Spoiler Alert: This is Not a Cookie

I don’t want to eat much before I’m bouncing around on the treadmill Yes, bouncing. I’ve been called a lot of things, but graceful never seems to make the list. What I really need before my clumsy workout is a little bite, just enough to reenergize.

Luna Bars are my staple snack. They’re formulated with essential vitamins and minerals specifically for women’s health. It’s not like they’re going to boost your bra size (darn), I just happen to like the flavors and appreciate that they’re made from all-natural ingredients.

At 180 calories a bar, they’re a little big for a bite. The company does make Luna Minis, but the flavors are limited and get pretty boring. So, I cut the full size bars in half and pack them in little plastic baggies.

I whipped out one of my plastic baggie snack packs on the train the other day and the guy next to me looked at me like I was completely bonkers. The resulting conversation went something like this:

 “What?”

 “Is that half a granola bar?”

 “Yeah, and?”

 “Lady, go wild. Eat the whole bar.”

Get a load of this guy. Apparently grabbing slivers of food from baggies hiding in the depths of your purse is NOT the norm around here. I came across these CARROT OATMEAL BITES on Chiot’s Run. I thought they might take the place of buying a store bought granola bar and chopping it to bits.

Please note: The recipe is actually intended for pure maple syrup but I only keep
sugar free in the house. The bites turned out just fine anyway. 

Don’t be fooled by their signature cookie shape. These aren’t overly sweet and really taste more like a granola bar than any cookie I’ve ever tried. But, I love how hearty and filling they are. Plus, I got to experiment with coconut oil, which I’ve never used before.

By using coconut oil instead of butter and eggs, these cookies are vegan approved. The original recipe calls for unrefined coconut oil, which I couldn’t find. But, the refined oil (processed to remove any impurities and eliminate the coconutty taste) was right in the organic aisle of the regular supermarket.  Unrefined (unmessed-with) is always better, but I couldn’t get my hands on it the day I needed it.

Either way, this is pretty cool stuff. It looks like beeswax in the jar, but you can melt it and pour it right into your baking in place of the butter. Just make sure you melt the oil right before you want to incorporate it into the rest of your ingredients. Once it cools off, it’s back to beeswax consistency.

I’ve been eating one of these cookies before each workout this week. They’re packed with trail mix-like energizing ingredients. They’re nutty with little bursts of sweetness from the dried fruit. I went light on the ginger since I didn’t want this to turn into a gingersnap, but I thought the ginger added an interesting spicy element.

I had fun with these. You can easily change up the mix-ins and create a completely different tasting bite for the next batch. Hiding carrots in there is a pretty sneaky way to get some extra veggies in. I stashed half the bites in the freezer to have again next week. If you’re looking to avoid a confrontation with strangers on the train, give these “cookies” a try. Add your own spin. Go wild. 

Munchos Reincarnated

Remember Munchos? I know they’re still around, but since most mainstream companies have ditched trans fats, I wonder if they’re still the greasy, salty, potato conglomerates of generations past.  I loved them.

Back in high school, kids lined up outside 7-11 after school. I wasn’t one of the cool kids sitting on the curb drinking a 40 from a paper bag. I was the nerdy, chubby kid grabbing a bag of Munchos and rushing home to study Calculus. 

I don’t care what anyone says, those chips were glorious. They aren’t even totally a potato chip. Frito Lay stretches the potato with corn. If you want to see a few examples of what corn has done to our lives, check out the movie King Corn. It’s rather enlightening.  

I recently stumbled onto Pop Chips. My cafeteria at work sells them and I thought I’d take a chance. Low and behold, Pop Chips are the all-natural reincarnation of Munchos! Hooray! They’re “popped” with air rather than baked or fried. They do use a little rice flour as a binder, but for the most part, they’re a crispy, salty potato chip.  They taste exactly like the Munchos I remember, but with fewer calories and more than half the fat missing from the equation.

It’s Monday. Go wild. Grab yourself a bag and enjoy. 

Lazy Girl Special

My husband goes to night school twice a week. I usually use the time to catch up on a workout at the gym and when I come home, I’m left to scrounge around the apartment for something that resembles dinner. I do so much cooking as a hobby, that on nights like this one, I want to chill out. It’s 9 PM, I’m damn hungry, sore from a 45 minute spin class and in need of instant gratification.

Sometimes I find myself eating peanut butter from the jar, cereal from the box, or milk from the carton. It’s all well and good to pretend you’re a bachelor every now and then. But without preparing a meal, putting it on a plate and being aware of how much you’re eating, it’s easy to down a half jar of that peanut butter while watching the Animal Planet…in a pink fuzzy robe…on the sofa.

Tonight’s lazy girl special is oatmeal. Oatmeal is perfectly fine. I actually have a cool oatmeal recipe coming your way next week. But, last night’s HUMMUS FLATBREAD was much more satisfying for a low effort dinner.

Whenever I’m at Whole Foods, I stock up on their frozen whole-wheat pizza dough. It has the best taste and texture I’ve found in whole-wheat supermarket dough. But, feel free to use whichever brand you like that’s easily accessible to you. You can even use toasted pita for this.

The idea is simple. Roll out the dough. Bake it for a few minutes. Top with your favorite hummus, sliced tomato and fresh herbs and you can be back on that sofa in minutes.

The lazy ME would dunk pita chips straight from the bag into a plastic tub of hummus. The sensible ME appreciates the same flavors in a portion-controlled package. The flatbread is crisp, the hummus is creamy and the fresh vegetables make it a well rounded, late night dinner.

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Pep Up Your Football Party

A few weeks back my brother mentioned he had an easy, football party recipe for me to try. Then he tells me it’s called “White Trash Puff Balls.” Hmmm. Maybe I’m embracing my trashy side a little too often! Pabst Blue Ribbon roasted chicken and a recipe with the descriptive word “white trash” in the same month? Certainly a risk.

But, Big Rob of “Big Rob’s Buffalo Dip” fame and his lovely girlfriend were coming over to watch the playoffs and I certainly couldn’t serve a master of football ceremonies a shoddy appetizer.

I did a quick Google search half expecting that my brother completely made this recipe up as an excuse to refer to his big sister as “white trash” but low and behold, there are about 1,000 hits on the web for such a distinguished snack.

To avoid further tarnishing my previously stellar reputation, I’m calling my healthier version Pepperoni Bites. Anyone who thinks they don’t have time to throw together a quick homemade appetizer for a party should really check this out. It has only three ingredients!

Chop a 6oz. package of turkey pepperoni into tiny pieces (I used a food processor). Mix the pepperoni with an 8oz. block of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. This is now your filling to stuff reduced fat crescent rolls. Open up two packages of crescent rolls and cut each triangle of dough into two. Drop a big spoonful of filling on each and seal it up into a little package. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until the bites puff up and turn a beautiful golden brown. (* 2 Weight Watchers Points per bite).

These little pepperoni snacks fill the entire house with the smell of buttery, freshly baked biscuits. When you take a bite, the filling is warm and gooey, but not so runny that you have scolding hot cream cheese running down your hand. The filling stays in the pocket where it belongs; one little perk of using reduced fat cheese and perfect for party snacking.

Turkey pepperoni happens to be one of those products that I prefer over pepperoni made with pork or beef. It isn’t greasy, and it has the exact same flavor profile as the original. Since the meat is so heavily spiced, there’s no need to load up the filling with tons of other ingredients.

White trash or not, these were a crowd pleaser. We polished off the whole tray. To top it off, the Jets brought home the W. Go team!

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Holla for Jalapeños!

Are you ever in one of those moods where you just need to have the ooey, gooey, cheesy richness that can only mean Mexican food? I was having some fabulous friends of mine over for dinner a few weeks ago and I was in one of those moods. They were being fed Mexican food whether they liked it or not!

I was looking to put out a little picky snack while the steak for steak fajitas was grilling outside, so I found this recipe for Emeril’s BAKED JALAPEÑO POPPERS. I thought stuffed jalapeños would be a cool change of pace from the expected chips and salsa. Plus, I kind of wanted to test this recipe out because I thought it would be equally as great for an app during football season (which I’m super psyched is coming up quickly).

I’m pretty impressed by celeb chefs that opt to bake instead of fry. Let’s face it, a jalapeno pepper that’s filled with creamy cheese, crusted with breadcrumb and fried to a deep golden brown is basically irresistible. The fact that my buddy Emeril decided to bake these instead made me happy. It’s an easy little substitution that can save a whole lot of calories.

Emeril even opts for panko breadcrumb that he spikes with his own seasoning blend instead of the typical Italian stuff that comes pre-seasoned. Panko is definitely lighter and after making these, much crispier. I was even able to dig up the appropriate spices from the depths of my spice cabinet to make the blend. I basically followed the original recipe to a tee except for using reduced fat cream cheese instead of the full-fat version.

This was a great little Mexican themed snack. The peppers were a little spicy and I didn’t cook them to complete mush. I like when peppers have a little bite to them. The filling was rich and cheesy without the “I need to put on sweat pants and vegetate in front of the TV” effect that Mexican often has. The baked crust was nice and crispy but didn’t leave a yucky oily residue on your cocktail plate. I’m definitely going to be making these again when the Jets hit the field in the fall!

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Snack Attack, Garbanzo Style!

My project for this week = snacks. I’m protesting trail mix and string cheese! I’m sick and tired of eating some variation on nuts and cheese. It’s really hard for people who have to limit sugar and carbohydrates in their diet to find interesting snacks to munch on. In my experience, food boredom usually equals diet failure. As soon as I start to grow tried of the old staples, I reach for the quick, easy, bad-for-you fill-ins.

An additional challenge is to find something that’s portable. A lot of healthy snack suggestions involve cooking, spreading, assembling or some form of preparation that I can’t accomplish in a wee little office cubicle. My co-workers would find it quite strange if I busted out a cutting board or toaster oven from underneath my desk. The last thing I need is to appear any odder; the bag lunch I pack every day is goofy enough! First of all, it’s silly to haul a bag lunch all the way from Long Island into Manhattan on an hour plus train ride and a 15 minute walk uptown. But I do it almost every day. It saves money and most importantly, calories! I know exactly what’s in the food I’m eating.

Inside this lunch bag is a meal that strongly resembles what a Mom might pack for her 1st grader; an array of little baggies, Tupperware and foil pouches of pre-measured meals and snacks. I snack all day long. It’s the only way I can manage to keep my blood sugar levels in check and maintain a healthy weight.

Always in search of clever snack ideas and in looking at various websites and blogs I read, I came across this idea to roast chickpeas. Chickpeas are a high fiber, high-protein food with very little fat. They also provide steady, slow-burning energy. They’re a really great addition to a healthy diet, but I’ve only had them tossed into a salad or ground down into hummus.

Roasted chickpeas take on the crunchy texture and nutty flavor of roasted peanuts and you can spice them however you like. My take on the snack vaguely resembles the taste of Cajun French fries. I’m calling them, SPICY GARLIC ROASTED CHICKPEAS.

A few tips to getting these to come out fabulous. First of all, moisture is your enemy. Make sure you really drain the beans well. Lay them on a paper towel to wick away any excess water. You also have to cook them enough. I could have gone a few minutes longer on mine for them to be 100% crisp. Be sure to let them cool fully before you pack up a container. You wouldn’t want condensation to soften the crunchy shell.

These came out so delicious that my husband and I ate half of them as they were coming out of the oven. Honestly, you could even pass these off in place of beer nuts to watch the ball game. I’m thinking they would also work on top of a salad in place of croutons. Go ahead, ditch the Polly-o String Cheese and get your crunch on.

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Pineapple Crunch Sundae: Who needs Red Mango?

After many not-so-subtle hints, my Grandma bought me an ice cream maker for Christmas this year. My first attempt at homemade ice cream was a full fat, full sugar vanilla chunk recipe that turned out delicious. I knew ice cream was terribly bad for you, but when you pour the sugar and cream into the bowl yourself, it’s so much more obvious than when you scoop from a tub and choose to ignore the calories on the back.

Ice cream, especially homemade, is a real treat once in a while. Whenever I’m on vacation, I find a way to sweet talk my husband into an ice cream sundae for lunch, topped with the works. But, frozen yogurt is a much more sensible alternative if you like to enjoy a cold dessert a little more often than the once-a-year family trip. The good news is, I LOVE frozen yogurt. I actually refer to the summer months as “fro-yo” season!

My favorite fro-yo stop is Red Mango. The yogurt is all natural, it’s fat free, there are no artificial sweeteners and they have a huge variety of healthy toppings to add, from chopped nuts to fresh fruit. Red Mango isn’t trying to dress itself up and call itself ice cream. I love that. It tastes like tangy yogurt in frozen form. It’s creamy and completely refreshing without guilt.

I would consider this little dish my take on turning a fruit and yogurt parfait into a dessert. The Pineapple Crunch Sundae features TANGY VANILLA FROZEN YOGURT that I made at home in the trusty ice cream machine and it’s topped with my own TRULY HEALTHY GRANOLA. The grilled pineapple base is super simple. Just brush the fruit with olive oil and grill for about 5 minutes on each side until it’s nice and sweet.

The yogurt is a salute to Red Mango. It’s literally just yogurt, a little sugar and vanilla. It’s tempting to go for fat-free yogurt. But in doing some research, I’ve found that commercial frozen yogurt vendors have access to food stabilizers and freezing equipment that the normal consumer does not. They can take a fat-free main ingredient and produce a creamy product. For us regular folks, I opted for 2% to make sure the yogurt had the right consistency and didn’t turn icy.

The granola is my own creation. I spent a lot of time in the supermarket trying to find products that don’t contain high fructose corn syrup. That stuff is in everything! I don’t care what the corn industry’s cute little marketing campaigns are trying to convince us, it’s just bad for you.

To make a very long story short, the fructose in corn syrup is not absorbed into the blood the same way sucrose, or table sugar is. It doesn’t trigger your body’s “I’m full!” response, so you’ll continue to feel hungry and consume more calories to make up for it. Welch’s does make a 100% juice concentrate that doesn’t contain any additives and Sun-maid brand dried fruits are made with just “fruit and sunshine” like the commercial claims. These products are found in the regular grocery store sitting right next to the corn-syrup culprits on the shelf. You just have to flip over the bag and read the label.

If you aren’t into making your own yogurt or granola from scratch, you can still make the same dessert from store bought ingredients (I highly recommend Bear Naked Granola). You can change-up the fruit and flavors to your tastes.

Sometimes it’s just as satisfying to skip the hot fudge and whipped cream.

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Stealth Bean Guacamole

The weather was so gorgeous this past weekend, all of the restaurants in town had their front doors wide open with little bistro tables lining the street. I was sitting outside, enjoying a nice date-night dinner when a waitress at the restaurant next door pulled a cart alongside one of her tables. Being the Nosy Nelly that I am, I couldn’t help but notice a huge bowl of guacamole being prepared tableside. This got me thinking, is it possible to diet-up guacamole? Can something with so few ingredients stand up to substitutions?

I hit the supermarket the next morning on a mission to see if this would actually work. A friend of mine saw Bethenny Frankel from Real Housewives of New York City make a “Mock-a-mole” which substituted mashed green peas for some of the avocado. Let me tell you, if there’s anything I hate more than any of those horrendous Housewives shows, its peas! I’ll try just about anything, but peas score highest on my “I won’t budge, this just doesn’t taste good to me” list. Plus, peas have a pretty strong flavor and I felt they would change the taste and texture of the dip.

So, I opted for white beans instead. Goya sells “small white beans” in a can that have a very mild flavor and are much less grainy than the texture of some of the larger beans. I used one avocado and mashed it up along with the white beans, flavored with typical guacamole flair and voila my friends, guacamole!

So let me explain why guacamole needs a substitution anyway. You’re probably thinking, how can mashed-up fruit be all that bad for you? Avocados are actually very good for you. They’re high in “good” monounsaturated fats that help promote healthy cholesterol. However, fat is calories no matter how you slice it and avocados are very fatty. A medium-sized avocado packs on about 30 grams of fat which translates to over 300 calories. For someone trying to watch their overall calorie count, this is an awful lot of calories to invest in a very small amount of food. By swapping out some of the avocado for beans, you’re still getting the health-benefits from the avocado, but also cutting the fat and adding some fiber and protein to the dish.

Most importantly, this really does taste just like guacamole. I’m the first to admit when something is a nice substitution but doesn’t come close to the original. This is a home run. I like a chunky texture to my guacamole, so you can see some of the white beans mixed throughout. If you really wanted to hide the beans, you could run them through the food processor for a smoother texture.

I baked up some of my own cumin-dusted whole wheat chips to dunk. You can score the recipe for both the chips and the guac here.

* Get cooking. Let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? I’m interested in hearing your feedback and suggestions.