Badly needed Energy Bars

I guess most of you, or at least anyone who follows me on Facebook and Twitter, know that I have taken up running.  It’s only been a couple of months but I am really loving it.  Now I am only running between 2-4 miles 3 or 4 days a week, but add that to the walking and weights I have been doing and I need some energy help during some workouts. 

You also know that we eat very few processed foods with granola bars and energy bars being the exception.  At least now you can buy them with no artificial sugars or dyes…anyway, I need something that I can grab at 5:00AM when I head out the door for my run and these are just about perfect.

Energy Bars Adapted from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup dried apples
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup pitted dried dates (I used ones with sugar but would like them without next time)
• 1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Place all ingredients except the syrup and eggs in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the syrup and eggs and pulse until the mixture is well combined. It will resemble a coarse paste.

Transfer to the baking pan and spread evenly pressing in with your fingers. Bake until lightly browned and just done, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then cut into 24 squares.

These can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for about 3 days or wrap individually and freeze for up to  3 months.

***I really loved these and so did the family.  I think that this is a really versatile recipe and am looking forward to playing with the dried fruits and nuts used in it.  The recipe calls for almonds and apricots so I may try that with some cranberries thrown in…endless possibilities!

***WW points has it as a 3 point recipe but I think with all of the good fats and whole grains in it it is worth the splurge!

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets

I am always trying to feed my kids the healthiest things that I can.  Most week nights I have a ridiculously tigh schedule and sometimes we only have about 20 minutes for dinner.  On those nights they get leftover pizza or something but on the nights when I have a few more minutes I like to make these and they really love them.  Even if they do eat them with ranch dressing???

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets (inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Preheat oven to 450F

Ingredients:

1 lb of fish (cod, tilapia, halibut) filet, thawed if frozen
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of water
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

• Cut your fish fillet so it is about ½ inch thick.  Then cut it into 1 inch wide pieces.  Pat them dry with a paper towel and set aside.
• Get out three large bowls.  Add in your flour, garlic powder and paprika to the first, the eggs and water to the second, and the breadcrumbs to the third.  Mix to combine all the ingredients in each bowl. 
• Spray a baking sheet with spray olive oil to cover. 
• Dip each fish nugget into the flour mixture.  Shake off excess flour and dip into the egg bowl.  Then dip into the bread crumbs and lay onto your baking sheet in a single layer.  Continue with the rest of your nuggets.  Give the fish a light spray of the olive oil spray and put into the oven. 
• Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until nicely browned.  
• Serve with tartar sauce or ketchup for dipping.

***The kids love fish stick night.  I have tried these using cod and tilapia.  Just about any firm white fish would do!

Chicken Wings for #GoJunkFood

I was hanging out on twitter a couple of weeks ago and I saw some talk about chicken wings.  Love me some good ole chicken wings.  Remember when you were much, much younger and could go to the bars for 10 cent (where the heck is the “cent” key???) wing night?  Well I do and still to this day that’s how I like my wings.  Fried nice and crispy, smothered in a nice hot sauce that isn’t too thick or too thin but just right…and oh yah, for 10 cents a piece…LOL!!!

Well those days are long gone.  I think I have seen them advertised for 35 cents on special nights but to me that just isn’t the same.  We do have one wing place where the wings are good, especially if you order them well done!  But mostly wings out are a treat and when we do have a craving for them I make them really quick in the oven…watching the waist line you know and then I can have the sauce or the spices (depending on the mood) just right for me…

Chicken Wings

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Wash wings and remove any feathers that have been left on.
You can cut of the tips and separate them but my family actually fights over the tips (go figure???) so we leave them on. 
Place in a large bowl and toss with about half of the spice/seasoning rub and arrange on a foil lined pan for baking.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

Spice/Seasoning Rub for Chicken Wings

1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika

Hot Sauce for Chicken Wings

1/2 bottle of Frank’s Red Hot Original
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tbs melted butter

Half of the wings I tossed with the Hot Sauce and the other half I tossed with the remaining Spice/Seasoning Rub.

These wings are part of the #GoJunkFood quest to take your every day bar food and put your own spin on it. Be sure to visit all of the other bloggers involved…

Elle at Elle’s New England kitchen
Paula at The Dragons Kitchen
Chris at Blog Well Done
Renee at Flamingo Musings
Heather at He Cooks...She Cooks

Haystacks in honor of National White Chocolate Day…

This is not a sponsored post, just something I tried and really, really liked. 

Also with it being National White Chocolate Day how could I not?

Now I know these don’t look like much (white cookies on white plate…Doh!) and I am almost embarrassed to post a “recipe” for them but these are really, really good and something we all loved even though none of us really, really love white chocolate!

Fiber One Haystacks

Ingredients:

1 sleeve of Fiber One Cereal (it comes two sleeves to a box)
1-11 oz bag of Nestle white chocolate chips

Directions:

Melt morsels in the microwave until melted and smooth
Stir in one sleeve fiber one until well coated.
Working quickly, using a teaspoon, spoon  out onto a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet into 48 small mounds.
Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freezer (I use a zip-loc bag).

Number of Servings: 48  WW Points 1 per serving!!!

***You can use any type of chip that you like for this, chocolate chip, butterscotch chips etc. but we have found that the best are the white chocolate!!!

My favorite quick, one pot meal…

We all need a go to meal.  Something that we have all the ingredients on hand at all times and is fast and easy to prepare right? 
This is mine.  It take me about 28 minutes from start to finish but longer if I use brown rice and guess what?  Everyone in the house will eat it!!!  That’s what truly makes this one pot dish a winner to me!
Bean and Rice Stew
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground turkey or beef
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 cup of frozen corn
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked rice (brown rice will increase the cooking time)
1 tsp Better than Bouillon beef flavored
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat Olive oil in a large, deep skillet.  cook onion and garlic til apaque and softened.  Cook the ground meat over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in water, rice, beans and corn.   Season with beef bouillon and salt and black pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked and water is absorbed.
***this recipe is super flexible.  Add to it what you want.  I have a friend who adds salsa to it to give it a different touch.  Use green peppers, add zucchini…really whatever you want to add.
****You can use brown rice with this.  It will increase your cooking time but what I have done before is to cook the rice in the morning and throw it in when everything else is cooked and just heat it through.

End of Season Peach Frozen Yogurt

I love peaches and am always a little sad when peach season comes to an end.  Really to me that and the kids going back to school are the true signs of summer ending. 

So when I saw a picture of peach frozen yogurt on Tastespotting the other day I just had to make it.  As luck would have it I had 1-1/2 pounds of peaches on hand.  Perfect for the recipe!!!

Peach Frozen Yogurt (adapted from Tales From a Kitchen Misfit)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs ripe peaches
• 1/2 cup water
• 2  cups plain whole milk yogurt
• a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of sugar

Directions: 

Peel peaches, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Cut the peaches into chunks and cook them with the water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar, then chill in the refrigerator.

When the peach mixture is cool, puree in a food processor with the yogurt until almost smooth but slightly chunky. Mix in a few drops of lemon juice.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacture’s instruction. Eat immediately or chill for a few hours if you want it to be harder.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

So we can all do with another way to use up over ripe bananas right?

I had a bunch sitting on the counter and I needed to find a way to use them up.  Sure I could have frozen them but it is so much more rewarding to make something out of them then to shove them into the deep dark abyss of the freezer!  This is what I came up with…

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting (previously posted)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda (add to pureed bananas)
3 pureed bananas, very ripe

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" baking pan or two 9" layer cake pans.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Sift flour several times, then add the salt and baking powder to the flour.
3. To the creamed butter mixture, add the milk and flour (alternating, beginning and ending with flour).
4. Add vanilla and mashed bananas (with the baking soda added to the bananas) to this mixture.
5. Bake layer cakes (9") for 25-30 minutes, oblong (9x13") for 35-40 minutes.
6. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (Hershey Cocoa container)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Angel Food Cupcakes

Topped with White Sparkling Sugar

The girl’s have been asking (read begging) for me to bake something, anything.  I have been in involved in a weight loss challenge with a bunch of people at the BMX track and I really didn’t want to have to pay any money just because I am very weak and will eat just about anything sweet in the house, hence there has been very little baking going on around here!  Now that the challenge is over and I won, I can get on with baking up some goodies! 

Today I thought I would start by baking some cupcakes…trouble was I couldn’t decide how to top them!

 
Topped with Chocolate Frosting (looks like I was frugal with the frosting but the angel food cake is so light it won’t hold up to a lot!)

Angel Food Cupcakes (adapted to cupcakes from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 12 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Be sure that your muffin pan is prepared and lined with cupcake liners. Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not over mix. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 or less full. Refrigerate the remaining batter for the next batch.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cupcakes are a nice golden color.
4. I rolled some still hot cupcakes in White Sparkling Sugar and allowed the rest to cool for frosting.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING (Hershey Cocoa container)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.