Fruit Salad Brownies

I've been eating some seriously healthy food lately, and anything that isn't healthy, makes me wanna yammy.  Like the quesadilla burger I had the other day... woof, way too much grease. 

Anyway, I have a major sweet tooth... but we all know hitting up the cupcake shop everyday isn't gonna do the trick, and I could do froyo... but let's be honest, I basically put a cupcake on my froyo.  PS did you hear Orange Leaf has a "No Bake Cookie" flavor right now?  YUM. 

Ahem, anyway... 

So I made some brownies with some serious fruits and veggies packed in, and you CAN'T EVEN TELL.
 

Here's the 411: (the recipe is a little bit whackadoodle because I cut my original plan by a quarter.) 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 large banana mashed
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups finely shredded or grated zucchini (one large)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

I grated the zucchini with a food processor and then threw everything in my trusty Kitchenaid (except the chocolate chips) (those go on top) (okay, do that now). 

It all goes in a big old pan and ya bake it at 350 for 20ish minutes. 

Cut it in 12 pieces and pour a big glass of milk. 

And now look at these adorable kids at this wedding we went to this weekend!  Too cute!!! 

Bandwagon Haters and Lebron James. A Rant.

Sit down and shut up, because I’m about to go on a rant like you’ve never seen. 

Topics to be ranted about:

Bandwagon fans (I’m pro-bandwagon)

Lebron

I have a little question for those of you who can’t stand bandwagon fans… 

Did you see Mumford and Sons live at some small venue before they got big? 

Did you always drink PBR and now you’re annoyed that EVERYONE drinks it?

Did you have cupcakes at your 10^th birthday party and now hate it when people bring them in to the office…  Because you liked cupcakes before there was a show about them. 

That my friends, makes you a hipster. 

Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?  I loved cupcakes when I was 10, so they’re MY thing.  You don’t get to love cupcakes, even though they’re awesome and handheld and can easily be transformed into a cupcake sandwich. 

If your mom didn’t love them, you don’t get to love them.  If you didn’t live in Cupcake City, you’re a bandwagon cupcake fan and you need to close your eyes when Cupcake Wars is on. 

So you never really gave much thought to cupcakes, you stuck to muffins and lemon bars, but then you stopped in a bakery and tried one and now you want to try them all?  TOO BAD.  They’re my thing. 

Outside of that “hipster” community, sports is the only entertainment source in which you are chastised for recognizing talent along with mainstream America.  

That's like saying, you're not allowed to see a movie if you didn't see it before it got good reviews.   

So go ahead and like that team that’s playing well, even if you don’t have a tie to that city…  It feels amazing to have “your team” win a championship, no matter the length of time it’s been “your team”.  And as a fan of sports (don’t worry, I’ve been one my whole life, I’m not a bandwagon sports fan) I want everyone to experience that amazing feeling. 

My second point… Lebron James.  AKA MVP AKA The most polarizing sports figure since…. Any other amazing sports player. 

Every single time a championship comes up, in any sport, Iowa bandwagon haters come out of the woodworks.  They’re more obnoxious than the actual bandwagon fans! NEWSFLASH: we don't have any professional sports teams in Des Moines, so unless you moved here from a major metropolis (why?) literally EVERYONE is a bandwagon fan.  It's like hating immigrants and then celebrating your Irish heritage on St. Patrick's Day.  You never thought of that one, did you?  Whoever came over from Ireland from your family was an immigrant.  (a little explanation just in case you're dumb)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been having a conversation and mentioned that my boyfriend is a Heat fan. 

People are all, “WHAT?! WHAT IS HE THINKING?!”

And I’m all, “He’s a big D-Wade fan”

And they’re all, “Okay, that’s okay then”

Why is that okay, but being a fan of the best basketball player in 2013 (Lebron) isn’t.

So he’s damn good and he knows it…

Are we not allowed to recognize our own talents anymore?  Next you're going to tell me women aren't allowed to love their bodies despite being beautiful.  


You know who else is good and knows it? 

1. Morgan Freeman
2. Justin Timberlake
3. Steve Jobs
4. Julia Child
5. The Queen
6. David Beckham
7. Kate Upton (she's good at being pretty and she knows it)

And we freaking love them! Can’t get enough of Justin Timberlake’s new album, everyone cried when David Beckham retired, thank goodness he’s still looking fine, amiright? We bought every damn thing Steve Jobs told us to. Don't get me started on how many times that video of Kate Upton doing the Dougie was viewed...  But Lebron took it one step too far.  He moved to a town where he could be insanely successful and make his dreams come true.

Tell me you wouldn’t do that if given the opportunity.  Whether your dreams mean the right job, a more temperate climate, a new adventure, a good school for your kids…

Whatever it means, do it.  Because there will always be someone there to call you out for not being “born and raised” in the town you live and being “too good” for the town you’re from.  But you’ll be laughing all the way to success. 

Quinoa Banana Nut Pancakes

I've been trying some healthy recipes lately, and this one is so unique, I had to share it! 

I adapted this recipe from Self Magazine's Drop 10 diet.  I've been getting a lot of great recipes from there lately. 

Quinoa Banana Nut Pancakes (Serves 2)

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked Quinoa
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 banana
Handful chopped walnuts

Directions:
Wisk the Quinoa, Eggs, brown sugar and vanilla together.  Add the sliced banana and chopped walnuts and stir.
Cook on a griddle about 3 minutes on each side.  These babies are FRAGILE, but as with any pancake, meat or egg, it starts to release a little when it's ready to be flipped.

A few notes...

When planning to blog a pancake recipe before ever trying it, make sure to make at least 2 batches...  This is what the first one will look like.

Set your griddle to "fish pancakes" setting.  Wait, what?  EW! 

Serve this with some eggs scrambled with onions and peppers and a little cheese.  

On another note, look at this awesome quickie lunch I made today...  Roasted veggie pizza.

I roasted all the veggies the other day, so I can use them for anything and everything all week.  I just took a tortilla, topped it with some pizza sauce, the veggies and some mozzarella cheese.  Baked it on my pizza stone and there it is. 

Delish. 

Sweet Potato Lentil Burritos

Don't know if you're a magazine junky like I am, but I'm always excited to get one of my new mags in the mail, and I troll their websites for great meal ideas. 

A lot of the time I find complicated recipes to make with lots of ingredients, but lately I've just been looking for something easy and delicious to fill my belly. 

So Friday, when I was looking for some recipes before going grocery shopping, I found the "Drop 10" Challenge on Self Magazine's website. 

There were a ton of easy recipes for every meal, and I copied down at least 10 of them. 

One recipe I was super excited about was the Bueno Burritos.  So I adapted them to my currently-simple life. 

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 cup cooked lentils
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning
4 tortillas
Greek Yogurt, shredded cheese, salsa as garnish

Sautee the sweet potatoes and onions in some olive oil until tender.   Sprinkle with Fiesta Lime Seasoning.
Smash the sweet potatoes up, layer some greek yogurt, cheese, the sweet potatoes and lentils on a tortilla and wrap it up like a yummy burrito.  

I used my Foreman Grill to finish it off with some grill marks to crisp it up. 

Yeah, my pics are bad...  Meh.

NOW EAT IT!

Yum. 

Creamy Taco Soup

I have been away from blogger for a while, but this recipe, and the next one I'm going to post, convinced me to come back.  They are SO STINKIN' GOOD, I had to share them. 

Having already emailed the recipe for this soup to my girl, Autumn because I figured her and her hubs would love this rich-tasting, low-cal twist on a cream-based soup, I had to share it with the rest of yous. 

I got the recipe from Pinterest, and it's directly from Muscle Fitness Hers (find the link here).

I followed it pretty closely, with a few changes.  And for me, it served 4 as a main course.  Maybe 7 as a soup/salad combo

Doesn't it look creamy????

"Creamy" Chicken Taco Soup

3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 15-oz can 50% less sodium white beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes with lime and green chiles
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 1/2 pounds shredded precooked chicken breast
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning Blend
1/ Place 1/2 cup broth and white beans in a blender and puree. Add yogurt and blend again. Pour liquid into slow cooker.
2/ Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
3/ Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4-5 hours.
Note: Be sure to rinse and drain black beans and chicken well before adding to slow cooker.

This turned out to be kinda spicy! I have no idea where the spice came from, but I'm not mad atcha. 

Another note, this took me 10 minutes to throw together in the crock pot.  If the chicken is already made, it's a cinch. 

Hey Sugar

I've been recording my cals and exercise on myfitnesspal.com the last year or so, and even though I mostly stay within my cals for the day, there are also those days where I eat like Micheal Phelps and workout like an overweight cat. 

So I decided to take a closer look at how my calories break down, and there was one big red number staring me in the face daily.  That number was the amount I went OVER on my allotted sugar intake. 

I can stay within my goals for calories and fat with simple portion control, but that darn sugar just creeps up on you!  175 cals and 2 grams of fat for a yogurt parfait sounds like the best option at McDonalds... But it has 25 of my allotted 37 grams of sugar!  That's about 6 teaspoons of straight-up sugar. 

Now, I'm not hating on sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, I'd happily disregard the 1-2 grams of sugar that naturally occurred in the 2 strawberries in my parfait, and the scant amount that was in the milk before they caramelized yogurt-afied it.  

So, enough about my fast food breakfast craving... Here is a list of food on the "Sugar Busters Diet" that I found on WebMD. 

The Sugar Busters! diet advises you to eat:
Meats, including:

• Lean beef and pork
• Canadian bacon
• Poultry
• Game meats, such as venison
• Fish and shellfish

Vegetables, including:

• Beans
• Lentils
• Peas
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Squash
• Zucchini
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Artichokes
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Eggplant
• Onions

Fruits, including:

• Apples
• Lemons and limes
• Pears
• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Kiwis
• Grapefruits
• Apricots
• Melons other than watermelon
• Tomatoes
• Tangerines and oranges

Now, I'm not touting the sugar busters diet... They make some weird claims I can't really get behind.  But I do agree that limiting sugar in a sweet-obsessed country could do some damage to the obesity rate, and I'm willing to keep my eyes open for sneaky hidden sugars and delicious naturally low-sugar foods. 

Topping this list are some of my FAVORITE foods...  Artichokes, Eggplant, Brussels sprouts, lentils, BEEF!!!  And I am excited to work some of these fruits into my current juicing obsession.  Kiwi-cherry juice?  Gimme Gimme!

If nothing else, I hope this list gives you some fun ideas for the next grocery trip and while you're there, turn over that box of food you're about to put in your cart and check that little sugar number.  You might be surprised. 

Juicing is Fun

They say you become the 5 people you spend the most time with....

So I figure I will become,
1. Arnold (my bf)
2. Courtney (my boss)
3. My mom
4. My dad
5. Kizzy (The girl at the front desk of the Y)

I've already started saying things that Arnold says, like TRU and verbatim... 

My mom and I always end up with the same clothes.

I have a ton in common with my Dad, we both like motorcycles and Jeeps and carbs...

Not sure what I have in common with Kizzy, other than we are always at the gym.

And finally, Courtney.  She is an uber healthy eater.  I like fruits and vegetables and eating good-for-you noms, but her commitment to healthy eating could surely rub off on me a little more. 

She mentioned that she was getting a juice for Christmas, and I dusted off my old $5 juicer I got in college at some garage sale and started experimenting.

Surprise! I BOOKING LOVED IT!  (Have you seen that commercial where they replace the F-word with "booking"?  I saw it for the first time when I was watching TV with Arnold's grandma and it was booking awkward. 

Anyhoo, I haven't been too hungry today, probably because I ate WAY too much yesterday including Chinese buffet and a tenderloin.  wowza.  So after having a banana for breakfast and another banana for lunch, I got some soup from Gateway and fixins for a green juice.

The ingredients in this delish juice are:
Carrots
Oranges
Green Apple
Spinach
Ginger

I am obsessed with ginger, so I could have used even more than the dice-sized chunk I juiced.

Little tip for juicing: Add a green apple to anything and it will rock.

On another note, do any of you juice? What do you do with the pulp it spits out? I can't bring myself to throw it all out... I was thinking of using it in place of eggs or oil ala applesauce in a quick bread or something.  Ideas?