Cranberry Banana Oat Mini Muffins
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On the third day of my newest blog series, Santa came to me, pleasssee help me lose weight! I’m getting so fat, I can barellyyy, fit into my pants, dear Claire, please make me skinnny! (Sung to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas). When the man of the hour tells you to help him lose weight, you do it. I don’t want coal in my stocking. So, Santa, I’ve made you the perfect skinny sweet to fuel you up for your long night of squeezing your overweight arse into chimneys. Cranberry banana oat mini muffins!
Aren’t they just the cutest things you ever did see? Now, many would argue that a muffin isn’t a “sweet” per-say, and to those naysayers I say “It’s my blog! I can do what I want!” Because that’s how 27 year olds act! Regardless of your version of a sweet (or your definition of the word IS – come on, Bill Clinton anyone?) these mini muffins are the perfect bite size treat for your breakfast or your midnight munching.
Each muffin is loaded with oats, cranberries, almonds and bananas, so you’re not only getting a ton of fiber in each bite, but tons of disease fighting antioxidants too! Santa is legitimately traveling all over the world, going into strange homes and dealing with a ton of temperature changes, so he needs food that will help him thwart off bacteria and viruses. This is why these healthy mini muffins are the perfect snack for his journey.
Unlike many healthy muffins, these don’t taste like dirt, bark or dust! Each bite is sweet, tart and a bit crunchy, with the perfect balance of fruit to delicious whole grains. Santa, these muffins will help you fit back into those skinny red pants in no time. Plus, they are mini! So you can take a few for the road. I know Santa, I totally do deserve that brand new Nikon for Christmas 🙂
Cranberry Banana Oat Mini Muffins
Yields about 32 mini muffins.
Prep time: 5 – 10 minutes
Cook time: About 16 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup oats
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Dash of salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2/3 cup skim milk
- About 3 mashed brown bananas
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center.
- In another bowl, beat the sugar, egg, milk, vanilla, mashed bananas and applesauce together creamy. Pour bananan mixture into the well of the flour and mix until fully combined. Stir in cranberries and almonds.
- Fill each mini muffin cavity about 2/3 the way full with batter. Bake for about 16 – 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Nutritional information per serving (2 muffins):
Calories: 138
Fat: 5 grams
Carbohydrates: 17.5 grams
Fiber: 1.2 grams
Protein: 2.5 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 3
Claire
Tags:cranberry recipes, low fat muffin recipes, mini muffin recipes, muffin recipe
Captain Morgan’s Holiday Party & 2 Rum Filled recipes!
Happy Thursday friends! I hope you’re all having a great day thus far. It’s my (GASP) 27th birthday so I’m in great spirits (despite a slight detour at the DMV this morning). I thought I’d celebrate my day of birth on this blog by sharing the fabulous ugly Christmas sweater party we had on Saturday! As you know, I’m participating in Captain Morgan’s Spice up the Holiday blogger competition and one of our challenges was to host a little holiday soiree with our friends where we could serve up the rum inspired creations we made! But, before we get to the food, I have to share some of these hilarious photos. Our friends didn’t take the term “ugly Christmas sweater” lightly.
When it came to planning this, the theme was actually all my husbands idea. He said “I want to have an ugly Christmas sweater party” so I obliged. As much as I love a fun, elegant, classy party, I also love dressing up in weird outfits and acting like a hooligan. Plus, we’re all young (mid – late twenties) so anytime we can get together and act like we’re still 21, we do it.
Yes, they are doing shots with bacon. Don’t ask.
Bah, looking back on these I can’t help but CRACK UP! When I was thinking of a menu, I wanted to stick with the theme as much as I could. I wanted “ugly” food that was also traditional holiday grub that’s a little nostalgic. So we had some old school Velveeta cheese dip, some spiked eggnog, a roasted chicken, brightly colored veggie trays, a peppermint cake, meatballs and a GIANT helping of slow roasted pork shoulder (thanks to Mykyl!)
*The lighting in the kitchen is awful, so I’m sorry for the low-quality photos!
In addition to these, I also served the rum recipes I created exclusively for Captain Morgan!
- Boozy Nutella Eggnog (RECIPE HERE!)
- Mushroom, Goat Cheese & Rum Crostini (RECIPE BELOW!)
- Cranberry, Apple & Rum Crumble (RECIPE BELOW!)
- Boozy banana bread (RECIPE HERE!)
I wanted the dishes I made with Captain to be classic holiday dishes that are messy and a bit ugly to match our sweaters. The nutella eggnog is a traditional holiday drink and I gussied it up with a bit of nutella, rum and some chocolate shavings. For the crostinis, I sauteed the mushrooms, onions and garlic in a heaping spoonful of Captain Morgan black, to give them an oaky, spicy finish. To give it some color, I added a few crumbles of goat cheese (which kind of look like those cotton ball snowman on an ugly sweater) and some baby arugula. For dessert, I made two delicious recipes. The boozy banana bread is a classic made modern with the addition of a melt in your mouth glaze. The crumble is another classic holiday dish, which I spruced up with some fresh cranberries and rum. (Everyone agreed this dessert looked the most like an ugly sweater!)
I had such an incredible time planning, hosting and partaking in this party. Don’t forget to check out the recipes for the crostini and crumble right below!
Rum Soaked Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crustini
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves 15.
Prep time: >5 minutes
Cook time: About 14 minutes
Ingredients:
- 15 slices of crispy French bread
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 – 3 tablespoons Captain Morgan Black
- Salt and pepper
- 4 ounces soft goat cheese
- Baby arugula
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grase a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until just softened, about 2 minutes. Add in mushrooms, garlic and salt and pepper, cook about a minute longer. Pour in rum, reduce heat to medium and cook vegetables until all of the liquid has evaporated, about 4 – 5 more minutes. Garnish with a bit more salt and pepper.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of mushroom mixture onto each slice of French bread. Add about 1/2 an ounce of goat cheese on each crostini. Place crostinis on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes, or until goat cheese is slightly melted. Add arugula and serve!
Nutritional information per crostini:
Fat: 3.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 10 grams
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 2.5 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 2
Boozy Cranberry & Apple Crumble
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves about 6.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
For the filling:
- 3 Granny Smith apples, sliced
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- Dash of salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Captain Morgan spiced rum
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
For the topping:
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 3 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix apples, cranberries, lemon juice, brown sugar, rum and pumpkin pie spice. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Pour apple/cranberry mixture into your prepared 3 quart baking dish.
- Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon together in another bowl. Using a pastry knife, cut in the butter to the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse sand. Sprinkle mixture over the fruit filling.
- Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Serve warm with whipped cream!
Nutritional information per 2/3 cup serving:
Calories: 288
Fat: 9 grams
Carbohydrates: 40 grams
Fiber: >1
Protein: 1.25
Weight Watchers Points: 7
Claire
Tags:boozy recipe, captain morgan recipes, crostii recipe, low fat crumble recipes, mushroom recipe
Easy Mulled Wine Recipe
As many of you know, I’ve recently taken a part-time job at Lost Creek winery, a boutique vineyard and winery in Northern Virginia. Ironically, I went to Lost Creek last year (and blogged about it here). We now have new owners who have this incredible vision for the winery and have plans to make it more upscale and elegant with more sophisticated wines (like an oaked Chardonnay and a dry Vidal I’m super stoked about!) Stay up to date on the winery’s transformation by visiting our Facebook page!
If you follow any of my social media handles (FB, Twitter or Instagram) you know I’m a slight…wine-o, so this job is a bit of a dream for me. In addition to working in the tasting room, I’ve also taken on the task of creating unique recipes using the wines we have. My first challenge was to create an easy mulled wine recipe using one of our dessert wines, Courtney’s Christmas.
Courtney’s Christmas is a dessert/speciality wine that is made from FIVE of the grapes we grow on property; Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. What makes this dessert wine such a great seller for us is the fact that it’s sweet, but not syrupy. When I’m giving my tasting room spiel, I just tell the guest this: “It tastes like Christmas in a bottle.” In addition to the five grapes, it also has hints of cranberry and clove! It has all the flavors of Christmas you love without the ones you don’t (no pine tree flavor, hurrah!) Because it’s so full bodied, I get like 10 questions a day asking how it could be mulled. So, I took home a few bottles and mulled a big batch!
Because it’s a dessert wine, it’s pretty sweet to begin with. So, instead of adding a ton of sugar like you normally do for mulled wines, I added just 2 tablespoons of honey to compliment the flavors. Also, when you mull this particular wine, it loses about 1/3 of its sweetness so you’re left with the delicious flavor of each grape and the cranberry and spice aftertone .
Another way I played up the natural spices in the wine was to add about 3 tablespoons of spiced rum. I used Captain Morgan but you can use whatever rum you have on hand. You can also use bourbon which will add a phenomenal smokiness to it! I don’t mind the wine cold but warmed it’s one of my new favorites. This is the perfect drink to serve on Christmas, New Years or just to enjoy on a random Wednesday night by the fire.
Now, I know many of you don’t have access to this particular wine so in its place, sub in your favorite red wine (see instructions below). However, if you get the chance, come to Northern Virginia, stop at Lost Creek (check out our FB page or Twitter for more info), get a tasting from yours truly and take home a bottle of Courtney’s to mull. Trust me, it’s worth the trip.
Easy Mulled Wine Recipe
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves about 4.
Prep time: >5 minutes
Cook/heat time: 15 – 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 3 bottles Courtney’s Christmas wine (or 2 bottles dry red)
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup spiced rum
- 1 orange, sliced
- About 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- Cranberries
Directions:
- Pour wine, rum and honey into a medium size pot. Add cinnamon stick, orange slices and ginger. Heat mixture on medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to mix the wine up. Once the wine is steaming and the honey had dissolved, remove from the pot and serve into a pitcher.
- Serve immediately with extra orange slices and some fresh cranberries for garnish.
*IF you don’t have access to Courtney’s Christmas, sub in two bottles of your favorite dry red, 1/3 cup sugar, about 6 cloves and 1/4 cup rum along with the oranges, cinnamon stick and ginger. Heat the same way.
Claire
Tags:easy warm wine recipe, easy wine recipes, Lost Creek Winery, mulled wine recipe
Chicken Quesadillas with Creamy Avocado Dip [& Giveaway!]
Happy Tuesday friends! I’ve got an amazing post for you guys today, coming from the extremely talented Kristina of Whipped. Seriously, if you haven’t been to her blog, please go check it out! She takes the prettiest photos and is an absolutely doll. As a sponsor this month, I gave her a recipe challenge! My challenge for Kristina was to whip up a healthy and delicious meal using Chobani yogurt. As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of Cho (check out this arsenal of my chobani recipes) and I love creating unique recipes using their yogurt.
If you’ve never tried Chobani or have never cooked with it, you’re in luck! I’m giving away six 16 ounce tubs of the ‘gurt to one lucky reader! Now, before we get to that, it’s time for you to drool over these amazing chicken quesadillas with cream avocado dip that the lovely Kristina made!
Hi Everyone! I am so excited that Claire is hosting me on her delicious blog today! My name is Kristina and I’m the blogger behind Whipped, a healthy cooking, baking, and nutrition blog. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m still recuperating from the Thanksgiving cooking marathon! Between the main event Thursday, family packed weekend, and 12,000 + dishes, the most gourmet I really want to get right now is ordering food… from a gourmet restaurant. So when Claire asked me to come up with a yummy way to use up my Chobani Greek Yogurt, I knew I wanted something quick, delicious, and packed with all the comfort food flavors I crave! Quesadillas seemed absolutely perfect.
This is a no-fuss meal with little prep and a lot of flavor. I stuffed mine with caramelized red onions, sautéed black beans, garlic, and cheese – but you can definitely throw in whatever leftover veg you have on hand. Rotisserie chicken rounds out the meal with zero prep and plenty of leftovers to toss with stir fries, salads, and soups for the rest of the week. The savory quesadillas pair perfectly with the bright avocado dip. I used Chobani Greek Yogurt to give the avocados their creamy fluffy texture. Mixed up with a little red onion, garlic, and cumin, this is absolutely delish with the quesadillas!
Enjoy! Thanks again Claire for sharing your irresistible blog with me today!
Chicken Quesadillas with Creamy Avocado Dip
Yields 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- 4 whole grain tortillas
- Cooking Spray
For the Filling
- 1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
For the Avocado Dip:
- 1 1/2 avocado
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons nonfat Chobani Greek Yogurt
- 1 small garlic clove, chopped
- 1/4 cup red chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Make the Avocado Dip – Combine avocado, greek yogurt, garlic, red onion, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Process until smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat canola oil in a medium large skillet over medium heat. Add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add in the black beans and garlic and saute until the beans are heated through, 2-3 minutes. Add in shredded chicken and salt and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Top one half of a tortilla with 1/4 of the chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Gently fold quesadilla in half. Transfer to skillet and cook 2 minutes on one side, or until golden brown. Flip, and cook the other side until golden brown. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cut each quesadilla into thirds and enjoy with avocado dip!
Nutritional information per quesadilla with 2 tablespoons dip:
Calories: 360
Fat: 15 grams
Carbohydrates: 34 grams
Fiber: 7 grams
Protein: 23 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 9
Now, the giveaway One lucky reader will win six 16 ounce tubs in a variety of flavor from the lovely folks at Chobani! Just enter the prompts below! Giveaway ends December 8th and midnight.
Claire
Tags:avocado recipes, chobani recipes, greek yogurt recipes, quesadilla recipes
Gluten-free Peanut Butter Thumbprints
Tis the season to be SKINNY, fa la la la la la la la la la! 🙂 Happy Monday and welcome to day one of my 12 Days of Skinny Snacks and Sips for Santa, kicking off with a delicious sin-less recipe for gluten-free peanut butter thumbprints.
Now, the reason behind this is simple; Santa is a little obese. He’s got some extra jiggle around that midsection. He’s always been a big boned man, but with all the high fat treats he eats around this time of the year, I’m actually quite shocked he hasn’t keeled over with a massive coronary. To help him slim up a bit, I’ve whipped up 12 guilt-free, low-fat and vegan treats and drinks that I’m going to feature every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday leading up to Christmas! Plus, I’m giving away something fabulous right smack dab in the middle, so stay tuned! Now, let’s talk cookies.
I love thumbprints. They aren’t innovative or unique or super special in anyway. But you know what? They are good. They are simple, nostalgic and super easy to make. When you are like me, the holidays are STRESSFUL so anytime I can make a cookie in less than 30 minutes, I’m a happy camper.
These aren’t ordinary thumbprints either. Each adorable little cookie tastes exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You get smooth, peanut butter flavor in the cookie and the perfect finish of tart, sweet jam. I’m a big supporter of taking Pb&j out of the sammie and putting it into desserts, like these pb&j bars or these perfect thumbprints. The reasoning behind this is simple; I love the flavors. Plus, this means I can now eat cookies for lunch, judgement free.
Another amazing thing about this recipe is that it’s completely gluten-free! To give the cookies even more of a nutty flavor, I used 1/4 cup of almond flour and 1 cup gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill – ALL THE WAY). The cookies come out just a little grittier than normal but still super fluffy and full of flavor. I’m so addicted to almond flour because it has absolutely no wheat and it gives such an earthy flavor to whatever it’s in.
So, dear Santa, since I’ve made you these gluten-free goodies that are low-fat and full of protein, I’m expecting you to reward me with something a little extra special under my tree. I mean, I’m helping you stay in shape and live longer, so that means I deserve a new Nikon d7000 with an AF 18-200 mm lens, right? I thought so. Thanks big–er—hearty man! (He gets offended when you call him fat).
Gluten-free Peanut Butter Thumbprints
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Yields about 24 cookies. Recipe inspired by Martha Stewart.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 16 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup gluten-free AP flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Dash of salt
- 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar for dusting
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup jam (I used my homemade strawberry)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. In another bowl, beat peanut butter, applesauce, butter and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add egg and almond extract and mix until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture, beating after each addition until a dough forms.
- Roll dough into balls and then roll into white sugar. Place each ball onto the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes. Pull cookies out and make an indent using the back of a spoon or your thumb (cookies will be hot). After each cookie has a print, push back into the oven and bake another 6 minutes, or until golden brown.
- While cookies are warm, place about 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the indent of each cookie. Let cool completely and enjoy!
Nutritional information per cookie:
Calories: 80
Fat: 4.2 grams
Carbohydrates: 5.43 grams
Fiber: 2.5 grams
Protein: 5.1 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 2
