Greek Yogurt Blueberry Banana Bread

Feeding kids is tough!  My kids are not necessarily the pickiest eaters, but they LOVE sugary sweets, and I am constantly looking to replace their desire for a cookie with a carrot or an apple.  But I also don't want to constantly deprive them, they're still kids and I'd like for them to enjoy something tasty and sweet.

Which is why I'm always happy to find recipes like these.  Low in fat and processed sugar, but still a colorful, sweet treat.  I packed this in my kids' lunchboxes and they both loved it.  Talk about a win win!

Greek Yogurt and Blueberry Banana Bread
From No Sugar Sweet Life

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

3 tablespoons Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt ((optional))

1/2 cup Brown Sugar (or 1/4 cup agave nectar)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

3 Large ripe bananas 

2 Eggs

6 ounces Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt (or Blueberry)

1 cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Start by combining flour, baking powder, salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork until they are gooey and liquid-like.

Add eggs, vanilla and brown sugar� mix thoroughly.

Add greek yogurt

Whisk until everything is well combined and there are no lumps.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.  At this point, fold in the blueberries.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and distribute evenly.

Put into the oven and bake for one hour, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Transfer to a cooling rack and (try to) let the bread cool for at least ten minutes before slicing.

Skillet Eggs with Squash

For a person who doesn't care much for breakfast, I sure have been posting a lot of breakfast dishes. Maybe it's growing on me!

When I was home for the summer, I must have been infected with the Crazy Virus, which is the only way I can explain the 5:30 AM workouts I had with my mom. NUTS! And on vacation too!

But, as you would expect there were a lot of benefits to exercising that early (besides the obvious exercise benefits), even while on vacation. I loved coming home at 7:00, oftentimes before the kids were awake, and getting ready for the day. And I loved having all the time in the world to prepare a decent breakfast to sit down and enjoy. Normally our mornings are rushed and frantic, which is perhaps another reason I'm not crazy about breakfast.

I LOVED eating this dish for breakfast. Vegetables aren't something you see often first thing in the morning, but I think they're so good with eggs. This dish is savory, salty, slightly spicy, and full of vitamins and protein. I enjoyed this with a slice of whole wheat toast and a cup of tea, a fabulous start to the day!




Skillet Eggs with Squash
Food Network Magazine July/August 2011

Ingredients

3 pounds (6 medium) summer squash, and/or zucchini
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts, separated
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
6 large eggs
1/2 cup cup grated pepper jack or sharp white cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Grate the squash into a colander using the large holes of a box grater (or use a large food processor fitted with the shredding attachment). Toss with 1 tablespoon salt, then let drain in the sink, 30 to 40 minutes. Squeeze the squash to remove as much liquid as possible.

2. Preheat the oven to 375. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Set aside 3 tablespoons scallion greens. Add the remaining scallions (white and green parts), the jalapeno, and salt to taste and cook until the scallions are soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. Cook until the mixture is slightly dry, about 1 more minute. Remove from the heat and let cool, 5 minutes.

3. Spread the squash evenly in the skillet. Make six 2 1/2 inch wide indentations in the mixture with the back of a spoon; put 1/2 teaspoon butter in each one. One at a time, crack each egg into a small bowl and pour into an indentation. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the cheese.

4. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the egg whites are set and the yolks are cooked to desired doneness, 10 to 12 minutes. Scatter the reserved scallion greens on top.

What's your favorite breakfast food?

Bananas Fosters Topped Overnight French Toast

Maybe I'm way off, but eating healthier doesn't seem to be as hard as it once was. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that as a society, we've become much more aware of what we are putting in our bodies. Grocery stores offer a large variety of fresh produce, whole grain foods, and low-fat products. Restaurants are now required to put the amount of calories next to every dish they serve. Even fast-food restaurants are helping us out by offering healthier sandwiches and sides and making portions smaller.

But another change I've noticed since the first time I did Weight Watchers over ten years ago (TEN!) is that we're learning how to cook really good food without compromising on taste. Gone are the days of a dry piece of chicken with steamed veggies (I literally dry-heaved having to type that) and in are beautiful dishes packed with colors and flavors, as well as nutrition. Less weird ingredients, and way more delicious meals on our plates. I have rarely felt deprived since starting Weight Watchers again in January, something of which I am very grateful of, and has consequently helped me to lose twenty pounds.

One website that I have fallen head-over-heels in love with has been Gina's Skinnytaste blog. All of her recipes have the old and new points value, and every single thing she posts looks crazy delicious, you don't need to be dieting to appreciate her recipes. My husband made this awesome french toast for me for Mother's Day, and as a non-breakfaster, I couldn't have been more excited to gobble this up. It.Was.Amazing. So sweet, so rich, so filling, you must give this a try, the whole family loved it. Check it out here and enjoy!

Breakfast Cookies

As I've mentioned in the past, I'm not much of a breakfast person. Nothing sounds worse to me first thing in the morning then eating. Luckily for my kids, my husband loves breakfast. Being the baker-man that he is, my kids are always enjoying waffles, pancakes and cinnamon rolls. So when he took off to Texas for two weeks, I had to step it up in the morning and take on the role of the fun breakfast maker.



Imagine how much fun I had greeting my kids first thing in the morning with the phrase "I'm making cookies for breakfast!" Yeah that's right, mom can be cool too! But these aren't regular cookies, they're packed with banana, peanut butter, wheat germ and dried fruit. For good measure I threw some chocolate chips in there, because, well, you know. They're fluffy and have more of a cake-like texture, but they're so delicious and go great with milk. So go ahead, make cookies for breakfast!



Breakfast Cookies
By Food.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup bananas, mashed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup wheat germ
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins or 1 cup other dried fruit
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine peanut butter and butter and beat on medium with an electric mixer.

3. Add brown sugar; beat until combined.

4. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined.

5. Add banana, baking soda & salt; beat until combined.

6. Add flour & wheat germ, a little at a time, and beat until combined.

7. Stir in rolled oats, dried fruit and chocolate chips (if using) by hand.

Per Cookie: 170 cal, 7g fat, 23g carb, 2g fiber, 4g prot

Banana Chip Muffins

I really think those bears have the right idea.

Every winter, after eating a few fantastic Thanksgiving feasts, they hunker down in their cozy caves, wrapped in their plush fur coats, and dream away the winter.


I want in on that. Especially early in the morning when there aren't enough layers in the world to combat that freezing cold wind while dropping my daughter off at school. And then there are days like today, where, barring high-tech warming devices, it might actually be impossible to warm up. Even my fuzzy socks are failing me today. And to think, I used to constantly fight with mom to even wear a coat in the winter!

Well, since I don't get to hibernate like a bear, baked goods like these will definitely help me get through the cold cold days of winter. I grew up on these muffins, and after losing the recipe my mom gave me, I was convinced that any old banana chocolate chip recipe would suffice. WRONG. I actually tried quite a few different recipes, but soon realized that I wasn't going to be satisfied until I had the ones that reminded me of home.

These are everything a good banana muffin should be, moist, flavorful, and rich, but not too sweet. They are also a total snap to whip together, no mixer needed, just a good wooden spoon. Next time you have a few bananas ready to turn, give these a try. And stay warm out there friends!


Banana Chip Muffins
Provided Sweetly by My Mom

Ingredients

1 3/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c choc chips
1 egg
1/4 c oil
1/4 c milk
3 mashed bananas

Directions

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center.

Beat egg until frothy. Mix in oil, milk and bananas. Pour into the flour mixture. Stir to moisten.

Bake @ 400* for 20-25 minutes.
Yummy!

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Call me crazy, but among all of the star dishes of thanksgiving, I honestly think my very favorite is homemade cranberry sauce. I'll never go back to the canned version again, there's no comparison! But I don't just love to eat homemade cranberry sauce, it's fun to make. My favorite part is listening to the POP POP POP of the cranberries, I'm not going to lie, it makes me giggle like a five year old. But then after it's been made, it chills into a thickened tart treat that goes well with just about every meat and side of the meal.

Unfortunately I'm one of the only ones in my family that feels that way, which consequently leaves me with about a gallon of the stuff left when the holiday is over (you'd think halving the recipe would have dawned on me by now, but it hasn't). So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I saw these beauties on Maria's blog at Two Peas and Their Pod. This is not the first time I've made something from her blog, and it certainly won't be the last. She consistently posts the most delicious dishes and gorgeous pictures.

These muffins were a real family pleaser, I've already made two batches and will most likely be going for a third! My first batch are what you see in the pictures. My second batch I got a bit lazy and just threw the cranberry sauce right in the batter. It turned the them a delightful shade of pink and infused cranberry flavor in the whole muffin. Both were just delicious. If you have extra cranberry sauce on your hands, I highly recommend these. Thanks Maria!


Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins
By Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh cranberry orange sauce (about 2 tablespoons per muffin)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Rub in sugar and orange zest together. Whisk into dry ingredients.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk canola oil, egg, milk, and vanilla together.

5. Incorporate the wet ingredients into flour mixture. Add slowly and gently stir together. The batter will be thick.

6. Place half the batter at the bottom of six muffin cups. Spoon about two tablespoons of fresh cranberry sauce on top of the muffin batter. Top muffins evenly with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle each muffin generously with turbinado sugar.

7. Bake muffins for 15-17 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

Makes 6 large muffins

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Sometimes cold and rainy days are great. You put on your comfies, a sit down to a nice movie or book and enjoy the warmth of your home. Buuuuut then you have days where the weather couldn't have picked a worse day to be cold and rainy. The kids are climbing the walls, trashing the house with every second and driving me absolutely insane. That's when recipes like this are huge life savers. I found this on Recipe Shoebox, a fabulous blog that you should go check out asap. As soon as I found it, I ordered the kids into the kitchen and got to baking. Muffins are so fun to make with kids, they're not complicated, but there are enough steps involved to keep them busy for a while.

The best part is not only are these a snap to make, they are INSANELY delicious. And this is coming from a person that doesn't usually go running to the muffin table. So soft and moist with the best flavor. Lemons and blueberries really were meant for each other. Two days and these bad boys were gone. I can't wait to make them again. Thanks Lara, you saved us on a rainy day!


Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
From the Recipe Shoebox.

Ingredients

2 cups flour (I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour)
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. cold butter, cut into 6-pieces
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)

TOPPING I never did the topping, just covered the top in raw sugar. I imagine the topping is wonderful though!

2 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. melted butter
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400�. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs (you want to be able to see small pea-sized clumps of butter still). In a separate smaller bowl, lightly beat together egg, milk, lemon juice, lemon rind and vanilla until blended. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until just blended (do NOT overmix). NOTE: Batter will be somewhat thick.

Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter evenly into well-greased muffin pan.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon until well blended. Spread mixture evenly over tops of muffin batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400�. Muffins should be golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 12 standard size muffins. Enjoy!