New Year's Eve Dinner

                                                 Ahh, another supper dish.

My family had this awesome meal for New Year's
The best part?
I don't need to tell you :)
IT'S HEALTHY!
Chicken Parmesan and Zucchini Pasta
Sauce
1 can peeled whole plum tomatoes
2 stalks celery
1/2 c. cauliflower
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
Garlic salt
Chicken
2 chicken breasts
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
1 lightly beaten egg
olive oil
1/4 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
Zucchini Pasta
2 small zucchini
For the sauce: Blend the tomatoes, celery and cauliflower in a magic bullet/blender until mostly smooth. Pour into a large sauce pan on high med-heat. Add garlic, basil and oregano. Shake garlic salt to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring occasionally.
For the "pasta" wash the zucchini and peel length-wise. You want long, thin strips. Stop when you reach the center on the zucchini (you'll know it's the center when the strips become grainy) Set aside.
Reduce the sauce to medium heat.
Chicken: Laying the breasts flat, slice in half horizontally. The end result should be four thin slices about a 1/4 inch thick, but still the size of your palm. By making the breasts thinner, you cut down of cooking time and amount of meat needed.
Fry the zucchini on med-high in 2 tsp of olive oil for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a large, shallow bowl. Dip the chicken into the beaten egg, then breadcrumb mixture. Place onto a grill pan (it's a ridged baking pan used for oven grilling)
Broil for 3-5 minutes each side until done.
To serve, place 1 chicken breast with a serving of zucchini on the side. Add a Tbsp of ricotta to the side and spoon a generous amount of sauce over the dish.  

Baked Fudge

                                                                    Fudge.

                                                                 Is soooo good.

                                                 Even better when it's good for you.
This recipe requires no candy thermometers, no fancy ingredients. Just black beans.
You read that right.
Baked Black Bean Fudge (say that ten times fast!)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
2 spotted bananas
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. cocoa
1-2 tsp maple extract (you can sub vanilla)
1/4 c. rolled oats
1/4-1/2 c. unsweetened coconut
1/4 c. brown sugar (if needed)
Blender-ize the black beans, bananas and honey until smooth. Pour into a medium-sized bowl, add maple extract, rolled oats and coconut. Give it a taste-test :) If there's too much bean flavor, add a Tbsp of brown sugar. If you're still not happy with the taste, keep adding small amounts of brown sugar, but don't go over 1/4 cup. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes @ 350F. Wait about 20 minutes before cutting, 'cause the fudge needs time to set.

Chocolate-Chip Zucchini Breakfast Bars

I've been trying to develop some of my own recipes lately. Success has been varied, and this is the first recipe that I believe is blog-worthy. Be prepared for deliciousness.
What's this? I took pictures for you guys!

2 T date paste*
2 T melted banana
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. shredded zucchini
1/3 c. chocolate chips  
Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. Mix date paste, melted banana and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and chopped walnuts. Once everything is combined, add zucchini and chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30, the edges will be golden brown and a toothpick will come out clean.
Need I instruct you to have a square hot out of the oven?
*note about date paste: I make my own by boiling about 20 small pitted dates in a cup of water, then blending in my Magic Bullet until smooth

Brownies and Blondies and Rice Crispies, Oh My!

So, I've been baking. Let me tell ya, I LOVE what's been coming out my kitchen. (refer to title)
Brownies. I think these are better than the 'real' thing. This recipe includes tofu and applesauce. This makes the brownie unbelievably fudge-y. (original recipe here 
slighty less than 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup ww pastry flour  
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. honey (less, if you have no sweet tooth)
four to eight squares of a dark chocolate Lindt bar (I used 80% cocoa)   
3 oz  soft tofu
2/3 cup applesauce (use only 1/2 cup if using 6T oil)
2 to 6 T coconut oil
4 T non-dairy milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Whisk together dry ingredients. Melt together chocolate and oil. Blend together wet ingredients (I used a Magic Bullet) Mix wet with dry, then bake at 325 F in a 9x9 greased baking pan for 12-18 minutes. Let them sit for an hour, then devour! (Lame, I know, but I couldn't resist :)   


Blondies! I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan of these! (original)
1 1/2 c. chickpeas
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1/4 c. ground flax
1/4 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. chocolate chips (I used slightly less)
Blend everything except chocolate chips (I used my Magic Bullet, you can use a blender, etc.) until very smooth. Mix in chips, then pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Take out the blondies when they look slightly undercooked. (You want soft and fudge-y right!?)  


Rice Crispies: I actually hate rice crispie squares made with marshmallows. Luckily, these don't have any! (marshmallows ;) (original)
3 c. rice crispies
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. + 2 T peanut butter
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. cocoa 
Melt the honey and peanut butter. Mix in salt, vanilla and cocoa. Stir in rice crispies and stir well. 
Press down hard into a greased pan. Freeze for 1/2 hour, then eat. Or cut into squares. Or come back and find half the pan gone. (My dad really likes this recipe)
Have a great day!  
   

Supper was yummy

My day to make supper for my family.
A few months ago I'd gone out for pizza, and my friend convinced me to try a new combo.
Are you ready?
Chicken feta. It was delicious. I haven't stopped talking about it, so tonight I decided to re-create it, and up the health factor.
What I used:
home-made pizza dough (link below)
1 1/2 c. chunky salsa (or your favorite pizza sauce)
two chicken breasts
3 Tbsp feta cheese (more or less, to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese (depending on how cheesy you like your pizza)
First step: pizza crust! I made this whole wheat dough. The timing of my afternoon was perfect. I made the dough at 3:45, let it rise for an hour, kneaded it, let it rise for about 30 minutes, then rolled it out. *This was my first attempt ever at making pizza from scratch* I ended up with a nice-sized crust that wasn't exactly circular, but hey, it worked!
Second step: Sauce. Since I just decided this afternoon that I was creating a pizza, I had no tomato sauce, so I ran to my fridge and found a jar of chunky salsa. I put 1 1/2 cups of it into my Magic Bullet, and voila! Pizza sauce with a kick.
Number three: Chicken! I cubed it up and fried in half a Tbsp of olive oil with a dash of lemon. This took about ten minutes.
While the chicken was cooking, the feta cheese got cubed as well and the mozzarella was grated.
Fourth step: Dressing up my pizza. I spread the sauce on the crust, then added the chicken and feta. I topped it off with a sprinkling of mozzarella, then popped the pizza in the oven! This gave me a chance to assemble some Greek salads.
20 minutes later I had a beautiful whole wheat, non greasy pizza (that smelled divine) and a very happy family.            

I had the most amazing breakfast

Yes, I know I'm posting about breakfast in the evening but really, I could eat this any time of day :)
I had Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast.
Please don't die.
These have zilch sugar! (I'd take pictures but I currently have no camera. A situation I hope Christmas will remedy)
I used a this recipe, then altered it a bit
What I did:
1/3 c. rye flour
1/3 c. oats
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
up to a 1/3 c. Silk (soy milk, but you can use whatever milk, water or juice you want!)
1 1/2 tsp chocolate chips (I have little bitty baby chocolate chips, so for me a little goes a looong way)
Whisk the dry ingredients, then add the wet. Cook on medium, flip halfway like a normal pancake.
I put a little bit of PB and syrup on mine. (Since I've recently converted to a low(er) sugar diet, remains of my past are still in the kitchen)
This was a FANTASTIC was to start my day, and it all took less than 10 minutes!

Welcome to my journey

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I've recently made a huge change in my life. I've always been a picky eater, and I LOVE sweets. About a month ago it finally hit me that the eating habits I make now will follow me through life. And with college looming on the horizon, a high-sugar diet can't be good.

So I changed my diet, and it wasn't easy. First, I stopped baking really good/bad stuff (cinnamon buns, brownies, cookies, squares) Second, I upped my intake of fruits and veggies. I've also started eating more whole grains, and watching how much natural sugar I'm consuming. 

But something is missing. I still love to bake, but now I can't make any of my old recipes. So, I went to Google with my problem. I've found some really amazing websites. (I'll list them soon) I'm going to try new things, and break out of my old ways of thinking. It's going to be harder than it sounds.

I'll always love baked goods. I'll always struggle with saying "no" and doing whats best for my health and body. I'm also excited to embark on a new journey to discover a new world of food I'd never imagined existed. I'm inviting you to share my triumphs and tears.