No Sugar Day 14

Besides the one day last week where I had some moments and ate the last of some dark chocolate chips I had, no sugar hasn't really been a problem. There have been a couple times, like when I wanted an almond milk latte from the student center where I'm taking classes, where it stopped me from getting something I wanted. But I was perfectly content with my drip coffee, and it's saved me from getting some not so great for me things when I wasn't even hungry. I have still been eating treats, which probably counteracts some of the no sugar eating benefits. Dates and maple syrup and honey are still sugar even if they're unrefined. I made some energy balls over the weekend to eat for snacks this week and Kate and I finished them before Monday. And I made some sweet potato brownies today, which had kind of a weird texture and tasted pretty much like everything we make now. Cacao and dates and whatever we put with it, which was sweet potato today. I think the sweet potato date mixture might have been better by themselves... Anyways, some days I've been eating really well and some days not so well. But it happens regardless of sugar.

My main dilemma now is deciding what to do when my punches run out at Tricycle Fitness, the group fitness class right by our house. I really love it there, and would go to a lot of classes, but I also haven't gotten to a stressful part of school and maybe when I'm in the middle of exams I won't go enough to make a monthly membership worth it. Then there's the fact that I just paid approximately $1 million dollars for my tuition and textbooks, which would get me well over a year of unlimited membership at Tricycle. While it's a very comparable price to similar services, it's not cheap to join. Plus I have a running group I try to go to regularly and adult gym available to me for free. But I just like all the classes at Tricycle! Yes I could get enough exercise without going there every day but I really want to get back in super good shape and feel like an athlete again. I'm really getting excited about working out these days but it's not the same when I do it myself. I'm not so good at pushing myself. So that's what's happening.

We're finally getting done with the basic cell biology and chemistry part of my Anatomy and Physiology class, so after our exam on Tuesday I'm excited to start making tissue out of those cells! I love science. I've missed it.

Banana Brownies

It all started with a little banana. I don't really eat bananas much, especially since I went to India and ate real bananas. They just don't taste good here. Plus, there's a lot I don't agree with in the banana industry. But somehow, one day a couple weeks ago I decided it would be a good idea to take one from the dining hall. After all, smoothies taste so much better with bananas. But, alas, this poor little banana got forgotten on my counter. So tonight, I decided to do something about that. Naturally, my mind went straight to banana bread, but I don't have a bread pan (still - how have I survived??).  So of course I went straight to brownies. They were good, and completely satisfied my chocolate cravings, but definitely tasted "healthy." Here's the recipe I (very) loosely based mine off of, if you want actual brownies instead of brownies you can pretend are good for you.

and here's mine:

Banana Brownies

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or butter, softened)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 banana, mashed
• ~1/4 cup pumpkin puree (depending on how big the banana is)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I added unsweetened coconut instead since I ate the last of my chocolate chips plain earlier today - oops)
• I also added a couple scoops of this chocolate flavored green 'superfood' powder I have, since I don't really like it on its own.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Beat oil and sugar. Add mashed banana, pumpkin, and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips, or whatever add-ins you desire.  My badder was a little dry, so I added a few tablespoons of vanilla soymilk.

Press into a lightly greased 8x8 baking pan.  It probably won't fill the whole pan, but it stays together so just spread it about 1 1/2 inches thick. A bread pan would also be about the right size (but then you might as well just make banana bread).

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out semi-clean. Cool before cutting into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

Cookies!!!

I have no creative name for this post. I've sort of kind of forgotten about this blog for a few weeks. It's been hectic. Last week, I pulled my first real all-nighter in college.  I've come close before, but this time I did it. Between 2 papers in a less than 2 days (plus classes and everything), I spent 17 hours writing.  I've stayed up all night before, but the whole using my brain thing made a big difference for me.  I was a little delirious, and then I got a big rush of energy and felt really jittery, even without caffeine! I hadn't really eaten either. I felt a little crazy!!

Enough about how I may or may not be mentally unstable. I haven't been posting recipes, so I'm just going to show you the last one I made, this past Friday.  I wasn't really sure what ingredients we had, since I forgot to check (of course). I was hoping someone had bought oats, because we were out before! I decided to go with basic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. These are the only chocolate chip cookies that ever get made in my house - do not even think about making cookies without oats around my mother!

I didn't ask her for the recipe we always use, but I found a similar one. And then, I was we still had lots of carrots and a few apples.  One of my favorite restaurants in Heidelberg, Cafe Rossi, used to make apple carrot and ginger juice. It was our favorite thing to sip on in the summer.  And then, lo and behold, I looked in the butter dish and there was fresh ginger!! I made a double batch of the cookies and made half regualr chocolate chip and half apple carrot ginger.
I doubled the recipe, and it made A LOT. So I froze the chocolate chip cookies for next week.

chocolate chip dough

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips - I didn't measure the grated apples and carrots I used, but it was about 2 cups. I also added about 1T grated fresh ginger and 1t cinnamon. We didn't have any ground ginger or I would have added some for more flavor!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl cream shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add eggs and mix thoroughly.
3. Combine the baking soda, salt and flour and stir into creamed mixture
4. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended.
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

carrot dough

The chocolate chip cookies turned out a lot flatter than the carrot ones - I think the extra moisture made a difference. They also baked weird, but I think that was just the pans and oven I was using.  Everyone loved the carrot cookies, so hopefully the other ones will be as good!

Triple (Chocolate) Threat

The Friday before spring break, I made triple chocolate cookies that were so good! It was perfect for an intense chocolate craving like the one I was having. Heck, like the one I have every day! I honestly cannot remember which recipe I used, but this one comes close.

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2/3 cup Dutch process cocoa or unsweetened baking cocoa

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 large eggs

• 6 ounces white chocolate bar, chopped 1/2 inch pieces (or 1 cup chips)

• 6 ounces dark chocolate bar, chopped 1/2 inch pieces (or 1 cup chips)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease (spray and wipe off) or line baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and cocoa with a wire whisk. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Stir in vanilla. Add eggs one-at-a-time. Combine completely. While mixing add flour mixture 1/2 cup or so at a time. Hand stir-in chopped chocolates. Drop by tablespoonsful onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks for cooling completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

For bar cookies: Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Spread dough into pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Basic whole wheat bread

I didn't do a post on the desert I made last week because it, um, didn't quite turn out.
But, I made up for it by making delicious bread today! I just decided to make a basic whole wheat bread. I didn't even make any substitutions! This recipe makes 1 loaf, so I doubled it and made 2.

Ingredients: 

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see additional notes for a 100% whole wheat version)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast (active dry yeast will work also

Instructions: 

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. 

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

I also made brownies today (yes, from a mix. The Ghirardelli double chocolate kind). It's my favorite from-a-mix brownie. Maybe even better than my homemade brownies - they're the one thing I seem to always have bad luck with. Anyways, I made them because I want to put them in random people's mailboxes. It's part of my whole random acts of kindness thing I decided to start just now. But I better give them away soon - I've already eaten 3! and I'm going to count this as day 28 of the photo challenge: a photo of what you ate today

mmmmmmm

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Bread Pudding

We had a lot of leftover bread that was just drying out in the co-op fridge, so I decided to make bread pudding with it for dessert. Even though it was a seedy whole wheat bread, it was still really good. We were also missing several ingredients, as usual, so I'll make notes on my substitutions. I don't think you can really go wrong with bread pudding!

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Ingredients:

- 2 cups whole milk or half and half (there was barely any milk so I used some sour cream and water-it was the only dairy we had!)
- 1/4 cup butter (we had a few tablespoons honey butter, so I used some oil, but it kind of floated to the top. I wouldn't recommend it)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark, depending on taste preference)
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups bread, torn into small pieces (french bread works best)
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional) (I used dark and white chocolate chips instead)

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Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk (or half & half) just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.

2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.

3. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.

4. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Pour batter on top of bread.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Serve warm.

The recipe also included a sauce you can pour on after, but since I was out of the main ingredients, butter and cream, I made a glaze of leftover powdered sugar and cinnamon from Mexican wedding cakes someone had made. The pudding turned out a little tough, but like I said, it was really dry! I could hardly tear some of it to begin.

original recipe

Caramel Apple Cake

This is the dessert I made today for the co-op. I didn't realize we didn't have eggs or butter until after i started making it. Luckily, I was able to borrow a stick of butter and 2 eggs, but I doubles the recipe so I was 2 eggs short. It still turned out fine. I baked it in a 9x13, and it definitely needed at least 40 min to bake. I think the middle was still a little doughy, but the edges would have burned if I left it in longer and I had to rush to get to track! Everyone loved it though, and I must say it was quite delicious! Definitely make this if you have a couple apples that are past their prime - we have many!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• Caramel Topping, heated

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat together sugar, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the milk, flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring just until blended. Stir in apples.

Pour apple cake batter into a greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350° until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center, about 30 to 40 minutes. With a fork, pierce cake all over. Pour hot caramel topping over cake. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping.

Caramel Topping 

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine brown sugar, butter, and cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour caramel topping over hot apple cake.

Molasses Cookies for the Co-op!

I make desserts on Fridays for the dining co-op I'm in on campus. We each have to do 3 hours a week of work for 20 of us to eat dinner on week nights.  So I'm signed up to make bread once a week and dessert once a week.  I needed something fairly easy and quick to do on Friday, and something I could easily make a lot of because we had guests (from the Real Food Challenge - check out their website!)

So I decided to make one of my favorite desserts, molasses cookies.  I have a tried and trusted recipe my family uses at home, but I decided to trust Pioneer Woman and use her recipe.  Plus, I had already bugged my mom to send me several bread recipes.  For the most part, I followed the recipe, so I won't copy it. I realized we didn't have shortening or butter, so I used vegetable oil. I also used fresh ginger instead of ground.  It was a good recipe, and I like the texture - I love the taste of the recipe I normally use, but the cookies can turn out flat. I didn't take pictures, either, but they actually looked just like this!

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I doubled the recipe so I had enough to share a few with some friends who aren't in the co-op. And don't worry, there was plenty of dough for me to sample! We had a wonderful Friday dinner!

check out the co-op blog here, and our facebook page!