10

May

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

I used to love those parfaits from the golden arches, the layers of blueberries, strawberries and granola in between sweet vanilla yogurt. The downsize: lots of sugar. The positive: still healthier than a burger. 🙂 But who wants pounds of sugar in yogurt and fruit? Shouldn’t heavy sugar consumption be saved for cakes and cookies? Yes, I think so, too. So here’s a giant (not so sugary) version of it…eat it all and feel good about it!

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait
2 servings
2/3 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup chopped blackberries or bananas or blueberries
2 cups plain yogurt (Greek is great, too)

A Layer Guide

4 teaspoons honey or 1 TB agave nectar
1/2 cup lowfat granola

Chop the fruit. Get out 2 glasses.

Layer in this order:

  • yogurt (1/2 inch full in the glass)
  • drizzle of honey/agave
  • strawberries (about 1/2 inch)
  • yogurt
  • granola
  • yogurt 
  • drizzle of honey/agave
  • blackberries
  • REPEAT…
  • top with extra granola, strawberries, and one last drizzle of honey/agave
Fun, Pretty, Easy! (only call me two of these…but call my food all of these, please.)
Listening to…Norah Jones’ newest album.
sideways…don’t try this at home. It’s not Dairy Queen.
Why this is awesome:
  • Matt found an old iTunes giftcard
  • He handed it to me and said, “Buy the new Norah Jones album! She’s one of your faves!” And I agreed to all of it. And then I realized that I haven’t ordered an album on iTunes since before grad school, when I was footloose and fancy free (and had money for iTunes. Sigh.) And I forgot how.
  • Her music really is good. Like really good. Complexly simple. For sure.
Happy day, friends!

L

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL

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15

Sep

Apple Olacakes

Sitting in our freezer are several little baggies containing 3 mini muffins each, the perfect grab and go breakfast (after 30 seconds in the zapper). I’m continuing the homemade grab-and-go breakfast kick with a new addition…OLACAKES (oh-la-cakes).
Olacakes–easy to grab, healthy
and tasty pancakes topped and 
cooked with granOLA on one side
I admit it, they’re good! My first try at these are as follows:

Apple Cinnamon Olacakes
Makes 14 olacakes, or 6-7 servings
PANCAKE:
1 medium apple, grated (I kept the peel)
1 1/3 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 t. each: baking powder and baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (2% cow’s milk works, too, or 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk)
TOPPING:
1/2 cup uncooked, dry oats
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
DIRECTIONS:
ONE: Spread coconut and oats onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, or until coconut is toasted. Set aside.
TWO: Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in a large bowl. 
THREE: In a small bowl, whisk egg whites for one minutes. Add grated apple to the egg whites and gently stir. Pour into dry mix bowl, along with almond milk. Stir until just moistened.
FOUR: In a non-stick pan, drop pancakes, 2-3 TB at a time. When pancakes are 75% cooked (before flipping), sprinkle 1 TB of the toasted coconut/oats mix on top of each pancake. Press down a bit with a spatula. Then flip and cook for 1-2 minutes, or when coconut/oat mix has stuck to the top of the pancake. You have now made an OLACAKE!
Serve warm, cold, topped with syrup, caramel, agave syrup, peanut butter, or eat plain (which is still so tasty!). A great breakfast grab-and-go, snack or guilt-free dessert. 

Happy eating! 

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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17

Aug

Crunchy Carrot Salad

It has taken me a long time to develop a friendly relationship with carrot salad. I like creamy desserts but creamy “salads” and healthy do not go together much for me. I had never made carrot salad before but, thanks to SusanV’s recipe, I was encouraged to try it. I wanted more crunchy, less creamy and more sweet, but less sugar. I definitely modified her recipe, but I thank her for the idea.

Crunchy Carrot Salad
1 pound of carrots, washed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 TB agave nectar
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup granola (optional, preferably with a little cinnamon or apple)
Time to make: 5 minutes; Time to eat: 5 minutes; Servings: 4
In a food processor, grate carrots. Of course, you can do it by hand, but the processor takes 1 minute flat.
Put the grated carrots in a medium bowl. Using a fork, stir in lemon juice, agave nectar, and raisins. Top with granola for extra crunch. 

Fridge for 30 minutes to let flavors set. But, if you can’t wait like me, devour immediately.  

Yum!

Time for a slice of humble pie…
I found this great recipe for Chicken with Swiss Chard. I’d never cooked with chard, so I was excited. Matt was excited to eat it. It was a 
I know, it’s horrible!
F
L
O
P.

The cooking went well, and I followed the recipe closely (a rarity). HOWEVER, we realized that neither of us like the taste of chard. It was too earthy. Maybe we’ll try it again another time. But for dinner last night, we had the chicken and then some Blue Bell. (Matt got it to cheer me up…I haven’t bought Blue Bell in quite a few years.) So there’s our little run with chard. Next time, I’ll have it at a restaurant. Any tips? Let me know.

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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