Carrot Apple Smoothie

Friends, hello! Let’s have a little refreshing beverage, shall we?

Carrot Apple Smoothie
Makes 5 cups, 3-4 servings

1 apple, sliced (no core)
4 carrots, ends cut, and sliced into 2-inch pieces
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cucumber
10 ice cubes + more if desired
1/2 cup orange juice


In a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Remember to find the blender’s lid and be sure to attach. (I did not.) This will prevent orange cabinets (sticky). Drink and be merry.

  • Low calorie, sweet, no added sugar
The cucumber and apple make green and red confetti in the smoothie!

 I’m coming down from the high of graduating and realizing I’m no longer a full-time student. It’s strange, really. But -bam- time to find a job. Wish me luck.

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

Lowfat Carrot Cake?

Do you ever read those monthly features in Cooking Light magazine? You know, the ones where they take a cream puff that would normall have 1550 calories and 89.7 grams of fat, and they transform it into a delicious cream puff with 22 calories and .5 grams of fat? Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the chefs and contributors at that company do come up with some pretty tasty dishes that are pretty healthy, too.

I remember one month’s feature was carrot cake. Traditional carrot cake with cream cheese frosting had something like 1000 calories and 85 grams of fat, more fat than your daily allowance. And, if you’re a lover of carrot cake or any cake, is it really humanly possible to eat just one slice? Doubtful. So they transformed the cake into 430 calories and 17 grams of fat, or something like that. Better, but not exactly healthy-ish. So I found a Martha Stewart recipe (of all places) that was a little more reasonable, and I’ve kicked up the “healthy-ishness” up another notch.

Lowfat Carrot Cake
Adapted from Martha
This moist cake is easy, simple and quite delicious. If you must devour more than one piece of carrot cake goodness, this is the one that won’t make you feel so guilty afterward.


1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled into the measuring cup
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon or 1/2 t. cardamom
1 large egg + 1 egg white
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup + 2 TB plain lowfat yogurt
2 TB canola oil
1 cup finely shredded carrots, packed (about 2 carrots)
Glaze: 2 TB milk + 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon/cardamom. In a second bowl, combine eggs, sugars, yogurt, and oil.
step 2: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until smooth. Fold in carrots. In an 8-inch round cake pan, spray with non-stick oil and dust with flour. (line the bottom with parchment paper if you like) Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 minutes.
step 3: Let cool in pan on a baking rack for 10 minutes, then transfer cake to cooling rack for 20 minutes. Drizzle with glaze and serve proudly.



















This cake                                        Starbucks’ Carrot Cake Bar

I apologize that I had to break the news about the Starbucks bars. But, on the bright side, you can make something a little less bad for you! 🙂 Happy baking!

Laurel

~Laurel~

Veggie Omelette

Kale and carrots and zucchini, oh my!

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I get a little proud when I stand in the grocery line and notice that my row of food is much more colorful and less packaged than the person’s in front of or behind me. I don’t mean that in a judgmental sort of way, but I think about how much I’ve changed the way I eat. Granted, avoiding sugar as a major food group is always a challenge for me…but trying to cook what I eat and not rely on microwave boxes has been a really good step for me. Of course, sometimes we’re too busy to even think about what to eat (nonetheless prepare our meals ahead of time), so those boxed dinners come in handy. But, instead of that being the norm, I try to make it the exception to mealtime.

Yesterday, I felt a little pride. The 8-foot-tall beautiful couple in front of me in line at the grocery store unloaded only 10 or so items. They consisted of the wine, cheese bread and cake food groups. Obviously, this was not their meal planning for the week, but probably for a romantic and relaxed night at home. But I unloaded $13 of produce (which is a TON of produce), and it looked like a rainbow had thrown up on the conveyer belt. (Sorry for the image.) It was an assortment of fruits, veggies and grains with reds, greens, yellows, oranges, and purples. Beautiful! And I was so excited, I went home and made an omelette with some of these bargain findings.

Veggie Omelette
Serves 1, or 2 with toast & fruit


3 eggs (2 eggs + 1 egg white)
Salt + pepper
Garlic powder
3 TB kale, chopped
1/2 carrot, peeled
1/3 zucchini, peeled
1/4 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, etc. is great)
2 t. olive oil



step 1: Chop the kale and peel the carrot and zucchini. Pat the carrot and zucchini with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl until fluffy. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder (a dash/pinch of each) and stir in to the eggs. Heat a large pan/wok on medium heat, drizzling olive oil.


step 2: When the oil is hot, pour in the eggs. Turn the pan slightly to coat the bottom with the egg mixture. Let sit for 2 minutes, or until it is slightly firming on the edges. Then add half of the veggies. Let cook for 2 minutes.



step 3: Sprinkle the cheese on top and add the remaining ingredients. Using a spatula, carefully flip half of the egg circle over to form an omelette shape. Press gently with spatula to ensure that the egg and cheese are serving as glue to the veggies. Let cook for 3 more minutes, or until omelett is firm and egg appears cooked on the outside. Flip and let cook 3 more minutes.


Serve hot with toast and fruit. 

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

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