Clean Eating Banana Muffins (gluten-free)

Oct 30, 2016

*womp womp*  After the last couple months of travel gluttony, it’s time to get back on track, and these muffins at least have the consolation of being delicious as well as super healthy.

In the interest of full transparency, to be truly clean eating you’ll need to omit the chocolate chips from the recipe and use one of the other mix-ins instead (nuts, dried fruit, etc.).  But unless you’re completely following a clean eating diet, the mini chocolate chips do really add something to the muffins so I’d recommend leaving them in.  Because, duh.

I made these on a Sunday night on a whim, and brought them to work the next day.  They were scarfed by my co-workers within a few hours, and got rave reviews.  They’re moist, flavorful, and—best part—insanely fast and easy to make.

They’re the kind of healthy breakfast that gives you the fiber and protein you need, but still makes you feel like you’re getting a bit of a treat to start the day.  That’s a win in my book.  Add a couple strong espressos and you’re all set.  Bring it on, Monday.

Maple Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Feb 28, 2015

I’ve been super absent here lately.

It’s mostly because I’ve been working eleventy-billion hours, which means I’ve been exhausted and never home. And the tiny bit of free time that I’m able to grab has been devoted to trip planning for two big upcoming international trips. So suffice to say, I haven’t been cooking much lately, and haven’t had the energy to try new recipes. And the few new recipes I have tried have been kind of meh. And you deserve better than meh.

These are definitely not meh. They’re not the most amazingly glorious things you’ve ever put in your mouth, but they are delicious and sweet and pretty darn healthy when it comes down to it. As I’ve mentioned a few times, I’m always on the lookout for good gluten-free recipes that use normal ingredients.

They have an interesting texture—the dough acts a lot like no-bake cookie dough, quite sticky. And the baked cookies are crumbly (not dry, just break apart easily), and super chocolate-y, and really quite sweet.

These are made with oat flour, peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup. You can use whatever kind of chocolate chips you want, but I tried these huge Ghiradelli dark chocolate discs. SO. MUCH. CHOCOLATE.

Overall these were a great gluten-free addition to my repertoire. They were super easy to throw together, and healthy enough that I didn’t feel guilty sneaking one or two with my coffee the next morning!

Peanut Butter Quinoa Granola

Jun 8, 2014

As I’ve mentioned here before, granola’s never really been my thing. That was, until I tried this maple nut quinoa granola recipe, and was instantly hooked on the light, crispy clusters. Gone are the days of tough, chewy oats. It’s a new granola day.

So my second attempt at this granola was a peanut butter one, which is right up my alley flavor-wise.

I had picked up pepitas, and added some ground flaxseed and chia, plus some walnuts and almonds. The flavor was awesome, though the clumps weren’t quite as crispy since the peanut butter changed the texture.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flaxseed Muffins

Apr 5, 2014

Last weekend I decided to make a few changes. Little changes. Healthy changes.

By and large I lead a fairly healthy life—I eat well, exercise a lot, take care of myself (except the working too much and lack of sleep). But I’ve slipped into some bad habits (*coughtoobusyforbreakfastcough*) and feel like my body isn’t quite firing on all cylinders. But since I’m pretty overwhelmed with life right now, I knew I couldn’t do anything that required too much thought or effort.

So I made a list last weekend of a few things I was going to work on during the week. The first has turned out to be somewhat life-changing. It’s simple—before I go to bed I fill up a big glass with water and put it by my bed, and the minute I wake up, I down it. I’m not allowed to get out of bed until that glass of water is gone. And boy, is it crazy what that will do to purify and rev your system!

The second is pretty simple, too, and is something I used to be good about. I made sure I had a quality breakfast every single day at work. Some mornings this was a smoothie with fruit and greens and yogurt, and other days it was these delicious, high-fiber muffins.

Oat Brown Sugar Strawberry Shortcake…and Happy Birthday ‘Merica!

Jul 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July! Here in Atlanta, everyone will be swimming…and by swimming, I mean trying to avoid floating away in a flash flood, not hanging out poolside. I will hopefully be avoiding the worst of the rain down on the Gulf Coast, but we’ll see how that goes.

Oh, yeah, back to ‘Merica. You know, apple pie tends to get all the glory when it comes to “American desserts”. But for my money, nothing is more American than strawberry shortcake.

First of all, it’s got the colors working in its favor. I mean, just look at it. And it’s got the sweet/cold/creamy combination that apple pie just can’t match. There’s no question that my go-to summer dessert is strawberry shortcake. This one’s a little different, though.

And what makes it different is the oat flour. I happened across this recipe on A Cozy Kitchen and was immediately intrigued. The oat and brown sugar combo definitely sounded up my alley. I’d also never used oat flour, so I was curious about how it differed. It was kind of amazing actually, because it added this whole new, cool texture to the shortcakes. They were moist and fluffy when they shouldn’t have been (I mean, look how thin I accidentally cut them). They were moist and fluffy the next day, which everyone knows is death to biscuits. So I totally recommend going the extra mile and making the oat flour. It’s so easy, it’s not even an extra mile, really. Not even an extra kilometer. Extra few feet…?