Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

I came across this recipe on the plan to eat blog.   It looked great!  Especially since my kids love chocolate chip pancakes.  I was sure they would love these ones.  I changed it up to be mini muffins and to include half whole wheat flour.  The rest is mostly the same.  YUM!  The kids did love them!

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Banana Pancakes

 I adapted this recipe from the our best bites cookbook.  You can see the original here.  I wanted it to be versatile so I could make it sans banana for those sticks in the mud, uh, those who don't want it.  I made plain, chocolate chip, and banana chocolate chip.  Very yummy!

3 cups milk
Juice of one lemon
2 eggs
2 T oil (I use avocado)
2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 tsp Baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
2 cups white flour
1 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour

Add lemon to milk and let sit for a few minutes.   With hand mixer mix in eggs, oil, and vanilla until well blended.   Then add sugar, salt, baking soda and powder,flours.   The batter will rise a bit.  :)

Slice 2-4 ripe bananas and pull out some chocolate chips if desired.  On a hot griddle pour 1/4 cup batter top with desired amount of bananas and chocolate chips.  With a spoon or the measuring cup tap each of the bananas with batter covering to prevent sticking.  When pancake begins to look dry around the edges and bubbly, flip over until it is cooked then remove from griddle.

Top with peanut butter, maple syrup, or both!  I tried mixing them and it didn't look so good, but sure tasted yummy!  That salty peanut butter gives a very yummy boost!

Blender Wheat Waffles.

Who doesn't love waffles??  I know I sure do.  So after seeing a recipe come through my inbox yesterday for a sausage gravy over waffles I decided to make some for breakfast this morning.  

These take a good blender.   I thought I had a good one, a kitchenaid, but ended up with the rubber gasket in my waffles!   So not cool.  We will have to see what hubby says when he gets home tonight.  I'm hoping this will be a good reason to invest in a new one.  :-D

Blender Wheat Waffles

adapted from the I Can't Believe it's Food Storage" book by Crystal Godfrey

1 cup milk (3 T.  dry powdered milk and 1 cup water)

1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole and uncooked

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

2 T.  Sugar

2 T. Chia or Flax seeds

1/2 cup kale or spinach

Put milk, seeds, kale and wheat kernels in blender.  Blend on highest speed for 4-5 minutes or until batter is smooth.  You may need to add a tiny bit more water if it isn't blending easily.  

Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt,  and sugar.  Blend on low.  From the blender jar, pour batter into hot, prepared waffle iron.  Close iron to cook.   These may take a little longer than regular waffles.  

Zonya's breakfast casserole

Here is my favorite breakfast casserole recipe.  It is from Zonya Foco's cookbook.

Preheat oven to 375
spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray
Makes 8 servings
1 bag (24oz) frozen ore ida potatoes o'brien (hash browns with onions and peppers)
1 c reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz lean ham or canadian bacon or lowfat smoked sausage
4 whole eggs
8 egg whites
1/4 c skim milk
1/4 c dijon mustard
1/2 tsp thyme
40 grinds fresh ground pepper

Place the frozen potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.  Break up large chunks.  Cut the meat into small chunks.  Sprinkle the meat and cheese over the potatoes.  In a small bowl, whip eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard and thyme with a fork.  Pour evenly over the potato mixture.  Top casserole with pepper.   Place in oven uncovered and set timer for 45 minutes.
Serve with toasted english muffins and fresh fruit.

1 cup casserole has 165 calories, 4.5 grms fat and 2 grms fiber.

I like to make some and eat the leftovers the rest of the week, at that calorie amount I can have two servings with no remorse.   It is fantastic with just a little bit of ketchup.

Mini Healthy Pumpkin Donuts

My son really wanted donuts today so I pulled out my trusty donut maker and started looking for the recipe.  Unfortunately I couldn't find it so ended up amending a basic one I found on the internet.  The kids loved these and gobbled them right up!!

Mini Healthy Pumpkin Donuts

1 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (almond milk adds a little flavor and is less calories)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Mix all together well. Use a small cookie scoop to dish into your mini donut maker. Cook as directed by appliance.

Dust with powdered sugar or other topping if desired.

Nutrition Facts   for 24 servings

Serving Size 23 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 39       Calories from Fat  3

Total Fat   0.3g

Cholesterol  7mg

Sodium  7mg

Total Carbohydrates   8.6g

Sugars    4.1g

Protein    0.9g

Vitamin A 16% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 4% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Pumpkin protein pancakes

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

I got this recipe from a wonderful gal I'm doing bootcamp with.  Stephanie with No Excuses Workouts. I thought they were fantastic, my daughter even loved them. Thanks Stephanie!!
These are so fantastic you could probably just have them plain.  I had yogurt on top.  Mmmm!  Enjoy!

2/3 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 egg white
1 T honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in a blender.  You may need to add water to get to the right consistency.  Continue blending until smooth.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 90 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories                                        141

Total Fat                                      3.1g

Saturated Fat                               0.9g

Trans Fat                                    0.0g

Cholesterol                                56mg

Sodium                                    118mg

Total Carbohydrates                  20.9g

Dietary Fiber                               2.6g

Sugars                                         6.9g

Protein                                        8.3g

Vitamin A 65% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 4% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

A Quick Fruit Cobbler

This is sooo tasty.  You can use whatever fruit you have on hand and mix and match as you desire.  For this version I used Blueberries and Raspberries.  It is so fast and easy and the kids think it is funny that you put the fruit on the top.  So fun!

A Quick Fruit Cobbler

4 cups fruit of your choice, frozen, canned, or fresh

1 cup Flour

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Milk

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup butter

Preheat oven to 400.  Heat fruit in microwave until boiling.  Set aside.  Place butter in 9 x 13 baking pan and put in oven to melt butter.  Mix flour, sugar, milk, and baking powder.  Pour batter over melted butter in baking pan (pull it out of the oven first...  :D  )  Top with fruit.  Do not stir.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Serve with ice cream, milk or yogurt.  

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

I found this recipe on the My Fitness Pal Website, it was quite yummy and low cal too--it made 22 cookies and they came out to 58 cals each.  Mmmmm!     Not bad for a breakfast on the go.

Ingredients:
3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Splenda , sugar or other sweetener (I used sugar but only 2 tsps)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well. Let this mixture stand for at least 5 minutes to let the oats become good and hydrated. Heap the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.  ( I couldn't help it I dove right in!)

Biggest Loser Golden Flaxjacks

I am a big biggest loser fan.  In fact I like to exercise while watching my DVR'd shows  It is almost as though I am doing my last chance workout with Jillian and Bob.  I got the new book Simple Swaps and tried out this pancake recipe.  A little heavier than the pancakes I usually make but quite tasty--I am sure the next time I make these they will turn out much better!  I topped them with a cup of frozen mixed berries that I had brought to a boil and smushed, I let the berries boil down until they were a little thick.  Also a portion of greek yogurt.  One serving of these pancakes (2- 4") is 160 calories.  With the berries and yogurt they pack quite the punch for fiber and protein.  Give them a try!

Golden Flaxjacks

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup stone-ground cornmeal
2 T wheat bran or oat bran
2 T flaxseed meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 3/4 cups fat-free or 1 % milk
2 T olive oil or canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, bran, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl or blender, whisk together the egg whites, milk, oil, and vanilla until smooth.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour the liquid mixture into the well and stir just until combined.  Allow the batter to stand for about 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.  Add more milk, if needed to obtain batter the consistency of thick cream.

Heat a nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet  (coated with cooking spray if necessary) to medium heat.  For each flaxjack, pour a scant 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle.  Cook until the flaxjacks are puffed and dry around the edges.  Turn and cook the other side until golden brown.

I started these on medium heat according to my griddle.  However it was taking forever and they didn't brown.  So I actually cooked them at a slightly lower temperature than I usually cook my pancakes.  They started to be much better!   After cooking I allowed them to cool and then packaged in individual servings.  Now I can freeze and pull out just what I want for breakfast.  DH didn't even want to try these, but I think they are good!  (he isn't very adventurous!)  I think they taste best with the berries and yogurt, but let me know what you think!