Tag Archives: baking

Food

RUNday: Om nom nom

As I continue my journey into the world of fitness, I’m more conscious of what I put in my mouth. I haven’t turned into a complete culinary snob. But I’m trying to strike a balance between food that is both delicious and healthy. There are some things I’ve always known that keep hitting me in the face.

1. Don’t be a hero.

I tried eating my granola with the yogurt on the left. Note that it’s plain.

Several days ago I braced myself as I stood over my breakfast bowl. Heartily, I scooped the yogurt over my cereal, and told myself I was doing the right thing. I told myself I was pursing the healthier option.

I then dipped my spoon into the bowl and brought it to my lips.

Although technically I may have been correct about my objectives, my taste buds were not impressed.

At first I was disappointed. Why couldn’t I rise to the challenge? (Fun fact: This year marks probably the first time in my life where I’ve eaten boiled eggs without trying to devil them.) In spite of my upset, I quickly came to my senses. if something’s not working, there’s no sense in lying to yourself.

I bought the yogurt on the right the next day.

2. If you prefer “yours” over “theirs”, it’s ok.

Fibre1’s brownies* do not taste bad. But I thought they were expensive, and small.

In the end, I couldn’t help but think that I should have saved my money and made black bean brownies**. In my unprofessional opinion they taste nearly the same and are bound to be healthier.

3. Expect the unexpected.

Recently I was checking out Greatist‘s web site when I came upon Katie Morris’ Apple Quinoa Cake recipe.

I remember being perplexed and excited all at once.

I have apples! And quinoa.

And just think about it! Quinoa…In a cake? How does that work?

Yesterday morning I found out.

I only made one change to their recipe. I used chopped dates instead of raisins.

What did it taste like? Like chewy, crunchy, glorious…Awesomeness.

I was impressed and I definitely intend to make it again.

*The link goes to the product’s American site. I don’t know what–if any–differences you’ll find between theirs and the Canadian one.

**As I said in an earlier post, bean-based desserts tend to taste better the day after they’re made.

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Food

And another thing.

Tonight as I was using the food processor, it occurred to me that I left out yet another detail from my recipe tips.

(If you don’t know which recipe I’m referring to, just read my last 2 posts. 😉 )

In addition to watching the amount of beans that you use, you may find that you’ll want to reduce the amount of sugar as well.

Really.

I read Katie’s comments. Folks mentioned using less sugar than what she suggested.

Over the weekend I used about a cup. I have a huge sweet tooth and it was beyond adequate.

Honestly, if you’re worried about the dish being sweet enough, the chocolate chips more than make up for any lack of sugar.

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Freestyle Food: Super Salad + An Important Tip

I don’t plan on becomming a food blogger. But until I get back to love, life, and the pursuit of Jesus, I figure it can’t hurt to share a meal I made a few minutes ago, along with a vital note regarding yesterday’s recipe.

First, the salad:

The dressing was made of
balsalmic vinegar
sea salt
and olive oil.
 
As always, I mixed everything to taste.

The salad itself contains

1 can of tuna
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
2 tomatoes
Finely chopped red onion – about 1/4 cup
1/2 a cucumber
and white kidney beans left over from the Deep-Dish Cookie Pie that I made over the weekend.

Which brings me to my helpful hint. For some cooks, I’ll be stating the obvious. But bear with me…

When you read a recipe, pay careful attention to the measurements for the ingredients. Especially when a cook speaks in generalities concerning numbers of cans, bottles, etc.

For instance, the first item listed under the pie recipe was

2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (500g total, once drained)

(emphasis added)

When I went to the store, I grabbed two cans of beans from the shelf. However what I really should’ve watched was the more precise measurement of 500 grams.

Due to the size of my cans, I wound up Googling a gram-to-ounce/cups converter. Although Katie mentioned “2 cans” of beans, 500 grams in my universe amounted to just under ONE full can of beans.

That sort of thing is easy to overlook. But I think it’s important to save yourself from a ton of culinary heartache.

Measure carefully my friends! 😉

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My Latest Semi-Healthy Treat

I know that recently I wrote about wanting to keep off of sugar. Well…I finally gave in to temptation.

Last night I made this:

If it looks like a giant cookie, that’s pretty much what it is. But it’s vegan.  And made with beans.

Except for not adding salt, I followed this recipe to the letter.

(Note: Chocolate-Covered Katie is the blog I turn to when I feel like lusting after healthy-but-sinful sweets. Her Deep-Dish Cookie Pie did not disappoint.)

I made mine with white kidney beans.  Now…If you’re afraid of baking with beans, please don’t be. Just be sure to have realistic expectations. I’ve made black bean brownies exactly two times. Hence, when I blended the ingredients for this pie, I remembered a saying I came up with during my brownie adventures:

“This’ll taste better in the morning.”

I don’t know what it is. But in my opinion bean-based desserts taste 1000 times better the day after they’re made.

Otherwise, if you try to eat them a few minutes out of the oven, they tend to taste…Bleh…Healthy.

As I write this, it’s been nearly 24 hours, and there’s only one piece of my dessert left. Maybe it was the chocolate chips that pulled everything together. But I swear on everything I own, it tastes exactly like a large chocolate chip cookie.

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