Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes
PIN IT!TGIF TGIF TGIF! How are y’all doing this lovely Friday? Despite being in the car for over 13 hours yesterday (really, really bad accident 95 South), we’re happy, safe and sound in Charleston (albeit a little tired.)
My view for 4 straight hours last night.
This post will be a bit short since the hubster is taking me downtown Charleston for a surprise lunch date! He’s not one for surprises or whimsy romance so I’m a little eager to see what he has up his sleeve! But, I can’t possibly leave you this weekend without a delectable recipe to make this weekend for brunch or Sunday breakfast!
Oh hey mouth-watering pancakes. How you doin?
I’m a firm believer in splurging on Sundays. However, I’m also a firm believer in skinny jeans, bikinis and Weight Watchers (down 4 pounds already!) so I’m constantly trying to find ways to make my favorite weekend splurges better, healthier but still as damn delicious. So how do you make pancakes, my favorite splurge, lighter? Easy. Whole wheat flour, fresh fruit and brown sugar (a reoccurring theme here on the ol’ bloggy blog).
They look seriously DIVINE, right? Oh trust me, they are! So fluffy, moist and full of fresh apple flavor, these give traditional pancakes a run for their money. Plus, the addition of the green apple makes these little ol’ flapjacks the perfect breakfast idea for St. Patty’s Day!
Who says you need food coloring to enjoy some green? If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can even use a shamrock cookie cutter to give these pancakes even more of an Irish flair.
Next time you have a craving for some fresh pancakes, put away that Bisquick, leave the butter in the fridge and make these incredibly moist and delicious bad boys instead.
For the delicious recipe and how to make it, check out my article on Fab Foods!
Happy Friday friends and have a fabulous weekend!
Recipe Makeover: Dark Chocolate Guinness Bundt Cake
Or better known as this.
and in some cultures, is also known as this.
But in my house? It’s most commonly referred to and depicted as this.
Which I call “being devoured,” or “half-eaten.” I’m not going to be coy anymore or play frank little games here guys. This cake here?
Needs to be made by any and all who read this. I’ll give you a few easy reasons.
- It’s sinfully delicious. Like, it’s almost unholy how good this cake is.
- Um, it has Guinness. Beer cake, as you may know, > regular cake.
- It has less than 170 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving.
I’m not jesting you friends. I promise. I’m being serious. This cake literally has less than 6 grams of fat per serving.
That ooey gooey chocolate cake in front of your eyes there? I’ll say it again. LESS THAN 6 GRAMS OF FAT PER SERVING. So now that you know that, you’re probably asking “how the h is that even possible?” And I’ll give you that, valid question. But, the answer is simple.
Applesauce in place of butter. Unlike this Blue Moon cake, I didn’t sub out all the butter for applesauce. Instead, I just subbed out 3 tablespoons and still used 1 tablespoon of butter. You save, like, a trillion calories and fat grams doing this. I also did this because I knew I was going to be adding in calories due to the use of Guinness.
This dessert is PERFECT for St. Patty’s Day. It’s also perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. And is even more perfect paired with Guinness. With so much perfect going on here, what’s stopping you from making it?
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.
Dark Chocolate Guinness Bundt Cake
Serves 8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Dash of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 2 egg whites
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup Guinness
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (semi sweet)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons Guinness
- 1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Liberally grease a 6 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugars, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda and stir well. Add in softened butter, applesauce, vanilla, egg whites and egg and beat with a hand held mixer until fully combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in Guinness and chocolate chips until batter thickens a bit.
- Pour mixture into the bundt pan and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Let dry on a wire cooling rack before glazing.
- Prepare glaze by microwaving chocolate, butter and Guinness in a microwave safe dish for about 1 1/2 minutes, stopping to stir at 30 seconds. Using a spoon, drizzle glaze over the cake and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Guilt free cakes are my favorite. Especially when they have beer!
Nutritional information per 1/8 slice:
Calories: 165
Fat: 5.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 35 grams
Fiber: 1.8 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points: 6 points
She Knows Dessert Roundup & What I Ate Wednesday
Hi friends! Happy hump (giggle, I’m 12) day! Hope everyone’s day is moving wonderfully thus far (I mean, the day is still young!)! For those of you who sent me some good juju for Oscar’s appointment yesterday, I’m happy to report it went swimmingly!
Despite a little verbal reprehending for letting his hair become a mop, it was a quick trip. Now, thank god, we can get this e-work groomed!
I’m sort of breaking the mold of sharing just one recipe here because there are about 10,000 recipes I’m dying to share with you from work! As you know, I’m a recipe creator for She Knows and this month, I’m assigned to desserts.
I know, rough life. In between creating these dishes and creating content for y’all, I just have’t had a chance to sit down and go over what I’ve made! Below are a few of my absolute FAVORITE desserts thus far. And I’m sorry, but not all of these are healthy. (Actually, I’m not sorry. A girl needs some butter once in a while)!
Chocolate covered pop chips. Yes these are real and yes they taste better than sex. Make them immediately.
Orange champagne cupcakes with a strawberry champagne frosting. I made these for the book club I hosted on Friday and they were a hit! Despite having a bit of a sugar coma from the frosting, these are incredible.
This one is healthy! Light pistachio gelato. Holy COW guys, this stuff is amazing. So creamy, so flavorful and so LIGHT!
Breakfast
Whole wheat toast with homemade strawberry jam. This jam is my absolute FAVORITE. It’s so good and tastes 100x better than store bought. Paired with a cup of French Roast, this is the perfect breakfast.
Lunch
Honey roasted squash and zucchini salad. SO GOOD and perfect for this #WIAW’s theme, GO GREEN! I made it for work like 2 weeks ago and just had to re-create the dish again. It’s amazing and has just 4 points! Win!
Snack
A couple frozen strawberries! I mean, I’m all about fresh fruit but when you freeze it, your mind thinks you are eating dessert! HA HA! Tricked you, mind!
Dinner
A secret dish involving this spicy peach jam, chicken, rice and some green beans 🙂 Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing the post next week!
Dessert
Some fresh sorbet 🙂 MMM. I had to use those frozen strawberries for something, ya know 🙂
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Spaghetti Squash With Veggies & Pesto Recipe
Hi friends! Before we begin, I must announce the SUPER lucky winner of the Ted Allen cookbook! A huge huge HUGE thank you again to Robert Mondavi Private Selection for hosting this giveaway 🙂 Look forward to working with you more in the future!
And now! The winner!
aka, Mary Beth! Whose favorite ingredient is hot sauce! Sounds a bit like my hubby 🙂 Email me, Mary Beth, at realistic.nutritionist@gmail.com to claim your prize!
Now, onto some seriously delicious food! But first I have to share this photo of Oscar. I was prepping in the kitchen yesterday and he just sat and watched me with his tongue hanging out. Honestly just the cutest. Plus, I’m sad b/c he has to get his routine shots today. So please, shoot this furbaby mother some reassuring thoughts, mmk?
He looks like a little e-wok doesn’t he? Oh that face! I could easily gush about him for the rest of my life, but I must restrain so I can talk about THIS. THIS-A BEAUTIFUL THING RIGHT A HERE. (I sometimes talk with an Italian accent. And a British one. Don’t judge me.)
Or better known, in it’s scientific term, as a big ol’ pile of awesome. Or, in lamens terms, spaghetti squash roasted to perfection, paired with sauteed asparagus, mushrooms and onions. Then! It’s garnished with a dollop of this stuff.
Homemade pesto! MMMMM! I’ve never been a huge pesto person. I mean, it’s good but I’m never like “Oh man. I just wish I had a spoonful of pesto!” Well, friends, that was before I made a batch of it at home. This stuff? Tastes like happiness. I would drink it through a straw if everyone around me wouldn’t disown me and put me in a straight jacket. It’s good. Plus, paired with this dish? It’s outstanding.
The pesto adds creaminess while the asparagus lends a superior crunch. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn’t know I was eating a vegetable. That is probably one of my favorite things about spaghetti squash. It’s such a FABULOUS alternative to pasta.
Even though the flavor is awesome, what makes me the most giddy about this dish is the simple fact that it has less than 6 points per 1 cup serving. 6 POINTS! Now that is a cause for celebration.
NOTE: You only need like 1 – 2 tablespoons of pesto to get that flavor. The more you add, the more fat and calories you add to the dish.
Spaghetti Squash with Veggies and Homemade Pesto
Serves 4 [pesto makes 1 cup]
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
For the pesto:
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, if possible)
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Dashes of salt and pepper
- 1 medium spaghetti squash, halved and seeded
- 3/4 pound asparagus, cut into thirds
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Dashes of salt and pepper
Directions:
- To prepare the pesto, place walnuts, oil and basil leaves into a blender or food processor. Pulse on low until creamed. Add in cheese, lemon juice and garlic cloves and continue to pulse until mixture is creamy and mixed. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill in the fridge.
- To prepare the dish, preheat the oven to 375F. Place the squash flesh side down in a jelly roll pan. Fill the pan with 1/2 inch water. Bake squash for at least 35 – 40 minutes, or until you can easily pull the “noodles” out with a fork. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- While squash bakes, prepare veggies. Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until just translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in mushrooms and asparagus and cook until asparagus is soft, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
- Once squash has cooled, carefully pull the flesh from the squash using a fork [this will give you the noodles]. Place in a bowl. Add in veggies and mix up with a tong. Add 1 – 2 tablespoons of pesto, stir and enjoy!
Nutritional information per 1 cup:
Calories: 199
Fat: 8.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 14 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 2.4 grams
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points: 4
Eat Skinny Be Skinny: Strawberry Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Hi friends! I hope you had an extraordinary weekend! Mine was great! Hosted a book club on Friday night with a bunch of absolutely lovely ladies! Then, on Saturday, I worked on a top secret project 🙂 I’m bursting at the seams to tell y’all what I’ve been doing but I can’t yet. I will find out tomorrow what happens and then I promise I’ll share, whether it’s good news or bad! Then yesterday, I baked/prepared 6 recipes, including these mind blowing cookies I’m sharing with you today!
Now, when I say mind blowing, I’m not kidding. These cookies exceeded any and all expectations and just…well…blew my top off.
Sometimes, our supermarket has AMAZING deals on produce. Like, buy one get one free amazingness. So, the other day, strawberries were on massive sale so I of course, picked up two cartons. One entire carton was used to make this strawberry jam, while the other sat in my fridge waiting to be used.
By the 3rd day, I could almost hear them shrill “PICK ME PICK ME” whenever i’d open the fridge for ingredients. Luckily, their time was near because I had a serious craving for fresh fruit and cookies, so alas, a harmonious, incredible, absolutely delectable cookie was born.
The combination of fresh strawberries and whte chocolate is unbeatable, then you pair it with the soft, moist, chewiness of oatmeal cookies and it’s something for the record books. Each bite has a delicious mix of creamy milk chocolate, tart, fresh strawberries and chewy, moist oatmeal and brown sugar.
I’m going to have a revolt on my hands with all my previous cookie recipes by saying this, but guys, friends, confidantes, these are the best cookies I’ve ever made. Yes, yes. Even better than the 42 calorie pumpkin cookies or the banana pecan cookies.
I’m serious. It’s a bold, bold statement but it’s nothing but the truth. Make a batch of these sweet, fresh cookies and find out for yourself. Your mind? Just consider it blown.
Recipe adapted from My Recipes.
Strawberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields about 18 cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Chill time: 2 hours
Cook time: 11 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup oats (not instant)
- dash of salt
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg, large
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
Directions:
- In a large bowl, whisk flours, oats, salt and baking soda together. Set aside. In another bowl, beat applesauce, brown sugar, butter and vanilla with a handheld mixer on low speed. Add in egg and beat until full mixed.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir well. Gently fold in strawberries (so they don’t mash) and chocolate chips. Mix until fully combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or foil and let chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Once chilled, remove dough from fridge. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough onto the sheet, about 1/2 inch from each-other.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Chill on a wire cooling rack and then enjoy!
Nutritional information per cookie:
Calories: 86
Fat: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 16 grams
Fiber: 0.5 grams
Protein: 1.5 grams
Weight Watchers Points Plus Points: 2
