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Eat Skinny: Whole Wheat Carrot Pancakes Recipe

Happy day after a long weekend, friends! I would say Tuesday but I’m sure that sums it up better. How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was good. Did some crafting, some gardening, some hiking. In addition, I also made these amazing whole wheat carrot pancakes.

But, before we hop on over to that recipe, I want to share a few pictures from our hike yesterday. We went to Great Falls National Park in Va. Although it was sweltering, we couldn’t have asked for a better day. I could hike every hour on the hour and never tire of it.

I just love living in Virginia! Now, let’s talk pancakes.

Now, when I teased a photo to my lovely Facebook fans yesterday, a few of you thought these were sweet potato. Which gave me a really good idea for another pancake idea, so thanks for that! But no, these were made from some beautiful carrots I picked up at the farmers market.

I woke up Saturday not feeling well. At all. So clearly, the way to make anyone feel better is through food. And, the way to make me feel better is healthy food. I know, I have a sickness. But even I was a little skeptical of this recipe. But hey, carrots in cake is really good, carrot muffins are awesome and I’ve had a carrot cookie before that sort of rocked my world. These will certainly be just as good, right?

And just like it’s cousins the cake, cookie and muffin, these pancakes are delicious! Moist and fluffy with just a hint of carrot flavor. Served with a dab of fresh maple syrup and some butter, this stack o’ pancakes is the perfect way to kick start your weekend.

Or just your day. I mean, who said you can’t have pancakes every day of the week? I think these would make Monday (or in this case, days that feel like Monday) a little bit brighter, dontcha think?

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted theirs from Joy the Baker. 

Whole Wheat Carrot Pancakes

Yields about 7 – 8 pancakes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 4 – 5 minutes

Ingredients:

•  1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (can use cinnamon)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
• 1 organic egg
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup light cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated carrots

Directions: 

1. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice together. Add in walnuts and mix well.
2. In a large bowl, mix egg, carrots, brown sugar, milk, cream and vanilla, whisk until mixture is fully combined. Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.
3. In a large pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, add about 1/4 cup mixture to the pan. Once the top of the batter starts bubbling, flip using a wide spatula and cook until both sides are golden brown, about 4 – 5 minutes. Serve with butter and maple syrup and enjoy!

Nutritional information per pancake: 

Calories: 134.5
Fat: 3.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 23.5 grams
Fiber: 0.75 grams
Protein: 4.125
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points:  4

Eat Skinny: Tofu Scramble Recipe with Kraft Singles

Happy Friday guys! It’s not just Friday, it’s Memorial Day Weekend Friday, which means a LONG weekend for many of us! Many of us doesn’t include me since I work for myself. Boo. Either way, thought I’d kick off the weekend with an AWESOME breakfast that’s delicious and vegetarian, tofu scramble with good ol’ American cheese. Guys, it really is as mouth watering as it looks.

I was chosen to do a post making up a recipe using Kraft Singles by Foodbuzz and I got really excited. Growing up, Kraft Singles were it. I mean, who didn’t love the bright orange squares their mom would adorn their sandwiches with, mix in with their eggs or top their baked potatoes?

My mom, as I’ve alluded to before, is an incredible cook. So we didn’t eat a whole lotta grilled cheese. However, when my mom was away, my dad would whip us up some gooey grilled cheeses and it was a like a holiday for us. We’d also sneak slices onto our mashed potatoes too. Even now, at the ripe age of…20 something, I still have to have a good ol’ Kraft single when I’m feeling a little nostalgic. Except now, I do weird things like put it on tofu.

Now, I don’t eat it as much because, let’s get real, it’s not the best thing on the planet for you. However, having just one slice will only set you back 60 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and will also give you 4 grams of protein. Not bad for just one slice. Because one can’t survive on just cheese alone, I paired it perfectly over a skinny tofu scramble.

I love tofu, it’s my go-to now. It’s extremely low in fat, calories and sodium and is full of healthy, plant protein. 1/5 of a normal package has 7 grams of protein and just 70 calories. Because it’s so flavorless on it’s own, I sauteed it with shiitake mushrooms, chives, home grown onions and some spice.

Guys, it’s so good, so healthy and SO filling. Not only that, it’s great for Memorial Day. Because y’all know, there’s nothing more American than American cheese. [Said in my best deep Southern drawl]

Tofu Scramble with Kraft Singles

Serves 1
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 – 7 minutes

Ingredients:

•  1/2 bagel (or bread, English muffin, etc]
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped tofu
• 3/4 tablespoon skim milk
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 small chives, finely chopped
• 4 shiitake mushroom caps, finely chopped
• 1/2  teaspoon chili powder
• Liberal dashes of salt and pepper
• 1 slice White American Kraft Singles

Directions: 

1. Heat olive oil in a small pan over medium high heat. Add onions, mushrooms and chives; cook until soft, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add in tofu, milk, chili powder and salt and pepper, cook until liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Place tofu & vegetable mixture on the toasted 1/2 bagel and top with the cheese. Serve warm and enjoy!

I told you it was easy. Plus, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so stock up on protein!

Nutritional information per serving:

Calories: 310
Fat: 10 grams
Carbohydrates: 32 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 17 grams
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points: 8

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for free Kraft Singles and a stipend.

Eat Skinny: Mini Strawberry & Rhubarb Pies

One only more day until the long weekend, can you hold out? I’ll be honest, I’m having trouble getting motivated this morning. But, I’ve got things to do, a phone interview to tackle and this delicious recipe to share!

Yep, that’s a mini pie you see right there! One filled with strawberries, rhubarb and a tad bit of lemon zest. Y’all, if I could eat everything mini for the rest of my life, I’d be set. I mean, hello instant portion control. Plus, it’s just so gosh darn CUTE. How perfect would these be at your Memorial Day BBQ?

I’ll be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever made ANYTHING with rhubarb. In fact, I bought some stems? sticks? of it at Wegmans, an impulse purchase, then immediately went to The Twitter to ask my foodie friends what they recommend I do with it. Because, guys, it’s weird looking and frightens me a bit. But it’s so good for you and only has 24 calories in 1 CUP. 1 CUP!

Eep. So most of you chimed in and said “STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE!” And, being a big pie fan, I thought why not. When in Rome. I’ll make a pie with this weird, strange root and it’ll be good. I’ll just chop off the weird green top and then chop the red part into pieces. All the while I’m thinking “this will not end well, it’s a plant. A straight up hard, crunchy plant.”

But luckily it’s not just rhubarb pie, it’s also sharing a space with the strawberry, which is delicious. So, clearly, it will have to taste good.

So, I mixed these fruits together and stuffed them into the mini crusts I made. As soon as they popped out of the oven, all golden brown and crispy, I knew I just had to try one. So I took out a fork and dug into the piping hot pie.

I think I may be in love with rhubarb. Sure it looks strange but man does it taste good, especially when paired with strawberries. So sweet, so comforting. It reminds me of a warm  Southern summer night, sitting on a veranda porch. Served with a dollop of whipped cream and this little pie is a little piece of heaven.

And if nothing else, guys, just make it because it’s so STINKIN’ CUTE. Or because one of these pies only has 160 calories and a measly 4 points, that could serve as a bit of incentive too, don’t you think?

Recipe adapted from Southern Living. 

Mini Strawberry and Rhubarb Pies

Yields about 8 pies
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 24 minutes

Ingredients:

For the filling: 

• 1/4 cup finely chopped strawberries
• 1/4 cup finely chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• Dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg yolk
• Whipped cream for garnish

Directions: 

Monterey Foodie Recap

Hi guys! I have a long, picture filled post for your pretty, sparkling eyes today so let’s begin my detailed foodie account of Monterey, starting with right after I got there!

Pretty much as soon as I landed, I decided I had to do a bit of exploring before dinner. That was after I awed at the ocean view from my room and dug into my swag bag, of course.

After that, I grabbed my camera and walked 2 steps to the pier. As I was walking to take a photo of the coast, I heard someone behind me talking about the amazing swag bag they got in their hotel. So like a creep, I turned around and asked them if they were with my group. Turns out, they were! And invited me to join them for a lunch on the pier. I love bloggers. 

We got a sampler of delicious things to try and I ordered a mandatory glass of wine. It was so nice to be around people who get the fact you need to take pictures of everything before you eat it! After lunch, we walked around a bit then went to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at a local restaurant, Montrio, whose head chef was asked to create amazing strawberry inspired dishes for us to eat. Our first course was a strawberry soup with a salmon boudin (a squishy, weird sausage), which we made ourselves! Then, we enjoyed an amazing salad with hunks of fresh mozzarella. For our main course, we ate pork stuffed pork wrapped in pork. Yep. That was real. Then for dessert, we enjoyed panna cotta with fresh mint sprigs. Plus, there were a few strawberry infused cocktails floating around, like gin with cucumbers!

The food was good, but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t mind blowing. It’s one of those places I’d probably not go back to. You know? Either way, the chef was a delight [AND BRITISH!]

Saturday kicked off with a breakfast I missed (thanks to work + Internet issues). Then we all piled into a giant bus to head to a strawberry farm to learn about the farming aspect of berry production. I, of course, forgot the SD card in my computer so I was left to my iPhone to take pictures. Typical me. THANK GOD for Instagram, that’s all I’m sayin.

The farm was awesome. I mean, I got to pick berries off the vines and just eat them. So, in true Claire fashion, I stuffed like 600 berries into my gullet. Cute, I know. But I mean, look at this beauty, who could resist?

It was interesting to learn about the farming part, for sure. Who knew so much money went into harvesting berries? After our tour, we headed to my least favorite part of the trip, the cooler. The people at Giant were incredibly knowledgeable and so SMART, but the cooler was cold and I didn’t really take much back from that. And by that point I was hungry again so all I could think about was food.

Our lunch was, by far, my favorite part of the entire trip. For one, it was on top of a beautiful mountain. Secondly, they really went above and beyond in making us feel special. They had a beautiful tent sent up, a gorgeous tablescape and an amazing menu planned. The chef? OMG I wanted to take her back to DC with me! Chef Mickey graduated from Le Cordon Bleu (my dream) and studied under Julia Child. NBD. Plus, she spoke 7 languages so she had the most amazing accent. And she was so funny and lively. Oh, and um, she can cook.

One thing I loved about this meal was how innovative it was. I mean, I’ve seen panna cotta done about 1200 different ways and hers still surprised me. She also made a small “pizza” out of strawberries and cheese, plus had this amazing fluffy strawberry lime mousse. It was all amazing but my favorite was the beef. It was cooked to PERFECTION and had just a hint of strawberry glaze. The meat literally melted in my mouth. In addition to the amazing food, she also created 4 different mocktails that were equally as delicious. The only thing that would have made them better was a little bit of booze, duh.

After our meal it was time to explore some scientific plots down by where we ate. At this point, all I could think about was recipes so I’m sad to say I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. It was neat though. After this, a bunch of the bloggers headed home and I headed back to my hotel to work. After a few hours of working, I met two other bloggers for dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was okay but the company was amazing.

Then, before I left on Thursday, I took one last stroll to take a few photos. These three are my absolute favorite.

So end in end? California strawberries are the best, the commission was INCREDIBLE and I’d go back to Monterey and live on the chilly beach in a hut an day.

Roasted Balsamic Strawberry & Goat Cheese Canapè Recipe

Happy Tuesday! Although I’m sure y’all love my introductory ramblings, I’m skipping all that to jump right in. I have an amazing post for y’all today, including some tasty sneak peek pics of food from Monterey and an amazing recipe using fresh California strawberries, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese. I know, the trifecta of awesome. I’ll give you a sneak peek.

Mouth watering yet? Now, before we dig into that recipe, I have to share some of the amazing food I had while out in California. The people at the California Strawberry Commission were AMAZING. Everything was incredible and they were so accommodating! I’m working on my full, foodie recap which will be up tomorrow, so I thought I’d share just a few sneak peek photos of the amazing food I ate!

There was certainly no shortage of incredible food and ingredients. As soon as I got to Monterey, my head was already buzzing with delicious ideas for an innovative recipe using plump strawberries. I could do a light shortcake or a fresh strawberry cake. But no, what about something savory, like roasted strawberries with chicken or steak? It wasn’t until I took a bite of the balsamic strawberry panna cotta we had on Wednesday that it hit me.

I’ll do a roasted strawberry and balsamic vinegar compote! Then, I’ll serve it on crunchy French bread. But no, that wasn’t all. It needed something else. Then, as my typical craving for soft cheese hit, I knew what it was missing. GOAT CHEESE. So, this pretty little canapè was born.

I can’t describe how good these are. I just can’t. Sweet, savory, tangy, decadent, crunchy. There’s so many delicious adjectives I could use, but none of them do it justice. The combination of the sweet, savory and tangy is just…unreal.

What I love so much about this dish is how simple it is. Just a few fresh ingredients and a bit of baking time. No weird steps or strange oils, just real stuff. Real food. I love fancy food and crazy techniques, but I also love farm-to-table, real, simple food. Call me a plain, Midwestern gal, but a piece of bread with some cheese and fruit is an easy way to my heart.

This recipe sort of encompassed how we ate and what we learned while in Monterey. All the strawberries we ate were right from the farm down the street. The cheeses were made IN HOUSE. The pork cured in the chef’s basement. That’s the kinda food I love.

Y’all, seriously, make this. And then report back with your explanation of how good it is. It’s honestly, just…make it. That’s all. Just make it. And pair it with wine! Because that’s what people do in California. They always pair things with wine. Why am I not living there yet?

Roasted Balsamic Strawberry & Goat Cheese Canapè

Yields 8 canapès & about 1 cup compote.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of crispy French bread
• 3/4 lb of strawberries, stems removed
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Dash of salt and pepper
• 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon honey
• 6 ounces of soft goat cheese

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place whole strawberries on the parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until they start to caramelize.
2. Remove from pan and place in a medium size mixing bowl. Add in balsamic (minus the 1 tablespoon), olive oil, honey and salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon or other kitchen utensil (I used a whisk), mash the mixture together until a chunky jam forms. Taste the mixture and add additional balsamic, honey, or salt or pepper to taste. [If still a bit sweet or not sweet enough.]
3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Place slices of bread on a baking sheet with new parchment paper. Spread cheese over each slice. Add about 1 teaspoon or so of compote. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until bread is browned and cheese is slightly melty. Add a few sprigs of fresh arugula and enjoy!

Nutritional information per canapè:

Calories: 177
Fat: 7 grams
Carbohydrates: 21 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points:  5

This post is sponsored by the amazing people at the California Strawberry Commission.

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