed
• 1 heaping TBSP plain fat free soy yogurt

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375°.

2.  Grind 3/4 cups oats into flour using a food processor or blender.

It should look like this when you're finished.

3.  Mix ground flax (I grind mine in the Tribest Personal Blender with the grinder blade; you can use a coffee grinder, as well) with 2 TBSP cold water and set aside to thicken.

4.  Mix oats, oat flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and walnuts in a large mixing bowl.

5.  To the flax mixture add syrup, vanilla, mashed banana (I just squish it around in the peel until it's mushy, and then drop it into the bowl), and soy yogurt, using a whisk to combine well.

6.  Pour wet mixture into dry mixture.

7.  Stir very well, until you've got a really thick batter.

8.  Drop by heaping TBSP onto a baking sheet that has been lined with lightly sprayed parchment paper.

9.  Flatten and smooth the tops with the back of the measuring spoon.

10.  Bake 10 minutes, or until the cookies are just slightly brown.

Enjoy!