Healthy Chocolate?

If you’re like me you love chocolate, and crave it ALL THE TIME! I used to make the excuse that chocolate had a ton of health benefits..which it does.. but that would lead me to eating AN ENTIRE bar, box, bag, and the only benefits I would receive were weight gain, bloating and regret.

My friend recently shared a recipe with me for “healthy chocolate.” I say that with caution because I am not an expert but I do know it is HEALTHIER than store bought chocolate, and I can actually control my chocolate binges because it is a tad bit bitter!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan over medium low heat
• Once melted stir in additional ingredients
• Pour into candy mold or pliable container
• Refrigerate until chilled, about an hour

Nutrients:

• Servings: 8
• Carbs: 7 g
• Fat 15 g
• Protein: 1 g
• Fiber: 3 g
• Sugar: 4 g

ENJOY! (In moderation)

Chocolate Red Wine Brownies

So it’s been a while since I’ve spent time doing what I am most passionate about.. baking. When I first moved to the city in September I didn’t even have a whisk! I’ve since invested in a hand mixer and a few other baking essentials.

This weekend my best friend who I have known since I was five came to visit me and celebrate her 25th Birthday, so I decided this was an appropriate time to whip up something indulgent and delicious. My original plan was to make cupcakes but I was missing brown sugar and was too lazy to venture out so I settled on brownies. I combined two different Pinterest recipes one for the brownies and one for the ganache. 

The recipe for the brownies can be found here. I followed it exactly, but used semisweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate, and did not add additional chocolate chips into the batter.

For the ganache I boiled a half a cup of red wine for a few minutes and let it cool. I then melted a 1/4 stick of butter and a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips until smooth. I added this to the cooling wine and then mixed in 1 cup of powdered sugar. I let this cool and drizzled over the cooled brownies. I popped the brownies in the fridge for a half hour to let the ganache set and then brought them back to room tempature before serving.

The brownies were very rich and indulgent 🙂

Chocolate Banana Proats

This week is REALLY busy and I need to be at work super early so I needed to find a breakfast that I could grab and go, had a decent carb/protein ratio and didn’t taste like eggs. Man am I sick of eggs!

I found this recipe on another blog and had to try it!
These are all the ingredients you need to make one batch, which yields 6 servings.

Mash the bananas.

Mix in remaining ingredients.

Pour in an 8×8 inch baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

I can’t wait to try them tomorrow!

Chocolate Banana Baked Protein Oats:

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Bananas

1 Cup Quick Oats

1/2 Cup Protein Powder (I chose Quest Chocolate Milkshake)

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Milk (I chose So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)

1/2 Cup Egg Whites

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mash Bananas with a fork
3. Mix in additional ingredients
4. Pour batter into an 8×8 baking dish
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean
6. Cool completely and enjoy!

Calories: 253 Protein: 33.4 Carbs: 25.5

 

 

Snow Days Make Me Hungry..

I’m not sure about you but whenever it snows (or rains) it puts me in a mood to bake. This winter has been crazy in Boston when it comes to the amount of snow we’ve had in the past three weeks. I haven’t been in the office the past three weeks due to these major Sunday-Tuesday snow storms.

I love snow. I love going to bed at night and waking up, looking out my window, and realized that over night, in silence my whole world has changed. It’s absolutely breath taking. My next thoughts: I need to make something!

This morning I decided to make my mom and I a hearty breakfast, Exhibit A:

A twice baked potato with an egg and a side of chourico.

Ingredients:

1 Potato

2 Eggs

2 Tbs plain greek yogurt

2 Tbs shredded cheddar

1 Jalapeno Pepper

Garlic Salt

Chourico

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cook potato for one hour.

2. Take potato out of the oven and slice length wise. Spoon out the two halves of the potato into a bowl. (Save the skins for later).

3. Mash the potatoes in the bowl, add diced jalapeno, shredded cheddar, greek yogurt, and mix well. Add a sprinkle of garlic salt to the mixture.

4. Place the potato skins back on the cookie sheet. Fill the potato skins with the mashed mixture and create a divot in the middle of the potato.

5. Crack an egg into each divot. Place the potatoes back in the oven and baked for 15 minutes, or until the egg has set.

6. In the meantime heat chourico in a frying pan. Sprinkle on top of the potato or serve on the side.

(I made mine with a sweet potato and it was just as tasty)

Enjoy!

The only down side to delicious foods and snow days, is the fact that the gym is closed. Looks like I will be doing an at home workout today, before baking Turtle Cookies! (Yum recipe to come)

The Best Way to Sweeten Your Day

well well well.. I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep. I promised to post my first delicious blog, and failed to deliver. Easter was great I got to talk to my cousin (on the phone) who is stationed in Georgia right now! It was great to see family and I’m starting to realize how important family time is, boy am I growing up!

ALAS.. Carrot Cake Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting. basic I know, but oh so delicious and perfect for the spring!

Now I am going to be honest, I know how to make these by heart, and I don’t exactly follow the recipe, but here you go!

For the cake:

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of corn oil
• 3/4 pound of grated carrots

For the Frosting:

• 1 stick of butter
• 8oz cream cheese
• vanilla extract
• about 4 cups of powdered sugar

Directions (cake):

Put the sugar in the bottom of a large bowl and add the other dry ingredients on top, along with the eggs and oil. Hand mix with a wooden spoon. DO NOT use a mixer, this will add too much air, since it is an oil based cake it does not need air. Mix in the grated carrots. Pour in a lined cupcake pan. Bake at 350 for 18-25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Directions (frosting):

Now frosting I make with no measurements. Put the softened butter and cream cheese in a mixer and beat until combined. Add in vanilla extract, I usually eyeball about a teaspoon. Vanilla is a preference, I have made all flavors. Add powdered sugar and beat until desired consistency and taste.

To decorate for Easter, I rolled the edges in toasted coconut and added three Cadbury Mini Eggs, to make them look like nests!

They were a huge hit and all gobbled up!

Tomorrow I leave for Nashville, and will be running my fourth half marathon on Saturday!